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4-3 Ethical Reasoning Applied to the Law 65
Ronald M. Dworkin 67
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 4.1 Marriage as a
Human Right 68

Case Study: Educating Children 69


Readings
Plato, The Symposium 71
Justice Anthony Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas
(majority opinion) and Justice Antonin Scalia
(dissenting opinion) (2003) 74

elkor/Photos.com
5. PERSONAL FREEDOMS 78
Overview 79
5-1 Personal Freedoms 80
3-2 “Personhood” and Evolving Medical
5-2 Philosophical Methods 80
Technologies 43
5-2a The Harm Principle 81
3-3 Applying Kantian and Utilitarian 5-2b Paternalism 81
Reasoning 44 5-2c Legal Moralism 82
3-3a Kantian Reasoning 44 5-2d General Considerations 82
3-3b Utilitarian Reasoning 45
5-3 Applying Philosophical Approaches 82
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 3.1 Stem Cell John Stuart Mill 84
research’s Destructiveness 45
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 5.1 Marriage as a
3-4 Ethical Reasoning Applied to the Law 47 Human Right 85
Judith Jarvis Thomson 50 Case Study: Legalizing Marijuana 87
Case Study: The End of Life 50 Readings
Readings John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) 88
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Bertrand Russell, Proposed Roads
(1265–1274) 52 to Freedom (1918) 93
David Human, Essay on Suicide
(c. 1755?) 54 THINKING IT THROUGH 2 96

THINKING IT THROUGH 1 58 6. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 98


Overview 99
4. MARRIAGE, THE FAMILY, AND SEXUALITY 60
6-1 Freedom of Expression Examples 100
Overview 61
6-2 Major Philosophical Approaches 100
4-1 Family Life and Privacy and Liberty 62
6-2a The Harm Principle 101
4-2 Reasoning Tools and Privacy and Liberty 6-2b Paternalism 102
in Families 63 6-2c Legal Moralism 102
4-2a Marriage 63
6-3 Applying Philosophical Approaches 102
4-2b Children in the Family 64
4-2c Education of Children 64 6-4 Exceptions to the Right of Freedom
of Expression 103

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
Joel Feinberg 104 8-2 Philosophical Approaches for Analyzing
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 6.1 Protection Discrimination 135
From Hate Speech 105 8-3 Applications to Contemporary Issues 135
Case Study: Free Speech for CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 8.1 Race, Gender,
neo-Nazis? 106 and Opportunity 137
Readings Bernard Boxill 138
Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Case Study: Reparations for Groups Held
The Spirit of Laws (1748) 107 in Slavery 139
John Milton, Aeropagitica: For the Liberty Readings
of Unlicenc’d Printing (1644) 109 Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication
of the Rights of Woman (1792) 140
7. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 112
Frederick Douglass, Reconstruction
Overview 114 (1866) 142
7-1 Religious Freedoms Today 114
7-1a Legal Protection and Intolerance 114 9. HEALTH CARE 144
7-1b Religious Belief and Practice 114 Overview 145
7-1c Freedom of Religion and Separation
of Church and State 115 9-1 Current Issues in Health Care 146
9-1a Health Care: A Right or a Commodity 146
7-2 Major Philosophical Approaches 115 9-1b Stem Cell Research 147
7-3 Applying Philosophical 9-1c Genetic Engineering 148
Approaches 116 9-1d Testing 148
9-1e Transplants 148
7-4 Exceptions to the Right of Religious
Freedom 117 9-2 Philosophical Approaches for Analyzing
Health Care Issues 149
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 7.1 Religious
Freedom in Speech and Action 118

William James 119


Case Study: Polygamy and Religious
Freedom 119
Readings
John Locke, A Letter Concerning
Toleration (1689) 121
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in
America (1835) 123

THINKING IT THROUGH 3 127

8. DISCRIMINATION 130
Overview 131
8-1 The Nature of
apply pictures / Alamy Limited

Discrimination 132
8-1a Education 132
8-1b Employment 133
8-1c Housing and Credit 134

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
9-3 Applications to Contemporary Issues 149 10-2c Prevention 170
9-3a Health Care 149 10-2d Rehabilitation 170
9-3b Stem Cell Research 149 10-2e Protection of Society 170
9-3c Genetic Engineering 150 10-3 From Theory to Justification 171
9-3d Testing 151 10-3a Retribution 171
9-3e Transplants 151 10-3b Deterrence 171
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 9.1 Medical 10-3c Prevention 171
Research’s Conflict with Life 152 10-3d Rehabilitation 171

Frances Kamm 153 10-4 DNA Testing’s Impact 172


Case Study: Research on Human Subject: 10-5 Juveniles and the Mentally
The Guatemala Experiments 154 Impaired 173
Readings 10-6 Capital Punishment and Fairness 173
Arthur L. Caplan, Testimony on Synthetic
Biology (2010) 155 10-7 Capital Punishment for Other
Crimes 174
Karen Rothenberg, Protecting Workers from
Genetic Discrimination (2007) 159 CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 10.1 Punishment
for Murder 175
THINKING IT THROUGH 4 163
10-8 Legal and Ethical Reasoning
10. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 166 Comparison 177
Overview 167 Hugo Adam Bedau 178
10-1 The Nature of Punishment 168 Case Study: Capital Punishment 179
10-2 Theories of Punishment 168 Readings
10-2a Retribution 169
John Stuart Mill, “In Support of Capital
10-2b Deterrence 170
Punishment” (1868) 180
Justice Thurgood Marshall, Gregg v.
Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, dissenting opinion
(1976) 184

11. COMPUTER ETHICS 188


Overview 190
11-1 Major Ethical Issues 190
11-1a Privacy 190
11-1b Harassment 191
11-1c Free Speech 191
11-1d The Technological “Divide” 191
11-1e Intellectual Property 192
11-2 Applying Philosophical
Approaches 192
11-3 Applications to Contemporary
GerritdeHeus/ANP/age fotostock

Issues 193
11-3a Privacy 193
11-3b Harassment 193
11-3c Free Speech 194
11-3d Technological “Divide” 195
11-3e Intellectual Property 196

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 11.1 Fee or Free 13-3 Application to Ethical Issues 232
to Own? 197 13-3a Jus ad bellum 232
13-3b Jus in bello 234
Alan Turing 198
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 13.1 A Justification
Case Study: Cyberstalking 199
for War 236
Readings
Gregory Crane, “Reading in the Age Michael Walzer 237
of Google” (2005) 200 Case Study: Racial Profiling in the Age
Samuel Butler, Erewhon, “The Book of Terrorism 238
of the Machines” (1872) 204 Readings
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
THINKING IT THROUGH 5 209 (1265–1274) 239
12. ANIMALS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 212 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651) 241

Overview 214 THINKING IT THROUGH 6 244


12-1 Major Ethical Issues 214
12-1a Animal Ethics 214
12-1b Environmental Issues 215 PART III: ETHICS IN THE
12-2 Applying Philosophical Approaches 215 PROFESSIONS
12-3 Applications to Contemporary Issues 217
12-3a Animal Ethics 217 BRIEFING 1: BUSINESS ETHICS 247
12-3b Environmental Ethics 217 B1-1 Chapters of Special Interest 248
Peter Singer 218 B1-1a Freedom of Expression (Chapter 6) 248
CRITICAL THINKING TABLE 12.1 Equal Rights B1-1b Discrimination (Chapter 8) 249
for Animals 219 B1-1c Computer Ethics (Chapter 11) 249
B1-2 Professional Ethics in Business 249
Case Study: Gulf Oil Spills: Job, the
Environment, and Animals 220 BRIEFING 2: HEALTH CARE ETHICS 250
Readings
B2-1 Chapters of Special Interest 251
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “The
B2-1a Human Life: Beginnings and Endings
Birth of EPA” (1985) 221
(Chapter 3) 251
Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to
the Principles of Morals and Legislation
(1781) 226

13. WAR AND THE WORLD 228


Overview 229
13-1 Major Ethical Issues 230
13-1a Jus ad bellum 230
13-1b Jus in bello 230
13-2 Philosophical Approaches 231
Lisa F. Young/Shutterstock.com

13-2a Utilitarianism 231


13-2b Kantianism 231
13-2c Just War Theory, Realism,
and Pacifism 232

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
B2-1b Personal Freedoms (Chapter 5) 251 BRIEFING 6: LEGAL ETHICS 258
B2-1c Health Care (Chapter 9) 251
B6-1 Chapters of Special Interest 258
B2-2 Professional Ethics in Health Care 251 B6-1a Personal Freedoms (Chapter 5) 258
B6-1b Freedom of Expression (Chapter 6) 258
BRIEFING 3: EDUCATION ETHICS 252 B6-1c Computer Ethics (Chapter 11) 259
B3-1 Chapters of Special Interest 252 B6-2 Professional Ethics in Legal Careers 259
B3-1a Marriage, Family, and Sexuality
(Chapter 4) 252 BRIEFING 7: CRIMINAL JUSTICE ETHICS 260
B3-1b Religious Freedom (Chapter 7) 253
B7-1 Chapters of Special Interest 260
B3-1c Discrimination (Chapter 8) 253
B7-1a Personal Freedoms (Chapter 5) 260
B3-2 Professional Ethics in Education 253 B7-1b Capital Punishment (Chapter 10) 261
B7-1c Computer Ethics (Chapter 11) 261
BRIEFING 4: JOURNALISM ETHICS 254
B7-2 Professional Ethics in Criminal
B4-1 Chapters of Special Interest 254 Justice 261
B4-1a Freedom of Expression (Chapter 6) 254
B4-1b Computer Ethics (Chapter 11) 254
B4-1c War and the World (Chapter 13) 254
B4-2 Professional Ethics in Journalism 255

BRIEFING 5: RELIGIOUS ETHICS 256


B5-1 Chapters of Special Interest 256
B5-1a Marriage, Family, and Sexuality
(Chapter 4) 256
B5-1b Religious Freedom (Chapter 7) 257
B5-1c Capital Punishment (Chapter 10) 257
B5-2 Professional Ethics in Religion 257

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
PART I THEORIES AND REASONING
1
CHAPTER

What Is Ethics?
How Do We Develop an
2399/Shutterstock

Understanding of Ethics?
At the descriptive level, certainly, you would expect different
cultures to develop different sorts of ethics and obviously they
have; that doesn’t mean that you can’t think of overarching
ethical principles you would want people to follow in all kinds
of places.
Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp
Professor of Bioethics, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University

The problem is that no ethical system has ever achieved


consensus. Ethical systems are completely unlike mathematics
or science. This is a source of concern.
Daniel C. Dennett, Austin B. Fletcher
Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University

2
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
L E A R N I N G O U T C O M E S

After you complete this unit, you should be able to:

1-1 Explain what philosophy and


ethics are, and how ethics fits into
philosophical thinking.

