Berlin and Sans-Souci

Introduction

Frederick had chosen the right moment for action in Silesia. Before the end of 1740 he had taken possession of the whole country, with the exception of Glogau, Brieg, and Nesse; and in the following year, after the victories of Mollwitz (April 10th) and Chotusitz (May 17th), concluded the Peace of Breslau, according to the conditions whereof Austria ceded to him upper and lower Silesia. At Mollwitz the situation of the Prussian army had been deemed hopeless by Marshal Schwerin, who had persuaded Frederick to leave the field, and then, by a desperate charge, turned defeat into victory. The ensuing period of rest the king utilized to bring order into his new dominions. But in 1743, being again threatened by the Austrian forces, he made a compact with Louis XV, and invaded Bohemia in 1744. He took Prague, but was forced to retreat after the French king had withdrawn from their alliance, leaving him to face Austria, Saxony, and Poland, with England and Russia in a threatening attitude behind them. Silesia was overrun by an Austrian and Saxon army in May, 1745, which Frederick routed with much inferior forces at the battle of Hohenfriedberg (June 4th). England counselled peace to Austria, but Maria Theresa remained firm in her resolution to reconquer Silesia, and Frederick marched into Bohemia, winning the battle of Sohr (September 30th). He then turned against the Saxons, who were preparing to invade his kingdom, won the battle of Hennersdorf (November 23d), and took Dresden. The battle of Kesselsdorf, won by Marshal Leopold von Dessau on December 15th, forced Austria and Saxony to conclude the Peace of Dresden (December 25th), which marked

IV

BERLIN AND SANS-SOUCI.

the end of the second Silesian war and acknowledged Frederick’s possession of the country.

The eleven years of peace that followed he employed for the amelioration of the condition of his people. He encouraged trade and industry, reestablished the Academy of Sciences, constructed canals between the Elbe and the Oder, and the Oder and the Havel, protected agriculture to the utmost, and introduced the strictest economy in the financial affairs of the state. With an eye to the future, he strengthened his military position in every possible way. The victorious conclusion of his second war had made him immensely popular with his people, and brought him the epithet of “ the Great.” While waiting for the war that, he very well saw, was unavoidable, he played the flute, composed and wrote poetry (“ L’Art de la Guerre ”), and his “ Memoires pour Servir a l’Histoire de Brandenbourg.” His love of art and letters, however, was strictly confined to France: the German theatre and German literature found no favor in his eyes. All his works, therefore, were written in French. He invited to his court the great men of many countries, notably Voltaire, but had no intimates: his great plans he kept to himself, and his closest companions were his dogs. Liberal as he was, he did not scruple to employ the most tyrannical methods to force his views upon his conservative subjects; and he ruled his family with a hand of iron. Equally great in the arts of peace and of war, he spread his fame throughout all Europe, yet his intellectual development was one-sided. The life of the emotions was a wilfully closed book to him: the mind alone must rule. Suspicious and contemptuous of all mankind, a freethinker rather than an atheist, he held religion, especially the Christian churches, in small esteem. He remained a stranger to the development of German intellectual life to the end of his days ; in fact, it may be said that he had little personal sympathy with German nationality. He relied too much upon army and treasury for the greatness of his country, yet by their aid achieved vast results. Above all, he was the hardest-working, most conscientious servant of his own kingdom.

Some of Frau Mundt’s best work is found in “ Berlin

INTRODUCTION.

V and Sans-Souci.” The pictures of life at Frederick’s court, the portraits of his courtiers and distinguished foreign visitors, the sketches of the conditions of his people in those days of peace, are full of life and light. Her happy gift of character-drawing shows itself again and again, especially in the case of Frederick himself, who is set forth with firm strokes. Besides Voltaire, we meet the Barbarina, the beautiful dancer whom the king almost forcibly brought from Italy, Maupertius, Lupinus, and the actor Eckhof, who, whenever the king’s French players produced a drama of Voltaire, Corneille, Racine, or Moliere, immediately put it on the boards in German; and finally, the king’s sisters, Ulrica, later Queen of Sweden, and Amelia, whose little known and somewhat obscure history is set forth at length. Her innocent and unhappy love affair with Frederick von Trenck, as set forth in these pages, is historically true, as are all the details of that unhappy nobleman’s life. He was born on February 16, 1726, at Konigsberg, and finally set at liberty in 1763. He then lived successively in Vienna, Aachen, Spa, and Manheim, succeeding in making many enemies by his writings. Frederick’s successor, Frederick William III, restored to him his confiscated Prussian domains. He finally went to Paris, at the outbreak of the Revolution, was falsely accused of being a foreign spy, and guillotined by Robespierre’s orders.

