"I foresee I shall not be able to write again for perhaps six
weeks; which fails not to be a sorrow to me; but I entreat you to
be calm during these turbulent affairs, and to wait with patience
the month of December; paying no regard to the Nurnberg
newspapers, nor to those of the Reich, which are totally Austrian.
"I am as tired as a dog. I embrace you with my whole heart; being
with the most perfect affection, my dearest sister, your
"FREDERICK."
Having had a success, he writes (November 5, 1757) to inform her of
it, and concludes:--
"You, my dear sister, my good, my divine and affectionate sister,
who deign to interest yourself in the fate of a brother who adores
you, deign also to share in my joy. The instant I have time I will
tell you more. I embrace you with my whole heart. Adieu!
"F."
The last year of her life closed very gloomily for the Margravine.
Notwithstanding some successes the chances were fearfully against her
brother, and his reverses were great. She ardently longed for peace,
as well for the sake of the country as for that of her brother, and
she would willingly have sacrificed her life for it. Writing to
Voltaire on 2nd January, 1758, she says: "Thank Heaven we have
finished the most fatal of years. You say so many kind things in
reference to the present one, that they form one reason the more for
my gratitude. I wish you everything that can make you perfectly happy.
As regards myself, I leave my fate to destiny. We often form desires
which would be very prejudicial if accomplished, therefore I form no
more. If anything in the world could satisfy my desires, it would be
peace; I think as you do about war, and we have quite a third who
certainly thinks as we do. But can we always act up to what we think?
Is it not necessary to submit to many prejudices established since the
world began?"
As the year advanced the health of the Margravine visibly declined.
Whilst her enfeebled frame was at Baireuth her heart was with her
brother, bleeding at every fresh reverse. Frederick in a letter to his
brother, alluding to her prostrate condition, says: "What you write to
me of my sister of Baireuth makes me tremble! Next to our Mother, she
is what I have the most tenderly loved in this world. She is a sister
who has my heart and all my confidence; and whose character is of
price beyond all the crowns in this universe. From my tenderest years,
I was brought up with her; you can conceive how there reigns between
us that indissoluble bond of mutual affection and attachment for life,
which, in all other cases, were it only for disparity of ages, is
impossible. Would to Heaven I might die before her--and that this
terror itself don't take away my life without my actually losing her."
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account