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Famous Women:
Madame De Maintenon
Mary The Mother Of Washington
Maria Theresa
Catherine Ii
Marie Antoinette
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Maria Theresa
( Originally Published Early 1900's )
The indulgent or studious reader who has followed this volume from its beginning, as we have come down the ages and passed across the nations, is now advised that we have reached the career of a woman who, in many great regards, can be compared only with Isabella; and each person who contemplates the life-work of the two monarchs should be left to decide which one of the twain is entitled to the primacy among all the illustrious characters depicted in this book.
To bring the main facts of the biography of Maria Theresa intelligently before the student and juror in this comparison, we must convey an approximate idea of the regions over which her ancestors held sway. In maps a little anterior to her time, a confederation of perhaps 300 states east of France, stretching from the North Sea to the Adriatic from Brussels to Venice will be found marked with the sounding style and title of "Holy Roman Empire." In this confederation the Archduchy of Austria had long held a preponderating influence, and reckoned the Kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia as its appanages. The Holy Roman Empire, by the votes of certain of its reigning Princes, conferred the title of Emperor of Germany on one of their number, and an almost unbroken custom had exalted the Austrian Archduke to be Emperor. Maria Theresa's father was Charles VI (Karl), Emperor of this Germany, or Holy Roman Empire.
Inasmuch as Maria Theresa had before her Isabella's grand example of patriotism, it might be well also to trace the line of royal blood down from the Castilian Queen, which runs thus : Isabella, then Joan, daughter of Isabella; then Emperor Ferdinand I, son of Joan; then Emperor Maximilian II, son of Ferdinand I; next his son, Archduke Charles; next his son, Emperor Ferdinand II; next his son, Emperor Ferdinand III; next his son, Emperor Leopold I; next his son, Emperor Charles VI; next his daughter, Maria Theresa, an eldest child. Women were not eligible to command over the Holy Roman Empire. Maria Theresa was the ninth generation away from her great ancestor, Isabella.
But we are by no means as yet sufficiently prepared to deal with the geography of Maria Theresa, and it cannot be amiss to outline the Austro-Hungarian Empire of to-day for the purpose of getting a better hold of our own subject. This Austro-Hungarian Empire is composed of a huge bund of realms called (in English) Austria-Hungary. His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, the sovereign, is Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia. He has no title of Emperor of Austria-Hungary. It is a dual empire, each part in turn being a confederation of many tribes and states. Each little state has its Parliament, which was called in Maria Theresa's time the Estates. Each of the two great halves has its great Parliament. Each great half, again, sends a Delegation to Vienna, and the Delegations compose the real ultimate Imperial Parliament. To show the vast nature of the realms, let us name the principal factors : The Austrian Empire Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, four Coast Districts, the Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Kingdom of Bohemia (Prague is the capital), Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Bukowina, Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. The Hungarian Kingdom (empire) Kingdom of Hungary (Buda-Pesth is the capital, a wonderful city), Transylvania, Fiume, Croatia, and Slavonia.
Now let the reader imagine that his Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty of to-day, were elected Emperor of Germany, or to the titular command of the ancient Holy Roman Empire of Maria's time, in which Austria-Hungary would be one item, and the proper idea of our true situation and geography will not be seriously disturbed. The imperial honor, however, had grown to be nearly a phantom. Nine Electors conferred. the title the sovereigns of Austria, Bohemia, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, being the leading ones. Let it be understood, there was then no "Emperor" in all Western Europe, save the Arch-duke, King, or Elector who might be chosen for life as sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire. Feudalism survived in Middle Europe. This title of Austrian ruler, too, ought not to go to a woman time and again, women had been put to one side, following the Salic law. For instance, Maria Theresa's own father, Emperor Charles VI, had succeeded his brother, Emperor Joseph I, while Joseph I had a daughter who, it would seem, had a right to rule, if women were not to be forever debarred from the Austrian throne.
Once again to the geography of Maria Theresa. Her father, Emperor Charles VI, had made a bad reign of it, and had lost territory on nearly every side, but, even if he had not been elected Emperor, he would have been sovereign in his own right at the start over the following states: The Kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia; the Archduchies of Upper and Lower Austria, Milan, Parma, Placentia, the Low Countries, Carinthia, Carniola, Burgau. Bresgau, Suabia, Silesia, Styria, Friuli, and the Tyrol.
These countries, stretching from sea to sea, were usually denominated "the Austrian possessions." There is one other territorial feature of great interest to be noted Lorraine. We have seen the importance of the Lorraines in the time of Catherine de' Medici. The father of Maria Theresa had reasons for desiring to marry her to Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, but this would dismember France, taking away the Duchy of Lorraine. Maria Theresa would marry nobody else, and the young man gave up Lorraine, and was made heir to the Grand Dukedom of Tuscany instead. But, of course, Maria Theresa's marriage to any landed prince whatever outside the Austrian possessions would have been a matter of serious import in disturbing the "balance" in Europe.
These necessary preliminaries stated, we are measurably prepared to enter on the life of the disputed heir of "the Austrian possessions," a woman who was to do fifteen years of battle with Frederick the Great, the foremost captain of his age, and one of the leading generals of all ages.
Walpurgia Amelia Christina Maria Theresa was born at Vienna, May 13, 1717. Her father, the sixth Charles of the Holy Roman Empire, was a man who was an amiable father and an incapable King. He was a stickler for etiquette, and a renowned boar-hunter. He led an imperial orchestra, and his two daughters danced in the ballet. He was a silent man, who seldom smiled, and, following the record of Philip II of Spain, laughed but once in his life. His wife was Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick, a woman with sweet and gracious manners. The imperial couple lived in perfect amity, and the court was famous for its good morals.
Maria Theresa and Maria Anne, the two Archduchesses, were the only children. They were brought up in seclusion by their mother. Both daughters were beautiful, but Maria Theresa, the elder, was the superior in intellect. They were tenderly attached to each other. Maria Theresa learned music well. She studied Italian, because it was necessary. She got in the habit of spending many hours a day at her devotions, and kept this up all her life. She carefully studied the geography of her country, which was second in size only to Russia, and, with a tinge of the Castilian pride that had come down to her from Isabella, she soon came to believe that no one on earth was quite her born equal. This highly undesirable quality she cultivated, and, while at one time it stood her in good stead in place of armies, she transmitted it to a daughter, Marie Antoinette, whose downfall on account of it was commensurably awful.
At the age of fourteen, Maria Theresa was admitted to it silent at the meetings of the Emperor's Council, but her father never spoke to her on affairs of state, nor did she receive instruction in the forms of business as then carried on. She considered the privilege of attendance a boon, and always stayed to the end, however prolonged the session. She soon was regarded in the court as a person of influence, and, because she brought so many petitions, she elicited from her father the protest : "You seem to think a sovereign has nothing to do but grant favors !" "I see nothing else that can make a crown supportable !" retorted his daughter.
But while the Emperor was not talking overmuch to Maria Theresa, he was no less busy in the midst of his misfortunes (losing Parma and Placentia to Spain and eastern territory to the Mohammedans), to secure the succession of his own crowns to his female issue. When Maria Theresa was only seven years old, he made his will, one of the celebrated Pragmatic Sanctions of history. The word "pragmatic" means "pertaining to secular business," "the King's own business," etc. Carlyle defines it : "Unalterable ordinance in the Kaiser's imperial house." The Emperor published a document, "that failing heirs-male, the Emperor's daughters, or females ranking from their kinship to him, and not to any previous Emperor, should be as good as heirs-male of Charles would have been." This was to cut out the female heirs of his deceased elder brother, whose rights would seem to have been better. This document was ratified by the Diet or Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and was accepted as satisfactory by many other nations. Yet the probabilities in favor of peace on the basis of the Pragmatic Sanction were few, and Prince Eugene of Savoy told Charles VI that on such a point "a hundred thousand soldiers would be worth a hundred thousand treaties." Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, thought he was next male heir to the crown of Bohemia. The wife of August the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was the eldest daughter of the former Emperor, a deceased brother of Charles; her claim was like Maria Theresa's, and covered the entire Austrian possessions. Maximilian II's daughter had been left out the same way, and the King of Spain was her heir. The King of Sardinia claimed Milan. Louis XV was the only male heir of the eldest male branch of the House of Austria. To all these, Charles VI had only the answer, where was their Pragmatic Sanction, their civil service law? When boys say "Trade forever !" that is a Pragmatic Sanction. Nobody else had made a Pragmatic Sanction. Charles thought his case was clear. The King of England told him to hold to it. Still the Emperor, while he was boar-hunting, worried. He could not sleep. His physician died, and the surviving healers could not tell what ailed the afflicted monarch, unless it were Pragmatic Sancfion.
Meantime he narrowly escaped new wars when the Duke of Lorraine was proposed for the hand of Maria Theresa; but, in 1735, young Lorraine was ousted from the Rhine and recognized as future Grand Duke of Tuscany (Florence, the capital). The next year the lovers were married, and the strong-willed girl of nineteen had her way, cost what it might. The next year Gian Gastone, last of the Medicis, died, and the pair had a realm over which to rule, with Francis the husband, an Elector in the Holy Roman Empire, which had by this time become little more than a moral Kingdom. They took up their ducal residence in Florence, and Maria Theresa's eldest child, a daughter, was born. In time, the wife bore no less than sixteen children, ten of whom survived her. Frederick's terrible father was on the throne of Prussia, and was very kind to Francis when that Grand Duke visited Berlin. The Grand Duke was an amiable young gentleman whom Frederick (Crown Prince, then) liked very well. The grandmother of Francis was the eldest sister of the Emperor, so he was his wife's cousin. They had played together from childhood. He could scarcely read or write, but he was handsome, brave, and accomplished in all the courtly exercises of the day. He was exactly the man Maria Theresa wanted, and she seems to have been more thoroughly attached to him than Isabella was to Ferdinand; on his part, too, he made her a much better husband, and endured fully as many expressions of his wife's determination to have her own way rather than his. The pair were naturally mated.