1-2 State a working definition of what


ethics is in everyday life.

1-3 Summarize different meanings of what


people consider ethics to be.

1-4 Identify ethical issues that are currently


most important to you.

1-5 State goals you would like to


accomplish this term to develop an
understanding of ethics based on
personal exploration.

S
hould we stop to help a stranger who seems to be in decide which actions are right or wrong? In this chap-
trouble? Should we tell the clerk at the grocery store ter, we will start by considering what philosophy itself
that she has given us more change than we deserve? is, especially because it is rarely studied in high school
Should we submit a paper in a college course that a friend and is thus a new subject for almost all college students.
wrote for us? Should we donate some of our hard-earned We will then explore various ways of understanding
money to charity to help those worse off than we are? We all ethics that we will refer to in the balance of this book.
face ethical choices every day of our lives. Ethics examines the We will look at various approaches to ethics that have
various ways in which we can work to answer those questions
in our own lives. Our goal here will not be to provide
a simple checklist of rules that will answer all of our
questions but to develop ways of reasoning through
the myriad ethical challenges each of us faces. What do you think?
Ethics is an attainable, objective set of reasoning tools for
Overview deciding how to act in life.
Ethics is the branch of philosophy that studies Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
value in human behavior. What does it mean 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
to be a good or bad person? How should we

3
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
4 PA RT I THEORIES AND REASONING

been promoted in the history


KEY TERMS
metaphysics: the study of western philosophy. There
1-1 WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
of reality, what exists
is no one “right” way to pursue WHAT IS ETHICS?
epistemology: theory of ethical inquiry and consider-
knowledge ing different approaches will 1-1a M aj or Br anches
value theory: the study help us better understand the of P hi l os ophy
of values, such as value ways in which we can address
in human behavior (ethics) Traditionally, philosophy pursues timeless questions stud-
contemporary issues most
and value in art (aesthet- ied for thousands of years that fall into three major cate-
effectively.
ics); sometimes called gories. First is metaphysics, or the study of reality, which
axiology
We will ask you to exam-
asks what is real? What exists? Is physical existence the
ine what you already know
only reality? Are there also nonphysical realities? Ideas
or might believe about ethics
or concepts that exist independently of concrete things?
as you begin the course, and whether
Souls? Minds? In contemporary life, for
you might follow specific ethical rules
example, metaphysical issues arise when
and how you arrived at them. We will
also ask you to identify those ethical
Philosophers we ask how “virtual reality” is different
from “reality.”
issues that are most important to you study classic texts Second is epistemology, or the the-
at this stage of your life. We will then
ory of knowledge, which asks what we
ask you to select a particular issue that … because these know and how we know it. These ques-
you might be willing to discuss with
your class as we work through the works … give us tions are broader and more wide-ranging
than you might encounter in a course in
course and how it might be addressed
with the reasoning tools we will learn valuable ideas and psychology or education. Do we acquire
knowledge only from our sense percep-
about in this book. Finally, we will ask
you to consider what goals you would
insights for how tions? Are we born with innate ideas?
How do we explain knowledge about
most like to reach in developing a solid
understanding of ethics and how it
to develop our human-created disciplines, such as logic
and mathematics?
can help you deal with issues you face own views. Third, value theory (sometimes called
personally. The chapter will end with
axiology) studies value and the distinc-
excerpts from The Meno, a famous
tion between value and fact. One branch
dialogue by Plato, on the subject of whether virtue can
of this discipline includes the study of values in human
be taught.
behavior, or ethics (defined more extensively further in
the chapter). Another includes the exploration of values in
the realm of art. What makes a work of art good or bad?
Are aesthetic judgments objective or are
they hopelessly subjective?

1-1b P hi l os ophy a s
a M ethod of I n q u i r y
Philosophy is traditionally taught as
intellectual history, which studies the
writings of many great philosophers
who have addressed these classic
questions, and this remains a legiti-
mate approach to studying philoso-
phy. Philosophers study classic texts,
corepics/Shutterstock

not because they necessarily have the


“right answers,” but because these
works have proposed ways of analyzing
issues that give us valuable ideas and
insights for how to develop our own
Should we stop to help a stranger who seems to be in trouble? views.

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 1 What Is Ethics? 5

ries in testing out different


solutions to ethical dilemmas.
Ethics instruction avoids
Should we preaching, propaganda, or
tell the clerk dogmatic assertion of just one
at the gro- viewpoint. It steers clear of
cery store simplistic rules for conduct in
that he has life. It shuns the idea that there
given us are easy “right answers,” espe-
cially to challenging ethical
more change
dilemmas. Although professors
than we
Hemera Technologies

of ethics courses understand-


deserve? ably have personal views on the
issues considered, they typi-
cally try to play devil’s advocate
to encourage students to look
Increasingly in recent decades, philosophers have refo- at all sides of an issue and not assume they must agree
cused their understanding and teaching of philosophy to with the professor to get a good grade in the course.
emphasize methods over content. Philosophers step back Philosophers sometimes like to joke, when asked in the
and ask the “big picture” questions. They look for broad career-oriented educational world, what can you do with
perspectives and connections. What does science have philosophy? What, they answer, can you do without it? If
in common with art? With religion? And philosophers philosophy today is centrally concerned with good reason-
remain especially focused on good reasoning, or critical ing and independent thinking, they surely have a point!
thinking. They closely examine key terms and concepts; far
beyond just looking something up in a dictionary, philoso- In CourseMate, watch a video and take the quiz.
phers like to peel back the layers of such complex terms
as beauty, goodness, truth, or justice and explore in great
detail the many nuances of these important concepts. With 1-2 WHAT IS ETHICS IN
this emphasis on good reasoning, philosophers explore
just about any possible subject matter. Thus, we have EVERYDAY LIFE?
witnessed the emergence of such areas of investigation as
philosophy of sport, philosophy of religion, philosophy of Every time we confront a choice that impacts the life of
science, philosophy of art, and so on. In all of these areas, a person, we are facing an ethical choice. This might be a
philosophy emphasizes good reasoning. decision family members have to make when a loved one
has been in a serious accident and is on life support equip-
ment. Is it ethical to “pull the plug” and cause that life to
1 - 1 c Wha t Philosophy
end? If our family member has never given us any instruc-
A c complishes tion, is it okay to agree to have their organs donated?
Although any philosophy course hopes to impart some We sometimes have to make decisions that impact
factual knowledge, terminology, and context of the disci- persons we have never met and probably never will. If
pline, its more important purpose is to help acquire the we pollute the environment, we might impact the health
skills of philosophical inquiry and analysis, good reason- of persons living in our town now or in the future. Do we
ing, and critical thinking. These skills are helpful in pursu- have an ethical obligation to them?
ing any other subject in college and beyond. Philosophy Some would argue that our ethical obligations extend to
courses also show how to consider all sides of an issue, nonhumans, including animals. Is it ethical to eat meat if that
emphasize independent reasoning over dogmatic solu- requires the termination of the life of a nonhuman animal?
tions, and thus open minds to unknown horizons. And our ethical decisions can also arise in making
In ethics courses, students should expect to become choices that seem to impact only our own lives. If we
skilled at identifying ethical problems and framing smoke or drink or use illegal drugs or attempt suicide,
them in ways that facilitate helpful analysis and dis- are we harming only ourselves in violation of some ethical
cussion. Students should be able to see alternative duty to ourselves? Are these actions truly “victimless
solutions and understand the reasoning in support crimes” that hurt only one self?
of different approaches to those ethical problems. The most difficult ethical challenges often involve a
Students should learn to apply competing ethical theo- clash of principles we hold dear. We might believe strongly

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
6 PA RT I THEORIES AND REASONING

1-3 VARIOUS MEANINGS


OF ETHICS
Most philosophers consider moral philosophy to be
synonymous with ethics. But you will likely encounter
some who use the word morality to mean very specifically
an ethical question involving sexual behavior. As with much
of our language, different words can be used in different
ways and there is no single “right” way to use these terms.
The important thing is to look carefully at the context to see
how someone is using a term and get clear on that usage to
avoid unnecessary detours away from the substance of, and
irrelevant disagreements in, a discussion.
You have likely met some people who consider ethics
to be the concern only of fools. “Every man for himself,”

Michael Newman/PhotoEdit
they say, and who cares about anybody else. But this misun-
derstands what ethics is as a field of study. Ethical theories
encompass a wide range of often inconsistent views on
what is ethical. Egoism is the theory that says that the only
factor to take into account in deciding what is ethical is the
consequences for oneself and nobody else. Altruism is the
Should we donate some of our hard-earned opposite, claiming that the only thing to consider is the con-
money to charity to help those worse off than sequences for others, never oneself. Utilitarianism holds
we are? that we should consider the consequences for everyone,
including ourselves, in deciding what is ethical. All three of
these theories are examples of consequentialism, as they
that it is wrong to lie but also believe it is wrong to hurt all determine right and wrong action based on the conse-
the feelings of a close friend. If your roommate puts on an quences of those actions. The field of ethics does not say
atrocious outfit for a job interview, should you tell the truth which of these positions is “correct.” Rather ethics studies
and hurt your roommate’s
feelings? Or should you lie
and say it is a great outfit
for an interview and save You find
your hurtful comments for
out that the
another day?
girlfriend of
We make decisions all
day long that impact many
a long-time
people. Yet we do not realis- friend who
tically have time to stop and is your
reason through every deci- roommate
sion the way we might do in has cheated
a philosophy class. Instead, on him with
we pursue guiding princi- another
ples that we establish as we roommate.
mature and that help us make What do
good decisions on a regular you do? Do
basis. As we think through you speak
a new dilemma, we learn to
up? Do you
Gary Conner/PhotoEdit

feel more comfortable pur-


keep quiet
suing the same action in the
future, without starting from
about it?
scratch in our consideration
of the problem.

