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 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 BARON FREDERIC TRENCK; 
 
 CONTAINING Ult 
 
 CRUEL AND EXCESSIVE SUFFERINGS 
 
 DURING 
 
 TEN YEARS' IMPRISONMENT AT THE FORTRESS 
 OF MAGDEBURG, 
 
 Y COMMAND OF THE LATH 
 
 KING OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 ANECDOTES, 
 
 HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, AND PERSONAL. 
 
 Cran.slatc& from tijc crmaiu 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY D. JAQUES, LOWER SLOANE STREET, 
 
 CHELSEA ; 
 R. EDWARDS, CRANE COURT, FLEET STREET; 
 
 And \>j all other Booksellers in the United Kingdom. 
 
 1818.
 
 EXPLANATION of the PLATE, 
 
 PRESENTING 
 
 THE BARON LOADED WITH FETTERS IN PRISON' 
 
 Round the neck was a collar of iron of a hand's breadth, to the 
 ring of which the chains and their whole weight were pendent. 
 The chains he was obliged to sustain with one hand day and 
 night, or he would have been in danger of being strangled. 
 
 Above the elbows were two irons, to which a chain was fixed, 
 behind his back, that passed up to the neck-collar. These, 
 however, were removed a month after they were first put on, 
 when the Baron fell ill. 
 
 A broad iron rim was riveted round his body, between which and 
 the bar that separated his hands was another chain. 
 
 The bar, two feet in length, was ironed to the hand-cuffs, so that 
 he could only bring the end of his fingers in contact. 
 
 The chains were fixed to a thick iron staple in the wall. 
 
 A triple row of chains descended to the right foot, and the whole 
 weight, the projecting neck-collar acting as a lever, was 
 
 Under the staple was a seat of bricks ; on the opposite side a water 
 jug. Beneath the feet of the Baron was his tomb-stone, with 
 the name TRENCK carved ; and a death's-head.
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 r 
 
 ovg 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 JLHE Life of Baron Trench is t in point of composi- 
 tion, a work of a most extraordinary nature. He lived 
 in the corrupt school of Frederic the Great, King of 
 Prussia, and had acquired strange ideas on certain sub- 
 jects, then dignified by the epithet Philosophy ; although 
 he preserved the manly sense, even in that court, to abhor 
 its Ganymedes, and thereby to incur denunciation of 
 vengeancefrom the monarch. 
 
 The man of feeling, and the friend of freedom, zvill 
 read this work with sensations perhaps too strong : it will 
 remain an eternal monument of the dreadful, the de- 
 testable, the diabolical effects of despotism. 
 
 The historian will acquire from it essential informa- 
 tion concerning the characters of persons, courts, and 
 kingdoms, highly illustrative of the annals of the- last 
 century. 
 
 The philosopher will meditate on the manners of the 
 people of Germany ; will wonder, while reading, to re- 
 eollect that there, as in states more improved, such 
 
 2028119
 
 numbers should remain so ignorant and credulous, while 
 
 r 
 knowledge and science appear to be so Jar advanced; will 
 
 sigh to be so repeatedly told of military courts, and judges 
 condemned to sweep the streets, after effecting the ruin of 
 thousands ; will incessantly reflect, with amazement at 
 the strange jargon and confusion that still are so universal 
 over the globe, asJie reads the words king, liberty, vassal, 
 military sentence, property, just claim, and an infinity 
 of other heterogeneous and incompatible phrases ; conti- 
 nually will he exclaim How many ages, yet, oh world, 
 must thou exist, ere thy sons shall learn wisdom ! 
 
 The book is what it should be, the perfect resemblance 
 of Us author an original, bold, and interesting picture. 
 Like him, it has its defects ; but they are forgotten in the 
 admiration of its inherent and masculine beautiet.
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 BARON TRENCK. 
 
 I WAS born at Konigsberg in Prussia, February 16, 1726, 
 of one of the most ancient families of the country. My 
 father, who was a knight of the military order, lord of Great 
 Scharlack, Schakulack, and Meicken, and major general of 
 cavalry, died in 1740, after having received eighteen wounds 
 in the Prussian service. My mother, descended from the 
 house of Derschau, was daughter of the president of the 
 high court at KSuigsberg : she had two brothers, generals 
 of infantry, nml a third minister of state, ant) postmaster 
 general at Berlin. After my father's death in 1740, she 
 married Count Lostange, lieutenant-colonel in the Kiow 
 regiment of cuirassiers, with whom, leaving Prussia, she 
 went and resided at Breslavv. I had two brothers and a 
 sister : my youngest brother was taken, by my mother, into 
 Silesia : the other was a cornet in this last-named regiment 
 of Kiow ; and my sister was married to the only sou of the 
 aged General Valdow, who quitted the service, and with 
 whom she lived, in Brandenburg, on his estates. 
 
 My ancestors, both of the male and female line, are fa- 
 mous in the chronicles of the North, among the ancient 
 Teutonic knights, who conquered Courlund, Prussia, and 
 Livonia. 
 
 I seek not, by this recital, to gain estimation, much less to 
 vaunt of the accident of noble birth, which, when unsup- 
 ported by a noble mind, I hold in sovereign contempt. 
 
 My reason for insisting on this circumstance is, that it 
 has been contested and denied by some, who deem high 
 birth to be the only test and standard of merit. t 
 
 1 B
 
 2 
 
 I write not, however, to a circle so narrow or ill-judging 1 , 
 but to the liberal, and the wise ; to the world at large ; 
 hoping my story may afford useful lessons of morality, in- 
 spiring patience, hope, and fortitude. Enough therefore of f 
 and for ever adieu to, my noble ancestry : what I have said 
 is sufficient to rescue my children from all pretended ob- 
 loquy ; to show they are not vassals born ; and, as I trust, to 
 inspire them with emulation, remembering the examples 
 left by their forefathers, and that their name is Trenck. 
 
 By temperament I was choleric, and addicted to pleasure 
 and dissipation : my tutors found this last defect most diffi- 
 cult to overcome ; happily, they were aided by a love of 
 knowledge inherent in me, an emulative spirit, and a thirst 
 of fame, which disposition it was my father's care to cherish- 
 A too great consciousness of innate worth gave me a too 
 great degree of pride ; but the endeavours of my instructor 
 to inspire humility were not all lost ; and habitual reading, 
 well-timed praise, and the pleasures flowing from science, 
 made the labours of study at length my recreation. 
 
 My memory became remarkable : I was well read in the 
 holy scriptures, the classics, and ancient history ; was inti- 
 mately acquainted with geography ; could draw accurately ; 
 and learnt fencing, riding, and other necessary exercises. 
 
 My religion was Lutheran ; but morality, and not super- 
 stitious bigotry, or childish fears, was taught me by my 
 father, and by the worthy man to whose care he committed 
 the forming of my heart, whose memory I shall ever hold in 
 veneration. While a boy, I was enterprising in all the tricks 
 of boys, and exercised my wit in crafty excuses ; the warmth 
 of my passions, then and afterwards, gave a satyric biting 
 cast to my writings, whence it has been imagined, by those 
 who knew but little of me, I was a dangerous man; though 
 I am conscious this was a hasty and false judgment. 
 
 A soldier himself, my father would have all his sons the 
 same : thus, when we quarrelled, we were not admitted to 
 terminate our disputes in the common way, but were pro-
 
 9 
 
 vided with wooden sabres, sheathed with leather, and bran- 
 dishing these, contested by blows for victory, while our father 
 sat laughing, pleased at our valour and address. This prac- 
 tice, and the praises he bestowed, had the bad effect of en- 
 couraging a disposition, which, with passions like mine, 
 ought carefully to have been counteracted. 
 
 Covetous of praise, and accustomed to obtain the prize, 
 and be the hero of scholastic contentions, I acquired also 
 the bad habit of disputation, and of imagining myself a saga 
 when little more than a boy. I became stubborn in argu- 
 ment ; hasty to correct others, instead of patiently atten- 
 tive ; and, by my presumption, continually liable to incite 
 enmity. 
 
 Gentle to my inferiors, but impatient of contradiction, 
 and proud of resisting power, I may hence date the origin of 
 all my evils. The abhorrence which I had of despotism, and 
 its abuses, for the silent acquiescence in which my education 
 and book-taught principles but ill fitted me, was an addi- 
 tional cause. 
 
 How might a man, however great his talents, imbued 
 with the heroic principles of liberty, hope advancement and 
 happiness under the despotic and iron government of Frede- 
 ric ? I was taught neither to know nor to avoid, but to 
 despise, the whip of slavery. Had I learnt hypocrisy, craft, 
 and meanness, I had long since become field -marshal, had 
 been in quiet possession of my vast Hungarian estates, and 
 had not passed the best years of my life in the dungeons of 
 Magdeburg. I was addicted to no vice ; I laboured in the 
 cause of science, honour, and virtue ; kept no vicious com- 
 pany ; was never, during the whole course of my life, once 
 intoxicated ; Was no gamester, no consumer of time in idle- 
 ness nor brutal pleasures ; but devoted many hundred la- 
 borious nights to studies that might make me useful to my 
 country, yet was I punished with a severity too cruel even 
 for the most worthless or most villainous. 
 
 I mean, in my narrative, to make candour and veracity 
 B 2
 
 4 
 
 my guides, and never to conceal or screen my failings : I 
 wish my work may remain an instructive and moral lesson 
 to the world. Yet is it an innate and inexpressible satisfac- 
 tion, that I am conscious of never having acted with guilt 
 or dishonour, even to the last act of this distressful tragedy. 
 I shall say little more of the first years of my life, except 
 that my father, who had a tender affection for me, took 
 especial care of my education, and sent me, at the age of thir- 
 teen, to the university of Konigsberg, where, under the tui- 
 tion of Kowalewsky, my progress was rapid. There were 
 fourteen other noblemen, of the best families, in the same 
 house, and under the same master. 
 
 The year following, that is to say in 1740, I had a quarrel 
 with one young Wallenrodt, a fellow student, much stronger 
 and taller than myself, and who, despising my weakness, 
 thought proper to give me a blow. 1 demanded satisfaction 
 he came not to the appointed place, but treated my de- 
 mand with contempt ; and I, forgetting all further respect, 
 procured a second, and attacked him in open day. We fought, 
 and I had the fortune to wound him twice ; the first time 
 in the arm ; the second in the hand. 
 
 This affair incited inquiry : doctor Kowalewsky, our 
 tutor, luid complaints before the university, and 1 was con- 
 demned to three hours confinement ; but my grandfather 
 and guardian, president Derschau, with whom 1 was a great 
 favourite, was so pleased with my courage, that he instantly 
 took me from this house, and placed me under professor 
 Christian!. 
 
 Here I first began to enjoy full and entire liberty ; and 
 from this worthy man I learnt all I know of experimental 
 philosophy and science. He loved me as his own son, and 
 sometimes continued instructing me till midnight. Under 
 his auspices, in 1742, I maintained, with great sucess, two 
 public theses, although I was then but sixteen ; an effort 
 and an honour till then unknown. 
 Three days after my last public exordium, a contemp-
 
 5 
 
 tiblc fellow, and professional bully, sought a quarrel with 
 me, and, as I may say, obliged me to draw in my own de- 
 fence, whom, on this occasion, I wounded in the groin. 
 
 This continued success highly inflated my valour, and 
 from that time I began to wear a sword of enormous length, 
 and to assume the accoutrements and appearance of a 
 Hector. 
 
 Such was the effect of prejudices inspired in youth, and 
 which would inevitably have made me a quarrelsome dan- 
 gerous man, had not the rectitude of my heart, and the ex- 
 treme miseries of which I became the victim, soon re-con- 
 ducted me to the paths of virtue. 
 
 Scarcely had a fortnight elapsed, after this last affair, 
 before I had another with a lieutenant of the garrison, one 
 of my friends, whom I had insulted, who received two 
 "wounds in the contest. 
 
 I ought to remark that, at this time, the university of 
 Kbnigberg was still highly privileged. To send a challenge 
 was held honourable; and this- was not only permitted, but 
 would have been difficult to prevent, considering the great 
 number of proud, hot-headed, turbulent young nobility from 
 Livonia, Courland, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland, who 
 came thither to study, and of whom there were more than 
 five hundred. This brought the university into disrepute, 
 and endeavours have been made to remedy the abuse. Men 
 have acquired a greater extent of true knowledge, and have 
 begun to perceive that a university ought to be a plate of 
 instruction, and not a field of battle ; and that blood can- 
 not be honourably shed, except in defence of life or country. 
 In November, 1742, the king sent his adjutant-general, 
 baron Lottum, who was related to my mother, to Konigs- 
 berg, with whom I dined at my grandfather's. He con- 
 versed much with me ; and, after putting various questions, 
 purposely to discover what my talents and inclinations were, 
 he demanded, as if in joke, whether I had any inclination 
 to go with him to Berlin, and serve my country, as my an-
 
 
 
 eestors had ever done ; adding that, in the army, I should 
 find much better opportunities of sending challenges than 
 at the university. Inflamed with the desire of distinguish- 
 ing myself, I listened with rapture to the proposition, and, 
 in a few days, we departed for Potsdam. 
 
 On the morrow after my arrival, I was presented to the 
 king, as indeed I had before been in the year 1740, with the 
 character of being then one of the most hopeful youths of 
 the university. My reception was most flattering ; the 
 justness of my replies to the questions he asked, my height, 
 figure, and confidence, pleased him ; and I soon obtained 
 permission to enter as a cadet in his body guards, with a 
 promise of quick preferment. 
 
 The body guards formed, at this time, a model and school 
 for the Prussian cavalry: they consisted of one single squa- 
 dron of men, selected from the whole army, and their uni- 
 form was the most splendid in all Europe. Two thousand 
 rix-dollars were necessary to equip an officer : the cuirass 
 was wholly plated with silver ; and the horse-furniture and 
 accoutrements alone cost four hundred rix-dollars. 
 
 This squadron only contained six officers, and a hundred 
 and forty-four men ; but there were always fifty or sixty su- 
 pernumeraries, and as many horses ; for the king incorpo- 
 rated all the most handsome men he found in these guards. 
 The officers were the best taught of any the army con- 
 tained ; the king himself was their tutor, and he afterwards 
 sent them to instruct the cavalry in the manoeuvres they had 
 learnt. Their rise was rapid, if they behaved well ; but 
 they were broken for the least fault, and punished by being 
 sent to garrison regiments. It was likewise necessary they 
 should be tolerably rich, as well as possess such talents as 
 might be sucessfully employed, both at court and in the army. 
 
 There are no soldiers in the world who undergo so much 
 as this body guard ; and during the time I was in the ser- 
 vice of Frederic I often had not eight hours sleep in eight 
 days. Exercise began at four iu the morning, and experi-
 
 7 
 
 ments were made of all the alterations the king meant to in- 
 troduce in his cavalry. Ditches of three, four, five, six, 
 feet, and still wider, were leaped, till that some one broke 
 his neck ; hedges, in like manner, were freed ; and the horse 
 ran careers, meeting each other full speed, in a kind of lists 
 of more than half a league in length. We had often, in these 
 our exercises, several men and horses killed or wounded. 
 
 It happened, more frequently than otherwise, that the 
 same experiments were repeated after dinner with fresh 
 horses ; and it was not uncommon, at Potzdam, to hear 
 the alarm sounded twice in a night. The horses stood in the 
 king's stables ; and whoever had not dressed, armed himself, 
 saddled his horse, mounted, and appeared before the palace^ 
 in eight minutes, was put under arrest for fourteen days. 
 
 Scarcely were the eyes closed before the trumpet again 
 sounded, to accustom youth to vigilance. J lost, in one 
 year, three horses, which had either broken their legs in leap- 
 ing ditches, or died of fatigue. 
 
 I cannot give a stronger picture of this service, than by 
 saying that the body guard lost more men and horses in one 
 year's peace, than they did during the following year, ill tw6 
 battles. 
 
 We had, at this time, three stations : our service, in the 
 winter, was at Berlin ; where we attended the opera, and 
 all the public festivals : in the spring we were exercised at 
 Charlottenburg ; and at Potzdam, or whereever the king 
 went, during the summer. The six officers of the guard 
 dined with the king, and on gala days with the queen. It 
 may be presumed, there was not, at that time, on earth, a 
 better school to form an officer and a man of the world than 
 was the court of Berlin. 
 
 I had scarcely been six weeks a cadet before the king 
 took me aside, one day, after the parade ; and, having ex- 
 amined me near half an hour, on various subjects, com- 
 inaoded me to come and speak to him on the morrow. 
 
 Jli* intention was to find whether the accounts that had
 
 8 
 
 been given him of iny memory had not been exaggerated ; 
 and that he might be convinced, he first gave me the names 
 of fifty soldiers to learn by rote, which I did in five minutes. 
 He next repeated the subjects of two Jetters, which I imme- 
 diately composed in French and Latin ; the one I wrote, 
 the other I dictated. He afterwards ordered me to trace, 
 with promptitude, a landscape from nature, which I exe- 
 cuted with equal success ; and he then gave me a, cojrhet's 
 commission in his body guards. 
 
 Each mark of bounty from the monarch increased an ar- 
 dour already great, inspired me with gratitude, and the first 
 of my wishes was to devote my whole life to the service of 
 my king and country. He spoke to me, as a sovereign should 
 speak, like a father, like one who knew well how to estimate 
 the gifts bestowed on me by Nature ; and perceiving, or 
 rather feeling, how much he might expect from me, became 
 at once my instructor and my friend. 
 
 Thus did I remain a cadet only six weeks ; and few 
 Prussians can vaunt, under the reign of Frederic, of equal 
 good fortune. 
 
 The king not only presented me with a commission, but 
 equipped me splendidly for the service. Thus did I sud- 
 denly find myself a courtier, and an officer in the finest, 
 bravest, and best disciplined corps in Europe. My good 
 fortune seemed unlimited, when, in the month of August 
 1743, the king selected me to go and instruct the Silesian 
 cavalry in the new manoeuvres ; an honour never before 
 granted to a youth of eighteen. 
 
 I have already said we were garrisoned at Berlin during 
 winter, where the officers' table was at court ; and, as my 
 reputation had preceded me, no person whatever could be 
 better received there, or live more pleasantly. 
 
 Frederic commanded me to visit the literati whom he had 
 invited to his court : Maupertuis, Jordan, La Metric, and 
 Pollnitz, were all my acqnaintance. My days were em- 
 ployed in the duties of an officer, and my nights in acquiring
 
 
 
 knowledge. Pollnitz was ray guide, and the friend of my 
 heart. My happiness was well worthy being envied. la 
 1743, I was five feet eleven inches in height ; and Nature 
 had endowed me with every requisite to please. I lived, as 
 I vainly imagined, without inciting enmity or malice, and 
 my mind was wholly occupied by the desire of earning well- 
 founded fame. 
 
 I hud hitherto remained ignorant of love, and had been 
 terrified from illicit commerce by beholding the dreadful 
 objects of the hospital at Potzdam. During the winter of 
 1743 the nuptials of his majesty's sister were celebrated, 
 who was married to the king of Sweden, where she is at 
 present queen dowager, mother of the reigning Gustavus. 
 I, as officer of my corps, had the honour to mount guard, 
 and escort her as far as Stettin. Here first did my heart 
 feel a passion of which, in the course of my history, I shall 
 have frequent occasion to speak. The object of my love 
 was one whom I can only remember at present with reve- 
 rence ; and, as I write not romance, but facts, I shall her* 
 briefly say, ours were mutually the first fruits of affection, 
 and that to this hour I regret no misfortune, no misery, 
 with which, from a stock so noble, my destiny was over- 
 shadowed. Amid the tumult, inseparable to occasions like 
 these, on which it was ray duty to maintain order, a thief 
 had the address to steal my watch, and cut away a part of 
 the gold fringe which hung from the waistcoat of my uni- 
 form, and afterwards to escape unperceived. This accident 
 brought on me the raillery of my comrades ; and the lady 
 alluded to thence took occasion to console me, by saying, 
 ' It should be her care that I should be no loser.' Her 
 words were accompanied by a look I could not misunder- 
 stand ; and, a few days after, I thought myself the happiest 
 of mortals. The name, however, of this high-born lady is 
 a secret, which must descend with me to the grave ; and, 
 though my silence concerning this incident leaves a void in 
 my life, and indeed throws obscurity over a part of it which 
 
 1 C
 
 10 
 
 might else be clear, I would much rather incur this re- 
 proach, than become ungrateful toward my best friend and 
 benefactress. To her conversation, to her prudence, to the 
 power by which she fixed my affections wholly on herself, 
 am I indebted for the improvement and polishing of my 
 bodily and mental qualities. She never despised, betrayed, 
 or abandoned me, even in the deepest of my distress ; and my 
 children alone, on my death bed, shall be taught the name 
 of her to whom they owe the preservation of their father, 
 and, consequently, their own existence. 
 
 I lived at this time perfectly happy at Berlin, and highly 
 esteemed. The king took every opportunity to testify his 
 approbation ; my mistress supplied me with more money 
 than I could expend ; and I was presently the best equip- 
 ped, and made the greatest figure of any officer in the whole 
 corps. The style in which I lived was remarked ; for I 
 bad only received from my father's heritage the estate of 
 <reat Scharlach, the rent of whieh was eight hundred dol- 
 lars a year, which was far from sufficient to supply my then 
 expences. My amour, in the mean time, remained a secret 
 from my best and most intimate friends. Twice was my 
 absence from Potzdam and Charlottenburg discovered, and 
 I was put under arrest ; but the king seemed satisfied with 
 the excuses I made, under pretext of having been bunting, 
 and smiled as he granted my pardon. 
 
 Never did the days of youth glide away with more ap- 
 parent success and pleasure than during these my first years 
 at Berlin. This good fortune was, alas, also of short dura- 
 tion ! Many are the incidents I might relate, but which I 
 shall omit. My other adventures are sufficiently numerous, 
 without mingling such as may any way seem foreign to the 
 subject. In this gloomy history of my life, 1 wish to paint 
 myself such as I am ; and, by the recital of my sufferings, 
 afford a memorable example to the world, and interest the 
 heart of sensibility. I would also show how my fatal destiny 
 has deprived my children of an immense fortune ; and,
 
 11 
 
 though I want a hundred thousand men to enforce and en- 
 sure my rights, I will leave demonstration (o my heirs that 
 they are incontestable. 
 
 In the beginning of September, 1744, war again broke 
 out between the houses of Austria and Prussia. We marched 
 with all speed toward Prague, traversing Saxony without 
 opposition. I will not relate, in this place, what the great 
 Frederic said to us, with evident emotion, when surrounded 
 by all his officers, on the morning of our departure from 
 Potzdam. 
 
 Should any one be desirous of writing the lives of him 
 and his opponent, Maria Theresa, without flattery and with- 
 out fear, let him apply to me, and I will relate anecdotes 
 most surprising on this subject, unknown to all but myself, 
 and which never must appear under my own name. 
 
 All monarchs going to war have reason on their side ; 
 and the churches of both parties resound with prayers, and 
 appeals to Divine Justice, for the success of their arms. 
 Frederic, on this occasion, had recourse to them, with regret, 
 of which I was a witness. 
 
 If I am not mistaken, the king's army came before 
 Prague on the fourteenth of September ; and that of general 
 Schwerin, which had passed through Silesia, arrived the 
 next day on the other side of the Moldan. In this position 
 we were obliged to wait some days for pontons, without 
 which we could not establish a communication between th* 
 two armies. 
 
 The height called Zischka, which overlooks the city, 
 being guarded only by a few Croats, was instantly seized, 
 without opposition, by some grenadiers ; and the batteries, 
 erected at the foot of that mountain being ready on the fifth 
 day, played with such success on the old town, with bombs, 
 and red-hot balls, that it was set on fire. The king made 
 every effort to takethecity, before prince Charles could bring 
 his army from the Rhine to its relief. 
 
 General Harsch thought proper to capitulate, after * 
 C2
 
 12 
 
 siege of twelve days, during which not more than five hun- 
 dred men of the garrison, at the utmost, were killed and 
 wounded, though eighteen thousand men were made prisoners . 
 
 Thus far we had met with no impediment. The imperial 
 army, however, under the command of Prince Charles of 
 Lorraine, having quitted the hanks of the Rhine, was ad- 
 vancing to save Bohemia. 
 
 During this campaign we saw the enemy only at a dis- 
 tance ; but the Austrian light troops, being thrice as nu- 
 merous as ours, prevented us from all foraging. Winter 
 was approaching ; dearth and hunger made Frederic deter- 
 mine to retreat, without the least hope from the countries in 
 our rear, which we had entirely laid waste as we had ad- 
 vanced. The severity of the season, in the month of No- 
 vember, rendered the soldiers excessively impatient of their 
 hardships ; and, accustomed to conquer, the Prussians were 
 ashamed of, and repined at, retreat : the enemy's light 
 troops facilitated desertion, and we lost, in a few weeks, 
 above thirty thousand men. The pandours of my kinsman, 
 the Austrian Trenck, were incessantly at our heels, gave 
 us frequent alarms, difl us great injury, and, by their alert- 
 ness, we never could make any impression upon them with 
 our cannon. Trenck at length passed the Elbe, and went 
 and burnt and destroyed our magazines at Pardubitz : it 
 was therefore resolved wholly to evacuate Bohemia. 
 
 The king hoped to have brought Prince Charles to a 
 battle, between Benneschan and Kannupitz, but in vain : 
 the Saxons, during the night, had erected a battery of three 
 and twenty cannon, on a mound which separated two ponds : 
 this was the precise road by which the king meant to make 
 the attack. 
 
 Thus were we obliged to abandon Bohemia. The dearth, 
 both for man and horse, began to grow extreme. The wea- 
 ther was bad ; the roads and ruts were deep ; marches were 
 continual, and alarms and attacks from the enemy's light
 
 18 
 
 troops became incessant. The discontent all these inspired 
 was universal, and this occasioned the great loss of the army. 
 
 Under such circumstances, had Prince Charles continued 
 to harass us, by pursuing us into Silesia, had he made a 
 winter campaign, instead of remaining indolently at ease in 
 Bohemia, we certainly should not have vanquished him, the 
 .year following, at Strigau ; but he only followed at a dis- 
 tance, as far as the Bohemian frontiers. This gave Frederic 
 time to recover, and the more effectually because the Aus- 
 trians had the imprudence to permit the return of deserters. 
 
 This was the repetition of what had happened to Charles 
 XII. when he suffered his Russian prisoners to return 
 home, who afterward so effectually punished his contempt 
 of them at the battle of Pultowa. 
 
 Prague was obliged to be abandoned, with considerable 
 loss ; and Trenck seized on Tabor, Budweis, and Frailen- 
 berg, where he took prisoners the regiments of Walrabe 
 and Kreutz. 
 
 No one would have been better able to give a faithful 
 history of the campaign than myself, had I room in this 
 place, and had I at that time been more attentive to things 
 of moment ; since I not only performed the office of adjutant 
 to the king when he went to reconnoitre, or choose a place 
 of encampment, but it was, moreover, my duty to provide 
 forage for the head quarters. The king having only permitted 
 me to take six volunteers from the body guard, to execute 
 this latter duty, I was obliged to add to them horse chas- 
 seurs, and hussars, with whom I was continually in motion. 
 I was peculiarly fortunate on two occasions, by happening 
 to come after the enemy, when they had left loaded waggon* 
 and forage bundles. 
 
 I seldom passed the night in ray tent during this cam- 
 paign ; and my indefatigable activity obtained the favour 
 and entire confidence of Frederic. Nothing so much con- 
 tributed to inspire me with emulation as the public praises I 
 received ; and my enthusiasm wished to perform wonders.
 
 14 
 
 The campaign, however, but ill supplied me with oppor- 
 tunities to display my youthful ardour. 
 
 At length, no one durst leave the camp, notwithstanding 
 the extremity of the dearth, because of the innumerable 
 clouds of pandours, and hussars, that hovered every where 
 around. 
 
 No sooner were we arrived in Silesia than the king's body 
 guard was sent to Berlin, there to remain in winter quarters. 
 
 I should not here have mentioned the Bohemian war, but 
 that, while writing the history of my life, I ought not to omit 
 accidents by which my future destiny was influenced. 
 
 One day, while at Bennaschen, I was commanded out 
 with a detachment of thirty hussars, and twenty chasseurs, 
 on a foraging party. I had posted my hussars in a convent, 
 and gone myself with the chasseurs, to a mansion-house, to 
 seize the carts necessary for the conveyance of the hay and 
 straw from a neighbouring farm. An Austrian lieutenant 
 of hussars, concealed with thirty-six horsemen in a wood, 
 having remarked the weakness of my escort, taking advan- 
 tage of the moment when my people were all employed in 
 loading the carts, first seized our sentinel, and then fell sud- 
 denly upon them, and took them all prisoners in the very 
 farm-yard. At this moment I was seated at my ease, beside 
 the lady of the mansion-house, and was a spectator of the 
 vrhole transaction through the window. 
 
 I was ashamed of and in despair at my negligence. The 
 kind lady wished to hide me when the firing was heard in the 
 farm-yard. By good fortune the hussars, whom I had sta- 
 tioned in the convent, had learnt from a peasant that there 
 was an Austrian detachment in the wood ; they had seen us 
 at a distance enter the farm-yard, hastily marched to our aid, 
 and we had not been taken more than two minutes before 
 they arrived. I cannot express the pleasure with which I 
 put myself at their head. Some of the enemy's p*arty escaped 
 through a back door, but we made two and twenty prisoners, 
 with a lieutenant of the regiment of Kalnockichen : they had
 
 15 
 
 two men killed and one wounded ; and two men also of my 
 chasseurs were hewed down, by the sabre, in the hay-loft, 
 where they were at work. 
 
 We continued our forage with more caution after this ac- 
 cident : the horses we had taken served, in part, to draw 
 the carts ; and, after raising a contribution of one hundred 
 and fifty ducats on the convent, which I distributed among 
 the soldiers to engage them to silence, we returned to th 
 army, from which we were distant about two leagues. 
 
 We heard firing as we marched ; and the foragers on all 
 sides were skirmishing with the enemy. A lieutenant and 
 forty horse joined me ; yet, with this reinforcement, I durst 
 not return to the camp, because I learnt we were in danger 
 from more than eight hundred pandours and hussars, who 
 were in the plain. I therefore determined to take a long, 
 winding, but secret route, and had the good fortune to 
 come safe to quarters, with my prisoners, and five and 
 twenty loaded carts. The king was at dinner when I entered 
 his tent. Having been absent all night, it was imagined I 
 had been taken, that accident having happened, the same day, 
 to many others. 
 
 The instant I entered, the king demanded if I returned 
 singly. No, please yonr majesty, answered I ; I have 
 brought five and twenty load of forage, and two and twenty 
 prisoners, with their officer and horses. 
 
 The king then commanded me to sit down, and turning 
 himself toward the English ambassador, who was near him, 
 said, laying his hand on my shoulder, C'estun Matador de 
 majeunesse*. 
 
 A reconnoitring party was, at the same moment, in wait- 
 ing before his tent; he consequently asked me few questions, 
 
 * Literally, " He is a matadore of my youth." The allusion, ap- 
 parently, is to the restless power of the Matadore at the game of 
 Quadrille. 
 
 The Monthly Review conjectures the true reading to be Muto- 
 more. In either case the meaning seems to be " He is one of 
 my young Hectors."
 
 16 
 
 and to those he did ask I replied tremblingly. In a few 
 minutes he rose from table, gave a glance at the prisoners, 
 hung the Order of Merit round my neck, commanded me to 
 go and take repose, and set off with his party. 
 
 It is easy to conceive the embarrassment of my situation ; 
 my unpardonable negligence deserved that I should have been 
 broken, instead of which I was rewarded ; an instance, this, 
 of the great influence of chance on the affairs of the world. 
 How many generals have gained victories by their very 
 errors, which have been afterwards attributed to their 
 genius ! It is evident, the Serjeant of hussars, who retook 
 me and my men, by bringing up his party, was much better 
 entitled than myself to the recompense I received. On how 
 many occasions have I since met with disgrace and punish- 
 ment, when I deserved reward ! My inquietude lest the 
 truth should be discovered was extreme, especially recol- 
 lecting how many people were in the secret ; and my appre- 
 hensions were incessant. 
 
 As I did not want money, I gave the Serjeants twenty 
 ducats each, and the soldiers one, in order to insure their 
 silence, which being a favourite with them, they readily 
 promised. I however was determined to declare the truth 
 the very first opportunity, and this happened a few days after. 
 
 We were on our march, and I, as cornet, was at the head 
 of my company, when the king, advancing, beckoned me to 
 come to lain, and bade me tell him exactly how the affair I 
 had so lately been engaged in happened. 
 
 The question at first made me mistrust I was betrayed : 
 but, remarking the king had a mildness in his manner, I 
 presently recovered myself, and related the exact truth. I 
 saw the astonishment of his countenance, but at the same 
 time saw he was pleased with my sincerity. He spoke to 
 me for half an hour, not as a king, but as a father, praised 
 my candour, and ended with the following words, which while 
 life remains I shall never forget : Confide in the advice I 
 give you ; depend wholly upon me, and I will make you a
 
 17 
 
 man. Whoever can feel, may imagine how infinitely my 
 gratitude toward the king was increased, by this his great 
 goodness ; from that moment I had no other desire than to 
 live and die for his serviee. 
 
 I soon perceived the confidence the king had in me after 
 this explanation, of which I received very frequent marks, 
 the following winter, at Berlin. He permitted me to be pre- 
 sent at his conversations with the literati of his court, and 
 my state was truly enviable. 
 
 I received, this same winter, more than five hundred ducats 
 as presents. So much happiness could not but excite jealousy, 
 and this began to be manifest on every side. I had too 
 little disguise for a courtier, and my heart was much too 
 open and frank. 
 
 Before I proceed, I will here relate an incident which hap- 
 pened during the last campaign, and which will, no doubt, 
 be read in the history of Frederic. 
 
 On the route while retreating through Bohemia, the king 
 came to Kollin, with his horse guards, the cavalry piquets 
 of the head quarters; and the second and third battalions of 
 guards. We had only four field pieces, and our squadron 
 was stationed in one of the suburbs. Our advanced posts, 
 toward evening, were driven back into the town, and the 
 hussars entered pellmell : the enemy's light troops swarmed 
 over the country, and my commanding officer sent me im- 
 mediately to receive the king's orders. After much search, 
 I found him at the top of a steeple, with a telescope in his 
 hand. Never did I see him so disturbed, or undecided, as 
 on this occasion. Orders were immediately given that we 
 should retreat through the city into the opposite suburb, 
 where we were to halt, but not unsaddle. 
 
 We had not been here long before a most heavy rain fell, 
 and the night became exceedingly dark. My cousin Trenek 
 made his approach about nine in the evening, with his pan- 
 dour and janissary music, and set fire to several houses. 
 They found we were in the suburb, and began to fire upon 
 
 1 D
 
 18 
 
 as from the city windows. The tumult .became extreme ; 
 the city was too full for us to re-enter : the gate was shut, 
 and they fired from above at us with our field pieces. 
 Trenck had let in the waters upon us, and we were up to 
 the girths by midnight, and almost in despair. We lost 
 seven men, and my horse was wounded in the neck. 
 
 The king and all of us had certainly been made prisoners, 
 had my cousin, as he has since told me, been able to conti- 
 nue the assault he had begun ; but, a cannon-ball having 
 wounded him in the foot, he was carried off, and the pan- 
 dours retired. The corps of Nassau arrived next day to our 
 aid ; we quitted Kollin, and, during the march, the king 
 aid to me, " Your cousin had nearly played us a malicious 
 prank last night ; but the deserters say he is killed." He 
 then asked me what our relationship was, and there our 
 conversation ended. 
 
 It was about the middle of December when we came to 
 Berlin, where I was received with open arms. I became 
 less cautious than formerly, and perhaps was more narrowly 
 observed. A lieutenant of the foot guards, who was a public 
 Ganymede, and against whom I had that natural antipathy 
 and abhorrence I have for all such wretches, having indulged 
 himself in some very impertinent jokes on the secret of my 
 amour, I bestowed on him the epithet he deserved. We 
 drew our swords, and he was wounded. On the Sunday 
 following, I presented myself to pay my respects to his 
 Majesty on the parade, who said to me, as he passed, " The 
 storm and the thunder shall rend your heart ; beware*." He 
 added nothing more. 
 
 Some little time after, I was a few minutes too late on the 
 parade ; the king remarked it, and sent me under arrest, to 
 the foot guard at Potzdam. When I had been here a a fort- 
 night, Col. Wartensleben came, and advised me to petition 
 
 A common expression with Frederic when he was angry, and 
 which has since become proverbial among Prussian aud other 
 GermtD officer*.
 
 19 
 
 for pardon. I was then too much a novice in the modes of 
 the court to follow his counsel, nor did I even remark the 
 person who gave it me was himself a most subtle courtier. I 
 complained bitterly that I had so long been deprived of 
 liberty, for a fault which was usually punished by three, or, 
 at most, six days arrest Here, accordingly, I remained. 
 
 Eight days after, the king being come to Potzdam, I was 
 sent by general Bourke to Berlin, to carry some lettters, but 
 without having seen the king. On my return, I presented 
 myself to him on the parade ; and as our squadron was gar- 
 risoned at Berlin, I asked, " Does it please your Majesty 
 that I should go and join my corps ? " " Whence come you ?" 
 answered he " From Berlin" " And where were you be- 
 fore you went to Berlin?"" Under arrest"-" Then 
 under arrest you must remain." 
 
 I did not recover my liberty till three days before our de- 
 parture for Silesia, toward which we marched, with the ut- 
 most speed, in the beginning of May, to commence our se- 
 cond campaign. 
 
 Here I must recount an event which happened that winter, 
 which became the source of all my misfortunes, and to which 
 I must entreat my readers will pay the utmost attention ; 
 since this error, if innocence can be error, was the cause that 
 the most faithful and the best of subjects became bewildered 
 in scenes of wretchedness, and was the victim of misery, 
 from his nineteenth to the sixtieth year of his age. I dare 
 presume that this true narrative, supported by testimonies 
 the most authentic, will fully vindicate my present honour, 
 and ray future memory. 
 
 Francis Baron of Trenck was the son of my father'sbrother, 
 consequently my cousin -german. I shall speak, hereafter, 
 of the singular events of his life. Being a commander of pan- 
 dours in the Austrian service, and grievously wounded in 
 Bavaria, in the year 1743, he wrote to my mother, informing 
 her he intended me, her eldest son, for his universal legatee. 
 This latter, to which I returned no answer, was sent to me 
 D2
 
 at Potzdam. I was so satisfied with my situation, and had 
 such numerous reasons so to be, considering the kindness 
 with which the king treated me, that I would not have ex- 
 changed my good fortune for all the treasures of the Great 
 Mogul. 
 
 On the 12th of February 1744, being at Berlin, I was in 
 company with captain Jaschinsky, commander of the body- 
 guard, the captain of which ranks as colonel in the army, 
 together with lieutenant Studnitz, and cornet Wagnitz. The 
 latter was my field comrade, and is at this present com- 
 mander general of the cavalry of Hesse Cassel. The 
 Austrian Trenck became the subject of conversation, and 
 Jaschinsky asked if I was his kinsman : I answered yes, and 
 immediately, mentioned his having made me his universal 
 heir. " And what answer hare you returned ?" said Jaschin- 
 sky " None at all." 
 
 The whole company then observed, that in a case like the 
 present, I was much to blame not to answer ; that the least 
 I could do would be to thank him for his good wishes, and 
 entreat a continuance of them. Jaschinsky further added, 
 " Desire him to send you some of his fine Hungarian horses 
 for your own use ; and give me the letter ; I will convey 
 k to him, by means of Mr. Bossart, legation counsellor of 
 the Saxon embassy ; but on condition that you will give 
 Hie one of the horses. This correspondence is a family, and 
 not a state, affair ; I will make myself responsible for the 
 consequences.*' 
 
 I immediately took my commander's advice, and began to 
 write ; and had those who suspected me thought proper to 
 make the least inquiry into these circumstances, the four wit- 
 nesses, who read what I wrote, could have attested my inno- 
 cence, and rendered it indubitable. I gave my letter open 
 to Jaschinsky, who sealed and sent it himself. 
 
 I must omit none of the incidents concerning this letter, 
 
 it being the sole cause of all my sufferings. I shall there- 
 to cv '., . :; . i.rv-iiif: o : : . . i.TffTr
 
 21 
 
 fore here relate an event, which was the first occasion of the 
 unjust suspicions entertained against me. 
 
 One of my grooms, with two led horses, was, among 
 many others, taken by the pandours of Trenck. When I 
 returned to the camp, I was to accompany the king on a re- 
 connoitring party. My horse was too tired, and I had no 
 other : 1 informed him of my embarrassment, and his 
 majesty immediately made me a present of a fine English 
 courser. 
 
 Some days after, I was exceedingly astonished to see 
 my groom return, with my two horses, and a pandonr 
 trumpeter, who brought me a letter, containing nearly the 
 following words. 
 
 '* The Austrian Trenck is not at war with the Prussian 
 Trenck, but on the contrary is happy to have recovered the 
 horses from his hussars, and to return them to whom they 
 first belonged, &c." 
 
 I went the same day to pay my respects to the king-, who, 
 receiving me with great coldness, said, " Since your cousin 
 has returned your own horses, you have no more need of 
 mine." 
 
 There were too many who envied me to suppose these 
 words would escape repetition. The return of the horses 
 seems infinitely to have increased the suspicion Frederic 
 entertained against me, and therefore became one of the 
 principal causes of my misfortunes : it is for this reason 
 that 1 dwell upon this and such like small incidents, they 
 being necessary for my own justification, and, were it pos- 
 sible, for that of the king. My innocence is indeed at pre- 
 sent universally acknowledged by the court, the army, and 
 the whole nation ; who all mention the injustice I suffered 
 with pity, and the fortitude with which it was endured with 
 surprise. 
 
 We marched for Silesia, to enter on our second campaign; 
 which, to the Prussians, was as bloody and murderous as it 
 was glorious.
 
 22 
 
 The king's head-quarters were fixed at the convent of 
 Kamenz, where we rested fourteen days, and the army re- 
 mained in cantonments. Prince Charles, instead of follow- 
 ing us into Bohemia, had the imprudence to occupy the 
 plain of Strigau, and we already concluded his army was 
 beaten. Whoever is well acquainted with tactics, and the 
 Prussian manoeuvres, will easily judge, without the aid of 
 calculation or witchcraft, whether a well or ill-disciplined 
 army, in an open plain, ought to be victorious. 
 
 The army hastily left its cantonments, and in twenty-four 
 hours was in order of battle ; and on the fourteenth of June, 
 eighteen thousand bodies lay stretched on the plain of 
 Strigau. The allied armies of Austria and Saxony were 
 totally defeated. 
 
 The body-guard was on the right ; and previous to the 
 attack, the king said to our squadron, " Prove to-day, my 
 children, that you are my body-guard, and give no Saxon 
 quarter.'* 
 
 We made three attacks on the cavalry, and two on the 
 infantry. Nothing could withstand a squadron like this, 
 which, for men, horses, courage, and experience, was assur- 
 edly the first in the world. Our corps alone took seven 
 standards and five pair of colours, and in less than an hour 
 the affair was over. 
 
 I received a pistol shot in my right hand, my horse was 
 desperately wounded, and I was obliged to change him on 
 the third charge. The day after the battle, all the officers 
 were rewarded with the Order of Merit. For my own part, 
 I remained four weeks among the wounded, at Schweidnitz, 
 where there were sixteen thousand men under the torture of 
 the army surgeons, many of whom had not their wounds 
 dressed till the third day. 
 
 I was near three months before I recovered the use of my 
 hand ; I nevertheless rejoined my corps, continued to per- 
 form my duty, and as usual accompanied the king when he 
 went to reconnoitre. For some time past, he had placed
 
 confidence in me, and his kindness toward me continually 
 increased, which raised my gratitude even to enthusiasm. 
 
 I also performed the service of adjutant, during this cam- 
 paign, a circumstantial account of which no person is better 
 enabled to wri te than myself ; I having been present at all 
 that passed. I was the scholar of the greatest master the 
 art of war ever knew, and who believed me worthy to re- 
 ceive his instructions ; but the volumes I am writing would 
 be insufficient to contain all that personally relates to myself. 
 
 I must here mention an adventure that happened at this 
 time, and which will show the art of the great Frederic 
 in forming youth for his service, and devotedly attaching 
 them to his person. 
 
 I was exceedingly fond of hunting, in which, notwith- 
 standing it was severely forbidden, I indulged myself. I 
 one day returned laden with pheasants . but judge my 
 astonishment, and fears, when I saw the army had decamped, 
 and that it was with difficulty I could overtake the rear- 
 guard. 
 
 In this my distress, I applied to an officer of hussars, who 
 instantly lent me his horse, by the aid of which I rejoined 
 my corps, which always marched as the vanguard. Mount- 
 ing my own horse, I tremblingly rode to the head of my 
 division, which it was my duty to precede. The king, how- 
 ever, had remarked my absence, or rather had been reminded 
 of it by my superior officer, who, for some time past, had 
 become my enemy. 
 
 Just as the army halted to encamp, the king rode toward 
 me, and made a signal for me to approach, and, reading my 
 fears in my countenance, said, with a smile, "What, are you 
 just returned from hunting ?" " Yes, your majesty ; I 
 hope " Here, interrupting me, he added, " Well well, for 
 this time I shall take no further, notice, remembering Potz- 
 dam : but, however, let me find you more attentive to your 
 duty." 
 
 So ended this affair, for which I deserved to have been
 
 Q* 
 
 broken. I must remind the reader that the king meant, by 
 the words remembering Potzdam, he remembered I had 
 been punished too severely the winter before, and that my 
 present pardon was intended as a compensation. 
 
 This was indeed to think and act greatly : this was in- 
 deed the true art of forming great men ; an art much more 
 effectual than that of ferocious generals, who threaten sub- 
 alterns with imprisonment and chains on every slight oc- 
 casion ; and, while indulging all the rigours of military law, 
 make no distinction of minds or of men. Frederic, on the 
 contrary, sometimes pardoned the failings of genius, while 
 mechanic souls he mechanically punished, according to the 
 very letter of the laws of war. 
 
 I shall further remark, the king took no more notice of my 
 late fault, except that sometimes, when I had the honour to 
 dine with him) he would ridicule people who were too often 
 at the chase, or who were so choleric that they took occasion 
 to quarrel for the least trifle. 
 
 The campaign passed in different manauvres, marches, 
 and countermarches. Our corps was the most fatigued, as 
 beiig encamped round the king's tent, the station of which 
 was central, and as likewise having the care of the vanguard : 
 we were therefore obliged to begin our march two hours 
 sooner then the remainder of the army, that we might be in 
 our place. We also accompanied the king, whenever he 
 went to reconnoitre ; traced the lines of encampment ; led 
 the horses to water ; inspected the head-quarters ; and re- 
 gulated the march and encampment, according to the king's 
 orders ; the performance of all which robbed us of much rest, 
 we being but six officers to execute so many different 
 functions. 
 
 Still further, we often executed the office of couriers, to 
 bear the royal commands to detachments. The king was 
 particularly careful that the officers of his guards, whom he 
 intended should become excellent in the art of tactics, 
 should not be idle in his school It was necesary to do much,
 
 in order that much might be learnt. Labour, vigilance, 
 activity, the love of glory, and the love of their country, ani- 
 vnated all his generals ; into whom, it may be said, he in- 
 fused his spirit, 
 
 In this school I gained instruction, and here already was 
 I selected, as one destined to instruct others : yet, in my 
 fortieth year, a great general at Vienna told me, " My dear 
 Trenck, our discipline would be too difficult for you to 
 learn ; for which indeed you are too far advanced in life." 
 Agreeable to this wise decision was I made an Austrian in- 
 valid, and an invalid have always remained : a judgment 
 like this wouldhave been laughed at most certainly at Berlin. 
 
 If I mistake not, the famous battle of Seor, or Sorau, was 
 fouglit on the 14th day of September. The king had sent 
 o many detachments into Saxony, Bohemia, and Silesia, 
 that the main army did not consist of more than twenty- 
 five thousand men. Neglecting advice, and obstinate in 
 judging his enemy by numbers, and not according to the 
 excellence of discipline, and other accidents, prince Charles, 
 blind to the real strength of the Prussian armies, had en- 
 closed this small number of Pomeranian and Brandenburgh 
 regiments with more than eighty-six thousand men, intend- 
 ing to take them all prisoners. 
 
 It will soon be seen, from my narrative, with what kind 
 of secresy his plan was laid and executed. 
 
 The king came into my tent about midnight; as he also 
 did into that of all the officers, to awaken them : his orders 
 were, " Secretly to saddle, leave the baggage in the rear, 
 and that the men should stand ready to mount at the word 
 of command.* 1 
 
 Lieutenant Studnidtz and myself attended the king, who 
 went in person, and gave directions through the whole 
 army : mean time, break of day was expected with anxiety. 
 
 Opposite the defile, through which the enemy was to 
 march to the attack, eight field-pieces were concealed be- 
 hind a hill. The king must, necessarily, have been informed 
 
 2 E
 
 26 
 
 ei' the whole plan of the Austrian general, for he had called 
 in the advanced posts from the heights, that he might lull 
 him into security, and make him imagine we should be sur- 
 prised in the midst of sleep. 
 
 Scarcely did break of day appear, before the Austrian ar- 
 tillery, situated upon the heights, began to play upon our 
 camp, and their cavalry to march, through the defile, to the 
 attack. 
 
 As suddenly were we in battle array ; for in less then ten 
 minutes we ourselves began the attack, notwithstanding the 
 smallness of our number, the whole army only containing 
 five regiments of cavalry. We fell with such fury upon the 
 enemy (who at this time were wholly employed in forming 
 their men at the mouth of the defile, and that slowly, little 
 expecting so sudden and \iolent a charge) , that we drove 
 them back into the defile, where they pressed upon each 
 other in crowds : the king himself stood ready to unmask 
 his eight field-pieces, and a dreadful and bloody slaughter 
 ensued in this narrow place, from which the enemy had not 
 the power to retreat. This single incident gained the battle, 
 and deceived all the hopes of prince Charles. 
 
 Nadasti, Trenck, and the light troops, sent to attack our 
 rear, were employed in pillaging the camp. The ferocious 
 Croats met no opposition, while this their error made our 
 victory more secure. It deserves to be noticed, that when 
 advice was brought to the king that the enemy had fallen 
 upon and were plundering the camp, his answer was, " So 
 much the better ; they have found themselves employment, 
 and will be no impediment to our main design." 
 
 Our victory was complete, but all our baggage was lost ; 
 the head-quarters, utterly undefended, were totally stripped; 
 and Trenck had, for his part of the booty, the king's tent, 
 and his service of plate. 
 
 I have mentioned this circumstance here, because that, in 
 the year 1746, my cousin Trenck having fallen into the 
 power of his enemies, who had instituted a legal process
 
 27 
 
 against him, was accused, by some villainous wretches, of 
 having surprised the king in bed at the battle of Sorau, and 
 of having afterwards released him for a bribe. 
 
 What was still worse, they hired a common prostitute, a 
 native of Brunn, who pretended she was the daughter of 
 marshal Schvverin, to give in evidence that she herself was 
 in bed with the king when Trenck entered his tent, whom 
 he immediately made prisoner, and as immediately released. 
 
 To this part of the prosecution I myself, an eye-witness, 
 can answer : the thing was false and impossible. He was 
 informed of the intended attack. I accompanied the watch- 
 ful king from midnight till four in the morning, which time 
 he employed in riding through the camp, and making the 
 necessary preparations to receive the enemy : and the action 
 began at five. Trenck could not take the king in bed, for 
 the battle was almost gained when he and his pandours en- 
 tered the camp, and plundered the head-quarters. 
 
 As for the tale of Miss Schwerin, it is only fit to be told 
 by school-boys, or examined by the inquisition, and was 
 very unworthy of making part of a legal prosecution against 
 an innocent man at Vienna. 
 
 This incident, however, is so remarkable, that I shall 
 give, in this work, a farther account of my kinsman, and 
 what was called bis criminal process ; at reading which the 
 world will be astonished. My own history is so connected 
 with his, that this is necessary ; and the more so, because 
 there are many ignorant or wicked people at Vienna, who 
 believe, or affirm, Trenck had actually taken the king of 
 Prussia prisoner. 
 
 Never yet was there a traitor of the name of Trenck ; and 
 I hope to prove, in the clearest manner, the Austrian Trenck 
 as faithfully served the empress queen as the Prussian 
 Trenck did Frederic, his king. Maria Theresa, speaking to 
 me of him some time after his death, and the snares that had 
 been laid for him, said, " Your kinsman has made a better 
 end than will be the fate of his accusers and judges. 7 ' 
 E2
 
 Of this more hereafter : I approach that epocha when my 
 own misfortunes began, and when the sufferings of martyr- 
 dom attended me from my youth onward till my hairs grew 
 grey. 
 
 A few days after the battle of Sorau, the usual camp post- 
 man brought me a letter from my cousin Trenck, the colonel 
 of pandours, antedated at Essek four mouths, of which the 
 following is a copy. 
 
 " Your letter, of the twelfth of February, from Berlin, 
 informs me you desire to have some Hungarian horses. On 
 these you would come and attack me and my pandours. I 
 saw, with pleasure, during the last campaign, that the 
 Prussian Trenck was a good soldier ; and that I might 
 give you some proofs of my attachment, I then returned 
 the horses which my men had taken. If, however, you wish 
 to have Hungarian horses, you must take mine, in like man- 
 ner, from me in the field of battle ; or, should you so think 
 fit, come and join one who will receive you with open arms, 
 like his friend and son, and who will procure you every ad- 
 vantage you can desire." 
 
 At first I was terrified at reading this letter, yet could not 
 help smiling. Cornet Wagen'itz, now general in chief of 
 the Hesse Cassel forces, and lieutenant Grotthauseu, both 
 BOW alive, and then present, were my camp comrades. I 
 gave them the letter to read, and they laughed at its con- 
 tents. It was determined to show it to our superior officer, 
 Jaschinsky, on a promise of secresy ; and it was accordingly 
 shewn him within an hour after it was received. 
 
 The reader will be so kind as to recollect, that, as I have 
 before said, it was this colonel Jaschinsky who, on the 
 12th of February, the same year, at Berlin, prevailed on me 
 to write to the Austrian Trenck, my cousin ; that he re- 
 ceived the letter open, and undertook to send it according 
 to its address ; also that, in this letter, I had, in jest, asked 
 him to send me some Hungarian horses ; and, should they 
 come, had promised one to Jaschinsky. He read the letter
 
 with an air of surprise ; we laughed, and it being whispered 
 through the army that in consequence of our late victory 
 detached corps would be sent into Hungary, Jaschinsky 
 said, " We shall now go and take Hungarian horses for 
 ourselves." Here the conversation ended, and I, little sus- 
 pecting future consequences, returned to my tent. 
 
 I must here make the following observations : 
 
 1st. I had not observed the date of the letter brought by 
 the postman, which, as I have said, was antedated four 
 months : this however the colonel did not fail to remark. 
 
 Sndly. The probability is that this was a net spread for 
 me by this false and wicked man. The return of my horses, 
 during the preceding campaign, had been the subject of 
 much conversation. It is possible he had the king's orders 
 to watch me ; but more probably he only prevailed on me 
 to write that he might entrap me by a fictitious answer. 
 Certain it is, my cousin Trenck, at Vienna, affirmed to his 
 death he never received any letter from me, consequently 
 never could send any answer. I must therefore conclude 
 this letter was forged . 
 
 Jaschinsky was at this time one of the king's favourites ; 
 his spy over the army ; a tale-bearer ; an inventor of lie* 
 and wicked calumnies. Some years after the event of which 
 I am now speaking, the king was obliged to break and 
 banish him the country. 
 
 He was then also the paramour of the beauteous Madame 
 Brossart, wife of the Saxon resident at Berlin ; and there 
 can be little doubt but that this false letter was, by her 
 means, conveyed to some Saxon or Austrian post-office, and 
 thence, according to its address, sent to me. He had daily 
 opportunities of infusing suspicions into the king's mind 
 concerning me ; and, unknown to me, of pursuing bis 
 diabolical plan. 
 
 I must likewise add, he was four hundred ducats in- 
 debted to me. At that time I had always a plentiful supply 
 of money. This booty became his own when I, unexamincd,
 
 30 
 
 was arrested, and thrown into prison. In like manner he 
 seized on the greatest part of my camp equipage. 
 
 Further, we had quarrelled during our first campaign, 
 because he had beaten one of my servants ; we even were 
 proceeding to fight with pistols, had not colonel Winterfeld 
 interfered, and amicably ended our quarrel. The Lithuanian 
 is, by nature, obstinate and revengeful ; and, from that day, 
 I have reason to believe he sought my destruction. 
 
 God only knows what were the means he took to excite 
 the king's suspicions ; for it is incredible that Frederic, 
 considering his well-known professions of public justice, 
 should treat me in the manner he did, without a hearing, 
 without examination, and without a court-martial. This 
 to me has ever remained a mystery, which the king alona 
 was able to explain : he afterwards was convinced I waa 
 innocent ; but my sufferings had been too cruel, and tha 
 miseries he had intlictud too horrible, for me ever to hope 
 compensation. 
 
 In an affair of this nature, which will soon be known to 
 all Europe, as it long has been in Prussia, the weakest is 
 always guilty. I have been made a terrible example, to 
 this our age, how true that maxim is in despotic states. 
 
 A man of my rank, having once unjustly suffered, and 
 having the power of making his sufferings known, must 
 either be highly rewarded, or still more unjustly punished. 
 My name and injuries will ever stain the annals of Frederic 
 the Great ; even those who read this book will perhaps sup- 
 pose that I, from political motives of hope or fear, have 
 sometimes concealed truth, by endeavouring to palliate his 
 conduct. 
 
 It must ever remain incomprehensible, that a monarch so 
 clear-sighted, himself the daily witness of my demeanor, one 
 well acquainted with mankind, and conscious I wanted 
 neither money, honour, nor hope of future preferment j I say 
 it is incomprehensible that he should really suppose me 
 guilty. I take God to witness, and all those who knew me
 
 31 
 
 in prosperity and misfortune, I never harboured a thought 
 of betraying my country. How was it possible to suspect 
 me ? I was neither madman nor idiot. In my eighteenth 
 year I was a cornet of the body-guard, adjutant to the king, 
 and possessed his favour and confidence in the highest 
 degree. His presents to me, in one year, amounted to fifteen 
 hundred dollars. I kept seven horses, four men in livery : 
 I was valued, distinguished, and beloved by the mistress of 
 my soul. My relations held high offices, both civil and mili- 
 tary : I was even fanatically devoted to my king and country, 
 fmd had nothing to wish. 
 
 That I should become thus wretched, in consequence of 
 this unfortunate letter, is equally wonderful : it came by 
 the public post. Had there been any criminal correspon- 
 dence, my kinsman certainly would not have chosen this 
 mode of conveyance ; since, it is well known, all such letters 
 are opened ; nor could I act more openly. My colonel read 
 the letter I wrote ; and also that which I received, immedi- 
 ately after it was brought. 
 
 The day after the receipt of this letter I was, as I have 
 before said, unheard, uuaccused, unjudged, conducted, like 
 a criminal, from the army, by fifty hussars, and imprisoned 
 in the fortress of Glatz. I was allowed to take three horses, 
 fcnd my servants, but my whole equipage was left behind, 
 which I never saw more, and which became the booty of 
 Jaschinsky. My commission was given to cornet Schatzel, 
 and I cashiered, without knowing why. There were no legal 
 inquiries made ; all was done by the king's command. 
 
 Unhappy people ! where power is superior to law, and 
 where the innocent and the virtuous meet punishment in- 
 Itead of reward. Unhappy land ! where the omnipotent 
 >CCH is OUR WILL supersedes all legal sentence, and robs 
 the subject of property, life, and honour. 
 
 I once more repeat I was brought to the citadel of Glatz : 
 1 was not however thrown into a dungeon, but imprisoned 
 in a chamber of the officer of the guard ; was allowed my
 
 m 
 
 lerYantsto Trait on me, and permitted to walk on the ramparts. 
 I did not want money, and there was only a detachment, 
 from the garrison regiment, in the citadel of Glatz, the offi- 
 cers of which were all poor. I soon had both friends and 
 freedom, and the rich prisoner every day kept open table. 
 
 He only who had known me in this the ardour of my youth, 
 who had witnessed how high I aspired, and the fortune that 
 attended me at Berlin, can imagine what my feelings were, 
 at finding myself thus suddenly cast from my high hopes. 
 
 I wrote submissively to the king, requesting to be tried 
 by a court-martial, and not desiring any favour, should I b 
 found guilty. This haughty tone, in a youth, was displeas- 
 ing, and I received no answer, which threw me into despair, 
 and induced me to use every possible means to obtain my 
 liberty. 
 
 My first care was to establish, by the intervention of an 
 officer, a certain correspondence with the object of my heart. 
 She answered, she was far from supposing I had ever en- 
 tertained the least thought traitorous to my country ; that 
 she knew, too well, I was perfectly incapable of dissimula- 
 tion. She blamed the precipitate anger, and unjust suspi- 
 cions, of the king ; promised me speedy aid, and sent me a 
 thousand ducats. 
 
 Had I, at this critical moment, possessed a prudent and 
 intelligent friend, who could have calmed my impatience, 
 nothing perhaps might have been more easy than to have* 
 obtained pardon of the king, by proving my innocence ; or, 
 it may be, than to have induced him to punish my enemies. 
 But the officers who were then at Glatz fed the flame of 
 discontent. They supposed the money I so freely distributed 
 came all from Hungary, furnished by the pandour chest ; 
 and advised me not to suffer my freedom to depend upon 
 the will of the king, but to enjoy it in his despite. 
 
 It wag not'more easy to give this advice than to persuade a 
 man to take it, who, till then, had never encountered any 
 tking but good fortune, and who consequently supported
 
 33 
 
 this reverse with impatience. I was not yet however deter- 
 mined, because I could not yet resolve to abandon my coun- 
 try, and especially Berlin. 
 
 Five months soon passed away in prison : peace was con- 
 cluded ; the king was returned to his capital ; my commis- 
 sion in the guards was bestowed on another, when lieutenant 
 Piaschky, of the regiment of Fouquet, and ensign licit/, 
 who often mounted guard over me, proposed that they and 
 I should escape together. I yielded, our plan was fixed, 
 and every preparatory step taken. 
 
 At that time there was another prisoner at Glatz whose 
 name was Manget, by birth a Swiss, and captain of cavalry 
 in the Natzmerschen hussars : he had been condemned by a 
 court martial to ten years imprisonment, with allowance of 
 only four rix-dollars per month. 
 
 Having done this man kindnesses, I was resolved to rescue 
 him from bondage, at the same time that I obtained freedom 
 for myself. I communicated my design, and made the pro- 
 posal, which was accepted by him, and measures were 
 taken ; yet were we betrayed by this vile man, who thus 
 purchased pardon and liberty. 
 
 Piaschky, who had been informed that Reitz was arrested, 
 saved himself by deserting. I denied the fact in presence 
 of Manget, with whom I was confronted, and bribed the 
 auditor with a hundred ducats. By this means Reitz only 
 suffered a year's imprisonment, and the loss of his commission. 
 I was afterwards closely confined in a chamber, for having 
 endeavoured to corrupt the king's officers, and was guarded 
 with greater caution. 
 
 Here I will interrupt my narrative, for a moment, to relate 
 an adventure which happened between me and this captain 
 Manget, three years after he had thus betrayed me, that is 
 to say in 1749, at Warsaw. 
 
 I there met him by chance, and it is not difficult to imagine 
 what was the salutation he received. I caned him ; he took 
 this ill, and challenged me to fight with pistols. Captain 
 
 3 F
 
 34 
 
 Heuckin, of the Polish guards, was my second. We both 
 fired together : I shot him through the neck at the first 
 shot, and he fell dead on the field. 
 
 He, alone, of all my enemies, ever died hy my own hand ; 
 and he well merited his end, for his cowardly treachery to- 
 wanl the two brave fellows of whom I have spoken ; and 
 still more so with respect to myself, who had been his bene- 
 factor. I own, I have never reproached myself for this 
 duel, by which I sent a rascal out of the world. 
 
 I return to my tale. My destiny at Glatz was now become 
 more untoward and severe. The king's suspicions were in- 
 creased, as likewise was his anger, by tfiis ray late attempt 
 to escape. 
 
 Left to myself, I considered my situation in the worst 
 point of view, and determined either on flight or death. 
 The length and closeness of my confinement became in- 
 supportable to my impatient temper. 
 
 I had always had the garrison on my side, nor was it pos- 
 sible to prevent my making friends among them. They knew 
 I had money, and, in a poor garrison regiment, the officers 
 of which are all dissatisfied, having most of them been 
 draughted from other corps and sent thither as a punish- 
 ment, there was nothing that might not be undertaken. 
 
 My scheme was as follows : 
 
 My window looked toward the city, and was ninety feet 
 from the ground in the tower of the citadel, out of which I 
 could not get, without having found a place of refuge in the 
 city. 
 
 This an officer undertook to procure me, and prevailed on 
 an honest soap-boiler to grant me a hiding- place. I then 
 notched my penknife, and sawed through three large iron 
 bars ; but this mode was too tedious, it being necessary to 
 file away eight bars from my window, before I could pass 
 tln-ougu : another officer therefore procured me a file, which 
 I was obliged to use witU caution, lest I should he overheard 
 by the ceutioels.
 
 33 
 
 Having ended this labour, I cut my leather portmanteau 
 into thongs, sewed them end to end, added the sheets of my 
 bed, and descended safely from this astonishing height. 
 
 It rained, the night was dark, and all seemed fortunate ; 
 but I had to wade through moats full of mud, before I 
 could enter the city, a circumstance I had never once consi- 
 dered. I sunk up to the knees, and after long struggling 
 and incredible efforts to extricate myself, I was obliged to 
 call the centinel, and desire him to go, and tell the governor, 
 Trenck was stuck fast in the moat. 
 
 My misfortune was the greater on this occasion, because 
 that general Fouquet was then governor of Glatz. He was 
 one of the cruellest of men. He had been wounded by my 
 father in a duel ; and the Austrian Trenck had taken his 
 baggage in 1744, and had also laid the country of Glatz 
 under contribution. He was therefore an enemy to the very 
 name of Trenck ; nor did he lose any opportunity of giving 
 me proofs of his enmity, and especially on the present occa- 
 sion, when he left me standing in the mire till noon, the 
 sport of the soldiers. I was then drawn out, half dead, only 
 again to be imprisoned, and shut up the whole day, without 
 water to wash me. No one can imagine how I looked, ex- 
 hausted and dirty, my long hair having fallen into the mud, 
 with which, by my struggling, it was loaded. I remained 
 in this condition till ihe next day, when two fellow prisoners 
 were sent to assist and clean me. 
 
 My imprisonment now became more intolerable. I had 
 still eight louis d'ors in my purse, which had not been taken 
 from me at my removal into another dungeon, and these af- 
 terwards did me good service. 
 
 The passions soon all assailed me at once, and impetuous, 
 boiling, youthful blood overpowered reason ; hope disap*- 
 peared ; I thought myself the most unfortunate of men, and 
 my king an irreconcileable judge. More wrathful and more 
 fortified in suspicion by my own rashness, my nights were 
 sleepless, my days miserable : my soul was tortured by the 
 F 2
 
 30 
 
 desire of fame : a consciousnes of innocence was a conti- 
 nued stimulus inciting me to end my misfortunes. Youth, 
 inexperienced in woe and disastrous feat, beholds every 
 evil magnified, and desponds on every new disappointment, 
 more especially after having failed in attempting freedom. 
 Education had taught me to despise death, and these opi- 
 nions had been confirmed by my friend La Metric, author of 
 the famous work UHomme Machine, or Man a Machine. 
 
 I read much during my confinement at Glatz, where 
 books were allowed me ; time was therefore less tedious : 
 but when the love of liberty awoke, when fame and affec- 
 tion called me to Berlin, and my balked hopes painted the 
 wretchedness of my situation ; when I remembered that my 
 loved country, judging by appearances, could not but pro- 
 nounce me a traitor ; then was I hourly impelled to rush 
 on the naked bayonets of my guards, by whom, to me, the 
 road of freedom was barred. 
 
 Big with such-like thoughts, eight days had not elapsed, 
 since my last fruitless attempt to escape, when an event 
 happened which would appear incredible, were I, the prin- 
 cipal actor in the scene, not alive to attest its truth, and 
 might not all Glatz, and the Prussian garrison, be produ- 
 ced as eye and ear witnesses. This incident will prove that 
 adventurous, and even rash daring will render the most 
 improbable undertakings possible, and that desperate at- 
 tempts may often make a general more fortunate, and fa- 
 mous, than the wisest and best-concerted plans. 
 
 Major Doo* came to visit me, accompanied by an officer 
 of the guard, and an adjutant. After examining every 
 corner of my chamber, he addressed me, taxing me with a 
 
 * The same Doo who was governor of Glatz during the seven 
 years' war, and who, having been surprised by general Laudohn, 
 was made prisoner, which occasioned the loss of Glatz. The king 
 broke him with infamy, and banished him with contempt. In 
 . 1764, he came to Vienna, where I gave him alms. He was by 
 birth an Italian, a selfish, wicked man ; and, while major under
 
 S7 
 
 second crime in endeavour ing- to obtain my liberty ; adding, 
 this must certainly increase the anger of the king. 
 
 My blood boiled at the word crime: he talked of pa- 
 tience ; I asked him how long the king had condemned me 
 to imprisonment ? He answered, " A traitor to his country, 
 who has corresponded with the enemy, cannot be con- 
 demned for a certain time ; but must depend, for grace 
 and pardon, on the king" 
 
 At that instant I snatched his sword from his side, on 
 which my eyes had some time been fixed, sprang out of the 
 door, tumbled the centinel from the top to the bottom of the 
 stairs, passed the men who happened to be drawn up before 
 the prison door to relieve guard, attacked them sword in 
 hand, threw them suddenly into surprise by the manner in 
 which I laid about me, wounded four of them, made through 
 the rest, sprang over the breast-work of the ramparts, and, 
 with my sword drawn in my hand, immediately leaped this 
 astonishing height, without receiving the least injury. I 
 leaped the second wall with equal safety and good fortune. 
 None of their pieces were loaded : no one durst leap after 
 me, and, in order to pursue, they must go round through 
 the town and the gate of the citadel ; so that I had the 
 start full half an hour. 
 
 A centinel, however, in a narrow passage endeavoured to 
 oppose my flight, but I parried his fixed bayonet, and 
 wounded him in the face. A second centinel, meantime, 
 ran from the outworks, to seize me behind, and I, to avoid 
 him, made a spring at the palisadoes ; there I was unluckily 
 caught by the foot, and received a bayonet wound in my up- 
 per lip : thus entangled, they beat me with the butt-end of 
 
 the government of Fouquet, at Glatz, brought many people to 
 misery. He was the creature of Fouquet, without birth or merit, 
 crafty, malignant, but handsome; and, having debauched his 
 patron's daughter, afterwards married her ; whence at first his 
 good, and at length his ill, fortune. He wanted knowledge to defend 
 a fortress against the enemy, and his covetousness rendered him 
 easy to corrupt.
 
 38 
 
 their muskets, and dragged me back to prison, while I 
 struggled and defended myself like a man grown desperate. 
 
 Certain it is, had I more carefully jumped the palisadoes, 
 and dispatched the centinel who opposed me, I might have 
 escaped, and gained the mountains. Thus might I have fled 
 to Bohemia, after having, at noon day, broken from the 
 fortress of Glatz, sprung past all its centinels, over all its 
 walls, and passed with impunity, in despite of the guard, 
 who were under arms, ready to oppose me. I should not, 
 having a sword, have feared any single opponent, and was 
 able to contend with the swiftest runners. 
 
 That good fortune which had so far attended me, forsook 
 me at the palisadoes, where hope was at an end. The seve- 
 verities of imprisonment were increased ; two centinels and 
 an under officer were locked in with me, and were them- 
 selves guarded by centinels without : I was beaten and 
 wounded by the butt-end of their muskets, my right foot 
 was sprained, I spit blood, and my wounds were not cured 
 in less than a month. 
 
 I was now first informed the king had only condemned 
 me to a year's imprisonment, in order to learn whether his 
 suspicions were well founded. My mother had petitioned 
 for me, and was answered, " Your son must remain a 
 year imprisoned, as a punishment for his rash correspon- 
 dence." 
 
 Of this I was ignorant, and it was reported in Glatz, that 
 my imprisonment was for life. I had only three weeks 
 longer to repine for the loss of liberty, when 1 made this 
 rash attempt. What must the king think ? Was he not 
 obliged to act with this severity ? How could prudence 
 excuse my impatience, thus to risk a confiscation, when I 
 was certain of receiving freedom, justification, and honour, 
 in three weeks ? But such was my adverse fate, circum- 
 stances all tended to injure and presecute me, till at length 
 I gave reason to suppose I was a traitor, notwithstanding 
 live purity of my intentions.
 
 30 
 
 Once more, then, was I in a dungeon ; and no sooner was 
 I there than I formed new projects of flight. I first gained 
 the intimacy of my guards. I had money, and this, with 
 the compassion I had inspired, might effect any thing among 
 discontented Prussian soldiers. Soon had I gained thirty- 
 two men, who were ready to execute, on the first signal, 
 whatever I should command. Two or three excepted, they 
 were unacquainted with each other ; they consequently 
 could not all be betrayed at a time ; and I had chosen the 
 sub-officer, Nicholai, to head them. 
 
 The garrison consisted only of one hundred and twenty 
 men from the garrison regiment, the rest being dispersed in 
 the country of Glatz, and four officers their commanders, 
 three of whom were in my interest. Every thing was pre- 
 pared ; swords and pistols were concealed in an oven, 
 which was in my prison. We intended to give liberty to alj 
 the prisoners, and retire with drums beating into Bohemia. 
 
 Unfortunately, an Austrian deserter, to whom Nicholai 
 had imparted our design, went and discovered our conspi- 
 racy. The governor instantly sent his adjutant to the citadel, 
 with orders that the officer on guard should arrest Nicholai, 
 and, with his men, take possession of the casemate. 
 
 Nicholai was one of the guard, and the lieutenant was my 
 friend, and being in the secret, gave the signal that all was 
 discovered. Nicholai only knew all the conspirators, seve- 
 ral of whom were that day on guard. He instantly formed 
 his resolution, leaped into the casemate crying, " Com- 
 rades, to arms, we are betrayed !" All followed to the 
 guard-house, where they seized on the cartridges, the offi- 
 cer having only eight men, and, threatening to fire on who- 
 ever should offer resistance, came to deliver me from prison; 
 but the iron door was too strong, and the time too stiort, 
 for that to be demolished. Nicholai, calling to me, bid me 
 aid them, but in vain ; and perceiving nothing more could 
 be done for me, this brave man, headed nineteen others, 
 marched to tUe gate of the citadel, where there was
 
 40 
 
 officer and ten soldiers, obliged these to accompany him, 
 and thus arrived safely at Braunau, in Bohemia ; for be- 
 fore the news was spread through the city, and men were 
 collected for the pursuit, they were nearly half way on their 
 journey. 
 
 Two years after, I met this extraordinary man at Ofen- 
 bourg, where he was a writer : he entered immediately 
 into my service, and became my friend ; but died some 
 months after of a burning fever, at my quarters in Hun- 
 gary, at which I was deeply grieved, for his memory will 
 ever be dear to me. 
 
 Now I was exposed to all the storms of ill fortune : a 
 prosecution was entered against me as a conspirator, who 
 wanted to corrupt the officers and soldiers of the king. 
 They commanded me to name the remaining conspirators ; 
 but to these questions I made no answer except by sted- 
 fastly declaring I was an innocent prisoner, an officer un- 
 justly broken ; unjustly, because I had never been brought 
 to trial ; that consequently I was released from all my en- 
 gagements ; nor could it be thought extraordinary that I 
 should avail myself of that law of nature which gives every 
 man a right to defend his honour defamed, and seek by every 
 possible means to regain his liberty ; that such had been 
 my sole purpose in every enterprise I had formed, and such 
 should still continue to be ; for I was determined to persist, 
 till I should either be crowned with success, or lose my life 
 in the attempt. 
 
 Things thus remained ; every precaution was taken, ex- 
 cept that I was not put in irons ; it being a law in Prussia 
 that no gentleman, or officer, can be loaded with chains, 
 unless he has first for some crime been delivered over to the 
 executioner ; and certainly this had not been my case. 
 
 The soldiers were withdrawn from my chamber ; but the 
 greatest ill was, I had expended all my money, and my kin4 
 mistress at Berlin, with whom I had always corresponded, 
 which my persecutors could not prevent, at last wrote
 
 41 
 
 " My tears flow with yours ; the evil is without remedy 
 I dare no more escape if you can. My fidelity will 
 over be the same, when it shall be possible for me to 
 serve you. Adieu ! unhappy friend ! you merit a better 
 fate." 
 
 This letter was a thunderbolt : my comfort however 
 still was, that the officers were not suspected, and that it was 
 their duty to visit my chamber several times a-day and ex- 
 amine what passed : from which circumstance I felt my 
 hopes somewhat revive. Hence an adventure happened, 
 which is almost unexampled in tales of knight-errantry. 
 
 A lieutenant, whose name was Bach, a Dane by nation, 
 mounted guard every fourth day, and was the terror of the 
 whole garrison ; for, being a perfect master of arms, he was 
 incessantly involved in quarrels, and generally left his 
 marks behind him. He had served in two regiments, nei- 
 ther of which would associate with him for this reason, and 
 he had been sent to the garrison regiment at Glatz as a 
 punishment. 
 
 Bach, one day, sitting beside me, related how the even- 
 ing before he had wounded a lieutenant of the name of 
 Sehell, in the arm. I replied, laughing, " Had I my liberty, 
 I believe you would: find some trouble in wounding me, 
 for I have some skill in the sword." The blood instantly 
 flew in his face ; we split off a kind of a pair of foils from, 
 an old door, which had served me as a table, and at the 
 first lunge I hit him on the breast. 
 
 His rage became ungovernable, and he left the prison. 
 What was my astonishment when, a moment after, I saw 
 him return with two soldier's swords, which he had concealed 
 under his coat ! " Now then, boaster, prove," said he, 
 giving me one of them, " what thou art able to do !" I en- 
 deavoured to pacify him, by representing the danger, but 
 ineffectually. He attacked me with the utmost fury, and I 
 wounded him in the arm. 
 
 Throwing his sword down, he fell upon my neck, kissed 
 
 2 G
 
 me, and wept. At length after some convulsive emotions 
 of pleasure, he said, " Friend, thou art my master ; and 
 thou must, thou shalt, by my aid, obtain thy liberty, as 
 certainly as my name is Bach." We bound up his arm 
 as well as we could. He left me, and secretly went to a 
 surgeon, to have it properly dressed, and at night returned. 
 
 He now remarked that it was humanly impossible I 
 should escape, unless the officer on guard should desert 
 with me ; that he wished nothing more ardently than to sa- 
 crifice his lite in rny behalf, but that he could not resolve so far 
 to forget his honour and duty as to desert himself, while on 
 guard ; he notwithstanding gave me his word of honour he 
 would find me such a person in a few days, and that, in the 
 mean time, he would prepare every thing for my flight. 
 
 He returned the same evening, bringing with him lieu- 
 tenant Schell, and as he entered said, " Here is your man." 
 Schell embraced me, gave his word of honour, and thus 
 was the affair settled, and, as it proved, my liberty ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 We soon began to deliberate on the means necessary to 
 obtain our purpose. Schell was just come from garrison at 
 Habelchwert to the citadel of Glatz, and in two days was 
 to mount guard over me, till when our attempt was sus- 
 pended. I have before said, I received no more supplies 
 from my beloved mistress, and my purse at that time only 
 contained some six pistoles. It was therefore resolved that 
 Bach should go to Schweidnitz, and obtain money of a sure 
 friend of mine in that city. 
 