His uncle Franz von der Trenck, though a Prussian, entered the Austrian service, and in 1737 that of Russia. Condemned to death for insubordination in the latter country, he fled to Austria, and received permission to form the corps of pandours which, during the War of the Austrian Succession, he converted into a band of murderous freebooters. His unspeakable atrocities brought about his imprisonment for life in 1746 ; he died three years later.

CONTENTS t

BOOK I. Chap, I. — The Alchemist’s Incantation

II. — The Old Courtier, .....

III. — The Morning Hours of a King, .

IV. — The Pardoned Courtier, ....

V. — How the Princess Ulrica became Queen of Sweden,

VI. — The Tempter, ......

VII. — The First Interview, ....

VIII. — Signora Barbarina, .....

IX. — The King and Barbarina,

XI. — A Life Question, , .

XII. — Superstition and Piety, ....

Chap. 1. — The Two Sisters, .... II. — The Tempter

III. — The Wedding-Festival of the Princess Ulrica,

IV. — Behind the Curtain, ....

V. — A Shame-faced King,

VI.— The First Rendezvous,

VII. — On the Balcony, ....

VIII.— The First Cloud, ....

IX. — The Council of War,

X. — The Cloister of Camens,

XI. — The King and the Abbot,

XII. — The Unknown Abbot,

XIII. — The Levee of a Dancer, .

XIV. — The Studio,

XV. — The Confession, ....

vii

PAGE

BERLIN AND SANS-S0UC1.

XVI. — The Traitor, ....

PAGE

XVII.— The Silver- Ware, .

. 223

XVIII. — The First Flash of Lightning,

Book III

Chap. I. — The Actors in Halle,

. 239

II. — The Student Lupinus,

III. — The Disturbance in the Theatre,

. 247

IV. — The Friends, ....

V. — The Order of the King, .

. 254

VI. — The Battle of Sohr, .

VII. — After the Battle, .

. 263

VIII. — A Letter Pregnant with Fate,

IX. — The Return to Berlin,

. 280

X. — Job’s Post, ....

XI. — The Undeceived, .

. 291

XII. — Trenck’s First Flight,

XIII.— The Flight,

. 316

XV. — The Last Struggle for Power, .

. 336

XVI.— The Disturbance in the Theatre,

XVII. — Sans-Souci,

. 352

Book IV

Chap. I. — The Promise, ....

II. — Voltaire and his Royal Friend, .

. 369

III. — The Confidence-Table,

IV. — The Confidential Dinner,

. 403

V. — Rome Sauvee, ....

VI. — A Woman’s Heart,

. 422

VII. — Madame von Cocceji,

VIII.— Voltaire, ....

. 441

IX. — A Day in the Life of Voltaire,

X. — The Lovers, ...

. 467

XI. — Barbarina, ....

XII. — Intrigues, ....

. 485

XIII. — The Last Struggle, .

BERLIN AND SANS-SOUCI;

OR,

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS FRIENDS.

Chapter I. The Alchemist’s Incantation

It was a lovely May morning! The early rays of the sun had not withered the blossoms, or paled the fresh green of the garden of Charlottenburg, but quickened them into new life and beauty. The birds sang merrily in the groves. The wind, with light whispers, swept through the long avenues of laurel and orange trees, which surrounded the superb greenhouses and conservatories, and scattered far and wide throughout the garden clouds of intoxicating perfume.

