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HISTORY
OF THE
GERMAN PEOPLE
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
. TO THE ACCESSION OF .
EMPEROR WILLIAM II.
INCLUDING A FULL AND COMPLETE LIFE OF EMPEROR
WILLIAM I, FOUNDER OF THE NEW
GERMAN EMPIRE.
BY
HERMANN ^lEB.
Author of ** The Protbctivb Tariff," Etc.
WITH 0¥ER 60 FULL-PAGi /LLUSTRAT/OHS.
CHJCAQO, KEW YORK, SAN FRANCI8CO.
BE^FORD, CLARKE & CO.
1889.
GOFTBIGHT,
BELFORD, GLABEE A CXX
188a
TABLE OF OOI^rTENTS.
^9
t
PAGE^
Introduction, ... . . . • » 17
CHAPTER I.
The Ancient Gebmans, ..... 81
CHAPTER II.
Conflict op tke Romans and Teutons, ... 47
CHAPTER III.
From Fall of Western Roman EifPiRS to End of the
HOHBNSTAUFENS, ...... 81
CHAPTER IV.
From the Hohenstaufen to the Hohenzollbrn, . . 186
CHAPTER V.
Thb Hohenzollern Dynasty, 187
CHAPTER VI.
Prince William — His Biuto and Youth, .... 219
CHAPTER VII.
As Crown Prince of Prussia, ..... 274
CHAPTER VHL
The Rbyolution in Baden, 889
CHAPTER IX.
pRiNCB William as King William I. of Prussia, . . 849
CHAPTER X.
ThbAustro-Prubsian War, ..... 878
CHAPTER XI.
The Franco-Prussian War, ..... 406
CHAPTER XII.
Emperor William's Ecclesiastical War, . . . 447
CHAPTER Xni.
Emperor William I. as a Man, .... 462
CHAPTER XIV.
Death and Burial of Emperor William I., . . . 474
CHAPTER XV.
Unser Fritz, ..... 488
CHAPTER XVI.
Emperor William II., . . , , , . 012
O
78305
LIST OF ILLUS IDEATIONS.
Empsbob William I.,
Frontispiece.
PAGE.
a hohbnzollbrn family in 1200, .... 83
At Ybbsaillbs on the 18th of January, 1871, . * 368
Battle near Doffikgbn, ..... 90
Bismarck Escorts Napoleon III. to Belleyub Castle, 348
Bbinoing Offerings for the War of Independence, 275
Charlemagne Inflicting Baptism i pon the Saxons, . 40
Conferring Knighthood, . . .53
Council of War in Novbmber, 1870, ... 357
Crown Prince William (now Emperor William II.) and
W^iFB, ....... 863
Cbown Pbincb Frederick William and Wife (late Em-
PEBOR Frederick III. and the Empress Victoria,) 482
Decoration of Fredebick III. with the Order '• Pour le
Mebitb" upon the Battle-field op Eoniggratz, 335
Elizabeth Christine, Wife of Frederick the Great, 140
Emperor William I., . . . 304
Emperor William I., . . . . . . 386
Empress Augusta, . . . . . . 313
Four Generations — Emperor William I., Son, Grandson
AND Great-Grandson, ..... 370
Frederick William, the Great Elector, . . . 9G
Fredbbick the Great in His Library, . • .211
9
10
iJST OF ILLUSTKATIONS.
PAGE.
Fredeuick the Great after the Battle of Torgam, . 162
Frederick the Great Entering Potsdam in 1779, . 171
Frederick the Great after the Battle of Koltn, . 156
Frederick the Great Playing the Flute, . . 203
FiiSDERicK William I. Inspecting His Grenadiers, . 127
Frederick the Great and Voltaire, . . . 178
Frederick William IV. in His Study, . , . 297
FuEDEiucK III., Late Emperor op Germany^ . . 495
Frederick III. in His Study, ..... 507
Funeral Procession of Emperor William I., . 412
General Field-Marshal Count Hslmuth von Molxke . 326
King Frederick William I., . . . . 105
King Frederick I., . . . . . .118
King Frederick II. (The Great), ... V6i
King Frederick William III., .... 218
King Frederick William IV., .... 291
King William at the Tomb of His Parents on July 19, 1870,
Previous to His Departure to the Army, . . 342
Marshal Blucher, ...... 258
Mounted Goth, ...... 21
Peter the Hermit, . . . . . .61
Prince Oito von Bismarck, Chancellor of ihe Realm, 320
Queen Sophia Charlotte. Wife of Frederick I., . . Ill
Queen Louise with Her Two Sons in 1797, . . 242
Queen Louise, ....... 235
Queen Louisa, ...... 251
Reconciliation of Frederick the Great and His Father, 149
LIST < F ILLUSTRATIONS. 11
PAas.
Social GATHBRiNe at Saks-Souci, .... 195
The Execution of the Wife of the Traitor Goth, . 27
The Goths in Rome, . . . . . ' 87
The Four Leaders of the First Crusade, . . .67
The Huns in Germany, ..... 43
Teuton Women Defending the Cars Against MARnm, . 15
The Sick Emperor William I. and Bismarck, . • 392
The Mourning German Family, . . . ' . 407
The Dead Emperor William I., . . . 401
The Dowager Empress Victoria, .... 499
Transferring the Emperor's Remains to Charlottenbbrg, 421
The Old HoHSNzoLiiERN Castle, . . . .74
The Berlin Congress, ..... 879
The Late Emperor William I. at the Age of Nine, . 282
William II., Emperor of Gerbiant, ... 510
In oomlderatloii of the rast numben of our Ctennaa
fellow-citijBeiu who are most coDversant with the German
language, and who desire to have the romantic story of the
Qerman Fatherland in their native mother-tongue, the
publishers have also issued this work in the Qerman lan-
guage.
IS
TKtrTOM WOMEN DBFEKDIItd THE CARS AOAIS9T llAKIUB.
rNTEODUOTIOF.
History records the fact that, for the last fifteen hun-
dred years, Germany's limited territory has been the
great battlefield upon which the periodical struggles be-
tween determined peoples for the possession of territory,
the supremacy of moral ideas, and the unyielding wars
between dynasties, have taken place.
As a consequence, the inhabitants of her most flour-
ishing districts and cities were the endless victims of fire
and sword. Almost before a city had been rebuilt, or a
stubborn farmer changed his devastated acres into ripen-
ing fields of grain, another army, with burning torch and
tramping legions, knocked at its gate, marched into its
fields, sacked its cities and destroyed its people. To real-
ize this state of insecurity it is but necessary to remind
the reader of the invasion of the Huns under Attila, the
" Mass Conversions " of the Saxons by Charlemagne, the
interminable struggles for the possession of the Imperial
crown of Germany, for the extension and accessions of
territory by contesting rulers, the religious and political
commotions of the great Eeformation, the Thirty Years'
War, which came very near depopulating Germany, the
overrunning of the Palatinate — the Bhinish provinces —
by the soldiers of Louis XIV., under command of the no-
torious Melac, the Seven Tears* War of Frederick the
Great against all the powers of Europe, and last, but not
least, the devastating wars of Napoleon I. against Prussia
and Bussia.
In view of this never-ending strife, consider for a
moment of what stuff these people were made to with-
^ - 17
18 INTRODUCTION.
stand the constantly recurring destruction of their homes,
their cities and accumulations, and still are to be found to-
day in the front ranks of art, science, literature^in fine, in
every walk that denotes the highest state of modern
civilization !
The immediate cause, however, which gave the first
impulse to German emigration across the Atlantic was
the inhumanities practiced by French General Melac to-
wards the Protestant inhabitants of the Ehinish provinces.
Scarcely had the two destructive armies of the Thirty
Years' War turned their backs upon the starving inhabit-
ants of the farms and villages of Southern Germany ere
the French army of Melac was turned loose upon the
Northern portion, transforming one of the most fertile re-
giohTinto a barren desert!^
The terrible winter of 1708 and 1709 seems to have
filled their cup of misery to overflowing.
In their famishing straits, applying in vain to the au-
thorities for assistanoe, their sorrowful eyes were at last
turned towards the New World.
Through the exertions of a Protestant clergyman,
Joshua von Hochertal, of the city of Landau, his cojigre-
gation succeeded in securing transportation to London,
from whence, through the mediation of Queen Anne, they
were sent upon English ships to the colonies in the year
1709.
The speculative Englishman, who had long before
seized upon the best lands of " this goodly country," soon
discovering the stern qualities of the new-comers, under-
stood their adaptability to agricultural pursuits and trade,
and soon induced the well-satisfied immigrants to write
back to friends and relatives at home ^^ to come over."
INTBODUOTION. 19
So eflectoal were these cheering missives that in June
of the following year 14,000 Rhinish and Swabian Ger-
mans were waiting in London for passage to the land of
golden opportunities.
Reaching the colonies in safety, they were invited by
the Quakers of Philadelphia to come into Pennsylvania,
which invitation was accepted, and there was laid the
foundation of a highly-appreciated class of American
husbandmen and artisans, miscalled the Pennsylvania
Dutch.
In the trail of this industrious class, which, during the
first quarter of the last century flocked to the New World,
there came a class of very undesirable emigrants, a mul-
titude of dangerous and worthless characters, who^ in the
wake of now disbanded armies, had plundered the defense-
less inhabitants, and robbed the dead and wounded upon
the many battlefields — in short, the outcasts created by
long and destructive wars in Germany. Under various
subterfuges they had secured transportation and were now
congregated in the few cities of the coast, refusing to
work and preying upon their more prosperous country-
men.
In consequence of this disturbing element, the security
of property was threatened and discredit was cast upon
all emigrants from Germany.
Accordingly, the colonial authorities of Pennsylvania
in 1727 believed themselves called upon to pass restrictive
regulations against emigrants from Germany in general,
which, as wiU be seen, were extremely severe and humili-
ating to that nationality.
The act provided the payment of a tax of forty shillings
per head be demanded of every German landing upon its
22 IKTRODtJCnoK.
shores — the same tax that was required for the landing of
an imported negro slave, while only half that sum, twenty
shillings, was demanded of an Irishman — an obnoxious
discrimination, which time seems not to have obliterated.
As in the case of all unjust laws, the doors of outrageous
abuses were opened.
The honest but destitute emigrant, who had secured
his passage under the promise of refunding the money
upon securing employment, unable to pay this tax, was
sold the same as a slave to the highest bidder, by which
outrage the members of families were often ruthlessly
separated.
It was but natural that emigrants arriving under such
circumstances should have engendered in the minds of
the native colonists feelings of commiseration mingled
with contempt.
However, these hardships were of but temporary dura-
tion. Diligently and faithfully performing every duty»
bearing their humiliation with meekness, they gradually
succeeded in emancipating themselves from this state of
servitude
Thousands of valuable estates in Pennsylvania, still in
possession of the descendants of these emigrants, attest
to the truth of the golden opinions finally won by them,
and after recorded in the historical annals of the Key-
stone State.
But the prejudice and disdain which these early Ger-
mans had unmeritedly received from the English had
hardly disappeared when a laofe serious cause for bring-
ing the Germans into disrepute was found.
In the eariy stages of the War for Independence, when
the colonists had taxed th^nselves to the utmost limit in
/
fiin gotlit((l[er Seller.
iNTRODUCrriON, 23
blood and treasure, it was discovered that thousands ol
Oermans had been hired by the English government to
assist in subduing them.
This fact was sufficient to re-awaken the old prejudice,
and to create a sentiment of antipathy toward any person
coming from Germany or bearing a German name — which
in this instance, without a knowledge of the real condition
of things, was quite excusable.
They could not know, and if they had known they
would not have believed it possible, that sovereigns would
liave bartered whole ship-loads of their subjects as cattle
and horses are bought and sold.
The principal actors in this monstrous traffic were
the Ministers of England on the one side and the Prince
of the Electorate of Hesse and the Margrave of Ansba^h.
According to the historian Schlosser, not less tlian
20,000 of these so-called " Hessian hirelinp^s " were added to
the English army in their warfare against the American
colonies.
It is a well authenticated fact that but few of these men
enrolled voluntarily, and those who did were deceived as
to the real point of destination. Most of them were
pressed into the service.
Kegular rnzzids were organized in Southern Germany.
Young men were seized by recruiting emissaries,
dragged to the nearest garrison, from whence they were
transported in gangs, under strong military escort, to
England.
The German poet, Seume, who afterward became a
noted writer, was one of these victims, and the details of
his experience, which is that of thousands of others, are
as follows :
24 iNTRODttCTTOlt.
Returning home on a vacation from the University of
Leipsic, he was seized by Hessian recruiting agents and
thrown into the Fortress of Ziegenheim. He says in his
biography : " Upon learning the object of our imprison-
ment, a number of us resolved to revolt, but the plot was
revealed to the officers of the garrison. We were ordered
into line in front of the Arsenal, covered by a regiment of
infantry and several pieces of artillery. The leaders were
called to the front, two of them sentenced to be hung and
others ordered to run the gauntlet."
"It would not do," says Seume, " to hang too many of
us, because we were expensive articles of merchandise,
and England pays nothing for dead soldiers. After our
arrival in Long Island, we again attempted to rebel
against our captors, as we preferred to fight on the side
of the Americans; but the preliminaries for peace between
the United States and England had begun before our
plan could be executed."
This short and truthful story of the experiences of a
" Hessian hireling" was that of thousands of others, and
is a dreadful exposition of the infamous trade in human
flesh carried on by philanthropic England and the dissi-
pated and heartless Drincelings of two small German
states.
The writings, in prose and verse, of the most noted and
popular poets and historians of Germany, the great
Frederick Schiller among them, who at the time denounced
the infamous traffic, only reflected the prevailing sentiment
of the people at large.
In this connection it is pleasant to remember that
Frederick the Great, the first great king of the Hohen-
zoUem family, made public his sentiments in the matter
iNTEODUCriON. 27
by ref asing passage through the Prussian territory of these
troops. Said he to the Hessian ambassador : " Tell your
master if I allow these Hessians passage through my
lands, I will lay a cattle-tax upon them, as they are to be
sold to England like cattle."
That this was the feeling aiso of the German settlers
m the colonies is supported by the fact that, in spite of
the allurements and liberal inducements offered by Eng-
land, they remained loyal to the cause of Independence,
and joined the colonial ranks in large numbers under the
command of Mcolaus and Hengist Herkeimer and Jacob
Klock.
It is a somewhat significant fact, tnat no historian
writing in the English language has mentioned this cir-
cumstance. This duty of making known to the reading
Germans the part their countrymen took in the colonial
rebellion has been faithfully performed by Frederick
Kapp who, in his "History of the Germans of New
York," says : " The German farmers were not, as has been
stated by Burnet, in favor of England, but against her.
They constituted, as it were, the strong wall which
resisted the enemy's incursions and baiBed all their
attempts to separate the Eastern and Northern colonies
from the Southern. "While with the rest they participated
in the common struggle, shedding their blood for the cause
of Independence, they are entitled to a share of the glory
of the great achievement. But for the pflBciency and
stubbornness of the German troops from the Mohawk and
Schoharie it is questionable whether the cause of the colo-
nists, which has resulted in so great a blessing to mankind,
would have eventually triumphed. And what was the con-
duct of the German-Americans toward the country of their
28
INTKODrCTION.
adoption at the outbreak and during the late civil war I
Is it not a fact that, without a single exception, they ex-
pressed themselves most loyal to the cause of the Union,
demonstrating their professions by joining the first armed
levies en masse t Of the first 75,000 men called out
by President Lincoln, it is safe to say that not less than
one-fourth of the number were of German nationalitv.
The State of New York furnished several regiments, com-
posed almost exclusively of German- Americans, as did
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois ; of the first five
regiments furnished by Missouri, two-thirds of the men
were Germans.
How well they did their duty on every battlefield is
evinced by the many thousand German names recorded
on the nation's roll of honor.
In peace, in their homes, in their business relations, in
their occupations as farmers, artisans, merchants, profes-
sionals, artists and musicians, do they not compare favor-
ably with every other foreigner coming to these shores ?
Do the poor-houses, jails and penal institutions of the
country contain a larger proportion of German- Americans
than those of other nationalities? The people of the
countries which stand at the front of civilization to-day
are all descendants of the old Teuton tribes of Germany,
and it is a sad commentary upon the much-vaunted state
of social and political progress in this country, that blind
prejudice has been, and is still, the greatest barrier against
a friendly commingling of these different nationalities,
which is an absolute requisite to the formation of national
homogeneousness — the prosperity and strength of the
Republic. There is no doubt, that under the most favor-
able circumstances, to amalgamate the most restless, dar*
Die E^inridrtnng >«r jrau tints golljifdieii VtaSttfos-
THE EXECt'TIDN Oir THE WIFE OF THE TKAITOR (iOTH.
INTBODUCrriON.
S9
ing and unyielding of the various nationalities which have
been and now are spreading over the North American
continent, into one great American nationality, having
its own type, its physical and intellectual characteristics,
it will require years yet of animadversion and strife.
But when existing differences have been adjusted
through a right understanding of the claims of each,
when objectionable tendencies have been checked, the
asperities as well as salient characteristics of each, tem-
pered by a growing sentiment of tolerance, and only that
which is pure and ennobling and in full hatmony with the
genius of American institutions retained, then will there
be, distinctively no more Anglo-Saxon, Celt, Sclav,
Scandinavian, French or German, but a people whose
characteristics have been inherited from the healthiest
and strongest tribes in mind and body — "The survival
of the fittest." The author has offered these glimpses of
German- American history merely to show the reader that
although the Germans are citizens of the United States,
and loyal to its government, they hold in reverence the
memory of the man who was the embodiment of German
unity and power — ^not to be interpreted, however, as the
adoration of pomp and splendor, but as the spontaneous
acknowledgment of a grateful people toward a monarch
to whom they are indebted for the realization of a dream
of nearly twenty centuries' duration.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT GERMANS.
IN THIS ago of historical, ethnological and philological
research, to write a complete history of the Teutonic
people would require the lifetime of a man untrained in
these particular branches of study. That duty must be
left to men of more leisure, and with a greater capacity
and love for delving into tomes of musty lore than the
author claims to possess.
Therefore, in this short sketch of the Germans, pre-
ceding the life of Emperor William I., the object is
merely to give the reader a general idea of the origin,
geographical situation in Europe, the early conditions, the
customs and laws of this ancient people, in order that he
may have a fair knowledge of the nation of fifty million
souls, Iv^hich to-day mourns the loss of its imperial chief.
It is generally supposed that the Germanic races, col-
lectively called Teutons, were a branch of the Aryan
family of nations, who, at a period of which there is
no record, migrated from Asia across the Ural and Cau-
casus mountains to the northwestern part of Kussia.
It is known from a similarity in many of the earliest
linguistic groups, that the Germanic tribes and Slavs were
in constant intercourse. But the first authentic geo-
graphical situation of these more than fifty tribes, out-
lined by historians, was within the boundaries of the Rhine,
the Danube and the Vistula — ^the three largest rivers of
Europe.
The earliest aocoimt of their advent upon the political
81
32 THE ANCIENT GERMANS.
stage of Europe, is in the year 102 b. c, when, as
Kingsley says, "the Kempers and Teutons broke over
the Alps with a force of 300,000 men and 15,000 mailed
knights, armed with broad-swords and lances, and roam-
ing over the sunny plains of Italy, stumbled upon Marius
with his Roman legions, who utterly destroyed them."
A people able to muster such an immense force of
armed men, pre-supposes organization, military drill, dis-
cipline, plan, and a certain degree of administrative ability,
as well as a certain amount of skill and handicraft in the
manufacture of arms and equipments, indispensable to the
efficiency of any army in the field.
No parallel, therefore, can be drawn between a people
thus advanced and the roving tribes of predatory North
American savages, as has been attempted by the historian
Gibbon.
True, they were a primitive people, in a state of semi-
barbaric simplicity, living in the primeval forests of Cen-
tral Europe, but nursing within their breasts the germ of
a civilization which has spread over the Western half of
the globe.
While, to the contrary, " had Gibbon been right," says
Kingsley, " and our forefathers in the German wilds had
been like Powhatan's people, as the English found them
in Virginia, the Eomans would not have been long in
civilizing them off the face of the earth."
Occupying a country abounding in game, the little land
they cultivated richly repaying their toil, it is probable,
that for centuries they lived in an isolated but free and
happy state, little known to the neighbors to the west
and south of them. As the German historian Menzel
describes them : — " When the merchants of Tyre and Car-
THE ANCIENT GERMANS. 83
thage were weighing their heavy anchors and spreading
their purple sails for far seas, the Greek was making the
earth fair by his art, and the Boman was founding his
colossal empire of force, the Teuton was yet a child; but
a child of a royal race, destined to win glory for all time
to come."
The desire for homogeneousness appears to have pre-
vailed among the different tribes of the Germanic race,
long before mention is made in history of their existence.
Julius CaBsar possessed a knowledge of three distinct
Germanic confederations about the time of Christ. The
Suevy confederation comprised the territory between the
Elbe, the Vistula and the Baltic Sea, which was subse-
quently extended to Southern Germany, where, under the
name of Swabians, their descendants are still to be found;
the tribes of the confederation of the Cherusci, of which
Arminius, the hero of the battle of " Teutoburger Wald,"
was chief, dwelt upon lands in the vicinity of the Harz
mountains ; and the Macromanni, under the leadership of
Mardobuus, occupied the territory along the Danube, and
later on, the country now known as Bohemia. It is also
known that the Saxons and Angl^, whose settlements
stretched along the west bank of the lower Elbe, had also
formed an alliance for mutual protection.
Thus early were the aspirations of these Teutonic
tribes for unity in government put in practice.
Their manner of settlement seems to have struck Tac-
itus, a Boman historian, born about 50 b. o., as peculiar.
" That none of the several peoples in Germany," says
he, " live together in cities, is abundantly known; nay, that
amongst them none of their dwellings are suffered to be
contiguous. They settle apart and distinct, just as a
34 THB ANCIENT GEBMANS.
fountain, or a field, or a wood, happens to invite tHem;
They build their villages not in the manner of the
Eomans, with houses joining each other. Every man has
a vacant space around his own, either for security against
fire, or because they know not the art of building. In all
their structures they employ materials quite gross and
unhewn — ^log-houses. Some parts they besmear with an
earth, so pure and resplendent that it resembles painting
in colors."
Of their personal appearance, we are told, "they re-
sembled none but themselves. With eyes stern and blue,
yellow hair and huge bodies — ^the same make and form is
found in all."
" For their covering they all wear a mantle — a sort of
loose shirt — fastened with a clasp, or, for the want of it,
a thorn. As far as this reached not they were naked.
The dress of the women differed not from that of the men,
save that they were ordinarily attired in linen, embroidered
with purple, using no sleeves, so that all their arms were
bare." This was no doubt their summer costume, as we
read that the tribes bordering the Rhine, used, without any
delicicy, the skins of wild beasts.
In their family relations only the pure were allowed to
marry. The wife brought no dower to the husband ; on
the contrary, the husband made the presents ; " they were
not presents," says Tacitus, "adapted to feminine display
and delicacy, but oxen, and a horse accoutred, a shield, a
javelin and sword ; by virtue of these gifts she was
espoused ; that she might not suppose herself free from
the considerations of fortitude and fighting, or exempt
from the casualties of war, the very first solemnities of
her wedding served to warn her, that she came to her
THE ANCIENT GEBMANS. 35
husband in his hazards and fatigues ; that she was to
suffer alike with him ; to adventure alike during peace or
war."
The oxen joined under one yoke, symbolized the equal
share of duties between them ; the horse equipped, repre-
sented readiness for every call to defend countrv and
home.
These arms were to be preserved inviolate by the wife,
to be bestowed upon her sons at their marriage, the brides
of whom must resign them to their sons in turn, and so,
the halle aux armes became the sacred altar of every
household at its foundation.
The ordinary husband was contented with one wife, a
condition exceptional among the semi-civilized nations of
that period. It was, however, permitted to a few of the
most dignified and notable, in order to add to the luster
of their families, to make other alliances.
Among a people so numerous, adultery was exceedingly
rare ; but when committed, was a crime to be instantly
punished. The punishment was to be inflicted by the
injured husband. After cutting off the criminal's golden
hair and stripping her naked, in the presence of her kin-
dred and family, she was expelled from her home and
pursued with stripes through the village ; no pardon was
granted her, however beautiful, however exalted ; a hus-
band she never more could have !
Increase of family was encouraged, and the destruction
of infant life considered an abominable sin.
Children were reared naked, and thus grew into those
limbs, " the size of which," says the historian, " were a
marvel to behold." They were nourished with the milk
of their own mothers. By any superior rearing the lord
36 THE ANCIENT GERMANS.
could not be distinguished from the slave; but, at a
proper age, the free born were separated from the rest,
and henceforth brought up to deeds of valor and conquest.
It was not, however, allowed to a young man to bear arms
before the community had attested his capacity to use
them. Upon such testimonial, either one in authority, or
his father, or some kinsman, in the midst of the assembly,
conferred upon him a shield and a javelin.
This was his mardy robe / this was the first degree of
honor with which he was invested. Before this ceremony
the youth was only a part of a private family — after, he
was a part of the community.
The dignity of prince was often conferred upon mere
striplings, whose family were noble, or whose fathers had
done great and signal service to the state. These were
at all times surrounded by a numerous band of young
men — for ornament and glory in peace, for security and
defense in war.
These princes become famous through the number of
their followers and warlike deeds, and by their renown
alone, were often able to prevent wars. In battle, no
prince must be surpassed in feats of bravery by his fol-
lowers; and it was disgraceful for his followers to fall
behind the bravery of their prince. To return alive from
a battle in which their prince had been slain was an in-
famy during life. The most sacred part of their oath,
obliged them to preserve their prince, to defend him, and
to ascribe to his glory all ikeir ovm valorous deeds.
When their own community, by long peace and inac-
tivity, gave them nothing to do, they, betook themselves
to other states in war, because, except in perilous adven-
ture or wars, the prince could not support his numerous
V'n fflotljen in Horn
TH£ ANCIENT GERMANS. 39
train of retainers. The prince furnished his followers
with war-horses and javelins.
After the fatigues of battle they passed their time in
indolence, sleeping and eating. The most brave and
warlike applied themselves to nothing but war. They
' could not be persuaded to cultivate the ground, since they
deemed it stupid and spiritless to acquire by sweat what
could be gained by blood. " It was amazing," continues
Tacitus, ^^to find in men so much delight in sloth with so
much emnity to repose."
In recruiting their armies they took out of every village
one hundred of their most robust young men, and placed
them as infantry in front of the army.
Military discipline was not so much maintained by au-
thority or threats of punishment, as by the valorous ex-
ample of their chiefs. In the leader, who had distin-
guished himself in the front rank of battle, they placed
implicit confidence and strictly obeyed his orders. The
expression of a wish by the revered chief was law to the
common soldier. It was not his rank which gave him
power over his semi-barbaric hordes, but his example.
The most glaring disgrace that could befall a man was
to have quitted the field while a battle raged; for one
branded with such infamy it was unlawful for him to
join in their religious sacrifices, or to enter into the as-
sembly, and many such, who had escaped from battle,
hanged themselves, says the historian, to avoid the
ignominy heaped upon them by their tribe.
In conformity with her marriage vows, and by the sig-
nificance of her dower, the wife was expected to share all
the hardships, dangers and vicissitudes of her husband — a
sentiment which seems to be one of the striking charac-
40 TH£ ANCIENT GERMANS.
teristicB of the Grerman of to-day. It was the custom for
the families of soldiers to accompany them to battle in order
to witness the bravery of their husbands, brothers, and
sons, to draw the blood from their wounds with their lips,
and to carry to them drink and meat while under fire.
In exti*eme danger the doleful bowlings of the wives and
children spurred the men on to renewed courage and
daring, and it is related that at the first great battle of the
Teutons and Marius, after further resistance became mere
hopeless desperation, the women, rather than fall into the
hands of the Roman victors, hung themselves upon the
horns of oxen to be trampled to death under their feet.
It is generally accepted as a maxim that the laws of a
country, whether written or unwritten, reflect the social
condition of its people. With primitive peoples good
laws can originate only with such as are naturally endowed
with a high sense of the justice and duty demanded be-
tween man and man ; and it was the " good manners "
spoken of by Tacitus — that is, the morals, honest customs
and patriotic aspirations, coupled with an innate prin-
ciple of justice — which existed among the Teutonic tribes
of Europe that laid the foundation upon which has been
erected the two greatest monuments of liberty known to
mankind — the English Magna Charta and the Constitution
of the United States.
In the administration of justice in small matters the
chiefs determined the punishment or restitution of prop-
erty ; but in matters of importance the wholen ation de-
liberated. Yet, whatever was decided by the people was
discussed and pondered over by the chiefs in conclave.
These assemblies took place every month, at the full of
the moon if Dossible, and were held at night. " They did
tFlE ANCIENt GERMANS. 41
.not come together at once, as men afraid to disobey," con-
tinues the historian. " but often days intervened," in which,
doubtless, the grievances complained of, or the incursions
upon other territory to be decided upon, were pretty
thoroughly ventilated and settled.
Upon assembling they sat down promiscuously, like a
crowd, all armed. The priests acted as chairmen. The
lionor of being heard first was accorded to the chiefs, fol-
lowed by others, according to age, warlike renown, or
eloquence. The influence of every speaker was measured
by his powers of persuasion rather than from any author-
ity to command. If the speaker's proposition displeased
them they rejected it in low murmurs of dissent ; if, to
the contrary, it pleased them, they brandished their jave-
lins. The most honorable manner of signifying their as-
sent was by the sound of their arms. They were allowed
to present accusations in these assemblies, and to prose-
cute capital offenses. Punishment varied according to
the heinousness of the crime. Traitors and deserters they
hung upon trees ; cowards, sluggards and prostitutes they
smothered in the mud and marshes, under heaps of
hurdles. In lighter transgressions, the delinquent upon
conviction was condemned to pay a certain number of
horses or cattle ; part of this was given to the chief or
community, part to him who had been redressed, or to
his next of kindred.
In the same assemblies the chiefs were chosen and such
rulers as administered justice in communities or villages.
To each of these, one hundred pereons, chosen from
amongst the populace, were assigned to assist him in the
execution of his authority and to bestow upon him their
counsel
43 THE ANCIENT GERMANS.
In their worship, the exalted and peculiar religious
views of this ancient people — which to this day is a dis-
tinguishing feature of the Germans — cannot be better
described than in the words of Tacitus himself :
" From the grandeur and majesty of celestial beings,
they judged it altogether unsuitable to keep the gods
vdthin walls or to represent t/iem under any Imman like-
ness. They consecrated whole woods and groves and
named them after their gods. In mental reverence and
contemplation here they repaired to worship."
In other words, to these barbarians, as opposed to every
other religious people at that time in Europe, a deity was
altogether too sacred and sublime a being to be fashioned
into the likeness of a human form, representing as it
does the frailties and passions, loves and hates of man.
The Great Unknown was most fittingly worshiped in an
edifice built by himself for his terrestrial children, the
pillars of which were the primitive, majestic trees of the
sacred groves and its roof the blue canopy of heaven.
From the above description of the customs, habits,
manners and laws of these early Germanic tribes, drawn
principally from the writings of contemporaneous his-
torians, it will naturally occur to the reader, that a people
of such original and exceptional traits of character, must
at no distant day carve out for itself a brilliant destiny,
and eventually become a dominating power among the
nations of the earth.
CHAPTER II.
CONFLICT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS.
AT THE period described in the foregoing chapter,
jLjl. which may be-called Germany's infancy, Rome was
nearing the zenith of her splendor and power. Her do-
minion extended over nearly the whole of Eastern Europe,
Asia Minor, Egypt and a broad strip of territory border-
ing the Northern Coast of Africa.
In the nearly seven centuries of her political existence
Rome had passed through all the stages incident to the
groAvth of a nation. She had struggled through the
early stages of government from tribal association to a
kingdom, and from a kingdom to a republic, and was
nearing a still greater change. After the assassination
of Julius Caesar, Rome was the greatest power that had
ever existed, and yet, in the midst of her greatness, the
germ of dissolution was already discernible.
As her power rested upon force, and not upon the
patriotic sentiment of a people enjoying equal rights, it
ought to have been apparent to her statesmen that a
republic, of which but a small fraction of its male inhab-
itants were enjoying the privileges of citizenship — only
463,000 in 70 b. c, according to the Roman census — lacked
the very essence of political permanency, and that owing
to the want of a deep sense of morality, love, and respect
for family life, the social condition of Rome was keeping
pace with its political degeneracy.
The aristocracy, proud of their wealth and ancestry,
were absprbed in the enjoyment of luxuries, and, by a
47
4:8 CONFLICrr OB* THE ROMANS ANt) TlJUTONfi.
long exercise of power, had come to look upon the high
magistracies and seats of emolument as belonging' by
right to their caste.
As Cato, in a speech before the Koman Senate, tersely
expressed it : "In the place of the virtues of our ancestors
we have avarice and extravagance ; wo jn^aise the wealthy
and honor idleness ; between the good and the bad there
is no distinction, and all tlie rewards due to merit are
bestowed upon the unworthy. Since every man with-
draws himself from public interests, consulting only his
own, should we be astonished at the state of our country's
affairs? At home slaves to voluptuousness, in the Senate
slaves to wealth and favoritism."
Rome demanded and received her share of the gain of
the known world. Her ships sailed the waters of every
known sea, laden with trophies and spoils from every
clime.
While riches flowed in rivers into the public coffers^ .
immense fortunes were amassed by individuals, military
commanders and state officers. Thousands of slaves were
sold to work in the fields in chains by day, and to sleep in
dungeons at n^ght, to prevent their escape.
In the houses of the powerful and wealthy, learned
Greek captives w^ere retained as school-masters, sophists,
sculptors, pamters and poets.
Splendor in dress and equipage, and extravagance in
every form prevailed among the ruling classes.
Private residences were erected at a fabulous expend-
iture, with immense columns of black porphyry, floors
in mosaic, the inner walls covered with paintings, and ceil-
ings adorned with gilding and carving in ivory.
Upon their villas imagination Avas taxed to lavish
CONFLICT OP THE BOMANS AND TEUTONS. j-Q
wealth. Gardens bloomed in tropical splendor, and \ ivks
stocked with wild animals, which at sumptuous feasts were
called from the wood by slaves, dressed as Orpheus play-
ing the lyre. At their principal meal, reclining upon
couches, seven courses, with wines, desserts and fruits, were
served.
The elevating ideas of the mythology of their fore-
fathers had given place to sculptured marbles and taxing
shrines. Belief in the dead pagan gods had perished and
the Koman had no God at all to look up to.
Steeped in pleasure, given up to a life of licentiousness^
Bome had become the sink into which every polluted
stream flowed.
Such is the superficially drawn picture of the political
and social condition of Eonie at the time of her first en-
counter with the primitive children of the Northern for-
est— the Teutonic tribes.
Kingsley has beautifully illustrated the five hundred
years of contention between the cool, false, politic Roman,
grown gray in the experience of the forum and the camp,
and this fresh young barbarian of the German wilds.
Fancy to yourself a Troll-garden — ^a fairy palace, with
a fairy garden — and all around primeval forests. With-
in the garden dwell the cunning and wicked Trolls, watch-
ing their fairy treasures and making rare and strange
things at their magic forges. Without, in the forest, are
such children as the world had never seen before — children
in frankness, purity, love, tenderness of conscience and
devout awe of the unseen — children too in fanc}'^, ignorance,
jealousy, quarrelsomeness and the desire for excitement
and adventure — the mere sport of overflowing animal
health. They play unharmed with the forest beasts ; but,
50 A)NrUOT OF THE EOHAlfS AND TEUTONS.
finally, the forest becomes too dull and too poor for them,
and they approach the Troll-garden and begin to wonder
what is inside. It is easy to imagine what would happen.
Some of the boldest clamber in ; some the Trolls steal and
carry into the palace. Few escape, but enough to tell how
tlie Trolls killed their companions, and of the marvelous
things to be seen in the palace, — shoes of swiftness, swords
of sharpness, and caps of darkness; of charmed harps,
charmed jewels, and, above all, of the charmed wine ; and
after all the Trolls were kind to them — see the fime clothes
given them — and they strut proudly before their marvel-
ing comrades. They return, but not alone. So the fame
of the Troll-garden spreads ; and more and more hurry
away and steal in. They become as the Trolls, vain,
lustful and slavish.
But their better nature flashes out at times. They will
not be the slaves and brutes the Trolls would have them ;
they rebel, escape, and tell of the wickedness of the foul
palace. Great indignation arises, and war between the
Trolls and the forest- children follows. Still the Trolls
can tempt and bribe the greedier or the more vain ; and
still the wonders inside haunt their minds, till it becomes
a fixed idea among them all, to conquer the garden for
themselves, to dress themselves in fine clothes and drink
their fill of that maddening wine.
Again and again they break in, but the Trolls drive
them out, rebuild their walls, till the boys of the forest
have become youths, and the youths men, and still the
garden is not conquered. The Trolls have grown old and
weak, and their walls are crumbling away. The forest
warriors still menace and defy them. They may succeed
this time or the next.
