I love theatrical
entertainments
extremely, and
especially music; but I find the Opera cursedly
dear, and the pleasure I take in hearing a fine
voice or a good violin would be much more lively
and pure if it did not cost me so much money.
especially music; but I find the Opera cursedly
dear, and the pleasure I take in hearing a fine
voice or a good violin would be much more lively
and pure if it did not cost me so much money.
Treitschke - 1915 - Confessions of Frederick the Great
handle.
net/2027/loc.
ark:/13960/t5h99vc8g Public Domain in the United States / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-us
? 52 The Confessions of
the immense bewildering labyrinths in which
thousands of my subjects were losing themselves
and being devoured aHve. But what gave me
most disquiet was, the slow, but sure and constant,
march of the people of the law, that spirit of
liberty inseparable from their principles, and that
dextrous management of theirs of preserving their
advantages, and of crushing their enemies, with all
the appearances of the most austere equity.
I made pass in review before my memory all
those acts full of rigour, and often very unaccount-
able, of the parliaments of England and Paris, and
was surprised at some of them being so disgraceful
to the majesty of the throne. It was amidst all
these reflections that I determined to strike at
the foundations of this great power, and it was
only by simplifying it as much as I could, that I
have reduced it to the point at which I wanted it.
You will, perhaps, be surprised, my dear nephew,
that men who have no arms, and who never speak
but with respect of the sacred person of the king,
should be the only people in his kingdom able to
give law to him. It is precisely for these very
reasons that it is not difficult for them to check or
set bounds to our power. There is no suspecting
them of violence, since they always speak to us
with the greatest decency, and our subjects are
soon captivated and led away in chains by that
firm eloquence, which seems never to display itself
but for their happiness and our glory.
I have often reflected on the advantages result-
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? Frederick the Great 53
ing to a kingdom from a body of representatives
of the people, which is a depositary of its laws;
I am even ready to believe that the crown is the
safer on a king's head for its having been given,
or for its being preserved, to him by such a body;
but that he must be strictly an honest man, and
made up of good principles, to permit his actions
to stand every day its scrutiny or examination.
When one has ambition, one must renounce that
plan; I should never have done anything if I
had been cramped. Perhaps I might have ob-
tained the character of a just king, but I should
have missed that of a hero.
The limited monarch is oftener exposed to the
vicissitudes of fortune than the arbitrary despot;
but then the despot must be active, enlightened,
and firm. There are more virtues required to
give a lustre to a state of despotism than to that
of monarchy.
The courtier flatters the monarch, soothes his
vices, and deceives him; the slave prostrates
himself, but gives him right information. It is,
then, of more use to a great man to reign arbi-
trarily, but more grievous to the people to live
under such a government.
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? MORNING THE FOURTH
ON POLITICS
SINCE it has been agreed among men that to
cheat or deceive one's fellow-creatures is a
mean and criminal action, there has been sought
for, and invented, a term that might soften the
appellation of the thing, and the word, wnich
undoubtedly has been chosen for the purpose, is
Politics. Now the word has only been found out
in favour of sovereigns, because we cannot quite
so decently be called rogues and rascals. But,
be that as it may, this is what I think as to politics.
I understand, then, by this word, dear nephew,
that we are ever to try to cheat others. It is the
way to have the advantage, or, at least, to be on a
footing with the rest of mankind. For you may
rest persuaded that all the states of the world run
the same career. Now this principle being once
settled, never be ashamed of making alliances, and
of being yourself the only party that draws advan-
tage from them. Do not commit that stupid fault
of not abandoning them whenever it is your
interest so to do; and especially maintain vigor-
ously this maxim, that stripping your neighbours
4 54
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 55
is only to take away from them the means of
doing you a mischief.
It is politics, properly speaking, that found
kingdoms and preserve them; so that, dear
nephew, it is fit that you understand them thor-
oughly, and conceive them in their clearest light.
For this purpose, I shall make two divisions of
them to you, the one politics of the state, and
the other private politics ; the first turns on the
great interests of the kingdom; the other on the
particular interests of the king, and of this we shall
first treat.
ON private politics
A prince ought never to present to view but
the fairest aspect of character, and this is a point
to which you must pay a very serious attention.
When I was only prince royal, I had very little
of a military turn; I loved my ease and the
pleasures of the table, and, as to love, I made it
on all sides.
When I came to be king, I appeared the soldier,
the philosopher, the poet; I lay upon straw, I
ate ammunition-bread at the head of my camp;
I drank very little before my subjects, and appeared
to have a contempt for women.
As for my personal conduct, it is this: in my
journeys I always go without a guard, and travel
night and day; my train is far from numerous,
but well chosen. My carriage is plain, but then
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? 56 The Confessions of
it is hung upon special easy springs, and I sleep
in it as well as in my bed.
I seem to have no nicety about my eating and
drinking. A lacquey, a cook, a confectioner, are
all the menials I have for providing my table. I
order my own dinner myself, and it is not what I
acquit myself the worst of, as I know the country ;
and whatever I call for, of wild game, of fish, or
butcher's meat, it is always sure to be of the best
produce of the land.
When I come to a place of inhabitants, I have
always a fatigued air, and show myself to the
people in a very shabby surtout and a wig ill
combed.
These are trifles, but trifles that often make a
marvellous impression. I give audience to the
whole universe, except to priests, ministers of the
Church, and monks; as those gentry are used to
speak so as to be heard at a distance, I hear
them from my window; a page receives them,
and makes my compliments to them at the door.
In everything I say, I affect the air of thinking of
nothing but the happiness of my subjects; I
ask questions of the nobility, of citizens, of
mechanics, and enter with them into the minutest
particulars.
You have, my dear nephew, heard, as well as
myself, the flattering discourse of those good kinds
of people. You cannot forget him that said, that
I must be an extraordinary good king, who could
put myself to so much fatigue after having carried
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? Frederick the Great 57
on so long a war. You may also remember him,
who pities me from his heart, on observing the bad
surtout I had on, and the small dishes that were
served on my table. The poor man did not know
that I had a very good coat underneath, and could
not imagine it possible to dine anything like well
without a ham and a whole shoulder of veal on
the table.
At a review of my troops, before a regiment is
to pass muster, I take care to read over the names
of all its officers and sergeants, and I retain three
or four of them, with the names of the companies
to which they belong. I procure an exact informa-
tion of the petty abuses which may have been
committed by my captains, and I allow the soldiers
liberty of complaining.
The hour of the review being come, I set out
from wherever I am. Presently the mob gets
round me; nor do I suffer it to be kept off, but
chat by the way with the first person that is near-
est me, or that can make the most reasonable
answer. As soon as I am come to the regiment,
I see that the exercise be without too much trouble,
and rather with ease, performed throughout all the
ranks, and I speak to all the captains. When I
am over-against those whose names I have retained,
I speak to them freely, as likewise to all the
lieutenants and sergeants : this gives me a wonder-
ful fine air of memory and reflection.
