who was in the pay of the emperor, to break off the proposed marriage between his eldest son and daughter and the eldest son and daughter of George II., and to conclude with the Austrian court the treaty of Wusterhausen (1726) by which he acknowledged the pragmatic sanction, and engaged to send nineteen thousand men to the assistance of Austria if required. In 1735, when war broke out between France and Austria, the Prussian monarch sent ten thousand men to the assistance of the emperor, and for some time served with his troops in person, along with the crown-prince. But nothing of importance was accomplished, and hostilities were soon terminated by the peace of Vienna. Frederick William survived this event five years. He died 31st May, 1740, leaving four sons and six daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Frederick II.—J. T.
Frederick II., King of Prussia, usually surnamed the Great, was the son of Frederick William I. and Sophia Dorothea, princess of Hanover, and was born, January 24, 1712. His father possessed considerable energy of character and some administrative talents; but he was illiterate, avaricious, coarse in his manners, and savage in his temper. The tastes of the young prince differed widely from those of his father. He received the rudiments of his education from a French lady, and his first tutor, M. Dehan, imbued his mind with a love of polite literature. He had a fine ear, was fond of music, and performed skilfully on the flute; while at the same time he detested the coarse and vulgar amusements of his father, and had no liking even for the duties of parade, which Frederick William seems to have regarded as the grand business of life. As a matter of course a serious estrangement took place between father and son, which became more marked as the latter approached maturity. The king inflicted the vilest indignities on the young prince. He was in the habit of striking him with his cane, kicking him, knocking him down, and pulling him by the hair, half-starving him at one time, and at another compelling him to swallow the most nauseous food. On one occasion he nearly strangled him with the cord of the window curtain. His mother and sister, who took the part of the hapless youth, and endeavoured to protect him from the insane ferocity of the old tyrant, were treated in a way shocking to humanity. The queen with her son and daughter were anxious to effect a close alliance between England and Prussia by the marriage of the prince of Wales to the Princess Wilhelmina, and of Prince Frederick to the English Princess Amelia. But the old king was first jealous of this project, and subsequently became fiercely hostile to it, mainly through the sinister influence of Seckendorf, the imperial minister at Berlin, and of Grumkow, a favourite courtier, who was in the pay of the emperor. These treacherous parasites inflamed the evil passions of Frederick William by the vilest artifices, and at length his unnatural hatred towards his son rose to such a height that he proposed to disinherit him, and to leave the crown to his younger son, Augustus William. Driven at last to despair, the unhappy youth resolved, in 1730, to seek refuge in England with his maternal uncle, George II., whose daughter he was eager to marry. His design was discovered; one of his accomplices. Lieutenant Keith, made his escape to Holland, and thence to England; but the other named Katte was brought to trial before a court-martial, and condemned to two years' imprisonment. The sentence, however, was changed by the king himself to death, which was mercilessly executed, and strict injunctions were issued that the prince was to witness the execution of his friend. This affair seems to have inflamed the rage of the king to madness. All who had shown any kindness to his son, or were even suspected of regarding him with favour, were imprisoned, whipped, or banished. His sister, the Princess Wilhelmina, his principal confidant, was abused, beaten, and trampled upon to the risk of her life. The prince himself was tried by a court-martial for desertion, and condemned to death. His life was with great difficulty saved after months of cruel suspense, through the intercession of the states of Holland, of the kings of Sweden and Poland, and especially of the emperor of Germany. Frederick, however, was for some time confined a close prisoner in the castle of Cüstrin, and was afterwards allowed to reside in a small house in that town. He remained in this retirement until he had nearly completed his twenty-first year; but he was not permitted to return to court until his sister had consented in obedience to the royal mandate to marry Frederick, the hereditary prince of Baireuth, and thus completely frustrated the long-cherished project of the "double marriage."
The trials the young prince had undergone had produced important changes in his character, and not for the better. They had soured his temper and hardened his heart, had taught him the art of dissembling his opinions and feelings, and had rendered him totally indifferent to the sufferings of others. He now affected entire submission in all things to his father's will, and with apparent satisfaction married, in 1733, the Princess Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick-Bevern, who was, however, his wife only in name. In this same year he served with credit during one campaign under Prince Eugene. He was permitted to keep a separate establishment at Rheinsberg in the county of Ruppen, where he indulged his own tastes though with great caution; and in the intervals of his military and political duties, to which, partly from policy, partly from inclination, he now assiduously devoted himself, he cultivated literature, and especially the productions of the leading French writers, and enlivened his retirement by a few chosen companions. He carried on a close correspondence with a number of distinguished foreigners, and particularly with Voltaire, who was at this period the object of his warmest admiration. He composed a treatise (published in 1740 under the superintendence of Voltaire) entitled the "Anti-Machiavel," in refutation of Machiavelli's Prince—an edifying homily, says Macaulay, "against rapacity, perfidy, arbitrary government, unjust war; in short, against almost everything for which its author is now remembered among men."
Frederick William died, 31st May, 1740; and Frederick, who had just entered on his twenty-ninth year, became king of Prussia. His real character was not understood, hardly even suspected by those best acquainted with him; but in a short time he gave ample proofs both of his great abilities and of his great vices. He found his dominions prosperous, his treasury full, and his army numerous and well disciplined; and he availed himself of the first opportunity which presented itself to turn these advantages to account in promoting his ambitious schemes. A few months after the accession of Frederick, the imperial throne of Germany became vacant by the death of Charles VI. He left no male heir; and his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa, wife of Francis of Lorraine, succeeded to the hereditary dominions of her house under the famous "pragmatic sanction," which had been ratified by the various estates of the Austrian monarchy, and guaranteed by all the sovereigns of Europe. But Frederick, in direct violation of his own plighted faith, and with a disregard both of the rights and position of the young queen, equally selfish and cruel, at once resolved to avail himself of the opportunity to rob Maria Theresa of one of her richest provinces. The house of Brandenburg had some old claims on Silesia, and on the pretext that it belonged of right to him, Frederick poured his troops into that province without any declaration of war; and as the Austrians were totally unprepared for resistance, he speedily subjugated the whole country, with the exception of a few scattered garrisons. In the following spring the Austrians marched to the relief of those strongholds which still held out, and encountered Frederick at Molwitz, 27th April, 1741. After an obstinate struggle the Austrians were defeated, with the loss of eight thousand men; but Frederick himself fled from the field early in the action along with his defeated cavalry, and the honour of the victory remained with Marshal Schwerin and the Prussian infantry. The issue of this engagement raised up a host of enemies to Austria, eager to share in her spoils. France and Bavaria made common cause against Maria Theresa, and the bloody "war of the succession" began. The cause of the young queen of Hungary seemed in imminent peril, and a project was formed for dismembering her hereditary dominions, when George II. of England, her only ally, advised her to buy off Frederick her most formidable adversary; and his advice having been seconded by the disastrous result of the battle of Czaslau, 17th May, 1742, in which her troops were defeated by the Prussians, she reluctantly consented to cede to Frederick the full sovereignty of Upper and Lower Silesia and the county of Glatz. The Prussian king having thus gained his own selfish ends, immediately abandoned his allies, who were speedily overpowered by the Austrian forces, and driven out of the country with great loss. Frederick, however, soon took alarm at the successes of the Austrians; and, fearing that if they obtained a complete victory, Silesia would be taken from him, he once more entered into a secret alliance with France in April, 1744, suddenly invaded Bohemia, and took Prague. He was speedily
