Landsknecht

“ For mere skirmishing the Swiss and Landsknechts had arquebusiers enough, without needing to call on the masses of Gascons, &c., and pari passu with the development of this artillery, the “bands,” other than Swiss and Landsknechts, began to improve themselves into pikemen and halberdiers. At Ravenna (1512) the bands of Gascony and Picardy, as well as the French aventuriers (the “bands of Piedmont,” afterwards the second senior regiment of the French line) fought in the line of battle shoulder to shoulder with the Landsknechts. ”

“ Franck’s Chronicle. “On the destructive Lansquenets,” fol. 217. b.
[57] 1518. “This year there was a great gathering of the Landsknechts, who, as soon as they had assembled, went forth from Friesland, committed great ravages and made an incursion into the country at Gellern, and were beaten by Vernlow.” Wintzenberger, fol. 23. a. ”

“ But his character was very indifferent: he went foraging when there was no campaign, and in time of peace prepared for war by systematic billeting and plundering. It was a matter of economy to get up a war in order to provide employment for the Lanzknecht.
Hans Sachs wrote a very amusing piece in 1558, entitled, "The Devil won't let Landsknechts come to Hell." Lucifer, being in council one evening, speaks of the Lanzknecht as a new kind of man; he describes his refreshing traits of originality, and expresses a desire to have one. ”

“ Francis, misled by Bonnivet, now rashly left his strong entrenchments, and determined to accept the offer of battle. The open ground at first favoured his artillery, and the movements of the men-at-arms. The Imperialists wavered in the first assault, and the King, assured of victory, cried, ‘To-day I will call myself Duke of Milan.’ But Pescara reformed his Spanish infantry; the German landsknechts under Frundsberg supported them, and the French men-at-arms were driven back. ”

“ The square in front of the house was gradually emptied, and if Dernburg were once there in the midst of his officers, he would be also in safety. If Runeck, then, remained at his side, the whole affair would wind up peacefully. But this did not at all fit into Landsfeld's plan, and again he struck in.
"What means this?" he cried in a sharp stentorian voice. "Our delegate takes part against us, and ranges himself on the enemy's side, does he? Herr Runeck! your place is with us. You have to represent us--or do you mean to turn traitor?" ”

“ Now Runeck lost the moderation that he had hitherto found it hard enough to preserve in face of Landsfeld's effrontery.
"You yourselves are traitors and villains if you assault the man who has helped you in every way that he could," he thundered. "Back from him! whoever touches him, I shall strike to the ground!" ”

“ Dernburg got up and stood close in front of him.
"Why did you come back to Odensburg, if you knew that the difference between us was an irreconcilable one? You did not need the position that I offered you. The whole world stood open to you. Yet why do I ask? The thing was to prepare for the contest with me; to undermine the ground upon which I stand; to betray me first on my own soil, and then strike----"
"No, I did not do that!" impetuously declared Runeck. "When I came here, nobody dreamed of the possibility of my election, and I least of all. Landsfeld was alone in our eye. ”

“ Wegstetten's face wore a rather self-satisfied smile. "One must speak up for oneself, and not hide one's light under a bushel! Better say too much than too little. In doing one's superior officer a small service, one may be doing the greatest of all to oneself."
Landsberg said to himself, with a sneer: "The man prates about that whipper-snapper of a gunner nearly as much as about my splendid firing. And so that's the celebrated Colonel von Falkenhein!" ”

“ The town has monuments to the Bavarian king, Maximilian II., and to other famous men; it contains a botanical garden and a public park. On a hill overlooking Landshut is the castle of Trausnitz, called also Burg Landshut, formerly a stronghold of the dukes of Lower Bavaria, whose burial-place was at Seligenthal also near the town. The original building was erected early in the 13th century, but the chapel, the oldest part now existing, dates from the 14th century. The upper part of the castle has been made habitable. The industries of Landshut are not important ”

“ He gradually worked up a genuine hatred of Güntz, and this hatred took an important place in his previously empty life. He vowed Güntz must stand in front of his pistol, even if it cost him his officer's sword-knot. With every reprimand this fury increased, till Landsberg determined to pick a quarrel with Güntz and somehow positively insult him, when a duel would be unavoidable. ”

