To the present class of readers, Furstenbund is become a Nothing; to all
of us the grand Something now is, strangely enough, that incidental item
which directly followed, of Reviewing the Silesian soldieries, who had
so angered his Majesty last year. "If I be alive next year!" said
the King to Tauentzien. The King kept his promise; and the Fates had
appointed that, in doing so, he was to find his--But let us not yet
pronounce the word.
AUGUST 16th, 1785, some three weeks after finishing the Furstenbund,
Friedrich set out for Silesia: towards Strehlen long known to him and us
all;--at Gross-Tinz, a Village in that neighborhood, the Camp and Review
are to be. He goes by Crossen, Glogau; in a circling direction: Glogau,
Schweidnitz, Silberberg, Glatz, all his Fortresses are to be inspected
as well, and there is much miscellaneous business by the road. At
Hirschberg, not on the military side, we have sight of him; the account
of which is strange to read:--
"THURSDAY, AUGUST 18th," says a private Letter from that little Town,
[Given IN EXTENSO, Rodenbeck, iii. 331-333.] "he passed through here:
concourse of many thousands, from all the Country about, 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 cannot describe to you my
feelings, which of course were those of everybody, 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 when he was past, I saw
in various eyes a tear trembling. ["Alas, we sha'n't have him long!"]
"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 anything more, then, from anybody?' Upon which, the President
(KAUFMANNSALTESTE," Merchants'-Eldest) "Lachmann, from Greiffenberg,"
which had been burnt lately, and helped by the King to rebuild itself,
"stepped forward, and said, 'The burnt-out Inhabitants of Greiffenberg
had charged him to express once more their most submissive gratitude for
the gracious help in rebuilding; their word of thanks, truly, was of no
importance, but they daily prayed 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.'"...
Saturday 20th, he arrived at Tinz; had a small Cavalry Manoeuvre, next
day; and on Monday the Review Proper began. Lasted four days,--22d-25th
August, Monday to Thursday, both inclusive. "Head-quarter was in the
DORF-SCHULZE'S (Village Mayor's) house; and there were many Strangers
of distinction quartered in the Country Mansions round." Gross-Tinz is
about 12 miles straight north from Strehlen, and as far straight east
from the Zobtenberg: Gross-Tinz, and its Review of August, 1785, ought
to be long memorable.
How the Review turned out as to proficiency recovered, I have not heard;
and only infer, by symptoms, that it was not unsatisfactory. The sure
fact, and the forever memorable, is, That on Wednesday, the third day
of it, from 4 in the morning, when the Manoeuvres began, till well after
10, when they ended, there was a rain like Noah's; rain falling as from
buckets and water-spouts; and that Friedrich (and perhaps most others
too), so intent upon his business, paid not the least regard to it;
but rode about, intensely inspecting, in lynx-eyed watchfulness of
everything, 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 73 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."
He got into dry clothes; presided in his usual way at dinner, which soon
followed; had many Generals and guests,--Lafayette, Lord Cornwallis,
Duke of York;--and, as might be expected, felt unusually feverish
afterwards. Hot, chill, quite poorly all afternoon; glad to get to
bed:--where he fell into deep sleep, into profuse perspiration, as his
wont was; and awoke, next morning, greatly recovered; altogether well
again, as he supposed. Well enough to finish his Review comfortably;
and start for home. Went--round by Neisse, inspection not to be omitted
there, though it doubles the distance--to Brieg that day; a drive of 80
miles, inspection-work included. Thence, at Breslan for three days more:
with dinners of state, balls, illuminations, in honor of the Duke
of York,--our as yet last Duke of York, then a brisk young fellow of
twenty-two; to whom, by accident, among his other distinctions, may
belong this of having (most involuntarily) helped to kill Friedrich the
Great!
Back to Potsdam, Friedrich pushed on with business; and complained
of nothing. Was at Berlin in about ten days (September 9th), for an
Artillery Review; saw his Sister Amelia; saw various public works in a
state of progress,--but what perhaps is medically significant, went in
the afternoon to a kind of Spa Well they have at Berlin; and slept,
not at the Palace, but at this Spa, in the hostelry or lodging-house
attached. [Rodenbeck, IN DIE.] Next day (September 10th), the Artillery
Manoeuvre was done; and the King left Berlin,--little guessing he had
seen Berlin for the last time.
