FRE 748 FRE 
Frauenfeld, The following is an abstract of the population of the greater assiduity, and which probably contributed inno Frede- 
at town and in 1811: —_— cto his ature greatness In 1733, he was tick IIL 
Rees ts: * com; is "s ic command, to 
— — Taihabited houses... vets een SM the rineaae Of Branewick, Wolfen eee any 
1 eh moma PR OR LT Empress of Germany; but was so utterly averse to the 
fpr as gas tei con 9 i match, that, though he submitted to the 
Maks.” Crates and manufactures . + $87. received the lady into his palace; he refused to cohabit 
Females... .. SEE ERG ST Si Biehl Ap ner vere Pecks, vatioaacipie 
retirement by many li characters, i 
Total population ......... ++ 9271 Mde Sein, enivevaan eae thie Fl ys ns 
See Statistical Account of Scotland ; and Stark’s Ga- and in 1736 he commenced a with Vol- 
xelteer of Scotland. (w) taire, to whose writings he became iarly attached. 
FRAUENFELD is the name of a small town of In 1788 he accompanied his father on a tour to Holland, 
Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Thi for the purpose of visiting the Prince of Orange; and 
via. Itis situated u the banks of the M , a 
river which rises in the mountains of Allmann, in 
a cou where there are only a number of low hills. 
The annual assembly of the Confederates was former- 
ly held in this town. There are here manufactures of 
silken stuffs; and about the end of the 18th century, 
there was discovered near the town a mine of pitcoal. 
(w 
PREDERICK III.* King of Prussia, generally dis« 
tinguished by the llation “ Great,”” was the eldest 
son of Frederick William II. of Prussia, and of Sophia 
Dorothea, daughter of G: I. of Great Britain. He 
was born at Berlin on the 24th of Jan 1712, and 
was ized by the name of Charles Frederick, but af- 
terw: entirely omitted the former of these names, 
both in his private letters and public state papers. He 
was committed, in his infancy, to the care of Mad. de 
Rocoule, who spoke only in French ; and this circum 
stance has been considered as the origin of his extreme 
partiality to that language. At seven years of age, he 
was provided with more appropriate tutors; but, as his 
father’s great object was to inspire him with a mili 
spirit, he seems to have received little instruction in li- 
terature or science. He applied himself, however, in 
early youth, to the study of the belles lettres, particu- 
larly to poetry ; and soon discovered a strong propen- 
sity to music, to which the king his father had an ex- 
treme aversion. He was strictly prohibited either to 
practise or to hear it, and was obliged to meet his mu~ 
sical instructors in a forest or a cavern. Harassed by 
the austerity and violence of his father,—di by 
the difficulties thrown in the way of his favourite stu- 
dies,—and ps moved by some other reasons which 
have never been distinctly ascertained,—he adopted a 
resolution, in the year 1730, secretly to quit the Prus- 
sian dominions, and to travel as a private individual in 
France or England. His intentions having been dis- 
covered, he was arrested, to; with his travellin 
eompanions ; one of whom, Lieutenant Catt, a yo 
of amiable dispositions, was condemned to lose his head 
on a scaffold ; and the young prince was compelled, 
his brutal father, to witness the untimely end of his 
friend. By the same paternal care, he was himself im- 
isoned in a dungeon for the space of six months ; and, 
1ad not the Emperor of Gertmany interposed in his be- 
half, would also have suffered death. He was then 
permitted to enj 
ter liberty, but was still requi- 
red to reside pa By till, about 18 months after his 
arrestment, a formal reconciliation took place between 
him and his father. But, as if only partially restored 
to favour, he seldom ap at court, and resided 
chiefly at the retired e of Rheins circum 
stance which enabled him to prosecute his studies with 
in uence of a conversation which took place at 
the table of their host, Frederick resolved to join the 
fraternity of free masons. He was then in the 27th 
year of his age, and is described by one of his biogra- 
phers, bed epee ede ceremony of his initia- 
tion, as possessing at age a very youthful appear- 
ance, — blue eyes, pleasing features, a sprightly 
look, anoble air, and the politeness of manners. 
He continued, with a number of sp and literary 
favourites, to spend his time at Rh in a succes 
sion of refined and studious pleasures; and the most 
flattering pi have been drawn by those who shared 
his pursuits, of the inte’ ce of his mind, and the at- 
tractions of his society. “All the em ” says 
Baron Bielfeld, «and all the pleasures of the Prince, 
are those of a man of understanding. His conversa« 
tion at table is charming. He talks much, and excel- 
lently well. His mind seems to be to all sorts. 
of subjects; and his imagination ces, on each 
of them, a number of new and just ideas. His genius 
resembles the fire of the vestals, that was never extinct. 
A Sonn and polite ie amemoeiye ene pot i a 
him. He possesses the rare talent i ing the 
wit of others, and of giving them Gobporteihitnes to Shih 
on those subjects in which they excel. He jests fre- 
quently, and sometimes rallies, but never with asperity, 
and an ingenious retort does not displease him.” He 
was much eniployed in exercising the under his 
command, in attendance at reviews, and in occasional 
joutities with the xing we — resumed his 
i uits with renew our, upon returning 
to ie tathaes at Rheinsberg, and often of his 
residence there, as the happiest period of his life, 
The greatest interruption of his tranquillity arose from 
the want of money, which his i ious father was 
always reluctant to grant ; and he was obliged to bor- 
row considerable sums from the E: of Russia, and 
Duke of Courland. On the Ist day of June 1740, he 
succeeded his father, as king of Prussia, and his acces~ 
sion to the throne was welcomed by the unanimous ac- 
clamations of his subjects. 
Immediately after the funeral of the deceased mo- 
narch, he applied himself to ee business with the 
utmost assiduity ; and, am ot PW gor pes insti- 
tuted a new order of kni itbaod, called “ the order of 
merit,” with the design of rewarding merito- 
rious individuals, without distinction of birth, religion, 
or Co’ . Soon after his accession, he invited many 
learned and scientific characters to his capital; and 
adopted measures for establishing an academy of sciences 
in that city. He next proceeded to visit different parts 
of his dominions, in order to receive the homage of his 
subjects ; and set out incognito to Strasburgh, that he 
* This Prince is frequently designated Frederick IJ. his father being in that case marked as a William, and not a Frederick. 
4 
