It is that you and I, my dear cousin,
should be in the midst of such an army as this in perfect safety.
Here are sixty thousand men who are all _irreconcilable enemies to
both you and myself_', not one among them that is not a man of more
strength and better armed than either, yet they all tremble at our
presence, while it would be folly on our part to tremble at theirs--
such is the wonderful effect of order, vigilance, and subordination.'
But a reasonable man might ask, what were the circumstances which
enabled Frederick to keep in a state of order and subordination an
army composed of soldiers who were 'irreconcilable enemies' of their
Prince and of their officers? He could have told the Prince d'Anhalt,
had he chose to do so; for Frederick was a man who thought deeply.
The chief circumstance favourable to his ambition was the imbecility
of the old French Government, then in its dotage, and unable to see
that an army of involuntary soldiers was no longer compatible with
the state of the nation. This Government had reduced its soldiers to
a condition worse than that of the common labourers upon the roads,
while it deprived them of all hope of rising, and all feeling of
pride in the profession.
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