Thus the King’s lucky star shone brightly when everything was darkest. He also received gratifying assurances of love and devotion from his own people. In Pomerania and Brandenburg they vied with each other in making good the losses of men and horses at Kollin. Frederick would have been delighted with these assurances had not fresh troubles overtaken him. His sorrow over the tragedy at Kollin was followed by bitter grief, occasioned by the death of a brother and his beloved mother.[6] His great sorrow, as well as his greatness of soul, is shown in his letters of that time, one of which closes with the words, “But I, threatened with the storm, and notwithstanding the approaching ruin, must act, live, and die as a King.” The French, meanwhile, who had crossed the Rhine and invaded Westphalia, one hundred thousand strong, were giving the King much trouble. His Anglo-German auxiliary army, led by the Duke of Cumberland, and much weaker than the French, had been utterly defeated by them at Hastenbeck on the Weser.[7] The French now swarmed over Hesse, Hanover, Brunswick, and Westphalia, and destruction and ruin attended them wherever they appeared; for it had been decided in Paris to devastate Prussia and all the provinces which had remained faithful to the King. The French army, which at the beginning operated in two divisions, was now united with the imperial troops for the purpose of attacking Saxony, which was held by Frederick. The French afterward divided again, at Erfurt, into two bands, one of which under Prince Soubise levied contributions on Gotha and Weimar, while the other, under Marshal d’Estrées, levied still heavier contributions upon the city of Halle. From this point, one division of troops, led by the Duke of Ayer, pressed forward to Halberstadt and made inroads even as far as Magdeburg. Those were troublous times for the old mark.