s who deserved or obtained so large a share of his esteem. They
were not only accomplished men, but nobles and warriors, capable of
serving him in war and diplomacy, as well as of amusing him at supper.
Alone of all his companions they appear never to have had reason to
complain of his demeanor towards them. Some of those who knew the palace
best pronounced that Lord Marischal was the only human being whom
Frederic ever really loved.

Italy sent to the parties at Potsdam the ingenious and amiable
Algarotti, and Bastiani, the most crafty, cautious, and servile of
Abbes. But the greater part of the society which Frederic had assembled
round him was drawn from France. Maupertuis had acquired some celebrity
by the journey which he had made to Lapland, for the purpose of
ascertaining, by actual measurement, the shape of our planet. He was
placed in the Chair of the Academy of Berlin, a humble imitation of the
renowned Academy of Paris. Baculard d'Arnaud, a young poet who was
thought to have given promise of great things, had been induced to quit
his country, and to reside at the Prussian Court. The Marquess D'Argens
was among the King's favorite companions, on account, as it should seem,
of the strong opposition between their characters. The parts of D'Argens
were good, and his manners those of a finished French gentleman; but his
whole soul was dissolved in sloth, timidity, and self-indulgence. His
was one of that abject class of minds which are superstitious without
being religious. Hating Christianity with a rancor which made him
incapable of rational inquiry, unable to see in the harmony and beauty
of the universe the traces of divine power and wisdom, he was the slave
of dreams and omens, would not sit down to table with thirteen in
company, turned pale if the salt fell towards him, begged his guests not
to cross their knives and forks on their plates, and would not for the
world commence a journey on Friday. His health was a subject of constant
anxiety to him. Whenever his head ached, or his pulse beat quick, his
dastardly fears and effeminate precautions were the jest of all Berlin.
All this suited the King's purpose admirably. He wanted somebody by whom
he might be amused, and whom he might despise. When he wished to pass
half an hour in easy polished conversation, D'Argens was an excellent
companion; when he wanted to vent his spleen and contempt, D'Argens was
an excellent butt.

With these associates, and others o