"
This Frederick was a singular character. He had the longest
reign--fifty-three years--of all the German Emperors, and it may be said
that he founded the house of Hapsburg, considering it as an imperial
line. Yet he is almost invariably spoken of contemptuously. Menzel says
that no Emperor had reigned so long and done so little. Mr. Bryce
declares that under him the Empire sank to its lowest point. Even
Archdeacon Coxe, who held his memory in respect, and did his best to
make out a good character for him, has to admit "that he was a prince of
a languid and inactive character," and to make other damaging admissions
that detract from the excellence of the elaborate portrait he has drawn
of him. There was something fantastical in his favorite
pursuits,--astrology, alchemy, antiquities, alphabet-making, and the
like,--which the men of an iron age viewed with a contempt that probably
had much to do with giving him that character which he has in history,
contemporary opinion of a ruler generally being accepted, and enduring.
"A species of anagram," says the English historian of his family,
"consisting of the five vowels, he adopted as indicative of the future
greatness of the house of Austria, imprinted it on all his books, carved
it on all his buildings, and engraved it on all his plate.
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