 Here I must inform the reader that, at this period, the 
 officers and I all understood each other, Captain Roder 
 alone excepted, who was exact, rigid, and gave trouble on 
 all occasions*. 
 
 Major Quaadt was my kinsman, by my mother's side ; a 
 good friendly man, and ardently desirous I should escape, 
 
 * I shall give a farther account in my narrative of this man, 
 which will both astonish and instruct the reader.
 
 43 
 
 seeing my calamities were so much increased. The four 
 lieutenants, who successively mounted guard over me, 
 were Bach, Schroeder, Limit/, and Schell. The first WHS 
 the grand projector, and made all the preparations ; Schell 
 was to desert with me ; and Schroeder and Lunitz, three 
 days after, were to follow. 
 
 No one ought to be surprised that officers of garrison 
 regiments should be so ready to desert. They are, in gene- 
 ral, either men of violent passions, quarrelsome, overwhelm- 
 ed with debts, or unfit for service. They are usually sent 
 to the garrison as a punishment, and are called the refuse of 
 the army. Dissatisfied with their situation, their pay much 
 reduced, and despised by the troops, such men, expecting 
 advantage, may be brought to engage in the most desperate 
 undertaking. None of them can hope for their discharge, 
 and they live in the utmost poverty. They all hoped, by 
 my means, to better their fortune, I always having had 
 money enough ; and with money nothing is more easy than 
 to find friends, in places where each individual is desirous 
 of escaping from slavery. 
 
 The talents of Schell were of a superior order : he spoke 
 and wrote six languages, and was well acquainted with all 
 (lie fine arts. He had served in the regiment of Fouquet, 
 had been injured by his colonel, who was a Pomeranian : 
 and Fouquet, who was no friend to well-informed officers, 
 had sent him to a garrison regiment. He had twice de- 
 manded his dismission, but the king sent him then to 
 this species of imprisonment ; he then determined to avenge 
 himself by deserting, and was ready to aid me in recovering 
 my freedom, that he might by that means spite Fouquet. 
 
 I shall speak more hereafter of this extraordinary man, that 
 I may not in this place interrupt my story. We determined 
 every thing should be prepared against the first time Schell 
 mounted guard, and that our project should be executed on 
 the next. Thus, as he mounted guard every four days, the 
 eighth was to be that of our flight. 
 G 2
 
 44 
 
 The governor mean-time had been informed how familiar 
 I was become with the officers ; at which taking offence, he 
 sent orders that my door should no more be opened, but 
 that I should receive my food through a small window that 
 had been made for that purpose. The care of the prison 
 was committed to the major, and he was forbidden to eat 
 with me, under pain of being broken. 
 
 His precautions were ineffectual ; the officers procured a 
 false key, and remained with me half the day and night. 
 
 Captain Damnitz was imprisoned in an apartment by 
 the side of mine. This man had deserted from the Prussian 
 service, with the money belonging to his company, to 
 Austria, where he obtained a commission in his cousin's re- 
 giment, who having prevailed on him to serve as a spy, 
 during the campaign of 1744, he was taken in the Prussian 
 territories, known, and condemned to be hanged. 
 
 Some Swedish volunteers, who were then in the army, 
 interested themselves in his behalf, and his sentence was 
 changed to perpetual imprisonment, with a sentence of 
 infamy. 
 
 This wretch, who, two years after, by the aid of his pro- 
 tectors, not only obtained his liberty, but a lieutenant-colo- 
 nel's commission, was the secret spy of the major over the 
 prisoners ; and he remarked that, notwithstanding the ex- 
 press prohibition laid on the officers, they still passed the 
 greater part of their time in my company. 
 The 24th of December came, and Schell mounted guard. 
 He entered my prison immediately, where lie continued a 
 long time ; and we made our arrangements for flight when 
 he next should mount guard. 
 
 Lieutenant Schroeder that day dined with the governor, 
 and heard orders given to the adjutant that Schell should be 
 taken from the guard, and put under arrest. 
 
 Schroeder, who was in the secret, had no doubt but that 
 we were betrayed, not knowing thai" the spy Damnitz had 
 informed the governor that Schell was then in my chamber.
 
 45 
 
 Schroeder, full of terror, came ruuning to the citadel, 
 and said to Schell, " Save thyself, friend ; all is discovered, 
 and thou wilt instantly be put under arrest." 
 
 Schell might easily have provided for his own safety, by 
 flying singly, Schroeder having prepared horses, on one of 
 which he himself offered to accompany him into Bohemia. 
 
 How did this worthy man, in a moment so dangerous, act 
 toward his friend ? 
 
 Running suddenly into my prison, he drew a corporal's 
 sabre from under his coat, and said, " Friend, we are be- 
 trayed ; follow me, only do not suffer me to fall alive into 
 the hands of my enemies." 
 
 I would have spoken, but interrupting me, and taking 
 me by the hand, he added, " Follow me, we have not a mo- 
 ment to lose." I therefore slipt on my coat and boots, with- 
 out having time to take the little money I had left ; and, 
 as we went out of the prison, Schell said to the centinel, " I 
 am taking the prisoner into the officer's apartment ; stand 
 wbere you are." 
 
 Into this room we really went, but passed out at the other 
 door. The design of Schell was to go under the arsenal, 
 which was not far off, to gain the covered way, leap the 
 palisadoes, and afterward escape after the best manner we 
 might. We had scarcely gone a hundred paces before we 
 met the adjutant and major Quaadt. 
 
 Schell started back, sprang upon the rampart, and leaped 
 from the wall, which was there not very high, t followed, 
 and alighted unhurt, except having grazed my shoulder. 
 My poor friend was not so fortunate, having put out his 
 ancle. He immediately drew his sword, presented it to me, 
 and begged me to dispatch him, and fly. He was a small 
 weak man ; but, far from complying with his request, I took 
 him in my arms, threw him over the palisadoes, afterwards 
 got him on my back, and began to run, without very well 
 knowing which way I went.
 
 It may not be unnecessary to remark those fortunate cir- 
 cumstances that favoured our enterprise. 
 
 The sun had just set as we took to flight ; the hoar frost 
 fell. No one would run the risk that we had done, by 
 making so dangerous a leap. We heard a terrible noise 
 behind us. Every body knew us ; but before they could go 
 round the citadel, and through the town, in order to pursue 
 us, we had got a full half league. 
 
 The alarm guns were fired before we were a hundred 
 paces distant ; at which my friend was very much terrified, 
 knowing that, in such cases, it was generally impossible to 
 escape from Glatz, unless the fugitives had got the start 
 full two hours before the alarm guns were heard ; the passes 
 being immediately all stopped by the peasants and hussars, 
 who are exceedingly vigilant. No sooner is a prisoner 
 missed than the gunner runs from the guard house and fires 
 the cannon on the three sides of the fortress, which are kept 
 loaded day and night for that purpose. 
 
 We were not five hundred paces from the walls when all, 
 before us and behind us, were in motion. It was day-light 
 when we leaped, yet was our attempt as fortunate as it was 
 wonderful. This I attribute to my presence of mind, and 
 the reputation I had already acquired, which made it thought 
 a service of danger for two or three men to attack me. 
 
 It was, beside, imagined we were well provided with 
 arms for our defence ; and it was little suspected that 
 Scheli had only his sword, and I an old corporal's sabre. 
 
 Among the officers commanded to pursue us, was lieu- 
 tenant Bart, my intimate friend. Captain Zerbst, of the 
 regiment of Fouquet, who had always testified the kindness 
 of a brother toward me, met us on the Bohemian frontiers, 
 and called to me," Make to the left brother, and you will 
 see some lone houses, which are on the Bohemian confines ; 
 the hussars have rode straight forward." He then passed 
 on, as if he had not seen us. 
 
 We had nothing to fear from the officers ; for the intimacy
 
 47 
 
 between the Prussian officers was at that time so great, and 
 the word of honour so sacred, that during my rigorous de- 
 tention at Glatz I had been once six and thirty hours 
 hunting at Neurode, at the seat of baron Stillfriede : Lunitz 
 had taken my place in the prison, which the major knew 
 when he came to make his visit. Hence may be conjec- 
 tured how great was the confidence in which the word of 
 the unfortunate Trenck was held at Glatz ; since they did 
 not fear letting him leave his dungeon, and hunt on the very 
 confines of Bohemia. This too shows the governor was de- 
 ceived, in despite of his watchfulness and orders ; and that 
 a man of honour, with money, and a good head and heart, 
 wtll never want friends. 
 
 These my memoirs will be the picture of what the national 
 character then was ; and will prove that, with officers who 
 lived liked brothers, and held their words so sacred, the 
 great Frederic well might vanquish his enemies. 
 
 Arbitrary power has now introduced the whip of slavery, 
 and mechanic subordination has eradicated those noble and 
 rational incitements to concord and honour. Instead of 
 which, mistrust and slavish fear have arisen ; the enthusi- 
 astic spirit of the Brandenburg warrior declines ; and into this 
 error have most of the other European states fallen. 
 
 Scarcely had I borne my friend three hundred paces be- 
 fore I sat him down, and looked round me ; but darkness 
 came on so fast that I could see neither town nor citadel ; 
 consequently we ourselves could not be seen. 
 
 My presence of miml did not forsake me : death or free- 
 dom was my determination. " Where are we, Schell ?" 
 said I to my friend ; " where does Bohemia lie ? On which 
 side is the river Neiss ?" The worthy man could make no 
 answer ; his mind was all co'nfusion, and he despaired of our 
 escape : he still, however, intreated I would not let him be 
 taken alive ; and affirmed my labour was all in vain. 
 
 After having promised, by all that was sacred, I would 
 save him from an infamous death, if no other means wre
 
 48 
 
 left, and thus raised his spirits, he looked round, and knew 
 by some trees we were not far from the city gates. I asked 
 him, Where is the Neiss ? He pointed sideways " All 
 Ghitz has seen us fly toward the Bohemian mountains ; it 
 is impossible we should avoid the hussars, the passes 
 being all guarded, and we beset with enemies." So saying, 
 I took him on my shoulders, and carried him to the Neiss : 
 here we distinctly heard the alarm sounding in the villages ; 
 and the peasants, who likewise were to form the line of de- 
 sertion, were every-where in motion, and spreading the 
 alarm. As it may not be known to all my readers in what 
 manner they proceed on these occasions in Prussia, I will 
 here give a short account of it. 
 
 Officers are daily named, on the parade, whose duty it is 
 to follow fugitives as soon as the alarm guns are fired. 
 
 The peasants in the villages, likewise, are daily appointed 
 to run to the guard of certain posts. The officers imme- 
 diately fly to these posts to see that the peasants do their 
 duty, and prevent the prisoner's escape. Thus does it seldom 
 happen that a soldier can effect his escape, unless he be, at 
 the very least, an hour on his road before the alarm guns 
 were fired. 
 
 I now return to my story. 
 
 I came to the Neiss, which was a little frozen, entered it 
 with my friend, and carried him as long as I could wade ; 
 and when I could not feel the bottom, which did not continue 
 for more than a space of eighteen feet, he clung round me, 
 and thus we got safely to the other shore. 
 
 My father taught all his sons to swim, for which I have 
 often had to thank him ; since by means of this art, which is 
 easily learnt in childhood, I had on various occasions pre- 
 served my life, and was more bold in danger. Princes who 
 wish to make their subjects soldiers, should have them edu- 
 cated so as to fear neither fire nor water. How great would 
 be the advantage of being able to cross a river with whole 
 battalions, when it is necessary to attack, or retreat before
 
 49 
 
 the enemy, and when time will not permit to prepare bridges! 
 The reader will easily suppose swimming in the midst of 
 December, and remaining afterwards eighteen hours in 
 the open air, was a severe hardship. About seven o'clock the 
 hoar fog was succeeded by frost and moon-light. The car- 
 rying of my friend kept me warm, it is true; but I began to 
 be tired, while he suffered every thing that frost, the pain of 
 a dislocated foot, which I in vain endeavoured to reset, and 
 the danger of death from a thousand hands, could inflict. 
 
 We were somewhat more tranquil, however, having 
 reached the opposite shore of the Neiss, since nobody would 
 pursue us on the road to Silesia. I followed the course of 
 the river for half an hour, and having once passed the first 
 Tillages that formed the line of desertion, with which Schell 
 was perfectly acquainted, we in a lucky moment found a 
 fisherman's boat moored to the shore. Into this we leaped, 
 'Crossed the river again, and soon gained the mountains. 
 
 Here being come, we sat ourselves down awhile on the 
 snow : hope revived in our hearts, and we held council con- 
 cerning how it was best to act. I cut a stick to assist Schell 
 in hopping forward, as well as he could, when I was tired of 
 carrying him ; and thus we continued our rout, the difficul- 
 ties of which were increased by the mountain snows. 
 
 Thus passed the night ; during which, up to the middle 
 in snow, we made but little way. There were no paths to 
 be traced in the mountains ; and they were in many places 
 impassable. Day at length appeared : we thought ourselves 
 near the frontiers,which are twenty English miles from Glatz, 
 when we suddenly, to our great terror, heard the city clock 
 strike. 
 
 Overwhelmed, as we were, by hunger, cold, fatigue, and 
 pain, it was impossible we should hold out through the day. 
 After some consideration, and another half hour's labour, 
 we came to a village at the foot of the mountain, on the side 
 f which, about three hundred paces from us, we perceived 
 
 ft H
 
 50 
 
 tm> separate houses, which inspired us with a stratagem 
 that was successful. 
 
 We lost our hats in leaping the ramparts ; but Schell had 
 preserved his scarf and gorget, which would give him 
 authority among the peasants. 
 
 I then cut my finger, rubbed the blood over my face, my 
 shirt, and my coat, and bound up my head, to give myself 
 the appearance of a man dangerously wounded. 
 
 In this condition, I carried Schell to the end of the wood 
 not far from these houses : here he tied my bauds behind my 
 back, but so that I could easily disengage them in case of 
 need, and 'hobbled after me, by aid of his staff, calling for 
 help. 
 
 Two old peasants appeared, and Schell commanded them 
 to run to the village, and tell a magistrate to come imme- 
 diately with a cart. " I have seized this knave," added 
 he, " who has killed my horse, and in the struggle I have 
 put out my ancle ; however I have wounded and bound 
 him : fly quickly, bring a cart, lest he should die before 
 he is hanged." 
 
 As for me, 1 suffered myself to be led, as if half dead, 
 into the house. A peasant was dispatched to the village. 
 An old woman and a pretty girl seemed to take great pity 
 on me, and gave me some bread and milk : but how great 
 was our astonishment when the aged peasant called Schell 
 by his name, and told him he well knew we were deserters, 
 having the night before been at a neighbouring alehouse, 
 where the officer in pursuit of us came, named and de- 
 scribed us, and related the whole history of our flight. The 
 peasant knew Schell, because his son served in his com- 
 pany, and had often spoken of him when he was quartered 
 at llabelschwert. 
 
 Presence of mind and resolution were all that were now 
 left. I instantly ran to the stable, while Schell detained the 
 peasant in the chamber : he however was a worthy
 
 51 
 
 and directed him the road toward Bohemia. We were still 
 but about some seven miles from Glatz, having lost our- 
 selves among the mountains, where we had wandered many 
 miles. The daughter followed me : I found three horses in 
 the stable, but no bridles. I conjured her, in the most 
 passionate manner, to assist me; she was affected, seemed 
 half willing to follow me, and gave me two bridles. 1 led 
 the horses to the door, called Schell, and helped him, with 
 his lame leg, on horseback. The old peasant then began to 
 weep, and beg I would not take his horses ; but he luckily 
 wanted courage, and perhaps the will to impede us ; for with 
 nothing more than a dung-fork, in our then feeble condition, 
 he might have stopped us long enough to have called in 
 assistance from the village. 
 
 And now behold us on horseback, without hats or saddles ; 
 Schell with his uniform, 'scarf, and gorget, and I in my red 
 regimental coat. Still were we in danger of seeing all our 
 hopes vanish, for my horse would not stir from the stable : 
 however, at last, good horseman like, I made him move. 
 Schell led the way ; and we had scarcely gone a hundred 
 paces before we perceived the peasants coming in crowds 
 from the village. 
 
 As kind fortune would have it, the people were all at 
 church, it being a festival : the peasants Schell had sent 
 were obliged to call aid out of church. It was but nine in 
 the morning ; and had the peasants been at home, we had 
 been lost past redemption. 
 
 We were obliged to ta4ce the road to Wunshelburg and 
 pass through the town, where Schell had been quartered a 
 month before, and in which he was known by every body. 
 Our dress, without l^ats or saddles, sufficiently proclaimed 
 we were deserters : our horses, however, continued to go 
 tolerably well ; and we had good luck to get through the 
 town, although there was a garrison of one hundred and 
 eighty infantry, and twelve horse, purposely to arrest deser-* 
 ters. Sqhell knew the road to Brummen, where we arrived 
 112
 
 52 
 
 at eleven o'clock, after having met, as I before mentioned, 
 captain Zerbst. 
 
 He who has been in the same situation only can imagine, 
 though he never can describe, all the joy we felt. An inno- 
 cent man, languishing in a dungeon, who, by his own en- 
 deavours, has broken his chains, and regained his liberty, 
 in despite of all the arbitrary power of princes, who vainly 
 would oppose him, conceives, in moments like these, such 
 an abhorrence of despotism, that I could not well compre- 
 hend how I ever could resolve to live under governments 
 where wealth, content, honour, liberty, and life, all depend 
 upon a master's will, and who, were his intentions the most 
 pure, could not be able, singly, to do justice to a whole nation. 
 Never did I, during life, feel pleasure more exquisite than 
 at this moment. My friend for me had risked a shameful 
 death, and now, after having carried him at least twelve 
 hours on my shoulders, I had saved both him and myself. 
 We certainly should not have suffered any man to bring us 
 alive back again to Glatz. Yet this was but the first act of 
 the tragedy of which 1 was doomed the hero, and the mourn- 
 ful incidents of which all arose out of, and depended on, each 
 other. 
 
 Could I have read the book of fate, and have seen the 
 forty years fearful afflictions that were to follow, I certainly 
 should not have rejoiced at this my escape from Glatz. One 
 year's patience might have appeased the irritated monarch ; 
 and, taking a retrospect of all that has passed, I now find it 
 would have been a fortunate circumstance had the good and 
 faithful Schell and I never met, since he also fell into a train 
 of misfortunes, which I shall hereafter relate, and from which 
 he could never extricate himself but by death. The suffer- 
 ings which I have since undergone will be read with astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 It is my consolation that both the laws of honour and 
 nature justify the action. I may serva as an example of 
 the fortitude with which danger ought to be encountered,
 
 53 
 
 and show monarchs that in Germany, as well as in Rome, 
 there are men who refuse to crouch beneath the yoke of des- 
 potism, and that philosophy and resolution are stronger than 
 even those lords of slaves, with all their threats, whips, tor- 
 tures, and instruments of death. 
 
 In Prussia, where my sufferings might have made me sup- 
 posed the worst of traitors, is my innocence universally 
 acknowledged ; and instead of contempt, there have I gained 1 
 the love of the whole nation, which is the best compensa- 
 tion for all the ills I have suffered, and for having persevered 
 in the virtuous principles taught me in my youth, persecuted, 
 as I have been, by envy and malicious power. I have not 
 time further to moralise j the numerous incidents of my life 1 
 would otherwise swell these volumes to too great an extent. 
 Thus in freedom at Braunau, on the Bohemian frontiers, 
 I sent the two horses, with the corporal's sword, back to ge- 
 neral Fouquet, 'at Glatz. The letter accompanying them 
 was so pleasing to him, that all the centinels before my 
 prison door, as well as the guard under arms, and all those 
 we passed, were obliged to run the gauntlet, although, the 
 very day before, he had himself declared my escape was 
 now rendered impossible. He, however, was deceived ; and 
 thus do the mean revenge themselves on the miserable, and 
 the tryant on the innocent. 
 
 And now, for the first time, did I quit my country, and fly 
 like Joseph, from the pit into which his false brethren had 
 cast him : and in this the present moment of joy for my 
 escape, the loss even of friends and country appeared to m? 
 the excess of good fortune. 
 
 The estates which had been purchased by the blood of my 
 forefathers were confiscated ; and thus was a youth, of one 
 of the noblest families in the land, whose heart was all zeal, 
 for the service of his king and country, and who was among 
 those most capable to render them service, banished by this 
 unjust and misled king, and treated like the worst of mis- 
 ereants, malefactors, and traitors.
 
 SI 
 
 I wrote to the king, and sent him a true state of my case; 
 sent indubitable proofs of my innocence, and supplicated 
 justice, but received no answer. 
 
 In this the monarch may be justified, at least in my ap- 
 prehension. A wicked man had maliciously and falsely ac- 
 cused me ; colonel Jaschinsky had made him suspect me 
 for a-traitor, and it was impossible he should read my heart. 
 The first act of injustice had been hastily committed ; I had 
 been condemned unheard, unjudged, and the injustice that 
 had been done me was known too late ; Frederic the Great 
 found he was not infallible. Pardon I would not ask, for 
 I had committed no offence ; and the king would not pro- 
 bably own, by a reverse of conduct, he had been guilty of 
 injustice. My resolution increased his obstinacy ; but, in 
 the discussion of the cause, our power was very unequal. 
 
 The monarch once really loved me ; he meant my punish- 
 ment should only be temporary, and as a trial of my fidelity. 
 That I had been condemned to no more than a year's im- 
 prisonment had never been told me, and was a fact I did 
 not learn till long after. 
 
 Major Doo, who as I have said was the creature of Fou- 
 quet, a mean and covetous man, knowing I had money, had 
 always acted the part of a protector, as he pretended to me, 
 and continually told me I was condemned for life. He per- 
 petually turned the conversation on the great credit of his 
 general with the king, and his own great credit with the ge- 
 neral. For the present of a horse, on which I rode to Glatz, 
 he gave me the freedom of walking about the fortress ; and 
 for another, worth a hundred ducats, I rescued ensign Reitz 
 from death, who had been betrayed when endeavouring to 
 effect our escape. I have been assured, that on that very 
 day on which I snatched his sword from his side, desperate- 
 ly passed through the garrison, and leaped the walls of the 
 rampart, he was expressly come to tell me, after some pre- 
 fatory threat*, that, by his general's intercession, my punish-
 
 55 
 
 ment was only to be a year's imprisonment, and that, conse- 
 quently, I should be released in a few days. 
 
 How vile were means like these to wrest money from the 
 unfortunate ! The king, after this my mad flight, certainly 
 was never informed of the major's base cunning ; he could 
 only be told, that rather than wait a few days, I had chosen, 
 in this desperate manner, to make my escape, and go over to 
 the enemy. 
 
 Thus deceived and strengthened in his suspicion, must 
 he not imagine my desire to forsake my country, and desert 
 to the enemy, was unbounded ? How could he do other- 
 wise than imprison a subject, who thus endeavoured to injure 
 him, and aid his foes ? Thus, by the calumnies of wicked 
 men, did my cruel destiny daily become more severe, and at 
 length render the deceived monarch irreconcileable and cruel. 
 
 Yet how could it be supposed that I would not willingly 
 have remained three weeks longer in prison, to have been 
 honourably restored to liberty, to have prevented the con- 
 fiscation of my estate, and to have once more returned to 
 my loved mistress at Berlin ? 
 
 And now was I, in Bohemia, a fugitive stranger, without 
 money, protector, or friend, and only twenty years of age. 
 
 In the campaign of 1744, 1 had been quartered at Brau- 
 nau, with a weaver, whom I advised and assisted to bury 
 his effects, and preserve them from being plundered. The 
 worthy man received us with joy and gratitude. I had lived 
 in this same house, but two years before, as absolute master 
 of him and his fate. I had then nine horses and five servants, 
 with the highest and most favourable hopes of futurity : but 
 now I came a fugitive, seeking protection, and having lost 
 all a youth like me had to lose. 
 
 I had but a single louis d'or in my purse, and Schell forty 
 kreutzers, or some three shillings : with this small sum, in 
 a strange country, we had to cure his sprain, and provide 
 for all our wants. 
 
 I was determined not to go to my cousin Trenck, at
 
 Vienna, fearful this should seem a justification of all my 
 imputed treasons ; I rather wished to embark for the East 
 Indies, than to have recourse to this expedient. The 
 greater my delicacy was, the greater became my distress. 
 I wrote to my mistress at Berlin, but received no answer ; 
 possibly because I could not indicate any certain mode of 
 conveyance. My mother believed me guilty, and aban- 
 doned me; my brothers were still minors; and my friend, at 
 Schweidnitz, could not aid me, being gone to Konigsberg. 
 
 After three weeks abode at Braunau, my friend recovered 
 of his lameness. We had been obliged to sell my watch, 
 with his scarf and gorget, to supply our necessities ; and 
 had only four florins remaining. 
 
 From the public papers I learnt, my cousin, the Austrian 
 Trenck, was at this time closely confined, and under crimi- 
 nal prosecution.lt will easily be imagined what effects this 
 news had upon me. 
 
 Never till now had I felt any inconvenience from poverty ; 
 my wants had all been amply supplied, and I had ever lived 
 among, and been highly loved and esteemed by, the first 
 people of the land. I was now destitute, without aid, and 
 undetermined how to seek employment or obtain fame. 
 
 At length I determined to travel, on foot, to Prussia, to 
 my mother, and obtain money from her, and afterwards 
 enter into the Russian service. Schell, whose destiny was 
 linked to mine, would not forsake me. We assumed false 
 names ; I called myself Knert, and Schell, Lesch ; then ob- 
 taining passports, like common deserters, we left Braunau 
 on the 21st of January in the evening, unseen of any person, 
 and proceeded towards Bilitz in Poland. A friend I had at 
 Neurode gave me a pair of pocket pistols, a musket, and 
 three ducats ; the money was spent at Braunau. Here let 
 me take occasion to remark, I had lent this friend, in urgent 
 necessity, a hundred ducats, which he still owed me ; and, 
 when I sent to request payment, he returned me three, as 
 if I had asked charity.
 
 57 
 
 Though a circumstantial description of our travels would 
 alone fill a volume, I shall only relate the most singular ac- 
 cidents which happened to us ; I shall not also insert the 
 journal of our route, which my friend Schell had preserved, 
 and gave me in 1776, when he came to see me at Aix-la- 
 <Chapelle, after an absence of thirty years. 
 
 This may be called the first scene in which lappeared as 
 an adventurer ; and perhaps my good fortune may even 
 have overbalanced the bad, since I have escaped death full 
 thirty times, when the chances were at least a hundred to 
 one against me : certain it is, I undertook many things in 
 which I seemed to have owed my preservation to the very 
 rashness of the action, and in which others equally brave 
 would have found death. 
 
 JOURNAL 
 
 Of travels on foot, from Braunau, in Bohemia, through 
 Bilitz in Poland, to Meserits ; and from Meseritz by 
 Thorn, to Elbing ; in the whole 169 miles*, performed 
 without begging or stealing. 
 
 Jan. 18, 1747. From Braunau, by Politz, to Nachod, 
 three miles, we having three florins forty-five kre'utzers in 
 our purse. 
 
 Jan. 19. To Neustadt. Here Schell bartered his uni- 
 form for an old coat, and a Jew gave him two florins fif- 
 teen kreutzers in exchange : from hence we went to Rei- 
 chenau ; in all three miles. 
 
 Jan. 20. We went to Leutomischel, five miles. Here I 
 bought a loaf hot out of the oven, which, eating greedily, 
 had nearly caused my death. This obliged us to rest a day; 
 and the extravagant charge of the landlord almost emptied 
 our purse. 
 
 * The German mile contains from four to seven English miles; 
 and this variation appears to depend on the ignorance of the people, 
 and on the roads being in some places but little frequented. It 
 seems probable the Baron and his friend might travel about 800 
 English miles. 
 
 3 I
 
 Jan. 22. From Tribau to Zwittaw in Moravia, four miles. 
 
 Jan. 23. To Sternberg, six miles. This day's journey 
 excessively fatigued poor Schell ; his sprained ancle being 
 still extremely weak. 
 
 Jan. 24. To Leipnitz, four miles ; in a deep snow, and 
 with empty stomachs. Here I sold my stock -buckle for 
 four florins. 
 
 Jan. 25. To Freyberg, by Weiskirch, to Drachotusch, 
 five miles. Early in the morning we found a violin and case 
 on the road ; the inn keeper in Weiskirch gave us two florins 
 for it, on condition that he should return it to the owner, on 
 proving his right ; it being worth at least twenty. 
 
 Jan. 26. To Freideck, in Upper Silesia, two miles. 
 
 Jan. 27. To a village, four miles and a half. 
 
 Jan. 28. Through Scotscha to Bilitz, three miles. This 
 was the last Austrian town on the frontiers of Poland ; and 
 captain Cupi,of the regiment of Marischall, who commanded 
 the garrison, demanded our passports^- We had false names, 
 and called ourselves common Prussian deserters ; but a 
 drummer who had deserted from Glatz knew us, and betray- 
 ed us to the captain, who immediately arrested us very 
 rudely, and sent us on foot to Teschin, refusing us a hearing, 
 four miles distant. 
 
 Here we found lieutenant-colonel baron Sehwarzer, a per- 
 fectly worthy man, who was highly interested in our behalf, 
 and who blamed the irregular arbitrary conduct of captain 
 Capi. I frankly related my adventures, and he used every 
 possible argument to persuade me, instead of continuing my 
 journey through Poland, to go to Vienna ; but in vain : my 
 good genius this time preserved me: would to God it had 
 ever ! How many miseries had I then avoided, and how 
 easily might I have escaped the snares spread for me hy the 
 powerful, who have seized on my property, and, in order to 
 secure it, have hitherto rendered me useless to the state, by 
 depriving me of all post or employment. 
 
 1 returned therefore a second time to Bilitz, travelling
 
 59 
 
 these four miles once more. Schwarzer lent us his own 
 horse, and four ducats, which I have since repaid, but which 
 I shall never forget, as they were of signal service to me, 
 and procured me a pair of new boots. 
 
 Irritated against captain Capi, we passed through Bilitz 
 without stopping, went immediately to Biala, the first town 
 in Poland, and from thence I sent Capi a challenge to 
 fight me with sword or pistol, but received no answer ; and 
 his non-appearance has ever confirmed him in my opinion a 
 rascal. 
 
 And here suffer me to take a retrospective view of 
 what was my then situation. By the orders of Capi I was 
 sent prisoner as a contemptible common deserter, and was 
 unable to call him to account. In Poland, indeed, I had 
 that power, but was despised as a vagabond, because of my 
 poverty. What, alas ! are the advantages which the love of 
 honour, science, courage, or desire of fame can bestow, 
 wanting the means that should introduce us to, and bid us 
 walk erect in presence of our equals ? Youth, depressed 
 by poverty, is robbed of the society of those who best can 
 afford example and instruction. I had lived familiar with 
 the great ; men of genius had formed and enlightened me ; 
 I had been enumerated among the favourites of a court ; 
 and now was I a stranger, unknown, unesteemed, nay con- 
 temned, obliged to endure the extremes of cold, hunger, and 
 thirst ; to wander many a weary mile, suffering both in 
 body and mind, while every step led me farther from her 
 whom I most loved ; yet had I no fixed plan, no certain 
 knowledge in what these my labours and sufferings should 
 end. 
 
 I was too proud to discover myself; but indeed to whom 
 could I discover myself in a strange land ? My name might 
 have availed me in Austria ; but in Austria, where this 
 name was known, I would not remain ; rather than seek ray 
 fortune there, I was determined to shun whatever might 
 tend to render me suspicious in the eyes of my country. 
 I 2
 
 60 
 
 How liable was a temper, so ardent as mine, in the midst of 
 difficulties, fatigues, and disappointments, hard to endure, to 
 betray me into all those errors of which rash youth, unac- 
 customed to hardship, impatient of contrariety, are so often 
 guilty ! But I had taken my resolution ; and my faithful 
 Schell, to whom hunger, or case, contempt, or fame, for m 
 sake, were become indifferent, did whatever I desired. 
 Once more to my journal. 
 
 Feb. 1. We' proceeded four miles from Biala to Oswint- 
 zin, I having determined to ask aid from my sister, who had 
 married Waldovv, and lived, much at her ease, on a fine 
 estate at Hanmer in Brandenburgh, between Lansbcrg on 
 theWarla and Meseritz, a frontier town of Poland. For 
 this reason we continued our route all along the Silesian 
 confines to Meseritz. 
 
 Feb. 2. To Bobrek and Elkusch, five miles. We suf- 
 fered much this day because of the snow, and that the light- 
 ness of our dress was ill suited to such severe weather. 
 Schell, negligently, lost our purse, in which were nine florins. 
 I had still, however, nineteen grosch in my pocket (about 
 half-a crown) . 
 
 Feb. 3. To Crumelew, three miles ; and 
 Feb. 4. To Wladowiegud Joreck, three miles move; and 
 from thence, on 
 
 Feb. 5. To Czenstochowa, where there is a magnificent 
 convent, concerning which, had I room, I might write many 
 remarkable things, much to the disgrace of its inhabitants. 
 
 We slept at an inn kept by a very worthy man, whose 
 name Was Lazar. He had been a lieutenant in the Austrian 
 service, where he had suffered much, and was now become a 
 poor innkeeper in Poland. We had not a penny in our 
 purse, and requested a bit of bread. The generous man had 
 compassion on us, and desired us to sit down, and eat with 
 himself. I then told him who we were, and trusted him 
 with the motives of our journey. Scarcely had we supped
 
 61 
 
 before a carriage arrived, with three people. They had their 
 own horses, a servant, and a coachman. 
 
 This is a remarkable incident, and I must relate it cir- 
 cumstantially, though as briefly as possible. 
 
 We had before met this carriage at Elkusch, and one of 
 these people had asked Schell where we were going : he 
 had replied, to Czenstochowa : we therefore had not the 
 least suspicion of them, notwithstanding the danger we ran. 
 
 They lay at the inn, saluted us, but with indiiFerence, 
 not seeming to notice us, and spoke little. We had not 
 been long in bed before our host came to awaken us, and 
 told us, with surprise, these pretended merchants were sent 
 to arrest us from Prussia ; that they had offered, first fifty, 
 afterwards a hundred ducats, if he would permit them to 
 take us in his house, and carry us into Silesia : that he had 
 firmly rejected the proposal, though they had increased 
 their promises ; and that at last they had given him six 
 ducats to engage his silence. 
 
 We clearly saw these were an officer and under-officers 
 sent by General Fouquet, to recover us. We conjectured 
 by what means they had discovered our route, and imagined 
 the information they had received could only come from one 
 lieutenant Mollinie, of the garrison of Habelschwert, who 
 had come to visit Schell, as a friend, during our stay at 
 Braunau. He had remained with us two days, and had 
 asked many questions concerning the road we should take, 
 and he was the only one who knew it. He was probably 
 the spy of Fouquet, and the cause of what happened after- 
 wards, which, however, ended in the defeat of our enemies. 
 
 The moment I heard of this infamous treachery, I was 
 for entering with my pistols primed, into the enemy's 
 chamber, but was prevented by Schell and Lazar : the 
 latter entreated me, in the strongest manner, to remain at his 
 house till I should receive a supply from my mother, that I 
 might be enabled to continue my journey with more ease and 
 less danger : but his entreaties were ineffectual. I was do-
 
 62 
 
 termined to see her, uncertain as I was what effect my let- 
 ter had produced. Lazar assured me we should, most in- 
 fallibly, be attacked on the road. " So much the better," 
 retorted I ; " that will give me an opportunity of dispatching 
 them, sending them to the other world, and shooting them 
 as I would highwaymen." They departed at break of day, 
 and took the road to Warsaw. 
 
 We would have been gone likewise ; but Lazar in some 
 sort forcibly detained us, and gave us the six ducats he had 
 received from the Prussians, with which we bought each 
 a shirt, another pair of pocket pistols, and other urgent ne- 
 cessarios ; then took an affectionate leave of our host, who 
 directed us on our way, and we testified our gratitude for 
 the great services done us. 
 
 Feb. 6. From Czenstochowa to Dankow, two miles. 
 Here we expected an attack. Lazar had told us our ene- 
 mies had only one musket ; I also had a musket, and an ex- 
 cellent sabre, and each of us was provided with a pair of 
 pistols. They knew not we were so well armed, which 
 perhaps was the cause of their panic, when they came to 
 engage. 
 
 Feb. 7. We took the road to Parsemechi : we had not 
 been an hour on the road before we saw a carriage : as we 
 drew near, we knew it to be that of our enemies, who pre- 
 tended it was set in the snow. They were round it, and, 
 when they saw us approach, began to call for help. This, 
 we guessed, was an artifice to entrap us. Schell was not 
 strong ; they would all have fallen upon me, and we should 
 easily have been carried off; for they wanted to take us alive. 
 
 We left the causeway about thirty paces, answering, 
 " We had not time to give them help ;," at which they all 
 ran to their carriage, drew out their pistols, and returning full 
 speed after us, called, Stop, rascals !" We began to run ; 
 but I, suddenly turning round, presented my piece, and shot 
 the nearest dead on the spot. Schell fired his pistols ; our 
 opposers did the same, and Schell received a ball in the
 
 neck at this discharge. It was now my turn : I took out 
 my pistols ; one of the assailants fled, and I, enraged, pursu- 
 ed him three hundred paces, overtook him, and, as he was 
 defending himself with his sword, perceiving he bled and 
 made a feeble resistance, pressed upon him, and gave him a 
 stroke that brought him down. I instantly returned to 
 Schell, whom I found in the power of two others that weYc 
 dragging him towards the carriage ; but wheu they saw 
 me at their heels, they fled over the fields. The coachman, 
 perceiving which way the battle went, leaped on his box, and 
 drove off full speed. 
 
 Schell, though delivered, was wounded with a ball in the 
 neck, and by a cut in the right hand, which had made him 
 drop his sword ; though he affirmed he had run one of his 
 adversaries through. 
 
 I took a silver watch from the man I had killed, and wa 
 going to make free with his purse, when Schell called and 
 showed me a coach and six coming down a hill. To stay 
 would have exposed us to have been imprisoned as high- 
 waymen : for the two fugitives, who had escaped us, would 
 certainly have borne witness against us. Safety only could 
 be found in flight. I, however, seized the musket and hat 
 of him I had first killed, and we then gained the copse, and 
 after that the forest. The road was round about, and it wa 
 night before we reached Parsemechi. 
 
 Schell was besmeared with blood ; I had bound up his 
 wound the best I could ; but in Polish villages no surgeons 
 are to be found ; and he performed his journey with great 
 difficulty. We met with two Saxon under-officers here, 
 who were recruiting for the regiment of guards at Dresden. 
 My six feet height and person pleased them, and they imme- 
 diately made themselves acquainted with me. I found them 
 intelligent, and entrusted them with our secret, told then* 
 who we were, related the battle we had that day had witk 
 our pursuers; and I had not reason to repent of my confi- 
 dence in them. Schell had his wounds drest, and we re-
 
 64 
 
 mained seven days with these good Saxons, who faithfully 
 kept us company. 
 
 I learned, meantime, that of the four men by whom we 
 ba^ been assaulted, one only, and the coachman, returned 
 alive to Glatz. The name of the officer, who undertook 
 this vile business, was Gersdorf ; he had a hundred and fifty 
 ducats in his pocket when found dead. JIow great would 
 our good fortune have been, had not that cursed coach and 
 six. by its appearance, made us take to flight ; since the 
 booty would have been most just ! Fortune, this time, did 
 not favour the innocent ; and though treacherously attacked, 
 I was obliged to escape like a guilty wretch. We sold the 
 watch to a Jew for four ducats, the hat for three florins and 
 * half, and the musket for a ducat, Schell being unable to 
 carry it farther. We left most of this money behind us at 
 Parseaaechi. A Jew surgeon sold us some dear plasters, 
 which we took with us, and departed. 
 
 Feb. 15. From Parsemechi, through Vielum, to Biula, 
 four miles. 
 
 Feb. 16. Through Jerischow to Misorcen, four miles 
 und a half. 
 
 Feb. 17- To Osterkow and Schwarzwald, three miles. 
 
 Feb. 18. To Sdune, four miles. 
 
 Feb. 19. To Goblin, two miles. 
 
 Here we arrived wholly destitute of money. I sold my 
 coat to a Jew, who gave me four florins and a coarse wag- 
 goner's frock in exchange, which I did not think I should 
 long need, as we now drew nearer to where my sister lived, 
 and where I hoped I should be better equipped. Schell, 
 however, grew weaker and weaker ; his wounds healed 
 slowly, and were expensive ; the cold also was injurious to 
 him ; and, as he was not by nature cleanly in his person, 
 his body soon became the harbour of every species of vermin 
 to be picked up in Poland. We often arrived wet and 
 weary to our smoky, reeking stove- room ; often we were 
 obliged to lie on straw, or the bare boards ; and the various
 
 05 
 
 hardships we suffered are almost incredible. Wandering 
 as we did in the midst of winter, through Poland, wher 
 humanity, hospitality, and gentle pity are scarcely so much 
 as known by name ; where merciless Jews deny the poor 
 traveller a bed, and where we, disconsolately, strayed with- 
 out bread, and almost naked ; these were sufferings, th 
 full extent of which he only can conceive by whom they 
 have been felt. My musket now and then procured us an 
 occasional meal of tame geese, and cocks and hens, when, 
 these were to be had ; otherwise we never took or touched 
 any tiling that was not our own. We met with Saxon and 
 Prussian recruiters at various places ; all of whom, on ac- 
 count of my youth and stature, were eager to inveigle me. 
 I was highly diverted to hear them enumerate all the possi- 
 bilities of future greatness, and how liable I was hereafter to 
 become a corporal : nor was I less merry with their mead, 
 ale, and brandy, given with an intent to make me drunk. 
 Thus had we many artifices to guard against : but thus had 
 we, likewise, very luckily for us, many a good meal gratis. 
 
 Feb. 21. We went from Goblin to Pugnit/, three miles 
 and a half. 
 
 Feb. 22. Through Storclmest to Schmiegel, four miles. 
 
 Here happened a singular adventure. The peasants at 
 this place were dancing to a vile scraper on the violin : I 
 took the instrument myself, and played while they continued 
 their hilarity. They were much pleased with my playing ; 
 but when I was tired, and desired to have done, they obliged 
 me, first by importunities, and afterwards by threats, to 
 play on all night. I was so fatigued I thought I should 
 have fainted : at length they quarrelled among themselves. 
 Schell was sleeping on a bench, and some of them fell on 
 bis wounded hand : he rose furious ; I seised my arms, 
 began to lay about me, and while all was in confusion w 
 escaped without farther ill treatment. 
 
 What ample subject of meditation on the various turns of 
 fate .did this night afford ! But two years before I danced 
 
 3 K
 
 10 
 
 at Berlin with the daughters and sisters of kings ; and here 
 was I, iu a Polish hut, a ragged, almost naked musician, 
 playing for the sport of ignorant rustics, whoni I was at 
 last obliged to fight. 
 
 I was myself the cause of the trifling misfortune that be- 
 fel me on this occasion. Had not my vanity led me to show 
 these poor peasants I was a musician, I might have slept in 
 peace and safety. The same vain desire of proving I knew 
 more than other men, made me, through life, the continued 
 victim of envy and slander. Had nature too bestowed 
 on me a weaker, or a deformed body, I had been less ob- 
 served, less courted, less sought, and my adventures and 
 mishaps had been fewer. Thus the merits of the man often 
 become his miseries ; and thus the bear, having learned to 
 dance, must live and die in chains. 
 
 This ardour, this vanity, or, if you please, this emulation, 
 has however taught me to vanquish a thousand difficulties, 
 under which others of cooler passions, and more temperate 
 desires, would have sunk. May my example remain a warn- 
 ing, and thus may my sufferings become somewhat profi- 
 table to the world, cruel as they have been to myself! Cruel 
 they were, and cruel they must continue ;. for the wounds I 
 have received are not, will not, cannot, be healed. 
 
 Feb. 23. From Schmiegel to Kakonitz, and frome thence 
 to Karger Holland, four miles and a half. Here we sold, to 
 prevent dying of hunger, a shirt, and SehcU's waiscoat, for 
 eighteen grosch, or nine scliostack. I had shot a pullet the 
 day before, which necessity obliged us to eat raw. I also 
 killed a crow, which I devoured alone, Schell refusing to 
 taste. Youth and hard travelling created a voracious appe- 
 tite, and our eighteen grosch were soon expended. 
 
 Feb. 24. We came through Benzen to Lettel, four miles. 
 Here we halted a day, to learn the road to Hammer in Bran- 
 denburg, where my sister lived. I happened, luckily, to meet 
 with the wife of a Prussian soldier, who lived at Lettel, and 
 belonged to Kolschen, where she was born a vassal of my
 
 67 
 
 sister's husband. I told her who I was, and she became our 
 guide. 
 
 Feb. 26. To Kursehen and Falkenwalde. 
 
 Feb. 27. Through Neuendorff and Qoft, and afterwards 
 through a pathless wood, five miles and a half to Hammer ; 
 and here I knocked at my sister's door at nine o'clock ia 
 the evening. 
 
 A maid servant came to the door, whom I knew ; her 
 name was Mary, and she had been born and brought up in 
 my father's house. She was terrified at seeing a sturdy 
 fellow in a beggar's dress ; which perceiving, I asked, 
 " Molly, do not you know me" She answered, " No ;" and 
 I then discovered myself to her. I asked whether my 
 brother-in-law was at home. Mary replied, " Yes ; but 
 he was sick in bed." " Tell my sister, then," said I, " that 
 I am here." She showed me into a room, and my sister 
 presently came. 
 
 She was alarmed at seeing me, not knowing that I had 
 escaped from Glatz ; and ran to inform her husband, but 
 did not return. 
 
 A quarter of an hour after, the good Mary came weeping, 
 and told us her master commanded us to quit the premises 
 instantly, or he should be obliged to have us arrested, and 
 delivered up as prisoners. 
 
 My sister's husband forcibly detained her, and I saw her 
 no more. 
 
 What my feelings must be, at such a moment, let the 
 reader imagine. I was too proud, too enraged, to ask 
 money ; I furiously left the bouse, uttering a thousand 
 menaces against its inhabitants, while the kind hearted Mary, 
 still weeping, slipped three ducats into my hand, which I 
 accepted. 
 
 And now behold us, once more, in the wood, which was 
 
 not above a hundred paces from the house, half dead with 
 
 hunger and fatigue, not daring to enter any habitation while 
 
 in the states of Brandenburg, and dragging our weary steps, 
 
 K 2
 
 w 
 
 All night, through snow and rain, until our guide at length 
 brought us back, at day-break, once more to the town of 
 Lettel. 
 
 She herself wept in pity at our fate, and I could only 
 give her two ducats for the danger she had run ; but I 
 lade her hope more in future ; and I afterwards sent for her 
 t Vienna, in 1751, where I took great care of her. She 
 was about fifty years of age, and died my servant in Hun- 
 gary, some weeks before my unfortunate journey to Dantzic, 
 where I fell into my enemies' hands, and remained ten years 
 a prisoner at Magdeburg. 
 
 We had scarcely reached the wood, before, in the anguish 
 % of my heart, I exclaimed to Schell, " Does not such a 
 sister, my friend, deserve I should fire the house over her 
 head ?" The wisdom of moderation, and calm forbearance, 
 was in Schell a virtue of the highest order : he was my con- 
 tinual Mentor ; my guide, whenever my choleric tempera- 
 ment was disposed to violence. I therefore honour his ashes ; 
 he deserved a better fate. 
 
 " Friend," said he, on this occasion, " reflect that your 
 sister may be innocent, may be withheld by her husband ; 
 besides, should the king discover we had entered her doors, 
 and she had not delivered us again into his power, she might 
 become as miserable as we were. Be more noble minded, 
 and think that, even should your sister be wrong, the time 
 may come when her children may stand in need of your assis- 
 tance, and you may have the indescribable pleasure of re- 
 turning good for evil." 
 
 I never shall forget this excellent advice ; which in re- 
 ality was a prophecy. My rich brother-in-law died, and 
 during the Russian war, his lands and houses were laid de- 
 solate and in ruins ; and, nineteen years afterwards, when 
 released from my imprisonment at Magdeburg, I had an 
 opportunity of serving the children of my sister. Such are 
 the turns of fate ; and thus do improbabilities become facts. 
 
 My sister justified her conduct ; Schell had conjectured
 
 the truth ; for ten years after I was thus expelled her house, 
 she showed, during my imprisonment, she was really a 
 sister. She was shamefully betrayed by Weingarten, se- 
 cretary to the Austrian embassador at Berlin ; lost a part 
 of her property ; and at length her life fell an innocent 
 sacrifice to her brother. 
 
 This event, which is interwoven with^my tragical history, 
 will be related in the succeeding pages : my heart bleeds, my 
 very soul shudders, when I recollect this dreadful scene. 
 
 I have not the means fully to recompense her children ; 
 and Weingarten, the just object of vengeance, is long since 
 in the grave; fordid he exist, the earth should not hide 
 him from my sword. 
 
 I shall now continue my journal. Deceived in the aid I 
 expected, I was obliged to change my plan, and go to my 
 mother, who lived in Prussia, nine miles beyond Konigsberg. 
 
 Feb. 28. We continued, tired, anxious, and distressed, at 
 Lettel. 
 
 March 1. We went three miles to Pleese, and on 
 
 March 2. A mile and a half farther to Meseritz. 
 
 MarchS. Through Wersebaum to Birnbaum, threemjles. 
 
 March 4. Through Zircke, Wruneck, Obestchow, to 
 Stubnitze, seven miles, in one day, three of which we had 
 the good fortune to ride. 
 
 March 5. Three miles toRogosen ; where we arrived with- 
 out so much as a heller to pay our lodging. The Jew inn- 
 keeper drove us out of his house ; we were obliged to wan- 
 der all night, and at break of day found we had strayed two 
 miles out of the roa*3. 
 
 We entered a peasant's cottage, where an old woman 
 was drawing bread hot out of the oven. We had no money 
 to offer ; and I felt, at this moment, the possibility even of 
 committing murder for a morsel of bread, to satisfy the into- 
 lerable cravings of hunger. Shuddering with torment inex- 
 pressible at the thoughts, I hastened out of the door, and 
 we walked on two miles more to Wongrofze.
 
 70 
 
 Here I sold ray musket for a ducat, which had procured 
 us many a meal : such was the extremity of our distress. 
 We then satiated our appetites, after having been forty 
 hours without food or sleep, and having travelled ten miles 
 in sleet and snow. 
 
 March 6. We rested, and came, on the 7th, through 
 Genin, to a village in the forest, four miles. 
 
 Here we fell in with a gang of gypsies [or rather banditti] > 
 amounting to four hundred men, who dragged me to their 
 camp. They were mostly French and Prussian deserters ; 
 and, thinking me their equal, would force me to become on 
 of their band. But venturing to tell my story to their leader, 
 he presented me with a crown, gave us a small provision of 
 bread and meat, and suffered us to depart in peace, after 
 having been four and twenty hours in their company. 
 
 March 9. We proceeded to Lapuschin, three miles and 
 a half ; and the 10th to Thorn, four miles. 
 
 A new incident here happened, which showed I was des- 
 tined, by fortune, to a variety of adventures, and continually 
 to struggle with new difficulties. 
 
 There was a fair held at Thorn on the day of our arrival. 
 Suspicions might well arise among the crowd, on seeing a 
 strong tall young man, wretchedly clothed, with a large 
 sabre by his side, and a pair of pistols in his girdle, accom- 
 panied by another as poorly apparelled as himself, with his 
 hand and neck bound up, and armed likewise with pistols . 
 so that altogether he more resembled a spectre than a man. 
 
 We went to an inn, but were refused entertainment : I 
 then asked for the Jesuits' college, where I inquired for the 
 father-rector. They supposed at first I was a thief, come 
 to seek an asylum. After long waiting, and much entreaty, 
 his Jesuitical highness at length made his appearance, and 
 received me as the Grand Mogul would his slave. My case 
 certainly was pitiable : I related all the events of my life, 
 and the purport of my journey ; conjured him to save 
 Schell, who was unable to proceed farther, aud whose
 
 71 
 
 wounds grew daily worse ; and prayed him to entertain him 
 at the convent till I should have been to my mother, have 
 obtained money, and returned to Thorn, when I would cer- 
 tainly repay him whatever expence he might have been at, 
 with thanks and gratitude. 
 
 Never shall I forget the haughty insolence of this priest. 
 Scarcely would he listen to my humble request ; thwarted 
 and interrupted me continually, to tell me "Be brief; I 
 have more pressing affairs than thine." In fine, I was turned 
 away without obtaining the least assistance ; and here I 
 was first taught Jesuitical pride; God help the poor and 
 honest man who shall need the assistance of Jesuits ! They, 
 like all other monks, are seared to every sentiment of human 
 pity, and commiserate the distressed by taunts and irony. 
 
 Four times in my life I have sought assistance and advice 
 from convents, and am convinced it is the duty of every 
 honest man to aid in erasing them from the face of the earth. 
 
 They succour rascals and murderers, that their power 
 may be idolised by the ignorant, and ostentatiously exert 
 itself to impede the course of law and justice ; but in vain do 
 the poor and needy virtuous apply to them for help. 
 
 The reader will pardon my native hatred of hypocrisy and 
 falsehood, especially when he hears I have to thank the 
 Jesuits for the loss of all my great Hungarian estates. 
 Father Kampmuller, the bosom friend of the count Grashal- 
 kowitz, was confessor to the court of Vienna, and there wa 
 no possible kind of persecution I did not suffer from priest- 
 craft. Far from being useful members of society, they, tak- 
 ing advantage of the prejudices of superstition, exist for 
 themselves alone, and sacrifice every duty to the support 
 of their own hierarchy, and found a power on error and ig- 
 norance, which is destructive of all moral virtue. 
 
 Let us proceed. Mournful, and angry, I left the college, 
 and went to my lodging-house, where I found a Prussian 
 recruiting-officer waiting for me, who used all his arts to 
 engage me to enlist : offering me five hundred dollars, ami
 
 72 
 
 to make me a corporal, if I could write. I pretended I was 
 a Livonian who had deserted from the Austrians, to return 
 home and claim an inheritance left me by my father. After 
 much persuasion, he at length told me in confidence, " It 
 was very well known in the town that I was a robber ; that 
 I should soon be taken before a magistrate ; but that, if I 
 would enlist, he would ensure my safety." 
 
 This language was new to me ; my passion rose instanta- 
 neously : I remembered my name was Trenck, I struck him, 
 and drew my sword; but instead of defending himself, he 
 sprang out of the chamber, charging the host not to let me 
 quit the house. I knew the town of Thorn had agreed with 
 the king of Prussia, secretly, to deliver up deserters, and 
 began to fear the consequences. Looking through the win- 
 dow, I presently saw two under Prussian officers enter the 
 house. Schell and I instantly flew to our arms, and met 
 the Prussians at the chamber door. " Make way ;" cried I 
 presenting my pistols. The Prussian soldiers drew their 
 swords, but retired with fear. Going out of the house, I saw 
 a Prussian lieutenant in the street, with the town -guard. 
 These I over-awed likewise, by the same means, and no 
 one durst oppose me, though every one cried " Stop thief." 
 I came safely, however, to the Jesuits' convent ; but poor 
 Schell was taken and dragged to prison like a malefactor. 
 
 Half mad at not being able to rescue him, I imagined he 
 must soon be delivered up to the Prussians. My reception 
 was much better at the convent than it had been before, for 
 they no longer doubted but I was really a thief, who sought 
 an asylum. I addressed myself to one of the fathers, who 
 appeared to be a good kind of a man, related briefly what 
 had happened, and entreated he would endeavour to disco- 
 Ter why they sought to molest us. 
 
 He went out, and returning in an hour after, told me : 
 " Nobody knows you : a considerable theft was, yesterday, 
 committed in the fair ; all suspicious persons are seized ; you 
 entered the town accoutred like banditti. The man where
 
 73 
 
 $OU put up is employed as a Prussian enlister, and has an- 
 nounced you as suspicious people. The Prussian lieutenant, 
 thereupon, laid complaint against you, and it was thought 
 necessary to secure your persons." 
 
 My joy, at hearing this, was great. Our Moravian pass- 
 port, and the journal of our route, which I had in my pocket, 
 were full proofs of our innocence. I requested they would 
 send and enquire at the town where we lay the night before. 
 I soon convinced the Jesuit I spoke truth ; he went, and 
 presently returned with one of the syndics, to whom I gave 
 a more full account of myself. The syndic examined Schell, 
 .and found his story and mine agreed ; besides which, our 
 papers, that they had seized, declared who we were. I passed 
 the night in the convent, without closing my eyes, revolving 
 in my mind all the rigours of my fate. I was still more dis- 
 turbed for Schell, who knew not where I was, but remained 
 firmly persuaded we should be conducted to Berlin ; and, if 
 so, determined to put a period to his life. 
 
 My doubts were all ended at ten in the morning, when 
 my good Jesuit arrived, and was followed by my friend 
 Schell. The judges, he said, had found us innocent, and 
 declared us free to go where we pleased ; adding, however, 
 that he advised us to'Jbe upon our guard, we being watched 
 by the Prussian enlisters ; that the lieutenant had hoped, by 
 having us committed as thieves, to oblige me to enter, and 
 this would account for all that had happened . 
 
 I gave Schell a most affectionate welcome, who had been 
 very ill used when led to prison, because he endeavoured to 
 defend himself with his left hand, and follow me. The people 
 had thrown mud at him, and called him a rascal that would 
 soon be hanged. Schell was little able to travel further. 
 The father rector sent us a ducat, but did not see us ; and 
 the chief magistrate gave each of us a crown by way of in- 
 demnification for false imprisonment. Thus sent away, we 
 returned to our lodging, took our bundles, and immediately 
 prepared to leave Thorn. 
 
 4 L
 
 74 
 
 As we went, I reflected that, oil the road to Elbing, we 
 must pass through several Prussian villages, and inquired 
 for a shop where we might purchase a map. We were di- 
 rected to an old woman who sat at a door across the way, 
 and were told that she had a good assortment, for that her 
 son was a scholar. I addressed myself to her, and my 
 question pleased her, I having added we were unfortunate 
 travellers, who wished to find, by the map, the road to 
 Russia. 
 
 She showed us into a chamber, laid an atlas on the table, 
 and placed herself opposite me, while I examined the map, 
 and endeavoured to hide a bit of a ragged ruffle that had 
 made its appearance. After stedfastly looking at me, she 
 at length exclaimed, with a sad and mournful tone, " Good 
 God ! who knows what is now become of my poor son i I 
 can see, sir, you, too, are of a good family. My son would 
 go and seek his fortune ; and for these eight years have I 
 had no tidings of him. He must now be in the Austrian 
 cavalry." I asked in what regiment.- " The regiment of 
 Hohenhem ; you are his very picture." " Is he not my 
 height ?" " Yes nearly."" Has he not light hair ?" " Yes, 
 like yours, sir." " What is his name?" " His name is 
 William." " No, my dear mother," cried I, " William 
 is not dead ; he was my best friend when I was with my 
 regiment." Here the poor woman could not contain herself 
 with joy. She threw herself round my neck, called me her 
 good angel who brought her happy tidings, asked me a 
 thousand questions, which I easily contrived to make her 
 answer herself; and thus, forced by imperious necessity, 
 bereft of all other means, did I act the deceiver. 
 
 The story I made was nearly as follows : I told her I wa 
 a soldier in the regiment of Hohenhem, that I had a furlow 
 to go and see my father, and that I should return in a month, 
 would then take her letters, and undertake that, if she wished 
 it, her son should purchase his discharge, and once more 
 come and live with his mother. I added, that I should be
 
 75 
 
 for ever, and infinitely obliged to her, if she would suffer 
 my comrade mean time to live at her house, he being wound- 
 ed by the Prussian recruiters, and unable to pursue his jour- 
 ney ; that I would send him money to come to me, or would 
 myself come back and fetch him, thankfully paying every 
 expence. She joyfully consented ; told me her second 
 husband, father-in-law to her dear William, had driven him 
 from home, that he might give what substance they had to 
 the younger son ; and that the eldest had gone to Magde- 
 burg. She determined Schell should live at the house of a 
 friend, that her husband might know nothing of the matter; 
 and, not satisfied with this kindness, she made me eat with 
 her, gave me a new shirt, stockings, sufficient provision for 
 three days,and six Lunenburg florins. T left Thorn, and 
 Iny faithful Schell, the same night, with the consolation he 
 was well taken care of ; and having parted from him with 
 regret, went, on this the 13th, two miles farther to Burglovv. 
 
 I cannot describe what my sensations were, or the de- 
 spondence of my mind, when I thus saw myself wandering 
 alone, and leaving, forsaking as it were, the dearest of friends. 
 These may certainly be numbered among the bitterest mo- 
 ments of my life. Often was I ready to return, and drag 
 him along with me, though at last reason conquered sensi- 
 bility. I drew near the end of my journey, and was im- 
 pelled forward by hope. 
 
 March 14. I went to Schwetz, and, 
 
 March 15. To Neuburg and Mowe. In these two days I 
 travelled thirteen miles. I lay at Mowe, in some straw, among 
 a number of carters, and, when I awoke, perceived they had 
 taken my pistols, and what little money I had left, even to 
 my last penny. The gentlemen however were all gone. 
 What could 1 do ? The innkeeper perhaps was privy to the 
 theft. My reckoning amounted to eighteen Polish grosch. 
 The surly landlord pretended to believe I had no money 
 when I entered his house, and I was obliged to give him 
 the only spare shirt I had, with a silk handkerchief, which 
 L2
 
 76 
 
 the good woman of Thorn had made me a present of, and t 
 depart without a single heller. 
 
 March 16. I set off for Marienburg : but it was impossible 
 r should reach this place, and not fall into the hands of the 
 Prussians, it' I did not cross the Vistula ; and, unfortunately, 
 1 had no mouey to pay the ferry, which would cost two 
 Polish schellings. 
 
 Full of anxiety, not knowing how to act, I saw two 6sh- 
 ermen in a boat, went to them, drew my sabre, and obliged 
 them to land me on the other side ; when there, I took the 
 oars from these timid people, jumped out of the boat, pushed 
 it off the shore, and left it to drive with the stream. 
 
 To what danger does not poverty expose man ! These 
 two Polish schellings were not worth more than half a kreut- 
 zer, or some halfpenny ; yet was I driven by necessity td 
 commit violence on two poor men, who, had they been as 
 desperate in their defence as I was obliged to be in my at- 
 tack, blood must have been spilt, and lives lost ; hence it is 
 evident that the degrees of guilt ought to be strictly and 
 minutely inquired into, and the degree of punishment pro- 
 portioned : had I hewn them down with my sabre, I should 
 surely hare been a murderer, but I should likewise surely 
 have been one of the mosi innocent of murderers. Thus we 
 see the value of money is not to be estimated by any spe- 
 cific sum, small or great, but according to its necessity and 
 use. How little did I imagine, when at Berlin, and money 
 was treated by me with luxurious neglect, I may say, with 
 contempt, I should be driven to the hard necessity, for a 
 sum so apparently despicable, of committing a violence 
 which might have had consequences so dreadful, and have 
 led to the commission of an act so atrocious ! 
 
 I found Saxon and Prussian recruiters at Marienburg, 
 with whom, having no money, I ate, drank, listened to their 
 proposals, gave them hopes for the morrow, and departed by 
 day-break. 
 
 March 17. To Elbing, four miles.
 
 77 
 
 Here I met with mv former worthy tutor, Brodowsky, who 
 was become a captain, and auditor iu the Polish regiment 
 of Golz. He met me just as I entered the town. I followed, 
 triumphantly, to his quarters ; and here at length ended 
 the painful, long, and adventurous journey I had been 
 obliged to perform. 
 
 This good and kind gentleman, after providing me with im- 
 mediate necessaries, wrote so affectingly to my mother, that 
 she came to Elbing in a week, and gave me every aid of 
 which 1 stood in need. 
 
 The pleasure I had in meeting once more this tender 
 mother, whose qualities of heart and mind were equally ex- 
 cellent, was inexpressible. She found a certain mode of 
 couveying a letter to my dear mistress at Berlin, who, a 
 short time after, sent me a bill of exchange for four hundred 
 ducats upon Dantzic. To this my mother added a thousand 
 rix-<loll>irs, and a diamond cross worth nearly half as much, 
 remained a fortnight with me, and persisted, in spite of all 
 remonstrance, in advising me to go to Vienna. My deter- 
 mination had been fixed for Petersburg ; all my fears and 
 apprehensions being awakened at the thought of Vienna, 
 and which, indeed, afterwards became the source of all my 
 cruel sufferings and sorrows. She would not yield in opi- 
 nion, and promised her future assistance only in case of my 
 obedience : it was my duty not to continue obstinate. Here 
 she left me, and I have never seen her since. She died in 
 1751, and I have ever held her memory in veneration. It 
 was a happiness for this affectionate mother, that she did 
 not live to be a witness of my afflictions, in the year 1754. 
 
 An adventure, resembling that of Joseph in Egypt, hap- 
 pened tome in Elbing. The wife of the worthy Brodowsky, 
 a woman of infinite personal attraction, grew partial to me ; 
 but I durst not act ungratefully by my benefactor. Never 
 to see me more was too painful to her, and she even pro- 
 posed to follow me, secretly, to Vienna. I felt the danger 
 of my situation, and doubted whether Potiphar's wife offered
 
 temptations so strong as madam Brodowsky. I own I bad 
 an affection for this lady ; but my passions were overawed. 
 She preferred me to her husband, who was in years, and 
 Tery ordinary in person. Had I yielded to the slightest de- 
 gree of guilt, that of present enjoyment, a few days of plea- 
 sure must have been followed by years of bitter repentance. 
 
 Having once more assumed my proper name and charac- 
 ter, and made presents of acknowledgment to the worthy 
 tutor of my youth, I became eager to return to Thorn. 
 
 How great was my joy at again meeting my honest Schell ! 
 The kind old woman had treated him like a mother. She 
 was surprised and half terrified at seeing me enter in an 
 officer's uniform, and accompanied by two servants. I grate- 
 fully and rapturously kissed her hand ; repaid, with thank- 
 fulness, every expence ; for Schell had been nurtured with 
 truly maternal kindness ; told her who I was ; acknow- 
 ledged the deceit I had put upon her concerning her son, 
 but faithfully promised to give her a true, and not fictitious, 
 account of him immediately on my arrival at Vienna*. 
 Schell was ready in three days, and we left Thorn, came to 
 Warsaw, and passed thence through Crakow, to Vienna. 
 
 I inquired for captain Capi, at Bilitz, who had before 
 given me so kind a reception, and refused me satisfaction ; 
 but he was gone, and I did not meet with him till some years 
 after, when the cunning Italian made me the most humble 
 apologies for his conduct. So goes the world. 
 
 My journey from Dantzic to Vienna would not furnish me 
 with an interesting page, though my travels on foot thither 
 
 * When I came to Vienna, I took all possible pains to enquire 
 for this William, and found, by the commissary list, that he had 
 deserted in 1744, had been retaken, and actually hanged. For 
 a bribe of a few ducats I procured a certificate of his having died a 
 natural death, which I sent to the good woman with a letter of 
 thanks and consolation. Perhaps the Poor William, who was hyeir 
 to twenty thousand florins, unable to procure a furlow, had deserted, 
 and was executed as a malefactor. To how many reflections on 
 arbitrary power, standing armies, and military law, do incidents 
 like these give birth !
 
 79 
 
 would have afforded thrice as much as I have written, had 
 J not been fearful of trifling 1 with the reader's patience. 
 
 tn poverty one misfortune follows another. The foot- 
 passenger sees the world, becomes acquainted with it, con- 
 verses with men of every class. The lord luxuriously lolls 
 and slumbers in his carriage, while his servants pay inn- 
 keepers and postillions, and passes rapidly over a kingdom 
 in which he sees some dozen houses, called inns ; and this- 
 he calls travelling. I met with more adventures in this my 
 journey of 109 miles, than afterwards in almost as many 
 thousand, when travelling at ease, in a carriage. 
 
 Here then ends my journal, in which, from the hardships 
 therein related, and numerous others omitted, I seem a 
 kind of second Robinson Crusoe, and to have been prepared, 
 by a gradual increase and repetition of sufferings, to en- 
 dure the load of affliction which I was afterwards destined 
 to bear. 
 
 ARRIVED AT VIENNA in the month of April, 1747. 
 
 And now another act of the tragedy is going to begin. 
 
 After having defrayed the expences of travelling for me 
 and ray friend Schell, for whose remarkable history I will 
 endeavour to find a few pages in my volume, I divided 
 the three hundred ducats which remained with him ; and, 
 having staid a month at Vienna, he went to join the regi- 
 ment of Pallavicini, in which he had obtained a lieutenant- 
 colonel's commission, and which was then in Italy. 
 
 Here I found my cousin, baron Francis Trenck, the fa- 
 mous partisan and colonel of pandours, imprisoned at the 
 arsenal, and involved in a most perplexing prosecution. 
 
 This Trenck was my father's brother's son. His father 
 had been a colonel and governor of . Leitschau, and had pos- 
 sessed considerable lordships in Sclavonia, those of Pleter- 
 nitz, Prestowacz, and Pakratz. After the siege of Vienna, 
 in 1683, he had left the Prussian service for that of Austria, 
 in which he remained sixty years. 
 
 That I may not here interrupt my story, I shall in the
 
 60 
 
 tourse of this work give some account of the life of my cousin 
 baron Francis Trenck, so renowned in the war of 1741, and 
 who fell, at last, the shameful sacrifice of envy and avarice, 
 and received the reward of all his great and faithful services 
 in the prison of the Spielberg. 
 
 The vindication of the family of the Trencks requires I 
 should speak of him ; nor will I, in this, suffer restraint 
 from the fear of any man, however powerful. Those indeed 
 who sacrificed a man most ardent in his country's service, 
 to their own private and selfish views, are now in their graves. 
 I shall insert no more of his history here than what is in- 
 terwoven with my own, and relate the rest hereafter. 
 
 A revision of his suit was at this time instituted. Scarcely 
 was I at Vienna before his confidential agent, M. Leber, 
 presented me to prince Charles and the emperor : both knew 
 the services of Trenck, and the malice of his enemies ; 
 therefore permission for me to visit him in his prison, and 
 procure him such assistance as he might need, were readily 
 granted. On my second audience the emperor spoke so 
 much in my persecuted cousin's favour, that I became high- 
 ly interested : he commanded me to have recourse to him 
 on all occasions ; and, moreover, owned the president of the 
 council of war was a man of a very wicked character, and a 
 declared enemy of Trenck. This president was the count 
 of Lowenwalde, who, with his associates, had been pur- 
 posely selected as men proper to oppress the best of subjects. 
 The suit soon took another face : the good empress queen, 
 who had been deceived, was soon better informed ; and 
 Trenck's innocence appeared, on the revision of the process, 
 most evidently. The trial, which had cost them twenty - 
 seven thousand florins, and the sentence which followed, 
 were proved to have been partial and unjust ; and that six- 
 teen of Trenck's officers, who most of them had been broken 
 for different offences, had perjured themselves to insure his 
 destruction.
 
 81 
 
 It is a most remarkable circumsfance, that public notice 
 was given, in the Vienna Gazette, to the following purport : 
 
 All those who have any complaints to make against 
 Trenck, let them appear, and they shall receive a ducat 
 per day so long as the prosecution continues. 
 
 It will readily be imagined how fast his accusers would 
 increase, and what kind of people they were. The pay of 
 these witnesses alone mounted to fifteen thousand florins. I 
 now began to labour in concurrence with doctor Ger- 
 hauer, and the cause soon took another turn ; but such was 
 the state of things, it would have been necessary to have 
 broken all the members of the council of war, as well as 
 counsellor Weber, a man of great power. Thus, unfortu- 
 nately, politics began to interfere with the course of justice. 
 
 The empress-queen gave Trenck to understand she re- 
 quired he should ask her pardon ; and on that condition all 
 proceedings should be stopped, and he immediately set at 
 liberty. Prince Charles, who knew the court of Vienna, 
 advised me also to persuade my cousin to comply ; but 
 nothing could shake his resolution. Feeling his right and 
 innocence, he demanded strict justice ; and this made ruin 
 more swift. 
 
 I soon learned Trenck must fall a sacrifice ; he was rich 
 his enemies already had divided among them more than 
 eighty thousand florins of his property, which was all se- 
 questered, and in their hands. They had treated him too 
 cruelly, and knew him too well, not to dread his vengeance 
 the moment he should recover his freedom. 
 
 I was moved to the soul at his sufferings ; and as he vented 
 public threats, at the prospect of approaching victory over 
 his enemies, they gained over the court-confessor ; and, 
 dreading him as they did, put every wily art in practice to 
 Insure his destruction. I therefore, in the fulness of my 
 heart, made him the brotherly proposition of escaping, and, 
 having obtained his liberty, to prove his innocence to the 
 empress- queen. I told him my plan, which might easily 
 
 4 M
 
 82 
 
 have been put in execution, and which he seemed perfectly 
 decided to follow. 
 
 Some days after, I was ordered to wait on field-marshal 
 count Konigseck, governor of Vienna. This respectable old 
 gentleman, whose memory I shall ever revere, behaved to 
 me like a father and the friend of humanity, advised me to 
 abandon my cousin, who, he gave me clearly to understand, 
 had betrayed me, by having revealed my proposed plan of 
 escape, willing to sacrifice me to his ambition, in order to 
 justify the purity of his intentions to the court, and show 
 that, instead of wishing to escape, he only desired justice. 
 
 Confounded at the cowardly action of one for whom I 
 would willingly have sacrificed my life, and whom I only 
 sought to deliver, I resolved to leave him to his fate, and 
 thought myself exceedingly happy that the worthy field- 
 marshal would, after a fatherly admonition, smother all 
 farther inquiry into this affair. 
 
 I related this black trait of ingratitude to prince Charles 
 of Lorraine, who prevailed on me again to see my cousin, 
 without letting him know I knew what had passed, and still 
 to render him every service in my power. 
 
 Before I proceed, I will here give the reader a portrait of 
 this Trenck. 
 
 He was a man of superior talents and unbounded ambi- 
 tion ; devoted, even, fanatically, to his sovereign ; his bold- 
 ness approached temerity ; he was artful of mind, wicked of 
 heart, vindictive and unfeeling. His cupidity equalled the 
 utmost excess of avarice, even in his thirty-third year, iu 
 which he died. He was too proud to receive favours or obli- 
 gations from any man, and was capable of ridding himself of 
 his best friend, if he thought he had any claims on his grati- 
 tude, or could get possession of his fortune. 
 
 He knew I had rendered him very important services, sup- 
 posed his cause already won, having bribed the judges, who 
 were to revise the sentence, with thirty thousand ilorins ; 
 W\uc\\ money I received from his friend baron Lopresti, and
 
 8S 
 
 conveyed to those honest counsellors. I knew all his se- 
 crets ; and nothing more was necessary to prompt his sus- 
 picious and bad heart to seek my destruction. 
 
 Scarcely had a fortnight elapsed, after his having first be- 
 trayed me, before the following remarkable event happened, 
 I left him one evening to return home, taking under my 
 coat a bag with papers and documents relating to the prose- 
 cution, which I had been examining for him, and tran- 
 scribing. There were at this time about five and twenty 
 officers in Vienna, who had laid complaints against him, and 
 who considered me as their greatest enemy, because I had 
 laboured earnestly in his defence. I was therefore obliged, 
 on all occasions, to be upon my guard. A report had been 
 propagated through Vienna, that I was secretly sent, by the 
 king of Prussia, to free my cousin from imprisonment ; he, 
 however constantly denied, to the hour of his death, his ever 
 having written to me at Berlin : hence also it will follow, 
 the letter I received had been forged by Jaschinsky. 
 
 Leaving the arsenal, I crossed the court, and perceived I 
 was closely followed by two men in grey roquelaures ; who, 
 pressing upon my heels, held loud and insolent conversation 
 concerning the run-away Prussian Trenck. I found they 
 sought a quarrel, which was a thing of no great difficulty at 
 that moment ; for a man is never more disposed to duelling 
 than when he has nothing to lose, and is discontented with 
 his condition. I supposed they were two of the accusing 
 officers broken by Trenck, and endeavoured to avoid them, 
 and gain the Jew's-place. 
 
 Scarcely had I turned down the street that leads thither, 
 before they quickened their pace. I turned round, and in a 
 moment received a thrust with a sword in the left side, 
 where I had put my bag of papers ; which accident alone 
 saved my life : the sword pierced through the papers, and 
 slightly grazed the skin. I instantly drew, and the heroes 
 ran. I pursued : one of them tripped, and fell. I seized 
 him : the guard came up : he declared he was an officer of 
 M2,
 
 the regiment of Kollowrat, showed his uniform, was released? 
 and I was taken to prison. The town-major came the next 
 day, and told me I had intentionally sought a quarrel with 
 two officers, lieutenants F g and K n. These kind gen- 
 tlemen did not reveal their humane intentions of sending me 
 to the other world. 
 
 I was alone, could produce no witness : they were two. 
 I must necessarily be in the wrong, and I remained six days 
 in prison. No sooner was I released, than these my good 
 friends sent to demand satisfaction for the said pretended 
 insult. The proposal was accepted, and I promised to be at 
 the Scotch-gate, the place appointed by them, within an 
 hour. Having heard their names, I presently knew them to 
 be two famous swaggerers, who were daily exercising them- 
 selves in fencing at the arsenal, and where they often visited 
 Trenck. I went to my cousin to ask his assistance, related 
 what had happened, and, as the consequences of this duel 
 might be very serious, desired him to give me a hundred 
 ducats, that I might be able to fly if either of them should fall. 
 
 Hitherto I had expended my own money on his account, 
 a,nd had asked no reimbursement ; but what was my as- 
 tonishment Avhcn this wicked man said to me, with a sneer, 
 " Since, good cousin, you have got into a quarrel without 
 consulting me, you will also get out of it without my aid !" 
 As I left him, he called me back to tell me, " I will take care 
 and pay your undertaker;" for hccertainly believed I should 
 never return alive. 
 
 I ran now, half despairing, to baron Lopresti, who gave 
 me fifty ducats and a pair of pistols ; provided with which I 
 cheerfully repaired to the field of battle. 
 
 Here I found half a dozen officers of the garrison. As I 
 had few acquaintances in Vienna, I had no second, except 
 an old Spanish invalid captain, named Pereyra, who met me 
 going in all haste, and, having learned whither, would not 
 leave me. 
 
 Lieutenant K n wus the first with whom I fought, aud
 
 85 
 
 who received satisfaction by a deep wound in the right arm. 
 Hereupon I desired the spectators to prevent farther mis- 
 chief ; for my own part I had nothing more to demand. 
 Lieutenant F g next entered the lists, with threats, which 
 were soon quieted by a lunge in the belly. Hereupon lieu- 
 tenant M f, second to the first wounded man, told me very 
 angrily, " Had I been your man, you would have found a 
 very different reception." My old Spaniard of eighty, 
 proudly and immediately advanced, with his long whiskers 
 and tottering frame, and cried " Hold ! Trenck has 
 proved himself a brave fellow ; and if any man thinks proper 
 to assault him further, he must first take a breathing with 
 me." Every body laughed at this bravado, from a man 
 who scarcely could stand, or hold a sword. I replied, 
 " Friend, 1 am safe, unhurt, and want not aid : should I 
 be disabled, you then, if you think proper, may take my 
 place ; but, as long as I can hold a sword, I shall take plea- 
 sure, in satisfying all these gentlemen, one after another." 
 I would have rested myself a moment ; but the haughty 
 M f, enraged at the defeat of his friend, would not give me 
 time, but furiously attacked me ; and, having wounded him 
 twice, once in the hand, and again in the groin, he wanted 
 to close, and sink me to the grave with himself; but I dis- 
 armed and threw him. 
 
