THREE:The king was doubtless informed of all that had occurred. They reached Manheim the next night. Keith was so terrified, fearing that his life would be the penalty, that he there threw himself upon his knees before the king, confessing all, and imploring pardon. The king, in tones of intense agitation, informed the vigilance trio that death would be their inevitable doom if they allowed the prince to escape. Thus far the prince had been nominally free. Those who occupied the carriage with himRochow, Waldau, and Buddenbrockhad assumed to be merely his traveling companions. Their office of guardship had been scrupulously concealed. But henceforth he was regarded and treated as a culprit in the custody of his jailers.
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THREE: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. I do not complain of your heart, but of your incapacity, and of the little judgment you have shown in making your decisions. A man who has but a few days to live need not dissemble. I wish you better fortune than mine has been, and that all the miseries and bad adventures you have had may teach you to treat important matters with greater care, sense, and resolution than you have hitherto done. The greatest part of the calamities which I now apprehend comes only from you. You and your children will suffer more from them than I shall. Be persuaded, nevertheless, that I have always loved you, and that with these sentiments I shall die.
THREE:After the retreat of the Austrians, Frederick returned to his camp to find it plundered and burned. The semi-barbarian assailants had also consigned to the flames eight or ten sick Prussians whom they found there, and several women whom they caught. We found the limbs of these poor men and women lying about, writes General Lehwald.
THREE:The king exerted all his powers of fascination to gain the affections of the people. Though he dismissed all the Austrian public functionaries, and supplied their places by his own friends, he continued to the Catholics their ancient privileges, and paid marked attention to the bishop and his clergy. At the same time, he encouraged the Protestants with the expectation that he would prove their especial friend. At the assemblies which he gave each evening that he was in the city, he lavished his smiles upon the ladies who were distinguished either for exalted rank or for beauty. But there is no evidence that, during this campaign, he wrote one line to his absent, neglected wife, or that he expended one thought upon her.During the next three days the king suffered much from weakness and a violent cough. He was often heard murmuring prayers, and would say to those around him, Pray for me; pray for me. Several times he pathetically exclaimed, Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. A favorite hymn was often sung to him containing the words, Naked came I into the world, and naked187 shall I go out of it. At this passage he repeatedly exclaimed, with much vivacity, as though it were an admirable joke, No, not quite naked; I shall have my uniform on.