the battle of chotusitz.—letter to jordan.—results of the battle.—secret negotiations.—the treaty of breslau.—entrance into frankfort.—treachery of louis xv.—results of the silesian campaigns.—panegyrics of voltaire.—imperial character of maria theresa.—her grief over the loss of silesia.—anecdote of senora barbarina.—duplicity of both frederick and voltaire.—gayety in berlin.—straitened circumstances.—unamiability of frederick.
it was the aim of prince charles to get between frederick’s encampment at chrudim and his french allies, under marshal broglio, at prague. when discovered by frederick, the austrian army was on the rapid march along a line about fifteen miles nearly southwest of chrudim. it thus threatened to cut frederick’s communication with prague, which was on the moldau, about sixty miles west of the prussian encampment. the310 forces now gathering for a decisive battle were nearly equal. the reader would not be interested in the description of the strategic and tactical movements of the next two days. the leaders of both parties, with great military sagacity, were accumulating and concentrating their forces for a conflict, which, under the circumstances, would doubtless prove ruinous to the one or the other. a battle upon that open plain, with equal forces, was of the nature of a duel, in which one or the other of the combatants must fall.
on the morning of the 17th of may frederick’s army was drawn out in battle array, facing south, near the village of chotusitz, about fifteen miles west of chrudim. almost within cannon-shot of him, upon the same plain, near the village of czaslau, facing north, was the army of prince charles. the field was like a rolling western prairie, with one or two sluggish streams running through it; and here and there marshes, which neither infantry nor cavalry could traverse. the accompanying map will give the reader an idea of the nature of the ground and the position of the hostile forces.
battle of chotusitz.
a. prussian camp. b b. prussian infantry. c c. prussian cavalry. d. position of buddenbrock. e e. austrian infantry. f f. austrian cavalry. g. austrian hussars.
the sun rose clear and cloudless over the plain, soon to be crimsoned with blood and darkened by the smoke of battle. the prussians took position in accordance with very minute directions given to the young prince leopold by frederick. it was manifest to the most unskilled observer that the storm of311 battle would rage over many miles, as the infantry charged to and fro; as squadrons of strongly-mounted cavalry swept the field; as bullets, balls, and shells were hurled in all directions from the potent enginery of war.
about seven o’clock in the morning the king ascended an eminence, and carefully scanned the field, where sixty thousand men were facing each other, soon to engage in mutual slaughter. there were two spectacles which arrested his attention. the one was the pomp, and pageantry, and panoply of war, with its serried ranks, its prancing steeds, its flashing armor, its waving banners, its inspiriting bugle-peals—a scene in itself beautiful and sublime in the highest conceivable degree.
but there was another picture which met the eye of the king very different in its aspect. we know not whether it at all touched his heart. it was that of the poor peasants, with their mothers, their wives, their children, hurrying from their hamlets in all directions, in the utmost dismay. grandmothers tottered beneath the burden of infant children. fathers and mothers struggled on with the household goods they were striving to rescue from impending ruin. the cry of maidens and children reached the ear as they fled from the tramp of the war-horse and the approaching carnage of the death-dealing artillery.
frederick, having carefully scanned the austrian lines for an instant or two, gave the signal, and all his batteries opened their thunders. under cover of that storm of iron, several thousand of the cavalry, led by the veteran general bredow, deployed from behind some eminences, and first at a gentle trot, and then upon the most impetuous run, with flashing sabres, hurled themselves upon the left wing of the austrian lines. the ground was dry and sandy, and a prodigious cloud of dust enveloped them. for a moment the tornado, vital with human energies, swept on, apparently unobstructed. the first line of the austrian horse was met, crushed, annihilated. but the second stood as the rock breasts the waves, horse against horse, rider against rider, sabre against sabre. nothing met the eye but one vast eddying whirlpool of dust, as if writhing in volcanic energies, while here and there the flash of fire and the gleam of steel flickered madly through it.
