No More Learning

In the course of 1756, as will well appear farther on, it
became manifest to the Saxon Court and to all the world that
somebody had been playing traitor in the Dresden Archives.
Somebody, especially in the Foreign Department; copying
furtively, and imparting to Prussia, Despatches of the most
secret, thrice-secret and thrice-dangerous nature, which lie
reposited there! Who can have done it? Guesses, re-
searches, were many: at length suspicion fell on one Menzel,
a Kanzellist (Government Clerk), of good social repute, and
superior official ability; who is not himself in the Foreign
Department at all; but whose way of living, or the like sign,
had perhaps seemed questionable. In 1757, Menzel, and the
Saxon Court and its businesses, were all at Warsaw; Menzel
dreaming of no disturbance, but prosecuting his affairs as
formerly, -- when, one day, September24th (the slot-hounds,
long scenting and tracking, being now at the mark), Menzel
and an Associate of his were suddenly arrested. Confronted
with their crimes, with the proofs in readiness; and next day,
-- made a clear Confession, finding the matter desperate
otherwise. Copy of which, in Notarial form, exact and in-
disputable, the reader shall now see. As this story, of Fried-
rich and the Saxon Archives, was very famous in the world,
and mythic circumstances are prevalent, let us glance into it
with our own eyes, since there is opportunity in brief com-
pass.
"Extractus Protocollorum in Inquisitions-Sachen" that is to
say, Extract of Protocols in Inquest "contra Fhiedrich
"Wilhelm Menzel and JohAnn BenjAmin Ebfurth.
"At Warsaw, 25th September 1757: This day, in the King's
"Name, in presence of Legationsrath von Saul, Hofrath
"Ferbers, and Kriegsrath von Gotze the Undersigned:
"Examination of the Kabinets-Kanzellist Menzel, arrested
"yesterday, and now brought from his place of arrest to the
"Royal Palace; --who, admonitus de dicenda veritate, made
"answers, to the effect following:
"His name is Friedrich Wilhelm Menzel; age thirty-
"eight; is a son of the late Hofrath and Privy-referendary
"Menzel, who formerly was in the King's service, and died a
"few years back. Has been seventeen years Kanzellist at
"vest
"Roy
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? CHAP. XV. ] FRIEDRICH VISIBLE FOR A MOMENT. 183
1753-1755.
"the Geheime Cabinetscanzlei (Secret Archive); had taken the
"oath when he entered on his office.
"Acknowledges some Slips of Paper (Zettel), now shown
"to him, to be nis hand-writing: they contained news in-
tended to be communicated to the Prussian Secretary
"Benoit, now residing here," at Dresden formerly.
"Confesses that he has employed, here as well as pre-
viously in Dresden, his Brother-in-law, the journeyman
"goldsmith Erfurth (who was likewise arrested yesterday),
"to convey to the Prussian Secretaries, Plessmann andBenoit,
"such pieces and despatches from the Secret Cabinet,
"especially the Foreign department, as he, Menzel, wanted
"to communicate to said Prussian Secretaries.
"Confesses having received, by degrees, since the year
"1752, from the Prussian Minister (Envoye) von Maltzahn,
"and the Secretaries Plessmann and Benoit, for such com-
"munications, the sum of 3,000 thalers (450? . ) in all.
"Was led into these treasonable practices by the follow-
"ing circumstance: He owed at that time 100 thalers on a
"Promissory Note, to a certain Rhenitz, who then lived (Melt "sich auf) at Dresden, and who pressed him much for pay-
"ment. As he pleaded inability to pay, Rhenitz hinted that
"he could put him into the way of getting money: and ac-
cordingly, at last, took him to the then Prussian Secretary
"Hecht, at Dresden; by whom he was at once carried to the
"Prussian Minister von Maltzahn; who gave him 100 thalers
"(15/. ), with the request to communicate to him, now and
"then, news from the Archive of the Cabinet. For a length
"of time Prisoner could not accomplish this; as the said von
"Mahlzahn wanted Pieces from the Foreign Office, and
"especially the Correspondence with the two Imperial Courts
"of Austria andRussia. These papers were locked in presses,
"which Prisoner could not get at; moreover, the Court had,
"in the mean time, gone to Warsaw, Prisoner remaining at
"Dresden. In that way, many months passed without his
"being able to communicate anything; till, at last, about
"December 1752, the Secretary Plessmann gave him a whole
"bunch of keys, which were said to be sent by Privy-coun-
"sellorEichel of Potsdam" (whom we know), "to try whether
"any of them would unlock the presses of the Foreign De-
"partment. But none of them would: and Prisoner returned
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? 184 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
1753-1755.
