ignalized by a great victory over the Russians, at
Zorndorff. It was as brilliant and decisive as the battles of Rossbach
and Leuthen. A force of thirty-two thousand men defeated an army of
fifty-two thousand. Twenty-two thousand Russians lay dead on the
field. This victory placed Frederic at the zenith of military fame. In
less than a year, he had defeated three great armies; in less than a
year, and when nearly driven to despair,--when his cause seemed
hopeless, and his enemies were rejoicing in their strength,--he
successively triumphed over the French, the Austrians, and the
Russians; the three most powerful nations on the continent of Europe.
And his moderation after victory was as marked as his self-reliance
after defeat. At this period, he stood out, to the wondering and
admiring eyes of the world, as the greatest hero and general of modern
times. But, after this, his career was more checkered, and he was
still in danger of being overwhelmed by his powerful enemies.

[Sidenote: Fall of Dresden.]

The remainder of the campaign of 1758 was spent in driving the
Austrians from Silesia, and in capturing Dresden. No capital in Europe
has suffered more in war than this elegant and polished city. It has
been often besieged and taken, but the victors have always spared its
famous picture gallery--the finest collection of the works of the old
masters, probably, in existence.

But Frederic was now assailed by a new enemy, Pope Benedict XIV. He
sent a consecrated sword, a hat of crimson velvet, and a dove of
pearls,--"the mystic symbol of the divine Comforter,"--to Marshal
Daun, the ablest of the Austrian generals, and the conqueror at Kolin
and Hochkirchen. It was the rarest of the papal gifts, and had been
only bestowed, in the course of six centuries, on Godfrey of Bouillon,
by Urban II., when he took Jerusalem; on Alva, after his massacres in
Holland; and on Sobieski, after his deliverance of Vienna, when
besieged by the Turks. It had never been conferred, except for the
defence of the "Holy Catholic Church." But this greatest of papal
gifts made no impression on the age which read Montesquieu and
Voltaire. A flood of satirical pamphlets inundated Christendom, and
the world laughed at the impotent weapons which had once been
thunderbolts in the hands of Hildebrand or Innocent III.

[Sidenote: Reverses of Frederic.]

The fourth year of the war proved disastrous to Frederic. He did not
lose military reputation, but h