[History of Friedrich II. of Prussia Vol. XII. (of XXI.) by Thomas Carlyle]@TWC D-Link bookHistory of Friedrich II. of Prussia Vol. XII. (of XXI.) CHAPTER XI 9/50
Lies of that sad "conservative" kind,--and indeed of all kinds whatsoever: for that kind is a general mother; and BREEDS, with a fecundity that is appalling, did you heed it much!-- It was pity that the "Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation," had not got itself buried some ages before.
Once it had brains and life, but now they were out.
Under the sway of Barbarossa, under our old anti-chaotic friend Henry the Fowler, how different had it been! No field for a Belleisle to come and sow tares in; no rotten thatch for a French Sun-god to go sailing about in the middle of, and set fire to! Henry, when the Hungarian Pan-Slavonic Savagery came upon him, had got ready in the interim; and a mangy dog was the "tribute" he gave them; followed by the due extent of broken crowns, since they would not be content with that.
That was the due of Belleisle too,--had there been a Henry to meet him with it, on his crossing the marches, in Trier Country, in Spring, 1741: "There, you anarchic Upholstery-Belus, fancying yourself God of the Sun; there is what Teutschland owes you.
Go home with that; and mind your own business, which I am told is plentiful, if you had eye for it!" But the sad truth is, for above Four Centuries now,--and especially for Three, since little Kaiser Karl IV.
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