During the 17th and 18th centuries, rulers adopted key Enlightenment principles, such as religious tolerance, freedom of speech and of the press, and the right to hold and maintain private property. According to Kant, in his What is Enlightenment? of 1784, "A prince who... prescribes nothing to men in religious matters except to give them complete freedom by renouncing the haughty name of tolerance, is himself enlightened and deserves to be esteemed by the grateful world and by posterity." Many rulers accepted these new ideas; however, when it came to actually implementing them, rulers were often too afraid of losing power. This, in turn, led to the idea of ​​an "enlightened despot", who reflected the principles of the Enlightenment, but continued to exercise the core ideals of despotism. In the Political Testament of Frederick II of 1752, Frederick II recognizes and accepts the idea of ​​religious power. tolerance. He even goes so far as to say that: "If the sovereign... declares himself for one religion or another... the persecuted religion will leave the homeland, and millions of subjects will enrich our neighbors with their skill and industry." Basically, Frederick believes that religious intolerance only leaves the country disabled. In his work Essay on the Forms of Government, Frederick attacks the luxury, pomp and debauchery perpetrated by an inadequate sovereign. He also believes that a ruler should act in the name of common benefit. Finally, Frederick lists the supposedly indispensable characteristics of a dutiful ruler, which included: "...they must be active, industrious, honest and honest and concentrate all their strength in worthily filling their office..." Almost all ideas presents in these documents the root of the gre...... middle of paper ......g to the philosophy and efforts of great men; it is convincing evidence of the improvement of the human mind.” While this quote offers compelling evidence for revolutionary ideas, it also exposes Joseph's “enlightened” country as the result of a desire to follow other European countries in their enlightening transformation. Although it is often argued that rulers such as Joseph II, Catherine II and Frederick II were motivated to establish enlightened princes; often these rulers were slaves to the ideals of despotism, where the overriding goal was to gain more power. In fact, it can be legitimate to say that these rulers realized the greatness of the Enlightenment ideas; however, since most of their reigns were spent preserving rule over their people, it is safe to say that these individuals may have been more dedicated to serving their own personal interests..