The Youth of the Great Elector
by
L. Muhlbach
Part 10 out of 10
That nobody knows. The Princess has a tender but proud heart! Only at
night was heard a low sobbing and wailing in the Princess's chamber. When
morning broke though it was hushed. That is the deepest grief which must
shun the light of day, and only find vent and expression in the curtained
darkness of night.
Poor Hildegarde! Poor King's daughter! Scorned! The Emperor's grandchild
scorned by the little Elector of Brandenburg!
He has returned home; he has shaken from his feet the dust of that
humbling pilgrimage. The States of the duchy of Prussia had long delayed
swearing allegiance to the Elector, feeling that they had been aggrieved
as to their rights and privileges. Now at last all difficulties had been
adjusted and the deputies of Prussia were ready to do homage to their
Duke. Upon an open tribune before the palace stood the Elector, with bared
head and radiant countenance, and in front of him at the foot of the
throne the deputies from his duchy. They swore faithfulness and devotion,
and, as in Warsaw, so in Koenigsberg the bells rang, and trumpets and drums
sent forth triumphant sounds. The roar of cannon announced to Koenigsberg
and all Prussia that to-day the Duke and his States were joined in a
compact of concord, love, and unity!
"Leuchtmar," said the Elector, inclining toward the friend whom
he had summoned from Sweden, on purpose to be present at this
festivity--"Leuchtmar, in this hour the first germ of my future
has put forth buds!"
"And a great forest will grow therefrom, a forest of myrtle and laurel,
your highness!"
"Leave the myrtle to grow and bloom, Leuchtmar. I care not for that! But I
want a rapid growth of laurel! I long for action; and one thing I will
tell you, friend: to-day marks a new era of my life. Until now I have been
forced to bear and temporize, to bow my head, and patiently accommodate
myself to the arrogance and caprices of others. I was so small and all
about me so great. I was nothing, they were everything! I must become a
diplomatist in order to gain even ground enough on which to stand."
"And now you have gained ground. One title, at least, you have
substantiated, and may now claim to be veritably Duke of Prussia. You have
now won your position; and my Elector never recedes--he always moves
forward!"
"Yes, from this day he moves forward!" cried the Elector, with enthusiasm.
"Forward in the path of glory and renown! Hear you the ringing of bells
and thundering of cannon! God bless Prussia, my Prussia of the future--my
great, strong, mighty Prussia, as I feel she _will_ become. To her I
dedicate my life. Not in pride and vain ambition, but in genuine humility
and devotion to my duty and my calling. I will have nothing for myself,
all for my people, for the honor of my God and the good of my country! In
the discharge of my princely functions I shall be ever mindful that I
guard not my own, but my people's interests. And this thought will give
me strength and joy! This be the device of my whole future: _Pro deo et
populo_!--For God and the people!"
"God save our Duke!" cried and shouted the people, as the Elector now
descended the steps of the throne in order to return to the palace.
"Blessings on our Duke!" cried also the representatives and deputies from
the Prussian towns and provinces.
The Elector bowed to right and left, smilingly acknowledging their
salutations. His heart swelled with joy and love as he saw all these glad,
happy faces, the faces of his own people; and in the recesses of his soul
he repeated his oath, to devote his whole life and being to his
country--"_Pro deo et populo_!--For God and the people!"
END OF THE VOLUME.
ENDNOTES
[Endnote 1: The exact words of the deputies from Cleves. _Vide_ Droysen,
History of the Prussian Policy, vol. in, part I, p. 175.]
[Endnote 2: The Elector's own words. See F. Forster, Prussia's Heroes in
War and Peace, i, p. 15.]
[Endnote 3: Historical. _Vide_ Nicolai, Description of the Capital City
Berlin, Introduction, p. 27.]
[Endnote 4: The peace of Prague was concluded in 1635, and in this the
Elector of Brandenburg renounced alliance with the Swedes and assumed a
neutral position.]
[Endnote 5: Historical. _Vide_ Nicolai, i, p. 33.]
[Endnote 6: _Vide_ von Orlich, History of the Prussian State, etc., part
1, p. 34.]
[Endnote 7: _Vide_ von Orlich, History of the Prussian State, etc., part
1, p. 35.]
[Endnote 8: This palace of Count Schwarzenberg was situated on Broad
Street, and the open square in front of it was where now stand the houses
of the so-called Stechbahn. In the middle of this square stood the
cathedral, and behind this, near the Spree, arose the electoral castle. It
is the spot where the King's apothecary now has his stand.]
[Endnote 9: A historical fact. _Vide_ von Orlich.]
[Endnote 10: King, Description of Berlin, part I, p, 237.]
[Endnote 11: Droysen, History of Prussian Politics, part 3, p. 172.]
[Endnote 12: Count Lesle's own words. _Vide_ von Orlich, History of
Prussia, part I, p. 40.]
[Endnote 13: The Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate, brother to the
Electress of Brandenburg, was (after the Archduke Maximilian had been
declared to have forfeited the Bohemian throne) elected by the Bohemians
to be their King. He accepted the nomination, but a few days after his
coronation was defeated in the battle of the White Mountain in Austria
(1620); wandered about homeless for a long time, and died in 1632 in
Mainz. His wife was a daughter of the King of England, and his mother a
Princess of Orange, wherefore his wife and children found a refuge and
protection at The Hague.]
[Endnote 14: Count Lesle's own words. _Vide_ Droysen, History of Prussian
Politics, vol. iii, p. 173.]
[Endnote 15: Historical. _Vide_ von Orlich, part 1, p. 42.]
[Endnote 16: Historical. _Vide_ von Orlich.]
