Honor in the Seven Years War

There was within his cantonments a very splendidly furnished palace, called the Hubertsburg Schloss, belonging to the King of Poland.  On the 21st of January, 1761, Frederick summoned to his audience-room General Saldern.  This officer cherished a very high sense of honor.  The bravest of the brave on the field of battle, he recoiled from the idea of performing the exploits of a burglar.  The following conversation took place between the king and his scrupulous general.  In very slow, deliberate tones, the king said:

"General Saldern, to-morrow morning I wish you to go with a detachment of infantry and cavalry to Hubertsburg.  Take possession of the palace, and pack up all the furniture.  The money they bring I mean to bestow on our field hospitals.  I will not forget you in disposing of it."

"Forgive me, your majesty," General Saldern replied, "but this is contrary to my honor and my oath."

The king, in still very calm and measured words, rejoined, "You would be right if I did not intend this desperate method for a good object.  Listen to me.  Great lords don't feel it in their scalp when their subjects are torn by the hair.  One has to grip their own locks as the only way to give them pain."

"Order me, your majesty," said General Saldern, "to attack the enemy and his batteries, and I will cheerfully, on the instant, obey; but I can not, I dare not, act against honor, oath, and duty.  For this commission your majesty will easily find another person in my stead."

The king turned upon his heel, and, with angry voice and gesture, said, "Saldern, you refuse to become rich."

In a pet Frederick left the room.  The heroic general, who had flatly refused to obey a positive command, found it necessary to resign his commission.  The next day another officer plundered the castle.  Seventy-five thousand dollars of the proceeds of the sale were appropriated to the field hospitals.  The remainder, which proved to be a large sum, was the reward of the plundering general.

Quote from History of Frederick the Second by John Stevens Abbott.

Byzantium

"The Byzantine Empire actually became a manifest monument to the beneficence of Christian culture.  Throughout the Middle East, across North Africa, and deep into the heart of Europe, imperial stability and steadfastness had spawned a remarkable flowering of culture.  The legal system was just and efficient; government was limited and decentralized; trade was free and prosperous; families were stable and secure; perversity and corruption were suppressed while personal rights and civil liberties were enhanced.  Advancement in the sciences was unprecedented; art, music, and ideas flourished as in no other time in human history up to that point, and the literary output was bedazzling.  That was Byzantium."--quote from The Rise of Byzantium and the Fall of Rome (CD #4 in Vision Forum's History of the World A.D.) by Dr. George Grant

The Road that Takes Me Home

I recently listened to a new collection of music.  Called "The Road that Takes Me Home", its songs are a unique combination of ballad/hymn.  The five songs by Dorothy Schwartz chart their way through the journey of every Christian.
"Lamentation" tells of man's depravity and God's justice which must be satisfied.
"Sinner, Repent and Believe" picks up where "Lamentation" left off, showing the way from eternal death to eternal life by knowing "thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."--John 17:3
"The Road that Takes Me Home"  tells of the Christian's journey in this life to his new home--heaven.
"Worthy the Lamb" praises Christ, who died to redeem his people from their sins.
"The Day will Come" is the final song, describing the Christian's longing for heaven.

Samples of all five songs are available for free at www.TheRoadThatTakesMeHome.com, along with full lyrics.  I highly recommend this collection of music!

Major Gillies MacBean

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Culloden.  Culloden was a decisive defeat for Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobites.  But even in defeat, there were heroes.


