character of the crown prince.—stratagem of the emperor joseph ii.—death of the empress catharine of russia.—matrimonial alliance of russia and prussia.—death of the king of bavaria.—attempt to annex bavaria to austria.—unexpected energy of frederick.—court intrigues.—preparations for war.—address to the troops.—declaration of war.—terror in vienna.—irritability of frederick.—death of voltaire.—unjust condemnation of the judges.—death of maria theresa.—anecdote.—the king’s fondness for children.—his fault-finding spirit.—the king’s appearance.—the last review.—statement of mirabeau.—anecdote related by dr. moore.—frederick’s fondness for dogs.—increasing weakness. —unchanging obduracy toward the queen.—the dying scene.
toward the end of the year 1775 the king had an unusually severe attack of the gout. it was erroneously reported that it was a dangerous attack of the dropsy, and that he was manifestly drawing near to his end. the crown prince, who was to succeed him, was a man of very little character. the emperor551 of germany, joseph ii., thought the death of frederick would present him an opportunity of regaining silesia for austria. the austrian army was immediately put in motion and hurried to the frontiers of silesia, to seize the province the moment the king should expire. this was openly done, and noised abroad. much to the disappointment of the emperor, the king got well. amidst much ridicule, the troops returned to their old quarters.190
frederick was probably not surprised at this act on the part of the emperor. he undoubtedly had sufficient candor to admit that it was exactly what he should have done under similar circumstances.
catharine of russia had a son, paul, her heir to the throne. it so chanced that she died just at the time prince henry of prussia was visiting st. petersburg. through his agency paul was induced to take as a second wife a niece of frederick’s, the eldest daughter of eugene of würtemberg. thus the ties between russia and prussia were still more strengthened, so far as matrimonial alliances could strengthen them. the wedding took place in berlin on the 18th of october, 1776.
several years now passed away with nothing specially worthy of record. frederick did not grow more amiable as he advanced in years. though frederick was often unreasonable, petulant, and unjust, and would seldom admit that he had been in the wrong, however clear the case, it can not be doubted that it was his general and earnest desire that justice should be exercised in all his courts.
in september, 1777, the king of bavaria died. the emperor thought it a good opportunity to annex bavaria to austria. “do but look on the map,” says carlyle, in his peculiar style of thought and expression: “you would say, austria without bavaria is like a human figure with its belly belonging to somebody else. bavaria is the trunk or belly of the austrian dominions, shutting off all the limbs of them each from the other; making for central part a huge chasm.”
france would hardly object, since she was exhausted with long wars. england was busy in the struggle with her north american colonies. russia was at war with the turks. there was no power to be feared but prussia.
552 “frederick,” said kaunitz, “is old and broken. he can not live long. having suffered so much, he has an absolute horror of war. we need not fear that he will again put his armies in motion.”
but no sooner did frederick get an intimation that austria was contemplating this enlargement of her domains than he roused himself to prevent it with all the vigor of his earlier years. it was a very delicate matter; for charles theodore, the elector, and his nephew august christian, heir to the electorate, a young gentleman of very illustrious pedigree, but of a very slender purse, had both been bribed by austria secretly to co-operate in the movement. the reader will be interested in carlyle’s account, slightly abbreviated, of frederick’s skill in diplomacy:
“heir is a gallant enough young gentleman. frederick judges that he probably will have haggled to sign any austrian convention for dismemberment of baiern, and that he will start into life upon it so soon as he sees hope.
“‘a messenger to him,’ thinks frederick; ‘a messenger instantly; and who?’ for that clearly is the first thing. and a delicate thing it is; requiring to be done in profoundest secrecy, by hint and innuendo rather than speech—by somebody in a cloak of darkness, who is of adroit quality, and was never heard of in diplomatic circles before, not to be suspected of having business of mine on hand.
“frederick bethinks him that in a late visit to weimar he had noticed, for his fine qualities, a young gentleman named g?rtz, late tutor to the young duke karl august, a wise, firm, adroit-looking young gentleman, who was farther interesting as brother to lieutenant general von g?rtz, a respectable soldier of frederick’s. ex-tutor at weimar, we say, and idle for the moment; hanging about court there, till he should find a new function.
“of this ex-tutor frederick bethinks him; and in the course of that same day—for there is no delay—frederick, who is at berlin, beckons general g?rtz to come over to him from potsdam instantly.
“‘hither this evening, and in all privacy meet me in the palace at such an hour’ (hour of midnight or thereby); which of553 course g?rtz, duly invisible to mankind, does. frederick explains: an errand to münchen; perfectly secret, for the moment, and requiring great delicacy and address; perhaps not without risk, a timorous man might say: will your brother go for me, think you? g?rtz thinks he will.