You saw, dear nephew, in what manner I
mortified the major who used to furnish his com-
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? 58 The Confessions of
pany with shirts too short ; I used him so ill, that
one of the soldiers had the impudence, by way of
shewing the scanty measure, to pull his shirt out
of his breeches.
If a regiment does not acquit itself of the exercise
to my satisfaction, I have a kind of punishment
for it that is not amiss; I order it to perform the
exercise for thirteen days longer than usual, and
ask none of the ofQcers to my table. If the
manoeuvres are well executed, I have all the
captains to dine with me, and even some of
the lieutenants.
By means, then, of the reviews being conducted
in this manner, I come at a perfect knowledge
of my troops; and when I find any officer that
answers me with firmness, intelligence, and clear-
ness, I set him down in my list for making use of
his service on proper occasions.
Hitherto it has been believed by the world that
it is the stark love and kindness I bear to my
subjects that engages me to visit my dominions
as often as I possibly can. I like to leave that
same world in quiet possession of that idea; but
there enters very little of the reality of such a
motive into that trouble I give myself; the truth
is, that I am obliged to it, and this is the reason.
My kingdom is despotic, consequently I, who
am the possessor of it, am alone in charge of it.
If I did not make, at times, a tour of inspection
through my dominions, my governors would put
themselves in my place, and would, little by little,
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? Frederick the Great 59
divest themselves of their principles of obedience,
and adopt in their stead those of independence.
Besides, as my orders cannot be other than
stem and absolute, those who represent me would
usurp the same tone of tyranny. Whereas, by
visiting my kingdom from time to time, I am
enabled to take cognizance of all the abuses that
may have been committed of the powers intrusted
by me, and to keep within the botinds of their
duty such as might otherwise take it into their
head to transgress them.
Add to these reasons, that of making my sub-
jects believe, that I come familiarly among them
purely to receive their complaints, and to redress
their grievances.
ON LITERATURE
I have done everything in my power to acqmre
a reputation in literature, and, in that, have been
more successful than Cardinal Richelieu, for, thank
God, I pass for an author; but, between you and
me, and not to let it go any farther, they are a
damned set of people, those they call wits. They
are insupportable for their vanity; insolent, de-
spising the great, and yet fond of greatness:
tyrants in their opinions, implacable enemies,
inconstant friends, difficult to live with, and
often flatterers and satirists in the same day.
And yet, for all this, they are necessary beings to
a prince who would reign despotically, and who
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? 6o The Confessions of
loves glory. They are the dispensers of the
honours of celebrity; without them, there is no
acqtdring a solid reputation. They must, then,
be caressed from our need of them, and recom-
pensed from good policy.
As this is a profession, or call it, if you will,
a trade, that takes us off from the occupations
worthy of the majesty of the throne, I never
compose but when I have nothing better to do;
and to give myself the more ease in it, I keep at
my court some wits, who take care to put my
ideas into order.
You have seen with what distinction I treated
Monsieur D'Alembert in his last visit here; I
always set him at my table, and did nothing but
praise him. You even seemed surprised at the
great respect I shewed this author; but you do
not know, perhaps, that this philosopher is listened
to at Paris like an oracle ; that he talks of nothing
else there but of my talents and my virtues; and
that he maintains everywhere that I fulfil the
character of a true hero and of a great king.
Besides, there is a sort of pleasure to me, in
hearing myself praised with wit and delicacy;
and, to deal sincerely with you, I am far from
being insensible to panegyric. I cannot dissemble
to myself, that all my actions are not clearly praise-
worthy; but D'Alembert is so good-natured, that,
when he sits by me, he never opens his mouth but
to say obliging things to me.
Voltaire was not of so pliable a character; ac-
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? Frederick the Great 6i
cordingly I drove him from my court, of which
I made a merit to Maupertuis, though the true
reason at bottom was, that I stood in fear of him,
because I was not sure that I could always humour
his avarice, and knew perfectly well, that half-a-
crown less than he expected would draw on me
two thousand scratches from his satirical claws.
Besides, everything well considered, and after
having taken the advice of my academy, it was
a clearly decided point that it was impossible for
two wits to breathe the same air.
I was forgetting to tell you, that in the midst
of my greatest straits and disasters, I took care
that the wits should have their pensions duly paid
them. These philosophers exclaim against war as
the most execrable of all madnesses the moment
that it touches their pocket.
CONDUCT IN THE SMALLER MATTERS OF LIFE
Have you a mind to satisfy all the world at a
very little cost? This is the secret. Let all your
subjects have leave to apply to yourself directly
by writing, or in personal audience; and, accord-
ing as you admit of either of these, answer or hear
what they have to say. But this is the style you
are to employ:
^* If what you tell me he true, I will do you justice;
but you may also lay your account with the zeal I
have for punishing calumny and falsity. I am your
king, F ck, "
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? 62 The Confessions of
If they complain, in person, to you, hear them
with attention, or at least with an air that may
make them think you have it. Let your answer
especially be firm and laconic. Two letters, or
two verbal answers, in such a style, will save you
from the importunity of many complaints, and
will give you among your own subjects, and more
yet in foreign courts, such an air of simplicity,
and of descending into particulars, as in point of
character makes the fortune of kings.
I am well assured, dear nephew, that on the
credit of two letters of this kind, actually extant
in those countries which the French took in 1757,
I passed among them for a king the most popular,
the most plain-dealing, and the most equitable, that
ever was or could be.
AS TO DRESS
If my grandfather had lived twenty years more,
we should have been an undone people, for his
birthday would have devoured the kingdom. I
never wear any coat but my uniform. The military
imagine that this proceeds from the regard I have
for their profession; but in fact it is to make my
example enforce my preachments of simplicity of
dress. My father was right in his notion of bring-
ing in the blue for birthdays.
Those who are not rich, and would appear well
dressed, would do well to avoid the half -lace. One
should leave embroidery, and the tawdry daubings
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? Frederick the Great 63
of gold and silver, to those idle, effeminate princes
who live in the midst of nothing but pleasures,
balls, and debauchery. There is a necessity for
the frivolous to study every day some new fanciful
taste in dress, that they may please the ladies,
which they make their sole occupation.
AS TO PLEASURES
Love is a little deity that spares no one. When
one resists those darts he lets fly at us in a fair way,
he takes another turn; so that I would not wish
you to have the vanity of making head against
him. One way or other he is sure of you. Though
I have not to complain of the trick he has played
me, I would not advise you to follow my example.