The year 1740 was deadly to monarchs. There died Pope Clement XII; Frederick's kingly father; the Empress Anne of Russia; the Queen Dowager of Spain, and on the 13th of October, the Emperor himself fell ill at the Favorita Palace in Vienna. He was sure he would die.
The doctors annoyed him with their professional encouragements. "Look me in the eyes, pack of fools ! You will have to dissect me. Then you can tell me. If Gasseli were here, I should know now." The Grand Duke Francis assiduously attended the sick man, and talked long on the future. Maria Theresa would have a son soon (Emperor Joseph II). She was ill in bed, and her father would not allow her to enter the death-room. A few days later, October 20, the Emperor died, thus closing the 500 years' record of the males of the House of Hapsburg.
At dawn Maria Theresa was proclaimed by her heralds all over Vienna, by virtue of Pragmatic Sanction, Arch-duchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, etc., etc. At 7 the generals and judges took the oath, the Queen bathed in tears. There soon arrived a protest from the Elector of Bavaria, declaring that he would contest the titles now assumed by Maria Theresa. France was behind him. There was in the treasury only the sum of $50,000. Almost instantly, young Frederick of Prussia marched his splendid army into Maria Theresa's province of Silesia, and Europe was set on fire.
In a word, Maria Theresa tried for fifteen years to get that fine duchy back. Frederick became Frederick the Great because he kept Silesia at last, against all Europe armed, and he only with Spartan Prussia at his back.
Maria Theresa hastened into Hungary and took the oath according to the Hungarian desire, which many a haughty Archduke had refused to do. She swore she would respect the rights and privileges of the Hungarians, and, if not, they should not be adjudged rebels if they rose. She received the homage of the Italians. She had help from England not by money privately subscribed, as erroneously written in many histories, but voted by Parliament at London. She set out to get King George of England and Empress Anne of Russia to partition Prussia. She said she would fight the devil with fire. But Frederick and the French were also very clever. The cry of "Distaff" was raised, as we heard it in Spain. Although eleven great Powers had signed the Pragmatic Sanction, all fell away save England, and on Frederick's first victory, the battle of Mollwitz, the way was made easy for the Elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, to be declared Emperor of "the Holy Romish Reich Teutsch by Nation" as Charles VII, and thus he goes into the record. It was a grievous-blow to the pride of Austria, and the most pompous title that Maria Theresa could now obtain was Queen of Hungary. The French came on with an army. The Queen had been sadly defeated at Mollwitz. Now the allies marched rapidly toward Vienna. The ministry, accustomed to the idle policies of the deceased Emperor, expected to surrender and throw themselves on the mercy of Europe. But Maria Theresa, with her little son Joseph (Emperor) retreated to Presburg, capital of Hungary, and there a very great scene was enacted, which the iconoclasts, though they have long charged upon its truth, have not deprived of its essential details. A young and beautiful mother, with a male heir in her arms, appeared on the throne before the brave knights of Hungary in their Parliament. She spoke in Latin, the common language. She was afire with her wrongs. A robber on the north a miscreant whom her own father had saved when his own father was about to kill him this robber had most ungratefully stolen her finest duchy and now offered her peace if she would indorse his theft. The other nations on the west, whose people Hungary had long protected from the brave Mohammedans, basely purposed to dismember the possessions of the House of Austria, because, till this little boy could come of age, there would be no male heir, and a young woman could easily be robbed by aged and experienced thieves. She would soon give birth to another royal prince, and, as her enemies gained and multiplied on every side, she would not have a city left in which to bear her child. She stood before them seeking their protection like a hunted doe, panting from the chase. She was young; her figure was tall and formed with perfect elegance; her march was graceful and majestic; her features were regular; her gray eyes flashed with the fires of royal indignation or filled with tears, as waves of pride or humiliation would sweep over her; her mouth and smile were beautiful; her complexion was transparent; she had a profusion of fine hair; her voice was musical, pleading and moving. She was as beautiful as Cleopatra; she was as noble as Isabella; she was as eloquent as Joan of Arc. Her robes of mourning spoke forth her filial piety. Scarce could those nobles wait to hear her pleas. Her beauty and her distress her great wrongs and her courageous posture set them, as well, on fire. They clashed their swords with furious clamor they shouted, with one accord, in Latin : "We will die for our King, Maria Theresa ! Our swords and our blood for your Majesty!" She burst into passionate tears. The nobles rushed out of the great hall to vote supplies of men and money, and at last took to their hearts an Austrian ruler. The great iron crown of St. Stephen, that founder of 400 abbeys whose order once ruled Europe, was placed upon her small head; the saint's tattered robe was thrown over her; a scimitar was girded at her side. Seated on a superb charger she rode up the royal hill, called the Mount of Defiance, and, following the rites of antiquity, cut the air in the four quarters and gladly swore to defend the crown. This heavy diadem had been lined with cushions to accommodate so small a head, and, when she sat down to the feast, it seemed desirable to lay aside the burden. As it was removed from her brow, her hair escaping from its meshes, fell in abundance about her neck and shoulders, completing a picture of womanly loveliness so rare and felicitous that chivalrous Hungary set up a shout of admiration and applause. With this story of her popularity spreading to the utmost con-fines of the polyglot nation, the Hussars, tribes of Croats, Pandours, Sclavonians, Tolpatches, Warasdins both Huns and Aryans terrible men who needed no tents and despised personal comfort poured northward to punish the invaders. The Hungarians made Francis co-Regent, and the young man surprised Europe by showing that an affectionate husband could exhibit heroic instincts in time of imminent danger. Vienna was spared. The Queen soon had 100,000 men on the march. But though Vienna were rescued, Prague fell, and the usurping Bavarian Emperor was also crowned King of Bohemia. Here his for-tune ended. The Queen's forces retook Upper Austria, entered Bavaria, captured his capital, Munich, and the Emperor was without an empire. Frederick, after a quick campaign, made a treacherous peace with Maria Theresa, she giving up Silesia, and the Elector of Saxony withdrew his claims on Bohemia. The betrayed French were shut up in Prague. France sent a rescuing army, which was turned back. The French army escaped from Prague and made a safe march into Alsace. But Maria Theresa had war, also, in the south, and held Spain and France in check, the King of England keeping every engagement with astonishing fidelity to the Pragmatic Sanction. She pressed the "Emperor" so hard, and threatened so earnestly to indemnify herself for Silesia with Bavaria, that Frederick, in 1744, feeling he would lose Silesia if he did not see the Woman defeated, "sent an army to aid the Kaiser," pretending that he was only doing what all nine of the Electors must do. This was a sore disappointment to the victorious Queen. She had reckoned on an addition (from France) of Alsace to the Empire, with Francis, her husband, to be elected Emperor; Lorraine for the twain. She cried that the northern robber, who had made her give up Silesia, was the evil genius of her house. She prayed her five hours a day. She went again to the loyal castle at Presburg, in Hungary. There the proud captains again cried in Latin : "Live, Maria ! To arms ! To arms !" There was more tumult of war than ever before, and Maria Theresa retrieved Prague and Bohemia without a battle, and to her infinite delight marched on to Silesia, her stolen province. On the 20th of January, the unfortunate Emperor Charles VII, who had so fatuously seized a lofty title, died of grief at Munich, his own city, which he would not be able to hold against Maria Theresa.
England, at this, wanted peace. So did Frederick. The English Ambassador told the Queen the money was out at London six million dollars they had sent to her. "Give me only till October!" she pleaded. "Bon Dieu ! Give me only till October !" "A battle, madam, will not get back Silesia." "Had Ito agree with him (Frederick) tomorrow, I would fight him a battle this evening," she expostulated.
Carlyle says of this: "Much of this Austrian obstinacy, think impartial persons, was of female nature." Yet Frederick was merely Frederick to the original owner of Silesia. Why should she wish peace in victory, when she was still a victim of robbery? Frederick is Frederick the Great to us, only because he hung to his pelf against the odds she finally arrayed on her side.
September 13, 1745, the Grand Duke Francis Stephen of Tuscany co-Regent of Bohemia, Maria Theresa's husband, was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Francis I, by seven Electors, Prussia and Pfalz only protesting. His proud wife came on to Frankfurt, determined that, at last, the man who had given up Lorraine for her should have a magnificent coronation. Her Prussian enemies declare that at this time the High Lady was too high. Not only was she overbearing toward the princes who had done her will, but she trod heavily, and mentioned her own personal power too often, like Napoleon after Tilsit. She clapped a protesting herald into jail. She at once assumed the title of Empress-Queen. She spoke of Frederick as a good captain she was willing to say it but a bad character, a heretic or worse, a neighbor dreadful to have, indeed, "ein b�ser Mann," and that term can mean merely wicked or absolutely infernal. But her Pandours, meanwhile, were driving Frederick to thoughts of suicide. Europe broke out into universal war, with France and England particularly desirous for battle. There was fighting from Genoa to Flanders. Just when the sky was brightest for Maria Theresa, her generals lost enough battles to alarm the continent, and Frederick went home in peace with Silesia as his trophy. The rest of the nations kept at war for two years more, when the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ended what is called the War of the Austrian Succession, and the Pragmatic Sanction, clipped of Silesia and the Italian duchies, was signed by all the nations. The Queen's father had lost the provinces in Italy, so the only King who profited by the war was the one who had acted dishonestly Frederick. More than 500,000 men had been killed.
One of Macaulay's famous tirades applies at this moment : "The evils produced by Frederick's wickedness were felt in lands where the name of Prussia was unknown; and in order that he might rob a neighbor whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel, and red men scalped each other by the Great Lakes of North America."
