There is a furious discount to be deducted from said glory. Chance came in for almost the whole of it. I would far rather have written Racines Athalie than have performed all the achievements of this war.
Maria Theresa was developing character which attracted the admiration of Europe. She seriously contemplated taking command of her armies herself. She loved Duke Francis, her husband, treated him very tenderly, and was anxious to confer upon him honor; but by nature vastly his superior, instinctively she assumed the command. She led; he followed. She was a magnificent rider. Her form was the perfection of grace. Her beautiful, pensive, thoughtful face was tanned by the weather. All hearts throbbed as, on a spirited charger, she sometimes swept before the ranks of the army, with her gorgeous retinue, appearing and disappearing like a meteor. She was as devout as she317 was brave, winning the homage of all Catholic hearts. We know not where, in the long list of sovereigns, to point to man or woman of more imperial energies, of more exalted worth.
Incessant Marches and Battles.Letter from Frederick to DArgens.Letter to his Brother Henry.Berlin summoned to Surrender.Sacking of the City.Letter to DArgens.Desperate Resolves of Frederick.The Resort of Suicide.Remarkable Address of Frederick to his Generals.Bloody Battle of Torgau.Dismal Night-scene.Familiarity of the King with the Soldiers.Winter Quarters at Freiberg.Singular Letter to the Countess of Camas.Death of the Princess Amelia.Anecdotes of the King.His domestic Habits.His unscrupulous Measures to obtain Men and Money.Letter of Charlotte of Mecklenburg.Russia, added Sir Thomas, with some stateliness of utterance, is not the only power which has engagements with Austria, and which must keep them too; so that, however averse to a breachThe astonishment and indignation in Vienna, in view of this terrible defeat, were intense. Prince Charles was immediately relieved of his command, and General Daun appointed in his stead. It is the testimony of all military men that the battle of Leuthen was one of the most extraordinary feats of war. Napoleon, speaking of it at St. Helena, said,Old Leopold is hardly at home at Dessau, writes Carlyle, when the new Pandour tempests, tides of ravaging war, again come beating against the Giant Mountains, pouring through all passes, huge influx of wild riding hordes, each with some support of Austrian grenadiers, cannoniers, threatening to submerge Silesia. Precursors, Frederick need not doubt, of a strenuous, regular attempt that way. Hungarian majestys fixed intention,347 hope, and determination is to expel him straightway from Silesia.81
