object of the treaty with France had been the conquest of Bohemia for Charles VII. Eager and confident, Frederick invaded the country, and entered Prague. But from that moment everything turned to his discomfiture and humiliation. The population, enthusiastically attached to their church and their sovereign, repelled with horror these Protestant aggressors. The Saxons joined the Austrian generals with 20,000 men. The advance of the Prussian army into the heart of Bohemia was followed by their speedy but not unskilful retreat from the walls of Tabor and the valley of the Elbe. Without a battle and without a siege, the whole of Bohemia was re-conquered by the Austrian forces, which even poured along to Upper Silesia, where first their victorious march was stayed. The tide had now turned. One by one the princes who had smiled upon the project of 'a German Union' fell off from the vain and impracticable scheme. The Estates of Franconia answered the summons of the emperor with words alone, mentioning at the same time their own weakness and their danger; the Duke of Gotha begged to consult his relations; Würtemberg stood aloof; Holstein pleaded minority; and in the midst of this general falling off from a bad cause, the Emperor Charles VII. was removed by death from the scene of his honours and his cares : 'The Emperor was dead-his son deprived of his hereditary dominions; the union was either still incomplete, or, so far as it had been effected, again broken up; moreover, the conduct of the war by the French was as inefficient as ever, and as little conducive to the interests of Germany. "It is all very well for France," said Frederick, "to have conquered Flanders, but it is of no importance to Prussia." Frederick saw himself thrown entirely upon his own resources. And at this very moment his enemies showed greater energy than ever. In Germany all the dislike to the Prussian name, and all the old sympathies in favour of the house of Austria, were re-awakened. There was a general wish to see the imperial dignity restored to the house of Austria, or rather bestowed upon the house of Lorraine, now identified with it. Frederick's alliance with the French did not render his position more easy; on the contrary, it roused against him the dislike of the German people: the presence of the French was universally detested. In the higher circles his sudden military enterprises-the motives to which few understood and none appreciated—were attributed to boundless and insatiable ambition, and roused against him a general feeling of dislike; the hatred of his natural opponents found response and approbation on all sides, and his destruction was eagerly sought.' -vol. iii. p. 206. Well might the cool and astute Podewils observe, 'Your Majesty now sees that it is not so easy as you thought to reduce the power of the house of Austria to that point at which you wish to fix it.' At the very same instant an alliance was concluded between the court of Saxony and the Queen of Hungary, with England and Holland, the maritime powers, not without a prospect of Russian assistance. Even the partition of Prussia was discussed by the allies, though decisively rejected by Lord Harrington and by England. The French had retired in disgrace from southern Germany; and Belleisle, caught on the frontiers of Hanover, had been sent a prisoner to England. On the opening of the campaign in 1745 Frederick stood alone, and against Europe. If a close examination of the political motives which governed the earlier years of Frederick's reign has failed to give us any idea but that of disgust and aversion at the unscrupulous rapacity of his diplomacy and his arms, no one can hesitate to allow that in the awful day of peril and solitude, when the snares he had set for others encompass his own path, he stands with undaunted greatness, like some hero of old heathendom, face to face with destiny. On the 29th of March he says, 'We are now in the crisis of our fate; if we fail to obtain peace through the mediation of England, my enemies will fall on me from all quarters. I cannot enforce a peace. As regards war, I am determined to conquer, or that not one of us shall return to Berlin.' The crown plate and jewels were sent to Magdeburg, the royal family to Stettin. Eichel prognosticated the downfall of the house of Brandenburg; Podewils added, that the prospect made his hair stand on end. The King himself remained in unshaken reliance on his valour, his vanity, and his fatalism. From the Abbey of Camenz Frederick wrote: 'I can say nothing, but that that has happened which was to happen. Nothing now remains to me but patience. If all my resources and negotiations fail, if all chances turn against me, I prefer falling with honour to leading an inglorious life deprived of all consideration. It is my pride to have done more for the increase of my house than any of my ancestors, and to have played a great part among the crowned heads of Europe. To maintain this position is a personal duty, which I will fulfil at the cost of life and happiness. I have no other choice left: I will either maintain my power entire, or it will be annihilated, and the Prussian name be buried with me. Should the enemy undertake anything against us, we will conquer, or we will be cut to pieces to the last man for the salvation of our country and the honour of Brandenburg. It would be vain to offer me any other counsel. What sea-captain is there who, after all his endeavours to save his vessel had failed, would not have the courage to set light to the powder magazine, and thus at any rate disappoint the expectations of the foe? A woman, the Queen of Hungary, when the enemy were at the gates of Vienna, and her best provinces occupied by them, did not despair: and shall not we have the courage of a woman? As yet we have not 2 B 2 lost lost a battle, and one stroke of fortune may raise us higher than we have yet stood.' "Podewils excused the anxiety he felt by saying, that his fears were not for himself or for his property, which was of small value, but only for the King; but that he knew that the King's heart and courage would, with the assistance of Providence, overcome all obstacles. Frederick gave Podewils credit for doing as much as any one could expect from him; but he himself was not disposed to depend altogether upon the assistance of Providence. "Do you on your part fulfil your duties as I do on mine, and leave the rest to blind chance. If we fail, it shall be through no want of prudence or of courage on our parts, but the fault of circumstances, which have been adverse to us. I am prepared for whatever may happen. Whether fortune be kind or cruel, I shall be neither cast down nor puffed up. If I must perish, I will fall with glory and sword in hand. Learn from a man who never listened to the sermons of Elsner, that we must oppose a front of bronze to the misfortunes which come upon us, and even during our lifetime we must resign all joys, all possessions, and all illusions which will not follow us beyond the grave.' "If Frederick had had faith, his resignation would have carried with it a dash of Protestant devotion, and would have more easily communicated itself to his people. But from this he was far removed, and he stood alone in his sentiments. It was characteristic of his nature to look for no help from any quarter, not from Heaven itself; he strained every nerve to meet the threatened danger, but he was prepared for defeat. He feared nothing and hoped nothing, but lived only in the endeavour to fulfil his duty.'