the battle, thus commenced, continued to rage for four long312 hours, with all its demon energies, its blood, its wounds, its oaths, its shrieks, its death; on the right wing, on the left wing, in the centre; till some ten or twelve thousand, some accounts say more, of these poor peasant soldiers lay prostrate upon the plain, crushed by the hoof, torn by the bullet, gashed by the sabre. many were dead. many were dying. many had received wounds which would cripple them until they should totter into their graves. at the close of these four hours of almost superhuman effort, the villages all around in flames, the austrians slowly, sullenly retired from the contest. prince charles, having lost nearly seven thousand men, with his remaining forces breathless, exhausted, bleeding, retired through czaslau, and vanished over the horizon to the southwest. frederick, with his forces almost equally breathless, exhausted, and bleeding, and counting five thousand of his soldiers strewn over the plain, in death or wounds, remained master of the field. such was the famous battle of chotusitz.
in the following terms, frederick, the moment the battle was over, announced his victory, not to his wife, but to his friend jordan:
“from the field of battle of chotusitz, may 17, 1742.
“dear jordan,—i must tell you, as gayly as i can, that we have beaten the enemy soundly, and that we are all pretty well after it. poor rothenburg is wounded in the breast and in the arm, but, as it is hoped, without danger. adieu. you will be happy, i think, at the good news i send you. my compliments to c?sarion.”66
frederick did not pursue the austrians after this victory. nine acres of ground were required to bury the dead. he rented this land from the proprietor for twenty-five years. his alienation from his allies was such that, without regard to them, he was disposed to make peace with austria upon the best terms he could for himself. england also, alarmed in view of the increasing supremacy of france, was so anxious to detach frederick, with his invincible troops, from the french alliance, that the british cabinet urged maria theresa to make any sacrifice whatever that might be necessary to secure peace with prussia. frederick,313 influenced by such considerations, buried the illustrious austrian dead with the highest marks of military honor, and treated with marked consideration his distinguished prisoners of war.
secret negotiations were immediately opened at breslau, in silesia, between england, austria, and prussia. maria theresa, harassed by the entreaties of her cabinet and by the importunities of the british court, consented to all that frederick demanded.
the french, who, through their shrewd embassador, kept themselves informed of all that was transpiring, were quite alarmed in view of the approaching accommodation between prussia and austria. it is said that frederick, on the 6th of june, in reply to the earnest remonstrances of the french minister, marshal belleisle, against his withdrawal from the alliance, frankly said to him,
“all that i ever wanted, more than i ever demanded, austria now offers me. can any one blame me that i close such an alliance as ours all along has been, when such terms are presented to me as austria now proposes?”
on the 15th of june frederick gave a grand dinner to his generals at his head-quarters. in an after-dinner speech he said to them,
“gentlemen, i announce to you that, as i never wished to oppress the queen of hungary, i have formed the resolution of agreeing with that princess, and accepting the proposals she has made me, in satisfaction of my rights.”
toasts were then drank with great enthusiasm to the health of “maria theresa, queen of hungary,” to “the queen’s consort, francis, grand-duke of lorraine;” and universal and cordial was the response of applause when the toast was proposed “to the brave prince charles.”
the treaty of breslau was signed on the 11th of june, and ratified at berlin on the 28th of july. by this treaty, silesia, lower and upper, was ceded to “frederick and his heirs for evermore,” while frederick withdrew from the french alliance, and entered into friendly relations with her hungarian majesty. immediately after the settlement of this question, frederick, cantoning his troops in silesia, returned to berlin. elate with victory314 and accompanied by a magnificent suite, the young conqueror hastened home, over green fields and beneath a summer’s sun. keenly he enjoyed his triumph, greeted with the enthusiastic acclaim of the people in all the towns and villages through which he passed.67 at frankfort-on-the-oder, where a fair was in operation, the king stopped for a few hours. vast crowds, which had been drawn to the place by the fair, lined the highway for a long distance on both sides, eager to see the victor who had aggrandized prussia by adding a large province to its realms.