 None of the others had any desire to renew the contest. 
 My three enemies were sent bleeding to town ; and, as M f 
 appeared to be mortally wounded, and the Jesuits and 
 Capuchins of Vienna refused me an asylum, I fled to the 
 convent at Keltenberg. 
 
 I wrote, from the convent, to colonel baron Lopresti, who 
 came to me. I told him all that had passed, and by his 
 good offices had liberty in a week, to appear once more at 
 Vienna. 
 
 The blood of lieutenant F g was in a corrupt state, and 
 his wound, though not in itself dangerous, made his life 
 doubtful. He sent to entreat I would visit him ; and, when
 
 I went, having first requested I would pardon him, gare 
 me to understand I ought to beware of ray cousin. I af- 
 terwards learned the traitorous Trenck had promised lieu- 
 tenant F g a company, and a thousand ducats, if he could 
 find means to quarrel with me, and rid the world of me. lie 
 was deeply in debt, and sought the assistance of lieutenant 
 K n ; and, had not the papers luckily preserved me I had 
 undoubtedly been dispatched by his first lunge. To clear 
 themselves of the infamy of such an act, these two worthy 
 gentlemen had pretended I had assaulted them in the streets. 
 I could no more resolve to see my ungrateful and danger- 
 ous kinsman, who wished to have me murdered, because I 
 knew all his secrets, and thought he should be able to gain 
 his cause, without obligation to me, or my assistance. Not- 
 withstanding all his great qualities, his marking character- 
 istic certainly was that of sacrificing every thing to his pri- 
 vate views, and especially to his covetousness, which was 
 so great that, even at his time of life, though his fortune 
 amounted to a million and a half, he did not spend, per day, 
 more than thirty kreutzers. 
 
 No sooner was it known that I had forsaken Trenck, than 
 general count Lowenwalde, his most ardent enemy, and pre- 
 sident of the first council of war, by which he had been con- 
 demned, desired to speak to me, promised every sort of good 
 fortune and protection if 1 would discover what means had 
 secretly been employed in the revision of the process ; and 
 went so far as to offer me four thousand florins if 1 would 
 aid a prosecution against my cousin. Here I learned the 
 influence of villains in power, and the injustice of judges 
 at Vienna. The proposal I rejected with disdain, and rather 
 determined to seek my fortune in the East-Indies, than con- 
 tinue in a country where, under the best of queens, the most 
 loyal of subjects, and first of soldiers, I might be rendered 
 miserable by interested, angry, and corrupt courtiers. Cer- 
 tain it is, as I now can prove, that Trenck, though the bit- 
 terest of nay enemies, au<J whose conduct towards me me^
 
 87 
 
 tiled my whole resentment, was the best soldier in the Aus- 
 trian army, had been liberal of his blood and fortune in the 
 imperial service, and would still so have continued, had not 
 his wealth, and his contempt for Weber and Lowenwalde r 
 put him in the power of those wretches, who were the avowed 
 enemies of courage and patriotism, and who only can main- 
 tain their authority, and sate their thirst of gain, by the base 
 and wicked arts of courts. Had my cousin shared the plunder 
 of the war among 1 these men, he had not fallen the martyr 
 of their intrigues, and died in the Spielberg. His accusers 
 were, generally, unprincipled men, of ruined fortunes ; and 
 so insufficient were their accusations, that a useful member 
 of society ought not, for any or all of them, to have suffered 
 an hour's imprisonment. Being fully informed, both of all 
 the circumstances of the prosecution, and the inmost secrets 
 of his heart, justice requires I should thus publicly declare 
 this truth, and vindicate his memory. While living he was 
 my bitterest enemy, and even though dead was the cause of 
 all my future sufferings ; therefore the account I shall give 
 of him, in the succeeding pages, will certainly be the less li- 
 able to suspicion, where I shall show that he, as well as my- 
 self, deserved better of Austria. 
 
 I was resolved for ever to forsake Vienna. The friends 
 of Trenck all became distrustful of him, because of his in- 
 gratitude to me. Prince Charles still endeavoured to per- 
 suade me to a reconciliation, and gave me a letter of recom- 
 mendation to general Brown, who then commanded the im- 
 perial army of Italy : but more desirous of going to India, 
 I left Viennna in August, 1748, desirous of owing no obli- 
 gation to that city or its inhabitants, and went for Holland. 
 Meantime the enemies of Trenck found no one to oppose 
 their iniquitous ^proceedings, and obtained a sentence of im- 
 prisonment, in the Spielberg, where he too late repented 
 having betrayed his faithful adviser and prudent friend. I 
 pitied him ; and his judges certainly deserved the punish- 
 ment they inflicted ; yet to his last moment he showed his
 
 hatred towards me was rooted, and, even in the grave, strove 
 by his will to involve me in misfortune, as will hereafter be 
 seen. 
 
 I fled from Vienna ; would to God it, had been for ever ! 
 but fate, by strange ways and unknown means, brought me 
 back, where Providence thought proper I should become a 
 vessel of wrath and persecution : I was to enact my part in 
 Europe, and not in Asia. At Nuremberg I met with a body 
 of Russians, commanded by general Lieuwen, my mother's 
 relation, who were marching to the Netherlands, and were 
 the peace-makers of Europe. Major Buschkow, whom I 
 had known when Russian resident at Vienna, prevailed on 
 me to visit him, and presented me to the general. I pleased 
 him, and may say, with truth, he behaved to me like a 
 friend and a father. He advised me to enter into the Russian 
 service, and gave me a company of dragoons, in the regiment 
 of Tobolsk!, on condition I should not leave him, but em- 
 ploy myself in his cabinet ; and his confidence and esteem 
 for me were unbounded. 
 
 Peace followed ; the army returned to Moravia, without 
 firing a musket, and the head-quarters were fixed at Pros- 
 nitz, 
 
 In this town a public entertainment was given, by gene- 
 ral Lieuwen, on the coronation-day of the empress Eliza- 
 beth ; and here an adventure happened to me, which I shall 
 ever remember, as a warning to myself, and insert as a me- 
 mento to others. 
 
 The army physician, on this day, kept a faro bank, for 
 the entertainment of the guests. My stock of money con- 
 sisted of two and twenty ducats. Thirst of gain, or perhaps 
 example, induced me to venture two of these, which I im- 
 mediately lost, and very soon, by venturing again to regain 
 them, the whole two and twenty. Chagrined at my folly, I 
 returned home : I had nothing but a pair of pistols left, for 
 which, because of their workmanship, general Woyekow 
 had offered me twenty ducats. These I took, intending, by
 
 their aid, to attempt to retrieve my loss. Firing of guns and 
 pistols were heard throughout the town, because of the fes- 
 tival ; and I, in imitation of the rest, went to the window, 
 and fired mine. After a few discharges, one of my pistols 
 burst, and endangered my own hand, and wounded my ser- 
 vant. I felt a momentary despondency, stronger than I ever 
 remembered to have experienced before ; insomuch that I 
 was half induced, with the remaining pistol, to shoot myself 
 through the head. T however recovered my spirits, asked my 
 servant what money he had, and received from him three 
 ducats. With these I repaired, like a desperate gamester, 
 once more to the faro table, at tbe general's ; again began 
 to play, and, so extraordinary was my run of luck, I won at 
 every venture. Having recovered my principal, I played 
 on upon my winnings, till at last I had absolutely broken 
 the doctor's bank. A new bank was setup, and I won the 
 greatest part of this likewise ; so that I brought home about 
 six hundred ducats. 
 
 Rejoiced at my good fortune, but recollecting my danger, 
 I had the prudence to make a solemn resolution never more 
 to play at any game of chance ; to which I have ever strictly 
 adhered. 
 
 It were to be wished young men would reflect upon the 
 effects of gaming, remembering that the love of play has 
 made the most promising and virtuous, miserable ; the 
 honest, knaves ; and the sincere, deceivers and liars. Offi- 
 cers, having first lost all their own money, being intrusted 
 with the soldiers' pay, have next lost that also ; and thus 
 been cashiered, and eternally disgraced. I might at Pros- 
 nitz have been equally rash and culpable. The first venture, 
 whether the gamester wins or loses, ensures a second ; and 
 with that, too often destruction. My good fortune was al- 
 most miraculous, and my subsequent resolution very un- 
 common ; and I intreat aud conjure my children, when I 
 shall no longer be living to advise and watch for their wel- 
 fare, most determinedly to avoid play. I seemed pre- 
 
 4 N
 
 90 
 
 served by Providence, from this evil, but to endure much 
 greater. 
 
 General Lieuwen, my kind patron, sent me from Krakow, 
 to conduct a hundred and forty sick men down the Vistula 
 to Dantzic, where there were Russian vessels to receive and 
 transport them to Riga. 
 
 I requested permission of the general to proceed forward, 
 and visit my mother and sister, whom I was very desirous 
 to see : at Elbing, therefore, I resigned the command to 
 lieutenant Platen, and, attended by a servant, rode to the 
 bishopric of Ermeland, whe,re I had appointed an interview 
 with them in a frontier village. 
 
 Here an incident happened that had nearly cost me my 
 life. The Prussians, some days before, had carried off a 
 peasant's son, from this village, as a recruit. The people 
 were all in commotion. I wore leathern breeches, and the 
 blue uniform of the Russian cavalry. They took me for a 
 Prussian, at the door, and fell upon me with every kind of 
 weapon. A chasseur, who happened to be there, and the 
 landlord, came to my assistance ; while I, battling with the 
 peasants, had thrown two of them down. I was delivered, 
 but not till I had received, among others, two violent bruises; 
 one on the left arm, and another which broke the bridge of 
 my nose. The landlord advised me to escape as fast a 
 possible, or that the village would rise and certainly murder 
 me; my servant, therefore, who had retired, for defence, 
 with a pair of pistols, into the oven, got ready the horses, 
 and we rode off. 
 
 I had my bruises dressed at the next village ; ray hand 
 and eyes were exceedingly swelled ; but I was obliged to 
 ride two miles farther, to the town of Ressel, before I could 
 find an able surgeon ; and here I so far recovered, in a week, 
 that I was able to return to Dantzic. My brother visited 
 me, while at Ressel ; but my good mother had the misfor- 
 tune, as she was coming to me, to be thrown out of her car-
 
 91 
 
 riage, by which her ami was broken, so that she and my 
 sister were obliged to return ; and I never saw her more. 
 
 I was now at Dantzic, with my sick convoy, where another 
 most remarkable event happened, which I, with good reason, 
 shall ever remember. 
 
 I became acquainted with a Prussian officer, whose name 
 I shall conceal, out of respect to his very worthy family : he 
 visited me daily, and we often rode out together in the 
 neighbourhood of Dantzic. 
 
 My faithful servant became acquainted with his, and my 
 astonishment was indeed great when he said one day to me, 
 with anxiety, " Beware, sir, of a snare laid for you by lieu- 
 tenant N ; he means to entice you out of town, and 
 
 deliver you up to the Prussians." I asked him where he 
 learned this : " From the lieutenant's servant," answered 
 he, " who is my friend, and wishes to save me from mis- 
 fortune." 
 
 I now, with the aid of a couple of ducats, discovered the 
 whole affair ; and learned it was agreed between the Prussian 
 resident, Reiiner, and the lieutenant, that the latter should 
 entice me into the suburb of Langfuhr, where there was an 
 inn on the Prussian territories : here eight recruiting under- 
 oflicers were to wait concealed, and seize me the moment 
 I entered the house, hurry me into a carriage, and drive 
 away for Lauenberg in Pomerania. Two uuder-officers were 
 to escort me, on horseback, as far as the frontiers, and the 
 remainder to hold, and prevent me from calling for help, so 
 long as we should remain on the territories of Dantzic. 
 
 1 farther learned my enemies were only to be armed with 
 sabres ; and that they were to wait behind the door. The 
 two officers on horseback were to secure my servant, and 
 prevent him from riding off and raising an alarm. 
 
 These preparations might easily have been rendered fruit- 
 less, by my refusing to accept the proposal of the lieutenant : 
 but vanity gave me other advice ; and resentment made me 
 desirous of avenging myself for such detestable treachery. 
 N2
 
 92 
 
 Lieutenant N came, about noon, to dine with me 
 
 as usual ; was more pensive and serious than I had ever ob- 
 served him before, and left me, at four in the afternoon, after 
 having promised to ride early next day with him as far as 
 Langfuhr. I observed my consent gave him great pleasure ; 
 and my heart then pronounced sentence on the traitor. The 
 moment he had left me I went to the Russian resident, 
 M. Scheerer, an honest Swiss, related the whole conspiracy, 
 and asked whether I might not take six men under my com- 
 mand for my own personal defence. I told him my plan, 
 which he at first opposed ; but, seeing me obstinate, he an- 
 swered, at last, " Do as you please ; I must know nothing 
 of the matter, nor will I make myself responsible." 
 
 I immediately joined my soldiers, selected six men, and 
 took them, while it was dark, opposite the Prussian inn, 
 hid them in the corn, with' an order to run to my help, with 
 their firelocks loaded, the first discharge they should hear, 
 to seize all who should fall into their power, and only to fire 
 in case of resistance. I provided them with fire-arms, by 
 concealing them in the carriage which brought them to 
 their hiding-place. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these precautions, I still thought it 
 necessary to prevent surprise, by informing myself what were 
 the proceedings of my enemies, lest my intelligence should 
 have been false ; and I learned from my spies that, at four 
 in the morning, the Prussian resident, Reimer, had left the 
 city with post-horses. 
 
 I- loaded mine and my servant's horse and pocket pistols, 
 prepared my Turkish sabre, and, in gratitude to the lieu- 
 tenant's man, promised to take him into my service, being 
 convinced of his honesty. 
 
 The lieutenant cheerfully entered about six in the morn- 
 ing, expatiated on the fineness of the weather, and jocosely 
 told me I should be very kindly received by the handsome 
 landlady of Langfuhr. 
 
 I was soon ready j we mounted, aod left the town
 
 93 
 
 Attended by our servants. Some three hundred paces from 
 the inn my worthy friend proposed that we should alight and 
 let our servants lead the horses, that we might enjoy the 
 beauty of the morning : I consented ; and, having dis- 
 mounted, observed his treacherous eyes sparkle with 
 pleasure. 
 
 The resident, Reimer, was at the window of the inn, 
 and called out, as soon as he saw me, " Good morrow, 
 captain ! good morrow ! come, come in, your breakfast is 
 waiting." I, sneering, smiled, and told him I had not 
 time at present. So saying, I continued my walk ; but my 
 companion would absolutely force me to enter, took me by 
 the arm, and partly struggled with me ; on which, losing 
 all patience, I gave him a blow, which almost knocked him 
 down, and ran to my horses as if I meant to fly. 
 
 The Prussians instantly rushed from behind their door, 
 with clamour, to attack me. I fired at the first ; my Rus- 
 sians sprang from their hiding-place, presented the pieces, 
 and called " Stuy, stuy, yebionnamat" 
 
 The terror of the poor Prussians may well be supposed. 
 All began to run. I had taken care to make sure of my 
 lieutenant, and was next running to seize the resident, but 
 he had escaped out of the back door, with the loss only of 
 his white perriwig. The Russians had taken four prison- 
 ers, and I commanded them to bestow fifty strokes upon 
 each of them, in the open street. An ensign, named 
 Casseburg, having told me his name, and that he had been 
 my brother's school-fellow, begged remission, and excused 
 himself on the necessity which he was under to obey his 
 superiors. I admitted his excuses, and suffered him to go. 
 I then drew my sword, and bade the lieutenant defend him- 
 self; but he was so confused, that, after drawing his sword, 
 he asked my pardon, laid the whole blame upon the re- 
 sident, and had not the power to put himself upon his 
 guard. I twice jerked his sword out of his hand ; and, at 
 last, taking the Russian corporal's cane, I exhausted .my
 
 04 
 
 strength with beating him, without his offering the least 
 resistance. Such is the meanness of detected treachery. 
 I left him kneeling, saying to him, " Go, rascal ! now, 
 and tell your comrades the manner in which Trenck pun- 
 ishes robbers on the highway.'* 
 
 The people had assembled round us during the action, 
 to whom I related the affair ; and the attack haying hap- 
 pened 0*1 the territories of Dantzic, the Prussians were in 
 danger of being stoned by the populace. I and ray Rus- 
 sians marched off victorious, proceeded to the harbour, 
 embarked, and three or four days after set sail for Riga. 
 
 It is remarkable that none of the public papers took any 
 notice of this affair ; no satisfaction was required. The 
 Prussians, no doubt, were ashamed of being defeated in an 
 attempt so perfidious. 
 
 "7 I since have learned that Frederic, no doubt by the false 
 representations of Reimer, was highly irritated ; and what 
 afterwards happened proves his anger pursued me through 
 every corner of the earth, till at last I fell into his power at 
 Dantzic, and suffered a martyrdom most unmerited and 
 unexampled. 
 
 The Prussian envoy, Golta, indeed, made complaints to 
 count Bestuchef, concerning this Dantzic skirmish, but 
 received no satisfaction. My conduct was justified in Rus- 
 sia, I having defended myself against assassins as a Russian 
 captain ought. 
 
 Some dispassionate readers may blame roe for not having 
 avoided this reneontre, and demanded personal satisfaction 
 
 of lieutenant N . But I have, through life, rather 
 
 sought than avoided danger. My vanity and revenge 
 were both roused. I was every-where persecuted by the 
 Prussians, and was therefore determined to show that, far 
 from fearing, I was able to defend myself. 
 
 I hired the servant of the lieutenant, whom I found ho- 
 nest and faithful, and whom 1 comfortably settled in mar- 
 riage, at Vienna, in 175&. After roy ten years' imprison-
 
 05 
 
 nent, I found him poor, and again took him into my service, 
 in which he died, at Zwerbach, in 1779. 
 
 Aad now behold me at sea ou my voyage to Riga. I had 
 eaten heartily before I went on board : a storm came oil : 
 I worked half the night, to aid the crew, but at length 
 became sea-sick, and went to lie down. Scarcely had I 
 closed my eyes before the master came with the joyful 
 tidings, as he thought, that we were running for the port 
 of Pillau. Far from pleasing, this, to me, was dreadful 
 intelligence. I ran on deck, saw the harbour right before 
 me, and a pilot coming off. The sea must now be either 
 kept in a storm, or I fall into the hands of the Prussians ; 
 for I was known to the whole garrison of Pillau. 
 
 I desired the captain to tack about and keep the sea, but 
 he would not listen to me. Perceiving this, I flew to my 
 cabin, snatched my pistols, returned, seized the helm, and 
 threatened the captain with instant death if he did not obey. 
 My Russians began to murmur ; they were averse to en- 
 ctmntering the dangers of the storm, but luckily they were 
 still more averse to meet my anger, overawed, as they were, 
 by my pistols, and my two servants, who stood by me faith- 
 fully. 
 
 Half an hour after the storm began to subside, and we 
 fortunately arrived, the next day, in the harbour of Riga. 
 The captain, however, could not be appeased, but accused 
 me before the old and honourable marshal Lacy, then go- 
 vernor of Riga. I was obliged to appear, and replied 4o 
 the charge by relating the truth. The governor answered, 
 " My obstinacy might have occasioned the death of a 
 hundred and sixty persons." I smiling retorted, " I have 
 brought them all into port, please your excellency ; and, 
 for my part, my fate would have been more merciful, by fall- 
 ing into the hands of my God than into the hands of my 
 enemies. My danger was so great, that I forgot the dan- 
 ger of others, besides, sir, I know my comrades were soldiers, 
 and feared death as little as I do." My answer pleased the
 
 06 
 
 fine grey-headed general, and he gave me a recommendation 
 to the chancellor Bestuchef at Moscow. 
 
 General Lieu wen had marched from Moravia, for Russia, 
 with the army, and was then at Riga. I went to pay him 
 my respects ; he kindly received me, and took me to one of 
 his seats, named Annaburg, four miles from Riga. Here I 
 remained some days, and he gave me every recommenda- 
 tion to Moscow, where the court then was. It was intended 
 I should endeavour to obtain a company in the regiment of 
 cuirassiers, the captains of which then ranked as majors ; 
 and he advised me to throw up my commission in the Sibe- 
 rian regiment of Tobolski dragoons. Peace be to the means 
 and the memory of this worthy man ! May God reward his 
 benevolence ; From Riga 1 departed, in company with 
 M. Oettinger, lieutenant-colonel of engineers, and lieute- 
 nant Wiesmann, for Moscow. This is the same Wiesmann 
 who rendered so many important services to Russia, during 
 the last war with the Turks. 
 
 On my arrival, after delivering my letters of recom- 
 mendation, I was particularly well received by count Bes- 
 tuchef. Oettinger, whose friendship I had gained, was ex- 
 ceedingly intimate with the chancellor ; and ray interest 
 was thereby promoted. 
 
 I had not been long at Moscow before I met count 
 Hamilton, my former friend during my abode at Vienna. He 
 was captain of cavalry in the regiment of general Bernes, 
 who had been sent as imperial ambassador to Russia. 
 t kernes had been ambassador at Berlin in 1743, where he 
 ha"d consequently known me during the height of my favour 
 at the court of Frederic. Hamilton presented me to him, 
 and I had the good fortune so far to gain his friendship, 
 that, after a few visits, he endeavoured to detach me from 
 the Russian service, offering me the strongest recommenda- 
 tions to Vienna, and a company in his own regiment. My 
 cousin's misfortunes, however, had left too deep an impres-
 
 97 
 
 sion upon my memory, for me to follow his advice. The 
 Indies would then have been preferred by me to Austria. 
 
 Bernes invited me to dine with him in company with his 
 bosom friend, lord Hyndford, the English ambassador. 
 How great was the pleasure I that day received ! This 
 eminent statesman had known me at Berlin, and was pre- 
 sent when Frederic had honoured me, with saying, C"e* 
 un matador dp. ma jeunesse. He was well read in men, 
 conceived a good opinion of my abilities, and became a 
 friend and a father to me. He seated me by his side at 
 table, and asked me, " Why came you here, Trenck ?" 
 " In search of bread and honour, my lord," answered I, 
 " having unmeritedly lost them both in my own country." 
 He farther inquired the state of my finances ; I told him 
 my whole store might be some thirty ducats. 
 
 " Take my counsel," said he ; " you have the necessary 
 qualifications to succeed in Russia ; but the people here 
 despise poverty, judge from the exterior only, and do not 
 include services, or talents, in the estimate ; you must have 
 the appearance of being wealthy. I and Bernes will intro- 
 duce you into the best families, and will supply you with 
 the necessary means of support. Splendid liveries, led 
 horses, diamond rings, deep play, a bold front, undaunted 
 freedom with statesmen, and gallantry among the ladies, are 
 the means by which foreigners must make their way in this 
 country. Avail yourself of them and leave the rest to us." 
 This lesson lasted some time. Bernes entered in the interim, 
 and they determined mutually to contribute towards my 
 promotion. 
 
 Few of the young men who seek their fortune in foreign 
 countries meet incidents so favourable. Fortune for a mo- 
 ment seemed willing to recompense my past sufferings, 
 and again to raise me to the height from which I had fallen. 
 These ambassadors, here again by accident met, had before 
 been witnesses of my prosperity when at Berlin. The talents , 
 I possessed, and the favour 1 theu enjoyed, attracted the 
 
 5 O
 
 06 
 
 notice of all foreign ministers. They were bosom friends, 
 equally well read in the human heart, and equally benevo- 
 lent and noble-minded : their recommendation at court was 
 decisive ; the nations they represented were in alliance with 
 Russia, and the confidence Bestuchef placed in them was 
 unbounded. 
 
 I was now introduced into all companies, not as a fo- 
 reigner who came to entreat employment, but as the heir of 
 the house of Trenck, and its rich Hungarian possessions, 
 and as the former favourite of the Prussian monarch. 
 
 I was also admitted to the society of the first literati, and 
 wrote a poem on the anniversary of the coronation of the 
 empress Elizabeth. Hyndford took care she should see it, 
 and, in conjunction with the chancellor, presented me to the 
 sovereign. My reception was most gracious ; she herself 
 recommended me to the chancellor, and presented me with 
 a gold-hilted sword, worth a thousand rubles. This raised 
 me highly in the esteem of all the houses of the Bestuchef 
 party. 
 
 Manners were at that time so rude in Russia, that every 
 foreigner who gave a dinner, or a ball, must send notice to 
 the chancellor Bestuchef, that he might return a list of the 
 guests allowed to be invited. Faction governed every thing ; 
 and wherever Bestuchef was, no friend of Woronzow durst 
 appear. I was the intimate of the Austrian and English 
 ambassadors ; consequently, was caressed and esteemed in 
 all companies. I soon became the favourite of the chan- 
 cellor's lady, as I shall hereafter notice ; and nothing more 
 was wanting to obtain all I could wish*. 
 
 I was well acquainted with architectural design, had free 
 access to the house and cabinet of the chancellor, where I 
 drew in company with colonel Oettinger, who was then the 
 
 * Books, anecdotes, private scandal, all inform us that the 
 Chesterfield system, far from being supposed depraved, is held 
 honourable ; and its pupils boast of their exploits in all foreign 
 countries. We say foreign, for we have an ardent hope England 
 j! still an exception. 
 
 O ii
 
 99 
 
 Lead architect of Russia ; and made the perspectire view 
 of the new palace, which the chancellor intended to build at 
 Moscow, by which I acquired universal honour. I had 
 gained more acquaintance in, and knowledge of, Russia in 
 one month, than others wanting my means, have doue in 
 twelve. 
 
 As I was one day relating my progress to lord Hyudford, 
 he, like a friend, grown grey in courts, kindly took the'parental 
 trouble to advise me. From him I obtained a perfect know- 
 ledge of Russia ; he was acquainted with all the intrigues of 
 European courts, their families, party cabals, the foibles of 
 the monarchs, the principles of their government, the plans, 
 of the great Peter, and had also made the peace of Breslaw. 
 Thus, having been the confidential friend of Frederic, he was 
 intimatly acquainted with his heart, as well as the sources 
 of his power. Hyndford was penetrating, noble-minded, 
 had the greatness of the Briton, without his haughtiness ; 
 and the principles, by which he combined the past, the pre- 
 sent, and the future, were so clear, that I, his scholar, by 
 adhering to them, have been enabled to foretell all the most 
 remarkable revolutions that have happened during the space 
 of six and thirty years, in Europe. By these I knew, when 
 any minister was disgraced, who should be his successor. 
 I daily passed some hours improving by his kind conver- 
 sation ; and to him am I indebted for most of that know- 
 ledge of the world I happen to possess. 
 
 He took various opportunities of cautioning me against 
 the effects of an ardent, sanguine temper, and my hatred 
 of arbitrary power ; warned me to beware of the deter- 
 mined persecution of Frederic, of his irreconcileable anger, 
 his intrigues and influence in the various courts of Europe, 
 which he would certainly exert to prevent my promotion, 
 lest I should impede his own projects ; and lamented my 
 future sufferings, which he plainly foresaw. " Despots,'* 
 said he, " always are suspicious, and abhor those who 
 have a consciousness of their own worth, of the rights of 
 O 2
 
 100 
 
 mankind, and hold the lash of slavery in detestation. The 
 enlightened are, by them, called restless spirits, turbulent 
 and dangerous ; and virtue, there, where virtue is unneces- 
 sary tor the humbling and trampling upon the suffering sub- 
 ject, is accounted a crime, of all others, the most to be 
 dreaded." 
 
 Hyndford taught me to know, and highly to Talue, 
 freedom, to despise tyrants, to endure the worst of mise- 
 ries, to emulate true greatness of mind, to despise danger, 
 and to honour only those whose elevation of soul had taught 
 them equally to oppose bigotry and despotism. 
 
 Barnes was a philosopher, but with the penetration of an 
 Italian, more cautious than Hyndford, yet equally honest 
 and worthy. His friendship for me was unbounded; and 
 the time passed in their company was esteemed, by me, 
 most precious. The liberality of my sentiments, thirst after 
 knowledge and scientific acquirements, gained their favour: 
 our topics of conversation were inexhaustible ; and I ac- 
 quired more real information at Moscow than at Berlin, 
 under the tuition of la IVJetri, Maupertuis, and Voltaire. 
 
 Scarcely had I been six weeks in this city before I had 
 an adventure which I shall here relate ; for, myself ex- 
 cepted, all the persons concerned in it are now dead. In- 
 trigues properly belong to novels. This book is intended 
 for a more serious purpose, and they are, therefore, here 
 usually suppressed. It cannot be supposed I was a woman- 
 hater. Most of the good or bad fortune I experienced 
 originated in love. I was not, by nature, inconstant, and 
 was incapable of deceit even in amours. In the very ardour 
 of youth I always shunned mere sensual pleasures. I loved 
 for more exalted reasons, and for such sought to be loved 
 again. Love and friendship were, with me, always united ; 
 and these I was capable of inciting, maintaining, and de- 
 serving. The most difficult of access, the noblest and the 
 fairt-st, were ever my choice ; and my veneration for these 
 always deterred me from grosser gratifications. By woman
 
 101 
 
 I was formed ; by the faith of woman supported under mis- 
 fortunes ; in the company of woman enjoyed the lew hours 
 of delight my life of sorrows has experienced. Woman, 
 beautiful and well instructed, even now, lightens the bur- 
 then of age. the world's tediousness, and its woes ; and when 
 these are ended, I w ould rather wish my eyes might be 
 closed by fair and virgin hands, than, when expiring, fixed 
 on a hypocritical priest. 
 
 My adventures with woman would amply furnish a ro- 
 mance : but enough of this. I should not relate the present, 
 were it not necessary to my story*. 
 
 Dining one public day with lord Hyndford, I was seated 
 beside a charming young lady of one of the best families in 
 Russia, who had been promised in marriage, though only 
 seventeen, to an old invalid minister. Her eyes soon told 
 me she thought me preferable to her intended bridegroom. 
 I understood them, lamented her hard fate, and was sur- 
 prised to hear her exclaim, " Oh Heavens! that it were 
 possible you could deliv er me from my misfortune ! I would 
 engage to do whatever you would direct." 
 
 The impression such an appeal must make on a man of 
 four and twenty, of a temperament like mine, may easily be 
 supposed. The lady was ravishingly beautiful : her soul 
 was candour itself, and her rank that of a princess ; but the 
 court commands had already been given in favour of the 
 marriage ; and flight, with all its inseparable dangers, was 
 the only expedient. A public table was no place for long 
 explanations. Our hearts were already one. I requested 
 an interview, and the next day was appointed, the place 
 the Trotzer garden, where I passed three rapturous hours 
 in her company; thanks to her woman, who was a Georgian. 
 
 To escape, however, from Moscow, was impossible. The 
 
 * It would be unpardonable not to warn the youthful reader of 
 the mixture of good and bad morality in what the baron has here, 
 and in many other places, been pleased to say concerning love ; 
 vr, rather, as he too often and too evidently means, the worst part 
 of love, gallantry.
 
 102 
 
 distance thence, to any foreign country, was too great. The 
 court was not to remove to Petersburg till the next spring, 
 and her marriage was fixed for the first of August. The 
 misfortune was not to be remedied, and nothing was left us 
 but patience perforce. We could only resolve to fly from 
 Petersburg, when there, the soonest possible, and to take 
 refuge in some corner of the earth, where we might remain 
 unknown of all. The marriage, therefore, was celebrated 
 with pomp ; though I, in despite of forms, was the true 
 husband of the princess. Such was the state of the hus- 
 band imposed upon her, that, to describe it, and not give 
 disgust, were impossible. 
 
 The princess gave me her jewels, and several thousand 
 rubles, which she had received as a nuptial present, that I 
 might purchase every thing necessary for flight : my evil 
 destiny, however, had otherwise determined. I was play- 
 ing at ombre with her, one night, at the house of the countess 
 of Bestuchef, when she complained of a violent head-ach, 
 appointed me to meet her, on the morrow, in the Trotzer 
 gardens, clasped my hand with inexpressible emotion, and 
 departed. Alas ! I never beheld her more, till stretched 
 upon her bier ! 
 
 She grew delirious that very night, and so continued till 
 her death, which happened on the sixth day, when the small- 
 pox began to appear. During her dereliction she discovered 
 our love, and incessantly called on me to deliver her from 1 
 her tyrant. Thus, in the flower of her age, perished one of 
 the most lovely women I ever knew ; and with her fled all 
 I held most dear. 
 
 All my plans were now to be new arranged. Lord Hynd- 
 ford alone was in the secret, for I had no secrets from him : 
 he strengthened me in my first resolution, and owned that 
 he himself, for such a mistress, might perhaps have been 
 weak enough to have acted as I had dpne. Almost as much 
 moved as myself, he sympathised with me like a friend ; 
 and his advice deterred me from ending my miseries, mid
 
 -103 
 
 descending with her, whom I had loved and lost, to the 
 grave. This was the severest trial I had ever felt. Our 
 affection was unbounded, and such only as noble hearts can 
 feel. She being gone, the whole world became a desert. 
 There is not a man on earth whose life affords more various 
 turns of fate than mine. Swiftly raised to the highest pin- 
 nacle of hope, as suddenly was I cast headlong down ; 
 and so remarkable were these revolutions, that he who has 
 read my history will at last find it difficult to say whether 
 he envies or pities me most. And yet these were, in reality, 
 but preparatory to the evils that hovered over my devoted 
 head. Had not the remembrance of past joys soothed and 
 supported me under my sufferings, I certainly should not 
 have endured the ten years torture of the Magdeburg dun- 
 geon, with a fortitude that might have been worthy even of 
 Socrates. 
 
 Enough of this. My blood again courses swifter through 
 my veins as I write ! Rest, gentle maiden, noble and lovely 
 as thou wert ! For thee ought Heaven to have united a 
 form so fair, animated as it was by a soul so pure, to ever- 
 blooming youth and immortality. 
 
 My love for this lady became well known in Moscow ; 
 yt her corpulent overgrown husband had not understanding 
 enough to suppose there was any meaning in her rhapsodies 
 during her delimm. 
 
 Her gifts to me amounted, in value, to about seven thou- 
 sand ducats. Lord Hyndford and count Bernes both ad- 
 Judged them legally mine ; and well am I assured her heart 
 had bequeathed me much more. 
 
 To this event succeeded another, by which my fortune 
 wan greatly influenced. TJie countess of Bestuchef was 
 then the most amiable and witty woman at court. Her hus- 
 band, cunning, selfish, but shallow, had the name of minister, 
 while she, in reality, governed with a genius at once daring 
 
 RnU comprehensive. The too pliant Elizabeth carelessly 
 
 *
 
 104 
 
 left the most important things to the direction of others. 
 Thus the countess was the first person of the empire, and on 
 whom the attention of all the foreign ministers was fixed. 
 
 Haughty and majestic in demeanor, she was supposed to 
 be the only woman at court who continued faithful to her 
 husband ; which supposition probably originated in her art 
 and education, she being a German born ; for I afterwards 
 found her virtue was only pride, and a knowledge of the na- 
 tional character. The Russian lover rules despotic over his 
 mistress ; requires money, submission, and should he meet 
 opposition, threatens her with blows and the discovery of 
 her secret. 
 
 During Elizabeth's reign foreigners could neither appear 
 at court, nor in the best company, without the introduction 
 of Bestuchef. I and Sievers, gentlemen of the chamber, 
 were at that time the only Germans who had free egress in. 
 all houses of fashion : my being protected by the English 
 ajnd Austrian ambassadors, gave me very peculiar advan- 
 tages, and made my company every where courted. 
 
 Bestuchef had been resident, during the late reign, at 
 Hamburg, in which inferior station he married the countess, 
 at that time, though young and handsome, only the widow 
 of the merchant Boettger. Under Elizabeth Bestuchef rose 
 to the summit of rank and power ; and the widow Boettger 
 became the first lady in the empire. When I knew her, 
 she was eight and thirty, consequently no beauty, though a 
 woman highly endowed in mind and manners, of keen dis- 
 cernment, disliking the Russians, protecting the Prussians, 
 and at whose aversion all trembled. 
 
 Her carriage towards the Russians was, what it must be 
 in her situation, lofty, cautious, and ironical, rather than 
 kind. To me she showed the utmost esteem on all oc- 
 casions, welcomed me to her table, and often admitted me 
 to drink coffee in company with herself alone and colonel 
 Oettinger. The countess never failed giving me to under- 
 stand she had perceived my love for tho princess N ;
 
 105 
 
 and, though I constantly denied the fact, she related cir- 
 cumstances which she could have known, as I thought, 
 only from my mistress herself : my silence pleased her ; . for 
 the Russians, when a lady has a partiality for them, never 
 fail to vaunt of their good fortune. She wished to persuade 
 me she had observed us in company, had read the language 
 of our eyes, and had long penetrated our secret. I was 
 ignorant at that time that she then, and had long before, 
 entertained the maid of my mistress as a spy in her pay. 
 
 About a week after the death of the princess, the countess 
 invited me to take coffee with her in her chamber ; lamented 
 my loss, and the violence of that passion which had de- 
 prived me of all my customary vivacity, and altered my 
 very appearance. She seemed so interested in my behalf, 
 and expressed so many wishes, and so ardent, to better my 
 fate, that I could no longer doubt. Another opportunity 
 soon happened, which confirmed these my suspicions : her 
 mouth confessed her sentiments. Discretion, secresy, and 
 fidelity, were the laws she imposed ; anjpnever did I ex- 
 perience a more ardent passion from woman. Such was 
 her understanding and penetration, she knew how to rivet 
 my affections. 
 
 Caution was the thing most necessary. She contrived, 
 however, to make opportunity. The chancellor valued, 
 confided in me, and employed me in his cabinet ; so that I 
 remained whole days in the house. My captainship of 
 cavalry was now no longer thought of : I was destined to> 
 political employment. My first was to be gentleman of the 
 chamber, which in Russia is an office of importance ; and 
 the prospect of futurity became tu nae most resplendent. 
 Lord Hyndford, ever the repository of my secrets, coun- 
 selled me, formed plans for my conduct, rejoiced at my suc- 
 cess, and refused to be reimbursed the expence he had been 
 at, though now my circumstances were prosperous. 
 
 The degree of credit I enjoyed soon was noticed : foreign 
 ministers began to pay their court to me ; Goltz, the Prussian 
 5 P
 
 100 
 
 minister, made every effort to win me, but found me incor- 
 ruptible. 
 
 The Russian alliance was at this time highly courted by 
 foreign powers ; the humbling of Prussia was the thing 
 generally wished and planned ; and nobody was better in- 
 formed than myself of ministerial and family factions at this 
 court. 
 
 My mistress, a year after my acquaintance with her, fell 
 into her enemies' power, and, with her husband, was deli- 
 vered over to the executioner. Chancellor Bestuchef, hi 
 the year 1756, was forced to confession, by the knout. 
 Apraxin, minister of war, had a similar fate. The wife of 
 his brother, then envoy in Poland, was, by the treachery of a 
 certain lieutenant Berger, with three others of the first ladies 
 of the court, knouted, branded, and had their tongues cut 
 out. This happened in the year 1741, when Elizabeth as- 
 cended the throne. Her husband, however, faithfully 
 served ; I knew him, as Russian envoy, at Vienna, in 1751. 
 This may indeed be called the love of our country, and 
 thus does it happen to the first men of the state : what 
 then can a foreigner hope for, if persecuted, and in the power 
 of those in authority* ? 
 
 No man, in so short a space of time, had greater oppor- 
 tunities than I to discover the secrets of state ; especially 
 when guided by Hyndford and Bernes, under the reign 
 of a well-meaning, but short-sighted empress, whose first 
 minister was a weak man, directed by the will of an able 
 and ambitious wife ; and which wife loved me, a stranger, 
 an acquaintance only of a few months, so passionately, that 
 to this pasion she would have sacrificed every other object. 
 She might, in fact, be considered as empress of Russia, dis- 
 posing of peace or war ; and, had I been more prudent or 
 
 * There is a confusion of dates, as well as facts, in the above 
 paragraphs. Perhaps there may be some error of the press ; and 
 the baron's long imprisonment, and the advanced age in which he 
 wrote, might both, or either, lead to mistake. The baron's cliro* 
 Bology, even of himself, is, throughout, very inaccurate.
 
 107 
 
 Jess sincere, I might, in such a situation, have amassed trea- 
 sures, and deposited them in full security. Her generosity 
 was boundless ; and, though obliged to pay above a hun- 
 dred thousand rubles in one year, to discharge her son's 
 debts, yet might I have saved a still larger sum ; but half 
 of the gifts she obliged me to receive I lent to this son, and 
 lost So far was I from selfishness, and so negligent of 
 wealth, that, by supplying the wants of others, I ol'ten, on a 
 reverse of fortune, suffered want myself. 
 
 This my splendid success in Russia dispealsed the great 
 Frederic, whose persecution every wfaere attended me, 
 and who supposed his interest injured by my success in 
 Russia. The incident I am going to relate was, at the time 
 it happened, well known to, and caused much agitatiou 
 among, all the foreign ambassadors. 
 
 Lord Hyndford desired I would make him a fair copy of 
 a plan of C ronstadt, for which he furnished the materials, 
 with three additional drawings of the various ships in the 
 harbour, and their names. There was neither danger nor 
 (suspicion attending this ; the plan of C ronstadt being no 
 secret, but publicly sold in the shops of Petersburg. Eng- 
 land was likewise then in the closest alliance with Russia. 
 Hyndford showed the drawing to Funk, the Saxon envoy, 
 his intimate iriend, who asked his permission to cop"y it him- 
 self. Hyndford gave him the plan signed with my name ; 
 and after Funk had been some days employed copying it, 
 the Prussian minister, Goltz, who lived in his neighbour- 
 hood, came in, as he frequently paid him friendly visits. 
 Funk, unsuspectingly, showed him my drawing ; and both 
 lamented that Frederic had lost so useful a subject. Goltz 
 asked to borrow it, for a couple of days, in order to correct 
 his own ; and Funk, one of the worthiest, most honest, and 
 least suspicious of men, who loved me like a brother, accord- 
 ingly lent the plan. 
 
 No sooner was Goltz in possession of it, than he hurried 
 to the chancellor, with whose weaknesses he was well 
 P2
 
 108 
 
 acquainted, told him his intent in coming was to prove that a 
 man, who had once been unfaithful to his king and country, 
 where he had been loaded with favours, would certainly be- 
 tray, for his own private interest, every state where he was 
 trusted. He continued his preface, by speaking of the rapid 
 progress I had 'made in Russia, and the free entrance I had 
 found in the chancellor's house, where I was received as a 
 son, and initiated in the secrets of the cabinet. 
 
 The chancellor defended me : Goltz then endeavoured 
 to incite his jealousy, and told him my private interviews 
 with his wife, especially in the palace garden, were publicly 
 ppoken of. This he had learned from his spies, he having 
 endeavoured, by the snares he laid, to make my destruction 
 certain. 
 
 He likewise led Bestuchef to suspect his secretary S n, 
 was a party in the intrigue ;' till at last the chancellor be- 
 came very angry ; Goltz then took my plan of Cronstadt 
 from his pocket, and added, " Your excellency is nourishing 
 a serpent in your bosom. This drawing have I received 
 from Trenck, copied from your cabinet designs, for two 
 hundred ducats." He knew I was employed there some- 
 times with Oettinger, whose office it was to inspect the 
 buildings and repairs of all the Russian fortifications. Bes- 
 tuchef was astonished ; his anger became violent ; and 
 Goltz added fuel to the flame, by insinuating I should not be 
 so powerfully protected by Bernes, the Austrian ambassa- 
 dor, were it not to favour the views of his own court. Bestu- 
 chef mentioned prosecution and the knout ; Goltz replied, 
 my friends were too powerful, my pardon would be pro- 
 cured, and the evil this way increased. They therefore de- 
 termined to have me secretly secured, and privately con- 
 veyed to Siberia. 
 
 Thus, while I unsuspectingly dreamed of nothing but 
 happiness, the gathering storm threatened destruction ; 
 which only was averted by accident, or God's good provi- 
 dence.
 
 100 
 
 Goltz had scarcely left the place, triumphant, when the 
 Chancellor entered, with bitterness and rancour in his heart, 
 into his lady's apartment, reproached her with my conduct, 
 and, while she endeavoured to sooth him, related all that had 
 passed. Her penetration was much deeper than her hus- 
 band's : she perceived there was a plot against me : she in- 
 deed knew my heart better than any other, and particularly 
 that I was not in want of a poor two hundred ducats. She 
 could not, however, appease him ; and my arrest was deter- 
 mined. She therefore instantly wrote me a line to the fol- 
 lowing purport : 
 
 " You are threatened, dear friend, by a very imminent 
 danger. Do not sleep to night at home, but secure your- 
 self at Lord Hyndford's, till you hear farther from me." 
 
 Secretary S n, her confidant (the same who, not long 
 since, was Russian envoy at Ratisbon), was sent with this 
 note. He found me, after dinner, at the English ambassa- 
 dor's, and called me aside. I read the billet, was astonish- 
 ed at its contents, and showed it Lord Hyndford. My con- 
 science was void of reproach, except that we suspected my 
 secret with the countess had been betrayed to the chan- 
 cellor ; and, fearing his jealousy, Hyndford commanded me 
 to remain in his house till we should make further discovery. 
 
 We placed spies round the house where I lived : I was 
 inquired for after midnight, and the lieutenant of the police 
 came himself, and searched the house. 
 
 Lord Hyndford went, about ten in the morning, to visit 
 the chancellor, that lie might obtain some intelligence; who 
 immediately reproached him for having granted an asylum 
 to a traitor. What has this traitor done?" said Hyndford. 
 " Faithlessly copied a plan of Cronstadt, from my cabinet 
 drawings," answered the chancellor, " which he has sold to 
 the Prussian minister, for two hundred ducats." 
 
 Hyndford was astonished ; he knew me well, and also 
 knew that he had then in money and jewels, more than 
 eight thousand ducats of mine in his own hands ; nor was
 
 110 
 
 he less ignorant of the little value I set on money, or of the 
 sources whence I could obtain it, when I pleased. " Has 
 your excellency actually seen this drawing of TrenckV 
 " Yes ; I have been shown it by Goltz." " I wish I might 
 likewise be permitted to see it ; I know Treuck's drawing, 
 and make myself responsible that he is no traitor. Here is 
 some mystery ; be so kind as to desire M. Goltz will come, 
 and bring his plan of Cronstadt. Trenck is at my house, 
 shall be forthcoming instantly, and I will not protect him if 
 he proves guilty." 
 
 The chancellor wrote to Goltz, but he, artful as he was, 
 had, no doubt, taken care to be informed that the lieutenant 
 of the police had missed his prey. He therefore sent an ex- 
 cuse, and did not appear. In the mean time I entered. 
 Hyndford then addressed me, with the openness of an Eng- 
 lishman, and asked " Are you a traitor, Trenck ? If so, 
 you do not merit my protection, but you stand here a state 
 prisoner. Have you sold a plan of Cronstadt to M. Goltz ?" 
 My answer may easily be supposed. Hyndford rehearsed 
 what the chancellor had told him, I was desired to leave the 
 room, and Funk was sent for. The moment he came in, 
 Hyndford said, " Sir, where is that plan of Cronstadt which 
 Trenck copied ?" Funk, hesitating, replied, " I will go 
 for it" '< Have you it," continued Hyndford, " at home ? 
 Speak upon your honour." " No, my lord, I have lent it 
 for a few days, to M. Goltz, that he may take a copy." 
 
 Hyndford immediately then saw the whole affair, told the 
 chancellor the history of this plan, which belonged to him, 
 and which he had lent to Funk, and requested a trusty per- 
 son might be sent with him, to make proper search. Bes- 
 tuchef named his first secretary, and to him were added 
 Funk and the Dutch envoy, Schwart, who happened then 
 to enter. All went together to the house of Goltz. Funk 
 here demanded his plan of Cronstadt ; Goltz gave it him, 
 and Funk returned if to lord Hyndford. 
 
 The secretary and Hyndford both tb^ea desired he would
 
 Ill 
 
 produce the plan of Cronstadt, which he had bought of 
 Trenck for two hundred ducats. His confusion now was 
 great, and Hyndford firmly insisted this plan should be 
 forth-coming, to vindicate the honour of Trenck, whom ho 
 held to be an honest man. On this, Goltz answered, " I 
 have received my king's commands to prevent the prefer- 
 ment of Trenck in Russia, and t have only fulfilled the duty 
 of a minister." 
 
 Hyndford spit on the ground, and said more than I now 
 choose to repeat ; after which the four gentlemen returned 
 to the chancellor, and I was again called. Every body com- 
 plimented me, related what had passed, and the chancellor 
 promised I should be recompensed ; strictly however for- 
 bidding me to take any revenge on the Prussian ambassador, 
 1 having sworn, in the first transports of anger, to punish 
 him wherever I should find him, even were it at the altar's 
 foot. 
 
 The chancellor soothed me, kept me to dine with him, and 
 endeavoured to assuage my boiling passions. The countess 
 affected indifference, and asked me if such-like actions cha- 
 racterised the Prussian nation. Funk and Schwart were at 
 table. All present congratulated me on my victory, but 
 none knew to whom I was indebted for deliverance from the 
 hasty and unjust condemnation of the chancellor, although 
 my protectress was one of the company. I received a pre- 
 sent of two thousand rubles, the next day, from the chan- 
 cellor, with orders to thank the empress for this mark of her 
 bounty, and accept it as a sign of her especial favour.*- I 
 paid these my thanks some days after. The money I disre- 
 garded ; but the amiable empress, by her enchanting bene- 
 volence, made me forget the past. The story became pub- 
 lic, and Goltz appeared neither in company nor at court. 
 The manner in which the countess, personally, reproached 
 him, I shall, out of respect, pass over. Bernes, the crafty 
 Piedmontese, assured me of revenge, without my troubling 
 myself in the matter, and what happened after I know not :
 
 Goltz appeared but little in company, fell ill when I had 
 left Russia, and died, soon after, of a consumption. 
 
 This vile man was, no doubt, the cause of all the calami- 
 ties which afterwards fell upon me*. I should have become 
 one of the first men in Russia ; the misfortunes that befel 
 Bestuchef, and his family, some years afterwards, might 
 have been averted ; I should never have returned to Vienna, 
 a city so fatal to the name of Trenck ; by the mediation of 
 the Russian court, I should have recovered my great Scla- 
 vonian estates ; my days of persecution, at Vienna, would 
 have been passed in peace and pleasure : nor should I have 
 entered the dungeon of Magdeburg. 
 
 How little did the Great Frederic know my heart .' 
 Without having offended, he had rendered me miserable, 
 had condemned me to imprisonment, at Glatz, on mere sus- 
 picion, and, flying thence, naked and destitute, had confis- 
 cated my paternal inheritance. Not contented with inflict- 
 ing all these calamities, he would not suffer me, peaceably, 
 to seek my fortune in a foreign land; 
 
 Few are the youths, who, in so short a time, being ex- 
 pelled their native country with disgrace, by their own 
 efforts, merits, and talents, have obtained honour and favour 
 so great, acquired such powerful friends, or been entrusted, 
 with confidence equally unlimited, in transactions so import- 
 ant. Enraged as I was at the treachery of Goltz, had op- 
 portunity offered, I might have been tempted even to turn 
 my native country into a desert ; nor do I deny that I after- 
 wards promoted the views of the Austrian envoy, who knew 
 well to cherish the flame that had been kindled, and turn it 
 to his own use. Till this moment I certainly never felt the 
 least enmity, either to my country or king, nor did I ever 
 suffer myself, on any occasion, to be made the agent of their 
 disadvantage. 
 
 * The baron forgets himself, and continually makes the person, 
 or incident, he is then speaking of, the principal and first cause of 
 bis future sufferings. They were incurred by a combination of 
 these causes.
 
 113 
 
 No sooner was I entrusted, more intimately, with ca- 
 binet secrets, than I discovered the state of factions, and 
 that Bestuchef and Apraxin were, even then, in Prussian 
 pay ; that a counterpoise, hy their means, might be formed 
 to the prevalence of the Austrian party. 
 
 Hence we may date the change of Russian politics in the 
 year 1762. Here also we may find a clue to the contradic- 
 tory orders, artifices, positions, retreats, and disappoint- 
 ments of the Russian army, in the seven years' war*. The 
 countess, who was obliged to act with greater caution, fore- 
 saw the consequences of the various intrigues in which her 
 husband was engaged : her love for me naturally drew her 
 from her former party : she confided every secret to me, and 
 ever remained till her fall, which happened in 1758, during 
 my imprisonment, my best friend and correspondent. 
 Hence was I so well informed of all the plans against Prus- 
 sia, to the years 1754 and 1756 ; much more so than many 
 ministers of the interested courts, who imagined they alone 
 were in the secret. How many after events could I then 
 have foretold ! Such was the perverseness of my destiny, 
 that, where I should most have been sought for, and best 
 known, there was I least valued. 
 
 No man, in my youth, would have believed I should live 
 to my sixtieth year, untitled and obscure. In Berlin, Pe- 
 tersburg, London, and Paris, have I been esteemed by the 
 greatest statesmen, and now am I reduced to the invalid 
 list. How strange are the caprices of fortune ! I ought 
 never to have left Russia ; this was my great error, which 
 I still live to repent. 
 
 I have never been accustomed to sleep more than four or 
 five hours ; so that, though, through life, I have allowed 
 time for paying visits and receiving company, I have still 
 had sufficient for study and improvement. Hyndford was 
 my instructor in politics ; Boerhaave, then physician to the 
 court, and my bosom friend, my tutor in physic and literary 
 
 * Beginning in 1 756 j so called by the German writers. 
 5 Q
 
 It4 
 
 subjects. Women formed me for court intrigues ; though 
 these, as a philosopher, I despised. 
 
 The chancellor had greatly changed his carriage toward 
 me since the incident of the plan. He observed my looks 
 and words, showed he was distrustful, and desirous of re- 
 venge. His lady, as well as myself, remarked this, and new 
 measures became necessary. I was obliged to act an artful, 
 but, at the same time, a very dangerous part. 
 
 My cousin, baron Trenck, died in the Spielberg, Oct. 4, 
 1749, and left me his heir, on condition I should only 
 serve the house of Austria. In March, 1750, count Bernes 
 received the citation sent me to enter on this inheritance. I 
 would hear nothing of Vienna ; the abominable treatment 
 of my cousin terrified me. I well knew the origin of his 
 prosecution, the services he had rendered his country, and 
 had been an eye-witness of the injustice by which he was re- 
 paid. Bernes, however, represented that the property left 
 me was worth much above a million ; that the empress 
 would support me in the pursuit of justice, and that L had 
 no personal enemy at Vienna; that a million of certain pro- 
 perty, in Hungary, was much superior to the highest ex- 
 pectations in Russia, where I myself had beheld so many 
 changes of fortune, and the effects of family cabals. Russia 
 he painted as dangerous, Vienna as secure, and promised 
 me himself effectual assistance, as his embassy would end 
 within the year. Were I once rich, I might reside in what 
 country I pleased ; nor could the persecutions of Frederic, 
 any where, pursue me so ineffectually as in Austria.. Snares 
 would be laid for me every where else, as I had experienced 
 in Russia. " What," said he, " would have been the con- 
 sequences, had not the countess warned you of the impend- 
 ing danger ? You, like many another honest and innocent 
 man, would have been sent to Siberia. Your innocence 
 must have remained unattested, and yourself, in the uni- 
 versal opinion, a villain and a traitor." 
 
 Hyndford spoke to me in the same tone, assured me of his
 
 115 
 
 eternal protection, anddescribed Londonas a certain asylum, 
 should I not find happiness at Vienna. He spoke of slavery 
 as a Briton ought to speak, reminded me of the fate of 
 Munich and Ostennan, painted the court such as I knew it 
 to be, and asked what were my expectations, even were I 
 fortunate enough to become general, or minister, in such a 
 country ? 
 
 These reasonings, at length, determined me ; but having 
 plenty of money, I thought proper to take Stockholm, Co- 
 penhagen, and Holland, in my way ; and Bernes was, in the 
 mean time, to prepare me a favourable reception at Vienna. 
 He desired, also, I would give him authority to get posses- 
 sion of the estates to which I was heir. My mistress strong- 
 ly endeavoured to detain me ; but yielded at length, to the 
 force of reason. I tore myself away, and promised, on my 
 honour, to return as soon as I had arranged my affairs at 
 Vienna. She made the proposition of investing me with 
 some foreign embassy, by which I might render the most 
 effectual services to the court of Vienna. In this hope we 
 parted with heavy hearts : she presented me with her por- 
 trait, and a snuff-box set with diamonds : the first of these, 
 three years afterwards, was torn from my bosom by the offi- 
 cers in my first dungeon at Magdeburg ; as I shall here- 
 after relate. The chancellor embraced me, at parting, with 
 'friendship. Apraxin wept, and clasped me in his arms, pro- 
 phesying, at the same time, I should never be so happy as 
 in Russia. I myself foreboded misfortune, and quitted Rus- 
 sia with regret ; but still followed the advice of Hyndford 
 .and Bernes. 
 
 From Moscow I travelled to Petersburg, where I found 
 a letter, at the house of baron Wolf, the banker, from the 
 countess, which rent my very heart, and almost determined 
 me to return. She endeavoured to terrify me from proceed- 
 ing to Vienna, yet inclosed a bill for four thousand rubles, 
 to aid me on my journey, were I absolutely bent to turn my 
 back on fortune. 
 
 Q 2
 
 no 
 
 My effects, in money and jewels, amounted to about 
 thirty-six thousand florins ; I therefore returned the draught, 
 intreated her eternal remembrance, and that she would re- 
 serve her favour and support to times in which they might 
 become needful. After remaining a lew days at Petersburg, 
 I journeyed, by land, to Stockholm ; taking with me letters 
 of recommendation from all the foreign envoys. 
 
 I forgot to mention that Funk was inconsolable for my de- 
 parture ; his imprudence had nearly plunged me into 
 misery, and destroyed all my hopes in Russia. Twenty- 
 two years after this I met the worthy man once more in 
 Dresden. He, there, considered himself as the cause of all 
 the evils inflicted upon me, and assured me the recital of my 
 sufferings had been so many cutting and bitter reproaches 
 to his soul. Our recapitulation of former times gave us 
 endless pleasure ; and it was the sweetest of joys to meet 
 and renew my friendship with such a man, after having 
 weathered so many storms of fate. 
 
 At Stockholm I wanted for no recommendation : the 
 queen, sister to the great Frederic, had known me at Ber- 
 lin, when I had the honour, as an officer of the body-guard, 
 of accompanying her to Stettin. I related my whole history 
 to her without reserve. She, from political motives, advised 
 me not to make any stay at Stockholm ; and to me continued, 
 till death, an ever gracious lady. I proceeded to Copenha- 
 gen, where I had business to transact for M. Chaise, the 
 Danish envoy at Moscow ; from whom, also, I had letters 
 of recommendation. Here I had the pleasure of meeting 
 my old friend, lieutenant Bach, who had aided me in my 
 escape from my imprisonment at Glatz. He was poor, and 
 in debt ; and I procured him protection, by relating the 
 noble manner in which he had behaved. I also presented 
 him with five hundred ducats, by the aid of which he pushed 
 his fortune, lie wrote to me in the year 1770, a letter of 
 sincerest thanks ; and died a colonel of hussars, in tin- 
 Danish service, in 1779.
 
 117 
 
 I remained in Copenhagen but a fortnight, and then sail- 
 ed, in a Dutch ship, from Elsineur for Amsterdam. Scarcely 
 had we put to sea before a storm arose, by which we 
 lost a mast and our bowsprit, had our sails shattered, and 
 were obliged to cast anchor among the rocks of Gottenburg; 
 where our deliverance was singularly fortunate. 
 
 Here we lay nine days before we could make the open sea, 
 and here I found a very pleasant amusement, by going 
 daily in the ship's boat from rock to rock, attended by two 
 of my servants, to shoot wild ducks, and catch shell-fish ; 
 whence I every evening returned with provisions, and 
 sheeps' milk, bought of the poor inhabitants, for the ship's 
 crew. 
 
 There was a dearth among these poor people. Our ves- 
 sel was laden with corn ; some of this I purchased, to the 
 amount of some hundred of Dutch florins, and distributed 
 wherever I went. I also gave one of their ministers a hun- 
 dred florins for his poor congregation, who was himself in 
 want of bread, and whose annual stipend did not amount to 
 one hundred and fifty florins. 
 
 Here, in the sweet pleasure of doing good, I left behind 
 me much of that money I had so easily acquired in Russia j 
 and, perhaps, had we staid much longer, should myself have 
 left the place in poverty. A thousand blessings followed 
 me ; and the storm-driven Trenck was long remembered 
 and talked of at Gottenburg. 
 
 In this worthy employment, however, I had nearly lost 
 my life. Returning from carrying corn, the wind rose, and 
 drove the boat to sea. I not understanding the manage- 
 ment of the helm, and the servant aukwardly handling the 
 sails, the boat, in tacking, was overset. The benefit of 
 learning to swim I again experienced ; and my faithful ser- 
 vant, who had gained the rock, aided me when almost spent. 
 The good people, who had seen tlie shallop overset, came 
 off in their boats to my assistance. An honest Calmuc, 
 whom I had brought from Russia, and another of my ser-
 
 118 
 
 vants, perished. I saw the first sink after I had reached 
 the shore. 
 
 The kind Swedes brought me on board, and also righted 
 and returned with the shallop. For some days I was sea- 
 sick. We weighed anchor, and sailed for the TexeL ; the 
 mouth of which we saw, and the pilots coming off, when 
 another storm rose, and drove us to the port of Balms, in 
 Norway, into which we ran, without farther damage. In 
 some few days we again set sail, with a fair wind, and at 
 length reached Amsterdam. 
 
 Here I made no long stay ; for the day after my arrival, 
 an extraordinary adventure happened, in which I was en-- 
 gaged chiefly by my own rashness. 
 
 I was a spectator while the harpooners, belonging to the 
 whale fishery, were exercising themselves in darting their 
 harpoons, most of whom were drunk. One of them, Her- 
 man Rogaar by name, a hero among these people for his 
 dexterity with his suickasee, came up and passed some of 
 his coarse jokes upon my Turkish sabre, and offered to fillip 
 me on the nose. I pushed him from me, and the fellow 
 threw down his cap, drew his snickasee, challenged me, 
 called me monkey tail, "and asked whether I chose a straight, 
 a circular, or a cross cut. 
 
 Thus, here was I, in this excellent company, with no 
 choice but that of either fighting or running away. The 
 robust Herculean fell&w grew more insolent, and I, turning 
 round to the by-stander, asked them to lend me a snickasee : 
 " No, no," said the challenger, " draw your great knife 
 from your side, and long as it is, I will lay you a dozen 
 ducats you get a gash in the cheek." I drew : he confi- 
 dently advanced with his snickasee, and, at the first stroke 
 of my sabre, that, and the hand that held it, both dropt to 
 the ground, and the blood spouted in my face. 
 
 I now expected the people would, indubitably, tear me to 
 pieces ; but my fear was changed into astpnishtnent at hear- 
 ing a universal shout applauding the vanquisher of the
 
 219 
 
 redoubted Herman Rogaar, who, so lately feared for his 
 strength and dexterity, became the object of their ridicule. A 
 Jew spectator conducted me out of the crowd, and the people 
 clamorously followed me to my inn. This kind of duel, by 
 which I gained honour, would any where else have brought 
 me to the highest disgrace. A man who knew the use of the 
 sabre, in a single day, might, certainly, have disabled a 
 hundred Herman Rogaars. This story may instruct and 
 warn others. He that is quarrelsome shall never want an 
 enemy. My temerity often engaged me in disputes which, 
 by timely compliance and calmness, might easily have been 
 avoided ; but my evil genius always impelled me into the 
 paths of perplexity, I seldom saw danger till it was inevit- 
 able. 
 
 I left Amsterdam for the Hague, where I had been recom- 
 mended to lord Holderness the English ambassador, by lord 
 Hyndford ; to baron Reischach, by Bernes ; to the grand 
 pensionary Fagel, by Schwart ; and from the chancellor I 
 had a letter to the prince of Orange himself. I could not 
 therefore but be every where received with all possible dis- 
 tinction. With these recommendations, and the knowledge 
 I possessed, had I had the good fortune to have avoided 
 Vienna, and gone to India, where talents would have insured 
 me wealth, how many tears of affliction had I been spared ! 
 My ill fortune, however, had brought me letters from count 
 Bernes, assuring me that heaven was at Vienna, and in- 
 cluding a citation from the high court, requiring me to give 
 in my claim of inheritance. Bernes farther informed me the 
 Austrian court had assured him I should meet with all jus- 
 lice and protection, and advised me to hasten my journey, 
 ;is the executorship of the estates of Trenck was conducted 
 but little to my advantage. 
 
 This advice I took, proceeded to Vienna, and from that 
 moment all my happiness had an end. I became bewildered 
 in law suits, and the arts of wicked men, and all possible 
 calamities assaulted me at once, the recital of which would,
 
 120 
 
 itself, afford subject matter for a history. They began by 
 the following incidents. 
 
 One M. Schenck sought my acquaintance at the Hague. 
 I met with him at my hotel, where he intreated I would 
 take him to Nuremberg, whence he was to proceed to 
 Saxony. I complied, and bore his expences ; but at Hanau, 
 waking in the morning, I found my watch, set with dia- 
 monds, a ring worth two thousand rubles, a diamond snuff- 
 box, with my mistress's picture, and my purse, containing 
 about eighty ducats, stolen from my bed-side, and Schenck 
 become invisible. Little affected by the loss of money, at 
 any time, I yet was grieved for my snuff-box. The rascal, 
 however, had escaped, and it was fortunate that the re- 
 mainder of my ready money, with my bills of exchange, 
 were safely locked up. 
 
 I now pursued my journey without company, and arrived 
 at Vienna. I cannot exactly recollect in what month, but I 
 had been absent about two years ; and the reader will allow 
 that it was barely possible for any 'man, in so short a time, 
 to have experienced more various changes of fate, though 
 many sm'aller incidents have been suppressed. The places, 
 where my pledged fidelity required discretion, will be easily 
 supposed, as likewise will the concealment of court intrigues 
 and artifices, the publication of which might even yet sub- 
 ject me to more persecutions. All writers are not permitted 
 to speak truth of monarchs and ministers. I am the father 
 of eight children, and parental Ipve and duty vanquish the 
 inclination of the author ; and this duty, this affection, have 
 made me particularly cautious in relating what happened to 
 me at Vienna, that I might thereby serve them more effec- 
 tually, than by indulging the pride of the writer, or the 
 vengeance of the man. 
 
 Since accounts so various, contradictory, and dishonour- 
 able to the name of Trenck, have been circulated in Vienna, 
 concerning facts which happened thirty-seven years ago, I 
 will here give a short abstract of them, and such as may be
 
 verified by the records of the courts. I pledge my honour 
 to the truth of the statement, and, were I so allowed, would 
 prove it to the conviction of any unprejudiced court of 
 justice; but this I cannot hope, as princes are much more 
 disposed to bestow unmerited favours than to make retri- 
 bution to those whom they have unjustly punished. 
 
 Francis baron Trenck died in the Spielberg, October 4, 
 1749. It has been erroneously believed, in Vienna, that his 
 estates were confiscated by the sentence which condemned 
 him to the Spielberg. He had committed no offence against, 
 the state, was accused of none, much less convicted. The 
 court's sentence was, that the administration of his estate 
 should be committed to counsellor Kempf and baron 
 Peyaczewitz, who were selected by himself, and the accounts 
 of his stewards and farmers were to be sent him yearly. 
 He continued, till his death, to have the free and entire dis- 
 posal of his property. 
 
 Although, before his death, he sent for his advocate, 
 doctor Berger, and by him petitioned the empress she would 
 issue the necessary orders to the governor of the Spielberg, 
 to permit the entrance of witnesses, and all things necessary 
 to make a legal will, it by no means follows that he peti- 
 tioned her for permission to make this will. The case is too 
 clear to admit of doubt. The royal commands were given, 
 that he should enjoy all freedom of making his will. Per- 
 mission was also given, that during his sickness, he might be 
 removed to the capuchin convent, which was equal to li- 
 berty, but this he refused to accept. 
 
 Neither was his ability to make a will questioned. The 
 advocate was only to request the queen's permission to supply 
 some formalities, which had been neglected, when he pur- 
 chased the lordships of Velika and Nustar, which petition 
 was likewise granted. The royal mandate still exists, which 
 commissioned the persons therein named as trustees to the 
 estate and effects of Trenck, and this mandate runs thus : 
 " Let the last will of Trenck be duly executed] let dis- 
 6 R
 
 122 
 
 patch be used, and the heir protected iu all his rights." 
 Confiscation, therefore, had never been thought of, nor his 
 power to make a will disputed. 
 
 I will now show how I have been deprived of this valu- 
 able inheritance, while I have been obliged to pay above 
 sixty thousand florins to defray legacies he had left ; and 
 when this narrative is read, it will no longer be affirmed, at 
 Vienna, that, by the favours of the court, I inherited se- 
 venty-six thousand florins, or the lordship of Zwerbach from 
 Trenck. I shall proceed to my proofs. 
 
 The father of baron Trenck, who died in the year 1743, 
 governor of Leitschau in Hungary, named me in his will 
 the successor of his son, should he die without heirs male. 
 
 This will was sent to be proved, according to form, at 
 Vienna, after having been authenticated in the mdst legal 
 manner in Hungary. The court called Hofkriegsrath, at 
 Vienna, neglected to provide a curator, for the security of 
 the next heir ; yet this could not annul my right of sue, ces- 
 sion. When Trenck succeeded his father, he entered no 
 protest to this his father's will ; therefore, dying without 
 children, in the year 1749, my claim was indisputable. I was 
 heir, had he made no will : and even in case of confiscation, 
 my title to his father's estates still remained valid. 
 
 Trenck knew this but too well : he, as I have before re- 
 lated, was my worst enemy, and even attempted my life. I 
 will, therefore, proceed to show the real intent of this his 
 crafty testament. 
 
 Determined no longer to live in confinement, or to ask for- 
 giveness, by which, it is well known, he might have obtained 
 his freedom, having lost all hopes of reimbursing his losses, 
 his avarice was reduced to despair. His desire of fame was 
 unbounded ; and this could no way now be gratified but by 
 having himself canonised for a saint, after spending his life 
 in committing all the ravages of a paudour. Hence origi- 
 nated the following facts. 
 
 He knew I was the legal claimant to his father's estates.
 
 123 
 
 His father bad bought, with the family money, remitted 
 from Prussia, the lordships of Prestowacz and Pleternltz 
 {n Sclavonia ; and he himself, during his father's life, and 
 with his father's money, had purchased the lordship of Pak- 
 ratz, for forty thousand florins; this must therefore descend 
 also to me, he having no more power to will this from me 
 than he had the remainder of his paternal inheritance. The 
 property he himself had gained was consigned to adminis- 
 trators ; but a hundred thousand florins had been expended 
 in law-suits, and sixty-three suits continued actually pend- 
 ing against him in court. The legacies he bequeathed 
 amounted to eighty thousand florins. These he saw could 
 not be paid, should I claim nothing' more than the paternal 
 inheritance ; he therefore, to render me unfortunate after 
 his death, craftily named me his universal heir, without 
 mentioning his father's will, but endeavoured, by his myste- 
 rious death, and the following conditions, to enforce the 
 execution of his own will. 
 
 First, I was to become a catholic. 
 
 Secondly, I was to serve only the house of Austia ; and, 
 Lastly, he made his whole estate, without excepting the 
 paternal inheritance, ajidei commit sum. 
 
 Hence arose all my misfortunes, as indeed was his in- 
 tention ; for, but a short time before his death, he said to 
 the governor, baron Kottulinsky, " I shall now die con- 
 tented, since I have been able to trick my cousin, and ren- 
 der him wretched." 
 
 His death, believed in Vienna to be miraculous, happened 
 after the following manner ; and by this he induced many 
 weak people, who really believed him a saint, to further his 
 views. 
 
 Three days before his death, while in perfect health, he 
 desired the governor of the Spielberg would send for his con- 
 fessor, for that St. Francis had revealed to him he should 
 be removed into life everlasting on his birth day at twelve 
 R 2
 
 124 
 
 o'clock. The capuchin was sent for, but the prediction 
 laughed at. 
 
 The day, however, after the departure of his confessor, he 
 said. " Praise be to God ! my end approaches ; my con- 
 fessor is dead, and has appeared to me." Strange as it may 
 seem, it was actually found to be true that the priest was 
 dead. He now had all the officers of the garrison of Brunn 
 assembled, tonsured his head like a capuchin, took the habit 
 of the order, publicly confessed himself in a sermon of an 
 hour's length, exhorted them all to holiness, acted the part 
 of a most exemplary penitent, embraced all present, spoke 
 with a smile of insignificance of all earthly possessions, 
 took his leave, knelt fcown to prayers, slept calmly, rose, 
 prayed again, and about eleven in the forenoon, October 
 4th, taking his watch in his hand, said, " Thanks be to my 
 God ! my last hour approaches." All laughed at such a 
 farce from a man of such a character ; yet they remarked 
 that the left side of his face grew pale. He then leaned his 
 arm on the table, prayed, and remained motionless, with 
 his eyes closed. The clock struck twelve no signs of life 
 or motion could be discovered ; they spoke to him, and 
 found he was really dead. 
 
 The word miracle was echoed through the whole country, 
 and the transmigration of the pandourTrenck, from earth to 
 heaven, by St. Francis, proclaimed. The clue to this laby- 
 rinth of miracles, known only to me, is truly as follows : 
 
 He possessed the secret of what is called the aqua toffana, 
 and had determined on death. His confessor had been en- 
 trusted with all his secrets, and with promissory notes, which 
 he wished to invalidate. I am perfectly certain that he had 
 returned a promissory note of a great prince, given for two 
 hundred thousand florins, which has never been brought to 
 account. The confessor, therefore, was to be provided for, 
 that Trenck might not be betrayed, and a dose of poison 
 iras given him before he set off for Vienna : his death wa
 
 125 
 
 the consequence. He took similar means with himself, and 
 thus he knew the hour of his exit : finding he could not be- 
 come the first on earth, he wished to be adored as a saint in 
 heaven. He knew he should work miracles when dead, be- 
 cause he ordered a chapel to be built, willed a perpetual 
 mass, and bequeathed the capuchins sixty thousand florins. 
 
 Thus died this most extraordinary man, in the thirty- 
 fourth year of his age, to whom Nature had denied none of 
 her gifts ; who had been the scourge of Bavaria ; the terror 
 of France ; and who had, with his supposed contemptible 
 pandours, taken above six thousand Prussian prisoners. 
 He lived a tyrant and enemy of men, and died a sanctified 
 impostor. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs, as willed by Trenck, when 
 I came to Vienna, in 1750, where I arrived with money and 
 jewels to the amount of twenty thousand florins. 
 
 Instead of profiting by the wealth Trenck had acquired, I 
 expended a hundred and twenty thousand florins of my own 
 money, including what devolved to me from my uncle, his 
 father, in the prosecution of his suits. Trenck had paid two 
 hundred ducats to the tribunal of Vienna, in the year 1743, 
 to procure its very reprehensible silence concerning a cura- 
 tor, to which I was sacrificed, as the new judges of this 
 court refused to correct the error of their predecessors. Such 
 are the proceedings of courts of justice in Vienna. 
 
 On my first audience, no one could be received more 
 kindly than t was by the empress queen. She spoke of my 
 deceased cousin with much emotion and esteem, promised 
 rne all grace and favour, and informed me of the particular 
 recommendations she had received on my behalf, from 
 count Bernes. Finding sixty-three causes hang over my 
 head, in consequence of the inheritance of Trenck, to obtain 
 justice in any one of which, at Vienna, would have employ- 
 ed the whole life of an honest man, I determined to renounce 
 this inheritance, and claim only under the will, and as th 
 heir of my uncle.
 
 126 
 
 With this view I applied for, and obtained, a copy of 
 that will, with which I personally appeared, and declared 
 to the court that I renounced the inheritance of Francis 
 Trenck, would undertake none of his suits, nor be respon- 
 sible for his legacies, and require only his father's estates, 
 according to the legal will, which I produced ; that is to 
 say, the three lordships of Pakratz, Prestowacz, and Ple- 
 ternitz, without chattels or personal effects. Nothing could 
 be more just or incontrovertible than this claim. What was 
 my astonishment, to be told, in open court, that her ma- 
 jesty had declared I must either wholly perform the articles 
 ef the will of Trenck, or be excluded the entire inheritance, 
 and have nothing further to hope. What could be done ? I 
 ventured to remonstrate, but the will of the court was de- 
 termined and absolute ; I must become a Roman- catholic. 
 
 In this extremity I bribed a priest, who gave me a signed 
 attestation, " That I had abjured the accursed heresy of 
 Lutheranism." My religion, however, remained what it 
 had ever been. General Bernes, about this time, returned 
 from his embassy, and I related to him the lamentable state 
 in which I found my affairs. He spoke to the empress in 
 my behalf, and she promised every thing. He advised m6 
 to have patience, to perform all that was required of me, 
 and to make myself responsible for depending suits. Some 
 family concerns obliged him, as he informed me, to make a 
 journey to Turin, but his return would be speedy, he would 
 then take the management of my affairs upon himself, and 
 ensure my good fortune in Austria. Bernes loved me as his 
 son, and 1 had reason to hope, from his assurance, I should 
 be largely remembered in his will ; which was the more pro- 
 bable, as he had neither child nor relations. He parted from 
 me, like a father, with tears in his eyes ; but he had scarcely 
 been absent six weeks before the news arrived of his death, 
 which, if report may be credited, was effected by poison, 
 administered by a friend. Ever the sport of fortune, thus
 
 127 
 
 were my supporters snatched from me, at the very moment 
 they became most necessary. 
 
 The same year was I, likewise, deprived by death of my 
 friend and protector, field-marshal Konigseck, governor of 
 Vienna, when he had determined to interest himself in my 
 behalf. I have been beloved by the greatest men Austria 
 has produced ; but, unfortunately, have been persecuted by 
 the chicanery of pettifoggers, fools, fanatics, and priests, 
 who have deprived me of the favour of my empress, guilt- 
 less as I was of crime or deceit, and left my old age in 
 poverty. 
 
 My ills were increased fry a new accident. Soon after 
 the departure of Bernes, the Prussian minister taking me 
 aside, in the house of the Palatine envoy, M. Becker, pro- 
 posed my return to Berlin, assured me the king had forgot- 
 ten all that was past, was convinced of my innocence, that 
 my good fortune would there be certain, and he pledged hia 
 honour to recover the inheritance of Trenck. I answered, 
 the favour came too late ; I had suffered injustice too flag* 
 rant, in my own country, and that I would trust no prince on 
 earth, whose will might annihilate all the rights of men. My 
 good faith to the king had been too ill repaid ; my talents 
 might gain me bread in any part of the world ; and I would 
 not again subject myself to the danger of unmerited im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 His persuasions were strong, but ineffectual : *' My dear 
 Trenck," said he, " God is ray judge that my intentions are 
 honest ; I will pledge myself that ray sovereign will ensure 
 your fortune : you do not know Vienna, you will lose all by 
 the suits in which you are involved, and you will be perse* 
 cuted, because you do not carry a rosary.'* 
 
 How often have I repented I did not return to Berlin '. I 
 should have escaped ten years' imprisonment; should have 
 recovered the estates of Trenck ; should not have wasted 
 the prime of life in the litigation of suits, and the writing of 
 memorials j and should have certainly been ranked among
 
 128 
 
 the first men in my native country. Vienna was no place 
 for a man who could not fawn and flatter ; yet here was I 
 destined to remain six and thirty years, unrewarded, unem- 
 ployed, and, through youth and age, to continue on the list 
 of invalid majors. 
 