“‘here is his instruction, if so,’ adds the king, handing him an autograph of the necessary outline of procedure—not signed, nor with any credential, or even specific address, lest accident happen. ‘adieu, then, herr general lieutenant; rule is, shoes of swiftness, cloak of darkness: adieu!’
“and g?rtz senior is off on the instant, careering toward weimar, where he finds g?rtz junior, and makes known his errand. g?rtz junior stares in the natural astonishment; but, after some intense brief deliberation, becomes affirmative, and in a minimum of time is ready and on the road.
“g?rtz junior proved to have been an excellent choice on the king’s part, and came to good promotion afterward by his conduct in this affair. g?rtz junior started for münchen on the instant, masked utterly, or his business masked, from profane eyes; saw this person, saw that, and glided swiftly about, swiftly and with sure aim; and speedily kindled the matter, and had smoke rising in various points. and before january was out, saw the reisch-diet, at regensburg, much more the general gazetteerage every where, seized of this affair, and thrown into paroxysms at the size and complexion of it: saw, in fact, a world getting into flame—kindled by whom or what nobody could guess for a long time to come. g?rtz had great running about in his cloak of darkness, and showed abundant talent of the kind needed. a pushing, clear-eyed, stout-hearted man; much cleverness and sureness in what he did and forebore to do. his adventures were manifold; he had much traveling about: was at regensburg, at mannheim; saw many persons whom he had to judge of on the instant, and speak frankly to, or speak darkly, or speak nothing; and he made no mistake.
“we can not afford the least narrative of g?rtz and his courses: imagination, from a few traits, will sufficiently conceive them. he had gone first to karl theodor’s minister: ‘dead to it, i fear; has already signed?’ alas! yes. upon which to zweibrück, the heir’s minister, whom his master had distinctly ordered to sign,554 but who, at his own peril, gallant man, delayed, remonstrated, had not yet done it; and was able to answer:
“‘alive to it, he? yes, with a witness, were there hope in the world!’ which threw g?rtz upon instant gallop toward zweibrück schloss in search of said heir, the young duke august christian; who, however, had left in the interim (summoned by his uncle, on austrian urgency, to consent along with him), but whom g?rtz, by dexterity and intuition of symptoms, caught up by the road, with what a mutual joy! as had been expected, august christian, on sight of g?rtz, with an armed frederick looming in the distance, took at once into new courses and activities. from him no consent now; far other: treaty with frederick; flat refusal ever to consent: application to the reich, application even to france, and whatever a gallant young fellow could do.
“frederick was in very weak health in these months; still considered by the gazetteers to be dying. but it appears he is not yet too weak for taking, on the instant necessary, a world-important resolution; and of being on the road with it, to this issue or to that, at full speed before the day closed. ‘desist, good neighbor, i beseech you. you must desist, and even you shall:’ this resolution was entirely his own, as were the equally prompt arrangements he contrived for executing it, should hard come to hard, and austria prefer war to doing justice.”191
while pushing these intrigues of diplomacy, frederick was equally busy in marshaling his armies, that the sword might contribute its energies to the enforcement of his demands. one hundred thousand troops were assembled in berlin, in the highest state of discipline and equipment, ready to march at a moment’s warning.
on sunday, april 5, 1778, frederick reviewed these troops, and addressed his officers in a speech, which was published in the newspapers to inform austria what she had to expect. eager as frederick was to enlarge his own dominions, he was by no means disposed to grant the same privilege to other and rival nations. the address of frederick to his officers was in reality a declaration to the austrian court.
“gentlemen,” said frederick, “i have assembled you here for a555 public object. most of you, like myself, have often been in arms with one another, and are grown gray in the service of our country. to all of us is well known in what dangers, toils, and renown we have been fellow-sharers. i doubt not in the least that all of you, as myself, have a horror of bloodshed; but the danger which now threatens our countries not only renders it a duty, but puts us in the absolute necessity, to adopt the quickest and most effectual means for dissipating at the right time the storm which threatens to break out upon us.
“i depend with complete confidence on your soldierly and patriotic zeal, which is already well and gloriously known to me, and which, while i live, i will acknowledge with the heartiest satisfaction. before all things i recommend to you, and prescribe as your most sacred duty, that in every situation you exercise humanity on unarmed enemies. in this respect, let there be the strictest discipline kept among those under you.