Maria Theresa was now Empress-Queen in Genoa, Venice, Florence, Milan, Vienna, Buda-Pesth, Prague, Brussels, and many other proud cities, a continuous line across Europe from north to south. She had an army of 108,000 men. She had annual revenues $6,000,000 larger than her father. She was already the mother of eight children. Her husband was beloved in court and family; there he was foremost. He was contented to see his wife, consort, and sovereign shine through Europe. She had long been the toast of English people. "Queen of Hungary" was a magic name to give to vendable goods, and her portrait on signboards drew custom the world over, except in Prussia, which had made its foray on her. She was busy nearly every moment in her cabinet, or at prayer, and thus could spare scarcely any attention to her babies. "The only time I lose," she said, "is when I sleep." The court physician, Van Sweitar, waited on her each morning at her levee, and brought her a minute report of the health of the children. If one of them was indisposed, the mother, laying aside all other cares, went to their apartment. As the Princes and Princesses grew up, they were taught Italian, but it cannot be said that their education was enthusiastically pursued, or that Maria Theresa had a good opinion of learning. Fighting was better. The young ones were committed to the care of governesses who were directed to stamp out all indications of pride or personal caprice; to drill the scholars sedulously in "The Lives of the Saints," and in all the rites and ceremonies which the lay devotee of the Catholic Church is permitted to celebrate or perform. It is certain that the ten surviving Archdukes and Archduchesses were successfully impresse� with family pride and devotion to the house of Lorraine-Austria. Their ruling passion was a loyalty to their mother, the Empress, as the head of that house. But as to the rest of their education, even including the pious moralities that were deemed all essential by Maria Theresa, the mother secured as governess no bigot sufficiently beyond the reach of ulterior financial motives to carry out her orders, and instead of preparing for a future life by five diurnal hours of prayer, religion was greatly and education altogether neglected, except that the scholars could speak French well and write it with the average skill of the upper classes. The drawings that were represented as Marie Antoinette's, Maria Theresa's daughter's, were in no case hers, according to Madam Campan. These children went abroad as incurable Austrians, and several of them were on this account but ill-received, at least, in foreign lands, whither they had been at first invited with acclamation.
Maria Theresa lived in her private apartments with simplicity. She breakfasted on a cup of milk coffee; then dressed and heard a long mass. On every Tuesday she received the ministers of the various departments. Other days were set apart for foreigners and strangers. There were stated days when the public was admitted indiscriminately, save that each subject, however poor or mean, must have business with her Majesty. They might whisper to her or see her alone if their matter was important. She was sure of her own popularity, and felt secure in the protection which the love of her people threw around her. She read memorials herself, dictated dispatches, and signed letters. Her dinner was brought in, and she ate alone, to save time. After dinner she returned to desk-work until 6. After supper her children were expected to join her in evening prayer. If any were absent she called the physician to inquire if there was illness. If not, the child would receive a severe reprimand next morning.
What was she doing in her cabinet, to which her spies from St. Petersburg, Rome, Madrid, Versailles, Berlin, and London were hourly entering? She was planning, plotting, to get back her rich Silesia. She hated that Frederick so, with his impish Voltaire. They had said such foul and cruel things of her, personally, too, and both, she thought, were more beasts than men. They were atheists. Her Catholic Silesia had been given to the atheist. Ought she not to urge a holy war? Let this wretched insane man, the son of an insane father, write his scoffing verses about her and, better yet, about women in general all the better ! He would now have three women on his heels. A woman, Elizabeth, ruled in Russia. A good woman, Maria Theresa, ruled at Vienna. A woman ruled at Versailles ah ! let us see about that ! Hard, indeed, but let us consider it. Pompadour, the daughter of the butcher Poisson; the wife of the tavern-keeper d'�tioles; "the kidnapper of young girls for the Park aux Cerfs of the bad old King" this Pompadour was ruler of France whatever she said should be done was law and precedent. Had any consort-Empress of the Holy Roman Empire in half a millennium acknowledged such a friend? Ah no! But Frederick was emptying his bitter verses on her Frederick said, truly, that France was "hag-ridden" the hag would like revenge; and Maria Theresa would get Silesia back. But was not this Pompadour also a wicked enemy of that noble monarch, the King of England, who, all alone, and because he was a German, had upheld Pragmatic Sanction against the Lutheran inclinations of his subjects? Yes, yes, it was all hard. Yet Kaunitz, Maria Theresa's prime minister, that man running all over Europe, the most dreadful of Frederick's foes Kaunitz thought it could be done. France and Austria could be brought together if, at this crisis of Frederick's verse writing and scoffing at priests if now Maria Theresa would only write "Dear Cousin" to Pompadour then three irate great women could come at him together and show him. Maria Theresa could cede territory to France in Belgium; she could be indemnified in Prussia; her Belgian bankers would lend her money. What would England do? Well, wait and see. The "Dear Cousin" is written, and Pompadour, titular mistress of Louis XV, at last is one of the great monarchs of the world. France now moves toward Hanover. The good King of England applies at Vienna for an army to aid him. Pussy wants a corner; go to the next neighbor; he goes to Russia, where he hires an army, with Viennese satisfaction. Now the plot is well laid. The world, save England, will go against Frederick, and all will divide. Russia, Sweden, Poland and Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire, France the great circle of foes and circle of armies of foes will close in on the bad man, and where then will he be with his Voltaire, his scoffs, and his pelf ? This matter was all arranged when Frederick sent word to Maria Theresa, demanding ipso facto that she state her intention not to attack him either this year (1756) or next. To this she gave no sufficient reply, and Frederick, joining with England, whom Maria Theresa had now betrayed, marched for Dresden, there seizing papers which would show the true plans of Maria Theresa.
Thus we are to begin the Seven Years' War, with tables turned. The French foe is now a friend; the noble English friend is now justly a foe. The Protestant Englishmen are now ready to pray for Frederick's battles against "the Papists." The issue is more logical, except that to Frederick all religions are alike. His subjects, however, are Lutherans. The Seven Years' War this bad Frederick, the rat in Maria Theresa's trap ! Battle on battle, yet never to catch and kill that bad man !�these her thoughts. The reader must pass across the most hideous fields of blood Lowositz, Prague (girls still playing it on our pianos), Kolin, Hastenbeck, Rosbach, Leuthen, Zorndorf, Hochkirchen, Z�llichau, Kunersdorf, Maxen, Meissen, Minden, Liegnitz, Torgau, Schweidnitz (four times), Buckersdorf is it not a fearful catalogue of carnage ? She can kill all those glorious German generals that she heard her father praise, but she cannot kill Frederick. She has him, has his Berlin give her always a month longer; but at last her Russian woman-friend is dead, and Frederick's fate is changed. He still has her Silesia, and is he not truly Frederick the Great ?
Yet it is not wise to compress these seven years into a paragraph. Her hatred was too intense; her grief in defeat too frantic; her exultation in victory too striking. She lived a thousand lives, like Frederick. Had she herself commanded somewhere in place of her dear Francis, and her Traun, Braun, Daun, Frederick could not have escaped. This is why Carlyle blames her. He thinks she should have given up Silesia more easily, so it would have cost less blood.
When Frederick's officers burst in on Dresden (Saxony) in August, 1756, they found the Queen of Poland sitting on top the very trunk that contained the papers of Maria Theresa's plan. She stated the lady on the trunk that she was a Queen, the daughter of an Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the mother-in-law of the French Crown Prince. But they lifted her off the trunk as respectfully as the disturbed conditions of polite society would permit, and got the papers, so that Frederick went into the war with a published statement of the facts, and this helped his case. He took Saxony at the battle of Lowositz, where he defeated Marshal Braun (Brown), and at once made Prussians out of the poor Saxons, Seventeen thousand of them had to turn around and fight Maria Theresa. Thus the Seven Years' War started with bad fortunes for Austria.
In 1757, Frederick marched his Saxon army into Bohemia. May 6, the battle of Prague was fought, and the great Prussian Schwerin fell. Frederick won. He lost 18,000 men. Maria Theresa lost 24,000 men under Marshal Braun, who retreated into Prague. Frederick went on against Marshal Daun, the Queen's best man, at Kolin. There the Prussian was frightfully defeated, losing 13,000 men, and had to flee out of Bohemia. At nearly the same time the French, entering Hanover, had defeated the English at Hastenbeck, and were free to advance on Prussia. Maria Theresa was once more in Silesia. Her Croats pushed into Berlin and plundered it. The French were marching southeastward, and reached Rosbach. There, on November 5, France met a complete defeat. Now Frederick threw himself eastward again to contest Silesia, and at Leuthen, near Breslau, with 40,000 men, met Prince Charles of Lorraine with 6o,000 of Maria Theresa's soldiers. Frederick in this battle inflicted on the Queen a loss of 27,000 men, and retrieved Silesia at the two blows. It was the chief of all his victories. The Methodists and Presbyterians of Great Britain saluted Frederick as Joshua or Gideon. Whitefield, the revivalist, gave thanks at the London Tabernacle. "The Lord stirred up the King of Prussia and his soldiers to pray," wrote an English diary-keeper. "They kept three fast-days, and spent about an hour praying and singing psalms before they engaged the enemy. 0 how good it is to pray and fight." Thus the English tax-payers were well pleased to fight against their once-honored Queen of Hungary.
Of course, after Kolin, all was joy at Vienna. The chief military order of Austria the Order of Maria Theresa was instituted, with Daun its first chief. Te Deums sounded in every cathedral, and the swift contrast to Rosbach and Leuthen, with Silesia lost a second time, was, indeed, a strange reply to Maria Theresa's devotional acts, and all in favor of an atheist. It is hinted that she even thought of peace, which Frederick of course sued for, but Pompadour said "Double or quits it is only a little ill-luck." Elizabeth, too, in Russia, was angry with her generals, and now started them in earnest over the snows.