The truth is, his health, unknown to him (though that of taking a Night
at the Spa Well probably denotes some guess or feeling of the kind
on his part), must have been in a dangerous or almost ruinous state.
Accordingly, soon afterwards, September 18th-19th, in the night-time,
he was suddenly aroused by a Fit of Suffocation (what they call
STICKFLUSS); and, for some hours, till relief was got, everybody feared
he would perish. Next day, there came gout; which perhaps he regarded
almost as a friend: but it did not prove such; it proved the captain
of a chaotic company of enemies; and Friedrich's end, I suppose,
was already inexorably near. At the Grand Potsdam Review (22d-23d
September), chief Review of all, and with such an affluence of Strangers
to it this Autumn, he was quite unable to appear; prescribed the
Manoeuvres and Procedures, and sorrowfully kept his room. [This of 23d
September, 1785, is what Print-Collectors know loosely as "FRIEDRICH'S
LAST REVIEW;"--one Cunningham, an English Painter (son of a Jacobite
ditto, and himself of wandering habitat), and Clemens, a Prussian
Engraver, having done a very large and highly superior Print of it, by
way of speculation in Military Portraits (Berlin, 1787); in which,
among many others, there figures the crediblest Likeness known to me
of FRIEDRICH IN OLD AGE, though Friedrich himself was not there.
(See PREUSS, iv. 242; especially see RODENBECK, iii. 337 n.)--As
Crown-Prince, Friedrich had SAT to Pesne: never afterwards to any
Artist.]
Friedrich was always something of a Doctor himself: he had little faith
in professional Doctors, though he liked to speak with the intelligent
sort, and was curious about their science, And it is agreed he really
had good notions in regard to it; in particular, that he very well
understood his own constitution of body; knew the effects of causes
there, at any rate, and the fit regimens and methods:--as an old man of
sense will usually do. The complaint is, that he was not always faithful
to regimen; that, in his old days at least, he loved strong soups, hot
spicy meats;--finding, I suppose, a kind of stimulant in them, as others
do in wine; a sudden renewal of strength, which might be very tempting
to him. There has been a great deal of unwise babble on this subject,
which I find no reason to believe, except as just said: In the fall of
this year, as usual, perhaps rather later than usual,--not till November
8th (for what reason so delaying, Marwitz told us already),--he withdrew
from Sans-Souci, his Summer-Cottage; shut himself up in Potsdam Palace
(Old Palace) for the winter. It was known he was very ailing; and that
he never stirred out,--but this was not quite unusual in late winters;
and the rumors about his health were vague and various. Now, as always,
he himself, except to his Doctors, was silent on that subject. Various
military Doctors, Theden, Frese and others of eminence, were within
reach; but it is not known to me that he consulted any of them.
Not till January, 1786, when symptoms worse than ever, of asthma, of
dropsy, began to manifest themselves, did he call in Selle, the chief
Berlin Doctor, and a man of real sagacity, as is still evident; who from
the first concluded the disease to be desperate; but of course began
some alleviatory treatment, the skilfulest possible to him. [Christian
Gottlieb Selle, KRANKHEITSGESCHICHTE DES HOCHSTSEELIGEN KONIGS VAN
PREUSSEN FRIEDRICHS DES ZWEYTEN MAJESTAT (Berlin, 1786); a very small
Pamphlet, now very rare;--giving in the most distinct, intelligent,
modest and conclusive way, an account of everything pertinent, and
rigorously of nothing else.] Selle, when questioned, kept his
worst fears carefully to himself: but the King noticed Selle's real
opinion,--which, probably, was the King's own too;--and finding little
actual alleviation, a good deal of trouble, and no possibility of a
victorious result by this warfare on the outworks, began to be weary of
Selle; and to turn his hopes--what hopes he yet had--on the fine weather
soon due. He had a continual short small cough, which much troubled him;
there was fear of new Suffocation-Fit; the breathing always difficult.
