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
In that dilapidated Castle of Mors,--look at it, reader, though in the
dark; we may see it again, or the shadow of it, perhaps by moonlight.
A very gaunt old Castle; next to nothing living in it, since the old
Dessauer (by stratagem, and without shot fired) flung out the Dutch, in
the Treaty-of-Utrecht time; Mors Castle and Territory being indisputably
ours, though always withheld from us on pretexts. [Narrative of the
march thither (Night of 7th November, 1712), and dexterous surprisal of
the place, in _Leopoldi von Anhalt-Dessau Leben und Thaten_ (Anonymous,
by RANFFT), pp. 85-90;--where the Despatch of the astonished Dutch
Commandant himself, to their High Mightinesses, is given. Part of
the Orange Heritage, this Mors,--came by the Great Elector's first
Wife;--but had hung SUB LITE (though the Parchments were plain enough)
ever since our King William's death, and earlier. Neuchatel, accepted
instead of ORANGE, and not even of the value of Mors, was another item
of the same lot. Besides which, we shall hear of old Palaces at Loo and
other dilapidated objects, incidentally in time coming.]
At Geldern, in the pressure of business next day, his Majesty got word
from Wesel, that Lieutenant Keith was not now to be found in Wesel.
"Was last seen there (that we can hear of) certain hours before your
Majesty's All-gracious Order arrived. Had saddled his own horse; came
ambling through the Brunen Gate, 'going out to have a ride,' he said;
and did not return."--"Keith gone, scandalous Keith, whom I pardoned
only few weeks ago; he too is in the Plot! Will the very Army break
its oath, then?" His Majesty bursts into fire and flame, at these new
tidings; orders that Colonel Dumoulin (our expertest rogue-tracer) go
instantly on the scent of Keith, and follow him till found and caught.
Also, on the other hand, that the Crown-Prince be constituted prisoner;
sail down to Wesel, prisoner in his Yacht, and await upon the Rhine
there his Majesty's arrival. Formidable omens, it is thought.
His Majesty, all business done in Geldern, drives across to Wesel; can
see Fritz's Yacht waiting duly in the River, and black Care hovering
over her. It is on the evening of the 12th of August, 1730. And so his
Majesty ends this memorable Tour into the Reich; but has not yet ended
the gloomy miseries, for himself and others, which plentifully sprung
out of that.
Chapter VII. -- CATASTROPHE, AND MAJESTY, ARRIVE IN BERLIN.
At Berlin dark rumors of this intended flight, and actual Arrest of the
Crown-Prince, are agitating all the world; especially Lieutenant Katte,
and the Queen and Wilhelmina, as we may suppose. The first news of
it came tragically on the young Princess. [Apparently some rumor FROM
FRANKFURT, which she confuses in her after-memory with the specific news
FROM WESEL; for her dates here, as usual, are all awry (Wilhelmina, i.
246; Preuss, i. 42, iv. 473; Seckendorf, in Forster, iii. 6).]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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