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 1 What Is Ethics? 7

the pros and cons of these different approaches to ethics In CourseMate, practice what KEY TERMS
through reasoning. you learned by taking the moral philosophy: a
synonym for ethics
Some think that ethical concerns are relevant only if chapter quiz.
others know what we are doing and we might get caught ethics: the study of
human conduct impact-
doing the wrong thing, that is, where consequences are
of importance only if they risk exposing unethical actions 1-4 MOST ing other humans
egoism: the ethical the-
to public scrutiny. Being known as an unethical business
person would have severe consequences on one’s reputation
IMPORTANT ory that right and wrong
action depends on conse-
that would discourage future clients. But we might consider ETHICAL quences for oneself only
whether unethical conduct in private might catch up with
us some day. The convicted con man Bernard Madoff was
ISSUES FOR altruism: the ethical
theory that right and wrong
believed to be an ethical person because he donated much YOU TODAY action depends on conse-
of his wealth to worthy charities, bringing in still more quences for other persons,
business. But his secret unethical behavior eventually was Ethical issues uppermost in our but not for oneself

revealed, undoing whatever reputation he once had as an minds vary considerably depend- utilitarianism: the ethi-
ethical person. In addition, one’s hidden unethical behavior ing on our age, our life situation, cal theory that right and
wrong action depends on
might also become a burden that one’s and individual
consequences for every-
conscience must struggle with, causing circumstances. one, including oneself
one stress and forcing one to engage in [E]thics studies In high school
consequentialism:
further unethical behavior to keep other you might have any ethical theory that
unethical actions secret. the pros and cons been tempted determines right and
Philosophers sometimes like to look to cheat on an wrong action based on
at ordinary language to further unpack of these different exam, but wor- consequences (including
altruism, egoism, and
what we mean by certain key concepts, ried about the
that is, help give light to any complexi- approaches . . . consequences
utilitarianism)

ties in these concepts and clarify these if you were


intricacies. Consider how you and your through caught. If your parents are struggling
friends use the words ethics and ethical financially, you might wonder if you
person and what you mean by it.
reasoning. should forgo college and work to help

Why is
cheating
on a test
wrong?
lisegagne/iStockphoto.com

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
8 PA RT I THEORIES AND REASONING

support the family for the time being. You might be facing humanities are a mere sideshow that will not improve
difficult choices if your parents are elderly and you need their employability.
to help them decide whether to sign a do not resuscitate Philosophy professors firmly believe that the reason-
(DNR) order at a nursing home. If you were raped by an ing skills you will develop this term will be helpful to you
uncle, you might be struggling to decide whether or not to in all of your courses and in your current and future life.
seek an abortion if you become pregnant. You might also But you will also find this course more than an annoying
have struggled simply about whether to tell anyone about hurdle to get beyond if you think about specific goals that
what happened. will help you develop your personal ethics.
Some of the ethical issues facing you personally are This means giving more thought to the most urgent
private and no one should force you to announce them to ethical challenges in your life at the present time. But
others, whether classmates or other acquaintances. it also means coming to a better understanding of how
But, for the purposes of this course, you should think to talk with friends and family about ethical issues that
of some ethical issues in your life now that you are com- concern you. Perhaps you and your friends and family dis-
fortable discussing with the class and instructor. You will agree strongly on the morality of abortion, euthanasia, or
be asked to identify one particular issue to be the spring- eating meat. Developing your personal ethical reasoning
board for personal reflection as the course progresses. tools also means giving thought to how to accommodate
You will have an opportunity to try out different reasoning yourself to an increasingly diverse population, with widely
tools and compare your approaches with those of class- differing views on ethics, religion, politics, and a range
mates facing similar dilemmas. of contemporary issues. Perhaps you feel strongly about
a certain issue, such as environmental protection, animal
In CourseMate, listen to the audio summary of the
rights, or the legalization of marijuana or marriage equal-
chapter.
ity and want to be a more effective advocate in convincing
others of the rightness of your views. Perhaps you are at
1-5 YOUR PERSONAL a point in life where you are questioning traditional reli-
gious views of your friends and family and want to either
GOALS clarify and strengthen those views or gradually move away
from them and develop your own spirituality.
Virtually every college requires students to take a range As with your most pressing ethical issues, some of
of courses to broaden their education and give them your goals are personal and confidential, but many ethi-
the skills that will help them succeed in whatever career cal issues you might be able to share with classmates and
they pursue. Philosophy is rarely a course students rush friends and will feel comfortable discussing in class. For
to take on their own, especially with understandable example, discussing whether or not you have had an abor-
concerns about landing a good job after college and wor- tion might be a topic you want to keep private and you
ries that courses in philosophy and the other traditional have that right. But what to do when you see another
student cheating on an exam might be an issue easier to
tackle with the class. In chapter 2, you will be asked to
set specific goals to help you address the ethical issue you
have identified. You will also be introduced to a tool, the
critical thinking table, which will demonstrate, for each of
the Part II chapters, how to apply methodical reasoning to
work through an ethical claim. Step by step, an example
pertaining to one of the chapter’s topics will be examined:
Michael Doolittle/Alamy

a sample claim will be subjected to the scrutiny outlined


in the left-hand side of the table. From examining and
clarifying key terms and concepts through confirming
that the conclusions you draw are logical, the right-hand
side explanations related to the chapter example will
You realize that a threatening post on a
bring to light the mechanisms to enforce, the techniques
famous social media outlet was authored by a
to develop, the types of questions to ask, and the pitfalls
close friend of yours. What do you do? to avoid.

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 1 What Is Ethics? 9

Plato

O
ne of the most influential philosophers of ancient Greece was Plato (429–347 B.C.E). He framed issues that shaped our
philosophical dialogue in the West for the next two millennia, and even today. He asked questions about the nature of real-
ity (“metaphysics”), knowledge (“epistemology”), and most importantly for us here, ethics. Plato urged us to think through
problems with pure reason, shunning emotion. He believed that we all possess knowledge of universal truths, even though we are not
aware of that knowledge. For Plato, philosophical dialogue is a process of bringing those univer-
sal truths to the surface of our understanding and awareness, drawing out the knowledge that
he believed we all possess.
He never gave simple answers to questions of any sort, but challenged us to think things
through for ourselves. This does not mean he was a relativist who thought any answer was
as good as the next. To the contrary, he thought that absolute truth existed and could be
achieved through reasoning. We might disagree with that strongly held position, but we can
agree with his emphasis on reasoning to work through ethical and other dilemmas.
Plato wrote in a literary form called “dialogues” in which Socrates, his own teacher,
engages in long discussions with other persons to draw out their ideas. This form of writing
may be unusual for contemporary audiences, but it serves Plato’s purpose in stressing the
long careful process of raising questions and meticulously trying to move toward knowl-

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edge by answering them. The dialogues are not like the script for a play in the theater,
but rather are an intellectual exercise intended to get at the truth on difficult questions.
Knowledge, he posits, does not consist of rules and conclusions we passively memorize
from others but is instead reasoning we draw from our own efforts. Why are Plato’s writings still pertinent
today?

CHAPTER 1 Case Study


Cheating

A
lmost all colleges and universities have honor codes 1. What is your immediate gut reaction to what you should do?
that spell out rules against cheating and plagiarism. Should you hire the same graduate student to do your written
Some include requirements that students who wit- work? Should you report your friends to the professor?
ness another student cheating have an obligation 2. Now think about the reasoning you would use to explain your
to report that student to school authorities. Imagine that two of initial gut reaction. Are you appealing to your self-interest? Are
your best friends in one of your courses have paid an advanced you worried about getting caught? Does your goal of a good
graduate student to complete the written work for the course, grade outweigh your loyalty to your friends? Does your univer-
including term papers and written assignments outside of the sity’s threat of punishment deter or d`iscourage you from taking
classroom. You are worried that the high quality of the work they a chance on cheating? Are there principles that you are relying
are submitting will hurt your grade, as the professor said that on to justify your “gut” reaction? In other words, what general
no more than 15 percent of the students in the class will get principles can you state that would support your initial reaction?
A’s for the course. You need to get a good grade in the course
yourself so you can be admitted to the very competitive program 3. Now that you have put into words your reasoning, do you want
in nursing at your university. Your friends suggest that you hire to change your mind about your decision on what you should
the same graduate student to complete your written work. Your do in this situation? What most influenced you to come to the
university’s policy says that students caught cheating can be same conclusion or to change your mind?
expelled from school. For additional case studies, please see the CourseMate for
this text.