"the keys; pointing out, however, what alterations were re-
"quired to fit the keyhole.
"And, about three weeks after this, Plessmann provided
"Prisoner with another set of keys; among which one did
"unlock said presses. With this key Prisoner now repeatedly
"opened the presses; and provided Plessmann, whenever re-
"quired, -- oftenest, with Petersburg Despatches. Had also,
"three years ago (1754), here in Warsaw, communicated
"ViennaDespatches, three or four times, toBenoit; especially
"on Sundays and Thursdays, which were slack days, nobody
"in the Office about noon.
"The actual first of these Communications did not take
"place till after Easter-Fair, 1753; Prisoner not having, till
"said Fair, received the second bunch of keys from Pless-
"mann. Now and then he had to communicate French De-
spatches. Whenever he gave original Despatches, he re-
ceived them back shortly after, and replaced them in the
"presses. During this present stay of the Court at Warsaw,
"has communicated little to Benoit except from the Circulars" (Legation News-Letters), "when he found anything note-
"worthy in them; also, now and then, the Ponikau Despatch-
es" (Ponikau being at the Reich's Diet, in circumstances
interesting to us). "Has received, one time and another,
"several 100 thalers from Benoit, since the Court came hither
"last. " -- (And so exit Menzel. )
"Hereupon the Second Prisoner was brought in; -- who
"deposed as follows:
"He is named Johann Benjamin Erfurth; a goldsmith
"by trade; age thirty-two; the Prisoner Menzel's Brother-in
"law.
"Confesses that Menzel had made use of him, at Dresden,
"during one year, to deliver, several times, sealed papers to
"the Prussian Secretary Plessmann, or rather mostly to
"Plessmann's servant. Also that, here in Warsaw, he has
"had to carry Despatches to Benoit, and to deliver them into
"his own hands. Latterly he has delivered the Despatches
"to certain Prussian peasants, who stopped at Benoit's, and
"who always relieved each other; and every time, the one
"who went away directed Prisoner, in turn, to him that ar-
"rived.
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? CHAP. IV. ] FRIEDRICH VISIBLE FOR A MOMENT. 185
1753-1755.
"He received fromMenzel, yesterday towards noon, a
"small sealed packet, which he was to convey to the Prussian
"peasant who had made an appointment with him at the
"Prussian Office (Hof) here. But as he was going to take it,
"and had just got outside of the Palace Court, a corporal
"took hold of him and arrested him. Confesses having con-
cealed the parcel in his browsers pocket, and to have denied
"that he had anything upon him. * * "Actum ut supra. "
Signed "Go'tze" (with titles).
"Next day, September 26th, Menzelreexamined; answers
"in effect following:
"Plessmann never himself came into the Archive Office at
"Dresden; except the one time" (a time that will be notable
to us! ) "when the Prussians were there to take away the
"Papers by force; then Plessmann was with them," -- and
we will remember the circumstance.