But Spring came, unusually mild; the King sat on the southern balconies
in the genial sun and air, looking over the bright sky and earth, and
new birth of things: "Were I at Sans-Souci, amid the Gardens!" thought
he. APRIL 17th, he shifted thither: not in a sedan, as Marwitz told us
of the former journey; but "in his carriage, very early in the
morning, making a long roundabout through various Villages, with
new relays,"--probably with the motive Marwitz assigns. Here are two
contemporaneous Excerpts:--
1. MIRABEAU AT SANS-SOUCI. "This same day," April 17th, it appears,
[Preuss: in _OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxv. 328 n.] "the King saw Mirabeau,
for the second and last time. Mirabeau had come to Berlin 19th January
last; his errand not very precise,--except that he infinitely wanted
employment, and that at Paris the Controller-General Calonne, since so
famous among mankind, had evidently none to offer him there. He seems to
have intended Russia, and employment with the Czarina,--after viewing
Berlin a little, with the great flashy eyesight he had. He first saw
Friedrich January 25th. There pass in all, between Friedrich and him,
seven Letters or Notes, two of them by the King; and on poor Mirabeau's
side, it must be owned, there is a massively respectful, truthful and
manly physiognomy, which probably has mended Friedrich's first opinion
of him. [... "Is coming to me to-day; one of those loose-tongued
fellows, I suppose, who write for and against all the world." (Friedrich
to Prince Henri, "25 January, 1786:" _OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxvi. 522.)]
This day, April 17th, 1786, he is at Potsdam; so far on the road to
France again,--Mirabeau Senior being reported dangerously ill. 'My
Dialogue with the King,' say the Mirabeau Papers, '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 travelled on.'
"Mirabeau Senior did not die at this time: and Controller-General
Calonne, now again eager to shake off an importunate and far too
clear-sighted Mirabeau Junior, said to the latter: 'Back to Berlin,
could n't you? Their King is dying, a new King coming; highly important
to us!'--and poor Mirabeau went. Left Paris again, in May; with money
furnished, but, no other outfit, and more in the character of Newspaper
Vulture than of Diplomatic Envoy," [Rodenbeck, iii. 343. Fils Adoptif,
_Memoires de Mirabeau_ (Paris, 1834), iv. 288-292, 296.] as perhaps we
may transiently see.
2. MARIE ANTOINETTE AT VERSAILLES; TO HER SISTER CHRISTINE AT BRUSSELS
(Husband and she, Duke and Duchess of Sachsen-Teschen, are Governors of
the Netherlands):--
MARCH 20th, 1786.... "There has been arrested at Geneva one Villette,
who played a great part in that abominable Affair [of the Diamond
Necklace, now emerging on an astonished Queen and world]. [Carlyle's
_Miscellanies_ (Library Edition), v. 3-96,? DIAMOND NECKLACE. The
wretched Cardinal de Rohan was arrested at Versailles, and put in the
Bastille, "August 15th, 1785," the day before Friedrich set out for
his Silesian Review; ever since which, the arrestments and judicial
investigations have continued,--continue till "May 10th, 1786," when
Sentence was given.] M. Target", Advocate of the enchanted Cardinal, "is
coming out with his MEMOIR: he does his function; and God knows what are
the lies he will produce upon us. There is a MEMOIR by that Quack of a
Cagliostro, too: these are at this moment the theme of all talk."
APRIL 6th. "The MEMOIRS, the lies, succeed each other; and the Business
grows darker, not clearer. Such a Cardinal of the Church! He brazenly
maintains his distracted story about the Bosquet [Interview with me in
person, in that Hornbeam Arbor at Versailles; to me inconceivable, not
yet knowing of a Demoiselle d'Oliva from the streets, who had acted
my part there], and my Assent [to purchase the Necklace for me]. His
impudence and his audacity surpass belief. O Sister, I need all my
strength to support such cruel assaults.... The King of Prussia's
condition much engages attention (PREOCCUPE) here, and must do at Vienna
too: his death is considered imminent. I am sure you have your eyes open
on that side."...
