It was a serene, cloudless May morning when Frederick rode upon a small eminence to view the approach of his troops, and to form them in battle array. General Stille, who was an eye-witness of the scene, describes the spectacle as one of the most beautiful and magnificent which was ever beheld. The transparent atmosphere, the balmy air, transmitting with wonderful accuracy the most distant sounds, the smooth, wide-spreading prairie, the hamlets, to which distance lent enchantment, surmounted by the towers or spires of the churches, the winding columns of infantry and cavalry, their polished weapons flashing in the sunlight, the waving of silken and gilded banners, while bugle peals and bursts of military airs floated now faintly, and now loudly, upon the ear, the whole scene being bathed in the rays of the most brilliant of spring mornings--all together presented war in its brightest hues, divested of every thing revolting.[65] There were nearly thirty thousand men, infantry and cavalry, thus assembling under the banners of Frederick for battle. They were in as perfect state of drill as troops have ever attained, and were armed with the most potent implements of war which that age could furnish. The king was visibly affected by the spectacle. Whether humane considerations touched his heart, or merely poetic emotion moved him, we can not tell. But he was well aware that within a few hours not merely hundreds, but thousands of those men, torn by shot and shell, would be prostrate in their blood upon the plain; and he could not but know that for all the carnage and the suffering, he, above all others, would be responsible at the bar of God. “The king,” writes Stille, “though fatigued, would not rest satisfied with reports or distant view. Personally he made the tour of the whole camp, to see that every thing was right, and posted the pickets himself before retiring.” CHAPTER XVIII. FREDERICK TRIUMPHANT. 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.