-vol. iii. p. 223. His resolution, his minute attention to the condition of his army, and his judgment in the field, were at length not unrewarded. He still lingered in his camp along the mountain range which borders Silesia, and in full view of the passage by which the enemy was about to cross. The Austrian and Saxon generals met on the heights of Hohenfriedberg, and dined on the eminence whilst their gaudy columns passed the defiles to the plain below. Frederick watched them from the opposite hills. The rising dust indicated their position. It was that in which he was prepared to face them. On the following morning the attack began, and night fell on the triumphant banners of the Prussian army. The battle of Hohenfriedberg was unquestionably the ablest and the most momentous contest of Frederick's Silesian wars; it shook the military power arrayed against him; it subdued Silesia; and it vindicated the shaken confidence of his subjects and the world in his genius and his skill. The remainder of the war presents little interest. It was no longer carried on to abase the house of Austria or to extend the territory of Brandenburg, but, as Frederick expressed it, to soften Pharaoh's heart-in other words, to obtain peace. England vehemently urged the termination of this fatal quarrel, and the the presence of Charles Edward Stuart on her own soil perhaps contributed to bend the feelings of George II. towards the Protestant princes of northern Germany. At length the preliminaries of the treaty of Dresden were arranged. Frederick recorded his vote as Elector in favour of the husband of Maria Theresa as Emperor, and the house of Austria formally recognised the acquisitions of the Prussian crown. At this period Professor Ranke takes leave of the annals of his hero, and we cease to profit by his persevering and often successful researches into the written monuments of the last century. We cannot, however, conclude this paper without adverting once more to the direct application of the important lesson contained in these volumes to the politics of Germany at the present hour, for they are a mirror in which the aberrations of contemporary statesmen may be traced with prophetic accuracy. No doubt the aggrandisement of the house of Brandenburg in the wide field of the German empire has been the passion of her rulers and her people ever since (to use Frederick's own expression) that seed of ambition was sown by the concession of the regal crown.' By military prowess, by astute diplomacyby an isolated policy at one time and by a combined policy at another-by commercial union, and even by an affected sympathy with the exorbitant designs of democratic revolution, she has pursued and is pursuing the same end. Yet the game can be played but with one result; first, that rupture with Austria-of which Frederick's pretensions gave the first memorable signal; and secondly, the appeal to foreign alliances-to which he never scrupled to demean himself. He it was, be it remembered (for -Professor Ranke boasts of the fact), who first resolved to raise his crown and his people from their traditional condition in the German empire to complete independence. That ancient institution lingered on for a time, and only expired under the gripe of a foreign oppressor, but its death-wound had been inflicted by a native hand. The attempt of the Prussian King to revive something of the Germanic spirit by the union of Frankfort and the exclusion of Austria was conceived from no enlarged patriotic motive, and it met with the fate which has so recently attended a parody of the same transaction: and though Frederick accomplished that personal distinction, and exercised that independent power, which were the objects of his constant ambition, his triumphs and his greatness were purchased at the cost of the peace and union of Germany; he fostered those divisions which afterwards led to the subjection of the entire nation by Napoleon, and may even in our own day prove some of the most irritating political questions in the system of Europe. ART. ART. III.-1. Introductory Lectures delivered at Queen's College. 2. Queen's College, its Origin and Progress. 1849. Report for 1848. Report for 1848. 5. Governess Life, by the Author of Memorials of Two Sisters: 1849. NOT long ago (Q. R., No. 167) we had occasion to advert to the establishment of Queen's College. The appearance of the volume which stands at the head of our list has recalled our attention to it; and our anxiety that it should be consolidated on true and safe principles induces us to hazard a few remarks on some of its proceedings. Queen's College was opened on the 1st of May, 1848. It was an offshoot from the Governesses' Benevolent Institution; which, as our readers are aware, is a Society having for its design to benefit an important and very interesting class of our countrywomen, not only by affording assistance to them when in diffculty, sickness, and old age, but by raising the standard of their accomplishments, and thus entitling them to higher remuneration. With a view to these latter objects, the conductors of that Institution were led to the plan of examining into the attainments of governesses in quest of situations, and granting certificates of approval to those who could stand the test. For this purpose it was found necessary to establish a Committee of gentlemen, competent individually to examine in every branch of knowledge.' (Queen's College, p. 5.) The Committee appears to have consisted chiefly, if not entirely, of Professors of King's College, who one by one came forward, offering the assistance of their practised skill and acknowledged learning.' (Ibid.) These gentlemen soon discovered that to do any real good they must go farther; they must fit the governesses for their examination; they must provide an education for female teachers.' (Introd. Lect., p. 4.) Finally, they came to the resolution that it was expedient to extend that instruction beyond the governess in fact and the governess in prospect, to all and sundry who might choose to avail themselves of it. (Introd. Lect., pp. 4, 5; Q. C., pp. 5, 6; Gov. Life, p. 2.) The result has been the establishment of Queen's College in its present form; an institution, namely, where lectures are given in the various branches of female education, according to the enlarged requirements of the present day, in classes open to all ladies of twelve years old and upwards, on payment of a moderate fee |