“to travel with the pomp of a king is not among my wishes, and all of you are aware that i have no pleasure in rich field-furniture; but my increasing age, and the weakness it brings, render me incapable of riding as i did in my youth. i shall, therefore, be obliged to make use of a post-chaise in times of marching, and all of you have liberty to do the same. but on the day of battle you shall see me on horseback; and there, also, i hope my generals will follow that example.”
kaunitz, the austrian prime minister, was by no means prepared for this decisive action. in less than a week frederick had one hundred thousand soldiers on the frontiers. austria had not ten thousand there to meet them. kaunitz, quite alarmed, assumed a supplicatory tone, and called for negotiation.
“must there be war?” he said. “i am your majesty’s friend. can we not, in mutual concession, find agreement?”
the result was a congress of three persons, two prussians and one austrian, which congress met at berlin on the 24th of may, 1778. for two months they deliberated. the austrians improved the delay in making very vigorous preparations for war. frederick really wished to avoid the war, for he had seen enough of the woes of battle. they could come to no agreement.
on the 3d of july frederick issued his declaration of war. on that very day his solid battalions, one hundred thousand556 strong, with menacing banners and defiant bugle-notes, crossed the border, and encamped on bohemian ground. at the same moment, the king’s brother, prince henry, with another army of one hundred thousand men, commenced a march from the west to co-operate in an impetuous rush upon vienna. these tidings caused the utmost consternation in the austrian capital. an eye-witness writes:
“the terror in vienna was dreadful. i will not attempt to describe the dismay the tidings excited among all ranks of people. maria theresa, trembling for her two sons who were in the army, immediately dispatched an autograph letter to frederick with new proposals for a negotiation.”
frederick had not grown old gracefully. he was domineering, soured, and irritable, finding fault with every body and every thing. as his troops were getting into camp at jaromirtz on the 8th of july, the king, weary with riding, threw himself upon the ground for a little rest, his adjutants being near him. a young officer was riding by. frederick beckoned to him, and wrote, with his pencil, an order of not the slightest importance, and said to the officer, aloud, in the hearing of all, purposely to wound their feelings,
“here, take that order to general lossow, and tell him that he is not to take it ill that i trouble him, as i have none in my suite that can do any thing.” it often seemed to give frederick pleasure, and never pain, to wound the feelings of others.
“on arriving with his column,” writes general schmettau, “where the officer—a perfectly skillful man—had marked out the camp, the king would lift his spy-glass, gaze to right and left, riding round the place at perhaps a hundred yards distance, and begin, ‘look here, sir, what a botching you have made of it again!’
“and then, grumbling and blaming, would alter the camp till it was all out of rule, and then say,
“‘see there; that is the way to mark out camps.’”192
through the efforts of maria theresa there was another brief conference, but it amounted to nothing. neither party wished for war. but austria craved the annexation of bavaria, and frederick was determined that austria should not thus be enlarged.557 thus the summer passed away in unavailing diplomacy and in equally unavailing military man?uvrings. while engaged in these adventures, frederick received the tidings of the death of voltaire, who breathed his last on the 20th of may, 1778. the soul of frederick was too much seared by life’s stern conflicts to allow him to manifest, or probably to feel, any emotion on the occasion. he, however, wrote a eulogy upon the renowned littérateur, which, though written by a royal pen, attracted but little attention.
during the winter russia and france interposed in behalf of peace. the belligerents agreed to submit the question to their decision. austria was permitted to take a small slice of bavaria, and for a time the horrors of war were averted.
soon after this an event occurred very characteristic of the king—an event which conspicuously displayed both his good and bad qualities. a miller was engaged in a lawsuit against a nobleman. the decree of the court, after a very careful examination, was unanimously in favor of the nobleman; the king, who had impulsively formed a different opinion of the case, was greatly exasperated. he summoned the four judges before him, denounced them in the severest terms of vituperation, would listen to no defense, and dismissed them angrily from office.
“may a miller,” he exclaimed, fiercely, “who has no water, and consequently can not grind, have his mill taken from him? is that just? here is a nobleman wishing to make a fish-pond. to get more water for his pond, he has a ditch dug to draw into it a small stream which drives a water-mill. thereby the miller loses his water, and can not grind. yet, in spite of this, it is pretended that the miller shall pay his rent, quite the same as at the time when he had full water for his mill. of course he can not pay his rent. his incomings are gone.
“and what does the court of cüstrin do? it orders the mill to be sold, that the nobleman may have his rent! go you, sir,” addressing the grand chancellor, “about your business, this instant. your successor is appointed; with you i have nothing more to do.” the other three were assailed in the same way, but still more vehemently, as the king’s wrath flamed higher and higher. “out of my sight,” he exclaimed at last; “i will make an example of you which shall be remembered.”