OONFLICr OF THE BOMANS AND TEUTONS, 53
And at last they do succeed ! The walls are breached,
the fairy palace stormed, the Trolls conquered; old,
jewels, robes and arms — all that the palace holds — will
be theirs, except their cunning.
As each struggles into the charmed garden the spell
falls upon him. He drinks, fills his arms with precious
trumpery, while another snatches it from him. Each
envies his comrade before him, crying : "Why did I not
enter first?" And the Trolls set one against the other,
and split them into parties, and mad with jealousy and
wine, till they scarce knew why, they fall upon each other
and upon all others who are crowding in from the forest,
and they fight up and down the palace halls, and the Trolls
look on and laugh and still urge them on in this unnatural
war, till the garden is trampled into dust, their finery de-
stroyed, and the pavement slippery with kindred's blood.
When the horrible dream is passed and the wine is out of
them, the survivors stare shamefully and sadly around.
What a desolate, tottering ruin the fairy palace has be-
come ! Have they spoiled it themselves ? And what has
become of the treasure ? No man knows. Nothing is
left but recrimination and remorse. And they wander
back into the forest, away from the doleful ruin, carrion-
strewn, to sulk, each apart, over some petty spoil which he
has saved from the general wreck, each hating and dread-
ing the sound of his neighbor's footstep.
This is neither more nor less than the story of the
Teutonic tribes, and how they overthrew the Empire of
Kome. Neither the picture of the dazzling splendor of the
garden, the soft, beguiling character of its inmates, nor
the susceptible, passion-enslaved period of its conquerors
is overdrawn.
54 CONFLICT OF THE BOMANB AND TEUTONS.
Therefore, when Tacitus, at the beginning of the en-
counters between his countrymen and this strong young
race, saw that sooner or later the fate of Kome might rest
in their hands, he sought by extolling their virtues, their
phj'sical power, their unparalleled reproduction, to warn
the Romans of their threatened danger, Avhich had be-
come a brooding certainty in his own far-seeing mind. It
came, after many years, about in this way :
It must not be forgotten by the reader that the
Eomans at this period were absorbed in the conquest of
territory; that Rome might be fitly compared to an im-
mense military camp, with its concomitants. To satisfy
the needs of the garrison, and keep bright and burning the
adventurous spirit of their legions, the generals were
always in a quandary to know what country to rob and en-
slave next.
Besides the regular foraging armies under their imme-
diate commands, the conquered provinces were placed un-
der the charge of consuls or military oflScers, provided
with a force large enough to insure a speedy collection of
the tribute demand.
After the decisive battle with the Roman general Ma-
rius, before mentioned, the next important action against
the Germanic tribes was 59 b. o., when Csesar was gov-
ernor of Gaul. Some dispute having arisen between the
Teutons, who, under the leadership of Ariovistus, had
settled in large numbers upon territory west of the Rhine,
and the tribes of Gaul, Caesar was called in to settle it.
Before the battle which followed, at what is now
known as the city of Besangon, in Lower Alsace, it is re-
lated that the badgering German chief asked Csesar " if he
knew what stuff his opponents were made of," adding
coNFLicrr OF the komans and TEirroNs. 55
" they were warriors who had not slept under a roof for
four years."
Notwithstanding the boasting of Ariovistus,the weather-
erhardened barbarians were not a match for the mettle-
some and war-begrimed Komans, an'd the result was a de-
feat for the German tribes engaged, who were compelled
to retire to the east bank of the Rhine. During the suc-
ceeding years of Caesar's government of Gaul he crossed
into German territory twice, but was unable to hold his
ground or subject its people.
Not until the appointment of Claudius Drusus, 13 b. c,
as governor of Gaul were any noticeable advantages
gained over the German tribes by the Romans. It is
claimed that he made the way possible by digging a canal
from the Rhine to the Yssel, through which he was en-
abled to reach the North Sea with transports of troops.
From this and the fact that 10 b. 0. other victories
were won, it would seem that the first real lodgement
made by the Romans upon German territory was under
Drusus. The far-seeing general, discovering the capabih-
ties of the young and valorous race, and already aware of
their dream of avenging the slaughter of their forefathers
by Marius, through his diplomatic and generous treatment
of them, succeeded in persuading numbers of chiefs, and
princelings with their retinues to enter the Roman military
service.
During the subsequent eighteen years of Roman occu-
pation in Germany, more or less friendly relations existed
between the conquered and their conquerors.
Upon the adoption of Tiberius by the Emperor Au-
gustus as his heir, he was sent into Germany, where he
gained some small victories; but it was through the des-
56 CONFLICT OF THE ROMAICS AND TEUTONS.
potic and meddlesome course of Quintilius Varus, who
had been charged by the first Emperor to bring the Ger-
man tribes under subjection, that Roman dominion was
forever terminated in German3^ He began to annoy and
irritate the people by dogmatically interfering with their
primitive habits and customs, which they preferred to
tliose of the Eomans. He compelled them to relinquish
the time-honored usage of administering their laws and
justice through their own elected or appointed officials.
He demanded that all German litigants appear before
Homan judges opposed by Boman counsel.
This was a tyranny not to be borne by a proud people
who had definite laws, founded upon the deep and broad
principle of justice to all I
Again, he exacted exorbitant tribute from the different
German tribes. Eecalling all the former indignities suf-
fered at the hands of the Eomans, the treatment captives
taken in war had received, the pollution of their wives and
daughters sold into slavery, they were at last aroused to
swift, determined action.
In response to this sentiment the noted chiefs assem-
bled in secret and resolved on war. Arminius, a Che-
ruscian prince, but twenty-five years old, who had learned
the art of Avar in the Eoman army, but had remained
loyal to his people and native land, placed himself at the
head of the movement.
To induce a large number of tribes, living independent
of each other to join an enterprise so dangerous was not
an easy task; Arminius, however, accomplished it with-
out arousing the suspicion of Varus.
When Varus was informed that a tribe in the interior
had rebelled against Eoman authority,and had slaughtered
OONFLIOT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS. 57
many Boman soldiers, he marched against the insurgents
with three of his most trusted legions, ordering his Ger-
man auxilliary, Amiinius, to follow and assist him.
Arminius promptly executed the first order — that was,
to call out his command, but instead of assisting Varus,
he lead his troops to the rendezvous of his German con-
federates.
Incumbered with an immense train of wagons, pack-
animals, camp-followers, women and children. Varus left
his camp on the Weser at the end of October, 9 a. d.
Marching his troops in a southwesterly direction, a few
days after he reached the swampy, pathless region of the
Teutoburger forest, in the vicinity of Detmold on the
"Wirre — the point agreed upon by the German confeder-
ates for a general onslaught.
Before fully realizing their danger, and before they
were able to form into compact lines, the Romans found
themselves surrounded and assailed from all sides. The
impetuosity of attack completed the confusion, and forced
the Roman soldiers to an unequal hand-to-hand combat
with an enemy, vastly their superiors in bodily strength
and agility.
The Romans fought with the fierceness of desperation,
but after three days of terrible slaughter but few. were
left to tell the story of their disaster. Varus, himself un-
willing to survive the destruction of his legions, threw
himself upon his sword and perished.
This memorable battle, which forms a great episode
in the national life of Germany, forever put an end to
Roman dominion over the Teutons. The real merit of
Arminius' success lay not so much in the strategy and valor
he displayed in gaining the victory as in the wisdom and
58 ooiTFUGrr of the bomans and teutons.
sagacity with which he accomplished the unification of
the various tribes in a contest for hearth and home. Had
this great event served the Germans as an unforgotten les-
son, they would have spared themselves many centuries
of misery and degradation.
The crushing defeat of Varus had a very demoralizing
effect upon the Romans, Augustus, the Emperor, shutting
himself up for seveiul days, and crying, " Varus, Varus,
give me back my legions." Had Arminius chosen to
follow up his victory by pushing across the Rhine and
attacking the Roman province of Gaul, he could have ex-
acted from Germany's enemy such terms as would have
prevented the desecration of her soil ever after by Roman
soldiery.
But, satisfied with the decisive result of the Teutoberger
Wald, he ordered the tribes to return to their homes, to
engage in the arts of peace. During the following five
years the Romans made no further attempt to recover
their lost ground, but confined their military operations
to strengthening their position on the west side of the
Rhine.
As with all victorious people, barbarians or otherwise,
when the common enemy had disappeared the conquerors
fell to quarreling among themselves. Such jealousies as
the right of precedence in the councils, rivalries between
the pnnces of the various tribes for seniority in command,
and other disputes concerning the territorial limits of
each tribe — in short, thousands of questions such as a
newly correlating people would be called upon to settle —
kept their fighting propensities from gathering rust and
going to decay.
With the exception of the Marcomanni^ which had fol-
CONFLiar OF THK KOMA1I8 AND TEUTONS. 59
lowed Ariovistus into Gaul, but had been driven back by
Julius Caesar, most of the strongest tribes acknowl-
edged Arrainius as their leader. Marodobuus, the chief
of the Marcoraanni, who had been educated in Kome with
Arminius, but had not taken part in the Teutoberger
Wald, Arminius suspected of coldness towards their com-
mon country, with a corresponding warmth of feeling for
their common enemy, the Romans. He looked with
jealousy upon Marodobuus' efforts to extend the boundary
line of the Maroomanni, and the increasing of his military
force. Arminius even suspected him of nursing an am-
bition to become " King of the Germans.'*
These dissensions, with the fact that Segestes, the
father-in-Liw of Arminius, had succeeded in creating a
seditious feeling among the Cheruscians, Arminius' tribe,
having reached Rome, about the time of Tiberius' suc-
cession, 14 A. D., Tiberius resolved to seize this favorable
opportunity to avenge the defeat of Varus.
Accordingly, Germanicus, the son of Claudius Drusus,
m command of the Roman army in Gaul, was ordered to
cross the Rhine. His legions coming upon the tribe
Marsi, while celebrating an evening festival, they were
completely routed. The following spring, 15 a. d., he
entered the territory of the Chauci and devastated their
country. Segestes, from whom Arminius had stolen his
daughter Thusnelda, and made her his wife, being at war
with bis son-in-law, asked the Romans to come to his
rescue. Germanicus, who had been appointed command-
er-in-chief of all the legions in Gaul, hastened to the
relief of Segestes, routed the besieging force of Arminius,
and upon entering the delivered town of Segestesburg,
took many women prisoners, among them Thusnelda, who
was delivered to Germanicus from her father's own
60 ooNFucrr of the eomans and teutons.
hands. She was taken captive to Eome, where a son was
born to her, whom she called Thumelicus. Two years
after, the barbarian queen, leading her little son, graced
the triumphal procession unwillingly granted Germanicus
by his uncle, Tiberius, who had become jealous of Ger-
manicus' renow^ned generalship in Germany. In order to
further humiliate and distress Thusnelda, and degrade
the son of the great Arminius, Thumelicus was placed
in the school of the gladiators at Ravenna. This story of
Thusnelda's wrongs has furnished an ever beautiful theme
for German poet and artist from that day to this.
In the year 16 a.d., Germanicus returned to Germany,
determined to retrieve the loss he had sustained in being
compelled by Arminius to retreat, after losing his cavalry
and almost the four legions under Coecina. With an
army of a hundred thousand men and a thousand vessels
he reached the Weser. Between the present towns of
Hameln and Rinteln, on the '^ Nymphemjoiese^^^ the two
great warriors met, Arminius to be revenged for his
wrongs, and Germanicus to make one more effoiii to sub-
due this unconquerable race. At first the Germans were
supposed to be beaten, but rallying, the next day, com-
pelled the Romans to fly. This is claimed to be the
greatest battle ever fought between the Romans and the
Germans. It was the last time the Romans ventured to
cross the Rhine. Arminius is, therefore, considered the
greatest hero of ancient Germany; but, great and patri-
otic and far-seeing as he was, he perished through the
treachery of a relative, at the age of thirty-seven.
It now became evident to the Roman Government,
that though apparently friendly, these northern barbarians
were endowed with immeasurable powers of physical and
intellectual resistance. If united into one great brother-
OOKFLIGT OF THE fiOMANS AND TEUTONS 63
hood, a result they seemed to be slowly approaching, not-
withstanding their internal wars, they would not only be
able to maintain their independence, but would become
dangerous neighbors to the Roman-Gallic provinces across
the Khine. In coping with single tribes the Boman legions
were always victorious, as in the subjugation of the Suev-
ians, the Helvetians, the Marsi, the Cheruscians, and even
the powerful tribe of Maroommani ; but with all the armed
force which Rome could concentrate upon Germany's
boundary, the Rhine, the German people, collectively,
could not be brought under Roman subjection.
A change of policy was therefore resolved upon, both
in military tactics and in the civil treatment of the various
tribes.
The great natural defects of the German character —
petty jealousy, quarrelsomeness and stubbornness in mat-
ters of trifling import — were well known to the crafty
Romans. To take advantage of these became the policy
of Rome. Divide et itnpera was resolved upon. Thus, in
heaping honors and favors upon one tribe, the enmity and
jealousy of the neglected tribe was excited.
Feuds, says Menzel, broke out between brother tribes in
the interior, the defeated chiefs finding a welcome asylum
in Rome. So fierce became this civil war that whole tribes
were annihilated, nevermore to appear upon the page of his-
tory. Such was the fate of the Cheruscians, the tribe which
formed the nucleus of Arminius' union against Varus.
In describing the onslaught of one neighboring tribe
upon the other, in which sixty thousand of the vanquished
were left upon the battle-field, Tacitus concludes with the
following invocation:
" May dissension ever reign among the Germans, and
thus prevent the danger with which they threaten Rome."
^ I
64 CJONFLIOT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS.
But hatred of Roman rule among the Germans was not
dead, however much they warred among themselves.
About 70 A. D. there appeared at Batavia a young patriot
who was afterwards called Civilis, because he was "a friend
of the people." Suspected of loyalty to the Germans, he,
in company with his brothers, was thrown into [)rison.
They were beheaded, but Civilis was shown more favor,
and afterwards released. Filled with revenge, and swear-
ing not to trim his beard or cut liis hair until his fellow-
countrj^men should cast oflf the Roman yoke, he sought the
occasion of a midnight feast to excite them, by his elo-
quence, to determined action. Hostilities soon after
began. The Germans serving in the Roman army
deserted in great numbers and joined their friends. The
allies prospered, until Cerealis, the great Roman general,
was sent into Gaul with a fresh army. Although the
Gauls had joined Civilis they were easily reconquered, and
in the battles which followed Civilis was forced to retreat
to the Batavi an islands, where says, Menzel, "he opened
the canals and caused a great inundation, by means of
which he long bade defiance to the enemy. But, finding
opposition unavailing, and honorable conditions being
offered, he at length concluded a peace. His name was
honored by both friends and enemies."
It was at this time that Tacitus penned the following
lament:
" For nearly two hundred and ten years have we been
conquering Germany. In a period of time so lengthened
many have been the blows and disasters suffered on both
sides. In truth, neither from the Samnites, nor from the
Carthaginians, nor from both Spains, nor from all the
nations of Gaul, have we received more frequent checks and
alarms : for more invincible is the liberty of the Germans
CONFLICT OF THE B0HAN8 AND TKtJTONB. 65
than the monarchy of the Arsacides; for what has the power
of the East to allege to our dishonor except the fall of
Crassus? But by the Germans the Bomans have been
bereft of five armies, all commanded by consuls; these
commanders, Carbo and Cassius, Scaurus Aurelius and
ServiliusCaspio, as well as Marcus Manlius, all were routed
or taken by the Gennans, not to forget the Emperor
Augustus, who was bereft of Varus and three legions.
Not without great difficulty and loss of men wei'e the
Germans defeated by Marius in Italy, or by the deified
Julius in Gaul, or by Drusus or Tiberius, and soon after
the mighty menaces of Caligula ended in mockery and
derision."
During the twenty years following the peace of Civilis,
Rome confined her operations to strengthening her posses-
sions on the Upper and Lower Rhine. Her cities were
ruled by governors who were appointed by the Roman
Emperor and were only responsible to him personally.
The great object of Trajan was to Romanize the prov-
inces lying on the frontiers of Germany. " Fortifications
along the left bank of the Rhine and the right bank of the
Danube," says Menzel, " virtually surrounded the frontier
of the Roman empire with a chain of bristling castles.
Watch-towers overlooking the distant country were con-
structed. The Rhine and Danube generally marked the
boundary. Their banks were thickly studded with fortified
towns, their streams made passable by bridges, and their
roads constructed along the edge of the mountains, in
order to secure a garrison against sudden attacks from the
ambushed enemy."
A militarv road was constructed from the Neckar to
Regensburg, lined with permanent intrenchments, inter-
spersed with hundreds of towers, built of heavy masonry,
66 OONFLIGT OF THK B0MAK8 AND TBUTOKS.
of which some of the ruins may be seen to this day. They
are called by the people " Pagan Works," or the " Devil's
Wall." Roman culture — that is, Roman extravagance
and levity in morals — began to be introduced into the
provinces. The Germans were seduced from their prim-
itive ways, and their sons were persuaded to join the
Roman legions. Theaters were built, palaces, amphithe-
aters— everything to attract the barbarian from his deep,
dark forest home and his simple life of independence.
At tFie beginning of the second century a. d. the numer-
ous tribes had been practically consolidated into four dis-
tinct groups : the Franks, the Saxons, the Alemanni and
the Goths. In this consolidation they lost, in a degree,
their old tribal independence. The management of their
public affairs fell into the hands of a principal chief, and
by gradual degrees a king was evolved — a petty king, but
a king, nevertheless. The Saxons alone preserved their
tribal autonomy.
This union naturally nursed the new feeling of nation-
alism, and emboldened them to make united and frequent
attacks upon the Roman provinces bordering their terri-
tory. The Romans, however, began to have a wholesome
fe^r of their restive enemies, and ventured no more across
the Rhine nor in boats upon the North Sea. But to the
southeast, along the Adriatic, where the Germans did not
expect them and were not prepared, Marcus Aurelius
(Antoninus) renewed hostilities in person about 168 a. d.
He was met by the strong forces of the Marcomanni,
Alani and Sarmatians, and was driven back to the frontier.
For the next five years Antoninus remained at his post,
giving and receiving battle, without once visiting Rome.
It was during this period that the great battle renowned
in history was fought upon the frozen Danube, the Romans
cwNFUcrr op the Romans and teutons. 09
driving their enemy far into Hungary. A later vic-
tory in the same campaign the Bomans ascribed to Jupiter
Tonans, because when the engagement was at its height a
terrific thunderstorm overtook the armies and put to
route the superstitious barbarians.
At the beginning of the third century a movement
against the Romans began in another part of Germany,
near the borders of Switzerland. The Alemanni collected
a large force and descended upon the territory known as
the '' Black Forest," then tributary to Rome. They pil-
laged and destroyed everything in their course. They
were not successfully checked until met by the Emperor
Maximin, a Goth, who had been raised to the imperial
throne by the Roman army, large numbers of which w^ere
Germans. In order to prove that he had renounced his
country and kindred, and was a thorough Roman, he car-
ried war and desolation into the very heart of his native
land. His rapacity and cruelty finally brought down
upon him the indignation of his troops, who assassinated
him and his son at the siege of Aquileia.*
From now on, the right bank of the river Rhine,
with few interruptions, remained in the hands of the Ger-
mans. About the same time the Franks broke into Gaul,
the Romans being unable to oppose any effective resist-
ance. In the same manner the Alemanni, roving over the
country, now plunging into Gaul, now into Roman terri-
tory about the Alps, encouraged the Goths to work over
into Dacia (the Wallachia and Moldavia of to-day), defeat-
ing the Roman army and killing the Emi)eror Dacius,
after which the Goths permanently occupied the country.
This took place in the year 251 a. d.
The Roman Government, which since the fall of the
Republic had been the costly bauble of a few ambitious
70 CONFLICT OF THE ROMANS AND TKUTONS.
families ready to commit any deed of darkness to clothe
themselves in the " imperial purple," was still counte-
nancing such customs, upholding such institutions and
disregarding such appeals for justice as eventually bring
decay upon aiiy nation.
During the following fifty years the various German
tribes, becoming more aggressive, of tener made substantial
inroads upon Roman territory ; but no event of sufficient
magnitude occurred to interest the American reader until
about 325 a. d., when the Emperor Constantino conceived
the idea of elevating to the dignity of a state religion
the doctrine " to render unto Caesar what belonged to
Csasar." These unruly barbarian subjects, as well as the
meek and lowly, must hereafter be brought to submit to
the strong and powerful, in return for which injustice and
oppression here they were to be rewarded hereafter in
heaven.
A change in the religion of a people requiring time, in
order to save the capital of the Roman Empire from the
aggressive movements of the Goths on the Danube, the
Persians in Asia Minor, and other tribes to the north, the
seat of government was changed in 330 a. d. from Rome
to Byzantium (Constantinople). From this epoch, it is
claimed, Roman ascendancy began to cease. Constantine,
surrounding himself with an arm}'- of 300,000 regulars, and
reviving all the pomp and splendor of Oriental courts,
actually believed he had saved his country and reestab-
lished her upon the throne of the world's empire. But he
had not reckoned upon the great migration of peoples
which was soon to take place all over Europe. As Kings-
ley describes this period between 400 and 500 a. d.: "It
was like the working of an ant heap: like the insects
devouring each other in a drop of water. Teuton tribes,
CONFLICT OF THJ5 ROMANS AND TEUTONS, 71
Sclavonic tribes, Tartar tribes, Eoman generals, empresses,
bishops, courtiers, adventurers, appear for a moment out
of the crowd with a name appended, and then vanish,
proving their humanity only by leaving behind them
another stream of blood. But what became of the people,
the men-slaves — the greater part of them if not all — who
tilled the soil and ground the com — for man must have
eaten then as now ? We have no hint. One trusts that
God had mercy on them, for man had none."
The first real impulse to this great human deluge was
given by the Huns or Tartar tribes, who having been
walled out of China and, unable to subsist without plun-
der, were forced to move westward in search of other
lands. They settled on the borders of the Caspian Sea.
They are described as a raw-boned, broad-shouldered, flat-
nosed, yellow-skinned people, mounted upon small, fleet
horses, to which the Romans thought them grown, since
they were known to live, fight and sleep on their steeds.
They attacked their enemies with irresistible impetuosity
and deafening yells ; appearing here, there and everywhere
at the same time. Without fear of death, wild with
impatience to possess the fair territory of the abundant
Southwest, they crossed the Danube, the boundary line of
the Roman fortifications, destroying everything in their
course.
Attila, their first great king, with a will as iron as his
body, whom the Hunnish tribes clothed with supernatural
powers, led them triumphantly on to deeds of plunder and
death. Although permitting the representative chiefs to
live in luxury, he himself practiced the discipline of a stoic
in the rigorous and abstemious habits of his daily life.
Dwelling in a large wooden house in a simple manner, at
his public repasts, while his guests were served upon plates
72 CONFLICT OF THE KOMANS AND TEUTONS.
of gold and silver, he ate from wooden dishes and drank
from wooden cups. Contrary to the customs of the Ori-
ental semi-civilized tribes, he permitted his wife to appear
in public unveiled. It is said he even patronized letters,
by employing the services of a poet to accompany him on
his invasions, to chant in verse his deeds of valor and
prowess. He was supreme in power, serving as law-giver,
judge, and often executioner.
Towards individuals he was sometimes generous;
towards humanity he was incapable of pity, and, there-
fore, was named the " Scourge of God."
Through the incursions of the Huns across the lower
Danube, the tribes throughout the eastern and middle
portions of . Europe were set in motion. As one wave fol-
lows another upon the tempestuous ocean, so the fleeing
peoples swept onward to escape the destroying hordes of
Attila. Once in motion the objective point of all the
European tribes appears to have been the fabled country
" whose cities were paved with gold, where they might
bathe, eat, and see twenty thousand gladiators fight, all at
the public's expense."
The Goths, of all the Teutonic tribes in activity at this
time, seem to have been the most endowed with heroic
attributes. They are represented as " a tall, fair-haired
people, clothed in shirts and smocks of linen, w^ith gaiters
strapped to the feet with bands of hide; their arms and
necks encircled with gold and silver rings ; the warriors
of the upper class well horsed, and armed with lance and
heavy sword, with chain-mail and helmet, well plumed.
Their land was tilled by slaves, usually captives taken in
war."
The Ostrogoth's (East-goths) country stretched from
the Volga to the Bory sthenes ; the Visigoth's (West-goths)
Hi
si
l!
OONFLIOT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS 75
from Borysthenes to the Theiss. Kingsley says, " From
the great German-Gothic people, now much intermixed,
have sprung all the old royal families of Europe."
As early as 245 a. d. the Goths had tasted the fruits
of victory, having penetrated as far as Athens, in Greece,
and upon their return to the steppes and snows of Eussia
could not forget the beauty and wines of the sunny South.
The story of the first attack of the Huns upon the
Goths, history gives as follows : About 350 a. d. Erman-
aric. King of the Goths, after he had conquered all the
surrounding tribes, and was a hundred years old, the chief
of the Eoxolani, one of the subjected tribes, plotted against
him and sent for the Huns, far to the East, on the confines
of Europe and Asia, to come and help him. Old Ermana-
ric tore the traitor's wife in pieces with wild horses ; but
the Huns came and the Goths were defeated, when old
Ermanaric stabbed himself and died for shame.
Twenty-five years after, the Goths, unable to stand the
repeated plundering expeditions of the Huns, begged the
Eomans to allow them to cross the Danube, " since some
among them had embraced Christianity." The Emperor
Valens gave them permission to come provided they would
embrace Arianism, a religion so little and reasonably
removed from paganism that it could be accepted with
consistency by the Goths.
In coming over they were to give up their arms, and
deliver their children (those of rank) as hostages, to be
educated as Romans. Says Kingsley further : " They were
whole days crossing the Danube, and those set to count
them gave up in despair. When they had crossed, they
delivered up their children, but kept their weapons,
although at the price of many a Gothic woman's honor."
They had to be fed until they could cultivate their land,
76 CONFLICT OF THE BOHAKS AND TEUTONS,
and the two governors of Thrace, who were to provide
food, pocketed thQ money and starved the Goths. A little
meat cost ten pounds of silver, and when aU was gone
they were forced to sell their children for the Roman slave
market. At last the end came, and the Romans paid
dearly for the wickedness of Valens. Alaric, the king of
the Goths, a great general, after nearing many times and
retreating, and nearing again the great city, which he
believed he had been born to take, at the head of all the
united Gothic tribes marched into Italy ; encamping before
the w«alls of Rome, his army waited " as wolves wait
round the dying buffalo."
The Romans, though starving within, boasted of their
great resources and numbers, when Alaric cried out incred-
ulously : " Come out, then ; the thicker the hay the easier
mowed." They, however, were afraid to come out, and
so finally sued for peace. Alaric consented to withdraw
on the payment " of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of
silver, and a like quantity of costly articles of commerce,
which at that period flowed into Rome from every quarter
of the known world." To meet this demand they w^ere
compelled to melt the golden statue of victory, in Avhich
fatality the Romans foresaw the ruin of their city.
Alaric, although promising a respite to the Romans for
a time, soon found a pretext for renewing his operations.
In order to make sure of an entrance into Rome he is said
to have sent three liundred German slaves to wealthy
families as presents, who, upon A laric's approach with his
army, opened the gates at night, by which the fabled
city fell into the hands of the Gothic king on the 24th of
August, A. D. 409.
Says the historian Menzel : " For the first time since
the invasion of Brennus, 390 b. c, the capital of the world
ooNFUcrr of the Romans and teutons. 77
beheld the enemy which had so often been led in triumph
through her streets in chains, thrown to the wild beasts in
her amphitheater, or doomed to cruel slaverj'-, now appear
as a bloody and inflexible conqueror, armed with the sword
of vengeance, repaying all the crimes committed against
the liberties of nations in general, and against the Teutonic
tribes in particular." Soon after this victory the great
Alaric died, at the age of fifty-four. To provide a secret
sepulcher, the river Baseno was diverted from its course,
and the monarch was buried with immense treasure in its
bed, after which the stream was again turned into its
natural channel. About this time the Franks and Vandals
had conquered Gaul, and partially subdued Spain. The
Vandals soon penetrated as far as Sicily, and later the
Suives took Spain wholly. Two other of the Teutonic
tribes, the Saxons and Angles, had gone over to the assist-
ance of the Britons, who had been attacked by the Celtic-
Picts and Scots. After driving the enemy back into the
mountains, these Angles and Saxons remained in the coun-
try, not having taken part in the conquest of Rome, and
consequently were the ancestors of the English of to-day.
In point of sterling qualities the Angles did not com-
pare with the Goths and other Teutonic tribes of the
south of Europe.
It would have been natural to suppose, that, in becom-
ing politically united with other races, and by compulsion
forced to adopt other customs and manners, the Gennans
of central Europe would have lost many of their natioucal
peculiarities, modes of thought, and, as a people, have
undergone a radical change in characteristics. But such
was not the case. They strictly maintained the spirit of
their laws, discouraged the marriage of Germans Avith
Romans, and the adoption of their unfamily customs of life.
78 CONFLICT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS.
The next great movement against Kome after Alario's
death was undertaken by Attila, the king of the Hans.
Kingsley describes the battle briefly as follows: Val-
entinian, emperor of the Eoman empire, had confined his
sister Honoria in a convent for some profligacy. Sending
her ring to Attila, he decided to become her champion.
Starting for Eome, he decided to try Gaul first; into
Gaul he poured with all his Tartar hordes, and the Teuton
tribes he had gathered in his progress, as an avalanche
gathers snow in its course from the mountain's side.
Under Attila were Huns, Sclavs, Tartars, Finns, some
Teutonic tribes, Turks, East-Goths, and Lombards.
Against him were the Eomans, West -Goths, Franks,
Burgunds and the Bretons of Amorica.
Attila's force was 500,000 strong. Destroying the
Eoman fortifications on the south bank of the Danube, he
swept across the territory now known as Austria, Bavaria
and Franconia. A protracted seige against the Eomans
followed at Orleans, which was raised by the approach of
the Soman allies under command of Theodorick, the
Goth, the Eoman forces being commanded by the famous
general Aetius. In this great contest which was to fol-
low, Germans were set against Germans, and Germans ^
were consequently the greatest sufferers.
The battle was fought on the plains of the Mame,
near Chalons. It was the most sanguinary conflict yet
recorded in history, and is called in German Hunnenr
schlacht It lasted only from sun to sun, but so great
was the deadly determination to annihilate each other
that 200,000 men were left upon the battle-field as the
result of the day's contest. Attila's army was beaten, and
the Eoman allies were too weak to prevent the retreat of
the renmant of his army back to Hungary. Says an old
CONFLICT OF THE ROMANS AND TEUTONS. 79
historian of this battle : " Antiquity tells of nothing like
it. A fight gigantio^ supernatural in vastness and horror."
n 452 A.D. Attila advanced again upon Bome, but
upon the entreaties of the Bishop Leo I. he was induced to
withdraw. Attila was assassinated 454 a.d. on his way
out of Italy, it is said, by the hand of a beautiful Bergun-
dian girl, Ildico (Hildagunde). His body was enclosed in
three coffins, gold, silver and lead, and, surrounded by his
whole army on horseback, the funeral ceremonies were
conducted. To render impossible the discovery of his
grave, the men who prepared it were put to death.
Germany was now in a most deplorable state. Her
cities, villages, her public edifices, constructed by the
Eomans and themselves, were laid in ashes. Whatever
had been reared by human hands was swept oflP the face
of the earth by the plundering tribes. Soon after these
destructive events had taken place the German general
Odoachar, the son of a high ofBcial of Attila's cour£, who
had risen to distinction in the "Western Empire, was
placed in command of the German auxiliary army of the
Bomans.
Conscious of his strength, his mind filled with plans
not unlike those formed by Alaric, he suddenly demanded
a division of the Roman territory between the Roman
general Orestes, who was to have one-third, the young
emperor Romulus Augustus a third, and himself a third.
Upon being refused he turned the German troops against
them, killing Orestes and taking the Emperor prisoner.
This victory gave Odoachar the opportunity to proclaim
himself " King of the German peoples of Italy," which he
did in 476 a. d. Thus it came to pass, after twelve hun-
dred and twenty-nine years of her existenpe, Rome fell
at the hands of the Germans; but, as the historian
80 ooNFLicrr of the bomans and teutons,
Scherrer honestly says, "Not so much through theu*
designs and power, as because fate so willed it." Rome
was no longer able to stand against the united attacks
of the Forest Children, and the Troll garden was
entered at last. "And the fairy treasure — what had
become of that i! No man knew. Nothing was left, and
back they go and quarrel apart over some petty spoil
which had been saved from the general wreck."
Thus, for five hundred years from the day when
Amiinius coaxed Varus into the morasses of the Teuto-
berger forest, was the history of the German peoples
inextricably interwoven with that of the Eomans. What
would have been further accomplished by Odoacher, had
he lived, it is hard to surmise. During his short lease of
power he established order throughout the Empire, dis-
tributed the Germans among the Romans, gave them a
third of the landed property, and allowed them to retain
their customs and laws.
Says Menzel : " After the fall of Eome, the Latin
tongue and the refinements of the south greatly influ-
enced its conquerors, and drew a broader line of distinction
between them and the Germans still back in the wild and
trackless forests; Christianity also caused a still wider
separation between the converted and pagan tribes.
These circumstances, combined with the hereditary feuds
and restless war-loving character of the Germans, Avere
turned to advantage by their kings, who, influenced either
by zeal for religion, or by ambitious motives, carried on
the struggle, now terminated with Borne, amongst them
selves."
CHAPTEE III
PROM PALL OP WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE TO END OP
THE HOHENSTAUPENS.
I
FROM the death of Odoacher, in 493, it is not pertinent
to the story of the true German tril)es to follow
to its collapse the powerful Ostrogothic empire in 560
A.D., nor to trace the struggles of the Visigoths to
their final extinction. Suffice it to say that King Theo-
dorick (Deitrich) left his impress upon the pages of history
as the Goth " who first attempted to found a- civilized and
ordered state upon experience drawn from Iloman
sources."
The most active of the Teuton tribes at this time,
were the Thuringians, Suevi, Saxons, Bavarians and
Alemanni. The territory occupied by them was bounded
on the east by the rivers Elbe and Saale, on the west by
Gaul, on the south by the Alps. The Franks, originally
Oerman^ being formed of the Alemanni and Catti tribes,
settled on the left bank of the Ehine, and in time took
possession of the whole of GauL The Prankish nation
was founded by Clovis, in 481 a.d. He changed its
ancient name of Gaul to that of France. He married the
famous Clotilda, whose whole family, with the exception
of a sister, had been murdered by her uncle Gundebald of
Burgundy. The legend of their marriage is a very pretty
romance to read, and has the merit of being true. Clovis
was converted to Christianity by the result of a battle.
During its progress, seeing that defeat was possible, he
81
82 FSOM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPESB
swore in case he was victorious to forsake Wodin, the
God of his fathers, and embrace the religion of his Chris-
tian wife, Clotilda, should he be victorious. The battle
being won, faithful to his promise he was baptized at
Kheims about 496 a. d. The Catholic bishops of all Gaul
now assisted him in strengthening his power. He made
acessions to his territory, which extended from the Khine
to the Pyrenees. Clovis is said to have laid the ground-
work for a complete revolution in the internal policy of
Germany and France. He was the first and greatest king
of the Merovingian dynasty. The Gauls having been
early conquered by the Romans had earlier adopted the
manners, customs, and language of the Bomans. When
subdued by the Franks, the historians say, "the Frankish
people were superior to the other German tribes. They
were ingenious, brave and enterprising. Trained to war,
accustomed to victory, fired by ambition, and favored by
their position, they acquired and maintained a power
against which none of the other states were able to make
perceptible inroads."
Clovis' sons were each given a fourth of his kingdom
at his death, which occurred a. d. 511. The Ehine coun-
try, Austrasia, fell to the eldest, while Neustria was given
to his second son. The real German tribes were the
Australians, while the Neustrias were the more Roman-
ized Franks, or, as some historian calls them, " the weak
and licentious Franks."
The Merovingian kings were of this last type, mere
phantoms of royalty, who although wearing crowns were
governed by mayors of the palace, or high chancellors,
provided by the Austrasians, or Germans. These mayors
assumed the title of duke, and in time gained absolute pos-
session of the Frankish kingdom.
TO END OF THE HOHENSTATTFENS. 85
Pepin, a mayor of Dogobert's palace, was the first of
the dynasty to succeed the lazy Merovingian kings.
Although allowing them still to reign, he governed the
country. After Pepin I. came Charles Martel. He was
the natural son of Pepin I. Under Martel the old feud
between the Germans and French was renewed, the
former upholding Martel and the latter the legal kings.
Martel, taking the matter into his own hands, settled
the difficulty by seizing the reins of government and
making himself sole ruler. To him is ascribed the glory
of having delivered France from the pagans of the East,
from the Mussulmen of the South, and saved Christendom
once and forever f I'ora the dominion of the Turk. The
celebrated battle of Poitiers, a.d. 732, was a turning
point, or an epoch, in the history of Europe which has
served as the text for many a congratulatory sermon by
both Catholic and Protestant divines.
