History of Friedrich II of Prussia, vol 19 | Page 7

from your Enemies, from
those that have deserved ill of you,--such of them as you can come at.
Enemies, open or secret, even Ill-wishers, we are not particular,
provided only they lie within arm's-length. Under this head fall
principally three Countries (and their three poor Populations, in lieu of
their Governments): Saxony, Mecklenburg (or the main part of it,
Mecklenburg-SCHWERIN), and Anhalt; from these three there is a
continual forced supply of money and furnishings. Their demerits to
Friedrich differ much in intensity; nor is his wringing of them--which
in the cases of Mecklenburg and Saxony increases year by year to the
nearly intolerable pitch--quite in the simple ratio of their demerits; but

in a compound ratio of that and of his indignation and of his wants.
"Saxony, as Prime Author of this War, was from the first laid hold of,
collared tightly: 'Pay the shot, then, what you can' (in the end it was
almost what you cannot)! As to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the grudge
against Prussia was of very old standing, some generations now; and
the present Duke, not a very wise Sovereign more than his Ancestors,
had always been ill with Friedrich; willing to spite and hurt him when
possible: in Reichs Diet he, of all German Princes, was the first that
voted for Friedrich's being put to Ban of the Reich,--he; and his poor
People know since whether that was a wise step! The little Anhalt
Princes, too, all the Anhalts, Dessau, Bernburg, Cothen, Zerbst
[perhaps the latter partially excepted, for a certain Russian Lady's sake],
had voted, or at least had ambiguously half-voted, in favor of the Ban,
and done other unfriendly things; and had now to pay dear for their bits
of enmities. Poor souls, they had but One Vote among them all Four;--
and they only half gave it, tremulously pulling it back again. I should
guess it was their terrors mainly, and over-readiness to reckon Friedrich
a sinking ship; and to leap from the deck of him, --with a spurn which
he took for insolent! The Anhalt-Dessauers particularly, who were once
of his very Army, half Prussians for generations back, he reckoned to
have used him scandalously ill.
"This Year the requisition on the Four Anhalts--which they submit to
patiently, as people who have leapt into the wrong ship--is, in precise
tale: of money, 330,000 thalers (about 50,000 pounds); recruits, 2,200;
horses, 1,800. In Saxony, besides the fixed Taxes, strict confiscation of
Meissen Potteries and every Royalty, there were exacted heavy
'Contributions,' more and more heavy, from the few opulent Towns,
chiefly from Leipzig; which were wrung out, latterly, under great
severities,--'chief merchants of Leipzig all clapt in prison, kept on
bread-and-water till they yielded,'--AS great severities as would suffice,
but NOT greater; which also was noted. Unfortunate chief merchants of
Leipzig,--with Bruhl and Polish Majesty little likely to indemnify them!
Unfortunate Country altogether. An intelligent Saxon, who is vouched
for as impartial, bears witness as follows: 'And this I know, that the
oppressions and plunderings of the Austrians and Reichsfolk, in

Saxony, turned all hearts away from them; and it was publicly said, We
had rather bear the steady burden of the Prussians than such help as
these our pretended Deliverers bring.' [Stenzel (citing from
KRIEGSKANZLEI, which I have not), v. 137 n.] Whereby, on the
whole, the poor Country got its back broken, and could never look up
in the world since. Resource FIRST was abundantly severe.
"Resource SECOND is strangest of all;--and has given rise to criticism
enough! It is no other than that of issuing base money; mixing your
gold and silver coin with copper,--this, one grieves to say, is the
Second and extreme resource. (A rude method--would we had a
better--of suspending Cash-payments, and paying by bank-notes
instead!' thinks Friedrich, I suppose. From his Prussian Mints, from his
Saxon [which are his for the present], and from the little
Anhalt-Bernburg Mint [of which he expressly purchased the sad
privilege,--for we are not a Coiner, we are a King reduced to suspend
Cash-payments, for the time being], Friedrich poured out over all
Germany, in all manner of kinds, huge quantities of bad Coin. This, so
long as it would last, is more and more a copious fountain of supply.
This, for the first time, has had to appear as an item in War-Budget
1759: and it fails in no following, but expands more and more. It was
done through Ephraim, the not lovely Berlin Jew, whom we used to
hear of in Voltaire's time;--through Ephraim and two others, Ephraim
as President: in return for a net Sum, these shall have privilege to coin
such and such amounts, so and so alloyed; shall pay to General
Tauentzien, Army Treasurer, at fixed terms, the Sums specified: 'Go,
and do it; our Mint-Officers sharply watching