days of peace and prosperity.—the palace of sans souci.—letter from marshal keith.—domestic habits of the king.—frederick’s snuff-boxes.—anecdotes.—severe discipline of the army.—testimony of baron trenck.—the review.—death of the “divine emilie.”—the king’s revenge.—anecdote of the poor schoolmaster.—the berlin carousal.—appearance of his majesty.—honors conferred upon voltaire.
“happy the people,” says montesquieu, “whose annals are blank in history books.” the annals of the nations are mainly composed of wars, tumult, and woe. for ten years prussia enjoyed peace. during this happy period, when the days and the years glided by in tranquillity, there is little left for the historian to record. frederick engaged vigorously in repairing the ruins left by the war. the burned silesian villages were rebuilt; debts were paid; agriculture and commerce encouraged; the laws revised and reformed. a decree was issued that all lawsuits should be brought to a decision within a year after their beginning.
the king, weary of the life of turmoil, constructed for himself376 a beautiful villa, which he named sans souci (“free from care”), which carlyle characteristically translates “no bother.” it was situated on a pleasant hill-top near potsdam, in great retirement, yet commanding an enchanting view of land and water.
on the first of may, 1747, frederick took formal possession of this beautiful chateau. the occasion was celebrated by quite a magnificent dinner of two hundred covers. here, for the next forty years, he spent most of his leisure time. he had three other palaces, far surpassing sans souci in splendor, which he occasionally visited on days of royal festivities. berlin and charlottenburg were about twenty miles distant. the new palace, so called, at potsdam, was but about a mile from sans souci. he had also his palace at rheinsberg, some thirty miles north of berlin, where he had spent many of his early days.
the new palace at potsdam.
it is said that one day, as frederick was contemplating the royal burying-ground, not far from the spot which he had selected for his rural villa, he said to a companion by his side, in reference to his own burial, “oui, alors je serais sans souci.” yes, then i shall be free from care. from that remark the villa took its name. frederick adopted it, and inscribed it in golden letters on the lintel. he appropriated to his private use three apartments—an audience-room, a library, and a small alcove for a bedroom. in this alcove, scarcely larger than a closet, he slept, in soldier style, upon an iron bed, without curtains. an old slouched hat, softened by wear, served him for a night-cap. his library was a beautiful room, very richly furnished. there were377 terrible war-clouds still sweeping over various parts of europe, but their lightning flashes and their thunder roar disturbed not the repose of frederick in his elevated retreat.
in the month of october, 1747, field-marshal keith visited his prussian majesty at sans souci. in a letter to his brother he thus describes the results of his observations:
“i have now the honor, and, what is still more, the pleasure of being with the king at potsdam. i have the honor to dine and sup with him almost every day. he has more wit than i have wit to tell you; speaks solidly and knowingly on all kinds of subjects; and i am much mistaken if, with the experience of four campaigns, he is not the best officer of his army. he has several persons with whom he lives with almost the familiarity of a friend, but he has no favorite. he shows a natural politeness for every body who is about him. for one who has been four days about his person, you will say, i pretend to know a great deal about his character. but what i tell you you may depend upon. with more time i shall know as much of him as he will let me know, and no one of his ministry knows any more.”
the king was a very busy man. in addition to carrying on quite an extensive literary correspondence, he was vigorously engaged in writing his memoirs. he was also with great energy developing the wealth of his realms. in the exercise of absolute power, his government was entirely personal. he had no constitution to restrain him. under his single control were concentrated all legislative, judicial, and executive powers. there was no senate or legislative corps to co-operate in framing laws. his ministers were merely servants to do his bidding. the courts had no powers whatever but such as he intrusted to them. he could at any time reverse their decrees, and flog the judges with his cane, or hang them.
frederick was a great snuff-taker. he always carried two large snuff-boxes in his pocket. several others stood upon tables around in his rooms, always ready for use. the cheapest of these boxes cost fifteen hundred dollars. he had some richly studded with gems, which cost seven thousand five hundred dollars. at his death one hundred and thirty snuff-boxes appeared in the inventory of his jewels.
many anecdotes are related illustrative of the kind feelings of378 the king toward the peasants. he was much interested in ameliorating their condition, and said to the bishop of varmia, “believe me, if i knew every thing—if i could read every thing myself—all my subjects should be happy. but alas! i am but a man.”
