[27] William III. of England.
[28] Baron Bielfeld, in his letters, gives the following account of the prince’s admission to the masonic fraternity: “On the 14th the whole day was spent in preparations for the lodge. A little after midnight we saw the Prince Royal arrive, accompanied by Count W——. The prince presented this gentleman as a candidate whom he recommended, and whose reception he wished immediately to succeed his own. He desired us likewise to omit, in his reception, not any one rigorous ceremony that was used in similar cases; to grant him no indulgence whatever; but gave us leave, on this occasion, to treat him merely as a private person. In a word, he was received with all the usual and requisite formalities. I admired his intrepidity, the serenity of his countenance, and his graceful deportment even in the most critical moments. After the two receptions we opened the lodge, and proceeded to our work. He appeared delighted, and acquitted himself with as much dexterity as discernment.”—Letters of Baron Bielfeld, vol. iii., p. 36.
[29] Baron Bielfeld gives the following account of the personal appearance of the king at this time: “If we judge by his portraits, he was in his youth very handsome. But it must be confessed that he does not now retain any traces of beauty. His eyes are indeed lively, but his looks are frightful. His complexion is composed of a mixture of high red, blue, yellow, and green. His head is large. His neck is quite sunk between his shoulders, and his figure is short and gross.”—Letters, vol. iii., p. 67.
[30] Frederick had taken the fancy of calling his companions by classical names. Suhm was Diaphanes; Keyserling was called Cæsarion, etc.
[31] Bielfeld informs us that “about one in the afternoon he sent for Ellert, his first physician, and asked him if he thought that his life and his sufferings could continue long, and if the agonies of his last moments would be great. The physician answered, ‘Your majesty has already arrived at that period. I feel the pulse retire. It now beats below your elbow.’
“The king inquired, ‘Where will it retire at last?’
“‘To the heart,’ the doctor replied. ‘And in about an hour it will cease to beat at all.’
“On which the king said, with perfect resignation, ‘God’s will be done!’”—Letters, vol. iii., p. 127.
[32] Frederick William, in his reviews of the giant guard, was frequently attended by the foreign ministers who chanced to be at his court. On one of these occasions he asked the French minister if he thought that an equal number of the soldiers of France would venture to engage with these troops. With politeness, characteristic of the nation, the minister replied that it was impossible that men of the ordinary stature should think of such an attempt. The same question was asked of the English embassador. He replied, “I can not affirm that an equal number of my countrymen would beat them, but I think that I may safely say that half the number would try.”
[33] Voltaire, after he had quarreled with Frederick, gave the following amusing account of a gift he received from the king soon after his accession to the throne: “He began his reign by sending an embassador extraordinary to France, one Camas, who had lost an arm. He said that, as there was a minister from the French court at Berlin who had but one hand, he, that he might acquit himself of all obligation toward the most Christian king, had sent him an embassador with one arm. Camas, as soon as he arrived safe at his inn, dispatched a lad to tell me that he was too much fatigued to come to my house, and therefore begged that I would come to him instantly, he having the finest, greatest, and most magnificent present that was ever presented to make me on the part of the king his master. ‘Run, run, as fast as you can,’ said Madame Du Châtelet; ‘he has assuredly sent you the diamonds of the crown.’ Away I ran, and found my embassador, whose only baggage was a small keg of wine, tied behind his chaise, sent from the cellar of the late king by the reigning monarch, with a royal command for me to drink. I emptied myself in protestations of astonishment and gratitude for these liquid marks of his majesty’s bounty, instead of the solid ones I had been taught to expect, and divided my keg with Camas.”—Memoirs, p. 34.