Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/60

 240 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS comrades of the infantry to try their fortune against these well-drilled foes. The infantry were not more fortunate than the cavalry. The Prussians stood firm as rocks, and fired three shots to their one ; and as both were equally unskilful in the use of arms, the quantity of shots fired naturally decided the day. After a combat of several hours, the Austrians retired from the field, leaving the vic- tory and battle-ground in the hands of the Prussians. But where was he, the chifeftain of that gallant host, the claimant of duke- doms and principalities, the victor for whose brows a splendid wreath of laurel had been so nobly gained by the blood of the brave ? Will blushing glory hide the tale of shame } Alas, no ! vain were the courtly attempts made to conceal the truth, and history is forced to confess that " Frederick the Great from Mol- witz deigned to run." In the scene of death, tumult, and confusion, which fol- lowed on the overthrow of the Prussian cavalry, the king completely lost his presence of mind, and fled as far as Oppeln, where the Austrian garrison, unfor- tunately for their cause, received him with a fire of musketry, that made him take another direction. He passed the night in great anxiety at a small country inn twenty miles from the field. On the following morning an aide-de-camp of the Prince of Dessau brought the fugitive king back to his victorious army. "Oh, Frederick," says Berenhorst, "who could then have foretold the glory thou wert destined to acquire and to merit as well as any conqueror and gainer of battles ever did ? " The war of the Austrian Succession having been now kindled, and Maria Theresa been attacked on all the points of her extensive dominions, Frederick made peace, left his allies to shift for themselves, and, having obtained the princi- palities of Silesia, retired from the contest. That he made good use of the time and additional sources of strength gained, it is needless to say. The splendid success of the Austrian arms against France, the rapid prepon- derance that Maria Theresa was acquiring, alarmed him, however, for his late conquests ; and he determined again to take the field before the strength of the house of Austria should outgrow his power to repress it. Voltaire negotiated for France on this occasion, and represented the danger with rather more than diplomatic ability. On both sides the protocols were as often written in verse as in prose; and Frederick, who hated George II., having told the poet, "Let France declare war against England, and I march," the latter instantly set out for Versailles, and thus gave the signal for the second Silesian War. This was in 1 744. The Prussian troops were again victorious in battle, but the general result was not so much i.i their favor. The king, after taking Prague, was forced to evacuate Bohemia and part of Silesia ; and though afterward brilliantly suc-
 * essful, particularly in the fields of Hohenfriedberg, he did not hesitate to make

a separate peace the moment a fair opportunity offered. On taking the field, lie told the French ambassador, " I am going to play your game, and if the trumps fall to my share, we'll go halves." The best part of the promise was soon ft)r- gotten, and the French, Spaniards, and Bavarians left, as before, to fight their own battle, the King of Prussia having, in December, 1745, amicably concluded