George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10

The promptness with which Frederic interposed for the rescue of Bavaria, his disinterestedness, the fact that he had justice as well as the laws of the empire on his side, and his right by treaty to call upon his ally, Russia, for aid, enabled him under the mediation of France and Russia to bring his war with Austria to an end, almost before France and Spain had come to an understanding.

Joseph of Austria, like Frederic, had liberal aspirations, but with unequal results. The one was sovereign over men substantially of one nationality. The other was a monarch not only over Germans, but over men of many languages and races. Frederic acted for and with his people; and what he accomplished was sure to live, for it had its root in them. The reforms of Joseph were acts of power which had their root only in his own mind, were never identified with his subject nations, and therefore, for the most part, had not a life even as long as his own. Frederic bounded his efforts by his means; Joseph, by his desires. Frederic attempted but one thing at once, and for that awaited the favoring moment: the unrest of Joseph stirred up every power to ill wishes by seeking to acquire territory alike from German princes, in Italy, on the coast of the Adriatic, and on the Danube; and he never could abide his opportunity, and never confine himself to one enterprise long enough for success. He kept up, at least in name, his alliance with France; while he inclined to the ancient connection of the Hapsburgs with England, and was pleased at the insignificance