The garden was quiet and solitary, and the closed shutters of the castle proved that not only the king, but the entire household, from the dignified and important chamberlain to the frisky garden-boy, still slept. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of hasty steps. A young man, in simple citizen costume, ran up the great avenue which led from the garden gate to the conservatory; then cautiously looking about him, he drew near to a window of the lower story in a wing of the castle. The window was closed and secured with inside shutters; a small piece of white paper was seen between the glass and the shutter. A passer-by might have supposed this was accidental, but the young burgher knew that this little piece of paper was a signal. His light stroke upon the window disturbed for a moment the deathlike silence around, but produced no other effect; he struck again, more loudly, and listened breathlessly. The shutters were slowly and cautiously opened from within, and behind the glass was seen the wan, sick face of Fredersdorf, the private secretary and favorite of the king. When he saw the young man, his features assumed a more animated expression, and. a hopeful smile played upon his lip ; hastily opening the window, he gave the youth his hand. “ Good-morning, Joseph,” said he; “ I have not slept during the whole night, I was so impatient to receive news from you. Has he shown himself ? ”

Joseph bowed his head sadly. “He has not yet shown himself,” he replied in a hollow voice ; “ all our efforts have been in vain; we have again sacrificed time, money, and strength. He has not yet appeared.”

“ Alas ! ” cried Fredersdorf, “ who could believe it so difficult to move the devil to appear in person, when he makes his presence known daily and hourly through the deeds of men ? I must and will see him ! He must and shall make known this mystery. He shall teach me how and of what to make gold.”

“He will yield at last! ” cried Joseph, solemnly.

“What do you say? Will we succeed? Is not all hope lost?”

“ All is not lost : the astrologer heard this night, during his incantations, the voice of the devil, and saw for one moment the glare of his eye, though he could not see his person.”

“He saw the glare of his eye!” repeated Fredersdorf joyfully. “ Oh, we will yet compel him to show himself wholly. He must teach us to make gold. And what said the voice of the devil to our astrologer ? ”

“ He said these words : 1 Would you see my face and hear words of golden wisdom from my lips? so offer me, when next the moon is full and shimmers like liquid gold in the heavens, a black ram; and if you shed his blood for me, and if not one white hair can be discovered upon him, I will appear and be subject to you.’ ”

“ Another month of waiting, of patience, and of torture,” murmured Fredersdorf. “Four weeks to search for this

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS FRIENDS. H black ram without a single white hair; it will be difficult to find!”

“ Oh, the world is large ; we will send our messengers in every quarter; we will find it. Those who truly seek, find at last what they covet. But we will require much gold, and we are suffering how, unhappily, for the want of it.”

“We? whom do you mean by we?” asked Fredersdorf, with a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders.

“ I, in my own person, above all others, need gold. You can well understand, my brother, that a student as I am has no superfluous gold, even to pay his tailor’s bills, much less to buy black rams. Captain Kleist, in whose house the assembly meets to-night, has already offered up far more valuable things than a score of black rams; he has sacrificed his health, his rest, and his domestic peace. His beautiful wife finds it strange, indeed, that he should seek the devil every night everywhere else than in her lovely presence.”

“Yes, I understand that! The bewitching Madame Kleist must ever remain the vain-glorious and coquettish Louise von Schwerin; marriage has infused no water in her veins.”

“ Ho ! but it has poured a river of wine in the blood of her husband, and in this turbid stream their love and happiness is drowned. Kleist is but a corpse, whom we must soon bury from our sight. The king has made separation and divorce easy; yes, easier than marriage. Is it not so, my brother ? Ah, you blush ; you find that your light-hearted brother has more observant eyes than you thought, and sees that which you intended to conceal. Yes, yes! I have indeed seen that you have been wounded by Cupid’s arrow, and that your heart bleeds while our noble king refuses his consent to your marriage.”

“ Ah, let me once discover this holy mystery — once learn how to make gold, and I will have no favor to ask of any earthly monarch; I shall acknowledge no other sovereign than my own will.”

“ And to become the possessor of this secret, and your own master, you require nothing but a black ram. Create for us, then, my powerful and wealthy brother, a black ram, and the work is done ! ”

“ Alas ! to think,” cried Fredersdorf , “ that I cannot absent myself; that I must fold my hands and wait silently and quietly ! What slavery is this ! but you, you are not in bondage as I am. The whole world is before you; you can seek throughout the universe for this blood-offering demanded by the devil.”

