He
sees life in a perspective where the apparently shorter lines are
the longest. He knows that from experience, and therefore lets
himself no longer be deceived. Standing on the height which he has
gained, he is glad to look back, but he can also now see in front of
him.
"'What is now impending? Who can say? This century, which has seen
all the sovereigns leading revolutionary movements, is the strangest
of all. We despots, who forced enlightenment and freedom on the
peoples--we were the demagogues and they rewarded us with
ingratitude. It was a perverse world! I have suffered for my
doctrines and actions, but the fate of Joseph II is tragic. They are
slowly but surely murdering him.
"'You do not love war: nor do I, but I was forced to it by
Providence and solicitude for my country. What have I effected
thereby? you ask. I have made a "re-distribution," as land-surveyors
call it, and out of scattered patches and scraps of territory I have
woven together a Prussia, so that we can now walk on our own ground,
without treading on our neighbour's. Do not fear Prussia; you need
it as a bulwark against Russia, which now, since the time of the
Czar Peter, has a voice and vote in the Council of Europe. You
disapprove of my sharing in the partition of Poland, but I was
obliged to do so; otherwise Russia would have taken all.
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