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 1 Reading Excerpts

Reading Excerpt: Plato, The Meno least according to Socrates. Plato believed that everything has an
essence, a something that makes it what it is. Socrates pursues
INTRODUCTION the essence of “virtue” in early portions of these excerpts. Socrates
In these brief excerpts from The Meno, one of his many dialogues, also pursues his view of knowledge as recollection of knowledge
Plato asks whether virtue is a form of knowledge that can be that our souls have through eternity. These eternal concepts are
taught. Before we can answer that question, he says, we must known as Plato’s “forms” or “ideas” that exist independently of
examine what virtue is. Meno is a young man in this dialogue us, whether or not we take notice of them. This excerpt from The
with whom Socrates engages in discussion. Meno had previously Meno is adapted from a translation by Benjamin Jowett.
studied with Gorgias, a Sophist who promoted false teaching, at

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION


1. Plato claims that there is an essence to virtue. How does he 3. Reading Plato can be frustrating because he seems to raise
go about making his case? What do you think the essence of more questions than answers. Is his method of drawing out
virtue is? Could we understand the meaning of a term if it did knowledge helpful to you? Does his technique suggest differ-
not have an essence? ent ways of learning than you have previously experienced?
2. What does Plato mean by recollection? If we possess all 4. What do you think virtue means? Do you believe that virtue
knowledge already, and only need to recollect it, what means can be taught or must we all develop our own sense of what
should we use to accomplish this recollection? Has Plato virtue is?
made a persuasive case for his view of knowledge?

READING
The Essence of Virtue different kinds of them; or are they distinguished by some other
SOCRATES: . . . By the gods, Meno, be kind and tell me what you quality, such as beauty, size, or shape? How would you answer me?
think virtue is. For I will be absolutely delighted to find that I have
MENO: I should answer that bees do not differ from one another,
been mistaken, and that you and Gorgias [i.e., Meno’s teacher]
25 as bees.
5 have this knowledge, since, as I have been just saying, I never
found anybody who had. SOCRATES: And if I went on to say: That is what I want to know,
Meno; what is the quality in which they do not differ, but are all
MENO: It will not be difficult, Socrates, to answer your question. Let alike; can you answer that?
us take first the virtue of a man—he should know how to administer
the state in a way that benefits his friends and harms his enemies; MENO: I can.
10 and he must also be careful not to suffer harm himself. A woman’s 30 SOCRATES: And the same for the virtues, however many and dif-
virtue, if you wish to know about that, may also be easily described: ferent they may be, they all have a common nature which makes
her duty is to keep her house in order, and obey her husband. Every them virtues; and he who would answer the question, ‘What is
age, every condition of life, young or old, male or female, bond or free, virtue?’ would do well to have his eye fixed on that. . . . And will
has a different virtue: there are numerous virtues, and no lack of defi- virtue, as virtue, be the same, whether in a child or in a grown-up
15 nitions of them; for virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each 35 person, in a woman or in a man? . . . Then all men are good in the
of us in all that we do. And the same may be said of vice, Socrates. same way, and by participation in the same virtues?
SOCRATES: How fortunate I am, Meno! When I ask you for one MENO: This is the inference.
virtue, you present me with a swarm of them. Suppose that I carry
SOCRATES: And they surely would not have been good in the same
on the metaphor of the swarm, and ask of you, What is the nature
way, unless their virtue had been the same?
20 of the bee? and you answer that there are many kinds of bees, and
I reply: But do bees differ as bees, because there are many and 40 MENO: They would not.

10 Reading Excerpts
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
MENO: Courage and temperance and wisdom and magnanimity
are virtues; and there are many others.
SOCRATES: Yes, Meno; and again we are in the same place: in
searching for one virtue we have found many, though not in the
70 same way as before; but we have been unable to find the common
virtue which runs through them all.
MENO: Why, Socrates, even now I am not able to follow you in
the attempt to get at one common notion of virtue as of other

nikolpetr/Shutterstock
things.

[W]e have been unable


What does the metaphor of the bee used by Socrates mean?
What is important in the comparison of virtues with bees: their to find the common
individuality or their common nature or both? Why?
virtue which runs through
them all.
Justice as a Virtue
SOCRATES: Now that the sameness of all virtue has been proven,
try and remember what you and Gorgias say that virtue is. . . . 75 SOCRATES: . . . Why, did not I ask you the nature of virtue as a
whole? And you are very far from telling me this; but you declare
MENO: If you want to have one definition of them all, I do not
every action to be virtue which is done with a part of virtue; as
45 know what to say, except that virtue is the power of governing
though you had told me and I must already know the whole of
mankind.
virtue, and this too when frittered away into little pieces. And,
SOCRATES: And does this definition of virtue include all virtue? Is 80 therefore, my dear Meno, I fear that I must begin again and repeat
virtue the same in a child and in a slave, Meno? Can the child gov- the same question: What is virtue? for otherwise, I can only say,
ern his father, or the slave his master; and would he who governed that every action done with a part of virtue is virtue; what else is
50 be any longer a slave? the meaning of saying that every action done with justice is virtue?
Should I ask the question over again; for can any one who does not
MENO: I think not, Socrates.
85 know virtue know a part of virtue?
SOCRATES: No, indeed; there would be small reason in that. Yet
MENO: No, he cannot.
once more, fair friend; according to you, virtue is ‘the power of
governing;’ but shouldn’t you add ‘justly and not unjustly’?
55 MENO: Yes, Socrates; I agree; for justice is virtue. Acquiring Knowledge
MENO: And how will you enquire, Socrates, into that which you do
SOCRATES: Would you say ‘virtue,’ Meno, or ‘a virtue’?
not know? What will you suggest as the subject of enquiry? And
MENO: What do you mean? 90 if you find what you want, how will you ever know that this is the
SOCRATES: I mean as I might say about anything; that a circle, for thing which you did not know?
example, is ‘a figure’ and not simply ‘figure,’ and I speak this way SOCRATES: I know, Meno, what you mean; but just see what a
60 because there are other figures. tiresome dispute you are introducing. You argue that a man cannot
MENO: I agree; and that is just what I am saying about virtue— enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he
that there are other virtues along with justice. 95 does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to enquire; and if
not, he cannot; for he does not know the very subject about which
he is to enquire.
Other Virtues
MENO: Well, Socrates, is not my argument sound?
SOCRATES: What are they? tell me the names of them, as I would
65 tell you the names of the other figures if you asked me. SOCRATES: I think not.

Chapter 1 11
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100 MENO: Why not? SOCRATES: If the truth of all things always existed in the soul,
then the soul is immortal. Therefore be of good cheer, and try
SOCRATES: I will tell you why: I have heard from certain wise men
to recollect what you do not know, or rather what you do not
and women who spoke of things divine that—
135 remember.
MENO: What did they say?
MENO: I feel, somehow, that I like what you are saying. . . .
SOCRATES: They spoke of a glorious truth, as I conceive.
SOCRATES: Then, as we agree that a man should enquire about
105 MENO: What was it? and who were they?
that which he does not know, shall you and I make an effort to
enquire together into the nature of virtue?
Knowledge as Recollection
SOCRATES: Some of them were priests and priestesses, who
140 Is Virtue Knowledge?
had studied how they might be able to give a reason of their
MENO: By all means, Socrates. And yet I would much rather return
profession: there have been poets also, who spoke of these
to my original question, Whether in seeking to acquire virtue we
110 things by inspiration . . . and many others who were inspired.
should regard it as a thing to be taught, or as a gift of nature, or
And they say . . . that the soul of man is immortal, and at one
as coming to men in some other way?
time has an end, which is termed dying, and at another time
is born again, but is never destroyed. And the moral is, that 145 SOCRATES: Had I the command of you as well as of myself, Meno,
a man ought to live always in perfect holiness . . . . The soul, I would not have enquired whether virtue is given by instruc-
115 then, as immortal, and having been born again many times, tion or not, until we had first ascertained ‘what it is.’ . . . Let the
and having seen all things that exist, whether in this world or first hypothesis be that virtue is or is not knowledge,—in that
in the world below, has knowledge of them all; and it is no case will it be taught or not? or, as we were just now saying,
wonder that she should be able to remember all that she ever 150 ‘remembered’? For there is no use in arguing about the name.
knew about virtue, and about everything; for as all nature is But is virtue taught or not? or rather, does not every one see that
120 akin, and the soul has learned all things; there is no difficulty knowledge alone is taught?
in her eliciting or as men say learning, out of a single recollec-
tion all the rest, if a man is strenuous and does not faint; for MENO: I agree.
all enquiry and all learning is but recollection. And therefore
SOCRATES: Then if virtue is knowledge, virtue will be taught?
we ought not to listen to this sophistical argument about the
125 impossibility of enquiry: for it will make us idle; and is sweet 155 MENO: Certainly.
only to the sluggard; but the other saying will make us active
and inquisitive. In that confiding, I will gladly enquire with you SOCRATES: Then we have made a quick end to this question: if
into the nature of virtue. virtue is of such a nature, it will be taught; and if not, not?
MENO: Yes, Socrates; but what do you mean by saying that we MENO: Certainly.
130 do not learn, and that what we call learning is only a process of
recollection? Can you teach me how this is? . . . SOCRATES: The next question is, whether virtue is knowledge or
160 something else?

MENO: Yes, that appears to be the question which comes next in


order.

SOCRATES: Do we not say that virtue is a good?—This is a


Lipsky/Shutterstock

hypothesis which is not set aside.

165 MENO: Certainly.

SOCRATES: Now, if there be any sort of good which is distinct


If “what we call learning is only a process of recollection,” does
that mean that the human race could keep a record of what is
from knowledge, virtue may be that good; but if knowledge
“recollected” in a big dictionary, for instance, that could help embraces all good, then we shall be right in thinking that virtue
teach virtue? is knowledge?