 Having rejected the proposition of the Prussian envoy, 
 all my hopes in Vienna were ruined ; for Frederic, by his 
 resident emissaries, knew how to effect whatever he pleased 
 in foreign courts ; and determined that the Trenck, who 
 would no longer serve, or confide in him, should, at least, 
 find no opportunity of serving against him. I soon became 
 painted to the empress as an arch heretic, who never would 
 be faithful to the house of Austria, and only endeavoured to 
 obtain the inheritance of Trenck, that he might devote him- 
 self to Prussia. This I shall hereafter prove, and display a 
 scene that shall be the disgrace of many, by whom the em- 
 press wa,s induced to harbour unjust suspicions of an able 
 and honest man. I here stand erect and confident before 
 the world, publish the truth, and take everlasting shame to 
 myself, if any man on earth can prove me guilty of one 
 treacherous thought. I owe no thanks ; for so fur from 
 having received favours, I have six and thirty years remained 
 unable to obtain justice, though I have all the while been 
 desirous of shedding my blood in defence of the monarchy 
 where I have thus been treated. Till the year 1746, I 
 was equally zealous and faithful to Prussia, yet my estates 
 there, though confiscated, were liable to recovery ; in Hun- 
 gary, on the contrary, the sentence of confiscation is irrevo- 
 cable. This is a remarkable proof in favour of my honour, 
 and my children's claims. 
 
 Surely no reader will be offended at these digressions : 
 my mind is agitated, my feelings roused, remembering that 
 my age and grey hairs deprive me of the sweet hope of, at 
 length, vanquishing opposition, either by patience, or forcing 
 justice, by eminent services, or noble efforts. 
 
 This my history will never reach a monarch's eye, con-
 
 129 
 
 sequently no monarch, by perceiving, will be induced to pro- 
 tect truth. It may, indeed, be criticised by literati ; it will 
 certainly be decried by my persecutors, who, through life, 
 have been my false accusers, and will probably, therefore, 
 be prohibited by the priests. All Germany, however, will 
 read, and posterity, perhaps, may pity, should my book es- 
 cape the misfortune of being classed among improbable ro- 
 mances ; to which it is the more liable, because that th 
 biographers of Frederic and Maria Theresa, for manifest 
 reasons, have never so much as mentioned the name of Trenck. 
 Once more to my story : I was now obliged to declare 
 myself heir, but always cum reservations juris mei , not as 
 simply claiming under the will of Francis Trenck. I was 
 obliged to take upon myself the management of the sixty- 
 three suits ; and the expences attending upon any one of 
 these are well known to those acquainted with Vienna. My 
 situation may be imagined, >vhen I inform the reader I only 
 received, from the whole estate of Trenck, 3600 florins, in 
 three years ; which were scarcely sufficient to defray the ex- 
 pences of new year's gifts to the solicitors and masters in 
 chancery. How did I labour in stating and transcribing 
 proofs for the court ! The money I possessed soon vanished. 
 My Prussian relations supported me, and the countess 
 Bestuchef sent me the four thousand rubles I had refused at 
 Petersburg. I had also remittances from my faithful mis* "ess 
 in Prussia ; and, in addition, was obliged to borrow money, 
 at the usurious rate of sixty per cent. Bewildered as I was, 
 among lawyers and knaves, my ambition still prompted me 
 to proceed, and all things are possible to labour and perse- 
 verance ; but my property was expended, and, at length, I 
 could only obtain that the contested estates should be made 
 ajidei com in is sum, or put under trust, whereby, though they 
 were protected from being the further prey of others, I did 
 not inherit them as mine. In this pursuit was my prime of 
 life wasted, which might have been profitably and honour- 
 ably spent. 
 
 6 S
 
 130 
 
 In three years, however, I brought my sixty-three suits 
 4o a kind of conclusion ; the probabilities were, this could 
 not have been effected in fifty. Exclusive of my assiduity, 
 the means I took must not be told ; it is sufficient that I 
 here learnt what judges were, and thus am enabled to de- 
 scribe them to others. 
 
 For a few ducats the president's servant used to admit 
 me into a closet, where I could see every thing as per- 
 fectly as if I had myself been of the council. This often wat 
 useful, and taught me to prevent evil ; and often was I 
 scarcely able to refrain bursting in upon this court. 
 
 Their appointed hour of meeting was nine in the morning, 
 but they seldom assembled before eleven. The president 
 then told his beads, and muttered his prayers. Some one 
 got up and harangued, while the remainder, in pairs, amused 
 themselves with talking instead of listening ; after which 
 the news of the day became the common topic of conver- 
 sation, and the council broke up, the court being first ad- 
 journed some three weeks, without coming to any determi- 
 nation. This was called Judicium delegatum in causig 
 Trenckianis ; and when, at last, they came to a conclu- 
 sion, the sentence was such as I shall ever shudder at and 
 abhor. 
 
 The real estates of Trenck consisted in the great Scla- 
 vonian manors, called the lorships of Pakratz, Prestowacz, 
 and Pleternitz, which he had inherited from his father, and 
 were the family property, together with Velika and Nustak, 
 which he himself purchased : the annual income of these was 
 60,000 florins, and they contained more than two hundred 
 villages and hamlets. The laws of Hungary require, 
 
 1st, That those who purchase estates shall obtain the 
 consensus rcgius (royal consent). 
 
 2dj That the seller shall possess, and make orei* the 
 right of property, together with that of transferring, or 
 alienating; and,
 
 131 
 
 3dly, That the purchaser shall be a native born, or have 
 bought his naturalisation. 
 
 In default of all, or any of these, the fiscus, on the death 
 of the purchaser, takes possession, repaying the summa 
 emptitia, or purchase-money, together with what can be 
 shown to have been laid out in improvements, or the summa 
 inscriptitiaj the sum at which it stands in the fiscal register. 
 
 Without form, or notice, the Hungarian fiscal president, 
 count Grassalkowitz, took possession of all the Trenck es- 
 tates on his decease, in the name of the fiscus. The prize 
 was great, not so much because of the estates themselves, 
 as the personal property upon them. Trenck had sent loads 
 of merchandize to his estates, of linen, ingots of gold, and 
 silver, from Bavaria, Alsatia, and Silesia. He had a vast 
 store-house of arms, and of saddles ; also the great silver 
 service of the emperor Charles VII. which he had brought 
 from Munich, with the service of plate of the king of Prus- 
 sia ; and the personal property on these estates was affirmed 
 considerably to exceed in value the estates themselves. 
 
 I was, not long since, informed, by one of the first gene- 
 rals, whose honour is undoubted, that several waggons were 
 laden with these rich effects, and sent to Mihalefze. His 
 testimony was indubitable ; he knew the two pandours who 
 were the confidants of Treuck, and the keepers of his trea- 
 sures ; and these, during the general plunder, each seized 
 a bag of pearls, and fled to Turkey, where they became 
 wealthy merchants. His rich studs of horses were taken, 
 and the very cows driven off the farms. His stand of arms 
 consisted of more than three thousand rare pieces. Trenck 
 had affirmed ho had sent linen to the value of fifty thousand 
 florins, in chests, from Dannhausen and Gersdorf, in the 
 county of Glatz, to his estates : the pillage was general, 
 and when orders came to send all the property of Trenck r 
 and deliver it to his universal heir, nothing remained that 
 any person would accept. I have myself seen in a certain. 
 Hungarian nobleman's house, some valuable arms, which I 
 S 2
 
 132 
 
 positively knew I had been robbed of ; and I bought at 
 Esseck some silver plates, on which were the arms of Prus- 
 sia, that had been sold by counsellor D n, who had been 
 empowered to take possession of these estates, and had thus 
 rendered himself rich. Of this I procured an attestation, 
 and proved the theft : I complained aloud at Vienna, but 
 received an order, from the court, to be silent, under pain of 
 displeasure, and also to go no more into Sclavonia. The 
 principal reason of my loss of the landed property in Hun- 
 gary was my having dared to make inquiries concerning 
 the personal, not one guinea of which was ever brought to 
 account. I then proved my right to the family estates, left 
 by my uncle, beyond all dispute, and also of those purchased 
 by my cousin. The commissioners, appointed to inquire 
 into these rights, even confirmed them ; yet, after they had 
 been thus established, I received the following order from 
 the court, in the hand of the empress herself: " The presi- 
 dent, count Grassalkowitz, takes it upon his conscience that 
 the Sclavonian estates do not descend to Trenck,iw natura; 
 he must, therefore, receive the summa emptitia et inscrip- 
 titia, together with the money he can show to have been ex- 
 pended in improvements." 
 
 And herewith ended my pleadings and my hopes. I had 
 sacrificed my property, laboured through sixty-three inferior 
 suits, and lost this great cause without a trial. I could have 
 remained satisfied with the loss of the personal property : 
 the booty of a soldier, like the wealth amassed by a minister, 
 appears to me little better than a public robbery ; but the 
 acquirements of my ancestors, my birth-right by descent, of 
 these I could not be deprived without excessive cruelty. 
 
 Oh ! patience ! patience ! Yet shall my children never 
 
 become the footmen nor grooms of those who have robbed 
 them of their inheritance ; and to them I bequeath my 
 rights in all their power : nor shall any man prevent my 
 crying aloud, so long as justice shall not be done. 
 
 The president, it is true, did not immediately possess
 
 133 
 
 himself 8f ihe estates, but he took good care his friend* 
 should have them at such rates, that the sale of them did 
 not bring the fiscal treasury 150,000 dollars, while I, in real 
 and personal property, lost a million and a half ; nay, pro- 
 bably a sum equal to this in personal property alone. 
 
 The Kumma inscriptitia et emptitia, for all these great 
 estates only amounted to 149,000, florins, and this was to be 
 paid by the chamber ; but the president thought proper to 
 deduct 10,000, on pretence the cattle had been driven off 
 the estate of Pakrtitz ; and further, 36,000 more, under 
 the shameful pretence that Trenck, to recruit his pandours, 
 had drained the estates of 3600 vassals, who had never re- 
 turned ; the estates, therefore, must make them good, at 
 the rate of thirty florins per head, which would have 
 amounted to 108,000 : but, with much difficulty, this sum 
 was reduced, as above stated, to 36,000 florins ; each vassal 
 reckoned at ten florins per head. Thus was I obliged, 
 from the property of my family, to pay for 3600 men, who 
 had gloriously died in war, in defence of the contested rights 
 of the great Maria Theresa ; who had raised so many mil- 
 lions of contributions for her in the countries of her ene- 
 mies ; who, sword in hand, had stormed and taken so many 
 towns, and dispersed, or taken prisoners, so many thousand* 
 of her foes. Would this be believed by listening nations ? 
 
 All deductions made for legacies, fees, and formalities, 
 there remained to me 63,000 florins, with which I purchased 
 the lordship of Zwerbach ; and I was obliged to pay 6000 
 florins for my naturalisation. Thus, when the sums enu- 
 merated which I expended on the suits of Trenck, received 
 from my friends at Berlin and Petersburg, it will be found 
 that I cannot at least, have been a gainer by having been 
 made the universal heir of the immensely rich Trenck. With 
 regret I write these truths, in support of my children's 
 claims, that they may not, in my grave, reproach me for 
 having neglected the duty of a father. 
 
 I will here add a few particulars, which may afford the
 
 134 
 
 reader matter for meditation, cause him to commiserate my 
 i'ate, and give a picture of the manner in which the prose- 
 cution was carried on against Trenck. 
 
 One Schygrai, a silly kind of beggarly baron, who was 
 treated as a buffoon, was invited, in the year 1743, to dine 
 with baron Pejaczewiiz, when Trenck happened to be pre- 
 sent. The conversation happened to turn on a kind of 
 brandy made in tlu's country ; and Trenck jocularly said, he 
 annually distilled this sort of brandy, from cow-dung, to the 
 value of thirty thousand florins, Schygrai supposed him 
 serious, and wished to learn the art, which Trenck promised 
 to teach hhn.P ejaczewitz told him he ceuld give him 
 thirty thousand load of dung. " But where shall I get the 
 wood ?" said Schygrai. " I will give you thirty thousand 
 klafters," answered Trenck. The credulous baron, think- 
 ing himself very fortunate, desired written promises, which 
 they gave him ; and that of Trenck ran thus : " I hereby 
 permit and empower baron Schygrai to fell, gratis, in the 
 forest of Tscherra Horra, thirty thousand klafters of wood. 
 Witness my hand, Trenck." 
 
 Trenck was no sooner dead than the baron brought this 
 note, and made application to the court. His attorney was 
 the noted Bussy, and the court decreed the estates of Trenck 
 should pay at the rate of one florin thirty kreutzers per klaf- 
 ter, or forty-five thousand florins, with all costs ; and an 
 order was given to the administrators to pay the money. 
 
 Just at this time I arrived at Vienna, from Petersburg. 
 Doctor Berger, the advocate of Trenck, told me the affair 
 would admit of no delay. I hastened to the empress, and 
 obtained an order to delay payment. An enquiry was HIM i - 
 tuted, and this forest of Tscherra Horra was found to b 
 situated in Turkey. The absurdity and injustice were 
 flagrant, and it was revoked. I cannot say how much of 
 these forty-five thousand florins the baron had promised to 
 the noble judge and the attorney. I only know that neither 
 of them was punished. Had not some holidays, luckily, in-
 
 135 
 
 tervened, or had the attorney expected my arrival, th 
 money would have been paid, and an ineffectual attempt to 
 obtain retribution would have been the consequence ; as 
 happened in many similar instances. 
 
 I have before mentioned the advertisement inviting all 
 who had any demands or complaints against Trenck to ap- 
 pear, with the promise of a ducat a day ; and it is here 
 proper to add, that the sum of fifteen thousand florins was 
 brought to account, and paid out of the estates of Trenck. 
 For this shameful purpose some thousands of florins wer 
 paid, beside, to this species of claimants ; and though, 
 after examination, their pretensions all proved to be futile, 
 and themselves were cast in damages, yet was none of this 
 money ever refunded, or the false claimants punished. 
 Among these the pretended daughter of general Schwerin 
 received two thousand florins, notorious as- was her cha- 
 racter. Again : Trenck was accused of having appropriated 
 the money of the regiment to his own use, and treated as if 
 convicted. After his death a considerable demand was ac- 
 cordingly made. J happening, however, to meet with Ruck- 
 hardt, his quarter-master, he with asservations declared that, 
 instead of being indebted to his regiment, his regiment was 
 more than a hundred thousand florins- indebted to him, ad- 
 vised me to get attestations from the captains, and assured 
 me he himself would give in a clear statement of the regi- 
 ment's accounts. 
 
 I followed his advice, hastened to the regiment, and ob- 
 tained so many proofs, that the quarter-master of the regi- 
 ment, who, in concurrence with the major, had, in reality, 
 pocketed the money, was imprisoned, and put in irons. What 
 became of the thief, or the false witness, afterward, I know 
 not : I only know that nothing was refunded, that the quar- 
 ter-master found protectors, detained the money, and, some 
 years after this vile action, purchased a commission. One 
 instance more. 
 
 Trenck, to the corps of infantry he commanded, added a
 
 130 
 
 corps of hussars, which he raised, and provided with horses 
 and accoutrements at his own expence. These hussars 
 were disbanded after his death, and the horses and accou- 
 trements sold by auction. My demand, on this account, 
 was upwards of sixty thousand florins ; to which I received 
 neither money nor reply. He had, also, expended a hun- 
 dred thousand florins for the raising and equipping his three 
 thousand pandours ; in consequence of which a signed 
 agreement had been given him by government, that these 
 hundred thousand florins should be repaid to his heir, or, he 
 (the heir,) should receive the command of the regiment. The 
 regiment, however, at his decease, was given to general Sim- 
 schen ; and, as for the agreement, care was taken it should 
 never come into my hands. Thus these hundred thousand 
 florins were lost. 
 
 Yet it has been wickedly affirmed he was imprisoned in 
 the Spielberg for having embezzled the regiment's money ; 
 whereas, I would to God I was only in possession of the 
 sums he expended on this regiment ; but he considered the 
 regiment as his own, and, great as was his avarice, still 
 greater was his desire of fame, and greater still his love for 
 his empress, for whom he would 'gladly have yielded both 
 property and life. 
 
 With respect to the money that was to have been repaid 
 for improvement of the estates, I must add, these estates 
 were bought at a time when the country had been left deso- 
 late by the Turks, and the reinstatement of such places as 
 had fallen into their hands, and the erecting of farm-houses, 
 mills, stocking them with horses, cattle, and seed corn, ac- 
 cording to my poor estimate, could not amount to less than 
 eighty thousand florins ; but I was forbidden to go into 
 Sclavonia, and the president offered, as an indemnification, 
 f four thousand florins. Every body was astonished; but he, 
 with the utmost coolness, told me, I must either accept this 
 or nothing. The hearers of this sentence cast their eyes up 
 to heaven, and pitied me. I remonstrated, and thereby only
 
 137 
 
 made the matter worse. Grief and anxiety occasioned me 
 to take a journey into Italy, passing through Venice, Rome, 
 and Florence. 
 
 On my return to Vienna, I, by a friendly interference in 
 behalf of a woman, whose fears, rather than guilt, had 
 brought her into danger, became suspected myself ; and 
 the very officious officers of the police had me imprisoned, 
 as a coiner, without the least grounds for any such accusa- 
 tion, except their own surmises. I was detained, unheard, 
 nine days ; and when, having been heard, I had entirely 
 justified myself, was again restored to liberty : public de- 
 claration was then made, in the Gazette, that the officers of 
 the police had acted too precipitately. 
 
 This was the satisfaction granted ; but this did not con- 
 tent me. I threatened the counsellor by whom my cha- 
 racter had been so aspersed ; and the empress, condescend- 
 ing to mediate, bestowed on me a captainship of cavalry, 
 in the Cordova cuirassiers. 
 
 Such was the recorapence I received for wounds so deep, 
 and such the neglect into which I was thrown at Vienna . 
 Discontent led me to join my regiment in Hungary. 
 
 Here I gained the applause of ray colonel, count Bettoni, 
 who himself told the empress, I, more than any other, had 
 contributed to the forming of the regiment. It may well 
 be imagined how a man like me, accustomed, as I had been, 
 to the first company of the first courts, must past my time 
 among the Carpathian mountains, where neither society 
 nor good books were to be found, nor knowledge, of which I 
 was enamoured, improved. The conversation of count Bet- 
 toni, and the chace, together with the love of the general of 
 the regiment, old field-marshal Cordova, were my only re- 
 sources ; the persecutions, neglect, and even contempt, I 
 received at Vienna, were still the same. 
 
 In the year of 1754, and the month of March, my mother 
 died in Prussia, and I requested permission of the court that 
 held the inheritance of Trenck, as a fidei commissum, to 
 
 e T
 
 138 
 
 make a journey to Dantzic, to settle some family affaire 
 with my brothers and sister, my estates being confiscated. 
 This permission was granted, and thither I went in May, 
 where I, once more, fell into the hands of the Prussians ; 
 which forms the second great, and still more gloomy epocha 
 in my life. All who read what follows will shudder, will 
 commiserate him, who, feeling himself innocent, relates 
 afflictions he has miserably encountered, and gloriously over- 
 come. 
 
 I left Hungary, where I was in garrison for Dantzic, 
 where I had desired my brothers and sister to meet me, that 
 we might settle our affairs. My principal intent, however, 
 was a journey to Petersburgh, there to seek the advice and 
 aid of my friends, for law and persecution were not yet ended 
 at Vienna ; and my captain's pay, and small income, were 
 scarcely sufficient to defray charges of attornies and coun- 
 sellors.. 
 
 It is here most worthy of remark, that I was told, by 
 prince Ferdinand of Brunswic, governor of Magdeburg, he 
 had received orders to prepare my prison at Magdeburg be- 
 fore I set out from Hungary. 
 
 Nay more, it had been written, from Vienna to Berlin, 
 that the king must beware of Trenck, for that he would be 
 at Dantzic at the time when the king was to visit his camp 
 in Prussia. 
 
 What thing more vile, what contrivance more abominable, 
 could the wickedest wretch on earth find to banish a man 
 his country, that he might securely enjoy the property of 
 which the other had been robbed ! That this was done, I 
 have living witnesses in his highness prince Ferdinand of 
 JJrunswic, and the Berlin ministry ; from whose mouths I 
 learned this artifice of villainy. It is the more necessary to 
 establish this truth, because that no one can comprehend why 
 the Great Frederic should have proceeded against me in a 
 manner so cruel as, when it comes to be related, must raise
 
 139 
 
 the indignation of the just, and more hearts of iron to com- 
 miserate. 
 
 Men so vile, so wicked, as I have described them, in con- 
 junction with one Weingarten, secretary to count Puebla, 
 then Austrian minister at Berlin, have brought on me these 
 my misfortunes. 
 
 - This was the Weingarten who, as is now well known, be- 
 trayed all the secrets of the Austrian court to Frederic, who 
 at length was discovered in the year 1756, and who, when 
 the war broke out, remained in the service of Prussia. This 
 same Weingarten, also, not only caused my wretchedness, 
 but my sister's ruin and death ; as he likewise did the 
 punishment and death of three innocent men ; which will 
 hereafter be shown. 
 
 It is an incontrovertible truth that I was betrayed and 
 sold by men in Vienna, whose interest it was that I should 
 be eternally silenced. 
 
 I was immediately visited, by my brothers and sister, on 
 my arrival at Dautzic, where we lived happy in each other's 
 company, during a fortnight ; and an amicable partition was 
 made of my mother's effects : my sister perfectly justified 
 herself concerning the manner in which I was obliged to fly 
 from her house, in the year 1746 : our parting was kind, and 
 as brother and sister ought to part. 
 
 Our only acquaintance in Dantzic was the Austrian resi- 
 dent, M. Abramson, to whom I brought letters of recom- 
 mendation from Vienna, and whose reception of us was po- 
 lite even to extravagance. 
 
 This Abramson was a Prussian born, and had never seen 
 Vienna, but obtained his then office by the recommendation 
 of count Bestuchef, without security for his good conduct, 
 or proof of his good morals, heart, or head. He was in close 
 connexion with the Prussian resident, Reimer ; and was 
 made the instrument of my ruin. 
 
 Scarcely -had my brothers and sister departed, before I 
 determined to make a voyage by sea to Russia. Abrainsou 
 T2
 
 140 
 
 Contrived a thousand artifices, by which he detained me a 
 week longer in Dantzie, that he, in conjunction with Reimer, 
 might make the necessary preparations. 
 
 The king 1 of Prussia had demanded that the magistrates 
 of Dantzic should deliver me up ; hut this could not be done 
 without offending the imperial court, I being a commissioned 
 officer in that service,- with proper passports : it was there- 
 fore probable that this negotiation required letters should 
 pass and repass, and for this reason, Abramson was em- 
 ployed to detain me some days longer, till, by the last let- 
 ters from Berlin, the magistrates of Dantzic were induced 
 to violate public safety, and the laws of nations. Abramson 
 I considered as my best friend, and my person as in perfect 
 security ; he had therefore no difficulty in persuading me to 
 stay. " 
 
 The day of supposed departure, on board a Swedish ship 
 for Riga, approached ; and the deceitful Abramson promised 
 me to send one of his servants to the port, to know the hour. 
 At four in the afternoon he told me he had himself spoken 
 to the captain, who said he should not sail till the next day ; 
 adding that he, Abramson, would expect me to breakfast, 
 and would then accompany me to the vessel. I felt a secret 
 inquietude, which made me desirous of leaving Dantzic, and 
 immediately to send all my baggage, and sleep on board. 
 Abramson prevented me, dragged me almost forcibly along 
 with him, telling me he had much company, and that I must 
 absolutely dine and sup at his house : accordingly I did not 
 return to my inn till eleven at night. 
 
 I was but just in bed, when I heard a knocking at my door, 
 which was not shut, and two of the city magistrates, with 
 twenty grenadiers, entered my chamber, and surrounded my 
 bed so suddenly that I had not time to take to my arms and 
 defend myself. My three servants had been secured ; and 
 I was told that the most worthy magistracy of Dantzic was 
 obliged to deliver me up, as a delinquent, to his majesty the 
 king of Prussia.
 
 141 
 
 What were my feelings at seeing myself thus betrayed ! - 
 They silently conducted me to the city prison, where I re- 
 mained twenty-four hours. About noon Abramson came to 
 visit me, affected to be infinitely concerned and enraged, 
 and affirmed he had strongly protested against the illegality 
 of this proceeding to the magistracy, as I was actually in 
 the Austrian service ; but that they had answered him, the 
 court of Vienna had afforded them a precedent, for that, in 
 1752, they had done the same by the two sons of the burgo- 
 master Ruttenberg of Dantzic, and that, therefore, they 
 were justified in making reprisal ; that, likewise, they durst 
 not refuse the most earnest request, accompanied with 
 threats, of the king of Prussia. 
 
 Their plea of retaliation originated as follows : There was 
 a kind of club at Vienna, the members of which were seized 
 for having committed the utmost extravagance and de- 
 bauchery ; two of whom were the sons of the burgomaster 
 Ruttenberg, and who were sentenced to the pillory. Great 
 sums were offered, by the father, to avoid this public disgrace, 
 but ineffectually ; they were punished ; their punishment 
 was legal, and had no similarity whatever to my case, nor 
 could it any way justly give pretence of reprisal. 
 
 Abramson, who had in reality entered no protest what- 
 ever, but rather excited the magistracy, and acted in concert 
 with Reiiner, advised me to put my writings and other valu- 
 able effects into his hands, otherwise they would be seized 
 He knew I had received, in letters of exchange, from my 
 brothers and sister, about seven thousand florins ; and these 
 I gave him, but kept my ring, worth about four thousand 
 and some sixty guineas, which I had in my pnrse. He then 
 embraced me, declared nothing should be neglected to effect 
 my immediate deliverance, that even he would raise the po- 
 pulace for that purpose, that I could not be given up to the 
 Prussians in less than a week, the magistracy being still 
 undetermined in an affair so seriojis ; and he left me shed-
 
 142 
 
 ding abundance of crocodile tears, like the most affectionate 
 of friends. 
 
 The next night two magistrates, with their posse, came to 
 my prison, attended by resident Reimer, a Prussian officer, 
 and under- officers ; and into their hands I was delivered. 
 The pillage instantly began : Reimer tore off my ring, seized 
 my watch, snuff-box, and all I had, not so much as sending 
 me a coat, or shirt, from my effects ; after which they put 
 me into a close coach, with three Prussians. The Dantzie 
 guard accompanied the carriage to the city gate, that was 
 opened to let me pass, after which the Dantzic dragoons es- 
 corted me as far as Lauenburg, in Pomerania. 
 
 I have forgotten the date of this miserable day ; but, to 
 the best of my memory, it must have been in the beginning 
 of June. Thirty Prussian hussars, commanded by a lieu- 
 tenant, relieved the dragoons at Lauenburg ; and thus was 
 I escorted, from garrison to garrison till I arrived at Berlin. 
 
 Hence it was evidently falsely affirmed, by the magistracy 
 of Dantzic, and the conspirator Abramson, who wrote in his 
 own excuse to Vienna, that my seizure must be attributed 
 wholly to my own imprudence, and that I had exposed my- 
 self to this arrest by going without the city gates, where I 
 was taken and carried off: nor is it less astonishing that the 
 court of Vienna should not have demanded satisfaction for 
 the treachery of the Dantzickers toward an Austrian officer. 
 I have incontrovertibly proved this treachery, after I had 
 regained my liberty. Abramson, indeed, they could not 
 punish ; for during my imprisonment he had quitted the 
 Austrian for the Prussian service, where he had gradually 
 become so contemptible, that, in the year 1764, when I was 
 released from my imprisonment, he was himself imprisoned 
 in the house of correction ; and his wife, lately so rich, was 
 obliged to beg her bread. Thus have I generally lived to 
 sec the fall of my betrayers ; and thus have 1 found that, 
 without indulging personal revenge, virtue and fortitude 
 must at length triumph over the calumniator and the despot.
 
 This truth will be further proved hereafter ; nor can I 
 behold, unmoved, the open shame in which my persecutors 
 live, and how they tremble in my presence, their wicked 
 deeds now being known to the world. Nay, monarchs may 
 yet punish their perfidy : Yet not so ! May they rather 
 die in possession of wealth they have torn from me ! I only 
 wish the pity and respect of the virtuous and the wise. 
 
 But, though Austria has never resented the affront com- 
 mitted on the person of an officer in its service, still have I a 
 claim OH the city of Dantzic, where I was thus treacherously 
 delivered up, for the effects I there was robbed of the 
 amount of which is between eleven and twelve thousand 
 florins. This is a case too clear to require argument ; and 
 the publication of this history will make it known to the 
 world. This claim also, among others I leave to the 
 children of an unfortunate father. 
 
 Enough of digression ; let us attend to the remarkable 
 events which happened on this dismal journey to Berlin. I 
 was escorted from garrison to garrison, which were distant 
 from each other, two, three, or, at most, five miles : wherever 
 I came I found compassion and respect. The detachment 
 of hussars only attended me two days: it consisted of twelve 
 men, and an officer, who rode with me in the carriage. 
 
 The fourth day I arrived at , where the duke of Wir- 
 
 temberg, father of the present grand-duchess of Russia, 
 was commander, and where his regiment was.in quarters. 
 The duke conversed with me, was much moved, invited me 
 to dine, and detained me all the day ; where I was not 
 treated as a prisoner. I so far gained his esteem, that I 
 was allowed to remain there the next day : the chief per- 
 sons of the place were assembled, and the duchess, whom 
 he had lately married, testified every mark of pity and 
 esteem. I staid dinner with him also on the third day; 
 after which I departed in an open carriage, without escort, 
 attended only by a lieutenant of his regiment. 
 
 I must relate this event circumstantially ; for it not only
 
 144 
 
 proves the just and noble character of the duke, but like- 
 >.wise that there are moments in which the brave may appear 
 cowards, the clear-sighted blind, and the wise foolish ; nay, 
 one might almost be led to conclude, from this, that my im- 
 prisonment at Magdeburg was the consequence of predes- 
 tination, since I remained rivetted in stupor, in despite of 
 suggestions, forebodings, and favourable opportunities. 
 Who but must be astonished, having read the daring efforts 
 I made at Glatz, at this strange insensibility now in the 
 very crisis of my fate ? I afterward was convinced it was 
 the intention of the noble-minded duke that I should escape, 
 and that he must have given particular orders to the succes- 
 sive officers. He would probably have willingly subjected 
 himself to the reprimands of Frederic, if I would have 
 taken to fliglit. The journey, through the places where his 
 regiment was stationed, continued five days ; and I every- 
 where passed the evenings in the company of the officers, 
 the kindness of whom was unbounded. I slept in their 
 quarters without centinel, and travelled in their carriages 
 without other guard than a single officer in the carriage. 
 In various places the high road was not more than two, 
 and sometimes one mile from the frontier-road, therefore 
 nothing could have been easier than to have escaped ; yet 
 did the same Trenck, who in Glatz had cut his way through 
 thirty men to obtain his freedom, that Trenck, who had 
 never been acquainted with fear, now remain four days be- 
 wildered, and unable to come to any determination. 
 
 In a email garrison town I lodged in the house of a cap- 
 tain of cavalry, and continually was treated by him with 
 every mark of friendship. After dinner, he rode at the 
 head of his squadron to water the horse, unsaddled. I re- 
 mained alone in the house ; entered the stable, saw three 
 remaining horses, with saddles and bridles : in my cham- 
 ber was a sword, and a pair of pistols. I had but to mount 
 one of the horses, and fly at the opposite gate. I medi- 
 tated on the project, and almost resolved to put it iu cxe-
 
 145 
 
 cution, but presently became undetermined by some secret 
 impulse. The captain returned sometime after, and ap- 
 peared surprised to find me still there. The next day he 
 accompanied me alone in his carriage ; we came to a forest ; 
 he saw some champignons, stopped, asked me to alight, 
 and help him to gather them ; he strayed more than a hun- 
 dred paces from me, and gave me an entire liberty to fly ; 
 yet, notwithstanding all this, I voluntarily returned, suffer- 
 ing myself to be led, like a sheep to the slaughter. 
 
 I was treated so well, and escorted with so much negli- 
 gence, that I fell into a gross error. Perceiving they con- 
 veyed me straight to Berlin, I imagined the king wished to 
 question me concerning the plan formed for the war, which 
 was then on the point of breaking out. This plan I perfectly 
 knew, the secret correspondence of Bestuchef having all 
 passed through my hands, which circumstance was much 
 better known at Berlin than at Vienna. Confirmed in this 
 opinion, and far from imagining the fate that awaited me, I 
 remained irresolute, insensible, and blind to danger. Alas, 
 how short was this hope ! How quickly was it succeeded 
 by despair, when, after four days' march, I quitted the dis- 
 trict under the command of the duke of Wirtemberg, and was 
 delivered up to the first garrison of infantry at Coslin ! The 
 last of the Wirtemberg officers, when taking leave of me, 
 appeared to be greatly affected ; and from this moment, till 
 I came to Berlin, I was put under a strong escort, and th* 
 given orders were rigorously observed. 
 
 Arrived here, I was lodged over the grand guard-house, 
 with two centinels in my chamber, and one at the door. The 
 king was at Potsdam, and here I remained three days ; on 
 the third, some staff officers made their appearance, seated 
 themselves at a table, and put the following questions to me : 
 
 First, What was my business at Dantzic ? 
 
 Secondly, Whether I was acquainted with M. Goltz, the 
 Prussian ambassador in Russia ?
 
 140 
 
 Thirdly, Who was concerned with me in the conspiracy 
 at Dantzic r 
 
 When I perceived their intention, by these interrogations, 
 I absolutely refused to reply, only saying I had been im- 
 prisoned in the fortress of Glatz, without hearing, or trial, 
 by court-martial ; that, availing myself of the laws of na- 
 ture, I had, by my own exertions, procured my liberty, and 
 that I was now a captain of cavalry in the Imperial service ; 
 that I demanded a legal trial for my first unknown offence, 
 after which I engaged to answer all interrogatories, and 
 prove my innocence ; but that, at present, being accused of 
 new crimes, without a hearing concerning my former 
 punishment, the procedure was illegal. I was told they had 
 no orders concerning this, and I remained dumb to all fur- 
 ther questions. 
 
 They wrote, some two hours, God knows what ! A car- 
 riage came up ; I was strictly searched, to find whether I 
 had any weapons . thirteen or fourteen ducats, which I had 
 concealed, were taken from me, and I was conducted, under 
 a strong escort, through Spandau to Magdeburg. The of- 
 ficer here delivered me up to the captain of the guard at the 
 citadel : the town major came, and brought me to the dun- 
 geon, expressly prepared for me ; a small picture of the 
 countess of Bestuchef, set with diamonds, which I had kept 
 concealed in my bosom, was now taken from me ; the door 
 was shut, and here was I left. 
 
 My dungeon was in a casemate, the fore part of which, 
 gix feet wide, and ten feet long, was divided by a party wall. 
 In the inner wall were two doors, and a third at the en- 
 trance of the casemate itself. The window in the seven-feet- 
 thick wall was so situated, that, though I had light, I could 
 see neither heaven nor earth ; I could only see the roof of 
 the magazine : within and without this window were iron 
 bars, and in the space between an iron grating, so close and 
 |J
 
 147 
 
 so situated, by the rising of the walls, that it was impossible 
 I should see any person without the prison, or that any per- 
 son should see me. On the outside was a wooden palisado, 
 six feet from the wall, by which the centinels were prevented 
 from conveying any thing to me. I had a mattrass, and a 
 bedstead, but which was immoveably ironed to the floor, so 
 that it was impossible I should drag it and stand up to the 
 window ; beside the door was a small iron stove and a night- 
 table, in like manner fixed to the floor. I was not yet put 
 in irons, and my allowance was a pound and half per day 
 ammunition bread and a jug of water. 
 
 From my youth I had always had a good appetite, and ray 
 bread was so mouldy I could scarcely at first eat the half of 
 it. This was the consequence of Major Rieding's avarice, 
 who endeavoured to profit even by this, so great was the 
 number of unfortunate prisoners ; therefore, it is impossible 
 I should describe to my readers the excess of tortures, that, 
 during eleven months, I felt from ravenous hunger. I could 
 easily every day have devoured six pounds of bread ; and 
 every twenty-four hours after, having received and swal- 
 lowed my small portion, I continued as hungry as before I 
 began, yet must wait another twenty-four hours for a new 
 morsel. How willingly would I have signed a bill of ex- 
 change for a thousand ducats, on my property at Vienna, 
 only to have satiated my hunger on dry bread ! For, so 
 extreme was it, that, scarcely had I dropt into a sweet sleep, 
 before I dreamed I was feasting at some table luxuriously 
 loaded, where, eating like a glutton, the whole company were, 
 astonished to see me, while my imagination was heated by 
 the sensation of the famine. Awakened by the pains of hunger, 
 the dishes vanished, and nothing remained but the reality of 
 my distress ; the cravings of nature were but inflamed, my 
 tortures prevented sleep, and, looking into futurity, the 
 cruelty of my fate suffered, if possible, increase, from ima- 
 gining that the prolongation of pangs, like these was insup- 
 portable. God preserve every honest man from sufferings 
 U2
 
 148 
 
 like mine ! They were not to be endured by the villain meat 
 obdurate. Many have fasted three days, many have suf- 
 fered want for a week, or more, but certainly no one, beside 
 myself, ever endured it in the same excess for eleven months. 
 Some have supposed that to eat little might become habitual, 
 but I have experienced the contrary. My hunger increased 
 every day, and, of all the trials of fortitude my whole life 
 has afforded, this, of eleven months, was the most bitter. 
 
 Petitions, remonstrances, were of no avail ; the answer 
 was " We must give no more ; such is the king's com- 
 mand." The governor-general Borck, born the enemy of 
 man, replied, when I entreated, at least, to have my fill of 
 bread, " You have feasted often enough out of the service 
 of plate taken from the king, by Trenck, at the battle of So- 
 rau ; you must now eat ammunition-bread in your dirty ken- 
 nel. Your empress makes no allowance for your main- 
 tenance, and you are unworthy of the bread you eat, or the 
 trouble taken about you." Judge, reader, what pangs such 
 insolence, added to such sufferings, must inflict. Judge 
 what were my thoughts, foreseeing, as I did, an endless 
 duration to this imprisonment and these torments. 
 
 My three doors were kept ever shut, and I was left to 
 such meditations as such feelings, and such hopes, might in- 
 spire. Daily, about noon, once in twenty-four hours, my 
 pittance of bread and water was brought. The keys of all 
 the doors were kept by the governor ; the inner door was 
 not opened, but my bread and water were delivered through 
 an aperture. The prison -doors were opened only once a 
 week, on a Wednesday, when the governor and town-ma- 
 jor, my hole having been first cleaned, paid their visit. 
 
 Having remained thus two months, and observed this me- 
 thod was invariable, 1 began to execute a project I had 
 formed, of the possibility of which I was convinced. 
 
 Where the night-table and stove stood, the floor wa 
 bricked, and this paving extended to the wall that sepa- 
 rated my casemate from the adjoining one, in which was no
 
 149 
 
 prisoner. My window was only guarded by a single cn- 
 tinel ; I therefore soon found among those who successively 
 relieved guard two kind-hearted fellows, who described to 
 me the situation of my prison ; hence I perceived I might 
 effect my escape, could I but penetrate into the adjoining 
 casemate, the door of which was not shut. Provided I had 
 a friend, and a boat waiting for me at the Elbe, or, could I 
 swim across that river, the confines of Saxony were but a 
 mile distant. 
 
 To describe my plan at length would lead to prolixity, 
 yet I must enumerate some of its circumstances, as it was 
 remarkably intricate, and of gigantic labour. 
 
 I worked through the iron, eighteen inches long, by which 
 the night-table was fastened, and broke off the clinchings of 
 the nails, but preserved their heads, that I might put them 
 again in their places, and all might appear secure to my 
 weekly visitors. This procured me tools to raise up the 
 brick floor, under which I found earth. My first attempt 
 was to work a hole through the wall, seven feet thick, be- 
 hind, and concealed by the night-table. The first layer was 
 of brick. I afterwards came to large hewn stones. I en- 
 deavoured accurately to number and remember the bricks, 
 both of the flooring and the wall, so that I might replace 
 them, and all might appear safe. This having accomplished, 
 I proceeded. 
 
 The day preceding visitation, all was carefully replaced, 
 and the intervening mortar as carefully preserved ; the whol* 
 had, probably, been whitewashed a hundred times ; and, 
 that I might fill up all remaining interstices, I pounded the 
 white stuff this afforded, wetted it, and made a brush of my 
 hair, then applied this plaster, washed it over, that the 
 colour might be uniform, and afterwards stripped myself, 
 and sat, with my naked body against the place, by the heat 
 of which it was dried. 
 
 While labouring, I placed the stones and bricks upon my 
 bedstead, and, had they taken the precaution to come at any
 
 150 
 
 other time in the week, the stated Wednesday excepted, I 
 had inevitably been discovered ; but as no such ill accident 
 befel me, in six months my Herculean labours gave me a 
 prospect of success. 
 
 Means were to be found to remove the rubbish from my 
 prison ; all of which, in a wall so thick, it was impossible to 
 replace : mortar and stone could not be removed. I there- 
 fore took the earth, scattered it about ray chamber, and 
 ground it under my feet the whole day, till I had reduced 
 it to dust ; this dust I strewed in the aperture of my win- 
 dow, making use of the loosened night-table to stand upon. 
 I tied splinters from my bedstead together, with ravelled 
 yarn of an old stocking, and to this affixed a tuft of my hair. 
 I worked a large hole under the middle grating, which 
 could not be seen when standing on the ground, and through 
 this I pushed my dust with the tool I had prepared to the 
 outer window, then, waiting till the wind should happen to 
 rise, during the night I brushed it away, it was blown off^ 
 and no appearance remained on the outside. By this single 
 expedient I rid myself of at least three hundred weight of 
 earth, and thus made room to continue my labours : yet this 
 being still insufficient, I had recourse to another artifice, 
 which was, to knead up the earth in the form of sausages, 
 to resemble the human faeces : these I dried, and, when the 
 prisoner came to clean my dungeon, hastily tossed them 
 into the night-table, and thus disencumbered myself of a 
 pound or two more of earth each week. I further made little 
 balls, and, when the centinel was walking, blew them, 
 through a paper tube, out of the window. Into the empty 
 space I put my mortar and stones, and worked on success- 
 fully. 
 
 I cannot however describe my difficulties, after having 
 penetrated about two feet into the hewn stone. My tools 
 were the irons I had dug out, which fastened my bedstead 
 and night-table. A compassionate soldier also gave me an 
 old iron ramrod, and a soldier's sheath-knife, which did roe
 
 151 
 
 excellent service ; more especially the latter, as I shall pre* 
 sently more fully show. With these two I cut splinters from 
 my bedstead, which aided me to pick the mortar from the . 
 interstices of the stone : yet the labour of penetrating 
 through the seven-feet wall was incredible : the building 
 was ancient, and the mortar occasionally quite petrified, so 
 that the whole stone was obliged to be reduced to dust. 
 After continuing to do my work, unremittingly, for six 
 months, I at length approached the accomplishment of my 
 hopes, as I knew, by coming to the facing of brick, which 
 now was only between me and the adjoining casemate. 
 
 Meantime I found opportunity to speak to some of the 
 centinels ; among whom was an old grenadier, called Gef- 
 hardt, whom I here name, because he displayed qualities of 
 the greatest and most noble kind. From him I learned the 
 precise situation of my prison, and every circumstance that 
 might best conduce to my escape. 
 
 Nothing was wanting but money to buy a boat, and cros- 
 sing the Elbe with Gefhardt, to take refuge in Saxony. By 
 Gef hardt's means I became acquainted with a kind-hearted 
 girl, a Jewess, and a native of Dessau, Esther Heymannin 
 by name, and whose father had been ten years in prison. 
 This good, compassionate maiden, whom I had never seen, 
 won over two other grenadiers, who gave her an opportunity 
 of speaking to me every time they stood centinel. By tying 
 my splinters together, I made a stick long enough to reach 
 beyond the palisadoes that were before my window, and thus 
 obtained paper, another knife and a file. 
 
 I now wrote to my sister, the wife of the before-mentioned 
 only son of general Waldow, described my situation, and 
 entreated her to remit three hundred rix-dollars to the 
 Jewess ; hoping, by this means, I might escape from my 
 prison. I wrote another affecting letter to count Puebla the 
 Austrian ambassador at Berlin, in which was inclosed a 
 draft for a thousand florins on my effects at Vienna, desiring 
 hjm to remit these to the Jewess, having promised her that
 
 132 
 
 sum as a reward for her fidelity. She was to bring the three 
 hundred rix-dollars my sister should send to me, and take 
 measures, with the grenadiers, to facilitate my flight, which 
 nothing seemed able to prevent, I having the power either to 
 break into the casemate, or, aided by the grenadiers and the 
 Jewess, to cut the locks from the doors, and that way escape 
 from my dungeon. The letters were open, I being obliged 
 to roll them round the stick to convey them to Esther. 
 
 The faithful girl diligently proceeded to Berlin, where she 
 arrived safe, and immediately spoke to count Puebla. The 
 count gave her the kindest reception, received the letter, 
 with the letter of exchange, and bade her go and speak to 
 Weingarten, the secretary of the embassy, and act entirely 
 as he should direct. She was received by Weingarten in 
 the most friendly manner, who, by his questions, drew from 
 her the whole secret, and our intended plan of flight, aided 
 by the two grenadiers ; and also that she had a letter for my 
 sister, which she must carry to Hammer, near Custrin. He 
 asked to see this letter, read it, told her to proceed on her 
 journey, gave her two ducats to bear her expences, ordered 
 her to come to him on her return, said that, during this in- 
 terval, he would endeavour to obtain her the thousand 
 florins for my draft, and would then give her further in- 
 struction. 
 
 Esther cheerfully departed for Hammer, where my 
 sister, then a widow, and no longer, as in 1746, in dread of 
 her husband, joyful to hear I was still living, immediately 
 gave her the three hundred rix-dollars, exhorting her to ex- 
 ert every possible means to obtain my deliverance. Esther 
 hastened back, with the letter from my sister to me, to Ber- 
 lin, and told all that had passed to Wciugarten, who read 
 the letter, and inquired the names of the two grenadiers. 
 He told her the thousand florins from Vienna was not yet 
 come ; but gave her twelve ducats, bade her hasten back to 
 Magdeburg, to carry me all this good news, and then return 
 to Berlin, where he would pay her the thousand florins.
 
 153 
 
 Esther came to Magdeburg, went immediately to the cita- 
 del, and, most luckily, met the wife of one of the grena- 
 diers, who told her that her husband and his comrade had 
 been taken, and put in irons the day before. Esther had 
 quickness of perception, and suspected we had been be- 
 trayed ; she therefore instantly again began her travels, and 
 happily came safe to Dessau. 
 
 Here 1 must interrupt my narrative, that I may explain 
 this infernal enigma to my readers ; an account of which I 
 received after I had obtained my freedom, and still possess, 
 in the hand-writing of this Jewess. Weingarten, as was 
 afterwards discovered, was a traitor, and too much trusted 
 by count Puebla ; he being a spy in the pay of Prussia, and 
 one who had revealed to the court of Berlin not only the 
 secrets of the imperial embassy, but also the whole plan of 
 the projected war. For this reason, he afterward, when, 
 war broke out, remained at Berlin in the Prussian service. 
 His reason for betraying me was that he might secure the 
 thousand florins which I had drawn for on Vienna ; for the 
 receipt of the 24th of May, 1755, attests that the sum was 
 paid, by the administrators of my effects, to count Puebla, 
 and has since been brought to account ; nor can I believe 
 that Weingarten did not appropriate this sum to himself, 
 since I cannot be persuaded the ambassador would commit 
 such an action, although the receipt is in his hand- writing, 
 as may easily be demonstrated, it being now in my posses- 
 sion. Thus did Weingarten, that he might detain a thou- 
 sand florins with impunity, bring new evils upon me and 
 upjon my sister, which occasioned her premature death ; 
 caused one grenadier to run the gauntlet three successive 
 days, and another to be hung. 
 
 Esther alone escaped, and since gave me an elucidation, 
 of the whole affair. The report at Magdeburg was that a 
 Jewess had obtained money from my sister, and bribed two 
 grenadiers ; and that one of these had trusted, and been 
 betrayed by his comrade. Indeed, what other story could 
 
 X
 
 154 
 
 be told at Magdeburg, or how could it be known I had 
 been betrayed to 7 the Prussian ministry by the imperial 
 secretary ? The truth, however, is as I have stated ; ray 
 account-book exists, and the Jewess is still alive. 
 
 Her poor imprisoned father was punished with more than 
 a hundred blows, to make him declare whether his daughter 
 had intrusted him with the plot, or if he knew whither she 
 was fled, and miserably died in fetters. Such was the mis- 
 chief occasioned by a rascal ! And who might be blamed 
 but the imprudent count Puebla ? 
 
 In the year 1766 the Jewess demanded of me a thousand 
 florins ; and I wrote to count Puebla, that, having his re- 
 ceipt for the sum, which never had been repaid, I begged it 
 might be restored. He received my agent with rudeness, 
 returned no answer, and seemed to trouble himself little 
 concerning my loss. Whether the heirs of the count be, or 
 be not, indebted to me these thousand florins, and the in- 
 terest, I leave the world to determine. Thrice have I been 
 betrayed at Vienna, and sold to Berlin, like Joseph to the 
 Egyptians. My history proves the origin of my misfor- 
 tunes was the persuasion that residents, envoys, and ambas- 
 sadors must be men of .known worth and honesty, and not 
 the vilest of rascals and miscreants. But, alas ! the effects 
 and money they have robbed me of have never been restor- 
 ed ; and for the miseries they have brought upon me they could 
 not be recompensed by the wealth of any or all the mouarchs 
 on earth. Estates they may, but truth they cannot, confis- 
 cate ; and of the villainy of Abramson and Weiugarten I 
 have documents and proofs that no court of justice could 
 disannul. Stop, reader, if th'ou hast a heart, and in that 
 heart compassion ! Stop, and imagine what my sensations 
 are, while I remember and recount a part only of the in- 
 justice that has been done me, a part only of the tyranny I 
 have endured ! By this last act of treachery of Weingarten, 
 was I held in chains, the most horrible, for nine succeeding 
 years ! By him was an innocent man brought to the gal*
 
 155 
 
 lows ! By him, too, my sister, my beloved, my unfortunate 
 sister, was obliged -to build a dungeon for me, at her own 
 expence ! beside being amerced in a fine, the extent of which 
 I never could learn. Her goods were plundered, her es- 
 tates made a desert, her children fell into extreme poverty, 
 and she herself expired, in her thirty-third year, the victim 
 of cruelty, persecution, her brother's misfortunes, and the 
 treachery of the imperial embassy ! 
 
 Blessed shade of a beloved sister ! The sacrifice of my 
 adverse and dreadful fate ! Thee could I never avenge ! 
 Thee could the blood of Weingarten never appease ! No 
 asylum, however sacred, should have secured him, had he 
 not sought that last of asylums for human wickedness and 
 human woes, the grave ! To thee do I dedicate these few 
 pages, a tribute of thankfulness ; and, if future rewards 
 there are, may the brightest of these rewards be thine ! 
 For us, not for ours, may rewards be expected from 
 monarchs, who in apathy have beheld our mortal sufferings. 
 Rest, noble soul, murdered, though thou wert, by the ene- 
 mies of thy brother ! Again my blood boils, again the tears 
 roll down my cheeks, when I remember thee, thy sufferings 
 in my cause, and thy Untimely end ! I knew it not I sought 
 to thank thee I found thee in the grave I would have 
 made retribution to thy children ; but unjust, iron-hearted 
 princes had deprived me of the power. Can the virtuous 
 heart conceive affliction more cruel? My own ills I would 
 have endured with magnanimity ; but thine are wrongs I 
 have neither the power to forget nor heal. 
 
 Enough of this 
 
 The worthy emperor, Francis I. shed tears, when I af- 
 terward had the honour of relating to him, in person, my 
 past miseries ; I beheld them flow, and gratitude threw me 
 at his feet. His emotion was so great, that he tore himself 
 away ! I left the palace with all that enthusiasm of soul 
 which such a scene must inspire. 
 
 He probably would have done more than pitied me, but 
 X2
 
 150 
 
 his death soon followed. I relate this incident to convince 
 posterity that Francis I. possessed a heart worthy an em- 
 peror, worthy of a man. In the knowledge I have had of 
 monarch*, he stands alone. Frederic and Theresa both 
 died without doing me justice ; I am now too old, too 
 proud, and have too much apathy, to expect it from their 
 successors. Petition I will not, knowing my rights ; and 
 justice from courts of law, however evident my claims, 
 were, in these courts, vain indeed to expect. Lawyers and 
 advocates I know but too well, and an army to support my 
 rights I have noi. 
 
 What heart that can feel but will pardon me these digres- 
 sions ! At the exact and simple recital of facts like these, 
 the whole man must be roused, and the philosopher himself 
 shudder. 
 
 Once more. I heard nothing of what had happened for 
 some days ; at length, however, it was the honest Gefhardt's- 
 turn to mount guard ; but the posts being doubled, and 
 two additional grenadiers placed before my door, explana- 
 tion was exceedingly difficult. He, however, in spite of 
 precaution, found means to inform me of what had happened 
 to his two unfortunate comrades. 
 
 The king came to a review at Magdeburg, when he vi- 
 sited the Star- Fort, and commanded a new cell to be imme- 
 diately made, prescribing himself the kind of irons by which 
 I was to be secured. The honest Gef hardt heard the officer 
 say this cell was meant for me, and gave me notice of it ; 
 but assured me it could not be ready in less than a month. 
 I therefore determined, as soon as possible, to complete my 
 breach in the wall, and escape without the aid of any one. 
 The thing was possible ; for I had twisted the hair of my 
 mattress into a rope, which I meant to tie to a cannon, and 
 descend the rampart ; after which I might swim across the 
 Elbe, gain the Saxon frontiers, and thus safely escape. 
 
 On the 20th of May I had determined to break into the 
 next casemate ; but when 1 came to work at the bricks, I
 
 157 
 
 found them so hard, and strongly cemented, that I was 
 obliged to defer the labour to the following day. I left oft*, 
 weary and spent, at day-break ; and should any one enter 
 ray dungeon, they must infallibly discover the breach. How 
 dreadful is the destiny by which, through life, I have been 
 persecuted, and which has continually plunged me headlong 
 into calamity, when I imagined happiness was at hand ! 
 
 The 27th of May was a cruel day in the history of ray 
 life. My cell in the Star-Fort had been finished sooner than 
 Gef hardt had supposed ; and at night, when I was pre- 
 paring to fly, I heard a carriage stop before my prison. 
 Oh, God ! what was my terror ! what were the horrors of 
 this moment of despair ! The locks and bolts resounded, the 
 doors flew open, and the last of my poor remaining resources 
 was to conceal my knife. The town -major, the major of 
 the day, and a captain entered ; I saw them by the light of 
 their two lanterns. The only words they spoke were, 
 " Dress yourself ;" which was immediately done. I still 
 wore the uniform of the regiment of Cordova. Irons were 
 given me, which I was obliged myself to fasten on my 
 wrists and ancles : the town-major tied a bandage over my 
 eyes, and, taking me under the arm, they thus conducted 
 me to the carriage. It was necessary to pass through the 
 city to arrive at the Star-Fort : all was silent, except the 
 noise of the escort ; but when we entered Magdeburg, I 
 heard the people running, who were crowding together to 
 obtain a sight of me. Their curiosity was raised, by the 
 report that I was going to be beheaded. That I was exe- 
 cuted on this occasion, in the Star-Fort, after having been 
 conducted blind-fold through the city, has since been both 
 affirmed and written ; and the officers had then orders to 
 propagate this error, that the world might remain in utter 
 ignorance concerning me. I indeed knew otherwise, though 
 I affected not to have this knowledge : and, as I was not 
 gagged, I behaved as if I expected death, reproached my 
 conductors in language that even made them shudder, and
 
 158 
 
 painted their king in his true colours, as one who, unheard, 
 had condemned an innocent subject by a despotic exertion 
 of power. 
 
 My fortitude was admired, at the moment when it was 
 supposed I thought myself leading to execution. No one 
 replied, but their sighs intimated their compassion : certain 
 it is, few Prussians willingly execute such commands. The , 
 carriage at length stopped, and I was brought into my new 
 cell. The bandage was taken from my eyes. The dungeon 
 was lighted by a few torches. God of heaven ! what were 
 my feelings, when I beheld the whole floor covered with 
 chains, a fire-pan, and two grim men standing with their 
 smith-hammers ? 
 
 ******** 
 
 To work went these engines of despotism '.Enormous 
 chains were fixed to my ancle atone end, and at the other to a 
 ring which was incorporated in the wall. This ring was 
 three feet from the ground, and only allowed me to move 
 about two or three feet to the right and left. They next 
 ri vetted another huge iron ring, of a hand's breadth, round 
 my naked body ; to which hung a chain fixed into an iron 
 bar, as thick as a man's arm. This bar was two feet in 
 length, and at each end of it was a handcuff, as represented 
 in the plate. The iron collar round my neck was not added 
 till the year 1756. 
 
 No soul bade me good night All retired in dreadful si- 
 lence ; and I heard the horrible grating of four doors, that 
 were successively locked and bolted upon me ! 
 
 Thus does man act by his fellow, knowing him to be in- 
 nocent, having received the commands of another man so to 
 act. 
 
 Oh God ! thou alone knowest how my heart, void as it 
 was of guilt, beat at this moment. There sat I, destitute, 
 alone, in thick darkness, upon the bare earth, with a weight 
 of fetters insupportable to nature, thanking thee that these
 
 150 
 
 Cf uei men had not discovered my knife, by which my mise- 
 ries might yet find an end. Death is a last, certain refuge, 
 that can, indeed, bid defiance to the rage of tyranny. What 
 shall I say ? How shall I make the reader feel as I then 
 felt ? How describe my despondency, and yet account for 
 that latent impulse that withheld my hand on this fatal 
 <his miserable night ? 
 
 This misery I foresaw was not of short duration : I had 
 toeard of the wars that had lately broken out between Austria 
 and Prussia. Patiently to wait their termination, amid 
 sufferings and wretchedness such as mine, appeared impos- 
 sible, and freedom even then was doubtful. Sad experience 
 had I had, then of Vienna, and well I knew that those, who 
 had despoiled me of my property, most anxiously would en- 
 deavour to prevent my return. Such were my meditations ! 
 Such my night thoughts ! Day at length returned But 
 where was its splendor ? Fled I beheld it not Yet was 
 its glimmering obscurity sufficient to show me what was my 
 dungeon. 
 
 In breadth it was about eight feet ; in length, ten. Near 
 me once more stood a night-table ; in a corner was a seat, 
 four bricks broad, on which I might sit, and recline against 
 the wall. Opposite the ring to which I was fastened, the 
 light was admitted through a semicircular aperture, one 
 foot high, and two in diameter. This aperture ascended to 
 the centre of the wall, which was six feet thick, and at the 
 central part was a close iron grating, from which, outward, 
 the aperture descended, and its two extremities were again 
 secured by strong iron bars. My dungeon was built in the 
 ditch of the fortification, and the aperture by which the 
 light entered was so covered by the wall of the rampart, 
 that, instead of finding immediate passage, the light only 
 gained admission by reflection. This, considering the smal- 
 ness of the aperture, and the impediments of grating and 
 iron bars, must needs make the obscurity great, yet my 
 eyes, in time, became so accustomed to this glimmering',
 
 160 
 
 that I could see a mouse run. In winter, however, when 
 the sun did not shine into the ditch, it was eternal night 
 with me. Between the bars and the grating was a glass 
 window, with a small central casement, which might be 
 opened to admit air. My night-table was daily removed, 
 and beside me stood a jug of water. The name of TRENCK 
 was built in the wall, in red brick, and under my feet was a 
 tomb-stone, with the name of TRENCK ,also cut on it, and carved 
 with a death's head. The doors to my dungeon were double, 
 of oak, two inches thick : without these was an open space 
 or front cell, in which was a window, and this space was 
 likewise shut in by double doors. The ditch, in which this 
 dreadful den was built, was inclosed on both sides by pali- 
 sadoes, twelve feet high, the key of the door of which was 
 entrusted to the officer of the guard, it being the king's in- 
 tention to prevent all possibility of speech or communication 
 with the centinels. The only motion I had the power to 
 make was that of jumping upward, or swinging my arms, to 
 procure myself warmth. When more accustomed to thesa 
 fetters, I was likewise capable of moving from side to side, 
 about four feet, but this pained my shin-bones. 
 
 This cell had been finished with lime and plaster but 
 eleven days, and every body supposed it would be im- 
 possible I should exist in these damps above a fortnight. I 
 remained six months, continually immersed in water, that 
 trickled upon me from the thick arches under which I was ; 
 and I can safely aflirrn that, for the first three months, I was 
 never dry ; yet did 1 continue in health. I was visited daily, 
 at noon, after relieving guard, and the doors were then 
 obliged to be left open for some minutes/otherwise the damp- 
 ness of the air put out their candles. 
 
 This was my situation, and here I sat, destitute of friends, 
 helplessly wretched, preyed on by all the torture of thought, 
 that continually suggested the most gloomy, the most dreadful 
 of images. My heart was not yet wholly turned to stone, 
 my fortitude was sunken to despondency ; my dungeon was
 
 161 
 
 the very cave of despair ; yet was my arm restrained, yet 
 was this excess of misery endured. 
 
 How then may hope be wholly eradicated from the heart 
 of man ! My fortitude after some time began to revive ; I 
 glowed with the desire of convincing the world I was capable 
 of suffering what man had never suffered before, perhaps of 
 at last emerging from this load of wretchedness, triumphant 
 over my enemies. So long and ardently did my fancy dwell 
 on this picture, that my mind at length acquired a heroism 
 which Socrates himself certainly never possessed. Age had 
 benumbed his sense of pleasure, and he drank the poisonous 
 draught with cool indifference ; J was young, inured to 
 high hopes, yet now beholding deliverance impossible, or at 
 an immense, a dreadful distance. Such too were the suf- 
 ferings of soul and body, I could not hope they might be 
 supported and live. 
 
 About noon my den was opened. Sorrow and compas- 
 sion were painted on the countenances of my keepers. No 
 one spoke : no one bade me good-morrow. Dreadful, in- 
 deed, was their arrival, for, unaccustomed to the monstrous, 
 bolts and bars, they were kept resounding a full half hour, 
 before such soul-chilling, such hope-murdering impediments 
 were removed. It was the voice of tyranny that thundered I 
 
 My night-table was taken out, a camp-bed, mattress, and 
 blankets, were brought me ; a jug of water set down, and 
 beside it an ammunition-loaf of six pounds weight. " That 
 you may no more complain of hunger," said the town-major, 
 " you shall have as much bread as you can eat." The door 
 was shut, and I again left to my thoughts. 
 
 What a strange thing is that called happiness ! How 
 shall I express my extreme joy, when, after eleven months 
 of intolerable hunger, I was again indulged with a full feast 
 of coarse ammunition-bread ! The fond lover never rushed 
 more eagerly to the arms of his expecting bride, the famish- 
 ed tiger more ravenously on his prey, than I upon this loaf; 
 J ate, rested, surveyed the precious morsel, ate again, and 
 
 7 Y
 
 162 
 
 absolutely shed tears of pleasure Breaking bit after bit,. 
 
 I had by evening devoured all my loaf. 
 
 Oh Nature ! what delight hast thou combined with th 
 gratification of thy wants ! Remember this, ye who gorge, 
 ye who rack invention to excite appetite, and which yet you 
 cannot procure ; remember how simple are the means that 
 will give a crust of mouldy bread a flavour more exquisite 
 than all the spices of the East, or all the profusion of land or 
 sea ; remember this, grow hungry, and indulge your sen- 
 suality. 
 
 Alas ! my enjoyment was of short duration. I soon found 
 that excess is followed by pain and repentance. My fasting 
 had weakened digestion, and rendered it inactive. My body 
 Swelled, my water-jug was emptied, cramps, cholics, and, at 
 length, inordinate thirst racked me all the night. I be~gan 
 to pour curses on those who seemed to refine on torture, 
 and, after starving me so long, to invite me to gluttony. 
 Could I not have reclined on my bed, I should indeed have 
 been driven, this night, to desperation : yet even this was 
 but a partial relief, for, not yet aocustomed to my enormous 
 fetters, I could not extend myself in them in the same man- 
 lier I was afterwards taught to do by habit. I dragged them, 
 however, so together, as to enable me to sit down on the 
 bare mattress. This, of all my nights of suffering, stands 
 foremost. When they opened my dungeon next day, they 
 found me in a truly pitiable situation, wondered at my appe- 
 tite, brought me another loaf ; I refused to accept it, be- 
 lieving I never more should have occasion for bread ; they, 
 however, left me one, gave me water, shrugged up their 
 shoulders, wished me farewell, as, according to all appear- 
 ance, they never expected to find me alive, and shut all the 
 doors without asking whether I wished or needed farther 
 assistance. 
 
 Three days had passed before I could again eat a morsel 
 of bread, and my mind, brave iu health, now, in a sick body, 
 became pusillanimous, so that I determine^. on death. The
 
 irons, every where round my body, aiuHhfeir weight, were 
 insupportable ; nor could I imagine it was possible I should 
 habituate myself to them, or endure them long enough to 
 expect deliverance. Peace was a very distant prospect. The 
 king had commanded that such a prison should be built as 
 should exclude all necessity of a ceutinel, in order that I 
 might not converse with and seduce them from what is 
 called their duty ; and, in the first days of despair, deliver- 
 ance appeared impossible ; and the fetters, the war, the 
 pain I felt, the place, the length of time, each circumstance 
 seemed equally impossible to support. A thousand reasons 
 convinced me it was necessary to end my sufferings. I shall 
 not enter into theological disputes : let those who blame me 
 imagine themselves in my situation ; or, rather, Let them 
 first actually endure my miseries, and then let them reason. 
 I had often braved death in prosperity, and at this moment 
 it seemed a blessing. 
 
 Full of these meditations, every minute's patience appear- 
 ed absurdity, and resolution meanness of soul, yet I wished 
 my mind should be satisfied that reason, and not rashness, 
 had induced the act. I therefore determined, that I might 
 examine the question coolly, to wait a week longer, and die 
 on the fourth of July. In the mean time I revolved in my 
 mind what possible means there were of escape, not fearing, 
 naked and chained, to rush and expire on the bayonets of 
 nay enemies. 
 
 The next day I observed, as the four doors were opened, 
 that they were only of wood, therefore questioned whether I 
 might not even cut off the locks with the knife that I had so 
 fortunately concealed ; and, should this and every other 
 means fail, then would be the time to die. I likewise deter- 
 mined to make an attempt even to free myself of my chains. 
 I happily forced my right hand through the hand-curt', 
 though the blood trickled from my nails. My attempts on 
 the left were long ineffectual : but, by rubbing with a brick,
 
 164 
 
 which I got from my seat, on the rivet that had been negli- 
 gently closed, I effected this also. 
 
 The chain was fastened to the rim round my body, by a 
 hook, one end of which was not inserted in the rim ; there- 
 fore, by setting my foot against the wall, I had strength 
 enough so far to bend this hook back, and open it, as to 
 force out the link of the chain. The remaining difficulty 
 was the chain that attached my foot to the wall : the links 
 of this chain I took, doubled, twisted, and wrenched, till, at 
 lepgth, nature having bestowed on me great strength, I 
 made a desperate effort, sprang forcibly up, and two links 
 at once flew off. 
 
 Fortunate, indeed, did I think myself; I hastened to the 
 door, groped in the dark to find the clinchings of the nails 
 by which the lock was fastened, and discovered no very 
 large piece of wood need be cut. Immediately I went to 
 work with my knife, and cut through the oak door, to find 
 its thickness, which proved to be only one inch, therefore 
 was it possible to open all the four doors in four and twenty 
 hours. 
 
 Again hope revived in my heart. To prevent detection 
 1 hastened to put on my chains ; but, oh God ! what diffi- 
 culties had I to surmount ! After much groping about, I 
 at length found the link that had flown off; this I hid. It 
 had been my good fortune hitherto to escape examination, 
 as the possibility of ridding myself of such chains, was in no 
 wise suspected. The separated links I tied together with 
 my hair ribbon ! but, when I again endeavoured to force 
 my hand into the ring, it was so swelled that every effort 
 was fruitless. The whole night was employed upon the 
 rivet, but all labour was in vain. 
 
 Noon was the hour of visitation, and necessity and dan- 
 ger again obliged me to attempt forcing my hand in, which 
 at length, after excruciating torture, 1 effected. My visitors 
 tame, and every thing had the appearance of order. I found
 
 165 
 
 it however, impossible to force out my right hand while it 
 continued swelled. 
 
 I therefore remained quiet till the day fixed, and on tha 
 determined fourth of July, immediately as my visitors had 
 closed the doors upon me, I disencumbered myself of my 
 irons, took my knife, and began my Herculean labour on 
 the door. The first of the double doors that opened in- 
 wards was conquered in less than an hour ; the other was a 
 very different task. The lock was soon cut round, but it 
 opened outwards ; there were therefore no other means left, 
 but to cut the whole door away above the bar. 
 
 Incessant and incredible labour made this possible, though 
 it was the more difficult, as every thing was to be done by 
 feeling, I being totally in the dark ; the sweat dropt, or 
 rather flowed from my body ; my fingers were clotted with 
 my own blood, and my lacerated hands were one continued 
 wound. 
 
 Day-light appeared, I clambered over the door that was 
 half cut away, and got up to the window in the space or cell 
 that was between the double doors, as before described. 
 Here I saw my dungeon was in the ditch of the first ram- 
 part : before me I beheld the road from the rampart, the 
 guard but fifty paces distant, and the high palisadoes that 
 were in the ditch, and must be scaled before I could reach 
 the rampart. Hope grew stronger ; my efforts were re- 
 doubled. The first of the next double doors was attacked, 
 which likewise opened inward, and was soon conquered. 
 The sun set before I had ended this, and the fourth was to 
 be cut away as the second had been. My strength failed ; 
 both my hands were raw : I rested awhile, began again, 
 and had made a cut of a foot long when my knife snapt, and 
 the broken blade dropt to the ground. 
 
 *#*##### 
 
 God of Omnipotence ! what was I at at this moment ! 
 Was there, God of Mercies ! was there ever creature of 
 thine more justified than I in despair ? The moon shon
 
 m 
 
 clear I cast a wild and distracted look up to heaven, fell 
 on my knees, and, in the agony of my soul, sought comfort ; 
 but no comfort could be feund, nor religion, nor philosophy 
 had any to give. I cursed not Providence, I feared not 
 annihilation, I dared not Almighty vengeance ; God the 
 Creator was the disposer of my fate ; and if he heaped afflic- 
 tions upon me he had not given me strength to support, his 
 justice would not therefore punish me. To him, the Judge 
 of the quick and dead, I committed my soul, seized the 
 broken knife, gashed through the veins of my left arm and 
 foot, sat myself tranquilly down, and saw the blood flow. 
 Nature, overpowered, fainted, and I know not how long I 
 remained slumbering in this state Suddenly I heard my 
 own name, awoke, and again heard the words, " Baron 
 Trenck !" My answer was, " Who calls ?** And who in- 
 deed was it who but my honest grenadier Gef hardt my 
 
 former faithful friend in the citadel. The good, the kind 
 
 fellow had got upon the rampart, that he might comfort me. 
 
 " How do you do ?" said Gef hardt " Weltering in my 
 blood," answered I ; " to-morrow you will find me dead." 
 *' Why should you die ?" replied he. " It is much easier for 
 you to escape here than from the citadel. Here is no centi- 
 toel, and I shall soon find means to provide you with tools : 
 if you can only break out, leave the rest to me. As often as 
 I am on guard I will seek opportunity to speak to you. In 
 the whole Star-Fort there are but two centinels, the one at 
 
 the entrance, and the other at the guard-house. Do not 
 
 despair, God will succour you ; trust to me." The good 
 man's kindness and discourse revived my hopes : I saw the 
 possibility of an escape. A secret joy diffused itself through 
 my soul I immediately tore my shirt, bound up my wounds, 
 and waited the approach of day ; and the sun soon after 
 shone through the window to me with unaccustomed bright- 
 ness. 
 
 Let the reader judge how far it was chance, how far the 
 efiect of Divine providence, that in this dreadful hour my
 
 107 
 
 heart again received hope. Who was it sent the honest 
 Gef hardt, at such a moment, to my prison ? For, had it not 
 been for him, I had certainly, when I awoke from my slum- 
 bers, cut more effectually through my arteries. 
 
 Till noon I had time to consider what might farther be 
 done ; yet, what could be done, what expected, but that I 
 should now be much more cruelly treated, and even more 
 insupportably ironed than before ; finding, as they must, 
 the doors cut through, and my fetters shaken off. 
 
 After mature consideration, I, therefore, made the follow- 
 ing resolution ; which succeeded happily, and even beyond 
 ny hopes. Before I proceed, however, I will speak a few 
 words concerning my situation at this moment. It is im- 
 possible to describe how much I was exhausted. The 
 prison swam with blood ; and, certainly, but little was left 
 in my body. With painful wounds, swelled and torn hands, 
 I there stood, shirtless, felt an inclination to sleep almost 
 irresistible, and scarcely had strength to keep my legs ; yet 
 was I obliged to rouse myself, that I might execute my plan. 
 
 With the bar that separated my hands I loosened the 
 bricks of my seat, which being newly laid, was easily done, 
 and heaped them up in the middle of my prison. The inner 
 door was quite open, and with my chains I so barricadoed 
 the upper half of the second, as to prevent any one climbing 
 over it. When noon came, and the first of the doors was 
 unlocked, all were astonished to find the second open. There 
 I stood, a desperate man, besmeared with blood, the picture 
 of horror, with a brick in one hand, and in the other my 
 broken knife, crying as they approached, " Keep off, 
 
 Mr. Major, keep off ! Tell the governor I will live no 
 
 longer in chains, and that here I stand, if he so pleases, 
 to be shot ; for so only will I be conquered. Here no 
 man shall enter I will destroy all that approach ; here 
 are my weapons, here will I die in despite of tyranny." The 
 major was terrified, wanted resolution, and made his report 
 to the governor. I, mean time, sat down on my bricks, to
 
 168 
 
 wait what might happen ; ; my secret intent, however, was 
 not so desperate as it appeared. I sought only to obtain a 
 favourable capitulation. 
 
 The governor, general Borck, presently came, attended 
 by the town -major, and some officers, and entered the out- 
 ward cell, but sprung back the moment he beheld a figure 
 like me, standing with a brick and uplifted arm. I repeat- 
 ed what I had told the major, and he immediately ordered 
 six grenadiers to force the door. The front cell was scarcely 
 six feet broad, so that no more than two at a time could at- 
 tack my intrenchment ; and when they saw my threatening 
 bricks ready to descend, they leaped, terrified, back. A 
 short pause ensued, and the old town-major, with the chap- 
 lain, advanced toward the door to sooth me : the conversa- 
 tion continued some time ; whose reasons were most satis- 
 factory, and whose cause was the most just, I leave to the 
 reader. The governor grew angry, and ordered a fresh 
 attack. The first grenadier was knocked down, and the resf 
 ran back to avoid my missiles. 
 
 The town-major again began a parley. " For God's 
 sake, nay dear Trenck," said he, " in what have I injured 
 you, that you endeavour to effect my ruin ? I must answer 
 for your having, through my negligence, concealed a knife. 
 Be persuaded, I entreat you. Be appeased. You are not 
 without hope, not without friends." My answer was " But 
 will you not load me with heavier irons than before ?" 
 
 He went out, spoke with the governor, and gave me his 
 word of honour that the affair should be no farther noticed, 
 and that every thing should be exactly reinstated as formerly. 
 
 Here ended the capitulation, and my wretched citadel 
 was taken. The condition I was in was viewed with pity ; 
 my wounds were examined, a surgeon sent to dress them, 
 another shirt was given me, and the bricks, clotted with 
 blood, removed. 1 meantime lay half dead on my mattress : 
 my thirst was excessive ; the surgeon ordered me some 
 wine ; two centinels were statioaed iu the front cell, and I
 
 169 
 
 Was thus left four days in peace, unironed. Broth also was 
 given me daily ; and how delicious this was to taste, how 
 much it revived and strengthened me, is wholly impossible 
 to describe. Two days I lay in a slumbering kind of trance, 
 forced, by unquenchable thirst, to drink whenever I awoke. 
 My feet and hands were swelled ; the pains in my back 
 and limbs were excessive. 
 
 On the fifth day the doors were ready ; the inner was en- 
 tirely plated with iron, and I was fettered as before : 
 perhaps they found further cruelty unnecessary. The prin- 
 cipal chain, however, which fastened me to the wall, like 
 that I had before broken, was thicker than the first. Ex- 
 cept this, the capitulation was strictly kept. They deeply 
 regretted that, without the king's express commands, they 
 could not lighten my afflictions ; wished me fortitude and 
 patience, and barred up my doors. 
 
 It is necessary I should here describe my dress. My 
 hands being fixed and kept asunder, by an iron bar, and my 
 feet chained to the wall, I could neither put on shirt or 
 stockings in the usual mode ; the shirt was therefore tied, 
 as represented in the plate, and changed once a fortnight ; 
 the coarse ammunition stockings were buttoned on thft 
 sides ; a blue garment, of soldier's cloth, was likewise tied 
 round me, and I had a pair of slippers for ray feet. The 
 shirt was of the army linen ; and when I contemplated my- 
 self in this dress of a malefactor, chained thus to the wall, in 
 such a dungeon, vainly imploring mercy or justice, my con- 
 science void of reproach, my heart of guilt ; when I re- 
 flected on my former splendor in Berlin and Moscow, and 
 compared it with this sad, this dreadful reverse of destiny, 
 I was sunk in grief, or roused fco indignation, that might 
 have hurried the greatest hero or philosopher to madness or 
 despair. I felt what can only be imagined by him who has 
 suffered like me, after having like me flourished, if such can 
 be found. 
 
 Pride, the justness of my cause, the unbounded confidence 
 8 Z
 
 170 
 
 I had in. my own resolution, and the labours of an inventive 
 head, and an iron body, these only could have preserved my 
 life. These bodily labours, these continued inventions, and 
 projected plans to obtain my freedom, preserved my health. 
 Who would suppose that a man, fettered as I was, could 
 find means of exercising himself ? By swinging my arms, 
 acting with the upper part of my body, and leaping upward, 
 I frequently put myself in a strong perspiration. After 
 thus wearying myself, I slept soundly, and often thought 
 how many generals, obliged to support all the inclemencies 
 of weather, and all the dangers of the field how many of 
 those who had plunged me into this den of misery, would 
 have been most glad, could they, like me, have slept with a 
 quiet conscience. Often did I reflect how much happier I 
 was than those tortured on the bed of sickness, by gout, 
 atone, and other diseases, terrible to man. How much hap- 
 pier was I in innocence, than the malefactor doomed to suf- 
 fer the pangs of death, the ignominy of men, and the hor, 
 rors of internal guilt ! 
 
 In the following part of my history it will appear I often 
 had much money concealed under the ground, and in the 
 walls of my den ; yet would I have given a hundred ducats 
 ^or a morsel of bread, it could not have been procured. 
 Money was to me useless. In this I resembled the miser 
 who hoards, yet lives in wretchedness, having no joy in 
 gentle acts of benevolence. As proudly might I delight 
 myself with my hidden treasure, as suck misers ; nay more, 
 for I was secure from robbers. 
 
