TUE LIFE or / BARON FREDERIOK TRMCR; CONTAINING HIS ADVENTUKES, AND ALSO HIS EICESSIYE SUFFERINGS DURING TEN lEARS IMPRISONMENT At the Fortress of Magdeburgh, by Command of FREDERICK THE GREAT, KING OF PRUSSIA. TRANSLATED FROM TUK FRENCH BY THOMAS HOLCROFT. ALBANY: PUBLISHED BY J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STllEE T. 1853. ■}%^ r % ^^^', i^ INTRODUCTION. Among all the heroes of imprisonment over whom the most of us have sighed in our childhood, none have made a deeper im- pression than the subject of this work. Besides his own memoirs, which we now present in a new form, several biogra- phers, at different times, have found sufficient additional par- ticulars of his eventful life from which to form several large volumes. The latest of these is Maj. Whittingham, who, in his Personal Recollections of a Ten Months^ Residence in Berlin, published in 1849, says: " Whilst a handsome young officer, he attracted the regards and won the affections of Frederick's youngest and favorite sister, the Princess Amelia, who was as much distinguished by her beauty and wit as by her exalted rank. Alas, she was also a philosopher like her brother. Her affections, therefore, had their full play in the absence of all religious restraint. " D baff fie ettJtg grilnen bleibe, 3)ie fd)one jett ber jungen liebe ! '' Or, " Oh! that ever fresh from below The course of youthful love might flow." " But Shakspeare has said that that course * never did run smooth,' and the present case was no exception to the illustrious rule. The Great Frederick decidedly objected to his sister be- coming Mrs. Trenck. He, at the same time, wished to avoid all scandal, and to combine these objects no time was to be lost. He therefore gave Trenck, who was his own aid-de-camp, strong hints to mind and mend his conduct. His hints were thrown away. Who that has been young himself can wonder at the young lieutenant's blindness and obstinacy? It is not every day 2 6 Introduction. that a beautiful, witty and accomplished princess sacrifices every thing for the love of a simple gentleman. And was the favored object to risk nothing in return? The secret interviews continued, but were, in fact, no secret to the penetrating eye of an all- powerful king. Arrests for pretended military crimes were the next measures adopted to warn the lover and to protect the lady in spite of herself. But Trenck was no sooner freed from these restraints than he again flew for consolation to the arms of his illustrious mistress. A longer incarceration was next decreed. From this, however, Trenck made his escape, and fled to a town beyond the Prussian dominions. Therein his indignation against W'hat he styled Frederick's tyranny, he soon forgot what he owed to one who had sacrificed for him every thing that the world holds dear. In his blind anger he irreparably injured his royal mistress. He ' Robbed her of that which not enriched him, And left her poor indeed.' He had the audacity to display at a large dinner party the por- trait of the Princess Amelia. Frederick could, therefore, no longer pretend ignorance of her conduct, nor endeavor to provide her with a suitable husband. Nothing but vengeance remained; and for this the imprudence of Trenck soon furnished the enraged monarch with an opportunity which he did not neglect. The rest is told by Trenck himself, who as regards the Princess Amelia, endeavors to atone by his silence in his book for his verbal garrulity. But it was too late; he had betrayed the secret; and his subsequently affected reserve was a work of supererogation. " After the death of Frederick, and in the closing winter of their lives, the unhappy lovers again met; he a broken down old man, she an unusually plain old woman; for in her deep despair she had, while still young, purposely destroyed her beauty. The interview between them — they who had parted so young, so beautiful, so devoted to each other — must have been strange and affecting. She had always remained faithful to her absent or imprisoned lover; and this fact throws a redeeming grace over the weakness of her youth, and gives an additional interest to her misfortunes. Frederick, who respected his sister's abilities, M^as up to the period of his death kinder and more attentive to her than to any other member of his family. She, on the other hand, probably aware that he, after his own fashion, had acted all along for her advantage, returned his affection, and in her life of sorrow she appeared to have no other consolation than the fra- ternal kindness of one of the most cold-hearted beinafs who ever Introduction, existed. A more melancholy history is scarcely to be found even in the immortal fiction of ofenius." We are not aware that the elaborate German and French biographies of Trenck have been translated, but the sim{)le narrative of his own life which follows, is, as far as it goes, a faithful portraiture of his imprudence and obstinacy. Possessed of a remarkably fine person, a bodily strength almost Heiculean, a good deal of talent, but a hot temper, his life was little else than a series of dangers without motive, and misfortunes scarcely deserving compassion. He distinguished himself very early by his precocity; in his thirteenth year he was entered as a student of law and belles- lettres at the university of his native place, and passed the usual examination with great distinction. One year later, he fought a duel with one of the most celebrated swordsmen of Konigsberg, whom he wounded and disarmed. In his sixteenth year, his kinsman, who was an officer in the Prussian service, took him to Berlin, where his birth and advantages of person recomujended him to the king, Frederick the Great, who had a passion for "tall fellows,"' immediately appointed him cadet, and soon after- wards, having himself upon one occasion been surprised at the young man's talents, he promoted him to a cornetcy in his body guard, at that time considered the most splendid and gallant regiment in Europe. The king's favor and his own amiable manners procured him many friends at court, but at the same time excited envy and malice. Scarcely less eager of literary than martial renown, the young king was then striving to render Berlin one of the capitals of learning and science, by attracting men of that character to his court, and heaping honors upon them. Trenck became, through the favor which he enjoyed, the acquaintance and the friend of Frederick's philosophers, Voltaire, Maupertius, and others, whose familiarity was little calculated to abate his native presumption. The distinction which he enjoyed presently blinded him to the imprudent point of aspiring to please the young princess Amelia, the pretty and indiscreet sister of that foolish Margravine of Barenth, whose absurd memoirs give us an account so curious of that old brute, the elder Frederick, and his doings; how he starved his children, beat the officers of his palace, and, to solace their starvation, banged his queen and progeny. One would not think this just the education to make princesses romantic; yet Amelia must either, in the ignorance in which she was kept, have read, what serves so admirably to deepen the ignorance of young ladies, novels, or the learned company her brother afterwards kept, infected her with liberalism, 8 Introduction. and she encouraged Trenck until the silly catastrophe, told by Major Whittingham, was brought about. The foundation of his cruel fate is said to have been laid at a ball given at the royal castle at Stettin, in celebration of the marriage of the king's eldest sister to the king of Sweden. It was here that the princess Amelia is said to have noticed him, to have invited him to see her at her private apartments, and to have cherished a violent passion for him ever afterwards. In an unguarded moment he is said to have boasted of the favors shown him by his royal mistress. This was reported to the king, who, although he did not think proper to punish his indiscretion, took a decided dislike to him, and watched every opportunity of visit- ing him most severely for trifling faults in military discipline. This story, embellished with many romantic incidents, originates principally with French writers, who in many instances contradict themselves as to dates and other matters. That an imprudent attachment between Trenck and the princess existed, can not be doubted; but that Frederick, violent and passionate as he was, in all his private concerns, should have pretended blindness in so important a matter, and should have continued to bestow favors upon a man who had dishonored his sister's name, is difficult to credit. It would be supererogatory to attempt to forestall the narrative by a recapitulation of the principal events in the life of Trenck; it is only proposed to present a brief outline of what seems to have been settled upon by subsequent writers of his eventful history, tending to give a more intelligent understanding of his own account of himself. During the war between Prussia and Austria he was placed on the king's staff, and distinguished himself on several occasions, particularly when his cousin, Franz Trenck, attempted to take the king prisoner by surprise at Collin. A short time afterwards his cousin addressed him a letter, returning him some of his horses, which had been captured in a foraging expedition. This circumstance he mentioned in presence of Col. Jachinsky, who owed him a considerable sum of money, and who at Berlin was known to be his secret enemy. This man artfully persuaded him to a correspondence with his cousin in the Austrian service, he himself undertaking to forward the letters by means of his mistress, the wife of the Saxon resident, Madame de Bossart. Several letters passed in this way open, through Jachinsky's hands, until he got one in w^hich some highly imprudent expressions were found, which he immediately caused to be laid before the king. The result was that Trenck was immediately cashiered and sent prisoner to the fortification of Glatz; not by a formal sentence, Introduction. but by an order from the king, who expressed his intention at the time to keep him there for one year; evidence enough, it would seem, that he only meant to punish his correspondence with the enemy, and no other or greater crime. At first he was treated according to his rank, and with all possible indulgence; but when it was discovered that he had several times, by bribes, attempted and nearly effected his escape, he was placed in close confinement. On the 24th December, 1746, he nevertheless suc- ceeded in making his escape, by the assistance of and together with Major Schell. With great fatigue and danger he reached his mother's residence in Brandenburgh, whence he proceeded to Vienna, amply furnished with money. A strict investigation was ordered by the king, for the purpose of finding out how he had effected his escape; the result of which was the discovery that large sums had been remitted to him by the princess Amelia. It is highly probable that this was the first time that Frederick knew of his sister's attachment, and from this period must be dated his intense and obdurate hatred of Trenck. In the mean time Trenck had got into fresh troubles at Vienna, which he himself principally attributes to the intrigues of his cousin Franz, notwithstanding he was in prison at the time on a criminal charge. He left Vienna in disgust, went to Russia, where, through the recommendation of the English ambassador (to whom Frederick himself had introduced him at Berlin, under the flattering title of Metador ma jeunesse), he was well received, and appointed captain of a troop of hussars. Here he might have lived peace- ably and content, being in high favor with the empress, and having acquired considerable wealth through a legacy of a Russian princess; but the Prussian ambassador. Count Goctz, left nothing undone to injure him, pretending that he acted thus in accordance with instructions from the king his master. His cousin at Vienna, who died in 1749, had made him his heir. Upon this he determined to leave Russia; and after having visited Sweden, Denmark and Holland, he returned to Vienna to take possession of his inheritance. Fresh difficulties awaited him there. His cousin's estates were under sequestration, and after vexatious and expensive suits he agreed to a compromise, by which he received 75,000 florins and the appointment of a captaincy in a regiment of hussars. In 1758 he had the folly to go to Dantzic,in order to settle there, with his family, the patrimony left by his mother, lately dead. Philosopher Frederick, besides being one of the least forgiving of mankind, was in the habit of keeping his eyes open, and had by no means lost sight of his fugitive ex-favorite. Trenck re- 10 Introduction. ceived some hints of bis impending danger, and v.'as on the point of embarking for Sweden, when he was seized by a party of hussars, and taken to Berlin. He was at first treated well, but his intemperate language hurried on his fate, and he was sent to JVlagdeburg to cultivate an acquaintance with mice and spiders, which were to be his chief society for many a year. His sufferings, and his bold, desperate and almost successful attempts to escape, may be read in his own memoirs. The king had determined that he should never be set free while he lived, and after two soldiers had suffered death for conniving at his attempts to regain his liberty, and several other plots had been discovered, a prison was at last built on purpose for him, in which he was chained to the walls with fetters of sixty-seven pounds weight. Here he remained four years, when the intercession of his relatives, and those of Amelia too, it is presumed, succeeded in softening Frederick's obduraracy, and on the 24th of December, 1763 (some authorities say 1774), he was released upon con- dition of leaving the king-dom. He seems next to have fixed himself at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he married the daughter of one of the burgomasters. This might seem incongruous; but if one levels up to princesses, why not down to a burgomaster's daughter? It was here, probably, that he wrote the story of his captivity. Indeed he dabbled in several things beside biography, for he had soothed in part his confine- ment by writing verses — a vice which once contracted is seldom wholly recovered from; dabbled in politics; published a satire against Frederick under the title of The Macedonian Hero; entered into the wine trade, and set up for a newspaper writer. This pleasant diversity of occupations ended, rather naturally, in a sort of bankruptcy. After this new misfortune, he wrote articles of rather a democratic tendency for several periodicals. He also obtained from the kindness of Maria Theresa some diplomatic employment and a pension for his wife. At the death of the empress he retired to his castle at Zwarback, in Hungary, where he occupied himself for some six years in agricultural pursuits. In 1787, after the death of Frederick the Great, he published his memoirs, for the copy right of which he received a very large sum. From that time he became a distinguished man in the world. His book was translated into almost all European languages; the ladies at Paris, Berlin and Vienna wore rings, necklaces, bonnets and gowns, a la Trenck, and not less than seven different theatrical pieces, in which he was the hero, were brought out on the French stage. In the following year, after an exile of forty years, he was allowed to revisit Prussia, and once more to see his ancient in- Inlroductioih. H amorata. Time and suffering had in the mean time made Amelia wise. It is singular indeed, what opposite effects may flow from the same cause; reading the romances in which other folks are actors, makes one sillier and sillier; but acting a tragic