12 Reading Excerpts
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
200 SOCRATES: And the same may be said of temperance and
quickness of apprehension; whatever things are learned or done
[I]f there be any sort with sense are beneficial, but when done without sense they are
of good which is distinct hurtful?

from knowledge, virtue may MENO: Very true.

be that good . . . 205 SOCRATES: And in general, all that the soul attempts or endures,
when under the guidance of wisdom, ends in happiness; but when
she is under the guidance of folly, in the opposite?
MENO: That appears to be true.
170 MENO: True.
SOCRATES: If then virtue is a quality of the soul, and is admitted
SOCRATES: And virtue makes us good?
210 to be beneficial, it must be wisdom or prudence, since none of the
MENO: Yes. things of the soul are either beneficial or hurtful in themselves, but
they are all made beneficial or hurtful by the addition of wisdom or
of folly; and therefore if virtue is beneficial, virtue must be a sort
Is Virtue Beneficial? of wisdom or prudence?
SOCRATES: And if we are good, then we are beneficial; for all good
215 MENO: I quite agree.
175 things are beneficial?
SOCRATES: And the other goods, such as wealth and the like, of
MENO: Yes.
which we were just now saying that they are sometimes good
SOCRATES: Then virtue is beneficial? and sometimes evil, do they not also become beneficial or hurtful,
accordingly as the soul guides and uses them rightly or wrongly;
MENO: That is the only inference.
220 just as the things of the soul herself are benefited when under the
SOCRATES: Then now let us see what are the things which sev- guidance of wisdom and harmed by folly?
180 erally benefit us. Health and strength, and beauty and wealth—
MENO: True.
these, and the like of these, we call beneficial?
SOCRATES: And the wise soul guides them rightly, and the foolish
MENO: True.
soul wrongly.
SOCRATES: And yet these things may also sometimes do us harm:
225 MENO: Yes.
would you not think so?
SOCRATES: And is not this universally true of human nature? All
185 MENO: Yes.
other things hang upon the soul, and the things of the soul herself
SOCRATES: And what is the guiding principle which makes them hang upon wisdom, if they are to be good; and so wisdom is inferred
beneficial or the reverse? Are they beneficial when they are rightly to be that which profits—and virtue, as we say, is beneficial?
used, and hurtful when they are not rightly used?
230 MENO: Certainly.
MENO: Certainly.
190 SOCRATES: Next, let us consider the goods of the soul: they Is Virtue Wisdom?
are temperance, justice, courage, quickness of apprehension, SOCRATES: And thus we arrive at the conclusion that virtue is
memory, magnanimity, and the like? either wholly or partly wisdom?
MENO: Surely. MENO: I think that what you are saying, Socrates, is very true.
SOCRATES: And those things which are not knowledge, but of 235 SOCRATES: But if this is true, then the good are not by nature
195 another sort, are sometimes beneficial and sometimes hurtful; good? . . . And if the good are not by nature good, are they made
as, for example, courage lacking prudence, which is only a sort of good by instruction?
confidence? When a man has no sense he is harmed by courage,
MENO: There appears to be no other alternative, Socrates. On the
but when he has sense he profits?
supposition that virtue is knowledge, there can be no doubt that
MENO: True. 240 virtue is taught.

Chapter 1 13
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Hill Street Studios/Blend Images/Jupiter Images

Were you ever taught virtue


formally when you were in
school? If no class you ever
attended was called Virtue,
was there any class that taught
a subject matter that discussed
the concept of virtue?

SOCRATES: Yes, indeed; but what if the supposition is erroneous? MENO: Not if we are right in our view. But I cannot believe,
Socrates, that there are no good men: And if there are, how did
MENO: I certainly thought just now that we were right.
they come into existence? . . .
SOCRATES: Yes, Meno; but a principle which has any soundness
SOCRATES: Good men are necessarily useful or beneficial. Were
should stand firm not only just now, but always.
265 we not right in admitting this? It must be so.
245 MENO: Well; and why are you so slow in believing that knowledge
MENO: Yes.
is virtue?
SOCRATES: And in supposing that they will be useful only if they
SOCRATES: I will try and tell you why, Meno. I do not retract the
are true guides to us of action—there we were also right?
assertion that if virtue is knowledge it may be taught; but I fear
that I have some reason in doubting whether virtue is knowledge: MENO: Yes.
250 for consider now and say whether virtue, and not only virtue but
270 SOCRATES: But when we said that a man cannot be a good guide
anything that is taught, must not have teachers and disciples?
unless he have knowledge, this we were wrong.
MENO: Surely.
Is True Opinion the Same as True Knowledge?
MENO: What do you mean by the word ‘right’?
Can Virtue Be Taught? SOCRATES: I will explain. If a man knew the way to Larisa, or
SOCRATES: And conversely, may not the art of which neither teach- 275 anywhere else, and went to the place and led others thither, would
255 ers nor disciples exist be assumed to be incapable of being taught? he not be a right and good guide?
MENO: True; but do you think that there are no teachers of virtue? MENO: Certainly.
SOCRATES: I have certainly often enquired whether there were SOCRATES: And a person who had a right opinion about the way,
any, and taken great pains to find them, and have never suc- but had never been and did not know, might be a good guide also,
ceeded; . . . 280 might he not?
260 SOCRATES: Then virtue cannot be taught? MENO: Certainly.