 Had fastidious pomp been my pleasure, I might hare ima- 
 gined myself some old field-marshal bedridden, who hears 
 two grenadier centinels at his door call " Who goes there ?" 
 JMy honour indeed was still greater, for, during my last 
 year's imprisonment, my door was guarded with no less 
 than four. My vanity also might have flattered itself; I 
 bence might conclude how high was the value set upon my 
 keqd, since all this trouble was takeujo hold me in security.
 
 171 
 
 Certain it is that in my chains I thought more rationally, 
 more nobly, reasoned more philosophically on man, his na- 
 ture, his real, his imaginary wants, the effects of his am- 
 bition, bis passions, and saw more distinctly his dream of 
 earthly good, than those who had imprisoned me, or those 
 who guarded. I was void of the fears that haunt the pa- 
 rasite, who servilely wears the chains of a court, and daily 
 trembles for the loss of what vice and cunning have acquired. 
 Those who have usurped my Sclavonian estates, and feasted 
 sumptuously from the service of plate I had been robbed of, 
 never ate their dainties with so sweet an appetite as I my 
 ammunition bread, nor did their high-flavoured wines flow 
 so limpid as my cold water. 
 
 Thus the man who thinks, being pure of heart, will find 
 consolation when under the most dreadful of calamities, 
 convinced, as he must be, that those apparently most are 
 frequently least happy, insensible as they are of the plea- 
 sures they might enjoy. Evil never is so great as it ap- 
 pears. 
 
 " Sweet are the uses of adversity. 
 Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
 Wears yet a precious jewel in its head." 
 
 A You Lik* It* 
 
 Happy he, who like me, having suffered, can become an 
 example to his suffering brethren. 
 
 YOUTH, prosperous, and imagining prosperity eternal, 
 read my history atte ntively, though I should be in my 
 grave ! Read feelingly, and bless my sleeping dust, if it 
 hath taught thee wisdom or fortitude. 
 
 FATHER, reading this, say to thy children, I like them, 
 in blooming youth, little prophesied of misfortune, which 
 
 * The Baron has quoted a poem written and published by him- 
 self. 
 
 " Im uebel selbst steckt noch ein dreiss. 
 " Wenn man shu nur zufinden weiss." 
 
 The similarity of the thought, which seems borrowed from 
 Shakspeare, justifies a quotation so b.eautiful. 
 Z 2
 
 m 
 
 after fell thus heavy on me, and by wlu'ch I am even still 
 persecuted ! Say that I had virtue, ambition, was educated 
 in iioble principles ; that I laboured with all the zeal of en- 
 thusiastic youth to become wiser, better, greater than other 
 men ; that I was guilty of no crimes, was the friend of men, 
 was no deceiver of man or woman ; that I first served my 
 own country faithfully, and, after, every other in which I 
 found bread ; that I was never, during my life, once intoxi- 
 cated ; was no gamester, no night rambler, no contemptible 
 idler; that yet, through envy and arbitrary power, I have* 
 fallen to misery, such as none but the worst of criminals 
 ought to feel. 
 
 BROTHER, fly those countries where the law-giver 
 knows no law, where truth and virtue are punished as 
 crimes : and, if fly you cannot, be it your endeavour to re- 
 main unknown, unnoticed ; in such countries seek net fa- 
 vour or honourable employ, else will you become, when 
 your merits are known, as I have been, the victim of slander 
 and treachery ; the behests of power will persecute you, and 
 innocence will not shield you from the shafts of wicked men, 
 who are envious, or who wish to obtain the favour of princes, 
 though by the worst of means. 
 
 SIRE, imagine not thou readest a romance: my head is 
 grey, like thine. Read, yet despise not the world, though 
 it has treated me thus unthaukfully. Good men have I also 
 found, who have befriended me in misfortune, and there, 
 where least I had claim, have I found them most. May 
 my book assist thee in noble thoughts ; mayst thou die as 
 tranquilly as I shall render up my soul to appear before the 
 Judge of me and my persecutors. Be death but thought, 
 a transition from motion to rest. Few are the delights of this 
 world for him, who, like me, has learned to know it. Mur- 
 mur not, despair not of Providence. Me, through storms, 
 it has brought to heaven ; through many griefs, to self- 
 knowledge ; and through prisons, to philosophy. He only 
 an tranquilly descend to annihilation, who finds reason uot
 
 in 
 
 to repent he has once existed. My rudder broke not amid 
 the rocks and quicksands, but my bark was cast upon th* 
 strand of knowledge. Yet, even on these clear shores, arc 
 impenetrable clouds. I have seen more distinctly thant it 
 as supposed men ought to see. Age will decay the facul- 
 ties, and mental, like bodily sight, must then decrease. 1 
 even grew weary of science, and envied the blind-born, or 
 those who, till death, have been wilfully hood winked. How 
 often have I been asked, " What didst thou see ?" And 
 when I answered with sincerity and truth, how often have I 
 been derided as a liar, and been persecuted by those who 
 determined not to see themselves, as an innovator, singular 
 and rash ! 
 
 Sire, I farther say to thee, teach thy descendants to seek 
 the golden mean, and say with Gellert-s " The boy Fritz 
 needs nothing : his stupidity will ensure his success." 
 Examine our wealthy and titled lords, what their abilities 
 are, and what their honours, then inquire how they were at- 
 tained, and, rf thou canst, discover in what true hapiness 
 consists. 
 
 Once more to my prison. The failure of my escape, and 
 the recovery of life from this state of despair, led me to 
 moralise deeper than I had ever done before ; and in this 
 depth of thought I found unexpected consolation and forti- 
 tude, and a firm persuasion I yet should accomplish my 
 deliverance. 
 
 Gefhardt, my honest grenadier, had infused fresh hope, 
 and my mind now busily began to meditate new plans. A 
 centinel had been placed before my door, that I might be 
 more narrowly watched, and the married men of the Prus- 
 sian states were appointed to this duty, who, as I shall here- 
 after show, were more easy to persuade in aiding my flight, 
 than foreign fugitives. The Pomeranian will listen, and is 
 by nature kind, therefore may easily be moved, and induce<J 
 to succour distress. 
 
 I began, to be more accustomed to my irons, which I bad
 
 174 
 
 before found so insupportable ; I could comb out my long 
 hair, and tic it at last with one hand. My beard, which had 
 so long remained unshaven, gave me a grim appearance, and 
 I began to pluck it up by the roots. The pain, at first, was 
 considerable, especially round the lips ; but this, also, 
 custom conquered, and I performed this operation in the 
 following years, once in six weeks or two months ; as the 
 hair thus plucked up required that length of time before the 
 nails could again get hold. Vermin did not molest me ; the 
 dampness of my den was inimical to them. My limbs never 
 swelled, because of the exercise I gave myself, as before 
 described. The greatest pain I found was in the continued 
 unvivifying dimness in which I lived. 
 
 I had read much ; had lived in, and seen much of the 
 world ; vacuity of thought therefore I was little troubled 
 with ; the former transactions of my life, what had happened, 
 and the remembrance of the persons I had known, I revolv- 
 ed so often in my mind, that they became as familiar and 
 connected as if the events had each been written in the order 
 it occured. Habit made this mental exercise so perfect to 
 me, that I could compose speeches, fables, odes, satires, all 
 which I repeated aloud ; and had so stored my memory 
 with them, that I was enabled, after I had obtained my free- 
 dom, to commit to writing two volumes of these my prison 
 labours. Accustomed to this exercise, days, that would 
 otherwise have been days of misery, appeared but as mo- 
 ments. The following narrative will show how much esteem, 
 how many friends, these compositions procured me, even 
 in my dungeon, insomuch that I obtained light, paper, and, 
 finally, freedom itself. For these have I to thank the in- 
 dustrious acquirements of my youth ; therefore, do I coun- 
 sel all my readers so to employ their time. Riches, honours, 
 the favours of fortune, may be showered by in on arc hs upon 
 the most worthless ; but monarch* can give and take, say 
 and unsay, raise and pull down. Monarchs, however, can
 
 175 
 
 wither give wisdom nor virtue. Arbitrary power itself, in 
 the presence of these, is foiled. 
 
 How wisely has Providence ordained that the endowments 
 of industry, learning, and science, attained by ourselves, can- 
 iot be taken from us ; while, on the contrary, what others 
 bestow is a fantastical dream, from which any accident may 
 a waken us ! The wrath of Frederic could destroy legions, 
 and defeat armies ; but it could not take from me the sense 
 of honour, of innocence, and, their sweet concomitant, 
 peace of mind could not deprive me of fortitude and mag- 
 nanimity : I defied his power, rested on the justice of my 
 cause, found in myself expedients wherewith to oppose him, 
 was at length crowned with conquest, and came forth to the 
 world the martyr of suffering virtue. 
 
 Some of my oppressors now rot in dishonourable graves. 
 Others, alas! in Vienna, remained immured in houses of 
 correction, as Kriigel and Zetto, or beg their bread, like 
 Gravenitz and Doo. Nor are the wealthy possessors of my 
 estates more fortunate, but look down with shame whenever 
 I and my children appear. We stand erect, esteemed, and 
 honoured, while their injustice is manifest to the whole 
 world. 
 
 Young man, be industrious ; for, without industry, can 
 none of the treasures I have described be purchased. Thy 
 labour will reward itself ; then, when assaulted by misfortune, 
 or even misery, learn of me, and smile ; or, shouldest thou. 
 escape such trials, still labour to acquire wisdom, that in old 
 age thou mayest find content and happiness. 
 
 The years in my dungeon passed away as days, those 
 moments excepted when, thinking on the great world, and 
 the deeds of great men, my ambition was roused : except 
 when, contemplating the vileness of my chains, and the 
 wretchedness of my situation, I laboured for liberty, and 
 found my labours endless and ineffectual : except while I 
 remember the triumph of ray enemies, and the splendor in 
 which those, by whom I had been plundered, lived* Then,
 
 176 
 
 .indeed, did I experience Intervals that approached madness, 
 despair, and horror : beholding myself destitute of friend 
 or protector, the empress herself, for whose sake I suffered j 
 deserting me ; reflecting on past times and past prosperity ; 
 remembering how the good and virtuous, from the cruel na- 
 ture of my punishment, must be obliged to conclude me a 
 wretch and a villain, and that all means of justification were 
 cut off; oh, God ! how did my heart beat ! with what 
 violence ! What would I not have undertaken, in these 
 suffering moments, to have put my enemies to shame ? 
 Vengeance and rage then rose rebellious against patience ; 
 long-suffering philosophy vanished, and the poisoned cup of 
 Socrates would have been the nectar of the gods. 
 
 Man deprived of hope is man destroyed. I found but 
 little probability in all my plans and projects ; yet did I 
 trust that some of them should succeed ; yet did I confide in 
 them, in my honest Gefhardt, and that I should still free 
 myself from my chains. 
 
 The greatest of all my incitements to patient endurance 
 was love. I had left behind me, in Vienna, a lady for whom 
 the world still was dear to me ; her would I neither desert 
 nor afflict. To her and my sister was my existence still 
 necessary. For their sakcs, who had lost and suffered so 
 much for mine, would 1 preserve my life : for them no diffi- 
 culty, no suffering, was too great ; yet them, alas ! when 
 long-desired liberty was restored, I found both in their 
 graves. The joy, for which I had borne so much, was no 
 more to be tasted. 
 
 About three weeks after my attempt to escape, the good 
 Gefhardt first came to stand centinel over me ; and the 
 centinel they had so carefully set was indeed the only hope 
 I could have of escape ; for help must be had from without, 
 or this was impossible. 
 
 The effort I had made had excited too much surprise and 
 alarm for me to pass without strict examination ; since, 011 
 the ninth day after I was confined, I had, ia eighteen hours,.
 
 so far broken through a prison built purposely for myself, 
 by a combination of so many projectors, and with such ex- 
 treme precaution, which prison had universally been de- 
 clared impenetrable. 
 
 Gefhardt scarcely had taken his post before we had "free 
 opportunity of conversing together ; for when I stood with 
 one foot on my bedstead, I could reach the aperture through 
 which light was admitted. 
 
 Gefhardt described the situation of ray dungeon ; and 
 our first plan was to break under the foundation, which he 
 had seen laid, and which he affirmed to be only two feet 
 deep. 
 
 Money was the first thing necessary. Gefhardt was re- 
 lieved during his guard, and returned bringing with him a 
 sheet of paper rolled on a wire, which he passed through my 
 grating; as he also did a piece of small wax-candle, some, 
 burning amadow (a kind of tinder), a match, and a pen. I 
 now had light, and I pricked ray finger, and wrote with my 
 blood to my faithful friend, captain Ruckhardt, at Vienna, 
 described my situation in a few words, sent him an acquit- 
 tance for three thousand florins -on my revenues, and re- 
 quested he would dispose of a thousand florins to defray 
 the expences of his journey to Gummern, only two miles 
 from Magdeburg. Here he was positively to be on the 15th 
 of August. About noon, on this same day, he was to walk, 
 with a letter in his hand ; and a man was there to meet him, 
 carrying a roll of smoking tobacco, to him he must remit the 
 two thousand florins, and return to Vienna. 
 
 I returned the written paper to Gefhardt by the same 
 means it had been received, gave him my instructions, and 
 he sent his wife with it to Gummern, by whom it was safely 
 put in the post. 
 
 My hopes daily rose ; and as often as Gefhardt mounted 
 
 guard, so often did we continue our projects. The 15th of 
 
 August came, but it was some days before Gefhardt was 
 
 again on guard ; and, oh ! how did my heart palpitate 
 
 8 Aa
 
 178 
 
 when he came and exclaimed, " All is right ! w have 
 succeeded !" He returned in the evening, and we began to 
 consider by what means he could convey the money to me. I 
 could not, with my hands chained to an iron bar, reach the 
 aperture of the window that admitted air ; beside that it 
 was too small. It was therefore agreed that Gefhardt 
 should, on the next guard, perform the office of cleaning my 
 dungeon, and that he then should convey the money to me 
 in the water-jug. 
 
 This, luckily, was done. How great was my astonish- 
 ment when, instead of one, I found two thousand florins ! 
 For I had permitted him to reserve half to himself, as a re- 
 ward for-his fidelity. He, however, had kept but five pis- 
 toles, which he persisted was enough. 
 
 Worthy Gefhardt 1 This was the act of a Pomeranian 
 grenadier ! How rare are such examples ! Be thy name 
 and mine ever united. Live thou while the memory of mo- 
 shall live. Never did my acquaintance with the great bring 
 to my knowledge, a soul so noble, so disinterested 1 
 
 It is true I afterward prevailed on him to accept the 
 whole thousand : but we shall soon see he never had them, 
 and that his foolish wife, three years after, suffered by their 
 means ; however, she suffered alone, for he soon marched 
 to the field, and therefore was unpunished. 
 
 Having money to carry on my designs, I began to put 
 my plan of burrowing under the foundation into execution. 
 The first thing necessary was to free myself from my fetters. 
 To accomplish this, Gefhardt supplied me with two small 
 files, and by the aid of these, t)iis labour, though great, was 
 effected. 
 
 The cap, or staple of the foot-ring, was made so wide, 
 that I could draw it forward a quarter of an inch. I filed 
 the iron which passed through it on the inside ; and the 
 more I filed this away, the farther I could draw the cap 
 down, till at last the whole inside iron, through which the 
 chains passed, was quite cut through ;. by this meant I
 
 179 
 
 could slip off the ring, while the cap on the outside continued 
 whole ; and it was impossible to discover any cut, as only 
 the outside could be examined. My hands, by continued 
 efforts, I so compressed, as to be able to draw them out of 
 the hand-cuffs. I then filed the hinge, and made a screw- 
 driver of one of the foot-long flooring nails, by which I 
 could take out the screws at pleasure, so that at the time of 
 examination no proofs would appear. The rim round my 
 body was but a small impediment, except the chain, which 
 passed from my hand-bar ; and this I removed, by filing 
 an aperture in one of the links, which, at the necessary hour, 
 I closed with bread, rubbed over with rusty iron, first drying 
 it by the heat of my body ; and would wager any sum that, 
 "without striking the chain, link by link, with a hammer^no 
 one, not in the secret, would have discovered this fracture. 
 
 The window was never strictly examined ; I, therefore, 
 drew the two staples by which the iron bars were fixed to 
 the wall, and which I daily replaced, carefully plastering 
 tUem over. I procured wire from Gef hardt, and tried how 
 well I could imitate the inner grating. Finding I succeeded 
 tolerably, I cut the real grating totally away, and substi- 
 tuted an artificial one of my own fabricating, by which I ob- 
 tained a free communication with the outside, additional 
 fresh air, together with all necessary implements, tinder and 
 candles. That the light might not be seen, I hung the 
 coverlid of my bed before the window, so that I could work 
 fearless and undetected. 
 
 Every thing prepared, I went to work. The floor of my 
 dungeon was not of stone, but oak planks, three inches thick, 
 three beds of which were laid crosswise, and were fastened 
 to each other by nails, half an inch in diameter, and a foot 
 long. Having worked round the head of a nail, I ^ade 
 use of the hole at the end of the bar which separated my 
 hands, to draw it out, and this nail I sharpened upon my 
 tomb-stone into an excellent chisel. 
 
 1 now cut through the board more than an inch io widtU,
 
 180 
 
 that I might work downward ; and having drawn away a 
 piece of board which was inserted two inches under the wall, 
 I'cut this so as exactly to fit : the small crevice it occasioned 
 I stopped up with bread, and strewed over with dust, so 
 as to prevent all suspicious appearance. My labour under 
 this was continued with less precaution, and I had soou 
 worked through my nine-inch planks. Under them I came 
 to a find white sand, on which the Star- Fort was built. 
 My chips I carefully distributed beneath the boards. If I 
 had not help from without, I could proceed no farther ; for 
 to dig were useless, unless I could rid myself of my rubbish. 
 Gef hardt supplied me with some ells of cloth, of which I 
 made long narrow bags, stuffed them with earth, and passed 
 them between the iron bars to Gef hardt, who as often as he 
 was on guard, scattered or conveyed away their contents. 
 
 Furnished with room to secret them under the floor, I 
 obtained more instruments, together with a pair of pistols, 
 powder, ball, and a bayonet. 
 
 I now discovered that the foundation of my prison, instead 
 of two, was sunken four feet deep. Time, labour and pa- 
 tience, were all necessary to break out, unheard, and undis- 
 covered ; but few things are impossible where resolution is 
 not wanting. 
 
 The hole I made was obliged to be four feet deep, corres- 
 ponding with the foundation, and wide enough to kneel and 
 stoop in : the lying down on the floor to work, the continual 
 stooping to throw out the earth, the narrow space in which 
 all must be performed, these made the labour incredible ; 
 and, after this daily labour, all things were to be replaced, 
 and my chains again resumed, which alone required some 
 hours to effect. My greatest aid Avas in the wax candles, 
 andght I had procured ; but as Gef hardt stood centinel 
 only once a fortnight, my work was much delayed : the ceu- 
 tinels were forbidden to speak to me under pain of death ; 
 and I was too fearful of being betrayed to dare to seek new 
 assistance.
 
 181 
 
 Being without a stove, I suffered much this winter from, 
 cold, yet my heart was cheerful, as I saw the probability 
 of freedom; and all were astonished to find me in such 
 good spirits. 
 
 Gefhardt also brought me supplies of provisions, chiefly 
 consisting of sausages and salt meats ready dressed, Which 
 increased my strength ; and when I was not digging I wrote 
 satires and verses : thus time was employed, and I con- 
 tented, even in prison. 
 
 Lulled into security, an accident happened, that will ap- 
 pear almost incredible, and by which every hope was nearly 
 frustrated. 
 
 Gefhardt had been working with me, and was relieved in 
 the morning. As I was replacing the window, which I 
 was obliged to remove on these occasions, it fell out of my 
 hand, and three of the glass panes were broken. Gefhardt 
 was not to return till guard was again relieved ; I had, 
 therefore no opportunity of speaking with him, or concerting 
 any mode of repair. I remained nearly an hour conjec- 
 turing and hesitating ; for certainly, had the broken win- 
 dow been seen, as it was impossible I should reach it when 
 fettered, I should immediately have been more rigidly ex- 
 amined, and the false grating must have been discovered. 
 
 I therefore came to a resolution, and spoke to the centinel, 
 who was amusing himself with whistling, thus : " My good 
 fellow, have pity, not upon me, but upon your comrades, 
 who, should you refuse, will certainly be executed : I will 
 throw you thirty pistoles through the window, if you will do 
 me a small favour." He remained some moments silent, 
 and at last answered, in a low voice, " What ! have you 
 money then ?" I immediately counted thirty pistoles, and 
 threw them through the window. He asked to know what he 
 was to do : I told my difficulty, and gave him the size of 
 the panes in paper. The man, fortunately was bold and 
 prudent. The door of the palisadoes, through the negli- 
 gence of the officer, had cot been shut that day : he pre-
 
 m 
 
 prevailed on ohe of his comrades to stand ccntinel for him, 
 during half an hour, while he, mean time, ran into the town, 
 and procured the glass ; on the receipt of which I instantly 
 threw him ten more pistoles. Before the hour of noon and 
 visitation came, every thing was once more reinstated, my 
 glazery performed to a miracle, and the life of my worthy 
 Gefhardt preserved ! Such is the power of money in this 
 world ! This is a very remarkable incident, for I never 
 spoke after to the man who did me this signal service. 
 
 Gefhardt* s alarm may easily be imagined : he, some days 
 after, returned to his post, and was the more astonished, as 
 he knew the centinel who had done me this good office ; 
 that he had five children, and was a man most to be de- 
 pended on by his officers of any one in the whole grenadier 
 company. 
 
 I now continued my labour, and found it very possible to 
 break out under the foundation : but Gefhardt had been so 
 terrified by the late r accident, that he started "a thousand 
 difficulties, in proportion as my end was more nearly ac- 
 complished; and, at the moment when I wished to concert 
 with him the means of flight, he persisted it was necessary 
 to find additional help to escape ,in safety, and not bring 
 l>oth him and myself to destruction. At length we came to 
 the following determination; which, however, after eight 
 months' incessant labour past, rendered my whole project 
 abortive. 
 
 I wrote once more to Ruckhardt, at Vienna; sent him a 
 new' assignment for money, and desired he would again 
 repair to Gummern, where he should wait six several nights-, 
 with two spare horses, on the glacis of Klosterbergen, at 
 the time appointed, every thing being prepared for flight. 
 Within these six days, Gefhardt would have found means, 
 either in rotation, or by exchanging the guard, to have been 
 with me. Alas ! the sweet hope of again beholding the face 
 of the sun, of once more obtaining my freedom, endured but 
 three days. Providence thought proper otherwise to ordain.
 
 183 
 
 t3cf hardt $ent bis wife to Gummern with the latter, and 
 tliis silly woman told the post-master her husband had a 
 lawsuit at Vienna, that, therefore, she begged he would 
 take particular care of the letter ; for which pupose she 
 slipped ten rix- dollars into his hand. 
 
 This unexpected liberality raised the suspicions of the 
 Saxon post-master, who, therefore, opened the letter, read 
 the contents, and instead of sending it to Vienna, or, at 
 least, to the general post-master at Dresden, he preferred 
 the traitorous act of taking it himself to the governor of 
 Magdeburg, who then, as at present, was prince Ferdinand 
 of Brunswick. 
 
 What were my terrors, what my despair, when I beheld 
 the prince himself, about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
 enter my prison, with his attendants, present my letter, and 
 ask, in an authoritative voice, who had carried it to Gum- 
 jnern. My answer was, I knew not. Strict search was 
 immediately made, by smiths, carpenters, and masons ; and, 
 after half an hour's examination, they discovered neither 
 my hole, nor the manner in which I disencumbered myself 
 of my chains ; they only saw that the middle grating, in the 
 aperture where the light was admitted, had been removed. 
 This was boarded up the next day, and only a small air- 
 hole left, of about six inches diameter. 
 
 The prince began to threaten ; I persisted I had nevei> 
 seen the oentinel who had rendered me this service, nor 
 asked his name. Seeing his attempts all ineffectual, the 
 governor, in a milder tone, said, "You have ever complained, 
 baron Trenck, of not having hitherto been legally sen- 
 tenced, or heard in your own defence; I give you my word 
 of honour this you shall be, and, also, that you shall be re- 
 leased from your fetters, if you will only tell me who took 
 your letter." To this I replied with all the fortitude of 
 
 innocence, " Every body knows, my lord, I have never 
 
 deserved the treatment I have met with in my country. 
 My Ueart is irreproachable, I seek to recover my liberty
 
 m 
 
 by erery means in my power ; but were I capable of betray- 
 ing the man whose compassion has induced him to succour 
 my distress, were I the coward that could purchase happi- 
 ness at his expence, I then should, indeed, deserve to wear 
 these chains with which I am loaded. For myself, do with 
 me what you please ; yet remember I am not wholly desti- 
 tute, I am still a captain in the imperial service, and a de- 
 scendant of the house of Trenck." 
 
 Prince Ferdinand stood, for a moment, unable to answer, 
 then renewed his threats, and left my dungeon. I have 
 been since told that, when he was out of hearing, he said to 
 those round him, " I pity his hard fate, and cannot but ad- 
 mire his strength of mind !" 
 
 I must here remark that, when we remember the usual 
 circumspection of this great man, we are obliged to wonder 
 at his imprudence in holding a conversation of such a kind 
 with me, which lasted a considerable time, in the presence 
 of the guard. The soldiers of the whole garrison had after- 
 ward the utmost confidence, as they were convinced I would 
 not meanly devote others to destruction, that I might be- 
 nefit myself. This was the way to gain me esteem and in- 
 tercourse among the men, especially as the duke had said 
 he knew I must have money concealed, for that I had dis- 
 tributed some to the centinels. 
 
 He had scarcely been gone an hour, before I heard a 
 noise near my prison. I listened What could it be ? I 
 heard talking, and learned a grenadier had hanged himself 
 to the palisadoes of my prison. 
 
 The officer of the guard, and the town-major, again en- 
 tered my dungeon, to fetch a lantern they had forgotten ; 
 and the officer, at going out, told me, in a whisper, " One 
 of your associates has just hanged himself." 
 
 It is impossible to impart my terror or sensations ; I be- 
 lieved it could be only my kind, my honest friend Gef hardt. 
 After many gloomy thoughts, and lamenting the unhappy 
 end of so worthy a fellow, I began to recollect what the
 
 185 
 
 prince had promised me, if I would discover my accomplice. 
 I knocked at the door, desired to speak to the officer ; he 
 came to the window, and asked what I wanted ? I re- 
 quested he would inform the governor, that if he would 
 send me a light, pen, ink, and paper, I would discover my 
 whole secret. 
 
 These were accordingly sent ; an hour's time was granted ; 
 the door was shut, and I left alone. I sat myself down, be- 
 gan to write on my night-table, and was about to insert 
 the name of Gefhardt, but my blood thrilled, and shrunk 
 back to my heart. I shuddered, rose, went to the aperture 
 of the window, and called, " Is there no man who, in com- 
 passion, will tell me the name of him who has hanged him- 
 self, that I may deliver many others from destruction ?" The 
 window was not nailed up till the next day ; I therefore 
 wrapped five pistoles in a paper, threw them out, called to 
 the centinel, and said, " Friend, take these, and save thy 
 comrades ; or, go, betray me, and bring down innocent 
 blood upon thy head !" 
 
 The paper was taken up ; a pause of silence ensued ; I 
 heard sighs, and presently after, a low voice said, " His 
 name is Schiitz, he belonged to the company of Ripps." 
 I had never heard the name before, or known the man ; but 
 I, however, immediately wrote Schiitz, instead of Gefhardt. 
 Having finished the letter, I called the lieutenant, who took 
 that and the light away, and again barred up the door of 
 my dungeon. The duke, however, suspected there must 
 be some collusion, and every thing remained in the same 
 state ; I obtained neither hearing nor court-martial. I 
 learned, in the sequel, the following circumstances, which 
 will display the truth of this apparently incredible story. 
 
 While I was imprisoned in the citadel, a centinel came to 
 the post under my window, cursed and blasphemed, ex- 
 claimed aloud " Damn the Prussian service ! If Trenck 
 only knew my mind, he would not long continue in his in- 
 fernal hole !" I entered into discourse with him, and he 
 8 ' B b
 
 180 
 
 told me if I could give him money to purchase a boat, in 
 which he might cross the Elbe, he would soon make my 
 doors fly open, and set me free. 
 
 Money at that time I bad none ; but I gave him a dia- 
 mond shirt buckle, worth five hundred florins, which I had 
 concealed. I never heard more from this man ; he spoke to 
 me no more. He often stood centinel over me, which I knew 
 by his Westplialian dialect ; and I as often addressed my- 
 self to him, but ineffectually, he would make no answer. 
 
 This Schutz must have sold my buckle, and let his riches 
 be seen ; for, when the duke left me, the lieutenant on 
 guard said to him " You must certainly be the rascal who 
 carried Trenck's letter ; you have, for some time past, spent 
 mu eh money, and we have seen you with louis-d'ors. How 
 came you by them ? Schutz was terrified ; his conscience 
 accused him ; he imagined I should betray him, knowing 
 he had deceived me. He, therefore, in the first agonies of 
 despair, came to the palisadoes, and hung himself before 
 the door of my dungeon. 
 
 How wonderful is the hand of Providence ! The wicked 
 man fell a sacrifice to his crime, after having escaped a 
 whole year, and the faithful, the benevolent-hearted Gjef- 
 hardt, was thereby saved. 
 
 The centinels were now doubled, that any intercourse 
 with them might be rendered more difficult. Gef hardt again 
 stood guard, but he had scarcely opportunity, without dan- 
 ger, to speak a few words : he thanked me for having pre- 
 served him, wished me better fortune, and told me the gar- 
 rison in a few days would take the field. 
 
 This was dreadful news : my whole plan was destroyed 
 at a breath. I, however, soon recovered fresh hopes. The 
 hole I had sunken was not discovered : I had five hundred 
 florins, candles, and implements. 
 
 The seven-years war broke out about a week after, and 
 the regiments took the field. Major Weyner came, for the 
 last time, and committed me to the care of the new major of
 
 187 
 
 the militia, Bruckhausen, who was one of the most surly and 
 stupid of men. Ishall often have occasion to mention this man. 
 
 All the majors and lieutenants of the guard, who had 
 treated me with compassion and esteem, now departed, and I 
 became an old prisoner in a new world. I acquired greater 
 confidence, however, by remembering that both officers and 
 men in the militia were much easier to gain over than in the 
 regulars ; the truth of which opinion was soon confirmed 
 tome. 
 
 Four lieutenants were appointed, with their men, to 
 mount guard at the Star-Fort in turn ; and, before a year 
 had passed, three of them were in my interest. 
 
 The regiments had scarcely taken the field ere the new 
 governor, general Borck, entered my prison like what he 
 was, an imperious, cruel tyrant. The king, in giving him 
 the command, had informed him he must answer for my 
 person with his head ; he therefore had full power to treat me 
 with whatever severity he pleased. 
 
 Borck was a stupid man, of an unfeeling heart, the slave 
 of despotic orders, and, as often as he thought it possible I 
 might rid myself of my fetters, and escape, his heart palpi- 
 tated with fear. In addition to this, he considered me as 
 the vilest of men and traitors, seeing his king had con- 
 demned me to imprisonment so cruel ; and his barbarity 
 toward me was thus the effect of character, and meanness 
 of soul. He entered my dungeon, not as an officer to visit 
 a brother officer in misery, but as an executioner to a felon. 
 Smiths then made their appearance, and a monstrous iron 
 collar, of a hand's breadth, was put round my neck, and 
 connected with the chains of the feet by additional heavy 
 links ; as may be seen in the plate. My window was walled 
 up, except a small air-hole. He even, at length, took away 
 my bed, gave me no straw, and quitted me with a thousand 
 revilings on the empress-queen, her whole army, and my- 
 self. In words, however, I was little in his debt ; and he 
 was enraged even to madness. 
 Bbl
 
 188 
 
 What my situation was under this additional load of ty- 
 ranny, and the command of a man so void of human pity, 
 the reader must imagine. My greatest good fortune con- 
 sisted in the ability I still had to disencumber myself of all 
 the irons that were connected with the ancle-rims, and the 
 provision I had of light, paper, and implements ; and 
 though it was, apparently, impossible I should break out 
 undiscovered by both centinels, yet had I the remaiaing 
 hope of gaining some officer, by money, who, as in Glatz, 
 should assist my escape. 
 
 Had the commands of the king been literally obeyed, 
 escape would have been wholly impossible j for, by this, all 
 communication Would have been cut totally off with the cen- 
 tinels. To this effect the four keys of the four doors were 
 each to be kept by different persons ; one with the gover- 
 nor, another with the town-major, the third with the major 
 of the day, and the fourth with the lieutenant of the guard. 
 I never could have found opportunity to have spoken 
 with any one of them singly. These commands, at first, 
 were rigidly observed, with this exception, that the gover- 
 nor made his appearance only every week. Magdeburg be- 
 came so full of prisoners, that the town-major was obliged to 
 deliver up his key to the major of the day, and the gover- 
 nor's visitations wholly subsided, the citadel being an 
 English mile and a half distant from the Star-Fort. 
 
 General Walrabe*, who had been a prisoner ever since 
 the year 1746, was also at the Star-Fort, but he had apart- 
 ments, and three thousand rix-dollars a year. The major 
 
 * Walrave (or Walrabe) had long been suspected of partiality 
 to Austria, lie being a bigotted catholic, He was at length be- 
 trayed by a mistress, for whose husband (for she was married) he 
 had obtained the dignity of counsellor. Frederick when he 
 granted the title, told Walrave it certainly became the mistress of 
 a general to have a counsellor for a husband. He was superin- 
 tendant of the fortifications, and was confined, not, according l<> 
 Fischer, in 1746, but in 1748, in a prison himself had built at 
 Magdeburg. 
 
 Sc Fischer Geschitehte Fried. II. Theil I. S. 265,
 
 180 
 
 of the day and the officers of the guard dined with him daily, 
 and generally staid till evening. Either from compassion, 
 or a concurrence of fortunate circumstances, these gentle- 
 men entrusted the keys to the lieutenant on guard, by 
 which means I could speak with each of them alone when 
 they made their visit, and they themselves, at length, sought 
 these opportunities. My consequent undertakings I shall 
 relate with all brevity, that I may not fatigue the reader witli 
 all the arts and inventions of a wretched prisoner endeavour- 
 ing to escape. 
 
 Borck had selected three majors and four lieutenants only 
 for this service, as those he best could trust. My situation 
 was truly deplorable. The enormous iron round my neck 
 pained me, and prevented motion ; and I durst not attempt 
 to desengage myself from the pendent chains till I had, for 
 some months, carefully observed the mode of their examina- 
 tion, and which parts they supposed were perfectly secure. 
 The cruelty of depriving me of my bed was still greater : 
 I was obliged to sit upon the bare ground, and lean with my 
 head against the damp wall. The chains that descended 
 from the neck collar were obliged to be supported first 
 with one hand, and then with the other ; for, if thrown 
 behind, they would have strangled me, and, if hanging for- 
 ward, occasioned most excessive head-achs. The bar 
 between my hands held one down while leaning on my 
 elbow, I supported with my other my chains ; and this so 
 benumbed the muscles and prevented circulation, that I 
 could perceive my arms sensibly waste away. The little 
 sleep I could have in such a situation may easily be sup- 
 posed ; and, at length, body and mind sunk under this ac- 
 cumulation of miserable suffering, and I fell ill of a burning 
 fever. 
 
 The tyrant Borck was inexorable ; he wished to expedite 
 my death, and rid himself of his troubles and his terrors. Here 
 did I experience what was the lamentable condition of a 
 sick prisoner, without bed, refreshment, or aid from human
 
 190 
 
 being. Reason, fortitude, heroism, all the noble qualities 
 of the mind, decay when'the corporeal faculties are diseased j 
 and the remembrance of my sufferings, at this dreadful mo- 
 ment, still agitates, still inflames, my blood, so as almost 
 to prevent an attempt to describe what they were. 
 
 Yet hope had not totally forsaken me. Deliverance 
 seemed possible, especially should peace ensue ; and I sus- 
 tained, perhaps what mortal man never bore, except myself, 
 being, as I was, provided with pistols, or any such imme- 
 diate mode of dispatch. 
 
 I continued ill about two months, and was so reduced, 
 at last, that I had scarcely strength to lift the water -jug to 
 my mouth. What must the sufferings of that man be who 
 sits two months on the bare ground in a dungeon so damp, 
 so dark, so horrible, without bed or straw, his limbs loaded 
 as mine were, with no refreshment but dry ammunition-bread, 
 without so much as a drop of broth, without physic, without 
 consoling friend, and who, under all these afflictions, must 
 trust, for his recovery, to the efforts of nature alone. 
 
 Sickness itself is sufficient to humble the mightiest mind ; 
 what then is sickness, with such addition of torment? The 
 burning fever, the violent head-achs, my neck swelled and 
 inflamed with the irons, enraged me almost to madness. 
 The fever, and the fetters, together, flayed my body so that 
 it appeared like one continued wound Enough! Enough! 
 The malefactor extended living on the wheel, to whom 
 the cruel executioner refuses the last stroke, the blow of 
 death, must yet, in some short period, expire: he suffers 
 nothing I did not then suffer, and these my excruciating 
 pangs continued two dreadful months Yet, can it be 
 supposed ? There came a day ! A day of horror, when 
 these mortal pangs were, beyond imagination, increased ! I 
 sat, scorched with this intolerable fever, in which nature 
 and death were contending, and, when attempting to quench 
 my burning entrails with cold water, the jag dropped from 
 my feeble hands, and broke! I had four-and-twenty hours to
 
 191 
 
 remain without water. So intolerable, so devouring, was 
 my thirst, I could have drank human blood ! Ay, in my mad- 
 ness, had it been the blood of my father ! 
 
 ******** 
 
 Willingly would I have seized my pistols, but strength 
 had forsaken me ; I could not open the place I was obliged 
 to render so secure. 
 
 My visitors, next day, supposed me gone at last I lay 
 motionless, with my tongue out of my mouth. They poured 
 water down my throat, and found life. 
 
 O God ! O God ! How pure, how delicious, how exquisite, 
 was this water! My insatiable thirst soon emptied the 
 jug; they filled it anew, bade me farewell, hoped death 
 would soon relieve my mortal sufferings, and departed. 
 
 The lamentable state in which I lay, at length, became 
 so much the subject of general conversation, that all the 
 ladies of the town united with the officers, and prevailed on 
 the tyrant, Borck, to restore me my bed. 
 
 O Nature ! what are thy operations ! From the day I 
 drank water in such excess I gathered strength, and, to the 
 astonishment of every one, soon recovered. I had moved the 
 heart of the officer who inspected my prison ; and, after six 
 months, six cruel mouths, of added misery, the day of hope 
 again began to dawn. 
 
 One of the majors of the day entrusted his key to lieute- 
 nant Sonntag, who came alone, spoke in confidence, and 
 related his own situation, complained of his debts, his 
 poverty, his necessities ; and I made him a present of 
 twenty-five louis d'ors, for which he was so grateful that 
 our friendship became unshaken. 
 
 The three lieutenants all commiserated me, and would 
 sit hours with me, when a certain major had the inspection ; 
 and he himself, after a time, would even pass half the day 
 with me. He, too, was poor ; and I gave him a draft for 
 three thousand florins : hence new projects took birth. 
 
 Money became necessary ; I had dispersed all I pos-
 
 19* 
 
 sessed, a hundred florins excepted, among the officers. The 
 
 eldest son of captain K n, who officiated as major, had 
 
 been cashiered : his father complained to me of his distress, 
 and I sent him to my sister, not far from Berlin, from whom 
 he received a hundred ducats. He returned, and related 
 her joy at hearing from me. He found her exceedingly ill ; 
 and she informed me, in a few lines, that my misfortunes, 
 and the treachery of Weingarten, had entailed poverty upon 
 her, and an illness which had endured more than two years. 
 She wished me a happy deliverance from my chains, and, in 
 expectation of death, committed her children to my protec- 
 tion. She, however, grew better, and married a second 
 time, colonel Pape; but died in the year 1758. I shall for- 
 bear to relate her history ; it indeed does no honour to the 
 ashes of Frederic, and would but less dispose my own heart 
 to forgiveness, by reviving the memory of her oppressions 
 and griefs. 
 
 K n returned happy with the money ; all tilings were 
 
 concerted with the father. I wrote to the countess Bestu- 
 chef, also to the Grand Duke, afterwards Peter III. recom- 
 mended the young soldier, and entreated every possible suc- 
 cour for myself. 
 
 K n departed, through Hamburg, for Petersburg, 
 
 where, in consequence of my recommendation, he became a 
 captain, and in a short time a major. He took his measures 
 so well, that I, by the intervention of his father, and a Ham- 
 burg merchant, received two thousand rubles from the 
 countess, while the service he rendered me made his own 
 fortune in Russia. 
 
 To old K n, who was as poor as he was honest, I gave 
 three hundred ducats; and he till death, continued my 
 grateful friend. I distributed nearly as jmuch to the other 
 officers ; and matters proceeded so far, that lieutenant Glo- 
 tin gave back the keys to the major without locking my pri- 
 son, himself passing half the night with me. Money was 
 given to the guard to drink j ami thus every thing succeeded
 
 193 
 
 to my wish, and the tyrant Borck was deceived. I had a 
 supply of light ; had books, newspapers, and ray days passed 
 swiftly away. I read, I wrote, I busied myself so thoroughly 
 that I almost forgot I was a prisoner. When indeed the 
 surly, dull blockhead, major Bruckhausen, had the inspec- 
 tion, every thing must be carefully reinstated. Major Z , 
 the second of the three, was also wholly mine. He was 
 particularly attached to me ; for I had promised to marry 
 his daughter, and, should I die in prison, bequeathed him 
 a legacy of ten thousand florins. 
 
 Lieutenant Sonntag got false hand-cuffs made for me, 
 that were so wide I could easily draw my hands out ; the 
 lieutenants only examined my irons ; the new hand-cuffs 
 were made perfectly similar to the old, and Bruckhausen 
 had too much stupidity to remark any difference. 
 
 The remainder of my chains I could disencumber myself 
 of at pleasure. When I exercised myself, I held them in 
 my hands, that the centinels might be deceived by their 
 clanking. The neck iron was the only one I durst not re- 
 move ; it was, likewise, too strongly rivetted. I filed 
 through the upper link of the pendant chain however, by 
 which means I could take it off, and this I concealed with 
 bread in the manner before mentioned. 
 
 So could I disencumber myself of most of my fetters, and 
 sleep at ease. I again obtained sausages and cold meat, 
 and thus my situation, bad as it still was, became less mi- 
 serable. Liberty, still, however, was most desirable : but, 
 alas ! not one of the three lieutenants had the courage of a 
 Schell : Saxony too was in the hands of the Prussians, and 
 flight, therefore, more dangerous. Persuasion was in vain, 
 with men determined to risk nothing, but, if they went, to 
 go in safety. Will, indeed, was not wanting in Glotin and 
 Sonntag ; but the first was a poltroon, and the latter a man 
 of scruples, who likewise thought this step might be the 
 ruin of his brother in Berlin. 
 
 The centiuels were doubled, therefore my escape through 
 9 Cc
 
 ray hole, which had been two years dug, could not, unper- 
 ceived by them, be effected ; still less could I, in face of the 
 guard, clamber the twelve-feet high palisadoes. The fol- 
 lowing labour therefore, though Herculean, was undertaken. 
 
 Lieutenant Sonntag, measuring the interval between the 
 hole I had dug and the entrance of the gallery in the 
 principal rampart, found it to be thirty-seven feet. Into 
 this, it was possible, I might, by mining, penetrate. The 
 difficulty of the enterprise was lessened by the nature of 
 the ground, a fine white sand. Could I reach the gallery 
 my freedom was certain. I had been informed how many 
 steps to the right or left must be taken, to find the door that 
 led to the second rampart: and, on the day when I should 
 be ready for flight, the officer was, secretly, to leave this 
 door open. I had light, and raining tools, and I was further 
 to rely on money and my own discretion. 
 
 I began and continued this labour about six months. I 
 have already noticed the difficulty of scraping out the earth 
 with my hands. The noise of instruments would have been 
 heard by the centinels ; I had scarcely mined beyond my 
 dungeon- wall before I discovered the foundation of the 
 rampart was not more than a foot deep ; a capital error, 
 certainly, in so important a fortress. My labour became the 
 lighter, as I could remove the foundation stones of my dun- 
 geon, and was not obliged to mine so deep. 
 
 My work, at first, proceeded so rapidly, that, while T had 
 room to throw back my sand, I was able in one night, to 
 gain three feet ; but ere I had proceeded ten feet I dis- 
 covered all my difficulties. Before I could continue my 
 work, I was obliged to make room for myself, by emptying 
 the sand out of my hole upon the floor of the prison, and this 
 itself was an employment of some hours. The sand was 
 obliged to be thrown out by the hand, and after it thus lay, 
 heaped in my prison, must be again returned into the hole : 
 and I have calculated that, after I had proceeded twenty 
 feet, I was obliged to creep under ground, in my hole, from
 
 195 
 
 fifteen hundred to two thousand fathoms, within twenty -four 
 hours, in the removal and replacing of thte sand. This la- 
 bour ended, care was to be taken that, in none of the crevi- 
 ces of the floor there might be any appearance of this fine 
 white sand. The flooring was next to be exactly replaced, 
 and my chains to be resumed. So severe was the fatigue of 
 one day, in this mode, that I was always obliged to rest the 
 three following. 
 
 To reduce my labour as much as possible, I was con- 
 strained to make the passage so small that my body only 
 had space to pass, and I had not room to draw my arm back 
 to my head. The work too must all be done naked, other- 
 wise the dirtiness of my shirt must have been remarked : 
 the sand was wet, water being found at the depth of four 
 feet, where the stratum of gravel began. At length the ex- 
 pedient of sand-bags occurred to me, by which it might be 
 removed out and in more expeditiously. I obtained linen 
 from .the officers, but not in sufficient quantities ; suspi- 
 cious would . have been excited at observing so much linen 
 brought into the prison. At last I took my sheets, and the 
 ticking that inclosed my straw, and cut them up for sand- 
 bags, taking care to lie down on my bed, as if ill, when 
 Bruckhausen paid his visits. 
 
 The labour, toward the conclusion, became so intolerable, 
 as to incite despondency. I frequently sat contemplating 
 the heaps of sand, during a momentary respite from work, 
 and, thinking it impossible I could have strength or time 
 again to replace all things as they were, resolving patiently 
 to wait the consequence, and leave every thing in its present 
 disorder. No ; I can assure the reader that, to effect con- 
 cealment, I have scarcely had time, in twenty-four hours, to 
 sit down and eat a morsel of bread. Recollecting, however, 
 the prodigious efforts, and all the progress I had made, hope 
 would again revive, and exhausted strength return ; again 
 would I begin my labours, that 1 might preserve my secret 
 and my expectations ; yet has it frequently happened that 
 C c2
 
 196 
 
 ifly visitors have entered a few minutes after I had rein- 
 stated every thing in its place. 
 
 When my work was within six or seven feet of being ac- 
 complished, a new misfortune happened, that at once frus- 
 trated all further attempts. I worked, as I have said, under 
 the foundation of the rampart, near where the centinels 
 stood. I could disencumber myself of my fetters, except my 
 neck-collar and its pendent chain. This, as I worked, though 
 it had been fastened, got loose, and the clanking was heard 
 by one of the centinels about fifteen feet from my dungeon. 
 The officer was called, they laid their ears to the ground, 
 and heard me as I went backward and forward to bring my 
 earth bags. This was reported the next day, and the major, 
 who was my best friend, with the town-major, and a smith 
 and mason, entered my prison. I was terrified. The lieu- 
 tenant, by a sign, gave me to understand I was discovered. 
 An examination was begun, but the officers would not 
 see, and the smith and mason found every thing, as they 
 thought, safe. Had they examined my bed, they would 
 have seen the ticking and sheets were gone. 
 
 The town major was a dull man, was persuaded the thing 
 was impossible, and said to the centinel, " Blockhead ! You 
 have heard some mole under ground, and not Trenck. How, 
 indeed, could it be that he should work under ground, at 
 such a distance from his dungeon ? r ' Here the scrutiny ended. 
 There was now no time for delay. Had they altered 
 their hour of coming, they must have found me at work ; 
 but this, during ten years, never happened, for the governor 
 and town-major were stupid men ; and the others wishing 
 me all success, were wilfully blind. In a few days I could 
 have broken out ; but, when ready, I was desirous to wait 
 for the visitation day of the man who had treated me so ty- 
 rannically, Bruckhausen, that his own negligence might be 
 evident. But this man, though he wanted understanding, 
 did not want good fortune. He was ill for some time, and 
 his duty devolved on K .
 
 197 
 
 He recovered, and the visitation being over, the door* 
 were no sooner barred than I began my supposed last la- 
 bour. I had only three feet farther to proceed, and it was 
 no longer necessary I should bring out the sand, having 
 room enough to throw it behind me. What my anxiety was, 
 what my exertions were, may well be imagined. My evil 
 genius, however, had decreed that the same centinel, who 
 had heard me before, should be that day on guard. He was 
 piqued, by vanity, to prove he was not the blockhead he had 
 been called : he, therefore, again laid his ear to the ground 
 and again heard me burrowing. He called his comrades 
 first, next the major : he came, and heard me likewise ; 
 accordingly they went without the palisadoes, and heard me 
 working near the door, at which place I was to break into 
 the gallery. This door they immediately opened, entered 
 the gallery with lanthorns, and waited to catch the hunted 
 fox, when unearthed. 
 
 Through the first small breach I made I perceived alight, 
 and saw the heads of those who were expecting me. This 
 was, indeed, a thunder stroke ! I crept back, made my 
 way through the sand I had cast behind me, and waited my 
 fate with shuddering ! I had still the presence of mind to 
 conceal my pistols, candles, paper, and some money, under 
 the floor, which I could remove. The money was disposed 
 of in various holes, well concealed, also between the pannels 
 of the doors ; and under different cracks in the floor I hid 
 my small files and knives. 
 
 Scarcely were my working utensils, paper, candles, and 
 money properly secured, before the doors resounded ; the 
 floor was covered with sand and sand bags ; my hand- cuffs, 
 however, and the separating bar, I had hastily resumed, 
 that they might suppose I had worked with them on ; which 
 they were silly enough to credit, highly to my future advan- 
 tage. 
 
 No man was more busy on this occasion than the brutal 
 and stupid Bruckhausen, who put many interrogatories, to
 
 108 
 
 which I made no reply, except assuring him that I should 
 have completed my work some days sooner, had it not been 
 hi* good fortune to fall sick ; and that this only had been 
 the cause of my failure. The man was absolutely terrified 
 with apprehehension : he began to fear me, grew more 
 polite, and even supposed nothing was impossible to me. 
 
 It was too late to remove the sand ; therefore the lieute- 
 nant and guard continued with me ; so that this night, at 
 least, I did not want company. When the morning came, 
 the hole was first filled and walled up ; the planking was 
 renewed. The tyrant Borck was ill, and could not come, 
 otherwise my treatment would have been still more lament- 
 able. The smiths had ended before the evening, and the irons 
 were heavier than ever. The foot chains, instead of being 
 fastened as before, were screwed and rivetted ; all things 
 else remained as formerly. They were employed in the 
 flooring till the next day, so that I could not sleep ; and at 
 last I sank down with weariness. 
 
 The greatest of my misfortunes was, they again deprived 
 me of my bed, because I had cut it up for sand-bags. Be- 
 fore the doors were barred, Bruckhausen, and another ma- 
 jor, examined my body very narrowly. They often had 
 asked me where I concealed all my implements ? My an- 
 swer was, " Gentlemen, Belzebub is my best and most in- 
 timate friend ; he brings me every thing I want, supplies 
 me with light, we play whole nights at piquet ; and, guard 
 mo as you please, he will finally deliver me out of your 
 power.'' 
 
 Some were astonished ; others laughed. At length, as 
 they were barring the last door, 1 called " Come back, 
 gentlemen ! you have forgotten something of great im- 
 portance." In the interim I had takeh up one of my hidden 
 files. When they returned, " Look ye, gentlemen," said I, 
 here is a proof of the friendship Belzebub has for me : he 
 has brought me this in a twinkjing." Again they examined, 
 and again they shut the doors. While they were so doing.
 
 199 
 
 I took out a knife and ten louis-cTors ; called, and they 
 returned grumbling curses : I then showed them the knife 
 and the louis-d'ors. Their consternation was excessive ; 
 and I diverted my misfortunes, hy jesting at such blunder- 
 ing, short-sighted keepers. It was soon rumoured through 
 Magdeburg, especially among the simple and the vulgar, 
 chat I was a magician, to whom the devil brought all I asked. 
 
 One major Holtzkammer, a very selfish man, profited by 
 this report. A foolish citizen had offered him fifty dollars, 
 if he might only be permitted to see me through the door ; 
 being very desirous to have a peep at a wizard. Holtzkam- 
 mer told me, and we jointly determined to sport with his 
 credulity. The major gave me a mask, with a monstrous 
 nose, which I put on when the doors were opening, and 
 threw myself into an heroic attitude. The affrighted burger 
 drew back ; but Holtzkammer stopped him, and said, 
 " Have patience but for one quarter of an hour, and you 
 shall see he will assume quite a different countenance." The 
 burger waited, my mask was thrown by, and my face ap- 
 peared whitened with chalk, and made ghastly. The burger 
 again shrank back ; Holtzkammer kept him in conversation, 
 and I assumed a third farcical form. I tied my hair under 
 my nose, and a pewter dish to my breast, and when the door 
 a third time opened, I thundered, " Begone, rascals, or I'll 
 set your necks awry !" They both ran, and the silly burger, 
 eased of his fifty dollars, scampered first. 
 
 The major in vain laid his injunctions on the burger never 
 to reveal what he had beheld ; it being a breach of duty in 
 him to admit any person whatever to the sight of me. In a 
 few days, the necromancer Trenck was the theme of every 
 ale house in Magdeburg ; and the person was named who 
 had seen me change my form thrice in the space of one hour. 
 Many false and ridiculous circumstances were added, and 
 at last the story reached the governor's ears. The citizen 
 was cited, and offered to take his oath to the truth of what 
 himself and the major had seen. Hohzkammer accordingly
 
 200 
 
 suffered a severe reprimand, and was some days put under 
 arrest. We frequently laughed, however, at this adventure, 
 which had rendered me so much the subject of conversation. 
 Miraculous reports were the more easily credited, because 
 no one could comprehend how, in despite of the load of 
 irons I carried, afid all the vigilance of my guards, I should 
 be continually able to make new attempts, while those ap- 
 pointed to examine my dungeon seemed, as it were, blinded 
 and bewildered. A proof this how easy it is to deceive the 
 credulous, and whence have originated witchcraft, prophe- 
 cies, and miracles. 
 
 My last undertaking had employed me more'than twelve 
 mouths, and so weakened me, that I appeared little better 
 than a skeleton. Notwithstanding the greatness of my spirit, 
 I should have sunken into despondency at seeing an end like 
 this to all my labours, had I not still cherished a secret hope 
 of escaping, founded on the friends I had gained among 
 the officers. 
 
 I soon felt the effects of the loss of my bed, and was a se- 
 cond time attacked by a violent fever, which would this time 
 certainly have consumed me, had not the officers, unknown 
 to the governor, treated me with all possible compassion. 
 Bruckhausen alone continued my enemy, and the slave of 
 his orders : on his day of examination, rules and commands, 
 in all their rigour, were observed ; nor durst I free myself 
 from my irons, till I had for some weeks remarked those 
 parts on which he invariably fixed his attention. I then cut 
 through the link, and closed up the vacancy with bread. 
 My hands I could always draw out, especially after illness 
 had consumed the flesh off my bones. Half a year had 
 elapsed before I had recovered sufficient strength to under- 
 take, anew, labours like the past. 
 
 Necessity, at length, taught me the means of driving 
 Bruckhausen from my dungeon, and of inducing him to 
 commit his office to another. I learnt his olfactory nerves 
 were somewhat delicate ; and whenever I heard the doors
 
 201 
 
 unbar, I took care to make a stir in ray night-table. This 
 made him give back ; and at length he would come no 
 farther than the door. Such are the hard expedients of a 
 poor, unhappy prisoner ! One day he came bloated with 
 pride, just after the courier had brought the news of victory, 
 and spoke of the Austrians, and the august person of the 
 empress-queen, with so much virulence, that at last, enraged 
 almost to madness, I snatched the sword of an officer from 
 its sheath, and should certainly have ended him, had he not 
 made a hasty retreat. From that day forward he durst no 
 more come without guards to examine the dungeon. Two 
 men always preceded him, with their bayonets fixed and 
 their pieces presented, behind whom he stood at the door. 
 This was another fortunate incident, as I dreaded only his 
 examination. 
 
 The following anecdote will afford a specimen of this 
 man's understanding. While digging in the earth, I found 
 a cannon ball, and laid it in the middle of my prison. When 
 became to examine "What, in the name of God, is that?" 
 said he. " It is a part of the ammunition," answered I, " that 
 my familiar brings me. The cannon will be here anon, and 
 you will then see iine sport !" He was astonished, told this 
 to others ; nor could conceive such a ball might by any 
 natural means enter my prison. 
 
 I wrote a satire on him, when the late landgrave of Hesse 
 Cassel was governor of Magdeburg, and I had permission, 
 to write, as will hereafter appear : the landgrave gave it to 
 him to read himself ; and so gross was his conception, that 
 though his own phraseology was introduced, part of his 
 history and his character painted, yet he did not perceive 
 the jest, but laughed heartily with the hearers. The land- 
 grave was highly diverted, and, after I obtained my free- 
 dom, restored me the manuscript, written in my own blood. 
 
 About the. time that my last attempt at escaping failed, 
 general Krusemarck came to my prison, whom I had for- 
 merly lived with in habits of intimacy, when cornet of the 
 9 Dd
 
 202 
 
 body guard. Without testifying friendship, esteem, or 
 compassion, he asked, among other things, in an authorita- 
 tive tone, " how I could employ my time to prevent te- 
 diousness ?" I answered in as haughty a mood as he in- 
 terrogated ; for never could misfortune bend my mind. I 
 told him " I always could find sources of entertainment in 
 -my own thoughts, and that, as for my dreams, I imagined 
 they would, at least, be as peaceful and pleasant as those of 
 my oppressors." " Had you, in time," replied he, "curbed 
 this fervour of yours, had you asked pardon of the king, 
 perhaps you would have been in very different circumstan- 
 ces ; but he who has committed an offence in which he ob- 
 stinately persists, endeavouring only to obtain freedom by 
 'seducing men from their duty, deserves no better fate." 
 
 Justly was my anger roused ! " Sir," answered I, " you 
 are a general of the king of Prussia ; I am an Austrian cap- 
 tain. My royal mistress will protect, perhaps deliver me, or 
 at least revenge my death. I have a conscience void of re- 
 proach. You yourself well know I have not deserved these 
 chains. I place my hope in time, and thejustness of my 
 cause, calumniated and condemned as I have been without 
 legal sentence or hearing. In such a situation the philo- 
 sopher will always be able to brave and despise the tyrant." 
 
 He departed with threats ; and his last words were 
 " The bird shall soon be taught to sing another tune." 
 The effects of this courteous visit were soon felt. An order 
 came that I should be prevented sleeping, and that the 
 centinels should call and wake me every quarter of an hour ; 
 which dreadful order was immediately executed. This was 
 indeed a punishment intolerable to nature ! Vet did custom, 
 at length, teach me to answer in my sleep. Four years 
 did this unheard-of cruelty continue ! The noble land- 
 grave of Hesse Cassel, at length put an end to it, a year 
 before I was released from my dungeon, and once again, 
 in mercy, suffered me to sleep in peace.
 
 203 
 
 Under this new affliction I wrote an elegy, a few lines of 
 which I shall cite. 
 
 Wake me, ye guards ; for hark ! the quarter strikes ! 
 Sport with my woes, laugh loud at my miseries ! 
 Hearken if you hear my chains clank ! Knock ! Beat ! 
 Of an inexorahle tyrant be ye 
 Th' inexorable instruments ! Wake me, ye slaves ; 
 Ye do but as you're hade. Soon shall lie lie 
 Sleepless, or, dreaming, the spectres of conscience 
 Behold and shriek, who me deprives of rest. 
 
 Wake me ! again the quarter strikes ! Call loud ! 
 Rip up all my bleeding wounds, and shrink not ! 
 Yet think, 'tis I that answer, God that hears ! 
 To every wretch in chains sleep is permitted : 
 I, 1 alone, am robb'd of this last refuge 
 Of sinking nature ! Hark ! Again they thunder ! 
 Again they iterate yells of Trenck and death ! 
 
 Peace to thy anger, peace, thou suffering heart ! 
 Nor indignant beat, adding tenfold pangs to pain. 
 
 Ye burthened limbs, arise from momentary 
 Slumbers ! Shake your chains ! Murmur not, but rise ! 
 And ye ! Watch-dogs of power ! let loose your rage : 
 Fear not, for I am helpless, unprotected. 
 And, yet, not so The noble mind within 
 Itself, resources finds innumerable. 
 Thou, O God, thought's! good me t'imprison thus ; 
 Thou, O God, in thy good time, wilt me deliver. 
 
 Wake me then, nor fear ! My soul slumbers not. 
 And who can say but those who fetter me 
 May, ere to-morrow, groan themselves in fetters ? 
 Wake me ! for, lo ! their sleep's less sweet than mine. 
 Call ! Call ! From night to morn, from twilight to dawn 
 Incessant ! Yea, in God's name, Call ! Call ! Call ! 
 Amen ! Amen ! Thy will, O God, be done ! 
 Yet surely thou at length shalt hear my sighs ! 
 Shalt burst my prison doors ! Shalt show me fair 
 Creation ! Yea, the very heav'n of heav'ns. 
 
 With whom these orders originated, unexampled in the 
 history even of tyranny, I shall not venture to say. The 
 major, who was my friend, advised me to persist in not 
 answering. I followed his advice, and it produced this 
 good effect, that we mutually forced each other to a capitu- 
 lation j they restored me my bed, and I was obliged to reply. 
 Dd2
 
 204 
 
 Immediately after this regulation, the sub-governor, 
 General Borck, my bitter enemy, became insane, was dis- 
 possessed of his post, and lieutenant-colonel Reichmau, the 
 benevolent friend of humanity, was made sub-governor. 
 
 About the same time the court fled from Berlin, and the 
 queen, the Prince of Prussia, the princess Amelia, and the 
 margrave Henry, chose Magdeburg for their residence. 
 Bruckhausen grew more polite, probably perceiving I was 
 not wholly deserted, and that it was yet possible I might 
 obtain my freedom. The cruel are usually cowards, and 
 there is reason to suppose Bruckhausen was actuated by his 
 fears to treat me with greater respect. 
 
 The worthy new governor had not indeed the power to 
 lighten my chains, or alter the general regulations : what 
 he could he did. If he did not command, he connived at 
 the doors being occasionally, at first, and, at length, daily 
 kept open some hours, to admit day-light and fresh air. 
 After a time they were open the whole day, and only closed 
 by the officers when they returned from their visit to 
 Walrabe. 
 
 Having light, I began to carve with a nail, on a pewter 
 cup in which I drank, satirical verses, and various figures ; 
 and attained *so much perfection, that my cups at last were 
 considered as master-pieces, both of engraving and inven- 
 tion, and were sold dear as rare curiosities. My first attempts 
 were rude, as may well be imagined. My cup was carried to 
 town, and shown to visitors by the governor, who sent me an- 
 other. I improved, and each of the inspecting officers wished 
 to possess one. I grew more expert, and spent a whole year 
 in this employment, which thus passed swiftly away. The 
 perfection I had now acquired obtained me the permission 
 of candle-light ; and this continued till I was restored to 
 freedom. 
 
 The king gave orders these cups should all be inspected 
 by government, because I wished by my verses and devices 
 to inform the world of my fate. But this command was not
 
 205 
 
 obeyed ; the officers made merchandise of my cups, and 
 sold them at last for twelve ducats each. Their value in- 
 creased so much, when I was released from prison, that 
 they are now to be found in various museums throughout 
 Europe. Twelve years ago the late landgrave of Hesse- 
 Cassel presented one of them to my wife ; and another 
 came, in a very unaccountable manner, from the queen- 
 dowager of Prussia to Paris. . I have given prints of both 
 these, with the verses they contained, in my works ; whence 
 it may be seen how artificially they were engraved. A third 
 fell into the hands of prince Augustus Lobkowitz, then a 
 prisoner of war at Magdeburg, who, on his return to Vienna, 
 presented it to the emperor, who placed it in his museum. 
 Among other devices on this cup, was a landscape, repre- 
 senting a vineyard and husbandmen ; and under it the 
 following words : By my labours my vineyard flourished, 
 and I hoped to have gathered the fruit ; but Ahab came, 
 alas ! for Naboth. 
 
 The allusion was so pointed, both to the wrongs done me 
 in Vienna, and my sufferings in Prussia, that it made a very 
 strong impression on the empress-queen, who immediately 
 commanded her minister to make every exertion for my de- 
 liverance. She would, probably, at last, have even restored 
 me to my estates, had not the possessors of them been so 
 powerful, or, had she herself lived one year longer. To 
 these my engraved cups was I indebted for being once more 
 remembered at Vienna. On the same cup also was another 
 engraving of a bird in a cage,held by a Turk, with the follow- 
 ing inscription : The bird sings even in the storm ; open 
 his cage, break his fetter*, ye friends of virtue , and his 
 songs shall he the delight of your abodes ! 
 
 There is another remarkable circumstance attending these 
 cups. All were forbidden under pain of death, to hold con- 
 versation with me, or to supply me with pen and ink ; yet, 
 by this open permission of writing what I pleased on 
 pewter, was I enabled to inform the world of all I wished,
 
 206 
 
 and to prove a man of merit was oppressed. The difficul- 
 ties of this engraving will be conceived, when it is remem- 
 bered that I worked by candle-light on shining pewter, at- 
 tained the art of giving light and shade, and, by practice, 
 could divide a cup into two-and-thirty compartments, as 
 regularly with a stroke of the hand as with a pair of com- 
 passes. The writing was so minute, that it could be only 
 read with glasses. I could use but one hand, both being 
 separated by the bar, and therefore held the cup between 
 my knees. My sole instrument was a sharpened nail ; yet 
 did I write two lines on the rim only. 
 
 My labour became so excessive, that I was in danger of 
 distraction or blindness. Every body wished for cups, and 
 I wished to oblige every body ; so that I worked eighteen 
 hours a day. The reflection of the light from the pewter 
 was injurious to my eyes, and the labour of invention, for 
 apposite subjects and verses, was most fatiguing. 1 had 
 learned only architectural drawing. 
 
 Enough of these cups, which procured me so much 
 honour, so many advantages, and helped to shorten so many 
 mournful hours. My greatest incumbrance was the huge 
 iron collar, with its enormous appendages, which, when suf- 
 fered to press the arteries in the back of my neck, occasioned 
 intolerable head-aches. I sat too much, and a third time 
 fell sick. A Brunswick sausage, secretly given me by a 
 friend, occasioned an indigestion, which endangered my 
 life ; a putrid fever followed, and my body was reduced to a 
 skeleton. Medicines however were conveyed to me by the 
 officers, and, now and then , warm food. After my recovery 
 I again thought it necessary to endeavour to regain my li- 
 berty. I had but forty louis d'ors remaining, and these I 
 could not get till I had first broken up the flooring. 
 
 Lieutenant Sonntag was consumptive, and obtained his 
 discharge. I supplied him with money to defray the ex- 
 pences of his journey, and with an order that four hundred 
 florins should be annually paid him from my effects, till his
 
 207 
 
 death or my release* I commissioned him to seek an au- 
 dience from the empress, endeavour to excite her com- 
 passion in my behalf, and to remit me lour thousand 
 florins, for which I gave a proper acquittance, by the way of 
 Hamburg. The money- draft was addressed to my admi- 
 nistrators, counsellors Kerapf and Huttner. 
 
 But no one, alas, in Vienna wished my return ; they had 
 already begun to share my property, of which they never 
 rendered me an account. Poor Sonntag was arrested as a 
 spy, imprisoned, ill-treated for some weeks, and, at last, 
 when naked and destitute, received a hundred florins, and 
 was escorted beyond the Austrian confines. The worthy 
 man fell a shameful sacrifice to his honesty, could never ob- 
 tain an audience of the empress, and returned poor and mi- 
 serable, on foot to Berlin, where he was twelve months se- 
 cretly maintained by his brother, and with whom he died. 
 He wrote an account of all this to the good Knoblauch, my 
 Hamburg agent, and I, from my small store, sent him a 
 hundred ducats. 
 
 How much must I despair of finding any place of refuge 
 on earth, hearing accounts like these from Vienna ! 
 
 A friend whom I will never name by the aid of one of the 
 lieutenants, secretly visited me and supplied me with six 
 hundred ducats. The same friend, in the year 1763, paid 
 four thousand florins to the imperial envoy, Baron Reidt, at 
 Berlin, for the furthering of my freedom, as I shall presently 
 more fully show. Thus I had once more money. 
 
 About this time the French army advanced to within five 
 miles of Magdeburg. This important fortress was at that 
 time the key of the whole Prussian power. It required a 
 garrison of sixteen thousand men, and contained not more 
 than fifteen hundred. The French might have marched in 
 tinopposed, and at once have put an end to the war. The 
 efficers brought me all the news, and my hopes rose as they 
 approached. What was my astonishment when the major 
 informed me, that three waggons had entered the town in
 
 208 
 
 the night, had been sent back loaded with money, and that 
 the French were retreating ! This I can assure my readers, 
 on my honour, is literally truth, to the eternal disgrace of 
 the French general. The major, who informed me, was 
 himself an eye-witness of the fact. It was pretended the 
 money was for the army of the king, but every body could 
 guess whither it was going ; it left the town without a con- 
 voy, and the French were then in the neighbourhood. Such 
 were the allies of Maria Theresa ! The receivers of his 
 money are known in Paris. Not only were my hopes this 
 way frustrated, but in Russia likewise, where the countess of 
 Bestuchef and the chancellor were fallen into disgrace. 
 
 I now imagined another, and indeed a fearful and dan- 
 gerous project. The garrison of Magdeburg, at this mo- 
 ment consisted bnt of nine hundred militia, who were dis- 
 contented men. Two majors and two lieutenants were in 
 my interest. The guard of the Star-Fort amounted but to a 
 hundred and fifteen men. Fronting the gate of this fort was 
 the town gate, guarded only by twelve men and an inferior 
 officer ; beside these lay the casemate, in which were as- 
 
 ven thousand Croat prisoners. Baron K y, a captain, 
 
 and prisoner of war, also was in our interest, and would 
 hold his comrades ready, at a certain place and time, to sup- 
 port my undertaking. Another friend was, under some pre- 
 tence, to hold his company ready, with their muskets loaded ; 
 and the plan was such, that I should have had four hundred 
 men in arms to carry it into execution. 
 
 The officer was to have placed the two men we most sus- 
 pected and feared as centinels over me ; he was to command 
 them to take away my bed, and, when encumbered, I was to 
 spring out, and shut them in the prison. Clothing and 
 arms were to have been procured and brought me into my 
 prison ; the town gate was to have been surprised ; I was 
 to have run to the casemate, and called to the Croats, 
 " Trenck ! To arms !" My friends, at the same instant, 
 were to break forth, and the plan was so well concerted that
 
 209 
 
 it could not have failed. Magdeburg, the magazine of the 
 army, the royal treasury, arsenal, all would have been mine; 
 and sixteen thousand men, who were the prisoners of war, 
 would have enabled me to keep possession. 
 
 The most essential secret, by which all this was to have 
 been effected, I dare not reveal ; suffice it to say, every 
 thing was provided for, every thing secure ; I shall only 
 add that the garrison, in the harvest months, was exceed- 
 ingly weakened, because the farmers paid the captains a 
 florin per man each a day, and the men for their labour 
 likewise, to obtain hands. The sub-governor connived at 
 the practice. 
 
 One lieutenant G procured a furlough to visit his 
 
 friends'; but, supplied by .me with money, he went to Vienna. 
 I furnished him with a letter addressed to counsellors 
 Kempf and Huttner, including a draft for two thousand 
 ducats ; wherein I said, that, by these means, I should not 
 only soon be at liberty, but in possession of the fortress of 
 Magdeburg ; and that the bearer was entrusted with the 
 rest. 
 
 The lieutenant came safe to Vienna, underwent a thou- 
 sand interrogatories, and his name was repeatedly asked. 
 This fortunately he concealed. They advised him not to be 
 concerned in so dangerous an undertaking ; told him I had 
 not so much money due to me, and gave him, instead of two 
 thousand ducats, one thousand florins. With these he left 
 Vienna, but with very prudent suspicions, which prevented 
 him ever more returning to Magdeburg. A month had 
 scarcely passed before the late landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, 
 then chief governor, entered my prison, showed me my let- 
 ter, and demanded to know who had carried the letter, and 
 who were to free me, and betray Magdeburg ? Whether 
 the letter was sent immediately to the king or the governor, 
 I know not ; it is sufficient that I was once more betrayed 
 at Vienna. The truth was, the administrators of my effects 
 had acted as if I were deceased, and did not choose to re- 
 
 9 Ee
 
 210 
 
 fund two thousand ducats. They wished not I should ob- 
 tain my freedom in a manner that would have obliged the 
 government to reward me, and restore the effects they had 
 embezzled, and the estates they had seized. What hap- 
 pened afterwards in Vienna, which will be related in its 
 place, will incontestably prove this surmise to be well 
 founded. 
 
 These bad men did not, it is true, die in the manner they 
 ought ; but they all are dead, and I am still living, and like 
 an honest, though poor man ; so did not they die. -Be this 
 read and remembered by their luxurious heirs, who refuse 
 to restore to. my children their rights. 
 
 My consternation on the appearance of the landgrave, 
 with my letter in his hand, may well be supposed. I had the 
 presence of mind, however, to deny my hand- writing, and 
 affect astonishment at so crafty a trick. The landgrave 
 endeavoured to convict me, told me what lieutenant Kem- 
 nitz had repeated at Vienna, concerning my possessing my- 
 self of Magdeburg, and thereby showed me how fully I had 
 been betrayed. But as no such person existed as lieutenant 
 Keimiitz, and as my friend had fortunately concealed his 
 name, the mystery remained impenetrable, especially as no 
 one could conceive how a prisoner, in my situation, could 
 seduce or subdue the whole garrison. The worthy prince 
 left my prison, apparently satisfied with my defence ; his 
 heart felt no satisfaction in the misfortune of others. 
 
 The next day a formal examination was taken, at which 
 the sub-governor, Reichrnann, presided. I was accused as 
 a traitor to my country ; but I obstinately denied my hand- 
 writing. Proofs or witnesses there were none ; and, in an- 
 swer to the principal charge, I said, " I was no criminal, 
 but a man calumniated, illegally imprisoned, and loaded 
 with irons ; that the king, in the year 1746, had cashiered 
 me, and confiscated my parental inheritance ; that therefore 
 the laws of nature enforced me to seek honour and bread in 
 a foreign service ; and that, finding these in Austria, I was
 
 211 
 
 become an officer and a faithful subject of the empress- 
 quecu ; that I had been a second time unoffendingly im- 
 prisoned ; that here I was treated as the worst of male- 
 factors, and tiiat my only resource was to seek my liberty, 
 by such means as I could : were I, therefore, in this attempt, 
 to destroy the vcVy town of Magdeburg, and occasion the 
 loss of a thousand lives, I should still be guiltless. Had 
 I been heard, and legally sentenced, previous to my im- 
 prisonment at Glatz, I should have been, and have conti- 
 nued a criminal ; but not having been guilty of any small, 
 much less of any great crime, equal to my punishment, if 
 such crime could be, I was, therefore, not accountable for 
 consequences : I owed neither fidelity nor duty to the king 
 of Prussia ; for, by the word of his power, he had deprived 
 me of bread, honour, country, and freedom." 
 
 Here the examination ended, without farther discovery : 
 the officers, however, falling under suspicion, were all re- 
 moved, and thus I lost my best friends ; yet it was not long 
 before I had gained two others, which was no difficult 
 matter, as I knew the national character, and that none but 
 poor men were made militia officers. Thus was the gover- 
 nor's precaution fruitless ; and every body secretly wished 
 I might obtain my freedom. 
 
 I shall never forget the noble manner in which I was 
 treated on this occasion by the landgrave. This I person- 
 ally acknowledged, some years afterward, in the city of 
 Cassel, when I heard many things which confirmed all my 
 surmises concerning Vienna. The landgrave received me 
 with all grace, favour, and distinction. I revere his me- 
 mory, and seek to honour his name. He was the friend of 
 misfortune. When I, not long afterward, fell ill, he sent 
 me his own physician, and meat from his table ; nor would 
 he suffer me, during two months, to be waked by the cen- 
 tinels. He likewise removed the dreadful collar from my 
 neck ; for which he was severely reprimanded by the king, 
 as he himself has since assured me.
 
 212 
 
 I might fill a Tolume with incidents attending two other 
 efforts to escape ; but I will not weary the reader's patience 
 with too much repetition. I shall merely give an abstract 
 of both. 
 
 When I had once more gained the officers, I made a new 
 attempt at mining my way out. Not wanting for imple- 
 ments, my chains and the flooring were soon cut through ; 
 and all was so carefully replaced, I was under no fear of 
 examination. I here found my concealed money, pistols, 
 and other necessaries; but, till I had rid myself of some 
 hundred weight of sand, it was impossible to proceed. For 
 this purpose I made two different openings in the floor : out 
 of the real hole I threw a great quantity of sand into my 
 prison ; after which I closed it with all possible care. I 
 then worked at the second with so much noise, that I was 
 certain they must hear me without. About midnight the 
 doors began to thunder, and in they came, detecting me, an 
 I intended they should. None of them could conceive why 
 1 should wish to break out under the door, where there was 
 a triple guard to pass. The centinels remained, and in the 
 morning prisoners were sent to wheel away the sand. The 
 hole was walled up and boarded, and my fetters were re- 
 newed. They laughed at the ridiculousness of my under- 
 taking, but punished me by depriving me of my light and 
 bed ; which, however, in a fortnight, were both restored. 
 Of the other hole, out of which most of the earth had been 
 thrown, no one was aware. The major and lieutenant were 
 too much uay friends to remark that they had removed thrice 
 the quantity of sand the false opening could contain. They 
 supposed this strange attempt having failed, it would be my 
 last ; and Bruckhausen grew negligent. 
 
 The governor and sub -governor both visited cae, after 
 some weeks ; but, far from imitating the brutality of Borck, 
 the landgrave spoke to me with great mildness, promised 
 me his interest to regain my freedom, when the peace should 
 be concluded ; told me I had more friends than I might
 
 213 
 
 suppose, and assured me I had not been quite forgotten by 
 the court of Vienna. The manner in which I answered him 
 moved him to the soul . in vain he endeavoured to hide his 
 tears ; while I, in a moment of exquisite sensibility, fell at 
 his feet, rose, and pleaded like Cicero, happy to have met 
 with a prince who thought and felt like a man. 
 
 He promised me every alleviation ; and I gave him my 
 word of honour I would never more attempt to escape while 
 he remained governor. The manner in which I spoke en- 
 forced conviction ; and it was then that he ordered my 
 neck-collar to be taken off, my window to be unclosed, my 
 doors every day to be left two hours open, a stove, which 1 
 might light myself, to be put in my dungeon, finer linen for 
 my shirts, and paper to amuse myself, by writing down my 
 thoughts. The sheets of paper were to be numbered, when 
 given, and when returned, by the town major, that I might 
 not abuse this liberty. 
 