APRIL 17th (just while the Mirabeau Interview at Potsdam is going
on).... "King of Prussia 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 cannot 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 (IMMORALITE
AFFICHEE," ah, Madame!) "has much hurt public virtue [public
orthodoxy, I mean], and there have been related to me [by mendacious or
ill-informed persons] barbarities which excite horror. He has done us
all a great deal of ill. He has been a King for his own Country; but
a Trouble-feast for those about him;--setting up to be the arbiter of
Europe; always undertaking on 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."
[Comte de Hunolstein, _Correspondance inedite de Marie Antoinette_
(Paris, 1864), pp. 136, 137, 149.--Hunolstein's Book, I since find, is
mainly or wholly a Forgery! (NOTE of 1868.)]
From Sans-Souci the King did appear again on horseback; rode out several
times ("Conde," a fine English horse, one of his favorites, carrying
him,--the Conde who had many years of sinecure afterwards, and was well
known to Touring people): the rides were short; once to the New Palace
to look at some new Vinery there, thence to the Gate of Potsdam,
which he was for entering; but finding masons at work, and the street
encumbered, did not, and rode home instead: this, of not above two
miles, was his longest ride of all. Selle's attendance, less and less in
esteem with the King, and less and less followed by him, did not quite
cease till June 4th; that day the King had said to Selle, or to himself,
"It is enough." That longest of his rides was in the third week after;
June 22d, Midsummer-Day. July 4th, he rode again; and it was for the
last time. About two weeks after, Conde was again brought out; but it
would not do: Adieu, my Conde; not possible, as things are!--
During all this while, and to the very end, Friedrich's Affairs, great
and small, were, in every branch and item, guided on by him, with a
perfection not surpassed in his palmiest days: he saw his Ministers, saw
all who had business with him, many who had little; and in the sore coil
of bodily miseries, as 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 anybody. The body
of Friedrich 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."
His multifarious Military businesses come first; then his three Clerks,
with the Civil and Political. These three he latterly, instead of
calling about 6 or 7 o'clock, has had to appoint for 4 each morning:
"My situation forces me," his message 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 I must employ. It belongs not to me, but to
the State." [Preuss, iv. 257 n.] About 11, business, followed by short
surgical details or dressings (sadly insisted on in those Books, and
in themselves sufficiently sad), being all done,--his friends or daily
company are admitted: five chiefly, or (NOT counting Minister Hertzberg)
four, Lucchesini, Schwerin, Pinto, Gortz; who sit with him about one
hour now, and two hours in the evening again:--dreary company to our
minds, perhaps not quite so dreary to the King's; but they are all he
has left. And he talks cheerfully with them "on Literature, History,
on the topics of the day, or whatever topic rises, as if there were no
sickness here." A man adjusted to his hard circumstances; and bearing
himself manlike and kinglike among them.
He well knew himself to be dying; but some think, expected that the end
might be a little farther off. There is a grand simplicity of stoicism
in him; coming as if by nature, or by long SECOND-nature; finely
unconscious of itself, and finding nothing of peculiar in this new trial
laid on it. 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 oneself and mankind
are, this also, as we have often noticed, is in the main incredible to
him.
A sad Creed, this of the King's;--he had to do his duty without fee or
reward. Yes, reader;--and what is well worth your attention, you will
have difficulty to find, in the annals of any Creed, a King or man
who stood more faithfully to his duty; and, till the last hour, alone
concerned himself with doing that. To poor Friedrich that was all the
Law and all the Prophets: and I much recommend you to surpass him,
if you, by good luck, have a better Copy of those inestimable
Documents!--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.
Friedrich's dismissal of Selle, June 4th, by no means meant that he had
given up hope from medicine; on the contrary, two days after, he had a
Letter on the road for Zimmermann at Hanover; whom he always remembers
favorably since that DIALOGUE we read fifteen years ago. His first
Note to Zimmermann is of June 6th, "Would you consent to come for a
fortnight, and try upon me?" Zimmermann's overjoyed Answer, "Yes, thrice
surely yes," is of June 10th; Friedrich's second is of June 16th, "Come,
then!" And Zimmermann came accordingly,--as is still too well known.
