The tyranny and the beatings to which he was subjected became at last so intolerable that, when he was eighteen years old, Frederick determined to run away. His adored sister Wilhelmine was his confidante. His bosom friend, Lieutenant Von Katte, was his accomplice. A letter to Von Katte, written at this time, fell into other hands and was sent to the King.
The barbarities which followed make one think this Hohenzollern should have been in a madhouse instead of on a throne. It was a small matter that he beat his son until his face was covered with blood, for he had done that before; but he sent him as a prisoner of state to Prussia. He then annulled the sentence of imprisonment passed by the court-martial upon Von Katte, and ordered his immediate execution. To inflict more suffering he ordered that the hanging take place before the window of the cell where his son was confined!
When this was carried into effect the young prince fainted, and lay so long insensible that it was thought he was dead.
The King then insisted that he be tried by court-martial; and when the court decided that it had no authority to condemn the Crown Prince, he overruled the decision and ordered his execution.
The horror and indignation caused by this extended as far as Vienna. The Emperor Charles VI. informed the King of Prussia that the Crown Prince could only be condemned capitally at an Imperial Diet. The King answered, "Very well; then, I will hold my own court on him at Königsberg. Prussia is my own and outside the confines of the empire, where I can do as I please."
But the fury of this madman was abating. He did not resent it when a daring attendant reminded him that "God also ruled—even in Prussia." Finally he was satisfied with humiliating his son by making him work for one year in the lowest position in the departments of the government.
At the wedding festivities of his sister Wilhelmine, Frederick secreted himself among the servants in humble attire. He was discovered, and the King, who must have been in a genial mood that night, pulled him forth from his hiding, and leading him to the trembling queen said, "Here, madam, our Fritz is back again!" And the reconciliation made three aching hearts glad.
For the ten succeeding years Frederick was permitted to reside in his own castle near Potsdam, and the relations with his father became kinder and almost cordial. The son in his castle pursued his philosophical studies, corresponded with Voltaire, and played the flute to his heart's content.
But he did other things too, as the future demonstrated. The study of profound subjects, conversation, and intimate friendships with learned men, trained his active mind to wonderful acuteness, and when he applied this to the study of history, when he read of the dignity of kings, and of what stuff greatness was made in the past—he formed his own ideals for the future. When Frederick William died in 1740 he was prepared to take the reins of government with a comprehensiveness of grasp of which his austere father was incapable, and with clearly defined plans to make Prussia great.
Six months later Maria Theresa succeeded to her father's throne. She had no fear of this young flute-playing King of Prussia, and was fully occupied in defending her own Imperial rights, which were assailed by the Elector of Bavaria, who claimed to be Emperor Karl VII., by virtue of a descent superior to hers.