novel of our own makes us sadly wise. Not even that, however, can make every body wise; Trenck himself must have still been as light-brained as ever; whence the inference is fair that he had suffered comparatively little, and that his love of the princess was no affair of the heart. At any event, incorrigible by either duels, or philosophy or dungeons, or wine-selling, or farming, or getting broke, or even turning newspaper editor (which more than any thing else, cures one's illusions), Trenck next, at above the age of sixty, took a fancy, it was to be his last, for a revolution. Although he was kindly received at Berlin, by the successor of the great Frederick, it seems that he was disappointed in his expectations; for he returned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he com- menced the publication of a weekly paper called UAmi des Homines (the friend of men), in which he proclaims himself a friend of the new French doctrines. The first consequence of his publication was a loss of the pension which the empress had given to his burgo-baroness. Next came a renewal of his old diversion of going to prison. This time, however, he had not to deal with philosophic kings; so he was soon let out. Satiated, no doubt, of chains, he now resolved to go and take his fill of emancipation; he made his way in 1791 to Paris. Here, as one who had been so much a victim of despotism, he was received with delight. For his own part, being above any feeling of jealousy toward any rival reputation, he appears to have sought and contracted a very particular intimacy with Latude, the man who had been thirty-five years a prisoner in the Bastile. He joined a Jacobin club, and was afterwards a zealous adherent of the Mountain party; but in 1793, on his offering to lead against the Prussian refugees and republicans, he was suspected of being a Prussian spy. No doubt he would have been equally suspected if his conduct had been just the opposite. He was thrown into his old mansion, a prison; but there being no proof found of his being a spy, they accused him of entering into some plot in his dungeon, and brought him to the guillotine on the 25lh of July, 1794. Yet on the scaffold, and in his sixty-eighth year, he gave proofs of his ungovernable passions. He harrangued the sur- rounding multitude, and when his head was on the block, he once more attempted to give utterance to his vehemence, and the ex- ecutioner had to hold him by his silver locks to meet the fatal i/ stroke. He was still as strong, it is said, and as fresh as a man of thirty. THE LIFE BARON FREDERICK TRENCK. I was born in Konigsberg, in Prussia, February 16, 1726, of one of the most ancient families of the country. My father, a knight of the military order, lord of Great Sharlack, Shackulack and Meicken, and major-general of cavalry, died in 1740, after having received eighteen wounds in the Prussian service. My mother, descended from the house of Derschau, was daughter of the president of the high court at Konigsberg. She had two brothers, generals of infantry, and a third, minister of state and postmaster-general at Berlin. After my father's death in 1740, she married count Lostonge, lieutenant-colonel in the Kiow regi- ment of cuirassiers, WMth whom, leaving Prussia, she went and resided at Breslau. I had two brothers and a sister. My youngest brother was taken by my mother into Silesia; the other was also a cornet in this last named regiment of Kiow, and my sister was married to the only son of the aged general Valdow, who quitted the service, and with whom she lived in Brandenburgh on his estates. My ancestors, both of the male and female line, are famous in the chronicles of the north, among the ancient Teutonic knights, who conquered Courland, Prussia and Livonia. While a boy, I was enterprising in all the tricks of boys, and exercised my wit in crafty excuses; the warmth of my passions, then and afterwards, gave a satiric, biting cast to my writings. 14 Life of Baron Trenck. whence it has been imagined, by those who knew but little of me, I was a dangerous man; though I am conscious this was a hasty and false judgment. I kept no vicious company; was never, during the whole course of my life, intoxicated; was no gamester, no consumer of time in idleness nor brutal pleasures; but devoted many hundred laborious nights to make myself useful to my country; yet I was punished with a severity too cruel even for the most worthless or most villainous. I shall say little more of the first years of my life, except that my father, who had a tender affection for me, took special care of my education; sent meat the age of thirteen to the university at Konigsberg, where, under the tuition of Kowalosky, my pro- gress was rapid. There were fourteen other noblemen of the best families in the same house, and under the same master. In November, 1742, the king sent his adjutant general, Baron Lotum, who was related to my mother, to Konigsberg, with whom I dined at my grandfather's. He conversed much with me, and after various questions, meant to discover what my talents and inclinations were, he demanded, as if in a joke, whether I had any inclination to go- with him to Berlin, and serve my country, as my ancestors had ever done. Inflamed with the desire of dis- tinguishing myself, I listened with rapture to the proposition, and in a few days departed for Potsdam. On the morrow after my arrival, I was presented to the king, as indeed I had before been, in the year 1740, with the character of being then one of the most hopeful youths of the university. My reception was most flattering; the justness of my replies to the questions he put, my height, figure and confidence, pleased him, and I soon obtained permission to enter as a cadet in his guards, with promise of quick preferment. The body guard formed, at this time, a model and school for the Prussian cavalry. It consisted of one single squadron, of men selected from the w^hole army, whose uniform w^as the most splendid in all Europe. Two thousand rix dollars were necessary to equip an officer; the cuirass was wholly plated with silver; and the horse furniture and accoutrements, alone, cost four hun- dred rix dollars. Life of Baron Trcnck. 16 There are no soldieis in the world N\ho undergo so much as this body guard; for during the time I wtis in the service of Frederick, I often had not eight hours sleep in eight days. , Exercise began at four in the morning, and expeiiments were i made of all the alterations the king meifnt to introduce in his { cavalry. Ditches of four, five, six feet, and still wider, were leaped, till that some one broke his neck; hedges in like manner , . . ^ were freed, and his horses ran careers, meeting each other full in 1 \^ a kind of lists of more than half a league in length. We had often, in these our exercises, several men or horses killed or wounded. I can not give a stronger picture of this service, than by say- ing that the body guard lost more men and hoises in one year's peace, than during the following year they did in two battles. I had scarcely been six weeks a cadet, before the king took me aside one day after the parade, and having examined me near half an hour on various subjects, commanded me to come and speak to him on the morrow. His intention was to find whether the account that had been given him of my memory had not been exaggerated; and that he might be convinced, he gave me the names of fifty soldiers to learn by rote, which I did in five minutes. He next repeated the subjects of two letters, which I immediately composed in French and Latin: the one I wrote, the other dictated. He next ordered me to trace, with promptitude, a landscape trora nature, which I executed with equal success; and he then gave me a cornet's commission in his body guards. Thus did I remain a cadet only six weeks, and few Prussians can vaunt, under the reign of Frederick, of equal good fortune. The king not only presented me with a commission, but equipped me most splendidly for the service. Thus did I sud- denly find myself a courtier, and an officer in the finest, bravest and best taught corps in Europe. My good fortune seemed unlimited, when in the month of August, 1743, the King selected me to go and instruct the Silesian cavalry in the new manoeuvres: 'a an honor never before granted to a youth of eighteen. I have already said we were garrisoned at Berlin during llie 16 Life of Baron Trenck. winter, where the officer 's table was at courtj and, as my re- putation had preceded me, no person whatever could be better received there, or live more pleasantly. I had hitherto remained ignorant of love, and had been terri- fied from illicit commerce, by beholding the dreadful objects at the hospital at Potsdam. During the winter of 1743, the nup- tials of his majesty's sister were held, who was married to the king of Sweden, where she is at present queen dowager, mother of the reigning Gustavus. I, as officer of my corps, had the honor to mount guard and escort her as far as Stettin. Here did my heart first feel a passion of which in the course of my history, I shall have frequent occasion to speak. The object of my love was one whom I can only remember at present with reverence; and, as I WTite not romance, but facts, I shall briefly say, ours was mutually the first fruits of affection, and that to this hour, I regret no misfortune, no misery, with which, from a stock so noble, my destiny Avas interwoven. Amid the tumult inseparable to occasions like these, on which it was my duty to maintain order, a thief had the address to steal my watch, and cut away a part of the gold fringe which hung from the waist- coat of my uniform, and escaped unperceived. This accident brought on me the raillery of my comrades; and the lady alluded to thence took occasion to console me, by saying I should be no loser. Her words were accompanied by a look I could not misunderstand, and a few days afterwards I thought myself the happiest of mortals. The name, however, of this high born lady is a secret, which must descend with me to the grave; and though ray silence concerning this incident leaves a void in my life, and indeed throws obscurity over a part of it, which might else be clear, I would much rather incur this reproach, than be- come ungrateful towards my best friend and benefactress. To her conversation, to her prudence, to the power by which she riveted my affections wholly to herself, am I indebted for the improvement and polishing of my bodily and mental qualities. She never despised, betrayed, or abandoned me, even in the deepest of my distress; and my children alone, on my death- bed, shall be taught the name of her to whom they ow'e the Life of Baron Trenck. 17 preservation of their father and, consequently, their own ex- istence. I lived at this time, perfectly happy at Berlin, and highly esteemed. The king testified his approbation at every oppor- tunity; my mistress supplied me with more money than I could expend, and I was presently the best equipped, and made the greatest figure of any officer in the whole corps. The style in which I lived was remarked, for I had only received, from my father's heritage, the estate of great Scharlack; the rent of which was only 800 dollars a year, which was far from sufficient to supply my theK expenses. My amour, in the mean time, re- mained a secret from the best and most intimate friends. Twice was ray absence from Potzdam and Charlottenberg discovered, and I was put under arrest; but the king seemed satisfied with the excuses I made, under the pretext of having been hunting, and smiled as he granted my pardon. Never did the days of youth glide with more apparent success and pleasure, than during these my first year at Berlin. This good fortune was, alas ! of short duration. Many are the incidents I might relate, but these I shall omit. My other adventures are numerous enough, without mingling such as may any way seem foreign to the subject. In this gloomy history of my life, I would paint myself to the world as I am, and by the recital of my sufferings afford a memorable example, and interest the heart of sensibility. I would also show how my fatal destiny has de- prived my children of an immense fortune; and, though I want an hundred thousand men to enforce and ensure my rights, I will still show my heirs they are incontestible. In the beginning of September, 1744, war again broke out between the houses of Austria and Prussia. We marched with all expedition towards Prague, traversing Saxony without opposition. I will not relate, in this place, what the great Frederick said to us, with evident emotion, when surrounded by all his officers, on the morning of our departure from Potzdam. Should any one be desirous of writing the lives of him and his opponent, Maria Theresa, without flattery and without fear, let him apply to me, and I will relate anecdotes most surprising 18 Life, of Baron Trench. on this subject, unknown to all but myself, and which never must appear under my own name. Here I must recount an event that happened, which became the souice of all my misfortunes. I must entreat my readers to pay the utmost attention to this, since the error, if innocence can be error, was the cause that the most faithful and the best of sub- jects became bewildered in scenes of wretchedness, and was the victim of misery, from his 19th to the 60th year of his age. I dare presume, this true narrative, supported by testimonies the most authentic, may fully vindicate my present honor, and my future memory. Francis, Baron of Trenck, was the son of my father's brother, consequently my cousin german. I shall speak, hereafter, of the singular events of his life. Being a commander of pandours in the Austrian service, and previously wounded in Bavaria, in the year 1743, he wrote to my mother, informing her he intended me, her eldest son, for his universal legatee. This letter, to which I returned no answer, was sent to me at Potzdam. I was so satisfied with ray situation, and had such numerous reasons to be, considering the kindness wath which the king treated me, that I would not have exchanged my good fortune for all the treasures of the great Mogul. On the 12th of Feb., 1744, being at Berlin, I was in company with Capt. Jaschinsky, commander of the body guard, the captain of which ranks as colonel in the army, together with Lieut. Studniz and Cornet Wagnitz. The latter was my field comrade, and is at present commander general of the cavalry of Hesse Cassel. The Austrian Trenck became the subject of conversa- tion, and Jaschinsky asked if I was his kinsman; 1 answered, yes, and immediately mentioned his having made me his imiversal heir. "And what answer have you returned?" said Jaschinsky — " None at all." The whole company then observed, that in a case like the present, I was much to blame not to answer; that the least I could do would be to thank him for his good wnshes, and entreat a continuance of them Jaschinsky further added, "Desire him Life of Baron Trench. 