History of Frederick the Second, Called Frederick the Great.Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
History of Frederick the Second, Called Frederick the Great.
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786
On the 8th of June the English and Dutch ministers, not yet aware of
the alliance into which Frederick had entered with France, presented
the joint resolution of their two courts, exhorting Frederick to
withdraw his army from Silesia. Lord Hyndford, who was somewhat annoyed
by the apparent impolicy of the measure just at that time, solicited
and obtained a private audience with the king, hoping by apologies
and explanations to make the summons a little less unpalatable to his
majesty. In the brief interview which ensued Lord Hyndford appealed to
the magnanimity of the king, declaring that it would be generous and
noble for him to accept moderate terms from Austria. The king angrily
interrupted him, saying,
“My lord, do not talk to me of magnanimity. A prince ought, in the
first place, to consult his interest. I am not opposed to peace. But I
expect to have four duchies given me.”
Maria Theresa was much encouraged by the subsidy she had received from
England. She was not yet informed of the formidable alliance into which
France, with a portion of Germany, had entered for her destruction.
About the 20th of June she left Vienna for Presburg, in Hungary, a
drive of about fifty miles. Here, on the 25th of June, 1741, she was
crowned Queen of Hungary. She was a very beautiful woman in person,
devout in spirit, and those who admire manly developments in the female
character must regard her as presenting the highest type of womanhood.
She merits the following beautiful tribute to her worth from the pen of
Carlyle:
“As to the brave young Queen of Hungary, my admiration goes with that
of all the world. Not in the language of flattery, but of evident fact,
the royal qualities abound in that high young lady. Had they left the
world, and grown to mere costume elsewhere, you might find certain of
them again here. Most brave, high and pious minded; beautiful too, and
radiant with good-nature, though of temper that will easily catch fire;
there is, perhaps, no nobler woman then living. And she fronts the
roaring elements in a truly grand, feminine manner, as if Heaven itself
and the voice of Duty called her. ‘The inheritances which my fathers
left me, we will not part with these. Death if it so must be, but not
dishonor.’
“This, for the present, is her method of looking at the matter; this
magnanimous, heroic, and occasionally somewhat female one. Her husband,
the grand-duke, an inert but good-tempered, well-conditioned duke,
after his sort, goes with her. Now, as always, he follows loyally
his wife’s lead, never she his. Wife being intrinsically as well as
extrinsically the better man, what other can he do?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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