History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
"Friedrich's Manifesto--under the modest Title, 'ANZEIGE DER URSACHEN
(Advertisement of the Causes which have induced his Prussian Majesty to
send the Romish Kaiser's Majesty some Auxiliary Troops)'--had appeared
in the Berlin Newspapers Thursday, 13th, only two days before. An
astonishment to all mankind; which gave rise to endless misconceptions
of Friedrich: but which, supporting itself on proofs, on punctually
excerpted foot-notes, is intrinsically a modest, quiet Piece; and, what
is singular in Manifestoes, has nothing, or almost nothing, in it that
is not, so far as it goes, a perfect statement of the fact. 'Auxiliary
troops, that is our essential character. No war with her Hungarian
Majesty, or with any other, on our own score. But her Hungarian Majesty,
how has she treated the Romish Kaiser, her and our and the Reich's
Sovereign Head, and to what pass reduced him; refusing him Peace on any
terms, except those of self-annihilation; denying that he is a Kaiser at
all;'--and enumerates the various Imperial injuries, with proof given,
quiet footnotes by way of proof; and concludes in these words: 'For
himself his Majesty requires nothing. The question here is not of his
Majesty's own interest at all [everything his Majesty required, or
requires, is by the Treaty of Berlin solemnly his, if the Reich and its
Laws endure]: and he has taken up arms simply and solely in the view of
restoring to the Reich its freedom, to the Kaiser his Headship of the
Reich, and to all Europe the Peace which is so desirable.' [Given in
Seyfarth, _Beylage,_ i. 121-136, with date "August, 1744."]
"'Pretences, subterfuges, lies!' exclaimed the Austrian and Allied
Public everywhere, or strove to exclaim; especially the English Public,
which had no difficulty in so doing;--a Public comfortably blank as to
German facts or non-facts; and finding with amazement only this a very
certain fact, That hereby is their own Pragmatic thunder checked in
mid-volley in a most surprising manner, and the triumphant Cause of
Liberty brought to jeopardy again. 'Perfidious, ambitious, capricious!'
exclaimed they: 'a Prince without honor, without truth, without
constancy;'--and completed, for themselves, in hot rabid humor, that
English Theory of Friedrich which has prevailed ever since. Perhaps the
most surprising item of which is this latter, very prominent in
those old times, That Friedrich has no 'constancy,' but follows his
'caprices,' and accidental whirls of impulse:--item which has dropped
away in our times, though the others stand as stable as ever. A monument
of several things! Friedrich's suddenness is an essential part of what
fighting talent he has: if the Public, thrown into flurry, cannot judge
it well, they must even misjudge it: what help is there?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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