19 to send you some of his fine Hungarian horses for your own use, and give me the letter; I will convey it to him, by means of M. Bossart, legation counsellor of the Saxon embassy, but on condition that you will give me one of the horses. The cor- respondence is a family, and not a state affair; beside that, I will be answerable for the consequences." I immediately took my commander's advice, and began to write; and had those who suspected me thought proper to make the least inquiry into these circumstances, the four witnesses, who read what I wrote, could have attested my innocence, and rendered it indubitable. I gave my letter, open, to Jaschinsky, who sealed and sent it himself. I must omit none of the incidents concerning this letter, it being the sole cause of all my sufferings. I shall, therefore, here relate an event w^hich was the first occasion of the unjust sus- picions entertained against me. One of my grooms, with two led horses, was, among others, taken by the pandours of Trenck, When I returned to the camp, I was to accompany the king on a reconnoitering party. My horse w^as too tired, and I had no other; I informed him of my embarrassment, and his majesty immediately made me a present of a fine English courser. Some days after, I was exceedingly astonished to see my groom return with my two horses, and a pandour trumpeter, who brought me a letter containing nearly the following words; " The Austrian Trenck is not at war with the Prussian Trenck, but on the contrary, is happy to have recovered the horses from his hussars, and returned them to whom they first belonged, &,c." I went the same day to pay my respects to the kmg, who, receiving me with great coldness, said, "Since your cousin has returned you your own horses, you have no more need of mine." There were too many who envied me, to suppose these words would escape repetition. The return of the horses seems infinitely to have increased that suspicion Frederick entertained against me, and therefore became one of the principal causes of my mis- fortunes; it is for this reason that I dwell upon such like small incidents, they being necessary for my own justification, and, 20 Life of Baron Trenck. were it possible, for that of the king. My innocence is indeed at present universally acknowledged by the court, the army, and the whole nation, who all mention the injustice I suffered with pity, and the fortitude with which it was endured with surprise. We marched for Silesia, to enter on our second campaign, which to the Prussians was as bloody and murderous as it was glorious. I approach that epocha when ray own misfortunes began, and when the sufferings of martyrdom attended me from my youth till my hairs grew gray. A few days after the battle of Soran, the usual camp postman brought me a letter from my cousin Trenck, the colonel of pan- dours, dated at Essex, four months back, of which the following is a copy: " Your letter of the 12th of February from Berlin, informs me you desire to have some Hungarian horses. On these you would come and attack me and ray pandours. I saw with pleasure during the last campaign, that the Prussian Trenck was also a good soldier; and that I might give you some proofs of my attach- ment I then returned the horses which my men had taken. If, however, you wish to have Hungarian horses, you must take mine in like manner, from me in the field of battle, or should you think fit, come and join one who will receive you with open arms, like a friend and son, and who will procure you every advantage you can desire," &c. At first, I w^as terrified at reading this letter, yet could not help smiling. Cornet Wagenitz, now general in chief of the Hesse Cassel forces, and Lieutenant Grothausen, both now alive and then present, were my camp comrades. I gave them the letter to read; they laughed at its contents. It was determined to show it to our superior officer, Jaschinsky, on a promise of secresy, and it was accordingly shown him within an hour after it was received. The reader will be so kind as to recollect that as I have before said, it was this Col. Jaschinsky, who, on the 12th of February, the same year, at Berlin, prevailed on me to write to the Austrian Trenck, my cousin; that he received the letter open, Life of Baron Trenck. 21 and undertook to send it according to its address; also, that in this letter I, in jest, had asked him to send me some Hungarian horses, and when they came, had promised one to Jaschinsky. He read the letter with an air of some surprise; we laughed, and it being whispered through the army, that in consequence of our late victory, detached corps would be sent into Hungary, Jaschinsky said, " We shall now go and take Hungarian horses for ourselves." Here the conversation ended, and I returned, little suspecting the future consequences, to my tent. Jaschinsky was, at this time, one of the king's favorites; his spy over the army, a tale bearer, an inventor of lies and wicked calumnies. Some years after the event of which I am now speaking, the king was obliged to break and banish him the country. He was then also the paramour of the beauteous Madam Bos- sart, wife of the Saxon resident at Berlin, and there can be little doubt but that this false letter, was, by her means, conveyed to some Saxon or Austrian post office, and thence according to its address sent to me. He had daily opportunities of infusing sus-' picions into the king's mind concerning me, and, unknown to me, pursuing his diabolical plan. Further, we had quarrelled during our first campaign, because he had beaten one of my servants; we even were proceeding to fight with pistols, had not Colonel Winterfield interfered, and amicably ended our quarrel. The Lithuanian is by nature ob- stinate and revengeful; and from that day I have reason to believe he sought my destruction. God only knows what were the means he took to excite the king's suspicions; for it is incredible that Frederick, considering his well known professions of public justice, should treat me in the manner he did, without hearing, without examination, and without a court-martial. This, to me, has ever remained a mys- tery, which the king alone was able to explain; he afterwards was convinced I was innocent; but my sufferings had been too cruel, the miseries he had inflicted, too horrible for me ever to hope for compensation. 3 22 Life of Baron Trench. A man of my rank, having once unjustly suffered, and having the power of making his sufferings known, must either be highly rewarded, or still more unjustly punished. My name and injuries will ever stain the annals of Frederick the Greatj even those who read this book, will, perhaps, suppose I, from political motives of hope or fear, have sometimes concealed truth, by endeavoring to palliate his conduct. It must ever remain incomprehensible, that a monarch so clear- sighted himself, the daily witness of my demeanor, one well acquainted with mankind, and conscious I wanted neither money, honor, nor hope of future prefermentj I say it is incomprehensible he should really suppose me guilty. I take God to witness, and those who knew me in prosperity and misfortune, I never har- bored a thought of betraying my country. How was it possible to suspect me? I was neither madman nor idiot. In my eighteenth year I was a cornet of the body guard, adjutant to the king, and possessed his favor and confidence in the highest degree. His presents to me in one year amounted to fifteen hundred dollars. I kept seven horses, four men in livery j I was valued, distin- guished and beloved by the mistress of my soul. My relations held high offices, both civil and military; I was even fanatic- ally devoted to my king and country, and had nothing to wish for. That I should become thus wretched, in consequence of this unfortunate letter, is equally wonderful; it came by the public post. Had there been any criminal correspondence, my kinsman certainly would not have chosen this mode of conveyance, since it is well known all such letters are opened; nor could I act more openly. My colonel read the letter I wrote, and also that which I received, immediately after it was brought. The day after the receipt of this letter, I was, as I have before said, unheard, unaccused, unjudged, conducted like a criminal from the army by fifty hussars, and imprisoned in the fortress of Glatz. I was allowed to take three horses and my servants, but my whole equipage was left behind, which I never saw more, and which became the booty of Jaschinsky. My commission was given to Cornet Shatzel, and I cashiered without knowing why. Life of Baron Trench. 23 There were no legal inquiries madej all was done by the king's command. I once more repeat, I was brought to the citadel of Glatz; I was not, however, thrown jnto a dungeon, but imprisoned in a chamber of the officer of the guard, was allowed my servant to wait on me, and permitted to walk on the ramparts. I (lid not want money, and there was only a detachment from the garrison regiment in the citadel of Glatz, the officers of which were all poor, I soon had both friends and freedom, and the rich prisoner every day kept open table. He only who had known me in thislhe ardor of my youth, who had witnessed how high 1 aspired, and the fortune that attended me at Berlin, can imagine what my feelings were at finding myself thus suddenly cast from my high hopes. I wrote submis- sively to the king, requesting to be tried by a court martial, and not desiring any favor should I be found guilty. This haughty tone in a youth, was displeasing, and I received no answer, which threw me into despair, and induced me to use every possible means to obtain my liberty. ]\Iy first care was to establish, by the intervention of an officer, a certain correspondence with the object of my heart. She answered, she was far from supposing I had ever entertained the least thought traitorous to my country j that she knew too well I was perfectly incapable of dissimulation. She blamed the precipitate anger, and unjust suspicions of the king; promised me speedy aid, and sent me a thousand ducats. Had I, at this critical moment, possessed a prudent and intelligent friend, who could have calmed my impatience, nothing perhaps, might have been more easy than to have obtained pardon of the king, by proving my innocence; or, perhaps, than to have induced him to punish my enemies. But the officers who were then at Glatz fed the flame of dis- content. They supposed the money I so freely distributed came from Hungary, furnished by the pandour chest; and advised me not to suffer my freedom to depend upon the will of the king, but to enjoy it in his despite. Five months soon passed away in prison; peace was con- 24 Life of Baron Trenck. eluded," the king was returned to his capital; my commission in the guards was bestowed on another, when Lieutenant Piaschky of the regiment of Fouquet, and Ensign Reitz, who often mounted guard over me, proposed that they and I should escape together. I yielded, our plan was fixed, and every preparatory step taken. At that time there was another prisoner at Glatz, whose name was Manget, by birth a Swiss, and captain of cavalry in the Natzmerschen hussars; he had been broken and condemned, by a court-martial, to ten years imprisoment, with an allowance of only four rix dollars per month. Having done this man kindness, I was resolved to rescue him, also, from bondage at the same time with myself. I com- municated my design, and made the proposal, which was accepted by him, and measures were taken; yet were we betrayed by this vile man, who thus obtained pardon and freedom. Piaschky who had been informed that Reitz was arrested, saved himself by deserting. I denied the fact in presence of Manget, with whom I was confronted, and bribed the auditor with an hundred ducats. By this means, Reitz only suffered a year's imprisonment and the loss of his commission. I was then confined for having endeavored to corrupt the king's officers, and guarded with great caution. Here I will interrupt my narrative a moment, to relate an ad- venture which happened between me and this Captain Manget, three years afterwards, that is to to say, in 1749, at Warsaw. I there met him by chance, and it is not difficult to imagine what was the salutation he received. I caned him; he took this ill, and challenged me to fight him with pistols. Captain Heucking of the Polish guards, was my second; I shot him through the neck at the first shot, and he fell dead on the field. He alone, of all my enemies, ever died by my own hand; and he well merited his end for his cowardly treachery towards the two brave fellows of whom I have spoken; and still more so with respect to myself, who had been his benefactor; and I own I have never reproached myself for this duel, by which I sent a rascal out of the world. Life, of Baron Trenck. 25 I return to my tale. My destiny at Glatz was now become more untoward and severe. The king's suspicions were increased, as likewise was his anger, at my late attempt to escape. Left to myself, I considered my situation in the worst point of view, and determined on flight or death. The length and close- ness of my confinement became insupportable to my impatient temper. I had always the garrison on my side, nor was it possible to prevent my making friends among them. They knew I had money, and in a poor garrison regiment, the officers of which are all dissatisfied, having most of them been drafted from other corps, and sent thither as a punishment, there was nothing that might not be undertaken. My scheme then was as follow^s: — My window looked towards the city, and was ninety feet from the ground in the tower of the citadel, out of Avhich I could not get, without having found a place of refuge in the city. This an officer undertook to procure me, and prevailed on an honest soap-boiler to grant me a hid- ing-place. I then notched my pen-knife and sawed through three large iron bars: but this was too tiresome a mode, it being necessary to file away eight bars from my window, before I could pass through; another officer procured me a file, which I M'as obliged to use with caution, lest I should be overheard by the sentinels. Having ended this labor I cut my leather portmanteau into thongs, sewed them end to end, added the sheets of my bed, and descended safely from this astonishing height. It rained, the night was dark, and all seemed fortunate, but I had to wade through moats full of mud before I could enter the city, a cir- cumstance I had never once before considered. I sunk up to the knees, and after long struggling, and incredible eflferts to get out, I was obliged myself to call the sentinel, and desired him to go and tell the governor, Trenck was stuck fast in a ditch. My misfortune was the greater on this occasion, because that General Fouquet was then governor of Glatz. He was one ol the cruelest of men. He had been wounded by ray father in a 26 ii/*e of Baron Trenck. duel; and the Austrian Trenck had taken his baggage in 1744, and also laid the country of Glatz under contribution. He was therefore an enemy to the very name of Trenck, nor did he lose any opportunity of giving me proofs of his enmity, and especially on the present occasion, when he left me standing in the mud till noon, the sport of the soldiers. I was then drawn out half dead, only again to be imprisoned, and shut up the whole day without water to wash me. No one can imagine how I looked, exhausted and dirty, my long hair having fallen into the mud, with which, by my struggling, it was loaded. I remained in this condition till the next day, when two fellow prisoners M'ere sent to assist and clean me. My imprisonment now became more intolerable. I had still eighty louis-d'ors in my purse, which had not been taken from me at my removal into another dungeon, and these afterwards did me good service. The passions now all assailed me at once, and impetuous, boiling, youthful blood overpowered reason; hope disappeared; I thought myself the most unfortunate of men, and my king an irreconcilable judge, more wrathful and fortified in suspicion by my own rashness. My nights were sleepless, my days miser- able; my soul was tortured by the desire of fame; a conscious- ness of innocence was a continual stimulus, inciting me to end my misfortunes. Youth, inexperienced in woe and disastrous fate, beholds every evil magnified, and desponds upon every new disappointment, more especially, having failed in attempting freedom. Education had taught me to despise death, and these opinions had been confirmed by my friend La Metric, author of the famous work, U Homme une Machine, or Man