"Before leaving Dresden for Poland, last Year (1756), he,
"Menzel, had returned the said key to Plessmann; who gave
"him others for use here. After his arrival here, he returned
"these keys to Benoit, in the presence of Erfurth; saying,
"they were of no use to him, and that he could not get at the
"Despatches here. Prisoner further declares, that it was the
"Minister von Maltzahn who, of his own accord, and quite at
"the beginning, made the proposal concerning the keys; and
"whenPlessmann brought the keys, he said expressly they
"were from the Minister, along with fifty thalers, which he,
"Menzel, received at the same time. Actum ut supra. " Signed
as before. *
We could give some of the stolen Pieces, too; but
they are of abstruse tenor, and would be mere enigmas
to readers here. Enough that Friedrich understands
them. To Friedrich's intense and long-continued
scrutiny, they indicate, what is next to incredible, but
is at length fatally undeniable, That the old Treaty,
* Helden-Geschichle, v. 677 (as Beylage or Appendix to tha Kur-Sachsen
"Pro-Memoria, to the Reich's Diet;" of date, Regcnsburg, 31st January
1758).
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? 186 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
23d June 1755.
which we called of Warsaw, "Treaty for Partitioning
Prussia," is still (in spite of all subsequent and super-
incumbent Treaties to the contrary) vigorously alive
underground; that Saxon Briihl and her Hungarian
Majesty, to whom is now added Czarish Majesty, are
fixed as ever on cutting down this afflictive, too aspiring
King of Prussia, to the size of a Brandenburg Elector;
busy (in these Menzel Documents) considering how it
may be done, especially how the bear-skin may be
shared; -- and that, in short, there lies ahead, inevitable
seemingly, and not far off, a Third Silesian War.
Which punctually came true. The Third Silesian
War, -- since called Seven - Years War, that proving
to be the length of it, -- is now near. Breaks out,
has to break out, August 1756. The heaviest and
direst Struggle Friedrich ever had; the greatest of all
his Prowesses, Achievements, and Endurances in this
world. And, on the whole, the last that was very
great, or that is likely to be memorable with Posterity.
Upon which, accordingly, we must try our utmost to
leave some not untrue notion in this place: and that
once done -- Courage, reader!
Friedrich is visible, in Holland; to the naked Eye, for
some Minutes (June 23d, 1755).
In 1755 it was that Voltaire wrote, not the first
Letter, but the first very notable one, to his Royal
Friend, after their great quarrel:* seductively repentant,
and oh, so true, so tender; -- Royal Friend still
* Dated "The IhHiccs, near Geneva, 4th August 1755" (In Rodenbeck,
I. 887; in (Euvres de Fr&teric, xxm. 7; not given by any of the French
Editors).
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? CHAr. XV. } FRIEDRICH VISIBLE FOK A MOMENT. 187
2Jd June 1755.
obstinate, who answers nothing, or answers only through
De Prades: "Yes, yes, we are aware! " And it was in
the same Year that Friedrich first saw D'Alembert, --
Voltaire's successor, in a sense. And farther on (1st
November 1755), that the Earthquake of Lisbon went,
horribly crashing, through the thoughts of all mortals,
-- thoughts of King Friedrich among others; whose
reflections on it, I apprehend, are stingy, snarlingly
contemptuous, rather than valiant and pious, and need
not detain us here. One thing only we will mention,
for an accidental reason: That Friedrich, this Year,
made a short run to Holland, -- and that actual mo-
mentary sight of him happens thereby to be still pos-
sible.
In Summer 1755, after the West-Country Reviews, and a
short Journey into Ost-Friesland, whence to Wesel on the
Rhine, -- whither Friedrich had invited D'Alembert to meet
him, whom he finds ">>m tres-aimable garcon," likely for the
task in hand, -- Friedrich decided on a run into Holland:
strictly incognito, accompanied only by Balbi (Engineer, a
Genoese) and one page. Bade his D'Alembert adieu; and left
Wesel thitherward, June 19th. f At Amsterdam he viewed
the Bramkamp Picture-Gallery, the illustrious Countryhouse
of Jew Pinto at Tulpenburg (Tulip-borough! ) * * "I saw no-
thing but" whim-whams (colifichets)," says he: "I gave myself
"out for a Musician of the King of Poland;" wore a black wig
moreover, "and was nowhere known:"ff--and, for finis, got
into the common Passage-Boat (Trekschuit, no doubt) for
Utrecht, that he might see the other fine Countryhouses along
the Vechte. Fine enough Countryhouses, -- not mud and
sedges the main thing, as idle readers think. To Arnheim up
t ROdenbeck, i. 287.
ft CEuvres, xxvn. i. 268 ("Potsdam, 28th June 1755;" and lb. p. 270), to Wilhelmina, who is now on the return from her Italian Journey. Uncer-
tain Anecdotes of adventures among the whim-whams, in ROdenbeck, &c.
