AUTHORITIES.
Journal de Pierre le Grand; History of Peter the Great, by Alexander Gordon; John Bell's Travels in Russia; Henry Bruce's Memoirs of Peter; Motley's Life of Peter I.; Voltaire's History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great; Voltaire's Life of Charles XII.; Biographic Universelle; Encyclopaedia Britannica,--article "Russia;" Barrow's Memoir of the Life of Peter the Great; Schuyler's History of Peter the Great.
FREDERIC THE GREAT.
A.D. 1712-1786.
THE PRUSSIAN POWER.
The history of Frederic the Great is simply that of a man who committed an outrageous crime, the consequences of which pursued him in the maledictions and hostilities of Europe, and who fought bravely and heroically to rescue himself and country from the ruin which impended over him as a consequence of this crime. His heroism, his fertility of resources, his unflagging energy, and his amazing genius in overcoming difficulties won for him the admiration of that class who idolize strength and success; so that he stands out in history as a struggling gladiator who baffled all his foes,--not a dying gladiator on the arena of a pagan amphitheatre, but more like a Judas Maccabaeus, when hunted by the Syrian hosts, rising victorious, and laying the foundation of a powerful monarchy; indeed, his fame spread, irrespective of his cause and character, from one end of Christendom to the other,--not such a fame as endeared Gustavus Adolphus to the heart of nations for heroic efforts to save the Protestant religion,--but such a fame as the successful generals of ancient Rome won by adding territories to a warlike State, regardless of all the principles of right and wrong. Such a career is suggestive of grand moral lessons; and it is to teach these lessons that I describe a character for whom I confess I feel but little sympathy, yet whom I am compelled to respect for his heroic qualities and great abilities.
Frederic of Prussia was born in 1712, and had an unhappy childhood and youth from the caprices of a royal but disagreeable father, best known for his tall regiment of guards; a severe, austere, prejudiced, formal, narrow, and hypochondriacal old Pharisee, whose sole redeeming excellence was an avowed belief in God Almighty and in the orthodox doctrines of the Protestant Church.
In 1740, this rigid, exacting, unsympathetic king died; and his son Frederic, who had been subjected to the severest discipline, restraints, annoyances, and humiliations, ascended the throne, and became the third King of Prussia, at the age of twenty-eight. His kingdom was a small one, being then about one quarter of its present size.