a Machine. I read much during my confinement at Glatz, where books were allowed me; time was therefore less tedious; but when the love of liberty awoke, when fame and aifection called me to Berlin, and my baulked hopes painted the wretchedness of my situation; when I remembered my loved country, judging by appearances, could not but pronounce me a traitor; then I was hourly impelled to rush on the naked bayonets of my guards, by whom to me the ^vay of freedom was barred. Big with such Life, of Baron Trench. Jj7 like thoughts, eight days had not elapsed since my last fruitless attempt to escape, when an event happened which would appear incredible, were I, the principal actor in the scene, not alive to attest its truth, and might not all Glatz and the Prussian army be produced as eye and ear witnesses. This incident will prove that bold, and even rash daring, will render the most improbable undertakings possible, and that desperate attempts may often make a general more fortunate and famous than the wisest and best concerted plans. Major Doo came to visit me, accompanied by an officer of the guard and an adjutant. After examining every corner of my chamber, he addressed me, taxing me with a second crime in endeavoring to obtain my liberty; adding this must certainly increase the anger of the king. My blood boiled at the word crime; he talked of patience; I asked how long the king had condemned me to imprisonment? He answered, a traitor to his country, who has corresponded with the enemy, can not be con- demned for a certain time, but must depend for pardon on the king. At that instant I snatched his sword from his side, on which > my eyes had been fixed, sprang out of the door, threw the sen- | tinel from the top to the bottom of the stairs; passed the guard, who happened to be drawn up before the prison door to relieve guard, attacked them sword in hand, threw them suddenly into surprise by the manner in which I laid about me; wounded four men, made my way through the rest, sprang over the breastwork of the ramparts, and, with my sword drawn in my hand, imme- diately leaped this astonishing height without receiving the least injury. I leaped the second wall with equal safety and good fortune. None of the arms were loaded; no one durst leap after me, and in order to pursue they must go round through the town and the gate of the citadel; so that I had the start full half an hour. A sentinel, however, in a narrow passage endeavored to i l^ ^ oppose ray flight, but I parried his fixed bayonet and wounded him in the face. A second sentinel, mean time, came from the outworks to seize me behind, and to avoid him I made a spring 28 Life of Baron Trench. at the palisadoes; there I was unluckily caught by the foot, and received a bayonet wound in my upper lip; thus entangled, they beat me with the butt end of their muskets, and dragged me back to prison, while I struggled and defended myself like a man grown desperate. (^ Certain it is, had I more carefully jumped the palisadoes, and disabled the sentinel who opposed me, I might have escaped, and gained the mountains. Thus I might have fled to Bohemia, after having at noon day broke from the fort- ress of Glatz, sprung past all its sentinels, over all its walls, and passed with impunity, in despite of the guard, who were under arms ready to oppose me. I should not, having a sword, have feared any single opponent, and was able to contend with the swiftest runners. That good fortune which had so far attended me forsook me at the palisadoes, where hope was at an end. The severities of imprisonment were increased; two sentinels and an under officer were locked in with me, and were them- selves guarded by sentinels without. I was beaten and w^ounded by the butt ends of their muskets, my right foot was sprained, I spit blood, and my wounds were not cured in less than a month. I was now inibrmed the king had only condemned me to a year's imprisonment, in order to learn whether his suspicions were well founded. My mother had petitioned for me, and was answered, " Your son must remain a year imprisoned as a pun- ishment for his rash correspondence." Of this I was ignorant, and it was said in Glatz my imprison- ment w-as for life. I had only three weeks longer to repine at the loss of liberty, when I made this rash attempt. What must the king think? Was he not obliged to act with this severity? How" could prudence excuse my impatience thus to risk a con- fiscation, when T was certain of receiving freedom, justification and honor, in three weeks? But such was my adverse fate, circumstances all tended to injure and persecute me, till at length I gave reason to suppose that I was a traitor, notwithstanding the purity of my intentions. Once more, then, I. was in a dungeon; and no sooner w^as I there, than I formed new projects of flight. I first gained the intimacy of my guards; I had money, and this with the com- Life of Baron Trench. 29 passion I had inspired, might effect anything among dii-contented Prussian soldiers. Soon had I s;aincd thirty -tv;o men, who weie ready to execute, on the first signal, whatever I should command. Two or three exceptetl, they were unacquainted with each other, consequently could not all be betrayed at a time; and 1 had chosen the under officer, Nicholai, to lead ihem. The garrison consisted only of one hundred and twenty men, from the garrison regiment, the rest being dispersed in the country of Glatz, and four officers, their commanders; three of whom were in my in- terest. Every thing was prepared; swords and pistols were concealed in an oven, which was in my prison. We intended to give liberty to all prisoners, and retire by beat of di'um intol Bohemia. Unfortunately, an Austrian deserter, to whom Nicholai had imparted our design, went and discovered our conspiracy. The governor instantly sent his adjutant to the citadel with orders that the officer on guard should arrest Nicholai, and\\ith his men take possession of the casement. Nicholai was one of the guard, and the lieutenant was my friend, and being in the secret, gave the signal that all was dis- covered. Nicholai only, knew all the conspirators, several of whom were that day on guard. He instantly formed his resolution, leaped into the casements, crying, '" Comrades to arms, we are betrayed?" All followed to the guard house, Mhere they seized on the cartridges, the officer having only eight men, and threat- ening to fire on whosoever should offer resistance, came to de- liver me from prison; but the iron gate was too strong, and the time too short for that to be demolished. Nicholai calling to me to aid them, but in vain; and perceiving nothing more could be done for me, this brave man, heading nineteen others^ marched to the gate of the citadel, where there was an undci- ofJicer and ten soldiers, obliged these to accompany them, and thus arrived safely at Brannau in Bohemia; for, before the news wa.s spread through the city, and men Merc collected for the pursuit, they were nearly half way on their journey. Two years after, I met with this extraordinary man at Osna- burg, where he was a writer: he entered immediately into my 30 Life of Baron Trenck. service, and became my friend, but died some months after, of a burning fever, at my quarters in Hungary, at which I was deeply grieved, for his memory will ever be dear to me. Now was I exposed to all the storms of ill fortune. A pro- secution was entered against me as a conspirator, who wanted to corrupt the officers and soldiers of the king. They commanded me to name the remaining conspirators; but to these questions I made no answer, except by steadfastly declaring I was an innocent prisoner, and an officer unjustly broken; unjustly, be- cause I had never been brought to trial. Things thus remained; every precaution was taken, except that I was not put in irons; it being a law, in Prussia, that no gentleman or officer can be loaded with chains, unless he has first, for some crime, been delivered over to the executioner; and certainly this had not been my case. The soldiers were withdrawn from my chamber; but the greatest ill was, that 1 had expended all my money, and my kind mistress at Berlin, with whom I had always corresponded, and which my persecutors could not prevent, at last wrote, "My tears flow with yours; the evil is without remedy; I dare say no more; escape if you can. My fidelity will ever be the same, when it shall be possible for me to serve you — adieu — unhappy friend — you merit a better fate." This letter was a thunder- bolt; my comfort, however, still was, that the officers were not suspected, and that it was their duty to visit my chamber several times a day, and examine what passed; from which circumstance I felt my hopes somewhat revive. Hence an adventure happened, w^hich is almost unexampled in the tales of knight errantry. A lieutenant whose name was Bach, a Dane by nation, mounted guard every fourth day, and was the terror of the whole garrison: for, being a perfect master of arms, he was incessantly involved in quarrels, and generally left his marks behind him. He had served in two regiments, neither of which would associate with him for this reason, and he had been sent to the garrison recfiment at Glatz as a punishment. Bach one day, sitting beside me, related how, the evening before, he had wounded a lieutenant of the name Schell in the Lifo of Baron Trcnck. 3 1 arm. I replied, laughing, had I my liberty, I believe you would find some trouble in wounding me, lor I have some skill in the sword. The blood instantly flew in his lace; we split ofT a kind of pair of foils from an old door which had served me as a table, and at the first lounge I hit him in the breast. His rage became ungovernable, and he left the prison. What was my astonish- ment when, a moment after, I saw him return with two soldiers' swords, which he had concealed under his coat. "Now then, boaster, prove," said he, giving me one of them, "what thou art able to do." I endeavored to pacify him, by representing the danger, but ineirectually. He attacked me with the utmost fury, and I wounded him in the arm. Tlnowing his sword down, he now fell upon my neck, and kissed me and wept. At length, after some convulsive emotions of pleasure, he said, "Friend, thou art my master; and thou must, thou shalt, by my aid, obtain thy liberty as certainly as my name is Bach. We bound up his arm as well as we could. He left me, and secretly went to a surgeon to have it dressed, and at night returned. He now remarked that it was humanly impossible I should escape, unless the officer on guard should desert with me, that he wished nothing more ardently than to sacrifice his life in my behalf, but that he could not resolve so far to forget his honor and duty as to desert himself while on guard; he notwithstanding gave me his word he would find me such a person in a few days; and that in the mean time he would prepare every thing for my flight. He returned the same evening, bringing wnth him Lieut. Schell, and as he entered, said, "Here is your man." Schell em- braced me, gave me his word of honor, and thus was the affair settled, and as it proved, my liberty ascertained. We now began to deliberate on the means necessary to obtain our purpose. Schell was just come from garrison at Habelschwert to the citadel of Glatz, and in two days was to mount guard over me, till when our attempt was suspended. I have before said, I received no more supplies from my beloved mistress, and my purse at present contained only some six pistoles. It was therefore resolved, that Bach should go to Schweidnitz, and obtain money of a sure friend of mine in that city. The sun had just set as we took to flight; the hoar frost fell. No one could run the same risk we had done, by making so dan- gerous a leap. We heard a terrible noise behind us. Every body knew us; but before they could go round the citadel, and through the town, in order to pursue us, we had got a full half league. The alarm guns were fired before we were a hundred paces distant, at which my friend was much terrified, knowing that in such a case it was generally impossible to escape from Glatz, unless the fugitives had got the start full tw^o hours before the alarm guns were fired, the passes being immediately all stopped by the peasants and hussars, who are exceedingly vigil- ant. No sooner is a prisoner missed, than the gunner runs from the guard house, and fires the cannon from three sides of the fortress, w^hich are kept loaded day and night for that purpose. We were not five hundred paces from the walls, when all before us and behind us were in motion. It was daylight when we leaped, yet was our attempt as fortunate as it was wonder- ful; this I attribute to my presence of mind, and the reputation I had already acquired, which made it thought a service of danger for two or three to attack me. It was, beside, imagined we were well provided with arms for our defence, and it was little sus- pected that Schell had only his sword, and I an old corporal's sabre. Life of Baron Trenclc. 36 Among the offieers commanded to pursue us, was lieutenant Bart, my intimate friend. Captain Zerbst, of the reo-iment ot Fouquet, who had always testified the kindness of a brother toward me, met us on the Bohemian frontiers and called to me, " Make to the left, brother, and you will see some lone houses, which are on the Bohemian confines; the hussars have rode straight forward." He then passed on as if he had not seen us. We had nothing to fear from the officers, for the intimacy in the Prussian army was at that time so great, and the word ot honor so sacred, that during my rigorous detention at Glatz, I had been once six and thirty hours hunting at Neurode, at the seat of the Baron Still friede; Lunitz had taken my place in the prison, which the major knew when he came to make his visit. Hence may be gathered how great was the confidence in which the word of the unfortunate Trenck was held at Glatz, since they did not fear letting him leave his dungeon, and hunt on the very confines of Bohemia. This shows the governor was deceived, in despite of his watchfulness and orders, and that a man of honor, with money and a good heart, will never want friends. These, my memoirs, will be the picture of what the national character then was; and will prove, that with the officers who lived like brothers, and held their word so sacred, the great Frederick well might vanquish his enemies. Arbitrary power has introduced the whip of slavery, and the mechanic subordi- nation has eradicated those noble and rational incitements to concord and honor; instead of these, mistrust and slavish fear have arisen, the enthusiastic spirit of the Brandenburg warrior declines, and into this error have most of the other European states fallen. Scarcely had I borne my friend three hundred paces before I sat down and looked around me, but darkness came on so last that I could see neither town nor citadel, consequently, we our- selves could not be seen. My presence of mind did not forsake me; death or freedom was my determination. Where are we, Schell? said I to my friend. Where does Bohemia lie? On which side is the river Neiss? The worthy man could make no answer; his mind was Life of Baron Trenck. all confusion, and he despaired of our making our escape; he still, however, entreated I would not let him be taken alive, and affirmed my labor was in vain. After 'having promised, by all that was sacred, I would save him from an infamous death, *if no other means -v^-ereMeft, and thus raised his spirits, he looked round and knew by some trees Ave were not far from the city gates. I asked him, where is the Neissl He pointed sideways. "All Glatz has seen us fly toward the Bohemian mountains; it is impossible we should avoid the hussars, being all guarded, and we