FREDERICK WILLIAM, Elector of Brandenburg, surnamed the Great Elector, was the eon of the Elector George William. In the distracted state of Germany during the Thirty Years' War, and the necessary absence of his father with the army, the young prince saw but little of the splendour and indulgences of a court, and passed tho first years of his life in retirement with his tutors, who were men of learning and experience, and with his mother, first at the castle of Litzlingen, in the forests of the Altmark, and afterwards at Custrin. The adventures and the singular fortunes of the family of his mother (who was sister of Frederick, King of Bohemia, husband of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England), the cruel and barbarous manner in which the war was carried on, and the dangers to which he and his family were exposed, necessarily made a deep impression on his mind. At the age of fifteen he was sent to the University of Leyden, where ho especially devoted himself to the classics and to history. Of modern languages he was a proficient in the French, Dutch, and Polish. He was afterwards iu the camp of Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, during the siege of Breda, and was much noticed by the prince for his amiable manners and exemplary conduct, as well as•for his sound understanding. About this time a society of young persons of both sexes (called Media Nocte) endeavoured to draw the prince into its circle; but his friend and tutor, the Baron Sehulenberg, making him aware of the immoral nature of the society, the prince resolved immediately to quit the Hague. The Prince of qi Orange was much surprised at this self-command, and when the prince arrived in the camp before Breda, said to him, " Cousin, your flight la a greater proof of heroism than if I took Breda • he who so early knows how to command himself will always in great deeds.'' These words, as ho himself owned, made a deep impression on him.
His father dying in 1640, the young prince found his dominions reduced to a most deplorable condition by war and bad government.
The exactions of Wallenstoln In the Mark alone were estimated at twenty millions of gold florins : and in a memorial of the magistrate of Prenzlau, it is stated that the Inhabitants are reduced to such dreadful extremities that they not only eat dogs, cats, and even carrion, but that both in the town and country they attack and kill each other for food. Ile commenced his governmentwith a degree of
prudence and wisdom rarely found in so young a sovereign. His first care was to correct many crying abuses, and to restore order in the finances. His attention was then directed to foreign affairs. In 1642 he received the investiture of Prussia from the King of Poland; in 1643 he concluded a peace with the Swedes on condition of their evacuating the greater part of his dominions. At the peace of Munster be was not able to enforce his claims to Pomerania and Silesia, but obtained Magdeburg, Wallenstadt, Minden, and part of Pomerania. It is highly to his credit that it was chiefly owing to him that the prin ciple of equal rights and privileges for the two great divisions of the Protestant church was admitted lu that famous treaty. Charles ()natives, king of Sweden, appearing emulous of rivalling Gustavus Adolphna, the elector concluded an alliance with Holland, and sought the friendship of Cromwell and Louis XIV. He was however obliged to make in 1655a treaty with the Swedes, in consequence of which he joined in the invasion of Poland, and greatly .contributed to the victory at Warsaw. Austria, Holland, and Poland vehemently pro tested against this alliance with Sweden. Cromwell however, who believed the Protestant cause to be in danger from the King of Poland, sent William Jepson as his ambassador to the elector, whom in letters ha compliments in the highest terms for his service to the Protestant religion. But Russia and Austria declaring in favour of Poland, he, Ly the mediation of Austria, concluded a convention with Poland at Wehlau, by one of the stipulations of which ha obtained the entire sovereignty of Prussia ; and in 1678 completed the conquest of all Pomerania by the taking of Greifswald and Stralsund. The death of Charles Gustavus freed him from an adversary who would probably have endeavoured to prevent the execution of this treaty, which was confirmed by the treaty of Oliva. Frederick, now at peace with his neighbours, directed all his attention to promote the welfare of his subjects by favouring all internal improvements; the ruined towns and villages were rebuilt, new roads made. waste lands cultivated, com merce encouraged, and many useful establishments founded.