It was at this battle, in which he killed numbers of
the enemy by striking them upon the head, that he gained
the name Martel (a hammer). He died in Y14 a. d., and
was succeeded by his son, Pepin "the Short." Pepin
extended his domain into Italy, the Lombards becoming
tributary to France, and through his generosity to the
ecclesiastical power at Kome he was aided in maintaining
his supremacy. He was a sagacious ruler, using his
authority to strengthen the Austrasian influence.
About this time the Anglo Saxons of the far-off isles
to the North had become celebrated throughout Christen-
dom as a very religious people. Their professions and
life were more in accordance with the teachings of the
early apostles than was that of the Franks. Their doc-
trines were simpler; consequently their monks were in
great demand as evangelizers in Germany and France.
86 FROM FALL OF WBSTEBK BOMAN EMPIKB
The Prankish Church, which had not been able to make
much headway among the pagan Germans to the north-
eart — these several tribes judging more by the practices
of a people than by their professions — in looking about
for an energetic missionary Qxed upon a famous religious
enthusiast, called Winfried the Monk. He was asked by
the Church of the French to go over into heathen Ger-
many, and tell them all about the new religion. Winfried,
who was an ideal missionary, consented, and entered upon
his task with energy and zeal. The way in which he
carried on his conversions was bold and somewhat hazard-
ous. It is related that in his wanderings through the
pathless forests and waste plains he came upon a multi-
tude of Germans, who had surrounded an immense oak,
sacred to Wodin, and were engaged in worship. Seizing
an axe, with many loud strokes and loud exhortations
Winfried leveled the tree to the ground. The awe struck
heathen, expecting the monk to be instantly punished for
this sacrilegious act through some supernatural power,
which not being done, they began to lose faith in the
infallibility of their deities, and to listen to the mission-
ary's story. Winfried obtained great power over several
tribes, but with the Saxons he made no headway.
Pepin having concluded his alliance with the Pope in
755 a. d., Winfried became the King's most strenuous sup-
porter. Hie purpose of life was " the unity of the king-
dom of God on earth ; the fraternization of all mankind,
gathered under the care of one shepherd, the Pope,
Christ's vicar upon earth, and the substitution of the Latin
language as the only authorized language of the Church."
lie saw the needs of the people also in a material point of
view. Seeking fertile ground in the heart of the dense
forests, he gained permission to establish industrial col-
TO EHD OF THE HOHEN8TAUFEN8. 87
onies, called monasteries. Soon the earth began to blossom
and produce fruits for the needs of man. His communities
were started upon the theorj'- that the chief aim of man
ought to be the worship of God and solicitude for the
welfare of man. These brotherhoods not only became
the Christianizers, but the ci vilizei-s of tiie age. The mon-
astery established by Winfried at "The Glade of Oaks,"
afterwards called Fulda, was given four miles in extent
upon which to build a church, a seat of learning and mon-
astery. Here Winfried, the Anglo-Saxon monk and
missionary, Avas buried. Since canonized he is called St.
Boniface, and is considered the father of the German
Catholic Church.
The most renowned king of the Carlo vingian dynasty,
which now had settled its supremacy over the Merovin-
gians, was Charlemagne, born at Aix la-Chapelle a. d.
742. He was the son of Pepin " the Short." Legends exist
giving the most w^onderful evidence of his strength of
mind and body when a mere child. He measured seven
of his own feet, says history; his feet doubtless being full
twelve inches. "His head was round, his eyes large, and
his nose somewhat exceeded moderate proportions. His
gray hair was beautiful to behold." His crown, which is
preserved in Vienna, is of gigantic size. Foreign clothes
he would never wear, except at Rome and at the Pope's
request. His habits are thus described in history: Never
' indulging in excesses or luxury, and maintaining his
strength by daily exercise, he was the ideal of a power-
ful ruler. He ascended the throne at the age of twenty-
six. Upon his brother's death he united the whole of
Gaul and Western Germany ; "urged on by an uncontrol-
lable ambition, he burst through every barrier that opjwsed
his entrance into the great and brilliant course he was
88 FROM PALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
destined to run. His fame, like the sun at early morn,
obscured by rolling clouds, shone forth, again and again,
with undimmed luster. Ilis energetic and creative in-
tellect, ever actively and simultaneously employed in con-
ducting his wars abroad, and in improving the internal
condition of his empire, changed the aspect of affairs,
not only throughout Germany but throughout the whole
of Europe, to a new and important era. With him, the
history of ancient Germany closes. All the ancient free
German states and kingdoms were united within the lim-
its of his immense empire. Antiquity sank into oblivion
and Ae middle age commenced with his grand and bril-
liant reign."
. After his great wars, to wit : the destruction of Lom-
bardy, the conquest of the Saxons (the most stubborn
and relentless of the pagan Germans), his wars in Spain,
with the Slavi, the Avari of Hungary and Austria, and
the Norsemen of Scandinavia, his empire extended from
the Ebro in Spain to the Baab in Hungary ; from Bene-
vento on the south to the Eyder on the north. All of the
German tribes in the north of Europe, except the Anglo-
Saxons and Scandinavians, were for the first time united
under one sovereign. All the Western Romans, w^ith
portions of the country east of the Elbe and Saal, inhab-
ited by the Slavi and the Avari of Hungary, were within
his domain.
The act which has come down through the long pages
of history, and which has fixed the character of the man
most firmly in men's minds, is termed, " Charlemagne's
mass conversions of the Saxons," a task which he was
thirty-two years in accomplishing. Keligion was offered
to these pagans at the point of the sword. It was, " be-
lieve or die," and they believed: a practice which was
Die 5<trlad;t bei Dofflngen.
BATTLE KBAR DomHOBN.
TO END OP THE HOHENSTATTFBNS. 91
continued several centuries after Charlemagne's death by
one power or the other ruling in Germany.
Under Charlemagne's masterful sway the Catholic
Church, or, as it was then called, the Christian Church, was
placed upon a firm spiritual and material foundation. He
established many powerful bishoprics in the interior of
Germany, which came to be arms in the hands of the
pontifical power at Rome, to keep in check the ambition of
Germany's emperors.
While he lived, however, his word was law. Pope and
clergy bent submissively before him. He was, although
a man of martial spirit, the patron of learning, the ancient
legends and ballads of the various tribes being collected
and written under his direction. He founded academies
and furnished to the people masters for learning writing,
arithmetic and singing.
Under his reign the first German grammar was written.
Besides encouraging agriculture, he granted special privi-
leges to merchants. He protected the Jews against pil-
lage by severe laws; built roads. for the transportation of
merchandise, and in many ways encom'aged trade. Previ-
ous to his death he crowned his son as associate emperor.
By his father's direction, Louis took the crown from the
" Lord's Table," and placed it upon his own head, to signify
that it was through divine rather than through human
interposition that he was allowed to wear a crown. Thus
was monarchy "by the grace of God established in the
year a. d. 818." Charlemagne died in 814, and was buried
at Aix-la-Chapelle, where, upon his tomb being opened by
Otto IIL, the great Charlemagne was found sitting upright
upon a throne, attired in his imperial robes.
Louis the Pious was unable to keep intact the immense
territory bequeathed him by his father — an empire which
92 FROM PALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRB
consisted of many peoples united by conquest. By the
treaty of Verdun, 843 a. d., the Empire was divided
between Louis' three sons. Lothair was given Italy,
Charles the Bold France, and Louis that portion of the
Empire east of the Rhine, west of the Bohemian forest,
and north of the Danube, and called Germany.
Owing to the weak rule of Louis and his sons, the
nobles, who formerly were mere officers of the King, be^an
to rise in power. They had gone so far as to ask that
their titles become hereditary. Charles the Bold of
France, just before his death, granted their request, at the
same time extending the right of inheritance to all the
fiefs. Thus was firmly established the feudal system in
Europe in 877 a. d. It was only a revival of an ancient
system of the German tribes, — the use of property, lent,
u|x>n stipulated conditions, to emancipated slaves, poor
freemen and armed followers. The rich conquered prov-
inces having been given by the kings to their most brave
and noble adherents, they were called counts (grafs). This
property served for the support of the large retinues swear-
ing allegiance to its owner, the owner in turn swearing
allegiance to his king. These dukes and grafs, or counts,
ere long possessed all the honor, all the influence and all
the wealth of the country. "With their followers they
elected the kings, and often the kings were forced to pur
chase the loyalty of their nobles.
About this time, that is, after the division between
Louis' sons, France became autonomous. A new language
begun to be spoken, formed of the German and Latin, and
her own princes aspired to the sole rule of the French
people.
After the death of Louis the Child, the last of the five
German Carlovingian kings, Conrad the Franconian sue-
TO END OF THE H0HENSTAUFEN8. 93
ceeded in gaining the crown of Germany in opposition to
the Saxon duke, Henry. At Conrad's death, after reign-
ing five years, and at his request, Henry I. was elected
king, A. D. 919. He must be considered as the founder of
the independent German nation. Making war upon the
duchies of Swabia, Bavaria and Lorraine, ho established
imperial authority over these dignitaries. His object was
to lessen their power and increase that of the cities. The
municipal privileges he granted were the foundation, of
the German corporations which became so powerful in the
twelfth century. The boundary line of Germany proper
Henry placed as far east as Prague, and as far north as
the Danish provinces.
The Saxon dynasty was not continued after the death
of Henry I., but, as the dukes and princes still elected their
king, a great gathering of the people, says the historian,
had hastened f I'om every quarter and encamped on both
sides of the Ehine, between Worms and Mayence, to take
part in the elevation of an emperor to rule over them.
Dukes appeared in person, followed by processions led by
margraves and counts, with banners flying and horses
neighing. With equal state come the archbishops, bishops
and abbots, with their pious but haughty retinues. The
broad plain scarcely sufficed to hold the number of noble-
born Germans, met to elect the successor of their dead
King, who on his death-bed had recommended Count
Conrad, but whose claim was opposed by his older cousin,
Duke Conrad.
The election of one of tliese men was unanimously
resolved upon, both of the competitors agreeing for the
sake of the state to yield submissively to the will of the
majority. The electors met and the first vote cast was
for Conrad the Elder. All the bishops added their suf«
94 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRB
frages, and he was declared elected Emperor with one joy-
ous acclaim. His cousin was the first to congratulate
him upon his accession. Conrad II. proved to be one of
the noblest sovereigns that ever swayed the scepter of
Germany.
It is claimed that he was no slave to the Church, that
when the Pope, without consulting him, raised theabbotof
Reichenau to the Episcopal dynasty, Conrad prohibited
its acceptance and caused the promotion document to be
destroyed. Conrad II. died in 1030. His son Henry HI.
accompanied the funeral procession to Spires, and while
passing through the town assisted in bearing the coffin
upon his own shoulders. Henry's reign was noted for
the continuance of a disposition inaugurated by Henry I.,
and continued by his father Conrad II., to keep back the
clergy from meddling too much in state affairs. The
Bohemians were the first to commence open warfare
against Henry. They were supported in their rebellion
by the Bishop of Prague, Severus. The war lasted two
vears, but the Emperor succeeded finally in defeating the
Bohemians and their bishop.
Under the rule of Henry III. Hunagry was divided into
counties, or comitate — its divisions of to-day. Vienna and
the surrounding country were severed from Hungary and
united to Austria.
At this time, about 1046 a. d., there was great uneasi-
ness in the Church on account of the claims of three Popes
to the pontifical seat : Benedict IX., who ruled from the
Lateran, Gregory VI. from the Vatican, and Sylvester
VIL frim Sl Maria Maggiore, all at Eome. Henry
determined to put an end to this state of things, and,
going to Bome, held a great ecclesiastical convocation at
SutrL Summarily deposing the three quarreling Popes
FREDERICK WILLIAM, THE GREAT ELECTOR.
TO END OF THE H0HEN8TAUFENS. 97
he placed a German Pope, Clement 11., in power, the three
deposed popes returning with him to Germany. Clem-
ent was poisoned in a short time, and Damasus II., his
German successor, did not live three weeks after his eleva-
tion. The Emperor then appointed a member of his own
family, Leo IX., to the pontifical chair. He first at-
tempted to aboUsh the sin of "simony" — the purchase
of ecclesiastical benefices. He issued edicts rendering
those engaged in such practices liable to the severest pun-
ishments. He met, however, with the most opposition
from the German clergy themselves, and was forced to
fly to the Normans, who fell at his feet in adoration of
his noble qualities. Dying the next year, 1054 a. d., Geb-
hard, called Victor II., was appointed pontiff, who promised
the world to continue the reforms begun by Leo. IX.
Henry III. died in the Hartz mountains in 1056, in the
prime of life. He maintained his royal authority with-
out diminution against the attacks of the aristocracy and
hierarchy, which was much to say of a king at that time,
surrounded by opposing fiefs, dukedoms and warring
nations. He left the Empire in the hands of the Empress
Agnes, his son Henry IV. being but five years old at his
death.
The story of the poor young prince, as told by Menzel,
presents a picture verifying the maxim : " Uneasy rests the
head that wears a crown."
The Empress, although a virtuous, highly cultivated
woman, was totally deficient in that energy required to
rule the wild and daring spirits of the age. Unable to
bear despotic sway over the extensive and distant provinces
bequeathed to her, as her husband had done, she sought
aid through intermediating dukes.
About this time, Anno, Archbishop of Cologne, an
98 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAK EMPIRE
ambitious, stern-temi)ered man, more fitted to bear the
scepter than the crosier, and who despised Agnes, was
determined to seize the regency for himself. Several
conspiracies were formed to take the life of the young
Emperor. These failing, a plan was formed to gain pos-
session of his person. The Empress and her son were
invited to pass Easter at Kaiserswerth, 1062 a. d. After
the banquet, under the pretense of showing the Prince a
boat, he was taken to the Khine, put on board a vessel,
and taken away. The courageous boy perceiving it was
the intention to separate him from his mother, leaped
into the water, but was followed, caught, and borne
back to the vessel. Although pursued on both sides of
the river by the country people, and by the cries of the
Empress for the return of her child, he was carried to
Cologne as a prisoner. The heart-broken mother then
resigned the regency and retired to a convent.
Anno, the archbishop who had planned his capture,
caused a- decree to be passed by the assembled vassals of
the Empire, to empower the archbishop within whose
diocese the young Emperor resided, to act as regent of the
state.
Anno caused the boy to be thoroughly educated, com-
pelling him to learn Latin like a chorister, and undergo
the severest discipline.
The Popes were now to be elected independent of the
Emperor ; or solely dependent upon the votes of the car-
dinals, or highest ecclesiastics. Like the Emperor, he was
declared ruler over the feudatories in his dominions.
Many of the dukes wishing to free themselves from the
rule of the Empire at this time, came under the Pope's
submission.
Alexander n. being elected Pope by the cardinals,
TO END OF THE IIOHENSTAUFENS. 99
Agnes when in power had caused the election of Honorius
II. by the German bishops, A dispute having arisen
between the two pontiffs, Anno, the regent, was called to
Home to settle it. He upheld the Pope elected by the car-
dinals, and Alexander II. remained in power. While
Anno was absent the young Emperor had fallen into the
hands of Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen. He was the
most learned and polished man of the age. By the gentle-
ness of his treatment of the young Emperor, so suddenly
changed from the severity of the former archbishop. Anno,
the effect was soon found to be most pernicious upon
Henry. The Saxons were ever at war with the archbishops,
and Henry was taught to disHke them, as well as the
sturdy German people. This antipathy followed him, and
when he became Emperor caused him great uneasiness and
trouble.
These bishops, archbishops and abbots were constantly
quarreling to see who should gain the most power, tem-
poral as well as spiritual! It is said the young Emperor
witnessed a struggle between the Bishop of Hildsheim and
the Abbot of Fulda for precedence in the church of Gos-
lar, in which several men lost their lives. He heard, there-
fore, little but the ambitious discussions of the aspiring
ecclesiastics in his youth.
When scarcely old enough to bear arms, he began to
oppress the Saxons, who rose up against him, and soon sur-
rounding him in his castle, he was only saved from death
by escaping under the cover of night to Worms. Here the
German dukes offered to assist him, but, afraid of their
power, he appeared in the assembly of Upper Germany
and pleaded for aid. When it was rendered the troops
refused to attack the Saxons, and he was compelled to
accede to their demands. The Saxons now razed every
100 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
fortress to the ground, and dragged the dead body of the
Emperor's brother and his own son from the grave. This
barbarous act brought every duke and prince of the Empire
to join in an expedition for revenge. Henry soon found
himself at the head of an immense army. Inspired by
revenge, he attacked the Saxons; a bloody battle being
fought at Langensalza. The peasantry were hewn down
by thousands. Three years after the Saxons submitted
to Henry, and the dukedom was presided over by Otto
of Nordheim.
Pope Alexander II. dying, the son of a blacksmith,
named Hildebrand, and who had been taken bv Leo XIX.
into his service, aspired to the empty chair at Rome. He
was a man of great talent, and at the time of Henry's
mother's (Agnes) regency, made extraordinary headway
with his great purpose of universal ecclesiastical rule.
Says Menzel : " So intense was the devotional feeling of the
times that the Church merely required an energetic head,
and the Empire a weak ruler, for the temporal power of
the latter to pass into the hands of the former."
Hildebrand had been the moving spirit in having the
Popes elected by cardinals without the aid of the Emperor.
Being now chosen to Alexander's seat, under the name of
Gregory VII., his first step was to decree the celibacy of
aU the clergy - the bishops and priests having families up
to this date, the monks alone being compelled to renounce
family life upon entering the monasteries. " Celibacy would
control the ambition of the clergy by dissolving every tie
between them and family, country and kindred, rendering
them solely the servants of the Church. The German clergy
opposed this measure with great earnestness, but
they were finally compelled to submit. Gregory VII.
made other changes in the election of bishops, and
. • • • •
* • • ••
TO BND OF THE HOHEN8TAUFEN8. 101
declared all the property of the Church, which heretofore
had been obliged to pay a tax to the Crown, now independ-
ent of the Emperor. He, in sum and substance, declared
that " the Pope is through God and instead of God on
earth ; therefore, all powers, whether temporal or spirit-
ual, are subject to Him. The Pope is the sun, the
Emperor the moon that shines with borrowed light."
The Saxons who had suffered at the hands of Henry,
laid their complaints against him before Pope Gregory,
who, having before been appealed to by Henry, to aid in
repressing these rebellious subjects, gave him the oppor-
tunity to act as umpire between them. Gregory
haughtily commanded the Emperor to come to Bome in
person, accusing him of "simony," and excommunicated
the bishops who had served Henry's commands. The
Emperor called a convocation of German bishops at
Worms, A. D. 1076, and deposed Gregory.
Gregory now retaliated by releasing Henry^s subjects
from their allegiance to him and declared him deprived of
his imperial dignity* With the exception of the inhabit-
ants of cities, and the free peasantry, who still held to
their ancient Germanic Constitution, "there was none so
poor as to do him reverence." There was no help for him,
unless he could free himself from the pontifical interdict.
The election of a new Emperor was attempted while Henry
was made a close resident of his castle at Spires.
In this state of embarrassment, Henry escaped, and
with his wife Bertha and infant son, set out for Italy,
accompanied by a single knight, said to have been Freder-
ick, an ancestor of the Hohenstaufen family. The little
company traveled over the frozen country, the coldest
season within the memory of man, towards the land of
forgiveness. They crossed the Alps, and Bertha^ " whom
102 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
danger nor distress could sej^arate from the King, was
drawn over the ice seated on an ox hide."
When Gregory heard of Henry's arrival in Italy, and
knowing that he would draw to his standard the disaffected
bishops and Italian princes, for the safety of his person he
entered the fortress of Canossa, being on his way to Augs-
burg. The Emperor, with his wife, knocked at the door
of the fortress, and Henry was ordered to dispose of his wife
and come alone. Obeying, he was allowed to enter the
castle. The Pope was surprised at the Emperor's penitence,
and assumed greater severity. Upon the gates being closed
Henry was forced to stand between the double walls of
the fortress, three days and nights without food, bare-
headed and barefoot, dressed in a woolen shirt, pleading
to be released from the interdict. Through the media-
tion of Matilda, an ally of Gregory, and on whose posses-
sions the fortress stood, the Emperw was called into the
presence of the pontiff. His approval was promised on
condition that the final settlement of affairs in Germany
should be left to himself, and that Henry should not
resume the title of Emperor until permission was granted
him by the Church.
Mass was performed ; the pontiff taking the holy wafer
in his hands, and breaking it in halves, said : " If the
crimes which you accused me of at Worms be true, may
the host that I now eat cause me instantly to die." Swal-
lowing it, he continued. " Now eat the other half, and
protest your innocence of the charges I make against
you." The Emperor, refusing, was dismissed.
The Italian adherentsof Henry, indignant at his craven
spirit in thus humiliating himself, deserted him entirely.
Stung by their scorn, he determined to shut Gregory up
in the fortress and prevent his return to Borne, With a
TO END OF THE HOHKNSTAUFEN8. 103
knowledge of this determination the interdicted bishops
and German laity flocked to Henry's standard.
A war of five stirring years now followed between the
Emperor and Gregory ; Germany was divided into two
great camps: the Archbishop of Mayence against the
Emperor, and in favor of Gregory ; the Bishop of some
other city against Gregory and in favor of the Emperor;
clergy and Pope against Emperor and clergy ; and so it
went on, the Emperor using every effort to dethrone the
Pope, and the Pope every effort to dethmne the Emperor.
The first battle was fought at Melrichstadt, which was not
decisive, Henry commanding in person, wiiile "Rudolph's
forces (Gregory's adherents) were headed by Otto of Nord-
heim.
In 1080 another battle was fought, and Otto of Nord-
heim was victorious, after which Gregory conferred upon
Kudolph the title of Emperor, and placed a new diadem
upon his head, — Henry being in possession of the genuine
crown of Charlemagne. But Rudolph was to hold the
German Empire only as a Papal fief.
Henry was again excommunicated, and forthwith he
convoked a Gennan conctliu7n, and deposed Gregory a
second time, placing. the ArchbishoD of Eavenna, as Clem-
ent III., in the pontifical chair.
Henry now attacked Kudolph, and the latter was killed,
leaving Gregory's party without a leader. New adherents
hourly flocked to the Emperor's side. Leaving his affairs
at home in charge of the Hohenstaufen whom he had
made Duke of S wabia, he hurried off to Rome for the pur-
pose of humbling his old enemy, Gregory. Proceeding
to the city he took it by storm, a. d. 1083. Placing
Clement III. in the chair, he was soleranlv crowned Em-
peror again. Gregory, who had fled to Salerno, returned
104: FROM FALL OF WE8TEBN BOMAN EBfPIRE
•
with a force of wild Normans, who proceeded to sack the
city. The Romans collected in great numbers and drove
the marauders away. Gregory again escaped to Salerno,
where he died about 1085, saying : " Because I have loved
justice and punished injustice I die an exile ! "
After eflfeclually settling his enemies, a respite from
wars followed, and for a rew years the Empire enjoyed a
state of peace ; but with a peaceful country came discord
in the family. Henry had left his eldest son, Conrad, at
the head of aflfairs in Italy. Marrying lolanta, the daugh-
ter of Roger of Sicily, and afraid of losing the imperial
crown of Germany, on account of his father's excommuni-
cation, Conrad caused himself to be crowned at Milan in
1095. For this act he was disinherited by his father, and
died of remorse, it is said, a. d. 1101.
The already powerful Church party in Rome and Ger-
many had enlisted in its service the poor but now famous
monk, Peter the Hermit. As early as at the beginning of
the tenth century it was customary for the very religious
to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to be able to pray at
the tomb of the Savior of mankind. Their garb, a black
cloak, a long staff, a broad-brimmed hat and a rosary,
procured from Jerusalem, distinguished them from all the
rest of the world. The Arabs, who were in possession of
the Holy City, had permitted them to build churches and
a hospital for the care of pilgrims, worn and sick with a
year's journey on foot to Jerusalem. As the Jews had
been the merchants of the East, and these Christian pil-
grims were apparently in much better circumstances than
themselves, a jealousy arose between them, which was the
origin of a report that the church erected over the Holy
Sepulcher was to be destroyed and the pilgrims would
bencoforth be refused admittance within the wall? of
TO END OF THE HOHBNSTAtlPENS. 107
Jerusalem. This disposition to keep oat the Christians
was attributed to the Jews, and the terrible persecution
of this people in France, in 1011 a. d., was the result of
this report. Upon the taking of Jerusalem by the Turks,
about 1085, a general persecution of the Christians in
and around the Holy City took place. This caused great
consternation throughout Europe.
Peter the Hermit, returning from a pilgrimage, at the
news, fired with holy zeal, determined to bring all Chris-
tendom to the rescue of Jerusalem. Seated upon an ass,
he rode through Germany, exhorting and calling upon the
faithful to enlist for warfare against the infidel, and to
snatch from his despoiling hand the sacred spot containing
the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. This direct appeal to the
whole Christian Church was received with religious enthu-
siasm.
For nearly a thousand years the people of Europe had
been fighting for territory. Since the days of Charle-
magne something had to be provided for the employment
of the numerous retinue of vassals attached to every duke's,
graf s, bishop's and emperor's person. Even a release
from the wars of the Franconian dynasty, which had been
mostly between the temporal and spiritual powers of the
Empire, would have been sufficient excuse for the flying of
the masses to arms, in order to reach a country where the
nearness of God to man was beheved to be greater than in
their own land.
To his standard Peter brought thousands upon thou-
sands. Associated with him, and a man of action, was
Walter " Sensavehor," or, as the Gernians called him and
his followers, ^^Hcibenickts " — " have nothings," — and they
were rightly named.
Peter, pinning a large red cross upon his breast, made
108
FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
a holy vow " with this to conquer." His converts followed
his example, and thus was started the first military
organization, called " The Crusade." Several pilgrimages
had been undertaken as early as 1033 a. d., in which great
numbers had gone together — as many as seven thousand
joining Siegfried, Archbishop of Mayence, only two thou-
sand of whom ever returned to their homes.
This first army of Peter the Hermit (forty thousand
strong) was mostly composed of the fanatical poor, to
whom any change was a boon. Every serf joining the
holy ranks was declared free, and capable of bearing arms,
the acme of every serfs ambition.
It was difficult to control so suddenly enlisted an army,
made up of so many nationalities, and, consequently,
before leaving Germany and France, many excesses and
crimes were committed against the inoffensive Jews, who
were derisively called "the Crucifiers of Jesus Christ."
Hardly had the holy army reached Hungary and Bulgaria
when dissensions arose as to where supplies were to be
obtained. Robbery and foraging were compulsory ; conse-
quently but ten thousand of the great host were able to
reach Constantinople, most of them having been killed in
battles and starved to death. The spirit of adventure,
which had never slept in Germany nor France among the
higher classes, now had a new field opened up to it, and
so enthusiastic did they become that many of the nobility
spent their entire fortunes in fitting out expeditions for
the Holy Land.
In 1096 A. D. Chevalier Godfred, Duke of Brabant, the
old ally of Henry IV., raised a body of ten thousand
horse and seventy thousand infantry. He was joined by
dukes, counts and princes, the whole number of the cru-
sading army being swelled to more than a hundred thou
to END OF THE HOHENSTAtJFENS. 109
sand men; some went by land, the French separating from
the main body and crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Upon
reaching Greece, their commander, Hugh de Vermandois,'
was seized and thrown into prison, and was only released
upon condition that he acknowledge Alexius, Emperor of
Greece, his liege lord. There was no alternative to the
French crusader, and he took the oath. When Godfred
arrived, although enraged at seeing the brother of the
French monarch a subject of Greece, he, in order to gain
. an ally, took the oath of allegiance, when all the other
princes and dukes followed his example.
But through hunger, fevers, and the battles of Antioch,
and the siege of the Mohammedan commander, Ker-
bugha, the crusading forces were greatly reduced — some
historians say to not more than three thousand knights and
thirty thousand men. But while Kerbugha was playing a
game of chess one day some of the crusaders succeeded
in planting a black flag upon the highest tower in Antioch.
Singing hymns, headed by Ademar, the Christians
advanced ujx)n the Turkish camp, and put their army to
rout ere they were aware of what had taken place. Upon
tlie falling of the Turks' camp into the hands of the starving
troops of Ademar, a public thanksgiving was held and
Bohemund was made Prince of Antioch.
The Mohammedans no longer opposed the advance of
the crusaders. The Caliph of Egypt sent presents and
gave them permission to worship in Jerusalem.
Their wearisome pilgrimage was nearing its close.
They were at Necropolis, and as all were impatient to
reach the goal, the remnant of the army marched all night.
It is said an eclipse of the moon took place during the
night, which was interpreted to mean the fall of the
Mohammedan Empire. The crescent was to rule no more in
110 FBOM FALL OP WK8TEBN SOMAN EMPIBB
the East. Says Menzel : " At break of. day on the 10th of
June, 1099, the travel-worn and blood-stained Christians
reached the heights of Emaus, and, suddenly beholding
the Holy City, with one accord sank upon their knees,
kissed the sacred soil, and sang joyful praises to God.
But difficulties were still to be overcome ; their number
had diminished to less than two thousand horse and
twenty thousand foot. The country around Jerusalem
was an arid waste. The city was strongly garrisoned,
and the harbor of Joppa was blockaded. But a Genoese
fleet succeeded in landing its troops, who, hurrying to the
aid of the Christian forces, assisted them in constructing
high towers, but which, upon being pushed close to the
walls of the city, were destroyed by " Greek fire." The
pilgrims then began to march around the city in solemn
procession, chanting hymns, and Peter .the Hermit
preached from the Mount of Olives. Their enthusiasm
now rose to madness, and finally two men, followed by
Duke Gkxlfred, mounted the battlements. The crusaders
followed, a deadly struggle taking place within the wall,
and seventy thousand Mohammedans were slain. The
Jews were burnt alive in their synagogues. Every infidel,
of whatever nation, age or sex, was mercilessly destroyed.
Jerusalem was taken July 15, 1099 a. d., and Godfred was
made king. His brother, Baldwin, became Prince of
Edessa ; Bohemund was already Prince of Antioch ; Tan-
cred became Count of Galilee. These being placed in
charge, the others of prominence returned to Europe.
The usual troubles of the successful soon overtook
them, however. Internal dissensions between the victors
followed; and so fresh crusades were inaugurated for two
objects — to reap new fame, and to annihilate the Turk
and extirpate Islamism forever. Many battles were
qUKEN BOPHIE CnARLOTTB. WIFK OF FREDERICK I
TO END OP THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 113
fought and many of the leaders killed, and still Islamism
survived.
During all the first years, and until the taking of
Jerusalem by the crusaders, Henry IV. continued Emperor
of Germany, although excommunication had been pro-
nounced against him again by Pasqual II., the Pope
of the Church party. In 1104 his youngest and most
beloved son, Henry, considering his father too old for
the times, rebelled against him. His cause was supported
by Pasqual, and the nobility who were opposed to his
father ; but the cities remained faithful to the old Emperor,
with one exception. The two armies of father and son
were brought up near Eatisbon for the contest, when the
father, in the sorrow of his heart, says the historian, fled,
perhaps too hastily. He still had many adherents in the
Rhine country, and a conference was proposed between
father and son. The Emperor came, and, struck to the
heart at sight of his ingrate child, fell at his feet crying,
"My son, my sonl If I am to be punished by God for
my sins, stain not thine honor, for it is unseemly for a son
to sit in judgment over his father." This unnatural son
appeared to feel remorse and started away to Majj'ence,
where the Diet was being held. Succeeding in separating
his father from his suite, he imprisoned him at Bingen,
where the old Emperor was visited by several Papal
bishops and requested to give up the crown jewels.
To this he would not consent, and arraying himself with
Charlemagne's insignia of power, he defied them to touch
him. The bishops were unawed, and succeeded in gaining
possession of the jewels and carried them to Mayence,
where they were placed upon the person of his son. The
Emperor had not abdicated. That must be required by
the Diet. The Emperor wished to visit Mayence to argue
114 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
his case, but his son, fearing his old adherents would rally
around him, would only allow his father to proceed as far
as Ingelheim, when, in company with the dukes of the
realm, his son compelled him to sign his abdication. After
escaping to Spires, and being refused assistance by the
Bishop, whose cathedral the Emperor had richly endowed,
it is said the old King was obliged to sell his boots for the
wherewithal to satisfy his hunger. He died a. d. 1106.
Two j'ears after his son was proclaimed Henry V. His
favorite saying was : " Men have much and various knowl-
edge, but no one is thoroughly acquainted with himself."
He is said to have fought sixty-five battles. The son's
experience with the Popes was similar to his father's. He
was a strong character, inheriting many traits from his
father and grandfather, Henry III. His vigorous gov-
ernment soon brought down upon him the anger of his
former Papal partisans, and it was not long before Henry
V. was excommunicated by a synod held at Vienna and
only because he refused to cede to the Pope his right of
investiture ; in other words, the right to give possession of
any manor, office, or benefice to a subject. The Emperor
took no notice of this action of the synod, but employed
his Chancellor, Adalbert, to settle the matter for him at
Rome. The Chancellor, as commanded, opened negotia-
tions u|X)n the basis that henceforth the strictest division
between the powers of State and Church be adhered to —
" the State never to meddle with ecclesiastical aflFairs, and
the Church to remain unpossessed of lands and worldly
wealth." This could not be agreed to by the Church, as
the Chancellor well knew. But the basis upon which the
Church would agree was this : That the Emperor resign
his sole right to investiture ; also the sole right of appoint-
ing bishoi>s ; to disclaim the right to Church lands and the
royal dues from Church property.
TO END OF THE HOMENSTAUFENS. 115
This cut short further negotiations, and Henry, seizing
the persons of the Pope and his cardinals, made them pris-
oners. A battle ensued between the Germans and Romans,
in which the Germans were victorious. The Romans,
reduced to extreme necessity, urged the Pope to conclude
a treaty of peace with the Emperor. After two months'
imprisonment Pascal yielded. The Emperor was to retain
the right of investiture and Henry was never to be excom-
municated as long as Pascal lived, and so Henry V. was
crowned April 13, 1111.
Upon the Emperor's return to Germany the Pope was
advised to declare the agreement void, it having been
extorted from him by force. The dispute now raged for
ten years. Although Pascal did not excommunicate
Hienry, many of the legates and heads of churches did,
which occasioned fresh troubles in Germany between his
adherents and the Church party.
After Henry's Chancellor, Adalbert, deserted him,
and whom he had made archbishop of Mentz, frequent
troubles arose in the north of Henry's Empire.
The Saxons, always ready for rebellion, joined the
ecclesiastical party in favor of Lothair, as emperor of
Northern Germany. Henry marched against them, won
a victory, and the next year, 1114 a. d., married Matilda,
the daughter of the king of England. It was on this
splendid occasion that Lothair came barefoot, and, upon
his knees, begged for mercy.
The Emperor had seen the power of the dukes and
other rich vassals in his father's thirty years' reign, and
determined to curtail it in his. These efforts raised fresh
conspiracies, which were always supported by the ecclesi-
astical party, allied with the French. But the cities were
all in favor of the Emperor, and whenever he called upon
116 FEOM FALL OF WESTERN BOMAK EMPIRE
1
them for men or means they liberally responded. Leaving
Northern Germany to take care of itself for awhile, and
placing Southern Germany under the guardianship of a
trusty Hohenstaufen, Frederick of Swabia, Ilenry set out
with a large army — 30,000 horse, besides infantry and
servitors — for Italy. Upon his approach Pascal II. fled
from Eome, and the imperial crown was placed upon
Henrys head by a Portuguese archbishop, the only pre-
late to be found who could be induced to perform the cer-
emony. The Emperor now proceeded to seize the rich
lands willed to the Church by the Countess Matilda,
Ilenry insisting that such ducal property should revert to
the crown. Here he remained for two years, making
friends. Whilst Germany was in the throes of a mighty
controversy with Rome and her ally, the French, the
princes and dukes continued their senseless disputes, so
that but two cities, Cologne and Munster, remained zeal-
ous supporters of Henry, the former opening her gates to
receive the Emperor and the latter expelling the papal
bishop.
In 1122 a partial revulsion of feeling seems to have
taken place. Henry had succeeded in surrounding
Mayence, where Adalbert, his former Chancellor, but now
at the head of the Papal forces, was encamped. The
Saxons marched to the relief of Adalbert, but upon being
met with such intense opprobrium by the other Germans,
they became ashamed and a parley was held. A treaty
of peace was held at "Worms, where it was settled that the
Pope should have the right to invest the bishop with ring
and crozier, but the election should be made in the pres-
ence of the Emperor or his representative ; that the new
bishop receive his estates as a fief of the crown, etc. By
this concession the bishops were more dependent upon
Koiiig ^ricbrid? 1.
KING FKKDEKICK I.
TO END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 119
Rome than upon the Emperor, and the throne was corre-
s|X)ndingly weakened. Henry was freed from the inter-
dict A. D. 1122. Soon after a war broke out between
England and France, and the Emperor's brother-in-law.