 Ink was not allowed me. I therefore pricked my finger, 
 suffered the blood to trickle into a pot, and, when coagu- 
 lated, warmed it again in my hand, throwing away th? 
 fibrous parts that would not liquify ; by this means I pro- 
 cured a succedaueum for ink both to write and draw. 
 
 I now busied myself with engraving my cups, and versi- 
 fying. I had free opportunity to display such abilities as I 
 possessed, to excite esteem, and awaken compassion. My 
 emulation was increased by die knowledge that my produc- 
 tions were seen and read at courts, and that the princess 
 Amelia, and the queen herself, testified their satisfaction. I 
 had soon subjects to engrave from sent me ; and the wretch 
 whom the king intended to immure, and bury alive, whose 
 name no man was to mention, never lived to better purpose, 
 nor was more famous, than while he vented his groans in 
 this dungeon. My writings produced their effect, and iu 
 reality regained my freedom. To my cultivation of the 
 sciences, and presence of mind in danger, am I indebted 
 for all : these could not all the power of Frederic deprive
 
 m 
 
 me of; by these I obtained that tvhich he, in his wrath, and 
 the might of his despotism, had intended to take from me 
 eternally ! Yes ! this liberty I procured, though he conti- 
 nually answered all petitions in my behalf" He is a dan- 
 gerous man ; and so long as I have life he shall never see 
 the light !" Yet have I seen it, as broadly as himself, during 
 his life ; after his death, I have seen it without revenging 
 myself, otherwise than by proving my innocence and virtue 
 to a monarch, who oppressed because he knew me not, be- 
 cause he would not recall the hasty sentence of anger, or 
 own it was possible he might be mistaken. No ! in my 
 writings I have sought only to appease linn, to justify and 
 prove the greatness of his soul ! He died convinced of my 
 integrity, yet without affording me retribution ! Perhaps he 
 recollected my sufferings, and knew retribution was impos- 
 sible. Enough ! If so it can be, peace be to his ashes ? Man 
 is formed by misfortune ; virtue is active in adversity. Per- 
 haps had I lived in uninterrupted happiness, posterity would 
 have heard little of my name. It is indifferent to me, that 
 the companions of my youth have their ears gratified, de- 
 lighted, with the titles of general ! field marshal ! I have 
 learned to live without such additions. I am known in my 
 works. Hence has it often been asked, Why is not he also 
 a minister or a general ? Blessed content ! Thee have I 
 learned to taste, unalloyed by pride ! Repose, thrice blessed, 
 thee do I enjoy, in the haven of the wise, after storms and 
 horrors past ! May my history, my example, console the 
 afflicted, strike terror to the guilty, bridle youth's im- 
 petuosity, and inspire the suffering with fortitude ! 
 
 I return to my dungeon. Here, after my last conference 
 with the landgrave, I waited my coming fate, with a mind 
 more at ease than that of many a prince in his palace. My 
 dawn of hope daily grew more bright. The newspapers 
 they brought me foretold approaching peace, on which all 
 my dependance was placed, and I passed eighteen months 
 calmly, and without further attempt.
 
 215 
 
 The father of the landgrave died ; he had till then been 
 only hereditary prince ; and Magdeburg now lost its noble 
 governor. The worthy Reichman, however, testified for 
 me all compassion and esteem : I had books ; my time was 
 employed, and therefore stole unperceived away. Impri- 
 sonment and chains to me were become habitual ; and Free- 
 dom, in all her lovely forms, sleeping and awake, in hope 
 approached. 
 
 About this time I wrote the poems, found in my works, 
 called " the Macedonian Hero," " the Dream Realised," " 
 and the Fables contained in the first volume, most of which 
 have reference to myself. The most, and the best of my 
 poems are now lost to me. The mind's sensibility when> 
 the body is imprisoned is strongly roused, nor can all the 
 aids of the library equal this advantage. Perhaps I may 
 recover some of them in Berlin ; if so, the world may learn 
 what my thoughts then were. When I was set at liberty, I 
 had none but such as I remembered, and these I committed 
 to writing. On my first personal visit to the landgrave of 
 Hesse-Cassel, I received a volume of them, written in my 
 own blood ; but there were certainly eight of these, which I. 
 hall scarcely ever regain. 
 
 The death of Elizabeth, the deposing of Peter III. and 
 the accession of Catharine II. produced peace On the re- 
 eeipt of this intelligence, I endeavoured to provide for all 
 
 possible contingencies. The worthy captain K had 
 
 opened me a correspondence with Vienna : I was assured 
 of support ; but was likewise assured the administrators, 
 and those who possessed my estates, would throw every 
 possible impediment in the way of freedom. I endeavoured 
 to persuade another officer to aid my escape, but in vain : no 
 second Schell was to be found. The will consented, but the 
 heart recoiled. 
 
 I therefore opened my old hole, and my friends assisted 
 me all in their power, further to disembarrass myself of sand. 
 My money melted away, but they provided me with tools,
 
 216 
 
 gun-powder, and a good sword. I had remained so long 
 quiet that my flooring was no more examined. 
 
 My intent was to wait the peace ; and, should I still con- 
 tinue in chains, then would I have my subterranean passage 
 to the rampart ready for escape. For my further security, an 
 old lieutenant had, with my money, purchased a house in the 
 suburbs, where I might lie concealed. Gummern in Saxony 
 is two miles from Magdeburg : here a friend, with two 
 good horses, was to wait a whole year, to ride on the glacis 
 of Klosterbergen, on the first and fifteenth of each month, 
 and, at a given signal, to hasten to my assistance. 
 
 My passage was to be ready in case of emergency ; I 
 therefore removed the upper planking, broke up the two 
 under beds, cut the boards into chips, and burnt them in my 
 stove. By this I obtained so much additional room as to 
 proceed half way with my mine. Linen again was brought 
 me, sand bags made, and thus I successfully proceeded to 
 all hut the last operation. Every thing was afterwards so 
 well closed and concealed, that I had nothing to fear from 
 the narrowest inspection, sufficient of the under flooring be- 
 ing left to support the upper, and it appeared doubly nailed 
 as before, to avoid suspicion, esj>ecially as the new-come 
 garrison could not know what was the original length of the 
 planks. 
 
 This severe labour reduced me again to a very feeble state 
 of body ; and, by the return of the regulars, I in a moment 
 was deprived of all my friends. 
 
 I must in this place relate a dreadful accident, which I 
 cannot even now remember, without shuddering, and the 
 terror of which has often haunted my very dreams. 
 
 While mining under the foundation of the rampart, just 
 as I was going to carry out the sand-bag, I struck my foot 
 against a stone in the wall above, which fell down and closed 
 up the passage. 
 
 What was my horror to find myself thus buried alive ! 
 After a short time for reflexion, I began to work the sand
 
 217 
 
 nway from the side, that I might obtain room to turn round. 
 By good fortune, there were some feet of empty space, into 
 which I threw the sand as I worked it away ; but the small 
 quantity of air soon made it so foul, that I a thousand times 
 wished myself dead, and made several attempts to strangle 
 myself. Further labour began to seem impossible. Thirst 
 almost deprived me of my senses, but as often as I put my 
 mouth to the sand, I inhaled fresh air. My sufferings were 
 incredible, and I imagined I passed full eight hours in this 
 distraction of horror. Of all dreadful deaths, surely such 
 a death as this is the most dreadful. My spirits fainted; 
 again I somewhat recovered, again I began to labour, but 
 the earth was as high as my chin ; and I had no more space 
 into which I might throw the sand, that I might turn round. 
 I made a more desperate effort, drew my body into a ball, 
 and turned round ; I now faced the stone, which was as 
 wide as the whole passage, but there being an opening at 
 the top, I respired fresher air. My next labour was to root 
 away the sand under the stone, and let it sink, so that I 
 might creep over, and, by this means, at length, I once more 
 happily arrived in my dungeon ! 
 
 The morning was advanced ; I sat myself down so ex- 
 hausted, that I supposed it was impossible I had time or 
 strength to cover up and conceal my hole. After half an 
 hour's rest, however, my fortitude returned : again I went 
 to work, and scarcely had I ended, before the resounding 
 locks and bolts told the approach of my visitors. 
 
 They found me pale as death : I complained of the head- 
 ache, and continued some days so much affected by the fa- 
 tigue 1 had sustained, that I began to imagine my lungs 
 were impaired. After a time, health and strength returned, 
 but, perhaps of all my nights of horror, this was the most 
 horrible. I long repeatedly dreamed I was buried alive in 
 the centre of the earth ; and. now, though three and twenty 
 years are elapsed, ray sleep is still haunted by this vision. 
 After this accident, whenever I worked in my cavity, I 
 10 Ff
 
 218 
 
 hung. a knife round my neck, that, in case I should be again 
 so inclosed, I might shorten my miseries. Over the stone 
 that had fallen, were several others that hung tottering, 
 under which I was several hundred times obliged to creep. 
 Nothing could deter me from endeavouring to obtain my 
 liberty ! 
 
 When my passage was ready, so that I could break out 
 when I pleased, I wrote various letters to my friends at 
 Vienna, and also an impassioned memorial to ray sovereign. 
 When the militia left Magdeburg, and the regulars returned, 
 I took an affecting leave of my friends who had behaved to 
 me with so much humanity, and so benevolently supplied 
 my wants. Several weeks elapsed before they departed, 
 and I learnt that general Riedt was appointed ambassador 
 from Vienna to Berlin. 
 
 I had seen the world ; I km-w this general was not 
 averse to a bribe ; I wrote him a moving letter, conjuring 
 him not to abandon me, and to act with perhaps more ar- 
 dour in my behalf than his instructions might imply. I in- 
 closed a draft for six thousand florins, on my effects at 
 Vienna, and he received four thousand more from one of my 
 relations. I have to thank these ten thousand florins for my 
 freedom, which I obtained nine months after. My vouch- 
 ers show the six thousand florins were paid in April 1763, 
 to the order of general Reidt. The other four thousand I 
 thankfully repaid, when at liberty, to myfriend. 
 
 I received intelligence, before the garrison departed, that 
 no stipulation had been made on my behalf, at the peace of 
 Ilubertsberg*. The Vienna plenipotentiaries, after, and 
 not before, the articles were signed, mentioned my name to 
 Hertzberg, but with little earnestness of solicitation. From 
 Berlin indeed I received private assurances of every effort 
 
 * The release of Trenck was so feebly mentioned, by the Aus- 
 trian plenipotentiary, that Hertzberg, the Prussian minister, took 
 not the least notice of the affair. 
 
 See Fibchw Gencbitehte Fried. II. Theil II. S 946.
 
 219 
 
 being made to move Frederic, a promise on which I could 
 much better rely than on my protectors at Vienna, who so 
 many years had left me in misfortune. I therefore deter- 
 mined to wait three months longer, and, should I find my- 
 self neglected, to owe my escape to myself. 
 
 On the change of the garrison, the officers, being all of 
 the nobility, were much more difficult to gain than the for- 
 mer. The majors literally obeyed their orders : their help 
 was unnecessary ; .but still I sighed for my old friends. I 
 had only ammunition bread again for food, as no one sup- 
 plied me with the least comfortable addition. 
 
 My time hung very heavy ; every thing was carefully 
 examined on the change of the garrison. A still stricter 
 scrutiny might occur, and all my projects be discovered. 
 This had nearly been effected by accident, as I shall here re- 
 late. I had, two years before, so tamed a mouse that it 
 would play round me, and eat from my mouth : in this 
 small animal I discovered proofs of intelligence too great to 
 easily gain belief: were I to write them, priests would 
 rail, monks grumble, and such philosophers as suppose man 
 alone endowed with the power of thought, allowing nothing 
 but what they call instinct to animals, would proclaim me a 
 fabulous writer, and my opinions heterodox to what they 
 suppose sound philosophy. Should I live, perhaps I may 
 hereafter publish an essay on this subject, in which this my 
 mouse and a spider, will appear as remarkable characters. 
 
 This intelligent mouse had .nearly been my ruin. I had 
 diverted myself with it during the night ; it had been nib- 
 bling at my door, and capering on a trencher. The centi- 
 nels happened to hear our amusement, called the officers ; 
 they heard also, and added all was not right in my dungeon. 
 At day-break, my doors resounded; the town -major, a 
 smith, and mason entered : strict search was begun ; floor- 
 ing, -walls, chains, and my own person, were all scrutinised, 
 but in vain. They asked me what was the noise they heard : 
 I mentioned the mouse, whistled, and it came and jumped 
 Ff2
 
 220 
 
 upon ray shoulder. Orders were given I should be de- 
 prived of its society ; I earnestly intreated they would at 
 least, spare its life. The officer on guard gave me his word 
 of honour he would present it to a lady who would treat it 
 with the utmost tenderness. 
 
 He took it away, and turned it loose in the guard-room, 
 but it was tame to me alone, and sought a hiding-place. It 
 had fled to my prison -door, and, at the hour of visitation, 
 ran into my dungeon, immediately testifying its joy by its 
 antic leaping between my legs. It is worthy remark that it 
 had been taken away blindfold, that is to say, wrapped in a 
 handkerchief. The guard-room was near a hundred paces 
 from my dungeon. How then did it find its master ? Did 
 it know, or did it wait for the hour of visitation ? Had it 
 remarked that the doors were daily opened ? 
 
 All w,ere desirous of obtaining this mouse, but the, major 
 carried it off for his lady ; she put it into a cage, where it 
 pined, refused all sustenance, and, in a few days, was found 
 dead. 
 
 Tin- loss of this little companion made me, for some time, 
 quite melancholy, yet, on the last examination, I perceived 
 it had so eaten away the bread, by which I had concealed the 
 crevices I had made in cutting the floor, that the examiners 
 must be' all but blind not to discover them. I was con- 
 vinced my faithful little friend had fallen a necessary victim 
 to its master's safety. My keepers were persuaded I had 
 neither the will nor the power to make further attempts at 
 freedom. This accident, however, determined me not to 
 wait even the three months. 
 
 I have already related horses were to be kept ready, on 
 the first and fifteenth ; and I only suffered the first of August 
 to pass, because I would not injure the worthy major Pfuhl, 
 who had treated me with more compassion than his com- 
 rades, and whose day of visitation it was. On the fifteenth 
 I determined to fly. This resolution formed, I waited in
 
 221 
 
 Anxious expectation of the day, when a new, and again most 
 remarkable succession of accidents happened. 
 
 An alarm of fire had obliged the major of the day to re- 
 pair in haste to the town ; he, therefore, committed the keys 
 to the lieutenant. The latter, coming to visit me, with a 
 look of compassion asked " Dear Trenck, have you never, 
 during seven years that you have been under the guard of 
 the militia, found a man like Schell" " Alas ! sir," an- 
 swered I, " such friends are indeed rare ; the will of many 
 has been good : each knew I could make his fortune ; but 
 none had courage enough for so desperate an attempt. 
 Money I have distributed freely, but have received little 
 help." 
 
 " Money ! how do you obtain money in this dungeon ?'* 
 " From a secret correspondent at Vienna, by whom I am 
 still supplied. If I can serve you, command me : I will do 
 it willingly, without asking any return." So saying, I im- 
 mediately took fifty ducats from between the pannels, and 
 gave them to the lieutenant. At first he refused, but at 
 length accepted them with fear. He left me, promised to 
 return, pretended to shut the door, and kept his word. He 
 now avowed that debt obliged him to desert ; that this had 
 long been his determination ; and that, desirous to assist 
 me, at the same time, if he could find the means, I had only 
 to show how this might be effected. 
 
 We continued two hours in conference ; a plan was soon 
 formed, approved, and almost a certainty of success demon- 
 strated ; especially, when I told him I had two horses in 
 waiting. We vowed eternal friendship, I gave him fifty 
 additional ducats, and he had never before been so rich ; his 
 whole debts, which would oblige him to desert, not amount- 
 ing to more than two hundred rix-dollars, which, however, 
 he never could have discharged out of his pay. 
 
 He was to prepare four keys, that were to resemble those 
 of my dungeon : the latter were to be exchanged on the day 
 of flight, being kept in the guard-room while the major was
 
 222 
 
 with general Walrabe. He was to give the grenadiers on 
 guard leave of absence for some hours, or send them into 
 the town on various pretences. The centinels at the gate 
 he was to call from their duty, and those placed over me 
 were to be sent into my dungeon, to take away my bed : 
 while encumbered with this, I was to spring out, and lock 
 them in, after which we were to mount our horses, which 
 were kept ready, and ride full speed to Gummern. Every 
 thing was to be prepared within a week, when he was again 
 to mount guard. We had scarcely fully formed our project 
 before the centinels called, the major was coming ; he, ac- 
 cordingly, hastily barred up the doors, and the major passed 
 to general Walrabe. 
 
 No man now was happier than myself, in a dungeon though 
 I was : my hopes of escape were triple ; the mediation at 
 Berlin, the mine I had made, and my new friend the lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 Intoxicated with hope and joy, then, when I most ought 
 to have been cool and clear, I seemed to have lost my un- 
 derstanding. I came to a resolution which will appear, to 
 every reasonable man, extravagant, absurd, and pitiable. I 
 was vain enough, stupid enough, mad enough, to form the 
 design of casting myself on the generosity and magnanimity 
 of the Great Frederic!- Should this fail, I still thought 
 my lieutenant a certain saviour. 
 
 Having heated my imagination with this lamentable 
 scheme, I expected the hour of visitation with anxiety. The 
 major entered ; I bespoke him thus : 
 
 " I know, sir, the great prince Ferdinand is again in. 
 Magdeburg." (My new friend had told me this.) " Be 
 pleased to inform him that he may first examine my prison, 
 double the centinels, and afterward give me his commands, 
 stating at what hour it will please him I should make my 
 appearance, in perfect freedom, on the glacis of Kloster- 
 brgen. If I prove myself capable of this, I then hope for 
 the protection of prince Ferdinand ; and that he will relate
 
 223 
 
 my proceeding to the king, who may thereby be convinced 
 of my innocence, and the perfect clearness of iny conscience." 
 
 The major was astonished ; supposed my brain turned. 
 The proposal he held to be ridiculous, and the performance 
 impossible. I, however, persisted ; he rode to town, and 
 returned with the sub-governor, Reichmann ; the town- 
 major, Riding ; and the major of inspection. The answer 
 they delivered was That the prince promised me his pro- 
 tection, the king's favour, and a certain release from my 
 chains, should 1 prove the truth of my assertion. I required 
 they would appoint a time ; they ridiculed the thing as im- 
 possible, and, at last, said that it would be sufficient could 1 
 only prove the practicability of such a scheme ; but, should 
 I refuse, they would immediately break up the whole floor- 
 ing-, and place centinels in my dungeon night and day i 
 adding, the governor would not admit of any actual breaking 
 out. 
 
 After the most solemn promises of good faith, I imme- 
 diately disencumbered myself of my chains, raised up my 
 flooring, gave them my arms and implements, and also two 
 keys, that my friends had procured me, to the doors of th 
 subterranean gallery. This gallery I desired them to enter, 
 and sound, with their sword lulls, at the place through 
 which I was to break, which might be done in a few minutes. 
 I further described the road I was to take through the gal- 
 lery, informed them that two of the doors had not been shut 
 for six months, and to the others they already had the keys ; 
 adding, 1 had horses waiting at the glacis, that would be 
 immediately ready, the stables for which were unknown to 
 them. 
 
 They went, examined, returned, put questions, which I 
 answered with as much precision as the engineer could 
 have done who built the Star- Fort. They left me with 
 seeming friendship, continued away about an hour, came 
 back, told me the prince was astonished at what he had 
 heard ; that he wished me all happiness, and then took me, 
 unfettered, to the guard-house. The major came in the
 
 evening, treated us with a sumptuous supper, assured me 
 every thing would happen to my wishes, and that prince 
 Ferdinand had already written to Berlin. 
 
 The guard was reinforced the next day : two grenadiers 
 entered the officer's room as centinels. The whole guard 
 loaded with ball before my eyes, the draw-bridges were 
 raised in open day, and precautions were taken as if it was 
 supposed I intended to make attempts as desperate as thoSQ 
 I had made at tJlatz. 
 
 I now saw numerous workmen employed on my dungeon, 
 and carts bringing quarry-stones. The officers on guard 
 behaved with great kindness, kept a good table, at which I 
 ate ; but two centinels, and an under-officer, never quitted 
 the guard-room. Conversation was very cautious, and this 
 continued five or six days ; at length, it was my new friend 
 the lieutenant's turn to mount guard ; he appeared to be as 
 friendly as formerly, but conference was difficult : he how- 
 ever found an opportunity to express his astonishment at my 
 ill-timed discovery, told me the prince knew nothing of the 
 affair, and that the report propagated through the garrison 
 was, I had been surprised in making a new attempt. 
 
 I now saw my error, but, alas ! too late. I assured my 
 friend this step had been occasioned by my reliance on his 
 promise. He lamented my mistake, but affirmed himself 
 still the same. My courage strengthened, and I vowed 
 vengeance against the mean conduct of the sub-governor. 
 
 My dungeon was completed in about a week. The town- 
 major and major of the day, re-conducted me to it. My 
 foot only was chained to the wall, but with links twice as 
 strong as formerly ; the remainder of my irons were never 
 after added. 
 
 Instead of flooring, the dungeon was paved with huge 
 flag-stones. The prison was made impenetrable. That 
 part of my money only was saved, which I had concealed 
 in the pannels of the door, and the chimney of the stove ; 
 some thirty louis-d'ors hidden about my clothes were taken 
 from me.
 
 225 
 
 While the smith was rivetting my chains, 1 addresed my- 
 self to the sub-governor ; " Is this the consequence of the 
 pledged honour of the prince ? Has the magnanimity of 
 my conduct deserved such treatment ? But think not you 
 deceive me ; I am acquainted with the false reports that 
 have been spread ; the truth will soon come to light, and 
 the unworthy be put to shame. Nay, I now forewarn you 
 that Trenck shall not be much longer in your power ; for, 
 were you to build your dungeon of steel, it would still be in- 
 sufficient to contain me." 
 
 They smiled at my threats. Reichmann, however, de- 
 sired me to take courage, and said I might, probably, soon 
 obtain my freedom after a proper manner. My firm reliance 
 on my friend, the lieutenant, gave me, instead of appearing 
 sunken and despondent, a degree of confidence that amazed 
 them all. 
 
 It is here necessary farther to explain this affair. When 
 I had obtained my liberty, I visited prince Ferdinand at 
 Brunswick. He informed me the majors had not made a 
 true report, being afraid of reprimand for their own careless- 
 ness. Their story was, they had caught me at work, and 
 had it not been for their extreme diligence, I should cer- 
 tainly have made my escape. Prince Ferdinand heard the 
 truth some time after, and informed the king, who, from 
 that time, only waited a favourable opportunity to restore me 
 to liberty. 
 
 Such is the way of the world ! Such the manner in which 
 the most generous, the most noble acts are often painted ! I 
 was, in this case, the silly sacrifice of my own vanity. 
 Those who guarded me were ashamed of their neglect, and. 
 to avoid reprimand, which would not effectually have in- 
 jured any of them, was I again led to my slaughter-house. 
 Such has been the issue through my whole life, of many 
 noble undertakings, where others have taken advantage of 
 my too great openness of heart, and procured reward to 
 themselves by my labours. 
 
 Once more was I immured, cursing in my heart the 
 10 Gg
 
 2-26 
 
 cruelties of kings and governors : this time, however, the) 
 were innocent, because deceived. 
 
 I waited in anxious hope for the day when my deliverer 
 was to mount guard. What again was my despair, when, 
 instead of him, I saw another lieutenant ! I buoyed myself 
 up with the expectation that accident was. the occasion of 
 this, but I remained three weeks in the same suspense, and 
 saw him no more. Ask, I durst not : but I heard at length 
 that he had left the corps of grenadiers, and, therefore, was 
 no longer to mount guard at the Star-Fort. Whether he 
 was afraid, and repented his engagement, or whether the hun- 
 dred ducats had procured him better prospects, I neither 
 knew nor ever wish to know. Should he ever read this book, 
 and should he really have deceived me, let him also read 
 that he has my hearty forgiveness, and that I applaud myself 
 for never having said any thing by which he might he in- 
 jured. Others, perhaps, being thus deserted by him in mis- 
 fortune, after so many protestations, and condescending to 
 receive money, would have been more revengeful. He 
 might, having paid his debts, repent his promise ; he might 
 have trusted another friend with the enterprise, and have 
 been himself betrayed ; but be it as it may, his absence cut 
 off all hope. 
 
 I bitterly now repented my folly and untimely vanity : 
 melancholy seized my mind ; I had brought my misfortunes 
 -on myself. When I had removed every impediment, the 
 confidence I placed in the honour of man again plunged me 
 near six months longer in affliction, doubled by despair. I 
 had myself rendered my dungeon impenetrable. Death 
 would have followed, but for the dependence I placed in the 
 court of Vienna. 
 
 The oflicers soon remarked the loss of my accustomed 
 fortitude, and gloomy thoughtfulness. I was less indus- 
 trious on my : cups ; the verses I wrote were desponding. 
 The only comfort they could give was, " Patience, dear 
 Treuck : your condition cannot be worse ; the kin- may 
 not live for ever." Small consolation this. Were I sick,
 
 227 
 
 they told me I then might hope my sufferings would soon 
 have aw end. If I recovered, they pitied me, and lamented 
 their continuance. What man of my rank and expectations 
 ever endured what I have endured, ever was treated as I 
 have been treated ! 
 
 Peace had been concluded nine months. I was forgot- 
 ten. At last, however, when I supposed all hopes lost, the 
 24th of December, and the day of freedom came ! At the 
 hour of parade count Schlieben, lieutenant of the guards, 
 arrived, and brought orders for my release ! 
 
 The sub-governor supposed me weaker in intellect than 
 I really was, and would not too suddenly tell me these happy 
 tidings. He knew not the presence of mind, the fortitude, 
 which the various dangers I had seen had made habitual. 
 Self-praise offends ; yet never was I too much elated in 
 prosperity, or depressed in adversity; never timid or un- 
 determined in the moment of danger ; and for the truth of 
 this I appeal to all who have known me personally, or been 
 acquainted with those who have seen me in such situations. 
 
 My doors, for the LAST TIME, resounded ! Several peo- 
 ple entered ; their countenances were more than usually 
 cheerful ; and the sub-governor at their head, at length said, 
 " This time, my dear Trenck, I am the joyful messenger of 
 good news. Prince Ferdinand has prevailed on the king 
 to let your irons be taken off," Accordingly to work went 
 the smith " You shall also," continued he, " have a better 
 apartment." " I am free, then," said I, " and you are 
 afraid to tell me so too suddenly. Speak ! fear not ! I can 
 moderate my transports." 
 
 " Then you are free !" was the reply. 
 
 The sub-governor first embraced me, and afterwards his 
 attendants. 
 
 He asked me what clothes I would wish. I answered the 
 uniform of my regiment. The taylor attended ; and took 
 measure. Reichmann told him it must be made by the morn- 
 ing. The man excused himself because it was Christmas- 
 eve. ** So then this gentleman must remain in his dun- 
 Gg2
 
 228 
 
 geon, because it is holiday with you." The taylor was an- 
 swered, and promised to be ready. 
 
 The smith having ended his work, I was taken to the 
 guard-room : congratulations were universal, and the town- 
 major administered the oath customary to all state prisoners.^ 
 
 1st. That I should avenge myself on no man. 
 
 2dly. That I should neither enter the Prussian nor Sax- 
 on states. 
 
 3dly. That I should never relate, by speech, or in writing, 
 what had happened to me. 
 
 Ithly. And that, so long as the king lived, I should nei- 
 ther serve in a civil nor military capacity. 
 
 Count Schlieben delivered me a letter from the imperial 
 minister, general Reklt, in Berlin, to the following purport : 
 That he was heartily rejoiced at having found an opportunity 
 of obtaining my liberty from the king, and that 1 must 
 cheerfully obey the requisitions of count Schlieben, whose 
 orders were to accompany me to Prague. 
 
 " Yes, dear Trenck," said Schlieben, " I am to conduct 
 you, in a covered waggon, through Dresden to Prague ; 
 with orders not to suffer you to speak to any one on the 
 road. I have received three hundred ducats from general 
 Reidt, to defray the expence of travelling. A waggon must 
 be purchased ; but, as all things cannot be prepared to day, 
 the sub-governor has determined we shall depart to-morrow 
 night." 
 
 Having joyfully acquiesced, count Schlieben remained 
 with me ; the others, after a short conversation, returned to 
 the town ; and I dined, in company with the major of the 
 day and the officers on guard, with general Walrabe in his 
 prison. Here this gentleman died in 1774 ; having re- 
 mained at Magdeburg eight and twenty years. His con- 
 finement, however, was both deserved, and rendered sup- 
 portable. 
 
 Once more at liberty, I walked about the fortifications, to 
 accustom myself to light and air, and collected the money I 
 had concealed in my dungeon, which amounted to about
 
 229 
 
 seventy ducats. To every man on guard I gave a ducal, 
 to the centinels then on duty over me each three-, and ten 
 ducats to be divided among the relief-guard. I sent the 
 officer on guard a present from Prague ; and the remainder 
 of my money I bestowed on 'the widow of the kind, the honest, 
 the worthy Gef hardt. He, poor fellow, was no more ; and 
 she had entrusted the secret of the thousand florins to a 
 young soldier, who, spending too freely, was suspected, be- 
 trayed her, and she passed two years in the house of correc- 
 tion. Gef hardt never received any punishment ; he was in 
 the field. Had he left any children, I should in duty have 
 provided for them. To the widow of the man who hung him- 
 self before my prison door, in the year 1 756, I gave tliirty 
 ducats, lent me by Schlieben. 
 
 The night was riotous, the guard made merry, and I 
 passed most of it in their company. I was visited by all the 
 generals of the garrison on Christmas morning ; for I was 
 not allowed to enter the town. Boots, uniform, all were 
 ready by noon. I was dressed, viewed myself io the glass, 
 and found pleasure ; but the tumult of my own passions, the 
 congratulations I received, and the vivacity of every thing 
 round me, prevented my remembering incidents minutely. 
 
 How much room for reflection did this scene afford ! My 
 intrinsic worth then, and twenty-four hours before, when in 
 prison, was the same ; yet how wonderful an alteration in 
 the carriage and countenance of those by whom I had been 
 so strictly guarded ! I was treated with friendship, dis- 
 tinction, attention and flattery. And why? Because those 
 fetters had dropt off which I had never justly borne. Oh, 
 world ! what art thou ? What, indeed, in despotic states ! 
 What is merit, what virtue, where arbitrary power disposes 
 of the fate of men ! 
 
 Evening came, and with it count Schlieben, a waggon, 
 and four post-horses. After a very affecting farewell, we 
 departed. Who could have persuaded me I should have 
 *hed tears at leaving Magdeburg ! Yet tears I actually did
 
 shed. It seems equally strange that I lived here ten years, 
 yet never saw the town. 
 
 I shall not weary tire reader's patience with the trivial in- 
 cidents of our journey. The exact duration of my imprison- 
 ment at Magdeburg was nine years five months, and some 
 days ; add to these the seventeen months imprisonment at 
 Glatz, and the amount is eleven years. Thus did the prime 
 of life, the brightest hours in the day of man, pass in im- 
 prisonment. Thus was I robbed of time which monatchs 
 have not the power to restore ; thus, too, was my body 
 weakened, thus my health impaired, so that now, in my de- 
 cline of life, a second time I suffer in the gloom, the damp, 
 and the chains of the dungeon of Magdeburg. 
 
 The reader would now hope, having obtained my freedom, 
 that my calamities were all at an end : yet do I declare, 
 upon my honour, I would prefer the sufferings of the Star- 
 Fort to those I have since endured in Austria, especially the 
 last six years, while Kurgel and Zetto were my referen- 
 daries and curators. 
 
 It may happen that I may publish another volume*, in 
 which I may more openly and fully relate the misfortunes 
 of two and twenty years, particularly the last six spent at 
 Vienna. At this moment, I am obliged to be guarded in 
 my expressions. I have already put my enemies to shame, 
 but the hope of justice or reward on this side the grave is 
 vain. No rewards are bestowed on him, who, with all the 
 consciousness of integrity, demands, and does not implore. 
 The facts I shall relate will indeed seem improbable, nay 
 incredible, yet have I, in my own hands, the indisputable 
 vouchers of their verity. I repeat the words of my preface : 
 " If my right hand is guilty of writing untruths in this 
 book, may the common executioner sever it; from my body* 
 and, in the memory of posterity, may I live a villain !" 
 
 * This volume the Baron has published, and it is included in 
 this edition ; but it is necessary to preserve this, and similar 
 passages, because they contain circumstances by which suspense 
 is kept alive.
 
 Having thus called the reader's attention to its truth, I 
 proceed with my history. 
 
 On the 2d of January, I arrived, with count Schlieben, 
 safely at Prague, and the same day he delivered me to the 
 then governor, the duke of Deuxponts. He received me 
 with kindness and distinction ; we dined with him two suc- 
 cessive days, and all Prague was anxious to see a man who 
 had surmounted ten years of suffering so unheard of as 
 mine. Here I received three thousand florins, and paid 
 general Reidt his three hundred ducats, which he had ad- 
 vanced count Schlieben for the expences of my journey, the 
 repayment of which he demanded in his letter, although he 
 had already received ten thousand florins. The expence of 
 returning I also paid to Schlieben, made him a present, and 
 provided myself with some necessaries. After remaining a 
 few days at Prague, a courier arrived from Vienna, to whom, 
 it is most worthy of remark, I was obliged to pay forty 
 florins, with an order from government to bring me, under 
 a strong guard, from Prague to Vienna. My sword was 
 demanded ; captain count Wela, and two inferior officers, 
 entered the carriage, which I was obliged to purchase, in 
 company with me, and brought me to Vienna. I took up a 
 thousand florins more in Prague, to defray these expences, 
 and was obliged in Vienna to pay the captain fifty ducats 
 for travelling charges back. 
 
 At treatment like this, what were the sensations of my 
 soul ! I ought to have re-entered Vienna in triumph, like 
 the martyr of his country, hastening to receive his reward : 
 I, on the contrary, was brought back like a criminal, was 
 sent as a prisoner to the barracks, there kept in the cham- 
 ber of lieutenant Blonket, with orders that I should be suf- 
 fered to write to no one, speak to no one, without a ticket 
 from the counsellors Kerapf or Huttner. These good gen- 
 tlemen, during my imprisonment, had been the administra- 
 tors of my effects ! 
 
 Thus I remained six weeks : at length, the colonel of 
 the regiment of. Poniatowsky, the present field-marshal.
 
 232 
 
 count Alton, spoke to me. I related what I supposed were 
 the reasons of my being thus kept a prisoner in Vienna ; and 
 to the exertions of this worthy man am I indebted that the 
 abominable intentions of my enemies were frustrated, which 
 were to have me imprisoned during life, as insane, in the 
 fortress of Glatz. Had they once removed me from Vienna, 
 all had been lost, and I should certainly have pined away 
 the poor remainder of my life in a mad -house. Yet, when 
 at liberty, could I never obtain justice against these men ! 
 By their means was the empress persuaded that my brain 
 was affected, and that I continually uttered the most violent 
 threats against the king of Prussia. The election of a king 
 of the Romans was then in agitation, and the court was ap- 
 prehensive lest I, with a rash desire of vengeance, should 
 act something that might offend the Prussian envoy. Ge- 
 neral Reidt had, moreover, been obliged to promise Frederic 
 that I should not be suffered to appear in Vienna, and that 
 they should hold a most wary eye over me. The empress 
 queen felt compassion for my supposed disease, and asked 
 if no assistance could be afforded me ; to which they an- 
 swered, I had several times been let blood, but that I still 
 remained a very dangerous man. They added, that I squan- 
 dered my money strangely, having taken up, and dispersed, 
 four thousand florins in six days, at Prague ; that it would, 
 therefore, be proper to appoint curators or guardians, to im- 
 pede such extravagances. Thus do the wicked utter their 
 falsehoods ! Thus do they cloud and obscure the throne, 
 making truth invisible ! 
 
 Count Alton, however, spoke of me and my hard destiny 
 to the countess Paar, mistress of the ceremonies to the em- 
 press qneen, a noble-minded lady. The late emperor en- 
 tered the chamber, while I was the subject of discourse, and 
 asked whether I had never had any lucid intervals ? " May 
 it ' please your majesty," answered Alton, " he has now 
 been seven weeks in custody at my barracks, and I never in 
 my life met a more reasonable or more agreeable man. There 
 must be something mysterious in this affair, or he could not
 
 238 
 
 be treated as a madman, or so represented at court. That 
 he is not so in any-wise, I pledge my honour." 
 
 The next day the emperor sent count Thurn, grand- 
 master of the arch-duke Leopold, to speak to me. In him 
 I found a worthy man, an enlightened philosopher, and a 
 lover of his country. To him I related how I had twice 
 been betrayed, twice sold at Vienna, during my imprison- 
 ment ; to him demonstrated that my administrators had 
 only acted in this vile manner that I might be imprisoned 
 for life, and they remain undisturbed in possession of my 
 effects. We conversed together two hours, during which 
 many things were said that prudence will not permit me 
 here to repeat. I gained his confidence and his heart, and 
 he continued my friend till death. He left me, promised 
 protection, returned the following day, and procured me an 
 audience of the emperor. 
 
 I spoke with freedom ; the audience lasted more than an 
 hour. At length the emperor was so moved, that he rose 
 from his seat, and retired into the next apartment. I saw 
 the tears drop from his eyes. With sympathetic enthusiasm 
 I fell at his feet, embraced his knees, and wished for the pre- 
 sence of a Rubens or Apelles, to preserve a scene so highly 
 honourable to the memory of the monarch, and paint the 
 sensations of an innocent man, imploring the protection of 
 a great, a just, and a compassionate prince. I felt myself 
 unequal to do his memory that justice it deserves. Words 
 I had none, but my looks, my tears, were indeed eloquent. 
 The emperor tore himself from me, and I departed with 
 sensations such as only those can know who, themselves 
 being virtuous, unfortunately met with vile and wicked men. 
 The ill-judging world has called the emperor Francis a 
 weak prince. To me he seems superior to Caesar, or Fre- 
 deric the Great. That he had a noble mind, what I have 
 cited is an irrefragable proof ; and had not death robbed 
 me of his protection, then, when he found me worthy, I 
 should long since have regained the Hungarian estates I 
 have now for ever lost. 
 
 10 H h
 
 284 
 
 I returned to my barracks in all the raptures of joy ; aud 
 au order, the next day, came for my release. I went with 
 count Alton to the countess Paar, who desired to see me, 
 and by her mediation I obtained an audience of the empress. 
 I cannot describe the kindness of the sovereign ; how 
 much she pitied my sufferings ! how much she admired my 
 fortitude ! I had not opportunity to speak a word ; her 
 professions of pity preventing my stating the justness of my 
 case. She told me she was informed of all the vile artifices 
 practised against me in Vienna : she nevertheless required 
 I should mention no past grievances, should forgive all my 
 enemies, avoid all retrospect, and pass all the accounts of 
 iny administrators. I would have spoken ; " Do not com- 
 plain of any thing," said she, " but act as I desire I know 
 all you shall be recompensed by me; you deserve re- 
 ward and repose, and these you shall enjoy." What could 
 I do? I must either sign whatever was given me to sign, 
 or be sent to a mad-house. I received orders to accom- 
 pany M. Pistrich to counsellor Ziegler : thither I went, and 
 the next day I was obliged to sign, in their presence, the 
 following conditions : 
 
 First That I acknowledged the will of Trenck to be 
 valid. 
 
 Secondly That I renounced all claim to the Sclavonian 
 estates, relying alone on her majesty's favour. 
 
 Thirdly That I solemnly acquitted my accountants and 
 curators : And, 
 
 Lastly That I would not continue iu Vienna. 
 What more could have been asked of me, had I, instead 
 of reward, deserved punishment ? 
 
 This I must sign, or languish in a prison. If such be not 
 arbitrary power, what is ? 
 
 Thus was I dealt with 1 The empress was prevented act- 
 ing greatly and nobly. It is an eternal truth, that this my 
 mistreatment was occasioned by my refusing to hear mass ; 
 and that the possessors of my estates were under the pro- 
 tection, of the Jesuits*. 
 
 * The confessor of the empress was a, Jesuit.
 
 235 
 
 What did I feel ! How did my blood boil while I signed ! 
 The confidence I had in myself assured me I could obtain 
 honourable employment in any country of Europe by the 
 exertion of my talents, the labours of my mind, and the faith- 
 ful recital of all my woes. At that time I had no children ; 
 I therefore little regretted what I had lost, or the poor por- 
 tion that remained. 
 
 Justly dissatisfied, I determined to avoid Austria eter- 
 nally. My honest pride would never suffer me, by clandes- 
 tine and insidious arts, to approach the throne. I knew no 
 such mode of soliciting for justice ; hence was I an unequal 
 match for my enemies ; hence my ills, hence my misfortunes. 
 Complaints and appeals to justice were artfully represented 
 as the splenetic effusions of a man never to be satisfied. By 
 courts of justice I had been plundered ; appeals to them 
 were, therefore, vain indeed. 
 
 My too sensible heart was preyed upon and corroded by 
 the treatment I met at Vienna. I, who with so much forti- 
 tude, such unshaken honour, had suffered so much in the 
 cause of Vienna ; I, on whom the eyes of all Germany were 
 at this time fixed, to behold what should be the reward of 
 these sufferings ; I, far from being rewarded, was again, in 
 this country, kept a prisoner, and delivered over to those by 
 whom I had been plundered, as a man insane ! 
 
 Before my intended departure to seek my fortune, I fell 
 ill, and sickness almost brought me to the grave. The em- 
 press, hearing of my condition, in her great clemency sent 
 one of her own physicians, and a charitable friar to my assist- 
 ance ; both of whom I was at last obliged to pay. My own 
 doctor would have restored me much cheaper. This was 
 to be favoured, to be distinguished ! 
 
 At this time I received, unsolicited, a major's commission, 
 for which I was obliged to pay the fees. Being excluded 
 from actual service, to me the title was of little value : my 
 rank in the army had been at least equal ten years before in 
 other service. The following words, inserted in my commis- 
 sion, are not unworthy remark : " Her majesty, in conse- 
 Hh2
 
 236 
 
 quence of my fidelity and zeal for her service, so conspicuous - 
 ly demonstrated during a long imprisonment, my extraordi- 
 nary endowments, and exemplary virtues, had been graciously 
 pleased to grant me, in the imperial service, the rank of ma- 
 jor." The rank of major ! From this preamble, who would 
 not have expected either the rank of general, or the restor- 
 ation of my great Sclavonian estates ? I had been fifteen 
 years a captain of cavalry, and now was I most graciously 
 made an invalid major ! I was made an invalid major three- 
 and-twenty years ago, and an invalid major I still remain ! 
 Let all that has been related be called to mind, the shame- 
 ful manner in which I had been pillaged, and so repeatedly 
 betrayed ; let Vienna, Dantzic, and Magdeburg be remem- 
 bered ; and, at the same time, be this my promotion re- 
 membered also ! Let it be farther known, that the commis- 
 sion of major might be bought, by any boy, for a few thou- 
 sand florins ! Thirty thousand florins only, of the money I 
 had been robbed of, would have purchased a colonel's com- 
 mission ; I should then have been a companion for generals ; 
 enabled by my pay, I then might have educated children for 
 the good of the state, and ray promotion would have placed 
 me beyond the persecutions and peculations of my enemies. 
 
 It was the interest of these I should be useless ; and 
 therefore I was made an invalid. During the thirty-six 
 years that I have been in the service of Austria, I never had 
 any man of rank, any great general, any minister, any pre- 
 sident, my enemy,*except count Grassalkowitz ; and he was 
 only my enemy because he had conceived a friendship for 
 my estates. 
 
 My private character was never calumniated, nor did 
 any truly worthy man ever speak of me but with respect and 
 compassion. Who were, who are, my enemies ? Jesuits, 
 monks, unprincipled advocates, wishing to become my cu- 
 rators ; referendaries, who died despicable, or now live ia 
 houses of correction ; or accountants, who purchased pro- 
 tectors, to avoid dying by the hands of the hangman. Such 
 as live, live in dread of a similar end; for the emperor
 
 2S7 
 
 Joseph is just, and able to discover the truth. Alas ! the 
 truth is discovered too late ; age has now really rendered 
 me an invalid. Men with hearts so base, so vile, ought in- 
 deed to become the scavengers of society, that, terrified by 
 their example, succeeding judges may not rack the heart 
 of the honest man, seize on the possessions of the orphan 
 and the widow, and wholly expel virtue out of Austria. 
 
 God for ever preserve all good men, after me, from such 
 judges ! Men of this character never fail to have friends at 
 court, worthy of themselves. Some maid of honour's cham- 
 ber-maid, some fire-lighter, some menial person, with minds 
 well befitting their station, who shall have the cunning, at 
 proper opportunities, to say, as they did of me, " Trenck 
 is a dissatisfied, restless man; complains of every thing ; 
 speaks evil of princes ; is still more than half a Prussian in 
 his heart ; denies that the Austrian Ulans are capable of 
 killing and eating the whole Prussian army !" My spirits 
 are wearied ; my heart sinks at the remembrance. 
 
 I recovered, sought an audience, but this was no more to 
 be obtained. I attended the levee of prince Kaunitz. Not 
 personally known to him, he on his pinnacle of power, view- 
 ed in me a crawling insect among the swarm beneath. I 
 thought somewhat more proudly ; thought myself a man : 
 my actions were upright, and so should my body be. I 
 quitted the apartment, and at the door was congratulated, 
 by the mercenary Swiss porter, on my good fortune of 
 having obtained an audience ! 
 
 I applied to the field- marshal, from whom I received this 
 remarkable answer : " If you cannot purchase, my dear 
 Trenck, it will be impossible to admit you into actual 
 service ; beside, you are too old to learn our very difficult 
 manceuvres." I was then thirty-seven. I briefly replied, 
 " Your excellence mistakes my character ; I did not come 
 to Vienna to serve as an invalid major. My curators have 
 taken good care I should have no money to purchase ; but, 
 had I millions, I would never obtain rank in the army 
 by that mode." I quitted the room with a shrug. The
 
 23S 
 
 next day I addressed a memorial to the empress ; which, 
 had I room, might here deserve to be wholly inserted. I 
 did not re-demand my Sclavonian estates, I only petitioned, 
 First, That those who had carried off quintals of silver 
 and gold from the premises, and had rendered no account 
 'either to me or the treasury, should be obliged to refund at 
 least a part. 
 
 Secondly, That they should be obliged to return the 
 thirty-six thousand florins, which had been illegally se- 
 questered from my family inheritance, and applied to an 
 hospital. 
 
 Thirdly, That the thirty-six thousand florins might be 
 re-paid, which count Grassalkowitz had deducted from the 
 allodial estates, for three thousand six hundred pandours, 
 who had fallen in the service of the empress : I not being in. 
 justice bound to pay for the lives of men out of my private 
 purse, who had died gloriously in defence of the empress. 
 
 Fourthly, I required that fifteen thousand florins, which- 
 had been deducted from my capital, and applied to the Bo- 
 hemian fortifications, should likewise be restored, together 
 with the fifteen thousand which had been unduly paid to 
 the regiment of Trenck. 
 
 Fifthly, I reclaimed the twelve thousand florins, which 
 I had been robbed of at Dantzic, by the treachery of the 
 imperial resident, Abramson ; and public satisfaction from 
 the magistracy of Dantzic, who had delivered me up, so 
 contrary to the laws of nations, to the Prussian power. 
 
 These articles, and others, contained in the memorial, 
 were indisputable claims, not being included in the renun- 
 ciation I had some weeks before been obliged to sign. 
 
 I likewise claimed the customary interest of six per cent, 
 for the capital of seventy-six thousand florins, detained by 
 the Hungarian chamber, which would amount to twenty 
 thousand florins ; I having been allowed only five per 
 cent, and at last four. 
 
 I more particularly insisted on the restoration of my 
 Sclavonian estates, and a proper allowance for improve-
 
 men is, which the very sentence of the court had granted, 
 .UK! which amounted to eighty thousand florins. 
 
 I entreated I petitioned for an arbitrator ; I humbly so- 
 licited justice concerning incontrovertible rights, but nothing 
 1 obtained, not so much as an answer to this and a hundred 
 other similar petitions ! 
 
 I must here speak of my accountants, and of transactions 
 during my imprisonment. I had bought a house in Vienna, 
 in the year 1750, situated in the Teinfaltstrasse ; the price 
 was sixteen thousand florins, thirteen thousand of which I 
 had paid at different instalments. The receipts were among 
 my writings : these writings, together with my other effects, 
 were taken from me at Dantzic, in the year 1754. The 
 colonel and quarter-master, and all persons of the regiment, 
 of whom I might require any account, were dead in the in- 
 terim, nor have I, to this hour, been able to learn more than 
 that my writings were sent to the administrators of my 
 affairs at Vienna. With respect to my horses, effects, and 
 property at Dantzic, in what manner these were disposed 
 of no one could or would say. 
 
 After being released from my dungeon at Magdeburg, I 
 inquired concerning my house, but no longer found it mine. 
 Those who had gotten possession of my writings must have 
 restored the acquittances to the seller, consequently he 
 could re-demand the whole sum. My house, however, was 
 in other hands, aud I was brought in debtor six thousand 
 florins, for interest and costs of suit. Thus were house and 
 money for ever gone, beyond redemption! Whom can I 
 accuse ? 
 
 Again. I had two years maintained, at my own expence, 
 lieutenant Schroeder, who had deserted from Glatz, and for 
 whom I afterward obtained a captain's commission in the 
 guard of prince Esterhazy, at Eisenstadt. His own miscon- 
 duct caused him to be cashiered and become a beggar. In 
 my administrators' accounts I found the following article 
 " To captain Schroeder, for capital, interest, and costs o. 
 suit, sixteen hundred florins. 11
 
 246 
 
 It was certain I was not a penny indebted to this person : 
 I however had no redress, having been, as before related, 
 obliged to pass and sign all their accounts. 
 
 I four years afterward obtained information concerning 
 this affair : I met Schroeder, by accident, as he was asking 
 alms near St. Stephen's ; knew him, took him home with 
 me, and inquired whether he had actually received these 
 sixteen hundred florins. He answered in the affirmative. 
 " No one believed you would ever more have seen the light. 
 I knew you had a friendship for me, and would willingly 
 serve me, 'and, all being lost to you, that you would give 
 something to relieve my extreme necessities. I went and 
 spoke to Dr. Berger; he agreed we should halve the sum, 
 and his contrivance was, I should make oath I had lent you 
 a thousand florins, without having received your note. The 
 money was paid me by M. Frauenberger, to whom I agreed 
 to send a present of Tokay, for Madam Huttner." 
 
 Oh ! excellent! This was the manner in which my cura- 
 tors took care of my property ! Many similar instances I 
 could produce, but I am too much agitated by the recollec- 
 tion. I must, however, speak a word concerning who and 
 what my curators were. 
 
 The court-counsellor, Kempf, was my administrator, and 
 counsellor Huttner my referendary. The substitute of Kempf 
 was Frauenberger, who, being obliged to actasa commissary 
 clerk at^ Prague, during the war, could not attend to affairs 
 at Vienna, but appointed one Krebs as a sub-substitute : 
 whether M. Krebs had also a sub-sub-substitute is more 
 than I am able to say. 
 
 Doctor Bei-tracker was Fidei commigcurator, though 
 there was no legal Fidei cnmmissum existing. Doctor 
 Berger, as Fidei commiss-advocate, was superintendant 
 over them all ; and, to them all, salaries were to be paid. 
 
 Let us now see what was the weighty business this noble 
 company had to transact. I had seventy-six thousand flo- 
 rins in the Hungarian chamber, the interest of which was 
 yearly to be received, and added to the capital : this was
 
 241 
 
 their whole employment, and this was certainly so trifling 
 that any honest man would have performed it gratis. 
 Kempf, having luckily got a fat capon, wished to pluckit in 
 company with his old croney; he therefore gave him an of- 
 fice. The war made money scarce, and the discounting of 
 bills with my ducats was a profitable trade to tny curators. 
 Had it been properly and honestly employed, I should cer- 
 tainly have found my capital increased, after my ten years' 
 imprisonment, full sixty thousand florins. Instead of these, 
 I received three thousand florins at Prague, and nothing 
 more ; and, in compensation, found my capital diminished 
 seven thousand florins. 
 
 Frauenberger and Berger died rich; an, 1, the superior 
 being obliged to protect him whom he haji employed as a 
 deputy, I must be eternally confined as a madman, lest this 
 worthy deputy should have been proved a rogue. This is the 
 clue to the acquittal I was obliged to sign. Madam K 
 was, at that time, a lady of the bed-chamber at court: she 
 could approach the throne : her chamber employments, 
 indeed, procured her the keys of doors that, to me, were 
 eternally locked. 
 
 Not satisfied with this, Kempf applied to the empress, in- 
 formed her they were, indeed, acquitted, but not recom- 
 pensed ; and that Frauenberger required four thousand 
 florins for remuneration. The empress laid an interdict on 
 the half of my income and pension. Thus was I obliged to 
 live in poverty, thus banished the Austrian dominions, where 
 my seventy-six thousand florins were reduced to sixty-three, 
 the interest of which I could only receive, and that burthened 
 by the above interdict, the Fidci commissum, and adminis- 
 tratorship. Of all these exactions, none so nearly, so much 
 affected me, as that of being obliged to present four thou- 
 sand florins to the man by whom my affairs had been thus 
 administered. 
 
 The empress, indeed, during my sickness, ordered, as an 
 especial favour, that my captain's pay, during my ten years' 
 imprisonment, should be given me, amounting to eight 
 11 I i
 
 242 
 
 thousand florins ; which pay she also settled on me as a pen- 
 sion. By this pension, however, I never profited ; for, 
 during twenty-three years, that and more was swallowed by 
 journeys to Vienna, chicanery of courtiers, agents, advocates, 
 and costs of suit. Of the eight thousand florins three were 
 stolen during my illness; the court physician must be paid 
 thrice as much as another, and what remained after my re- 
 covery was sunk in the preparations I made to seek my for- 
 tune elsewhere. I had, beside, eight thousand florins to 
 repay, which had been advanced by my friends while in my 
 dungeon ; four thousand of which were sent to general 
 Reidt at Berlin. 
 
 Thus have I been rendered so poor that I have never been 
 able to repay my sister's children the money their mother 
 advanced, while my kind friends at Vienna have dignified 
 me with the name of a discontented man. 
 
 How far my captain's pay was matter of right, or matter 
 of favour, let the world judge, being told I went in the ser- 
 vice of Vienna to the city of Dantzic. Neither did this res- 
 titution of pay equal the sum I had sent the imperial minis- 
 ter to obtain my freedom. It has been asserted, the empress 
 delivered me from imprisonment. But no, I positively 
 declare the contrary. 1 remained nine months in my dun- 
 geon after the articles were signed, unthought of, and, when 
 mentioned by the Austrians, the king had twice rejected the 
 proposal of my being set free. The affair actually happened 
 as follows ; according to the account I received from their 
 royal highnesses prince Henry, prince Ferdinand of Bruns- 
 wick, and, particularly from the minister, count Hertzberg. 
 General Reidt had received ray ten thousand florins full six 
 months, and seemed to remember me and my imprisonment 
 no more. One gala day, however, the king happened to be 
 in an extraordinary good humour, and her majesty tjie 
 queen, the princess Amelia, and the present monarch, said 
 to the imperial minister " This is a fit opportunity for you 
 to speak in behalf of Trenck." He accordingly waited his 
 lime, did speak, and the king replied, " Yes."
 
 243 
 
 The joy of the whole company appeared so great, that 
 Frederic the Great was offended ! 
 
 Other circumstances, which contributed to promote this 
 affair, the reader will easily collect from my history. That 
 there were persons in Vienna who earnestly desired to detain 
 me in prison is indubitable, from their proceedings after my 
 return. My friends at Berlin, my own exertions, and my 
 money, were my deliverers. 
 
 For some weeks after I first obtained nry freedom, I was 
 generally absent in mind, and deep in thought. This was 
 a habit I had acquired in prison, and the objects of sight 
 appeared but as the visions of sleep. I often stopped in the 
 streets, stared around me, doubted my own existence, and 
 bit my finger, in order to convince myself I was really 
 awake and alive. 
 
 How trifling, how insignificant, does the poor pageantry 
 of greatness appear to me at this time ! A thousand people, 
 variously bedecked in all their finery, wait expecting the ap- 
 pearance of some extraordinary personage ! The doors are 
 thrown open! An elderly matron enters ! graciously smiles; 
 and every body most humbly smiles also! She asks a few 
 questions, concerning the wind and weather, of an old priest, 
 in a red cap and stockings, then addresses herself to an 
 insignificant Esop, on whom all eagerly press forward to 
 fawn ! the good lady retires, and the hubbub of the syna- 
 gogue ensues; and this is called a levee! Nor to this sub- 
 lime honour, may men of honest hearts, the friends of virtue; 
 or their country, find admittance : they have not the proper 
 key, or, having it, hold it in contempt. Oh man ! What 
 art thou when called great and honourable ! What are thy 
 thoughts, what thy dreams ! Dost thou call thyself a man 
 of reason, a philosopher ? What dost thou theu at courts? 
 By me they have long been avoided. 
 
 Walking round the ramparts of Vienna, having recovered 
 from my sickness, the vivifying spring and the broad ex- 
 panse of heaven inspired a consciousness of present freedom, 
 I i 2
 
 244 
 
 and of pleasure indescribable. I heard the morning song oi 
 the lark. My heart palpitated, ray pulse quickened, the 
 blood trickled through my veins with delight, for I felt I 
 was a man, and recollected I was not in chains. Happen, 
 said I, what may, I fear not futurity so long as my feet, iny 
 will, and my heart are free, and, like yonder lark, I can re- 
 move from land to land. My soul poured forth its thank- 
 fulness for this consciousness of freedom, and I determined 
 to fly Vienna, and seek some corner of the world where 
 virtue has nothing to fear from the tongues of slanderers, 
 the commands of courts, or the arbitrary will of monarchs. 
 
 If I went into any large companies, their prattle so dis- 
 tracted my mind, and the lights so overpowered my eyes, 
 that I returned home with head-ache, lassitude, and melan- 
 choly. 
 
 An accident happened which furthered my prospect. Mar- 
 shal Laudohn was going to Aix-la-Chapelle, to take the 
 waters. I had always personally honoured and loved this 
 general when he was no more than a captain of pandours in 
 my cousin's regiment. He went to take his leave of the 
 countess Paar ; I was present, the empress entered the 
 chamber, and the conversation turning on Laudohn's jour- 
 ney, she said to me, " The baths are also necessary to the 
 re- establishment of your health, Trenck." I was ready, 
 and followed him in two days, where we remained about 
 three months. 
 
 Here we were stared at as strange animals. All the 
 world wished to see him because of his fame in war, and me 
 because of my sufferings. The society of this worthy ge- 
 neral poured balm into my wounded soul. He was as well 
 acquainted with Vienna as myself : his fortitude and mag- 
 nanimity had conquered his enemies. What he was he 
 had made himself. 
 
 The mode of life at Aix-la-Chapelle and Spa pleased me, 
 where men of all nations meet, and where princes are obliged 
 to mingle with persons of all ranks, if they wish to seek
 
 245 
 
 conversation, and would not renouce society. One day 
 here procured me more pleasure, esteem, and friendship, 
 than a whole life in Vienna. 
 
 I scarcely had remained here a month before my ever 
 good friend, the countess Paar, wrote to me that the empress 
 had provided for me, and would make my fortune as soon 
 as I should return to Vienna. I endeavoured, by my agents, 
 to discover in what this good fortune consisted, but inef- 
 fectually. I hoped every thing from the empress, who well 
 knew my hard destiny. The death of the emperor Francis at 
 Inspruck occasioned the return of general Laudohn ; and I 
 followed him on foot to Vienna. 
 
 By means of the countess Paar I obtained an audience 
 in a few days. The empress received me graciously, and 
 said to me, " I will prove to you, Trcnck, that I keep my 
 word. I have insured your fortune; I will give you a rich 
 and prudent wife." I replied, " Most gracious sovereign, 
 I cannot determine to marry ; and if I could, my choice is 
 already made at Aix-la-Chapelle." " How! are you mar- 
 ried, then?" " Not yet, please your majesty." " Are 
 you promised ?" " Yes." " Well, well, no matter for 
 that, I will take care of that affair ; I am determined on 
 marrying you to the rich widow of M ; and she approves 
 my choice. She is a very good kind of a woman, and has 
 fifty thousand florins a year. You are in want of such a 
 wife." 
 
 I was thunder-struck. This lovely bride was an old cant, 
 ing hypocrite, of sixty-three, extremely covetous, and a 
 termagant. I answered, " I must frankly speak truth to 
 your majesty ; I cannot consent, did she possess the trea- 
 sures of the whole earth. I seek happiness, and not misery. 
 I have made my choice, and given my word of honour, which, 
 as an honest man, I must not break." The angry empress 
 regarded me with contempt, and said, " Your unhappiness 
 is your own work. Act as you think proper; I have done." 
 Here my audience ended ; and, thus dismissed, I bade an
 
 246 
 
 eternal adieu to any hope of reward from empresses and 
 kings. 
 
 Had I been inclined to make my fortune, by marrying an 
 old woman, I might long before, in 1750, have married one 
 in Holland, worth three millions. This proposal was to re- 
 compense me for the loss of my Sclavonian estates, and all 
 my other innumerable afflictions. Beside that compliance 
 was impossible, I was beloved in Aix-la-Chapelle, where 
 mutual affection, reason, beauty, worth, arid an exalted 
 mind, all promised future happiness. 
 
 I was not actually affianced at that time to my present 
 wife, but love determined me to return, to improve an inti- 
 macy so far advanced. 
 
 Marshal Laudohn knew my mistress, and promoted the 
 match. He was acquainted with my heart, and the warmth 
 of my passions, and perceived I could not conquer the secret 
 desire of vengeance on men, by whom I had been so cruelly, 
 so wickedly treated. He, and my friend professor Gellert, 
 whom I visited at Leipsic, both advised me to take this 
 mode of calming passions that often inspired projects too 
 vast, and that, seeking tranquillity, I should fly the com- 
 merce of the great. 
 
 This friendly counsel was seconded by my own wishes. 
 I returned to Aix-la-Chapelle in December 1765, and mar- 
 ried the youngest daughter of the former burgomaster De 
 Broe. He was dead : he had lived on his own estate at 
 Brussels, where my wife was born and educated. He had 
 been called to this honourable office by the unanimous voice 
 of the citizens of Aix-la-Chapelle. He was the descen- 
 dant of an ancient and noble family, iu the province of Ar- 
 tois ; and some of his predecessors, who possessed estates near 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, had, I know not for what reason, accepted 
 the dignity of knights of the Roman empire, My wife's 
 mother was sister to the vice-chancellor of Dusseldorf, 
 baron Robert, lord of Roland. 
 
 It is not generally known at Vienna, that one of the tw*
 
 247 
 
 burgomasters of Aix-la-Chapelle must always be elected 
 from a noble family, and the other from the citizens. My 
 children, therefore, can prove their descent to be noble, 
 both by male and female line. 
 
 My wife has been with me in most parts of Europe, where 
 she has always been esteemed as she deserved. She then 
 was young, handsome, worthy, and virtuous, has borne me 
 eleven children, all of whom she has nursed herself ; eight 
 of them are still living, and have been properly educated. 
 God grant I may be enabled ever to provide for her as she 
 deserves, and as it is my duty. Two and twenty years has 
 she borne a part in all my sufferings, and well deserves 
 reward. 
 
 During my late short abode at Vienna, I made one effort 
 more ; I sought an audience from the present emperor 
 Joseph, related all that had happened to me, and parti- 
 cularly remarked such defects as I had observed in the 
 government and regulations of the country. He gave me 
 an attentive hearing, proved his desire to increase the hap- 
 piness of his people, and commanded me to commit my 
 thoughts to writing. This I accordingly performed, stating 
 with precision and unreserve the observations I had made 
 on affairs, civil, military, and economical. 
 
 Might I publish this writing, I am persuaded it would 
 do me no dishonour ; but, on the contrary, show the mon- 
 arch has, long since, profited by many of the improvements 
 therein suggested. My memorial was graciously received ; 
 all I petitioned for was secrecy, having therein named se- 
 veral persons, who were again capable of making me 
 wretched. I farther gave a more ample account of what 
 had happened to me in various countries, and whieh pru- 
 dence has occasioned me to express more cautiously and 
 darkly in these pages. My memorial, though graciously 
 received, produced no effect, and I hastened back to Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. 
 
 For some few years I lived here in peace ; my house was 
 the rendezvous of the first people who came to take the
 
 248 
 
 waters. I began to be more known, and every where pro- 
 cured myself friends among- the very first and best people. 
 
 I also visited professor Gellert at Leipsic, showed him 
 my manuscripts, and asked his advice concerning what 
 branch of literature he thought it was probable I might best 
 succeed in. He most approved my fables and tales, but 
 blamed the excessive freedom with which I spoke in my 
 political writings. I neglected his advice, and many ensu- 
 ing calamities were the consequence. 
 
 My wife brought me a son in December 1766, and I took 
 this opportunity of writing to the youthful monarch at 
 Vienna. Though published in my writings, under the title 
 of Belisarius to the emperor Justinian, I think it necessary 
 to insert what follows here. 
 
 " Your majesty is informed of my marriage. My wife 
 has borne me a son, whom I have christened Joseph. The 
 imperial chamberlain, colonel and baron Rippenda, stood 
 sponsor, by proxy, for your majesty. This Was done without 
 first obtaining your majesty's consent, I flattered myself 
 your majesty would graciously be pleased thus far to honour 
 me, knowing my loyalty and my misfortunes. It is indeed 
 my hope that my conduct will procure from your majesty a 
 more happy futurity. This son I shall educate in the same 
 loyal principles, and, rather than depart from them, lie shall 
 imbibe poison from his mother's breast. 
 
 " Most gracious emperor, while I live he will be pro- 
 vided for ; but at my death then must he say to his sove- 
 reign, I am the SOB artd rightful heir of both thd Trencks, 
 whose lands and possessions have been seized by strangers 
 and aliens. I look up to you, gracious sovereign, as a pro- 
 tecting deky for my poor child reu. May your majesty par- 
 ticipate my joy, and graciously welcome this new citizen of 
 the world. May it also please you to inform me, whether it 
 be your gracious pleasure I should farther present my 
 thoughts in writing, for your high inspection. My enemies 
 at Vienna daily increase in strength ; but on your sovereign 
 protection I rely ; and, whatever may be my fate, shall
 
 249 
 
 tnost faithfully and eternally remain the loyal servant of my 
 emperor and my country. TRENCK." 
 
 I have at present my reasons for inserting the following 
 answer, which was written by the emperor's own hand, and 
 is still in my possession. 
 
 " Dear Major Trenck, 
 
 " I am well pleased that you have christened your son 
 Joseph, and have chosen colonel Rippenda as my proxy. 
 As a proof of my good wishes toward you, I have, for mani- 
 fest reasons, ordered that, henceforth, you shall receive your 
 pay at Brussels, instead of Vienna. Continue to send me 
 your writings ; I am pleased to be informed of the truth ; 
 but they will give me more satisfaction, should you send 
 them simple and unadorned, than in their former satirical 
 dress. I am yours, JOSEPH." 
 
 I soon afterward received orders to correspond with his 
 majesty's private secretary, baron Roder : what this cor- 
 respondence was, must not here be told ; suffice it to say, 
 my attempts to serve my country were frustrated ; I saw 
 defects too clearly, spoke my thoughts too frankly, and 
 wanted sufficient humility ever to obtain favour. 
 
 In the year 1767 I wrote " The Macedonian Hero," 
 which became as famous throughout all Germany as my 
 Eulenspiegel, (The Malicious Wag.) The poem did me 
 honour, but entailed new persecutions ; yet, having wrote 
 it, I never could repent : I have had the honour of present- 
 ing it to five reigning princes ; by none of whom it has 
 been burnt. The empress alone was highly enraged. I had 
 spoken as Nathan did to David, and the Jesuits now openly 
 became my enemies. 
 
 The following vile trick was played me in the year 1768. 
 A friend, in Brussels, was commissioned to receive my 
 quarterly pay, from whom I learnt an interdict had been 
 laid upon it by the court called Hofkriegsrath, at Vienna, in 
 which I had been condemned to pay a note of seven hundred 
 florins, to one Bussy, with fourteen years interest. 
 
 11 Kk
 
 250 
 
 Bussy was a known swindler. I was conscious no man uu 
 earth had any such claim ; I, therefore, journeyed post- 
 haste, to Vienna. No hearing-, no satisfactory account was 
 to be obtained. The answer was Res jamjudicata est ; 
 sentence is past, therefore all further attempts are too late. 
 
 I applied to the emperor Joseph. I pledged my honour 
 and my head to prove the falsification of this note ; and 
 intreated a revision of the cause. My request was granted, 
 and my attorney, Weyhrauch, was an upright man. When 
 he began to speak, and .request a day of revision to be ap- 
 pointed, he was threatened to be committed by the referen- 
 dary, Zetto, should he undertake to interfere and defend the 
 affairs of Trenck. He answered, firmly, " His defence is 
 my business in this place ; I know my cause to be good." 
 Silence was imposed and nothing farther done. 
 
 Four months did I continue in Vienna before the day was 
 appointed to revise this cause. It now appeared evidently 
 there were erasures and holes through the paper, in three 
 places : all in court were convinced the claim ought to be 
 annulled, and the claimant punished. Zetto, notwithstand- 
 ing, ordered the parties to withdraw, and then so managed 
 that the judges resolved the case must be again laid before 
 the court, with formal written proofs. 
 
 This gave time for new knavery : I was obliged to re- 
 turn to Aix-la-Chapelle, and four years elapsed before this 
 affair, clear as the meridian sirn, was decided. Two priests 
 in the interim, who were such as father-confessor to convents 
 usually are, took false oaths that they had actually seen nit- 
 receive the money. At length, however, I proved that 
 the note was dated a year after 1 had been imprisoned at 
 Magdeburg; I consequently could not give any such note 
 iu Vienna. Nay farther, my attorney proved the very writ? 
 of the court had, likewise, been falsified. Zetto, the refe 
 rendary, and Bussy, were absolutely the forgers, but I hap- 
 pened to be too active, and my attorney too honest, to lose 
 this cause. I was obliged to make three very expensive 
 journies from Aix-la-Chapelle to Vienna, lest judgment
 
 251 
 
 should go by default. Sentence at last was necessarily 
 pronounced ; I gained my cause, and the note was declared 
 a forgery ; but the costs, amounting to three thousand five 
 hundred florins, I was obliged to pay, for Bussy could not; 
 nor was he corporally punished, though at last driven from 
 Vienna for his villainous acts. Zetto, however, still conti- 
 nued referendary ; still continued, for eighteen years, my 
 barbarous persecutor ; till, not long since, he was deprived 
 of his office, and condemned to the house of correction. 
 
 May no such judgments ever again be given in courts at 
 Vienna ; where, perhaps, I am the only one whose perse- 
 verance and courage would have demonstrated their in- 
 justice. But this perseverance, this courage, have made 
 these courts my enemies, as I have since bitterly experien- 
 ced. Too late was Zetto punished, for the welfare of many 
 a widow and orphan, and still are numerous instances of 
 his vile practices unknown. 
 
 This cause excited many remarks at Vienna ; I gained 
 much honour, but more expence and trouble. I took this 
 opportunity to solicit justice in my other affairs, but to little 
 purpose, except that the world began to know me better, and 
 afford me somewhat more of its pity. 
 
 My knowledge of the world increased at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 where men of all nations and characters met, particularly 
 English. In the morning I might converse with a lord in 
 opposition, in the afternoon with an orator of the king's 
 party, and at night with an honest man of no party. In 
 conversation like this, knowledge is acquired and imparted. 
 I sent Hungarian wine into England, France, Holland, and 
 the empire : this occasioned me to undertake long journeys ; 
 and as my increase of acquaintance gave me opportunity of 
 receiving many foreigners with politeness in my own house, 
 I was myself also well received wherever I went. 
 
 The income I should have had from Vienna was all in- 
 gulfed by law suits, curators, attornies, and the journeys I 
 was obliged to undertake ; having been thrice cited to ap- 
 pear, in person, before the Hofkriegsrath. To me no hope 
 K k2
 
 252 
 
 remained ;. I was described as a dangerous mal-content, who 
 had deserted his native land, insinuations by which my ene- 
 mies took care to profit. I nevertheless remained, be the 
 country in which I lived what it would, an honest man ; one 
 who could provide for his own necessities without meanness 
 or the favour of courts ; one whose acquaintance was every 
 where esteemed. In Vienna alone was I unsought, unem- 
 ployed, and obscure. 
 
 My love of the chace made me particularly acceptable to 
 the English, who brought with them their own horses and 
 dogs, to hunt the wolf and wild boar, animals not to be 
 found in their own country. I, in return, passed whole 
 summers at their country-seats in England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, and thus obtained a thorough knowledge of the 
 nation. 
 
 The elector Palatine had granted me a certain extent of 
 country in the territory of Juliers, where I might hunt ; and 
 the count Palatine of the Rhine gave me permission to hunt 
 where I pleased. To defend this right of hunting was now 
 my duty, and occasioned various disputes : these, however, 
 were not often determined in courts of law, but usually every 
 man asserted his claim with the sword. 
 
 One day an accident happened, on this occasion, which 
 made me renowned over the country as a magician, as one 
 whom lead could not penetrate, and who had power over 
 fogs and clouds. 
 
 I had a quarrel with the Palatine president, baron Blank- 
 art, concerning a hunting district ; I therefore wrote to him, 
 that, on a certain day, he should repair to the spot in dis- 
 pute, whither I would also come, at ten in the morning, 
 with sword and pistol, hoping he would there give me satis- 
 faction for the affront I had received. Thither I went, with 
 two huntsmen, and two friends ; but, instead of the baron, 
 was astonished to find two hundred armed peasants 
 assembled. 
 
 What was to be done ; I sent one of my huntsmen to the 
 army of the enemy, informing them that, did they not beat
 
 253 
 
 a retreat, I should fire. It was in the month of August, the 
 day was clear and fine, and suddenly a thick and impene- 
 trable fog arose. My huntsman returned, with intelligence, 
 that, having delivered his message just as the fog came on, 
 these valiant heroes had all run away in the greatest fright. 
 
 I advanced, found nobody, fired my piece, as did my 
 friends and followers, and marched to the mansion of my 
 adversary, where my hunting-horn was blown in triumph in 
 his court-yard. The runaway peasants fired at a distance, 
 but the fog prevented their taking any aim. 
 
 Having taken this satisfaction, I returned home, where 
 many false reports had preceded me. My wife expected I 
 should be brought home dead, and that many others would 
 be maimed ; however, not the least mischief had happened^ 
 
 It soon was propagated through the country that I was a 
 magician, had raised a fog to render myself invulnerable, 
 and that the truth of this could be justified by two hundred 
 eye-witnesses. All the monks of Aix-la-Chapelle, Juliers, 
 and Cologne, publicly preached concerning me, reviled me, 
 and warned the people to beware of the arch magician and 
 Lutheran, Trenck. 
 
 On a future occasion, this belief I turned to matter of 
 merriment. I went to hunt the wolf in the extensive forest 
 of the country of Monjoye, and invited the peasants and 
 townsmen to the chace. The first day we had but little 
 sport ; toward evening I, and some forty of my followers, 
 retired to rest in the neighbouring charcoal huts, well pro- 
 vided with wine and brandy. " My lads," said I, " it is now 
 necessary you should all discharge your pieces, and load 
 them anew, that to-morrow no wolf may escape, and that 
 none of you may excuse yourselves on your pieces missing 
 fire." The guns were accordingly re-loaded, and placed in 
 a separate chamber, after which they began to eat, drink 
 and dance. While they were merry-making, my huntsman 
 privately went into this chamber, drew the balls, and charged 
 the pieces with powder, several of which he loaded with
 
 double charges. Some of their notched balls I put into my 
 pocket. 
 
 In the morning, away went I, and my merry fellows, to 
 the chace. As we walked, their conversation turned on my 
 necromancy, and the miraculous manner in which I could 
 envelope myself in a cloud, or make myself bullet proof. 
 " What is that you are talking about, my lads !" said I. 
 " Some of these unbelieving good folks," answered my 
 huntsman," affirm your honour is unable to ward off balls." 
 " Well then," said I, laughing, to one of them, " fire away 
 my good fellow, and try." The man refused, and my hunts- 
 man took his piece out of his hand, and fired. I pretended 
 to parry with my hand, and called, " Let any man, that is 
 so inclined, fire, but only one at a time." Accordingly 
 they began, and, pretending to twist and turn about, I suf- 
 fered them all to discharge their pieces. It must be re- 
 marked, I was perfectly secure, as my people had carefully 
 noticed that no man had re-loaded his gun. Some of them 
 received such blows from the guns that were doubly 
 charged that they fell down, terrified in amazement at the 
 powers of magic. I advanced, holding in my hand some 
 of the marked balls. " Let every one choose his own," 
 called I. All stood motionless, and many of them slunk 
 home, with their guns on their shoulders : some few remain- 
 ed, and our sport was excellent. 
 
 On Sunday the monks of Aix-la-Chapelle again began 
 to preach. My black art became the theme of the whole 
 country ; and, at this day, many of the people present will 
 make oath that they fired upon me, and that, after catching 
 them in my hand, I returned the balls. 
 
 Thus easy is it to gull this wise world. My high and in- 
 vulnerable qualities were published throughout Juliers, Aix- 
 la-Chapelle, Maestricht, and Cologne, and perhaps this 
 belief has more than ten times saved my life ; the priests 
 having propagated it from their pulpits, in a country which 
 o swarms with highway-robbers, that one hundred-and-
 
 255 
 
 sixty men have been broken alive on the wheel, quartered, 
 and burnt, within a year, and where, for a single ducat, any 
 man may hire an assassin. 
 
 It is indeed no small matter of surprise that I should, for 
 years, have preserved my life in a town, where there are 
 twenty-three monasteries and churches, and where the 
 monks are all adored as so many deities. The catholic 
 clergy had been sufficiently enraged against me, by my poem 
 of " The Macedonian Hero ;" and in 1772, I published a 
 newspaper at Aix-la-Chapelle, and another periodical work 
 entitled " The Friend of Men," in which I endeavoured to 
 unmask hypocrisy. Indeed for me, an apostolic major of 
 the apostolic Maria-Theresa, to write thus in a town swarm- 
 ing with friars, and in a tone so undaunted, was unex- 
 ampled. 
 
 At present, now toleration and freedom of opinion are 
 more encouraged by the emperor Joseph II. many such 
 essayists encounter bigotry and deceit with ridicule; or, 
 wanting invention themselves, publish extracts from writings 
 that belong to the age of Luther. 1 have the honour of 
 having attacked the very pillars of the Romish hierarchy 
 in days more dangerous. I may boast of being the first 
 German who, unprotected, raised a fermentation on the 
 Upper Rhine and in the state of Austria, so advantageous 
 to truth, the progress of the human understanding, and the 
 happiness of futurity. 
 