“ Give us gold, brother, and we will seek ; without gold, no black ram ; without the black ram, no devil ! ”

Fredersdorf disappeared a moment and returned with a well-filled purse, which he handed to his brother. “ There, take the gold; send your messengers in every quarter; go yourself and search. You must either find or create him. I swear to you, if you do not succeed, I will withdraw my protection from you; you will be only a poor student, and must maintain yourself by your studies.”

“ That would be a sad support, indeed,” said the young man, smiling. “ I am more than willing to choose another path in life. I would, indeed, prefer being an artist to being a philosopher.”

“An artist!” cried Fredersdorf, contemptuously; “have you discovered in yourself an artist’s vein ? ”

“Yes; or rather, Eckhof has awakened my sleeping talent.”

“ Eckhof — who is Eckhof ? ”

“How? you ask who is Eckhof? You know not, then, this great, this exalted artist, who arrived here some weeks since, and has entranced every one who has a German heart in his bosom, by his glorious acting ? I saw him a few days since in Golsched’s Cato. Ah! my brother, on that evening it was clear to me that I also was born for something greater than to sit in a lonely study, and seek in musty books for useless scraps of knowledge. Ho ! I will not make the world still darker and mistier for myself with the dust of ancient books; I will illuminate my world by the noblest of all arts — I will become an actor ! ”

“Fantastic fool!” said his brother. “A German actor ! that is to say, a beggar and a vagabond! who wanders from city to city, and from village to village, with his stage finery, who is laughed at everywhere, even as the monkeys are laughed at when they make their somersets over the camels’

backs ; it might answer to be a dancer, or, at least, a French actor.”

“ It is true that the German stage is a castaway — a Cinderella — thrust aside, and clothed with sackcloth and ashes, while the spoiled and petted step-child is clothed in gold-embroidered robes. Alas ! alas ! it is a bitter thing that the French actors are summoned by the king to perform in the royal castle, while Schonemein, the director of the German theatre, must rent the Council-house for a large sum of money, and must pay a heavy tax for the permission to give to the German public a German stage. Wait patiently, brother, all this shall be changed, when the mystery of mysteries is discovered, when we have found the black ram! I bless the accident which gave me a knowledge of your secret, which forced you to receive me as a member in order to secure my silence. I shall be rich, powerful, and influential; I will build a superb theatre, and fill the German heart with wonder and rapture.”

“ Well, well, let us first understand the art of making gold, and we will make the whole world our theatre, and all mankind shall play before us! Hasten, therefore, brother, hasten! By the next full' moon we will be the almighty rulers of the earth and all that is therein ! ”

“ Always provided that we have found the black ram.”

“We will find him! If necessary, we will give his weight in gold, and gold can do all things. Honor, love, power, position, and fame, can all be bought with gold! Let us, then, make haste to be rich. To be rich is to be independent, free, and gloriously happy. Go, my brother, go! and may you soon return crowned with success.”

“ I have still a few weighty questions to ask. In the first place, where shall I go ? ”

“ To seek the black ram — it makes no difference where.”

“Ah! it makes no difference! You do not seem to remember that the vacation is over, that the professors of the University of Halle have threatened to dismiss me if my attendance is so irregular. I must, therefore, return to Halle to-day, or — ”

“ Return to Halle to-day ! ” cried Fredersdorf, with horror. “ That is impossible ! You cannot return to Halle, unless you have already found what we need.”

“ And that not being the case, I shall not return to Halle ; I shall be dismissed, and will cease to be a student. Do you consent, then, that I shall become an actor, and take the great Eckhof for my only professor ? ”

“Yes, I consent, provided the command of the alchemist is complied with.”

“ And how if the alchemist, notwithstanding the blood of the black ram, is unhappily not able to bring up the devil ? ”

At this question, a feverish crimson spot took possession of the wan cheek of Fredersdorf, which was instantly chased away by a more intense pallor. “ If that is the result, I will either go mad or die,” he murmured.

“ And then will you see the devil face to face ! ” cried his brother, with a gay laugh. “ But perhaps you might find a Eurydice to unlock the under world for you. Well, we shall see. Till then, farewell, brother, _ farewell.” Nodding merrily to Fredersdorf, Joseph hurried away.

Fredersdorf watched his tall and graceful figure as it disappeared among the trees with a sad smile.