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? 188 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
23d June 1755.
the Vechte in this manner; Wesel and his own Country just at
hand again.
Now it happened that a young Swiss, -- poor enough in
purse, but not without talent and eyesight, assistant Teacher
in some Boarding-school thereabouts; name of him De Catt,
age twenty-seven, "born at Morges near Geneva, 1728," --
had got holiday, or had got errand, poor good soul; had
decided, on this same day (23d June 1755), to go to Utrecht,
and so stept into the very boat where Friedrich was. He him-
self (in a Letter written long after to Editor Laveaux) shall tell
us the rest:
"As I couldn't get into the Roef (cabin) because it was all
'' engaged, I staid with the other passengers in the Steerage
"{dans la barque meme), and the weather being fine, came up
"on deck. After some time, there stept out of the Cabin a
"man in cinnamon-coloured coat with gold button/Wes; in
"black wig; face and coat considerably dusted with Spanish
"snuff. He looked fixedly at me, for a while; and then said,
"without farther preface, 'Who are you, Monsieur? ' This
"cavalier tone from an unknown person, whose exterior in-
dicated nothing very important, did not please me; and I
"declined satisfying his curiosity. He was silent. But, some
"time after, he took a more courteous tone, and said: 'Come
"in here to me, Monsieur! You will be better here than in
"the Steerage, amid the tobacco-smoke. ' This polite address
"put an end to all anger; and as the singular manner of the
"man excited my curiosity, I took advantage of his invitation.
"We sat down, and began to speak confidentially with one
"another.
"'Do you see the man in the garden yonder, sitting smok-
"'ing his pipe? ' saidhetome: 'Thatman, youmay depend
"'upon it, is not happy. ' -- 'I know not,' answered I: 'but it
"'seems to me, until one knows a man, and is completely
"'acquainted with his situation and his way of thought,
"'one cannot possibly determine whether he is happy orun-
"'happy. '
"My gentleman admitted this" (verygood-natured! ); "and
"led the conversation on the Dutch Government. He criticised
"itj -- probably to bring me to speak. I did speak; and gave
"him frankly to know that he was not perfectly instructed in
"the thing he was criticising. -- 'You are right,' answered
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? CHAP. XV. ] FRIEDRICH VISIBLE FOR A MOMKNT. 189
23d June 1755.
"he; 'one can only criticise what one is thoroughly ac-
"' quainted with. ' . -- He now began to speak of Religion; and
"with eloquent tongue to recount what mischiefs Scholastic
"Philosophy had brought upon the world; then tried to prove,
"'That Creation was impossible. ' At this last point I stood
"out in opposition. 'But how can one create Something out
"' of Nothing? ' said he. 'That is not the question,' answered
"I; 'the question is, Whether such a Being as God can or
"' cannot give existence to what has yet none. He seemed em-
"barrassed, and added, 'But the Universe is eternal. ' -- 'You
"'are in a circle,' said I; 'how will you get out of it? '--'I skip
"' over it,' said he, laughing; and then began to speak of other
"things.
"'What form of Government do you reckon the best? '
"inquired he, among other things. 'The monarchic, if the
"King is just and 'enlightened. ' --. 'Very well,' answered he;
"' but where will you find Kings of that sort? ' And thereupon
"wentinto such a sally upon Kings, as could not in the least
"lead me to the supposition that ne was one. In the end he
"expressed pity for them, that they could not know the sweets
"of friendship; and cited on the occasion these verses (his own,
"I suppose):
"Ami tie, plaisir des grandes dmes;
"AmitM, que les Hois, ces illustres ingrats,
"Sont assez malheureux de ne connaitrepas. '"
"I have not the honour to be acquainted with Kings," said I;
"but to judge by what one has read in History of several
"of them, I should believe, Monsieur, that you, on the
"whole, are right. "? --"Ah, oui, oui, I am right; I know the
"gentlemen! "
"We now got to speak of Literature.