 Let the world read an<l judge of my writings ! They 
 contain nothing inimical to the pure morality taught by 
 Christ. I attacked the sale of indulgences, the avarice of 
 Rome, the laziness, deceit, licentious gluttony, robbery, and 
 blood-sucking of the monks of Aix-la-Chapelle, who sought 
 the murder of each other in the very church, and in presence 
 of the altar. I wrote as a moralist, and morals do not en- 
 rich monks. Therefore did the arch-priest, and nine of his 
 coadjutors, declare every Sunday from the pulpit, publicly 
 naming me, I was a free-thinker, a wizard, one whom every 
 man, wishing well to God and the church, ought to assassi-
 
 256 
 
 nate. The Jesuit, father Zunder, declared me an outlaw ; 
 and a day was appointed on which my writings were to be 
 burnt before my house, the house itself erased, and its in- 
 habitants massacred. My wife received letters warning her 
 to fly, with her children, for safety; which warning she in 
 terror obeyed. I and two of my huntsmen remained, pro- 
 vided with eighty-four loaded muskets. These I displayed 
 in the gallery before the window, that all might be convinced 
 I would make a desperate defence. I lived opposite the 
 court-house. The appointed day came, and father Zunder, 
 with my writings in his hand, attended by all the students 
 in the town, appeared ready for the attack : the other monks 
 had incited the towns-people to a general storm ; no man, 
 however, had the heart to appear in the market-place, while 
 I stood in a gallery so well stored with fire-arms. Thus 
 passed the day and night in suspense. 
 
 In the morning a fire broke out in the town. I hastened, 
 fearless, with my two huntsmen, secretly well armed, to give 
 assistance: we -dashed the water from our buckets, and all 
 obeyed my directions. Father Zunder and the students 
 were there likewise. I approached him by degrees, and 
 struck his anointed ear with my leathern bucket, as if by 
 accident ; which no man thought proper to notice. I passed 
 undaunted through the crowd ; the people all smiled, pulled 
 off their hats, and wished me a good morning. Such are 
 the populace, when they perceive they are not feared. The 
 people of Aix-la-Chapelle were stupid bigots, but too cow- 
 ardly to murder a man who was prepared for his own de- 
 fence. Here the threats of my adversaries for this time 
 ended. 
 
 As I was riding to Maestricht through a hollow-way, a 
 ball whistled by my ears, which, no doubt, was a messenger 
 sent after me by these persecuting priests. 
 
 When hunting near the convent of Schwartzenbruck. 
 three Dominicans lay in ambush for me behind a hedge. 
 One of their colleagues, who often hunted with me, pointed 
 out the place. I was on my guard with my double-bar-
 
 257 
 
 relied gun, drew near, but called with a voice of terror 
 w Shoot, scoundrels! But do not kill me, for the devil 
 stands ready for you at your elbow !" One fired, and they 
 all ran ; the ball hit my hat. I fired likewise, and wounded 
 one desperately, whom the other two carried off: he recovered 
 however, and afterward eloped with a cow-girl. 
 
 Their attempts at poisoning me were all unsuccessful, for 
 I always ate at home. In the year 1774, journeying from 
 Spa to Limbourg, I was attacked by eight banditti. The 
 weather was rainy, and my musket was in its case; my 
 sabre was entangled in the belt, so that unable to draw it, I 
 was obliged to defend myself as with a club. I sprang from the 
 carriage, and, with every effort of nature, fought in defence 
 of my life, striking down all before me, while my faithful 
 huntsman protected me behind. I dispersed my assailants, 
 hastened to my carriage, and drove away. One of these fel- 
 lows was soon after hanged, and owned, before execution, 
 that the confessor of this banditti had promised perpetual 
 absolution, could they but dispatch me ; but that no man 
 could shoot me, because that Lucifer had rendered me in- 
 vulnerable. Persuaded of the truth of this, fortunately for 
 me, they had only assaulted me with clubs. My strength 
 and agility, fighting too for life, was superior to theirs, and 
 .they buried two of their gang, whom, with my heavy sabre, 
 1 had killed. I escaped with a bruised arm and shoulder ; 
 my huntsman received a violent blow with a stone. 
 
 To such excess of cruelty may the violence and rage of 
 priests be carried ! Yet did not my writings contain a single 
 word inimical to the pure morality of Christ: I attacked 
 only gross abuses, the deceit and lasciviousness of the monks 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, and Liege, where they are 
 worse than cambals, wallowing, like swine, in the slough 
 of ignorance and gluttony. I wished to inculcate the true 
 Christian duties among my fellow citizens, and the attempt 
 was sufficient to irritate the selfish church of Rome. 
 
 From my empress I had nothing further to hope. Her 
 confessor had painted me with all the craft of a priest, as an 
 
 11 L 1
 
 258 
 
 arch-heretic, and a persecutor of the holy and blessed 
 mother church. Nor was this all : opinions were artfully 
 propagated, through Vienna, that I was a restless man, 
 dangerous to the community. Such, indeed, is the universal 
 supposition of all who have neither personally known me, 
 nor read my writings. 
 
 Hence too was I always wronged in courts of judicature, 
 where there are ever found wicked or bigoted men. The 
 latter thought they were serving the cause of God by injuring 
 me ; and the former are ever the enemies of pure and simple 
 truth, undauntedly displayed, it being their interest that vir- 
 tue and patriotism should fall the victims of falsehood. Yet 
 were they unable to prevent my writings producing me much 
 money, or being circulated through all Germany. The Aix- 
 la-Chapelle Journal or Gazette became so famous in the first 
 year, that in the second I had four thousand subscribers, by- 
 each of whom I gained a ducat. 
 
 The postmasters, who gain considerably by circulating 
 newspapers, were envious, because the Aix-la-Chapelle 
 Gazette destroyed several of the others ; and therefore 
 formed a combination. 
 
 I will briefly notice what so much contributed to the sale 
 of my paper. I was acquainted with most countries and 
 courts, in which I had the best of correspondents : wherefore, 
 instead of merely relatiug past events, I could foretell future. 
 I was sometimes obliged to be ambiguous, yet my meaning 
 was very capable of being understood. 
 
 Prince Charles of Sweden, eldest brother to the present 
 king, placed the greatest confidence in me during his resi- 
 dence at Aix-la-Chapelle and Spa, and I accompanied him 
 into Holland. When I took my leave of him at Maestricht, 
 while we were in the subterranean gallery of the fortifica- 
 tions, he said to me, " When my father dies, either my 
 brother shall be king, or we will lose our heads*." The 
 
 *The prince meant to say the power of his father was so limited 
 that he was not a king.
 
 259 
 
 king died, and prince Charles, soon after, said, in the post- 
 script of one of his letters, " What we spoke of at Mae- 
 stricht will soon be fully accomplished, and you may then 
 come to Stockholm." 
 
 On this I inserted an article in my Gazette, declaring a 
 revolution had taken place in Sweden, and that the king had 
 made himself absolute. The other papers thought proper to 
 express their doubts, and I immediately offered to wager a 
 thousand ducats on the truth of every article published in 
 my Gazette under the title " Aix-la-Chapelle." The news 
 of the revolution in Sweden was instantaneously confirmed. 
 This incident added greatly to the authenticity of my paper. 
 
 My Gazette foretold the Polish partition six weeke sooner 
 than any other ; but how I obtained this intelligence must 
 not here be mentioned. I also was active in the defence of 
 queen Matilda of Denmark. 
 
 The French ministry were highly offended at the follow- 
 ing pasquinade : " The three eagles have rent the Polish 
 bear, without losing a feather, with which any man in the 
 cabinet of Versailles can write. Since the death of Maza- 
 rine, they write there only with goose quills." 
 
 By desire of the king of Poland, I wrote a narrative of the 
 attempt made to assassinate him, and named the nuncio who 
 had given a general absolution to the conspirators in the 
 chapel of the holy virgin. 
 
 The house was now in flames. Rome insisted I should 
 recall my words. Her nuncio, at Cologne, vented poison, 
 daggers, and excommunication : the empress queen herself 
 thought proper to interfere. I obtained from Warsaw a copy 
 of the examination of the conspirators for my justification. 
 This I threatened to publish, and stood unmoved in the de- 
 fence of truth. I acquired new honour, but new persecutors, 
 likewise; as for protectors none: mine was the fate of all 
 reformers, who must expect reward beyond the grave. 
 
 The empress wrote to the postmaster-general of the 
 empire, commanding him to lay an interdict on the Aix-la- 
 Chapelle Gazette. Informed of this, I ended its publication
 
 269 
 
 with tLe year, but wrote an essay on the partition of Poland, 
 which, also, did but increase my enemies. The priests took 
 care not to be idle at these moments. 
 
 The magistracy of Aix-la-Chapelle is elected from the 
 lower ranks of people, and the Burger's court consists of an 
 ignorant rabble. I know no exceptions, but baron Lamberte 
 and De Witte ; and, to high ten the ridicule, this people as- 
 sume to themselves titles of dignity, for which they are ame- 
 nable to the fiscal court at Vienna. Knowing I found little 
 protection at Vienna, they imagined they might attack, and 
 drive me from their town. I was a spy on their evil deeds, 
 of whom they would willingly have rid themselves. I like- 
 wise knew that the two sheriffs, KIoss and Furth, and the 
 recorder Gayer, had robbed the town-chamber of forty 
 thousand dollars, and divided the spoil. To these I was a 
 dangerous man ; for such reasons they sought a quarrel with 
 me, pretending I had committed a trespass by breaking 
 down a hedge, and sent a sergeant, citing me to appear at 
 their town house. 
 
 It is a well-known right of the empire, that no magistrate 
 of these courts can enforce the personal appearance of a staff 
 officer. I was subject only to the court called Hofkrieg- 
 srath, at Vienna. But by this court they soon understood I 
 should not be protected. A most disagreeable litigation 
 ensned. By accident I obtained a letter from count Gravenilz, 
 member of the Aulic council, to the postmasters Heinsberg, 
 with whom I had also a suit pending, iu which he said, that, 
 though justice was on my side, he would undertake to weary 
 me by procrastination ; he fulfilled his promise, and my wife 
 was obliged to pay three hundred florins of gold, under 
 pain of execution, while I was absent at Vienna, endeavour- 
 ing to obtain right. 
 
 This was a trifle. The postmaster, Heinsberg, of Aix- 
 la-Chapelle, although he had two thousand three hundred 
 rix-dollars of mine in his possession, instituted false suits 
 against me, on pretence of a note, which was nothing more 
 than a receipt, for a thousand dollars on account, obtained
 
 261 
 
 verdicts against me contrary to the most clear and evident 
 justice, seized on a cargo of wine, worth three thousand eight 
 hundred dollars, at Cologne; and I, on the whole, incurred 
 losses to the amount of eighteen thousand florins, exclusive 
 of the interruption given to the trade I earned on in wine ; 
 which devoured the fortune of my wife, and by which she, 
 with myself and my children, were reduced to poverty. 
 
 Let it not be imagined these are mere assertions. The 
 president of one of the courts, to whom I complained, after 
 moralizing concerning the vanity of earthly, and the reality 
 of heavenly hopes, in a letter told me, " It might be the 
 will of God that I should be treated with injustice. He 
 could afford me no help, for he had received her majesty's 
 commands." The referendary GraveniU himself, in 1778, 
 with tears in his eyes, acknowledged how much he had in- 
 jured me, affirmed he had been deceived, and promised he 
 would endeavour to obtain restitution. I was moved, and 
 forgave him, and he attempted to keep his promise ; 
 but his power declined, his corruptions had been manifest, 
 the bribes he had received were become too public. ' He 
 was at length dispossessed of his post, but, alas ! too late 
 for me. He now lives, like the greater part of my enemies, 
 a banished man in Poland, despised, and in poverty. Two 
 other of my judges are at this time obliged, in chains, to 
 sweep the streets of Vienna, where they are condemned to 
 the house of correction. Had this been their employment, 
 instead of being seated on the seat of judgment, twenty 
 years ago, I might have been more fortunate. It certainly 
 is a remarkable circumstance, that I should so often and so 
 continually have been despoiled by unjust judges. Who 
 would have dared to have published their deserts during 
 the plenitude of their power ? Who would have had the te- 
 merity to affirm, their evil deeds should hereafter bring 
 them to attend on the city scavenger ? I indeed knew them 
 but too well, and, fearless, spoke what I knew. But I was 
 a restless man ! A slanderer of imperial courts of justice I !
 
 It was my misfortune, not my fault, that I was acquainted 
 with their mal-practices, sooner than my gracious sovereign. 
 
 Here let the scene close on my litigations at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle and Vienna. May God preserve every honest man 
 from the like ! True it is they hang heavy on my heart. 
 They have swallowed up my own property and that of my 
 innocent wife. Enough ! Enough ! 
 
 From the year 1774 to 1777, I chiefly spent my time in 
 journeying through England and France. 1 was intimate 
 with Dr. Franklin, the American minister, and with the 
 counts St. Germain and de Vergennes, who made me ad- 
 vantageous proposals to go to America; but I was prevented 
 accepting them by my affection for my wife and children. 
 
 My kind friend the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, who had 
 been governor of Magdeburgh during my imprisonment, 
 offered me a commission in his service among the troops 
 going to America ; but I answered 
 
 " Gracious prince, my heart beats in the cause of free- 
 dom only, I will never assist in enslaving men. Were I at 
 the head of your brave gVenadiers, I should revolt to the 
 Americans." 
 
 During the year 1775 I continued at Aix-la-Chapelle 
 my periodical essays, entitled, " The Friend of Men." 
 My writings had made some impression ; the people began 
 to read ; the monks were ridiculed, and become more hum- 
 ble ; my partisans increased, and their arch-leader had the 
 good fortune to get himself cudgelled. 
 
 They did not now mention my name publicly, but cate- 
 chised their penitents at confession. During this year various 
 simple people came to me from Cologne, Bonn, and Dus- 
 seldorf, desiring to speak with me in private. When I in- 
 quired their business, they told me their clergy had in- 
 formed them I was propagating a new religion, in which 
 every man must sign himself over to the devil, who then 
 would supply them with money. They were willing to be- 
 come converts to my faith, would Belzebub but give
 
 263 
 
 the in money, and revenge them on their priests. " My 
 good friends," answered I, " your teachers have deceived 
 you : I know of no devils but themselves. Were it indeed 
 true that I was founding a new religion, the converts to 
 which the devil would supply with money, your bishops and 
 priests would be the very first of my apostles, and the most 
 catholic. I am an honest moral man, my friends, as a 
 Christian ought to be. Go home, in God's name, and do 
 your duty. Be honest and industrious, and you will not 
 then want the devil to bring you money." 
 
 I forgot to mention in its place, that the recorder, or 
 president of the sheriff's court at Aix-la-Chapelle, who is the 
 son of the banker Geyer, and who is called Baron Geyer, 
 had associated himself, in 1778, with a Jew convert, and 
 a knight of industry ; and that this noble company, in 
 concert, swindled a Dutch merchant out of eighty thousand 
 florins, by assuming the arms of the elector Palatine, and 
 producing forged receipts and contracts. Geyer was taken 
 in Amsterdam, and would have been hanged, but that, by 
 the aid of a faithful servant, he effected his escape. He 
 returned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he enjoys his honour- 
 able office. Three years ago it was proved he had robbed 
 the town-chamber. His handsome wife was, at that time, 
 generis comwtuni*, and procured him powerful friends at 
 court. The assertions of this worthy gentleman found 
 greater credit at Vienna than those of the innocent, the 
 injured Trenck. Oh, shame ! shame ! Oh, world ! world ! 
 world ! 
 
 My wine trade was so successful, that I had correspond- 
 ents and stores in London, Paris, Bruxelles, Hamburg, 
 and the Hague ; and had gained forty thousand florins, 
 with the most flattering prospects from England. One 
 unfortunate day destroyed all my successful hopes in this 
 traffic. 
 
 Being in London, I was defrauded of eighteen hundred 
 guineas by a swindler. The relating of this story will do 
 but little honour to the English nation. The fault was
 
 264 
 
 principally my brother-in-law's, a young man, who parted 
 with the wine before he had received the money. In Eng- 
 land there is no law against such deceivers. They bid 
 you trust nobody ; you will then not be wronged. And 
 when I had been wronged, and asked my friend's assistance, 
 I was only laughed at ; as if they were happy that an 
 Englishman had the wit to cheat a German. I cannot give 
 a circumstantial history of this affair, but it is necessary 
 to narrate it in the abstract, our prejudices being so strong 
 in favour of the great worth and justice of the British 
 nation. 
 
 Finding myself defrauded of my wine, I hastened to Sir 
 John Fielding. He was acquainted with me, told me he 
 knew I had been swindled, and that his friendship would 
 make him active in my behalf; that he also knew the houses 
 where my wine was deposited, and that a party of his run- 
 ners should go with me, sufficiently strong for its recovery. 
 I was little aware that he had at that time two hundred 
 bottles of my best Tokay in his cellar. His pretended 
 kindness was a snare ; he was in partnership with rob- 
 bers, the stupid among whom only he hung, and preserved 
 the most adroit for the promotion of trade. 
 
 He sent a constable and six of his runnel's with me, com- 
 manding them to act under my orders. By good fortune I 
 had a violent head-ache, and could not attend them myself, 
 but sent my brother-in-law, who spoke better English than 
 I. Him they brought to the house of a Jew, and told him, 
 " Your wine, sir, is here concealed." Though it was broad 
 day, the door was locked, that he might be induced to act 
 illegally. The constable desired him to break the door 
 open, which he accordingly did : the Jews, in a pretended 
 fright, came running, and asked" What do you want, 
 gentlemen?" " I want ray wine," answered my brotlk?r. 
 " Take what is your own," replied a Jew, " but beware 
 of touching my property. I have bought the wine." 
 
 My brother attended the constable and runners into a 
 cellar, and there found great part of my wine. He wrote
 
 -265 
 
 to Sir John Fielding, that he had found the wine, and desired 
 to know how he was to act. Fielding, by a verbal message, 
 said " -It must be taken by the owner." My brother ac- 
 cordingly got a cart, and sent me the wine. 
 
 He attended the runners, in like manner, to the house of 
 another Jew, where they proceeded as before ; and he came 
 back, quite rejoiced at having recovered the wine. 
 
 Next day came a constable, with a warrant, saying, "He 
 wanted to speak with my brother ; and that it was to go to 
 my friend Sir John Fielding." When he was in the street, 
 he touched him with his staff, and told him " Sir, you are 
 my prisoner." Here it must be remarked, that no man can 
 be arrested in his own house in London ; but that, when he 
 is in the street, and the constable has touched him with his 
 staff, he is beyond delivery ; and, should he run, would be 
 stopped by the people. 
 
 All this I was a spectator of through the window, unable 
 to give any assistance. I went, however, to Sir John Field- 
 ing, and asked what it all meant ? This upright justice an- 
 swered, in a magisterial tone That my brother had been 
 accused of felony. The Jews and swindlers had sworn the 
 wine was a legal purchase. If I had not taken care to be 
 paid, or was ignorant of the English laws, that was my fault. 
 Six swindlers had sworn the wine was paid for ; which cir- 
 cumstance he had not known, or he should not have granted 
 me a warrant. My brother had also broken open doors, 
 and forcibly taken away wine which was not his own. They 
 had legally made oath of this, and he was charged with 
 burglary and robbery. 
 
 He farther desired me immediately to give bail, in a 
 thousand guineas, for my brother, for his appearance in the 
 court of king's bench ; otherwise liis trial would immediately 
 come on, and in a few days he would be hanged. 
 
 What was my rage at finding myself thus treated! and 
 how willingly would I have plunged my sword in the breast 
 of a man so vile as this chief magistrate of London ! 
 
 I hastened to a lawyer, who was my friend, who confirmed 
 
 12 M m
 
 266 
 
 what had been told me, advised me immediately to give 
 bail, and he would then defend my cause. I applied to lord 
 Mansfield, and received the same answer. I told my story 
 to all my great friends, who were chiefly members of par- 
 liament ; and they laughed at me for attempting to trade in 
 London, without better understanding the laws. My inti- 
 mate friend, lord Grosvenor, said, " Send more wine to 
 London, and we will pay you so well that you will soon re- 
 cover your loss." This is the character of the nation. 1 am 
 certain he would have kept his word, but I wanted the ne- 
 cessary capital. 
 
 I went to my wine-merchants, who had stock in hand of 
 mine worth upward of a thousand guineas. They gave bail 
 for my brother, and in four days he was released. 
 
 Fielding, in the interim, sent his runners to my house, 
 toot back the wine, and restored it to the Jews, as property 
 of which they had been robbed. They threatened farther to 
 prosecute me as a receiver of stolen goods. I fled in all 
 haste from London, through Dover, to Paris, where I im- 
 mediately sold off my remaining stock at half price, honoured 
 my bills, and so ended my merchandize. 
 
 My brother returned to London in November, to defend 
 his cause in the court of king's bench ; but the swindlers 
 had disappeared, and the lawyer required a hundred pounds 
 to proceed. The conclusion of all this was, my brother re- 
 turned with seventy pounds less in his pocket, spent as tra- 
 velling expenses ; and the stock in the hands of my wine- 
 merchants was detained on pretence of paying the bail. 
 They brought me in an apothecary's bill, and all was lost. 
 Thus do the English treat the Germans, notwithstanding I 
 had so many friends in London. 
 
 I might fill a volume with similar instances. I shall only 
 relate one short story. A German violin-maker in London, 
 intending to return home, had bought his wife a silver cof- 
 fee-pot, which was left standing on the table in his cham- 
 ber. Some one knocked at the door, and two Jews entered. 
 One bespoke a violin ; the other, while he was conversing, 
 ' " "u ?.
 
 267 
 
 snatched up the coffee-pot, and ran. The German looked 
 round, and missed the coffee-pot ; but the other Jew told 
 him, " Do not be uneasy, my friend, go with me, and I will 
 make my comrade give you back your coffee-pot. It is only 
 some trick : he is a mad-headed fellow." 
 
 The poor German went with the Jew, who brought him 
 into a chamber where were four other Jews, and his coffee- 
 pot on the table. He took it, and said, " God be praised, 
 I have found it once more." The Jew answered not a word ; 
 and the German returned home with his coffee-pot. Forth- 
 with went five Israelites to the justice, and swore that the 
 German had entered their chamber, and stolen thereout a 
 silver coffee-pot. A constable attended them to the Ger- 
 man's house. The Jew said, " That is my coffee-pot :" 
 and the other swearers answered, " Yes, that is yours." 
 The German was taken into custody, and, being destitute 
 of witnesses, was hung upon the evidence of the five Jews. 
 
 I spoke with this poor fellow in prison, who told me the 
 story himself, and I actually saw this honest man hung 
 by the pityless English. What will my readers now say 
 to this highly-esteemed nation, which, in reality, for a thou- 
 sand reasons, merits our contempt ? 
 
 Enough of the proud and selfish Britons, who would treat 
 us, and all other nations, as they do their negroes, were we 
 to fall under their dominion !* 
 
 * The names of the wine merchants are omitted in the trans- 
 lation ; the baron may have been mistaken, they may have acted 
 honestly. There is no doubt of the baron's veracity ; that is, 
 speaking from the conviction of his own mind. He was in England, 
 and, as he himself asserts, most shamefully swindled ; those con- 
 cerned have since become notorious. The perplexities of the law 
 daily expose the natives themselves to the arts of the dishonest. 
 This is an inevitable defect, the consequence of an advantage the 
 value of which foreigners seldom understand : they are, from tem- 
 perament, more hasty than the English ; they have been ac- 
 customed, in states less free, when injustice is manifest, to more 
 summary proceedings ; and, when they have any dispute in 
 England, they usually fall into the very worst hands. Let us hope 
 the baron was misinformed, was hasty, and that the memory of 
 Sir John Fielding has been wronged ! If not! 
 
 The baron so little knew how he was to act, that it is impossible. 
 
 M m 2
 
 Many other particulars remain to be told of Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle, for which I have not sufficient room in this place. 
 
 The Swedish general, Spreugporten, came to Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle in the year 1776. He had planned and carried into 
 execution the revolution so highly favourable to the king, 
 but had suddenly left Sweden in discontent, and came to 
 take the waters with a rooted hypochondria. 
 
 He was the most dangerous man in Sweden, and had told 
 the king himself, after the revolution, in the presence of his 
 guards, " While Sprengporten can hold a sword, the king 
 has nothing to command." 
 
 It was feared he would go to Russia ; and Prince Charles 
 wrote to me, in the name of the monarch, desiring I would 
 exert myself, to the utmost, to become intimate with him, 
 and persuade him to return to Sweden. No task could 
 have been more difficult. He was a man of unbounded pride; 
 which, notwithstanding the greatness of his abilities, ren- 
 dered him either a fool or a madman. He likewise de- 
 spised every thing that was not Swedish. 
 
 Never did I undertake any affair with more ardour or 
 better success : I accomplished my purpose, gained his 
 friendship, an unlimited power over his mind, and restored 
 him to his king and country. 
 
 The Prussian minister, count Hertzberg, the same year 
 came to Aix-la-Chapelle. I enjoyed the honour of his so- 
 ciety and conversation three months, and every where ac- 
 companied this great man. To his liberality am I indebted, 
 
 from his narrative, to say whether his brother was arrested as a 
 debtor, or imprisoned as a felon. His perplexity and distress in- 
 spire abhorrence for those instruments by whom, instead of vi- 
 gorously protecting an uninformed stranger, they were increased. 
 The liberal-minded Englishman will pardon his severity on the 
 nation, remembering how he was treated ; though by individuals 
 whom this and every nation must pity and despise. The story of 
 the poor German and his coffee-pot, if the baron was not deceived, 
 is indeed a tragical one ; yet, would the oaths of five Jews have 
 hung five hundred, or five thousand, Englishmen, were they equally 
 destitute of the means to prove the falsity of such accusations. Not 
 the laws, not the nation, wicked men only can be accussd of such 
 a murder.
 
 that I can, at present, return to my country with honour. 
 As often as they read this, let my children remember the 
 reasons I have had for inculcating this gratitude in their in- 
 fant hearts. 
 
 The time I had to spare was not spent in idleness ; I at- 
 tacked those sharpers, in my weekly writings, who attend 
 at Aix-la-Chapelle and Spa, to plunder both inhabitants 
 and visitants under the connivance of the magistracy : nor 
 are there wanting foreign noblemen, who become the asso- 
 ciates of these pests of society. The publication of such 
 truths endangered my life from some of the desperadoes, 
 who, when detected, had nothing more to lose. How power- 
 ful is an innocent life, how great that presence of mind which 
 conscious virtue inspires, nothing can more fully prove, 
 than that I still exist in despite of all the attempts of wicked 
 and ignorant monks, and despicable sharpers. 
 
 Though my life was much disturbed, yet do I not repent 
 of my manner of acting : many a youth, many a brave and 
 worthy man, have I preserved from destruction, detained 
 from the gaming-table, and personally pointed out to them 
 the most notorious sharpers. This was so injurious to Spa, 
 that the bishop of Liege himself, who enjoys a tax of forty 
 per cent, on all their winnings, and therefore protects such 
 villains, offered me an annual pension of five hundred 
 guineas if I would not come to Spa, or three per cent, on 
 the winnings would I but associate myself with colonel 
 N 1, and raise recruits for the gaming-table. My an- 
 swer may easily be imagined ; yet for this was I threatened 
 to be excommunicated by the holy catholic church. 
 
 I and my family passed the greatest part of sixteen sum- 
 mers in Spa. My house became the rendezvous of the 
 best and most respectable part of the company, and I was 
 personally known to some of the most respectable characters 
 in Europe. 
 
 Through life it has been ray constant desire to act for the 
 benefit of others, and to obtain justice for the whole world 
 as well as for myself. Fatal experience has convinced ras
 
 270 
 
 how visionary such schemes are. By an effort of this kind 
 I gave myself new cause of uneasiness. 
 
 A contest arose between the town of Aix-la-Chapelle and 
 baron Blankart, the master of the hounds to the elector 
 Palatine : it originated in a dispute concerning precedence, 
 between the before-mentioned wife of the recorder, Geyer 
 (who .was at this time mistress to baron Blankart, and also 
 to a young canon of the church), and the sister of the bur- 
 gomaster of Aix-la-Chapelle, Kahr, who governed that 
 town with oriental despotism. 
 
 This quarrel was highly detrimental to the town, and to 
 the elector Palatine ; but, at the same time, highly profitable 
 to Kahr, whose office it was to protect the rights of the town, 
 as well as to those persons who were deputed to defend the 
 claims of the elector : the latter kept a faro-bank, the plun- 
 der of which had before enriched the town ; and the former, 
 Kahr, under pretence of defending their cause, embezzled 
 the money of the people : so that both parties, instead of 
 wishing to end, endeavoured, with all their power, to prolong 
 the litigation. 
 
 It vexed me to the heart to see their proceedings. Those 
 who suffered, on each side, were deceived ; and I conceived 
 the vain project of exposing the truth, and obliging these 
 dishonest agents to an accommodation. For this purpose I 
 journeyed to the electoral court at Manheim, related the 
 facts to the elector, produced apian of accommodation, which 
 he approved, and obtained full powers to act as arbitrator. 
 The minister of the elector, Bekhers, pretended highly to 
 approve my honest zeal, conducted me himself to an au- 
 dience, made me dine at his house, took me to the opera, 
 said a commission-was made out for my son, and forwarded 
 to Aix-la-Chapelle, which was a falsity; and, the moment 
 he quitted me, sent post to Aix-la-Chapelle, thereby to 
 frustrate the very attempt he pretended so much to applaud. 
 He was himself in league with the parties. In fine, this 
 honest, but silly interference in what did not concern me, 
 brought me only trouble, expence, and chagrin. I
 
 271 
 
 made five ineffectual journies to Manheim ; till at length I 
 became so dissatisfied, that I determined to quit Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, and purchase an estate in Austria, where I might 
 live in philosophic ease, and pursue the innocent avocations 
 of agriculture. 
 
 The Bavarian contest was at this time in agitation : my 
 own affairs brought me to Paris, and here I learned parti- 
 cular intelligence of great consequence: this 1 communicated 
 to thegreat duke of Florence, on my return to Vienna. The 
 duke departed to join the army in Bohemia, and I had occa- 
 sion again to write to him, and, from the importance of the 
 subject, thought it my duty to send a courier, at my own 
 expence. The duke showed my letter to the emperor ; my 
 intelligence was received, but I myself remained unnoticed. 
 
 I did not think myself very safe, in foreign countries, 
 during the time of war, and therefore purchased the lordship 
 of Zwerbach, with appurtenances, which, with the conco- 
 mitant expences, cost me sixty thousand florins. This lord- 
 ship was in a ruinous condition, and was to be restored by 
 my money. and industry. 
 
 To conclude this purchase, I was obliged, at great ex- 
 pence, to solicit, during eleven months, the referendary 
 Zetto, whose present .habitation is the house of correction, 
 and his good friend whom he had appointed as my curator, 
 and my new estate was likewise made njidei commissum; 
 for my kind referendaries and curators would not let me 
 escape contribution. The six thousand florins of which, in 
 one year, they exonerated my purse, would have done my 
 family much service. 
 
 In May, 1780, 1 went to Aix-la-Ohapelle, where my wife's 
 mother died, in July ; and in September, my wife, myself, 
 and family, all came to Vienna. 
 
 My wife solicited the mistress of the ceremonies to obtain 
 an audience. Her request was granted ; and she had the good 
 fortune to gaiu the entire approbation and favour of the em^ 
 press. Her kindness was beyond expression : she herself 
 introduced my wifoo the 'arch-duchess, as an example for
 
 272 
 
 women, and commanded her grand -mistress of the ceremo- 
 nies to present her everj where. " You were unwilling,'* 
 said she, " to accompany your husband into my country ; 
 but I hope to convince you that you may live happier in 
 Austria than at Aix-la-Chapelle." She said many other 
 things equally kind. 
 
 She next day sent me her decree, assuring me of a pen- 
 sion of four hundred florins ; adding, this should not be all 
 she would do for me. 
 
 My wife petitioned the empress to grant me an audience. 
 Her request was complied with ; and the empress said to me, 
 " This is the third time in which I would have made your 
 fortune, had you been so disposed." The audience lasted 
 long ; her discourse was that of a matron. She desired to 
 see my children, adding, " So excellent a mother must have 
 brought you charming children." She then spoke of ,my 
 writings, " How much good might you do," said she, 
 " would you but write in the cause of religion !" 
 
 The prospect now seemed to brighten, and a happy futu- 
 rity to approach. My wife received more honour and atten- 
 tion, while she remained at Vienna, than many of the first 
 ladies in the city. 
 
 We departed for Zwerbach, where we lived contentedly; 
 but when we were preparing to return to Vienna, and solicit 
 the restitution of a part of my lost fortune during this mo- 
 mentary sunshine of the court the great Theresa died, 
 and all my hopes were overcast. 
 
 I forgot to relate, that, after my favourable audience, the 
 arch-duchess, Maria Anna, spoke to me in the name of the 
 empress, and desired me to translate a religious work, writ- 
 ten in French by the abbe Baudrand, into German. I re- 
 plied, I should have little success in translation, but that I 
 would obey her majesty's commands. I began my work, 
 took passages from Baudrand, but inserted more of my own ; 
 though the censor was less fastidious in the examination of 
 what was entitled a translation. The first volume was 
 finished in six weeks ; the empress thought it admirable.
 
 273 
 
 The second soon followed, and I presented this myself. She 
 asked me if it equalled the first : I answered, 1 hoped it 
 would be found more excellent. " No," said she, " I never 
 in my life read a better book;" and added, she much 
 wondered how 'I could write so well and so quick. I 
 promised another volume within a month. 
 
 Before the third was ready, Theresa died, and my ex- 
 pectations descended with her to the grave. She conti- 
 nually gave orders, on her death-bed, to have the writings 
 of baron Trenck read to her ; and, though her confessor 
 well knew the injustice that had been done me, and all I 
 had lost, yet, in these her last moments, when he had the 
 most favourable of all opportunities, he kept a dastardly 
 silence, though he had given me his sacred promise to speak 
 hi my behalf. 
 
 The censor permitted me after ker death, and the arch- 
 duchess even commanded, that I should print what I have 
 here stated in the preface to that third volume ; and this was 
 my only satisfaction. 
 
 Untoward, indeed, has ever been my fate. For one and 
 thirty years had I been soliciting my right, which I never 
 could obtain, because the empress was deceived by wicked 
 men, and believed me an arch-heretic. In the thirty-second 
 iny wife had the good fortune to convince her this was false; 
 she had determined to make me restitution, and my children 
 fortunate ; and just at this moment she died. 
 
 Oh Fortune, how dost thuu sport with the passions of 
 men ! Yet was it not so much the fault of fortune as of my- 
 self ; I was at length humble euough to accept justice as a 
 favour ; but then it was too late. My heart was conscious 
 of not needing favour or forgiveness, for I had never 
 done ill ; therefore did I continue unfortunate ; I chose the 
 narrow path of innocence, my enemies the open field of vice. 
 Their station was the strongest, and they have kept pos- 
 session : all contest is now past, I am too old, and need 
 rest. 
 
 For my children's sake have I written this history, have 
 12 Nn
 
 274 
 
 told these open truths, which perhaps may draw down new 
 persecutions on my head. The friends of innocence will be 
 their friends. I have taught them to live satisfied in this 
 world with what is necessary, and without that whicti is 
 superfluous. Be this their inheritance, instead of their 
 great Sclavonian estates ; for the rest, I leave it to God, 
 and that good fame in which their forefathers have always 
 lived. 
 
 The pension granted my wife by the empress, in conse- 
 quence of my misfortunes, and our numerous family, we 
 only enjoyed nine months. 
 
 Of this she was deprived by the new monarch, who sup- 
 pressed that, and various other pensions, as burthensome to 
 the state. He perhaps knew nothing of the affair, as I 
 never solicited. Yet much has it grieved me. Perhaps I 
 may find relief when the sighs wrung from me shall reach 
 the heart of the father of his people, in this my last writing. 
 At present nothing for me remains but to live unknown, and 
 buried in Zwerbach. 
 
 After the death of the empress, that I might fulfil every 
 duty to my family, I wrote to the emperor, desirous to be 
 fully informed of what I had to hope. This was my me- 
 morial. 
 
 <( Most gracious emperor, 
 
 " In a work printed at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1772, the 
 most essential parts of which I had the honour to present to 
 you in 1765, in manuscript, is the following passage : 
 
 " All oppressed subjects ought, at stated hours, to have 
 access to the throne ; those who should prefer false com- 
 plaints, seek to deceive, or to obtain unmerited favours, 
 ought to be made public examples, and stand mutilated in 
 the pillory/ 
 
 " I, most gracious sovereign, am the first who will pro- 
 nounce judgment on myself, if 1 am not able to prove I have 
 been most unjustly oppressed under the reign of the great 
 Maria Theresa, and deprived of an immense property by 
 unjust judges and men in power : I therefore humbly pray
 
 275 
 
 a judge may be appointed, before whom I may be permitted 
 to produce my proofs. 
 
 " I am, gracious monarch, your ever faithful subject, 
 
 " TRENCK." 
 
 In vain did I hope an answer : my petition remained un- 
 noticed, unregarded. 
 
 The emperor thought proper to collect the legacies and 
 monies bestowed on hospitals into one fund. The system 
 was wise and good. My cousin Trenck, as I have before 
 said, had bequeathed thirty-six-thousand florins to an hos- 
 pital for the poor of Bavaria, who had been ruined by him 
 and his pandours. This I showed he had no right to do, 
 having deducted the sum from the family estates ; I there- 
 fore petitioned the emperor that these thirty -six thousand 
 florins might be restored, as by right they ought, to me and 
 my children, who were the people whom Trenck had indeed 
 made poor, nothing of the property of his acquiring having 
 been left to pay this legacy, but, on the contrary, the money 
 having been violently exacted from mine. 
 
 Alas ! The memorial came before those who were ill in- 
 formed of the truth, or deemed the inquiry too laborious. In 
 a few days it was determined I should be answered ia the 
 same tone in which, for six and -thirty years past, all my 
 petitions and remonstrances had been answered : 
 
 THE REQUEST OF THE PETITIONER CANNOT BE GRANTED. 
 
 Fortune, my irreconcilenble enemy, persecuted me even 
 in my retreat. Within six years, two destructive hail-storms 
 swept away my crops ; one year was a misgrowth ; there 
 were seven floods ; a rot among my sheep ; all possible cala- 
 mities befel me and my manor. 
 
 The estate had been totally ruined, the ponds were to 
 drain, the mansion-house to repair, three farms were to be 
 put into a proper condition, and the whole new stocked. 
 This rendered me poor, especially as my wife's fortune had 
 been sunken in law-suits at Aix-la-Cbapelle and Cologne.
 
 270 
 
 The unfortunate, miserable peasants had nothing, therefor* 
 could pay nothing; I, on the contrary, was obliged to 
 advance them money. My sons assisted me ; and we la- 
 boured with our hands : my wife, an excellent woman, 
 though accustomed to the affluence of the great world, yet, 
 anxious to fulfil the duties of a mother, took care of eight 
 children, without so much as the help of a maid. We lived 
 in poverty and wretchedness, obliged to earn our daily 
 bread by the sweat of our brow ; and had the emperor, by 
 chance, amid his peregrinations, visited Zwerbach, he would 
 have beheld the abode of industry and virtue, exerting 
 themselves to fulfil all the duties of man, and our sufferings 
 had certainly been less severe. 
 
 Enough! I have aided myself. The monarch, whoop- 
 pressed, never beheld me crouching to his power. I have 
 deserved a fate more favourable ; I avoided a place where 
 men are not actuated by the love of men, and hid myself in 
 my Zwerbach : 1 sighed, said nothing, wrote much, feared 
 no man, and rather desired to seek the world's utmost 
 boundaries than live a witness of certain scenes. 
 
 The greatest of all my misfortunes was my treatment in 
 the military court, where Zetto and Krugel were my refe- 
 rendaries. Zetto had clogged me with a curator ; and 
 when the cow had no more milk to give, they then began to 
 torture me with deputations, sequestrations, administrations, 
 and executions. Nineteen times was I obliged, personally, 
 to attend at Vienna within two years, and to travel fourteen 
 posts, each time at my own expence. This alone ate up my 
 income. Every six years must I pay an attorney to dispute, 
 wrangle, and quarrel, in my behalf, with the curator. Their 
 mutual squabbles filled huge rolls of writing, for all of 
 which I, in the conclusion, was obliged to pay. If any affair 
 was to be expedited, I, by a third hand, was obliged to send 
 the referendary some excellent ducats. Did he give judg- 
 ment, still that judgment lay fourteen months inefficient ; and 
 when it then appeared, the copy was false, and so was sent
 
 to the upper courts, the high referendary of which said " I 
 must be dislodged from Zwerbach." 
 
 True it is, no such sentence was ever inserted in their 
 proceedings, and, probably, he in turn may be dislodged 
 himself from the seat of judgment, and once more become 
 the companion of the honourable Zetto, in the house of cor- 
 rection. So shall his power be lost, to dislodge, to banish 
 worthy citizens from the territories of Austria. 
 
 They obliged me at last to purchase my naturalization. 
 I sent to Prussia for my pedigree, where the family had 
 been known four hundred years ; the attestation of this was 
 sent me by count Hertzberg. Although the family of Trenck 
 had a hundred years been landholders in Hungary, yet was 
 my attorney, by order of the court, obliged to solicit the in- 
 strument called ritter-diploma, for which, under pain of 
 execution, I must pay two thousand florins. Thus are men 
 treated in Vienna, and this treatment I certainly shall not 
 soon forget. 
 
 By decree, a Prussian nobleman is not noble in Austria. 
 In Austria! Where every lackey, every worthless -fellow, 
 can purchase a diploma, making him a knight of the empire, 
 for twelve hundred wretched florins ! Where money is the 
 only merit necessary for acquiring the title of count ! Where 
 
 such men as P and Grassalkowitz have purchased 
 
 the dignity of PRINCE ! 
 
 I am, at length, suffered to be at rest. They, by whom I 
 was persecuted, instead of cleansing courts ot justice, cleanse 
 the streets. They may, perhaps, soon have company. 
 
 Tortured by courts, terrified by hail -storms, I determined 
 to dread them no more, determined to depend upon the pro- 
 ductions of my pen, and to publish a collection of ray works 
 in eight volumes, and this history of my life. 
 
 Fourteen months accomplished thin purpose. My labours 
 found a favourable reception through all Germany, procured 
 me money, esteem, and honour, and I will now no more 
 struggle through my few remaining years under the burthen 
 of law-suits, curators, referendaries, attornies, courts of
 
 27S 
 
 justice, and the unworthy in authority. I will live as if I 
 never had possessed any property on this poor earth but 
 what is included within my own head. By my own writings 
 only will I seek the means of existence ; by my writings 
 only endeavour to obtain the approbation and the love of 
 men. 
 
 For this I need not be of any country, want no title, no 
 protection, no court favour, no lordships, no particular 
 place of abode, no uniform, no Fidei commiss-curator ! I 
 am a free burgher of the world, dependent on no earthly 
 prince ; and to my children I will leave my literary property. 
 This nothing can confiscate. 
 
 ******** 
 
 On the 22d of August, 1786, the news arrived that 
 Frederic the Great had left this world ! 
 
 ******** 
 
 The present reigning monareh, the best among the friends 
 of men, the witness of my sufferings in my native country, 
 immediately sent me a royal passport for Berlin. The con- 
 fiscation of my estates was annulled, and my deceased 
 brother, in Prussia, had left my children his heirs ! 
 ******** 
 
 I journey, with the imperial permission, back to my 
 country, whence I have been two and forty years expelled ! 
 I journey not as a pardoned malefactor, but as a man whose 
 innocence has been established by the whole tenour of his 
 actions, has been proved in his writings, and who is journey, 
 ing to receive his reward ! 
 
 Here I shall once more encounter my old friends, my 
 relations, and those who have known me in the day of my 
 affliction. Here shall I appear, not as my country's traitor, 
 but as my country's martyr 1 The Martyr of Virtue ! 
 
 What is the expansion of my soul at obtaining that for 
 which I so long have laboured! What my joy at the pros- 
 pect of futurity, at the victory which fortitude, honour and 
 truth, unshaken, have won ! I imagined my end would 
 have been, what my life was, tragical ! But a different
 
 279 
 
 scene opens to my view. On this resplendent scene shall 
 I once again appear ; and now have I to prove I am the very 
 man I have so often asserted myself to be, in this mournful 
 history. Y'et is it a great undertaking for a grey head, 
 become grey in its contests with misfortune, and requiring 
 retirement and rest. Slumbering ambition, lulled by philo- 
 sophy, again is roused, animates and inspires my soul, 
 prompting me to seek that reward for others which once 
 1 sought for myself. To them I leave my name and rights ; 
 to them, whom, not requiring their consent, I called into 
 existence who, from the example of their father, contem- 
 plating the past, might imagine this nether world only the 
 hell of man, and that they must first expect the rewards of 
 virtue beyond the grave, had they not learned, from my ex- 
 ample, also to expect better of futurity. Yes, for my eight 
 children will I still live ; I will conduct them into those 
 paths of honour in which I was myself conducted by my an- 
 cestors : paths to me so gloomy, yet so glorious. 
 
 Safe am I arrived in the haven, a weather-beaten, but ex- 
 perienced, shipman, enabled to indicate the hidden rocks and 
 quicksands of this life's perturbed shores ; often have I 
 struck, often been wrecked, but never foundered. 
 
 Possible, though little probable, are still future storms. 
 For these, also, am t prepared. Long had I reason daily 
 to curse the rising sun, and, to behold it setting, with hor- 
 ror. Death to me appears the greatest benefit ; a certain 
 passage from agitation to peace, from motion to rest. I fear 
 not the terrific dreams of futurity. As for my children, 
 they, jocund in youth, delight in present existence. When 
 I have fulfilled the duties of a father, to live or die will 
 then be as i shall please ; nor is it impossible but a ro- 
 markahle supplement may follow the strange vicissitudes 
 of this my life, in which I unay speak more openly of things 
 I have been, in prudence, obliged parti \ to conceal. 
 
 Thou, oh God ! my righteous judge, didst ordain that I 
 should be, that I might remain, an example of suffering to 
 the world ; tliuu inadest me what I am ; gavest me these
 
 290 
 
 strong passions, these quick nerves, this universal glow, 
 this thrilling of the blood, when I behold injustice. Strong 
 was my mind, that deeply it might meditate on deep sub- 
 jects ; strong my memory, that these meditations I might 
 retain ; strong my body, that proudly it might support all 
 it has pleased thee to inflict. 
 
 With the eyes of philosophy I contempfate the good God, 
 who himself is void of wrath, revenge, or the passions by 
 which his poor creatures are tortured. Him have I to thank for 
 enabling me to encounter and to conquer a host of troubles, 
 and leaving me still in being to reap the fruits of my vic- 
 tories. 
 
 Should I continue to exist, should identity go with me, 
 and should I know what I was then, when I was called 
 Trenck; when that combination of particles which N ature 
 commanded should compose this body shall be decomposed, 
 scattered, or in other bodies united ; when I have no mus- 
 cles to act, no brain to think, no retina on which pictures can 
 mechanically be painted, my eyes wasted, and no tongue 
 remaining to pronounce the Creator's name ; should I still 
 behold a Creator, then, oh then, will my spirit mount, and 
 indubitably associate with the spirits of the just, that ex- 
 pectant wait their golden harps, and glorious crowns, from 
 the most high God For human weaknesses, human failings, 
 arising from our nature, springing from our temperament, 
 which the Creator has ordained shall be even thus, and no 
 otherwise ; for these have I suffered enough on earth ; for 
 these can I have nothing to fear beyond the grave, from a 
 just God, who made me man, and not angel, and stationed 
 me in that world in which his own hand had mingled good 
 and evil. 
 
 Such is my confession of faith : in this have I lived, ia 
 this will I die. The duties of a man and of a Christian I 
 have strove to fulfil nay, often have been too benevolent, 
 too generous ; perhaps also too proud, too vain ; I could 
 Dot bend, although liable to be broken. Many a sleepless 
 night has a noble thirst of knowledge made me pass.
 
 281 
 
 Existence was given man to be employed I shall have 
 sleep enough in eternal night. 
 
 That I have not served the world in acts and employ- 
 ments where best I might, is, perhaps, my own fault ; the 
 fault of my manner, which is now too radical to be corrected 
 in this my sixtieth year. Yes, I acknowledge my failing, 
 acknowledge it unblushingly ; nay glory in the pride of a 
 noble nature. Joy shall spring up and quicken in my heart, 
 when my example, the instructions I give to youth, shall 
 teach them, idle and thoughtless as they often are, virtue 
 and wisdom, and thus ensure their happiness. Joy shall 
 make my white locks again youthful, when grey beards 
 shall learn, from me, to think and act more honourably, and 
 to die tranquilly. Joy shall again enlighten my soul, when 
 the deceitful shall become honest ; the idle industrious ; the 
 ignorant learned ; the slave a free man ; and the man of 
 sin, upright, just, and benevolent. 
 
 For myself, I ask nothing of those who, having read my 
 history, shall become my friends, for nothing I need ; but 
 to them do I commit my wife and children. My eldest 
 son is a lieutenant in the Tuscany regiment of cavalry, under 
 general Lascy, and does honour to his father's principles. 
 The second serves his present Prussian Majesty, as ensign 
 in the Posadowsky dragoons, with equal promise. The 
 third is still a child. My daughters will make worthy men 
 happy, for they have imbibed virtue and gentleness with 
 their mother's milk. Monarchs may hereafter remember 
 what I have suffered, what I have lost, and what is due to 
 my ashes. With this reflexion 1 calmly quit the world. 
 
 Here do I publicly declare I will seek no other revenge 
 against my enemies than that of despising their evil deeds. 
 It is my wish, and shall be my endeavour, difficult as is the 
 task, to forget the past ; and, having committed no offence, 
 neither will I solicit monarchs for favour, and posts of 
 honour ; but, as I have lived a free man, a free man will I die. 
 
 Let the wise and benevolent reader grant me compassion, 
 
 12 Oo
 
 282 
 
 and, by my example, avoid much of that misery in which 
 too much rashness, or too little caution, has involved me. 
 
 He, whose untimely ambition impels him to undertakings 
 beyond his strength ; he, who concerns himself with affairs 
 not properly his own ; he who erects himself into a reformer 
 of this world's abuses, will be the martyr of virtue, or 
 perhaps, the dupe of folly ; and, after having lived per- 
 secuted, many even have the fortune to die despised. 
 
 I conclude this part of my history on the evening pre- 
 ceding my journey to Berlin. Now, when I take leave of 
 my beloved wife and children, grant, oh God, that for them 
 I may journey ! God grant I may encounter no new af- 
 flictions. Higher and better be my hopes. 
 
 TRENCK. 
 
 Dated at the Castle of Zwerbach, 
 December 18th, 1786. 
 
 I made preparations for my journey to Berlin, whence 
 the magnanimous Frederic William sent me the desired 
 passport. This journey I cheerfully prepared to undertake; 
 but my ever-envious fate threw me on the bed of sickness, 
 insomuch that small hope remained I ever should again be- 
 hold the country of my forefathers, or outlive the moment 
 which I had been twenty years in anxious expectation of 
 beholding. I seemed following the Great Frederic to the 
 mansions of the dead; then should I never have written 
 this account, or obtained the victory, by which I am now so 
 gloriously crowned. 
 
 A variety of obstacles being overcome, I found it neces- 
 sary to make a jouruey into Hungary, which was one of the 
 most renovating and pleasant of uny whole life. 
 
 Wherever I went, especially at Oseii and Pest, I met 
 that honourable reception, that sensibility of soul, the full 
 enjoyment of which he only can feel who solely seeks the 
 approbation of the wise, the worthy, and the just. I have 
 no words to express my sensations, my ardeut wishes for 
 the welfare of a nation, where I met so many proofs of ha-
 
 nourable friendship. Wherever I appeared I was wel- 
 comed, and followed with that love and enthusiasm which 
 only await the fathers of their country. The valour of my 
 cousin Trenck, who died ingloriously in the Spielberg, the 
 loss of my great Hungarian estates, the fame of my writ- 
 ings, and the cruelty of my sufferings, had gone before me. 
 These must I thank for a reception which I never can forget. 
 The officers of the army, the nobles of the land, alike testi- 
 fied the warmth of their esteem. 
 
 Such is the reward of the upright ; such too are the 
 proofs that this nation knows the just value of fortitude and 
 virtue. Have I not reason to glory in this ; to publish my 
 gratitude, and to recommend my children to those who, 
 when I am no more, shall dare uprightly to determine con- 
 cerning the rights which have unjustly been snatched from 
 me in Hungary ? For myself I am content, nay rewarded, 
 when commiserated as a martyr to the love of truth, of 
 which I have ever stood the undaunted advocate. 
 
 Not a man in Hungary, those only excepted who were 
 interested in my oppression, but will proclaim I have been 
 unjustly dealt by : yet have I good reason to suspect I 
 never shall find redress. Sentence has been already given ; 
 judges, more honest, cannot, without difficulty, reverse old 
 decrees ; aud the present possessors of my fine estates are 
 also too powerful, too intimate with the governors of the 
 earth, for me to hope I shall hereafter be more happy. God 
 knows my heart: I wish the present possessors may ren- 
 der services to the state equal to those rendered by the 
 family of the Trencks, or to those that family would have 
 rendered, had its capability, and the uprightness of its in- 
 tentions, been sooner and more properly estimated. 
 
 There is little probability I should ever behold my worthy 
 and noble friends in Hungary more. Here I bid them adieu, 
 promising them to endeavour to pass the remainder of my 
 life still so as to merit the approbation of a people, with 
 whose ashes I would most willingly have mingled my own. 
 May the God of heaven prosper their undertakings ! May
 
 284 
 
 the God of heaven preserve every Hungarian from a fate 
 similar to mine ! A fate, which still unredressed, I suffer ; 
 and, with sighs and despair, to suffer must still continue. 
 
 The Croats have ever been reckoned rude and unculti- 
 vated. In Vienna men talk of their seminaries, their aca- 
 demies, and their science ; yet among this rude and unculti- 
 vated people I found more subscribers to my writings than 
 among all the learned men of Vienna, and in Hungary more 
 than in all the remainder of the Austrian dominions. 
 
 The wise literati of the capital are little in quest of 
 freedom. The Hungarians, the unlettered Croats, seek 
 information. The polished people of Vienna ask their 
 confessors permission to read instructive books. Various 
 subscribers, having read the first volume of my works, 
 brought it back, and re-demanded their money, because 
 some monk had told them it was a book dangerous to be 
 read. The very judges of their courts have re- sold them to 
 the booksellers for a few pence, or given them to those who 
 had the care of their consciences, to burn. 
 
 The Hungarians have read with avidity ; have thanked 
 me most sincerely for the instruction they had received, 
 and the attempts I had made to destroy vulgar prejudices. 
 In Vienna alone was my life decried as a romance; in 
 Hungary, on the contrary, I found the compassion of men, 
 their friendship, and effectual aid. Had my book been the 
 production of an Englishman, good wishes would not have 
 been his only reward : lords and ladies would have sub- 
 scribed to have procured him ease, and the state itself 
 would have selected him as a man who, in justice, must 
 have retribution. 
 
 We poor German writers have censors and interested 
 critics to encounter, if we would speak truth, and unmask 
 injustice ; and, if a book finds a rapid sale, mean and dis- 
 honest printers issue spurious editions, defrauding the au- 
 thor of his labours. Such privileged wretches derive profit 
 from theft, yet associate themselves in companies, appear in 
 tbe society of honest men, and are enabled, by their ill-got-
 
 285 
 
 ten gains, to purchase patents of nobility at Vienna : yet 
 courts of justice, that would execute a man as a thief, 
 whom hunger had compelled to steal a loaf of bread, behold 
 these practices with indifference. Such governments are 
 ignorant of the real influence of knowledge on the wealth 
 and power of states. To keep the useful writer poor and 
 unprotected, or not to incite his industry by honour and re- 
 ward, is political ignorance, and error of infinite importance. 
 Want of teachers is want of knowledge. Men of genius, 
 unsupported, will quit their country ; or, if they remain, 
 will be devoured by chagrin and conflicting passions, or 
 waste their lives in exertions merely mechanical. Industry 
 unrewarded, slumbers inactive ; and, where true science is 
 not, there will the libraries and minds of men be loaded 
 with contemptible and destructive theological disputes. 
 Priestcraft and Rome flourish, and the state remains in ig- 
 norance. Useful men are wanting in countries where the 
 canons of the church and military tactics can subject and 
 destroy, but cannot enlighten and regenerate. 
 
 The encouragement of the learned produces able and 
 scientific teachers, and, from their seminaries, men of genius 
 occasionally come forth. If obliged to write for their daily 
 bread, the minds of such men begin to despond ; paid by 
 the sheet, they write hastily, instead of producing those 
 beautiful original works, of which they are capable. The world is 
 thus inundated with books and pamphlets ; the undiscerning 
 reader knows not which to select ; the more intelligent are 
 disgusted, or do not read at all ; and a work of merit thus 
 becomes as little profitable to the author as to the state. 
 
 The reader will pardon this digression ; and will further 
 permit me to remark, that those critical writings, the intent 
 of which is only to discover faults in, and blame all other 
 writings, serve but to depress the first efforts of genius, and 
 Injure the best of authors in the opinion of the ill-judging; 
 yet he who criticises will gain as much as lie who invents. 
 
 Those who have read the writings of Gellert are still 
 desirous of hearing what slander and envy have to allege.
 
 286 
 
 Curiosity induces us to seek the aid of optics, that we may 
 discover the spots in the sun ; and those the simple gazer 
 imagines he has seen, when the impostor, that presents the 
 telescope, has previously spotted the glass. 
 
 The man who invents does but smile at those who attend 
 only to the order of words, or the placing of commas, or 
 who detect him in having, for a moment, forgotten his gram- 
 mar: yet such insects must exist. The caterpillar will de- 
 stroy the bloom of the peach, nay, will devour the fruit ; 
 but what should be said to the gardener, who, therefore, 
 roots up the tree, or So lops its branches as to render it bar- 
 ren ; what, indeed, should he plant the thistle in its place ? 
 I left Vienna on the 5th of January, and came to Prague. 
 Here I found nearly the same reception as in Hungary ; 
 my writings had been universally read. Citizens, noble- 
 men, and noble ladies, treated me with like favour and 
 friendship : may they, as they merit, live happy in connu- 
 bial love ! May the monarch know how to value and employ 
 men of generous feelings and enlarged understandings, 
 whom here, contrary to expectation, I found ! 
 
 I reluctantly bade adieu to Prague, and continued my 
 journey to Berlin. Here, in Bohemia, I took leave of my son, a 
 lieutenant in the second regiment of carabineers, who saw 
 his grey-headed father, and his two brothers, destined for 
 the Prussian service, depart. He felt the full weight of 
 this separation : I reminded him of his duty to th state he 
 served ; I spoke of the fearful fate of his uncle and father in 
 Austria, and of the possessors of our vast estates in Hun- 
 gary. He shrunk back a look from his father pierced him 
 to the soul tears stood in his eyes his youthful blood 
 flowed quick, and the following expressions burst suddenly 
 from his lips : " I call God to witness, that I will prove 
 myself worthy of my father's name, and that, while I live, 
 his enemies shall be mine." 
 
 What are the feelings of a father, who in his son embraces 
 hid friend ! His brothers wept, nor could I retain my tears. 
 The best opportunities this to instill the best of principles ;
 
 287 
 
 and here I remind them of the holy covenant we then made ; 
 charging them to read this, and remember it when I am laid 
 low in the grave. The monarch, who shall wish to retain 
 them in his service, may rest assured of their fidelity, zeal, 
 and their powers of mind. Actuated by the noblest spirit 
 of ambition, they will endure no dishonour ; and so, not 
 enduring, only will th'-y fulfil my wishes and commands. 
 
 At Petersvvalde, in the road to Dresden, my carriage 
 broke down : my life was endangered, and my son received 
 a contusion in the arm. The erysipelas broke out on him 
 at Berlin, and I could not present him to the king 
 during a month after my arrival. 
 
 I had been but a short time at Berlin before the well- 
 known minister, count Hertzberg, with whom I had been 
 ac(|u inted at Aix-la-Chapelle, received me with all pos- 
 sible kindness. Every man to whom his private and in- 
 ternal worth are known, not seeking the addition of titles, 
 will congratulate the state that has the wisdom and good 
 fortune to bestow on him so high an office. His scholastic 
 and practical learning, his knowledge of languages, his 
 acquaintance with the profound sciences, are indeed won- 
 derful. His discourse is eloquent, his writings are ori- 
 giuul, his character noble, and his heart feeling. His zeal 
 for his country is ardent, his love of his king unpre- 
 judiced, his industry admirable, his firmness that of a 
 man, and his behaviour in private amiable, and destitute of 
 ministerial arrogance. He is the most experienced and best 
 informed man in the Prussian states on the subject of in- 
 ternal economy. He harangues most instructively in the 
 assemblies of the Royal Academy of Berlin, and speaks 
 with equal affability and philanthropy to the poor peasant. 
 The very enemies of his country may rely on his word : 
 the establishment of the Prussian power is the object of 
 his heart, though he is incapable of seeking even this in 
 the insidious paths of Maclii'ivelian politics. The artful 
 he can encounter with art ; those who menace, with defiance 
 and fortitude ; and, with wise foresight, can avert the rising
 
 288 
 
 storm. The duties of his laborious station he himself fulfils, 
 He seeks not splendour in sumptuous entertainments and 
 ostentatious retinue ; but, if he can only enrich the state, 
 and behold the people happy, he is himself willing to remain 
 poor. His estate, Briess, near Berlin, is no Chanteloup, 
 but a model for those patriots who would study economy. 
 Here he, every Wednesday, after severe fatigue, enjoys 
 recreation. The services he renders the kingdom cost it 
 only five thousand rix-dollars yearly ; he therefore lives 
 without ostentation, yet becoming his state, and with splen- 
 dour when splendour is necessary. He does not, like other 
 ministers, plunder the public treasury that he may preserve 
 his own property. The labours he performs renders his 
 life unenviable, nor will his death be rich. 
 
 This man, whom without flattery 1 have described, is he 
 who will live so conspicuously in the annals of Prussia ; 
 he who was so incessantly employed under the great Fred- 
 eric ; who so much contributed to make him great ; had so 
 much influence in the cabinets of Europe ; so much drew 
 the attention of thinking men ; who alone enjoyed the confi- 
 dence and honour of being admitted a witness of the last 
 actions, the last sensations of his dying king ; yet who, 
 during his whole life, favoured as he was by this king, never 
 asked, nor ever received the least gratuity. This is the mi- 
 nister whose personal conversation I had two months the 
 happiness to partake at Aix-la-Chapelle and Spa, whose 
 approbation I obtained, whose welfare is the wish of my 
 heart, and whose memory I shall ever revere. Ample be 
 the rewards his country shall bestow ! Never may envy de- 
 tract from his merits, or disquiet his grey hairs, when he 
 shall find reason, at length, to live for himself, or with glory 
 to lay down that burthen, which no other single man will 
 be found potent enough to bear ! 
 
 I was received with distinction at his table, where I 
 associated with the most learned members of the Berlin 
 Academy, and became acquainted with those whose science 
 JOit had benefited and honoured the Prussian states ; nor
 
 289 
 
 was any thing more flattering; to my self-love, than that 
 men like these should think me worthy their friendship. 
 
 Not many days passed before I was presented at court 
 by the Prussian chamberlain, prince Sacken ; as it is not 
 customary at Berlin for a foreign subject to be presented 
 by the minister of his own court. Though a Prussian sub- 
 ject, I wore the imperial uniform. 
 
 The king received me with remarkable condescension : all 
 eyes were directed toward me, each person took me by the 
 hand, each welcomed me to my country. This moved me 
 the more by being remarked by the foreign ministers, who 
 asked, with surprise, who that Austrian officer could be 
 who was received with so much affection, and such evident 
 joy, in Berlin. The gracious monarch himself gave tokens 
 of a noble pleasure, at beholding me thus surrounded. 
 Among the rest came the worthy and honourable general 
 Pritwitz, who embraced me and said aloud " This is the 
 gentleman who might have ruined me, to effect his own de- 
 liverance." 
 
 Confused at so public a declaration, I desired him to 
 expound this riddle ; and he added 
 
 " I was obliged to be one of your guards on your unfor- 
 tunate journey, from Dantzic to Magdeburg, in the year 
 1754, when I was a lieutenant. On the road I left m>' 
 escort behind, and continued alone with you in an open car- 
 riage. This gave you an opportunity to escape, but you 
 forbore. I afterwards saw the danger to which I had ex- 
 posed myself. Had you been less noble minded, had such 
 a prisoner escaped, through my negligence, I had certainly 
 been ruined. The king believed you alike dangerous, and 
 deserving of punishment. I, therefore, here publicly ac- 
 knowledge you as my saviour, and am in gratitude your 
 friend." 
 
 The reader need but refer to the preceding part of this 
 volume, and he will find this noticed : but, when I wrote it, I 
 knew not the generous man who wished me so well was the 
 
 13 Pp
 
 290 
 
 present general Pritwitz. That he should himself remind 
 me of this incident does him the greater honour. 
 
 The magnanimity of the action might be called in doubt 
 by all who do not know, that, even in chains, I might have 
 escaped, would I have deceived those who honoured me 
 with their confidence. When imprisoned in Glatz, I was 
 permitted to hunt ; a friend remained in my bed, and I re- 
 turned, as a man of honour ought. My established charac- 
 ter in this respect was public in Magdeburg. I have given 
 repeated proofs that I would not owe my own welfare to 
 another's misfortune : yet I myself doubt the motives of 
 my own conduct in journeying from Dantzic. The confi- 
 dential manner in which I was treated lulled me into secu- 
 rity ; my conscience, void of guilt, could not lead me to 
 dread the miseries of Magdeburg. In fine, my fate so 
 would have it that I should remain ten years imprisoned. 
 Could I have foreseen, could I have suspected what I was 
 to suffer, I should probably have escaped, and the worthy 
 Pritwitz would have been cashiered. In all the various 
 accidents of life, when in danger, I have never hesitated, 
 but suddenly resolved, and sometimes rashly this jour- 
 ney alone excepted. Such is the intricacy of the fate 
 of man, a clue to which the wise will not attempt to 
 find. Why was I at one moment so irresolute, and so head- 
 strong at every other ? Why does the bravest soldier at 
 certain times appear a coward, and, thereby, lose all former 
 hard-earned fame ? Why does the coward himself feel in- 
 tervals of courage ? The body's injuries add to, or diminish, 
 the mind's vigour. The will depends on the stomach's 
 concoction. He, whose rapid circulation never suffers him 
 to stand still, yet cannot rise and dance if suffering from 
 indigestion. If the weather be gloomy, so often will be 
 the intellect. Such are mechanical causes : he who would 
 seek reasons more sublime, which I have not to give, must 
 apply to his guardian angel, or the swarming sprites of 
 Swcdenburg, and there he shall find shade without body, 
 and body without shade.
 
 291 
 
 Having been introduced at court, I thought it necessary 
 to observe customary ceremonies, and was presented by the 
 imperial ambassador, prince Reuss, to all foreign ministers, 
 and such families as are in the routine of admitting such 
 visits. I was received by the prince royal, the reigning 
 queen, the queen dowager, and the whole royal family, in 
 the various palaces, with esteem and favour never to be 
 forgotten. His royal highness prince Henry, the well- 
 known partaker of his brother's glory, invited me to a pri- 
 vate audience, continued long in conversation with me, tes- 
 tified the utmost compassion at what I had undergone, 
 promised me his future protection, admitted me to his pri- 
 vate concerts, and made me stay and sup at court. 
 
 A like reception I experienced in the palace of prince 
 Ferdinand of Brunswick, where I frequently dined and 
 supped. His princess, well worthy a crown, took delight 
 in hearing my narratives, and in my knowledge of men and 
 manners, and loaded me with favours. 
 
 Prince Ferdinand's mode of educating his children is 
 exemplary and well worthy imitation. From this family, 
 the world, with good reason, has much to expect. The 
 sons are instructed in the soldier's duties, their bodies 
 are inured to the inclemencies of weather, such as the 
 meanest man in any army must support ; they are taught 
 to ride, to swim, and are steeled to all the fatigues of war. 
 Therefore is their growth like the cedar in Lebanon, and 
 their minds as exalted. Princely pride they only know to 
 despise. Their hearts are formed for friendship, and pant 
 to acquire all the fame of noble deeds, which, for this rea- 
 son, they cannot fail to attain. Happy the state wherein 
 they are born ! Happy the nation in defence of which they 
 are to act ! 
 
 Never yet has flattery degraded my pen, nor be it now 
 
 suspected, when I say how highly I honour their noble 
 
 mother, who has educated her sons for their country's good, 
 
 teaching them not the effeminate and contemptible vices, 
 
 Q q 3
 
 292 
 
 but the high duties of princes, accustoming- them like men 
 to labour, like men to grow wise. 
 
 I speak from knowledge, therefore my word is not liable 
 to reproof. I have said too little. The selection of those 
 who were to teach them wisdom, to improve their natural 
 talents, instruct them to govern their passions, enlarge their 
 views, and strengthen their love of mankind, was certainly 
 most fortunate, and as well displays the penetration of those 
 who chose them, as the views with which they were chosen. 
 
 How immense the difference between this and the mode I 
 have seen practised in other countries, where, shuddering, 
 I have beheld future despots in puny boys ! How ridiculous 
 these their Royal Highnesses appear, who, though born to 
 rule, are not, in real worth or abilities, deserving to be 
 the lackeys of the least of those whom they treat with con- 
 tempt ; and yet who swell, strut, stride, and contemplate 
 themselves as creatures essentially different by nature, and 
 of a superior rank in the scale of beings, though, in reality* 
 their minds are of the lowest, the meanest class. 
 
 Happy the state whose prince is deeply impressed with 
 a sense that the people are not his property, but he the 
 property of the people ! Would men ever have been scourged 
 by the iron whip of arbitrary power, had not their minds, 
 from infancy, been poisoned with slavish principles ; had 
 not the few wise been unable to actuate and inspire the 
 crouching vassal swarm ? A prince, beloved by his people, 
 will ever render a nation more happy than he whose only 
 wish is to inspire fear. 
 
 The pleasure I received at Berlin was great indeed. 
 When I went to court, the honest citizens crowded to see 
 me : and when any one among them said " That is Trenck," 
 the rest would cry " Welcome once more to your country ! M 
 
 while many would reach me their hands, with the tears 
 
 standing in their 'eyes. Frequent were the scenes I ex- 
 perienced of this kind. No pardoned malefactor would 
 have been thus received Oh, no ! It was theswc,ct reward
 
 293 
 
 of innocence : this reward was fully bestowed throughout 
 the Prussian territories. 
 
 Oh world, ill judging world, deceived by show ! Dost 
 thou not blindly follow the opinion of the prince, be he se- 
 vere or indulgent, arbitrary or just ? The censure and the 
 praise equally originate in common report. I am of this an 
 exemplary proof. In Magdeburg I lay, chained to the wall, 
 ten years, sighing in wretchedness, suffering every calamity 
 of hunger, cold, nakedness and contempt. And wherefore? 
 Because the king, deceived by slanderers, pronounced me 
 worthy of punishment. Because a wise king mistook me, 
 and treated me with barbarity. Because a prudent king 
 knew he had done wrong, yet would not have it so supposed. 
 So was his heart turned to stone ; nay, opposed by manly 
 fortitude, was enraged to cruelty. Most men were con- 
 vinced I was an innocent sufferer, " Yet did they all cry 
 out the more, saying, let him be crucified ! And why ? What 
 evil hath he done ?" Frederic had pronounced the sentence. 
 It was his will, and I must be deemed a malefactor. My 
 very relations were ashamed to hear my name. My sister 
 was barbarously treated because she compassionately assisted 
 me in my misfortunes. No man durst openly avow himself 
 my friend, durst own I merited compassion ; or, much less, 
 that the infallible king had erred. I was the most despised 
 forlorn man on earth ; and, when thus put on the rack, had 
 I there expired, my epitaph would have been, " Here lies 
 the traitor Trenck." 
 
 Frederic is dead, and the scene is changed : another 
 monarch has ascended the throne, and the grub is changed 
 to a beautiful butterfly ? The sun is risen, and the light 
 shines upon my history and myself. The witnesses to all I 
 have asserted are still living, loudly now proclaim the 
 truth, and embrace me with heartfelt affection. The uni- 
 versal contempt of error, which I so long endured, is now 
 changed to universal admiration and esteem ! 
 
 The grandees of the earth, who, thirty years, or even as 
 many months ago, Frederic being alive, would not have
 
 294 
 
 deigned a look, or deemed me worthy of the smallest com- 
 passion, now condescendingly embrace me ! Frederic 
 William has done me justice. Frederic the Great lies 
 silent, unable to gainsay the sentence ! I am yet the same : 
 great as is this change. 
 
 Does the worth of man depend upon his actions ? his re - 
 ward or punishment upon his virtue ? In arbitrary states 
 certainly not. They depend upon the breath of a king ! 
 Frederic was the most penetrating prince of his age, but the 
 most obstinate also ; the most unrelenting whenever he en- 
 countered opposition, or, by persisting in, could disguise 
 error. A vice dreadful to those whom he selected as vic- 
 tims, that thus he sacrificed to the promoting of his arbitrary 
 views ! 
 
 Suspicion may render a monarch less liable to be deceived 
 on certain occasions, but to how many slanders and false- 
 hoods, is he exposed by this "pernicious quality 1 I had 
 strength to support every thing Frederic had power to in- 
 flict : nay, after all my sufferings, have lived to see the end 
 of ray royal foe ; to whose overgrown armies and uncircum- 
 scribed will I had nothing but patience and fortitude to 
 oppose. But, oh ! how many were there, like me groaning 
 in dungeons, the victims of a fate so wretched, who now are 
 no more ! or who now, if living, have not, like me, the 
 means of publishing all the miseries they have endured ! 
 How nanny perished, the sin-offerings of this obstinate self- 
 will, whose orphan children now cry to God for vengeance ! 
 How many of these orphans are obliged to utter their groans 
 in secret ; because their fathers have been cut off, they 
 have no means of justification ! The dead, alas ! cannot 
 plead. Trial began and ended with execution. The few 
 words IT is THE KING'S COMMAND were, indeed, words 
 of horror to the poor condemned wretch denied to plead 
 his innocence ! Yet, what is the Ukase (imperial order) in 
 Russia; Tel est votre bon plaisir (Such is our good plea- 
 sure) in France; or the AUergnadigste Hof resolution 
 (The all-gracious sentence of the court), pronounced with
 
 ,. 295 
 
 the sweet tone of a Vienna matron ? In what do these differ 
 from the arbitrary ORDER of a military despot ? 
 
 Cursed effects of court parasites, who persuade the god 
 of their idolatry he is infallible ; and infuse into his heart 
 the false and destructive principle, that a king is superior 
 to law ! that the country over which he reigns is his pro- 
 perty ! and that the subject ought not to demand justice as 
 a right, but crouch and receive it as a favour 1 
 
 Every effort, every prayer of man, should be consecrated 
 to man's general good ; for him to obtain freedom and uni- 
 versal justice ! Together would we cry with one voice ; 
 and, if unable to shackle arbitrary power, still should we 
 endeavour to show how dangerous it is ! how despicable ! 
 The priests of liberty should offer up their thanks to the 
 monarch who declares the word of power a nullity, and the 
 sentence of justice omnipotent, who contemns the acts of 
 an Alexander, or a Charles XII. 
 
 Woe to the monarch possessed of the destructive spirit 
 of con test! Woe to the country whose Quixote-ruler is 
 ever in search of giants ! Woe to the people whom his fury 
 dooms to the sword, or who are made the sanguinary in- 
 struments of desolation, death, or slavery to other nations ! 
 Woe, tenfold woe, to that prince who would be adored by 
 the abject wretches he has fettered ! Woe to him who is 
 quick to punish, and slow to reward, or only employs his 
 power in the gratification of his favourites ! The thirst of 
 dominion and the thirst of blood are ever associated ! What 
 wonder that he who equally sports with the rights and the 
 heads of men should be deaf to their groans ? 
 
 Instead of singing the acts of heroes in our songs, instead 
 of raising them to the rank of heroes by our valour, we 
 ought much rather to praise aud protect the friends of peace. 
 
 Who can name the court in Europe where Louis, Peter, 
 or Frederic, each and all The Great, have not been, and 
 are not, imitated as models of perfection ? Lett res -de- 
 cachet, the knout, and cabinet-orders, superseding all 
 right, are become law ! Judges, who legally should decide
 
 I 296 
 
 on our actions and our claims, are themselves but puppets . 
 fearful of punishment, they are ever'ready to inflict. 
 
 No reasoning, says the corporal to the poor grenadier, 
 whom he canes! No reasoning! exclaims judges. The 
 court has decided. No reasoning, rash and pernicious 
 Trenck, will the prudent reader echo. Throw thy pen in 
 the fire, and expose not thyself to become the martyr of 
 state inquisition. 
 
 Yes, kind counsellor, I will follow thy advice. Let 
 others beware how they expose themselves to like dangers, 
 or let their narratives lie buried, till they themselves, being 
 entombed, are no longer exposed to suffer. 
 
 Unremarked, my thoughts escape my pen, and lead me 
 astray from my subject, when the remembrance of the past 
 swells my veins, when swifter circulates my blood, and the 
 deep wounds of my heart again gash forth wounds that 
 never can be healed never can be cicatrised. Such pas- 
 sages repose and reason would erase : but, ah ! how may I 
 repent having written the truth ? Neither have I time to 
 re-copy what I write ; and thus my writings justly incur 
 blame from rigid criticism, and even from my best friends, 
 who would persuade me to greater caution and prudence. 
 
 My fate is, and must to the grave remain, critical and 
 undecided. I have six and thirty years been in the service 
 of Austria, unrewarded, and beholding the repeated and ge- 
 nerous efforts I made effectually to serve that state unno- 
 ticed. The emperor Joseph supposes me old, that the fruit 
 is wasted, and that the husk only remains. In this he 
 is wrong. The oppression I have suffered is too great, 
 even for an attempt at making me adequate satisfaction. 
 It is also supposed I should not be satisfied with a little. 
 This supposition is equally wrong. To continue him in 
 oppression who has once been oppressed, and who possesses 
 qualities that may make injustice manifest, is the policy ol 
 states. Neither do courtiers love the man, who, able to 
 penetrate, may probably frustrate their insidious Intents. 
 How I have been treated by judges, referendaries, curators,
 
 297 
 
 I have perhaps too repeatedly urged : yet surely this will 
 be forgiven me ; though this is an additional reason why 
 I never can obtain justice. My spirit has been too proud to 
 implore, my nature too independent. My journey to Berlin 
 has given the slanderer further opportunity of painting me 
 as a suspicious character : I smile at the ineffectual attempt. 
 
 I appeared in the imperial uniform, and, by my conduct, 
 belied such insinuations. To this purpose it was written to 
 court, in November, when I went into Hungary, " The 
 motions of Trenck ought to be observed in Hungary." Ye 
 poor malicious blood-suckers of the virtuous ! ye shall not 
 be able to hurt a hair of my head. Ye cannot injure the 
 man who has sixty years lived in honour. Thus the ele- 
 phant moves along, regardless of the shouting mob ! J 
 will not, in my old age, bring upon myself the reproach of 
 inconstancy, or desire of revenge. Nor Sultan, nor Great 
 Mogul, shall allure me to slavery. I will betray no political 
 secrets : I wish not to injure those by whom I have been 
 injured. Such acts will I never commit Never I never 
 yet descended to the office of spy, nor will I die a rewarded 
 villain. Neither in Austria, nor Prussia, will I be made the 
 instrument of a faction. 
 
 To your work, therefore, ye dealers in court enigmas, I 
 here renounce your society; here publicly renounce the 
 dignities of courts or armies, determined to live a private 
 man, thankful only to those who shall treat me with friend- 
 ship, or endeavour to obtain for me some part of that right 
 which so justly is my due. These shall not repent that 
 Trenck is their debtor, for his heart is grateful. 
 
 Yes, I appeared in Berlin, among the upright and the 
 just. Instead of being its supposed enemy, I was declared 
 an honour to my country. I appeared in the imperial uni- 
 form, and fulfilled the duties of my station : and now must 
 the Prussian Trenck return to Austria, there to perform a 
 father's duty, having already done more for this country 
 than could have been expected from an oppressed man. 
 13. Q q
 
 Yet more of what happened in Berlin. 
 
