Louisa of Prussia and Her Times | Page 4

L. MUHLBACH

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY F. JORDAN

CONTENTS.
CAMPO FORMIO.
I. Dreadful Tidings II. Minister von Thugut III. The Interview IV. The
Two Ministers V. The House in the Gumpendorfer Suburb VI. Joseph
Haydn VII. General Bonaparte VIII. The Treaty of Campo Formio
THE YOUNG QUEEN OF PRUSSIA.
IX. Queen Louisa X. The King's Recollections XI. The Young King
XII. Frederick Gentz XIII. The Interview with the Minister of Finance
XIV. The Memorial to Frederick William III. XV. The Wedding XVI.
Marianne Meier XVII. Love and Politics
FRANCE AND GERMANY.
XVIII. Citoyenne Josephine Bonaparte XIX. Bonaparte and Josephine
XX. The Reception of the Ambassadors XXI. France and Austria XXII.
The Banner of Glory XXIII. Minister Thugut XXIV. The Festival of
the Volunteers XXV. The Riot
LAST DAYS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
XXVI. Victoria de Poutet XXVII. Rastadt XXVIII. The Justification
XXIX. The Assassination XXX. Jean Debry XXXI. The Coalition
XXXII. The Friend of Peace XXXIII. The Legitimate Wife XXXIV.
The Eighteenth of Brumaire
THE PEACE OF LUNEVILLE.
XXXV. Johannes Muller XXXVI. Thugut's Fall XXXVII. Fanny von
Arnstein XXXVIII. The Rivals XXXIX. The Legacy XL. The First
Consul XLI. Two German Savants
THE THIRD COALITION.
XLVII. The Emperor Napoleon XLVIII. Napoleon and the German
Princes XLIV. Queen Louisa's Piano Lesson XLV. The Conference
XLVI. The Oath at the Grave of Frederick the Great
THE FALL OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
XLVII. Evil Tidings XLVIII. Before the Battle XLIX. "Gott Erhalte
Franz den Kaiser!" L. Patriotism LI. Judith LII. Napoleon and the
Prussian Minister LIII. Judith and Holofernes LIV. The Fall of the
German Empire
THE BATTLE OF JENA.
LV. A German Bookseller and Martyr LVI. The Arrest LVII. A Wife's
Love LVIII. The Women of Braunau LIX. The Last Hour LX. Prussia's

Declaration of War LXI. A Bad Omen LXII. Before the Battle LXIII.
The German Philosopher

CAMPO FORMIO.

CHAPTER I
.
DREADFUL TIDINGS.
The population of Vienna was paralyzed with terror; a heavy gloom
weighed down all minds, and the strength of the stoutest hearts seemed
broken. Couriers had arrived today from the camp of the army, and
brought the dreadful tidings of an overwhelming defeat of the Austrian
forces. Bonaparte, the young general of the French Republic, who, in
the course of one year (1796), had won as many battles and as much
glory as many a great and illustrious warrior during the whole course of
an eventful life--Bonaparte had crossed the Italian Alps with the serried
columns of his army, and the most trusted military leaders of Austria
were fleeing before him in dismay. The hero of Lodi and Arcole had
won new victories, and these victories constantly diminished the
distance between his army and the menaced capital of Austria.
Archduke Charles had been defeated by Massena, and driven back to
Villach; Bernadotte had reached Laybach; the citadels of Goritz, Triest,
and Laybach had surrendered; Klagenfurth, after a most desperate
struggle, had been forced to open its gates to the conquerors; Loudon,
with his brave troops, had been dispersed in the Tyrol; Botzen had
opened its gates to General Joubert, who, after a brief sojourn, left that
city in order to join Bonaparte, who, in his victorious career, was
advancing resistlessly toward Vienna.
Such were tidings which the couriers had brought, and these tidings
were well calculated to produce a panic in the Austrian capital. While
the court and the nobility were concealing their grief and their sorrows
in the interior of their palaces, the populace rushed into the streets,
anxiously inquiring for later intelligence, and still hopeful that God in
His mercy might perhaps send down some ray of light that would
dispel this gloom of anguish and despair.
But a pall covered Vienna, and everybody looked sad and dejected.
Suddenly some new movement of terror seemed to pervade the crowd
that had gathered on the Kohlmarkt. [Footnote: Cabbage Market.] As if

a storm were raising up the waves of this black sea of human figures,
the dense mass commenced to undulate to and fro, and a wail of
distress arose, growing louder and louder, until it finally broke out into
the terrible cry: "The emperor has deserted us! the emperor and the
empress have fled from Vienna!"
While the masses were bewailing this new misfortune with the
manifestations of despair, while they assembled in small groups to
comment vociferously on this last and most dreadful event of the day,
all of a sudden Hungarian hussars galloped up and commanded the
people, in the most peremptory manner, to stand aside and to open a
passage for the wagons which were about to enter the market from one
of the adjoining streets.
The people, intimidated by the flashing swords and harsh words of the
soldiers, fell back and gazed with an expression of anxious suspense
upon the strange