14 Reading Excerpts
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
raw recruits, with the remnants of the men who had made the
disastrous autumn campaign. Forty miles off lay Frederick of
Prussia, with forty thousand men, besieging Olmutz. If he succeeded
in capturing this strongly fortified place the road to Vienna would be
open. But it was an undertaking difficult for even the stupendous
military genius of Frederick. The town was naturally protected by the
numerous branches of the Morawa River, and these sluices,
generally kept dammed, could easily be flooded and oppose difficult
obstacles to overcome. In addition to this, all of the Prussian
supplies—food, ammunition, and money—had to be transported by
wagons from Neisse, a hundred and twenty miles off, while the last
eighty miles from Troppau were extremely dangerous, and required
a protecting force of more than ten thousand men for each of the
monthly convoys of from three to four thousand four-horse wagons.
Marshal Daun was proverbial for his slowness and caution, and it
was often a source of congratulation to Gavin and St. Arnaud that
they were under General Loudon, who was in a state of perpetual
activity. There were continual scouting parties almost to the gates of
Olmutz, and constant communication with the town and garrison.
Both were determined to resist, and being well provided with food
and ammunition, there was no thought of surrender. Frederick, who
is thought to have shown less ability in sieges than in battles, had
allowed his engineers to begin their first parallel too far away from
the lines, and the first bombardment, terrific in point of noise, and
costing vast amounts of the gunpowder so precious to the Prussians,
did not the smallest harm.
The month of May opened, and although Frederick pursued the
siege with vigour, Marshal Daun still lay among the hills and
mountains, moving a little off from Leutomischl, but still keeping
about forty miles from Olmutz. He knew, however, that all was going
well for the Austrians and ill for the Prussians at Olmutz. The
Pandours, light-armed Hungarian infantry, that in marching could
equal the cavalry, infested the neighbourhood of the town and
fortress in small parties, and even singly, while Loudon’s corps,
chiefly light cavalry, but with four regiments of grenadiers, made it
dangerous to all small bodies of Prussian troops who ventured away
from their lines. Loudon’s comprehensive and piercing eye did not
fail to see the qualifications of all his officers, even the subalterns,
whom he knew through the reports he exacted of their superiors, and
he soon came to realize that in Captain St. Arnaud he had a man
after his own heart. And riding one day with the colonel of St.
Arnaud’s regiment, the general said:
“Is not that young Sublieutenant Hamilton, who is always with
Captain St. Arnaud, a capable officer?”
“Very, sir; his activity and enterprise, as well as Captain St.
Arnaud’s, were shown by their escape from Glatz. As you probably
know, Hamilton is of good English and Scotch blood, but, owing to
some family troubles, his youth was spent in poverty and obscurity,
and he served some time in the French army as a private soldier.
The Empress Queen herself gave him his commission, and the
young man seems burning to distinguish himself.”
General Loudon, himself a Scotchman, was not less interested in
Gavin from knowing his nationality.
May passed into June, and June waned; still Marshal Daun gave
no sign of interrupting the siege of Olmutz. He had merely taken up a
position a few miles nearer, where he patiently waited for the hour of
action. The officers and men of Loudon’s corps were envied by the
rest of the army, as they alone were actively employed.
One night, after a week of very active scouting, St. Arnaud and
Gavin were sitting in their tent, when a message from General
Loudon came for St. Arnaud. He at once left, and it was an hour
before he returned. When he entered, his gleaming eyes and smiling
face showed that he had something pleasant to tell.
“Good news! great news!” he said, sitting down on the table,
where Gavin was studying a large map of the country spread out
before him. “We move to-morrow. A wagon train of more than three
thousand four-horse wagons, loaded with money, food, clothing, and
ammunition—they say our old acquaintance, the King of Prussia, is
devilish short of ammunition—has started from Neisse. If it reaches
Olmutz, it will prolong the siege certainly—Frederick thinks it will give
him the victory. But if we can stop it, we can save Olmutz without a
pitched battle, and thereby ruin the Prussian campaign in the
beginning. It has an escort of seven thousand men, and four
thousand men will be sent to meet it; that means that the Prussians
must lose a whole army corps, as well as their three or four thousand
wagons and twelve thousand horses.”
“And we will stop them here,” cried Gavin, excitably, pointing on
the map to the pass of Domstadtl. “You know, that pass, hemmed in
by mountains, and narrow and devious, a thousand men could stop
ten thousand there.”
“We will make a feint at Guntersdorf, a few miles before they get
to Domstadtl; but you are right; the Prussians must open that gate
and shut it after them if they want to save their convoy; and the
opening and shutting will be hard enough, I promise you. We move
the day after to-morrow, so go to bed. You will have work to do to-
morrow.”
Work, indeed, there was to do for every officer and man in
Marshal Daun’s army; and the morning after they were on the march.
It was a bright and beautiful June morning, and it seemed a holiday
march to the fifty thousand Austrians. Marshal Daun was noted for
keeping his men well fed, and the friendly disposition of the people in
the province made this an easy thing to do. The Austrian armies
were ever the most picturesque in Europe, owing to the splendour
and variety of their uniforms and the different races represented.
Rested and refreshed after the disastrous campaign of the autumn,
on this day they hailed with joy the prospect of meeting their ancient
enemy. With fresh twigs in their helmets, with their knapsacks well
filled, the great masses of cavalry, infantry, and artillery stepped out
in beautiful order, threading their way along the breezy uplands and
through the green heart of the wooded hills down to the charming
valleys below.
St. Arnaud and Gavin were with the vanguard. A part of their duty
was to throw a reinforcement of eleven hundred men into Olmutz,
and it was Marshal Daun’s design to make Frederick think that a
pitched battle in front of Olmutz was designed.
All through the dewy morning they travelled briskly, and after a
short rest at noon they again took up the line of march in the golden
afternoon. About six o’clock they reached a little white village in the
plain, which was to be the halting place for the night of Loudon’s
corps.
It was an exquisite June evening, cool for the season, with a
young moon trembling in the east, and a sky all green and rose and
opal in the west. Myriads of flashing stars glittered in the deep blue
heavens, and the passing from the golden light of day to the silver
radiance of the night was ineffably lovely.
From the vast green plain and the dusky hills and valleys rose the
camp-fires of fifty thousand men. Just at sunset the band of St.
Arnaud’s regiment, marching out to a green field beyond the village,
began to play the national hymn. Other bands, from the near-by plain
and the far-away recesses of the hills and valleys, joined in, and the
music, deliciously softened by the distances, floated upward, till it
was lost in the evening sky.
Gavin and St. Arnaud, walking together along a little hawthorn-
bordered lane, listened with a feeling of delight so sharp as to be
almost pain. The magic beauty of the scene, the hour, and the sweet
music were overpowering. St. Arnaud’s words, after a long silence,
when the last echo of the music had died among the hills, were:
“And this delicious prelude is the beginning of the great concert of
war, cannon, and musketry, the groans and cries of the wounded,
the wild weeping of widows and orphans, the tap of the drum in the
funeral march.”
“And shouts of victory, and the knowledge of having done one’s
duty, and the sweet acclaims of all we love when we return,”
answered Gavin.
“I am older than you, and have seen more of war,” was St.
Arnaud’s reply.
Day broke next morning upon a fair and cloudless world. It
continued cool for the season, and the sun was not too warm to drive
away the freshness of the air. By sunrise they were on the march
again, and by noon Frederick, at his great camp of Prossnitz, saw
through his glass masses of Austrians appearing through the trees
and taking post on the opposite heights, and turning to his aide, said:
“Those Austrians are learning to march, though!”
In the Prussian army it was thought that battle was meant, and
troops were hurried forward to that side of the fortress. But Loudon,
stealthily creeping up on the other side, engaging such force as was
left—eleven hundred grenadiers—without firing a shot or losing a
man double-quicked it into the fortress. By the afternoon the
Austrians had melted out of sight, and the garrison was stronger by
eleven hundred men.
In this demonstration on the other side of the fortress St.
Arnaud’s command had taken part. It was well understood that the
action was a mere feint to cover the grenadiers who were running
into the fortress, and St. Arnaud had privately warned Gavin against
leading his troop too far, knowing that a single troop may bring on a
general engagement. Gavin promised faithfully to remember this,
and did, until finding himself, for the first time, close to a small body
of Prussian infantry, in an old apple orchard, he suddenly dashed
forward, waving his sword frantically, and yelling for his men to come
on. The Prussians were not to be frightened by that sort of thing, and
coolly waiting, partly protected by the trees and undergrowth,
received the Austrians with a volley. One trooper rolled out of his
saddle; the sight maddened the rest, and the first thing St. Arnaud
knew he was in the midst of a sharp skirmish. The Prussians stood
their ground, and as the Austrians had no infantry at hand, it took
some time to dislodge them. Nor was it done without loss on the
Austrian side. At last, however, the Prussians began a backward
movement, in perfect order, and without losing a man. St. Arnaud,
glad to have them go on almost any terms, was amazed and
infuriated to hear Gavin shouting to his men, and to see them
following him at a gallop, under the trees, toward the wall at the
farther end of the orchard, where the Prussians could ask no better
place to make a stand. In vain the bugler rent the air with the
piercing notes of the recall. Gavin only turned, and waving his sword
at St. Arnaud plunged ahead. St. Arnaud, wild with anxiety, sent an
orderly after him with peremptory orders to return; but Gavin kept on.
St. Arnaud, sending a number of his men around in an effort to flank
the Prussians, was presently relieved to see some of Gavin’s
troopers straggling back. And last of all he saw Gavin, with a man
lying across the rump of his horse, making his way out of the
orchard. At that moment General Loudon, with a single staff-officer,
rode up.
“Captain St. Arnaud,” said he in a voice of suppressed anger, “I
am amazed at what I see. If this firing is heard, it may bring the
Prussians on our backs in such force that not only our grenadiers will
not get into the fortress, but they may be captured. My orders were,
distinctly, there should be no fighting, if possible. Here I see a part of
your command following the enemy into a position where a hundred
of them could hold their own against a thousand cavalry.”
St. Arnaud was in a rage with Gavin, and thinking it would be the
best thing in the world for Gavin to get then and there the rebuke he
deserved, replied firmly:
“It is not I, sir, who has disobeyed your orders. Lieutenant
Hamilton’s impetuosity led him into this, and I have been trying to
recall him for the last half hour. Here is Lieutenant Hamilton now.”
Gavin rode up. An overhanging bough had grazed his nose and
made it bleed, and at the same time had given him a black and
swollen eye. And another bough had caught in his coat and torn it
nearly off his body. But these minor particulars were lost in the vast
and expansive grin which wreathed his face. The thought that
illumined his mind and emblazoned his countenance was this:
“The general is here. He must have seen what I did. What good
fortune! My promotion is sure.”
But what General Loudon said was this:
“Lieutenant Hamilton, your conduct to-day is as much deserving
of a court martial as any I ever saw on the field. You have not only
unnecessarily endangered the lives of your men—a crime on the
part of an officer—but you have come near endangering the whole
success of our movement. Your place after this will be with neither
the vanguard nor the rear-guard, but with the main body, where you
can do as little harm by your rashness as possible.”
Gavin’s look of triumph changed to one of utter bewilderment,
and then to one of mingled rage and horror. General Loudon, without
another word, rode off. Gavin, half choking, cried to St. Arnaud:
“But you know what I went after? My first sergeant was shot
through both legs—the fellow was in the lead—and he cried out to
me to come and save him. Just then I heard the bugle, but could I
leave that poor fellow there to die?”
“Certainly not; and this shall be known; but you were very rash in
the beginning; so come on, and wash your face the first time you