It might come in time to have very bad con-
sequences; for, by degrees, your governors and
officers would, in their choice of recruits, consult
more their own pleasures than the honour of your
service, and your army might come at length to be
like the regiment of your imcle Henry.
I should have liked himting well enough, but
the accompt-expenses of my grandfather's grand
huntsman corrected me of that inclination.
My father has told me a hundred times, that
there were but two kings in Europe rich enough to
keep buck-hounds, because it is indecent for a
crowned head to hunt with no more state than a
private gentleman.
Nature has given me self-indulgent-enough dis-
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? 64 The Confessions of
positions. I love good eating, good wines, coffee,
and even spirituous cordials, and yet my subjects
believe me the most abstemious king in the uni-
verse. When I eat in public, it is my German cook
that dresses my dinner; but when I am snug in my
little private apartments, I have a French cook
who does his best to humour my palate, which, I
must confess, is rather of the nicest. Philosophers
may say what they will, with all their lessons, but
the pleasures of the senses very well deserve that
we should spare them a couple of hours a day;
for, in fact, what would our existence be without
them?
I could take a pleasure in play, but I cannot
bring myself to a habit of enduring to lose. Be-
sides, play is the looking-glass of the soul; and
this does not at all do for me, for I do not much
care that anyone should look into mine.
I love theatrical entertainments extremely, and
especially music; but I find the Opera cursedly
dear, and the pleasure I take in hearing a fine
voice or a good violin would be much more lively
and pure if it did not cost me so much money.
As no one can be imposed upon as to this ex-
pense, I have used my best endeavours to per-
suade that it was useful and even necessary; but
I never could get the old generals to come into the
opinion, that an eunuch or a virtuoso ought to
have the same pay as they.
I will now give up to you the knowledge of man,
though at his expense. Believe me, he is always
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? Frederick the Great 65
delivered up to his passions; vanity is at the bot-
tom of all his thirst after glory, and his virtues
are all founded on his self-interest and ambition.
Have you a mind to pass for a hero ? Make boldly
your approaches to crimes. Would you like to be
thought virtuous? Learn to appear artfully what
you are not.
s
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? MORNING THE FIFTH
ON POLITICS OF THE STATE
THESE politics may be reduced to three heads,
or principles. The first, self-preservation,
and aggrandizement, according to circumstances.
Second, alliances never to be made but for one's
own advantage. And the third, to make one's self
respected and feared in the most difficult times.
PRINCIPLE THE FIRST
OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND AGGRANDIZEMENT
On my ascending to the throne, I visited the
coffers of my father. His great economy, I found,
had put me in a condition of conceiving great
projects. Soon afterwards I made a review of my
troops, and fine ones they appeared to me: upon
which I returned to my coffers, and took out of
them wherewith to double my military force.
As I had then just rendered my power twice as
great as it was before, it was natural for me not
to be contented with only preserving what I had,
so that I was q,uickly determined to avail myself
of the first opportunity that should offer. In the
meanwhile I exercised my troops, and used my
66
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 67
best endeavours to draw the eyes of all Europe
on my manoeuvres; I renewed them every year,
in order to appear more and more master of the
art of war; and at length I obtained my wish of
procuring a general attention.
I turned the head of all the powers, and all the
world gave themselves up for lost, if their military
did not move head, legs, and arms, a la mode of the
Prussian exercise. All my soldiers and my officers
took it into their heads that they were twice the
men they were before on seeing they were every-
where aped.
When my troops had thus acquired an advan-
tage over all the others, I had nothing to do but to
examine what pretensions it was possible for me
to form upon different provinces. Four different
points offered themselves to my view: Silesia,
Polish Prussia, Dutch Gueldre and Swedish Pome-
rania.
I fixed, however, on Silesia, both because that
object deserved my attention more than all the
others put together, and because the circumstances
were more favourable to me.
I left to time the care of the execution of my
projects on the other points. I will not here
enter on a demonstration to you of the validity of
my pretensions on Silesia, I took care to have it
established by my orators. The empress-queen
opposed hers to them, and the cause was pleaded
and decided by great guns, small arms, and sabres.
But let me return to those favourable circum-
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? 68 The Confessions of
stances I intimated: thus it was that they pre-
sented themselves. France wanted to take the
empire out of the hands of the House of Austria : --
there was nothing I wished for more. France also
had a mind to form in Italy a state for the Infant :
-- this too I liked, because it could not be done but
at the expense of the empress-queen. In short,
France had conceived the noble project of march-
ing to the gates of Vienna: -- that was the very
point I waited for, that I might seize upon Silesia.
Be then, my dear nephew, provided of money;
wait for circumstances; and be assured of not
barely preserving your dominions, but of aggran-
dizing them. There are certain small politicians
who pretend, that, when a state is arrived at a
certain point, it ought not to think of aggrandize-
ment, because the system of the balance of power
has limited each state to a certain fixed extent.
I remember that the ambition of Lewis XlVth
had like to have cost France dear, and I am not
insensible of all the disquiet that mine has given
me : I know, also, that France, in the midst of her
greatest disasters, disposed of a crown, and pre-
served the provinces she had conquered; and
you may, as to myself, see, that, amidst all the
storm that threatened me, I have lost nothing;
so that everything depends on the circumstances
of the times, and on the courage of him that takes
and holds.
You cannot, my dear nephew, conceive how
important it is for a king and a state to go often
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? Frederick the Great 69
out of the common road; it is only by the mar-
vellous that one can strike an awe into others, or
get a great name.
The Balance is a word that has subdued the
whole world, by the light in which it was con-
sidered of its securing a constant possession;
and yet, in truth, this same Balance is no more
than a bare word, an empty sound; for Europe
is a family in which there are too many bad brokers
and quarrelsome relations.
I go farther yet, dear nephew : it is by the con-
tempt of this system that one must come at any-
thing that is great. Behold the English, they
have put the sea in chains; that fierce unruly
element no longer dares carry any vessels but
with their permission.
From all this, it results, that it is good policy to
be always attempting something, and to be per-
fectly persuaded that we have a right to everything
that suits us.
You must only take care not to make, with too
much vanity, too open a proclamation of such
pretensions; and especially to maintain at your
court two or three persons of eloquence, and leave
it in charge with them to justify you.
PRINCIPLE THE SECOND
ON ALLIANCES
To form alliances for one's advantage is a great
maxim of state, and there are no powers that can
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? 70 The Confessions of
answer to themselves a neglect of it. Thence, by
clear inference, it follows, that you should break
an alliance as soon as ever it becomes prejudicial
to you.
In my first war with the Queen of Hungary, I
abandoned France at Prague, because I got Silesia
by the bargain. If I had escorted the French
safe to Vienna, they would never have given me
so much. Some years after I renewed with them,
because I had a mind to attempt the conquest of
Bohemia, and thought it best to keep measures
with this power, against I might have occasion for
its assistance. Since that time I have neglected
that nation, in order to come in with another
that offered me more.