beset with enemies." So saying, I took him on my shoulders, and carried him to the Neiss; here we distinctly heard the alarm sounded in the villages, and the peasants, who likewise were to form the line of deser- tion, w^ere every where in motion, and spreading the alarm. As it may not be known to all my readers in what manner thfey proceed on these occasions in Prussia, I will here give a short account of it. Officers are daily named on the parade, whose duty it is to follow fugitives, as soon as the alarm guns are fired. The peasants in the village likewise are daily appointed to run to the guard of certain posts. The officers immediately fly to these posts to see that the peasants do their duty, and prevent the prisoners' escape. Thus does it seldom happen that a soldier can make his escape, unless he be, at the very least, an hour on his road before the alarm gun is fired. I now return to my story. I came to the Neiss, which was a little frozen, entered with my friend, and carried him as long as I could wade, and when 1 could not feel the bottom, which was not more than eighteen feet, he clung round me, and thus we got safely to the other shore. My father taught all his sons to swim, for which I have often to thank him, since by means of this art, which is easily learned in childhood, I had on various occasions preserved my life, and was more bold in danger. Princes, who wish to make their subjects soldiers, should have them educated so as to fear neither fire nor water. How great w^ould be the advantage of being able to cros^, with whole battalions, when it is necessary to attack or retreat before the enemy, and Life of Baron Trenck. ^ time will not penult to prepare bridges! The reader will easily suppose swimming in the midst of December, and remaining afterwards eighteen hours in the open air, \vas a severe hardship. About seven o'clock the hoar fog was succeeded by frost and moonlight. The carrying of my friend kept me warm it is true, but I began to be tired, whilst he suffered every thing tl^at frost, the pain of a dislocated foot, which I in vain endeavored to reset, and the danger of death from a thousand hands, could in- flict. We were somewhat more tranquil, however, having reached the opposite shore of the Neiss, since nobody would pursue us on the road to Silesia. I followed the course of the river for half an hour, and having once passed the first villages that formed the line of desertion, with which Schell was perfect- ly acquainted, we in a lucky' moment found a fisherman's boat moored to the shore; into this we leaped, crossed the river again,* and soon gained the mountains. Here being come, we sat our- selves down awhile on the snow, hope revived in our hearts, and we held a counsel concerning how it was best to act. I cut a stick to assist Schell in hopping foward, as well as he could, whqn I was tired of carrying him; and thus we continued our route, the difficulties of which were increased on the mountain snows. Thus passed the night, during which, up to the middle in snow, we made but little way. There were no paths to be traced in the mountains, and they were in many places impass- able. Day at length appeared; we thought ourselves near the frontiers, which are twenty English miles from Glatz, when we suddenly, to our great«terror, heard the clock strike. Over- whelmed as we were, by hunger, cold, fatigue, and pain, it was impossible we could hold out through the day. After some consideration, and another half hour's labor, we came to a village at the foot of the mountain, on the side of which, about three hundred paces from us, we perceived two separate houses, which inspired us with a stratagem that was successful. We lost our hats in leaping the ramparts; but Schell had preserved his scarf and gorget, which would give him authority among the peasants. 4 38 Life of Baron Trenck. I then cut my finger, rubbed the blood over my face, my shirt, and my coat, and bound up my head, to give me the appearance of a man dangerously wounded. In this condition I carried Schell to the end of the wood not far from these houses, here he tied my hands behind my back, but so that I could easily disengage them in case of need, and hobbled after me by the aid of his staff, calling for help. Two old peasants appeared; Schell commanded them to run to the village and tell a magistrate to come immediately with a cart. " I have seized this knave," added he, " who has killed ray horse, and in the struggle put out my ancle. However, I have wounded and bound him; fly quickly, bring a cart, lest he should die before he is hanged." As for me, I suffered myself to be led, as if half dead, into the house. A peasant was dispatched into the village. An old woman and a pretty girl seemed to take great pity on me, and gave me some bread and milk; but how great was our astonish- ment when the aged peasant called Schell by his name, and told him we were deserters, having the night before been at a neighboring ale-house, where the officer in pursuit of us came, named and described us, and related the whole history of our flight. The peasant knew Schell, because his son served in his company, and had often spoken of him when he was quartered at Habelschwert. Presence of mind and resolution was all that were now left. I instantly ran to the stable, while Schell detained the peasant in the chamber. He, however, was a worthy man, and directed him the road towrards Bohemia. We were still but about seven miles from Glatz, having lost ourselves among the mountains, where we had wandered many miles. The daughter followed me — I found three horses in the stable, but no bridles; I conjured her in the most passionate manner to assist me; she was affected, seemed half willing to follow me, and gave me the two bridles. I led the horses to the door, called Schell, and helped him, with his lame leg, on horseback. The old peasant then began to weep, and beg I would not take his horses; but he luckily wanted courage, and perhaps the will to impede us ; for with a single Life of Baron Trenck. 39 dung-fork, in our present feeble condition, he might have stopped us long enough to have called in assistance iVoni the village. And now behold us on horseback, without hats or saddles; Schell with his uniform, scarf and gorget, and I in my red body- guard coat. Still were we in danger of seeing all our hopes vanish, for my horse would not stir from the stable; however, at last, good horseman like, I made him move: Schell led the way, and we had scarcely gone an hundred paces before we perceived the peasants coming in crowds from the village. As kind fortune would have it, the people were all at church, it being a festival; the peasants Schell had sent were obliged to call aid out of the church. It was but nine in the morning, and had the peasants been at home, we had been lost without hope. We were obliged to take the road to Wunshelburg, and pass through the town where Schell had been quartered a month before, and every body knew him. Our dress, without hats or saddles, sufficiently proclaimed we were deserters; our horses, however, continued to go tolerably well, and we had the good fortune to get through the town, although there was a garrison of one hundred and eighty infantry, and twelve horse, purposely to arrest deserters. Schell knew the road to Braunau, where we arrived at eleven o'clock, after having met, as I before men- tioned, Captain Zerbst. He alone, who has been in the 'same situation, can imagine, though not describe, all the joy we felt. An innocent man, languishing in a dungeon, who by his own endeavors, has broken his chains and regained his liberty, in despite of all the arbitrary power of princes, who vainly would oppose him, conceives, in moments like these, such abhorrence of all despotisms, that I could not well comprehend how I ever could resolve to live under governments, where wealth, content, honor, liberty, and life, all depend upon a monarch's will; and who, were his in- tentions the most pure, could not be able singly to do justice to a whole nation. Never did I, during my life, feel pleasure more exquisite than at this moment. My friend, for me, had risked a shameful death, and now, after having carried him at least 40 Life of Baron Trenck. twelve hours on my shoulders, I had saved both him and myself. We certainly would not have suffered any man to carry us alive again to Glatz. Yet this was but the first act of the tragedy, of w^hich I was doomed the hero, and the mournful incidents of which all arose out of, and depended on each other. And now, for the first time, did I quit my country, and fly, like Joseph from the pit into which his false brethren had cast him; and in this, the present moment of joy for my escape, the loss of even friends and country appeared to me the excess of good fortune. The estates which had been purchased by the blood of my forefathers were confiscated; and thus was a youth of one of the noblest families in the land, whose heart was all zeal for the service of his king and country, and who was among those most capable to render them services, banished by this unjust and misled king, and treated like the worst of miscreants, malefactors and traitors. I wrote to the king and sent him indubitable proofs of my innocence, and supplicated justice, but received no answer. In this the monarch may be justified, at least in my apprehension. A wicked man had maliciously and falsely accused me. The monarch once really loved me; he meant my punishment should only be temporary, and as a trial of my fidelity. That I had only been condemned to a year's imprisonment, had never been told me, and was a fact I did not learn till long after. And now was I in Bohemia, a fugitive stranger, without money, protector or friend, and only twenty years of age. I had but a single louis-d'or in my purse, and Schell Ibrty kreutzers, or some three shillings; with this small sum, in a strange coun- try, we had to cure his sprain and provide for all our wants. I was determined not to go to my cousin Trenck, at Vienna, fearful this should seem a justification of all my imputed treasons. I rather wished to embark for the East Indies than to have re- course to this expedient. The greater my delicacy was, the greater became my distress. I wrote to my mistress at Berlin, but received no answer, possibly because I could not indicate any certain mode of conveyance. My mother believed me guilty, and abandoned me; my brothers were still minors, and my Life of Baron Trenck. ^ friend at Schweidnitz could not aid me, being gone to Konigs- berg. After three weeks abode at Braunau, my friend recovered his lameness. We had been obliged to sell my watch, with his scarf and gorget, and had only four florins remaining. From the public papers I learnt my cousin, the Austrian Trenck, was at this time closely confined, and under criminal prosecution. It will be easily imagined what effect this news had upon me. Never till now, had I felt any inconvenience from poverty; my wants had all been amply supplied, and 1 had ever lived among, and been highly loved and esteemed by the first people of the land. I was now destitute, without aid, and undetermined how to seek employement or obtain fame. At length I determined to travel on foot to Prussia, to my mother, and obtain money from her, and afterward to enter into the Russian service. Schell, whose destiny was linked to mine, would not forsake me. We assumed false names — I called my- self Knerr, and Schell, Lesch — then obtaining passports, like common deserters, we left Braunau on the 21st of January, in the evening, unseen by any person, and proceeded towards Bilitz in Poland. A friend I had at Neurode, gave me a pair of pocket pistols, a musket, and three ducats; the money was spent at Braunau. Here let me take occasion to remark, I had lent this friend in urgent necessity, a hundred ducats, which he yet owed me; and when I sent to request payment, he returned me three, as if I had asked charity. Though a circumstantial description of our travels would alone fill a volume, I shall only relate the most singular accidents which happened to us. This may be called the first scene in which I appeared as an adventurer, and perhaps my good fortune may even have over- balanced the bad, since I have escaped death full thirty times, when the chances were at least a hundred to one against me; certain it is, I undertook many things, in which I seemed to have owed my preservation to the very rashness of the action, and in which others, equally brave, would have found death. 42 Life of Baron Trench. After encounteiing and overcoming a number of difficulties and hair breadth escapes, we arrived at Vienna in the month ot April, 1747. But desirous of going to India, I left Vienna in August 1748, desirous of owing no obligation to that city or its inhabitants, and went for Holland. And here an adventure happened to me which I shall ever remember as a warning to myself, and insert as a memento to others. The army physician on this day kept a faro bank, for the entertainment of the guests. My stock of money consisted of two and twenty ducats. Thirst of gain, or perhaps example, induced me to venture two of these, which I immediately lost* and very soon, by ventuiing again, to regain them, the whole two and twenty. Chagrined at my folly, I returned home, and recovering my spirits, asked my servant w-hat money he had, and received from him three ducats. With these I repaired like a desperate gamester, once more to the faro table at the general's, again began to play, and so extraordinary was my run of luck, I won at every venture. Having recovered my principal, I played on the winnings, till at last I had absolutely broke the doctor's bank; a new bank was set up, and I won the greatest part of this likewise, so that I brought home 600 ducats. Rejoiced at my good fortune, but recollecting my danger, I had the prudence to make a solemn resolution never more to play at any game of chance, to which I ever adhered. General Leu win, my kind patron, sent me from Cracow to conduct 146 men dow^n the Vistula to Dantzic, where there were Russian vessels to receive and transport them to Riga. And now behold me at sea on my voyage to Riga. I had eaten heartily before I went on board: a storm came on, I worked half the night to aid the crew, but at length became sea-sick and went to lie down. Scarcely had I closed my eyes, before the master came with the joyful tidings, as he thought, that we were running for the port of Pillau. Far from pleasing, this was to me dreadful intelligence. I ran on deck, saw the harbor right before me, and a pilot coming off. The sea must now eilher be kept in a storm, or I fall into the hands of the Prussians, for I was known to the whole garrison of Pillau. Life of Baron Trenck. 