Arrived 23d June; stayed till 10th July; had Thirty-three Interviews or
DIALOGUES with him; one visit the last day; two, morning and evening,
every preceding day;--and published a Book about them, which made
immense noise in the world, and is still read, with little profit
or none, by inquirers into Friedrich. [Ritter von Zimmermann, _Uber
Friedrich den Grossen und meine Unterredungen mit Ihm kurz von seinem
Tode_ (1 vol. 8vo: Leipzig, 1788);--followed by _Fragmente uber
Friedrich den Grossen_ (3 vols. 12mo: Leipzig, 1790); and by &c. &c.]
Thirty-three Dialogues, throwing no new light on Friedrich, none of them
equal in interest to the old specimen known to us.
In fact, the Book turns rather on Zimmermann himself than on his Royal
Patient; and might be entitled, as it was by a Satirist, DIALOGUES
OF ZIMMERMANN I. AND FRIEDRICH II. An unwise Book; abounding in
exaggeration; breaking out continually into extraneous sallies and
extravagancies,--the source of which is too plainly an immense conceit
of oneself. Zimmermann is fifteen years older since we last saw him; a
man now verging towards sixty; but has not grown wiser in proportion.
In Hanover, though miraculously healed of that LEIBESSCHADE, and full of
high hopes, he has had his new tribulations, new compensations,--both
of an agitating character. "There arose," he says, in reference to
some medical Review-article he wrote, "a WEIBER-EPIDEMIK, a universal
shrieking combination of all the Women against me:"--a frightful
accident while it lasted! Then his little Daughter died on his hands;
his Son had disorders, nervous imbecilities,--did not die, but did
worse; went into hopeless idiotcy, and so lived for many years.
Zimmermann, being dreadfully miserable, hypochondriac, what not, "his
friends," he himself passive, it would seem, "managed to get a young
Wife for him;" thirty years younger than he,--whose performances,
however, in this difficult post, are praised.
Lastly, not many months ago (Leipzig, 1785), the big FINAL edition of
"SOLITUDE" (four volumes) has come out; to the joy and enthusiasm of all
philanthropic-philosophic and other circulating-library creatures:--a
Copy of which came, by course of nature, not by Zimmermann's help, into
the hands of Catharine of Russia. Sublime imperial Letter thereupon,
with 'valuable diamond ring;' invitation to come to Petersburg, with
charges borne (declined, on account of health); to be imperial Physician
(likewise declined);--in fine, continued Correspondence with Catharine
(trying enough for a vain head), and Knighthood of the Order of St.
Wladimir,--so that, at least, Doctor Zimmermann is RITTER Zimmermann
henceforth. And now, here has come his new Visit to Friedrich the
Great;--which, with the issues it had, and the tempestuous cloud of
tumid speculations and chaotic writings it involved him in, quite upset
the poor Ritter Doctor; so that, hypochondrias deepening to the abysmal,
his fine intellect sank altogether,--and only Death, which happily
followed soon, could disimprison him. At this moment, there is in
Zimmermann a worse "Dropsy" of the spiritual kind, than this of the
physical, which he has come in relief of!
Excerpts of those Zimmermann DIALOGUES lie copiously round me, ready
long ago,--nay, I understand there is, or was, an English TRANSLATION of
the whole of them, better or worse, for behoof of the curious:--but
on serious consideration now, I have to decide, That they are but as
a Scene of clowns in the Elder Dramatists; which, even were it NOT
overdone as it is, cannot be admitted in this place, and is plainly
impertinent in the Tragedy that is being acted here. Something of Farce
will often enough, in this irreverent world, intrude itself on the most
solemn Tragedy; but, in pity even to the Farce, there ought at least to
be closed doors kept between them.
