terminating in fome fpeedy confequence, without any plan of lafting advantage to himself or his fubjects, or any profpect of diftant events. He was therefore always bufy, though no effects of his activity ever appeared; and always eager, though he had nothing to gain. His behaviour was to the laft degree rough and favage. The least provocation, whether defigned or accidental, was returned by blows, which he did not always forbear to the Queen and Princeffes.

From fuch a king and fuch a father it was not any enormous violation of duty, in the immediate heir of a kingdom, fometimes to differ in opinion, and to maintain that difference with decent pertinacity. A prince of a quick fagacity and comprehenfive knowledge, muft find many practices in the conduct of affairs which he could not approve, and fome which he could scarcely forbear to oppose.

The chief pride of the old King was to be mafter of the tallest regiment in Europe. He therefore brought together from all parts men above the common military standard. To exceed the height of fix feet, was a certain recommendation to notice; and to approach that of feven, a claim to diftinction. Men will readily go where they are fure to be careffed, and he had therefore such a collection of giants as perhaps was never feen in the world before.

To review this towering regiment was his daily pleasure; and to perpetuate it was fo much his care, that when he met a tall woman, he immediately commanded one of his Titanian retinue to marry her, that they might propagate procerity, and produce heirs to the fathers habilements.

In all this there was apparent folly, but there was no crime. The tall regiment made a fine fhew, at an expence not much greater, when once it was collected, than would have been bestowed upon common men. But the King's military paftimes were fometimes more pernicious He maintained a numerous army, of which he made no other ufe than to review and to talk of it; and when he, or perhaps his emiffaries, faw a boy,

whofe form and fprightlinefs promised a future foldier, he ordered a kind of badge to be put about his neck, by which he was marked out for the service, like the fons of Chriftian captives in Turky, and his parents were forbidden to destine him to any other mode of life.

This was fufficiently oppreffive, but this was not the utmost of his tyranny. He had learned, though otherwise perhaps no very great politician, that to be rich was to be powerful: but that the riches of a king ought to be seen in the opulence of his fubjects, he wanted either ability or benevolence to understand. He therefore raised exorbitant taxes from every kind of commodity and poffeffion, and piled up the money in his treasury, from which it iffued no more. How the land which had paid taxes once, was to pay them a fecond time; how imposts could be levied without commerce, or commerce continued without money, it was not his custom to inquire. Eager to fnatch at money, and delighted to count it, he felt new joy at every receipt, and thought himself enriched by the impoverishment of his dominions.

By which of these freaks of royalty the Prince was offended, or whether, as perhaps more frequently happens, the of fences of which he complained were of a domestic and perfonal kind, it is not eafy to difcover. But his resentment, whatever was its cause, rose so high, that he refolved not only to leave his father's court, but his territories, and to seek a refuge among the neighbouring or kindred princes. It is generally believed that his intention was to come to Eng. land, and live under the protection of his uncle, till his father's death or change of conduct should give him liberty to return.

His defign, whatever it was, he concerted with an officer of the army whose name was Kat, a man in whom he placed great confidence, and whom, having chofen him for the companion of his flight, he neceffarily trufted with the preparatory measures. A prince cannot leave his country with the speed of a meaner fugitive. Something was to be provided, and fomething to be adjusted.

And

And whether Kat found the agency of others neceffary, and therefore was conftrained to admit fome partners of the fecret; whether levity or vanity incited him to disburden himself of a trust that fwelled in his bofom, or to shew to a friend or mistress his own importance; or whether it be in itself difficult for princes to tranfact any thing in fecret, fo it was that the King was in formed of the intended flight, and the Prince and his favourite, a little before the time fettled for their departure, were arrested, and confined in different places. The life of princes is feldom in danger; the hazard of their irregularities falls only on thofe whom ambition or affection combines with them. The King, after an imprisonment of fome time, fet his fon at liberty; but poor Kat was ordered to be tried for a capital crime. The court examined the cause, and acquitted him; the King remanded him to a second trial, and obliged his judges to condemn him. In confequence of the fentence thus tyrannically extorted, he was publicly beheaded, in the beginning of November 1730, in fight of the Prince; who could not help fhedding tears at this young gentleman's untimely fate. Kat left behind him fome papers of reflections made in the prifon, which were afterwards printed, and among others an admonition to the prince for whofe fake he suffered, not to fofter in himself the opinion of destiny, for that a providence is discoverable in every thing round

us.