4^ I desired the captain to tack about and keep the sea, but he wouki not listen to me. Perceiving this, I flew to my cabin, snatched my pistols, returned, seized the helm, and threatened the captain with instant death if he did not obey. My Russians began to murmur; they were averse to encountering the dangers of the storm, but luckily they were more averse to meet my anger, overawed as they were by my pistols and my two servants who stood by me faithfully. Half an hour after, the storm began to subside, and we fortunately arrived the next day in the harbor of Riga, The captain, however, could not be appeased, but accused me before the old and honorable Marshal Lacy, then governor of Riga. I was obliged to appear, and replied to the charge by relating the truth. The governor answered, my obstinacy might have occasioned the death of 160 persons. I, smiling, retorted, " I have brought them all safe to port, please your excellency; and for my part, my fate would be much more merciful by falling into the hands of my God, than into the hands of my enemies. My danger was so great, that I forgot the dangers of others, besides, sir, I knew my comrades were soldiers, and feared death as little as I." My answer pleased the fine grey-headed general and he gave me a recommendation to the chancellor, Bestuchef, at Moscow. From Riga, I departed in company with M. Oettinger, lieu- tenant colonel of engineers, and Lieutenant Weiseman for Mos- cow. This is the same Weiseman who rendered so many important services to Russia during the last war with the Turks. On my arrival, after delivering in my letters of recommendation, I was particularly well received by Count Bestuchef Oettinger, whose friendship I had gained, was exceedingly intimate with the chancellor, and my interest was thereby promoted. I was now introduced into all the companies, not as a foreigner who came to entreat employment, but as the heir of the house of Trenck and its rich Hungarian possessions, and as the former favorite of the Prussian monarch. My adventures with women would amply furnish a romance; but enough of this; I should not relate the present, were it not necessary for my story. 44 Lifo of Baron Trenck. Dining one public day with Lord Hynford, I was seated beside a charming young lady of one of the best families in Russia, who had been promised in marriage, though only seventeen, to an old invalid minister. Her eyes soon told me she thought me preferable to her intended bridegroom. I undei'stood them, lamented her hard fate, and was surprised to hear her exclaim, "Oh Heavens! that it were possible you could deliver me from ray misfortunes; I would engage to do whatever you would direct." The impression such an appeal must make on a man of four and twenty, of a temperament like mine, may easily be supposed. The lady was ravishingly beautiful; her soul was candor itself, and her rank that of a princess; but the court's commands had already been given in favor of the marriage, and flight, with all its inseparable dangers, was the only expedient. A public table was no place for long explanations. Our hearts were already one. I requested an interview, and the next day was appointed, the place the Trotzer garden, where I passed these rapturous hours in her company — thanks to her woman, who was a Georgian. To escape, however, from Moscow, was impossible. The distance thence to any foreign country was too great. The court was not to remove to Petersburg till the next spring, and her marriage was fixed for the first of August. The mis- fortune was not to be remedied, and nothing was left us but patience perforce. We could only resolve to fly from Peters- burg, when there, as soon as possible, and to take refuge in some corner of the earth, where we might remain unknown to all. The marriage, therefore, was celebrated with pomp, though I, in despite of forms, was the true husband of the princess. Such was the state of the husband imposed upon her, that to describe it, and not give disgust, were impossible. The princess gave me her jewels, and several thousand rubles, which she had received as a nuptial present, that I might pur- chase every thing necessary for flight; my evil destiny had otherwise determined. I was playing at ombre with her one night, at the house of the countess of Bestuchef, when she com- plained of a violent head ache, appointed me to meet her on the Life of Baron Trenck. morrow, in the Trotzer gardens, clasped my hand with inexpress- ible emotion, and departed, Alas! I never beheld her more, till stretched upon her bier. She grew delirious that very night, and so continued till her death, which happened on the sixth day, when the small pox began to appear. Amidst her distraction she had discovered our love, and incessantly called on me to deliver her from her tyrant. Thus, in the flower of her age, perished one of the most lovely women I ever knew, and with her fled all I held most dear. No man, in my youth, would have believed I should have lived to my sixtieth year, untitled and obscure. In Berlin, Petersburgh, London and Paris have I been esteemed by the greatest statesmen, and now I am reduced to the invalid list. How strange are the caprices of fortune! I ought never to have left Russiaj this was my great error, which I still live to repent. I have never been accustomed to sleep more than four or live hours, so that though through life I have allowed time for paying visits and receiving company, I have still had sufficient for study and improvement. Hynford was my instructor in politics; Boerhave, then physician to the court, and my bosom friend, my tutor in physic and literary subjects. Women formed me for court intrigues, though these, as a philosopher, I despised. My cousin, Baron Trenck, died in the Spielberg, October 4, 1749, and left me his heir on condition I should only serve the house of Austria. In March 1750, Count Bernes received the citation sent me to enter on this inheritance. Hyndford assured me of his eternal protection, and described London as a certain asylum, should I not find happiness at \ienna. He spoke of slavery as a Briton ought to speak, reminded me of the fate of Munich and Osterraan, painted the court such as I knew it to be, and asked what were my expectations, even were I fortunate enough to become general, or minister in such a country. These reasonings at length determined me; but, having plenty of money, I thought proper to take Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Holland in my way; and Bernes was, in the mean time, to prepare me a favorable reception at Vienna. He desired also I would give him authority to get possession of the estates to which I was 46 Life of Baron Trenck. heir. My effects, in money and jewels, amounted to about thirty- six thousand florins. After remaining a few days at Petersburg, I journeyed by land to Stockholm, taking with me letters of recommendation from all the foreign envoys. At Stockholm I wanted no recommendation; the queen, sister to the great Frederick, had known me at Berlin, when I had the honor, as an officer of the body guard, of accompanying her to Stettin. I related my whole history to her without reserve. She, from political motives, advised me not to make any stay in Stockholm, and to me continued, till death, an ever gracious lady. I proceeded to Copenhagen, where I had business to transact for M. Chaise, the Danish envoy at Moscow; from whom also I had letters of recommendation. Here I had the pleasure of meeting my old friend Bach, who had aided me in my escape from my imprisonment at Glatz. He was poor, and in debt, and I procured him protection, by relating the noble manner in which he had behaved. I presented him with 500 ducats, by the aid of which he pushed his fortune. He wrote to me in the year 1776, a letter of sincerest thanks, and died a colonel of hussars in the Danish service in 1779. I remained in Copenhagen but a fortnight, and then sailed in a Dutch ship from Elsineur for Amsterdam. Scarcely had we put to sea, before a storm arose, by which we lost a mast and our bowsprit, had our sails shattered, and were obliged to cast anchor among the rocks of Gottenburgh, where our deliverance was singularly fortunate. An honest Calmuc whom I had brought from llussia, and another of my servants, perished. I saw the first sink after I reached the shore. The kind Swedes brought me on board, and also righted and returned with the shallop. We weighed anchor, and sailed for the Texel, the mouth of which M'e saw, and the pilots coming off, when another storm arose, and drove us to the port of Bahus, in Norway, into which we ran without further damage. In some few days we again set sail, with a fair wind, and at length reached Am- sterdam. Here I made no long stay, for the day after my arrival an extraordinary adventure happened, in which I was engaged, Life of Baron Trenck. 47 chiefly by my own rashness. I was a spectator while the har- pooners of the whale fishery were exercising themselves in darting their harpoons, most of whom were drunk. One of them, Herman Rogaar by name, a hero among these people for his dexterity with his snickasnee, came up, and passed some of his coarse jokes upon my Turkish sabre, and offered to fillip me upon the nose. I pushed him from me, and the fellow threw down his cap, drew his snickasnee, and challenged me, called me monkey tail, and asked whether I chose a straight, circular, or a cross cut? Thus, here was I, in this excellent company, with no choice, but that of either fighting or running away. The robust Herculean fellow grew more insolent, and 1, turning round to the bystanders, asked them to lend me a snickasnee. " No, no," said the challenger, " draw your great knife from your side, and, long as it is, I w'ill lay you a dozen ducats you get a gash in the cheek." I drew; he confidently advanced with his snickasnee, and, at the first stroke of my sabre, that, and the hand that held it, dropped to the ground, and the blood spouted in my face. I now expected the people w'ould, indubitably, tear me to pieces; but my fear was changed into astonishment at hearing a universal shout, applauding the vanquisher of the redoubted Herman Rogaar, who, so lately feared for his strength and dexterity, became the object of their ridicule. I left Amsterdam for the Hague, where I had been recom- mended to lord Holderness, the English ambassador, by lord Hynford. One Mr. Schneck sought my acquaintance at the Hague. I met with him at my hotel, where he entreated I w'ould take him to Nuremberg, whence he was to proceed to Saxony. I complied, and bore his expenses; but at Hanau, waking in the morning, I found my watch, set with diamonds, a ring worth two thousand rubles, a diamond snuff-box, with my mistress's picture, and my purse containing about 18 ducats, stolen from my bed side, and Schneck become invisible. Little affected by the loss of my money at any time, I yet was grieved for my snuff-box. The rascal, however, escaped, and it was fortunate the remain- 48 Life of Baron Trenck. del' of my ready money, with my bills of exchange, were safely locked up. I now pursued my journey without company, and arrived at Vienna; I can not exactly recollect in what month, but I had been absent two years, and the reader will allow, that it was barely possible for any man, in so short a time, to have experienced more various changes of fate, though smaller in- cidents have been suppressed. Francis, Baron Trenck, died in the Spielberg, Oct. 4, 1749. It has been erroneously believed in Vienna, that his estates were confiscated by the sentence which condemned him to the Spielberg. He had committed no offence against the state, was accused of none, much less convicted. The court sentence was, that the administration of his estate should be committed to counsellor Kempt, and Baron Peyaczewitz, who were selected by himself, and the accounts of his stewards and farmers were to be sent to him yearly. He continued, till his death, to have the free and entire disposal of his property. The father of Baron Trenck, who died in the year 1743, governor of Leitschau, in Hungary, named me in his will the successor of his son, should he die without male heirs. He knew I was the legal claimant to his father's estates. His father had bought, with the family money remitted from Prussia, the lordships of Prestowacz and Pleternitz in Sclavonia, and he himself, during his father's life, and with his father's money, had purchased the lordship of Pakratz, for forty thousand florins. This must, therefore, also descend to me, he having no more power to will this from me, than he had the remainder of his paternal inheritance. Such was the state of affairs, as willed by Trenck, when I came to Vienna in 1750, where I arrived with money and jewels to the amount of 20,000 florins. Instead of profiting by the wealth Trenck had acquired, I expended 120,000 florins of my own money, including what devolved to me by my uncle, his father,' in the prosecution of his suits. How often have I repented I did not return to Berlin! I should have escaped ten years' imprisonment j should have received the L\f^ "f Baron Trench 49 estates of Trenck, should not have wasted my prime of life in the litigation of suits, and the writing of memorials, and should have certainly been ranked among the first men in my native country. Vienna was no place for a man who could not tawn and flatter; yet here was I destined to remain six and thirty years, unre- warded, unemployed, and through youth and age to continue on the list of invalid majors. Once more to my story; I was obliged to take upon myself the management of sixty-three suits, and the expenses attending any one of these are well known to those acquainted with Vienna. My situation may be imagined, when I intorm the reader that I only received 300 florins from the estates of Trenck, in three years, which were scarcely sufficient to defray the expenses of new years' gifts to the solicitors and masters in chancery. In three years, however, I brought my sixty-three suits to a kind of conclusion; the probabilities were, this could not have been effected in fifty. In the year 1754, and the month of March, my mother died in Prussia, and I requested permission of the court that held the in- heritance of Trenck, as difidei commissum, to make a journey to Dantzic to settle with my brothers and sister, my estates being confiscated. This permission was granted, and thither I went in May, where I once more fell into the hands of the Prussians, which was the second great and still more important epocha in my life. All who read what follows will shudder, will com- miserate him, who^ feeling himself innocent, relates afflictions he has miserably encountered, and gloriously overcome. I left Hungary, where I was in garrison, for Dantzic, where I had desired my brothers and sister to meet me, that we might settle our affairs. My principal intent, however, was a journey to Petersburgh, there to seek the advice and aid of my friends, for law and persecution were not ended at Vienna; and my captain's pay and small income were scarcely sufficient to defray the charges of attorneys and counsellors. I was immediately visited by my brothers and sister, on my arrival at Dantzic, where we lived happy in each other's com- pany, during a fortnight, and an amicable partition was made 50 Life of Baron Trench. of my mother's effects; my sister perfectly justified herself con- cerning the manner in which I was obliged to fly in the year 1746; our parting was kind, and as brother and sister ought to part. The day of supposed departure, on board a Swedish ship for Riga, approached, and the deceitful resident, Abrarason, promised to send one of his servants to the port to know the hour. About four in the afternoon, he told me he had himself spoken to the captain, w-ho said he should not sail till the next day; adding that he, Abramson, would expect me to breakfast, and would then accompany me to the vessel. I felt a secret inquietude, which made me desirous of leaving Dantzic, and immediately to send all my baggage, and sleep on board. Abramson prevented me, dragged me almost forcibly along with him, telling me he had much company, and that I must absolutely dine and sup at his house; accordingly I did not return to my inn till eleven at night. I was but just in bed when I heard a knocking at my door, which was not shut, and two of the city magistrates, with twenty grenadiers, entered my chamber, and surrounded my bed so sud- denly that I had not time to take my arms and defend myself. My three servants had been secured, and I was told that the most worthy magistracy of Dantzic was obliged to deliver me up, as a delinquent, to his majesty the king of Prussia. The next night, two magistrates, with their posse, came to my prison attended by resident Reimer, a Prussian officer, and other officers, and into their hands I was delivered. The pillage in- stantly began; Reimer tore off my ring, seized my watch, snuff box, and all I had; not so much as sending me a coat or shirt, from my effects; after which they put me into a close coach, with three Prussians. The Dantzic guard accompanied the carriage to the city gate, that was opened to let me pass, after which the Dantzic dragoons escorted me as far as Lunenburg, in Pomerania. I have forgotten the date of this miserable day, but to the best of my memory, it must have been in the beginning of June. Thirty Prussian hussars, commanded by a lieutenant, relieved the dragoons at Lunenberg, and thus was I guarded till I arrived at Berlin. -^i/^ o/" Baron Trench. 