Prince William, having been drowned, Henry V., Emperor
of Germany, was next in succession to the throne of
England. The Emperor left no means untried to unite
Germany and England in this struggle against France
and the papal power. But the princelings, grafs and
dukes only saw the diminishing power of the vassals and
the increasing power of the State in such a union and
refused to come to Henry's aid.
The Emperor was neither supported in his endeavors
to lessen the troubles of the people. Says Menzel : " He
expired in the prime of life, with the bitter consciousness
of the defeat of all the schemes for the sake of which he
had acted so criminally toward his father. A bad son,
but a great emperor, whom misfortune might destroy but
could not bend." Henry V. left no heir, and bequeathed
his inheritance to Conrad and Frederick of Hohenstaufen,
the sons of his faithful adherent, Frederick of Swabia.
THE SAXON DYNASTY.
At the close of the reign of Henry V. " the Church came
forward as a new power, with its resources better organized
than those of the Emperor, with a deeper influence over the
I^eople." Therefore it came to the point at last with Henry
that the strength of the crown lay alone in his personal
following. Henry V. was the last ruler of the Franconian
dynasty. The next Emperor was Lothaire H., elected by
the four nations, the Saxons, the Franks, the Bavarians and
the Swabians, in the year 1125 a. d. He was elected on
account of the support he had given to the papal party
120 FSOM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
while Duke of Saxony. He succeeded in defeating the
Hohenstaufens, whom Henry V. had made his heirs, in
several battles. His reign was marked by the Diet of
Magdeburg, a. d. 1135, at which the first regulations of
the German Empire were framed. He died a. d. 1137.
At his death the great struggle between Church and
State, which had commenced with Henry IV. and was
destined to become the burning question for centuries,
was now openly avowed and sides taken." On one
side stood the pontiff at Kome supported by France and
an un-German faction in the Empire called " Guelphs." On
the other side was the "Emperor, who, besides defend-
ing the prerogatives of the State against the encroach-
ments of the Church, sought more especially to uphold
the interests and honor of the German nation against
the Italians and French, in pursuance of which he was
but too often treacherously abandoned by his own party
in Germany." They were the Hohenstaufens and were
called the Ghibellines from Frederick's birth-place.
THfe HOHENSTAUFEN DYNASTY.
In the election which took place 1138 the Hohenstaufen,
Conrad III., was elected Emperor because he was favored
by the Pope. He is represented as having been a man of
great beauty and intelligence. Scarcely had he been
invested with regal power when the old feud broke out.
The clergy themselves were not a unit in their oppo-
sition, some of the convents and monasteries objecting to
the control of local bishops, claiming to be only respon
sible directly to the Pope at Rome.
The former personal and communal independence of
the people was fast passing away. The.Church assumed the
all-directing power, to which the princes, as well as the
TO END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 121
lowly Gerraau peasants were required to bear unquestion-
ing allegiance. To this slavish obedience the Hohenstauf en
objected, and the population of the cities and towns in
whose breasts stiU burned the old German spirit of national
independence, rose up to aid the Emperor in throwing off
the ecclesiastical yoke. A characteristic episode is related
of Conrad's early reign. In a siege which had lasted for
some time against the fortified town of Weinsberg, the
Emperor commanding the " Ghibellines," and Henry the
Lion, duke of Bavaria, the " Guelphs," or the contending
factions, a battle was fought outside the walls. Conrad
was victorious over his rebellious subjects. All, with the
exception of a small detachment of Guelphs entrenched
behind the walls of the town, acknowledged their defeat :
but these absolutely refused to surrender. This, show of
stubbornness so enraged the Emperor that he resolved to
wreak vengeance upon the obstreperous garrison. He com-
manded that only the women and children should be
allowed to walk out unharmed, but the men should be put
to the sword, while the city was to be given over to the
soldiery for pillage. Famine at last compelled the garrison
to accept the Emperor's terms. The women marched out,
and, throwing themselves at the feet of Conrad, suppli-
cated him to modify his terms of surrender. Conrad at
last impatiently replied : "Well, in God's name, each of
you may take what she can carry from the city on her
back, and be gone in peace; but no more. This is all I
will grant. " The astonishment of the Emperor can be
imagined when, at daybreak the following morning and
the evacuation was to begin, he and his soldiers beheld the
women coming from the gates bearing upon their backs
each a husband, brother or lover through the open gate.
This womanly and unselfish act so affected the Emperor
122 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
that ho permitted the whole garrison to withdraw without
hindrance or molestation.
Conrad went on a crusade, supported by the French,
but both armies were almost deciminated ; Conrad sick,
and Louis of France discomfited, both Emperors returned
to their respective dominions, determined, for the time
being at least, to let the Turks have the East. His son
dying, Conrad did not long survive him.
Conrad, the first Hohenstauf en, reigned fourteen years
(a. d. 1152). The double eagle was introduced by him into
the arms of the Empire. It was taken from the arms of
the Greek Emperor, and was symbolic of the ancient
Eastern and Western Empire.
There being no opposition to the claim of Conrad's
nephew, Frederick Barbarossa, the crown was solemnly
placed upon his liead at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1152, with the
title of Frederick I. " He was remarkable," says history,
"for his handsome and manly appearance, the genuine
German cast of his countenance, which distinguished the
whole family, and powerfully conduced to their popularity."
Short-cropped, blonde hair, curling closely over a broad
and massive foi^head, blue eyes, well-curved lips, a fair,
white skin, well -formed and muscular, combined with sim-
plicity in dress and manners, and a pleasing portrait of this
noble chevalier is had. His beard, which inclined to red,
gained for him the Italian sobriquet, " Barbarossa." His
accession to the throne was under the most favorable
conditions, to wit : with the sanction of all the heretofore
warfaring princes. A peaceable reign was therefore pre-
dicted, but such was far from being the fact. " Ever mind-
ful of the greatness of his destiny, Frederick was at once
firm and persevering, a deep politician and a wise states-
man. He directed his principal attention to his most
TO END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 123
dangerous enemy, the papal party." Bestowing prizes,
such as the crown of Denmark to Sueno, and the Duchy
of Bavaria in reversion to Henry the Lion, and more to
those opposed to Hohenstaufen rule, he made preparations
to march into the heart of the enemy's country. Too
proud to bend the knee to the ecclesiastical powers in Italy,
and deeming it his duty to jealously guard the imperial
dignity of the German crown, he determined to secure the
peace of his empire by the imposition of shackles upon the
Pope. He believed the pontiff would never suffer him to
remain peacefully in possession of his rights, and therefore
he must carry on the war in his adversary's habitation
and among his ranks.
Accordingly, in ] 164, two years after being crowned,
Frederick crossed the Alps, and called all the Italian
dukes and princes with their vassals, to act as his body-
guard in the field. All who refused were to forfeit their
fiefs. The Ghibellines obeyed but the Guelphs refused.
Milan sent a defiant answer. As the city was too well
fortified to attack, the Emperor proceeded to level to the
ground the surrounding cities in communication commer-
cially with Milan. At Pavia he seized the iron crown of
Lombardy (Italy) and began negotiations with Hadrian
IV. to crown him. Home trembled at Frederick's
approach. "The Pope solemnlj^ crowned him at St.
Peter's, and the Emperor in return held the stirrup of
Hadrian, which, being interpreted, meant that the spirit-
ual power could not retain its empire without the aid of
the temporal. Frederick caused the picture representing
Lothair's acceptance of the crown in fee from the Pope to
be burnt, and expressed his displeasure at the artful manner
in which the Church falsely sought to extend her authority
by saying : " God has raised the Church by means of the
124 FBOM FALL OF WESTEBN BOMAK ElfPIBE
Stale, but the Church seeks to overthrow the State. She
has commenced by painting and from painting has pro-
ceeded to writing. Writing will gain the mastery over
all, if we permit it. Efface your pictures and rewrite
your documents, that peace maybe preserved between
the State and Church."
Troubles arising at home, the Emperor was forced to
return to Germany in 1156, his two years' siege in Italy
yielding no satisfactory results. Difficulties arose in Bur-
gundy, which were no sooner settled than Poland was in
arms. Peace being secured, Milan was found in insur-
rection over the collection of a tax. Frederick was again
over the Alps with an army of 115,000 men, and Milan,
after a year's siege, capitulated. He now ruled Italy with
a rod of iron. Being called back to Germany to settle
feuds, this task was soon finished by unseating one duke
and placing a faithful vassal in his empty place.
In 1164, Pope Victor dying, Frederick, with England,
acknowledged Pasqual III. as the rightful Pontiff, while
the papal faction chose Alexander III.
This decision caused Alexander to lookout for himself.
The German army had openly affirmed "they wanted
nothing but gold." This had raised the whole Italian people
against them, and Alexander made a triumphal entry into
Home A.D. 1165, and there excommunicated the Emperor.
Again Frederick was off for Italy, where he invested
Pasqual with the tiara, and himself was a second time
crowned Emperor in St. Peter's, 1167 His fine army was
nearly destroyed by a pestilence. On his retreat beyond
the Alps, being hotly pursued, he ordered the hostages
taken by his army to be hanged by the roadside. He
narrowly escaped death himself, the Knight von Sieben-
eichen placing himself in the Emperor's bed while the lat-
ter escaped under cover of night.
TO END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 125
In 1174 Barbarossa again crossed the Alps, compelling
Henry the Lion, of whom he was always suspicious, to per-
form field duty. The Lombard League assembled an
immense army to oppose the Emperor. In 1176 a decisive
battle was fought near Lake Como. Frederick was most
disastrously defeated. He was reported dead for some
days, but appearing at Pavia, where he found his wife in
mourning for him, he was forced to acknowledge Alexan-
der as Pope. The next year, at Venice, some historians
say, Barbarossa was compelled to submit to the humiliation
of lying prone upon the floor with Pope Alexander's foot
upon his neck. Whether true or false, the Emperor was
subdued, and soon after returned to Germany to discipline
Henry the Lion. This duke, who was son-in-law of Eng-
land's King, was exiled by Barbarossa for three years.
Peace now reigned in Frederick's domains, but the
Emperor was never to know rest. The news that Saladin,
the Sultan of Egypt, had succeeded in recapturing the
Holy City, which had been in the hands of the Christians
for eighty-eight years, with the added information that
the golden cross upon the church spire of the Holy
Sepulcher had been thrown to the ground and the cres-
cent substituted, created profound consternation through-
out all Christendom, causing, it is said, a terrible shock
to the Pope, from the effects of which he soon died.
His successor, Clement HI., called upon the people and
princes to hasten to the rescue of the Holy City. In
response to his fervent appeals crusaders from all parts of
the Empire flocked to Eegensburg to offer their services
to Barbarossa. Although seventy years old, the Emperor
placed his son Henry in charge of affairs at home, and, at
the head of an army of 150,000 men, set out for Palestine.
Scarcely had he reached the borders of the Greek
126 FBOM FALL OF W£6T£BN SOMAN EMPIRE
Empire when his hardships began. Isaac, the Emperor of
Greece, contenting himself with calling himself "The
Holy," allowed the famishing army of European crusaders
to shift for itself. Barbarossa, having formerly declined
to acknowledge the Emperor's suzerainity, or to do him
homage, many difficulties naturally met the Emperor of
Germany everywhere. His army was refused provisions ;
upon which Barbarossa gave his soldiers license to plun-
der and devastate the beautiful country of Greece. With
this wholesome example before him Isaac "the Holy"
was soon brought to terms. Placing his entire fleet at the
disposal of Barbarossa, the army was enabled to reach
Asia Minor. They were met by a swarming horde of
Turks and Arabs, whose forces, in several engagements,
were beaten by the crusaders. Before the battle of
Iconium, when Barbarossa's arm v had been reduced to less
than ten thousand active men, the aged Emperor hastened
to the front, and while encouraging his troops the old
Hohenstaufen war cry was borne to his ears upon the
breeze, at which note of encouragement Barbarossa's son
hurried forward with a portion of the army, defeated the
Turks and entered the city of Iconium. Putting great num-
bers of the inhabitants to . death, the crusaders obtained
immense booty. Barbarossa, believing his son to be lost,
burst into tears, upon wliich his whole bodyguard fell to
weeping. Surrounded by the Sultan's forces, there ap-
peared no way of escape for the Emperor ; but, being
equal to the occasion, old as he was, he rose to his
feet, crying out, " Christ still conquers ! " headed his
chivalry, assaulted the enemy and gained a great victory.
Reaching Iconium, where plenty reigned, the army was
united and a forward march soon ordered. Reaching
the small river Seleph, tho road becoming blocked, Bar-
jriebrid) IPiltielm T. oor feincn t&ttnMntn.
PREDKKirK WII.I.IAM r. INSPECTING HIS CREKADIEItB.
TO END OF THE H0H£N8TAUF£Nd. 129
barossa, impatient to cross, attempted to ford the stream.
Owing to the heaviness of his mail, he was carried under
by the current and drowned. His body was brought
to shore by his trusty knights and buried at Antioch,
A. D. 1190.
The news of the renowned Emperor's death caused
great consternation in the army, and for years it was not
believed in Germany.
Said a French writer of that period: " News so deadly
piercing, even to the marrow and bone, has wounded me
so mortally that all hope and desire of life have passed
from me. For I hnve heard that that immovable pillar of
the Empire, Germany's tower of strength and its very
foundation, and that morning star which surpassed all
other stars in splendor, Frederick the mighty, has ended
his life in the East. Thus no longer exists that strong
lion whose majestic countenance and powerful arm
frightened savage animals from devastation, subjected
rebels and made robbers live in peace and order.'*
A legend still exists, showing the always prevailing hope
that the unity of the German people might be again realized
under the insigna of the double eagle. It is as follows :
The ghost of the Emperor Frederick having passed into
his castle, ' Kylf hauser Berg," in Wui*temberg, in a deep,
cavern there he sits, his arms resting upon a granite table,
and sleeps. His yellow beard has grown up through the
granite during his long and troubled slumbers. At the
end of every century he awakes and asks, "Are the ravens
still flying over the mountain i " If answered, " They
are, and no eagle has appeared to drive them away," he
replies sadly, " Must I then sleep a century more ? "
Barbarossa was followed by four emperors of the
130 FROM FALL OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPtRB
Hohenstaufen dynasty; Conrad IV., a youth of seventeen
being the la-st.
"The little church," says Menzel, "to which it was
Barbarossa's custom to descend from the castle to hear
mass still stands, and over the walled-up door may be read
the words, Ilic t/ransibdt CcBsar, Portraits of the Emperor
Barbarossa and his wife, Beatrice, may be seen at Welz-
heim, near the church."
Under this dynasty the order of knighthood reached
us Highest splendor. The wara with the East had intro-
duced new fashions and brilliant colors. The army had
enriched the country with Eastern fabrics brought from
the thriving Italian cities, and from the Oriental mer-
chants.
The armies were dressed in woven mail, and resembled
" glistening snakes," as the Turks declared.
The principal entertainment furnished the people was
the tournament, under the patronage of the nobihty and
participated in by the chivalrous knights. These public
exhibitions were as far elevated above the brutal gladia-
torial entertainments of Rome as the humanitarian religion
of this young German people was elevated above the dil u ted
religion of Rome's highest civilization.
These orders were founded upon the principle that
right only deserved the succor of might. A solemn oath
was taken in the presence of a prince or the Emperor not
to draw the sword except for a noble cause. Then came
the religious orders of knighthood, for the object of war-
ring against the infidels in the East and in their own land.
These were known as " The German Order of Knights,"
"The Brothers of the Sword," etc.
But it cannot be denied that however much the pros-
perity of the German Empire was enhanced under the
TO END OP THE HOHEN8TAUFEN8. 131
Hohenstaufens, the liberties of the people were more and
more limited. The agricultural classes were reduced to a
state of simple slavery. All treated them alike; nobility,
knights, clergy and tradesmen. The class known as free
men, formerly tillers of the soil, had almost disappeared.
The only recompense this agricultural class received for
the loss of their liberties was the draining of vast tracts
of swampy lands in Germany, the introduction of valua-
ble grains and the cultivation of tlie grape. The Inliabi-
taira of the towns and cities were, however, fast gaining
in power and influence. They wei'e permitted to regulate
their local affairs as pleased them best, being directl}^
responsible to the Emperors themselves. Of course, the
old class distinctions still religiously prevailed ; there was
still the domestic class, the tradesmen and merchant class ;
these making common cause against the nobles, their pre-
rogatives were considerably curtailed towards the end of
the twelfth century.
The cities of Frankfort, Mayence, Cologne, Nuremberg,
Augsburg and others were teeming with newly created
workshops, filled with artisans. Their merchants were
pushing trade to the new East and North. The cities,
having been leagued together, in time became the fore-
most and most wealthy cities in the world, styling them-
selves "The Hansa Confederation." Great progress was
made in agriculture. It was at about this period, a. d.
1248, that the foundation was laid for the magnificent
cathedral at Cologne by the Freemasons, and v/hich was
finished after William III. had again established a Ger-
man Empire. This period in Germany's history is also
marked by the revival of letters. The songs of the Niehe-
lungen, by an unknown author — an epic poem similar
to Homer, and from which the world-renowned music-
132 FROM FALL OF WESTEKN ROMAN EMPIRE
composer, Wagner, has taken the stories of most of his
operas — was written in the twelfth century. The Hohen-
staufen princes produced a number of authors classed under
the term mirmesingera (troubadours). Among the many
writers of what was called minndieder (love songs) was
Von TBogelweide, who sang not only of love but of
national glory and the corruption that began to prevail
in Church and State, such as the purchase of benefices
and the selling of titles of nobility. These early poets
began in literature what was finished six centuries after by
Goethe, Schiller, Lessing and others. To the student of
German history these early Teutons furnished heroes and
heroines worthy the task of the most lofty imagina-
tion. " It was a period when the practice of chastity and
continence bestowed the blessings of health and strength
upon the ruling people of Germany, and they had reached
a state when loftiness of sentiment was synonymous with
the term, ^chivalrous in purpose.'" Tbe reign of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty represents tlie most glorious period
of German history during the middle ages.
With the fall of the Hohenstaufens the whole of Bur-
gundy was lost to the German Empire. Naples and Sicily
followed, and Lorabardy continued only to show the sem-
blance of obedience. However, this loss was compensated
for in the annexation of the Prussian territory. These
people had been christianized by the " Brothers of the
Sword," much in the same compulsory manner as Charle-
mange had christianized the Saxons.
These Prussians were a wild, independent people, gov-
erned by chiefs and their priests, living principally by the
chase and agriculture, and in frequent depredations upon
the neigboring country of Poland. Although the " Broth-
ers of the Sword," claimed great credit in the christian-
f
KSnig ^tbridr 11. (i>tt (Srogt).
Klag Frederic 1 1 (the Great).
TO END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.
135
izing of these Prussians, the civilizing influence of the
traders from the commercial cities in Germany was, prob-
ably, the most eflfective agency in their conversion.
Between 1232 and 1256 a. d., many of the neighboring
inoabitants moved into Prussia and became absorbed with
the native population.
. f
/
OHAPTEE IT.
PROM THE nOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOlLERN.
FOE nearly twenty-five years after the death of Con-
rad IV., the last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, Ger-
many was in a state of anarchy. The decline of the
imperial power, as well as the great growth of the cities,
had increased the assumptions to power of the princes
and their several grades from the highest dignity down ;
these w^ere now called the " States of the Empire." These
estates were jealously guarding their territory as well as
their individual and collective prerogatives. There were
the princes, the dukes, the margraves, landgraves, counts,
barons, archbishops, bishops, convents and cities, each
striving to attain the ideal ancient freedom enjoyed by
their German ancestors. Some called themselves "free
of the Empire " while others called themselves " free of
the great feudal lords."
Constant encounters took place between these small
and large estates. Sieges and combats wore the years
away, until the belligerents themselves wearied of this
state of eternal contention, and determined to terminate
it, and also, because Gregory X. had threatened to ap-
point an Emperor unless speedy action was taken in the
matter by themselves. They finally decided upon Rudolph
of Hapsburg, a. d. 1273. He was the founder of the
present dynasty of Austria.
The uncompromising warfare which had been waged
by the Ilohenstaufens against the ecclesiastical powers at
Eome was not resumed by the Hapsburgs, the elevation
to power of Eudolph being aided by the Papal party.
186
I
I /
FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLESN. 137
Although possessing but a small strip of territory in
Switzerland, upon which stood the Hawkscastle, and a
similar estate near the Khine iii Swabia, he was from an
old and noble family whose ancestry dated back to the
seventh century. Intelligent and courageous, he became
an able adviser in the councils of the estates, and an effi-
cient conwrninder in the field. Ilis elevation to the throne
was received with demonstrations of joy. Holding aloft
a cross, in place of the usual scepter, on the occasion of
his coronation, he said: "Under this emblem the whole
world has been redeemed; it is the best scepter under
which emperors can rule." This sentiment, embodying
peace on earth and good will to men, was received by thg^
people with enthusiasm. (^ The only prince that refused to
swear allegiance to the new Emperor was Ottocar, of
Bohemia. He raised the standard of revolt, openly pro-
claiming his intention to establish a separate Sclavonic
Empire. Ottocar declared war and marched against
Budolph, and was defeated and killed near Vienna, a. d.
1278. Rudolph allowed Ottocar's son to still hold Bohemia,
but the Duchy of Austria he presented to his son Albert^
Budolph never ventured beyond the Alps to secure
for the crown Germany's rights and privileges in Italy.
Gregory X. came in person to Lausanne to bless him, in
order that he should have no excuse for visiting Rome.
Rudolph humbly knelt at the pontiflPs feet, and promised
unconditional obedience. Derided for this act by one of
his subjects, he replied :
"Rome is the lion's den, into which all footsteps enter-
ing, never return ; I therefore prefer to serve rather than
fight the lion of the Church."
Rudolph^s principal solicitude during his reign was
138 FROM THE HOHENRTAUFBN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN.
the promotion of the internal interests of Germany, and
the furtherance of the peaceful avocations of the people.
With these important reforms in view, he was not, how-
ever, neglectful of his own private interests. The lack of
territory experienced by his family he felt in duty bound
to remedy, and this disposition cost him the most of the
troubles of his nineteen years' rule.
Having married his daughters to the Dukes of Bavaria
and Saxony, and another daughter to the restored heir of
Bohemia, son of Ottocar — excellent matches for the exten-
sion of his power — ^he presented the Duchy of Austria to
his eldest son Albert, and to Rudolph the younger the old
Hapsburg estates in Switzerland and Swabia. At the age
of sixty-six he married Isabelle of Burgundy, a child of
fourteen.
He substituted the German language for the Latin in
the recording of all official documents of his Empire.
At the refusal of the Frankfort Diet to choose his son
Albert his successor, bowed down with disappointment,
the old Emperor started for Spire, and died on the way
at the age of seventy-three, a. d. 1291. Through the
haughty and grasping character of his sons, who were not
possessed of their father's politic nature nor inspired by
his generous aims for the welfare of the people, the Haps-
burg dynasty lost much of its early prestige./
The electoral princes accordingly set Albert aside, and
raised Count Adolphus of Nassau to the imperial throne.
Soon discovering that Adolphus was determined to give
the people a more liberal government, the princes turned
again to Albert, and persuaded him to raise an army
against their Emperor. The electors claimed that Adol-
phus had received a subsidy of a hundred thousand pounds
(Eljfalictb £t)rii)ine, <9<;maf)lin jriebcidi's II
BLIZABETIt CHRIBTINE, WIPB (IF FKEUEIItCK THE UREAT.
FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEItN. 141
from England to become its ally against France, but,
reconsidering the matter, had failed to carry out the con-
tract or to return the money. He was called before the
electors, but ignored their right to try him, when he was
deposed. "War ensued, when Adolphus was slain by
Albert's own lance. Upon Albert's accession he attempted
to subjugate a part of Switzerland. Many of the cities
and smaller communities had been allowed to retain their
ancient local privileges, but Albert claiming authority
through imperial power and the possession of Swiss terri-
tory, began a series of oppressions, through the aid of his
Austrian coadjutors or deputy governors. Of these small
autocrats, clothed with quasi-judicial powers and sent to
Switzerland, were Beringer von Landenberg and Gessler
of Bruneck.
The Hapsburgs claimed the shepherds of Schwj^z and
Unterwalden as serfs, which the shepherds declared
illegal, producing a document signed by former Emperors
of Germany in evidence of their freedom. Albert was
determined, nevertheless, as Emperor of Germany, to
abolish the local differences of privileges and to subject
the free communes to imperial rule. His governors
proved neither unwilling nor slow in obedience to his
commands. As an illustration of some of the persecutions
suffered by the Swiss under Albert's governors, the old
chronicle of Tschudi has the following : " In the year of
our Lord 1307 there dwelt a pious countryman in Unter-
wald, whose name was Henry of Melchthal ; a wise, pru-
dent, honest man, well to do and in good esteem among
his country folk ; moreover, a firm supporter of the liber-
ties of his country and of its adhesion to the holy Eoman
Empire, on which account Beringer von Landenberg, the
142 FROM TUB HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLBBN.
Governor over the whole of Unterwald, was his enemy.
This countryman had some very fine oxen, and on account
of some trifling oflFense committed by his^on Arnold, the
Governor sent his servant to seize the finest pair by way
of punishment, and if the old Henry made any objection
to being thus robbed, the servant was to tell him it
was the Governor's opinion the peasants should draw the
plow themselves. The servant carried out his master's
commands. But as he unyoked the oxen the countryman's
son Arnold fell into a rage, and, striking the servant's hand
with a stick, broke one of his fingers. At this the son
fled to the forest, where he concealed himself for a long time.
The servant complaining to the Governor, old Henry was
seized and his eyes torn out. His son, hearing of his
father's wrongs, laid the matter secretly before the trusty
people of Uri, who with him awaited an opportunity to
avenge old Henry's misfortune."
. Gessler, the Governor of Schwyz and Uri, treated the
peasantry and citizens with equal cruelty. He erected a
strong fortress for refuge in time of danger, and also as a
means to keep the people in greater awe and submission.
On being asked the name of the fortress, h^ replied,
" TJri's prison." This greatly offended these law-abiding
shepherds and peasants. The Governor, perceiving the
anger of the people, wickedly determined to humiliate
them still further. On St. John's day he caused a pole to
be erected in the market place and a hat to be placed on
the top. Every man who passed was commanded, on pain
of confiscation of his property and corporeal punishment, to
bow the head and bend the knee, as if to the King him-
self. Placing a guard at the base of the pole to report
those who refused obedience, the day found no rebels.
FROM THE IIOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN. 143
Oir the following Sunday morning, however, an honest
peasant of Uri, William Tell by name^passed several times
hefore the hat u])on the pole witlvout paying it due homage.
This was told to the Governor, Gessler, who on the fol-
lowing morning summoned Tell to his presence. It would
seem that Tell's insolence had been agreed upon, in
order to bring about a collision between the people and
their tvrannical Governor. The immediate cause of this
resolution was that one day Gessler was riding through
the country, when coming to a handsome house, and see-
ing the owner, Wernherr von StiiuflFach, standing before
the door, who welcomed him in a friendly way, the Gov-
ernor inquired, " to whom the house belonged ? " Von
Stauffach suspecting the question boded no good, cau-
tiously replied, " My lord, the house belongs to my sover-
eign lord, the King, and is your and my fief." At which
the Governor rephed, " I will not allow peasants to build
houses without my consent, or to live in freedom, as if
they were their own masters. I will teach you to resist
me," and rode away.
These threats greatly disturbed the wise and thrifty
Von Stauffach, and, entering his house, he told his wife.
With a woman's wit she saw an escape from this no-
longer-to-be-suffered bondage. Said she : " The people are
complaining of this Governor's tyranny, and if some of you
who can trust each other can meet, you may take counsel
together how you may throw off this wanton power."
Her husband hurried away to Uri, and finding Walter
Furst, who mentioning Arnold, the son of blind Henry,
he was called in, and these three agreed to call all the
trustworthy people about them together, to take measures
for regaining liieir ancient liberties and expelling the
despised Governor
144 FROM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLESK.
In the Butli, a lonely valley between high mountains,
near the lake of the four cantons, thirty-three patriots
met, and swore to make Switzerland free. It is supposed
Tell was of this number.
When Tell therefore arrived at the summons of Gess-
ler the Governor haughtily asked him "why he had not
bowed his head and bent his knees to the pole with the
hat on it?" Tell replied, "My dear lord, it happened
unknowingly, and not out of contempt ; pardon me ; if I
were clever, I should not be called Tell. I beg for mercy ;
it shall not happen again." Tell was a good marksman,
and had not his equal in the whole country ; he had, also,
beautiful children, of whom he was very fond. The
Governor sent for them, and said : " Tell, which of your
children do you love the best ? " Tell answered, " My
lord, they are all alike dear to me." Upon this the Gov-
ernor said: "Well, Tell, you are a good and true marks-
man, as I hear, and you shall prove your skill in my pres-
ence by shooting an apple from off the head of one of
your children; but take care that you strike the apple, for
should the first shot miss, it shall cost you your life."
Tell, filled with horror, begged the Governor on bended
knees to dispense with the trial. " He would sooner die
than shoot at his own child, etc., etc." Tschudi goes on
to tell how the trial was made, and Tell was successful;
how he had concealed an arrow for the barbarous Gov-
ernor in the breast of his shirt in case he had shot his
child, for which design Gessler swore he would take Tell
to a place where he would never more behold sun or moon.
Binding him, the servants took Tell to a boat to cross to
Brunnen, when he was to be taken across the country to a
castle to pass the rest of his life in a dungeon. While
FROM THE HOHEN8TAUFEN TO THB HOHENZOLLEBN. 145
they were upon the lake a terrible storm arose, whereat
Gessler and the servants became much frightened. Said
the boatman : '^ My lord, Tell is a strong man, and can
manage a boat well; let us make use of him." The
Governor, who was in mortal dread of drowning, said : " If
you bring us out of this danger I will release you from
your bonds " ; to which Tell replied, " I trust, with God's aid,
to bring you safely out of peril." Thereupon, Tell was
unbound, and, standing at the helm, guided the boat care-
fully through the waves ; but, watching his opportunity,
as he approached a great rock he seized his cross-bow
lying in the bottom of the boat, jumped out upon the
rock, and, with a tremendous push sent the tossing craft
back upon the billowy lake. Running to a secret retreat,
he there lay in wait for the Governor and his servants.
After some delay they came along the hollow way, and
Tell, springing from his ambush, drew his cross-bow and
shot the Hapsburg Governor through the heart. A
chapel stands upon the spot, as well as upon the rock in
the lake to commemorate the event. Tschudi further
says that the first Swiss Confederation was formed a year
after this event , to be in force ten years, with the reser-
vation of their allegiance to the Emperor and Empire.
" There has been a disposition to consider William Tell
a myth," says Menzel, " but in 1388 a. d., in the provincial
assembly at Uri, a hundred and fourteen people present
declared they had known Tell personally, and that he was
drowned at Burglen during a flood, while attempting to
save the lives of several persons."
Upon the death of Albert, although the crown of Ger-
many was claimed by Philip of France for his brother
Charles, the dukes and princes, fearing French domination
14G FROM THE HOHENSTAITFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLESN.
in Germany, refused to elect him, but chose a small count,
Henry of Luxemburg. He was a celebrated knight m
the tournaments. He was crowned a. d. 1308, as Henry
VII., though both the iron crown of Lombardy and the
imperial crown of Germany were stiU in Italy.
Historians say he proved to be one of the noblest
Emperors who ever sat upon the throne of Germany.
" Deeply conscious of the duties imposed upon him by
his station, he followed in the steps of Charlemagne and
Barbarossa, remaining a stranger to the petty policy of his
late predecessors, who sacrificed the State for the sake of
increasing the wealth and influence of their own houses.
Repelling the assumptions of France, and repairing the
losses sustained by the Empire since the fall of the Hohen-
staufens, he kept aloof from the broils engaged in by his
jealous princelings at home. The Italians had become
weary of French rule, and the time seemed propitious for
again uniting Italy to the German Empire, but he was not
supported by the aristocracy of his realm. Said the
Emperor sadly : * Enemies multiply abroad, when those
before whom they were wont to tremble are engaged in
dissensions at home, and the bitter feuds between the dif-
ferent races in Germany, will, ere many years elapse,
become deeply and ineradicably rooted.' "
It is said Henry VII. was poisoned by a monk while
receiving the holy sacrament, August 24, a. d. 1313. He
was upon the point of being married to Catherine von
Ilapsburg, who awaited him at Pisa, and, instead of her
royal bridegroom, was met by his corpse.
The oligarchical electors now became divided, each sup-
porting an aspirant for the empty throne. The Guelphs
and Ghibellines, old enemies for centuries, marshalled
FROM THE HOHEN8TAUFEN TO THE HOUENZOLLERN. 147
their separate electors, and the contest resulted in placing
two kings over the people — Fre(ierick III., a Hapsburger,
and Louis of Bavaria, a Luxemburger, both grandsons of
Kudolph I. The young men were friends, their childhood
having been passed together. Separated by political
events, and*plac«d at the head of their respective factions,
they were forced to outwardly appear enemies. Privately,
however, they bore each other no ill-will. After a hotly-
contested battle they were said to have slept together as
two cousins. Frederick having been taken prisoner during
the battle at Ampfing, a. d. 1322, instead of allowing him
to be executed, the King offered to divide the honors and
powers of the imperial crown with him at his release. The
Pope and electors protested against this arrangement. It
was finally settled that Louis should bear the imperial title
alone, but Frederick, as German King, should share the
administration in Germany. Frederick dying in 1330,
Louis became sole ruler. It is said that during the four
years of Frederick's imprisonment in the castle Trausnitz,
his blonde hair turned gray, and his wife, the daughter of
the King of Aragon, wept herself blind. He was called
Frederick the Fair.
The authority of the Papal power having declined
since the faU of the Hohenstaufens, as the power of the
electors had increased, and still more after the removal
of the Papal seat from Bome to Avignon, where, it
was claimed, the French prelates used its influence for
political puri)oses and to the detriment of German prog:
ress, the Emperor offended Pope John XXII. by
pushing the Guelphs to the wall whenever the opportu-
nity offered. The Pope having summoned Louis to
appear before him^ to which the Diet objecting, Louis,
148 FfiOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEEN.
supported by the electors, declared the Pope a heretic,
and, starting for Italy, deposed him, and placed Nicholas
V. in the pontiff's chair. It is claimed that the crumbling
clerical hierarchy would have fallen at that time but
for the half-hearted course of Louis. Allowing himself
to be intimidated by the Avignon power, the princes
finally took up the gauntlet, and in a^ convocation at
Eense, 1338, formed an electoral league and promulgated
the declaration, "that every legally elected Emperor
of Germany had received his power from God, and was
entitled to all its rights and prerogatives, without previous
or present recognition from the Catholic Popes." Yet,
notwithstanding this bold declaration, Louis had not the
strength of character to carry it out. By his deposition
of Pope John XXII. the Italians were disaffected, and
the King was forced to retire fi'om Italy. This setback
affected the future coui'se of Louis.
In 1347, after strengthening his power at home by the
addition of Holland, Zealand and Friesland, he thought
himself strong enough to undertake another expedition
into the Papal dominions, but during the excitement of
the chase, near Munich, he died from apoplexy or, as
some say, from poison.
The discord that prevailed between the electors,
princes and the Emperor, encouraged the Swiss to attempt
re confederation. At the pass of Morgarten, a. d. 1315,
an encounter took place between the German forces under
Leopold, and the Swiss peasants on foot, who successfully
resisted the German " harnessed knights " with halberds,
clubs and huge stones rolled from the mountain sides,
when they retreated with heavy loss. This encounter fur-
nishes the Swiss of to-day with material for many a patri-
FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHEKZOLLEBN. 151
otic, poetic and self-laudatory song or speech at their
gatherings at home and abroad.
A league still existing to further confederation,
another battle was fought in 1339, at Laupen, against the
neighboring German nobles and won by the Swiss. Eight
ancient cities and places now formed a confederation,
Luzerne, Zurich, Glarus, Seckingen, Zug, and later Berne
was added to the number.
It was during the ten years of Louis' reign, from 1337
to 1347, that those fearful natural visitations fell upon
Europe. Comets, swarms of locusts, earthquakes in
Cyprus, Greece and Italy, followed each other in quick
succession. In Carinthia thirty villages were reduced to
mere heaps of ruin by earthquakes, a dreadful pestilence
called the " black death" soon after following. It has
been estimated that a million of people perished during
this pitiless scourge. About this time the Univereity of
Heidelberg was founded. Louis was the last Emperor
excommunicated by the Popes. His death was the signal nJv^
for the beginning of active operations by the Franco-
Roman party to have a German Emperor of their Church
views elected. They succeeded in placing the Margrave
of Moravia upon the German throne.