Painting from http://www.military-art.com/mall/more.php?ProdID=933



"Icy rain adds its misery to the bitter conflict on Drumossie Moor. In the shadow of the Black Isle, two English ships on the waters of the Moray Firth, await the outcome of the decisive battle. Pounded by Cumberland's gunners and raked by steady musketry, the Princes brave men can make no headway. Although the Irish and French regulars refuse to give ground, the Jacobite lines gradually disintegrate. Tired, cold and hungry men flea past Culloden House for the relative safety of Inverness. On the Scottish right the Argyll Militia, supported by Hawley's Dragoons, tear down the walls of the Culwiniac and Culchunaig enclosures in an outflanking attack. Avochie's men offer some resistance but Major Gillies McBean stands alone on the breach. He cuts down more than a dozen Argylls, including Lord Robert Kerr, who lies mortally wounded, but his foes are too many. The hero eventually falls to a vicious cut to the forehead, his thigh bone is also broken. Despite the cries of a mounted officer to save that brave man, the major is ruthlessly bayonetted, his back against the wall. The victory is complete and nothing more can be done. In the distance, the Young Pretender is forced to abandon the field and Scotlands hope of claiming the British Throne." from http://www.military-art.com/mall/more.php?ProdID=933

M. Dubois, Intendant of French India

During the Seven Years War, French power in India was broken--not so much by the British as by official thieves in the government, who stole money and supplies which Louis XV sent to them.  M. Dubois was Intendant (government head of business) for French India, and he compiled many documents detailing the corruption.  When Pondicherry fell to the English, he was insulted and killed in the street.  His documents were then stolen.

J. C. O'Callaghan (from whom this anecdote is taken) then says, "On this occasion, as elsewhere, it is but too plain, in the expressive language of Scripture, that 'men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.' (John iii. 19-20)"

How many historians now would dare to use a Bible verse to apply to history like Mr. O'Callaghan does?  I think very few.  But hopefully, this will change in the future!

Lauffeldt

As the War of the Austrian Succession drew to a close, the French Marshal Saxe maneuvered his army to besiege the city of Maastrect.  Caught off guard, the Pragmatic Army (so named because it supported the Pragmatic Sanction) under the Duke of Cumberland hurried into position.  Saxe attacked them on July 2, 1747 near the village of Lauffeldt.  The victory was in doubt for several hours as Saxe's left wing stormed into Lauffeldt, only for his right to be hit by Sir John Ligonier's cavalry.  Saxe consolidated his men, and Cumberland ordered his cavalry to cover the retreat.  Again Ligonier's men charged.  But this time, they were sacrificed to guard the rest of the army.  Ligonier himself was captured by the Royal-Carabiniers.

After the battle subsided, Marshal Saxe introduced Sir John to Louis XV (who had watched the battle) with the words "Sire, I present to your Majesty a man who has defeated all my plans by a single glorious action."  Even in war, Marshal Saxe showed respect for a brave enemy.

Democracy Unveiled, Or, Tyranny Stripped of the Garb of Patriotism

'Twas thence concluded, by Rousseau,
That all refinement did but go
To alter nature's simple plan,
And scoundrelize the creature man.--

From whence he madly theoriz'd
That man were best unciviliz'd
Like those philosophers, who prate
Of Innocence in savage state.

E'en took in in his crazy noddle,
A savage was perfection's model;
And nature without cultivation,
The ne plus ultra of creation.

Anticipated, happy dealing,
When mankind, rul'd by social feelings,
Would be perfected, sans a flaw,
Without the Tyranny of Law.

From such sagacious theorizing,
Was formed a plan of his devising,
By which, society destroy'd
Perfection might be unalloy'd....

With other things, which mark the fiend,
That means are sanction'd by the end;
And if some good end we would further,
No matter if the means are murther!

That in this philosophic era,
A God is found a mere chimera,
By priests created, but for wildering
Fools, ignoramuses and children.

The would of mind may be explor'd
By lights, which matter can afford,
And Power Omnipotent must bend,
To what a worm can comprehend;

That by some accidental clatter,
Of pristine, crude, chaotic matter,
(But how, an Atheist only knows)
This beauteous universe arose.

That there is nothing like reality
In future life and immortality;
When death our thread of life shall sever,
We go to rest, and sleep forever.

No, this poem is not written about the 21st Century.  It comes from a book called "Democracy Unveiled", written in 1805 against the American Democrats and the French Revolutionaries.  But the similarities to what we experience today are uncanny.