When Prussia, dear nephew, shall have made
her fortune, it will be time enough for her to give
herself an air of fidelity to engagements and of
constancy; an air, which, at the most, becomes
none but great states or little sovereigns. I have
already, dear nephew, told you that politics and
villainy are almost synonymous terms, and I told
you the truth. And yet you will, on this head,
find some people who have formed to themselves
certain systems of probity; so that you may
hazard anything by means of your ambassadors.
I have found some that have served me in very
delicate occasions, and who, to come at a mystery,
would have rummaged or picked the pockets of
a king.
Let your choice fall especially on those who have
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? Frederick the Great 71
the talent of expressing themselves in vague,
indefinite, terms, or in squinting and perplexed
phrases. You would not do amiss to have at your
devotion some political physicians and locksmiths ;
they may sometimes be of great use to you. I
know, by experience, all the advantages that may
be gained by their means.
PRINCIPLE THE THIRD
OF INSPIRING RESPECT AND FEAR
To make one's self respected and feared by one's
neighbours is the very summit of high policy.
This end is to be achieved by two means: -- the
first, is to have a real force and effectual resources;
-- the second, is to make the most of the strength
one has. -- Now we are not within the first case,
and that is the reason of my having neglected
nothing that might make me shine in the second.
There are powers who imagine that an embassy
should always be sent with great splendour, and
cut a great figure. Monsieur de Richelieu, how-
ever, only served at Vienna to put the French
into a ridiculous light; for the Austrians con-
cluded, that the whole nation smelt as strong of
musk and amber as he that represented it.
As for me, I rather hold that it is more by the
noble manner in which an ambassador makes his
master speak, than by the parade of his equipages
or retinue, that he gains a true or valuable respect;
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? 72 The Confessions of
-- ^it is for this reason that I propose never more
to employ ambassadors, but only envoys. Besides,
the first of these characters is too difficult to fill
suitably, as it requires a man of great note or
distinction, very rich, and who understands politics
perfectly; whereas, with this last advantage only,
an envoy may serve sufficiently for the purpose.
By adopting this system, you will every year
save a considerable sum, and your business will
be as well done. There are, however, some occa-
sions, in which it is necessary to show away with
some magnificence; as, for example, when you
come to a rupture with a court, or make an alliance,
or for a nuptial ceremony. But these embassies
must be ever considered as extraordinary.
Never ask faintly, but seem rather to demand.
If you have any cause of discontent given you,
reserve your revenge for the moment in which you
may obtain the most complete satisfaction, but
especially do not stand in fear of reprisals; your
glory will not suffer for it, it will only be so much
the worse for those of your subjects on whom
the damage may fall. It must, then, be your great
aim that all your neighbours should be persuaded
that you fear nothing, and that nothing can as-
tonish you.
Endeavour, above all things, to pass with them
for one of a dangerous cast of mind, who knows no
other principles but those that lead to military
fame. Manage so that they may be fully con-
vinced that you would sooner lose two kingdoms
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? Frederick the Great 73
than not play a part that may transmit you to
posterity. As these sentiments are those of a
soul above the common order, they strike, they
confound, the greatest part of mankind; and it
is this that, in truth, constitutes in the world the
greatest monarchs.
When a stranger comes to your court, overwhelm
him with civilities, and especially try to have
him always near you ; this will be the best way to
keep concealed from him the defects of your
government.
If he is a military man, let the exercise of your
regiments be performed before him, and let it be
yourself that commands them. If he is a wit who
has composed a work, let him see it lying on your
table, and talk to him of his talents. If he is in a
mercantile life, listen to him with affability, caress
him, and try to fix him in your country.
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? MORNING THE SIXTH
MILITARY
A CELEBRATED author has compared the
mihtary to mastiffs which ought to be
chained up carefully, and ought not to be loosed
except when necessary. The comparison is rather
strained, but, for all that, it will serve you, not as a
maxim, but as a warning.
You have been able to learn in the two cam-
paigns which you have made with me the spirit of
officer and soldier, and you have been able to per-
ceive that in general they are veritable machines,
with no other forward movement than that which
you give them.
You persuade these troops that they are superior
to those whom you oppose to them; a mere no-
thing makes them believe that they are weaker;
it is, however, these nothings which make the
glory or disgrace of a general.
Therefore apply yourself to get a good know-
ledge of the causes which produce them. I go
further, and say that it is the nothings which create
the enthusiasm, and if once you can confer it on
your army, you can count on victory.
I will not recall here that which you will have
74
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 75
noticed in history, but remember only the Rus-
sians, and you will acknowledge that only inspired
beasts could stand being slaughtered like them.
My kingdom, by its nature, is military, and,
shortly speaking, it is only by its assistance that
you can hope to sustain and aggrandize your-
self. It is necessary, therefore, that your atten-
tion should always be fixed on this. But you
must take care that the military should not per-
ceive that they are your only resoiu"ce. When I
took over the reins of Government, I looked into
this to the bottom, and corrected it ; but it was not
without much trouble that I arrived at the goal
of my design, for your officer does not readily bend
to new regulations, above all when it touches his
own personal interest. You can judge of this by
two examples.
The captains had each a district (canton) for
recruiting. Every male infant who was born in
that canton was by right his captain's soldier, and
was registered as such from the cradle.
It is true that his father could buy him out,
but if that captain happened to die, the buying out
was annulled, and the infant became once more by
right the soldier of the new captain.
You understand well what authority this captain
exercised in this unhappy canton; he became its
tyrant.
During the lifetime of my father I was several
times offended with this, and when I became the
Master, I resolved to abolish such an oppression.
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? 76 The Confessions of
However, you must not offend the old soldiers who
know nothing but their routine, above all, when
it is advantageous to them.
I amassed proofs, therefore, and soon had more
than I wanted. They showed me, among others,
that Captain Colan, of the Regiment of Opo (in-
fantry), had drawn from his canton in ten years
more than fifty thousand crowns, and they made
me see that there was in general no captain who
did not derive a revenue of two thousand crowns
from the cotmtry under him.
Accordingly, I reformed this abuse, but, believe
me, most of my generals wished to prove to me
that it was a great advantage for me, because by
it one was surer of training a soldier as one wished,
and one knew his character from his infancy. And,
in fine, a thousand other like stupidities.
Believe me, also, that in spite of the most abso-
lute orders, there were majors who always went
this way, and that I was obliged to cashier two or
three who would not submit.
