Man-devouring
batteries, abatis; battalions palisaded to the teeth, 'the pales strong
as masts, and room only for a musket-barrel between;' nay, they are
'furnished with a lath or cross-strap all along, for resting your
gun-barrel on and taking aim:'--so careful is Daun. The ground itself
is intricate, in parts impracticably steep; everywhere full of bushes,
gnarls and impediments. Seldom was there such a problem altogether!
Friedrich's position, as we say, is Kunzendorf Heights, with Schweidnitz
and his old ground of Bunzelwitz to rear, Czernichef and others lying
there, and Wurben and the old Villages and Heights again occupied as
posts:--what a tale of Egyptian bricks has one to bake, your Majesty,
on certain fields of this world; and with such insufficiency of
raw-material sometimes!"

By the 16th of July, Friedrich's plans are complete. Contrived, I must
say, with a veracity and opulent potency of intellect, flashing clear
into the matter, and yet careful of the smallest practical detail.
FRIDAY, 17th, Mollendorf, with men and furnitures complete, circles off
northwestward by Wurben (for the benefit of certain on-lookers), but
will have circled round to Burkersdorf neighborhood two days hence; by
which time also Wied will be quietly in his place thereabouts, with a
view to business on the 20th and 21st. Mollendorf, Wied and everything,
are prosperously under way in this manner,--when, on the afternoon of
that same Friday, 17th, [Compare Tempelhof, vi. 99, and Rodenbeck, ii.
164.] Czernichef steps over, most privately, to head-quarters: with what
a bit of news! "A Revolution in Petersburg [JULY 9th, as we saw above, or
as Herr Busching saw]; Czar Peter,--your Majesty's adorer, is dethroned,
perhaps murdered; your Majesty's enemies, in the name of Czarina
Catharine, order me instantly homeward with my 20,000!" This is true
news, this of Czernichef. A most unexpected, overwhelming Revolution in
those Northern Parts;--not needing to be farther touched upon in this
place.

What here concerns us is, Friedrich's feelings on hearing of it; which
no reader can now imagine. Horror, amazement, pity, very poignant; grief
for one's hapless friend Peter, for one's still more hapless self! "The
Sisyphus stone, which we had got dragged to the top, the chains all
beautifully slack these three months past,--has it leapt away again?
And on the eve of Burkersdorf, and our grand Daun problem!" Truly, the
Destinies have been quite dr