558
condemnation of the judges.
the next day, december 11, 1779, the king issued the following protocol in the newspapers:
“the king’s desire always was and is that every body, be he high or low, rich or poor, get prompt justice. wherefore, in respect to this most unjust sentence against the miller arnold, pronounced in the neumark, and confirmed here in berlin, his majesty will establish an emphatic example, to the end that all559 the courts of justice in the king’s provinces may take warning thereby, and not commit the like glaring unjust acts. for let them bear in mind that the least peasant, yea, what is still more, that even a beggar, is, no less than his majesty, a human being, and one to whom due justice must be meted out. all men being equal before the law, if it is a prince complaining against a peasant, or vice versa, the prince is the same as the peasant before the law.
“let the courts take this for their rule; and whenever they do not carry out justice in a straightforward manner, without any regard of person and rank, they shall have to answer to his majesty for it.”
the discarded judges were arrested, imprisoned for a year, and fined a sum of money equal to the supposed loss of the miller. in this case the judges had heard both sides of the question, and the king but one side. the question had been justly decided. the case was so clear that the new judges appointed by the king, being conscientious men, could not refrain from sustaining the verdict. still the king, who would never admit that he was in the wrong, ordered no redress for those who had thus suffered for righteousness sake. after frederick’s death the court compelled the miller to refund the money which had been so unjustly extorted for damages.
on the 29th of november, 1780, maria theresa died. the extraordinary character which she had developed through life was equally manifested in the hour of death. she died of congestion of the lungs, which created a painful and suffocating difficulty of breathing. her struggles for breath rendered it impossible for her to lie upon the bed. bolstered in her chair, she leaned her head back as if inclined to sleep.
“will your majesty sleep, then?” inquired an attendant.
“no,” the empress replied; “i could sleep, but i must not. death is too near. he must not steal upon me. these fifteen years i have been making ready for him; i will meet him awake.”
for fifteen years she had been a mourning widow. her husband had died on the 18th of august. the 18th day of every month had since then been a day of solitary prayer. on the 18th of every august she descended into the tomb, and sat for560 a season engaged in prayer by the side of the mouldering remains of her spouse.
maria theresa at the tomb of her husband.
the emperor joseph had been embarrassed in his ambitious plans by the conscientious scruples of his mother. he now entered into a secret alliance with the czarina catharine, by which he engaged to assist her in her advance to constantinople, while she, in her turn, was to aid him in his encroachments and annexations to establish an empire in the west as magnificent as the czarina hoped to establish in the east.
delighted with this plan, and sanguine in the hope of its successful accomplishment, the czarina named her next grandson constantine. austria and russia thus became allied, with all their sympathies hostile to frederick. old age and infirmities were stealing upon the king apace. among the well-authenticated561 anecdotes related of him, the following is given by carlyle:
“loss of time was one of the losses frederick could least stand. in visits, even from his brothers and sisters, which were always by his own express invitation, he would say some morning (call it tuesday morning), ‘you are going on wednesday, i am sorry to hear’ (what you never heard before). ‘alas! your majesty, we must.’ ‘well, i am sorry; but i will lay no constraint on you. pleasant moments can not last forever.’ this trait is in the anecdote-books; but its authenticity does not rest on that uncertain basis. singularly enough, it comes to me individually, by two clear stages, from frederick’s sister, the duchess of brunswick, who, if any body, would know it well.”
we have often spoken of the entire neglect with which the king treated his virtuous and amiable queen. preuss relates the following incident:
“when the king, after the seven years’ war, now and then in carnival season dined with the queen in her apartments, he usually said not a word to her. he merely, on entering, on sitting down at table, and leaving it, made the customary bows, and sat opposite to her. once the queen was ill of gout. the table was in her apartments, but she was not there. she sat in an easy-chair in the drawing-room. on this occasion the king stepped up to the queen and inquired about her health. the circumstance occasioned among the company present, and all over the town, as the news spread, great wonder and sympathy. this is probably the last time he ever spoke to her.”193
“the king was fond of children; he liked to have his grand-nephews about him. one day, while the king sat at work in his cabinet, the younger of the two, a boy of eight or nine, was playing ball about the room, and knocked it once and again into the king’s writing operation, who twice or oftener flung it back to him, but next time put it in his pocket, and went on. ‘please your majesty, give it me back,’ begged the boy, and again begged: majesty took no notice; continued writing. till at length came, in the tone of indignation, ‘will your majesty give me my ball, then?’ the king looked up; found the little hohenzollern planted firm, hands on haunches, and wearing quite a peremptory562 air. ‘thou art a brave little fellow. they won’t get silesia out of thee?’ cried he, laughing, and flinging him his ball.”194
the fault-finding character of the king, and his intense devotion to perfecting his army, both increased with his advancing years. after one of his reviews of the troops in silesia, in the year 1784, he wrote in the following severe strain to the commanding general:
“potsdam, september 7, 1784.