This cruel profecution of a man who had committed no crime, but by compliance with influence not eafily to be refifted, was not the only act by which the old King irritated his fon. A lady with whom the Prince was fufpected of intimacy, perhaps more than virtue allowed, was feized, I know not upon what accufation, and, by the King's order, notwithstanding all the reafons of decency and tendernefs that operate in other countries and other judicatures, was publicly whipped in the streets of Berlin.

At last, that the Prince might feel the power of a king and a father in its utmost rigour, he was, in 1733, married,

againft his will, to the Princefs Elifabetha Chriftina of Brunswick-Lunenburg-Bevern. He married her indeed at his father's command, but without profeffing for her either esteem or affection; and confidering the claim of pa rental authority fully fatisfied by the external ceremony, obftinately and perpetually, during the life of his father, refrained from her bed. The poor princefs lived about feven years in the court of Berlin, in a ftate which the world has not often feen; a wife without a husband, married fo far as to engage her perfon to a man who did not defire her affection, and of whom it was doubtful whether he thought himself restrained from the power of repudiation, by an act performed under evident compulfion.

Thus he lived, fecluded from public bufinefs, in contention with his father, in alienation from his wife. This state of uneafinefs he found the only means of foftening. He diverted his mind from the fcenes about him, by ftudies and liberalamufements. The ftudies of princes feldom produce great effects; for princes draw with meaner mortals the lot of underftanding: and fince, of many ftudents, not more than one can be hoped to advance far towards perfection, it is scarcely to be expected that we should find that one a prince; that the defire of fcience fhould overpower in any mind the love of pleasure, when it is always present, or always within call; that laborious meditation fhould be preferred, in the days of youth, to amufements and feftivity; or that perfeverance should prefs forward in contempt of flattery; and that he in whom moderate acquifitions would be extolled as prodigies, fhould exact from himself that excellence of which the whole world conípires to fpare him the neceffity.

In every great performance, perhaps in every great character, part is the gift of nature, part the contribution of accident, and part, very often not the greateft part, the effect of voluntary election, and regular defign. The King of Pruffia was undoubtedly born with more than common abilities; but that he has cultivated them with more than common diligence,

A

diligence, was probably the effect of his peculiar condition, of that which he then confidered as cruelty and misfortune. In this long interval of unhappiness and obfcurity he acquired skill in the ma thematical sciences, fuch as is faid to put him on the level with those who have made them the business of their lives. This is probably to fay too much; the acquifitions of kings are always magnified. His fkill in poetry and in the French language have been loudly praifed by Voltaire, a judge without exception, if his honefty were equal to his knowledge. Mufic he not only underderftands, but practifes on the German flute in the highest perfection; fo that, according to the regal cenfure of Philip of Macedon, he may be ashamed to play fo well.

He may be faid to owe to the difficulties of his youth, an advantage lefs frequently obtained by princes than literature and mathematics. The neceffity of paffing his time without pomp, and of partaking of the pleasures and labours of a lower ftation, made him acquainted with the various forms of life, and with the genuine paffions, interefts, defires, and diftreffes of mankind. Kings, with out this help from temporary infelicity, fee the world in a mift, which magnifies every thing near them, and bounds their view to a narrow compafs, which few are able to extend by the mere force of curiofity. I have always thought, that what Cromwell had more than our law ful kings, he owed to the private condition in which he first entered the world, and in which he long continued. In that ftate he learned his art of fecret tranf action, and the knowledge by which he was able to oppose zeal to zeal, and make one enthusiast destroy another.