“his majesty’s entrance into frankfort,” writes m. bielfeld, who accompanied him, “although very triumphant, was far from ostentatious. we passed like lightning before the eyes of the spectators, and were so covered with dust that it was difficult to distinguish the color of our coats and the features of our faces. we made some purchases at frankfort, and the next day arrived safely in berlin, where the king was received with the acclamations of his people.”68
if we can rely upon the testimony of frederick, an incident occurred at this time which showed that the french court was as intriguing and unprincipled as was his prussian majesty. it is quite evident that the austrian court also was not animated by a very high sense of honor.
after the battle of chotusitz, frederick called upon general pallant, an austrian officer, who was wounded and a prisoner. in the course of the conversation, general pallant stated that france was ready at any moment to betray his prussian majesty, and that, if he would give him six days’ time, he would furnish him with documentary proof. a courier was instantly dispatched to vienna. he soon returned with a letter from cardinal fleury, the prime minister of louis xv., addressed to maria theresa, informing her that, if she would give up bohemia to the emperor, france would guarantee to her silesia. frederick, though guilty of precisely the same treachery himself, read the document with indignation, and assumed to be as much amazed at the perfidy as he could have been had he been an honest man.
315 “the cardinal,” he said, “takes me for a fool. he wishes to betray me. i will try and prevent him.”
the french marshal, belleisle, alarmed by the report that frederick was entering into a treaty of peace with austria, hastened to the prussian camp to ascertain the truth or falsehood of the rumor. frederick, emboldened by the document he had in his pocket, was very frank.
“i have prescribed,” he said, “the conditions of peace to the queen of hungary. she accepts them. having, therefore, all that i want, i make peace. all the world in my situation would do the same.”
“is it possible, sire,” marshal belleisle replied, “that you can dare to abandon the best of your allies, and to deceive so illustrious a monarch as the king of france?”
“and you, sir,” responded the king, with an air of great disdain, at the same time placing in his hand the cardinal’s letter, “do you dare to talk to me in this manner?”
the marshal glanced his eye over the document, and retired, overwhelmed with confusion. thus ended the alliance between prussia and france. “each party,” writes frederick, “wished to be more cunning than the other.”69
in the following terms, frederick correctly sums up the incidents of the two silesian campaigns:
“thus was silesia reunited to the dominions of prussia. two years of war sufficed for the conquest of this important province. the treasure which the late king had left was nearly exhausted. but it is a cheap purchase, where whole provinces are bought for seven or eight millions of crowns. the union of circumstances at the moment peculiarly favored this enterprise. it was necessary for it that france should allow itself to be drawn into the war; that russia should be attacked by sweden; that, from timidity, the hanoverians and saxons should remain inactive; that the successes of the prussians should be uninterrupted; and that the king of england, the enemy of prussia, should become, in spite of himself, the instrument of its aggrandizement. what, however, contributed the most to this conquest was an army which had been formed for twenty-two years, by means of a discipline admirable in itself, and superior to the troops of the316 rest of europe. generals, also, who were true patriots, wise and incorruptible ministers, and, finally, a certain good fortune which often accompanies youth, and often deserts a more advanced age.”70
there was no end to the panegyrics which voltaire, in his correspondence with frederick, now lavished upon him. he greeted him with the title of frederick the great.
“how glorious,” he exclaimed, “is my king, the youngest of kings, and the grandest! a king who carries in the one hand an all-conquering sword, but in the other a blessed olive-branch, and is the arbiter of europe for peace or war.”
frederick, having obtained all that, for the present, he could hope to obtain, deemed it for his interest to attempt to promote the peace of europe. his realms needed consolidating, his army recruiting, his treasury replenishing. but he found it much easier to stir up the elements of strife than to allay them.
