War-Fleets, lonesomely hovering and
patrolling; or of the Americas and Indies beyond!

"This is such a Chain of mutually vigilant Winter-quarters," says
Archenholtz, "as was never drawn in Germany, or in Europe, before."
Chain of about 300,000 fighting men, poured out in that lengthy manner.
Taking their winter siesta there, asleep with one eye open, till
reinforced for new business of death and destruction against Spring.
Pathetic surely, as well as picturesque. "Three Campaigns there have
already been," sighs the peaceable observer: "Three Campaigns, surely
furious enough; Eleven Battles in them," [Stenzel, v. 185. This,
I suppose, would be his enumeration: LOBOSITZ (1756); PRAG, KOLIN,
Hastenbeck, Gross-Jagersdorf, ROSSBACH, Breslau, LEUTHEN, (1757);
Crefeld, ZORNDORF, HOCHKIRCH (1758): "eleven hitherto in all."] a Prag,
a Kolin, Leuthen, Rossbach;--must there still be others, then, to
the misery of poor mankind?" thus sigh many peaceful persons. Not
considering what are, and have been, the rages, the iniquities, the loud
and silent deliriums, the mad blindnesses and sins of mankind; and what
amount, of CALCINING these may reasonably take. Not calcinable in three
Campaigns at all, it would appear! Four more Campaigns are needed: then
there will be innocuous ashes in quantity; and a result unexpected, and
worth marking in World-History.

It is notably one of Friedrich's fond hopes,--of which he keeps up
several, as bright cloud-hangings in the haggard inner world he now
has,--that Peace is just at hand; one right struggle more, and Peace
must come! And on the part of Britannic George and him, repeated
attempts were made,--one in the end of this Year 1759;--but one and all
of them proved futile, and, unless for accidental reasons, need not be
mentioned here. Many men, in all nations, long for Peace; but there are
Three Women at the top of the world who do not; their wrath, various in
quality, is great in quantity, and disasters do the reverse of appeasing
it.

The French people, as is natural, are weary of a War which yields them
mere losses and disgraces; "War carried on for Austrian whims, which
likewise seem to be impracticable!" think they. And their Bernis
himself, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who began this sad French-Austrian
Adventure, has already been remonstrating with Kaunitz, and grumbling
anxiously, "Could not the Swedes, or somebody, be got to mediate? Such
a War is too ruinous!" Hearing which, the Po