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1714.

the toils; and many of his greatest victories, particularly CHAP. those of Turin and Belgrade, were gained under circumstances where even the boldest officers in his army had given him over for lost. He was prodigal of the blood of his soldiers, and, like Napoleon, indifferent to the sacrifices at which he purchased his successes; but he was still more lavish of his own, and never failed to share the hardships and dangers of the meanest of his followers. Engaged during his active life in thirteen pitched battles, in all he fought like a common soldier. He was in consequence repeatedly, sometimes dangerously, wounded; and it was extraordinary that he escaped the reiterated perils to which he was exposed. He raised the Austrian monarchy by his triumphs to the very highest pitch of glory, and finally broke the power of the Turks, the most persevering and not the least formidable of its enemies. But the enterprises which his genius prompted the cabinet of Vienna to undertake were beyond the strength of the Hereditary States; and for nearly a century after, it accomplished nothing worthy, either of its growing resources, or of the military renown which he had achieved for it.

of Frederick

FREDERICK II., surnamed THE GREAT, with more 31. justice than any other to whom that title has been ap- Early life plied in modern times, was born at Berlin on the 24th the Great. January 1712. His education was as much neglected as ill-directed. Destined from early youth for the military profession, he was, in the first instance, subjected to a discipline so rigorous that he conceived the utmost aversion for a career in which he was ultimately to shine with such lustre, and, as his only resource, threw himself with ardour into the study of French literature, for which he retained a strong predilection through

VOL. II.

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His acces

the whole of his subsequent life. Unfortunately, his studies were almost entirely confined to that literature. That of his own country, since so illustrious, had not then started into existence. Of Italian and Spanish he was ignorant. He could not read Greek; and with Latin his acquaintance was so imperfect as to be of no practical service to him through life. To this unfortunate contraction of his education, his limited taste in literature, in subsequent life, is chiefly to be ascribed. He at first was desirous of espousing an English princess; but his father, who was most imperious in his disposition, decided otherwise, and he was compelled, in 1733, to marry the Princess Elizabeth of Brunswick. This union, like most others contracted under restraint, proved unfortunate; and it did not give Frederick the blessing of an heir to the throne. Debarred from domestic enjoyments, the young prince took refuge with more eagerness than ever in literary pursuits; the chateau of Rhinsberg, which was his favourite abode, was styled by him in his transport the "Palace of the Muses;" and the greatest general and most hardy soldier of modern times spent some years of his youth in corresponding with Maupertuis, Voltaire, and other French philosophers, and in making indifferent verses and madrigals, which gave no token of any remarkable genius. He had already prepared for the press a book entitled Refutation of the Prince of Machiavel, when, in 1740, the death of his father called him to the throne, its duties, its dangers, and its glory.

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The philosophers were in transports when they beheld one of themselves," as they styled him, elevated to a throne, and throne; they indulged in hopes that he would continue plication to his literary pursuits, and acknowledge their influence,

sion to the

vigorous ap

its duties.

when surrounded by the attractions and wielding the

CHAP.

XII.

patronage of the crown. They soon found their mistake. Frederick retained through life his literary tastes: he corresponded with Voltaire and the philosophers 1714. through all his campaigns; he made French verses in his tent, after tracing out the plans of the battles of Leuthen and Rosbach. But his heart was in his kingdom his ambition was set on its aggrandisement: his passion was war, by which alone that aggrandisement could be achieved. Without being forgotten, the philosophers and madrigals were soon comparatively discarded. The finances and the army occupied his whole attention. The former were in excellent order, and his father had even accumulated a large treasure which remained in the exchequer. The army, admirably equipped and disciplined, already amounted to sixty thousand men he augmented it to eighty thousand. Nothing could exceed the vigour he displayed in every department, or the unceasing attention he paid to public affairs. Indefatigable day and night, sober and temperate in his habits, he employed even artificial means to augment the time during the day he could devote to business. Finding that he was constitutionally inclined to more rest than he deemed consistent with the full discharge of all his regal duties, he ordered his servants to waken him at five in the morning; and if words were not effectual to rouse him from his sleep, he commanded them, on pain of dismissal, to apply linen steeped in cold water to his person. This order was punctually executed, even in the depth of winter, till nature was fairly subdued, and the king had gained the time he desired from his slumbers.

It was not long before he had an opportunity of evincing at once the vigour and unscrupulous character

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of his mind. The Emperor Charles VI. having died on the 20th October 1740, the immense possessions of the house of Austria devolved to his daughter, since so famous by the name of MARIA THERESA. The defencesion on and less condition of the Imperial dominions, consisting of first victory so many different and discordant states, some of them at Mollwitz. but recently united under one head, when under the

His aggres

conquest of

Silesia, and

guidance of a young and unmarried princess, suggested to the neighbouring powers the idea of a partition. Frederick eagerly united with France in this project. He revived some old and obsolete claims of Prussia to Silesia; but in his manifesto to the European powers, upon invading that province, he was scarcely at the pains to conceal the real motives of his aggression. “It is," said he, "an army ready to take the field, treasures long accumulated, and perhaps the desire to acquire glory." He was not long in succeeding in the object of his ambition, though it was at first rather owing to the skill of his generals, and discipline of his soldiers, than to his own capacity. On the 10th April 1741, the army under his command gained a complete victory over the Austrians at Mollwitz in Silesia, which led to the entire reduction of that rich and important province. The king owed little to his own courage, however, on this occasion. Like Wellington, the first essay in arms of so indomitable a hero was unfortunate. He fled from the field of battle at the first repulse of his cavalry; and he was already seven miles off, where he was resting in a mill, when he received intelligence that his troops had regained the day; and at the earnest entreaties of General (afterwards Marshal) Schwerin, he returned to take the command of the army.

Next year, however, he evinced equal courage and

CHAP.

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successes

over the Austrians.

capacity in the battle of Czaslau, which he gained over the Prince of Lorraine. Austria, on the brink of ruin, hastened to disarm the most formidable of her assailants; and by a separate peace, concluded at Breslau on June His glorious 11, 1742, she ceded to Prussia nearly the whole of Silesia. This cruel loss, however, was too plainly the result of necessity to be acquiesced in without a struggle by the cabinet of Vienna. Maria Theresa made no secret of her determination to resume possession of the lost province on the first convenient opportunity. Austria soon united the whole of Germany in a league against Frederick, who had no ally but the King of France. Assailed by such a host of enemies, however, the young king was not discouraged, and, boldly assuming the initiative, he gained at Hohenfriedberg a complete victory over his old antagonist the Prince of Lorraine. This triumph was won entirely by the extraordinary genius displayed by the King of Prussia. "It was one

of those battles," says the military historian Guibert, "where a great master makes everything give way before him, and which is gained from the very beginning, 1 Art de la because he never gives the enemy time to recover from 172. their disorder."1

Guerre, ii.

at length

obliged to

make peace.

The Austrians made great exertions to repair the 35. consequences of this disaster, and with such success Who are that in four months Prince Charles of Lorraine again attacked him, at the head of fifty thousand men, near Soor. Frederick had not twenty-five thousand, but with these he again defeated the Austrians with immense loss, and took up his winter-quarters in Silesia. So vast were the resources, however, of the great German League, of which Austria was the head, that they were enabled to keep the field during winter, and

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