his withdrawal from the french alliance removed the menace from the english hanoverian possession. george ii. eagerly sent an army of sixty thousand men to the aid of maria theresa against france, and freely opened to her his purse. the french were defeated every where. they were driven from prague in one of the most disastrous wintry retreats of blood and misery over which the demon of war ever gloated. the powerless, penniless emperor, the creature of france, who had neither purse nor army, was driven, a fugitive and a vagabond, from his petty realm of bavaria, and was exposed to humiliation, want, and insult.
maria theresa was developing character which attracted the admiration of europe. she seriously contemplated taking command of her armies herself. she loved duke francis, her husband, treated him very tenderly, and was anxious to confer upon him honor; but by nature vastly his superior, instinctively she assumed the command. she led; he followed. she was a magnificent rider. her form was the perfection of grace. her beautiful, pensive, thoughtful face was tanned by the weather. all hearts throbbed as, on a spirited charger, she sometimes swept before the ranks of the army, with her gorgeous retinue, appearing and disappearing like a meteor. she was as devout as she317 was brave, winning the homage of all catholic hearts. we know not where, in the long list of sovereigns, to point to man or woman of more imperial energies, of more exalted worth.
maria theresa at the head of her army.
the loss of silesia she regarded as an act of pure highway robbery. it rankled in her noble heart as the great humiliation and disgrace of her reign. frederick was to her but as a hated and successful bandit, who had wrenched from her crown one of318 its brightest jewels. to the last day of her life she never ceased to deplore the loss. it is said that if any stranger, obtaining an audience, was announced as from silesia, the eyes of the queen would instantly flood with tears. but the fortunes of war had now triumphantly turned in her favor. aided by the armies and the gold of england, she was on the high career of conquest. her troops had overrun bohemia and bavaria. she was disposed to hold those territories in compensation for silesia, which she had lost.
in the mean time, during the two years in which maria theresa was making these conquests, frederick, alarmed by the aggrandizement of austria and the weakening of france, while unavailingly striving to promote peace, was busily employed in the administration of his internal affairs. he encouraged letters; devoted much attention to the academy of arts and sciences; reared the most beautiful opera-house in europe; devoted large sums to secure the finest musicians and the most exquisite ballet-dancers which europe could afford. he sought to make his capital attractive to all those throughout europe who were inspired by a thirst for knowledge, or who were in the pursuit of pleasure.
one incident in this connection, illustrative of the man and of the times, merits brief notice. his agent at venice reported a female dancer there of rare attainments, se?ora barberina. she was marvelously beautiful, and a perfect fairy in figure and grace, and as fascinating in her vivacity and sparkling intelligence as she was lovely in person. frederick immediately ordered her to be engaged for his opera-house at berlin, at a salary of nearly four thousand dollars, and sundry perquisites.
but it so happened that the beautiful dancer had in the train of her impassioned admirers a young english gentleman, a younger brother of the earl of bute. he was opposed to barberina’s going to prussia, and induced her to throw up the engagement. frederick was angry, and demanded the execution of the contract. the pretty barberina, safe in venice, made herself merry with the complaints of the prussian monarch. frederick, not accustomed to be thwarted, applied to the doge and the senate of venice to compel barberina to fulfill her contract. they replied with great politeness, but did nothing. barberina319 remained with her lover under the sunny skies of italy, charming with her graceful pirouettes admiring audiences in the venetian theatres.
in the mean time a venetian embassador, on his way to one of the northern courts, passed a night at a hotel in berlin. he was immediately arrested, with his luggage, by a royal order. a dispatch was transmitted to venice, stating that the embassador would be held as a hostage till barberina was sent to prussia. “a bargain,” says frederick, in his emphatic utterance, “is a bargain. a state should have law courts to enforce contracts entered into in their territories.”
the doge and senate were brought to terms. they seized the beautiful barberina, placed her carefully in a post-chaise, and, under an escort of armed men, sent her, from stage to stage, over mountain and valley, till she arrived at berlin. the venetian embassador was then discharged. the young english gentleman, james mackenzie, a grandson of the celebrated advocate, sir george mackenzie, eagerly followed his captured inamorata, and reached berlin two hours after barberina. the rumor was circulated that he was about to marry her.