My father had a passion for tall men : he adored
the captains who got most of them : it was enough
for a soldier to be six feet two or three inches
for him to be allowed to do anything, and a captain
who had twenty of this height was sure to enjoy
the good graces of the King. From this sprang
a lax and very variable discipline, and a service
of parade.
As I did not have the same taste, I did not make
any exceptions. I wished the tall to be punished
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?
? 52 The Confessions of
the immense bewildering labyrinths in which
thousands of my subjects were losing themselves
and being devoured aHve. But what gave me
most disquiet was, the slow, but sure and constant,
march of the people of the law, that spirit of
liberty inseparable from their principles, and that
dextrous management of theirs of preserving their
advantages, and of crushing their enemies, with all
the appearances of the most austere equity.
I made pass in review before my memory all
those acts full of rigour, and often very unaccount-
able, of the parliaments of England and Paris, and
was surprised at some of them being so disgraceful
to the majesty of the throne. It was amidst all
these reflections that I determined to strike at
the foundations of this great power, and it was
only by simplifying it as much as I could, that I
have reduced it to the point at which I wanted it.
You will, perhaps, be surprised, my dear nephew,
that men who have no arms, and who never speak
but with respect of the sacred person of the king,
should be the only people in his kingdom able to
give law to him. It is precisely for these very
reasons that it is not difficult for them to check or
set bounds to our power. There is no suspecting
them of violence, since they always speak to us
with the greatest decency, and our subjects are
soon captivated and led away in chains by that
firm eloquence, which seems never to display itself
but for their happiness and our glory.
I have often reflected on the advantages result-
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? Frederick the Great 53
ing to a kingdom from a body of representatives
of the people, which is a depositary of its laws;
I am even ready to believe that the crown is the
safer on a king's head for its having been given,
or for its being preserved, to him by such a body;
but that he must be strictly an honest man, and
made up of good principles, to permit his actions
to stand every day its scrutiny or examination.
When one has ambition, one must renounce that
plan; I should never have done anything if I
had been cramped. Perhaps I might have ob-
tained the character of a just king, but I should
have missed that of a hero.
The limited monarch is oftener exposed to the
vicissitudes of fortune than the arbitrary despot;
but then the despot must be active, enlightened,
and firm. There are more virtues required to
give a lustre to a state of despotism than to that
of monarchy.
The courtier flatters the monarch, soothes his
vices, and deceives him; the slave prostrates
himself, but gives him right information. It is,
then, of more use to a great man to reign arbi-
trarily, but more grievous to the people to live
under such a government.
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? MORNING THE FOURTH
ON POLITICS
SINCE it has been agreed among men that to
cheat or deceive one's fellow-creatures is a
mean and criminal action, there has been sought
for, and invented, a term that might soften the
appellation of the thing, and the word, wnich
undoubtedly has been chosen for the purpose, is
Politics. Now the word has only been found out
in favour of sovereigns, because we cannot quite
so decently be called rogues and rascals. But,
be that as it may, this is what I think as to politics.
I understand, then, by this word, dear nephew,
that we are ever to try to cheat others. It is the
way to have the advantage, or, at least, to be on a
footing with the rest of mankind. For you may
rest persuaded that all the states of the world run
the same career. Now this principle being once
settled, never be ashamed of making alliances, and
of being yourself the only party that draws advan-
tage from them. Do not commit that stupid fault
of not abandoning them whenever it is your
interest so to do; and especially maintain vigor-
ously this maxim, that stripping your neighbours
4 54
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 55
is only to take away from them the means of
doing you a mischief.
It is politics, properly speaking, that found
kingdoms and preserve them; so that, dear
nephew, it is fit that you understand them thor-
oughly, and conceive them in their clearest light.
For this purpose, I shall make two divisions of
them to you, the one politics of the state, and
the other private politics ; the first turns on the
great interests of the kingdom; the other on the
particular interests of the king, and of this we shall
first treat.
ON private politics
A prince ought never to present to view but
the fairest aspect of character, and this is a point
to which you must pay a very serious attention.
When I was only prince royal, I had very little
of a military turn; I loved my ease and the
pleasures of the table, and, as to love, I made it
on all sides.
When I came to be king, I appeared the soldier,
the philosopher, the poet; I lay upon straw, I
ate ammunition-bread at the head of my camp;
I drank very little before my subjects, and appeared
to have a contempt for women.
As for my personal conduct, it is this: in my
journeys I always go without a guard, and travel
night and day; my train is far from numerous,
but well chosen. My carriage is plain, but then
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? 56 The Confessions of
it is hung upon special easy springs, and I sleep
in it as well as in my bed.
I seem to have no nicety about my eating and
drinking. A lacquey, a cook, a confectioner, are
all the menials I have for providing my table. I
order my own dinner myself, and it is not what I
acquit myself the worst of, as I know the country ;
and whatever I call for, of wild game, of fish, or
butcher's meat, it is always sure to be of the best
produce of the land.
When I come to a place of inhabitants, I have
always a fatigued air, and show myself to the
people in a very shabby surtout and a wig ill
combed.
These are trifles, but trifles that often make a
marvellous impression. I give audience to the
whole universe, except to priests, ministers of the
Church, and monks; as those gentry are used to
speak so as to be heard at a distance, I hear
them from my window; a page receives them,
and makes my compliments to them at the door.
In everything I say, I affect the air of thinking of
nothing but the happiness of my subjects; I
ask questions of the nobility, of citizens, of
mechanics, and enter with them into the minutest
particulars.
You have, my dear nephew, heard, as well as
myself, the flattering discourse of those good kinds
of people. You cannot forget him that said, that
I must be an extraordinary good king, who could
put myself to so much fatigue after having carried
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? Frederick the Great 57
on so long a war. You may also remember him,
who pities me from his heart, on observing the bad
surtout I had on, and the small dishes that were
served on my table. The poor man did not know
that I had a very good coat underneath, and could
not imagine it possible to dine anything like well
without a ham and a whole shoulder of veal on
the table.
At a review of my troops, before a regiment is
to pass muster, I take care to read over the names
of all its officers and sergeants, and I retain three
or four of them, with the names of the companies
to which they belong. I procure an exact informa-
tion of the petty abuses which may have been
committed by my captains, and I allow the soldiers
liberty of complaining.
The hour of the review being come, I set out
from wherever I am. Presently the mob gets
round me; nor do I suffer it to be kept off, but
chat by the way with the first person that is near-
est me, or that can make the most reasonable
answer. As soon as I am come to the regiment,
I see that the exercise be without too much trouble,
and rather with ease, performed throughout all the
ranks, and I speak to all the captains. When I
am over-against those whose names I have retained,
I speak to them freely, as likewise to all the
lieutenants and sergeants : this gives me a wonder-
ful fine air of memory and reflection.
