101* FREDERICK WILLIAM (OF BRANDENBURG). 



FREDERICK WILLIAM I. 



IrtO 



Orange was much surprised at thi* self-command, and when the 

 prince arrived in the camp before Breda, said to him, " Cousin, your 

 light is a greater proof of heroism than if I took Breda ; he who so 

 early knows bow to command himself will always succeed in great 

 deeds. ' These words, u he himself owned, made a deep impression 

 on him. 



Hi* father dying in 1640, the young prince found hi* dominion* 

 reduced to a most deplorable condition by war and bad government 

 The exactions of Wallenrtein in the Mark alone were estimated at 

 twenty million* of gold florin* : and in a memorial of the magistrate 

 of Prentlau, it is stated that the inhabitants are reduced to such 

 dreadful extremities that they not only eat dog*, cats, and even 

 carrion, but that both in the town and country they attack and kill 

 each other for food. He commenced his government with a degree of 

 prudence and wisdom rarely found in so young a sovereign. His first 

 are was to correct many crying abuse*, and to restore order in the 

 ,~-M . Hi* attention was then directed to foreign affaire. In 1642 

 he received the investiture of Prussia from the King of Poland ; in 

 1843 he concluded a peace with the Swede* on condition of their 

 evacuating the greater part of hi* dominions. At the peace of Muneter 

 be wa* not able to enforce hi* claim* to Pomerania and SiUvia, but 

 obtained Magdeburg, Walleutadt, Minden, and part of Pomerania. It 

 i* highly to hi* credit that it wa* chiefly owing to him that the prin- 

 ciple of equal right* and privileges for the two groat division* of the 

 Protestant church was admitted in that famous treaty. Charles 

 Oustavus, king of Sweden, appearing emulous of rivalling Gustavus 

 Adolphus, tho elector concluded an alliance with Holland, and sought 

 the friendship of Cromwell and Louis XIV. He was however obliged 

 to make in 1655 s treaty with the Swedes, in consequence of which he 

 joined in the invasion of Poland, and greatly .contributed to the 

 victory at Warsaw. Austria, Holland, and Poland vehemently pro- 

 tested against this alliance with Sweden. Cromwell however, who 

 believed the Protestant cause to be in danger from the King of Poland, 

 sent William Jepson as his ambassador to the elector, whom in letters 

 he compliments in the highest terms for his service to the Protestant 

 religion. But Hnssia and Austria declaring in favour of Poland, he, 

 by the mediation of Austria, concluded a convention with Poland at 

 Weblau, by one of the stipulations of which ho obtained the entire 

 sovereignty of Pru-sia ; and in 1678 completed the conquest of all 

 Pnmerauia by the taking of Greifawald and .Stralsund. The death of 

 Charles Gustavus freed him from an adversary who would probably 

 have endeavoured to prevent the execution of tbi* treaty, which was 

 confirmed by the treaty of Oliva. Frederick, now at peace with his 

 neighbours, directed all his attention to promote the welfare of his 

 subjects by favouring all internal improvements ; the ruined towns 

 and Tillages were rebuilt, new roads made, waste lands cultivated, com- 

 merce encouraged, and many useful e-tablishments founded. 



In 1672 however, Holland being threatened by Louis XIV., be con- 

 cluded a treaty with tho republic, engaging to furnish 20,000 men for 

 its defence. He also contributed to induce the Emperor, Denmark, 

 Hesse Cassel, and several German prince* to join him against France. 

 But though hi* advance into Westphalia induced the French to quit 

 Holland, the campaign wa* rendered unsuccessful by the slowness of 

 the Austrian general, and he was forced to abandon Westphalia to the 

 enemy. The Austrian* leaving him, and the Dutch neglecting to send 

 him subsidies, he wss obliged to make a convention with France in 

 1673. The French were to evacuate Westphalia and pay him 800,000 

 livrea, he promising to withdraw from his alliance with Holland, and 

 not to support the enemies of France ; yet he reserved to himself tho 

 ri.'ht of assisting tho German emperor in case of attack. TbU happened 

 in 1674, when he invaded Alsace with 16,000 men, and joined the 

 Imperial army; but the Austrian general, Bournonville, avoided a 

 battle, contrary to the advice of Frederick, and Tnrenne receiving 

 reinforcements, obliged the Germans to quit Alsace. In order to 

 free themselves from Frederick, the French instigated the Swedes to 

 invade Pomerania and tho March, which they attacked in Decem- 

 ber 1674 with 16,000 men. Frederick hastened to his dominion*, 

 and proceeding with great rapidity and secrecy at the head of only 

 5000 men, be totally defeated 11,000 Swedes at Fehrbellin in 1675, 

 ami freed hi* dominion* from tho enemy. Following up hi* xucoessos, 

 he took Stettin. In January 1679 he crossed the Frischo Haff and the 

 Gulf of Courland with hi* army on sledges over the ice, and nirprising 

 the Swede* in their winter quarter*, compelled them to quit Prussia, 

 He did not reap any real advantage from bin success, for Loui* XIV. 