it is said that frederick, determined not to lose his dancer in that manner, immediately informed the young gentleman’s friends that he was about to form a mesalliance with an opera girl. the impassioned lover was peremptorily summoned home. hatred for frederick consequently rankled in young mackenzie’s heart. this hatred he communicated to his brother, lord bute, which subsequently had no little influence in affairs of national diplomacy.
the king himself became much fascinated with the personal loveliness and the sparkling intelligence of the young dancer. he even condescended to take tea with her, in company with others. not long after her arrival in berlin she made a conquest of a young gentleman of one of the first prussian families, m. cocceji, son of the celebrated chancellor, and was privately married to him. for a time barberina continued upon the stage. at length, in the enjoyment of ample wealth, she purchased a splendid mansion, and, publicly announcing her marriage, retired with her husband to private life. but the mother of cocceji, and other proud family friends, scorned the lowly alliance. a320 divorce was the result. soon after, barberina was married to a nobleman of high rank, and we hear of her no more.
though frederick, in his private correspondence, often spoke very contemptuously of voltaire, it would seem, if any reliance can be placed on the testimony of voltaire himself, that frederick sedulously courted the author, whose pen was then so potential in europe. by express invitation, voltaire spent a week with frederick at aix la chapelle early in september, 1742. he writes to a friend from brussels under date of december 10:
“i have been to see the king of prussia. i have courageously resisted his fine proposals. he offers me a beautiful house in berlin, a pretty estate, but i prefer my second floor in madame du chatelet’s here. he assures me of his favor, of the perfect freedom i should have; and i am running to paris, to my slavery and persecution. i could fancy myself a small athenian refusing the bounties of the king of persia; with this difference, however, one had liberty at athens.”
again he writes, under the same date, to the marquis d’argenson:
“i have just been to see the king of prussia. i have seen him as one seldom sees kings, much at my ease, in my own room, in the chimney-corner, whither the same man who has gained two battles would come and talk familiarly, as scipio did with terence. you will tell me i am not terence. true; but neither is he altogether scipio.”
again he writes, under the same date, to cardinal de fleury, then the most prominent member of the cabinet of louis xv.:
“monseigneur,—i am bound to give your excellency some account of my journey to aix la chapelle. i could not leave brussels until the second of this month. on the road i met a courier from the king of prussia, coming to reiterate his master’s orders on me. the king had me lodged in quarters near his own apartment. he passed, for two consecutive days, four hours at a time in my room, with all that goodness and familiarity which form, as you know, part of his character, and which does not lower the king’s dignity, because one is duly careful not to abuse it. i had abundant time to speak with a great deal of freedom on what your excellency had prescribed to me, and the king spoke to me with an equal frankness.
321 “first he asked me ‘if it were true that the french nation were so angered against him, if the king was, and if you were.’ i answered ‘that there was nothing permanent.’ he then condescended to speak fully upon the reasons which induced him to make peace. these reasons were so remarkable that i dare not trust them to this paper. all that i dare say is, that it seems to me easy to lead back the mind of this sovereign, whom the situation of his territories, his interest, and his taste would appear to mark as the natural ally of france. he said, moreover, ‘that he earnestly desired to see bohemia in the emperor’s hands, that he renounced all claim on berg and jülick, and that he thought only of keeping silesia.’ he said ‘that he knew well enough that the house of austria would one day wish to recover that fine province, but that he trusted he could keep his conquest. that he had at that time a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers perfectly prepared for war; that he would make of neisse, glogau, and brieg fortresses as strong as wesel; that he was well informed that the queen of hungary owed eighty million german crowns ($60,000,000); that her provinces, exhausted and wide apart, would not be able to make long efforts; and that the austrians for a long time to come could not of themselves be formidable.’”71
frederick was accustomed to cover his deep designs of diplomacy322 by the promotion of the utmost gayety in his capital. never did berlin exhibit such spectacles of festivity and pleasure as during the winter of 1742 and 1743. there was a continued succession of operas, balls, fêtes, and sleigh-parties. frederick’s two younger sisters were at that time brilliant ornaments of his court. they were both remarkably beautiful and vivacious. the princess louise ulrique was in her twenty-third year. the following letter to frederick from these two princesses will be keenly appreciated by many of our young lady readers whose expenses have exceeded their allowance. it shows very conclusively that there may be the same pecuniary annoyances in the palaces of kings as in more humble homes.