“ He possesses something which is worth more than power or gold; he is young, healthy, full of hope and confidence. The world belongs to him, while I — ”

The sound of footsteps called his attention again to the

allee.

Chapter II. The Old Courtier

The figure of a man was seen approaching, but with steps less light and active than young Joseph’s. As the stranger drew nearer, Fredersdorf ’s features expressed great surprise. When at last he drew up at the window, the secretary burst into a hearty laugh.

“ Yon Pollnitz! really and truly I do not deceive myself,”

cried Fredersdorf, clapping his hands together, and again and again uttering peals of laughter, in which Pollnitz heartily joined.

Then suddenly assuming a grave and dignified manner, Fredersdorf bowed lowly and reverentially. “ Pardon, Baron Pollnitz, pardon,” said he in a tone of mock humility, “ that I have dared to welcome you in such an unseemly manner. I was indeed amazed to see you again; you had taken an eternal leave of the court, we had shed rivers of tears over your irreparable loss, and your unexpected presence completely overpowered me.”

“ Mock and jeer at me to your heart’s content, dear Fredersdorf; I will joyfully and lustily unite in your laughter and your sport, as soon as I have recovered from the fearful jolting of the carriage which brought me here. Be pleased to open the window a little more, and place a chair on the outside, that I may climb in, like an ardent, eager lover. I have not patience to go round to the castle door.”

Fredersdorf silently obeyed orders, and in a few moments Von Pollnitz was lying comfortably stretched out on a silk divan, in the secretary’s room.

“Ask me no questions, Fredersdorf,” said he, breathing loudly; “leave me awhile to enjoy undisturbed the comfort of your sofa, and do me the favor first to answer me a few questions, before I reply to yours.”

“ Demand, baron, and I will answer,” said Fredersdorf, seating himself on a chair near the sofa.

“ First of all, who is King of Prussia? You, or Jordan, — or General Kothenberg, — or Chazot, — or — speak, man, who is King of Prussia ? ”

“ Frederick the Second, and he alone; and he so entirely, that even his ministers are nothing more than his secretaries, to write at his dictation; and his generals are only subordinate engineers to draw the plans of battle which he has already fully determined upon; his composers are only the copyists of his melodies and his musical conceptions; the architects are carpenters to build according to the plan which he has either drawn or chosen from amongst old Grecian models: in short, all who serve him are literally servants in this great state machine; they understand his will and obey it, nothing more.”

“Hum! that is bad, very bad,” said Pollnitz. “I have found, however, that there are two sorts of men, and you have mentioned in your catalogue but one species, who have fallen so completely under the hand of Frederick. You have said nothing of his cook, of his valet-de-chambre, and yet these are most important persons. You must know that in the presence of these powers, a king ceases to be a king, and indeed becomes an entirely commonplace mortal, who eats and drinks and clothes himself, and who must either conceal or adorn his bodily necessities and weaknesses like any other man.”

Fredersdorf shook his head sadly. “ It seems to me that Frederick the Second is beyond the pale of temptation; for even with his cook and his valet he is still a king; his cook may prepare him the most costly and luxurious viands, but unhappily they do not lead him into temptation; a bad dish makes him angry, but the richest and choicest food has no effect upon his humor; he is exactly the same before dinner as after, fasting or feasting, and the favor he refuses before the champagne, he never grants afterward.”

“ The devil ! that is worse still,” murmured Pollnitz. “ And the valet — with him also does the king remain king ? ” “Yes, so entirely, that he scarcely allows his valet to touch him. He shaves, coifs, and dresses himself.”

“ My God ! who, then, has any influence over him ? To whom can I turn to obtain a favor for me ? ”

“To his dogs, dear baron; they are now the only influential dependants ! ”

“ Ho you mean truly the four-footed dogs ? — or — ”

“ The four-footed, dearest baron ! Frederick has more confidence in them than in any two-legged animal. You know the king always trusted much to the instincts of his dogs; he has now gone so far in this confidence, as to believe that the hounds have an instinctive aversion to all false, wicked, and evil-minded men. It is therefore very important to every new-comer to be well received by the hounds, as the king’s reception is somewhat dependent upon theirs.”

