History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 04 — A Reader’s Guide

Carlyle’s War on Dryasdust

Carlyle’s contempt for earlier historians is a recurring structural feature. He calls their works 'sad' and 'of unparalleled confusion,' denying even an index to the reader. His own method is to sift the 'half-peck of cinders' from 'these wagon-loads of ashes,' a metaphor that frames the volume as a rescue operation. This combative tone is not mere preface; it shapes how he presents evidence. For instance, when describing the Czarina’s appearance, he relies on Wilhelmina’s memoir, but adds his own gloss: 'It is no secret, she had been a kitchen-wench.' The effect is a layered narrative—Carlyle the editor and commentator constantly visible.

Young Wilhelmina’s Testimony

Wilhelmina’s account of the Czar’s visit provides the volume’s most vivid passage. She describes Peter the Great catching her in his arms and kissing her 'like to flay the skin off my face,' to which she responds by boxing his ears. The Czar laughs and later tells the Czarina he would give a province for a child like her. Carlyle presents this as a rare moment of human truth amid the 'dust-whirlwinds' of court records. The Czarina is depicted as a 'little stumpy body, very brown,' dressed in greasy, second-hand clothes that jingle like a mule’s bells. These details—the ear-boxing, the jingling gown—are the kind of concrete observation Carlyle prizes over abstract summaries.

The Double Educational Element

The volume’s first chapter announces a 'Double Educational Element'—French and German—that will shape Friedrich’s apprenticeship. Carlyle contrasts the French influence (polite, literary) with the German (martial, practical), embodied by figures like the 'Dessauer' (Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau). The excerpts show Carlyle’s method of juxtaposing these forces: the French tutors and the drill-sergeant Noltenius-and-Panzendorf exercise. Yet the excerpts are incomplete; we see only the setup, not the outcome. Carlyle hints at tension—the Crown Prince falls into disfavor with his father—but does not resolve it here. The reader must infer that this clash of educations will drive the narrative forward.

Carlyle’s volume is as much about the difficulty of writing history as about Friedrich’s youth. Readers should watch for his editorial interjections—the asides, the metaphors, the scorn for other scholars—as they reveal his criteria for reliable evidence. The excerpts offer a taste of his style: vivid, opinionated, and grounded in specific, often grotesque, detail. Approach the book as a performance as well as a chronicle.

That rainy afternoon, I lost myself in Carlyle’s grumbling portrait of young Friedrich, his schooling a chaos of French polish and Prussian rigidity. The little prince’s isolation stayed with me. Later, idly, I found myself wondering about royal children whose upbringing is nothing but performance—which is how I ended up with The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X — Inside the Classic, a quieter sort of court tragedy.