History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 07Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 07
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
"Most persons in Wurtemberg, for quiet's sake, have complied with the
Gravenitz; though not without protest, and sometimes spoken protest.
Thus the Right Reverend Osiander (let us name Osiander, Head of the
Church in Wurtemberg) flatly refused to have her name inserted in the
Public Prayers; 'Is not she already prayed for?' said Osiander: 'Do we
not say, DELIVER US FROM EVIL?' said the indignant Protestant man. And
there is one other person that never will comply with her: the lawful
Wife of Eberhard Ludwig. Serene Lady, she has had a sad existence of it;
the voice of her wrongs audible, to little purpose, this long while, in
Heaven and on Earth. But it is not in the power of reward or punishment
to bend her female will in the essential point: 'Divorce, your Highness?
When _I_ am found guilty, yes. Till then, never, your Highness, never,
never,' in steady CRESCENDO tone:--so that his Highness is glad to
escape again, and drop the subject. On which the Serene Lady again falls
silent. Gravenitz, in fact, hopes always to be wedded with the right,
nay were it only with the left hand: and this Serene Lady stands like
a fateful monument irremovably in the way. The Serene Lady steadily
inhabits her own wing of the Ducal House, would not exchange it for
the Palace of Aladdin; looks out there upon the grand equipages, high
doings, impure splendors of her Duke and his Gravenitz with a clear-eyed
silence, which seems to say more eloquently than words, 'MENE, MENE, YOU
are weighed!' In the land of Wurtemberg, or under the Sun, is no reward
or punishment that can abate this silence. Speak of divorce, the
answer is as above: leave divorce lying, there is silence looking forth
clear-eyed from that particular wing of the Palace, on things which the
gods permit for a time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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