Frederick the Great

(King of Pru ia), b. 24 Jan. 1712, was educated in a very rigid fashion by his father, Frederick William I. He ascended the throne and soon displayed his political and military ability. By a war with Austria he acquired Silesia. He wrote several deistical pieces, and tolerated all religions and no religion saying “every man must get to heaven his own way.” He attracted to his court men like Lamettrie, D’Argens, Maupertuis, and Voltaire, who, says Carlyle, continued all his days Fried rich’s chief thinker. In 1756 France, Austria, Sweden, and Ru ia united against him, but he held his own against “a world in arms.” After a most active life Frederick died at Potsdam, 17 Aug. 1786. The Philosophical Breviary attributed to him was really written by Cérutti.