the outlines; and that, on this account, he is determined to record what he knew. He has chofen the calm dignity of Cæfar as his model; but it is Cæfar in an undrefs. The language is. free, eafy, and often familiar, yet the king feldom fteps lower than he ought. The work is not to be tried by the historical cole, for it approaches more nearly to what our neighbours call memoirs, or at least memoires pour fervir a l'hiftoire; and, in this view it is excellent, for it is the work of a man who poffeffed the fullest information of a philofopher, capable of tracing facts to their fource; of a general, from whom the plans originated, and to whom the moft exact details were neceffarily returned, fince it was not very easy to deceive him: it may ftand without disadvantage by the fide of Cæfar, Polybius, and Xenophon.

The first chapter contains an account of the state of Pruffia on the death of Frederick William; the character of the princes of Europe, of their minifters and generals; an abstract of their forces, their refources, and of their influence on the politics of Europe; the state of the sciences and the fine arts; the caufes of the war carried on against the house of Auftria. Thefe details are short and comprehenfive, interefting and entertaining. The king feizes thofe familiar circumftances which place the whole before our eyes, and inftruct more than volumes of laboured details. We fhall extract a few circumstances relating to the ftate of England at this period, about the year 1740.

Of all the nations of Europe, England was the most opulent : its commerce comprehended the whole world: its riches were immenfe; its resources almost inexhaustible; and with all these advantages, it did not obtain the rank among the European powers which feemed adapted to it.

George II. elector of Hanover, at that time governed England: he had fome virtues, fome genius, with paffions extremely warm firm in his refolutions; rather covetous than œconomical; capable of labour; impatient; violent, and brave; but governing England by the interefts of his electorate, and too little master of himself to conduct a nation whofe idol is its liberty.

This prince had fir Robert Walpole for his minifter. He gained the king's heart, by making retrenchments in the civil lift, with which George added to his Hanoverian riches. Walpole managed the national fpirit, by places and penfions, which he distributed properly, fo as to gain majorities in parliament. His genius did not extend beyond England; and for the general affairs of Europe, he trusted to the wifdom of his brother. Horace. One day, when fome ladies preffed him to make a party at cards, he anfwered, "I give up play and Europe to

my brother." He knew nothing of politics, which gave room for his enemies to accufe him of having been bribed.

Notwithstanding all the knowledge which Walpole had of the internal management of the kingdom, he undertook an important defign, in which he failed: he wished to introduce a general excife. If this attempt had fucceeded, the revenues which it would have produced, were fufficient to have rendered the king a defpotic monarch. The nation felt it, and oppofed it with violence. The members of parliament told the minifter, that he payed the current price for ordinary follies, but that this was above all bribery. At the breaking up of parliament, Walpole was attacked; the mob feized his cloak, which he left feafonably, and was preferved by a captain of the guards, who, luckily for him, was in the tumult. The king was taught by this experiment to respect the liberty of England; the fcheme was dropt, and his prudence re-established his dominion. Thefe inteftine difturbances hindered England from taking any fhare in the war of 1733; but foon afterwards the war with Spain broke out againft the wishes of the court. The city merchants produced the cars of the English smugglers, which the Spaniards had cut off, to the houfe of commons. The bloody robe of Cæfar, which Anthony fpread before the Roman people, did not caufe a greater alarm at Rome than this fight produced in London. The paffions were excited; war was tumultuously voted, and the minifter was obliged to confent. The court gained by this war, only the removal of admiral Hadock, whofe eloquence was more powerful in the houfe of commons than the bribes of Walpole; and the minifter, who declared, that he knew the price of every Englishman, because there were not any whom he had not bargained for, or corrupted, faw that his guineas were not always prevalent against the force and evidence of reason.'

We have tranflated this paffage in the negligent forcible ftyle of the king; we shall add the remainder of the picture in the words of Mr. Holcroft, as a fpecimen of his manner, and because the translation is in this part particularly correct.

• England at that time had eighty fhips of the four first rates, and fifty inferior veffels, with about thirty thousand land forces: her revenues in time of peace amounted to twenty-four millions of crowns, befide which the had immenfe refources in the purfes of individuals, and the eafe with which taxes might be levied on her opulent fubjects. She granted fubfidies to Denmark for the maintenance of fix thousand men, and to Heffe for the like number, which, added to twenty-two thoufand Hanoverians, furnished her with a body of thirty-four thousand men, at her difpofal, in Germany. Wager and Ogle enjoyed the reputa

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tion of being her beft admirals: the duke of Argyle and the earl Stair were the only perfons who had any well-founded pretenfions to head the military, though neither of them had ever commanded armies.

Littleton was faid to be the most vehement orator, lord Hardwick the best informed man, lord Chesterfield the most witty, and lord Carteret the mott violent politician.

Though the arts and fciences had taken root in the kingdom, their native mildnefs had not foltened the ferocity of the national manners. The unfeeling character of the English required tragedies of blood: they perpetuated thofe combats of gladiators which are the difgrace of humanity. They produced the great Newton, but no painter, no fculptor, no good mufi cian. Pope ftill flourished, and adorned poetry with those bold opinions with which he was fupplied by Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke. Swift, whofe parallel is no where to be found, was fuperior to his countrymen in tafle, and fignalized himself by refined criticisms on manners and customs. The city of London exceeded that of Paris in pop dation by two hundred thousand fouls. The inhabitants of the three kingdoms amounted to nearly eight millions. Scotland, then full of Jacobites, groaned under the English yoke; and the catholics of Ireland complained of the oppreffion in which they were held by the high church.'