“ Is Biche yet with the king ? ”

“ Yes, still his greatest favorite.”

“ I am rejoiced to hear that! I was always in favor with the Signora Biche; it was her custom to smell my pocket, hoping to find chocolate. I beseech you, therefore, dearest friend, to give me some chocolate, with which I may touch and soften the heart of the noble signora, and thus induce the king to look upon me favorably.”

“ I will stick a half pound in each of your pockets, and if Biche still growls at you, it will be a proof that she is far more noble than men; in short, that she cannot be bribed. Have you finished with your questions? I think it is now my time to begin.”

“ Hot so, my friend. My head is still entirely filled with questions, and they are twining and twisting about like the fishing-worms in a bag, by the help of which men hope to secure fish. Be pitiful and allow me to fasten a few more of these questions to my fishing-rod, and thus try to secure my future.”

“ Well, then, go on — ask further! ”

“Does Frederick show no special interest in any prima donna of the opera, the ballet, or the theatre ? ”

“ Ho, he cares for none of these things.”

“ Is his heart, then, entirely turned to stone ? ”

“ Wholly and entirely.”

“ And the queen-mother, has she no influence ? ”

" My God ! Baron Pollnitz, how long have you been away? You ask me as many questions as if you had fallen directly from the moon, and knew not even the outward appearance of the court.”

“ Dear friend, I have been a whole year away, that is to say, an eternity. The court is a very slippery place ; and if a man does not accustom himself hourly to walk over this glassy parquet, he will surely fall.

“ Also there is nothing so uncertain as a court life ; that which is true to-day, is to-morrow considered incredible; that which was beautiful yesterday is thrust aside to-day, as hateful to look upon ; that which we despise to-day is to-morrow sought after as a rare and precious gem.

“ Oh, I have had my experiences. I remember, that 2 while I was residing at the court of Saxony, I composed a poem in honor of the Countess Aurora of Konigsmark. This was by special command of the king; the poem was to be set to music by Hasse, and sung by the Italian singers on the birthday of Aurora. Well, the Countess Aurora was cast aside before my poem was finished, and the Countess Kozel had taken her place. I finished my poem, but Amelia, and not Aurora, was my heroine, Hasse composed the music, and no one who attended the concert, given in honor of the birthday of the Countess Kozel, had an idea that this festal cantata had been originally ordered for Aurora of Konigsmark!

“ Once, while I was in Russia, I had an audience from the Empress Elizabeth. As I approached the castle, leaning on the arm of the Captain Ischerbatow, I observed the guard, who stood before the door, and presented arms. Well, eight weeks later, this common guard was a general and a prince, and Ischerbatow was compelled to bow before him!

“ I saw in Venice a picture of the day of judgment by Tintoretto. In this picture both. Paradise and Hell were portrayed. I saw in Paradise a lovely woman glowing with youth, beauty, and grace. She was reclining in a most enchanting attitude, upon a bed of roses, and surrounded by angels. Below, on the other half of the picture — that is to say, in Hell — I saw the same woman; she had no couch of roses, but was stretched upon a glowing gridiron; no smiling angels surrounded her, but a hideous, grinning devil tore her flesh with red-hot pincers.

“ Pope Adrian had commanded Tintoretto to paint this picture, to make it a monument in honor of the lovely Cinnia, and to glorify her by all the power of art. Cinnia was a very dear friend of Adrian. He was not only a pope, but a man, and a man who took pleasure in all beautiful things. Cinnia was enchanting*,' and it was Tintoretto’s first duty to paint her picture, and make her the principal object in Paradise. But look you! the Last Judgment by Tintoretto was a large painting, so large that to count even the heads upon it is laborious. The heads in each corner are counted separately, and then added together. It required some years, of course, to paint such a picture; and by the time Tintoretto had completed Paradise and commenced the lower regions, many sad changes had occurred. The fond heart of the seducing Cinnia had withdrawn itself from the pope and clung tenaciously to Prince Colonna. The Holy Father, as we have said before, notwithstanding he was pope, had some human weaknesses; he naturally hated the fair inconstant, and sought revenge. He recommended Tintoretto to bring the erring one once more before the public — this time, however, as a guilty and condemned sinner in hell.