“ Landsberg murmured: "Yes, sir," and looked out for another victim.
During the week the recruits in Room IX. had got to know each other better. The band of comradeship had wound itself imperceptibly around them, and within it some closer, more cordial friendships had sprung up.
The most varied types of men found themselves thrown together.
If, in the evening, the fat brewer happened for once not to be resting his tired body in sleep after the fatigues of the day, he would squat down near Listing, who had been a wanderer and a vagabond. ”

“ The Martinswand is a grand mountain, being one of the spurs of the greater Sonnstein, and rises precipitously, looming, massive and lofty, like a very fortress for giants, where it stands right across that road which, if you follow it long enough, takes you through Zell to Landeck,—old, picturesque, poetic Landeck, where Frederick of the Empty Pockets rhymed his sorrows in ballads to his people,—and so on by Bludenz into Switzerland itself, by as noble a highway as any traveller can ever desire to traverse on a summer's day. ”

“ No man in love, or nearing the border-land of tumult, could smile like that. She was a guest in a box beside the King’s, the one allotted to Lola Montez during her brief reign in Bavaria, when Ludwig I was king. She too had been elevated to the Bavarian aristocracy, and no royalty won more than a passing glance when Countess Landsfeldt sat magnificently in this box, flashing her bold black eyes at the patricians that feared and snubbed her; far less clever than Styr, few doors had opened to her. ”

“ Never again would I have gone voluntarily to Odensburg, and I cannot stay here either, my position is an untenable one, as I foresaw."
"And nevertheless you will be obliged to remain," said Landsfeld dryly. "This Odensburg is like an impregnable fortress, that defies all attacks. The old man has made his people tame, with his schools and infirmaries and funds for the poor, they dread to lose the good berths they have, and, above all, they have an incurable fear of their tyrant--the cowards! ”

“ I cannot help thinking that the wide-spread popularity of Sir Edwin Landseer in England is not only a credit to that manliness of national character which expresses itself in a love of out-of-door sports, and of the animals which share in these sports, but is also honourable as an evidence of the kindly satisfaction with which a matter of fact and plain-spoken race recognise in their four-footed allies attributes which constitute them far more than useful dependants—privileged and cherished comrades. ”

“ The amazement of the frontier guard at the mad English motorist, the puncture which caused delay, and finally the hotel where I now sat and waited. Then my thoughts switched on to Sonale; it seemed so strange that I should be here in the Bornian capital, in the same place where Irma lived. I wished that I had asked Landsberg to find out the way to the Palace, and the next moment was pleased that I hadn't. I wondered whether it would be possible to obtain audience with the Princess without allowing my identity to become known. ”

“ The queen’s Journal of Life in the Highlands frequently mentions him, and we are sure that if we could read Landseer’s diary it would tell us many interesting things of the queen and her family. Naturally it followed that an artist thus favored by the queen would be patronized by the nobility, and it is true that much of Landseer’s time, both as an artist and as a gentleman of society, was passed in the company of people of the highest positions in Great Britain; and with the one exception of Sir Joshua Reynolds, no artist in England was ever visited by so many people of rank. ”

“ The revolutionary party was gathering strength in the winter of 1847-8. Any rod was good enough to beat a King with, and no means or agents were to be despised which would weaken his authority, and the respect in which he was held by his subjects. As to the Countess of Landsfeld, she had played her part: she had struck a mortal blow at the Jesuits, she had kept Bavaria in leash while Switzerland throttled the Sonderbund. Now, the Liberals could do without her. Her downfall would involve the King’s. ”

“ Ludwig ran an exploring finger down the columns of a gazetteer. There he saw two names, Landshut and Feldberg, that struck him as suggestive. Combined, they made up Landsfeld. Nothing could be better.
"I have it," he said. "Countess of Landsfeld, I salute you!"
Thereupon the Court archivist was instructed to prepare the necessary document:
"We, Ludwig, King of Bavaria, etc., hereby make public to all concerned that We have resolved to raise Maria von Porres and Montez, of noble Spanish descent, to the dignity of Countess of Landsfeld of this Our kingdom. ”