[Endnote 17: Historical. _Vide_ von Orlich, vol. ii, p. 456.]
[Endnote 18: The Elector's own words. See von Orlich, vol. i.]
[Endnote 19: The precise words of the Electoral Prince, See C.D. Kuester,
The Remarkable Youth of the Great Elector, p. 39.]
[Endnote 20: Count Adam Schwarzenberg's own words. _Vide_ Droysen,
History of the Prussian Policy, vol. iii, part I, p. 35.]
[Endnote 21: Count Adam Schwarzenberg's own words. _Vide_ Droysen,
History of the Prussian Policy, vol. iii, part I, p. 35.]
[Endnote 22: Shortly before the Electoral Prince left home he found one
evening under his bed a man armed with two daggers. Upon the Prince's
outcry, his servants hurried to his assistance and succeeded in capturing
the murderer, who endeavored to make his escape. He confessed that he had
come to murder the Electoral Prince, and that he had not done so of his
own accord, but had been bribed to undertake the deed by a very
distinguished lord. This assertion was confirmed by a considerable sum of
money, which was found in his pockets upon being searched. They put him in
prison, but two days afterward he had vanished, and with him his jailer,
who had connived at his flight. The Electoral Prince was firmly convinced
that this murderer had been suborned by Count Schwarzenberg, and shortly
before his death himself related this story to his physician. _Vide_
Kuester, Youthful Life of the Great Elector.]
[Endnote 23: von Orlich, History of the State of Prussia, vol. i, p. 42.]
[Endnote 24: Historical. _Vide_ King, Description of Berlin, part 1.]
[Endnote 25: Historical. _Vide_ Archives of Historical Science in Prussia.
Edited by Leopold von Ledebur, vol. iv, p. 97.]
[Endnote 26: They still made use of white as mourning in those days, and
in half mourning wore black gloves. Therefore the White Lady appeared
altogether in white when the death of the reigning sovereign or his wife
was to be announced; but if only some member of their family, in white
with black gloves.]
[Endnote 27: _Vide_ Historical; Archives]
[Endnote 28: _Vide_ Buchholz's History of Brandenburg.]
[Endnote 29: See von Orlich, The Great Elector, vol. i, p. 50.]
[Endnote 30: Von Orlich, p. 53.]
[Endnote 31: Frederick William's own words. See Droysen's History of
Prussian Policy, vol. in, p. 215.]
[Endnote 32: The Elector's own words. _Vide_ Droysen, vol. iii, p. 217.]
[Endnote 33: Historical. _Vide_ Letters of the Duchess of Orleans to
Countess Louise.]
[Endnote 34: In the year 1638 a ship, on board of which were all the
Electoral jewels to the amount of sixty thousand gulden, was plundered by
a detachment from the corps of General Monticuculi, and all the jewels
abstracted. Count Schwarzenberg had three officers concerned in it
arrested, and carried to Spandow for trial. Although the Emperor himself
desired the release of the imperial officers, the Stadtholder not only
refused this, but even subjected the three officers to the torture, in
order to extort from them a confession of the place where the jewels had
been hid. But they confessed nothing, meanwhile remaining in confinement
until the Elector Frederick William restored to them their freedom.
_Vide_ von Orlich, The Great Elector, vol. _i_, p. 53.]
[Endnote 35: Droysen, History of Prussian Politics, p. 180.]
[Endnote 36: The Elector's own words. _Vide_ Droysen, History of Prussian
Politics, vol. iii, p. 220.]
[Endnote 37: The Elector's own words. See von Orlich, History of Prussia.]
[Endnote 38: Burgsdorf's own words. _Vide_ History of Prussia, by von
Orlich, vol. ii, p. 390.]
[Endnote 39: The Elector's own words. See Droysen, History of Prussian
Politics, vol. iii, p. 223.]
[Endnote 40: Burgsdorf's own words. See ibid., p. 224.]
[Endnote 41: The Elector's own words. See Droysen, vol. in, p. 223.]
[Endnote 42: Schwarzenberg's own words. See Droysen, History of Prussian
Politics.]
[Endnote 43: See von Orlich, History of Prussia, vol. i, p. 60.]
[Endnote 44: See Droysen, History of Prussian Politics, vol. in, p. 223.]
[Endnote 45: Rochow's own words. See Droysen, vol. in, p. 224.]
[Endnote 46: This whole scene is historical. See von Orlich, History of
Prussia, vol. i, p. 59.]
[Endnote 47: Count Schwarzenberg was buried in the Tillage church at
Spandow, his entrails in a separate case beside him. The sudden and
unexpected death of the Stadtholder excited uncommon attention through
Germany, and a report was circulated that upon the count's retiring to
Spandow on account of ill health the Elector had caused him to be
arrested, and secretly beheaded in prison. Even as late as the times of
Frederick the Great this report was commonly believed, and Frederick, when
he wished to write a history of the reigning house, had the count's coffin
opened to ascertain whether the head was separate from the body. No trace
of a violent severing of the head from the body was, however, discovered.
See Pollnitz, Memoirs, vol. iv, p. 40; Droysen, vol. in, p. 232.]
[Endnote 48: See Droysen, History of Prussian Polities.]
[Endnote 49: See Droysen, vol. iii, p. 239.]
[Endnote 50: Droysen, vol. iii, p. 237.]
[Endnote 51: See Droysen, History of Prussian Politics, vol. iii, p. 236.]
[Endnote 52: See von Orlich, History of Prussia, vol. i, p. 61.]
[Endnote 53: The Elector's own words.]
[Endnote 54: The Elector's own words. See von Orlich, History of Prussia,
vol. vi, p. 77.]
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