“my dear general,—while in silesia i mentioned to you, and will now repeat in writing, that my army in silesia was at no time so bad as at present. were i to make shoemakers or tailors into generals, the regiments could not be worse. regiment thadden is not fit to be the most insignificant militia battalion of a prussian army. of the regiment erlach, the men are so spoiled by smuggling they have no resemblance to soldiers; keller is like a heap of undrilled boors; hager has a miserable commander; and your own regiment is very mediocre. only with graf von anhalt, with wendessen, and markgraf heinrich could i be content. see you, that is the state i found the regiments in, one after one. i will now speak of their man?uvring.
“schwartz, at neisse, made the unpardonable mistake of not sufficiently besetting the height on the left wing; had it been serious, the battle had been lost. at breslau, erlach, instead of covering the army by seizing the heights, marched off with his division straight as a row of cabbages into that defile; whereby, had it been earnest, the enemy’s cavalry would have cut down our infantry, and the fight was gone.
“it is not my purpose to lose battles by the base conduct of my generals; wherefore i hereby appoint that you, next year, if i be alive, assemble the army between breslau and ohlau; for four days before i arrive in your camp, carefully man?uvre with the ignorant generals, and teach them what their duty is. regiment von arnim and regiment von kanitz are to act the enemy; and whoever does not then fulfill his duty shall go to court-martial; for i should think it a shame of any country to keep such people, who trouble themselves so little about their business.”
563 the king seemed to think it effeminate and a disgrace to him as a soldier ever to appear in a carriage. he never drove, but constantly rode from berlin to potsdam. in the winter of 1785, when he was quite feeble, he wished to go from sans souci, which was exposed to bleak winds, and where they had only hearth fires, to more comfortable winter quarters in the new palace. the weather was stormy. after waiting a few days for such a change as would enable him to go on horseback, and the cold and wind increasing, he was taken over in a sedan-chair in the night, when no one could see him.
in august, 1785, the king again visited silesia to review his troops. a private letter, quoted by carlyle, gives an interesting view of his appearance at the time:
“he passed through hirschberg on the 18th of august. a concourse of many thousands had been waiting for him several hours. outriders came at last; then he himself, the unique; and, with the liveliest expression of reverence and love, all eyes were directed on one point. i can not describe to you my feelings, which, of course, were those of every body, to see him, the aged king; in his weak hand the hat; in those grand eyes such a fatherly benignity of look over the vast crowd that encircled his carriage, and rolled tide-like, accompanying it. looking round, i saw in various eyes a tear trembling.
“his affability, his kindliness, to whoever had the honor of speech with this great king, who shall describe it! after talking a good while with the merchants’ deputation from the hill country, he said, ‘is there any thing more, then, from any body?’ upon which the president stepped forward and said, ‘the burned-out inhabitants of greiffenberg have charged me to express once more their most submissive gratitude for the gracious help in rebuilding; their word of thanks is indeed of no importance; but they daily pray god to reward such royal beneficence.’ the king was visibly affected, and said, ‘you don’t need to thank me; when my subjects fall into misfortune, it is my duty to help them up again; for that reason am i here.’”
on monday, the 22d of august, the great review commenced near strehlen. it lasted four days. all the country mansions around were filled with strangers who had come to witness the spectacle.
564 “the sure fact, and the forever memorable, is that on wednesday, the third day of it, from four in the morning, when the man?uvres began, till well after ten o’clock, when they ended, there was rain like noah’s; rain falling as from buckets and water-spouts; and that frederick, so intent upon his business, paid not the slightest regard to it, but rode about, intensely inspecting, in lynx-eyed watchfulness of every thing, as if no rain had been there. was not at the pains even to put on his cloak. six hours of such down-pour; and a weakly old man of seventy-three past! of course he was wetted to the bone. on returning to head-quarters, his boots were found full of water; ‘when pulled off, it came pouring from them like a pair of pails.’”195
the last review.