The stranger ex-
pressed himself with enthusiastic admiration offiacine. A
"droll incident happened during our dialogue. My gentleman
"wanted to let down a little sash-window, and couldn't
"manageit. 'You don't understand that,'said I; 'letme do
"' that. I tried to get it down; but succeeded no better than
"he. 'Monsieur,' said he, 'allow me to remark, on my side,
"'thatyou, uponmy honour, understand as little of it as I! '
"--'That is true; and I beg your pardon; I was too rash in
"'accusing you of want of expertness. ' -- 'Were you ever in
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? 190 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [bOOK XVI.
23d June 1755.
"'Germany? ' he now asked me. 'No; but I should like to
"'make that journey: I am very curious to see the Prussian
"' States, and their King, of whom one hears so much. ' And
"now I began to launch out on Friedrich's actions; but heinter-
"rupted me rapidly, with the words: 'Nothing more of Kings,
'"Monsieur! What have we to do with them? We will
"'spend the rest of our voyage on more agreeable and cheer-
"' ing objects. ' And now he spoke of the best of all possible
"worlds; and maintained that, in our Planet Earth, there was
"more Evil than Good. I maintained the contrary; and this
"dispute brought us to the end of our voyage.
"On quitting me, he said,'I hope, Monsieur, you will leave
"'me your name: I am very glad to have made your acquaint-
"'ance; perhaps we shall see one another again. ' I re-
"plied, as was fitting, to the compliment; and begged him
"to excuse me for contradicting him a little. 'Ascribe this,'
"I concluded, 'to the ill-humour which various little journeys
'"I had to make in these days have given me. ' I then told him
"my name, and we parted. * Parted to meet again; and live
"together for about twenty years.
Of this honest Henri de Catt, whom the King liked
on this Interview, and sent for soon after, and at length
got as "Lecteur du Roi" we shall hear again. ** He
did, from 1757 onwards, what De Prades now does
with more of noise, the old D'Arget functions; faith-
fully and well, for above twenty years; -- left a Note-
Book (not very Boswellian) about the King, which is
latterly in the Royal Archives at Berlin; and which
might without harm, or even with advantage, be printed,
but has never yet been. A very harmless De Catt
And we are surely obliged to him for this view of the
* hnvcaux, Histaire de Frederic (2d edition, Strasbourg, 1789, and blown
now into six voll. instead of four; dead all, except this fraction), v i. 365.
Seyfarth, n. 234, is right; ib. 170, wrong, and has led others wrong.
** "September 1755," sent for (but De Catt was ill and couldn*); "De-
cember 1757," got (Rodenbeck, i. 285).
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? CBAP. XV. ] FKIEDRICH VISIBLE FOR A MOMENT. 191
23d June 1755.
Travelling Gentleman "with the cinnamon-coloured
coat, snuffy nose, and black wig," and his manner of
talking on light external subjects, while the inner man
of him has weights enough pressing on it. Age still
under five-and-forty, but looks old for his years.
"June 23d, 1755:" it is in the very days while
poor Braddock is staggering down the Alleghanies;
Braddock fairly over the top; -- and the Fates waiting
him, at a Fortnight's distance. Far away, on the other
side of the World. But it is notable enough how Pitt
is watching the thing; and will at length get hand laid
on it, and get the kingship over it for above four years.
Whereby the Jenkins's-Ear Question will again, this
time on better terms, coalesce with the Silesian, or
Partition-of-Prussia Question; and both these long Con-
troversies get definitely closed, as the Eternal Decrees
had seen good.
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? BOOK XVII.
THE SEVEN-YEARS WAR: FIRST CAMPAIGN.
1756-1757.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. 13
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? 1755-1756.
CHAPTER I.
WHAT FRIEDRICH HAD READ IN THE MENZEL
DOCUMENTS.