For the year 1758, Frederick had 145,000 soldiers, fully one-third of them Maria Theresa's men turned against her. January 22, Russia took K�nigsberg and "annexed" East Prussia. The Prussians were made to swear fealty to Russia. On this, Frederick put the Saxons in the same plight, to the horror of Maria Theresa. The Russians pushed on to Zorndorf, and at that battle, giving little or no quarter, the Russians were totally defeated. This was late in August. It was the bloodiest battle Frederick fought. Maria Theresa celebrated it for a victory, and chanted Te Deums. At any rate, the Prussians were thinning out. Frederick hastened with his army into Saxony again, when Marshals Daun and Laudohn pounced on him at dead of night in his camp at Hochkirchen and defeated him completely. Frederick was utterly lost could Daun have been changed suddenly into a slightly adventurous commander. But the Austrians marched homeward, and Frederick, who had been ready to give up Dresden, was saved and went into cantonment. Yet as Maria Theresa saw her enemy go into winter quarters at Breslau, she saw also cantonments of his enemies stretching from Russia to the mouth of the Rhine, with Sweden and Russia ready to pounce in and avenge Zorndorf. Three hundred thousand soldiers watched each other, and Maria Theresa could hope for 150,000 more men in the spring. The coming year (1759) was not to disappoint her entirely. The Pope, Clement XIII, at high mass on Christmas Day solemnly blessed a sword, a hat of crimson velvet lined with ermine, and a dove of pearls, the mystic symbol of the Divine Comforter, and sent them with great ceremony to Marshal Daun as a champion of the faith. This was on the principle of the London Tabernacle, that it was a holy war, and while Frederick and Voltaire set hard to work to turn the act to ridicule, it was still a holy war, and it cannot be said that the Catholic Church first raised the issue.
The year 1759 finally opened with many minor engagements along the vast line of cantonments. The Russians under Soltikoff again came in out of the hyperborean regions, got a clear advantage over the Prussian, Wedel, at the battle of Z�ilichau on the Oder River in July, and fought a great battle with Frederick at Kunersdorf in August, having joined Maria Theresa's Marshal, Laudohn. The engagement took place August 12. Frederick had 6,000 soldiers killed, and lost 19,000 in all. The Russians and Austrians lost 18,000. Here Frederick was again lost, but the Austrians would. not move forward. Soltikoff felt he had done enough now let the German Queen do something; and old Daun thought those Russians ate as if they had never seen provisions before. While Frederick was ordering his archives out of Berlin, he lost a small army at Maxen, and another was defeated at Meissen. He had lost Dresden. His general, Ferdinand, how-ever, had completely defeated the French over on the west at Minden. Maria Theresa was upholding Daun and his papal hat, but the public was beginning to think that so many armies and so many nations ought to throttle Frederick unless someone were sleeping on guard. A little later the mob of Vienna threw nightcaps into poor Madam Daun's carriage. So at last, this winter of 1759-60, while Marshal Daun has the chief command, as the person best fitted to stand against the quick movements of Frederick, Marshal Laudohn has been given command of a separate army, and is to act with the Russians. Maria Theresa is called the High Mother. The Russians are important, the Swedes utterly useless, the French less and less helpful. Imagine the comings and goings from the cabinet of Maria Theresa through these years particularly, the difficulty of getting those Russians to fight in Silesia instead of fighting at Dantzic, where it could do her no territorial good. But this winter she has him (Frederick)give her but a moment longer. He lost 6o,000 men in 1759. She will not exchange prisoners with him. He cannot hold Berlin, and soon he will give up Silesia he must, the b�ser robber ! Babies, too, thick and fast, sixteen of them now in all. Always a desire of the officials about her to get her power away from her, but she determined to have back Silesia.
Yet, on the other side, she also has the iron well into her enemy's soul. Think with what pleasure she would read extracts from his (Frederick's) letters, where he said �he who wantonly stole her Silesia : "It is hard for man to bear what I bear. I begin to feel that, as the Italians say, revenge is a pleasure for the gods. My philosophy is worn out by suffering. I am no saint, like those we read of in the legends; and I will own that I should die con-tent if only I could first inflict a portion of the misery which I endure."
"Well, then," was Maria Theresa's comment, "why does he not give up Silesia ?" But, of course, by this time, to give up Silesia meant, also, to pay the cost of taking it to Russia and France leaving to Frederick only Brandenburg.
In 1760 Frederick marched all over Prussia. "How lean you have grown !" cried the woman at Rosbach. "Lean ! Ought I not to be lean, with three Women hanging at my throat!" was his angry reply. Frederick tried to get back Dresden, failed, and marched off for Silesia. At Liegnitz he fought a great battle with Marshal Laudohn in August, taking 6,000 prisoners. In November at Torgau he completely defeated Marshal Daun, who lost 20,000 men in a bloody battle, nearly his last. The champion with the papal hat journeyed to Vienna, to heal his wounds. Maria Theresa went out of the city to meet her defeated but ever-honored Daun, and to inquire solicitously regarding his health, so important to the state. A point here for the reader, where her steadfastness cannot be called mere female obstinacy a bright, glorious moment in the trying life of Maria Theresa nowhere in history shall we find a more noble exposition of royal philosophy and magnanimity.
Now, in 1761 and 1762, the circle once more closed in on Frederick. Marshal Daun surprised the fortress of Schweidnitz, and recaptured the half of Silesia, and Pitt, of England, went out of office, which deprived Frederick of his only foreign friend. The Russians wintered in Frederick's country. Just, therefore, as the patient Queen might expect to catch Frederick, just as she had his Berlin, and her Croats and Hussars have pillaged $100,000,000 of his goods and treasure and devastated all of Prussia, one of the three Women died Elizabeth. Her successor, Peter III of Russia, was an adorer of Frederick, and put Russia at Prussia's service. On this Frederick stormed and defeated Daun at Buckersdorf's Heights, retook Schweidnitz this fortress was taken four times in all, and again controlled Silesia. Then France and England came to terms, and agreed to let the war east of the Rhine go on as it might, with both nations neutral to it. Then Peter III was murdered by Catherine II, and Russia was declared to be neutral, or nearly so. Catherine merely wanted to do the best she could for Russia. She was no friend of Maria Theresa, like Empress Elizabeth. Now Frederick might overflow into Bohemia, into the Holy Roman Empire generally. There was no beating him. He had Silesia. He might get more. So said Daun, and who else could stay him when Daun could not? Europe was tired and sick of war. Perhaps Pompadour thought Maria Theresa had too much to win at least, France was utterly ruined, and now awaited the Great Revolution. On all sides, admiration for Frederick rose too high he was in the place of fame and sympathy which the young Queen held when she held up her baby to the Hungarians and wept with anger. "Look," said Europe to Maria Theresa, "830,000 actual fighters actually killed in this one war for you ! Frederick has slaughtered i 8o,000 of his bravest Prussians as a price for a little piece of your vast fatherland. Make peace, as we have done."
And peace she made at Hubertsberg in 1763. She still wanted Silesia, but Daun did not, Francis did not, Vienna did not. The Seven Years' War was over. There has been nothing like it, except Napoleon's campaigns. Boundaries of all kinds were exactly as they were when it began. It would have been much better had she not written that letter to "her dear cousin," the hag who rode France into the bottomless pit of revolution.
What had been lacking to this Isabella of the East? A fighting husband, like Ferdinand of Aragon, that is clear. Francis fought well, but nobody thought of him in comparison with slow old Daun, nor did he share in the government at home to anything like the extent practised by Ferdinand in Spain. Perhaps he would have been more capable if Maria Theresa had been more ambitious for his advancement in real power. She was worsted in a combat where she had all the advantages, because she could notherself get out of her palace with her sixteen babies, and she could inspire nobody else except Kaunitz with the con-tempt of Frederick which she so long felt. The big war that made Frederick's ambition virtue was but two years over when her dear Francis, who after all was her ideal of a husband, died on the 18th of August, 1765, at Innspruck. She set the model for Victoria, and mourned for him the rest of her life. She extended her daily prayers, always long, to five hours. The fatal 18th of every month was consecrated to the memory of her husband. The month of August each year was spent in retirement, in penance, and in celebrating masses and requiems for the repose of his soul. She with her own needle wrought her wedding gown into a mass-robe and sent it to the Cathedral of St. Vitus, at Prague. She went on pilgrimages to Our Lady of Heren-haltz; she prayed and told her beads at the coffin of her husband, for that purpose descending every day into the crypt of the Capuchin Church �in fact, following St. Stephen, she was like a great abbess, and she was in a region where the Catholic Church, defeated by Satan on the north, as it believed, was held in all the greater veneration by tribes that spoke many tongues, but clung alike to the rock of St. Peter. The household and devotional virtues of Maria Theresa, with her loyalty to the memory of her worthy mate, brought into splendid relief her detestation of Frederick and her desire to hand down Fatherland unbroken by heretics or atheists, gleaming with as many swords on the walls of as many fortresses as when her father died. Her fame as the High Mother, the Apostolic Daughter of the Church, spread from Islam to Lisbon, and has been carried by a vast Teutonic migration westward to the very shores of the Pacific Seas.
In 1770, amid great public manifestations of good will, her daughter, Marie Antoinette, at the age of fifteen, started for Paris to marry the Bourbon Prince who was to become Louis XVI. To this unfortunate Princess history gives a long and unhappy chapter, which will be reviewed anon in this volume.
Madame Campan says that Marie Antoinette told her that after-the death of Francis, three of Maria Theresa's ministers made a compact to try and ensnare the affections of the widow, who was still good-looking. All should try together, and the one who was successful should swear eternal friendship for the other two. Spies brought this affair to the widow. One day after council was over, the sovereign grew very confidential, and told the three suit-ors that, though she hoped to guard herself against the weaknesses of the heart, she might go the way of the world; but she would demand of the man who loved her that he should fling away ambition, and, if he held any important office, he should resign it, and forever lay aside power, as a proof that it was the woman and not the Queen whom he adored. For her, he must become the butt of public jests, and lose all influence with the people. The ministers looked at each other in amazement, and dissolved their tender league forthwith. Thus she kept about her three very useful advisers.