51 I was escorted from garrison to garrison, which were distant from each other two, three, or at most five miles; wherever I came, I found compassion and respect. The detachment of hussars only attended me two days: it consisted of twelve men, and an officer, who rode with me in the carriage. The fourth day I arrived at ; where the Duke of Wirteraberg, father of the present Grand Duchess of Russia, was commander, and where his regiment was in quarters. The Duke conversed with me, was much moved, invited me to dine, and detained me all day, where I was not treated as a prisoner. I so far gained his esteem, that I was allowed to remain there the next day; the chief persons of the place were assembled, and the Duchess, whom he had lately married, testified every mark of pity and esteem, I stayed to dine with him also on the third day, after which I departed in an open carriage, without escort, attended only by a lieutenant of his regiment. In a small garrison town, I lodged in the house of a captain of cavalry, and continually was treated with every mark of friendship. After dinner, he rode at the head of his squadron to water the horse unsaddled. I remained alone in the house, entered the stable, saw three remaining horses, with saddles and bridles; in my chamber was a sword, and a pair of pistols. I had but to mount one of the horses and fly to the opposite gate. I meditated on the project, and almost resolved to put it into execution, but presently became undetermined by some secret impulse. The next day he accompanied me alone in his carriage: we came to a forest; he saw some champignons, stopped, asked me to alight, and help to gather them; he strayed more than a hundred paces from me, and gave me entire liberty to fly: yet notwithstanding all this, T voluntarily returned, suffering myself to be led, like a sheep to the slaughter. I was treated so well, and escorted with so much negligence, that I fell into a gross error. Perceiving they conveyed me straight to Berlin, I imagined the king wished to question me concerning the plan formed for the war, which was then on the point of breaking out. This plan I perfectly knew, the secret correspondence of Bestuchef having all passed through my 52 Life of Baron Trench. hands, which circumstance was better known at Berlin than at Vienna. Confirmed in this opinion, and far from imagining the fate that awaited me, I remained irresolute, insensible, and blind to danger. Alas, how short was this hope! How quickly was it succeeded by despair, when, after lour days' march, I quitted the district under the command of the duke of Wirtemberg, and was delivered up to the garrison of infantry at Coffin. The last of the Wirtemberg officers, when taking leave of me, appeared to be greatly affected; and from this moment, till I came to Berlin, I was put under a strong escort, and the given orders were rigorously observed. Arrived here, I was lodged over the grand guard house, with two sentinels in my chamber, and one at my door. The king was at Potzdam, and here I remained three days: on the third, some staff officers made their appearance, seated themselves at a table, and put the following questions to me: First. What was my business at Dantzic? Secondly. Whether I was acquainted with M. Goltz, Prussian ambassador, in Russia? Thirdly. Who was concerned with me in the conspiracy at Dantzic? When I perceived their intention, by these interrogations, I absolutely refused to reply, only saying, 1 had been imprisoned in the fortress of Glatz, without hearing, or trial by court-mar- tial; that availing myself of the laws of nature, I had by my own exertions procured my liberty, and that I was now captain of cavalry in the imperial service; that I demanded a legal trial for my first unknown offence, after which I engaged to answer all interrogatories, and prove my innocence; but that at present, being accused of new crimes, without a hearing concerning my former punishment, the procedure was illegal. I was told they had no orders concerning this, and I remained dumb to all further questions. They wrote, some two hours, God knows what; a carriage came up; I was strictly searched, to find whether I had any w^eapons; thirteen or fourteen ducats, which I had concealed, were taken from me, and I was conducted under a strong escort, Life, of Baron Trcnck. 53 through Spandaii to Magdebourg. The officer here delivered me up to the captain of the guard of the citadel, the town major came and brought me to the dungeon, expressly prepared lor '( me; a small picture of the countess of Bestuchef, set with diamonds, which I had kept concealed in my bosom, was now taken from me; the door was shut, and here was I left. My dungeon was in a casement, the fore part of which, six feet wide, and ten feet long, was divided by a party wall. In the inner wall were three doors, and a third at the entrance of the casement itself. The window in the seven feet thick wall was so situated, that though I had light I could see neither heaven nor earth; I could only see the roof of the magazine. Within and W'ithout this window were iron bars, and in the space be- tween an iron grating, so close, and so situated by the rising of the walls, that it was impossible I should see any person without the prison, or that any person should see me. On the outsid e was a wooden palisado, six feet from the wall, by which the sentinels were prevented from conveying anything to me. I had a matress and a bedstead, but which was immovable, ironed to the floor, so that it was impossible I should drag it and stand to the window; beside the door was a small iron stove, and a night table, in like manner fixed to the floor. 1 was not yet put in irons, and my allowance was a pound and an half per day of ammunition bread, and a jug of water. From my youth I had always had a good appetite, and my bread was so mouldy I could scarcely at first eat the half of it. This was the conse- quence of Major Reiding's avarice, who endeavored to profit even by this, so great was the number of unfortunate prisoners, therefore it is impossible to describe the excess of tortures that, during eleven months, I felt from ravenous hunger. My three doors were kept ever shut, and I was left to such meditations as such feelings and such hopes might inspire. Daily about noon, once in twenty-four hours my pittance of bread and w^ater was brought, the keys of all the doors were kept by the governor; th - inner door was not opened, but my bread and water were delivered through an aperture. The prison doors were opened only once a week, on a Wednesday, 5 54 Life of Baron Trenck. when the governor and town major, my hole having been first cleaned, paid their visit. Having remained thus two months, and observed this method was invariable, I began to execute a project I had formed, of the possibility of which I was convinced. Where the night table and stove stood, the floor was bricked, and this paving extended to the wall that separated my casement from the adjoining one, in which was no prisoner. My window was only guarded by a single sentinel j I therefore soon found among those who success- ively relieved guard, two kind hearted fellows, who described to me the situation of my prison; hence I perceived I might effect my escape, could 1 but penetrate into the adjoining casement, the door of which was not shut, provided I had a friend, and a boat waiting for me at the Elbe, or could I swim across that river; the confines of Saxony were but a mile distant. To describe my plan at length, would lead to prolixity, yet I must enumerate some of its circumstances, as it was remarkably intricate, and of gigantic labor. I worked through the iron, eighteen inches long, by which the night table was fastened, and broke^off the clinchings of the nails, but preserved their heads, that I might put them in their places, and all might appear secure to my visitors. This pro- cured me tools to raise up the brick floor under which I found earth. My first attempt was to work a hole through the wall, seven feet thick behind, and concealed by the night table. The first layer was of brick. I afterwards came to large hewn stones. I endeavored accurately to number and remember the bricks, both of the flooring and the wall, so that I might replace them, and all appear safe; this having been accomplished, I proceeded. The day preceding visitation, all was carefully replaced, and the intervening mortar as carefully preserved; the whole had probably been whitewashed an hundred times, and that I might fill up all remaining interstices, I pounded the white stuff" this afforded, wet it, made a brush of my hair, then applied this plaster, washed it over that the color might be uniform, and afterwards stripped myself and sat with the heat of my naked body against the place, by the heat of which it was dried. While Life of Baron Trenck. 55 laboring, I placed the stones and bricks upon my bedstead, and had they taken the precaution to come at any other time in (ho week, the stated Weihiesday excepted, I had enevitably been discovered; but as no such ill accident befell me, in six months my Herculean labors gave me a prospect of success. Means were to be found to remove the rubbish from my prison; all of which, in a wall so thick, it was impossible to replace; mortar and stone could not be removed. 1 therefore took the earth, scattered it about my chamber, and ground it under my feet the whole day, till I had reduced it to dust; this dust I strewed in the aperture of my window, making useof the loosened night table to stand upon. I tied splinters from my bedstead together with the ravelled yarn of an old stocking, and to this affixed a tuft of my hair. I worked a large hole under the middle grating, which could not be seen when standing on the ground, and through this I pushed the dust, with the tool I had prepared, to the outer window, then, waiting till the wind should happen to rise, during the night, I brushed it away; it was blown off, and no appearance remained on the outside. By this single expedient, I rid myself of at least three hundied pounds weight of earth, and thus made room to continue my labor — yet, this being still insufficient, I had recourse to another artifice, which was, to knead up the earth in the form of sausages, to resemble the human feces; these I dried, and when the prisoner came to clean my dungeon, hastily tossed them into the night table, and thus disencumbered myself of a pound or two more of earth, each week. I further made little balls, and when the sentinel was walking, blew them through a paper tube, out of the window. Into the empty space I put my mortar and stones, and worked on successfully. I can not, however, describe my diffi- culties after having penetrated about two feet into the hewn stone. My tools were the irons I had dug out, which fastened my bedstead and night table. A compassionate soldier, also gave me an old ramrod, and a soldier's sheath kuife, which did 'ne excellent service, more especially the latter, as 1 shall presently more fully show. With these I cut splinters from my bedstead, which aided me to pick the mortar from the interstices of the 56 Life of Baron Trenck. stone; yet the labor of penetrating through this seven feet wall was incredible; the building was ancient, and the mortar, occa- sionally, quite petrified, so that the whole stone was obliged to be reduced to dust. After continuing my work unremittingly for six months, I at length approached the accomplishment of my hopes, as I knew, by coming to the facing of brick, which was now only between me and the adjoining casement. Mean time I found opportunity to speak to some of the sen- tinels, among whom was an old grenadier called Gefhardt, whom I here name, because he displayed qualities of the greatest and most noble kind. From him I learned the precise situation of my prison, and every circumstance that might best conduce to my escape. Nothing was wanting but money to buy a boat, and crossing the Elbe with Gefhardt, to take refuge in Saxony. By Gef- hardt's means, I became acquainted with a kind-hearted girl, a Jewess, and a native of Dessau, Esther Heymannin by name, and whose father had been ten years in'prison. This good, com- passionate maiden, whom I had never seen, won over two other grenadiers, who gave her an opportunity of speaking to me every time they stood sentinel. By tying my splinters together I made a stick long enough to reach beyond the palisados before my window, and thus obtained paper, another knife, and a file. I now wrote to my sister, the wife of the before mentioned only son of General Waldow, described my situation, and en- treated her to remit three hundred rix dollars to the Jewess, hoping by this means I might escape from my prison. Esther cheerfully departed for Hammer, where my sister, then a widow, and no longer, as in 1746, in dread of her husband, joyful to hear I was still living, immediately gave her the three hundred rix dollars, exhorting her to exert every possible'means to obtain my deliverance. Esther hastened back, with^the letter from my sister to me, to Berlin, and told me all that had passed. The king came to a review at Magdebourg, when he visited the Star Fort, and commanded a new cell to be immediately made, prescribing, himself, the kind of irons by which I was to be secured. The honest Gefhardt heard the officer say this cell Life of Baron Trenck. Sit' was meant for me; gave me notice of it, but assured me it coulil not be ready in less than a month. I therefore determined, as soon as possible, to complete my breach in the wall, and escape without the aid of any one. The thing was possible, for I twisted the hair of my matress into a rope, which I meant to tie to a cannon, and descend the rampart, after which I might swim across the Elbe, gain the Saxon frontiers, and thus^safely escape. On the 26th of May I had determined to break into the next casement, but when I came to work at the bricks, I found them so hard and strongly cemented, that I was obliged to defer the labor to the following day. I left off, weary and spent, at daybreak, and should any one enter my dungeon, they must infallibly discover the breach. How dreadful is the destiny by which, through life, I have been persecuted, and which has continually plunged me headlong into calamity, when I imagined happiness was at hand! The 27th of May was a cruel day in the history of my life. My cell in the Star Fort had been finished sooner than Gef hardt had supposed; and at night, when I was preparing to fly, I heard a carriage stop before my prison. Oh God! what was my terror, what were the horrors of this moment of despair! The locks and bolts resounded, the doors flew open, and the last of my poor remaining resources was to conceal my knife. The town-major, the major of the day, and a captain entered: I saw them by the light of their two lanterns. The only words they spoke, were, " dress yourself," which was immediately done. I still wore the uniform of the regiment of Cordova. Irons were given me, which I was obliged myself