come to water.”
The rest of that day was like an unhappy dream to Gavin. They
were again on the march by three o’clock, and at bivouac they had
rejoined the main body.
Their camp that night was well beyond Olmutz, and led them
again toward the mountains. When all the arrangements for the night
were made, and their tent was pitched, St. Arnaud, who had been
absent for half an hour, returned and looked in. He saw Gavin sitting
on the ground in an attitude of utter dejection.
“Come,” cried St. Arnaud gayly; “you take the general too
seriously; he was angry with you, and so was I, for that matter; but
he knows all the facts now.”
“It is of no consequence,” replied Gavin sullenly. But when St.
Arnaud urged him, he rose and joined him for a stroll about the
camp. As they were walking along a little path that led along the face
of a ravine, they saw, in the clear twilight of the June evening,
General Loudon, quite unattended, approaching them. Gavin would
have turned off, but St. Arnaud would not let him. As they stood on
the side of the path, respectfully to let the general pass, he stopped
and said in the rather awkward way which was usual with him:
“I make no apology for my words to you to-day, Lieutenant
Hamilton, because, on cool reflection, I still think that you deserve
them. I found out, however, later, that you performed an act of great
gallantry in rescuing your wounded sergeant, and I have already
recommended you for promotion to Marshal Daun.”
General Loudon extended his hand. Gavin, quite overcome, took
it silently, and after a cordial grasp and a word or two between St.
Arnaud and General Loudon he passed on.
“You told him,” was all Gavin could say to St. Arnaud.
“What if I did? I was bound to tell him all that happened before his
report was sent to Marshal Daun.”
The day had been a nightmare, but the night was so happy that
Gavin could not sleep.
From the 22d until the 28th Loudon’s corps was travelling toward
the convoy by a long and circuitous hill route, quite out of sight and
knowledge of the Prussians. Marshal Daun had remained behind
with the main body, having crossed the Moldawa River, while
General Ziskowitz, with several thousand men, remained on the
other side, ready to reinforce General Loudon, should he be needed.
Those six June days were cloudless, and what with easy
marching and mild nights and good fare, never was campaigning
pleasanter. Their march lay among the hills and mountains, clothed
in their freshest green. Pure and sparkling streams abounded in the
wooded heights and cool, green solitudes. The oldest soldiers
declared it to be the pleasantest march they had ever made.
On the sixth day they began to listen attentively for the noise of
the approaching convoy, which, with its escort, was stretched out full
twenty miles. Soon after daybreak, as the Austrians were pushing
toward the woody defiles near Guntersdorf, a low reverberation was
heard, like the far-distant echo of breakers on the shore. It was the
rolling of twelve thousand iron-bound wheels, while the iron-shod
hoofs of twelve thousand horses smote the earth. General Loudon
immediately made his preparations to attack at Guntersdorf, but it
was understood that if a determined resistance was made the
Austrians should fall back to Domstadtl, through whose dark defiles
and gloomy passes it would be impossible for the Prussians to fight
their way.
St. Arnaud’s regiment led the van, and he and Gavin rode side by
side through the dewy freshness of the morning. The road was steep
and winding, but always picturesque, and the trees were in their first
fresh livery of green. They rode briskly, men and horses inspired by
the freshness and vitality of the delicious mountain air. Ever as they
drew nearer the road by which the convoy was making its creaking,
rolling, thundering way, the sullen roar grew nearer and louder. On
reaching Guntersdorf, General Loudon quickly posted a part of his
force in the defiles, with several pieces of artillery concealed among
the wooded heights. The general rode hither and thither, and
presently came up to where St. Arnaud’s and Gavin’s regiment was
posted, on the brow of a spur of the mountains, thick with trees and
rocks.
“We shall meet the advance guard and escort here; it is probably
three thousand men, with seven or eight thousand to follow; but if we
throw them into confusion and overwhelm them, it will be enough. It
is impossible to stop at once a wagon train twenty miles long, and
the wagons will help us to win the battle, by those behind pressing
those in front upon our guns. Then we shall fall back to Domstadtl,
where we can destroy the convoy at our leisure.”
At that moment, from their commanding position, St. Arnaud and
Gavin looked across a low-lying flank of the mountains, and winding
across a valley, four miles away, were a thousand Prussian
dragoons, while behind them came a long line of infantry, and then
the great wagon train, four abreast.
Never had either Gavin or St. Arnaud seen such a sight as this
vast mass of men, horses, and wagons that poured in a steady
stream into the valley. The earth shook with the mighty tramp, and
great clouds of dust enveloped them like a fog.
The stillness of the early June morning remained unbroken for an
hour; yet while this strange procession unwound itself and
approached nearer and nearer the defiles of Guntersdorf the noise
became deafening, and the horses of the Austrian cavalry trembled
with fear as the earth shook under their feet. Presently, the first
platoon of Prussian cavalry debouched before an Austrian field
battery, concealed in the heights above them. Suddenly the
thunderous roar of wheels and hoofs was cut into by the booming of
guns, and cannon-balls dropped among the troopers. Instantly there
was a halt, the infantry closed up, and under a heavy fire the
Prussians formed and rushed up the heights to silence the guns. The
Austrians stood their ground, supported by both cavalry and infantry;
but meanwhile the wagons were fighting the battle for them. In vain
had orders been sent back to halt the train. It came pressing on with
an irresistible force, like the force of gravity. The Austrians, seeing
the beginning of hopeless confusion and panic in the wagon train,
which could only increase, drew off, inducing the Prussians to follow
them. There was some sharp fighting among the passes, but, as
Gavin said, just as he was beginning to enjoy himself the order came
to fall back to Domstadtl.
It was about eight o’clock in the morning when the Austrians
began to retrace the road they had travelled soon after daybreak. St.
Arnaud’s and Gavin’s regiment, having had the van in the advance,
were the rear-guard of the retrograde movement. As they trotted
along behind the last rank of troopers, they both cast many
backward looks at the rude mountain roads through which the
Prussians were toiling to their destruction in the impenetrable ravines
of Domstadtl. The troops had reformed as well as they could, but the
wagons were in a terrible state of disorder. Some hundreds of them
had stopped at Guntersdorf, but these had been swept away and
trampled under foot by the advancing legions. Some of the wagoners
had turned their vehicles around and were making for the rear,
knowing fighting to be ahead of them; others, cutting the traces,
mounted the horses and galloped no one knew whither, leaving a
solid barricade of wagons in the road to be dispersed. And ever from
behind came this avalanche of horses and wagons, pressing on,
halting at obstacles, scattered in dire confusion, but always, always,
a stream pouring on.
The Austrians reached the gloomy pass of Domstadtl only a little
in advance of the Prussians, and before they had well taken their
positions and unlimbered their artillery the Prussian vanguard, very
gallantly led, had forced its way through the pass, with two hundred
and fifty wagons on the gallop. But then came the howling of the
Austrian artillery, and the advance was checked. Colonel Mosel, the
Prussian commander, seeing there was no forcing the pass, formed
all his wagons as fast as they arrived in a great square—a wagon
fortress, as it was called—and prepared to defend it. General
Zeithen, with the guard for the second section, moved rapidly
backward to turn the great stream of men and horses and wheels
back on Troppau. But still they came surging on, men losing their
heads, and driving forward when they were ordered to turn
backward. And on the wagon fortress played the Austrian artillery,
while the cavalry, dashing up to the remnants of the Prussian guard,
sabred them at the wagons. The wagon horses grew wild with fright,
and their plunging, rearing, and frantic whinnying added to the
maelstrom of disorder. The powder wagons were in this division, and
when an Austrian cannon-ball fell into one of these, the explosion
seemed as if it would rend the solid mountains. Others caught from
the sparks of this one, and the scene and sound, as deafening
crashes resounded, and masses of flame and smoke ascended,
were like the infernal regions. Huge rocks, split by the concussion of
thousands of pounds of gunpowder, rolled down the sides of the
mountain, sweeping away men and horses in their resistless course.
Uprooted trees and a vast mass of debris followed these awful
reverberations. Horses dropped dead in their tracks, men fell to the
ground, stunned by the roar, and were unable to rise; others bled at
the nose; some became totally deaf. The sky was obscured with
smoke, and in the semi-darkness at midday men’s faces, blackened
with powder, had a frightful appearance. Fighting continued at all
points along the line, where the eleven thousand Prussians
endeavoured to make a stand at many places, but were completely
overborne. Cannon and musketry added their horrors to the scene,
and when men fought at all they fought like demons. All through the
June day this fearful combat raged through the mountain passes;
and when the sun, obscured in dim clouds, set, the great wagon train
was utterly destroyed, with thousands of its escort, wagoners, and
horses dead.
Neither St. Arnaud nor Gavin slept in a tent that night, but
throwing themselves on the ground, wrapped in their cloaks, slept
the sleep of exhaustion and collapse.
By sunset Frederick of Prussia knew that his convoy was
destroyed, and with it some of his best troops. That night the
bombardment of Olmutz was terrific; the Prussians were firing off the
ammunition they could not take away with them. No one slept in the
town or the fortress that night for the hurricane of fire and flame that
blazed from the Prussian lines. It slackened toward daylight, and
when the sun rose there was not a Prussian regiment in sight. The
whole army was on the march for the other side of the mountains.
CHAPTER XII
The abandonment of the siege of Olmutz and the success of the
Battle of the Wagons raised to a high pitch the spirits of the Austrian
army. Marshal Daun even departed so far from his usual extreme
caution as to follow Frederick, who retreated through the mountains,
and took up his post upon his own side of them. But he was not
suffered to remain in peace, and was continually harassed by the
Austrian cavalry and the clouds of Pandours, who followed and hung
upon him.
To be of Loudon’s corps was enough to say that the summer was
one of incessant movement to Gavin Hamilton and St. Arnaud. Both
of them were, however, of so much natural activity, that nothing
could have suited them better than the constant marching,
manœuvring, and fighting of the summer of 1758. It was a
particularly cool and healthful summer, and in spite of hard work and
soldier’s fare, both of them grew more robust than ever.
For Gavin, it was a time as nearly free from care and sorrow as
often comes on this planet. He had got his promotion, and
blossomed forth as a full lieutenant. He ardently loved the soldier’s
life; he appreciated greatly his extreme good fortune, and although
he had but little money, he required but little while the campaign
lasted. It is true he was beginning to acquire tastes very much above
the rigid poverty in which he had been reared, and sometimes
thought rather ruefully of the slenderness of his pay if he should be
in Vienna the next winter, which he ardently hoped he would. But
with the joyous carelessness of youth, he considered it settled that
as soon as he was twenty-one, which would be in December, he
would demand his mother’s recognition by his father, and force Sir
Gavin to make Lady Hamilton a handsome allowance. Gavin did not
trouble himself very much with the details and difficulties of this
brilliant scheme, but only figured out how he would manage to live
when it would be no longer necessary for him to divide his scanty
pay with his mother. He sometimes talked about it to St. Arnaud, but
St. Arnaud could enlighten him very little as to his rights under the
English laws. However, it is very easy at twenty, with health and
strength and an officer’s commission and a good horse, to throw
future perplexities to the winds. This was what Gavin Hamilton did.
He was made happy by frequent letters from his mother, who always
wrote cheerfully, and to whom, Gavin knew, her present time of rest
and peace and hope was blessed. To live upon a little money, and to
spend a part of every day in teaching Freda and Gretchen, was no
hardship to one who had known Lady Hamilton’s sad vicissitudes.
Unlike Gavin, she did not look for any redress from Sir Gavin
Hamilton for a long time to come. Not until Gavin himself had
reached maturity and considerable rank did she think he would he