While the luster of her arms was wholly dimmed by Frederick's valor, and her military fame must shrink beside Isabella's, yet, equally devout as she was, two centuries of growing intellectual light had made her less bigoted. In 1768, to the Board of Public Economy, she made a re-script of the principle that "everything which is not of divine institution is subject to the supreme legislative authority of the state." Following this rule, she sup-pressed the pensions charged at Rome upon benefices; she forbade the alienation of landed property in favor of ecclesiastical bodies; she ordered all the property of the clergy to be registered; she placed the temporal affairs of the convents under the authority of the civil magistrates, and put those houses each under its own Bishop.
She even advanced on the Holy Office of the Inquisition itself, which existed in her Italian states. She took from its hands the press censorship, and appointed for the purpose a board of civil judges. In Tuscany, which fell to her second son, Leopold, now a child, she ordered that la-y judges should sit with ecclesiastics in all prosecutions for heresy. She put under her own orders the Sbirri, or armed force with which the Italian Inquisitors had carried on their work.
In 1776 she abolished the torture in all her hereditary states. In 1777 she abolished some of the rural and personal services which the peasants of Bohemia owed to their lords, and commuted others for a sum of money. She established copyright on writings. She built or finished the palaces and gardens of Sch�nbrunn and Luxemburg.
Her great school system, for which she is justly lauded, was put in practical operation with the full powers of the Empire between 1774 and 1778. In every province she started and maintained a "normal" or model school as a standard for the other schools of the whole province, under a Director. In the large towns "principal schools" under a magistrate were opened. In the small towns and villages "communal schools" under the parish priest or an assessor (sitter-in) in the Communal Council. Over the province was a Central Commission of Studies, to read annual reports and examine candidates for masterships or magistracies. She added manual labor to the instruction of the communal schools. Those teachers whose wives taught the girls sewing, knitting, spinning, and mending, received extra wages. Little girls were also enabled to earn half a florin a day. This idea of manual training has spread over the world, and is the truest, most illustrious Order of Maria Theresa.
In Lombardy and at Milan, she made a more equitable land-tax; she established a regular annual budget, so that subjects might know when taxation was over for the year. She took the tax-farming away from subjects and collected the taxes herself. She freed the peasants from manorial rights. She made the navigable canal of Paderno, joining two rivers. She gave prizes to those who excelled in agriculture, geometry, mining, smelting, and spinning. She struck a medal in honor of agriculture, with the legend, "The Art Which Nourishes All Arts." She gave bounties to the peasants who raised the largest crops. The churches and convents were no longer recognized as asylums for escaping criminals. She nearly doubled the population of that garden-like country, despite the bloody wars. Her minister at Milan, Firmain, protected scholars. Pietro Verri was in the treasury; Beccaria was given a professorship; Carli was put at the head of commerce. She carried to Milan her unvarying habits of administration. "Lombardy," says one of their writers,* "was never so happy as under her reign. She wished to be informed of every act of the administration. She gave to the humble and poor, as well as the rich and noble, free access to her presence. She listened benignantly to all, either granting their petitions, or, if she denied them, giving reasons for her refusal, without illusory promises or vague circumlocutions. She declared that if anything reprehensible had been done in her name, it was certainly without her knowledge, as she had always wished the welfare of her subjects. She showed a love of justice and truth, and stated as a principle of her conduct, that it was only the pleasure of alleviating distress and doing good to the people that could render the weight of a crown supportable to the wearer."
Her rule in the countries on the northern sea was equally just and progressive, and it was the had management of her son, the Emperor Joseph II, that afterward detached those provinces from the Austrian Crown.
When Emperor Francis I died, his son Joseph II was crowned Emperor, and bis mother elevated him to considerable honors beside her, but it was not till after her death that the real powers of administration reached his hands. Two of her sons were Emperors of Germany. Her grandson was the last Kaiser, as the German word goes. Napoleon, with the sun of Austerlitz, put an end to the "Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation."
A typical story of her administration is told in the annals of the city of Prague. The farmers had no bread. They came up to the great city, and were inclined to take what they needed. The Empress sent General Dalton with enough regiments to hang the rioters. He, marching into the city, and turning all the cannons of the ram-parts inward, had the rioters in his grasp. He counseled them to yield, be still. They begged him cooly to slaughter them and end the pains they were enduring and those greater ones they saw in store. The general wept at their miseries. He told them he knew his Queen had not heard of it. They cheered him, trusted him, and dispersed. He sent dispatches to Maria Theresa that melted her at once to tears. "Good God !" cried she, "what have my poor people been suffering without my knowledge ! To what cruel miseries have they been exposed, through the ignorance I was in of their deplorable situation ! How greatly am I indebted to the moderation and humanity of Count Dalton, who has saved me from the guilt of being the butcher of my poor starving subjects, and who has painted in such moving colors those distresses which others, whose duty it was to make them known to me, carefully concealed from my knowledge, representing the rising of the people as the effect of a seditious disposition." She dispatched Soo wagons, loaded with wheat, to Prague, and sent an autograph letter of thanks to General Dalton for his noble behavior on a critical occasion.
Her son, the Emperor Joseph, she made chief of the military department, and he made a tour of the awful battlefields of the Seven Years' War. He sent her flattering accounts of Frederick, and Frederick worked hard to gain his good will. At last, we find Maria Theresa on some kind of terms with her terrible enemy. Frederick in public kissed the dispatch she had written to him, as he handed it to the young Emperor. The young man, held in tightly by old Kaunitz, Maria Theresa's Prime Minister, now as of yore, complained of his mother's great fondness for devotional exercises. This Kaunitz, "coachman of Europe," who, while he loved a tight room, had to travel always, was as active in diplomacy as Frederick in war. It was his power to move that gave to Maria Theresa such a celebrity as the head of a court that was the cleverest in the world.
Now with this old Kaunitz fop, dressed in Parisian style, virulent in his hatred of Prussia for chief lieutenant, let us see why the crown bore so heavily on the brow of Maria Theresa. Why did she speak so sorrowfully of her duties ? It was because, among all her ideals in youth, she lived to make real only one the character of a good wife and mother. One after another, all the rest were immolated on the altar of the State. She cried out against the robbery of Silesia; how could a Prince be so wicked a brother of the Reich or Empire? A noble King of England alone aided her, and she made peace with Frederick and deserted that noble King went to war with him. She despised the court of France on moral grounds; yet Kaunitz at last carried her letter of "Dear Cousin" to the aged Pompadour. She read of the Mohammedans with a feeling of profanation, and marveled that God did not purge Europe of their mosques and minarets; yet now, in her old age, rather than see Catherine II sitting at Constantinople, she joined the Asiatics in war on Russia; and where her sex bade her love Catherine, time saw her hatred of Frederick transferred to the Empress at St. Peters-burg. The Turks begged Frederick to make peace for them; Kaunitz, with nose high in the air, found he could not get all of Poland, and Maria Theresa, accepted the second largest portion ; ancient Sarmatia was divided among Russia, Austria and Prussia, and the land of Kosciusko was no more. Remember that it had been only a century since the heroic John Sobieski, King of Poland, had hurried to the city of Vienna, then beseiged by confident Turks, and saved the Holy Roman Empire from turning its face to the East in praise of Mohammed as the true prophet of God. When, at last, the old Queen reached out to take her share of this inconceivable pelf, she wrote, for posterity, this letter to Prince Kaunitz. It may be dated at Vienna, in February, 1772: "When all my lands were invaded, and I knew not where in the world I should find a place to be brought to bed in, I relied on my good right and the help of God. But in this thing, where not only public law cries to heaven against us, but also all natural justice and sound reason, I must confess never in my life to have been in such trouble and am ashamed to show my face. Let the Prince (Kaunitz) consider what an example we are giving to the world, if, for a miserable piece of Poland, or of Moldavia or Wallachia, we throw our honor and reputation to the winds. I see well that I am alone, and no more in vigor; therefore I must, though to my very great sorrow, let things take their course."
The young Kaiser was, of course, on the side of Kaunitz, and eager to make good the loss of Silesia with the gain of Poland. He urged his mother to stand out of the way. At last she wrote her official assent : "Placet. Since so many great and learned men will have it so. But long after I am dead, it will be known what this violation of all that was hitherto held sacred gave rise to."
The Abbe Fromageot, in his Annals of the Reign of Maria Theresa, suppresses the entire episode, evidently being hopeless of accomplishing the task of apology. A Bishop of Saint Brieux, in a funeral oration upon Maria Theresa, says Chamfort, "got over the partition of Poland very easily. 'France,' said he, 'having taken no notice of the partition in question, I will do as France did, and be silent about it likewise.' "
It is clear that Maria Theresa, before the partition of Poland, hearing that Catherine II demanded harsh terms of peace from the Mohammedans, moved into the valuable lordship of Zips in Poland, which she held with an armed force. It is true, too, that her views of Austria's portion, now that she had Zips, were so arrogant that they astonished Frederick, who had planned the robbery, and compelled him to take a sorry territorial share, though in the finest region. It is also true that, after the partition, the young Kaiser and Frederick did not associate. They were two robbers who had lost respect for each other. Now, therefore, the three pillaging nations, in the name of peace, raised a vast fund for bribery, went through the legislative forms, in the Polish Diet, of ratifying the partition, and at last Maria Theresa owned a wider domain than that into which she was born.
All her life she was a Jew-baiter, and in 1745, when she was newly on the throne, commanded every Jew to leave her kingdoms. This may have been one good reason why she lost Silesia, as her supplies of money were always weak, while England's waxed greater with each year of war.
In the old age of the Mother, only two years before her death, the Elector of Bavaria died childless. Austria made a claim to the crown, and hoped to add the great country of Munich to its possessions. Frederick instantly marched with his armies to the frontier. Catherine II and the Court of France warned Maria Theresa that she was too old to engage in another war, and altogether too greedy for territory. The realms of the Empire outside of Prussia and Austria trembled and feared they were to be swallowed by the two great powers, just as Poland had been partitioned. (This is what has happened in our time.) Just as things looked their darkest, the great powers of Europe laid hold and ended the trouble by the treaty of Teschen, May 13, 1779. Maria Theresa, despite her warlike son absurd imitator of Frederick could sink to the grave in the peace which she needed. This treaty she considered fortunate, because it was ratified on her birthday.