in the ranks all of the army were equally entitled to distinction. promotion was conferred upon merit, not upon the accident of birth. this principle, which was entirely ignored in the other european despotisms, probably contributed to the success of frederick’s armies. a hanoverian count wrote to him, soliciting a high position in the army for his son, in favor of his exalted birth. frederick dictated the following reply:
“i am obliged to tell you that i have long forbid counts to be received, as such, into my army; for when they have served one or two years they retire, and merely make their short military career a subject of vain boasting. if your son wishes to serve, the title of count can be of no use to him. but he will be promoted if he learn his profession well.”
the king then took the pen himself, and added with his own hand:
“young counts who have learned nothing are the most ignorant people in all countries. in england the king’s son begins by being a sailor on board a ship, in order to learn the man?uvres belonging to that service. if it should miraculously happen that a count could be good for any thing, it must be by banishing all thoughts about his titles and his birth, for these are only follies. every thing depends upon personal merit.
“frederick.”
the severity of discipline in the prussian army was dreadful. the slightest misdemeanor was punished mercilessly. the drill, exposure, and hardships in the camp made life to the soldier a scene of constant martyrdom. desertion was almost impossible. the only avenue of escape was suicide. in the little garrison at potsdam, in ten years, over three hundred, by self-inflicted death, escaped their miseries. dr. zimmerman states that it not unfrequently happened that a soldier murdered a child, and then came and gave himself up to justice. they thought that if they committed379 suicide they would be subject to eternal punishment. but the murdered infant was sure to go to heaven, and the murderer would have time to repent and make his peace with god.
baron trenck, in his memoir, gives an appalling account of these hardships in the body-guards to which he belonged. in time of peace there was scarcely an hour which he could command. the morning drill commenced at four o’clock. the most complicated and perilous man?uvres were performed. frederick considered this the best school for cavalry in the world. they were compelled to leap trenches, which were continually widened till many fell in and broke their legs or arms. they were also compelled to leap hedges, and continue to charge at the highest possible speed for miles together. almost daily some were either killed or wounded. at midday they took fresh horses, and repeated these toilsome and dangerous labors. frequently they would be called from their beds two or three times in one night, to keep them on the alert. but eight minutes were allowed the guardsman to present himself on horseback, in his place, fully equipped. “in one year of peace,” he says, “the body-guards lost more men and horses than they had in two battles during the war.”
in 1747 marshal saxe visited potsdam. he witnessed a review of the guards. in the account of this review given by algarotti, he says, “the squadron of guards, which at one time, drawn up close, exhibited the appearance of a rock, at another resembled a cloud scattered along the plain. in the charge on full gallop one horse’s head was not a foot beyond another. the line was so exactly straight that euclid himself could not have found fault with it.”
in september, 1749, madame du chatelet, the “divine emilie” of voltaire, suddenly died. the infidel philosopher seemed much grieved for a time. frederick, who never fancied madame du chatelet, was the more eager, now that she was out of the way, that voltaire should come to sans souci, and aid him in his literary labors. a trivial incident occurred at this time worthy of record, as illustrative of the character of the king. at the close of the year 1749 there had been a review of austrian troops at m?hren. it was not a very important affair, neither the empress queen nor her husband being present. three380 prussian officers made their appearance. it was said that they had come to inveigle soldiers to desert, and enlist under the banners of prussia. they were peremptorily ordered by the austrian authorities to leave the ground. frederick, when he heard of it, said nothing, but treasured it up.
a few months after, in may, 1750, there was a grand review at berlin. an austrian officer who chanced to be there was invited by his friend, a prussian officer, lieutenant colonel chasot, to attend. the austrian was not willing to ride upon the parade-ground without the permission of the king. colonel chasot called upon frederick and informed him that an austrian officer would be happy, with his majesty’s permission, to be present at the review.
“certainly, certainly,” exclaimed the king.
this was on the evening before the review. on the morrow the austrian accordingly rode upon the field. he had hardly arrived there when, just as the man?uvres were commencing, one of the aids-de-camp of frederick galloped up to him and said, “by the king’s command, sir, you are ordered instantly to retire from this field.”
colonel chasot, exceedingly chagrined, rode directly to the king, and inquired, “did not your majesty grant me permission to invite my friend to the review?”