The king's reflections, on the state of the fciences and fine arts, we could have wished to have transcribed; but they would, lead us too far, and are not perhaps at this moment particularly interefting.

The fecond chapter is introduced by the reafons for going to war with the queen of Hungary, after the death of Charles VI. and contains a description of the winter-campaign in Silefia. These reasons are curious. The great elector had lately erected the marquifate of Brandenburgh into a kingdom; but the mild cautious conduct of Frederick-William was calculated to lay the foundation of an empire rather than to risk prematurely what had been acquired. He prepared for war; but his caution in his later years was fo confpicuous, and fo pointed, that his apparent ftrength was confidered only as a brilliant weaknefs; he was neglected, defpifed, and infulted. The king had the national character to fupport; his own mind wanted a larger fcope for the exertion of his various talents. His army was ready to act, his exchequer full; and perhaps his ambition of raising his own credit determined him at laft to declare war against Maria-Theresa. It is remarkable that the juftification of this meafure, which we mentioned in our account of the Abbe Denina's Life of the King, occurs in thefe memoirs only in a letter from cardinal Fleury, as applied to the conduct of France;

and

and the vivacity of his character, which the biographer mentions as a cause of the war, feemingly from thefe Memoirs, evaporates in the work before us into perhaps a wish of raising his own credit. Let us tranfcribe the little converfations with the marquis de Botta, the imperial ambaffador, fent oftenfibly to congratulate the king on his acceffion, but really to difcover the caufe of his warlike preparations. Thefe ftrokes of fineffe are to be had only from the real authors.

The marquis, acute and penetrating, perceived at once the object in view; and, after having made, on the day of his audience, the ufual compliments, he expatiated on the inconvenience of the journey which he had taken, and dwelt a little on the bad roads in Silefia, which the inundation had broken fo much, that they were nearly impaffable. The king feemed not to comprehend his defign, but anfwered, the worst that could happen then to those who came that way was, that they would be dirty travellers.

Before the king went to join the army, he gave audience again to the marquis, to whom he faid what the count de Gotter was directed to declare at Vienna. Botta exclaimed, you are going, fire, to ruin the houfe of Auftria, and to destroy yourself at the fame time. It depends only on the emprefsqueen, replied Frederick, to accept of my offers. This made the marquis reflect a little; but he foon recollected himself, and replying with an ironical air and tone, faid, fir, your troops are fine, I allow ours have not the fame appearance; but they have feen fervice: I beseech you to reflect on what you are going to undertake. The king was impatient, and replied with fpirit, You find my troops fine in their appearance, I fhall make you confefs that they are good.'

The third chapter (we are forry that we must pass on fo rapidly) contains the campaign of 1741, negociations for peace, the fubmiffion of Breflaw, and the king's return to Berlin. The campaign was a fingular one: the battle of Molwitz was the fchool of the Pruffian army, for the king obferves, that marshal Schwerin was the only officer of knowledge and experience in the field on that day. He gives a full account of the faults of his antagonist marthal Neuperg, as well as his own; but he conceals what his biographer Denina has allowed, that he ran away, and waited the event at a diftance. The only passage, that comes near to the event which the Abbe records, is the following: The king, who thought he could rally the cavalry

We have been informed that the vivacity of his character' was expunged by Voltaire, to whose correction the MS. was submitted.

as eafily as he could check a pack of hounds, was hurried away in their confufed retreat to the centre of the army, where he found means of rallying a few squadrons, which he led to the right.'

At this time, the diftrefs of the emprefs-queen, from the other political events of the year, and the victories of the king, was very great. France and Bavaria were arming against her; Silefia was loft; and the impending calamities were worse than the real ones. The emprefs-dowager wrote to folicit the friendfhip of prince Ferdinand; the offered all that the king, afked; and even called her enemies perfidious, and unbelievers in God: fuch was the fyflem then at Vienna.

The fourth chapter contains political reafons for the truce; the war of the French and Bavarians in Bohemia; an account of the declaration of Spain against Auftria; the diet of the empire; revolution in Ruffia, and various negociations.' The information contained in the first part of this chapter is new and curious. Politicians have always been furprised at the truce which the king concluded in the full career of victory; but he tells us himself the reafons. His object was to gain Silefia: the French looked farther, and thought of dividing the dominions of the emprefs into four feparate kingdoms fo equal as to balance each other, and each fo weak, that he could be at all times the umpire between them. The king would therefore be furrounded with rivals, add little to his own kingdom, and be fubjected to France. The truce he could obferve or break at pleasure, fince its continuance was to depend on the court of Vienna keeping the fecret, which at that time he knew was very unlikely; and, in this interval, the empress could with more effect oppofe France. The fcheme was deep, well laid, and completely fuccefsful. The conduct of the diet, and the fecret fprings which actuated Fleury in figning the treaty of neutrality with England, are extremely curious; but we cannot enlarge on every fubje&t.

The fifth chapter contains various military details, in Bohemia and Moravia, with negociations which rendered a battle neceffary to bring the Auftrians to fome determination. All these events fhow the ability and the addrefs of the king; the battle which followed difplayed his military improvements. Yet there were faults difcovered; and the king looks back, with great coolness and impartiality to examine and point out defects on either fide. It terminated, however, in the peace of Breslaw, and in the king's obtaining undifputed poffeffion of Upper and Lower Silefia.

The last chapter of the first volume in the Berlin edition, is employed in detailing the confequences of the peace to the

Pruffians,