g but
burnt villages and black walls for Schwerin, in that Cony-Hill quarter,
and all round; and Roth salutes him with one twenty-four pounder,
which did no hurt. And so the cannonade begins, Sunday, 15th; and
intermittently, on both sides of the River, continues, always bursting
out again at intervals, till Wednesday; a mere preliminary cannonade
on Schwerin's part; making noise, doing little hurt: intended more to
terrify, but without effect that way on Roth or the Townsfolk. The poor
Bishop did, on the second day of it, come out, and make application to
Schwerin; was kindly conducted to his Majesty, who happened to be over
there; was kept to dinner; and easily had leave to retire to Freywalde,
a Country-House he has, in the safe distance. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i.
683.] There let him be quiet, well out of these confused batterings and
burnings of property.

"His Majesty's Head-quarter is at Ottmachau, but in two hours he can be
here any day; and looks into everything; sorry that the cannonade does
not yet answer. And remnants of suburbs are still crackling into
flame; high Country-Houses of Kreuzherren, of Jesuits; a fanatic people
seemingly all set against us. 'If Neisse will not yield of good-will,
needs is it must be beaten to powder,' wrote his Majesty to Jordan in
these circumstances, as we read above. Roth is sorry to observe, the
Prussians have still one good Bishop's-mansion, in a place called the
Karlau (Karl-Meadow), with the Bishop's winter fuel all ready stacked
there; but strives to take order about the same.

"WEDNESDAY, 18th. This day two provocations happened. First, in the
morning by his Majesty's order, Colonel Borck (the same we saw at
Herstal) had gone with a Trumpeter towards Roth; intending to inform
Roth how mild the terms would be, how terrible the penalty of not
accepting them. But Roth or Roth's people singularly disregard Borck
and his Parley Trumpet; answer its blasts by musketry; fire upon it, nay
again fire worse when it advances a step farther; on these terms Borck
and Trumpet had to return. Which much angered his Majesty at Ottmachau
that evening; as was natural. Same evening, our fine quarters in the
Karlau crackled up in flame, the Bishop's winter firewood all along with
it: this was provocation second. Roth had taken order with the Karlau;
and got a resolute Butcher to do the feat, under pretext of bringing us
beef. It is piercing cold; only blackened walls for us now in the Karlau