During the last Dyet at Grodno, a Mortification seiz'd his Foot; for which reason, M. de Petit, a Surgeon at Paris, whom the King sent for on purpose, cut off two toes, and set his Majesty upon his Legs again, but told him withal, he must observe such a Regimen as he prescrib'd to him, or else it would break out again. But the King finding himself better, neglected Petit's Advice, and died of the Mortification, as the Surgeon had foretold. BARON CARL LUDWIG VON POELLNITZ, Memoirs, 1737 In the autumn of 1732, Augustus left his royal castle in the heart of old Dresden to survey the building work still in progress at the Japanese Palace. Now aged sixty-two, he was probably carried there in the comfort of a sedan chair padded with crimson velvet and chased with gold, for the excesses of his dissolute life had taken their inevitable toll. Augustus was no longer the dynamic and athletic figure he had once been. His muscular physique had become bloated by an excess of wine and rich food, his legs were inflamed with abscesses and swollen by gout, and a hunting accident several years earlier had resulted in his surgeon having to amputate two of his toes.