The ill-informed world, entirely unaware of what
Friedrich had been studying and ascertaining, to his
bitter sorrow, for four years past, was extremely
astonished at the part he took in those French-English
troubles; extremely provoked at his breaking out again
into a Third Silesian War, greater than all the others,
and kindling all Europe in such a way. The ill-in-
formed world rang violently, then and long after, with
a Controversy, "Was it of his beginning, or Not of
his beginning? " Controversy, which may in our day
be considered as settled by unanimous mankind;
finished forever; and can now have no interest for any
creature.
Omitting that, our problem is (were it possible in
brief compass), To set forth, by what authentic traits
there are, -- not the "ambitious," "audacious," vora-
cious and highly condemnable Friedrich of the Gazet-
teers, -- but the thrice-intricately situated Friedrich of
Fact. What the Facts privately known to Friedrich
were, in what manner known; and how, in a more
complex crisis than had yet been, Friedrich demeaned
himself: upon which latter point, and those cognate to
it, readers ought not to be ignorant, if now fallen in-
different on so many other points of the Affair. What
13*
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? 196 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
1755-1756.
a loud-roaring, loose and empty matter is this tornado
of vociferation, which men call "Public Opinion"!
Tragically howling round a man; who has to stand
silent, the while; and scan, wisely under pain of death,
the altogether inarticulate, dumb and inexorable matter
which the gods call Fact! Friedrich did read his ter-
rible Sphinx-riddle; the Gazetteer tornado did pipe
and blow. King Friedrich, in contrast with his En-
vironment at that time, will, most likely, never be por-
trayed to modern men, in his real proportions, real
aspect and attitude then and there, -- which are
silently not a little heroic and even pathetic, when
well seen into; -- and, for certain, he is not portray-
able at present, on our side of the Sea. But what
hints and fractions of feature we authentically have,
ought to be given with exactitude, especially with
brevity, and left to the ingenuous imagination of
readers.
The secret sources of the Third Silesian War, since
called "Seven-Years War," go back to 1745; nay we
may say, to the First Invasion of Silesia in 1740. For
it was in Maria Theresa's incurable sorrow at loss of
Silesia, and her inextinguishable hope to reconquer it,
that this and all Friedrich's other Wars had their
origin. Twice she had signed Peace with Friedrich,
and solemnly ceded Silesia to him: but that too, with
the Imperial Lady, was by no means a finis to the
business. Not that she meant to break her Treaties;
far from her such a thought, -- in the conscious form.
Though, alas, in the unconscious, again, it was always
rather near! Practically she reckoned to herself, these
Treaties would come to be broken, as Treaties do not
endure forever; and then, at the good moment, she did
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? raAP. I. ] THE MENZEL DOCUMENTS. 197
1755-1756.
purpose to be ready. "Silesia back to us; Pragmatic
Sanction complete in every point! Was not that our
dear Father's will, monition of all our Fathers and
their Patriotisms and Traditionary Heroisms; and in
fact, the behest of gods and men? " Ten years ago,
this notion had been cut down to apparent death, in a
disastrous manner, for the second time. But it did not
die in the least: it never thinks of dying; starts always
anew, passionate to produce itself again as action valid
at last; and lives in the Imperial Heart with a tenacity
that is strange to observe. Still stranger, in the En-
vious-Valet Heart, -- in that of Briihl, who had far
less cause!
The Peace of Dresden, Christmas 1745, seemed to
be an act of considerable magnanimity on Friedrich's
part. It was, at the first blush of it, "incredible" to
Harrach, the Austrian Plenipotentiary; whose embar-
rassed, astonished bow we remember on that occasion,
with English Villiers shedding pious tears. But what
is very remarkable withal is a thing since discovered:*
That Harrach, magnanimous signature hardly yet dry,
did then straightway, by order of his Court, very pri-
vately inquire of Briihl, "There is Peace, you see;
what they call Peace: -- but our Treaty of Warsaw,
for Partition of this magnanimous man, stands all the
same; doesn't it? " To which, according to the Docu-
ments, Briihl, hardly escaped from the pangs of death,
and still in a very pale-yellow condition, had answered
in effect, "Hah, say you so? One's hatred is eternal;
-- but that man's iron heel! Wait a little; get Russia
to join in the scheme! " -- and hung back; the willing
mind, but the too terrified! And in this way, like a
* Infra, next note (p. 199).