You saw, dear nephew, in what manner I
mortified the major who used to furnish his com-
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? 58 The Confessions of
pany with shirts too short ; I used him so ill, that
one of the soldiers had the impudence, by way of
shewing the scanty measure, to pull his shirt out
of his breeches.
If a regiment does not acquit itself of the exercise
to my satisfaction, I have a kind of punishment
for it that is not amiss; I order it to perform the
exercise for thirteen days longer than usual, and
ask none of the ofQcers to my table. If the
manoeuvres are well executed, I have all the
captains to dine with me, and even some of
the lieutenants.
By means, then, of the reviews being conducted
in this manner, I come at a perfect knowledge
of my troops; and when I find any officer that
answers me with firmness, intelligence, and clear-
ness, I set him down in my list for making use of
his service on proper occasions.
Hitherto it has been believed by the world that
it is the stark love and kindness I bear to my
subjects that engages me to visit my dominions
as often as I possibly can. I like to leave that
same world in quiet possession of that idea; but
there enters very little of the reality of such a
motive into that trouble I give myself; the truth
is, that I am obliged to it, and this is the reason.
My kingdom is despotic, consequently I, who
am the possessor of it, am alone in charge of it.
If I did not make, at times, a tour of inspection
through my dominions, my governors would put
themselves in my place, and would, little by little,
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? Frederick the Great 59
divest themselves of their principles of obedience,
and adopt in their stead those of independence.
Besides, as my orders cannot be other than
stem and absolute, those who represent me would
usurp the same tone of tyranny. Whereas, by
visiting my kingdom from time to time, I am
enabled to take cognizance of all the abuses that
may have been committed of the powers intrusted
by me, and to keep within the botinds of their
duty such as might otherwise take it into their
head to transgress them.
Add to these reasons, that of making my sub-
jects believe, that I come familiarly among them
purely to receive their complaints, and to redress
their grievances.
ON LITERATURE
I have done everything in my power to acqmre
a reputation in literature, and, in that, have been
more successful than Cardinal Richelieu, for, thank
God, I pass for an author; but, between you and
me, and not to let it go any farther, they are a
damned set of people, those they call wits. They
are insupportable for their vanity; insolent, de-
spising the great, and yet fond of greatness:
tyrants in their opinions, implacable enemies,
inconstant friends, difficult to live with, and
often flatterers and satirists in the same day.
And yet, for all this, they are necessary beings to
a prince who would reign despotically, and who
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? 6o The Confessions of
loves glory. They are the dispensers of the
honours of celebrity; without them, there is no
acqtdring a solid reputation. They must, then,
be caressed from our need of them, and recom-
pensed from good policy.
As this is a profession, or call it, if you will,
a trade, that takes us off from the occupations
worthy of the majesty of the throne, I never
compose but when I have nothing better to do;
and to give myself the more ease in it, I keep at
my court some wits, who take care to put my
ideas into order.
You have seen with what distinction I treated
Monsieur D'Alembert in his last visit here; I
always set him at my table, and did nothing but
praise him. You even seemed surprised at the
great respect I shewed this author; but you do
not know, perhaps, that this philosopher is listened
to at Paris like an oracle ; that he talks of nothing
else there but of my talents and my virtues; and
that he maintains everywhere that I fulfil the
character of a true hero and of a great king.
Besides, there is a sort of pleasure to me, in
hearing myself praised with wit and delicacy;
and, to deal sincerely with you, I am far from
being insensible to panegyric. I cannot dissemble
to myself, that all my actions are not clearly praise-
worthy; but D'Alembert is so good-natured, that,
when he sits by me, he never opens his mouth but
to say obliging things to me.
Voltaire was not of so pliable a character; ac-
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? Frederick the Great 6i
cordingly I drove him from my court, of which
I made a merit to Maupertuis, though the true
reason at bottom was, that I stood in fear of him,
because I was not sure that I could always humour
his avarice, and knew perfectly well, that half-a-
crown less than he expected would draw on me
two thousand scratches from his satirical claws.
Besides, everything well considered, and after
having taken the advice of my academy, it was
a clearly decided point that it was impossible for
two wits to breathe the same air.
I was forgetting to tell you, that in the midst
of my greatest straits and disasters, I took care
that the wits should have their pensions duly paid
them. These philosophers exclaim against war as
the most execrable of all madnesses the moment
that it touches their pocket.
CONDUCT IN THE SMALLER MATTERS OF LIFE
Have you a mind to satisfy all the world at a
very little cost? This is the secret. Let all your
subjects have leave to apply to yourself directly
by writing, or in personal audience; and, accord-
ing as you admit of either of these, answer or hear
what they have to say. But this is the style you
are to employ:
^* If what you tell me he true, I will do you justice;
but you may also lay your account with the zeal I
have for punishing calumny and falsity. I am your
king, F ck, "
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? 62 The Confessions of
If they complain, in person, to you, hear them
with attention, or at least with an air that may
make them think you have it. Let your answer
especially be firm and laconic. Two letters, or
two verbal answers, in such a style, will save you
from the importunity of many complaints, and
will give you among your own subjects, and more
yet in foreign courts, such an air of simplicity,
and of descending into particulars, as in point of
character makes the fortune of kings.
I am well assured, dear nephew, that on the
credit of two letters of this kind, actually extant
in those countries which the French took in 1757,
I passed among them for a king the most popular,
the most plain-dealing, and the most equitable, that
ever was or could be.
AS TO DRESS
If my grandfather had lived twenty years more,
we should have been an undone people, for his
birthday would have devoured the kingdom. I
never wear any coat but my uniform. The military
imagine that this proceeds from the regard I have
for their profession; but in fact it is to make my
example enforce my preachments of simplicity of
dress. My father was right in his notion of bring-
ing in the blue for birthdays.
Those who are not rich, and would appear well
dressed, would do well to avoid the half -lace. One
should leave embroidery, and the tawdry daubings
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? Frederick the Great 63
of gold and silver, to those idle, effeminate princes
who live in the midst of nothing but pleasures,
balls, and debauchery. There is a necessity for
the frivolous to study every day some new fanciful
taste in dress, that they may please the ladies,
which they make their sole occupation.
AS TO PLEASURES
Love is a little deity that spares no one. When
one resists those darts he lets fly at us in a fair way,
he takes another turn; so that I would not wish
you to have the vanity of making head against
him. One way or other he is sure of you. Though
I have not to complain of the trick he has played
me, I would not advise you to follow my example.
It might come in time to have very bad con-
sequences; for, by degrees, your governors and
officers would, in their choice of recruits, consult
more their own pleasures than the honour of your
service, and your army might come at length to be
like the regiment of your imcle Henry.
I should have liked himting well enough, but
the accompt-expenses of my grandfather's grand
huntsman corrected me of that inclination.
