Frederick the Great came to the Prussian throne in 1740. When he died in 1786, he had doubled the country's area and left it rich, powerful, and more humanely governed.
A place hunter once asked him for the grant of some rich Protestant bishopric. The king expressed his regret that it was already given away, but said that there was a Catholic abbacy at his disposal.
The applicant managed to be converted in a week, and to be received into the bosom of the Catholic Church. He then hastened to his friend, the king, and told him how his conscience had been enlightened.
"Ah!" exclaimed Frederick, "how terribly unfortunate! I have given away the abbacy. But the chief rabbi is just dead, and the synagogue is at my disposal. Suppose you were to turn Jew?"
腓特烈大帝一七四零年登上普魯士王位，到一七八六年去世，普魯士領土已擴展一倍，國家富強，政治也趨向開明。
有一次，一個干謁者向他求祿，盼獲委任為一富裕地區的基督徒主教。腓特烈說，有那樣一個職位，可惜已命人出任，不過，還有個天主教修道院院長職位未曾許人。
那干祿者一個星期之內，就改變信仰，皈依天主教。他馬上再去見他的朋友腓特烈，說自己已聞道覺迷。
腓特烈歎口氣說：「啊，真不巧，那修道院院長職位，我已經委與他人。不過，猶太教主教剛剛死了，猶太教堂這個空缺，還未許人。你變做猶太人，怎麼樣？」