lafayette, lord cornwallis, and the duke of york were his565 guests at the dinner-table that day. the king suffered from his exposure, was very feverish, and at an early hour went to bed. the next day he completed his review; and the next day “went—round by neisse, inspection not to be omitted there, though it doubles the distance—to brieg, a drive of eighty miles, inspection work included.”196
from this exhausting journey for so old a man the king returned to potsdam through a series of state dinners, balls, and illuminations. on the night of the 18th of september he was awoke by a very severe fit of suffocation. it was some time before he could get any relief, and it was thought that he was dying. the next day gout set in severely. this was followed by dropsy. the king suffered severely through the winter. there is no royal road through the sick-chamber to the tomb. the weary months of pain and languor came and went. the renowned mirabeau visited the king in his sick-chamber on the 17th of april, 1786. he writes:
“my dialogue with the king was very lively; but the king was in such suffering, and so straitened for breath, i was myself anxious to shorten it. that same evening i traveled on.”
that same evening marie antoinette wrote from versailles to her sister christine at brussels:
“the king of prussia is thought to be dying. i am weary of the political discussions on this subject as to what effects his death must produce. he is better at this moment, but so weak he can not resist long. physique is gone. but his force and energy of soul, they say, have often supported him, and in desperate crises have even seemed to increase. liking to him i never had. his ostentatious immorality has much hurt public virtue, and there have been related to me barbarities which excite horror.
“he has done us all a great deal of ill. he has been king for his own country, but a trouble-feast for those about him—setting up to be the arbiter of europe, always assailing his neighbors, and making them pay the expense. as daughters of maria theresa, it is impossible we can regret him; nor is it the court of france that will make his funeral oration.”197
the prince of ligne, a very accomplished courtier, about this566 time visited the sick and dying king. during his brief stay he dined daily with the king, and spent his evenings with him. in an interesting account which he gives of these interviews, he writes:
“daily for five hours the universality of his conversation completed my enchantment at his powers. the arts, war, medicine, literature, religion, philosophy, morality, history, and legislation passed in review by turns. the great times of augustus and louis xiv.; the good society among the romans, the greeks, and the french; the chivalry of francis i.; the valor of henry iv.; the revival of letters, and their changes since leo x.; anecdotes of men of talent of former days, and their errors; the eccentricities of voltaire; the sensitive vanity of maupertuis; the agreeableness of algarotti; the wit of jordan; the hypochondriacism of the marquis d’argens, whom the king used to induce to keep his bed for four-and-twenty hours by merely telling him he looked ill—and what not besides? all that could be said of the most varied and agreeable kind was what came from him, in a gentle tone of voice, rather low, and very agreeable from his manner of moving his lips, which possessed an inexpressible grace.”198
dr. moore gives the following account of a surprising scene, considering that the king was an infirm and suffering man seventy-three years of age:
“a few days ago i happened to take a very early walk about a mile from potsdam, and seeing some soldiers under arms in a field at a small distance from the road, i went toward them. an officer on horseback, whom i took to be the major, for he gave the word of command, was uncommonly active, and often rode among the ranks to reprimand or instruct the common men. when i came nearer i was much surprised to find that this was the king himself.
“he had his sword drawn, and continued to exercise the corps for an hour after. he made them wheel, march, form the square, and fire by divisions and in platoons, observing all their motions with infinite attention; and, on account of some blunder, put two officers of the prince of prussia’s regiment in arrest. in short, he seemed to exert himself with all the spirit of a young officer567 eager to attract the notice of his general by uncommon alertness.”199
frederick and his dogs.
frederick was very fond of dogs. this was one of his earliest passions, and it continued until the end of his life. he almost invariably had five or six italian greyhounds about him, leaping upon the chairs, and sleeping upon the sofas in his room. dr. zimmermann describes them as placed on blue satin chairs and couches near the king’s arm-chair, and says that when frederick, during his last illness, used to sit on his terrace at sans souci in order to enjoy the sun, a chair was always placed by his side, which was occupied by one of his dogs. he fed them himself, took the greatest possible care of them when they were sick, and when they died buried them in the gardens of sans souci. the568 traveler may still see their tombs—flat stones with the names of the dogs beneath engraved upon them—at each end of the terrace of sans souci, in front of the palace.