Charles IV. was his title, and he was expected to serve
the French against England, " though," says the historian,
" he was too prudent a politician and too sensible of his
dignity to allow himself to be long enchained to the petty
interest of a French king." It was at the battle of
Crecy, in which the French were so signally defeated by
the English, that the English King, upon hearing of the
part taken by the Germans in the battle, exclaimed : <^ O
ye Germans 1 how could ye die for a French king ? "
«•<
-p<'^
152 FROM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBK.
The sword of the blind Bohemian King bore the in-
scription Ich Dien at this battle — " that is," says Menzel,
" God, the ladies, and right " — and was assumed at the time
by the English Prince of Wales as his motto, and still
remains such. Charles reigned from a. d. 1347 to 1378.
The only remarkable act of his reign was the promulga-
tion of the document called the "golden bull," which
gave to the seven electorate princes of Mayence, Treves,
Cologne, Bohemia, Palatinate, Saxony and Brandenburg
the exclusive privilege of electing the Emperor of Ger-
many. This "golden bull" remained in force until the
peace of Westphalia, 1648, and almost entirely prevented
contests over elections.
Wenzel, the son of Charles IV., was elected as his suc-
cessor. Germany was passing through internal changes of
thought requiring a strong hand at the helm. A fierce
war raged between the powerful aristocracy and the in-
habitants of the cities. The latter formed leagues called
Jyimda. The Rhenish Bund and the Swabian Bund took
nearly the same position as the Swiss Confederation had
taken, and threatened to become as powerful. But while
the Swiss secured their lasting independence at the battle
of Sempach, a. d. 1385, the Swabian Bund was completely
routed in 1388 a. d. at the battle of Doffingen — called
**the war of the cities." Wenzel established judicial dis-
tricts, called circles, to secure the public peace. Wenzel
was too young, and the Germans called him " a fool."
Having attempted to interfere in the settlement of some
clerical difficulty he excited the ire of some of the elect-
ors, who very unceremoniously deposed him and placed
Rupert, elector of the Palatinate, upon the throne.
Haxdly had Rupert been crowned before he declared war
FfiOM THE HOREKSTAUFEK TO THE B0HEN20LLEBN. 153
against France, and, to win favor of the cities, abolished
the costoms or tariffs of the Bhine. This act turned the
nobility against him. Wenzel continually waged war
against Bupert to regain his rights. Bupert died in 1410
and was succeeded by Sigismond of Hungary. This king's
reign, which lasted twenty-seven years, forms one of the
saddest and most discreditable pages in German history.
The disorganization of the Christian Church, through its
persistent assumption and efforts to retain political power,
and consequently its neglect of the real spiritual needs of
the people, had reached a state appalling to its real
defenders.
From Sigismond's coronation dates the period termed
by historians " the Period of the Kef ormation." He was
far from being the Emperor of his times. But it is claimed
for him that if he had not the energy and power to cor-
rect and improve the tendency of the period, he was intel-
ligent enough to see the evils and to suggest a cure. But
he was not listened to. He was a great spendthrift, and,
consequently, was always in need of money. To provide
for his necessities, and to have the means of paying his
expenses to Spain — ^undertaken for the purpose of persuad-
ing one of the Popes to abdicate — he sold his whole estate
and electorship of Brandenburg, in 1415, to Frederick of
ZoUem, for 300,000 ducats. The purchaser was an ances-
tor of the present Emperor of Germany, and from this
period the HohenzoUerns became a political power in
Prussia. Two events which transpired during the reign of
Sigismond have served to tarnish his name throughout the
ages, and whatever good he accomplished was outweighed
and lost sight of in the bigoted and barbarous execution,
A. D. 1415-'16 of the two worthy and learned men, John
Huss and Hieronymus of Prague.
154 FBOM THE H()BRN8TAUF£N TO THE HOHBNZOLLBBN.
Many demands for a refomiation of the Church prac-
tices had come from Northwestern and Western Europe.
The most powerful impulse to the movement, as in the
early days of Winf ried, had come from England. John
Wickliflfe, a professor of theology at the University of
Oxford, had by his writings caused intense interest in
Germany and Bohemia. Two professors at the Univer-
sity of Prague, John Huss and Hieronymus, became
enthusiastic advocates of his teachings, and were active in
their propagation. Their course roused the indignation
of the ecclesiastical party. Huss went so far as to accuse
the clergy, as well as the Popes — of which, at this time,
there were no less than three— of gross immoraUties. Hav-
ing refused to appear before Pope John. XXIII. at Eome,
to answer to the charge of scandalizing the heads of the
Church, he was excommunicated a. d. 1413. A council
was called at Constance, at which the notable princes
and nobles of Germany and the most powerful Catholic
prelates from all parts of the world assembled, ostensibly
to settle the legal right of one of the three Popes to the
pontifical chair in Borne, but in reality to determine the
rights and discipline of the Church.
As Huss did not recognize the authority of the Pope,
John XXIII., he was cited to appear before the Council,
Sigismond having promised him safe conduct. On the
way Huss had given free expression to his doctrines, and
upon his arrival had preached an offensive serijdon, for
which he was immediately imprisoned in a narrow dun-
geon in the Concilium building, upon the Lake of Constance,
near which the sewers of the town emptied. Other mat-
ters for a time occupying the attention of the Council, and
Huss being attacked with fever, he was removed to the
FROM THB HOHENSTAUFBK TO THE HOHENZOLLERN. 157
Castle of Gottlieben by command of the Bishop of Con*
stance, and chained hand and foot to the wall of his dun-
geon (these chains are still to be seen at Constance).
Here he remained for nine months^ or while the Council
settled the Papal affairs of Germany and the rest of the
world, after which he was called before it. As Huss
entered the assembly room, it is affirmed, a solar eclipse
darkened the earth. Addressing the Emperor who pre-
sided, seated upon a throne, he thanked him for his safe
conduct, upon hearing which Sigismond's face turned
scarlet with shame. Huss then attempted to explain his
doctrine, but the Council would not listen to him. The
articles of accusation, says history, were then read to Huss
and he was ordq^ed to recant.
He was charged with having maintained the existence
of four gods, at which Huss smiled unconsciously. Other
charges were, that he had promulgated doctrines con-
demned as heretical by the Church, such as " that laymen
as well as priests might partake of the Lord's Supper ;
that a priest unworthy of his office could not dispense
the sacrament ; that the Holy Ghost rested upon the
whole congregation ; that every pious laymen was fitt^,
without being ordained, to act as spiritual teacher and
guide ; that the authority of the Bishop of Eome did not
extend over foreign nations, and that, lastly, obedience
was as little due to a wicked prince as to a wicked Pope."
Bepeated addresses were sent from Bohemia to the
Council, in behalf of their protege^ but their demands were
unheeded. Deprived of his priestly office by the Council,
a high paper cap, upon which were printed three devils
with the inscription, "The Arch-Heretic," was placed upon
Huss' head. Huss made no objection, simply observing,
158 FEOM THE HOnKKfiTAUPEN TO THE HOHEKZOLLERN.
"Christ wore a crown of thorns." A procession wa43
formed and Hnss was taken to an open space in the sub-
urbs of Constance. Bound to the stake, and seeing a peas-
ant heaping up wood near him, Huss cried out, " O zeal-
ous simplicity." The wood being kindled, the martyr's
voice was heard singing hynms until the flames deprived
him of his courageous breath. It is claimed that he pre-
dicted Luther's advent by saying, " To-day you will roast
a goose (meaning himself), but a hundred yeai*s hence a
swan will appear that you will not be able to destroy."
Ilieronymus, who had come to Constance to aid his friend,
fled in despair, but was captured, thrown into prison, and,
through hunger, torture and sickness, was induced to
recant. But this act only hastened his condenmation. The
following year, a. d. 1416, he shared the fate of his
co-worker and sufferer, John Huss.
Jlistory says, that owing to the choice of the church
for holding the Council, Constance was ruined. The mur-
ders of these two men lay like a curse upon the beautiful
city, which never flourished after. The hopes of the Cliris-
tian world in the work of the Council were thus doomed to
disappointment. True, an Italian cardinal, as Martin V.,
was raised to the Papacy, putting an end to the anomaly
of three Popes issuing decrees to the Church at the same
time, but a religious war was the ultimate result, engen-
dered between the adherents of Huss and theip opponents,
which war lasted from 1419 to 1435. The Hussites were
led by John Zizka, who had been Chamberlain and favorite
of the Emperor Wenzel ; but becoming enraged against
the priesthood, he took up the cause of the anti-Catholic
party against the King. Their insignia was a cup, which
originated from the casting to the ground by a cardinal-
FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN. 159
legate, the cup lield by a Huss preacher as he was about
to celebrate the Lord's Supper. It was at this time the
churches and monasteries, as well as royal palaces, of Ger-
many and Bohemia, were edifices of linequaled splendor
and of which but a faint idea can be formed at the present
day. Upon the garden walls of the royal residence at
Prague, destroyed during this war, was written the whole
Bible.
After the death of Pope Martin V., his successor tried
every means to bring the war to a terminus. The Maid of
Orleans, who had helped drive the English out of France
and was revered as a saint, was induced to write a letter
to the Hussites, admonishing them of the crime of warring
longer against the holy ordinances of the Church. To
which letter they replied : " You well know what sepa-
rates us from you ; you preach with your mouths, we
practice it in our acts."
Sigisraond died a, d. 1437, and was succeeded by his
son-in-law, Albert II. Like his Hapsburg predecessors he
was a faithful adherent to the policy of the Church, which
policy had permitted one hundred and ten heretics to be
burnt at Vienna, and thirteen hundred Jews for having
aided the Hussites. Albert died two years after his coro-
nation.
Frederick III. succeeded him, also a Hapsburger. That
he was a slow man may be believed, as it took him eleven
weeks to decide whether he would take the crown or not.
He, having decided in the affirmative, was after permitted
to reign fifty-two years.
During his long rule and almost undisturbed peace
Germany developed her internal resources. The arts,
industry and sbciety improved ; the federative system was
160 FROM THE H0HEN8TAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEEN.
begun ; that is, a nnion of the greater and lesser estates
of the Empire was brought about — that of the eccles-
iastical orders with those of knighthood and of the citi-
zens in the provincial Diets ; the union of the government
of the electorates and duchies, by the new method of
judicature, and, lastly, by the corporative system in the
cities.
Frederick's Chancellor, Casper Schlick, who had also
served in the same capacity with Sigismond and Albert II.,
was a doctor; "a man who reached fame far beyond his
merit," says Menzel ; " who never understood the spirit of
his times, nor the duty of the crown, but solely occupied
himself in veihng the deficiencies of his three masters, and
deferring by plausible negotiations decisions of the great
questions that agitated the age. Thus, by his diplomacy
were the people deceived, and the great lesson taught by
the Hussite war of no benefit, to them." Frederick III.
was the last of the German Emperors who were crowned
in Eome. While this Emperor lived an uneventful life, a
simple subject of his, a German mechanic, studied night
and day to perfect an invention which has done more
towards bringing about the humane age in which we live
than all the emperors, kings, popes, presidents or digni-
taries that ever dwelt upon the earth. His name was
Johann Gansfleisch or, as he took his mother's name,
Gutenburg of Mayence, and his machine, the primitive
printing press, was given to the world a. d. 1450. In
1493, Maximilian, the son of Frederick III., and known
as the " Last Knight," quietly ascended the throne. He
was .thirty-four years old, and a man of great acquire-
ments for the age in which he lived. Inheriting the
strength of his Polish ancestry and the mental qualities
13
it
il
FEOM THE HOHENSTAITFBK TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN. 163
of his Portuguese mother, Eleonora, he was chivalrio,
modest, gentle and amiable. It is said of him that when
he went to the Netherlands to marry Mary of Burgundy,
"he appeared at Ghent, mounted on a brown steed,
clothed in silver-gilt armor, his long blonde locks crowned
with a bridegroom's wreath resplendent with pearls and
precious stones, and rode into the city, where he was met
by his prospective bride. The youthful pair, upon behold-
ing each other, knelt in the public streets and sank into
each other's arms. ' Welcome art thou to me, thou noble
Grerman,' said the young Duchess, ^ whom I have so long
desired, and now behold with delight.' " They were mar-
ried A. D. 1478. After the birth of her two children,
Philip and Margaret, afterwards married to the children
of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the patrons of Colum-
bus, the beautiful bride, while hunting was thrown from
her horse and fatally injured. She died in the bloom of
youth A. D. 1482.
Maximilian I. reigned twenty-seven years. This
period may fitly be termed, the transition period from the
decline of feudalism to the age of human progress. It was
eminently a revolutionary period in the minds of men.
" On neither side was contentment to be found," says the
historian Kohlbausch. The old accepted privileges of the
Emperor and the States had become more than ever unde-
fined. The princes often resorted to open war in order to
extend or defend their territory and titles. Whatever the
Emperor had intended to accomplish, he was prevented
from doing by want of means. The greater portion of
the revenue formerly allowed to the Crown had been
appropriated by the States. Maximilian finally suc-
ceeded in inducing them to demand of every person of
164 FKOM THE HOHEN8TAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN.
the Empire one penny out of every thousand he possessed,
or a tenth per cent., towards the maintenance of the Crown.
This tax was seldom regularly paid. The Emperor
attempted to establish a post to facilitate communication
throughout his realm, but the project failed, on account of
want of means and the state of the roads. The federation
of every class made representation in the Diet now pos-
sible. Tiie dukes no longer ruled the whole assembly. A
distinct court of justice was established, but, says history,
'* however excellent ideas he possessed, or however honest
of purpose were the Emperor's efforts, all was alike una-
vailing against the torrent of opposing interest."
Says Menzel: "Maximilian I. intended well. He fer-
vently desired to march against the Turks; to reannex
Italy to the German Empire, to chastise France, but he
was a prisoner in the midst of the weapons of Germany
and a beggar in the midst of her wealth."
He wrote a book of anecdotes, receipts, etc., and left
a biography, the life of an adventurous Knight rather than
that of an Emperor.
Before the close of his reign, the troubles of the Refor-
mation began. The seed planted by Wycliffe in England,
by Huss and Hieronymus in Germany, had sprung up
and borne plentiful fruit. Respect for the ecclesiastical
hierarchy had nearly vanished. The old German univer-
sities had been the bitterest enemies of Huss, and a new
school had been founded by his followers, independent of
the universities, at Deventer. These students under the
name of the "Brethren of Common Life," were
allowed to study the dead languages, and finally came to
be known as the " Humanists." The study of Hebrew, how-
ever, excited the suspicion of the Papal powers, and one
FBOM THE HOUENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN. 165
of its advocates, who insisted the Bible should be read in
the Hebrew language, was imprisoned for life. Pope Leo
X., who was a pure man, who became cardinal at the
age of thirteen and Pope at thirty-seven, was a patron of
art. He was blamed, however, for draining Germany of
most of its revenue to build the gigantic church of St.
Peter's. After the crusades, instead of going to Jerusalem,
pilgrimages wore made to Eome, and whoever laid an
offering on St. Peter's shrine was to receive remission for
his sins. These oflferings were to be sent every Jubilee,
and were found to be so productive they came to be
held every twenty-five years. Millions were poured into
the Papal treasury. As all could not go to Eome, the
means of purchasing absolution was offered by a paper
currency, with the price of every sin fixed, and this cur-
rency was offered for sale throughout Christendom. This
indulgence was termed " The Roman Pardon." The wor-
ship of the Virgin Mary had become almost as important as
that of God or the Savior at this time.
The Emperors, suffering for money, became restive at
the immense sums raised by the sale of indulgences, and
in 1500 A. D. it was declared, in an imperial decree, that
two-thirds of this amount should be retained for the
defense of the government against feared attacks from
the Turks. Nothing came of it however. About this time
two men of great learning, Erasmus and Melancthon, the
latter a zealous " Humanist," appeared as preachers advo-
cating a reformation in the Church ; but although it
came to be an age of learning, the common people were
far removed from its influence, and the scholars, liberal-
minded as they were, had not the power or wanted the
courage to teach them openly and freely. In all ages
166 FROM THE HOHEN8TAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN.
men have arisen however, ready and fitted for tne per-
formaiice of the duty demanded of them. This man of
courage and ability was Martin Luther, the son of a poor
miner of Saxony (those Saxons were a wonderful people,
always found opposing tyranny of every sort). He became
a monk and a professor of theology at the new Human-
ist University at Wittenberg in 1512. His first public
action w^as inspired at the shameless conduct of a retailer
of indulgences in Saxony. He published his work, "Ger-
man Theology," in 1516, a work, says the historian, written
in the simple severe style of the best mystics; he attacked
the follies and depravity of the age, not with satire and
irony (the weapons used by former preachers), but with
the earnest gravity of a monk, a stranger to the world.
In 1517, he brought out in the church of Wittenberg,
ninety-five arguments against indulgences, the principal of
which were : that, by sincere repentance and penance alone,
not by the payment of money, could sins be remitted ; that
the Pope, being merely the vicegerent of God upon earth,
could only remit the external penances ordained by the
Church on earth, not the eternal punishment awarded to
the sinner after death.
This utterance would have fallen dead upon the Chris-
tian world at large but for Gutenberg's printing press.
Europe was inundated with copies of these Lutheran
declarations in less than a month.
Maximilian's son Philip dying in 1606, after his own
death, Frederick of Saxony was proclaimed regent until
Philip's son, Charles V., should become of age. This
Emperor's boast was " that the sun never set on his domin-
ions." His possessions were Germany, the whole of Spain,
Naples and the late Spanish conquests in America.
FROM THE IIOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN. 167
Cliarles left Spain for Germany a. d. 1521. The
princes and representatives of all the estates of the
Empire flocked to Worms to receive the new Emperor.
A Diet was convoked, ostensibly to regulate the affairs of
the Empire, but in reaUty to decide the Lutheran contro-
versy.
The German princes were pleased with the courtly
bearing of their Spanish-born Hapsburger, and seeing the
necessity of maintaining peace and the unity of the estates
against the designs of Francis I. of France, appeared
indifferent to Luther's schism, and Luther was curtly
ordered to appear before the Diet and retract his heresies.
On his arrival two thousand people escorted him to his
lodgings. His demeanor, as he confronted this imposing
assembly, was that of a man secure in his position. In
vindication of his offense, he spoke at length in German,
which the Emperor requested him to repeat in Latin.
He declared he could not recant in such emphatic
language, that four hundred of the German nobility were
ready to defend him at all hazards. Luther was put under ,
the ban ; that is, he was divested of the right to preach, )
and the people were forbidden all intercourse with him, j
or to perform any office of humanity for his support ojj
comfort. It is said the young Emperor bitterly lamented
after, that he had not made a similar end of Luther that
had been made of Huss and Hieronymus.
On his way home from Wonns Luther was seized, pre-
sumably by his consent, and carried to "Wartburg castle,
where, confined by his friend and patron, Frederick of
Saxony, he translated the Bible into German. While he
was lost to the world, Melancthon, Von Hutton, Erasmus
and Zwingle carried on his work. England's king, Heniy
168 FROM THE IIOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN.
VIII., carried Luther's doctrine to its legitimate end by
throwing oflP the Papal yoke. Charles V. in 1521 raised
his old tutor, Adrian of Utrecht, to the pontifical throne.
This excellent old man projected a comprehensive reform,
but, before his work was accomplished, he expired. His
successor, Clement VII., said : " The separation of the
North was far less perilous than a general reformation ;
that it was much better to lose a part than a whole."
No sooner, however, had the reformers made decided
progress in their crusade against the mother Church, than
they began to wrangle among themselves. Some enthusi-
asts went so far as to declare that most of the doctrines
held by the Church were mere delusions, calculated to dwarf
the intellect and keep the people in a state of perpetual
serfdom. Luther remained conservative, and it was said
of him by the more progressive reformers, " that, though he
had led the people through the Red Sea, he had deserted
them in the wilderness."
While the teachings of Luther were expected to have a
far-reaching and beneficent influence upon the mass of
mankind, in allowing more freedom of religious thought,
their immediate effect upon the ignorant and down-trod-
den peasantry was to rekindle the hope for greater polit-
ical freedom. This sentiment was seized upon by fanat-
ical preachers — adventurous knights — who at the prospect
of a war added every species of fuel to the already smold-
ering fire.
The peasantry revolted, and, joined by several cities
under the leadership of Thomas Munzer and others, pre-
sented their grievances to Archduke Ferdinand, the brother
of Charles V., who had been made ruler over Germany
during the Emperors absence in Spain. The twelve
FROM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN. 169
demands made by the peasantry are good evidence of
their acquaintance with the fundamental rights of man as
expounded at a later period, to-wit :
*'The right of the peasantry to appoint their own
preachers, who were to be allowed to preach the word of
God from the Bible ; that the dues paid by the peasantry
were to be abolished with the exception of tithes for the
maintenance of the clergy, the surplus to be applied to
alleviating the sufferings of the poor ; the abolition of
vassalage as iniquitous ; the right of hunting, fishing and
fowling; that of cutting wood in the forests; the modi-
fication of socage and average service ; that the servant
be guaranteed protection from the caprice of his lord;
the modification of the rent upon feudal lands, by which
a part of the profit would be secured to the occupant ; the
administration of justice, according to the ancient laws,
not according to the new statutes and to caprice; the
restoration of communal property illegally seized ; the
abolition of taxes on the death of the serf, by which the
widows and orphans were deprived of their right, and the
acceptance of theaforesai4 articles, or their refutation, as
contrary to the Scriptures."
They wished Luther to become one of the arbitrators ;
but he refused, some say, because the peasants had become
Anabaptists. They accused him "of having deserted the
cause of liberty and of rendering the Reformation a fresh
advantage for the Princes, or a new means of tyranny."
Numbers of the nobility were forced bodily to join the
peasants' rebellion. Many scenes of bloodshed followed ;
barbarous executions and terrible hardships fill many
pages of the history of this contest
As might have been expected, led by fanatics and free-
170 FROM THE HOHENSTACFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLERN.
hooter knights, such as Goetz von Berlichingen, Metzler and
Jeyer, the revolting peasants were subdued, after which
fearful reprisals were taken by their conquerors. John of
Ley den and two others, after being publicly exhibited in
several German cities, as a spectacle, were tortured with
burning pincers, and put to death by piercing their hearts
with a red-hot dagger. Their bodies were placed in iron
cages and hung from the steeple of a church in Miinster.
The state of the survivors was now more melancholy than
before, as Charles V. and his brother were looking more
towards the extension of the Hapsburg possessions than
to the internal affairs of Germany. Bohemia and Hun-
gary having been added to the Empire by the marriage of
Ferdinand with the sister of Louis of Bohemia, Francis
I. of France now claimed the attention of the Emperor,
which absence rather aided the Reformation in Germany
than otherwise.
In 1543 Charles set out for Italy, where he brought the
whole country under subjection through the valor of his
Spanish soldiers. The next year he collected an army of
30,000 Germans, and marched into France. When within
two days' march of Paris Francis made proposals of peace,
which were gladly accepted by Charles, and signed, a. d.
1544, at Carpi. Burgundy remained with France, but
Francis pledged himself to support Charles, not only in
checking the Turks, but in restoring the unity of faith,
as the anxiety felt by the Emperor and the Catholics lest
the Protestants should acquire superiority throughout
the Empire was not without foundation. The electors in
many instances were declaring themselves decidedly in
favor of the new cause. Universities were also adding
their learning and strength to Luther's cause.
if
FROM THB HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN. 173
One of these electors, Hermann of Cologne, wished to
introduce into his bishopric important reforms and invited
Melancthon to aid him. The corporation of Cologne and
other Catholics in power were opposed to the adoption of
these doctrines, and appealed to the Emperor and the Pope
to use their authority in the case. To make a long story
short, the Emperor felt himself called upon to employ as a
last argument against the innovations demanded by the
converted electors the force of arms. Charles repre-
sented to the Pope that, unless he joined him in active
cooperation against the Protestants, he could do nothing,
as he himself had not the means, and the Catholic princes
of his realm were without energy. Prompt support being
promised, the alliance was completed, and Charles, to be
at peace with the outside world, concluded a treaty with
Francis I. of France.
Says Kohlbausch: "A critical period had now arrived
in the Emperor's life. In forming the resolution to accom-
plish with the sword that which he had so long endeavored
to effect by peaceful means, he fell into a great error,
falsely imagining that the mighty agitations of the mind
could be checked and held in chains by external power.
From that moment, on * the contrary, he was himself
vanquished by that very overwhelming epoch, the course
of which until then he had appeared to direct and hold in
check."
The Smalcald League — the articles of confederation
having been drawn up by Luther, the principal members of
this league being the Prince Elector of Saxony, the Land-
grave Philip of Hesse, the Dukes of Bavaria and others —
were all the strongest opponents of Charles and his allies.
A battle was fought at Muhlberg, a. d. 1547, in which the
174 FROM THE aOHENSTAtFKN TO THE fiOHlfiNZOLLfiBK.
Emperor gained the victory, and took away the territory
of the Elector of Saxony, giving it to Duke Maurice. This
ungrateful noble, offended at Charles' preference for Span-
ish statesmen, such as Alva and others, thought himself
called upon to defend the German princes, and, with sev-
eral of these, formed an alliance with the French king, now
Henry II., against Charles.
This army suddenly marched against the Emperor in
the spring of 1552. They hastened through Germany,
and, after taking the castle of Ehrenberg, reached Inns-
briick but a few hours after Charles had left ; he, being
sick with the gout, had been hurried across the Alps on a
litter. After this victory the truce of Passau was nego-
tiated, under which fighting was to be suspended and
religious toleration promised to the Protestants. This
was assured by the Diet of 1555, at Augsburg. It was
also agreed to permit princes and barons to promote the
Reformation in their own territories , that subjects who
would not accept the religion of their lords must be
allowed to emigrate. Church estates were not to be
secularized ; ecclesiastical princes were required to tol-
erate the Protestant worship; and if a prelate should
adopt the Reformed faith he must give up his clerical
dignities. This appeared a gain altogether for the
Protestants.
Finding that much of his great Empire was slipping from
his grasp, Lorraine being annexed to France, Charles became
discouraged. He was doubtful as to the outcome of the
great religious controversy that had progressed slowly but
surely in his eastern empire since the execution of John
Huss. At the Augsburg Council Charles announced his
Intention of resigning the kingdoms of Spain, the Indies,
VBOU TH£ HOH£N8TAtrFEN TO TR^ HOHtlNZOLLERN. 175
Kaples, and the IN'etherlands to his son Philip, who had
but recently married Mary of England. The project,
although combated by the Catholic party, was adhered to
by Charles, who, sending for Philip, transferred to him at
Brussels, in the same hall in which he, forty years before,
had been declared of age, all his possessions except Ger-
many. Addressing the princes and nobles, who were all
deeply affected, the Emperor said "that since his seven-
teenth year his whole thought had been to promote the
glory of the Empire ; that he had always been anxious to
be personally present in all his undertakings, that he
might be an eye-witness of their progress and results, for
which reason his entire reign had been almost one unin-
terrupted scene of pilgrimage and traveling ; that he had
been nine times to Germany, six to Spain, four to France,
seven to Italy, ten to the Netherlands, twice to England,
twice to Africa, and finally that he had made eleven voy-
ages by sea ; that now, however, his sinking body warned
him to withdraw from the tumult and vexation of temporal
affairs, and to transfer the burden of all these cares to
younger shoulders," and much more of serious import ;
after which, he turned to his son Philip, who had fallen
upon his knees and now kissed his father's hand, and
earnestly exhorted him to use every effort in his power
to render his reign a glorious one.
His brother Ferdinand was formally acknowledged
Emperor of Germany by the Electors, and Charles V.
alone gladly entered a monastery of Spain, a. d. 1556, where,
two years after, he died at the comparatively youthful age
of fifty-six. This act has ever since caused the world to
wonder. A powerful monarch, a successful general, a
man of marvelous executive ability, at the treachery of
176 FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLBSN.
adherents, to resign all his earthly splendor in order to
pass his remaining days in utter seclusion, is a mystery
human intelliorence has found difficult to solve.
About ten years before Charles' death Luther had
died at Eisleben, at the age of fifty-three. They were men
of one period and worthy combatants. Both died unsatis-
fied with their work — the Emperor, doubtless, because he
had done too much against the Keformation; Luther,
because he had not done enough for it.
Of the Emperor it is said: " His private life, for the most
powerful monarch of the age, was decent and orderly. He
was inferior to no general of his times ; was the first to
arm when a battle was fought, and the last to take off his
harness ; was calm in great reverses ; indefatigable in the
discharge of business, and, if it had been possible that half
a world could be administered as if the property of a pri-
vate individual, the task might have been accomplished by
Charles V. On the other hand, Luther had striven to
direct the minds of the people towards those things in life
which tend to the growth of character. He had always
striven for peace, ^ a condition with which the people were
hardly acquainted at that period in history.' "
To use Luther's own graphic language, he was himself
" rough, boisterous, stormy, and altogether warlike ; bom
to fight innumerable devils and monsters, to remove stumps
and stones, to cut down thistles and thorns, and to clear
the wild woods.'' Dissimulation and cowardice were
unknown to him. He was a most faithful representation
and original type of the German national character. Emi-
nently a man of the people, there is no other name to-day
that is so revered and loved as Luther's ; more, even, than
Winf red (Boniface) is he considered the apostle of Ger-
man Christianity.
//
FBOH THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEKN. 179
Says Carlyle : " The basis of Luther's life was sad-
ness, earnestness. In his latter days, after all his tri-
umphs and victories, he expresses himself heartily weary
of living ; he considers that God alone can and will regu-
late the course things are taking, and that perhaps the
day of judgment is not far off. As for him, he longs for
one thing; that God would release him from his labor and
let him depart and be at rest. They >understand little of
the man who cite this in discredit of him. I will call this
Luther a true, great man ; great in intellect, in courage,
affection, and in integrity ; one of the most lovable and
precious men; a right spiritual hero and prophet; once
more a true son of nature and fact, for whom these cen-
turies, and many that are to come yet, will be thankful
to heaven."
At the close of Luther's life Germany was on the eve of
one of the most destructive civil wars that ever visited any
country known in modem or ancient history. " The time
had come," says a great writer, " when the Germans were
to render their most important service to mankind. The
great Reformation found its origin and support in the
character of the German race. From the beginning these
people were distinguished by their preference of substance
to form; of reality to show; of the inward and spir-
itual as opposed to appearances and display. They
were from the earliest times the most independent
and individual of men; passionate in their love of
freedom ; Protestants by nature in Church and State ;
resolute in upholding the right of private judgment
and personal liberty. 'Tis true these characteristics
kept the German Empire from becoming a strong na-
tional power ; but they, also, saved the German mind
180 FfiOM THE HOHENSTAUFBN TO TBE HOHENZOLLKRir.
from religious enslavement and made Germany the battle-
field of the Reformation."
Having already shown that even the emperors of Ger-
many were dependent upon a swarm of independent pow-
ers, authorizing their electors to act for them, it will be
seen that doctrines or beliefs embraced by individual feu-
dal lords, cities or leagues, were not to be gauged by an
edict or a council met together to formulate dogmatical
articles of faith.
Accordingly the Council of Trent, held at intervals for
eighteen years for the purpose of coming to some under-
standing as to the course to be pursued to strengthen the
Mother Church, and, if possible, to regain the princes and
electors who had deserted her for the heresies of Luther,
Erasmus, Melanclithon and others proved of little avail in
healing the breach in Germany. The cause of its ill-
success for the Protestants, says one historian, " was the
mixture of foreigners presiding at these councils, whose
knowledge of our nation was little or nothing, but whose
influence, from the commencement of our history, in all
external as well as internal affaii's, always deprived us of
peace."
The Council closed in 1 563, and Ferdinand I. died in
1564. He was praised as an excellent monarch by both
parties. Catholics, as well as Protestants.
Ferdinand's eldest son, Maximilian II., was chosen by
the Electors as his successor. Said his father in praise
of him, at an assembly of the princes of the realm,
"endowed with considerable intellectual powers, great
address, mildness, and goodness of heart, he is likewise
gifted with all the other princely virtues and good mor-
als ; possessing a disposition open to all that is truly just,
FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLBSN. 181
good, and lionorable, together with a sincere love for the
holy empire of the German nation, the glory and pros-
perity of which it would be his honest desire to promote ;
that he was master of the six languages usually spoken
in Christendom, and was consequently enabled to regu-
late in person all transactions with foreign powers." The
wiilely circulated expression of Maximilian's, that " God
alone could hold dominion over the conscience," caused
the Protestant electors to trust in him. Bohemia, the
radical Refonnation ground in Germany, was well satisfied
with Maximilian's elevation.
Until about this time (1565), there had been no serious
outbreak against the Reformation; but after llie Council
and the doctrines of the Church had been sharply and
clearly defined, the breach became widened between
Catholicism and the two brandies of the reformei's, —
Lutherans and Anabaptists. The inquisition was again
set in motion throughout Southern Europe. The " Society
of Jesus," founded by the Spaniard, Loyola, was devot^
solely now to resisting the spread of the Reformation.
" By founding schools, endowing chairs in the universities
and skillfully occupying the confessionals of princes,"
says Lewis, "they soon acquired enormous influence
among all classes." The conflict was no longer for the
]X)wer of individual States, but for the religious and
political enslavement of all the people of Europe. But
the eighteen thousand terrible deaths inflicted by the
Inquisition failed to lessen the enthusiasm of the reformers.
William of Orange, the son of a German prince, declared
the Netherlands independent of the Spanish crown in 1581
Queen Elizabeth of England undertook the work of pro-
tecting the freedom of Europe from Catholic supremacy;
182 FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHEKZOLLERN.
but France, under Charles IX., Maximilian's son-in-law, had
attempted to annihilate the Protestants (Huguenots) at
one blow by the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day.
Maximilian TI.,upon hearing of this unnatural horror, said:
" Would to God, that my daughter's husband had taken
my advice."
Under Maximilian, who was known to be favorable to
the Keformation, most of his Austrian subjects adopted
the Augsburg Confession, Vienna becoming almost
entirely Lutheran. After reigning eight years he was
succeeded by his son, Eudolph II., who had been educated
by the Spanish Jesuits, and accordingly the policy of
Spain and the government of Germany were now one and
the same, to-wit : to war against Protestantism. Eudolph
paid no respect to his father's guarantee of religious
freedom in his own territory, and revolts soon followed.
The Princes called together a council and deposed Rudolph,
"because his Imperial Majesty had at various times
betrayed his incapacity of mind."
Placing his brother Matthias over Austria, Hungary
and Moravia, they allowed Eudolph to retain Bohemia.
But the Protestants of Bohemia now forced Eudolph to
grant them, by letters patent, the full privileges of their
several ranks, and, in particular, the freedom of religious
worship. Eudolph, dying in 1612j of a broken heart at
his brother Matthias' treatment of him, Matthias, now as
supreme ruler, attempted to carry water upon both
shoulders, metaphorically speaking. The Protestants,
however, were not united against the Papal party. The
Lutherans were opposed to Calvinism. It was not a con-
genial religion for the gay nature of the Germans. It
savored too much of gloom and revenge. At this time,
FROM THE UOIIENSTAUFEN TO THE HOHENZOLLEBN. 183
owing to a half century of comparative peace, " Germany
was richly peopled, well cultivated, and appeared to be at
the summit of her prosperity."
The cause of the terrible war which followed, history
attributes to the course of " two young princes, cousins of
the Emperor, educated together in the school of the
Jesuits, who burned with zeal to restore the old Church
to its original power, and to destroy the heresy of Luther
throughout the land." They were the Duke of Bavaria,
Maximilian, and Ferdinand of Styria. Bavaria had
remained largely Catholic. The Protestants of Donau-
werth having broken up a monastery procession, the
Emperor pronounced a ban upon the city and gave the
Duke orders for its execution. Capturing the city, he held
it as security for the cost of the siege, and restored with
the sword the worship of the Catholic religion. This
caused the Protestants of South Germany to form a
union for self-protection. This union expected help from
France. To counteract this party the Catholics formed a
league, most of them prelates. They expected help from
the Emperor and Spain. Thus stood the state of the
religious controverey about the year of Matthias' elevation
to supreme power. The contest, so far, had resulted in
the ascendency of the Mother Church. The direct inci-
dent which is regarded as the beginning of hostilities, and
which resulted in the " Thirty Years' Religious War of
Germany," is told in history somewhat a£i follows : The
Abbot of Braunau closed an evangelical church,* then
building ; the Archbishop of Prague caused another to be
torn down. The Protestant nobles regarded these acts as
violations of the letters patent granted by Budolph II.,
and complained to Matthias. Being angry, he threatened
184 FBOM THE HOHENSTAUFBN TO THE HOHENZOLLBBN.
them as disturbers of* the peace. They believed his
decision was prompted by the report of two of the ten
councilors he had left to govern Bohemia, during a royal
journey through his empire. At a council called by the
Protestants at Prague, soon after, after a^rolonged and
bitter dispute with the two suspected councilors, a mob
gathered and threw the traitors out of the window,
^' according to the Bohemian custom," it is claimed-
Although the distance was eighty feet, the two men
were but little hurt, and this was regarded as a miracle,
the Catholics declaring they had been upborne by angels'
wings.
