England had no broader statesman than Walpole, no abler churchman than Warburton, no greater poet than Pope.  There was a general indifference to lofty speculation.  A materialistic philosophy was in fashion,—­not openly atheistic, but arrogant and pretentious, whose only power was in sarcasm and mockery, like the satires of Lucian, extinguishing faith, godless and yet boastful,—­an Epicureanism such as Socrates attacked and Paul rebuked.  It found its greatest exponent in Voltaire, the oracle and idol of intellectual Europe.  In short, it was an age when general cynicism and reckless abandonment to pleasure marked the upper-classes; an age which produced Chesterfield, as godless a man as Voltaire himself.

In this period of religious infidelity, moral torpor, fashionable mediocrity, unthinking pleasure-seeking, and royal orgies; when the people were spurned, insuited and burdened,—­Frederic ascends an absolute throne.  He is a young and fashionable philosopher.  He professes to believe in nothing that ages of inquiry and study are supposed to have settled; he even ridicules the religious principles of his father.  He ardently adopts everything which claims to be a novelty, but is not learned enough to know that what he supposes to be new has been exploded over and over again.  He is liberal and tolerant, but does not see the logical sequence of the very opinions he indorses.  He is also what is called an accomplished man, since he can play on an instrument, and amuse a dinner-party by jokes and stories.  He builds a magnificent theatre, and collects statues, pictures, snuff-boxes, and old china.  He welcomes to his court, not stern thinkers, but sneering and amusing philosophers.  He employs in his service both Catholics and Protestants alike, since he holds in contempt the religion of both.  He is free from animosities and friendships, and neither punishes those who are his enemies nor rewards those who are his friends.  He apes reform, but shackles the press; he appoints able men in his service, but only those who will be his unscrupulous tools.  He has a fine physique, and therefore is unceasingly active.  He flies from one part of his kingdom to another, not to examine morals or education or the state of the people, but to inspect fortresses and to collect camps.

To such a man the development of the resources of his kingdom, the reform of abuses, and educational projects are of secondary importance; he gives his primary attention to raising and equipping armies, having in view the extension of his kingdom by aggressive and unjustifiable wars.  He cares little for domestic joys or the society of women, and is incapable of sincere friendship.  He has no true admiration for intellectual excellence, although he patronizes literary lions.  He is incapable of any sacrifice except for his troops, who worship him, since their interests are identical with his own.  In the camp or in the field he spends his time, amusing himself occasionally with the society of philosophers as cynical as himself.  He has dreams and visions of military glory, which to him is the highest and greatest on this earth, Charles XII. being his model of a hero.