Enough for us to say, That Ritter Zimmermann--who is a Physician and a
Man of Literary Genius, and should not have become a Tragic Zany--did,
with unspeakable emotions, terrors, prayers to Heaven, and paroxysms
of his own ridiculous kind, prescribe "Syrup of Dandelion" to the King;
talked to him soothingly, musically, successfully; found the King a
most pleasant Talker, but a very wilful perverse kind of Patient; whose
errors in point of diet especially were enormous to a degree. Truth is,
the King's appetite for food did still survive:--and this might have
been, you would think, the one hopeful basis of Zimmermann's whole
treatment, if there were still any hope: but no; Zimmermann merely, with
uncommon emphasis, lyrically recognizes such amazing appetite in an old
man overwhelmed by diseases,--trumpets it abroad, for ignorant persons
to regard as a crime, or perhaps as a type generally of the man's past
life, and makes no other attempt upon it;--stands by his "Extract of
Dandelion boiled to the consistency of honey;" and on the seventeenth
day, July 10th, voiceless from emotion, heart just breaking, takes
himself away, and ceases. One of our Notes says:--
"Zimmermann went by Dessau and Brunswick; at Brunswick, if he made speed
thither, Zimmermann might perhaps find Mirabeau, who is still there, and
just leaving for Berlin to be in at the death:--but if the Doctor and
he missed each other, it was luckier, as they had their controversies
afterwards. Mirabeau arrived at Berlin, July 21st: [Mirabeau, HISTOIRE
SECRETE DE LA COUR DE BERLIN, tome iii. of _OEuvres de Mirabeau:_ Paris,
1821, LETTRE v. p. 37.] vastly diligent in picking up news, opinions,
judgments of men and events, for his Calonne;--and amazingly accurate,
one finds; such a flash of insight has he, in whatever element, foul or
fair.
"JULY 9th, the day before Zimmerman's departure, Hertzberg had come
out to Potsdam in permanence. Hertzberg is privately thenceforth in
communication with the Successor; altogether privately, though no doubt
Friedrich knew it well enough, and saw it to be right. Of course, all
manner of poor creatures are diligent about their own bits of interests;
and saying to themselves, 'A New Reign is evidently nigh!' Yes,
my friends;--and a precious Reign it will prove in comparison:
sensualities, unctuous religiosities, ostentations, imbecilities;
culminating in Jena twenty years hence."
Zimmermann haggles to tell us what his report was at Brunswick; says, he
"set the Duke [ERBPRINZ, who is now Duke these six years past] sobbing
and weeping;" though towards the Widow Duchess there must have been some
hope held out, as we shall now see. The Duchess's Letter or Letters to
her Brother are lost; but this is his Answer:--
FRIEDRICH TO THE DUCHESS-DOWAGER OF BRUNSWICK.
"SANS-SOUCI, 10th August, 1786.
"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 (M'A ETE INUTILE). 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, "FRIEDRICH." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_
xxvii. i. 352.]
This is Friedrich's last Letter;--his last to a friend. There is one to
his Queen, which Preuss's Index seems to regard as later, though without
apparent likelihood; there being no date whatever, and only these words:
"Madam,--I am much obliged by the wishes you deign to form: but a
heavy fever I have taken (GROSSE FIEVRE QUE J'AI PRISE) hinders me from
answering you." [Ib. xxvi. 62.]
On common current matters of business, and even on uncommon, there
continue yet for four days to be Letters expressly dictated by
Friedrich; some about military matters (vacancies to be filled, new
Free-Corps to be levied). Two or three of them are on so small a subject
as the purchase of new Books by his Librarians at Berlin. One, and it
has been preceded by examining, is, Order to the Potsdam Magistrates to
grant "the Baker Schroder, in terms of his petition, a Free-Pass out of
Preussen hither, for 100 bushels of rye and 50 of wheat, though Schroder
will not find the prices much cheaper there than here." His last, of
August 14th, is to De Launay, Head of the Excise: "Your Account of
Receipts and Expenditures came to hand yesterday, 13th; but is too
much in small: I require one more detailed,"--and explains, with brief
clearness, on what points and how. Neglects nothing, great or small,
while life yet is.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 15th, 1786, Contrary to all wont, the King did not
awaken till 11 o'clock. On first looking up, he seemed in a confused
state, but soon recovered himself; called in his Generals and
Secretaries, who had been in waiting so long, and gave, with his old
precision, the Orders wanted,--one to Rohdich, Commandant of Potsdam,
about a Review of the troops there next day; Order minutely perfect,
in knowledge of the ground, in foresight of what and how the evolutions
were to be; which was accordingly performed on the morrow. The Cabinet
work he went through with the like possession of himself, giving, on
every point, his Three Clerks their directions, in a weak voice, yet
with the old power of spirit,--dictated to one of them, among other
things, an "Instruction" for some Ambassador just leaving; "four quarto
pages, which," says Hertzberg, "would have done honor to the most
experienced Minister;" and, in the evening, he signed his Missives as
usual. This evening still,--but--no evening more. We are now at the last
scene of all, which ends this strange eventful History.