“ I tell you, then, that the conditions imposed by you before the resumption of work are shameful and degrading. I declare the man that submits to them to be a coward and traitor."
"And I declare that I have nothing to do with you or the like of you," cried Dernburg, extremely provoked by this challenge. "I made conditions for my workmen, to whom alone I shall re-open the works--with men of your stamp I have nothing at all to do."
Landsfeld started up, enraged. "With men of my stamp? We are indeed only worms in the eyes of this high and mighty lord? Comrades! ”

“ Once for all, I'll not stand having that man slandered in my presence."
"Oho, you speak in that tone, do you?" cried Landsfeld, now irritated in his turn. "You take sides with him against us? It only shows how tame living the life of a lord makes one, if he once gets a taste of it."
"Take heed, else you might learn that I am anything but tame," said Egbert, more quietly, but in a threatening tone. "I repeat it, I'll submit to nothing of the sort, for it has nothing to do with our cause. Either you will omit these personal attacks upon Dernburg or----"
"Or?" ”

“ My best officer, one of the best, most excellent of men, against a lazy ne'er-do-weel! God knows that laws are sometimes utterly unreasonable, and many of our ideas are equally senseless. I have racked my brains to find a way out of this difficulty, and it seems impossible. I know that Landsberg's real reason is military antagonism; but despite that, I dare not interfere."
The colonel stopped suddenly right in front of the lieu-tenant, and looking him squarely in the eyes, asked: "Do you really think that Güntz's honour is affected?"
Reimers was silent. ”

“ At last Reimers, who was commanding the battery during a brief absence of the captain, put an end to this little game.
"Tell me, Landsberg, have you ever consulted Corporal Wiegandt about that wretched Klitzing?"
"No, sir," answered Landsberg.
Reimers called Wiegandt to him.
"What's the matter with Klitzing?" he inquired.
The corporal replied: "Beg pardon, sir; the man means thoroughly well and takes great pains; but I think he is far too delicate."
"Very good, Wiegandt," said Reimers, and dismissed him. Then he turned seriously and officially to Landsberg. ”

“ John Landseer was a F.S.A. and engraver to the king (William IV) , and attained an honourable reputation as an engraver, an antiquary, a writer on art, and a champion of his profession, but it has been said that his chief work was the bringing up of his three distinguished sons, Thomas, Charles, and Edwin. Out of eleven other children four daughters only lived to maturity: Jane (Mrs. Charles Christmas) , Anna Maria, Jessica [q. v.] , and Emma (Mrs. Mackenzie) . A portrait of him by his son Sir Edwin Landseer was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840. ”

“ Neither Landsfeld nor any other person would have had the least prospect of success. Where the matter in hand was to unseat me the plan would have been wrecked at the very outset. You are the son of a workman, have grown up among my people, gone forth from among their midst, and, in short, they are all proud of you. If you make it clear to them that I am, at bottom, a tyrant, who has been oppressing them and consuming all their substance all these years, if you promise them a return of the golden age--it takes hold upon and leads the people astray--you they will believe, perhaps ”

“ But Güntz shook off his doubts and depression of spirits, and said to Reimers:
"Look here, my boy, I shall have to make that Landsberg eat humble-pie; there's more than one way of doing it. The worst of it is, though, that the fellow is not an exception, but just a representative of the whole species of decorative officers; and in the end it will be little enough use if one of them is brought to book for once in a way. Directly a more lenient officer is in command the whole thing will begin over again. ”

“ Unfortunately it happened that Landsfeld, with Fallner, was in immediate proximity to him. There, in front of the superintendent's building, where they had cooped in the officers, the rashest of his followers had found themselves together, the Socialist leader had taken his stand. Dernburg's appearance seemed to him to be neither surprising nor undesired; on the contrary, there flashed into his eyes a look as of satisfaction, as he whispered to Fallner, who was constantly at his side, as a sort of adjutant:
"There is the old man! ”