History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 04Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 04
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
1. Son PHILIP'S Children (Mother the Old Dessauer's Sister) are:
Friedrich Wilhelm (1700), who wished much, but in vain, to marry
Wilhelmina. Heinrich Friedrich (1709), a comrade of Fritz's in youth;
sometimes getting into scrapes;--misbehaved, some way, at the Battle of
Molwits (first of Friedrich's Battles), 1741, and was inexorably CUT
by the new King, and continued under a cloud thenceforth .--This PHILIP
("Philip Wilhelm") died 1711, his forty-third year; Widow long survived
him.
2. Son ALBERT'S Children (Mother a Courland Princess) are:
Karl (1705); lived near Custrin; became a famed captain, in the Silesian
Wars, under his Cousin. Friedrich (1701); fell at Molwitz, 1741.
Friedrich Wilhelm (a Margraf Friedrich Wilhelm "No. 2,"--NAMESAKE of his
now Majesty, it is like); born 1714; killed at Prag, by a cannon-shot
(at King Friedrich's hand, reconnoitring the place), 1744.--[This ALBERT
("Albert Friedrich" ) died suddenly 1731, age fifty-nine.] No want
of Cousins; the Crown-Prince seeing much of them all; and learning
pleasantly their various qualities, which were good in most, in some not
so good, and did not turn out supreme in any case. But, for the rest,
Sister Wilhelmina is his grand confederate and companion; true in
sport and in earnest, in joy and in sorrow. Their truthful love to one
another, now and till death, is probably the brightest element their
life yielded to either of them.
What might be the date of Fritz's first appearance in the Roucoulles
"Soiree held on Wednesdays," in the Finkenstein or any other Soiree, as
an independent figure, I do not know. But at the proper time, he
does appear there, and with distinction not extrinsic alone;--talks
delightfully in such places; can discuss, even with French Divines, in
a charmingly ingenious manner. Another of his elderly consorts I must
mention: Colonel Camas, a highly cultivated Frenchman (French altogether
by parentage and breeding, though born on Prussian land), who was Tutor,
at one time, to some of those young Margraves. He has lost an arm,--left
it in those Italian Campaigns, under Anhalt-Dessau and Eugene;--but
by the aid of a cork substitute, dexterously managed, almost hides the
want. A gallant soldier, fit for the diplomacies too; a man of fine
high ways. [_Militair-Lexicon,_ i. 308.] And then his Wife--In fact,
the Camas House, we perceive, had from an early time been one of the
Crown-Prince's haunts. Madam Camas is a German Lady; but for genial
elegance, for wit and wisdom and goodness, could not readily be
paralleled in France or elsewhere. Of both these Camases there will be
honorable and important mention by and by; especially of the Lady, whom
he continues to call "Mamma" for fifty years to come, and corresponds
with in a very beautiful and human fashion.
Under these auspices, in such environment, dimly visible to us, at
Wusterhausen and elsewhere, is the remarkable little Crown-Prince of his
century growing up,--prosperously as yet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account