We may now enter the palace of this High Mother in her last days. On all sides there was veneration for her, and infinite Austrian and Hungarian pride that the royal house had been virtuous and decent in an age of woman's rule, when Anne, Elizabeth and Catherine, in Russia on the one side, and Pompadour in France on the other side, had nearly overwhelmed the fame of female sovereigns in deepest obloquy.
The infirmities of Maria Theresa had caused her body to grow to great size in her closing years. Still her manner, as she sat in her chair, was graceful and dignified, and her countenance benign. She who had once been so beautiful was now an aged invalid, habited in the deepest mourning, with gray hair slightly powdered, and turned back under a cap of black crape.
As the year 178o wore on, and her end approached, she was determined to die like the great Queen she was, and summoned all her fortitude for the agonies that her disease rendered inevitable. In November, when ten days of this fatal battle had been fought, she said : "God grant that these sufferings may soon terminate, for otherwise I know not how much longer I can endure them bravely." After receiving the last sacraments of the church, whose most dutiful daughter she had ever been, she summoned all her great family to her presence, with Joseph, the Emperor, at their head : "My son," said she, "as you are the heir to all my worldly possessions, I cannot dispose of them. They are yours of right. But my children are still, as they have ever been, my own. I bequeath them to you;' be to them a father. I shall die contented if you take that office upon you." She then turned to her son Maximilian and her daughters, blessed them individually in the tenderest terms, and exhorted them to obey and honor their elder brother as their father and sovereign.
With this she entered deeper into the valley of the shadow of death, and, hoping that she might endure, she did endure to the end; and even died in a serenity and a patience that were the marvel of her times. It was the 29th of November, 178o, and she was in her 64th year. There fell over the populous cities that we have named from sea to sea a pall of gloom, deepened in the universal hangings of black cloth that draped the land. But castles, senates, temples, palaces, thus showing their sorrow, did not alone bear the burden of grief put on her nations. Under the thatch of the lowliest cottage, high up in the mountains or low down on the plains, when it was pro-claimed that the High Mother was at last no more, while there might be gratitude to God that her terrible agonies were over, there was., for many days, a lonesomeness in humble breasts that made them feel heart-broken. On such tender recollections of the maternal sovereign the peasant-mother fed her brood, and the fame of Maria Theresa, the High Mother of Germany, went richly forth to the ages.


text:
So funny....today Marsh came running into the kitchen, exclaiming that his brother was not sharing his construction toys.
To this I replied, "what construction toys?"
Marshall: "You know, the ones Uncle Jigs gave me when he still lived in America."
Mommy: "Oh."
After some discussion with both boys about borrowing and sharing the dilemna ended.
Later I asked Marsh where he thought Uncle Jigs lived now, since he no longer lives in America. ;-)
Marsh: "In a faroff California."
Mommy: "Okay."
Marsh: "Actually did you know that people build mudhouses and live in them where Uncle Jigs lives now?"
We look forward to Uncle Jigs return to America. :-)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Uncle Jigs...in a faroff California
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
friday thread
blah blah getting pissed blah blah
dont worry no one will care what your doing but it feels GOOD to write it!
I'm in Brighton tonight!
Going for a curry somewhere and then on somewhere else. Sorry I can't be more help.
tonight i will be going to a works drink thing where i intend to 'have an early evening'. the last time this happened with a work thing, i crawled in at 4am.
tomorrow rota then something else probably and then afterskool and a definitie crawling in at 4am moment.
Rapscalion (when he surfaces) and I
are going to my Mum's tonight, then going to a family party on Saturday!
Coming back to London Monday for Los Campesinos!
Oh and a ChepDIStow
meetup Saturday night!!!
I'm going to see
Volver tonight, anyone seen it? Any good?
Its good
I really enjoyed it.
Personally I think it may be in my top 3 Pedro Almodovar Films.
staying in and watching Transamerica unless anyone forces me to come out.
Saturday - RoTa then Afterschool. Drinking may be involved.
Sunday - Asian Dub Foundation/ENO maybe?
I'm going to the SaianDub Foundation/ENO
next week - anyone care to take Mike out while I go to that?
oh, what day are you going?
maybe I'll come then then...
I think we're going
Wednesday? I'll check and let you know!
I'm supposed to go to that
as well. ME! Let me come!
We should all go!
My friends boyfriend went last night and has been raving about it all morning via email!#I think Ann wants to go too!
i'm just impressed
you'd trust us with him again.
I have a cold
so I'm going to sit around the house watching When Stunts Go Bad and other such crap
I'll go for a walk
to get some fresh air.
Tonight I will be at some form of Wetherspoons for the cheap drink, this will be followed by Sumo over in Middlesbrough.
Hours of goodness.
Fucking hell,
I just checked out your profile picture, that's a special face!
That was to Meths!
Meths with the special face on!
tonight: don't know
saturday: rota + afterskool
sunday: don't know
Tonight - meal with my Uncle and Auntie, then films and drink with friends.
Tomorrow - RoTa, I will be there, oh yes.
Sunday - Driving, and sorting out some feature ideas for powpowpow.
tonight - oacking, and a late plane journey
tomorrow - practising a party piece with my brother. most likely - oasis. hair cut AND dye, yay! followed by drunken irish family party. then drunken irish friends drinking.
sunday - hungover brunch at a hotel and putting all my belongings into boxes
monday - putting more stuff into boxes, flying back to london.
what i wish i was doing -
tonight - drinking
tomorrow - rota and afterskool. AFTERSKOOOOOL
sunday - eating pizza and watching zombie films.
damn it.
I should be writing an article right now
I am, however, completely uninspired and lazy.
Tonight - dinner and probably film with an ex
Saturday - Clothes shopping etc for uni. Reviewing a bunch of CDs. Party in Oxford.
Sunday - Football match in the morning. Reading papers, generally being a bum in the afternoon. Probably writing this fucking article too.
You're getting
an Oasis haircut?
ive got
band practice and then a DATE. awesome.


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With the newest batch of summer interns having recently arrived at the Afropop office, our ranks have never been bigger. But more people mean more opinions, and when a contentious topic comes up (like Beyoncé's new track, "Grown Woman", which features the Griot vocalist Ismael Kouyaté and very prominent "African" imagery in the live performance video currently making rounds), the conversation gets heated pretty quickly. Our whole crew had a lot to say, and we wanted to take advantage of the diversity of opinion that we had on the matter.
So we thought we'd try something new. Below is a transcription of Afropop founder Sean Barlow, Producer for New Media Sam Backer, staff writers Morgan Greenstreet and Zachary Toporek, and intern Lynn Georgis hashing out exactly what's happening in Beyoncé's "Grown Woman" and why you should (or should not) care about it. The tape starts a few minutes into the conversation, and there's no neat wrap-up at the end, but we feel that issues like this resist that kind of closure anyway.
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Sam: African is a modern place where there are people with technology that are making modern media-
Sean: That's not necessarily what Beyoncé wanted to create. You might not like it, but so what?
Sam: Because Africa sells to Americans when Africa is an exotic land of masks and lions and cheetahs. This doesn't make people understand Africa, this makes people think of Africa as the land of lions and pounding drums. It's like the Lion King, man.
Sean: It's also the fact that this is sort of Afrobeat.
Sam: No, this is Timbaland. This is how Timbaland sounds.
Sean: What's the feeling of the song?
Sam: That she's a sexy, grown woman.
Zach: Does Africa need more people further sexualizing it?
Sam: No
Morgan: But it [the video] doesn't have anything to do with Africa. She's using it to sell her music and her message right now. It doesn't have anything to do with the message of the song.
Sean: If I were doing this, of course I'd like to have more of the real Africa in the song.
Sam: Now there are pyramids. What I'm saying is that-
Sean: That was the first major African civilization, the pyramids are great. You can't diss the pyramids.
Sam: What I'm saying is that Africa now- people know about Pyramids, the Nile, and masks, and giraffes, and lions. But I don't think that Africa needs people to have more awareness of lions, tigers, and pyramids.
Zach: Will you explain what her take on Africa is?
Sean: It's more imagistic. I don't think she has much of a take on it.
Sam: Do you think that the Lion King is a major symbol of African identity?
Sean: I've never seen The Lion King.
Morgan: I've never seen The Lion King either.
Zach: How have you both survived this world?
Sean: When Ismael comes on, does he actually appear?
Sam: I don't think so.
Lynn: No, he's not in the performance.
Sam: See, now she's depicted as an animal.
Zach: And there are Zebras. That's good, very African.
Sean: Maybe the point is that she's brought this fantastic voice into the fold of pop music.
Sam: But the point is that we're talking about it because it's African, but it's not African.
Morgan: I think the interesting story is the fact that in a period of a couple months, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, and Solange have tried to involve Africa in their image and music and not necessarily in a positive way.
Sam: It's a trend, not an engagement. As opposed to The Very Best who do a cool take on modern African music.
Sean: Yes, but that's a different thing.
Zach: But at least there's a duet of sorts with a Griot singer on this track, and that is a level of engagement, right?
Sam: No.
Morgan: Does he appear [in the video]? Is he named?
Sam: I don't think a sample of a cool singer's voice is an engagement.
Lynn: He's not in this video, it's just her.
Zach: It is better than JT. [Justin Timberlake's use of sampled field recordings from Burkina Faso in his latest album. Afropop previously discussed that HERE]
Sam: I don't think so. That didn't bother me because he didn't make a big deal about it in the song.
Sean: I think the analysis is, "Okay, Beyoncé did a thing that is Africa-focused and that's worth celebrating."
Sam: But it's not Africa-focused!
Sean: Africa-engaged.
Morgan: This is the part that you think is Afro-beat-esque?
Sean: Yes.
[Silence as all listen to the recording.]
Sam: Okay. That does sound more legitimate.
Morgan: That's because it cuts to the live band from the pre-recorded track.
