erms."

"No doubt he would be glad to, count; but as his enemies propose to
divide his dominions among them, it is not very clear what terms he
could make. But though I grant that, on paper, the odds against him
is enormous, I think that you will see there will be some hard
fighting yet, before Prussia is partitioned."

"Perhaps so," the count replied; "but surely the end must be the
same. You know I have been a strong opponent of the course taken by
the court here. Saxony and Prussia, as Protestant countries, should
be natural allies; and I consider it is infamous that the court, or
rather Bruhl, who is all powerful, should have joined in a
coalition against Frederick, who had given us no cause of
complaint, whatever. My sympathies, then, are wholly with him; but
I can see no hope, whatever, of his successfully resisting this
tremendous combination."

"Various things might happen, count. The Empresses of Russia or
Austria or the Pompadour might die, or the allies might quarrel
between themselves. England may find some capable statesman, who
will once again get an army together and, joined perhaps by the
Netherlands, give France so much to do that she will not be able to
give much help to her allies."

"Yes, all these things might happen; but Frederick's first campaign
has been, to a great extent, a failure. It is true that he has
established Saxony as his base, but the Saxon troops will be of no
advantage to him. He would have acted much more wisely had he, on
their surrender, allowed them to disband and go to their homes..
Many then might have enlisted voluntarily. The country would not
have had a legitimate grievance, and the common religious tie would
soon have turned the scale in favour of Prussia; who, as all see,
has been driven to this invasion by our court's intrigues with
Austria. Had he done this he could have marched straight to Prague,
have overrun all Bohemia, established his headquarters there, and
menaced Vienna itself in the spring."

"Looking at it coolly, that might have been the best way, count;
but a man who finds that three or four of his neighbours have
entered into a plot to attack his house, and seize all his goods,
may be pardoned if he does not at first go the very wisest way to
work."

The count laughed.

"I hope that the next campaign will turn out differently; but I own
that I can scarce see a possibility of Prussia, alone, making head
against the dangers that surround her."

T