Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/362

 324 Readings in European History 361. Letter of Frederick the Great written toward the close of the Seven Years' War (Aug- ust, 1762). hearers convinced Frederick that he had produced the effect he desired. With a gentle smile he continued:] I was convinced that no one of you would wish to leave me ; I count then, absolutely, on your faithful help and on certain victory. Should I not return to reward you for your devotion, the fatherland itself must do it. Return now to camp and repeat to your troops what you have heard from me. [Then, becoming once more the stern ruler, he an- nounces the punishment that awaits the slightest hesitation in following orders.] The regiment of cavalry that does not immediately on the receipt of orders throw itself upon the enemy I will have unmounted immediately after the battle and make it a garrison regiment. The battalion of infantry that even begins to hesitate, no matter what the danger may be, shall lose its flags and its swords and have the gold lace stripped from its uniforms. And now, gentlemen, farewell ; erelong we shall either have defeated the enemy or we shall see each other no more. Before the end of the long and exhausting war Fred- erick had met with several crushing reverses, and his resources had dwindled to almost nothing. He writes the following letters, not long before peace was finally concluded, to his trusted French friend, d'Argens. ... I am obliged to cover Schweidnitz from all sides against this Daun [an Austrian commander], who keeps a dozen subordinates roaming about trying to defeat our plans. This compels me to give unremitting attention to the move- ments of the enemy and to procuring information. You may infer, therefore, that my poor head is scarcely equal to poetry. That verse that you criticise shall certainly be cor- rected, — that is nothing ; but I beg you to wait till the end of our siege, which so far goes well. I have not the least vanity, I assure you ; and I think chance and my troops are responsible for so large a share in the success of my un- dertakings that I have no mania for dispatching couriers,*