“the king was accustomed to pass his leisure moments in playing with them, and the room where he sat was strewed with leather balls with which they amused themselves. as they were all much indulged, though there was always one especial favorite, they used to tear the damask covers of the chairs in the king’s apartment, and gnaw and otherwise injure the furniture. this he permitted without rebuke, and used only to say,
“‘my dogs destroy my chairs; but how can i help it? and if i were to have them mended to-day, they would be torn again to-morrow. so i suppose i must bear with the inconvenience. after all, a marquise de pompadour would cost me a great deal more, and would neither be as attached nor as faithful.’”
one of frederick’s dogs, biche, has attained almost historic celebrity. we can not vouch for the authenticity of the anecdote, but it is stated that the king took biche with him on the campaign of 1745. one day the king, advancing on a reconnoissance, was surprised and pursued by a large number of austrians. he took refuge under a bridge, and, wrapping biche in his cloak, held him close to his breast. the sagacious animal seemed fully conscious of the peril of his master. though of a very nervous temperament, and generally noisy and disposed to bark at the slightest disturbance, he remained perfectly quiet until the austrians had passed.
at the battle of sohr, biche was taken captive with the king’s baggage. the animal manifested so much joy upon being restored to its master that the king’s eyes were flooded with tears.
on the 4th of july the king rode out for the last time. not long after, the horse was again brought to the door, but the king found himself too weak to mount. still, while in this state of extreme debility and pain, he conducted the affairs of state with the most extraordinary energy and precision. the minutest questions received his attention, and every branch of business was prosecuted with as much care and perfection as in his best days.
“he saw his ministers, saw all who had business with him, many who had little; and in the sore coil of bodily miseries, as569 hertzberg observed with wonder, never was the king’s intellect clearer, or his judgment more just and decisive. of his disease, except to the doctors, he spoke no word to any body.
“the body of frederick is a ruin, but his soul is still here, and receives his friends and his tasks as formerly. asthma, dropsy, erysipelas, continual want of sleep; for many months past he has not been in bed, but sits day and night in an easy-chair, unable to get breath except in that posture. he said one morning to somebody entering, ‘if you happened to want a night-watcher, i could suit you well.’”200
there is something truly sublime in the devotion with which he, in disregard of sleeplessness, exhaustion, and pain, gave himself to work. his three clerks were summoned to his room each morning at four o’clock.
“my situation forces me,” he said, “to give them this trouble, which they will not have to suffer long. my life is on the decline. the time which i still have belongs not to me, but to the state.”
he conversed cheerfully upon literature, history, and the common topics of the day. but he seemed studiously to avoid any allusion to god, to the subject of religion, or to death. he had from his early days very emphatically expressed his disbelief in any god who took an interest in the affairs of men. throughout his whole life he had abstained from any recognition of such a god by any known acts of prayer or worship. still mr. carlyle writes:
“from of old, life has been infinitely contemptible to him. in death, i think, he has neither fear nor hope. atheism, truly, he never could abide: to him, as to all of us, it was flatly inconceivable that intellect, moral emotion, could have been put into him by an entity that had none of its own. but there, pretty much, his theism seems to have stopped. instinctively; too, he believed, no man more firmly, that right alone has ultimately any strength in this world: ultimately, yes; but for him and his poor brief interests, what good was it? hope for himself in divine justice, in divine providence, i think he had not practically any: that the unfathomable demiurgus should concern himself with such a set of paltry, ill-given animalcules as one’s self and mankind570 are, this also, as we have often noticed, is in the main incredible to him.
“inarticulate notions, fancies, transient aspirations, he might have, in the background of his mind. one day, sitting for a while out of doors, gazing into the sun, he was heard to murmur, ‘perhaps i shall be nearer thee soon;’ and, indeed, nobody knows what his thoughts were in these final months. there is traceable only a complete superiority to fear and hope; in parts, too, are half glimpses of a great motionless interior lake of sorrow, sadder than any tears or complainings, which are altogether wanting to it.”
dr. zimmermann, whose work on solitude had given him some renown, had been sent for to administer to the illustrious patient. his prescriptions were of no avail. on the 10th of august, 1786, frederick wrote to his sister, the duchess dowager of brunswick:
“my adorable sister,—the hanover doctor has wished to make himself important with you, my good sister; but the truth is, he has been of no use to me. the old must give place to the young, that each generation may find room clear for it; and life, if we examine strictly what its course is, consists in seeing one’s fellow-creatures die and be born. in the mean while, i have felt myself a little easier for the last day or two. my heart remains inviolably attached to you, my good sister. with the highest consideration, my adorable sister, your faithful brother and servant,
frederick.”
the last letter which it is supposed that he wrote was the following cold epistle to his excellent wife, whom, through a long life, he had treated with such cruel neglect:
“madam,—i am much obliged by the wishes you deign to form; but a heavy fever i have taken hinders me from answering you.”
