History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 12Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 12
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
So that the march is in two Columns; Schwerin, with the westernmost
small column, intending towards Liegnitz, and thence ever farther
southward, with his right leaning on the high lands which rise more and
more into mountains as you advance. Friedrich himself commands the other
column, has his left upon the Oder, in a country mounting continually
towards the South, but with less irregularity of level, and generally
flat as yet. From beginning to end, the entire field of march lies
between the Oder and its tributary the Bober; climbing slowly towards
the sources of both. Which two rivers, as the reader may observe,
form here a rectangular or trapezoidal space, ever widening as we go
southward. Both rivers, coming from the Giant Mountains, hasten directly
north; but Oder, bulging out easterly in his sandy course, is obliged
to turn fairly westward again; and at Glogau, and a good space farther,
flows in that direction;--till once Bober strikes in, almost at right
angles, carrying Oder with HIM, though he is but a branch, straight
northward again. Northward, but ever slower, to the swollen Pommern
regions, and sluggish exit into the Baltic there.
One of the worst features is the state of the weather. On Sunday, at
Breslau, we noticed thunder bursting out on an important occasion;
"ominous," some men thought;--omen, for one thing, that the weather
was breaking. At Weichau, that same day, rain began,--the young Herr of
Weichau, driving home to Papa from dinner with Majesty, would get his
share of it;--and on Monday, 19th, there was such a pour of rain as kept
most wayfarers, though it could not the Prussian Army, within doors.
Rain in plunges, fallen and falling, through that blessed day; making
roads into mere rivers of mud. The Prussian hosts marched on, all the
same. Head-quarters, with the van of the wet Army, that night, were
at Milkau;--from which place we have a Note of Friedrich's for Friend
Jordan, perhaps producible by and by. His Majesty lodged in some opulent
Jesuit Establishment there. And indeed he continued there, not idle,
under shelter, for a couple of days. The Jesuits, by their two head men,
had welcomed him with their choicest smiles; to whom the King was very
gracious, asking the two to dinner as usual, and styling them "Your
Reverence." Willing to ingratiate himself with persons of interest in
this Country; and likes talk, even with Jesuits of discernment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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