 insisted that h should make peace with Sweden and give up all his 

 conquests; and on his refusal sent an army of 30,000 men to lay waste 

 the duchy of Cleves and city of Minden, so that he was forced to con- 

 clude the treaty of St Germain, by which be restored all his conquest* 

 to Sweden ; the French withdraw from hi* Weetphalian dominions, 

 and paid him 800,000 crowns. After this we do not find Frederick 

 again in the field. He wa* indeed engaged in various negociations , 

 wa< involved in disputes with France on account of its leisure ol 

 Strasbourg and Luxemburg ; and in consequence of hi* reception of 

 'h Proteotants who left their country on the repeal of the 

 edict of Xante-. Fnvlnrick, who bad previously obtained from his 

 ambspador, Von Spanlu-im, notice of the intended measure, had made 

 preparation* to receive the fugitives, and sent funds to his agent*) at 

 Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, for their assistance. In like 



manner he protected the proscribed Waldonses. Having in vain in- 

 weeded for them in a very affecting letter to the Duke of Savor, he 

 offered to receive 2000 of them into hi* dominions. He sent 

 JOOO men in 1686 to assist the emperor against the Turk* ; having in 

 ;he year preceding renewed hi* alliance with Holland; and when 

 Prince William of Orange was preparing for hi* expedition to England, 

 Frederick assisted him with several regiment*, and Marshal Vou 

 Schomberg, who became so great a favourite of William, anil wa* 

 eventually killed at the battle of the Boyne. A* another proof of 

 Frederick'* enterprising spirit, it deserves to be noticed that Si aiu 

 neglecting to pay him the arrears of a subsidy promised him for his 

 co-operation against France, he resolved to commence a war by sea 

 against that power: ho fitted out eight frigate* which had been 

 employed against Sweden, and lent them in 1680 to capture Spanish 

 ships, and they actually took some rich merchantmen. 



We have not space, nor i* it necessary to detail the proceedings of 

 this great prince in consolidating the prosperity of his dominions and 

 the welfare of bis subjects. He diet! in April 1683, leaving to hU son 

 a much enlarged and highly cultivated territory, a well-filled treasury, 

 and an army of 30,000 excellent troops. He waa twice married ; first 

 in 1647 to Louisa Henrietta, princes* of Orange, an amiable and ac- 

 complished person, author of the celebrated German Hymn 'Jesus 

 mien Xuvemicht,' She died in 1667. In the following year Frederick 

 married Dorothea, duchess dowager of Brunswick Liioeberg; but 

 though an excellent and virtuous princess, she wa* not liked by the 

 people, chiefly because she was on ill terms with her step-children, 

 especially the crown-prince. The character of Frederick, both in 

 public and private life, ha* always been highly esteemed. He was 

 kind, generous, fond of society, and though rather quick in hi* 

 temper, extremely placable. A* a sovereign he appear* to have justly 

 merited the surname of the Great Elector. 



FREDERICK WILLIAM I, King of Prussia, son of Frederick L, 

 was born in 163S. At a very early age he manifested a preilil 

 for military exercise* : at the age of five yean he was sent to Hanover 

 to be brought up with the electoral prince, afterwards George II. of 

 England. The court of hi* grandfather, where the mode of living 

 wa* strictly economical, simple, and without the restraints of rigid 

 i-t i.jm-tu), pleased the young prince much more than the formal mag- 

 nificence of his father's court. He served in the allied army against 

 the French, and distinguished himself at the siege of Menin ami the 

 battle of Malpluquet. In 1706 he married thu princess >S->i>hia 

 Dorothea of Hanov. r. 



His character being in many respect* directly the reveraa nf that 

 of hi- father, he commenced, immediately on hi* accession on t!. 

 of February 1713, to retrench the luxury that had prevail- <1 in the 

 preceding reign ; he reduced tho salaries of persons in office, limited 

 their number, and endeavoured to introduce order into the finances. 

 In his own person he set an example of the utmo.-t plainness of 

 apparel, and laid aside all the formalities of his station ; while the 

 queen and princesses were allowed to wear only dresses of the *nnpl<:*t 

 kind. He devoted himself to public business, examined everything, 

 waa easy of access, and received and answered letters from the 

 meanest of his subjects ; but ho was austere and arbitrary, and o 

 to the utmost extent hU ideas of the divine right of kings. Though 

 he repeatedly declared the republican constitution of Holland to be 

 a model for all states, and boasted that he was himself a true repub- 

 lican, he waa very far from allowing any chock on his own power. 

 His reforms in the finances and expenditure enabled him to gratify 

 hi* most ardent wish, of keeping a great military establishment, and 

 he laid the foundation of that strict discipline and regularity by 

 which the Prussian troops have been since so greatly distinguished. 

 His childish passion for tall soldiers in weU known. So expense was 

 spared in order to gratify it , men of gigantic stature were pickr-1 up 

 in all the neighbouring states, and many were even kidnapped or 

 forced into his service, by which he involved himself in many serious 

 quarrels. The economy of his internal administration enabled him 

 to repeople those province* which were desolated by the plague, by 

 mean* of colonies from other states, which he settled on very advan- 

 tageous terms. He wss liberal in rewarding the industry and ability 

 of those who introduced any new art, and many of the richest manu- 

 factories in the Prussian dominion* owe their foundation to him. 

 But he had a mortal aversion to all abstract science*, and even to 

 poetry and literature; and hu expelled the celebrated philosopher Wolf 

 for hi* metaphysical opinions. He erected many public building* at 

 a considerable expense, but built little, and with great economy, for 

 hirnsolf and his court. He founded the Medioo-Chirnrgioal College, 

 the ChanUS, and the Foundling Hospital at Berlin, the Berlin Cadet 

 Establishment, and the Orphan House at Potsdam; the emigrant* 

 from Saliburg and the Polish dissidents met with a favourable 

 reception in hi* dominions. On the other band the Berlin academy 

 and the universities narrowly escaped dissolution. The details of his 

 private life have been given at groat length by his daughter, the 

 Margravine of Baireuth ; and his character is portrayed in a few hnppy 

 touches by Voltaire (' Memoir**, to, 6crits par lui-metne '). 



The public events of the reign of Frederick William were of no 

 groat importance. In the treaty of Utrecht, France and Spam recog- 

 nised hi* royal title, and tho sovereignty of NeufcluUel and Vallengin 

 was given him. In the course of the war in the north, in which hi* 



