458 
The late king of Prufsia added to his 
dominions Anfpach * and Bareuth, which 
would have defcended to him by right of 
fuccefsion, and feveral fertile provinces of 
- Poland, which be acauired in a way that 
will affix a lafting ftigma to his name... It 
is doubtful, whether he augmented the 
treafures hoarded up by the great Frede- 
rick to any fudden emergency of ftate ; 
and till. more doubtful whether he in- 
creafed the happine‘s of his people. 
_After- this: brief fketch of his political 
life, fome account of his private charaéter 
will naturally be expected. Ir is the 
cufom of court-flatterers to drefs up kings: 
in brilliant colours. Some fuppofed virtue, 
perhaps arifing from a defeé of conttituticn, - 
or from a want of energy of mind, ferves to 
glofs over the moft horrible faults: bur 
it is the bufinefs of the biiteriaa to expefe 
his fubjeét in the nakednefs of truth. - 
Frederick William, if fortune had 
placed him in a private ftation, would have 
made himfelf ufeful as a good mechanic. 
His averfion from thinking, and «he pur- 
fuits of knowledge, would have precluded - 
him from the attainment of the abftrafer’ 
‘{ciences. His heart would not have been 
corrupted; he wouid have lived uancriced ; 
and would have defcended intro an oblivious 
grave, amid the vuigar mafs-of men. But 
the elevation of the throne ferved as.a pil- 
Jory to exhibit the meannefs of his mind, 
“and. converted his low’ cunning into the 
moft glaring perfidy. Strongly addiéted 
to fenfua! pleafures, he was mifled’ by his 
mifirefies, and by unworthy favourites, 
who. pretended to knowledge of a fuper- > 
Watural kind. He was much attached to 
freemafonry.; but did. net purfue that part 
of i, of which the refearches are directed 
towards truth and wifdom, He belonged. 
‘to the fraternity of Egyptian mafons, who- 
undertake to evoke departed fpirits, and to 
penetrate into the dark abyis of fururity— 
pretenfions which are the -fore marks 
of an impofior, or of a man of narrow: 
mind. ; 
Several of our own publicatious, as well 
as M. de Mirabeau, who has pourtrayed 
him fo well +, call him an Momixzé. This 
is a wrong denomination : an i/uminé (in 
the proper fenfe of the word, an enlighten-~ 
ed man) is the name which was given, in 
the year 1774, to a fe&t in Germany, 
* The margerave abdicated the government 
ef his own accord, at Lifhon, and retired to this 
country. .He now refides at Haramer{mith, 
and enjoys the efteem and regard of ‘a large cir- 
cle of acquaintance. 
+ In his Gorrefpondance de Berlin, 
Original Anecdotes.—Count de Bernftor ff. 
[ Dec. 
headed by one Weirhaupt *, who, by the 
difufion of knowledge, and the better edu- 
cation of all claffes, wifhed .to imprefs 
mankind with a fenfe of their dignity, and 
thus to produce a‘revolution, the refulr of 
reafon, and unaccompanied by the horrors 
which have ftigmatifed that of France, 
and infpired other nations with a fondne{s 
for their chains. ; 
Frederick William was born on the 
25th of September, 1744; he fucceeded 
Frederick the Great on the 18th of 
Auguf, 1786; and died at Potzdam, on 
the 16th of November laft, in the sth 
year of his age, of a dropfy in bis cheft. 
He is fucceeded by his eldeft fon, Frede- 
rick William IV, who was bora on the 
6th of Auguft, 17703 a prince of promife, 
who emulates the virtucs and the talents of 
his great uncie :‘2.mind, indeed, that takes 
a-Frederick for its example, cannot belong 
to. the common clafs.. Coming to the 
throne at the-moft. critical era of the pre- 
fent century, the eyes and the hopss of 
Europe are.fixed upon him. If he adopts 
his great anceftox’s principles, adheres to 
his inftitutions, and purfues the fame path 
ia politics, Prufsia will fee the golden age 
of the Trajans and the Antonines return ; © 
he will be beloved by his fubjeéts—feared 
and refpe&ted by his neighbours; he wil 
juftify the favourable prediétion of .Frede- 
rick. I]; their names will defcend toge+ 
ther to pofterity; and be remembered at 
that. ultimate. period, when, according to 
the fublime language of our immortal 
bardsa: < . 
‘¢ The cloud-capp’d towers, the"gorgeous palaces, 
The folemn temples, the great glcbeitfelf;  - 
Yea, ail which it inherit fhall diffolve, < 
And like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion, 
Leave not a wreck behind.” 
to) 
Eee, Late, Coungeaes 
sTORFF, “Prime MUINISTER 
DENMARK, &c. Xe. 
BERN- 
OF 
The nations of Afia have. from time 
immemorial been governed-by Vizirs.. In 
the perfon of the mayor of the palace, 
Europe, a few centuries ago, beheld@a fi- 
milar officer in France, unti! that ‘country, 
in confequenee of a fortunate ufurpation, 
was liberated from the double burden of. 
providing for the fplendour of real and. 
mock majefiy. _ , 
Subfequent to the periad juft alluded to, 
a new clafs of men has, however, arifen 
in moft; if not ail the northern monarchies, 
and fwayed the delegated, but temporary 
7 

* Sovereign princes, and the moft illuftrigus 
characters, belonged io it, ae 62 
os <feoptre 
