Frederick the Great. A Military Life

280 FINAL YEARS AND IMMORTALITY

Lafayette. Frederick lodged more unassumingly than any of them, in

a peasant house at Gross-Tinz near Nimptsch.

After having followed the exercises for several days, most of the

foreigners chose to absent themselves when bad weather descended

on 24 August. Frederick carried on as normal:

He was in no way dressed to withstand the cold rain, wearing

neither overcoat nor cloak, and yet his activity was unflagging.

He was seemingly oblivious of the downpour, but the

beautifully trimmed uniforms of the Duke of York and the

Marquis de Layfayette were sacrificed to the rain, along with

the less handsome garb of the other folk. It rained so hard that

individual battalions had scarcely three muskets that were in a

condition to fire, and ultimately they had none at all. The

loading and drilling went ahead regardless. (Warnsdorff, in

Volz, 1926-7, II, 289)

This last show of bravado proved to be too much for the seventy-
three-year-old Frederick. He was prostrated by exposure, and he had
to give his adjutants the responsibility of directing the secret Potsdam
manoeuvres in September.
The Parole, and other public orders, were now issued to the
officers indoors. At one such gathering, on 22 December, Frederick
invited Zieten to come up from the rear of the company, and he
summoned up a chair for the old hussar. He inquired after his health,
his hearing, and so on. Finally he told him:' "Farewell Zieten! Take
care not to catch a chill. I know you are old, but cariy on as long as
you can. I want to have the pleasure of seeing you many times yet!"
At this the king turned about. He spoke with nobody else, nor did he
follow his usual custom of progressing to the other rooms, but betook
himself to his solitary chamber' (Blumenthal, 1797, 595).
Frederick spent an uncomfortable winter, for he had suffered a
slight stroke, and his legs were swelling with dropsy. Lafayette found
him in this reduced condition when he visited Potsdam on 8 February
1786:

I... could not help being struck with the dress and appearance

of an old, broken, dirty corporal, covered all over with Spanish

snuff, with his head leaning on one shoulder, and fingers almost

distorted by the gout; but what surprises me much more is the

fire, and sometimes the softness, of the most beautiful eyes I

ever saw, which give as charming an expression to his

physiognomy as he can take a rough and threatening one at the

head of his troops. (Lafayette, 1837, II, 120-1)

Frederick's mental activity was unimpaired, and he kept up an