brought away in such a fashion, that we hardly know how we have come
here.' He asked further: 'Did you all march?' 'Yes, there is no longer
any one there except the sick, and those they have taken prisoners.'
'_Oh, mon Dieu!_' exclaimed he, 'we must return thither, even were we
to sit down before the gates; where are your majors?' 'At the
Schwallungen inn.' Then he called out, 'Allons, children! march away;'
and galloped in all haste to the inn, where he may have found them at a
good bottle of wine, but what kind of greeting he gave them, or
compliments, I have not heard."

Thus far we have the valiant Rauch. In the farther part of his diary he
relates how the Gotha troops regained courage, returned to Wasungen and
there drove out the Meiningens, who were equally eager to run away, as
they had done, and again established themselves there.

Immediately after the first capture of Wasungen, the government at
Meiningen, in great consternation, had sent Frau von Gleichen with her
husband there in a carriage, attended by Gotha troops. But it was no
great pleasure to them to see that the cause of the quarrel was done
away with; so the poor court dignitaries met with a cold reception; the
health of both was broken by sorrow, vexation, and long imprisonment.
In 1748, Herr von Gleichen died, and his wife soon after. Meanwhile,
flying-sheets and memorials, mandates of the Imperial chamber, and
ministerial missives concerning this affair, flew all over Germany; the
Gotha troops kept possession of Wasungen. Anthony Ulrich obstinately
refused to acknowledge the claims of Gotha to indemnification, and the
voices of numerous princes were loud in condemning the sentence of the
Imperial chamber, and the execution of it by Gotha, as a violation of
the sovereign rights of a German ruler. Frederick the Great did so
likewise.

Just then, when the Duke of Saxe-Gotha was in a desperate position, a
new prospect and a new subject of quarrel presented themselves to him.
The Duke of Weimar had died, and had settled that his cousin of Gotha
was to be guardian to his only son during his minority. The Duke of
Gotha speedily entered upon the guardianship, and caused homage to be
sworn to him: upon this, a violent altercation again sprang up between
him, and the Duke of Coburg and Anthony Ulrich, who both contested the
right of the Gotha prince to the guardianship. Then Frederick II. of
Prussia offered his services to the Duke of Gotha, who was reduc