The King not knowing what he meant, desir’d his Minister to explain himself; whereupon he made answer, ‘That he shou’d very shortly incur his Displeasure; that his Fall wou’d be attended by the Forfeiture of all his Estate; that he should be arrested and committed to the _Spandau_ Prison; and that there he should be confin’d ten Years, at the Expiration of which his Innocence wou’d be made to appear, his Estate wou’d be restor’d to him, and he shou’d be taken again into his Majesty’s Favour.’ The King, who was at that time very fond of his Minister, and did not think he cou’d ever do without him, ridicul’d what he had said as the Surmise of a Visionary, and was going to swear by the New Testament then upon a Table in the Room, that this sad Prophecy wou’d never come to pass. But the Minister held his Hand, and begg’d him not to take an Oath which it wou’d not be in his power to keep. I tell you this Story just as I had it from a Lady of Quality to whom the King himself told it: But in short, let the Story be as it will, ’tis very certain that M. _de Danckelman_ was disgrac’d, committed Prisoner to _Spandau_, and from thence remov’d to _Peitz_, without any Companion but his Wife, who generously desir’d to suffer Imprisonment with him. His Confinement lasted much longer than he had prophesy’d, and when at length he obtained his Release, he was not restor’d to his Employments, nor even to his Estate. ’Tis said indeed that the present King, who on his Accession to the Crown sent for M. _de Danckelman_ to _Berlin_, offer’d him the Ministry; but that the Baron excus’d himself by reason of his great Age and his tedious Imprisonment, which had made him lose the Connection of Public Affairs. This Minister died lately, having lived to the Age of fourscore. His remarkable Disgrace, and fifteen Years Confinement in a Prison, had not sunk his Spirits, nor shock’d his Constancy of Mind; and one shall scarce meet with an Instance in History, either before or since, of more Merit and more Misfortune in one and the same Person. He was a passionate Admirer of Learned Men, and a Rewarder of Virtue. In a word, by the Disgrace of this Great Man, the State lost a faithful disinterested Minister, and Men of Learning lost a _Mecænas_, full of Zeal and solid Knowledge, who never fail’d to support by his own Authority, and to procure a Reward from his Master, for all Persons that apply’d to him with any Proposal that was useful and uncommon.