* 
FREDERICK. 753 
Frederick. aiming at the aggrandisement of his dominions, which 
“1 he neyer hesitated to accomplish by the most unpro- 
voked hostilities and unprincipled usurpations. He 
devoted, nee the is. Sueuly years of his life to 
promote the p ity of his subjects; but always 
inci; of despotism, and 7" subserviency to 
. In attention to his army, his go- 
yernment, and the internal policy of his kingdom, he 
was probably the most indefatigable sovereign that 
ere existed. ae vigi rm was waren ting: his in- 
ustry unweari vi epartment vernment 
was under his own ainedinte aiepecdn - and the 
most minute particulars did not escape his observation. 
“He conceived himself capable of every thing, and de- 
spised the talents of others. His numerous nominal ~ 
counsellors he never consulted ; and to his various mi- 
nisters of state he delegated no portion of superintend- 
ing power ; but he would direct and almost perform 
“every thing himself. This intermeddling and controul- 
ing spirit was the great error of his administration ; 
and rendered many of his financial and commercial 
amend more icious than profitable to his le. 
' Sr taieaerdit oh cn-tn qedieiel pacteatticisrsan iterary 
“questions ; and made ‘himself the supreme reviewing 
tribunal in all matters of equity and taste. He intro- 
duced a kind of military ism into every de- 
partment ; and “ was constantly working mischief by 
-working too much.” It was at the head of an army, 
that his talents to the test advantage ; 
and he must be wledged to rae 
accomplished warrior of modern times., He possessed 
an extensive knowledge of military science ; and is 
ranked next to Maurice, Prince of Orange, and Gusta- 
vus Adolphus, as an inventor in the modern. art: of 
war. He introduced the use of flying artillery, and 
improved the oblique or ar order of battle, of 
which he profi y studied the principles, and_skil- 
fully illustrated the efficacy, in not less than forty-two 
engagements. He was eminently rang dep by 
the promptitude and energy with which he executed 
his plans; and was always sure to prevail wherever 
active age a could ensure success. , His personal in- 
idity, his astonishing presence of mind in the mo- 
a of danger, and his Bisa endurance of hardships 
and privations, could not be su ; and in all his 
severest reverses, he discovered a mind that could not 
be subdued. Yet, with all his great endowments, there 
was little in his character to make him either amiable 
as a man, or venerable as a rt Many of his 
faults may, no doubt, be traced to the despotic senti- 
ments in which he was educated, and the military ha- 
bits in which he lived; but there are traits in his cha- 
racter, which incontestably demonstrate, that his su- 
ior powers of intellect were united with a radical 
Fittlenese of mind. - His parsimony, ingratitude, cruel- 
ty, and injustice, are proved by a thousand instances. 
He examined every evenin bill of fare for next 
day’s dinner, squabbling with his domestics about the 
prices of every article, and paying with his own hands 
the of his kitchen, stables, &c. He never be- 
stowed one smile of favour upon the relatives of his 
friend De Catt, who-had sacrificed himself in his behalf. 
To the family of the Wrechs, who had befriended him 
in his imprisonment at the risk of their lives, he neither 
id the sums which they had pinched themselves to 
raise for his accommodation, nor distinguished them 
by any act of patron He broke the heart of his 
i brother, William Augustus, by harsh usage ; 
and ruined the health and happiness of. his youngest 
VOL, IX. PART It. 
_ Sarcastic raillery 
e been the most. 
sister Amelia, by his barbarous persecution of her lover Frederick 
y, the 
F 
Trenck. He lavished, with unfeeling prodigalit 
blood of his soldiers ; and dismissed in time of 
his bravest officers, because they were not of noble ex. 
traction ; though he had invited them to enter the army 
when he needed their services, He uniformly quar- 
relled with his most intimate associates ; and often dis« 
carded, with the harshest injustice, those who had most 
faithfully spent their lives in his service. He com- 
manded his favourite Secretary Galser to coin fifteen 
millions of ducats with an alloy of one-third of base 
metal ; and, when the matter was discovered, he pu- 
nished the unfortunate secretary with disgrace and ba« 
nishment, as the author of the fraud. 
He treated his literary companions and dependants 
with insolent familiarity, making them the butts of his 
; and, after enco ing them to simi- 
lar freedoms, suddenly silencing them with his kingly 
authority, or with the most passionate abuse, and some« 
times even with kicks and blows. He delighted to in- 
dulge in the most impious discussions ; and bestowed 
the highest marks of his favour upon the most atheisti- 
cal gre meet His general spirit in short was sel- 
fish and unfeeling; and, though he wished for the: 
praise of virtue, he was ready to sacrifice every consi- 
deration to the love of fame, especially to the attain~ 
ment of military renown. His intellectual powers, how- 
ever eminent, were at least of that inferior order, which 
can submit to be guided by profli of principle, and 
stoop to seek assistance from dishonourable means. 
His abilities thus often appeared much greater than 
they were in reality ; because, when wisdom failed, he 
recourse to wickedness, and accomplished objects 
which would have baffled others, not because they were 
weaker, but because they were better men. Such, in 
fact, is often the chief superiority possessed by those 
who have received the appellation of Great; a “title, 
which is the less honourable, that mankind have gener- 
ally agreed to bestow it, where gratitude was least of all 
due.” See Gillies’ View of’ the Reign of Frederick II. 
of Prussia; Tower's Memoirs of the Life and Reign of 
Frederick of Prussia; Thiebault, Memoires de Frederic 
le Grand; Johnson’s Memoirs of the King of Prussia ; 
Baron Bielfeld’s Letters ; Observations on the Military 
Establishment of the King of Prussia, with an Account 
of his private Life; the King of Prussia’s Campaigns 
written by an Officer, and translated from the French ; 
Anecdotes and Characteristics of Frederick the Great ; 
Riesbeck’s Travels in Germany ; Thomson’s Military 
Memoirs ; Voltaire’s Idée du Roi de Prusse, (q) 
FREE Masonry. See Mysrerins. - 
FREEZING. See Corp. 
FRESCO Parntine:. See Painrine. 
FRIBOURG, or Frisurc, a town of Switzerland, 
and the capital of a canton of the same name, is situa® . 
ted partly on. a horizontal plane on the banks of the 
Sarine or Saane, and’ partly on.the declivity of a ridge 
of rugged rocks, which form a singular contrast with 
the walls of the town and the towers of its convents . 
and-churches, When a stranger ascends the street of 
the Great Fountain in coming from the Baixs des trois 
Suisses, he can scarcely persuade himself that he is in 
the middle of a large town. The fortifications. of Fri- 
bourg, consisting of lofty walls and towers, are about 
four miles in circumference,. and inclose a large space, 
a great part of, which is occupied with ee and or- 
chards. The descent to the town is on all sides extreme« 
ly steep, and the street of the Great Fountain forms the 
roofs of the houses of the Court-chemin. A communica~ 
5c 
i] 