The whole of Bohemia was now in arms. Matthias,
sick with dropsy, tried to have Ferdinand, his heir, seek a
reconciliation, but it was claimed the Jesuits defeated
every effort for peace.
Matthias died in 1619, while both parties were prepar-
ing for the terrible struggle. Ferdinand II. succeeded
his father, all the electors, both Catholic and Protestant,
voting for him except the elector of the Palatinate. While
the crowning festivities were at their height, the news
came that the Protestants of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia
were opposed to Ferdinand. They preferred the young
Protestant elector of Palatine, Frederick, whose wife was
the daughter of James I. of England. Frederick went to
Bohemia, and upon proclaiming religious liberty, the
altars ami images of the cathedral were destroyed by some
zealots and the church fitted up as a Calvinistic place of
worship. As much in earnest as were the Lutherans,
they could not tolerate such sacrilegious behavior by Cal-
vinists. Therefore, although offered aid by the French,
and by German princes, the Bohemians, at the approach
FROM THE HOHENSTACB'EN TO THE HOHEMZOLLERN. 185
of the imperial army (divided among themselves) retreated
under the walk of the city of Prague. Led by the Duke of
Bavaria, a decisive battle was fought at White Hill,
Prague, November, 1620, and the Protestant Bohemians
utterly defeated. The Duke withdrew the letters patent,
closed the Protestant churches, and drove the people to
mass. In six months, twentj^-seven nobles were executed
in the market-place of Prague. Thousands left their
homes, destitute. All the institutions of learning were
taken in chai^ by the Jesuits. It is believed that,
during these wars of persecution, the population of Bohe-
mia, which in the beginning numbered about four millions,
was reduced to less than eight hundred thousand. A state
of uncompromising warfare against Protestantism being
now established by the Emperor and Papal party, the
people accepted it and went to work. From the battle at
White Hill (1620)— the day of the landing of the Pilgrims
in America — until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648^ there
was not a foot of territory that could one day be safely
said to belong to this or that prince, this or that country,
this or that religious party.
Says the historian: "The nobles themselves grew
barbarous in the wild work of war, in which they were in
no degree behind the common soldiers ; or else were tamed
and humbled, their spirits broken by continued misery
and privations. The defiant spirit of their ancestors was
gone. A nobleman's estate brought him now little reve-
nue. The peasant had lost his means of support; the
citizen his business and enterprise. In short, the German
life at the end of the contest looked like death. The
imperial unity of the nation was gone, and German history
might have ended hero but for the two great elements of
186 FBOM THE H0HEIJ8TAUFEN TO THE HOHBNZOLLERN.
life which had survived throughout their national distress ;
the spirit of the Reformation and the inborn constructive
vigor always shown in communities inheriting a share of
the old Saxon blood." These characteristics had been
preserved in an eminent degree among the people living
east of the Elbe and called Prussians. Although wars
had devastated these marshes, and their great Elector,
Frederick William, had espoused the Protestant cause,
this region had not suffered so much as Southern Grermany.
The Elector had built up his power out of the wreck of
the Empire, and in a short time Brandenburg became the
center of the great political and intellectual revival of
Germany. It. is not the object of this brief historical
sketch of the reigning families of Germany, to follow the
fortunes of the Hapsburg dynasty to the end of its
supremacy in Germany proper, a. d. 1806, but only to
touch upon the reigns most necessary to make clear the
conditions of the Hohenzollem supremacy in the German
Empire of to-day.
CHAPTER Y.
THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY.
THE earliest ancestor of this royal family of Ger-
many dates back to Count Thassilo, who lived about
the year 800. Not mucb is known of his descendants
until about a. d. 1236, when the family was divided into
two branches, the Franks and S wabians, the former becom-
ing the ruling family. It is not important to follow the
careers of these petty princes and their successors up to
the year 1415, when Sigismond, the Emperor of Germany,
at the date of IIuss' execution, sold the estate of Branden-
burg to Frederick and conferred upon him the title of
elector of Brandenburg.
The real founder of the Brandenburg Prussian family,
however, was Frederick "William, the great Elector, who
was bom a. d. 1620. He succeeded his father, George ' ^ ^o
William, the tenth Elector, when but twenty years of age. ^O- ^
He was brought up under the overwhelming shadow of ' ^-^ ^ '
the terrible Thirty Years' Civil War. In truth, he was just
thirty years old when the peace of Westphal^ ^Ya»*^'g"^,^ ' ^ ^^ J 7
returning to him his lost provinces and constituting him ^-(, n.issrHt
sovereign of his own domain. With that * unconquerable
energy, possessed in a remarkable degree by the Hohenzol-
lem family, the Elector immediately dismissed his father's
Chancellor, Adam von Schwarzenberg, a Catholic, who had
kept his father first upon one side and then upon the
other of the belligerents, on account of which vacil-
lating policy the territory of Brandenburg had unneces-
sarily suffered.
^ 187
188 THE HOHENZOLLERN DTHAflTT.
As is generally claimed, when a man reaches an exalted
position, the Elector's mother had much to do in shaping
his mind and character. He spent several years at the
University of Leyden, devoting himself to the studies
required to be mastered by princes of those da3^s.
Having had his first military experience at the siege
of Breda, which his uncle, Frederick Henry of Orange, had
invested, he had an opportunity to become acquainted
with the distinguished soldiers and statesmen then col-
lected at the Netherlands. This active school had much to
do in directing his future course. Thereafter he thought
and acted for himself. After the peace he directed his
attention to the organization of a standing army. In a
comparatively short time he had 25,000 troops disciplined
according to the Swedish military system. In 1655 he
formed an alliance with Charles X. of Sweden, and took
the city of Warsaw in Poland. This secured the inde-
pendence of the Duchy of Prussia, which had been feud-
atory to Poland.
In 1673, the Elector formed an alliance with the
Emperor Leopold I., the States of Denmark, Hesse-Cassel
and other German cities, to hold in check Louis XIV., who
had seized a line of the frontier towns. Through the
treachery of the Emperor the Elector was defeated, and
forced to give up Wesel and Kees. Two years later the
Swedes, marching into Brandenburg as allies of Louis XTV.,
were met and completely routed. Pursuing the flying
array into Pomerania, the Elector reduced a great portion
of this province, which he released again to Sweden
upon the payment of three hundred thousand crowns. He
now directed his attention entirely to the building up of
his government and to the welfare of his people.
THE HOHENZOLLESN DYNASTY. 189
In 1685 he issued the celebrated edict of Potsdam,
which edict followed in the same month Louis XIV.'s
edict of Nantes. Edicts were not generally issued by mere
Electors at that time, and, accordingly, Frederick WiUiam
edict was considered something out of the usual course.
Mme. de Maintenon having succeeded in inducing Louis
XIV. to assent to the revocation of the instrument which
guaranteed to the Huguenots religious liberty, the fate of
Protestantism in France was sealed. Persecutions fol-
lowed, and those who could not be forced to abjure their
religious belief, and who were able to evade the guards on
the frontier, sought refuge in other lands. Some went to
England, some to Holland, some to Switzerland, some came
to the United States, and a great many went to Germany.
Frederick William, himself a Protestant, saw that the very
best element of the French agricultural and industrial pop-
ulation would in time seek ways of bettering their condi-
tion. He was anxious to re-populate his devastated estates
with this element, and sent repeated invitations for them
to come and make his principality their home. A large
number accepted the invitation as early as 1661, but it was
not until the revocation of the edict of Nantes, twenty-four
years after, that the immigration assumed important pro-
portions. The far-seeing Elector, believing that now thou-
sands would seek refuge in other lands, and desiring to
encourage the stream to flow in his direction, formally
issued the famous edict of Potsdam, in which he promised
religious freedom and a safe asylum throughout his domin-
ion. He also promised assistance and free transportation.
These inducements had the effect of bringing over more than
twenty thousand French Protestants into the Northern
part of Germany. In fact, the Elector was so anxious thus
pe.
190 THE HOUKNZOLLESN DYNASTY.
to increase nis population that he used much of his per-
sonal means, declaring '^ that he would sell his plate rather
than that these Huguenots should lack succor." It is
stated by the historian Weiss that this immigration into
Prussia consisted of soldiers, manu&cturers and laborers.
All received assistance in money, employment and privi-
leges. This hospitality of the wise Elector proved a great
blessing to the future of Prussia^ while the Huguenots, in
their turn, contributed in a proportion very superior to
their number to the greatness of their adopted countiy.
History has justified the remark of Frederick the Great in
his letter to the Duke d'Alembert: "Allow me to differ
with you," he writes, " in regard to the revocation of the
edict of Nantes. I am under obligations to Louis XIV.
for it, and would be thankful to his nephew if he would
do the same thing." This great Elector, whose principle
it was to let every man travel liis own way toward a future
state of happiness, characteristically expressed in these few
words the significance of the edict of Potsdam.
This is but one of the many opportunities he availed
himself of to add to the prosperity of his people and estate.
The " Great Elector " died at Potsdam a. d. 1688. He was
succeeded by his son Frederick, the eleventh Elector of
Brandenburg. The manner in which the son reached a
throne and became Frederick I., King of Prussia, shows
him to have been a man of unusual diplomatic ability.
The Austria Hapsburgs still claimed suzerainty over the
whole of Germany. Frederick's territory, after some pur-
chases from spendthrift Electors, and an inheritance of the
counties of Linden and M3rs from William HI. of Eng-
land, whom the Brandenburg troops escorted to Whitehall,
included a little more than forty-five thousand square
THB HOHBNZOLLBBK DTKABTV. 191
miles, a principality not quite so large as the State of New
York. Europe was agitated by two great wars; that of
the North, between Peter the Great and his allies, Au-
gustus II. of Poland and the King of Denmark, and Charles
XIL of Sweeden ; that of the South, the " War of the
Spanish Succession." The Hapsburgs were anxious for an
alliance with the powerful Elector of Prussia, whose land
did not belong to the Empire. Says the historian Lewis :
" To pretend to royalty in his German possessions was
impossible for Frederick as long as the form of the Empire
continued to exist." The shrewd Prince Eugene signifi-
cantly said of the situation at the time : ^^ The minister
that would advise Leopold II., Emperor of Germany, to
recognize the Prussian throne ought to be hanged." At
Vienna, however, great advantage was expected from such
acknowledgment. Aware of this feeling, Frederick had
himself and wife crowned King and Queen of Prussia, on
January 18, 1701. Said Frederick the Great, in writing of
this step : " In eflfect, my grandfather declared to his suc-
cessors, by this act, * I have attained a title for you ; show
yourselves worthy of it. I have laid the foundation of
your greatness ; you must finish the work.'" This new
King endeavored to imitate the Court of Louis XIV. of
France. He laid out Berlin upon a grand scale ; built an
arsenal, a royal palace in Berlin and another at Charlot-
tenburg, which was named for his wife, Sophie Charlotte
of Hanover. He founded the University of Halle, built
asylums for orphans, academies of science and medical
colleges, to further education. He carried out his father's
policy in protecting religious freedom and strengthening
the military arm of his power.
Unlike his predecessor Electors of Brandenburg, ne was
192 THB HOHKKZOLLEBN tUTSABFY.
not an economizing mier, and at his death, a. d. 1713, the
finances of his kingdom were found to be much the reverse
of prosperous.
His son and successor, Frederick William I., however,
followed in the footsteps of his thriving Hohenzollern
ancestors. He was averse to evcrytliing French in the
administration of his kingdom. In every department he
practiced the most rigid economy. He endeavored, with
the narrow views of the age, to wall his people in. He
prohibited their wearing cloth not woven at home, set-
ting the example with his own family. He established an
informal evening gathering of his friends and advisers,
where each smoked to his heart's content; these meetings
became famous as the " Tobacco Parliament." He was
a furious-tempered man. He seemed at times wholly
devoted to his "blue children" — a name he gave to his
army. The quaint character of the instructor in tactics
and discipline of the army, " Old Dessauer," has furnished
many a German author with the ideal tjrpe of a martinet.
Frederick William is best known to the public, however,
as the Prussian King who had a monomania for stalwart
soldiers. Wherever a giant was found throughout the
wide world he was forced or hired to join Frederick Will-
iam of Prussia's "Royal Guard of Grenadiers" ; and if a
giantess was discovered she was forthwith approached and
persuaded to marry her equal in size out of the Guards, in
order that the race of powerful soldiers might go on
increasing to the King's great joy.
Frederick William's wife was Sophia Dorothea, a Han-
overian, and sister to George II. of England. She bore
the King ten children, the eldest of this ancient number
being Frederick, afterwards known as "Frederick the
Great;'
THE HOHBKZOLLEBN BTNAffrr. 193
During Frederick William I.'s reign of twenty-seven
years, he engaged in but two wars; the first against
Charles XII. of Sweden, the other in the settlement of
the Polish Succession. Before setting out for one of these
wars, it is said he turned to his privy council and exclaimed
wittily: "As I am a man, and may therefore die of a shot,
I command you to take good care of Fritz (Frederick the
Great) ; and I give all of you my wife to begin with. My
curse, if you do not bury me at Potsdam in the church
there, without feasting and without ceremony."
He left his son six miUions in the treasury, and an
army of seventy-two thousand well equipped and disci-
plined men. He died a. d. 1740.
About lYOO A. D., or at the beginning of Frederick
William's reign, Germany had reached the extreme point
of disintegration. There was no more Empire but num-
berless small states, in all three hundred and fourteen, and
fourteen hundred and seventy -five small territories.
Each of these districts was practically independent, and
"it was only in the use of a common language, and
in the production and enjoyment of a common liter-
ature, that the Germans preserved, in any sense, the
semblance of national or race unity." Some authors
claim that the spirit of freedom was almost extinct at this
time among the Germans. To the contrary, the people
had more individual liberty; less war gave them more
time for studious thought and individual progress. In
this century began the greatest period of intellectual
activity before or since known in Germany.
Frederick II. of Prussia ascended the throne a. d.
1740, at the age of twenty-eight. The biographer of the
great Montesquieu, in speaking of that statesman's travels
I
}
1^ TUB HOHENZOLLERN DTNAdTT.
in foreign lands, said: " Montesquieu did not go to Ger-
many beoauae then Frederick the Great had not reigned."
It may in truth be said that the early Germans had their
Arminius, the Goths their Theodorick, the Merovingians
their Clovis, the Carlovingians their Charlemagne, the
Franconians their Henry IV., the Hohenstaufens their
' Frederick Barbarossa, the Hapsburgs their Charles V.,
/ and the HohenzoUems their Frederick the Great.
This prince in his youth showed none of the warlike
characteristics which had distinguished the lives of his
three preceding ancestors. He was of modest and retiring
disposition, with a marked tendency towards scholastic
pursuits. Placed under the instruction of French professors,
" he never had a mother tongue," says Macaulay, " owing
to which deficiency the world lost one of its best authors."
Having been forbidden by his father to study the ancient
languages, and consequently unfamiliar with the writings
of the Greeks and Bomans, he found in the caustic, criti-
cal and intelligent works of Voltaire his highest gratifica-
tion. Buled during his time by a despotic father, in his
youth the unhappy prince attempted to escape to England,
and seek the protection of his uncle, the King of England ;
but being caught, he was taken to the fortress of Eustrin,
where he was forced to witness the shooting of his youth-
ful friend. Lieutenant Katt, who had aided him in his
flight. It has been affirmed, but with little show of authen-
ticity, that but for the interference of the principal
sovereigns of Europe, Frederick himself would have been
shot as a deserter. His eminently military father was,
no doubt, disappointed at the effeminate and eiTatic
fancies of Prussia's future king. Persecution seemed,
therefore, the father's duty. That his determination to
THE HOUENZOLLEKN DYNASTY. 197
make Frederick a soldier is clear from the celebrated mes-
sage he had conveyed to him, to-wit : " That if he would
renounce his claim to the throne, he could study, travel, or
do whatever he pleased." To this stern proposition, the
prince returned the characteristic reply: " I will accept
my father's ultimatum, in case he will declare I am no
longer his son."
This, it seems, his father was not prepared to do.
Those, however, who had believed the prince a
dreamer before his elevation to tlie throne, were made to
see their mistake soon after his father's death. The rise
of Prussia to a first-class power required an extension of
her domains. The same year, believing himself called
upon to show his mettle, and believing himself also
fully competent to underta.ke the task of carrying out the
designs of his ancestors, Frederick set his splendid army
in motion toward Silesia^ a province of Austria. Through
the " Pragmatic Sanction," Maria Theresa had ascended
the throne of Austria. This appeared to Frederick a
favorable moment to renew an old claim the Hohenzol-
lerns had to the Duchies of Glogau and Segan, as well as
the greater part of Silesia. The claim being rejected,
Frederick soon succeeded in taking several outlying
districts of Silesia. But the following spring the Austrian
Field-Marshal Neuperg, who had been sent against Fred-
erick, came very near bringing the adventurous expedition
of the young King, as well as his martial career, to an in-
glorious end.
In the spring of 1741, the Prussian general, the Prince
of Dessau, captured the fortress of Ologau, and a month
later, the main bodies of the Prussian and Austrian armies
met at Molwitz. The battle raged hotly all the afternoon.
)
198 THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY.
Toward nightfall, the right wing of the Pmssians being
thrown into confusion and sev^eral batteries captured,
Frederick became demoralized, not taking his baptism of
blood with the usual Hohenzollern wplomh. With a few
followers, leaving the army in charge of Field-Mai*slial
Schwerin, the young King galloped to the rear, hoping to
find safe refuge in the small town of Oppeln, which he
supposed to be still occupied by a detachment of Prussians.
But the place had been taken, and the first information
received to that effect by the flying King, was a sudden
explosion of musketry at his approach. Narrowly escaping
being taken prisoner, he hurried away to the village of
Loewen, where he anxiously awaited news of the fate of
his army.
On the following day, he Vas made happy with the
information that General Schwerin, followed by the Aus-
trian field-marshal, had been able by an unobserved move-
ment, to throw his main force upon the enemy's flank, and,
by a well-sustained fire of infantry and artillery, to throw
the Austrian forces into confusion. Following up his
success with his cavalry, Schwerin achieved a complete
victory.
This fortunate turn in his affairs gave the impetus to
Frederick's future brilliant career. The eyes of Europe
were at once turned upon the young King. If ever the say-
ing " that success is the test of merit " had an application,
it was in this instance. Had not Field-Marshal Schwerin
thus promptly and gallantly turned the tide of battle, or,
had he been influenced by the demoralization of his King,
the world would never have heard of Frederick the Greats
but, taking advantage of his discomfiture, would have
handed him down to posterity as Frederick the Cowa/rd
THE H0HEN20LLERK DYNASTY. 199
The momentous consequences of a Prussian defeat on this
occasion seem to have been realized by Field-Marshal
Sohwerin. The battle gave to Frederick temporarily the
province of Silesia, but it was the signal for a general
European war, which is knowii in history as " The Aus-
trian War of Succession." Both France and Bavaria
became the allies of Austria — ^a friendliness which had not
existed for three hundred years between the former — and
Austria was thus revived. Frederick having gained a
second victory over the Austrians in the spring of 1742, at
Chotusitz, Maria Theresa concluded a treaty of peace with
him by which Silesia and the county of Geatz were defi-
nitely ceded to Prussia. This peace was obtained by Maria
Theresa in order to secure the vote of Frederick towards
securing for her husband, Francis of Lorraine, the election
of Emperor of Germany.
Availing himself of the few years peace that followed
to reorganize and strengthen his army, Frederick, in 1744,
becoming uneasy at the repeated victories of the Austrians
over the French and Bavarians, at the head of thirty thou-
sand men, marched into Bohemia and took Prague. The
Duke.of Lorraine meeting him, other battles were fought,
the Prussians always victorious. But Frederick now
retreated into Silesia, when Maria Theresa, thinking this
an opportune moment to repossess herself of Silesia, sent
troops into the country and seized several fortresses.
Frederick, at this activity of the Empress, made a sudden
attack upon the Duke of Lorraine (Maria Theresa's pet
general and a brother-in-law) and defeated him at Hohen-
friedberg. Silesia was quickly evacuated by the Austrians.
The Duke, however, returned the next year with forty
thousand men, while Frederick could oppose him with but
200 THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY.
eighteen thousand. After a hard-contested battle the
Prussians gained the victory. The same year Frederick
defeated the united forces of the Austrians and Saxons,
who were preparing to advance upon Berlin, by entering
the capital of Saxony with his triumphant army. Silesia
was again ceded to him. By this time Prussia had assumed
imposing proportions ; her population had doubled, and
Frederick now seemed to hold the destinies of Germany in
his hand.
During the peace which followed, lasting eleven years,
Frederick advanced in many ways. Keeping a steady eye
upon the efficiency of his army, he lost no opportunity to
develop a love of learning, the sciences and arts, and to
foster manufactures and agriculture among the people.
His great and worthy aims were to inaugurate a thorough
system of popular education, the abrogation of obsolete
and inhuman laws, and the enactment of others more in
harmony with the progressive spirit of the age. It was
during this period that he wrote his " Memoirs pour Servir
BHistovre de Bromdeburg^^ and a poem, '^ L^Art de
ChierreP
But while devoting his energies to the advancement of
his subjects, a conspiracy was started on foot between the
ruling princes of Saxony and Bavaria, the Empress of Aus-
tria and Elizabeth of Russia — Peter the Great's grand-
daughter— the Kings of France and Sweden, to dismem-
ber the Prussian kingdom and divide the spoils among
themselves. Frederick, with a population of about five
million souls, was about to be attacked by a combination
of sovereigns ruling over more than one hundred millions
of people. But the humiliating phase of the situation was
that three of the principal German States were conspiring
T
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THE HOHENZOLLEBN DYNASTY. 203
with foreign potentates — among them the hereditary foe
of Germany, France — for the destruction of the fourth
and most thoroughly Gennan kingdom of them all. But
it was only an exhibition of the German characteristics,
envy and jealousy, upon a large scale. The Crown-Prince
of Bussia, Peter III., however, proved himself a friend in
need, and gave Frederick timely warning that the attack
was to be made the following spring. Thereupon the
Prussian King resolved to strike the first blow. Securing
an alliance with England he hurriedly entered Saxony,
September 30, 1756, with an army of seventy thousand
men, seized the state paper in Dresden containing the full
stipulations of the conspiracy and published it to the world.
This had the effect of bringing public opinion to his side,
with missives of warm and immediate sympathy. The
first encounter at Lowositz, in October of the same year,
inaugurated Frederick's " Seven Tears' War." Saxony's
army surrendered a little later on, reducing the country to
a quasi- Prussian province.
This unexpected and favorable turn Frederick had
made, had the effect of spurring on the allied powers to
more energetic measures. Austria sent forward all her
available troops. Bussia furnished a hundred thousand
men, Sweden, France, and the German smaller states
rushed forward large armies, until not less than half a
million of men were under marching orders, determined
to annihilate Prussia's King and divide Prussia. Fred-
erick's only hope of escape was by prompt and decisive
action. To meet them by detachments and dispatch them
by sections was soon decided upon.
Dividing his army into four grand divisions, he plunged
into Bohemia, captured the enemies' supplies, and on the
204 THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY.
6th of May his united forces reached Prague. During the
battle which followed the brave, old Field-Marshal
Schwerin again saved the day, but at the sacrifice of his
own noble life. The victory was complete, the Austrians
fleeing in all directions.
Frederick's hold upon Bohemia, however, only lasted
six weeks at this time, for in a second battle at Kollin the
following June, he was defeated and forced to evacuate
the country, and Saxony as well. In the meantime the
French had invaded Prussian territorv, and the Eussians
and Swedes were marching upon Berlin. Frederick
decided to attack the French army first. Coming upon
them at Rossbach, he defeated the French general-in-chief.
Count Clermont, taking seven thousand prisoners. The
English being much pleased at this success, forthwith fur-
nished Frederick with more money and men. Turning
now upon the Austrians, who were already in possession
of Berlin, Schweidnitz and Breslau, with but thirty thou-
sand men, he attacked an army of eighty thousand, killed
and captured twenty-seven thousand prisoners, took one
hundred and thirty guns, fifty standards, and four thou-
sand wagons, etc. The following year he recaptured
Schweidnitz, and with thirty-seven thousand troops de-
feated sixty thousand Eussians at Zomdorf. This was the
bitterest and bloodiest battle of the whole war. The cruel
depredations by the Eussian Cossacks and barbarous
Calmucks had so exasperated Frederick that he issued an
order before the battle begun to give " no quarter." Con-
sequently the slaughter was almost unparalleled. The
Eussians having had enough of Frederick's skill and de-
termination for a season, returned from Prussian terri-
tory. Frederick was now at liberty to pay his undivided
THE HOHENZOLLEKN DYNASTY. 205
attention to Saxony. But, as in peace and war, few men
are blessed with perennial success, the King now met
with a series of reverses. On October 14, 1768, he was
surprised and beaten at Hoch-Kirch; but reuniting his
forces he retook Dresden from the Austrians; the year
1759 also opened unfavorably for the Prussians. The
Russians again appeared at the frontier with overwhelm-
ing numbers, and defeated the Prussians near the Oder
and nearly annihilated them. Dresden fell into the hands
of the enemy with twelve thousand Prussian troops. Ber-
lin was again taken by the Russians, and the greater part
of Saxony had been lost by the battle of Torgon in 1760.
Frederick's cause now seemed hopeless. But for the
patriotism and devotion of his people, and the courage and
ardor of his army, he would hardly have continued the
struggle longer. But, like a tiger at bay, in this dire
emergency, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, happily for
Frederick, was called hence. Peter III., his steadfast
friend, upon ascending the Russian throne, forthwith with-
drew from the coalition. The Prussians now turned to
Austria, and throwing a force into Silesia, Frederick de-
feated them at Burkersdorf amd at Freiberg. The last
ally of the Austrians, the French, now withdrew, leaving
this power to cope with Prussia single handed. At this
juncture in her affairs, Maria Theresa thought it wise to
make peace with Frederick upon as favorable terms as
possible. The treaty was signed February, 1763, and
Prussia was left in sole possession of Silesia. Thus ended
a struggle which stands single of its kind in the annals of
war. For eight years Frederick had been absent from his
capital, and the reception given him by a grateful people
on his return, can well be imagined.
206 THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY.
And yet, after this great expenditure of men and
money, historians say Prussia did not owe a doUar, but,
sad to relate, its population had diminished by one-tenth.
For the remaining twenty-three years of Frederick's
reign, he devoted himself to the recuperation of his peo-
ple's interests. He practiced the most rigid economy in
the government as well as his individual ex|>enses. It is
said, for twenty-three years, he ordered but one fine suit
of clothes. He worked twenty hours out of the twenty-
four. Perfect order reigned throughout Prussia; prop-
erty was secure, and speech and the press were free. Be-
ing lampooned one day, a friend brought the fact to his
notice. "Oh!'' said Frederick, "my people and I under-
stand each other ; they aay what they like, and I dx> what
I like. This was the secret of his government ; he did
what he liked, and as he only liked to do what was the
best for his subjects, his government was eminently suc-
cessful. His ideas of his responsibility in the stewardship
of the aflPairs of the throne of Prussia, are sound, and
appear original for that day. Said he, "We kings are
merely the stewards appointed for the administration of
the general fund ; and if, as such, we were to apply to our
own personal expenditure more than is reasonably neces-
sary, we should, by such proceeding, not only bring down
upon ourselves severe condemnation, in the first place, for
extravagance, but likewise for having fraudulently taken
possession of that which was confided to our charge for
the public weal."
There is no doubt but that the literary turn of Freder-
ick's mind was the result of the great intellectual awaken-
ing which was beginning to be felt throughout France and
Germany. The French authors, many of them belonging
THB HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTT. 207
to the school of the " Economists," were poets, philosophers
and statesmen, represented by such men as Montesquieu,
Racine, Voltaire and Rousseau. The rising German
authors, but of a different school, were Lessing, Klopstock
and Goethe, and were soon followed by Kant, Fichte, Ja-
cobi and Schiller. Frederick the Great, having been much
impressed with the writings of Montesquieu in his youth,
antl, later, with Voltaire's works, during a visit down the
Rhine, he invited the author, who was at Brussels, to pay
him a visit. Voltaire accepted, and in 1750 took up his
residence at the palace in Potsdam. Frederick the Great
held an exalted opinion of the French philosopher's
genius, and the two men had a very pleasant time
together as long as the King extolled the author's
verees with indiscriminate praise, but the time came
when Frederick seemed to enjoy teasing rather than
praising Voltaire. The writer Muehler is authority for
the following incident, which goes far to show some of the
reasons why the two former friends parted in coldness,
which coldness in after years increased to bitter hatred.
" Upon one occasion," says he, " an Englishman
appeared at the Prussian Court, possessed of so extraord-
inary a memory that, after a hundred pages of any work
had been read to him, he declared he could forthwith
repeat the whole, word for word. Frederick was much
impressed with this gift of memory, and putting it to test
one evening, found by the result a confirmation of the
man's claim. Just as he was upon the point of dismissing
the Englishman, Voltaire sent to inquire if His Majesty
had half an hour's leisure in which to listen to a poem he
had just completed ? Frederick, struck with the apropos
inquiry, felt very much inclined to play a joke upon Vol-
208 THE HOHENZOLLEBN DYNASTY.
taire, and sent an affinnative reply. He now requested
the Englishman to secret himself behind a screen, with the
adjuration to treasure up every word he should hear.
The great poet entered and read through the whole of his
verses with great declamation and evident self-satisfaction.
The King listened with coolness, and then said : 'Why, I
must candidly confess, my dear Voltaire, that it looks to me
as though you were claiming for your own what belongs
to others. I have noticed this more than once before.'
''Voltaire's indignation at being thought a plagiarist,
gave to his countenance an expression — always a subject
for caricaturists — of extreme harshness and bitterness. He
was mortally offended, and assured the King he had been
misled by a treacherous memory, and was acting witli
great injustice toward him. The King replied, indiffer-
ently : ' But, if I prove to you that your verses are already
known by a stranger at my .court, what then?' "All
that your Majesty may bring forward, all assurances are
to me mere empty words, for I can disprove aU and every-
thing ! ' replied Voltaire, warmly.
" Upon this the King ordered the Englishman to be in-
troduced from the next room. Thereupon he was com-
manded to recite the verses, and without a moment's hesi-
tation gave Voltaire's poem verbatim et literatim. Half
mad with astonishment and rage, the poet rose from his
seat, exclaiming, " Heaven! destroy with thy thunderbolt
this robber of my verses! What magic is this which is
being conjured up to drive me to desperation ?' and rushed
from the King's presence in a towering passion. Frederick,
however, enjoyed Voltaire's mystification immensely."
The dinnei's of Frederick the Great were the occasions
of his day, pour faire rire^ and for unrestrained satire,
THE HOHENZOLLERN DYNASTY. 209
discussion and repartee. Surrounoed by genial spirits
called the " illuminati," the festivities of the table were
often carried far into the night. The King also had
organized an orchestra at whose concerts he himself often
performed an air upon the flute. A characteristic anecdote
is told of his skill in playing this instrument, as w.ell as
his keen enjoyment of quaint surroundings and unusual
situations.
" In the course of a journey once made to Holland^
quite incognitOy he arrived at a small tavern in Amsterdam
and gave himself out as a musician. The town being
celebrated for a certain rich cake, the King thought he
would like to taste one, and ordered his aide-de-camp to
procure it of the landlady. The Colonel obeyed, but the
landlady, measuring the messenger from top to toe, and a
little suspicious of her plainly dressed guests, exclaimed :
*Oh, yes, it is all very well for you to order a cake, but
pray, sir, can you pay for it after it is made ? Do you
not know that such a cake as you order will cost more than
seven guilders ? '
" To this the Colonel, much amused, replied, that the
gentleman with whom he traveled was very rich ; that he
played the flute so beautifully, whenever he performed in
public a considerable sum was collected in a very short
time. 'Indeed!' cried the landlady, 'if that be so, then
I must hear him immediately.' Saying which, she hurried
on to the King's chamber, and entering without ceremony,
courtesied, and said : ' I understand, sir, you play a tunc
very well on the flute ; oblige me by warbling something
for me to hear.' At first Frederick did not comprehend
the situation, but was soon informed by the Colonel in
French, upon which he seized his flute from the table and
210 THE HOHBNZOLL32EN DYNASTY.
played with so much spirit and in such a masterly style
that the landlady was carried away with enthusiasm, and
exclaimed : ' Excellent ! excellent I you do, indeed, play
sweetly, and I dare say, you earn many a guilder ; at any
rate, you shall have your cake,' and hurried away to ful-
fill her promise."
L^ A recent work published in Germany, entitled " Fred-
^^ erick the Great's Influence on German Literature," by
Professor Suphan, has many interesting facts concerning
the writings left by Frederick II. In speaking of the rise
of letters in Germany, he says, in substance :
The last half of the eighteenth century in Germany
must be designated as the era of Frederick the Great and
Goethe. For the first time in the literary history of two
thousand years we have a great literary epoch for which
the name of the greatest contemporay ruler is an inade-
quate description. The names of Augustus, Charlemagne,
Elizabeth, Louis XIV., call up each a complete notion of
the period in which they lived, and of the production,
artistic, literary, political, industrial, and economical, that
went on about them. The name of Frederick the Great,
however, associates itself only with an age of martial
heroism and brilliant victory; of vigorous economic ad-
ministration, the establishment of Prussian prestige, and
the deepening of the national self-respect. Ilis name does
not suggest that the years of his famous successes were
also the years when German literature was ripening to ma-
turity, and the first fruits had already fallen. Goethe! —
and all the productions in the fields of art, poetry, philos-
ophy and science through a half century of earnest effort
and brilliant achievement, are recalled in association with
that name. The sum of the last half of the preceding
THE HOU£NZOLL£fiN DTKAdTT. 213
century amounts to Frederick the Great and Goethe. Les-
sing, \yith all his admiration for the Prussian King, denies
him every claim to thanks at the hands of German litera-
ture, but adds : " I should not be willing to sweiir that a
flatterer may not one day come who will think well of
calling the present era of German literature the era of
Frederick the Great."
In 1766 the poet Herder wrote a dissertation upon Ger-
man literature, in which the views and aims expressed in
1780 by Frederick the Great essentially coincide. Though
the one seeks his standards of taste in England and the
other in France, both are conscious of the feebleness of
German literature; both are striving towards a funda-
mental bettering of its condition ; both recognize that to this
end the language must first be perfected; both insist upon
a study of the classics and demand careful translations,
not imitations; both see the day of attainment coming ;
both think it still afar off; but both are laboring unrest-
ingly in earnest towards the same goal. Frederick prophe-
sies the time ''when the German language, polished
and perfected, will be taught in the schools of France and
the fame of its literature be spread from one end of
Europe to the other. " The days are not yet come, but
they are nearing. I announce them to you ; they will ap-
pear; I shall not see them; my age forbids roe to hope it.
I am like Moses. I see the promised land in the distance,
but I shall not enter it." He was already across the Jor-
dan, and knew it not.
Frederick is constructive, and takes hold of his subject
with a firm, practical grasp. He seeks the way to im-
provement, and looks confidently into the future, with
prophetic visions that have been most brilliantly realized.
214 THBi HOfiENZOLLERN ftYNAJSTf.
He lays great weight upon the study of the ancient lan-
guages and literature ; points out the necessity of good
translations in lieu of feeble imitations. The importance
of purifying and perfecting the German language is espe-
cially emphasized. In consequence of the numerous and
deeply-rooted dialects in Germany, the establishment of
an academy to the decisions of which absolute submission
be required seemed unavoidably demanded.
To Frederick the impossibility of a national literature
in an imperfect tongue was clear. His suggestions for
rendering the language euphonious, to point out the way,
excite discussion, and rouse the talent and learning of tlie
land to earnest efforts in rendering possible and eventually
creating a German national literature, worthy of a place
among the greatest of the world, were of incalculable
value to writers that followed him.
But the relation of Frederick the Great to German
literature was of a far more intimate nature than his
writings or his direct efforts in its behalf would indicate.
Patronage and direct encouragement was not Frederick's
affair. It was Voltaire who enjoyed the hospitality of
the Prussian Court, and what of German literarv talent
gathered there was obliged to lay aside native barbarism
and become French. But Frederick's influence was more
effective xind far-reaching than patronage and protection;
it lay in the inspiration furnished by a great personality
at the head of affairs. The sound of vigorous martial
preparation in Berlin, armaments and marching troops,
was the signal that the new period had come. Rossbach
was won, the French power checked, Europe astonished,
every pulse was quickened. Through seven years the
career of the hero was watched with increasing wonder.
THE HOHENZOLLEBN DYNASTY. 216
enthusiasm and hope. Of a sadden the man was there
who gave energy to a century that had slept. The time
had "contents" all at once; the spirit was roused, the
imagination kindled, the national consciousness deepened.
Every period of great literary production has been one of
thrilling activity, in which the strength, greatness and
heroism of the people have found expression. This
element of inspiration, national pride and consciousness
of power, was furnished Germany by the life of Frederick
the Great. " He gave German poetry life and substance
{leh&)i8inhaU)j^ says Goethe in his Autobiography. Being
without an heir, he having never lived with the wife
provided him by his father, Frederick felt some appre-
hension for the welfare of his kingdom after his death.