to fasten on my wrists and ancles; the town major tied a bandage over my eyes, and taking me under the arm, they thus conducted me to the carriage. It was necessary to pass through the city to arrive at the Star Fort. All was silent, except the noise of the escort; but when we entered Magdebourg, I heard the people running, who were crowding together, to obtain a sight of me. Their curiosity Avas raised by the report that I was going to be beheaded. That I was executed on this occasion, in the Star Fort, after having been conducted blind-folded through the city, has since been 18 Life of Baron Trenck. )oth affirmed and written, and the officers had then orders to Diopagate this error, that the world might remain in utter igno- [•ance concerning me. I, indeed, knew otherwise, though I iiffected not to have this knowledge; and as I was not gagged, I behaved as if I expected death — reproached my conducters in !an2fuaee that even made them shudder, and painted their king in his true colours, as one who, unheared, had condemned an innocent subject by a despotic exertion of power. My fortitude was admired, at the moment when it was supposed I thought myself leading to execution. No one replied, but their sighs intimated their compassion: certain it is, few Prussians willingly execute such commands. The carriage at length ' stopped, and I was brought into my new cell. The bandage was taken from ray eyes. The dungeon wms lighted by a few torches. God of heaven! what were my feel- ings when 1 beheld the whole floor covered with chains, a fire pan, and two grim men standing with their smith hammers! ***** To work went these engines of despotism; enormous chains I were fixed to my ancle at one end, and at the other to a ring which was incorporated in the wall. This ring was three feet From the ground, and only allowed me to move about two or three feet to the right and left. They next riveted another huge iron ring, of a hand's breadth, round my naked body, to which hunp; a chain fixed into an iron bar as thick as a man's arm. This bar was two feet in length, and at each end of it was a handcuff. The iron collar round my neck was not added till the year 1756. ***** No soul bade me good night. All retired in dreadful silence, and I heard the horrible grating of four doors that were successively locked and bolted upon me! Thus doth man act by his fellow, knowing him to be innocent, having received the commands of another man so to act. Sad experience had I of Vienna, and well I knew those who had despoiled me of my property, most anxiously would endea- vor to prevent my return. Such were my meditations! Such Life of Baron Trenck. 59 my night thoughts! Day at length returned; but where was its splendor fled? I beheld it not. Yet was its glimmering obscurity sufficient to show me what was my dungeon. In breadth it was about eight feet; in length, ten. Near me once more stood a night table; in a corner was a seat four bricks broad, on which I might sit, and recline against the wall. Opposite the ring to which I was fastened, the light was admitted through a semi-circular aperture, one foot high, and two in diameter. This aperture ascended to the centre of the wall, which was six feet thick, and at its central part was a close iron grating, from which, outward, the aperture descended, and its two extremities were again secured by strong iron bars. My dungeon was built in the ditch of the fortification and the aperture, by which the light entered, was so covered by the wall of the rampart, that, instead of finding immediate passage, the light only gained admission by reflection. This, considering the smallness of the aperture, and the impediments of grating and iron bars, must needs make the obscurity great, yet my eyes, in time, became so accustomed to this glimmering, that I could see a mouse run. In winter, however, when the sun did not shine in the ditch, it was eternal night with mc. Between the bars and the grating was a glass window, with a small central casement, which might be opened to admit air. My night table was daily removed, and beside me stood a jug of water. The name of Trenck was built in the wall, in red brick, and under my feet was a tomb-stone, with the name of Trenck also cut on it, and carved with a death's head. The doors to my dungeon were double, of oak, two inches thick; without these there was an open space, or front cell, in which was a window, and this space was likewise shut in by double doors. The ditch in which this dreadful den was built was enclosed, on both sides, by palisados twelve feet high, the key of the door of which was entrusted to the officer of the guard, it being the king's intention to prevent all possibility of speech or communication with the sentinels. The only motion I had the power to make, was that of jumping upwards, or swinging my arms, to procure myself warmth. When more accustomed to these fetters, I was like- to Life of Baron Trenck.l wise capable of moving from side to side, about four feet; but this pained ray shin bones. The cell had been finished with lime and plaster but eleven days, and every body supposed it would be impossible I should exist in these damps above a fortnight. I remained six months continually immersed in water, that trickled upon me from the brick arches under which I was; and I can safely affirm, that for the first three months, I was never dry; yet did I continue in health. I was visited daily at noon, after relieving guard, and the doors were then obliged to be left open some minutes, otherwise the dampness of the air put out their candles. This was my situation, and here I sat, destitute of friends, helplessly wretched, preyed on by all the torture of thought, that continually suggested the most gloomy, the most dreadful of images. My heart was not yet wholly turned to stone, my fortitude was wholly sunken to despondency; my dungeon was the very cave of despair, yet was ray arm restrained; yet was this excess of misery endured. How then, may hope be wholly eradicated from the heart of man! My fortitude, after some time, began to revive: I glowed with the desire of convincing the world I was capable of suflfering what man had never before suffered; perhaps, of at last emerging from this load of wretchedness, triumphant over my enemies. So long, and ardently, did my fancy dwell on this picture, that my mind at length acquired a heroism which Socrates himself certainly never possessed. Age had benumbed his sense of pleasure, and he drank the poisonous draught with cool indifference. I was young, inured to high hopes, yet now^ beholding deliverance impossible, or at an immense, a dreadful distance. Such, too, were the sufferings of soul and body, I could not hope they might be supported and live. About noon, my den was opened. Sorrow and compassion were painted on the countenances of my keepers. No one spoke. No one bid me good morrow. Dreadful indeed, was their arrival; for, unaccustomed to the Life of Baron Trench. SI monstrous bolts and bars, they kept resounding, for a full half hour, before such soul-chilling, such hope-murdering impediments were removed. It was the voice of tyranny that thundered! My night-table was taken out; a camp bed, matress and blankets were brought me; a jug of water sat down, and beside it an ammunition loaf of six pounds weight. "That you may no more complain of hunger," said the town-major, " you shall have as much bread as you can eat." The door was shut, and I again left to my thoughts. What a strange thing is that called happiness ! How shall I ex- press my extreme joy, when, after eleven months of intolerable hunger, I was again indulged with a full feast of ammunition bread? The fond lover never rushed more eagerly to the arms of his expecting bride; the famished tiger more ravenously on his prey, than I upon this loaf! I ate, rested, surveyed the precious morsel, ate again, and absolutely shed tears of pleasure. Breaking bit after bit, I had, by evening, devoured all my loaf. Oh Nature! what delight hast thou combined with the gratifi- cation of thy wants! Remember this, ye who rack invention to excite appetite, and which yet you cannot procure; remember how simple are the means that will give a crust of mouldy bread a flavor more exquisite than all the spices of the East, or all the profusions of land or sea; remember this, grow hungry, and indulge your sensuality. Alas! my enjoyment was of short duration. I soon found that excess is followed by pain and repentance. My fasting had weakened digestion, and rendered it inactive. My body swelled, my water jug was emptied, cramps, colics, and, at length, inordinate thirst racked me all the night. I began to pour curses on those who seem to refine on torture, and after starving me so long, to invite me to gluttony. Could I not have reclined on my bed, I should indeed have been driven this night to desperation; yet, even this was but a partial relief; for, not accustomed to my enormous fetters, I could not extend myself in them in the same manner I was afterwards taught to do by habit. I dragged them, however, so together, as to enable me to sit down on the bare matress. This, of all my nights of 62 Life of Baron Trenck. suffering, stands foremost. When they opened my dungeon next day, they found me in a truly pitiable situation, wondered at my appetite, brought me another loaf, I refused to accept it, believing I never more should have occasion for bread; they, however, left me one; gave me water, shrugged up their shoulders, wished me farewell, as, according to all appearance, they never expected to find me alive, and shut all the doors, without asking whether I wished or needed farther assistance. Three days had passed before I could again eat a morsel of bread. Brave in health, now, in a sick body, I became pusilla- nimous, so I determined on death. The irons were every where round my body, and their weight was insupportable; nor could I imagine it was possible I should habituate myself to them, or endure them long enough to expect deliverance; peace was a very distant prospect. The king had commanded that such a prison should be built as should exclude all necessity of a sentinel, in order that I might not converse with and seduce them from their duty; and in the first days of despair, deliverance appeared impossible, and the fetters, the war, the pain I felt, the place, the length of time, each circumstance seemed equally impossible to support. A thousand reasons convinced me it was necessary to end my suflferings. I shall not enter into theological disputes, let those who blame me imagine themselves in my situation; or rather, let them first actually endure my miseries, and then let them reason. I had often braved death in prosperity, and at this moment it seemed a blessing. Full of these meditations, every man's patience appeared absurdity, and resolution meanness of soul; yet I wished my mind should be satisfied that reason, and not rashness, had in- duced the act. I therefore determined, that I might examine the question coolly, to wait a week longer, and die on the 4th of July. In the mean time I revolved in my mind what possibility there was of escape, not fearing, naked and chained, to rush and expire on the bayonets of my enemies. The next day I observed, as four doors were opened, that they were of wood, therefore questioned whether [ might not even cut off the locks with the knife that I had so fortunately con- Life of Baron Trcnck. |§ cealed, and should this, and every other means fail, then wouUl be the time to die. I likewise determined to make an attempt even to free myself of njy chains. I happily forced my rirrht hand through the handcuff, though the blood trickled Irom my nails. My attempts on the left were long ineffectual, but, by rubbing with a brick, which 1 got from my seat, on the rivet that had been negligently closed, I effected this also. The chain was fastened to the rim round my body by a hook, one end of which was not inserted in the rim, therefore by setting my foot against the wall, I had strength enoug-h so far to bend this hook back, and open it, as to force out the link of the chain. The remaining difficulty was the chain that attached my foot to the wall; the links of this I took, doubled, twisted, and wrenched, till at length, nature having bestowed on me great strength, I made a desperate effort, sprang forcibly up, and two links at once flew off. Fortunate indeed did I think myself; I hastened to the door, groped in the dark to find the clinchings of the nails by which the lock was fastened, and discovered no very large piece of wood need be cut. Immediately I went to work with my knife? and cut the oak door to find its thickness, which proved to be only one inch, therefore it was possible to open all the four doors in four and twenty hours. Again hope revived in my heart. To prevent detection, I hastened to put on my chains; but, Oh God! what difficulties had I to surmount! After much groping about, I at length found the link that had flown off; this 1 hid. It had been my good fortune hitherto to escape examination, as the possibility of ridding myself of such chains was in no wise suspected. The separated links I tied together with my hair ribbon: but, when I again endeavored to force my hand into the ring, it was so swelled that every effort was fruitless. The whole night was employed upon the rivet, but all labor was in vain. Noon was the hour of visitation, and necessity and danger again obliged me to attempt forcing my hand in, which at length, after excruciating torture, I effected. My visitors came, and every thing had the appearance of order. I found it, however. 64 Life of Baron Trenck. impossible to force out my right hand while it continued swelled. 1 therefore remained quiet till the day fixed, and on the deter- mined fourth of July, immediately as my visitors had closed the doors upon me, I disencumbered myself from my irons, took my knife and began my*Herculean labor on the door. The first of the double doors that opened inwards, was conquered in less than an hour; the other was a very different task. The lock was soon cut round, but it opened outwards; there were, therefore, no other means left, but to cut the whole door away above the bar. This incessant and incredible labor made it possible, though it was more difficult, as every thing was done by feeling, I being totally in the dark; the sweat dropped, or rather flowed from ray body; my fingers were clotted with my own blood, and my lacerated hands were one continued wound. Day light appeared; I clambered over the door that was cut half away, and got up to the window in the space or cell that was between the double doors, as before described. Here I saw my dungeon was in the ditch of the first rampart; before me I beheld the road from the rampart, the guard but fifty paces distant, and the high palisados that were in the ditch, and must be scaled before I could reach the rampart. Hope grew stronger; my efforts were redoubled. The first of the next double doors was attacked, which likewise opened inward, and was soon con- quered. The sun set before I had ended this, and the fourth was to be cut away, as the second had been. My strength failed; both my hands were raw; I rested a while, began again, and had made a cut of a foot long, when my knife snapped, and the broken blade dropped to the ground. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ God of Omnipotence! what was I at this moment? Was there, God of mercies! was there ever creature of thine more justified than I in despair? The moon shone clear; I cast a wild dis- tracted look up to Heaven, fell on my knees, and in the agony of my soul sought comfort, but no comfort could be found, nor religion, nor philsophy had any to give. I cursed not providence, Life of Baron Trenck.