History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 11 [30]
put up at the SIGN
OF THE RAVEN, there." Or in Friedrich's own jingle:--
"We arrived at Strasburg; and the Custom-house corsair, with his
inspectors, seemed content with our evidences.
These scoundrels spied us,
With one eye reading our passport,
With the other ogling our purse.
Gold, which was always a resource,
Which brought, Jove to the enjoyment
Of Danae whom he caressed;
Gold, by which Caesar governed
The world happy under his sway;
Gold, more a divinity than Mars or Love;
Wonder-working Gold introduced us
That evening, within the walls of Strasburg."
[Given thus far, with several slight errors, in Voltaire, ii.
24-26;--the remainder, long unknown, had to be fished up, patch by
patch (Preuss, OEuvres de Frederic, xiv.
159-161).]
Ces scelerats nous epiaient,
D'un oeil le passe-port lisaient,
De l'autre lorgnaient notre bourse.
L'or, qui toujours fut de ressource,
Par lequel Jupin jouissait
De Danae, qu'il caressait;
L'or, par qui Cesar gouvernait
Le monde heureux sous son empire;
L'or, plus dieu que Mars et l'Amour,
Le soir, dans les murs de Strasbourg.
Sad doggerel; permissible perhaps as a sample of the Friedrich
manufacture, surely not otherwise! There remains yet more than
half of it; readers see what their foolish craving has brought
upon them! Doggerel out of which no clear story, such story as
there is, can be had; though, except the exaggeration and
contortion, there is nothing of fiction in it. We fly to the
Newspaper, happily at least a prose composition, which begins at
this point; and shall use the Doggerel henceforth as illustration
only or as repetition in the Friedrich-mirror, of a thing
OTHERWISE made clear to us:--
Having got into Strasburg and the RAVEN HOTEL; Friedrich now on
French ground at last, or at least on Half-French, German-French,
is intent to make the most of circumstances. The Landlord, with
one of Friedrich's servants, is straightway despatched into the
proper coffee-houses to raise a supper-party of Officers; politely
asks any likely Officer, "If he will not do a foreign Gentleman
[seemingly of some distinction, signifies Boniface] the honor to
sup with him at the Raven?"--"No, by Jupiter!" answer the most, in
their various dialects: "who is he that we should sup with him?"
Three, struck by the singularity of the thing, undertake; and with
these we must be content. Friedrich--or call him M. le Comte
Dufour, with Pfuhl, Schaffgotsch and such escort as we see--
politely apologizes on the entrance of these officers:
"Many pardons, gentlemen, and many thanks. Knowing nobody;
desirous of acquaintance:--since you are so good, how happy, by a
little informality, to have brought brave Officers to keep me
company, whom I value beyond other kinds of men!"
The Officers found their host a most engaging gentleman:
his supper was superb, plenty of wine, "and one red kind they had
never tasted before, and liked extremely;"--of which he sent some
bottles to their lodging next day. The conversation turned on
military matters, and was enlivened with the due sallies.
This foreign Count speaks French wonderfully; a brilliant man,
whom the others rather fear: perhaps something more than a Count?
The Officers, loath to go, remembered that their two battalions
had to parade next morning, that it was time to be in bed: "I will
go to your review," said the Stranger Count: the delighted
Officers undertake to come and fetch him, they settle with him
time and method; how happy!
On the morrow, accordingly, they call and fetch him; he looks at
the review; review done, they ask him to supper for this evening:
"With pleasure!" and "walks with them about the Esplanade, to see
the guard march by." Before parting, he takes their names, writes
them in his tablets; says, with a smile, "He is too much obliged
ever to forget them." This is Wednesday, the 24th of August, 1740;
Field-Marshal Broglio is Commandant in Strasburg, and these
obliging Officers are "of the regiment Piedmont,"--their
OF THE RAVEN, there." Or in Friedrich's own jingle:--
"We arrived at Strasburg; and the Custom-house corsair, with his
inspectors, seemed content with our evidences.
These scoundrels spied us,
With one eye reading our passport,
With the other ogling our purse.
Gold, which was always a resource,
Which brought, Jove to the enjoyment
Of Danae whom he caressed;
Gold, by which Caesar governed
The world happy under his sway;
Gold, more a divinity than Mars or Love;
Wonder-working Gold introduced us
That evening, within the walls of Strasburg."
[Given thus far, with several slight errors, in Voltaire, ii.
24-26;--the remainder, long unknown, had to be fished up, patch by
patch (Preuss,
159-161).]
Ces scelerats nous epiaient,
D'un oeil le passe-port lisaient,
De l'autre lorgnaient notre bourse.
L'or, qui toujours fut de ressource,
Par lequel Jupin jouissait
De Danae, qu'il caressait;
L'or, par qui Cesar gouvernait
Le monde heureux sous son empire;
L'or, plus dieu que Mars et l'Amour,
Le soir, dans les murs de Strasbourg.
Sad doggerel; permissible perhaps as a sample of the Friedrich
manufacture, surely not otherwise! There remains yet more than
half of it; readers see what their foolish craving has brought
upon them! Doggerel out of which no clear story, such story as
there is, can be had; though, except the exaggeration and
contortion, there is nothing of fiction in it. We fly to the
Newspaper, happily at least a prose composition, which begins at
this point; and shall use the Doggerel henceforth as illustration
only or as repetition in the Friedrich-mirror, of a thing
OTHERWISE made clear to us:--
Having got into Strasburg and the RAVEN HOTEL; Friedrich now on
French ground at last, or at least on Half-French, German-French,
is intent to make the most of circumstances. The Landlord, with
one of Friedrich's servants, is straightway despatched into the
proper coffee-houses to raise a supper-party of Officers; politely
asks any likely Officer, "If he will not do a foreign Gentleman
[seemingly of some distinction, signifies Boniface] the honor to
sup with him at the Raven?"--"No, by Jupiter!" answer the most, in
their various dialects: "who is he that we should sup with him?"
Three, struck by the singularity of the thing, undertake; and with
these we must be content. Friedrich--or call him M. le Comte
Dufour, with Pfuhl, Schaffgotsch and such escort as we see--
politely apologizes on the entrance of these officers:
"Many pardons, gentlemen, and many thanks. Knowing nobody;
desirous of acquaintance:--since you are so good, how happy, by a
little informality, to have brought brave Officers to keep me
company, whom I value beyond other kinds of men!"
The Officers found their host a most engaging gentleman:
his supper was superb, plenty of wine, "and one red kind they had
never tasted before, and liked extremely;"--of which he sent some
bottles to their lodging next day. The conversation turned on
military matters, and was enlivened with the due sallies.
This foreign Count speaks French wonderfully; a brilliant man,
whom the others rather fear: perhaps something more than a Count?
The Officers, loath to go, remembered that their two battalions
had to parade next morning, that it was time to be in bed: "I will
go to your review," said the Stranger Count: the delighted
Officers undertake to come and fetch him, they settle with him
time and method; how happy!
On the morrow, accordingly, they call and fetch him; he looks at
the review; review done, they ask him to supper for this evening:
"With pleasure!" and "walks with them about the Esplanade, to see
the guard march by." Before parting, he takes their names, writes
them in his tablets; says, with a smile, "He is too much obliged
ever to forget them." This is Wednesday, the 24th of August, 1740;
Field-Marshal Broglio is Commandant in Strasburg, and these
obliging Officers are "of the regiment Piedmont,"--their