One of his last public acts, therefore, was to eflfect an
alliance, or form a league, as a check against Austrian
aggression. The estates joining were, Pi-ussia, Saxony,
Hanover, the Dukes of Brunswick, Mecklenburg, and
Deux-Ponts, the Landgraves of Hesse, the Elector of
Mentz, and several other princes. This league proved of
no advantage to Germany, as, after Frederick's death, the
princes, dukes, etc., returned to their hereditary territorial^'
claims. ^
Frederick the Great died on the 17th of August, 1786,
at the age of seventy -four, just before the breaking out of
the French Revolution. He was buried under the pulpit
of the Garrison Church at Potsdam. He was called a
Free Thinker, but he proved to be a Great Thinker, and a
Greater Sovereign. Admiring Washington, he sent his
sword to the first President of the Republic with this
message : " From the oldest general in the world to the
greatest."
216 THE HOHENZOLLEBH DTNAflTT.
Through Frederick the Great's careful and paternal
management of Prussian affair's, he was enabled to leave
in the treasury, at his death, a surplus of fifty million dol-
lars, an army of two hundred and twenty thousand men,
a territory of ninety-five thousand square miles, and an
intelligent, industrious population of six million souls.
Frederick William II., the nephew of Frederick the
Great, was crowned King of Prussia in 1786. After
his selection as Frederick's heir, he was treated by his
uncle somewhat austerely, exposed to all the privations
and dangers of the " Seven Years' War," and most
strictly disciplined in all the duties of his expected office.
It is said this prince, during the peaceful years of his
uncle's reign, enjoyed little of life; but, if what is told
is half true of him, he made ample amends for it after-
wards. No act of great importance marked his rule, ex-
cept the troops he furnished to aid in the restoration of
the Protestant party in the Netherlands, his coalition with
Austria against France, which, however, did not redound
greatly to the military glory of Prussia, and his participa-
tion in the second and third dismemberment of unfortu-
nate Poland, but he finished and adopted the code of
laws prepared by Frederick the Great. Dying in 1797, he
was succeeded by his son, Frederick William III., father
of the late Emperor of Germany. As the lives of father
and son are inextricably interwoven, for further historical
information of the reign of Frederick William III. the
reader is referred to the first chapter of the following
biography of Emperor William I. of Germany.
CHAPTEE YI
PRINCE WILLIAM — HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH.
THE realization of Frederick the Great's fond dream,
that at no distant day the German-speaking people
in the heart of Europe would be peaceably united under
HohenzoUern sway, seemed never more remote than on
the 22d day of March, 1797, the date of the birth of
Emperor William. Brought upon the stage of action
at the age of twenty-seven, and at a period of general
uneasiness throughout Europe, Frederick William III.
(the Emperor's father) in one respect found himself
prepared for his elevation. His early acquired love of
order, discipline, economy and industry were qualities of
which the King of Prussia in 1797, stood much in need.
He set about immediately to reform the Court of his
father, abrogated his unpopular edicts against the freedom
of the press and religious instruction, and began his reign
in an earnest and exemplary manner. His marriage, at
the age of twenty-three, to the most beautiful and accom-
plished princess of Europe, Louisa Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
furnished the Germans with the first instance, for many
years, of a happy union in the royal family. The fond
couple retired to a country residence at Practz near the
river Hard, where they led the livjes of modest country
people for several years. Here was passed the infancy of
William and his brothers, both father and mother care-
fully watching over their physical growth, as well as men-
tal advancement. To the young Queen, whom the old
King, her father-in-law, called "the princess of princesses,"
219
220 EHPEBOB WILLIAM L
was ascribed all the noble and charming qualities idolized
in German womanhood. She was said to be Id/dschon
(picture beautiful), with a heart as pure and tender as her
appearance was lovely and attractive. Many stories are
told of the visits made by this young couple to the hum-
ble homes of the peasants in the neighborhood, of the
interest taken in their aflfairs, from which friendly con-
cern originated the King's rustic title, ^^Der Schulze von
Practz^^ (the justice of Practz).
An incident, which greatly increased his popularity
while in Practz, was that in which he severely reprimanded
an oiBcer of his staff for conduct unbecoming a gentleman
and a soldier toward the Burger-Stand. Said the King to
the offender : "It is the people and not the ruler that fur-
nishes the means for the maintenance of the army." This
sentiment, so openly expressed, touched the hearts of
those who had been accustomed to consider themselves
" boasts of burden for the support of the state.*' It was
a just acknowledgment of their relations to society and
the government. But this idyllic life,however congenial to
the j^oung King and Queen was not without its evil con-
sequences to Prussia. His almost total isolation from
the world had the effect of inci'easing his natural diffi-
dence. He was needed at the seat of government.
Prussia was nearing the most critical period of her politi-
tical existence. The great social upheaval was pJready in
progress in France. Prussia's ship of state needed a man
of sterling qualities, a warrior, a statesman and a diplo-
mat at its helm, and still the King remained in the bosom
of his family at Practz, his life a prolonged honeymoon ;
but a glance at the attractive face and a knowledge of the
winning character of his young Queen doubtless absolved
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 221
him from the severe censure of his people. In these few
years of happiness the King lived his short domestic life.
While in its enjoyment, may he not have had premoni-
tions of its brevity? It was under the watchful eye of
these conscientious parents that Prince William passed
his youth. In such a home he received life's early impres-
sions. It would be natural to suppose that a child thus
carefully and tenderly nurtured might be in danger of bo-
coming a sentimentalist or averse to the duties that pre-
pare men for an active military life; such was not the
case, however. The home-law of the HohenzoUems,
" that in time of peace to prepare for war," applied as
well to the family as the army. Princesses of the blood
were early handed over to the royal drill-master, who was
expected to impress their plastic minds with that love of
soldierly order and discipline so necessary to a country
whose soil had been, and was upon the point of again
being, the battle-ground of many a contending power and
faction. Accordingly, the sons of Queen Louisa we find
at Potsdam in 1803, the oldest, Frederick, eight, and Will-
iam five, appearing for the first time in the uniform of a
Hussar of the Guard, and at the same time being presented
with the medals earned from their military instructor.
The loving mother, however, to whom these infant sol-
diers were first presented arrayed in the trappings of war,
appeared apprehensive of the danger of giving her chil-
dren a too strong military leaning, and later on wrote a
letter to Professor Heidenreich of Leipsic, clearly showing
that she had higher and nobler aspirations for the future
of her sons than mere soldierly renown.
" It is my dearest and most earnest desire," she said,
" to bring up my children so that they may be humanely
222 EMPEBOS WILLIAM I.
disposed, and I cherish the hope that I shall not altogether
fail in my purpose."
It was evidently beginning to be perceived all over
Germany, that in order to maintain the local indepen-
dence of her small principalities, kingdoms and states,
better armies must be raised and better generals provided.
The best officers of Frederick the Great had all grown
old, and besides were wedded to ancient systems of war-
fare. Says Lewis: "Although German hterature was at
its zenith, and Berlin was one of the centers of its pro-
ductiveness, with its fashionable vanity of display came,
also, the vanity of social display. The Spartan spirit of
Prussia's early days had given way to eflfeminacy, luxury
and indifference to religious traditions. Much was done
to advance the sciences, arts, and the education of the peo-
ple, but the antiquated machine of the administration
remained much as it had been left by Frederick I. of
Prussia, and his grandson, Frederick the Great. The
whole army was in the worst possible condition. With a
population of about ten millions, Prussia maintained an
army of 200,000 men, splendid to look at and drilled in
the most pedantic and wearisome fashion on the field of
exercise, but without experience in battle, and full of pride
founded on the renown of Frederick the Great's Seven
Years' War. Whatever natural merits the officers had
were lost in the habits of the army in a long peace. The
elder officers were generally rigid and formal ; the younger
ones vain and presumptuous ; nearly all were puffed up
with the fond fancy that their army was invincible."
That this was far from being satisfactory to the people
is seen by the establishment of new military schools and
in the general expression of fear, that Germany would not
HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. 223
be able to present a strong bulwark against the advance-
ment of the "modern Attila of France, General Bona-
parte." It was the uitellectual growth only in Germany,
that had kept pace with the political agitation of France
and the United States. Although Frederick William III.
was constituted to enjoy a peaceful reign, his sympathetic
and amiable disposition prompting him to a liberal and
enlightened policy, yet, when the emergency appeared,
it was found he had inherited enough of the old Hohen-
zollern firmness, perseverance and personal courage, to
see the needs of his country, and eventually ('tis true, after
experiencing the most desperate straits, humiliations and
defeats), to pilot her safely over the breakers that threat-
ened to wreck her ship of state.
Before the year 1805 Frederick William III. had tried
for a long time to form a league of the German princes in
order to protect the neutrality of Korth Germany ; but,
through jealousy of Prussia's political supremacy, these
princes chose to ally themselves to the cause of France.
This was Prussia's situation after the peace of Luneville,
concluded 1801, between the German Empire and France.
In order to understand the situation of Prussia in this
peace, it is necessary to review the momentous events pre-
ceding the acceptance of this treaty by Prussia.
From 1794 to 1796 the leaders of the French Eepublic
had repulsed and beaten the Austrians, and from a defen-
sive position had assumed an oflfensive one. The ancient
claim of France, that all the territory on the left bank of
Ehine belonged to them, was now openly urged. In
order to secure these demands the Directory decided to
invade Germany at once, and with an overwhelming force.
The Generals Moreau, Jourdan and Bonaparte were
224 EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
charged with the execution of this project, each being
placed in command of a formidable army. Jourd an com-
manded the left wing, covering Franconia and the coun-
tries along the lower Rhine ; Moreau, the center, including
Baden, Wiirtemberg and Bavaria. Bonaparte held the
right. This " little corporal," in less than twelve months,
had defeated the Austrian s in fourteen battles ; demolished
the small Duchies of Italy, and established upon their
ruins the Cisalpine Republic. He compelled Austria to
sign the peace of Campio Formio, by which was ceded the
Netherlands to France, the renunciation of all claim by
Austria to possessions in the north of Italy, and an agree-
ment to summon a congress of all the German prmces at
Rastadt, when the conditions of peace between France
and Germany should be more firmly cemented.
During this time the young Archduke Charles, of
Austria, had successfully resisted General Jourdan's attack,
defeating him at Neumark and Amberg, and finally suc-
ceeded in driving him back across the Rhine. General
Moreau's left was now exposed to the assaults of the vic-
torious Austrians, which compelled him, also, to retreat,
resulting in Moreau's famous march through Swabia and
the mountainous roads of the Black Forest. These
reverses of the French arms notwithstanding, the congress
of princes assembled, as agreed upon, at Rastadt, and here
was witnessed the betrayal of Germany's interest by a
German Emperor, who entered into a private understand-
ing with the enemy to cede to France the left bank of the
Rhine, as originall}^ claimed by the Directory.
The peace thus obtained, however, was of short dura-
tion. At the beginning of the year 1799, Austria having
joined the coalition for the overthrow of the French
HIS BIETH AND YOUTH. 225
Republic, recalled her representatives at Eastadt, and
France declared war against her for allowing Russian
troops to pass over her territory. During the campaign
that followed, the whole of Italy, which formerly belonged
to Austria, was retaken with the aid of Russian troops,
under command of General Suwaroflf, the Cisalpine
Republic throttled, and the old order of things reestab-
lished.
General Bonaparte, who had hastily returned from
Egypt, took in the situation at a glance. He promptly
offered terras of peace to the coalition, but Arch-Duke
Charles' successes had inspired the allies with hopes of the
speedy overthrow of the French Republic, and the reestab-
lishment of the Bourbon dynasty.
Bonaparte's overtures were unceremoniously rejected.
This refusal and implied threat aroused the French, who
hurried en inasae to enlist under the command of the young
general, who declared, since a peace could not be had by
fair means, he must conquer one with his means at hand.
Accordingly, at the beginning of 1800, a formidable army
had assembled at Dijon ready for action. Bonaparte's
first advance was toward Italy. Marching over the
Simplon, St. Bernard and St. Gothard, he made his entry
into Milan June 2, 1800, before the Austrian General
Melas, who was encamped on the plains of Lombardy, was
aware of his presence. On the 14rth of the same month
followed the memorable battle of Marengo, the bloodiest
and fiercest of any that had yet been fought. The day
appeared to be lost to the French, when General Dessaix,
one of the bravest and oldest of the French generals,
arrived with a fresh corps de reserve^ renewed the strug-
gle and, although mortaUy wounded, achieved a brilliant
226 EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
victory for Bonaparte's division. In the meantime Gen-
eral Moreau had been successful in Germany. In the
latter part of April he crossed the Rhine, defeated the
Austrians at Stockach and Moskirk, and took possession
of the entire country between the Rhine, the Danube and
Lake Constance. Entering the Bavarian territory he
threatened Munich, and at Hohenlinden dealt another
severe blow to Austria. These battles of the two French
generals, Bonaparte and Moreau, decided affairs for the
time being between Austria, Italy and France, but it was
to the latter, Moreau, that tho French were indebted for
the favorableness to France of the treaty of Luneville.
By this treaty the ancient order of things in Germany
was completely overturned. The ecclesiastics lost all their
possessions, and of the forty-eight imperial independent
cities only Liibeck, Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfort, Augs-
burg and Nuremburg remained. Of the old electoral
princes but four retained the semblance of their ancient
prerogatives, while the domains of numberless small prince-
lings were merged into the larger estates. Thus, were most
of the prerogatives, which for a thousand years had been
enjoyed through Germany's acquiescence in the rights
guaranteed by the " Golden Bull," swept away by a stroke
of the pen. These compulsory changes, ^however, while
they occasioned many regrets and tears among the Ger-
mans, who were still attached to their crowned princelings,
were not witliout their beneficial results, and it is ques-
tionable whether, but for the dexterous and expeditious
I strides of the " Corsican Ogre " through the heart of Ger-
/ many, the German Empire of to-day would have been a
possibility. Germany would doubtless have acquiesced in
the dethroning of her petty princes, but the loss of twenty-
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 227
four thoosand square miles of territory with four million
inhabitants — the whole left bank of the Rhine, compris-
ing Alsace and Lorraine — was a blow at the very exist-
ence of the German nation. The German princes, however,
who had received additions to their territory by the treaty
of Luneville, were Baden, Wurtemberg and Bavaria.
They, of course, became ardent admirers of the French
" Ogre," because he had shown himself their friend and
benefactor. In their servility they introduced the French
official system in the administration of their affairs of
state and, finally, culminated their submission to French
domination by severing their connection with the German
Empire. As vassals of France, they entered into a con-
federation called the Ehinish-bund, and agreed to furnish
to the French army a contingent of so many thousand men
each. To complete Germany's humiliation, the House of
Hapsburg now voluntarily relinquished the title of Em-
peror of Germany — a title that brought him a small salary
(|5,000 a year), and but little more. After this date, 1806,
the Hapsburg dynast}^ which had furnished Emperors for
the German Empire since the crowning of Rudolph, 1273,
were now satisfied with the title only of Emperors of
Austria.
Germany was now divided into three grand divisions :
The Empire of Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the
Frenchified Princelings, called the " Rhine-bund." Bona-
parte had resorted to the old Caesarian doctrine, " Divide
and conquer."
Southern Germany being safe and Austria isolated,
Bonaparte considered the time opportune for paying his
respects to Prussia. The vacillating policy of Frederick
William, who had left Austria to fight her battles alone,
228 EMPEROB WILLIAM I.
by declaring Prussia neutral, was now to reap its legit-
imate result. At the mercy of the now French Emperor
(Napoleon I.), Prussia had not a friend to whom she could
turn for assistance in time of need. Without the slightest
warning, Napoleon issued a peremptory order to General
Bernadotte, who, with his army corps was stationed in
Hanover, to take the shortest route for Ulm. The shortest
route lay through Prussian territory. This march was
conducted with all the destruction of an armed invasion.
Frederick William could no longer remain deaf to the
entreaties of the Prussian war-party for an immediate
demand for reparation and the placing of the army upon
a war footing. But in the midst of Prussia's military
preparations, and almost before her ultimatum to Napoleon
had left the capital, came the news of the Russian and
Austriani defeat at Austerlitz, whereupon Prussia with-
drew her ultimatum, and the King put an end forthwith
to further military preparations. Napoleon now retracted
the promised annexation of Hanover to Prussia, and
deprived her of the province of Anspach. He, also, com-
pelled Frederick William to acknowledge the territorial
acquisitions of France in Southern Germany ; all this dis-
grace and humiliation of the King was accomplished by
Napoleon without the firing of a shot.
So, it came to pass, that a courageous and proud people,
over whom Frederick the Great had ruled, but a few years
before, and who, under the leadership of his master mind,
had not only maintained the integrity of the Kingdom of
Prussia against the combined armies of Europe, but had
materially added to her territory, were brought to the
feet of the French " Ogre," through the halting policy of
one of hi3 descendants*
HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. 229
Frederick William, foolishly hoping that his selfish and
unpatriotic neutrality would allow him and Prussia to
remain in the full enjoyment of peace, was rudely
awakened to a realizing sense of his danger by Berna-
dotte's bold execution of Napoleon's order. The truth
was tiiat Napoleon had long been aware of the energy,
bravery and patriotism of the Prussians, and was
determined to destroy a power which might become the •
rallying point and chief support of Germany's demand for
independence. Napoleon felt himself strong enough for
such an undertaking, well aware of Prussia's complete
isolation.
In December, 1803, Frederick William had bound him-
self to peace and friendship with Napoleon on condition
that Hanover should not be disposed of without the consent
of Prussia. The pretense taken for arousing the King was
the offer by Napoleon, after the death of Minister Pitt,
to restore to England, his arch-enemy, the Duchy of Han-
over. Frederick William now saw that he could no longer
maintain his neutrality. His ministers, led by the patri-
otic Stein, pressed him to prepare for the unavoidable.
The younger officers of the army were anxious for active
service. They even went so far and were so bold as to
appear before the window of the French Embassador, to
sharpen their swords and join in the chorus of Schiller's
" Wallenstein," " Up, comrades, up ! to horse 1 to horse I"
Frederick William, knowing the folly of attempting to
meet Napoleon, whose army was now in Franconia, pre-
paring for a march into Thuringia, and which numbered
200,000 men, while Prussia had but 150,000, hesitated and
anxiously sought to fortify himself by alliances. Saxony
and Weimar at last joined him. Austria remained
230 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
neutral, and Russia, had the Czar been disposed, was too far
away to aid him. England was at war with Prussia.
Finally, urged on by his ministers and indignant at the
treatment he had received, on the 1st of October, 1806, he
addressed his ultimatum to Napoleon, which was in effect
that he withdraw all his troops, not only from the king-
dom of Prussia, but from German territory also.
At the outbreak of the disastrous war which thereupon
followed, Prince William was just entering upon his tenth
year. There is no doubt but that the known relentlessness
of the French invader and his determination to destro}^
the heritage of the HohenzoUern family, as well as to de-
grade the German people to a state of vassalage to France
left an indelible impression upon his youthful mind.
A small picture has been preserved in the royal resi-
dence at Potsdam, representing the two sons of the King,
accompanied by Professor Dell brttck, as they watched the
departure of the troops for the front, but few of whom
ever returned to tell the story of their defeat.
Not ten days after Napoleon's receipt of Frederick
"William's ultimatum, the Prussian army, under command
of Duke Charles of Brunswick, then seventy-two years
old, confidently marched to Weimar. Half the forces took
up a position at Jena. Napoleon's army fell upon the
Prussians at Saalfeld, near Weimar, and defeated the old
Duke, who was slain in battle. Four days later Napoleon
was at Jena. The morning was foggy, and the Prussians
could not see the position of the French nor estimate their
numbers. The French poured upon the Prussians from
both sides of the plain, and a complete defeat of the Prus-
sians under Prince Hohenlohe followed. They fled to
Weimar in the wildest confusion.
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 231
Thus, in less than a fortnight, was Prussia's militaiy
power, which some of the old martinets had considered
invincible, literally destroyed. Their forty years' peace
had most effectually deprived the oflBcers of the old martial
spirit so predominant in the army of Frederick the Great.
Ten days after the battle of Jena, Napoleon marched
into Berlin at the head of his victorious army, and in less
than six weeks from the commencement of hostilities he
had advanced as far as the Vistula, and made himself
master of nearly the entire kingdom ; had annihilated an
army which had hitherto claimed and maintained its
character as the most efficient in Europe, and was now in
possession of the capital of its King.
Frederick William, forced to change his residence,
went to Konigsberg, in Eastern Prussia. A few days
after the disastrous battle of Jena, the royal children were
transferred to Chateau Schwedt, where the Queen awaited
them.
" You find me in tears," she said, " because I weep
over the destruction of the army, which, too true, has dis-
appointed the King." Professor Dellbriick, in his memoirs,
says, at this meeting, the afflicted Queen endeavored to
impress upon her children the duty which lay before them
jn the following impressive language :
"In one day an edifice has been destroyed which will
take great men two centuries to rebuild. Prussia, its
army, and its traditional glory are things of the past.
Ah, my children, you are not yet of that age when you
can fuUy comprehend the great calamity that has befallen
us ! But after my death, and when you recall this unfor-
tunate hour, do not content yourselves with merely shed-
ding tears. Actl Unite your powers I Perhaps the
232 EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
guardian angel of Prussia will watch over you. Liberawe
your people from the disgrace and degradation they will
have to endure. Conquer France, and retrieve the gloi-y
of your ancestors as your great-grandfather did at Fehr^
bellin, when he defeated the Swedes. Be men, and strive
to be great generals. If you have not that ambition,
then seek death as Prince Louis Feixlinand souglit and
found it."
Under this depressing state of affairs in his father's
kingdom, Prince William, at the age of ten, was made an
officer in the Prussian army, after which the royal family
were ordered to Memel, the far eastern frontier of the
kingdom.
The health of the beautiful young Queen was now in
a very precarious condition. The disaster to her husband
and her beloved country had shattered her nervous sys-
tem. " But I would rather die than fall into the hands of
the enemy," she declared; and, accordingly, on the 8d of
January, 1807, in a terrible snow-storm, she was placed in
a carriage. And now began the long and tedious journey
to a place of safety. Dr. Hufland, the court physician
who accompanied her, says of this eventful journey :
" We were three days and three nights on the road.
During the day we forced our way through the frozen
marshes, and often the waves of the near ocean covered
the coach with its dashing spray. The nights were passed
in the most miserable shambles. The first night the Queen
slept in a room, the glass from two windows being out,
which permitted the snow to sweep over her bed. Our
food was poor and insufficient. These hardships, however,
seemed to strengthen her courage. Her reliance upon a
providential God was unshaken. The change of scene
HIS BIEl'H AND YOUTH. , 233
and the bracing air seemed to have a beneficial effect upon
her health."
Not so with the children. Prince William, who was
not suspected of having, in his youth, the strong constitu-
tion he proved to have, was attacked with a nervous fever
and came near his death. To crown the Queen's melan-
choly, the news reached her that on June 14 a decisive
battle had been fought at Friedland, Eastern Prussia.
Her courage and noble character is best shown in the fol-
lowing letter written to her father, the Duke of Mecklen-
burg-Strelitz, three days after this depressing news had
reached her :
"Memel, June lY, 1807.
" My Dbakest Fathbb : I have perused your letter of
April last with the deepest emotion and amid tears of
gratefulness. How shall I thanlc you, dearest, kindest of
fathers, for the many proofs you have shown me of your
parental love, your gracious favor and indescribable benev-
olence ? What consolation is not this for me in my suffer-
ings ! How strengthening to my hopes ! Thus beloved,
to be completely unhappy is impossible.
" We are again threatened by another dire calamity,
and are about to abandon the kingdom. Imagine my
state of mind at this juncture ; but I earnestly beseech
you not to mistake the feelings of your daughter. There
are two great principles upholding me, which elevate my
thoughts and strengthen me : first, that we are not led
blindly on by chance, but are led by the hand of God ;
and secondly, that if we must sink, we, at all events, must
do so with honor. The King has shown, and the whole
world believes it, that he prefers honor to disgrace. Prus-
sia will never wear the chains of slavery. The King could
S34 £MPBBOB WILLIAM I.
not deviate a step without becoming unfaithful to his
character and a traitor to his people. But to the point :
By the unfortunate battle of Friedland, Konigsberg has
fallen into the hands of the French. We are surrounded
on every side by the enemy ; and, as the danger advances,
I shall be forced to fly with my children from Memel, and
then endeavor to reach Riga, trusting to Heaven to assist
me in that dreaded moment when I must pass the frontier
of the Empire. Truly, all my strength and courage will
be required for this effort. God must be my hope and
confidence ; for, according to my firm persuasion, we are
not called upon to endure more than we can bear.
" Once more, then, dear father, be assured that we yield
only with honor ; and, respected as we shall be, we can not
be without friends, inasmuch as we have merited them.
The consolation I experience by this conviction I can not
express to you ; and, consequently, I endure all my trials
with that tranquility and resignation of mind which can
only be produced by a good conscience and a firm faith.
Therefore, my dear father, be convinced that we can never
be really unhappy, while many, perhaps, whose brows
are oppressed with the weight of crowns and wreaths are
as unhappy as ourselves ; for as long as we are blessed by
Heaven with peace within, we must ever find cause to
rejoice.
" I remain, forever, your faithful and loving daughter
and — God be praised that your gracious favor permits
me to add — friend, " Louisa."
After the decisive battle of Friedland, referred to by
the Queen, which occurred on June 14, 1807, a conference
was held June 25th, between the two Emperors, Napoleon
and Alexander of Bussia, upon a raft on the river Niemen,
Queen Loulw.
HIS BIETH AND YOUTH. 237
at which interview it was agreed to leave Prussia to her
fate, Alexander acquiescing in her dismemberment in con-
sideration of Napoleon's agreement that he take Finland
and divide Turkey when he should be ready.
In the vain hope of inducing Napoleon to modify liis
harah terms, a number of patriotic men prevailed upon the
King of Prussia to allow the Queen to make a personal
appeal to him. Consenting with great reluctance, Louisa
appeared before Napoleon, at Tilsit, on July 7, who
received her with condescension, but was unmoved by her
entreaties.
On the 9th of July, Frederick William III. signed the
Treaty of Tilsit, which made him almost a pauper. He
was compelled to part with nearly half his kingdom and
half his people — about five millions. The city of Dantzic
was declared a free city, that part of Prussia between the
Elbe and the Rhine was converted into a new kingdom
called Westphalia, and Napoleon's youngest brother,
Jerome, made King. All west of the Elbe, the cradle of
the Prussian monarchy, all that territory acquired by his
father in the partitions of Poland, was taken away from
Prussia by this treaty. Napoleon declaring that it was
only out of consideration for the wishes of his ally, Alex-
ander of Russia, that he left Frederick William anything.
By this treaty, what was left of Prussian territory was to
be occupied by French troops until $109,500,000 indem-
nity was paid to France, a task which was accomplished
in two years.
Those who suppose the sudden collapse of Prussia to
be attributable to the deterioration and ineflBlciency of her
army commit a great mistake. The cause of her weak-
ness lay much deeper. With the introduction of French
238 fiMPEtiOlt WtLLlAH t.
literature was introduced tlie French standard of morals.
The higher circles spoke French, dressed French, read
French, and lived French lives. "We wish," writes a
celebrated man at this time, " to protect our towns and
territory from the attacks of the French ; but ourselves
and our minds have been long captive to France. Look at
our manners, language and dress ! We have become, so
to speak, French inside and out, and yet we consider them
our enemies. No man of sense will dispute the fact that
when a people are thus enslaved, few will be found to
stand up zealously for the defense of faith and fatherland."
The great liberal divine, SQhleiermacher, wrote to a friend,
" The universal dissipation one sees on all sides is frightful
to behold, and the depth of biiseness and cowardice to
which the people have sunk is only relieved by a few indi-
viduals, the King and Queen forming striking exceptions."
"Napoleon," says Alexander Japp, "had made the
French a nation of fatalists, and not only the French but
Germany too. Tasting the poison she, too, staggered like
a drunken man." It was, then, easy to follow with French
arms where French ideas had been received with so kindl}*^
a welcome.
Impressed with this degeneracy, the first minds of
Germany began to write, speak and act. The\' were called
the " Romancists." The most conspicuous were Schiller,
who died in 1806 ; the brothers Boisser6e, the brothers
Schlegel, Tieck, Hardenberg (Novalis), Von Kleist, and
Von Arnim — a class of writers, not without morbidness in
their natures, but distinguished as interpreters of the
impulses which moved men to noble deeds in mediaeval
times.
Accordingly, after the battle of Jena, the learned
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 239
philosopher Fichte asked permission to join the army with
his students and to strengthen the patriotic ardor of the
troops by frequent exhortations. Scharnhorst asserted
that battles could no longer be won by the military arm
alone ; love of the citizen for country and freedom must
be warmed into life; the moral principle of the soldier
must be stimulated by making him a patriot instead of
a mercenary and extinguishing his self-respect by degrad-
ing punishment.
Thus, from the day of the Treaty of Tilsit, Prussia
seemed to be slowly realizing that a people with a past so
glorious, a land so precious, and a patriotic King so humil-
iated, called for heroic action rather than time spent in
useless regrets. " We have lost battles, have been robbed
of our territory and treated with less consideration than
the smallest power in Europe," said one of these conquered
but not subdued Prussians, "and if we but acknowledge
our own errors and faults, and finally resolve to mend our
ways, all hope in a better future is not lost."
As there are supreme moments in the lives of nations
as well as individuals, when a resolve to do. then and
there what the inmost impulse of the heart declares to be
fair and right, Prussia had reached that moment when,
through Baron Stein, in 1808, she resolved to prepare her
State for a Constitutional monarchy. The State could only
be rescued by beginning to rebuild from the foundation.
The peasantry, who were still the serfs of landlords, must
be freed from bondage, and other exactions which op-
pressed thenx must be removed. He should no longer be
considered a part of the land, *• but could choose his own
employment and look forward to the possession of apiece
of land for himself." The city people, too, were to be
240 EMPEEOR WILLIAM L
released of guilds, severe police regulations removed, and
the burden of supporting superannuated civil servants and
invalid soldiers lessened; to the cities local government
was to be restored, the delegates to be chosen from the
citizens, the magistrates from the delegates, the burgo-
master alone to be named out of three candidates pro-
posed by the city ; the freedom of the trades must super-
sede the tyranny of the guilds; in the country free mar-
kets were to be allowed and the exclusive privilege of par-
ticular mills to be abolished ; any tradesman with sufH.
cient money could buy a baronial estate, and any nobleman
was to be at liberty to trade; a share in the affairs of
State were to be offered to the people. This was the
moral revolution Stein was to inaugurate forthwith. It
was in this frame of mind that the patriots of Prussia re-
ceived the news of Napoleon's rejection of the request
of the Queen, The King now rose to the grandeur of
the occasion and, fortune aiding him with wise advisers,
the work mapped out was earnestly begun.
Napoleon was now in his greatest ascendency in
Europe. All the German States, except Prussia and Aus-
tria, had joined the Rhine League. Prussia had been so
completely crushed that she was not even invited to join
the Ehine League, had she been so disposed. In fact all of
Europe except Great Britain was subject to the two great
powers, France and Eussia.
But it must be said of this military system, which had
silenced iall opposition and played with the crowns and
crownlets of Europe, that it was not without its civilizing
features. The Code Napoleon^ with its recognition of
the rights of the humblest citizen, the jury system, and
other reforms calculated to benefit the masses, were intro-
r
KSnigin Euife mil iljcen beibeti fllteften Sol^nen. (anno n97-)
Queen Louise nith her two eoas In 1707.
HIS BERTH AND YOUTH. 243
duced during this period into the States of the Rhine •
League ; and although Napoleon's nepotism and unrelent- i
ing exactions of money and men robbed these Germans to .
an exasperating degree, upon the whole the condition of j
the peasantry was greatly improved and his sovereignty I
for a time was not felt to bo so great a misfortune by the j
people of many of these States. ^
But unlimited imperial sway, the same as undue per-
sonal power, generally prepares the way for its own destruc-
tion. The arbitrary and heartless conduct of the French
police and spies gradually caused a reaction in those who,
at first, had been dazzled by the new order of things.
The wanton murder of John Palm, for the publication
in Leipsic of a pamphlet entitled " Germany in her Deep
Humiliation," created a feeling of intense resentment
against the foreign governments established in Germany
by Napoleon.
Baron von Stein, who was now Premier of Prussia,
was ordered to proceed at once with his plans of internal
reforms. With fervor and an iron will, he began his
work. He commenced by limiting the power of the sov-
ereign, which had heretofore been almost absolute, and
increasing the liberty of the people. In fact, the whole
list of reforms mentioned before were about to be carried
into effect, when the liberalizing tendency of his adminis-
tration and the almost instantaneous effect of his course
upon the prosperity of Prussia, as well as upon the martial
spirit of the people, were observed by Napoleon. Conse-
quently, upon the pretext that Stein had spoken disrespect-
fully of him, in November, 1808, Napoleon issued a pronun-
ciamento " against a man by the name of Stein," upon
which, being warned by the embassador at Paris, Prussia's
244 EICPEROB WILLIAM I.
prime minister was forced to flee the country, and the King
to confiscate his estates. Baron von Hardenborg succeeded
Stein, and carried out the pohcy inaugurated by hira. Von
Scharnhorst, Secretary of War, ably assisted the new
premier, adopting the principle that true merit, and not
the accident of birth, must secure promotion in the army.
He abolished the enlistment of foreigners, by which a
national sentiment of pride was stimulated, and also
insisted tliat in every organized society its able-bodied
members should be its defenders — the origin of the present
military system known as Landwehr. As a natural con-
sequence, these political and military reforms gave a pow-
erful impetus to the spread of nationalism. The much-
lauded efforts of the men at the helm were soon seconded
by the efforts of pen and song, and authors followed these
statesmen and soldiers, with electrifying effect.
One of the most appreciated of these was the patriot
divine, Schleiermacher, who wrote : " We appreciate the
culture of all nations, and would engraft in ourselves the
flowers of every human mind. Egotism and national
vanity are the two great enemies of progress. The noblest
nations have been the most tolerant and the basest the
most conceited."
Other authors, besides those heretofore mentioned, who
wrote and worked were Ilerder, Humboldt, Klopstock, Les-
sing, Winkelmann, Kant, Weiland, Schelling, Hegel, and
Goethe, who died as late as 1832. Their writings were
suited to all grades of mind, from politician, poet, philos-
opher, scholar and scientist, down to the awakening peas-
antry and laborer. But Schleiermacher seems to have
been the most honored divine and ethical instructor of the
times.
HIS BIETH AND YOUTH. 245
Through his preaching, the individual conscience was ^
awakened to a sense of duty. Honor and self-purification
he held to be necessary to the substantial re-establish-
ment of the Prussian nation. The sermons he preached
produced a lasting effect upon the youthful mind of Prince
William. His confession of faith, written by himself, on
the occasion of his confirmation, which is in harmony with
the honored divine's teachings, are proofs of the truth of
this statement, although Schleiermacher is claimed as
the founder of Unitarianism.
The continued occupation of the Prussian capital by
the French necessitated the prolonged sojourn of the
royal family at Memel. It was at this out-of-the-way
residence that Prince William, December 25, 1809, re-
ceived his appointment as Second Lieutenant, and where,
under the care of Herr Zellers, one of Pestalozzi's pupils,
and Professor Neiman, the foundation of his education
was laid. Under the guidance of these excellent men, the
princes studied ancient and modem history, and among
others, "The History of Brandenburg," written by his an-
cestor, Frederick the Great, as well his history of " The
Seven Years' War," and Schiller's " Thirty Years' War."
At an early age, Prince William developed a strong mili-
tary leaning, while his elder brother was attracted to
other and more classical branches of learning. The prog-
ress of Prince William in military tactics was so rapid
that in less than two years after his appointment to office,
he had mastered all the details of the Prussian infantry
drill. In the winter of 1809, the King and Queen returned
to Berlin. Among the troops composing the escort rode
the young prince, then about twelve years old. The
roysd exiles were welcomed by the people with enthusi-
246 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
astio demonstrations of joy. In passing under the famous
Brandenburg Gate, the King was deeply affected at behold-
ing the vandalism of Napoleon, who had taken the bronze
horses attached to a triumphal car and carried the trophy
to Paris.
Upon her return to Berlin, it was known Queen Louisa
was fatally ill. The weight of her troubles had sunk deep
into her young heart. The few terrible years of the King's
reign had apparently undermined her health. The royal
family were in deep affiotion, and under this last visita-
tion, family, as well as the people, grew earnest and
serious. In writing to her father. Queen Louisa^ whose
heart was bound up in her children, said :
" Our son William will turn out, unless I am greatly
mistaken, the same as his father ; honest and intelligent.
He resembles him most of all, but will not be as hand-
some. You see, I am still in love with my husband."
In a letter about this time sent to the king, she expresses
a wish to once more visit her father, in Mecklenburg-Stre-
litz. This wish was granted, and on the 25th of June,
1810, she set out for the home of her childhood's days.
