cess Elizabeth of Brunswick-Bevern, he was, at the end of eighteen
months, released from confinement, and allowed to reside in the small
town of Rheinsberg, where he resumed his flute and his French poets,
to which the study of French philosophers and French translations from
the classics was added. It was during his stay at Rheinsberg that his
correspondence with foreign men of letters commenced; and it was here
also that, with a party of friends, he formed an order of chivalry
termed the "Order of Bayard," the motto of the knights being, "Without
fear, and without reproach." But these were vain attempts at
knighthood, for there was nothing chivalrous in the character of
Frederick.

Two short journeys performed with his father, and a visit to the army
which Prince Eugene commanded on the Rhine in 1734, formed the only
interruption to the tranquil and philosophical life of Rheinsberg.

The first appearance in the field of the army bequeathed by Frederick
William to his son, forms an era in modern history; for a belief in
its efficiency was the mainspring that urged on the young king to
attack the Austrians; and its excellence became the lever with which
he ultimately raised his poor and secondary kingdom to the rank of a
first-rate European power. The history of the rise and formation of
this army, though a very curious one, would necessarily exceed our
limits; but no one will be able to write the life of Frederick, and do
full justice to the subject, without giving the reader a proper idea
of the nature and origin of the engine which helped so mainly to
render him great and famous. He had, no doubt, other claims to
greatness besides those which his military actions conferred upon
him; but it was the splendor of these actions that brought his other
merits to light; and little enough would have been heard of the
"Philosopher of Sans-Souci," had not the victor of so many fields made
him known to the world.

Frederick, while crown-prince, had not shown any great predilection
for military affairs; he was rather pacifically disposed; was even a
little taken with the philosophy of Wolf; and greatly captivated by
French literature, and by French poetry in particular. It is probable,
therefore, that the high opinion generally entertained of the
newly-formed army, and the favorable opportunity that fortune offered
on his accession to the throne, were the spurs "that pricked him on"
to the field.

The Emperor Charles VI., th