Alpha Book

He set about laboriously to make Prussia the best and most governed
state in Europe. He carefully watched the judges to see that they did
not render wrongful decisions or take bribes. He commissioned jurists
to compile the laws and to make them so simple and clear that no one
would violate them through ignorance. He abolished the old practice of
torturing suspected criminals to make them confess their guilt.
Education, as well as justice, claimed his attention; he founded
elementary schools, so that as many as possible of his subjects could
learn at least to read and write. In religious affairs, Frederick
allowed great individual liberty; for he was a deist, and, like other
deists of the time, believed in religious toleration.
More important even than justice, education, and toleration, he
considered the promotion of material prosperity among his people. He
would have considered himself a failure, had his reign not meant "good
times" for farmers and merchants. He encouraged industry. He fostered
the manufacture of silk.


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