My father has told me a hundred times, that
there were but two kings in Europe rich enough to
keep buck-hounds, because it is indecent for a
crowned head to hunt with no more state than a
private gentleman.
Nature has given me self-indulgent-enough dis-
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? 64 The Confessions of
positions. I love good eating, good wines, coffee,
and even spirituous cordials, and yet my subjects
believe me the most abstemious king in the uni-
verse. When I eat in public, it is my German cook
that dresses my dinner; but when I am snug in my
little private apartments, I have a French cook
who does his best to humour my palate, which, I
must confess, is rather of the nicest. Philosophers
may say what they will, with all their lessons, but
the pleasures of the senses very well deserve that
we should spare them a couple of hours a day;
for, in fact, what would our existence be without
them?
I could take a pleasure in play, but I cannot
bring myself to a habit of enduring to lose. Be-
sides, play is the looking-glass of the soul; and
this does not at all do for me, for I do not much
care that anyone should look into mine.
I love theatrical entertainments extremely, and
especially music; but I find the Opera cursedly
dear, and the pleasure I take in hearing a fine
voice or a good violin would be much more lively
and pure if it did not cost me so much money.
As no one can be imposed upon as to this ex-
pense, I have used my best endeavours to per-
suade that it was useful and even necessary; but
I never could get the old generals to come into the
opinion, that an eunuch or a virtuoso ought to
have the same pay as they.
I will now give up to you the knowledge of man,
though at his expense. Believe me, he is always
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? Frederick the Great 65
delivered up to his passions; vanity is at the bot-
tom of all his thirst after glory, and his virtues
are all founded on his self-interest and ambition.
Have you a mind to pass for a hero ? Make boldly
your approaches to crimes. Would you like to be
thought virtuous? Learn to appear artfully what
you are not.
s
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? MORNING THE FIFTH
ON POLITICS OF THE STATE
THESE politics may be reduced to three heads,
or principles. The first, self-preservation,
and aggrandizement, according to circumstances.
Second, alliances never to be made but for one's
own advantage. And the third, to make one's self
respected and feared in the most difficult times.
PRINCIPLE THE FIRST
OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND AGGRANDIZEMENT
On my ascending to the throne, I visited the
coffers of my father. His great economy, I found,
had put me in a condition of conceiving great
projects. Soon afterwards I made a review of my
troops, and fine ones they appeared to me: upon
which I returned to my coffers, and took out of
them wherewith to double my military force.
As I had then just rendered my power twice as
great as it was before, it was natural for me not
to be contented with only preserving what I had,
so that I was q,uickly determined to avail myself
of the first opportunity that should offer. In the
meanwhile I exercised my troops, and used my
66
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 67
best endeavours to draw the eyes of all Europe
on my manoeuvres; I renewed them every year,
in order to appear more and more master of the
art of war; and at length I obtained my wish of
procuring a general attention.
I turned the head of all the powers, and all the
world gave themselves up for lost, if their military
did not move head, legs, and arms, a la mode of the
Prussian exercise. All my soldiers and my officers
took it into their heads that they were twice the
men they were before on seeing they were every-
where aped.
When my troops had thus acquired an advan-
tage over all the others, I had nothing to do but to
examine what pretensions it was possible for me
to form upon different provinces. Four different
points offered themselves to my view: Silesia,
Polish Prussia, Dutch Gueldre and Swedish Pome-
rania.
I fixed, however, on Silesia, both because that
object deserved my attention more than all the
others put together, and because the circumstances
were more favourable to me.
I left to time the care of the execution of my
projects on the other points. I will not here
enter on a demonstration to you of the validity of
my pretensions on Silesia, I took care to have it
established by my orators. The empress-queen
opposed hers to them, and the cause was pleaded
and decided by great guns, small arms, and sabres.
But let me return to those favourable circum-
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? 68 The Confessions of
stances I intimated: thus it was that they pre-
sented themselves. France wanted to take the
empire out of the hands of the House of Austria : --
there was nothing I wished for more. France also
had a mind to form in Italy a state for the Infant :
-- this too I liked, because it could not be done but
at the expense of the empress-queen. In short,
France had conceived the noble project of march-
ing to the gates of Vienna: -- that was the very
point I waited for, that I might seize upon Silesia.
Be then, my dear nephew, provided of money;
wait for circumstances; and be assured of not
barely preserving your dominions, but of aggran-
dizing them. There are certain small politicians
who pretend, that, when a state is arrived at a
certain point, it ought not to think of aggrandize-
ment, because the system of the balance of power
has limited each state to a certain fixed extent.
I remember that the ambition of Lewis XlVth
had like to have cost France dear, and I am not
insensible of all the disquiet that mine has given
me : I know, also, that France, in the midst of her
greatest disasters, disposed of a crown, and pre-
served the provinces she had conquered; and
you may, as to myself, see, that, amidst all the
storm that threatened me, I have lost nothing;
so that everything depends on the circumstances
of the times, and on the courage of him that takes
and holds.
You cannot, my dear nephew, conceive how
important it is for a king and a state to go often
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? Frederick the Great 69
out of the common road; it is only by the mar-
vellous that one can strike an awe into others, or
get a great name.
The Balance is a word that has subdued the
whole world, by the light in which it was con-
sidered of its securing a constant possession;
and yet, in truth, this same Balance is no more
than a bare word, an empty sound; for Europe
is a family in which there are too many bad brokers
and quarrelsome relations.
I go farther yet, dear nephew : it is by the con-
tempt of this system that one must come at any-
thing that is great. Behold the English, they
have put the sea in chains; that fierce unruly
element no longer dares carry any vessels but
with their permission.
From all this, it results, that it is good policy to
be always attempting something, and to be per-
fectly persuaded that we have a right to everything
that suits us.
You must only take care not to make, with too
much vanity, too open a proclamation of such
pretensions; and especially to maintain at your
court two or three persons of eloquence, and leave
it in charge with them to justify you.
PRINCIPLE THE SECOND
ON ALLIANCES
To form alliances for one's advantage is a great
maxim of state, and there are no powers that can
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? 70 The Confessions of
answer to themselves a neglect of it. Thence, by
clear inference, it follows, that you should break
an alliance as soon as ever it becomes prejudicial
to you.
In my first war with the Queen of Hungary, I
abandoned France at Prague, because I got Silesia
by the bargain. If I had escorted the French
safe to Vienna, they would never have given me
so much. Some years after I renewed with them,
because I had a mind to attempt the conquest of
Bohemia, and thought it best to keep measures
with this power, against I might have occasion for
its assistance. Since that time I have neglected
that nation, in order to come in with another
that offered me more.
