intercede for them; but let them once attempt to play the role of small popes, and to exalt themselves as the only possessors of the key to heaven, then they shall find in me an adversary who will prove to them that the key is false with which they shut up the Holiest of Holies, and is but used by them as a means to rob the people of their worldly goods.  Light and truth shall be the device of my whole land.  This will I seek after, and by this will I govern Prussia.  I will have no blinded subjects, no superstitious, conscience-stricken, trembling, priest-ridden slaves.  My people shall learn to think; thought shall be free as the wanton air in Prussia; no censor or police shall limit her boundary.  The thoughts of men should be like the life-giving and beautifying sun, all-nourishing and all-enlightening; calling into existence and fructifying, not only the rich, and rare, and lovely, but also the noxious and poisonous plant and the creeping worm.  These have also the right of life:  if left to themselves, they soon die of their own insignificance or nothingness—­die under the contempt of all the good and great.”

“I fear,” said Jordan, “that Frederick the Great is the only man whose mind is so liberal and so unprejudiced.  Believe me, my king, there is no living sovereign in Europe who dares guarantee to his subjects free thought and free speech.”

“I will try so to act as to leave nothing to fear from the largest liberty of thought or speech,” said the king, quietly.  “Men may think and say of me what they will—­that troubles me not; I will amuse myself with their slanders and accusations of heresy; as for their applause—­well, that is a cheap merchandise, which I must share with every expert magician and every popular comedian.  The applause of my own conscience, and of my friends—­thy applause, my Jordan—­is alone of value for me.  Then,” said he, earnestly, almost solemnly, “above all things, I covet fame.  My name shall not pass away like a soft tone or a sweet melody.  I will write it in golden letters on the tablet of history; it shall glitter like a star in the firmament; when centuries have passed away, my people shall remember me, and shall say, ’Frederick the Second made Prussia great, and enlarged her borders; he was a father who loved his people more than he did himself, and cheerfully sacrificed his own rest and comfort in their service, he was a teacher who spoke to them by word of mouth, and gave liberty to their souls.’  Oh, Jordan, you must stand by me and help me to reach this great goal for which I thirst.  Remain with me, dear friend, remain ever by my side, and with thy love, thy constancy, thy truth, and thy sincerity, help me to establish what is good, and to punish the evil; to acknowledge and promote what is noble and expose the unworthy to shame and confusion.  Oh, Jordan!  God has perhaps called me to be a great king; remain by me, and help me to be a good and simple-minded man.”