The King of Pruffia gained the fame arts; and being born to fairer opportunities of using them, brought to the throne the knowledge of a private man, without the guilt of ufurpation. Of this general acquaintance with the world there may be found fome traces in his whole life. His converfation is like that of other men upon common topics, his letters have an air of familiar elegance, and his

In 1740 the old King fell fick, and fpoke and acted in his illness with his Qfual turbulence and roughness, reproaching his phyficians in the groffeft terms with their unfkilfulness and impotence, and imputing to their ignorance or wickedness the pain which their prefcriptions failed to relieve. Thefe infults they bore with the submission which is commonly paid to defpotic monarchs; till at laft the celebrated Hofman was confulted; who failing, like the reft, to give eafe to his Majefty, was, like the reft,' treated with injurious language. Hofman, confcious of his own merit, replied, that he could not bear reproaches which he did not deferve; that he had tried all the remedies that art could fupply, or nature could admit; that he was indeed a professor by his Majesty's bounty; but that if his abilities or integrity were doubted, he was willing to leave, not only the univerfity, but the kingdom; and that he could not be driven into any place where the name of Hofman would want refpect. The King, however unaccustomed to fuch returns, was ftruck with conviction of his own indecency; told Hofman, that he had spoken well; and requested him to continue his attendance.

The King finding his diftemper gaining upon his ftrength, grew at last senfible that his end was approaching; and ordering the Prince to be called to his bed, laid feveral injunctions upon him; of which one was, to perpetuate the tall regiment by continual recruits; and ano-" ther, to receive his efpoufed wife. The Prince gave him a refpectful anfwer; but wifely avoided to diminish his own right or power by an abfolute promife; and the King died uncertain of the fate of the tall regiment. [ii. 232.]

The young King began his reign with great expectations; which he has yet furpaffed. His father's faults produced many advantages to the firft years of his reign. He had an army of 70,000 men well-difciplined, without any imputation

of

of feverity to himself.; and was mafter of a vaft treasure, without the crime or reproach of raifing it. It was publicly faid in our houfe of Commons, that he had eight millions Sterling of our money; but I believe he that said it had not confidered how difficultly eight millions would be found in all the Pruffian dominions. Men judge of what they fee not, by that which they fee. We are ufed to talk in England of millions with great familiarity, and imagine that there is the fame affluence of money in other countries; in countries whofe manufactures are few, and commerce little.

Every man's first cares are neceffarily domeftic. The King, being now no longer under influence, or its appearance, determined how to act towards the unhappy lady who had poffeffed for seven years the empty title of the Princefs of Pruffia. The papers of thofe times exhibited the converfation of their firft interview; as if the King who plans campaigns in filence, would not accommodate a difference with his wife, but with writers of news admitted as witneffes. It is certain that he received her as Queen'; but whether he treats her as a wife, is yet in difpute. [ii. 286.]

In a few days his refolution was known with regard to the tall regiment; for fome recruits being offered him, he rejected them; and this body of giants, by continued difregard, mouldered away.

He treated his mother with great refpect; ordered that the fhould bear the title of Queen-mother; and that, inftead of addreffing him as his Majefty, the fhould only call him fon.

As he was paffing foon after between Berlin and Potsdam, a thousand boys who had been marked out for military fervice, furrounded his coach, and cried out, "Merciful King, deliver us from our flavery." He promised them their liberty, and ordered the next day that the badge fhould be taken off. [ii. 286.] He ftill continued that correspondence with learned men, which he began when he was Prince; and the eyes of all fcholars, a race of mortals formed for dependence, were upon him, as a man likely to renew the times of patronage, and VOL. XIX.

to emulate the bounties of Lewis XIV.

It foon appeared that he was refolved to govern with very little minifterial affiftance: he took cognisance of every thing with his own eyes; declared, that in all contrarieties of interest between him and his fubjects, the public good fhould have the preference; and, in one of the firft exertions of regal power, banifhed the prime minister and favourite of his father, as one that had betrayed his master and abused his trust. [ii. 328.]

He then declared his refolution to grant a general toleration of religion; and, among other liberalities of conceffion, allowed the profeffion of free-masonry [585. & ii. 329, 33.]. It is the great taint of his character, that he has given reafon to doubt, whether this toleration is the effect of charity or indifference; whether he means to fupport good men of every religion, or confiders all religions as equally good *.

There had fubfifted for fome time in Pruffia an order called the order for fa

our, which, according to its denomination, had been conferred with very little distinction. The King instituted the order for merit, with which he honoured those whom he confidered as deferving. There were fome who thought their me rit not fufficiently recompenfed by this new title, but he was not very ready to grant pecuniary rewards. Those who were most in his favour he fometimes prefented with fnuff-boxes, on which was infcribed, Amitié augmente le prix. [ii. 328.]