“berlin, 1st of march, 1743.
“my dearest brother,—i know not if it is not too bold to trouble your majesty on private affairs. but the great confidence my sister and i have in your kindness encourages us to lay before you a sincere avowal of our little finances, which are a good deal deranged just now. the revenues, having for two years and a half past been rather small, amounting to only four hundred crowns ($300) a year, could not be made to cover all the little expenses required in the adjustment of ladies. this circumstance, added to our card-playing, though small, which we could not dispense with, has led us into debt. mine amounts to fifteen hundred crowns ($1125); my sister’s, to eighteen hundred crowns ($1350). we have not spoken of it to the queen-mother, though we are sure she would have tried to assist us. but as that could not have been done without some inconvenience to her, and as she would have retrenched in some of her own little entertainments, i thought we should do better to apply directly to your majesty. we were persuaded you would have taken it amiss had we deprived the queen of her smallest pleasure, and especially as we consider you, my dear brother, the father of the family, and hope you will be so gracious as to help us. we shall never forget the kind acts of your majesty. we beg you to be persuaded of the perfect and tender attachment with which we are proud to be, all our lives, your majesty’s most humble sisters and servants,
louise ulrique,
“anne amelia.
“p.s.—i most humbly beg your majesty not to speak of this323 to the queen-mother, as perhaps she would not approve of the step we are now taking.
ann amelia.”72
about this time frederick was somewhat alarmed by a statement issued by the court of austria, that the emperor, charles albert, was no legitimate emperor at all; that the election was not valid; and that austria, which had the emperor’s kingdom of bavaria by the throat, insisted upon compensation for the silesia she had lost. it was evident that maria theresa, whose armies were every where successful, was determined that her husband, duke francis, should be decorated with the imperial crown. it now seemed probable that she would be able to accomplish her design. frederick was alarmed, and deemed it necessary to strengthen himself by matrimonial alliances.
the heir to the russian throne was an orphan boy, peter federowitz. the russian court was looking around to obtain for him a suitable wife. frederick’s commandant at stettin, a man of renowned lineage, had a beautiful daughter of fourteen. she was a buxom girl, full of life as she frolicked upon the ramparts of the fortress with her young companions. frederick succeeded in obtaining her betrothal to the young prince of russia. she was solemnly transferred from the protestant to the greek religion; her name was changed to catharine; and she was eventually married, greatly to the satisfaction of frederick, to the young russian czar.
adolph frederick was the heir to the throne of sweden. successful diplomacy brought a magnificent embassy from stockholm to berlin, to demand princess ulrique as the bride of sweden’s future king. the course of love, whether true or false, certainly did in this case run smooth. the marriage ceremony was attended in berlin with such splendor as the prussian capital had never witnessed before. the beautiful ulrique was very much beloved. she was married by proxy, her brother augustus william standing in the place of the bridegroom.
all eyes were dimmed with tears as, after a week of brilliant festivities, she prepared for her departure. the carriages were at the door to convey her, with her accompanying suite of lords and ladies, to stralsund, where the swedish senate and nobles324 were to receive her. the princess entered the royal apartment to take leave of her friends, dressed in a rose-colored riding-habit trimmed with silver. the vest which encircled her slender waist was of sea-green, with lappets and collar of the same. she wore a small english bonnet of black velvet with a white plume. her flowing hair hung in ringlets over her shoulders, bound with rose-colored ribbon.
the king, who was devotedly attached to his sister, and who was very fond, on all occasions, of composing rhymes which he called poetry, wrote a very tender ode, bidding her adieu. it commenced with the words
“partez, ma s?ur, partez; la suède vous attend, la suède vous désire.”
go, my sister, go; sweden waits you, sweden wishes you.