When Prussia, dear nephew, shall have made
her fortune, it will be time enough for her to give
herself an air of fidelity to engagements and of
constancy; an air, which, at the most, becomes
none but great states or little sovereigns. I have
already, dear nephew, told you that politics and
villainy are almost synonymous terms, and I told
you the truth. And yet you will, on this head,
find some people who have formed to themselves
certain systems of probity; so that you may
hazard anything by means of your ambassadors.
I have found some that have served me in very
delicate occasions, and who, to come at a mystery,
would have rummaged or picked the pockets of
a king.
Let your choice fall especially on those who have
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? Frederick the Great 71
the talent of expressing themselves in vague,
indefinite, terms, or in squinting and perplexed
phrases. You would not do amiss to have at your
devotion some political physicians and locksmiths ;
they may sometimes be of great use to you. I
know, by experience, all the advantages that may
be gained by their means.
PRINCIPLE THE THIRD
OF INSPIRING RESPECT AND FEAR
To make one's self respected and feared by one's
neighbours is the very summit of high policy.
This end is to be achieved by two means: -- the
first, is to have a real force and effectual resources;
-- the second, is to make the most of the strength
one has. -- Now we are not within the first case,
and that is the reason of my having neglected
nothing that might make me shine in the second.
There are powers who imagine that an embassy
should always be sent with great splendour, and
cut a great figure. Monsieur de Richelieu, how-
ever, only served at Vienna to put the French
into a ridiculous light; for the Austrians con-
cluded, that the whole nation smelt as strong of
musk and amber as he that represented it.
As for me, I rather hold that it is more by the
noble manner in which an ambassador makes his
master speak, than by the parade of his equipages
or retinue, that he gains a true or valuable respect;
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? 72 The Confessions of
-- ^it is for this reason that I propose never more
to employ ambassadors, but only envoys. Besides,
the first of these characters is too difficult to fill
suitably, as it requires a man of great note or
distinction, very rich, and who understands politics
perfectly; whereas, with this last advantage only,
an envoy may serve sufficiently for the purpose.
By adopting this system, you will every year
save a considerable sum, and your business will
be as well done. There are, however, some occa-
sions, in which it is necessary to show away with
some magnificence; as, for example, when you
come to a rupture with a court, or make an alliance,
or for a nuptial ceremony. But these embassies
must be ever considered as extraordinary.
Never ask faintly, but seem rather to demand.
If you have any cause of discontent given you,
reserve your revenge for the moment in which you
may obtain the most complete satisfaction, but
especially do not stand in fear of reprisals; your
glory will not suffer for it, it will only be so much
the worse for those of your subjects on whom
the damage may fall. It must, then, be your great
aim that all your neighbours should be persuaded
that you fear nothing, and that nothing can as-
tonish you.
Endeavour, above all things, to pass with them
for one of a dangerous cast of mind, who knows no
other principles but those that lead to military
fame. Manage so that they may be fully con-
vinced that you would sooner lose two kingdoms
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? Frederick the Great 73
than not play a part that may transmit you to
posterity. As these sentiments are those of a
soul above the common order, they strike, they
confound, the greatest part of mankind; and it
is this that, in truth, constitutes in the world the
greatest monarchs.
When a stranger comes to your court, overwhelm
him with civilities, and especially try to have
him always near you ; this will be the best way to
keep concealed from him the defects of your
government.
If he is a military man, let the exercise of your
regiments be performed before him, and let it be
yourself that commands them. If he is a wit who
has composed a work, let him see it lying on your
table, and talk to him of his talents. If he is in a
mercantile life, listen to him with affability, caress
him, and try to fix him in your country.
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? MORNING THE SIXTH
MILITARY
A CELEBRATED author has compared the
mihtary to mastiffs which ought to be
chained up carefully, and ought not to be loosed
except when necessary. The comparison is rather
strained, but, for all that, it will serve you, not as a
maxim, but as a warning.
You have been able to learn in the two cam-
paigns which you have made with me the spirit of
officer and soldier, and you have been able to per-
ceive that in general they are veritable machines,
with no other forward movement than that which
you give them.
You persuade these troops that they are superior
to those whom you oppose to them; a mere no-
thing makes them believe that they are weaker;
it is, however, these nothings which make the
glory or disgrace of a general.
Therefore apply yourself to get a good know-
ledge of the causes which produce them. I go
further, and say that it is the nothings which create
the enthusiasm, and if once you can confer it on
your army, you can count on victory.
I will not recall here that which you will have
74
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? Confessions of Frederick the Great 75
noticed in history, but remember only the Rus-
sians, and you will acknowledge that only inspired
beasts could stand being slaughtered like them.
My kingdom, by its nature, is military, and,
shortly speaking, it is only by its assistance that
you can hope to sustain and aggrandize your-
self. It is necessary, therefore, that your atten-
tion should always be fixed on this. But you
must take care that the military should not per-
ceive that they are your only resoiu"ce. When I
took over the reins of Government, I looked into
this to the bottom, and corrected it ; but it was not
without much trouble that I arrived at the goal
of my design, for your officer does not readily bend
to new regulations, above all when it touches his
own personal interest. You can judge of this by
two examples.
The captains had each a district (canton) for
recruiting. Every male infant who was born in
that canton was by right his captain's soldier, and
was registered as such from the cradle.
It is true that his father could buy him out,
but if that captain happened to die, the buying out
was annulled, and the infant became once more by
right the soldier of the new captain.
You understand well what authority this captain
exercised in this unhappy canton; he became its
tyrant.
During the lifetime of my father I was several
times offended with this, and when I became the
Master, I resolved to abolish such an oppression.
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? 76 The Confessions of
However, you must not offend the old soldiers who
know nothing but their routine, above all, when
it is advantageous to them.
I amassed proofs, therefore, and soon had more
than I wanted. They showed me, among others,
that Captain Colan, of the Regiment of Opo (in-
fantry), had drawn from his canton in ten years
more than fifty thousand crowns, and they made
me see that there was in general no captain who
did not derive a revenue of two thousand crowns
from the cotmtry under him.
Accordingly, I reformed this abuse, but, believe
me, most of my generals wished to prove to me
that it was a great advantage for me, because by
it one was surer of training a soldier as one wished,
and one knew his character from his infancy. And,
in fine, a thousand other like stupidities.
Believe me, also, that in spite of the most abso-
lute orders, there were majors who always went
this way, and that I was obliged to cashier two or
three who would not submit.
My father had a passion for tall men : he adored
the captains who got most of them : it was enough
for a soldier to be six feet two or three inches
for him to be allowed to do anything, and a captain
who had twenty of this height was sure to enjoy
the good graces of the King. From this sprang
a lax and very variable discipline, and a service
of parade.
As I did not have the same taste, I did not make
any exceptions. I wished the tall to be punished
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