Sean: It's cool that she's brought this voice from west Africa and this Afrobeat thing. It'd be nice if she did perhaps more with it in terms of modern African music. But this is where she is right now.
Sam: I think a lot of western artists have taken the idea and image of Africa and used it to sell their stuff. I think this does not reflect any real engagement with Africa, I don't think that anyone comes away with a greater appreciation of Africa. In fact, I think this only reinforces stereotypes about Africa that so many of the artists that I've read about since I've worked here are trying to change. [They say] "I'm from the Congo, it's not the land of lions, we're a modern society where we make modern, cool music. It's not drums and pyramids... it's Electro Chaabi".
Morgan: And you think that JT didn't do that?
Sam: I think that JT sampled an African thing and used it in one song. I don't think he-
Zach: He didn't brand his whole performance as African.
Morgan: I also didn't hear Ismael.
Zach: He was in there, on the bridge.
Sean: It would have been nice if he'd been part of the performance or recognized in the multi-media aspect of the performance. I agree with what you said, Morgan. To frame this as part of a recent trend. People who love African music have different views on it. How "authentic" it is, however troubled that word is. But some people are enjoying the hell out of it and are glad that it's getting out there to a mass audience. African music so often lives in this little media niche. Very few people hear it.
Sam: Do you think that- that a white teenager or a black teenager in America, do you think that if they see that, that's African music getting to them? Fela [on broadway] was African music getting to people.
Lynn: I think that they'll think that they're hearing African music because they don't really know about it.
Zach: That's the big problem with this. It's putting forth a false representation of Africa's identity.
Lynn: I think that to them, they'll think it is African music, but that's only because the broader audience hasn't been exposed to authentic African music.
Sean: That'd be interesting to investigate.
Morgan: Even to me, I keep thinking back to the world cup song. "Waka Waka". That is actually was an older song, but [Shakira] paid for it, it was all legal. But none of the kids know that. It's all, "Oh, Shakira did this cool song about Africa". But at least she paid for it.
Sam: I also just feel that the thing is that, given the way that modern pop music is able to sample and contextualize things... In a rap song, in a hip-hop song, you can sample any sound in the world. That's the strength of hip-hop. You can take a sound from anywhere and fit it into a song. So I feel like unless it engages on a larger level than that, if it's just used as raw material on a track, then it's just like Timbaland's engagement with Arabic music on those Missy [Elliott] tracks. It's like, "I've got a harmonic major scale kind of thing going on, so I can use some Arabic music samples!" If there's tablas in a song, it's not Indian music!
Sean: I think the thing to do is to note it, say it's out there, people are seeing it and you should check it out yourself.
Later, long-time intern Shaina Lipp come in to the office and had this to say about the performance video:
"Stories, histories are not exclusively told through text and literature, as the Griot reminds us. There is a discourse of images which is unavoidable in media, where the story of culture of is told on a mass scale. I am of the mind that shows such as Beyoncé's "Grown Woman" video... instead of engaging their viewers critically/offering a critical voice in a discussion of contemporary African anything, creates a jumbo-lumped collage of disparate images that are associated with the African continent. The effect is one of spectacle..."
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The Pen & Quill is an American publication about collectible autographs and
manuscripts. It was created by the Universal Autograph Collectors Club - UACC, and emphasizes historical figures, events, autographs and manuscripts. The worldwide members of the UACC include key historical institutions, major auction houses, manuscript dealers and collectors. This membership represents the largest private holding of historical autographs and manuscripts in the United States. The bimonthly journal currently serving this membership is The Pen & Quill .
"The Pen and Quill" began in the late 1960's, as the monthly journal of the UACC. It regularly included news of collector-members, techniques of collecting, biographies of VIP's, auction and sale information, listing of autograph dealers, terminology, research on topical information and information resources. It has featured some of the greatest historians, writers, editors of its era, including Robert F. Kennedy, Milton Friedman. , Ray Bradbury and Gerald R. Ford. Numerous autograph and manuscript experts have also contributed including Charles Hamilton, Kenneth W. Rendell and Paul C. Richards.
During its later years, the journal evolved with the advent of technology and the popularity of collecting. Articles began featuring in-depth handwriting analysis of major figures, such as Abraham Lincoln. For example, "The Lincoln Lift," the most common comparison point in any Lincoln signature - the departure of the "ln" letter configuration in "Lincoln" from the signature baseline, was dramatically illustrated chronologically in the January-February, 2008 issue.[5]. The hallmark of the journal has been the successful integration of history, forensic document analysis, comprehensive marketing research and fundamental collecting.
The magazine's place in the history of autograph and manuscript collecting is considered its most important contribution to publishing. While the successful transition of Editors has played an important role, so have the officers of the organization. Elected club officials have remained steadfast in their commitment to historical integrity and hobby ethics.
"The Pen and Quill" of the late 1960s (1967) was an eight-page, two-color, eight and half inch by eleven inch typed publication bound by a staple to the upper left-hand corner. The founding Editor was Harold W. Rapp, Jr. - 1965-67; who was followed by Herman M. Darvick - 1967-69, 1975 - ; then Richard J. Hall - 1969-70. In the December, 1967 issue for example, article topics included: UACC's 1st General Election; Skilled Sleuths Who Foil Forgers; LIPEX 1967 Philatelic Exhibition; Autopen; Morrill Praises for Grant; Cabinet Members' Autographs and Washington's 150th Birthday. The first major document reproduction in the journal came in September, 1968 when "The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key adorned the front page. The second was a 1682 letter from Sir Issac Newton. The first photograph to appear in the journal was that of Dwight D. Eisenhower in June 1969. It was a special memorial issue dedicated to the former President of the United States.
Richard J. Hall (Painsville, OH) took over editorship in late 1969. Hall immediately produced the first double-issue journal, 16 pages, in the same format. The growing publication continued to receive accolades directly from members, and indirectly to them from individuals such as Everett M. Dirksen, and astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Prominent dealers of historical documents were also emerging during this period including Charles Hamilton, Paul C. Richards and Kenneth W. Rendell, all of whom contributed to the journal.
The 1970s saw new Editors: Henry G. Mazlen - 1970-74; Donn Jennings - 1974-75 and a second stint by Herman M. Darvick - 1975 - 85 . Like any publication it faced growing pains often compounded by association. The growing popularity of autograph collecting was not diminished and continued to grow - enhanced by the events of the day and improved resources. "Big Name Hunters Gather for Yearly Rendezvous," by Joyce Maynard documented the phenomena at the ninth UACC Collectors Convention for The New York Times[10] . The article was reprinted in The Pen & Quill in the September/October, 1976 journal. As the hobby continued to grow descriptors seemed to be in order. Noted dealer and author, Charles Hamilton coined the word "philograhy" in a 1976 issue of the journal. It was a word devised by fusing two Greek roots—philo, meaning "lover of," and graph, meaning "what it is written." It is still in use by some industry participants today.
The advent of machine-signed signatures created confusion in the hobby and became a hot topic for The Pen & Quill. Articles and Illustrations began filling pages as collectors wanted to know if their treasures were authentic. In a letter to The Pen & Quill, The International Autopen Company of Arlington, Virginia claimed in 1976 that their Autopen machine could sign as many as 3,000 signatures in an eight hour day[11] .
Editor Joe Kraus - 1985-86 filled in briefly for Herman M. Darvick - 1986-87, but it was the latter who would be most responsible for bringing the publication into the next decade. By the middle of the 1980s, the publication, now six inches wide and nine inches in height, was a forty four page single-color publication with a spot color cover. Thirty two advertisers filled the spaces between feature articles, regular columns and informative departments. Although growing quickly, and featuring a $3.00 cover price, the now bimonthly publication was only available through membership. Editor Michael Saks - 1987 - 90, would finish out the decade for the publication.
Editor Bob Erickson - 1990-98 took over the reigns of the publication during the final decade of the century. Now 64 pages in length, the publication was enhanced by bold single-color covers featuring a vivid black & white photograph relating to an inside feature. Popular covers included: Neil Armstrong, The Beatles, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Martin L. King andMalcolm X, Annie Oakley, and Ronald Reagan. Editor Rich Urmston - 1998 -2008, who had been responsible for publishing the journal for years, took over the reigns with the July-August, 1998 issue. He would be a guiding force to take the journal into the next century.
Editor Mark Allen Baker - 2008 - , would take charge following a decade of service by Urmston. Baker, a noted author and writer, would immediately take the publication to 72 pages, feature a full-color outside and inside cover, and double the $5.00 cover price. During a twelve month process the publication would undergo a metamorphosis toward improved literary content, in-depth feature articles, and the increased frequency of exemplars and photographs. Numerous talented young artists and writers have also been added in an attempt to bolster content and enhance new ideas. For example, the May-June, 2008 issue would be the first to feature a custom rendered digital illustration.
Breaking historical news and rewriting history books has always been a hallmark of the journal. In the July-August, 2008 issue, a monumental letter was unearthed. Penned by Henry A. Wallace, the thirty third vice President of the United States, Wallace states, "Rosevelt had no understanding of science. His specialty was human nature and politics. His great objective - to eclipse the memory of Theodore Roosevelt and to leave the UN as a lasting monument to World Welfare." The document, packed with information in contradicition of many historical accounts, has a fascinating provenance and exemplifies the best trait of manuscript collectors --- preserving history. In 1960 veteran autograph dealer Paul C. Richards visited Wallace at his farm in South Salem, New York. Richards discussed Wallace's amazing career with him and his insights into Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The Pen & Quill, supported by a growing club membership, continues to evolve. The January-February 2009 issue features a new masthead, improved internal design and celebrates vividly the anniversaries of both NASA and Project Mercury on the journal cover.