He was, however, charitable, if not

"France

[Our readers have seen his confeffion of faith [vi. 488.] Zealous Proteftants think the manner in which he writes of their perfecuted brethren in France, very exceptionable: was at that time [in 1685] difturbed by the revocation of the famous edict of Nantes, and fuch a migration enfued as can hardly be parallelled in hiftory. A whole nation, as it were, departed the kingdom, through the fpirit of party, and out of hatred to the Pope, in order to receive the communion in both kinds in another climate, and to chant Clement Marot's old pfalms in other temples. For fuch powerful motives as thefe 200,000 inhabitants went into voluntary banishment, and abandoned their poffeffions." Memoirs of the house of Brandenburg, edit. Lond. 1751, P• \ 134] 5 F

liberal:

1

liberal: for he ordered the magiftrates of the feveral diftricts to be very attentive to the relief of the poor; and if the funds established for that ufe were not fufficient, permitted that the deficiency fhould be fupplied out of the revenues of the town. [333]

One of his first cares was the advances ment of learning. Immediately upon his acceffion, he wrote to Rollin and Voltaire, that he defired the continuance of their friendship; and fent for M. Mau pertuis, the principal of the French academicians, who passed a winter in Lap land, to verify, by the menfuration of a degree near the pole, the Newtonian doctrine of the form of the earth. He requested of Maupertuis to come to Berlinto fettle an academy, in terms of great ardour, and great condefcenfion. [ii. 382.]

At the fame time he fhewed the world, that literary amusements were not likely, as has more than once happened to royal ftudents, to withdraw him from the care of the kingdom, or make him forget his intereft. He began by reviving a claim to Herftal and Hermal, two districts in the poffeffion of the Bishop of Liege. When he fent his commiflary to demand the homage of the inhabitants, they refufed him admiffion, declaring that they acknowledged no fovereign but the Bifhop. The King then wrote a letter to the Bishop, in which he complained of the violation of his right, and the contempt of his authority; charged the prelate with countenancing the late act of difobedience, and required an answer in two days.

In three days the anfwer was fent; in which the Bishop founds his claim to the two lordships, upon a grant of Charles V. guarantied by France and Spain; alledges, that his predeceffors had enjoyed this grant above a century, and that he never intended to infringe the rights of Pruffia; but as the houfe of Brandenburg had always made fome pretenfions to that territory, he was willing to do what other bishops had offered, to purchafe that claim for 100,000 crowns. [ii. 431.]

To every man that knows the state of

the feudal countries, the intricacy of their pedigrees, the confufion of their alliances, and the different rules of inheritance that prevail in different places, it will appear evident, that of reviving antiquated claims there can be no end, and that the poffeffion of a century is a better title than can commonly be produced. So long a prefcription, fuppo. fes an acquiefcence in the other claim. ants; and that acquiefcence supposes al. fo fome reason, perhaps now unknown, for which the claim was forborn. Whe ther this rule could be confidered as va lid in the controverfy between thefe fo. vereigns, may however be doubted; for the Bishop's anfwer feems to imply, that the title of the house of Brandenburg had been kept alive by repeated claims, though the feizure of the territory had been hitherto forborn.

The King did not fuffer his claim to be fubjected to any altercations; but ha ving published a declaration, in which he charged the Bishop with violence and injuftice, and remarked, that the feadal laws allowed every man whofe poffeffion was with-held from him, to enter it with an armed force, he immediately difpatched 2000 foldiers into the controverted countries, where they lived without control, exercifing every kind of military tyranny, till the cries of the inhabitants forced the Bishop to relinquish them to the quiet government of Pruffia*.

This was but a petty acquifition; the time was now come when the King of Pruffia was to form and execute greater defigns. On the zoth of October 1740, half Europe was thrown into confufion by the death of Charles VI. Emperor of Germany, by whose death all the hereditary dominions of the houfe of Auftria defcended, according to the pragmatic fanction [iii. 495.], to his eldest daughter, who was married to the Duke of Lorrain, at the time of the Emperor's death Duke of Tuscany.

By how many fecurities the pragmatic fanction was fortified, and how little it

[According to our hiflory [ii. 479.], which is confirmed by Salmon, Geogr. p. 168. the King paffed from his claim, on the Bishop's paying him about 200,000 crowns.]

was