ever, on reconnoitring, thought
differently. A position such as one never saw before, thinks he;
contrived by Lacy; masterly use of the ground, of the rivers, of the
rocks, woods, swamps; Elbe and his branches, and the intricate shoulders
of the Giant Mountains: no man could have done it better than Lacy
here, who, they say, is the contriver and practical hand. [_OEuvres
de Frederic,_ vi. 147.] From Konigsgratz, northward, by Konigshof, by
Arnau, up to Hohenelbe, all heights are crowned, all passes bristling
with cannon. Rivers Aupa, Elbe beset with redoubts, with dams in
favorable places, and are become inundations, difficult to tap. There
are "ditches 8 feet deep by 16 broad." Behind or on the right bank of
Elbe, it is mere intrenchment for five-and-twenty miles. With bogs, with
thickets full of Croats; and such an amount of artillery,--I believe
they have in battery no fewer than 1,500 cannon. A position very
considerable indeed:--must have taken time to deliberate, delve and
invest; but it is done. Near fifty miles of it: here, clear to your
glass, has the head of Lacy visibly emerged on us, as if for survey of
phenomena:--head of Lacy sure enough (body of him lying invisible in
the heights, passes and points of vantage); and its NECK of fifty miles,
like the neck of a war-horse clothed with thunder. On which (thinks
Schmettau privately) you may, too late, make your reflections!

Schmettau asserts that the position, though strong, was nothing like
so infinitely strong; and that Friedrich in his younger days would very
soon have assaulted it, and turned Lacy inside out: but Friedrich, we
know, had his reasons against hurry. He reconnoitred diligently; rode
out reconnoitring "fifteen miles the first day" (July 6th), ditto the
second and following; and was nearly shot by Croats,--by one specific
Croat, says Prussian Mythology, supported by Engraving. An old
Engraving, which I have never seen; represents Friedrich reconnoitring
those five-and-twenty miles of Elbe, which have so many redoubts on
their side of it, and swarm with Croat parties on both sides: this is
all the truth that is in the Engraving. [Rodenbeck, p. 188.] Fact says:
Friedrich ("on the 8th," if that were all the variation) "was a mark for
the Austrian sharpshooters for half an hour." Myth says, and engraves
it, with the date of "July 7th:" Friedrich, skirting some thicket,
suddenly came upon a single Croat with musket levelled at him, wild
creature's fi