scarcely any thing can be more sad than the record of the last days and hours of this extraordinary man. few of the children of adam have passed a more joyless life. few have gone down to a grave shrouded with deeper gloom. none of those christian hopes which so often alleviate pain, and take from death its571 sting, cheered his dying chamber. to him the grave was but the portal to the abyss of annihilation.
days of pain and nights of sleeplessness were his portion. a hard cough racked his frame. his strength failed him. ulcerous sores broke out upon various parts of his body. a constant oppression at his chest rendered it impossible for him to lie down. gout tortured him. his passage to the grave led through eighteen months of constant suffering. dr. zimmermann, in his diary of the 2d of august, writes:
“the king is very chilly, and is always enveloped in pelisses, and covered with feather-beds. he has not been in bed for six weeks, but sleeps in his chair for a considerable time together, and always turned to the right side. the dropsical swelling augments. he sees it, but will not perceive what it is, or at least will not appear to do so, but talks as if it were a swelling accompanying convalescence, and proceeding from previous weakness. he is determined not to die if violent remedies can save him, but to submit to punctures and incisions to draw off the water.”
again, on the 8th, dr. zimmermann wrote: “the king is extraordinarily ill. on the 4th erysipelas appeared on the leg. this announces bursting and mortification. he has much oppression, and the smell of the wound is very bad.”
on the 15th, after a restless night, he did not wake until eleven o’clock in the morning. for a short time he seemed confused. he then summoned his generals and secretaries, and gave his orders with all his wonted precision. he then called in his three clerks and dictated to them upon various subjects. his directions to an embassador, who was about leaving, filled four quarto pages.
as night came on he fell into what may be called the death-sleep. his breathing was painful and stertorous; his mind was wandering in delirious dreams; his voice became inarticulate. at a moment of returning consciousness he tried several times in vain to give some utterance to his thoughts. then, with a despairing expression of countenance, he sank back upon his pillow. fever flushed his cheeks, and his eyes assumed some of their wonted fire. thus the dying hours were prolonged, as the friendless monarch, surrounded by respectful attendants, slowly descended to the grave.
572 his feet and legs became cold. death was stealing its way toward the vitals. about nine o’clock wednesday evening a painful cough commenced, with difficulty of breathing, and an ominous rattle in the throat. one of his dogs sat by his bedside, and shivered with cold; the king made a sign for them to throw a quilt over it.
another severe fit of coughing ensued, and the king, having with difficulty got rid of the phlegm, said, “the mountain is passed; we shall be better now.” these were his last words. the expiring monarch sat in his chair, but in a state of such extreme weakness that he was continually sinking down, with his chest and neck so bent forward that breathing was almost impossible. one of his faithful valets took the king upon his knee and placed his left arm around his waist, while the king threw his right arm around the valet’s neck.
it was midnight. “within doors all is silence; around it the dark earth is silent, above it the silent stars.” thus for two hours the attendant sat motionless, holding the dying king. not a word was spoken; no sound could be heard but the painful breathing which precedes death.
at just twenty minutes past two o’clock the breathing ceased, the spirit took its flight, and the lifeless body alone remained. life’s great battle was ended, and the soul of the monarch ascended to that dread tribunal where prince and peasant must alike answer for all the deeds done in the body. it was the 17th of august, 1786. the king had reigned forty-six years, and had lived seventy-six years, six months, and twenty-four days.
one clause in the king’s will was judiciously disregarded. as a last mark of his contempt for his own species, frederick had directed that he should be buried at sans souci by the side of his dogs.
in the king’s will, the only reference to any future which might be before him was the following:
“after having restored peace to my kingdom; after having conquered countries, raised a victorious army, and filled my treasury; after having established a good administration throughout my dominions; after having made my enemies tremble, i resign, without regret, this breath of life to nature.”
573 he left a small sum for the support of his amiable, blameless, and neglected queen, saying, “she never gave me the least uneasiness during my whole reign, and she merits every attention and respect for her many and unshaken virtues.”
“all next day the body lay in state in the palace; thousands crowding, from berlin and the other environs, to see that face for the last time. wasted, worn, but beautiful in death, with the thin gray hair parted into locks, and slightly powdered.”201
at eight o’clock in the evening his body was borne, accompanied by a battalion of the guards, to potsdam; eight horses drew the hearse. an immense concourse, in silence and sadness, filled the streets. he was buried in a small chapel in the church of the garrison at potsdam. there the remains of frederick and his father repose side by side.
“life’s labor done, securely laid in this, their last retreat: unheeded o’er their silent dust the storms of life shall beat.”