“certainly,” replied the king, in his most courteous tones; “and if he had not come, how could i have paid back the m?hren business of last year?”
it is pleasant to record another incident more creditable to frederick. in the year 1750 there was a poor and aged schoolmaster, by the name of linsenbarth, a very worthy man, a veritable dominie sampson, residing in the obscure village of hemmleben. he had been educated as a clergyman, had considerable book learning, was then out of employment, and was in extreme destitution. the pastor of the village church died, leaving a vacant pulpit, and a salary amounting to about one hundred dollars a year. the great man of the place, a feudal lord named von werthern, offered the situation to linsenbarth upon condition that he would marry his lady’s termagant waiting-maid. linsenbarth, who had no fancy for the haughty shrew, declined the offer. the lord and lady were much offended, and in various381 ways rendered the situation of the poor schoolmaster so uncomfortable that he gathered up his slender means, amounting to about three hundred dollars, all in the deteriorated coin of the province, and went to berlin. his money was in a bag containing nearly nine thousand very small pieces of coin, called batzen.
at the custom-house the poor man’s coin was seized as contraband. he was informed that the king, had forbidden the circulation of that kind of money in berlin. the heartless officials laughed at the poor man’s distress, paid no regard to his remonstrances and pleadings, and locked up his confiscated coin.
poor linsenbarth had a feather bed, a small chest of clothes, and a bag of books. he went to a humble inn, called the “white swan,” utterly penniless. the landlord, seeing that he could levy upon his luggage in case of need, gave him food and a small room in the garret to sleep in. here he remained in a state verging upon despair for eight weeks. some of the simple neighbors advised him to go directly to the king, as every poor man could do at certain hours in the day. he wrote a brief statement of the facts, and started on foot for potsdam. we give the result in the words of linsenbarth:
“at potsdam i was lucky enough to see the king. he was on the esplanade drilling his troops. when the drill was over he went into the garden, and the soldiers dispersed. four officers remained lounging on the esplanade. for fright, i knew not what to do; i drew the papers from my pocket. these were my memorial, two certificates of character, and a thuringian pass. the officers, noticing this, came directly to me and said, ‘what letters have you there?’ i thankfully imparted the whole. when the officers had read them, they said, ‘we will give you good advice. the king is extra gracious to-day, and is gone alone into the garden. follow him straight. you will have luck.’
“this i would not do; my awe was too great. they thereupon laid hands upon me. one took me by the right arm, another by the left, and led me to the garden. having got me there, they looked out for the king. he was among the gardeners examining some rare plant, and had his back to us. here i had to halt. the officers began in an under tone to put me382 through my drill. ‘take your hat under your left arm; put your right foot foremost; breast well forward; hold your head up; hold your papers aloft in your right hand; there, so—steady—steady!’
frederick and linsenbarth.
“they then went away, often looking around to see if i kept my posture. i perceived well enough that they were making game of me; but i stood all the same like a wall, being full of fear. when the king turned round he gave a look at me like a flash of sunbeams glancing through you. he sent one of the gardeners to bring my papers. taking them, he disappeared in one of the garden walks. in a few minutes he came back with my papers open in his hand, and waved with them for me to come nearer. i plucked up heart and went directly to him. oh, how graciously this great monarch deigned to speak to me!
383 “‘my good thuringian,’ said the king, ‘you came to berlin seeking to earn your bread by the industrious teaching of children, and here at the custom-house they have taken your money from you. true, the batzen are not legal here. they should have said to you, “you are a stranger and did not know of the prohibition. we will seal up the bag of batzen. you can send it back to thuringia and get it changed for other coin.” be of good heart, however. you shall have your money again, and interest too. but, my poor man, in berlin they do not give any thing gratis. you are a stranger. before you are known and get to teaching, your bit of money will be all gone. what then?’
“i understood the speech perfectly well, but my awe was too great to allow me to say, ‘your majesty will have the grace to allow me something.’ but as i was so simple, and asked for nothing, he did not offer any thing. and so he turned away. but he had gone scarcely six or eight steps when he looked around and gave me a sign to walk by his side.”
the king then questioned him very closely respecting the place where he had studied, during what years, under what teachers, and to what branches he had devoted special attention. while thus conversing the clock struck twelve. this was the dinner-hour of his majesty. “now i must go,” said the king. “they wait for their soup.”
linsenbarth, thus left alone, sauntered from the garden back to the esplanade. there he stood quite bewildered. he had walked that day twenty miles beneath a july sun and over the burning sands. he had eaten nothing. he had not a farthing in his pocket.
“in this tremor of my heart,” writes linsenbarth, “there came a valet out of the palace and asked, ‘where is the man that was with my king in the garden?’ i answered, ‘here.’ he led me into the palace to a large room, where pages, lackeys, and soldier valets were about. my valet took me to a little table excellently furnished with soup, beef; likewise carp, dressed with garden salad; likewise game, with cucumber salad; bread, knife, fork, plate, spoon were all there. my valet set me a chair, and said,
“‘this that is on the table the king has ordered to be served for you. you are to eat your fill and mind nobody. i am to serve.’