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? 198 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
1755-176<<.
famishing dog in sight of a too dangerous leg of mut-
ton, Briihl has ever since rather held back; would not
reengage at all, for almost two years, even on the
Czarina's engaging; and then only in a cautious, con-
ditional and hypothetic manner, -- though with famine
increasing day by day in sight of the desired viands.
His hatred is fell; but he would fain escape with back
unbroken.
How Friedrich discovered the Mystery. Concerning Menzel
and Weingarten.
Friedrich has been aware of this mystery, at least
wide awake to it and becoming ever more instructed,
for almost four years. Traitor Menzel the Saxon
Kanzellist, -- we, who have prophetically read what
he had to confess when laid hold of, are aware, though
as yet, and on to 1757, it is a dead secret to all mor-
tals but himself and "three others," -- has been busy
for Prussia, ever since "the end of 1752. " Got ad-
mittance to the Presses; sent his first Excerpt "about
the time of Easter-Fair, 1753," -- time of Voltaire's
taking wing. And has been at work ever since. Copy-
ing Despatches from the most secret Saxon Reposi-
tories; ready always on Excellency Maltzahn's indi-
cating the Piece wanted; and of late, I should think,
is busier than ever, as the Saxon Mystery, which is
also an Austrian and Russian one, gets more light
thrown into it, and seems to be fast ripening towards
action of a perilous nature. The first Excerpts furnished
by Menzel, -- readers can judge how enigmatic they
were. These Menzel Papers, copies mainly of Peters-
burg or Vienna Despatches to Briihl, with Briihl's
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:32 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. I. ] THE MENZEL DOCUMENTS. 199
1755-1756.
Answers, ? the principal of which were subsequently
printed in their best arrangement and liveliest point of
vision,* -- are by no means a luminous set of Docu-
ments to readers at this day. Think what a study they
were, at Potsdam in 1753, while still in the chaotic
state; fished out, more or less at random, as Menzel
could lay hold of them, or be directed to them; the
enigma clearing itself only by intense inspection, and
capability of seeing in the dark!
It appears, -- if you are curious on the anecdotic
part, --
"Winterfeld was the first that got eye on this dangerous
"Saxon Mystery; some Ex-Saxon, about to settle in Berlin,
"giving hint of it to Winterfeld; who needed only a hint.
"So soon as Winterfeld convinced himself that there was
"weight in the Affair, he imparted it toFriedrich: 'Scheme
"of partitioning, your Majesty, of picking quarrel, then
"overwhelming and partitioning; most serious scheme,
"Austrian-Russian as well as Saxon; going on steadily for
"years past, and very lively at this time! ' If true, Friedrich
"cannot but admit that this is serious enough: important,
"thrice over, to discover whether it is true; -- and gives
"Winterfeld authority to prosecute it to the bottom, in
"Dresden or wherever the secret may lie. Who thereupon
"charged Maltzahn, the Prussian Minister at Dresden, to
"find some proper Menzel, and bestir himself. How Maltzahn
"has found his Menzel, and has bestirred himself, we saw.
"Thief-keys were made to pattern in Berlin; first set did not
"fit, second did; and stealthy Menzel gains admittance to
"that Chamber of the Archives, can steal thither on shoes of
* In Friedrich's Manifestos, chiefly in Memoire Baisonne sur la Conduile
des Cours de Vienne et de Saxe (compiled from the Menzel Originals, so soon
as these were got hold of: Berlin, Autumn 1756). A solid and able Paper;
rapidly done, by one Count Herzberg, who rose high in after times. Re-
printed, with many other "Pieces" and "Passages," in Gesammelte Nach-
richten und Urkunden, -- which is a " Collection" of such (2 voll. , 113 Nos. ,
small 8vo, no Place, 1757, my Copy of it).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:32 GMT / http://hdl.