Wednesday morning, General-Adjutants, Secretaries, Commandant, were
there at their old hours; but word came out, "Secretaries are to wait:"
King is in a kind of sleep, of stertorous ominous character, as if it
were the death-sleep; seems not to recollect himself, when he does
at intervals open his eyes. After hours of this, [Selle (ut sup.);
Anonymous (Kletschke), LETZTE STUNDEN UND LEICHENBEGANGNISS FRIEDRICHS
DES ZWEYTEN, (Potsdam, 1786); Preuss, iv. 264 et seq.; Rodenbeck, iii.
363-366.] on a ray of consciousness, the King bethought him of Rohdich,
the Commandant; tried to give Rohdich the Parole as usual; tried twice,
perhaps three times; but found he could not speak;--and with a glance of
sorrow, which seemed to say, "It is impossible, then!" turned his head,
and sank back into the corner of his chair. Rohdich burst into tears:
the King again lay slumberous;--the rattle of death beginning soon
after, which lasted at intervals all day. Selle, in Berlin, was sent
for by express; he arrived about three of the afternoon: King seemed a
little more conscious, knew those about him, "his face red rather than
pale, in his eyes still something of their old fire." Towards evening
the feverishness abated (to Selle, I suppose, a fatal symptom); the
King fell into a soft sleep, with warm perspiration; but, on awakening,
complained of cold, repeatedly of cold, demanding wrappage after
wrappage ("KISSEN," soft QUILT of the old fashion);--and on examining
feet and legs, one of the Doctors made signs that they were in fact
cold, up nearly to the knee. "What said he of the feet?" murmured the
King some time afterwards, the Doctor having now stepped out of sight.
"Much the same as before," answered some attendant. The King shook his
head, incredulous.
He drank once, grasping the goblet with both hands, a draught of
fennel-water, his customary drink; and seemed relieved by it;--his last
refection in this world. Towards nine in the evening, there had come on
a continual short cough, and a rattling in the breast, breath more and
more difficult. Why continue? Friedrich is making exit, on the common
terms; you may HEAR the curtain rustling down. For most part he was
unconscious, never more than half conscious. As the wall-clock above his
head struck 11, he asked: "What o'clock?" "Eleven," answered they. "At
4" murmured he, "I will rise." One of his dogs sat on its Stool near
him; about midnight he noticed it shivering for cold: "Throw a quilt
over it," said or beckoned he; that, I think, was his last completely
conscious utterance. Afterwards, in a severe choking fit, getting at
last rid of the phlegm, he said, "LA MONTAGNE EST PASSEE, NOUS IRONS
MIEUX, We are over the hill, we shall go better now."
Attendants, Hertzberg, Selle and one or two others, were in the outer
room; none in Friedrich's but Strutzki, his Kammerhussar, one of Three
who are his sole valets and nurses; a faithful ingenious man, as they
all seem to be, and excellently chosen for the object. Strutzki, to save
the King from hustling down, as he always did, into the corner of
his chair, where, with neck and chest bent forward, breathing was
impossible,--at last took the King on his knee; kneeling on the ground
with his other knee for the purpose,--King's right arm round Strutzki's
neck, Strutzki's left arm round the King's back, and supporting his
other shoulder; in which posture the faithful creature, for above two
hours, sat motionless, till the end came. Within doors, all is silence,
except this breathing; around it the dark earth silent, above it the
silent stars. At 20 minutes past 2, the breathing paused,--wavered;
ceased. Friedrich's Life-battle is fought out; instead of suffering and
sore labor, here is now rest. Thursday morning, 17th August, 1786, at
the dark hour just named. On the 31st of May last, this King had reigned
46 years. "He has lived," counts Rodenbeck, "74 years, 6 months and 24
days."