“his majesty gave it to her at the moment when she was about to take leave of the two queens. the princess threw her eyes on it and fell into a faint. the king had almost done the like. his tears flowed abundantly. the princes and princesses were overcome with sorrow. at last gotter judged it time to put an end to this tragic scene. he entered the hall almost like boreas in the ballet of “the rose”—that is to say, with a crash. he made one or two whirlwinds, clove the press, and snatched away the princess from the arms of the queen-mother, took her in his own, and whisked her out of the hall. all the world followed. the carriages were waiting in the court, and the princess in a moment found herself in hers.
“i was in such a state i know not how we got down stairs. i remember only that it was in a concert of lamentable sobbings. madame, the marchioness of schwedt, who had been named to attend the princess to stralsund, on the swedish frontier, this high lady, and the two dames d’atours, who were for sweden itself, having sprung into the same carriage, the door of it was shut with a slam, the postillions cracked, the carriage shot away, and disappeared from our eyes. in a moment the king and court lost sight of the beloved ulrique forever.”73
frederick was far from being an amiable man. he would325 often cruelly banter his companions, knowing that it was impossible for them to indulge in any retort. baron p?llnitz was a very weak old man, who had several times changed his religion to subserve his private interests. he had been rather a petted courtier during three reigns. now, in extreme old age, and weary of the world, he wished to renounce protestantism, and to enter the cloisters of the convent in preparation for death. he applied to the king for permission to do so. frederick furnished him with the following sarcastic parting testimony. it was widely circulated through many of the journals of that day, exciting peals of laughter as a capital royal joke:
“whereas the baron de p?llnitz, born of honest parents, so far as we know, having served our grandfather as gentleman of the chamber, madame d’orleans in the same rank, the king of spain as colonel, the deceased emperor charles vi. as captain of horse, the pope as chamberlain, the duke of brunswick as chamberlain, the duke of weimar as ensign, our father as chamberlain, and, in fine, us as grand master of ceremonies, has, notwithstanding such accumulation of honors, become disgusted with the world, and requests of us a parting testimony;
“we, remembering his important services to our house in diverting for nine years long the late king our father, and doing the honors of our court through the now reign, can not refuse such request. we do hereby certify that the said baron p?llnitz has never assassinated, robbed on the highway, poisoned, forcibly cut purses, or done other atrocity or legal crime at our court; but that he has always maintained gentlemanly behavior, making not more than honest use of the industry and talents he has been endowed with at birth; imitating the object of the drama—that is, correcting mankind by gentle quizzing—following in the matter of sobriety boerhaave’s counsels, pushing christian charity so far as often to make the rich understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive; possessing perfectly the anecdotes of our various mansions, especially of our worn-out furnitures, rendering himself by his merits necessary to those who know him, and, with a very bad head, having a very good heart.
“our anger the said baron p?llnitz never kindled but once.74326 but as the loveliest countries have their barren spots, the most beautiful forms their imperfections, pictures by the greatest masters their faults, we are willing to cover with the veil of oblivion those of the said baron. we do hereby grant him, with regret, the leave of absence he requires, and abolish his office altogether, that it may be blotted from the memory of man, not judging that any one, after the said baron, can be worthy to fill it.
“frederick.
“potsdam, april 1, 1744.”
no man of kindly sympathies could have thus wantonly wounded the feelings of a poor old man who had, according to his capacity, served himself, his father, and his grandfather, and who was just dropping into the grave. a generous heart would have forgotten the foibles, and, remembering only the virtues, would have spoken words of cheer to the world-weary heart, seeking a sad refuge in the glooms of the cloister. it must be confessed that frederick often manifested one of the worst traits in human nature. he took pleasure in inflicting pain upon others.