384 “i was greatly astonished, and knew not what to do; least of all could it come into my head that the king’s valet who waited on his majesty should wait on me. i pressed him to sit by me; but, as he refused, i did as bidden.
“the valet took the beef from the table and set it on the charcoal dish until wanted. he did the like with the fish and roast game, and poured me out wine and beer. i ate and drank till i had abundantly enough. dessert, confectionery, what i could. a plate of big black cherries and a plateful of pears my waiting-man wrapped in paper, and stuffed them into my pockets to be a refreshment on the way home. and so i rose from the royal table, and thanked god and the king in my heart that i had so gloriously dined. at that moment a secretary came, brought me a sealed order for the custom-house at berlin, with my certificates and the pass; told down on the table five tail-ducats and a gold friedrich under them, saying, ‘the king sent me this to take me home to berlin.’93
“and if the hussar took me into the palace, it was now the secretary took me out again. and there, yoked with six horses, stood a royal wagon, which, having led me to, the secretary said, ‘you people, the king has given order that you are to take this stranger to berlin, and you are to accept no drink-money from him.’ i again testified my thankfulness for the royal kindness, took my place, and rolled away.
“on reaching berlin i went at once to the custom-house, and handed them my royal order. the head man opened the seal. in reading, he changed color—went from pale to red; said nothing, and gave it to the second man to read. the second put on his spectacles, read, and gave it to the third. however, the head man rallied himself at last. i was to come forward and be so good as to write a receipt that i had received for my four hundred thalers, all in batzen, the same sum in brandenburg coin, ready down, without the least deduction. my cash was at once accurately paid, and thereupon the steward was ordered to go with me to the ‘white swan,’ and pay what i owed there, whatever my score was. that was what the king had meant when he said ‘you shall have your money back, and interest too.’”
385 this good old man died in berlin on the 24th of august, 1777, eighty-eight years of age.
in the autumn of 1750 frederick held a famous berlin carousal, the celebrity of which filled all europe. distinguished guests flocked to the city from all the adjoining realms. wilhelmina came to share in the festivities. voltaire was also present, “the observed of all observers.” an english gentleman, sir jonas hanway, in the following terms describes the appearance of frederick at this time:
“his prussian majesty rides much about, often at a rapid rate, with a pleasant business aspect—humane, though imperative; handsome to look upon, though with a face perceptibly reddish. his age, now thirty-eight gone; a set appearance, as if already got into his forties; complexion florid; figure muscular, almost tending to be plump.”
the carousal presented a very splendid spectacle. it took place by night, and the spacious arena was lighted by thirty thousand torches. the esplanade of the palace, which presented an ample parallelogram, was surrounded by an amphitheatre of rising seats, crowded with the beauties and dignitaries of europe. at one end of the parallelogram was a royal box, tapestried with the richest hangings. the king sat there; his sister, the princess amelia, was by his side, as queen of the festival. where the neglected wife of frederick was is not recorded. the entrance for the cavaliers was opposite the throne. the jousting parties consisted of four bands, representing romans, persians, carthaginians, and greeks. they were decorated with splendid equipments of jewelry, silver helmets, sashes, and housings, and were mounted on the most spirited battle-steeds which europe could furnish. the scene was enlivened by exhilarating music, and by the most gorgeous decorations and picturesque costumes which the taste and art of the times could create. the festivities were closed by a ball in the vast saloons of the palace, and by a supper, where the tables were loaded with every delicacy.
voltaire was received on this occasion with very distinguished honor. the king, in inviting him to the court, had sent him a sum amounting to three thousand dollars to pay the expenses of his journey. he had also conferred upon him the cross of the order of merit, and a pension of about four thousand dollars a year.
for a time frederick and voltaire seem to have lived very pleasantly together. voltaire writes: “i was lodged under the king’s apartment, and never left my room except for supper. the king composed, above stairs, works of philosophy, history, poetry; and his favorite, below stairs, cultivated the same arts and the same talents. they communicated to one another their respective works. the prussian monarch composed, at this time,387 his ‘history of brandenburg;’ and the french author wrote his ‘age of louis xiv.,’ having brought with him all his materials.94 his days thus passed happily in a repose which was only animated by agreeable occupations. nothing, indeed, could be more delightful than this way of life, or more honorable to philosophy and literature.”