His death seems very stern and lonely;--a man of such affectionate
feelings, too; "a man with more sensibility than other men!" But so had
his whole life been, stern and lonely; such the severe law laid on him.
Nor was it inappropriate that he found his death in that poor Silesian
Review; punctually doing, as usual, the work that had come in hand. Nor
that he died now, rather than a few years later. In these final days
of his, we have transiently noticed Arch-Cardinal de Rohan, Arch-Quack
Cagliostro, and a most select Company of Persons and of Actions, like an
Elixir of the Nether World, miraculously emerging into daylight; and all
Paris, and by degrees all Europe, getting loud with the DIAMOND-NECKLACE
History. And to eyes of deeper speculation,--World-Poet Goethe's, for
instance,--it is becoming evident that Chaos is again big. As has not
she proved to be, and is still proving, in the most teeming way! Better
for a Royal Hero, fallen old and feeble, to be hidden from such things.
"Yesterday, Wednesday, August 16th," says a Note which now strikes us
as curious, "Mirabeau, smelling eagerly for news, had ridden out towards
Potsdam; met the Page riding furiously for Selle ('one horse already
broken down,' say the Peasants about); and with beak, powerful beyond
any other vulture's, Mirabeau perceived that here the end now was. And
thereupon rushed off, to make arrangements for a courier, for flying
pigeons, and the other requisites. And appeared that night at the
Queen's Soiree in Schonhausen [Queen has Apartment that evening,
dreaming of nothing], 'where,' says he, 'I eagerly whispered the French
Minister,' and less eagerly 'MON AMI Mylord Dalrymple,' the English
one;--neither of whom would believe me. Nor, in short, what Calonne will
regret, but nobody else, could the pigeons be let loose, owing to
want of funds.'" [Mirabeau, HISTOIRE SECRETE, &c. (LETTRE xiv.), pp.
58-63.]--Enough, enough.
Friedrich was not buried at Sans-Souci, in the Tomb which he had built
for himself; why not, nobody clearly says. By his own express will,
there was no embalming. Two Regiment-surgeons washed the Corpse,
decently prepared it for interment: "At 8 that same evening, Friedrich's
Body, dressed in the uniform of the First Battalion of Guards, and laid
in its coffin, was borne to Potsdam, in a hearse of eight horses, twelve
Non-commissioned Officers of the Guard escorting. All Potsdam was in the
streets; the Soldiers, of their own accord, formed rank, and followed
the hearse; many a rugged face unable to restrain tears: for the rest,
universal silence as of midnight, nothing audible among the people but
here and there a sob, and the murmur, 'ACH, DER GUTE KONIG!'
"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. And at 8 in the evening [Friday,
18th], he was borne to the Garnison-Kirche of Potsdam; and laid beside
his Father, in the vault behind the Pulpit there," [Rodenbeck, iii. 365
(Public Funeral was not till September 9th).] where the two Coffins are
still to be seen.
I define him to myself as hitherto the Last of the Kings;--when the
Next will be, is a very long question! But it seems to me as if Nations,
probably all Nations, by and by, in their despair,--blinded, swallowed
like Jonah, in such a whale's-belly of things brutish, waste, abominable
(for is not Anarchy, or the Rule of what is Baser over what is
Nobler, the one life's misery worth complaining of, and, in fact, the
abomination of abominations, springing from and producing all others
whatsoever?)--as if the Nations universally, and England too if it hold
on, may more and more bethink themselves of such a Man and his Function
and Performance, with feelings far other than are possible at present.
Meanwhile, all I had to say of him is finished: that too, it seems,
was a bit of work appointed to be done. Adieu, good readers; bad also,
adieu.