 Some days after I had been presented to the king, and 
 supped with the queen, I entreated a private audience ; and, 
 on the 12th of February, received the following letter : 
 
 " IN answer to your letter of the Oth of this month, 
 which has been given me, 1 gladly inform you, that, if you 
 will come to me to-morrow, at five o'clock in the afternoon, 
 I shall have the pleasure to see and speak with you ; mean- 
 time I pray God to take you into his holy keeping. 
 
 FREDERIC WILLIAM. 
 
 Berlin, Feb. 12, 1787. 
 
 " P. S. After signing the above, I find it more conve- 
 nient to appoint to-morrow at nine in the morning, about 
 which time you will come into the apartment named the 
 Marmor Kammer (marble chamber)." 
 
 The anxiety with which I expected this wished-for inter- 
 view may well be conceived. I found the Prussian Titus 
 alone, and he continued in conversation with me more than 
 an hour. 
 
 How condescending, how kind was the monarch ! How 
 great ! How nobly did he console me for the past ! how 
 entirely did his assurance of favour overpower my whole 
 soul ! He had read the history of my life. When prince of 
 Prussia, he had been an eye-witness, in Magdeburg, of my 
 martyrdom, and my attempts to escape. Many circum- 
 stances he recollected himself : and he enquired of those 
 who had been present, and who confirmed the truth of my 
 narrative, and the severity of my calamities. Long shall I 
 remember these fortunate moments : yet these are fled. 
 His majesty parted from me with tokens of confirmed 
 esteem and condescension. My eyes bade adieu, but my 
 heart remained in the marble chamber, in company with a 
 prince capable of sensations so dignified ; and my wishes 
 for his welfare are eternal. 
 
 I have since travelled through the greater part of the 
 Prussian states. Where is the country in which the people
 
 299 
 
 are all satisfied ? Many complained of oppressions, hard 
 times, or industry unrewarded. My general answer was : 
 
 " Friends, kneel with the rising sun, and thank the God 
 of heaven that you are Prussians. I have seen and know 
 much of this world, and I assure you, on my honour, you 
 are among the happiest people in Europe. Causes of 
 complaint every where exist ; but you have a king, neither 
 obstinate, ambitious, covetous, nor cruel : his will is that his 
 people should have cause of content, and, should he err by 
 chance, his heart is not to blame if the subject suffers." 
 
 To the truth of this I pledged my veracity ; I am well 
 known not to be a flatterer ; I speak what I have seen ; I 
 vent the thoughts of my heart ; I write from conviction, 
 and not with the insidious hope of reward. 
 
 The eyes of all Europe are at present directed toward 
 Berlin eager to learn whether Frederic William will be 
 able to sustain the vast and artificial fabric reared by his 
 predecessor. I will systematise but little, I will state in- 
 controvertible facts. 
 
 Prussia is neither wanting in able, active, nor learned 
 men. The warmth of patriots glows in their veins. The 
 soul of the great Frederic still inspires the machine, and 
 there is little doubt but that its wheels will not be clogged 
 by innovation. Should this plan be steadily pursued, there 
 will be no confusion of tongues in the tower of Babel ; and 
 those, who wish its destruction, will have great difficulties 
 to surmount. Every thing remains with equal stability, as 
 under the reign of Frederic ; and, should the thunder burst, 
 the ready conductors will render the bolt ineffectual. 
 
 Hertzberg still labours in the cabinet, still thinks, writes, 
 and acts as he has done for years. The king is desirous 
 that justice shall be done his subjects, and will punish, per- 
 haps with more severity, whenever he finds himself deceived, 
 than from the goodness of his disposition might be supposed. 
 The treasury is full, the army continues the same, and there 
 is little reason to doubt but that industry, population, and 
 wealth will increase. 
 
 Q q 2
 
 Yet is it ardently to be desired that commerce might be 
 promoted, by treaties with foreign nations ; industry en- 
 couraged ; monopolies totally abolished ; the price of pro- 
 visions reduced j manufactures less burtheued by taxes ; 
 justice impartially administered ; punishments rendered 
 more mild; toleration made more universal ; foreigners no 
 longer kidnapped ; promises held sacred, and free egress 
 and regress given throughout the Prussian provinces. 
 None but the vile and wicked would leave the kingdom ; 
 while the oppressed and best subjects of other states would 
 fly their native country, certaim of finding encouragement 
 and security in Prussia. 
 
 The personal qualities of Frederic William merit to be 
 described. He is tall and handsome, his raein is majestic, 
 and his accomplishments of mind and body would procure 
 him the love of men, were he not a king. He is affable 
 without deceit, friendly and kind in conversation ; and 
 stately in all his demeanour. His step is firm, his 
 voice sonorous, his tone commanding, his heart capable 
 of the noblest sentiments, and so benevolent, that his great- 
 est happiness is in the happiness of others. He is bounti- 
 ful, but not profuse ; he knows that, without economy, the 
 Prussian power must sink. He is not tormented by the 
 spirit of conquest*; he wishes harm to no nation, yet will 
 he not suffer other nations to make encroachments, nor 
 will he be terrified by menaces. That he is a soldier and 
 a general, his great instructor and predecessor has long 
 since borne testimony. He is likewise convinced how ne- 
 cessary it is that the king of a military state should be the 
 friend of military men. 
 
 The wise Frederic, when living, though himself IcariJed, 
 and a lover of the sciences, never encouraged then* in his 
 kingdom. Germany, under his reign, might have forgotten 
 her language ; he preferred the literature of France. K6- 
 nigsberg, once the seminary of the north, contains at pre- 
 sent few professors or students ; the former are fallen into 
 disrepute, and are ill paid ; the latter repair to Leipsic and
 
 dot 
 
 Gottingen. We have every reason to suppose the present 
 monarch, though no studious man himself, will encourage 
 the academies of the literati, that learned men in jurispru- 
 dence and the sciences may not be wanting ; which want is 
 more to be apprehended, as the nobility must, without excep- 
 tion, serve in the army ; so that learning has but few ad- 
 herents, and these are deprived of the means of improve- 
 ment. The nation, which in this age is a nation of soldiers 
 only, will find itself inferior to no competitors ; nor will Fre- 
 deric William govern with an iron sceptre, or consign his peo- 
 ple solely to the slaughter-house. He will not be the sultan 
 of slaves. Superstition, stupidity, fear, and the whip, are the 
 support of the despot : he is a monarch who, by teaching 
 his subjects to love and revere him, will excite them to the 
 performance of their duties. These duties are promoted by 
 the promotion of knowledge ; consequently the Prussian 
 academies will revive, suppressed as they have been by the 
 military system of Frederic. 
 
 Frederic William is also too much the friend of men, to 
 torture, or to suffer them to pine in prison. He will not user 
 the whip to bend the Prussian back to slavery ! He like- 
 wise abhors the barbarity with which the soldiers are beaten : 
 his officers will not be fettered hand and foot : slavish sub- 
 ordination will be banished, and the noble in heart will be 
 the noble of the land. He who deceives such a prince de- 
 serves double punishment. May he, in his people, find per- 
 fect content ? May his people be ever worthy of such a 
 prince ! Long may he reign, and may his ministers be 
 ever enlightened and honourable men ! Such is my ardent 
 prayer Such too is the portrait of a monarch whom I have 
 praised ; not because of his title or his power, but his worth ; 
 and because it is his delight to make the good and virtuous 
 happy. 
 
 He sent for me a second time, conversed much with me, 
 and confirmed those ideas which my first interview had 
 inspired ; and I am fully convinced I have not mistaken his 
 character.
 
 502 
 
 On the llth of March I presented my son, at another 
 private audience, whom I intended for the Prussian ser- 
 vice. The king immediately bestowed a commission on 
 him in the Posadowsky dragoons, at my especial request. 
 The difficulty of obtaining such a commission, without hav- 
 ing first served as an ensign, is well known ; this was, 
 therefore, a particular favour and honour, and my son has 
 the more to expect, since his majesty has himself promised 
 his promotion. 
 
 I saw him at the review at Velau, and his superior offi- 
 cers formed great expectations from his zeal. Thus I have 
 done the duty of a father by my sons : time will discover 
 whether he who is in the Austrian, or this in the Prussian 
 service, will first obtain the rewards due to their father : and 
 to the state that first does such an act of justice will I be- 
 queath my third son. Should they both remain unnoticed, 
 I will bestow him on the great Turk, rather than on Euro- 
 pean courts, whence equity to me and mine is banished. 
 Luckily my children are no monarch's vassals ; they were 
 born in the free imperial city of Aix-la-Chapelle ; therefore 
 is their will unfettered, and they % may, with honour, seek 
 bread in any country. 
 
 To Austria I owe no thanks : all that could be taken from 
 me was taken. I was captain before I entered those terri- 
 tories, and after six and thirty years service I find myself in 
 the rank of invalid major ! Less I could not be. My duty 
 i^rtore than fulfilled, and wept in chains and dungeons so 
 many years, not from any fault of mine, but because I was 
 plundered, sold, betrayed by Austrian residents, traitors to 
 their embassy, and persecutors at Vienna. The proof of all 
 I have asserted, and of how little I am indebted to this 
 state, is most incontestible, since the history of my life is 
 allowed, by the royal censor, to be publicly sold in Vienna. 
 The same proof exists in Berlin, where my narrative is uni 
 versally read, and my veracity established. 
 
 It is very remarkable that one only of the eight officers, 
 as one of whom I served in the body guard, in the year
 
 303 
 
 1745, though it is now two and forty years since, is dead. 
 Lieutenant-colonel count BlumentUal lives in Berlin ; Pan- 
 newitz is commander of the knights of Malta. Both gave 
 me a polite and friendly reception. Both were acquainted 
 with the circumstances and manner in which Jaschinsky 
 deceived the king, to my ruin. Wagnitz is lieutenant- 
 general in the service of Hesse-Cassel : he was my tent 
 comrade, and was perfectly acquainted with all that hap- 
 pened. Kalkreuter and Grothusen live on their estates, 
 and Jaschinsky himself is now alive in Kb'nigsberg, but 
 known, despised, superannuated, and tortured by sickness 
 and remorse. I have never visited him, nor can I suppose 
 he wishes I should. He, instead of punishment, has forty 
 years enjoyed a pension of a thousand rix-dollars ; conse- 
 quently has cost the state forty thousand rix-dollars. I have 
 seen my lands confiscated, of the income of which I have 
 been forty-two years deprived, and never yet received 
 retribution. 
 
 Such is the way of the world ! Frederic robbed the worthy 
 citizen of his right, and with a part of it rewarded such a 
 man as Jaschinsky. 
 
 Time must decide; the king is generous, and I have too 
 much pride to become a beggar. The name of Trenck shall 
 be in the history of the acts of Frederic. This, though I 
 should not desire it, I could not prevent. A tyrant himself, 
 he was the slave of his passions ; and even when he sup- 
 posed he might be deceived, did not think an inquiry into 
 innocence worth the trouble. To be ashamed of doing 
 right, because he has done wrong, or to persist in error, 
 that fools, (for fools only can,) may think him infallible, is a 
 dreadful principle in a ruler. While the obstinate Frederic 
 lived, no man dared to pronounce my name : no man durst 
 own himself my friend. He is dead ; when I am so, no pil- 
 lar of dishonour shall rise over my grave : my epitaph shall 
 be, " Alas ! that thou wert known too late." 
 
 Since I have been at Berlin, and was received there with
 
 304 
 
 so many testimonies of friendship and favour, the newspa- 
 pers of Germany have published various articles concerning 
 me, perhaps with the best of wishes, intending to contribute 
 to my honour or ease. They have, however, been some- 
 times misinformed. They have asserted a great pension 
 has been settled on me in Berlin ; but, on my honour, I affirm 
 I never asked a pension. They have said my eldest daugh- 
 ter is appointed the governess of the young princess. This, 
 perhaps, has been the joke of some witty correspondent; for 
 my eldest daughter is but fifteen, and stands in need of a 
 governess herself. Perhaps they may suppose me mean 
 enough, from ostentation, to circulate falsehood: perhaps 
 they suppose they do me service, or give me pleasure, by 
 publishing as facts, honours or -rewards for which I hope. 
 It may be malice, and a desire to injure me ; it may be the 
 very reverse : in any case it is no pleasure to me, and may 
 have ill effects. An honest man is never without enemies, 
 who will labour to prevent any good that might happen to 
 him, and who are terrified if they imagine he might become 
 the favourite of a king. 
 
 I almost daily recive letters from all parts of Germany, 
 from persons unknown to me, wherein the sensations of the 
 feeling heart are evident. The history of my life has ex- 
 cited a general attention. Those reviewers who have been 
 impartial have my thanks ; those who suspect my veracity, 
 or endeavour to decry my work, must be answered by an ap- 
 peal to facts. That my history relates many improbable 
 events, and rather resembles a romance than a work of bio- 
 graphy, is not my fault: extraordinary accidents I have en- 
 countered, and extraordinary accidents I must relate. My 
 purpose in writing was the publication of truths ; nor shall 
 I be accused, except by those who do not know, or who do 
 not consider, this reason, and who are prejudiced against a 
 man pleading his own cause. Were I to attempt to deceive 
 the public, I were indeed unworthy. Among the number 
 of these letters wai one, which I received from the learned
 
 305 
 
 Bahrdt, professor at Halle, dated April 10, 1787*, wherein 
 he says, " Receive, noble German, the ardent thanks of 
 one, who, like you, has encountered difficulties, yet far 
 inferior to those you have encountered. You indeed, with 
 gigantic strength, have met a host of foes, and nobly con- 
 quered. The pest of men attacked me also : I also was 
 persecuted by priests. The ardour of my temper engaged 
 me in many a rash enterprise ; and I, too, have been de- 
 voured by a noble pride of heart. I was the enemy to 
 hypocrisy, and disdained to be a parasite of princes. From 
 town to town, from land to land, I was pursued by priest- 
 craft and persecution ; yet, in despite of adverse fate and 
 poverty, I acquired fame. I fled for refuge and repose to 
 the states of Frederic, but found them not. I have eight 
 years laboured under affliction with unwearied perseverance, 
 but have found no reward. By patient industry have I 
 made myself what I am ; by ministerial favour, never. 
 Even in the states of Frederic the hatred of priests pursued 
 me. Worn out and weak, lamenting my own destiny, the 
 history of your life, worthy sir, fell into my hands, and 
 poured balsam into my wounds. There, indeed, I saw 
 sufferings immeasurable ; there, indeed, beheld fortitude 
 most worthy admiration. The chagrin that preyed upon, 
 the despair that rent my heart, fled. Compared to you, of 
 what could I complain ? Receive, noble German, my 
 warmest thanks ; while I live they shall flow. And should 
 you find a fortunate moment, in the presence of your king, 
 speak of .me as one consigned to poverty, as one whose 
 talents are buried in oblivion. Say to him ' Mighty 
 king ! stretch forth thy hand, and dry up his tears.' I 
 know the nobleness of your mind, and doubt not your good 
 wishes." 
 
 To the professor's letter I returned the following answer: 
 " I was affected, sir, by your letter. I never yet was 
 
 * The letter of professor Bahrdt and the baron's answer are 
 both in verse, but are too barren of poetical merit or figure to 
 please in poetical translation. 
 
 13 R r
 
 306 
 
 unmoved, when the pen was obedient to the dictates of the 
 heart. I feel for your situation ; and if my example can 
 teach wisdom even to the wise, I have, indeed, cause to tri- 
 umph. This is the sweetest of rewards. At Berlin I have 
 received much honour, but little more. The courtier fawns 
 to obtain favour and gifts. He who seeks justice mistakes 
 his road. Men are deaf to him who confides only in hi* 
 right. What have I gained ? Shadow fame for myself, 
 and the vapour of hope for my heirs ! 
 
 " Truth and Treuck, my good friend, flourish not" in 
 courts. You complain of priestcraft. He who attacks a 
 nest of hornets must expect to be stung. He who would 
 disturb their ambition and covetousness, he who speaks 
 against the false opinions they scatter, considers not priests 
 and their aim, which is to dazzle the stupid, and stupify the 
 wise. A host of knaves in black, act to promote their 
 earthly interests : and, strange to tell, the Quixote who 
 shall dare molest them must also encounter the anger even 
 of the rational ! Deprecate their wrath ! avoid their poi- 
 soned shafts, or they will infect thy peace, will blast thy 
 budding honours. And wherefore should we incur this 
 danger ? The world will ever be the same. To cure igno- 
 rance of error is impossible. Silence is often not only pru- 
 dence, but wisdom. Let us then silently steal to our 
 graves, and thus shall we escape the breath of envy. What 
 is the puppet-shew of life ? He who should enjoy all even 
 thought could grasp should yet have but little. Having 
 acquired this knowledge, the passions of the soul are lulled 
 to apathy. I behold error, and I laugh : do thou, my friend, 
 laugh also. If that can comfort us, men will do our me- 
 mory justice when we are dead ! Fame plants her laurels 
 over the grave, and there they flourish best. 
 
 BARON TRENCK." 
 
 Schanafulack, near Konigsberg, 
 April 30th, 1787. 
 
 ft P. S. I have spoken, worthy professor, the feelings of 
 my heart, in answer to your kind panegyric. You will but
 
 307 
 
 do me justice when you believe I think and act as I write. 
 With respect to my influence at court, it is just as insigni- 
 ficant at Berlin as at Vienna, or at Constantinople." 
 
 Among the various letters I have received, as it may 
 answer a good purpose, I hope the reader will not think the 
 insertion of the following improper. They may be read by 
 some benevolent person, who may have power to speak in 
 behalf of one who is evidently not only distressed, but a 
 man of very considerable talents. 
 
 In a letter from an unknown correspondent, who desired 
 me to speak for this person at Berlin, eight others were in- 
 closed. They came from the above person in distress to 
 this correspondent; and I was requested to let them appear 
 in the Berlin Gazette. As these letters came from Silesia 
 anonymously to hand, and as I found it could answer no 
 good purpose, I did not publish them as required : but my 
 correspondent cannot take it amiss that I should select 
 three of them, and here present them to the world, as it can 
 do his friend no injury, while they describe an unhappy vic- 
 tim of an extraordinary kind, and may, perhaps, obtain him 
 some redress or relief. 
 
 Should this hope be verified, I am personally acquainted 
 with him who wishes to remain concealed, can send him 
 aid, or introduce him to the knowledge of such as might 
 wish to interfere in his behalf. Should they not, the reader 
 will still find well-written and affecting letters such as 
 may inspire compassion. My own situation permits me not 
 to plead for another ; nor affords me the means of relieving 
 the unfortunate. The following is the first of those I think 
 proper to select. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Neuland, Feb. 12, 1787. 
 
 " I THOUGHT I had so satisfactorily answered you by my 
 
 last, that you would have left me in peaceful possession of 
 
 my sorrows ; but your numberless remarks, intreaties, and 
 
 remonstrances, succeed each other with such rapidity, that, 
 
 R r 2
 
 308 
 
 though before inclined indolently to fly, I am again induced 
 to renew the contest. Cowardice, I believe, you are con- 
 vinced, is not native in ray heart : and, should I now too 
 easily yield, you might suppose that age, and the miseries I 
 have suffered, had weakened my powers of mind as well 
 as body; and that I ought to be classed among the un- 
 happy multitudes whose sufferings have sunken them to 
 despondency. 
 
 " Baron Trenck, that man of many woes, once so de- 
 spised, but who now is held in admiration where he before 
 was so much the object of hatred ; who now speaks loudly 
 in his own defence there, where formerly the man who had 
 but whispered his name would have lived suspected : Baron 
 Trenck you propose as an example of salvation for me. 
 You are wrong. Have you made any rational comparison ? 
 Have you considered how dissimilar our past lives have 
 been ; how different, too, our present circumstances are ? 
 Or, omitting these, have you considered to whom you would 
 have me appeal ? 
 
 " In the year 1764, I became acquainted in Vienna with 
 this sufferer of fortitude, this agreeable companion. We 
 are taught that a manly and noble aspect bespeaks a cor- 
 respondent mind : this I believe him to possess. But what 
 expectations can I form from Baron Trenck ? 
 
 " I will, however, briefly answer the questions you have 
 put ; for prolix I must not be, otherwise I should write the 
 history of my life. Baron Trenck was, as I am informed, 
 a man born to inherit great estates ; this, and the fire of his 
 youth, fanned by flattering- hopes from his famous, and then 
 powerful kinsman, rendered him too haughty to his king; 
 and this alone was the origin of all his future sufferings. 
 I, on the contrary, though the son of a Silcsian nobleman of 
 property, did not inherit so much as the pay of a common 
 soldier ; the family having been robbed of their property by 
 the hand of power, after being accused by malice and 
 wickedness, under the mask of holy virtue. You know 
 my father's fate, the esteem in which he was held by the
 
 309 
 
 empress Theresa, and that a pretended miracle was the 
 occasion of his fall. Suddenly was he plunged from that 
 height, to which industry, talents, and virtue, had raised 
 him, to the very depth of poverty. At length, on the com- 
 mencement of the seven-years' war, one of the king of 
 Prussia's subjects represented him to the Austrian court as 
 a dangerous correspondent of marshal Schwerin's. Then 
 sixty years of age, my unfortunate father was seized at Ja- 
 gerndorf, and imprisoned in the fortress of Gratz, in Styria. 
 lie had an allowance just sufficient to keep him alive in his 
 dungeon ; but for the space of seven years never beheld the 
 sun rise or set. I was a boy when this happened : the cer- 
 tainty of his innocence, however, emboldened me to inter- 
 cede in his behalf at the foot of the throne. I was not 
 heard. I only received some pecuniary relief from the 
 empress, with permission to shed my blood in her defence. 
 In this situation we first became acquainted, first vowed 
 eternal friendship ; but from this was I soon snatched, not 
 by my own, but my father's enemies. What the empress 
 had bestowed, her ministers tore from me. I was seized at 
 midnight, and, without examination, was brought, in com- 
 pany with two other officers, to the before-mentioned for- 
 tress of Gratz. Here did I remain immured, in the flower 
 of youth, six dismal years. My true name was concealed, 
 and another given me. I was treated like a malefactor, and 
 kept under seven locks. 
 
 " Peace being restored, Trenck, I, and my father, were 
 released ; but the mode of our mutual release was very 
 different. The first obtained his freedom at the intercession 
 of Theresa : she too afforded him a future provision- We, 
 on the contrary, according to the amnesty, stipulated in the 
 treaty of peace, were led from our dungeons as state-pri- 
 soners, a public spectacle, without the least inquiry con- 
 cerning the verity or falsehood of our supposed crimes. 
 Extreme poverty, wretchedness, and misery, were our re- 
 ward for the sufferings we had so unjustly endured. 
 
 " Not only was nay health destroyed,' but my jaw-bone
 
 310 
 
 was lost, gaten away by the scurvy. I laid before Frederic 
 the Great the proofs of the calamities I had undergone, 
 and the dismal state to which I was reduced by his foe, and 
 for his sake intreated bread to preserve me and my rather 
 from starving ; but his ear was deaf to my prayer, his heart 
 insensible to my sighs. 
 
 " Providence, however, raised me up a saviour : count 
 Gellhorn was the benevolent man. After the taking of Bres- 
 law, he had been also sent a state prisoner to Gratz. Dur- 
 ing his imprisonment, he had heard the general report of 
 my sufferings, and my innocence. No sooner did he learn I 
 was released, than he generously became my benefactor, my 
 supporter, my friend, and once more restored me to the 
 converse of men, to which I had so long been dead. 
 
 " I defer the continuation of my narrative to the next 
 post. The remembrance of past woes inflicts present. 
 
 I am eternally." 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Feb. 24, 1787. 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 " AFTER an interval of silence, to calm my agitated 
 heart, remembering my promise, I must continue my story. 
 
 " My personal sufferings have not, certainly, as I think, 
 been less than those of Trenck. His, however, I am ac- 
 quainted with only from the inaccurate relations I have 
 heard ; my own I have felt. How can I forget them ? A 
 colonel in the Prussian service, whose name was Hallasch, 
 was four years my companion ; he was insane, and believed 
 himself the Christ that was to appear at the millenium : he 
 persecuted me with his reveries, which I was obliged to 
 listen to and approve, or suffer violence from one stronger 
 than myself. 
 
 " The society of men or books, every thing that could 
 console or amuse, were forbidden me ; and I consider it as 
 wonderful that I did not myself grow mad, in the company 
 of this madman. Four hard winters did I exist without
 
 311 
 
 feeling the feeble emanation of a winter's sun, much less 
 the warmth of fire. The very madman felt more pity than 
 my keeper, and lent me his cloak to cover my body, though 
 the other inhumanly denied me a truss of straw, notwith- 
 standing I had lost the use of my hands and feet. The 
 place where we were was called a chamber ; it rather re- 
 sembled the temple of Cloacina. The noxious damps and 
 vapours at length so poisoned my blood, that, together with 
 ill treatment from an unskilful surgeon, who daily tortured 
 me, during nine months, with insult, as a Prussian traitor 
 and state criminal, I lost the greatest part of my jaw. We, 
 too, were nightly disturbed by the calling of centinels, and 
 were frequently terrified by the grating of locks and bolts, 
 and the entrance of guards. 
 
 " Schottendorf was our governor and tyrant, a man 
 who repaid the friendship he found in the mansion of my 
 fathers with cruelty. He was ripe for the sickle, and Time 
 cut him off. -Tormentini and Galer were his successors in 
 office, but not in insolence and inhumanity : by them we 
 were, indeed, carefully watched, but we also were treated 
 with commiseration. We enjoyed air without a bribe, and 
 the comfort of sweet water. Their precautions warded off 
 jail distempers likewise, and rendered imprisonment less 
 wretched. Ever shall I hold their memory sacred. Yet, 
 benevolent as they were, their goodness was even exceeded 
 by that of Rottensteiner, the head jailor. Without educa- 
 tion, without other principles than those an excellent un- 
 derstanding taught, he considered his unfortunate prisoners 
 as his children ; and, instead of enriching himself by plun- 
 dering the poor and oppressed, he was himself their bene- 
 factor. Of this I had continual experience, during two 
 years after the release of Hallasch. He deserved a better 
 station ; a station as noble as his own thoughts. 
 
 " Here, my friends, I but cursorily describe misery, at 
 which the monarch shall shudder, if the blood of a tyrant 
 flows not in his veins. Theresa could not wish these things :
 
 312 
 
 yet they were. But she was human, she was fallible, and 
 not omniscient. 
 
 " From the above narrative you will perceive how oppo- 
 site the effects must be, which the histories of Baron Trenck 
 and of myself must prove. 
 
 " Baron Trenck left his dungeon, shielded from want 
 and contempt ; the day of freedom was the day of triumph. 
 I, on the contrary, was exposed to every possible calamity. 
 The spirit of Trenck, bowed as it had been by affliction) 
 again raised itself. I have watched and laboured many a 
 succeeding night that I might neither beg nor perish the 
 following day ; working for judges who neither knew law, 
 nor had sufficient powers of mind to behold the native 
 beauty of justice ; rectifying or settling accounts that, item 
 after item, did but prove the lord they were intended for as 
 an imbecile dupe. 
 
 " Trenck remembers his calamities, but the remembrance 
 is advantageous to himself and his family ; while, with me, 
 the past did but increase, did but agonise the present, and 
 the future. He was not, like me, obliged to crouch in pre- 
 sence of those vulgar, those mean, those incapable minds, 
 that do but consider the bent back as the footstool of pride. 
 Every man is too busy in the gratification of self to busy 
 himself in behalf of others : pity me, therefore ; but advise 
 me not to hope assistance, by petitioning princes at second 
 hand. 1 know your good wishes, and, for these, I have 
 nothing to return but barren thanks. 
 
 I am, &c." 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 " YES, I do not, cannot doubt your friendship, your 
 zeal, to serve me ; but you have been often fortunate in the 
 accomplishment of your hopes ; I, never. 
 
 " The prospect of gain makes the usurer adventurous ; 
 but, by digging under the foundation, to conceal or to re- 
 cover his treasure, he may chance to overthrow his house,
 
 313 
 
 and bury himself under its ruins. The voice of suffering 
 Virtue is, alas ! unable to be heard, amid the agitated waves 
 of a court ! she utters a feeble cry, sinks, and is no more 
 seen. I fear the persecution of the clergy Monarchs them- 
 selves bow before their power ! 
 
 " Beside, is Trenck in that situation that justifies his 
 interference in behalf of a stranger ? Certainly not. Oh, 
 no ! We have been dreaming ; you to begin, and I to con- 
 tinue, a correspondence on such a subject. Were he, like 
 you, my intimate, my old friend, perhaps his great expe- 
 rience of the world might lead him to imagine some mode 
 of procuring a supply sufficient fully to satisfy my very few 
 wants, for few indeed they are. Unless he ask it, conceal 
 my name. His silence will evince his real incapability to 
 do me service ; his good-will cannot be doubted. 
 
 " Every caution is necessary ; for, were I driven from 
 this poor refuge of wretchedness, I might fall into the power 
 of one who may be a tyrant, who might again rob me of 
 light and air, and, adding torture to calamity, branding me 
 as a traitor, might delight to inflict pangs incessant, and 
 render death tedious. Farewell !" 
 
 The reasons why I published the foregoing letters are 
 already stated, and will, I make no doubt, appear satisfac- 
 tory to the reader. Once more to affairs that more imme- 
 diately concern myself. 
 
 The following I received from Poland, from a cor- 
 respondent who is likewise to me unknown. 
 
 " Sir, Reschow, in Gallicia. April 30, 1797. 
 
 " EVERY feeling heart, every person who had the honour 
 ef being acquainted with you, during your abode in Austria, 
 receives the purest satisfaction from the justice at present 
 done you, and the high honours by which you are distin- 
 guished at the court of Berlin, and of which we are informed 
 by the public papers. Yes, sir, it is a sweet subject of con- 
 solation for suffering humanity to behold that you now find 
 favour and justice from a power where the most unbridled 
 
 14. S s
 
 314 
 
 barbarity formerly gave birth to the bitterest sufferings, anil 
 the most inconceivable cruelty. 
 
 " Every compassionate person, in this our district of 
 bears, has read, has wept over, those sufferings so truly 
 depicted iu the history of your life. Thrice have the pages 
 been bedewed by my tears. My present hope is to see a 
 continuation of your history written on the now benevolent 
 banks of the Spree. Alas ! sure, like the first navigator of 
 Horace, he must in oak and triple steel be armed who should 
 not feel pity in behalf of an honest man, an enlightened au- 
 thor, a brave soldier, and a good citizen. 
 
 " Let me intreat your acceptance of this testimony of the 
 In-art, from a man who, though unknown to you, is, with 
 the most worthy and best informed men of Poland, your sin- 
 cere admirer. It is a respectful tribute, paid to uncommon 
 merit. I am, &e.*" 
 
 I have here published the foregoing letter, that I may have 
 an opportunity of thanking the person who has paid me such 
 high compliments, and who has concealed his name, that 
 I might not have the difficulty of answering so flattering an 
 epistle. 
 
 I feel the happiness of being held in estimation by the 
 noble minded ; and if the princess Czatoryska can credit 
 her correspondent, and my writings, she will read how great 
 my present sensations of joy are at having the happiness to 
 attain so invaluable an honour. 
 
 I might till a volume with like letters, but they appertain 
 to another collection. 
 
 I met, at Berlin, many old friends of both sexes : among 
 others, an aged invalid came to see me who was at (Jlat/. 
 in 1746, when I cut my way through the guard. He was 
 one of the centinels before my door, and whom I had thrown 
 down the stairs. 
 
 Another invalid, who had assisted roe, when imprisoned 
 
 * This letter contains some verses, which are only repetitions of 
 similar sentiments, or of facts in the Life. Some of them were 
 ddreswd to the princess Czatoryska.
 
 315 
 
 at Magdeburg, in ridding rayself of my bags of sand, came 
 also to visit me. 
 
 The hour of quitting Berlin, and continuing my journey 
 into Prussia, towards Kbnigsberg, my native country, ap- 
 proached. On the eve of my departure, I had once again 
 the happiness of conversing, more than two hours, with her 
 royal highness the princess Amelia, sister of Frederic the 
 Great.* Possessed of native greatness of mind and deep 
 penetration, she solely had the honour of gaining the entire 
 confidence and friendship of Frederic. She, as far as she 
 was able, protected me in my hour of extreme adversity ; 
 heaped benefits upon me ; and, more than any other person 
 in the world, contributed to gain my deliverance. Not as a 
 foreign officer did she receive me, during- my stay in Berlin, 
 but as a friend, as an aged patriot ; and laid her commands 
 upon me to write immediately to my wife, and request that 
 she would come to Berlin in the month of June, with her two 
 eldest daughters. I received her promise, that the happi- 
 ness of the latter should be her care ; nay, that she would 
 certainly remember my wife in her will. 
 
 At this moment, when about to depart, she affectionately 
 asked me if I had money sufficient for the expenses of my 
 journey : " Yes, madam," was my reply ; " for myself, I 
 want nothing, ask nothing; but may you remember my 
 children !" 
 
 The sensibility, the deep feeling with which I pronounced 
 these words, moved the princess ; she showed me how per- 
 fectly she comprehended my meaning, took me by the hand, 
 and said, " Return my friend, quickly ; I shall be most 
 happy to see you." 
 
 1 hastily left the room ; a kind of indecision came over 
 me. I was inclined to remain some days longer at Berlin. 
 Had I done so, my presence would most indubitably have 
 been of great advantage to my children. Alas ! ever under 
 
 * This princess is supposed to be the lady so often alluded to in 
 the preceding part of the baron's Life. 
 
 Ss2
 
 316 
 
 the guidance of my evil genius, I began my journey. The 
 cleat prospect of futurity was instantly overclouded ; the 
 principal purpose for which I came to Berlin frustrated ; 
 for, five days after my departure, the princess Amelia died ! 
 
 Is not this a new proof that my implacable destiny will 
 never quit pursuing me, even to the grave ? He who reads 
 my history attentively will see that a thousand times have I 
 beheld the shores of happiness, and that the very moment I 
 imagined I was about to cast anchor in the haven of tran- 
 quillity, again has an unforeseen hurricane driven me into 
 the very midst of the wild and angry ocean. Yes, yes, so 
 it has been, so it shall be. 
 
 In vain would the benevolent friends of man offer petitions 
 to heaven that my latter days might be spent in peace. 
 Their prayers rise not ; they reach not the seat of mercy ! 
 Never has heaven inspired the hearts of princes to act ef- 
 fectually in my favour. Even when my friends have se- 
 riously intended to assist me, or in their wills to bequeath 
 me generous legacies, either they have been persuaded to 
 the contrary by my enemies, or prevented by death from ful- 
 filling their good intentions. Many facts of this kind might 
 I cite, particularly some that have been occasioned by father 
 confessors. 
 
 This last unfortunate accident befel me through my own 
 fault ; I ought better to have employed the favourable mo- 
 ment. The more critical it was, the more ardent should I 
 have been not to have let it escape. But I imagined myself 
 too certain. I was too timid, had too much sensibility, or 
 rather, indeed, too much pride, to let interested views be 
 seen at such a moment. 
 
 " Well, well who can recall the past ? It is the will of 
 Providence thus to restrict your happiness." 
 
 Such are the apophthegms in which the credulous find 
 consolation : for my own part, I am of the sect of the scep- 
 tics. I am convinced that, by ilL-timed delicacy, I have 
 neglected many opportunities of making my fortune.
 
 317 
 
 If it be the will of heaven that I am not to enjoy 
 happiness here on earth, but that my Christian spirit 
 must content itself with court compliments, reputation ac- 
 quired, and the world's compassion, without expecting any 
 thing from the magnanimity of the best of sovereigns, then 
 will I live satisfied, in my confined circle, and comfort my- 
 self with the reflection that I have deserved better. 
 
 If wealth be necessary to happiness, so indeed must my 
 happiness be small. It is now winter with me, and never 
 more can it be spring. I will no more be the dupe of vague 
 and silly hopes. Plans of aggrandisement I am too old 
 to form ; am too proud, too obstinate, and too headstrong 
 for the precincts of a court. 
 
 Peace be to thy ashes, noble princess ! Thy will was good, 
 and be that sufficient. I shall not want materials to write 
 a commentary on the history of Frederic, when, in company 
 with thee, I shall wander on the banks of Styx : there the 
 events that have happened on this poor earth may be written, 
 without scruple or danger : till when, it is most probable, 
 I shall give repose to my pen, unless some extraordinary in- 
 cidents should once more reanimate my self-love, and, by 
 the publication of new truths, I should be induced to ex- 
 pose myself to new persecutions ; from which, however, 
 may the good God preserve me ! He can have no pleasure 
 in seeing his creatures unhappy. He yet may inspire the 
 hearts of kings, to think of what I have been deprived, and 
 of what is my due. 
 
 So proceed we with our story. 
 
 On the 22d of March 1 departed from Berlin, and pur- 
 sued my journey to Kb'nigsberg, but remained two days at 
 the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg Schwedt, where 
 I was received with kindness and esteem. The margrave 
 had bestowed favours on me, during my imprisonment at 
 Magdeburg. 
 
 1 departed thence through Soldin to Schildsberg, there to 
 visit my relation at Siduu, who had married the daughter of
 
 318 
 
 ray sister, which daughter ray sister had by her first husband 
 Waldow, of whom I have so often spoken in the preceding 
 part of this volume. I found my kinsman a worthy and 
 honourable man, and one who made the daughter of an un- 
 fortunate sister happy. I was received at his house with 
 open arms, and for the first time during an interval of two 
 and forty years beheld one of my own relations. 
 
 On my journey thither, I had the unexpected pleasure to 
 meet with lieutenant-general Kowalsky. This good gen- 
 tleman was a lieutenant in the garrison of Glatz, in the year 
 1746, and was an ocular witness when I leaped from the 
 wall of the rampart. He had read my history, with some 
 of the principal facts of which he was previously acquainted. 
 Should any one therefore doubt concerning those incidents 
 which I have related of my escape from Glatz, and which, 
 because of the difficulties attending their execution, have 
 been by some, incapable themselves of a like enterprise, 
 supposed incredible, I may refer them to him, whose testi- 
 mony cannot be suspected. ;/ A:;, 
 
 From Schildsberg I proceeded to Landsberg, on the 
 Warta. Here I found my brother-in-law, colonel Pape, 
 commander of the Cotz dragoons, and the second husband 
 of my deceased sister : and here I passed a happy and 
 joyous day. Every body congratulated me on my glorious 
 return into my country, and offered up their ardent prayers 
 for my future felicity. 
 
 I found relations in almost every garrison, and was al- 
 most every where detained. Never did man receive more 
 honourable marks of esteem throughout a kingdom. The 
 general knowledge of my unmerited calamities procured 
 me this sweet consolation ; and I were insensible indeed, 
 and ungrateful, did ray heart remain unmoved on occasions 
 like these. 
 
 Yes, this is my delectable reward ; a reward not con- 
 ferred by princes ; a reward to which virtue only can aspire ; 
 and which has been bestowed upon me with profusion ; a 
 reward which the hatred of the puissant Frederic c'ould re-
 
 319 
 
 tard, but could not prevent : Nature had given me too ro- 
 bust a body : a reward so great, so delightful, so dear to 
 remembrance, that, when put as a counterpoise to the 
 afflictions I have suffered for the space of two and forty 
 years, I hold it more than equivalent, and I feel it over- 
 balances them all ! My heart glories in its past groans, all 
 my wounds are healed, and, though the scars remain, they 
 remain but the honourable proofs of victory. 
 
 Raised by misfortune, I live my country's monument, 
 where many instructive, many exemplary lessons may be 
 read. Remember me, O my friends, in the hour of sorrow; 
 relate my story to your children ; publish aloud that my 
 bones have deserved to be laid in the sepulchre of my fore- 
 fathers ; and though I am not permitted to rest my white 
 locks on the pillow of repose in ray own country ; though it 
 be my destiny to die in the land to which envy, imposture, 
 imbecility, and a thirst of ill-gotten gain have banished me ; 
 still let my memory live among you ; still let me hope my 
 name shall be held in veneration ! To you I leave my chil- 
 dren ! in them may you behold their father's probity revive ; 
 them may you distinguish from the children of those who 
 have suffered nothing for, lost nothing in, their country. 
 
 In Austria I never can expect a like reception ; I am 
 there mistaken, and I feel little inclination to labour at re- 
 moving mistakes so rooted. Yet even there, as in Prussia, 
 am I by the general voice approved. Yes, I am admired, 
 but not known ; pitied, but not supported ; honoured, but 
 not rewarded. The powerful are wilfully blind. Yet blind 
 may they remain ; I will not grieve. " Who," saith Gellert, 
 " is the great man by whom thou art honoured ? Say, doth 
 he truly know to estimate merit ? Imagine him deprived of 
 titles, his riches lost, his badges of honour gone, and per- 
 haps thou wouldest then contemn his applause j for thou 
 wouldst despise his person." 
 
 When at Berlin, I discovered an error I had committed 
 in the-fcrst part of my Life. At the time I wrote, having 
 been wrong informed, I believed that the post-master-
 
 320 
 
 general of Berlin, M. Derschau, was my mother's brother, 
 and the same person who, in 1742, was first grand coun- 
 sellor at Glogau, and afterward president in East Friese- 
 land. I was deceived : the Derschau, who is my mother's 
 brother, is still living 1 , and president at Aurich in East 
 Frieseland. The post-master was the son of the old Ders- 
 chau, who died a general, and who was only distantly re- 
 lated to my mother. Neither is the younger Derschau, who 
 is the colonel of a regiment at Burg, the brother of my mo- 
 ther, but only her first-cousin : one of their sisters married 
 lieutenant-colonel Ostau, whose son, the president Ostau, 
 now lives on his own estate, at Lablack in Prussia. 
 
 I mention this at present for the information of a person 
 who, because I had committed this trifling error, which was 
 caused by my having been absent from my country above 
 five and forty years, thence took occasion to persuade the 
 world my history was all false : having corrected the mis- 
 take, I may add, I do not suppose any Derschau has reason 
 to be ashamed of being allied to the family of Trenck, 
 which, for three hundred years past, has intermarried with 
 the most ancient families in Prussia, and which, in the his- 
 tory of the country, has given incontestible proofs of real 
 nobility of heart. 
 
 I was likewise deceived in having suspected 'a lieutenant, 
 whose name is Mollinie, in the narrative I gave of my flight 
 from Glatz, of having acted as a spy upon me at Brauuau, 
 and of having sent information to general Fouquet. I am 
 sorry. This honest man is still alive, a captain in Branden- 
 burg. He was affected at my suspicion, fully justified him- 
 self, and here I publicly apologize. He then was, and again 
 is become my friend. The person who really gave infor- 
 mation to general Fouquet was captain Nimschofsky, my 
 own cousin, who came to visit me at Braunau, and under 
 the mask of friendship concealed the traitor. 
 
 I have also received a singular letter from one lieutenant 
 Brodowsky. This extraordinary gentleman is offended at 
 finding his mother's name in my narrative, and demands I
 
 321 
 
 should retract my words. Alas ! how can I retract the 
 truth ; and truth too which cannot be offensive to any per- 
 son ? Menaces never yet could induce me to commit sucli 
 an action. 
 
 My readers certainly will allow the virtue of madam Hro 
 dowsky, at Elbing, is not impeached. Although I have 
 said I had the fortune to be beloved by her, 1 have no where 
 intimated that I asked, or that she granted, improper favours. 
 
 Certainly I had no intention to injure my preceptor Bro- 
 dowsky, who had lived in my father's house, and who after- 
 ward journeyed to my mother, purposely to procure me 
 speedy succour. I never meant to injure his honour living, 
 nor his memory dead. 
 
 The parents having been my friends, I certainly wish I 
 could oblige the son ; but I never can write that facts, in- 
 serted in the history of my life, which have happened to 
 myself, are false or imaginary. A man of understanding 
 will not be angry should another say to him, " Your mo- 
 ther once loved me." M. Brodowsky, the father, never 
 was jealous ; and it is strange indeed that his son should 
 be. I here declare that, with respect to myself, madam 
 Brodowsky was certainly chaste ; but I also here declare, 1 
 have a right to assume some merit to myself. This I think 
 a sufficient answer to the letter of the lieutenant. 
 
 By the express desire of a person of distinction, I shall in- 
 sert an incident in this place, which I omitted in a former 
 part of this volume, lest I should hav fatigued my readers 
 by a too circumstantial recital of my various attempts to es- 
 cape from prison. This honourable person was himself an 
 eye-witness of this incident I am about to relate at Magde- 
 burg, and reminded me of the affair. It was my last attempt 
 but one at flight. The circumstances were these : 
 
 As I found myself unable to get rid of more sand, aftef 
 having once again cut through the planking and mined the 
 foundation, I made a hole toward the fosse, or ditch, in 
 which tlnree centinels were stationed. This I executed one 
 
 14 T t
 
 322 
 
 stormy night, it being easy, from the lightness of the sand, 
 to perform the work in two hours. 
 
 No sooner had I broken through, than I silently drew 
 back the sand within the hole, and threw one of my slippers 
 beside the palisadoes, that it might be supposed I had lost it 
 when climbing over them. These palisadoes, twelve feet in 
 height, were situated in the front of the principal fosse, and 
 my centinels stood within. There was no centry-box at the 
 place where I had broken through. 
 
 This done, I returned into my prison, made another hole 
 under the planking, where I could hide myself, and stopped 
 up the passage behind ine> so that it was not probable I 
 could be seen or found. 
 
 When day-light came the centinel saw the hole, and gave 
 the alarm : the officer ran terrified, the slipper was found, 
 and it was concluded that Trenck had fortunately escaped 
 over the palisadoes, and was no longer in prison. 
 
 Immediately the sub-governor came from Magdeburg, 
 the alarm guns were fired, the horse scoured the country, 
 and the fortification and the subterranean passages were all 
 visited : no tidings came ; no discovery was made ; and the 
 conclusion was, I had certainly escaped. That I should 
 fly without the knowledge of the centiuels was deemed im- 
 possible ; the officer and all the guard were put under arrest, 
 and every body was struck dumb with surprise. 
 
 I, in the mean time, sat quiet in my hole, where I heard 
 their searches and suppositions that I certainly was gone. 
 My heart bounded with joy, and I held escape to be indu- 
 bitable. They most undoubtedly would not have placed 
 centinels over the prison the following night, and I then 
 really should have left my place of concealment, and most 
 probably have safely arrived in Saxony. My cruel destiny, 
 however, robbed me of all hope, at the very moment when I 
 supposed the greatest of my difficulties conquered. 
 
 Every thing seemed to happen as I could wish. The 
 whole garrison came and visited the casemates, aud all stood
 
 323 
 
 astonished at the miracle they beheld. In this state things 
 remained till four o'clock in the afternoon. At length an 
 ensign of the militia came, a boy of about fifteen or sixteen 
 years of age, a very chicken in appearance, but who had 
 more wit than any or all of them. He approached the hole, 
 examined the aperture next the fosse, thought it appeared 
 very small, endeavoured to enter it himself, found he could 
 not, therefore concluded it was impossible a man of my size 
 could have passed through, and accordingly called for a 
 light. 
 
 This was an accident I had not foreseen. Half stifled in 
 my hole, I had opened the canal under the planking. No 
 sooner had the youth procured a light, than he perceived 
 my white shirt, examined nearer, felt about, and laid hold of 
 me by the arm. 
 
 The fox was caught, and the laugh was universal. My 
 chagrin and confusion may easily be imagined. They all 
 came round me, paid me their compliments, and finding 
 .nothing better was to be done, I laughed in company with 
 them, and thus laughing, was led back, with an aching, a 
 distracted heart, to be sorrowfully enchained in my dungeon. 
 
 The contrivance was highly applauded by all those who 
 wished I might effect ray escape ; among whom was the 
 honourable person who desired I would here insert this 
 anecdote. 
 
 I continued my journey, and arrived on the 4th of April 
 at Kbnigsberg, where my brother impatiently expected my 
 arrival. We embraced as brothers must, after an absence 
 of two and forty years. Of all my brothers and sisters I 
 had left in this city, he only remained. He lived a retired 
 and peaceable life on his own estates, fulfilling all the du- 
 ties of a man. He had no children living. I continued a 
 fortnight in company with him and his worthy wife at Ko- 
 nigsberg, with infinite satisfaction of heart, and afterward 
 went with him to his country seat, where I stayed six weeks. 
 
 Happy days ! Numbered amongst the most happy of my 
 life ! In the midst of relations, nephews, nephews'* children, 
 T t 2
 
 324 
 
 cousins, and kinsmen of all degrees, who came to compli- 
 ment me on my return to revisit the place of my nativity, I 
 imagined myself the father of the family : I enjoyed that 
 happiness which a sire enjoys, whose name is one of the 
 most respectable of the land, and who is related, by ties of 
 blood, to most of the neighbouring families. Man, at a cer- 
 tain time of life, is no where so happy as at home, especially 
 if, like me, he has wandered into foreign hinds, seen their 
 manners and customs, and been received by their inhabi- 
 tants with cordiality and friendship. 
 
 Here, for the first time, I learnt what had happened to my 
 relations, during my absence. The wrath of the great Fre- 
 deric extended itself to all my family. My second brother 
 was an ensign in the regiment of cuirassiers at Kiow, in the 
 year 1746, when I first incurred disgrace from the king. 
 Six years he served ; fought at three battles ; but because 
 his name was Trenck never was promoted. Weary of ex- 
 pectation, he at length quitted the army, married and lived, 
 on his estate at Meicken, where he died, about three years 
 ago, and left two sons, who are an honour to the family of 
 the Trencks. 
 
 Common fame spoke him a person capable of rendering 
 the state essential service, as a military man, for the soldier's 
 profession was his choice : but he was my brother, and the 
 king would never suffer his name to be mentioned. 
 
 My youngest brother applied himself to the sciences ; it 
 was supposed that he should receive some civil employment, 
 as an intelligent and well-informed man : but the king an- 
 swered in the margin of the petition 
 
 " No Trenck is good for any thing." 
 
 Thus has all my family suffered, because of my unjust 
 condemnation. My last-mentioned brother chose the life of 
 a private man, and lived at his ease, in estimation and inde- 
 pendence, among the first people of the kingdom. 
 
 The hatred of. the monarch extended itself to my sister, 
 who had married the son of general Waldow, and li^d in 
 widowhood from the year. 1749, to her
 
 325 
 
 The misfortunes of this excellent woman, in consequence of 
 the treachery of Weingarten, and the aid she sent to me in 
 my prison at Magdeburg, I have before related. She was 
 possessed of the fine estate of Hammer, near Landsberg on 
 the Warta. The Russian army changed the whole face of 
 the country, and laid it desert. She fled, with what effects 
 she could collect, to Custrin, where every thing likewise was 
 burnt and destroyed during the siege. The Prussian army 
 itself demolished the fine forests. 
 
 After the war, the king assisted all the ruined families oi 
 Brandenburg ; she alone obtained nothing, because she 
 was my sister. She petitioned the king, who replied, She 
 must seek for redress from her dear brother. 
 
 She died in the flower of her age, a short time after she 
 had married her second husband, the present colonel Pape : 
 her son also died last year. He was captain in the regi- 
 ment of the Gotz dragoons. 
 
 Thus were all my brothers and sisters punished because 
 they were mine. Who is he that shall afford retribution for 
 so many tragical events ? Could it ever be believed that the 
 great Frederic, like the great Zabaoth, would revenge him- 
 self on the children and the children's children ? Was it 
 not sufficient that he should wreak his wrath on my head 
 alone ? Why has the name of Trenck been hateful to him, 
 to the very hour of lu's death ? This must ever remain an 
 incomprehensible enigma. 
 
 I never would basely kiss the foot that spurned me. 
 When innocent, I sought to avoid being spurned, and know 
 myself guilty of no other crime. 
 
 One Derschau, captain of horse, and uterine brother of 
 my mother, secretly addressed himself to the king, in 1753, 
 alleged he was my nearest relation, and feudal heir, and 
 petitioned that he would bestow on him my confiscated es- 
 tate of great Scharlack. 
 
 The king demanded that the necessary proofs should be 
 sent from the chamber at Kb'nigsberg. He was informed 
 that I had two brothers living, that Great Scharlack was an
 
 326 
 
 ancient family inheritance, and that it appertained to my 
 brothers, and not to Derschau. 
 
 My brothers then announced themselves as the immediate 
 successors to this fief; and the king bestowed on them the 
 estate of Great Scharlack, conformable to the feudal laws. 
 That it might be properly divided, it was put up to auction, 
 and bought by the youngest of my brothers, who paid the 
 surplus to the other and my sister. He likewise paid debts, 
 charged upon it according to the express orders of the court. 
 The persons who called themselves my creditors were 
 impostors, for I had no creditors ; I was but nineteen when 
 my estates were confiscated, consequently was not of age. 
 By what right, therefore, could such debts be demanded or 
 paid ? Let them explain this who can. Any man might say 
 whatever he pleased, for I was not present to contradict. 
 
 The same thing happened when an account was given in- 
 to the Fiscus of the guardianship, although I acknowledge 
 my guardians were men of probity. One of them, however, 
 was eight years in possession, and when he gave it up to 
 my brothers he did not account with them for a single 
 shilling. 
 
 At present, therefore, the affair stands thus . Frederic 
 William has taken off the sentence of confiscation, and or- 
 dered me to be put in possession of my estates, by a gracious 
 rescript : empowered by this I come and demand restitution : 
 my brother answers, " I have bought and paid for the es- 
 tate, I am the legal possessor, have improved it so much, 
 that Great Scharlack at present is worth three or four times 
 the sum it was at the time of confiscation. Let the Fiscus 
 pay me its actual value, and then let them bestow it on 
 whom they please. If the reigning king gives what his 
 predecessor sold to me, I ought not thereby to be a loser." 
 
 This is a problem which the people of Berlin must resolve. 
 My brother has no children, and without going to law will 
 bequeath Great Scharlack to mine when he shall happen to 
 die. If he is forced in effect to restore it, without being 
 reimbursed, the king instead of granting a favour, has not
 
 327 
 
 done justice. I do not request any restitution like this, 
 since such restitution would be made without asking it as a 
 favour of the king. If his majesty takes off the confiscation 
 because he is convinced it was originally violent and unjust, 
 then have I a right to demand the rents of two and forty 
 years. This I am to require from the Fiscus, not from my 
 brother. 
 
 And should the Fiscus only restore me the price for which 
 it then sold, it would commit a manifest injustice, since all 
 estates in the province of Prussia have, since the year 1746, 
 tripled and quadrupled iheir value. 
 
 If the estate descends only to my children after my death, 
 I receive neither right nor favour ; for in this case I obtain 
 nothing for myself, I shall remain deprived of the rents, 
 which, as the estate is at present farmed by my brother, 
 amount to four thousand rix-dollare per annum. This estate 
 cannot be taken from him legally, since he enjoys it by 
 right of purchase. It will not be the king who, when I am 
 dead, will bestow it upon my children, but my brother, who 
 will bequeath it them by will. 
 
 Such is the present state of the business. How the be- 
 nevolent monarch shall think proper to decide, will be seen 
 hereafter. I have demanded of the Fiscus that it shall 
 make a fair valuation of Great Scharlack, reimburse my 
 brother, and restore it to me. My brother has other estates. 
 These he will dispose of by testament, according to his 
 good pleasure. 
 
 Be these things as they may, the purpose of my journey 
 is accomplished. My brother is my friend, and the father 
 of my children. My son is in his majesty's service, and 
 my honour is justified in my own country. In Prussia, at 
 least,- 1 am victorious over fate. 
 
 Reader, if thou hast noble thoughts, rejoice with me, 
 and from my history learn that evil itself may convert to 
 good. In the nineteenth year of my age I lost my fortune, 
 my liberty, my all, honour and fortitude excepted ; and 
 these it was not in the power of the despot to take. Two
 
 328 
 
 and forty years have I lived deprived of my property, two 
 and forty years endured poverty, and even excessive indi- 
 gence, with the exception of some few intervals, without 
 ever being guilty of meanness ; and in the moment of good 
 fortune I have been liberal even to prodigality. I often 
 have been deceived, but never was a deceiver. Those who 
 plundered me blush at my name. I walk proudly even in 
 the presence of kings. I write truths without disguise, and 
 my writings find toleration and privilege. I was despised, 
 condemned, and rejected, yet obtained, even in the dungeon's 
 depth, than which no man could descend lower, the general 
 esteem and approbation of the worthy. 
 
 Thou, great God, hast preserved me amidst my trouble. 
 The purest gratitude penetrates my heart. Oh, that it 
 might please thee never to let mortal endure what I have 
 endured ; or, if so it cannot be, that thou wouldst grant 
 him equal strength to wrestle with woe i Oh that thou 
 wouldst shield man from arbitrary power, and banish des- 
 potism from the earth ! Dishonour cast headlong down, 
 and exterminate the enemy of man ; and let all prevaricat- 
 ing judges be like mine, reduced to cleanse the streets of 
 filth. Suffer not the hypocritical knave to injure and insult 
 the virtuous. May this tragical narration be a lesson to the 
 afflicted, afford hope to the despairing, fortitude to the wa- 
 vering, and shake and humanise the hearts of kings ! 
 
 Joyfully do I journey to the shores of death. My duty 
 is fulfilled, my end attained, tranquillity deserved. My 
 conscience is void of reproach, posterity shall bless my me- 
 mory, and only the unfeeling, the wicked, the confessors of 
 princes, and the pious impostor, shall vent their rage against 
 my writings. My few remaining hours of life shall still be 
 dedicated to the love of men. For my own part, my wants 
 are few. My mind is desirous of repose ; and, should this 
 be denied me, still will I not murmur. I now wish to steal 
 gently, though not wholly unknown, toward that last asy- 
 lum, whither if I had gone in my youth, it must have been 
 with colours flying. Grant, Almighty God, that the prayer
 
 329 
 
 I this day make may be heard, and that such may be the 
 conclusion of my eventful life ! 
 
 THE succeeding pages of tho Baron's Life contain little 
 more respecting himself than a narrative of his endeavours 
 to recover his lost estates, of little interest to an English 
 reader ; he has however added the Life of his cousin Baron 
 Francis Trenck, of which the following is an extract. 
 
 FRANCIS BARON TRENCK was born in 1714, in 
 Calabria, a province of Sicily. War breaking out in 1736, 
 between the Russians and Turks, he, with the permission of 
 the court of Vienna, raised a squadron of hussars, and went 
 with it into the. Russian service, contrary to the will of his 
 father. In this war he distinguished himself highly, and 
 acquired the protection of field-marshal Munich. He was 
 so successful, and so daring, as a partisan leader against 
 the Tartars, that he became very famous in the army, and at 
 the end of the campaign was appointed major. 
 
 It happened, on the same occasion, that flying parties of 
 the Turks approached the front of his regiment, when on 
 march, and Trenck seeing a favourable moment for attack - 
 ing them, went to colonel Rumin, desiring that the regi- 
 ment might be led to the charge, and that they might profit 
 by so fair an opportunity. The timid colonel answered, 
 " I have no such orders." Trenck then demanded per- 
 mission to charge the Turks only with his own squadron ; 
 but this was refused. He immediately became furious, for 
 he had never been acquainted with contradiction or subor- 
 dination, and cried aloud to the soldiers " If there be one 
 brave man among you, let him follow me." About two 
 hundred immediately stepped from the ranks ; he put him- 
 self at their head, routed the enemy, made a horrible car- 
 nage, and returned intoxicated with joy, accompanied by 
 prisoners, and loaded with dissevered heads. 
 
 Once uiore arrived in presence of the regiment, he at- 
 tacked the colonel, treated him like the rankest coward, 
 
 14 U u
 
 called him opprobrious names, and beat him, without the 
 other daring to make the least resistance. 
 
 The adventure, however, became known ; Trenck was 
 arrested, and ordered to be tried. 
 
 His judges condemned him to be shot and the day was 
 appointed but the evening before execution field-marshal 
 Munich passed, either by chance or design, near the tent in 
 which he was confined. Trenck saw him, came forward, 
 and said, " Certainly your excellency M'ill not suffer a 
 foreign cavalier to die an ignominious death, because he 
 has chastised a cowardly Russian ! If I must die, at least 
 give me permission to saddle my horse, and, with my sabre 
 in my hand, let me fall surrounded by the enemy." 
 
 The Tartars happened to be at this time harassing the 
 advanced posts ; the field-marshal shrugged his shoulders, 
 and was silent. Trenck, still not discouraged, added 
 " I will undertake to bring your excellency three heads, or 
 lose my own. Will you, if I do, be pleased to grant me 
 my pardon ?" The field-marshal replied," Yes." The 
 horse of Trenck was immediately brought ; he gallopped to 
 the enemy, and returned singly with four heads knotted to 
 his horse's mane, himself only slightly wounded in the 
 shoulder. 
 
 Munich embraced him ; and immediately appointed him 
 to be a major in another regiment 
 
 Various, and almost incredible, were his feats ; among 
 others, a Tartar ran him through the belly with his lance : 
 Trenck grasped the projecting end with his hands, exerted 
 his prodigious strength, broke the lance, set spurs to his 
 horse, and happily escaped. Of this wound, dreadful as it 
 was, he was soon cured. 
 
 Toward the conclusion of thevvar he had a new misfortune; 
 his regiment was on the march, and incommoded on all 
 sides by the enemy : he entreated his colonel to grant 
 him permission to attack them. The colonel was once 
 more a Russian, and he was refused. Trenck gave 
 him a blow, and called aloud to the soldiers to follow him,
 
 331 
 
 They, however, being Russians, remained motionless and 
 he was put under arrest. 
 
 The court-martial sentenced him to death and all hope 
 of reprieve seemed over. The general would willingly have 
 granted his pardon ; but, as he himself was a foreigner, he 
 was fearful of offending the Russians by such partiality, 
 they having begun to murmur. 
 
 The day of execution came, and he was led to the place of 
 death. Munich, however, so contrived it, that field- 
 marshal Lowenthal should pass by at this moment, in com- 
 pany with his lady. Trenck profited by this opportunity, 
 spoke boldly, and prevailed. A reprieve was requested, 
 and the sentence was changed into banishment and labour 
 in Siberia. 
 
 Trenck protested against this sentence. The field-mar- 
 shall wrote to Petersburg, and an order came that he should 
 be broken, and conducted out of the Russian territories. 
 This order was accordingly executed, and he returned into 
 Hungary to his father. 
 
 Warlike inclinations would not permit him to remain idle. 
 Having- no opportunity to indulge these, because of the 
 general peace, he conceived the project of extirpating the 
 Sclavonian banditti. 
 
 Before I proceed, it will be proper to describe this race of 
 men, whom no person before him had dared to attack, al- 
 though they laid the whole country under contribution, and 
 exercised the utmost cruelties. 
 
 The title of their chiefs was Harum -Bashaw; and they 
 were elected from among the strongest, the most intelligent, 
 and the boldest men of the nation. So severe were their 
 laws, that the smallest fault was punished by strangling the 
 culprit. 
 
 If any one of their comrades had been betrayed, there is 
 no example that they ever so much as spared the infant, 
 <>ven m its mother's womb. 
 
 Their vengeance was unlimited ; and if by chance the 
 U u 2
 
 332 
 
 whole band were defeated with slaughter in such kind of 
 attempts, the new Harum-Bashaw of their successors was 
 bound to carry fire and sword to the place where his prede- 
 cessor had fallen. 
 
 In effect, they were true partisans ; maintained spies in 
 Turkey, and occasionally fell upon the Turkish banditti, 
 taking- from them their booty, and plundering and assassi- 
 nating the caravans of merchants. Therefore they spread 
 universal terror throughout the country : no one durst ex- 
 pose himself to their enmity ; and all the landholders paid 
 them a small contribution, that they might protect them 
 from the incursions of the Turkish banditti. Such land- 
 holders as were their tributaries lived with their vassals 
 tranquil and in full security : for it was a law among the 
 Sclavonian banditti never to forfeit their word. 
 
 Each Harum-Bashaw had a stipulated number of men ; 
 and when any one of them died, all the youths, most adroit 
 and renowned for their feats, became candidates for the va- 
 cant place ; because that these banditti lived in abundance, 
 and were not obliged to work. 
 
 They freely traversed all the country armed, and are 
 well known by their large rings and buttons of silver. 
 When government thought proper to pursue and attack 
 them, and they were obliged to encounter the regulars, they 
 generally had the advantage, and could take shelter, when 
 attacked, in their vast forests, with the paths and thickets of 
 which they were well acquainted. At such times they be- 
 came a great nuisance to the neighbouring hamlets, which 
 they pillaged at pleasure. 
 
 Trenck, therefore, began his military exploits anew 
 against this singular race of men. To execute this enter- 
 prise, he employed his own vassals and pandours. He was 
 afterward assisted by a detachment of regulars, having pro- 
 mised the court of Vienna that he would totally destroy 
 these banditti. The bloody contest now conjmenoed-^men 
 were racked and impaled ; and it may perhaps bf safely
 
 333 
 
 affirmed, that more activity, precaution, and courage were 
 necessary to insure success in such a kind of war than to lead 
 a great army to the field of battle. 
 
 Trenck seemed born for this murderous trade. Day and 
 night on the watch, he chased them like wild beasts, by 
 tracing their footsteps ; killing one, then another, and with- 
 out distinction treating them with the utmost barbarity. Fa- 
 ther and son alike must bleed ; nor was he himself a moment 
 certain he should not fall into their hands, or be betrayed 
 by his own soldiers. Two incidents, wiiich I shall here re f - 
 late, will sufficiently paint the character of this unaccount- 
 able man. He had impaled alive the father of a Haruin- 
 Bashaw. One evening he was going on patrole, along the 
 banks of a brook which separated two provinces. On the 
 opposite shore was the son of this impaled father, with his 
 Croats. It was moon-light, and the latter called aloud 
 
 " I hear thy voice, Trenck ! Thou hast impaled my 
 father ! Thou persecutest us like a rascal, with craft and 
 cruelty. If thou hast a heart in thy bady come hither over 
 the bridge I will send away my followers ; leave thy fire- 
 arms, come only with thy sabre, and we will then see who 
 shall remain the victor." 
 
 The agreement was made and the Harum-Bashaw sent 
 away his Croats, and laid down his musket. Trenck passed 
 the wooden bridge, both drew their sabres ; but Trenck 
 treacherously killed his adversary with a pistol that he had 
 concealed, after which he severed his head from his body, 
 took it with him, and stuck it upon a pole. 
 
 The reader will determine concerning the heroism of this 
 action toward a thief, who, although a thief, behaved so 
 nobly. 
 
 Be this as it may, he continued to ensnare them by every 
 kind of artifice, and to pursue them with unrelenting ven- 
 geance. Thus he became the terror and the scourge of 
 that pernicious race. 
 
 One dny, when he was hunting, he heard music in a 
 lone house, which belonged to one gf his vassals. He was
 
 thirsty, entered, and found the guests seated at a table, 
 He sat himself down, and ate with them, not knowing that 
 this very house was a place of rendezvous for the banditti. 
 
 As he was seated opposite the door, at a long narrow 
 table, he saw two Harum- Bashaws, armed and of a gigan- 
 tic stature, enter. His musket stood in a corner ; he was 
 struck with terror ; but one of the banditti addressed him 
 thus : " Neither thee, nor thy vassals, Trenck, have we 
 ever injured, yet dost thou pursue us with unexampled 
 cruelty. We think more nobly. Eat thy fill; we could 
 nail thee to the wall ; but fear nothing. When thou hast 
 satisfied thy hunger, we will then, sabre in hand, see who 
 has most justice on his side, and whether thou art as cou- 
 rageous and as invincible as men speak thee." 
 
 Hereupon they sat themselves down opposite the table, 
 and began to eat and drink and make merry. The situation 
 of Trenck could not be very pleasant. He recollected, that 
 beside these two 'giants, there might be more of their com- 
 panions without, ready to fall upon him ; he therefore pri- 
 vately drew his pistols from his pocket, held them under 
 the table while he cocked them, presented each hand to the 
 body of a Harum-Bashaw, fired them both at the same in- 
 stant, overset the table on the other guests, and safely 
 escaped from the house. As he went he had time enough to 
 seize on one of their muskets, which was standing at the 
 door. One of the Croats was left weltering in his blood : 
 the other disengaged himself from the table, and ran like a 
 man frantic after Trenck, who suffered him to approach, 
 killed him with his own gun, struck off his head, and 
 brought it home in triumph. 
 
 By this action the banditti were deprived of their two 
 most valorous chiefs, and likewise of their courage, so 
 that, cut off on every side, numbers of them took refuge in 
 the Turkish states. 
 
 War broke out at this time, in the year 1740, when all the 
 Hungarians took up arms in defence of their lovely and be- 
 loved queen. Trenck wiote to Vienna, offered to raise a
 
 335 
 
 free corps of pandours, and requested- a general amnesty for 
 all the banditti who should join his troops. His request 
 was granted, he published his amnesty, and began to raise 
 recruits ; few, however, of the banditti came to join his co- 
 lours ; he therefore enrolled his own vassals, formed a corps 
 of about five hundred men, went in search of the robbers, 
 drove them into a strait between the Save and Sarsawa, 
 where they at length capitulated, and about three hundred 
 of them'enrolled themselves with his pandours. 
 
 Most of these men were six feet in height, upright, de- 
 termined, and experienced soldiers, that could swim, and 
 were accustomed to run, like roe-bucks, for miles through 
 their forests. These were necessary requisites before they 
 could be admitted among the banditti. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that an able leader of men like 
 these found nothing impossible, or that he should perform, 
 brave and daring as he was, even to rashness, feats that 
 almost appear miraculous. 
 
 While he was exercising his regiment, a company fired 
 upon Trenck with ball, and killed his horse under him, and 
 his servant that stood by his side. He ran, furious, to the 
 company, counted one, two, three, and beheaded the fourth. 
 He was continuing this, when an Harum-Bashaw left the 
 ranks, drew his sabre, and called aloud, " It was I who 
 fired upon thee, defend thyself." The soldiers stood mo- 
 tionless spectators. Trenck attacked him, and had the good 
 fortune to hew him down. 
 
 He was then proceeding to continue the execution of the 
 fourth man, but the whole regiment presented their arms. 
 The revolt became general, and Trenck, still holding his 
 drawn sabre, ran like a lion amidst them, hacking about 
 him on all sides. The excess of his rage was terrific : the 
 soldiers all called hold, each fell on his knees, and promised 
 obedience. After this, he cordially embraced some of them, 
 remonstrated and harangued to them in language suitable 
 to their character, and, from that time, they became invinci- 
 ble soldiers, whenever they were headed by himself.
 
 It may Well be asked, whether a mail, who in like peril is 
 capable of acting with like intrepidity, ought to be judged 
 by common rules. Trenck, however, was condemned by 
 the decision of some pacific court-martial judges, who had 
 grown old in a soldier's uniform, without ever having stained 
 it with their own blood. Let the situation of Trenck be 
 considered : be it remembered that he was the chief of a 
 band of robbers, accustomed to rapine, and who supposed 
 they were authorised to take whatever they pleased in 
 an enemy's country ! a banditti that had so often defied the 
 gallows, that had never known military subordination. 
 Let such men be suddenly led to the field, and opposed to 
 regular troops. That they are never acted upon by a prin- 
 ciple of honour is evident ; their leader, therefore, is obliged 
 to excite their avidity by the hope of plunder, thus to en- 
 gage them in action ; for if they perceive no personal ad- 
 vantage, the command of the chief, or the interest of the 
 sovereign, are wholly insufficient to make them act. 
 
 As he was himself never absent at the time of action, he 
 soon became acquainted with the character of those whom 
 he called old women, and sent them from his regiment, 
 without any other process than his own command, when 
 he learned that any one among them had hidden him- 
 self in a ditch, or had not run to the assault at the head of 
 his pftndours. The number of officers so discharged in- 
 creased, they all repaired to Vienna, vented their complaints, 
 and were heard. 
 
 Envious of his good fortune, the enemies of Trenck were 
 on the watch. His own avarice prevented him from mak- 
 ing any division of his rich booty with those gentlemen who 
 constituted the military courts ; thus neglecting what was 
 customary at Vienna : and in this originated the prosecu- 
 tion to which he fell a victim. 
 
 But the important services he rendered the army during 
 the Bavarian war are well known in the history of Maria 
 Thctesa, though his actiohs have ever been represented with 
 a face the least favourable. The good he has done has been
 
 337 
 
 purposely passed [over in silence, because he died under 
 misfortunes, and did not leave his historian a legacy. 
 
 He was informed by a spy, that, either at Deckendorf or 
 Filtzhofen, I do not exactly remember which, there was a 
 barrel, containing twenty thousand florins, concealed at the 
 house of an apothecary. Impelled by the desire of booty, 
 Trenck hastened to the place indicated, with a candle in his 
 hand, searching every where, and, in his hurry, dropt a 
 spark into a quantity of gun-powder which happened to be 
 there, by the explosion of which he was dashed against the 
 ground, and dreadfully scorched. They carried him off; 
 but the scars, and the gun-powder with which his skin was 
 blackened, in consequence of this accident, rendered his 
 countenance remarkably terrific. 
 
 The present field-marshal Laudohn was at that time a 
 lieutenant in his regiment, and happened to be at the door 
 when his colonel was burnt. Scarcely was Trenck cured, 
 before his spies informed him that Laudohn had plenty of 
 money, and that he and his friends lived merrily. Imme- 
 diately he suspected that Laudohn had indubitably found 
 the barrel of florins, and from that moment he persecuted 
 this worthy man, by all imaginable arts. Wherever there 
 was danger he sent him, at the head of some thirty men, 
 against three hundred, hoping to have him cut off, and to 
 make himself his heir. 
 
 This was so often repeated, that Laudohn began to be 
 weary, quitted the corps, and retreated to Vienna, where, 
 joining the crowd of the accusers and enemies of Trenck, 
 he became instrumental in his destruction. Yet is it cer- 
 tain, that, in the beginning, Trenck had shown a friendship 
 for Laudobn, had given him a commission, and that this at 
 present truly great man learned in the society and under the 
 command of Trenck his military principles. 
 
 Bavaria was totally plundered by Trenck ; barges were 
 
 loaded with gold, silver, and effects, which he sent to his 
 
 estates in Sclavonia ; prince Charles and count Kevenhul- 
 
 ler countenanced his proceedings ; but when field-marshal 
 
 14. X x
 
 338 
 
 Neuperg- was at the head of the army, he had other princi- 
 ples. He was connected with baron Tiebes, a counsellor of 
 the Hofkriegsrath, who was all-puissant over military men, 
 and consequently was the enemy of Trenck. 
 
 Persecution proceeded so far, that a suit was at 'that time 
 instituted against him, and Trenck was imprisoned ; but 
 he defended himself so powerfully, that in a month's time 
 he was set at liberty. 
 
 In 1744 he obliged the French to retire beyond the Rhine, 
 seized on a fort near Philipsburg, swam across the river 
 with several pandours, attacked the fortifications, slew the 
 marquis de Crevecreur with his own hand, a death he merited 
 by his negligence, manned the post, afterward traversed the 
 other arm of the Rhine, surprised two Bavarian regiments 
 of cavalry in their camp, and by his daring manoeuvre se- 
 cured the passage of the Rhine to the whole army ; which 
 but for him would not have been effected. 
 
 The history of Maria Theresa declares what were the 
 damages he did the enemy, during the campaign. He gave 
 very signal proofs of his capacity and zeal at Tabor and 
 Budweis. With three hundred men only he had the bold- 
 ness to attack one of those towns, which was defended by 
 the two Prussian regiments of Walrabe and Kreutz. An 
 enterprise like this, against Prussian soldiers, sufficiently 
 speaks the man. 
 
 He found, however, that the water in the moats of the 
 town was deeper than his spies had declared it to be, and 
 the scaling-ladders too short : most of those led to the 
 attack were drowned, or killed in the water, and the small 
 number that crossed the moats were made prisoners. The 
 garrisons of Tabor, of Budweis, and that of the castle of 
 Frauenberg, were nevertheless induced to capitulate, and 
 yield themselves prisoners of war, although the main body 
 under Trenck was still more than five miles distant. 
 
 His corps did not come up till the morrow, and it was 
 ridiculous enough to see the pandours dressed in the caps 
 of the Prussian fusileers aod pioneers, which they wore
 
 339 
 
 instead of their own, and which they afterward continued 
 to wear. 
 
 In 1745 he went to Vienna, where his entrance into the 
 city resembled a triumph. Every body ran to see, and 
 wonder at, the pan dour Trenck ; and this universal applause 
 did but the more increase the envy of his enemies. The 
 empress-queen received him with the most honourable dis- 
 tinction. He appeared in her presence with crutches ; she 
 obliged him to be seated, and by her condescending speech 
 inflamed his zeal even to extravagance. 
 
 At the battle of Sarau, which was fought in September, 
 he fell upon the Prussian camp, and seized on the tent of 
 the king, and his service of plate ; but W me n hour too 
 late to attack the rear, as had been preconcerted. The 
 politic Frederic willingly gave up his corap to be plundered ; 
 for the rude Croats, engaged in this business, could not 
 easily be drawn off to attack the army ; and the king was 
 prepared to receive them, even if they should. In the mean 
 time the imperial army was defeated. 
 
 Here was an open field for the enemies of Trenck to in- 
 cite the people against him, and render him suspected by 
 the court. They publicly accused him of having made the 
 king of Prussia a prisoner in his tent, and of afterward re- 
 storing him to liberty ; that he also remained pillaging the 
 camp, instead of attacking the rear of the army ; and that 
 he alone thus occasioned the loss of the battle. His friends 
 informed him of what was going forward, and that the 
 storm was gathering. 
 
 After having gloriously ended the campaign, he returned 
 to Vienna to defend himself. Here he found, already as- 
 sembled, three and twenty of his officers, whom he had ca- 
 shiered, and expelled his regiment, most of them either for 
 cowardice or mean actions. There were wicked men 
 enough to be found io bear false testimony. The military 
 counsellor Weber, and general Loeweuwalde, had sworn 
 his downfall, which they effected. 
 
 The judge himself purchased the depositions of false
 
 340 
 
 witnesses ; and I here declare, upon my honour, that count 
 Loewenwalde offered me a thousand ducats if I would 
 betray the secrets of my cousin ; and that he farther pro- 
 mised me I should very soon be put in possession of my - 
 confiscated estates in Prussia, and have a company in a 
 regiment. A prosecution managed by such judges, sup- 
 ported by such witnesses, must, of necessity, be for the 
 righteous purpose of obtaining justice ! 
 
 An arret was issued, on the 20th of August, that he 
 should be perpetually confined, as a state prisoner, in the 
 Spielberg. His property, however, remained in sequestra- 
 tion ; nor was he deprived of it, but gave orders, and ex- 
 amined the accounts of his collectors, to the day of his 
 death. Thus he fell the -victim of a covetous and evil heart. 
 
 I shall frankly speak my thoughts concerning my cousin, 
 and his fate. With respect to individuals, whom he robbed 
 to enrich himself, innocent men whom he massacred, either 
 to obtain their property, or in the blood-thirsty field of war, 
 and many other worthy people whom he made miserable, 
 he merited punishment, the pursuit of the avenging arm of 
 justice, and to be extirpated from all humanity. 
 
 But, with respect to the Austrian monarchy, and as the 
 hero of the Croats, he merited a mausoleum, the epitaph of 
 gratitude, and the trophies of honour. At least he ought to 
 have been protected by that state, in defence of which he 
 was so loyal, so serviceable, so indefatigable, so daring ; 
 whereas in that very state, he fell the victim of envy, and of 
 the most hateful a- .ice. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 * 
 
 .*' 
 
 Jaques, Printer, 
 Cheltta.
 
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