But we old
ones must reflect; and I wished to convince you that I had not failed to
do this. But all has been in vain."

"Now is the time," said Winterfeldt, with sparkling eyes, "to convince
the crippled, unwieldy Austrian eagle that the young eagle of Prussia
has spread her wings, and that her claws are strong enough to grasp all
her enemies and hurl them into an abyss."

"And if the young eagle, in spite of his daring, should have to succumb
to the superiority of numbers," said Marshal Schwerin, sadly. "If the
balls of his enemies should break his wings, thereby preventing his
flight for the future? Were it not better to avoid this possibility,
and not to allow the whole world to say that Prussia, out of love of
conquest, began a fearful war, which she could have avoided?"

"There is no reason in this war," said General Retzow; "for, though
Austria, Saxony, and Russia are not our friends, they have not shown
as yet by any open act that they are our enemies; and though Austria's
alliance with France surprised the world, so also did Prussia's alliance
with England. Our soldiers will hardly know why they are going to
battle, and they will be wanting in that inspiration which is necessary
to excite an army to heroic deeds."

"Inspiration shall not be wanting, and my army as well as yourselves
shall know the many causes we have for this war. The reasons I have
given you as yet have not satisfied you? Well, then, I will give
you others; and, by Heaven, you will be content with them! You think
Austria's unkindly feelings to Prussia have not been shown by any overt
act. I will now prove to you that she is on the point of acting." And
Frederick, lifting up some papers from his desk, continued: "These
papers will prove to you, what you seem determined not to believe,
namely, that Saxony, Russia, and, France are prepared to attack Prussia
with their combined forces, and to turn the kingdom of Prussia into a
margraviate once more. These papers are authentic proofs of the dangers
which hover over us. I will now inform you how I came by them, so
that you may be convinced of their genuineness. For some time I have
suspected that there was, amongst my enemies, an alliance against me,
and that they had formed a contract in which they had sworn to do all
in their power to destroy Prussia. I only needed to have my suspicions
confirmed, and to have the proofs of this contract in my hands. There
proofs were in the Saxon archives, an