able to enter into a contest for his rights; but it was enough for her to
know that she was at last recognized as Sir Gavin Hamilton’s lawful
wife, and that Gavin was tacitly allowed the position that was his by
every right.
In August the battle of Zorndorf had been fought, in which
Frederick had very handsomely beaten the Russians under General
Fermor, and Marshal Daun, with his usual caution, had fallen back
behind Dresden to Stolpen, where he took up, as always, a strong
position. There, for four weeks, he faced Frederick, and withstood
much provocation to do battle, knowing that every day Frederick’s
supplies were getting shorter, and the longer the battle was delayed
the worse the case of the King of Prussia.
Loudon’s corps had the extreme outpost, and barred the road to
Bautzen, where the Prussians had their magazines of food and
ammunition. During all the month of September there was continual
manœuvring and fighting for this road to Bautzen. But General
Loudon managed to dispose of all whom Frederick sent against him,
until one October day, Frederick himself, with his whole force, took
up his march for Bautzen. Then there was great commotion in the
whole Austrian army, and in Loudon’s corps especially. There was
much riding to and fro in the mountain roads and passes, quick
mustering of the grenadiers, but it was known tolerably early that the
movement was one in force, and that General Loudon could by no
means stop it, and could only harass and delay it, which was done
with a will. But by sunset the attempt was given over, and it was
seen that the next move in the game must be by Marshal Daun with
his whole army.
Toward night, as Gavin and St. Arnaud were making ready to
bivouac with their men, General Loudon and his staff rode by. The
general stopped and beckoned to Gavin.
“Your horse appears to be fresh,” said he, “and I wish to send a
last dispatch to Marshal Daun to-night. Take a small escort, and
carry this to Stolpen as quickly as possible. You should be able to
bring me a reply before daylight to-morrow morning. Marshal Daun
will provide you with fresh horses;” and tearing a leaf out of his
pocket-book, and using his hat for a writing-desk, he scribbled a few
lines in pencil, addressed them to Marshal Daun, and rode on.
It did not take Gavin five minutes to mount and be off, with a
couple of troopers trotting behind him. The night was falling, and it
grew dark in the mountain fastnesses; but so much had Gavin and
his men ridden over those tortuous and rocky roads in the last few
weeks, that not only they, but their horses, knew the way perfectly.
They rode on steadily, occasionally meeting with returning couriers;
but by nine o’clock they seemed to be the only travellers on the road.
They were passing through a dense woodland, hemmed in on each
side of the road by rocky walls, when suddenly a small party of men
appeared in their path, swiftly and silently, as shadows rising from
the earth. Gavin had no apprehension of an enemy, and supposed
he was meeting a belated party of Austrians. This was confirmed
when the person, apparently an officer, at the head of the number,
rode up to Gavin, and said:
“I presume that you are an officer, and going toward Stolpen.”
“You are right,” answered Gavin, trying to make out in the half
darkness the uniform of the person addressing him.
“Then, may I ask you to deliver a letter to Marshal Daun? I am
not at liberty to say from whom it is, but it will be a favour to Marshal
Daun if you can contrive it into his hands.”
Gavin hesitated for a moment as the stranger drew a letter from
his breast; and then, to Gavin’s infinite surprise, threw the letter on
the ground, and the whole party galloped off. One of Gavin’s
troopers, dismounting, picked the letter up, and striking his flint, the
address was easily read. It was to his Excellency, Field-Marshal
Daun.
Then followed a correct enumeration of Marshal Daun’s titles and
honours. And at the very first glance Gavin recognized the
handwriting of Frederick of Prussia. To make sure, he took from his
breast pocket the treasured memorandum, which he always carried,
that Frederick had given him the night of their adventure at Breslau.
Yes, it was impossible to mistake that handwriting, and there was not
the smallest attempt to disguise it on the mysterious letter. Gavin
returned both to his safest pocket, and rode on steadily.
At one o’clock in the morning he and his two troopers clattered
into the camp at Stolpen. He was at once shown to Marshal Daun’s
headquarters, a peasant’s hut, in which a light was burning and a
couple of hard-worked aides-de-camp were busy at a writing-table.
“The marshal has just gone into the inner room, but left orders
that he should be aroused at once, should any dispatches come
from General Loudon,” said one of them.
The marshal, however, saved them the trouble, for, hearing
voices in the outer room, he appeared at the rude door that
separated the rooms. He had lain down wrapped in his cloak, and it
still hung about him.
Politely motioning Gavin to sit, he opened and read General
Loudon’s dispatch, and promptly dictated a reply to his aide. When
that was done, Gavin handed him the mysterious letter he had
received, briefly recounting the circumstances under which he
received it.
Marshal Daun read it attentively, and then, laying it down on the
table, said with a puzzled air:
“This is very strange. This letter appears to be a reply to a letter I
wrote General Fermor before the battle of Zorndorf, warning him
against rashly engaging the King of Prussia, and expressing my high
opinion of the King as a military man. I have had no word of reply to
it until now, and this letter is not in General Fermor’s handwriting. I
will read it to you.
“‘Your Excellency was in the right to warn me against a
cunning enemy whom you knew better than I. Here have I tried
fighting him and got beaten. Your unfortunate Fermor.’”
Gavin, taking Frederick’s letter from his pocket, silently laid it
before the marshal, and Marshal Daun, after reading it, passed it
over to his aides. A universal grin went around, not even excepting
the grave and ceremonious field-marshal, at poor General Fermor’s
expense.
“Well,” said Marshal Daun, after a moment, “the King of Prussia
is entitled to his pleasantry. And I am sincerely glad he knows that I
am incapable of one of the greatest faults of a soldier—underrating
the enemy. I ever considered that king, since first I had the honour of
fighting him, as one of the great masters of the art of war, and I have
no objection to his knowing it. General Fermor did not know it, and
behold, he was beaten at Zorndorf.”
There was no time to be lost in returning, and fresh horses being
already provided, within half an hour Gavin was on his way back to
General Loudon. As he rode along in the darkness, and then in the
gray dawn, he could not help laughing at Frederick’s grim humour.
Clearly, he had taken some trouble to get his reply conveyed to
Marshal Daun, and Gavin had no doubt that the troopers who had
delivered it to him were really Prussians, disguised. By daylight he
had got to General Loudon’s headquarters, and after delivering his
dispatches went to the hut of boughs in which St. Arnaud and himself
spread their blankets. He was very tired, but before lying down to
sleep he told St. Arnaud about the King of Prussia’s letter.
“How like the elfish nature of the man!” was St. Arnaud’s
comment.
The utmost activity prevailed in the Austrian ranks after
Frederick’s escape, and it became known through that telepathy
which anticipates great events that a general engagement was
impending; and when on the night of the 5th of October, in the midst
of a drenching rain, wild wind, and pitch darkness, the whole
Austrian army abandoned Stolpen, and took up its march for Kittlitz,
a strong position east of Bautzen and of Hochkirch, around which
was collected the whole of the King of Prussia’s army, all knew that
the hour was at hand.
So secretly was this done, that, although it was known that the
Austrian army was on the move, it was with the greatest surprise
that, on the evening of the 10th of October, Frederick, reaching
Hochkirch, found Marshal Daun securely established with ninety
thousand men in lines many miles long on the woody heights that
surround the hill upon which the village of Hochkirch—of immortal
memory—stands. Frederick had but his forty thousand, and the
amazement of the Austrians was as great as their delight when they
saw this mighty captain, usually so wise in the disposition of his
armies, walk into a ring encircled by his enemies, and then quietly sit
down before them.
A part of Loudon’s corps was encamped on a wooded crest, the
Czarnabog, or Devil’s Mountain, as the village people called it, and
among them was the regiment of St. Arnaud and Gavin. It was a
lovely, still, autumn afternoon when the two, standing together at the
highest point of the mountain, saw the mass of Prussians coming
into sight on the opposing heights, divided only by the Lobau water,
and the many streams and brooks that go to make up the Spree. As
it became plain that the dark masses of approaching men were
Prussians, St. Arnaud and Gavin, standing in a group of other
officers, could not conceal their surprise.
“This king must be mad,” said St. Arnaud. Gavin nodded, and
continued to watch the Prussians, as a post for several thousand of
them was being marked out not half a mile distant from the heights,
dense with trees, where thousands of Austrians, with several
batteries of heavy guns, were placed.
Numbers of Prussian officers were seen moving about as the
various regiments marched in, and at last a group on horseback
appeared, in which was a figure that St. Arnaud and Gavin instantly
recognized without glasses. Worn, thin, and wizened as he was,
Frederick of Prussia was ever an imposing figure. All who saw that
slight, pale man, shabbily dressed, but splendidly mounted, riding
nonchalantly into the view of tens of thousands of men, were thrilled
at the sight of him. Here was one of the world’s masters and
dictators. Beaten he might be, he was never conquered; less in force
than his enemy, he was always dangerous; with but a thousand men
behind him, he could yet keep his enemies awake at night. He rode
to the edge of the plateau on which the village is built, and surveyed
the long lines of his enemies drawn up for many miles in the woods,
and hills, and hollows close by. The sun was sinking in a blaze of
glory, and its mellow light fell upon a landscape singularly beautiful.
In a long, deep valley ran a rapid and musical stream, with many
branches. White villages nestled among the hills, and the blue air
was pierced by slender church steeples. A thin haze, from many
thousands of camp-fires, enveloped the valleys in mysterious beauty,
and the white tents, in tens of thousands, lay like snowflakes on the
still green earth. No eye noted this, though, as long as Frederick of
Prussia remained in sight, his slight, compact figure on his horse
silhouetted against the evening sky. Suddenly from the wooded
heights, directly in front of him, a flash and a roar burst forth, and
twenty Austrian cannon-balls ploughed up the ground. The King’s
horse stood motionless—the charger that carried Frederick the Great
must needs be used to cannon and musketry fire—and Frederick
himself, without changing his position, put his field-glass to his eyes,
and coolly surveyed the scene. A dozen officers galloped toward
him, but Frederick with a gesture motioned them away. Five minutes
of perfect silence followed. Of the thousands who beheld him, every
man held his breath; and when a second round roared out, a kind of
universal groan and shudder ran like electricity through the watching
multitudes. This time it threw some earth upon the King, and then,
calmly dusting it off, he turned and rode toward the village church.
Ten minutes after, Gavin and St. Arnaud eagerly watching, he
appeared upon the little belfry. Twilight was falling, though, and it
was no longer possible to see clearly. Lights were twinkling, and the
blaze of the camp-fires became lurid in the falling darkness. In a little
while silence but for the sentry’s tread, and darkness but for the
camp-fires burning through the chill autumn night, had settled down
upon the scene.
The next morning rose clear and beautiful, and daylight only
showed more plainly the extreme danger of Frederick’s position. It
was known, however, through spies, that it would be impossible for
him to leave for several days, owing to a lack of provisions and
ammunition upon any road that he might take. The Austrians wished
to lull him into security, and three days were spent in what seemed to
the Prussians preparations to defend themselves on the part of the
Austrians. The air resounded with thousands of axes hewing trees,
to form abatis; slight earthworks were thrown up, and Marshal Daun
gave every sign of preparing to defend himself rather than to attack.
He even continued to have false information sent Frederick, that the
Austrians were preparing to fall back on Zittau. But at nightfall, on
Friday, the 13th of October, thirty thousand Austrians stole away,
leaving their camp-fires brightly burning, and enclosing Frederick on
the only side he had been free, rendered his escape impossible,
except by cutting his way through.
St. Arnaud’s and Gavin’s regiment were kept concealed in the
Devil’s Mountains. Wild beyond expression were these hills, with
vast boulders, black hollows, trees standing so close that daylight
scarcely penetrated, and tangled thickets. In these dark hills three

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