Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-19


| death penalty. From tender-hearted.
, pleasure-lovtng boy. Frederick grew to be
| "a cold. proud reserved man.
| lie was married when twenty-One years Of
age to Princess Elizabet Christine of
Brunswick. and after his marriage he erect
ed a palace at Reinsberg upon an estate
| purchased for him by his father. and there
| led luxurious life. INDUCING his taste for
| music and literature to the full. He sur
rounded himself with some of the most bril-
| nant men or his day. his friendship with
| Voltaire at this period being one of the
| episode of literary history. 1t was whiie
here that he wrote the famous Anti
Machievaf' which McCauley says was an
| edifying homily against rapacity. perfidy.
arbitrary government unjust war: In short,
| against almost anything for which its au-
| thor Is now remembered among men" His
stay at Reinsberg was brought to ter
mination by the death OF his father In the
| spring of 1I40.
Succeeded His Father.
Frederick became King OF Prussia May
81, 1740. He was twenty-eight years Of
| age. rather below the medium height, and
| s said to have been very comedy. He was
| hailed as a ''philosopher-k and Il
| thought that he would turn his attention TO
the cultivation of arts and sciences. To a
certain extent his first acts as a monarch
gave ground for such expectations. He
supplied the poor and destitute with food
| fl ON the granaries; he abolished legal tor
| ture. he established perfect freedom of the
press. and declared for absolute liberation
in religion In these bold terms: "All re-
lfgions must be tolerated. and the fiscal
must have an eye that none of them make
unjust encroachment on the other. for In
this country every man must get to heaven
his own way.
Within a short time after his accession
to the throne Frederick upset all calcula-
tons of those who had settled back Tor
peaceful reign by marching into and SELF
ing Silesia a productive province of Austria,
which had always been claimed by his an
cestors.
Frederick entered Silesia in December. 1740.
and had completely subjugated Its people
before Austria was aware of his intentions.
An army sent against him. and II was
defeated al Molwitz, at Britt and at Neisse
by the Prussians. Frederick gained little
credit for the first of these victories. but
soon retrieved his reputation and astonish-
ed Europe. An alliance was formed with
| France at this time and secret negotiations
were entered into with Maria Theresa. The
Austrian army gained some victories after
| this and so alarmed Frederick that he adj
vanced his whole army, and the battle al
| ChotusitZ fought. Frederick was VIC
torious, and result a treaty of peace
was concluded. In the treaty Silesia was
. secured to Frederick. and two years OF
| peace followed
Marched Against Austria.
The next military campaign of Freder-
ick was also against Austria. He entered
Bohemia at the head of an enormous army.
| and on the 10th of September. 1T44, he cap
tured the city of Prague, after bloody
| battle The war continued year, first
Prussia then Austria, being victorious
Frederick won out again in the end, and a
treaty of peace was concluded Christmas
day 1745 1t was on his return to his cap
ital after this war that the king was first
hailed as Frederick the Great"
During the ten years Of peace which fol-
lowed the king Instituted many civil re-
forms and repaired as well as he could the
that he erected the beautiful palace OF
Souci. near POtsdam. The great war
which raised Frederick to the top
most pinnacle OF fame as a military e.
MUS began in August 1856, and ragged for
seven years. This conflict Is known In
history as the seven years war, and was
fought by the King of Prussia against a
coalition of three-fourths of the countries
of Europe.
Russia. Austria Sweden. France and
what was then known the Germanio
body combined forces and attempted to
crush Frederick. England was the one OF
the great powers at all favorable to Fred
| erick. and England's king was so busy
with the French in America that he af-
forded little help to his Prussiap ally.
| Frederick saw what was coming and struck
| the first blow against Saxony. At the end
| of the first campaign he had occupied the
whole of this country and was treating
1t as a conqueror. The following year the
allies fell on him. Frederick was outnum-
bered by a proportion of about three to
seven. Nevertheless. he struck his enemy
at Prague and won a magnificent victory.
/ In the battle of Kolin, which followed.
the Prussians were defeated and at Lotey
defeat was again their lot. For the next
| three years the fortunes of war wavered
from one to the other of the armies. This
period was dark one for Frederick
Army Greatly Reduced.
His army WIS greatly reduced and eK-
hausted and the king was IN dtsIair. Ono
night he actually contemplated suicide. but
| his fortunes wero destined to change. At
Rossbach he met and crushed French
army. which outaumbered his two to one.
And at Lenthen he practically snnihilated
| the Austrians. Another victory at Leig-
| nitz and the allies appeared ready for
peace. Russia the first to sue for a
cessation Of hostilities. then came Sweden.
| then Austria A treaty Of peace was
signed in October I762, and the seven
year war was at end. Frederick then
| became engrossed in building up his king
dom. He spent millions Of money at this
| work, and made Prussia OF the first
powers of Europe.
| The friendship of Frederick for the
American colonies during their war OF in
| dependence has been variously estimated.
| One of the dearest legends of the last
| ger Grafton was a recitation of Fredericks
| interest in the revolution. which, 1t was
| said, eliminated In his sending a sword to
| George Washington. which bore the in
scription From the soldier to the greatest
soldier in the world" Much doubt is cast
| On the lrulN OI tnlS story, out II Is well
| known that the Prussian king denounced
in the most vehement terms the action of
| those German princes who hired troops to
England to be used against the American
| revolutionists.
1t is also A well-known fact in history
| that he prevented the passage OF such
| troops through his kingdom their way to
America, and compelled them to march
| many hundreds of miles out of their way In
| order to fulfill their contract with George
| Ill. Whether or not these actions can be
| construed as friendship TO those who were
| struggling for liberty in America historians
| disagree. 1t Is fact. however. that
| this apparent or pretended friendship had
| its effect on the other nations of Europe.
| and helped Washington. though ever SO lit
| tie, to keep a-fame the torch of patriotism
| and lead his force to final victory,
| The strenuous life he had lived since as
| cending the throne of Prussia told heavily
| on Frederick's health On his return from
| the seven years war his body was fraiI
| with disease, and the last years OF his
| reign were years of suffering. Still Fred
| erick hung on to life tenaciously. and
| while HIS fame as a soldier will always
! eclipse his greatness as statesman the