Well-known contributors since 1965 have included:
* Mark Allen Baker (Author,Editor, collector) * Paul K. Carr (Author, collector) • Herman M. Darvick (Editor, 1984 UACC Lifetime Achievement Award) • Roy Deeley (Collector, 2004 UACC Lifetime Achievement Award) • Charles Hamilton (Author, manuscript dealer) * Kenneth W. Rendell (Author, manuscript dealer) • Paul C, Richards (Manuscript dealer) * George and Helen Sanders (Authors, collectors) • Al Wittnebert (Author, 2006 UACC Lifetime Achievement Award)


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healthy meal plans.....
anyone have good ideas about a healty meal plan…i find myself wondering to the bad stuff sometimes. help :)
9 replies
I am following a spin off of the Special K diet. Here is what I am doing that seems to be working for me (I change things on the weekends and snacks to keep it fun and enjoyable)
Sunday & Saturday:
Sensible low carb meals
Monday - Friday:
Breakfast - 3/4 cup Special K Plus Protein with 1/2 Healthy Balance Skim Milk (or a Special K Cereal Bar), 6 oz. Yoplait Light Yogurt, and 16oz, Bottled Vitamin Water
Lunch - Protein Meal bar or Protein Shake or Light Salad with 16oz. Bottled Water
Dinner - Sensible Low Carb Meal
all of my snacks are things like; cheese nibbles, Special K Crackers (17pc), SF Jello, Veggies & dip, and more. I use a divided toddler plate to help control my portions and follow the plate rule (half plate veggies, 1/4 starch, and 1/4 protein. Fruit is placed on the side). Once or twice a month i allow myself 1 special snack but it can not be any bigger than 40g and MUST be carbed into my insulin pump. Has Ray said though, everyone is going to do things differently. I created a personal list of things I like and can eat. I use recipes from here and my diabetic cookbooks to also help me. I am also utilizing two books to help me: Calorie King and Nutrition in the Fastlane. I hope this helps you out. Best of wishes to you.
Hi, Liz
I figure this way. If I know I shouldn't have something to eat because it'll raise my blood sugars too much, then I don't even buy whatever it is.
If you have a family, then start teaching them to eat and snack healthy, too. Your children have to learn how to take care of themselves so they don't develop diabetes. So, the sooner they start eating right, the better for them and you. If there's a healthy snack in the house, at least you've got something that won't throw you into a tailspin from a blood sugar standpoint.
As far as a meal plan is concerned, just one website that you can look at is on www.everydayhealth.com. There are tons of others, though, on the Internet that you can investigate. You can also look at the Mayo Clinic site where they have tons and tons of diabetic recipes.
There's lots of information out there. Just type what you're looking for into your browser and take it from there.
Your question is brought up a lot. Check out the "search" box for archived discussions for even more advice and opinions. I recently had a co worker asking for a meal plan and with each suggestion she told me she hated that… and that… and that. It's hard to help others without knowing their likes and dislikes.
My meal plan is pretty basic…
Morning: yogurt (Light & Fit 80 cal / 15 carb) and/or an Atkins protein bar (2-3 g carb)
Snack: nuts or sugar free pudding or around 100 calories of something
Lunch: Quite often leftovers from the night before or maybe something cheap and easy like a Wendy's side salad ($1 menu) and some lean meat on the side (leftovers) or ???. I brown bag from home most of the time.
Snack: low fat cheese or another yogurt or something around 100 calories
Dinner: fish or other protein, small portion of rice or potatoes or grains, and quite bit of veggies
Night Snack: fruit or nuts or Sun chips (tm) or hard boiled egg or whatever strikes me.
Yes I do eat six times a day but I don't overdo the calories or fat or carbs. I try to keep things healthy. I drink alot of water. I exercise. Menu planning doesn't have to be a chore or punishment. You can have what you like but use healthier ingredients and less preservatives. My meal plan may be boring but I continue to add new things to do as I find things that work for me. I wanted a Cinnabon bun so badly one day and found that Jello makes a sugar free cinnamon pudding. YAY. I wanted a hot fudge sundae one night … sugar free chocolate syrup over frozen yogurt. You don't have to go without anything so long as you substitute common sense … take baby steps! I'm 20 pounds lighter than in January and looking at going from being ab normal to having normal abs.
Surely if you ask 10 people for a menu plan you'll get 10 answers.
For the most part I probably eat 150 calories in the morning, another 100 for a snack around 10:00, 300-500 calories for lunch (12:15), another 100 around 3:00, 500 or so calories for dinner (6:00 pm), and another 100 or so in the evening around 8:30 or so. I don't obsess about calories, fat, carbs or anything but I limit my portion sizes and just eat more often. Wife and I just bought some new low carb mixes to try (pancake mix, cheese cake mix, and cinnamon bun mix), some fat free and sugar free pancake syrup, more Atkins bars, some nuts and soy nuts, and a bunch of new food ingredients. Anyone buy from http://www.netrition.com??? Although expensive they've got some unique items that you just can't find in your local stores.
I love this plan! I am doing a spin off of the Special K diet. That SF Cinnamon pudding is AWESOME! It actually took my urge away for something sweet. Have you tried the new SF Jello Mouse Temptations? This is another wonderful and tastey snack I have tried for an evening before bed snack. I agree though, everyone is going to have their own way in eating low carb. What I have learned, it is what work for your body. You have to play with foods to see what work for you and what you like. I'll have to try adding some of your ideas to my meal planner sheet.
Next Discussion: Just Got Insulin Pump...Advice? »


text: Hey guys, I haven't actually ordered anything from Apple online before, but I ordered a Macbook Pro CTO on Sunday and here's my shipment tracking from Fedex. What exactly is Int'l shipment release and why did my package go from Alaska to Indiana when I'm in Texas? lol Status: Int'l shipment release Jul 7, 2006 2:09 AM Int'l shipment release INDIANAPOLIS, IN Jul 6, 2006 2:03 PM Departed FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK Jul 6, 2006 12:43 PM Arrived at FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK Jul 6, 2006 11:04 AM Picked up SHANGHAI CN Jul 6, 2006 11:03 AM Left origin SHANGHAI CN Jul 6, 2006 9:14 AM Package data transmitted to FedEx Can anyone shed any insight on this matter? Thanks again


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Winterball is kind of a dance for Academy students in February that was fun with everyone to go eat afterwards in East Side Mario's ..
And the project LEAD is a project prepared by high school students to help younger students that are addicted to drugs . What we did was just having a conference for 2 days but next month we are going to the closest school to the Academy and play games with 7th graders about drug awareness.. :)
That was actually more fun than i thought it would be , I met so many nice people :) :)
Every couple had their own sweets they names are written on :3
It was only our sweets that had hearts on it , thanks to my friend Ashna! :D <3


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The last few days have been filled with crazy, crazy news. They found some regrowth in the same tumor spot on little Carly. That enough would make you just want to throw things. Then I got some news about a fellow babylost mom who was pregnant and lost her baby midway through the pregnancy. Really? like, seriously? And then I got some more pregnancy news and then some babies being born news and all these people in my life having their second already since we lost Silas. It's all just very hard to take, all piled on top of a few days. Somehow I'm still standing.
We are starting IVF again. It's our 2nd fresh cycle but 3rd altogether since we did that frozen one way back when. We've determined this isn't the be all end all of me getting pregnant. We could not possibly add any more pressure then we already feel going in to this round. If it doesn't work, we'll cross that bridge. I'm happy to be in this mind space for this cycle. I know what to expect, I'm not scared, I'm ready.
2 1/2 years out and still trying. How do we stay hopeful? Any suggestions? It's so hard. I expect not to be pregnant now. It makes the letdown month after month so much easier. I don't cry much anymore when I get my period. I just expect it. A few weeks back I decided to stop trying so hard. No more acupuncture, herbs, teas, vitamins. I just don't want to keep putting in effort, time, money, etc when it hasn't worked. So this month we just said fuck it and whatever happens happens. I'm starting IVF anyway if and when I get my period. We decided to try a new clinic- and this one isn't having me do a rest down before the cycle. So I just start right with my period. Time to shake things up a little, when things aren't working, change it up.
I am still having bad days mixed with good days. There are moments where I stop dead in my tracks and think- wait, did my baby really die? I still can't fathom it sometimes. I also cannot believe I can't seem to get pregnant. I know everyone in this IF world thinks that- but after our loss, it just seems so unfair. I got pregnant easily the first time, no issues. I wasn't so young either. How many times can I say this? but its 3 years since Silas was conceived. We're in that phase of his pregnancy where it was so new and so exciting, but 3 friggin years ago! So long ago. I want to feel that again so badly it hurts.
I am going to do restorative yoga, just like the NY times article said to do. (yeah yeah I'm a yogi, I should know this but I generally don't do restorative). I'm going to stay calm and not stress. Even when I'm poking myself with needles day in and day out & driving almost an hour to the clinic at 6:30am on these really cold winter mornings. I'm going to breathe, and relax and take care of myself. (At least this is my plan).
We now have a few trips planned- Florida to see my parents, and this is immediately after we find out if this cycle worked. Then we are going to Costa Rica for my 40th and for Chris' bday and so I can do a teacher training. We also have a trip to Lake Tahoe planned for the summer for a wedding. So all of these trips are something to look forward to, regardless of whether I'm pregnant or not. I have chosen not to add that to the equation anymore. It did me no good when planning for my sister's wedding. It made it complicated and depressing.
Tomorrow is supposed to be warm, the snow is melting and our parking has reappeared. Oh, and we have the cutest new kittens – Puck & Purrsephone, have I mentioned that yet?
I choose to let these little things make me happy these days. It's all I can do to stay sane.


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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) � New Hampshire's Executive Council has voted to unanimously confirm Robert Lynn as chief justice of the state supreme court.
The council voted Wednesday.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had nominated Lynn to replace Chief Justice Linda Dalianis. She is retiring April 1 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Lynn himself turns 70 in about a year and a half.
Lynn, an associate justice on the court, worked as a federal prosecutor before becoming a Superior Court judge in 1992. He was nominated to the state Supreme Court in 2010 by Democratic Gov. John Lynch.
Lynn said his priorities as chief justice would include further implementation of the judicial system's switch electronic filing and record-keeping and working with the education department to revive the understanding of civics among young people.


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