There the King joined her. Overjoj^ed at the marks of
affection everywhere bestowed upon her, she wrote upon
a small piece of paper, which is still preserved :
" My Deae Father : I am very happy to-day in being
your daughter and the wife of the best of men.
''New Strditz, June 28, 1810. LomsA."
Iler health, however, failed day by day, until her con-
dition becoming alarming, by the advice of her physician,
she and her children were removed to Hohenzieritz. Her
symptoms there soon showing her near approach to disso-
lution, the King was informed, when he immediately set
HIB BIBTH AND TOUTH. 247
out for her bedside. Surrounded by her family, who
received into their sorrowing hearts her gentle admoni-
tions and listened to her steadfast hopes of better days
for those she was forced to leave behind, the young Queen
and mother passed away the 1 9th of July, 1810, mourned
b}' all Germany.
With a woman's keen perception, the Queen saw that
Napoleon's supremacy in Germany could not be of long
duration. In a letter written to her father shortly before
her death, she prophetically said :
" I do not believe that the Emperor Napoleon Bona-
parte is firm and secure on his throne, brilliant as it is at
this moment. Truth and justice alone stand firm and
secure ; yet he is only politic, that is to say, wordly-wise ;
not acting in obedience to eternal laws, but according to
circumstances such as he finds them. Besides this, he
sullies his rule with many acts of injustice. He does not
mean honestly to the good cause and to mankind. In his
unbounded ambition he cares only for self, and for his
own personal interest. At the same time, he knows no
moderation in anything; and he who is not able to
restrain himself must lose his balance and fall. I firmly
believe in a God, and consequently in a moral order of
the world, which I do not see realized in an ascendancy of
brute force. I therefore hope that the present evil times
will be followed by better ones. It is quite evident that
all that has been done, and is doing, is not to be perman-
ent, nor to be considered as the best state of things, but a
state of transition to a happier goal. This goal, however,
seems to lie far off ; w^e shall probably not see it reached,
but die in the meanwhile. God's will be done ! "
Scarcely had the loved Queen been laid in her grave
24S . EBiPEROB WILLIAM L
ere the whole of Northwestern Germany was annexed to
France. The explanation given was that " this union
was dictated by the forc« of circumstances, which circum-
stances were that these provinces still continued to trade
with England. Frankfort was also annexed to France,
under the plea that " this city, founded by Napoleon's pre-
decessor, Charlemagne^ must no longer be kept from its
natural union with France." But the "continental sys-
tem" of Napoleon, which was, in effect, a commercial
war upon England, began to produce its natural results.
Contraband tradesmen sprung up everywhere on the fron-
tier, and many branches of trade were entirely ruined.
France herself was getting tired of supplying armies to
be destroyed, but, nevertheless, Napoleon seemed at the
summit of his power and fame. On March 20, 1811, the
son and heir he had long wished for was born, and imme-
diately received the title of " King of Rome."
Had the Emperor become drunk with glory? So it
appeared to those who first heard he was about to declare
war upon his old ally, Alexander of Russia. By some
means the Czar had discovered Napoleon would never
allow him to take Constantinople, and that he must be
satisfied with the acquisition of Finland. He was also
offended, it was said, that Napoleon had slighted his sister,
for whose hand the Emperor had sued, but, without wait-
ing for an answer, had married the Austrian Archduchess,
Maria Louisa. Others who had stood by Napoleon were
beginning to feel the heaviness of his hand. General
Bernadotte, who had been adopted as the heir of the
crown of Sweden by Charles XIII. (and whom Napoleon
claimed to have made), saw that his country would be
ruined without commercial intercourse with England.
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 24:9
Austria, which looked with fear upon Russia's domination
in Europe, was inclined to France ; also, because Napoleon
was now the emperor's son-in-law. But Prussia, after try-
ing in vain to form an alliance with Eussia, sought to
avoid a rupture with either side. But this was not to be
tolerated by Napoleon. A net- work of troops was drawn
around her from Dantzic to Hamburg, and finally the
command was given, " that Prussia must furnish an aux-
iliary army to the French against Russia, of 20,000 men ;
must permit the transit of the French army across Prussian
territory and support it on its way, and restore some of
her fortresses ; for which Prussia was to receive Livonia,
Esthonia and Courland, when these provinces should be
conquered from Russia. There was no escape and Prus-
sia agreed ; but so great was the dissatisfaction of the
army that more than three hundred Prussian officers left
the service and enlisted on the side of Russia. ^'In the
spring of 1812, vast masses of troops — the largest armies
seen in Europe since the united tribes of Attila moved on
towards the plains of Mame — now moved through Ger-
many towards Russia." Allies and all formed an invad-
ing force of 600,000 men. As they advanced " the Russians
retreated to their inhospitable wastes," avoiding a battle
and drawing their enemies after them. The troops suf-
fered fearfully from disease and lack of food. The battle
of Barodina, fought September 7, was not decisive, though
one of the most hotly contested known in history, each
army losing nearly 50,000 men.
Napoleon entered Moscow September 14, 1812. He
hoped to secure an early peace. Instead, the Russians, at
the instigation of Baron Stein, it is said, burned their
ancient capital, the Emperor Alexander refusing to receive
250 EMFEKOB WILLIAM I.
Napoleon's messengers. In the middle of October began
that terrible retreat with but a few hundred thousand men
of Napoleon's six hundred thousand army entering Eussia.
A great snow storm overtaking them on the 6th of No-
vember, it is said, but thirty thousand succeeded in cross-
ing the frontier. Napoleon, disguised in furs, left his
army on December 4th, and traveled through Germany to
France with all possible speed.
The Prussians fought half-heartedly as French allies,
and, it is claimed, their General York was m friendly
communication with the Russians the whole time. Be
this as it may, York kept the Prussians away from the
French, and upon the order to retreat allowed his division
to be cut oflf by the Eussians. York expected to be court-
martialed, and wrote the King to this eflfect : " I lay my
head cheerfully at your majesty's feet, if I have erred ;
and assure your majesty that I shall await the ball on the
hillock as calmly as on the battle-field where I have grown
gray," and adding, " Now or never is the moment to
embrace freedom, independence and greatness. In 3'^our
majesty's decision lies the fate of the world/'
The Eussians as enemies ostensibly, as friends in
reality, followed the Prussians across the frontier and
occupied Konigsberg, the patriot Stein following close
upon their rear.
Napoleon demanded York's removal, but the Eussians
would not let the aide with the order pass.
Klois, York and Stein, xmauthorized by the King,
began, in February, 1813, to organize n militia in East
Prussia. The King considered himself still bound by his
treaty with France, but he was borne along with the irre-
sistible spirit of freedom pervading the hearts of his
HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. 253
people. He would not have been able to resist it, however
disposed. Accordingly, on March 17, 1813, Frederick
William III. and the Emperor of Eussia met at Breslau,
and entered into an alliance. The King issued a call two
days later, addressed " To My People ! " in the following
patriotic language:
" My faithful people, as well as all Germans, need no
explanation of the causes of the war which now begins.
They are known to all Europe. Men of Brandenburg,
Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania, and Lithuania, you know
what you have endured for the last seven years 1 You
know what will be your doom if this war does not end in
our success ! Remember your past ; remember the Great
Elector and the Gi'eat Frederick ! Even small nations have
fought with great powers, and won success in a cause like
ours. Remember the Swiss and Netherlanders ! This is
the last and decisive struggle which we can make for our
existence and independence ! There is no escape : an hon-
orable peace or a glorious death awaits us. Even the last
we must meet for honor's sake, since neither the Prussian
nor the German would survive dishonor. But we have a
right to be confident. To our righteous cause God will
give the victory ! "
Frederick William III. being the first King who had
ever thrown himself upon the confidence of his subjects,
his earnest and manly appeal was responded to with the
wildest enthusiasm. A popular uprising took place in
Prussia such as had never before been witnessed. Old and
young, rich and poor, nobleman and peasant, all vied with
each other in sacrifices to be made for the re-possession of
a common country. Such was the dan at this time, that
in less than a month, two hundred and seventy-one thou-
254 KicpEKoB William I.
sand armed men, out of a population of not more than
five million, were ready to take the field for independence.
The young Prince William, now sixteen years old, was
anxious to take part in the great campaign for his country's
deliverance. His father, however, fearing the conse-
quences at his age and the state of his health, which was
delicate, refused to grant his request. As a comi>ensation
for the denial, he was appointed First Lieutenant of his
;*egiment; but this empty distinction did not satisfy the
proud-spirrited bo3\
" How can I, with honor, accept this promotion," said
he, with deep disappointment, " if I must sit at home be-
hind the stove while my regiment is before the fire of the
enemy ? " " Do not repine," replied his father ; "you will
lose nothing by obeying my orders."
The result of the campaign of 1813 against France, in
which Prussia was joined by Kussia, and which at the
outset promised so much, came very near being a failure
through the petty jealousies, cowardice, and incompetency
of the Russian commanders, and doubtless would have
resulted in utter defeat but for the efficiency of the Prus-
sian officers, BlUcher, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. After
the reduction of his "grand army of six hundred thou-
sand men" in the snows of Kussia, Napoleon at once
ordered a new levy, and, to the infinite astonishment of
his adversaries, succeeded in re-entering the field with
four hundred thousand fresh troops. With one will tho
people of Prussia, in fact the whole of North Gterman}",
arose to meet his advancing forces. The father of tho
dead Queen Louisa, the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
was the first to come forward with offers of men and
means to the King of Prussia.
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 255
In this offer he declared with emphasis, "With the
help of God, I will at all events show myself worthy of
the honor of being a German prince," and his contingency
of troops did show their ruler's worthiness, for a corps of
Mecklenburg-Sti'elitz infantry, mainly composed of young
recruits, upon meeting a corps of French veterans, under
command of Viceroy Eugene, at Mockem, on their way
to Herlin, after the first fire, did not attempt to reload,
but fell upon their hated enemy with clubbed muskets.
The battles of Lutzen, Gross-Groschen and Bautzen
resulted in French victories, but Nai>oleon was daily
growing weaker. The campaign had been v/ell begun by the
French, but they had lost heavily in men, and could not
retain what they had won. Blttcher and Gneisenau were
confident that another battle would give them the victory.
Napoleon sought an armistice. He tried to gain over
Alexander, as at Tilsit, with tempting ])romiscs; but
Alexander this time refused his offers. The French army
was at Breslau when Napoleon secured an armistice for
seven weeks, which was extended two weeks longer.
The Prussians feared that this truce would lead to a
suspension of hostilities. They hurried forward supplies.
The militia were called from the distant provinces to rein-
force the regiments of the line. Many Russian troops
came to the front. Napoleon's army numbered, after
more recruiting, 350,000 men. But during the armistice
both Prussia and France had endeavored to add to their
strength through more powerful alliances. Prussia had
been most successful. Austria, from Prussia's former in-
difference as to her fate, stood dallying with both oppos-
ing powers for weeks, presumably to make the best terms
possible for hei'self. She held the balance of power
d56 EMPEROR WILLIAM t.
for the time being. Finally, a congress was held at
Prague for Napoleon to decide whether he would accept
Austria's mediation. The decision was awaited by the
allies with intense anxiety. It is thus described by one of
our historians : " On the night of August 10th, the Czar
and Prussian King watched in a barn at Trachenberg for
the rocket that was to signal Napoleon's refusal to accept
Austria's terras. It was after midnight when the rockets
shot up into the clear sky. When seen, the whole Silesian
army, which had been under York, broke out into the
wildest expressions of joy ; friends embracing with tears,
groups of soldiers shouting, and salvos of artillery rolling
away among the hills. On the 12th, two days after, Aus-
tria declared war against France."
Every power entering the coalition, except Prussia^
demanded some profit for themselves. England, Sweden,
Russia and Austria were all to be well paid, by slices of
territory. Prussia asked for existence only. The allied
force amounted to about 630,000 men, while Napoleon
could bring together but about 450,000. Although fight-
ing began as early as the middle of August, the decisive
,]3attle, known in Germany as the " Volker-schlacht "
(Battle of Nations), was fought at Leipsic the 16th, 17th
and 18th of October, 1813. In the height of the battle the
bridge of Lindenau, the only outlet of retreat for French
troops was prematurely blown up — a most barbarous
act, by which thousands of flying troops lost their lives.
The scepter of Napoleon's power was here broken.
The members of the Ehinish League, who were now
convinced of Napoleon's downfall, hastened into the arms
of the allies. The Prussian troops had covered themselves
with glory, while their generals, especially BlUcher and
UARBBAL BLCCHER.
HIS BIETH AND YOUTH. 259
Gneisenau (Schamhorst having died in June from a
wound received at Lutzen), were covered with dearly won
laurels.
At the battle of Katzbach, which was fought on the 26th
of August, 1813, the French troops in Silesia were almost
annihilated by the Prussians, under the intrepid Bliicher.
He had allowed the French to defile through the narrow
passes until he thought the time had come for an attack,
when, placing himself at the head of his troops, he ex-
claimed : " Now, children, enough Frenchmen have gone
by — come on — forward!" and the armed children, fol-
lowing, spread death and destruction among the ranks of
their enemies. In the complimentary address issued the
following day, to his brave soldiers he said: "By this
great victory we have forced the French to abandon the
whole of Silesia ; we have captured one hundred and three
pieces of cannon, two hundred and fifty ammunition
wagons, two French Eagles^ together with numerous other
trophies, and have taken eighteen thousand prisoners,
including many of their superior officers." After this
battle his pet name among his troops was "Marshal For-
warts." His grateful King, shortly afterward, created
him a field-marshal and prince, with the title of " Prince
of Wahlstadt."
Blticher was the man (if we except Stein), in the war
for German independence, who will live longest in the
hearts and memory of his countrymen. His hard, un-
yielding hatred to " the invader " became a religion with
him. He was the resurrection and re-habilitation of Fred-
erick the Great's national hopes. A major of cavalry
with " Grosser Fritz," it is said of him, that, in those early
days, he was a very opinionated young fellow, who stood
260 EMFESOS WILLIAM L
upon having his rights upon all occasions. A junior officer
being promoted over him, Blucher instantly offered his
resignation to Frederick the Great, who, in the same
spirited manner, accepted it, saying : " Major BlUcher, you
may go to the devil." Of course that did not end the
major's martial career. Such a character was needed in
Prussia's regeneration, and but for him the battle of Water-
loo might not have ended, as it did, the political career
of Napoleon Bonaparte. At the age of seventy, he pos-
sessed the physical and mental vigor of other generals of
fifty. Whenever complimented for his achievements, he
used to point toward Gneisenau, saying, " There is my
head ; to him and to the Almighty you must be thank-
ful for the success." And, in fact, it was the indomitable
courage of BlUcher, combined with the military genius of
Gneisenau, to which the great victories of tliat war are
mainly attributable.
After the memorable battle fo Leipsic, these two heroes
were the first to exclaim, in a council of war held in the
field, "Forward to Paris! Providence has furnished
us with the means for the destruction of the despot. We
should be unworthy of our country's love if we failed to
employ them."
Prince William, who had been appointed a captain of
the Royal Guards, was permitted to join the army in its
march to Paris. " I shall take you with me," said the
King, " but for six weeks only, because you are not yet
quite strong." The Prince was in the suite of the Rus-
sian general, Jacken, when, on the 1st of January, 1814,
as the allied troops passed the Rhine near Mannheim, he,
for the first time in his life, became familiar with the
sound of booming artillery. On the 27th of January, he
HIS BIETH AND YOUTH. 261
received his " baptism of fire '^ at the battle of Bar-sur-
Aube, where he gave proof of his sang froid and personal
courage.
A biographer thus describes this little episode of
Triuce William's first " smell of powder " : " The King
from an eminence observed one of his regiments cruelly
exposed to the enemy's fire, and ordered his son to go and
ascertain the name of its commander. The order com-
pels the Prince to ride within the radius of a heavy in-
fantry fire, exposing him to the danger of being shot from
his horse. Without the slightest hesitation, he proceeded
upon his mission, appearing in the midst of the astonished
soldiei^, fulfills his order, and, after having shaken hands
with Colonel Yack, of the regiment, gallops back to his
father with the desired information. Later on, he took
part in the assault of the Russian regiment, Kaluga, on
the heights of Malepin, and, as a reward for his fearless
conduct in this battle, he was decorated by his father with
the * Iron Cross,' an order created on the 10th of March,
1812, the anniversary of Queen Louisa's birthday, and the
greatest honor a Prussian soldier can receive from his
King. The Prince also received an order from Alexander.
The allied army was quickly and surely investing the rem-
nant of Napoleon's forces. His battles were fought with
the desperation of death."
At the village of Eothiere, where a strong position
was held by the French, and where Napoleon commanded
in person, the allies met an unexpected resistance. At
last, Marshal BlUcher hurriedly placed himself at the
front, called to his troops in thunder tones, "Forward!"
took the village by storm, and marched on toward Paris.
Many more battles were to be fought by the allies, and
262 EMPEBOB WILLIAM 1.
at one time they were upon the point of concluding a
peace with Napoleon, and but for the energetic protest of
Marshal Blucher might have done so. His request to be
furnished with two additional divisions, and the increase
of his troops to 100,000 men, being granted, he started
on his way straight to the French capital. Every inch of
the way was contested, but in vain. Napoleon must sur-
render. Accordingly, on the 31st of March, 1814, the
King of Prussia, the Emperor of Eussia, with the two sons
of the King of Prussia, rode into Paris, the Emperor of
Austria remaining some leagues behind. Paris had sur-
rendered, and the Emperor of Russia had given the fiat of
the allied powers, to- wit : that " they would, in no way
whatever, treat either with Napoleon or any one of his
family ; and the French people were at liberty to choose
another government." On the 6th of April, after Louis
XVIII. had been acknowledged as King of the French,
Napoleon signed his abdication and departed for the little
island of Elba, in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia now
left Paris, accompanied by Prince "William (who had since
been promoted to a Majorship) and Marshal BlUcher,
set out for London to pay a visit to the English Prince
Regent. From London, father and son proceeded to
Switzerland, to take possession of Neufchatel, which had
been transferred to Pmssia in the settlement, and on the
3d of August the solemn entry of the royal guards into
Berlin took place — one of the great triumphal processions
of history.
Hardly had the public mind become settled to the
certainty of a returned peace, when the news of Napo-
leon's return from the island of Elba, and his arrival in
HIS BIKTH AND YOUTH. 2<>3
Paris, on the 30th of March, 1815, again threw Europe
into consternation. The peaceful tone of his proclama-
tion, in which the promise was most solemnly made
" that the Empire henceforth meant peace," did not de-
ceive the European rulers, who forthwith declared him an
outlaw. His overtures being thus rejected, he attempted
to compel, with an armed force, what was refused him
peacefully; but Marshal BlUcher and General Wellington
put a speedy end to further parleying at the battle of
Waterloo.
King Frederick William and his son William had started
from Berlin to take part in this last campaign against
Napoleon, but before reaching the army the news of his
defeat and of his transfer to an English ship overtook
them. Continuing this journey they reentered Paris, in
company with Alexander I. and Francis II. of Austria,
on the 13th of July, 1815. Upon Prince William's return,
he devoted his time and energies almost exclusively for
the next two years to his military studies. In March,
1817, he received the appointment of Colonel, taking com-
mand of a battalion of the Guards. The following year,
upon attaining his majority, he was promoted to a Major-
Generalship, and in 1819 was honored with a seat and
vote in the war ministry. In 1825, on the occasion of his
birthday, he was placed in command of the Third Bran-
denburg Army Corps, and three months later received the
rank and title of Lieutenant-General.
In June, 1817, Prince William accompanied his sister,
Charlotte, the bride of the Czarowitch Nicholas of Russia,
to St. Petersburg, and witnessed the marriage ceremonies,
which took place on the 13th of July. In the latter part
of May, the following year, King Frederick Willia.m paid
264 EaCPEROB WILLIAM I.
a visit to his daughter at the Rnssian capital, who had
jast presented her hasband with a son (Alexander). Be
fore taking his departure, the King entrosted his son
William with the supreme management of the military
affairs of his kingdom.
In October, 1822 and 1823, Prince William and his
elder brother accompanied their father upon an extended
tour through Switzerland and Italy, visiting Neufch&tel,
Venice, Verona, Naples, Pompeii and Rome, at which
place they paid their respects to the Pope. Prof. Bunsen, in
whose care the two princes had been placed during this
journey, writes of them as follows : " They are both
very observant and intelligent. Prince William is of a
serious disposition and manly character, which one can
not behold and understand without being heartily devoted
to him, and must in all sincerity hold him in high esteem."
The story of an early attachment of the Prince is often
related, and may or may not be true. These affairs in
royal families are most generally rather arbitrarily settled.
The story runs as follows:
" The marriage of the Crown-Prince, Frederick William,
was not blessed by an heir, and probabilities indicated
that Prince William would one day succeed to the throne.
Frederick William III. was especially proud of him. Firm,
faithful, kind, and brave, the young Prince had become
the army's idol. Unfortunately, he loved the Princess
Charlotte Radziwill, then the belle of the northern metro-
polis. The handsome Pnnce seemed made for her, and
she created for him. But it was in vain. The inequality
of her birth was insuperable. The old dynasty to which
she belonged outshone in power and wealth many of the
princely houses of the fatherland, and once, in the day of
r
HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. 265
the Great Elector, HohenzoUem had led a Badziwill to the
altar. But those days were changed. A more stringent
code governed the alliances of the royal house since the
reign of Frederick the Great, confining them entii'ely to
immediate members of ruling families. The Badziwills
ruled no more. Five years went by. Prince William
refused to give up his choice. Everything was done to
allay the doubts and accomplish the union. Persuaded
by Prince Anton Radziwill, a prominent and powerful
scion of the house, the great jurist, Eichhorn, attempted
to prove, in a lengthy publication, the equality of his
patron's family. But his learning could not overcome a
prejudice and the erudition of distinguished opponents.
As a last resort, Prince August of Prussia, offered to
adopt Charlotte, but the theorists said that adoption
would not replace blood. And other complications had
arisen in the meantime. A young brother. Prince Karl,
had married a Saxon princess, and the grand ducal court
could claim the crown for the children of this union
should the Eadziwill marriage take place. Here was the
crisis. Love could no more be the only consideration.
The fate of a dynasty was at stake. This the King could
not allow. Worked upon by his monitors, he finally but
reluctantly decided to use his authority. This was in
1826. In a letter, every word of which breathed contri-
tion and sorrow, he reviewed all that had been done in the
case to please his son, but done in vain. Nothing now re-
mained but to sacrifice himself for the welfare of his
country and the salvation of the race.
" Receiving the letter from the hands of General von
Witzleban, the prince was completely unmanned, weeping
Uke a child. But gathering courage to stare destiny in
266 EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
the face, he replied during the same evening that he would
obey. He unburdened his soul to his father, assuring him
that he would justify his trust in mastering his grief and
hardening himself to the inevitable. The lovers were
separated, and a year later, at an arranged meeting at the
court of Saxe- Weimar, the Prince became acquainted
with the Princess Augusta, just entering her sixteenth
year. Of her, the celebrated savant, William von Hum-
boldt, then said : ' She is a young lady of firm and inde-
pendent character, with a quick and penetrating mind.'
"The young couple were betrothed on the 19th of
October, 1828, and in June, the following year, the wed-
ding ceremonies took place."
On the 18th of October, 1831, the anniversary of the
battle of Leipsic, " Unser Fritz," Frederick William Nich-
olas Karl (Frederick III.), the late Emperor of Ger-
many, first saw the light of day. Seven years later, a
daughter, Louise, present Grand Duchesse of Baden, was
bom to the royal pair.
After the first occupation of Paris by the allies, a con-
gress of the powers which had formed the coalition
against Napoleon was called to meet at Vienna. This
congress, composed of the princes and ambassadors, met
in 1814, but did not finish its work until June 9, 1815,
nine days before the battle of Waterloo, At this
congress the map of Europe was entirely remodeled, and
as best suited the convenience and according to the degree
of influence the one or other of the sovereigns, or their
representatives, could bring to bear upon the delibera-
tions of the congress.
"The American reader will observe," says the his-
torian Lewis, "that this self-constituted tribunal of
HIS BIJRTH AJSTD YOUTH. 267
sovereigns assumed the absolute right to dispose, at
its own will, of the people of Europe, assigning them, by
nations, cities and districts, to such rulers, governments
and political associations as pleased it."
By the stipulations of this congress, Prussia received
the province of Posen, and half the Saxon territory, with
845,000 inhabitants. She also received the Duchies of
JUllich and Berg, on the Rhine, and a number of other
smaller districts and towns. Considering the sacrifices
Prussia had made for the War of Independence, her share
in the spoils was very meager, indeed ; but what Prussia
failed to secure in territory she gained in prestige among
the people of Germany, as an exclusively German power.
Without suspecting it, Austria and Russia had, by tneir
niggardly treatment of Prussia, laid the very foundation
for her future greatness and power. Her kingdom now
became the nucleus of the great German idea — German
unity. Germany was now formed into a confederation of
thirty-eight states, and took the place of the former Ger-
man Empire: of, which Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Sax-
ony, Hanover, Wiirtenburg and Baden were the largest.
In the act of confederation it was stipulated that
all members should have equal and uniform rights.
That the general interest of the confederation must be
discussed and arranged at a Diet, to be held at Frankfort-
on-the-Main, under the presidency of Austria.
All members of the confederation to promise to unite
together against foreign attacks ; but never to levy war
against each other.
In all the states of the confederation there was to he
a constitutional ffover?im£nt.
Religious liberty to be guaranteed throughout the
confederation.
268 EMPBBOB WILLIAM I.
The Diet to occcupy itself with the formation of laws
for the liberty of the press, as well as for commercial
intercourse between the states of the confederation.
Thus it would seem that after parcelling out territory
and peoples in the most Russian fashion, the Congress
took a long step in a progressive direction ; but as was to
be expected from an assemblage of which Mettemich was
the leading spirit, the promises made were those merely
of kings, to be broken at pleasure.
On November 5, 1816, the first meeting of the Diet
took place at Frankfort. In the clash of interests that
immediately followed, everything relating to the estab-
lishing of courts and the internal government of the dif-
ferent states was forgotten.
It was plainly apparent at the very outlook that by
giving to Austria the presidency, which at best was not
a German power, but a conglomeration of various dis-
cordant nationalities, the seeds of contention had been
sown. The most strictly German power, and which, by
tradition and by the inherent German pharacteiristics of
her people, was entitled to the lead in a confederation of
German states, was pushed into the background.
The preponderance given to Austria was also justly
interpreted by the progressive party of Germany as a
concession to Catholicism and a step in the direction of
political retrogression. In fact, the smaller states of the
confederation soon took sides with one or the other of
these two countries which were striving for national
supremacy upon this line of thought. Those states where
religious bigotry and the servility of the people most pre-
vailed sided with Austria, while those entertaining more
liberal and progressive religious and political ideas leaned
HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. 269
toward Prussia. But, while the compact had thus
engendered political strife between the members of the
confederation, and Germany was losing what little pres-
tige she had among the European powers, the salutary
provision which compelled each of the states to keep the
peace among themselves, had the effect of securing to the
German people a period of forty-five years for recupera-
tion— a period of prosperity and general contentment
unknown since her golden days before the Eeformation.
The material well-being of Germany, however, did not
destroy the hope nursed in the hearts of her people for
greater political freedom, which had been one of the
incentives to their struggle for independence. They still
sung and wrote of their achievements in behalf of country
and liberty. They listened to the story of Armenius,
and the share the Germans took in defending Europe
against the corrupting power of the Byzantine Empire.
They ren>embered, with self-exaltation, that Martin
Luther was their countryman; that the world was in-
debted to them for the religious freedom it enjoyed ; and
it was to their fathers' bravery, under the lead of Frederick
the Great, that Germany had been preserved from becom-
ing part Cossack, part Austrian, and part French. It was
Northern Germany — the land of the Saxon and Goth —
which had offered the most, done the most, and suffered
the most in all these early struggles for liberty of action
and liberty of thought. They also felt that to their sac-
rifices, their treasures, their bravery and heroism, Ger-
many's independence from French domination was mainly
due. They had been led to believe that, after having suf-
fered and sacrificed, and finally achieved these successes,
and because the liberal policies of Stein and Schamhorst
270 EMPEBOB WILUAM I.
had proven eminently successful to Prussia, that the
promises made by the King before the battle of Waterloo
would be fulfilled.
This wish or aspiration for a constitutional govern-
ment had taken deep root in the universities — the
nurseries of the Keformation. German unity should mean
a government founded upon German intelligence and
equality. The students who had taken part in the conflict
for the nation's independence, having passed through the
common dangers of a terrible war, could not realize their
insignificance upon the return of peace. They formed
themselves into organizations — student veteran associ-
ations — called the Burschenschaft, the first of which was
organized at Jena. In 1817 the number of orders in-
cluded the universities of Tubingen, Heidelberg, Halle,
Giessen, and one or two others. On the 18th of October
of the same year, the representatives of fourteen universi-
ties assembled at Wartburg — of Martin Luther fame —
and adopted a constitution. Their ruling incentive was
united action towards securing for United Germany a
constitutional government.
The hereditary monarchs of Europe, forming the
" Holy Alliance," looked upon these liberal tendencies and
manifestations as dangerous heresies and innovations,
threatening the established order of things in Europe,
and which it was their bounden duty to suppress.
Among the German powers, Austria led the reaction-
ary movement. Mettemich, the prime minister of the
Emperor was the ablest and most diplomatic statesman of
the age, but a sworn enemy to every liberalizing aspir-
ation of the people. His efforts were accordingly directed
towards defeating a constitutional form of government,
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 27.1
not only of the Confederation, but in Austria and every
other German state. Every ruler felt the power of his
opposition. While in the midst of this reactionary struggle
of the monarchs against fulfilling the promises maae to
the people, the cry of murder startled the land, giving all
Europe a sudden shock, and causing the people to pause
in lending countenance to measures not in accordance with
the laws of the country — ^the remembrance of the French
revolution being still fresh in their minds. The cause of
this cessation of active operations was the death of Au-
gust Frederick von Kotzebue, a German dramatist of ac-
knowledged talent, but of easy conscience. It was known
that he had used his pen to give satirical accounts of those
political organizations of the German students to the
"hated despots," and, more especially, to the Czar of
Russia, in whose pay he was said to be. His death was
decided upon by the Burschenschaft and his assassin was
to be designated by lot. It fell upon a student named
Sand, who went to Mannheim in Baden, where Kotzebue
was then living, and appearing before him, with the wild
exclamation : " This is for you — ^traitor to your country ! "
stabbed him to the heart. Sand was beheaded, but his
execution was the occasion for a liberal demonstration,
the* students dipping their handkerchiefs in the blood of
their martyred brother, accompanied with gi'eat lamenta-
tions. But assassination, when committed in the name
of liberty, has always proven the best ally of despotism.
This murder of the author Kotzebue did not form an
exception to the rule. It was as inexcusable as it was
fatal to the liberal cause of Germany. Metternich at once
seized upon the unfortunate occurrence as a pretext for the
adoption of repressive measures. Upon his request, the
y
2T2 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
September following, the Diet at Frankfort passed the
Carlsbad Resolutions, by which the Burschenschaft was
suppressed, the freedom of the press destroyed, and in-
quisitorial commissions for the suppression of political
agitation established. In May, 1820, Metternich's des-
potic policy was further strengthened by the adoption
of the so-called "Final Act," by which every state was
required to furnish military aid in suppressing movements
of liberal tendencies in any part of the confederation ; and
to complete the slavery in which he hoped to bind the
peoples of Europe, similar repressive measures wereadopted
by the congresses of the sovereigns of the " Holy Alliance."
But while the two greatest and, in a military sense,
strongest powers of the German confederation were
steadily pursuing the most illiberal and reactionary course,
a strong anti-Metternich sentiment was growing up in the
smaller states, some of which were ruled by wise and pop-
ular sovereigns who had conscientiously fulfilled the prom-
ise made the people of the several states in the act of con-
federation, to-wit : that there should be a constitutional
government in every state of the confederation. The first
sovereign to fulfill this promise was the Duke of Weimar.
Nassau, Bavaria^ Baden and Wtirtemberg followed in
1818. These liberal concessions had the effect of increas-
ing the number and strengthening the convictions of those
in the vanguard of political freedom ; and as liberty is epi-
demical in its effect, the people of the larger states, from
which these political advantages were still withheld, be-
came gradually more restless. In Prussia, however, the
people were indemnified for the King's withholding his
promise by advantages in other directions.
It must be said to the credit of King Frederick Will-
HIS BIBTH AND YOUTH. 273
iam III. that while he was naturally inclined towards ab-
solute monarchism, and was politically under the influence
of absolutists, of which Emperor Alexander of Russia and
Prince Metternich were the master spirits, he was heart-
ily devoted to the interests of his people, and gave every
assistance in his power to the development of the resources
of Prussia, and to the promotion of her agricultural indus-
tries and commercial interests.
Public instruction had never been overlooked by him,
even in the darkest .hour of Prassia's wars, and since peace
had returned it received his special care and atten-
tion; the institutions of learning, from the elementary
school to the highest colleges of science, were multiplied
and brought to a high state of perfection. The Univer-
sity of Berlin owes its existence to King Frederick Will-
iam III. He was also instrumental in bringing about a
union of the Eeformed Churches with the Lutherans, and
in 1828 in forming the German Zollverein (Tariff Confede-
ration).
CHAPTER YIL
AS CROWN PRmCE OF PRUSSIA.
IT had been charged that Prince William was merely
a military martinet until he reached the throne. If
this were true, future events have shown that it was not
only the best thing for Prussia, but for the whole of Ger^
many, that he was such. A careful study of the causes
which led to the death struggle of his ancestor, Frederick
the Great, as well as his own experiences during the years
of his country's greatest humiliation and prospective down-
fall, and a knowledge of Austria's constant effort to be-
little Prussia's influence with the smaller German states —
all must have impressed the prince early in life with the
certainty that Prussia's future safety and her position as
a German power lay in making her as strong physically
as she was becoming intellectually, and in the line of ac-
tion laid down by Stern, Scharnhorst and other patriots
of 1812 and 1813. Prussia, these men thought, could
only exist under the protecting arm of a well organized
and equipped army.
With France on the west, Austria on the south, the
smaller German states an uncertain quantity, and a dis-
affected element at home, the Prince readily saw that
some one of his family, if the family continued to hold its
ancestral inheritance, must be at the head of the ai*my.
His love of order, discipline, and hopes for the prosperity
of Prussia, fitted him for this branch of his father's gov-
ernment the best. Accordingly, from the date of his ma-
jority, 1818 to 1840, we find his life an exceedingly active
274
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AS OBOWN PBINCE OF PKUSSIA. 277
one. Aside from his natural interest, he was first made
commander of an army corps, with the rank of Lieutenant-
General, which office compelled him to aid in the reorgan-
ization of the army. His tours of military inspection
throughout the provinces, as well as the professional mis-
sions to Italy, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, and Belgium
at the request of his government, gave him little time foi'
idling.
On 8th of June, 1840, his father died, and his brother,
Frederick William IV., was crowned King of Prussia.
This man was a monarch of more than ordinary acquire-
ments. He was an orator of some prominence and his
education was of the highest order. Like his father, he
was fondly attached to his people, and earnestly devoted
to their material interests ;he conscientiously believed that
by promoting these interests he was fulfilling his whole
duty as King. It is true, he showed a more liberal spirit
than his predecessors, but he was not in accord with the
progressive ideas of the times, and the requests by popular
leaders for a constitution were answered with such evasive
remarks as : "I will not allow a piece of paper to push it-
self between me and my people."
An erroneous but unanimous opinion prevailed at this
time, that the King was well disposed and in hearty sym-
pathy with the reforms demanded by the people, but that
Prince William was the evil spirit behind the throne.
This charge has since been proven untrue in every partic-
ular. However, as the opposite of the truth is usually
firmest believed, this impression continued to be held.
Accordingly, his accession to the throne of Prussia, after
the death of his childless and physically feeble brother
was contemplated w^ith much fear and apprehension.
278 EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
In anticipation of such an event, Frederick William IV.,
on the 12th of June, 1840, conferred upon Prince William
the title of Prince of Prussia, and the rank and title of
General of the Prussian Infantry.
As before stated, the Prussians expected much of the
scholarly King in the way of a Constitutional govern-
ment. But although he had shown a liberal spirit when
Crown Prince, when firmly seated upon the throne, he
suddenly became an absolutist.
In 1842 he took a journey to England, appointing
William, now forty-seven years of age. Regent during his
absence. Says Baron Bunsen, in his letters, in regard to
the opinions of the Prince upon the constitutional ques-
tion then agitating the country :
" The Prince spoke with me more than an hour, ad
lihitum; in the first place about England, then on the
great question— ^the Constitution. I told him all that I
had said to the King of facts that I had witnessed. Upon
his question, What my opinion was? I requested time
for consideration, as I had come hither to learn and to
hear ; but so much I could perceive and openly declare,
that it would be impossible longer to govern with Provin-
cial Assemblies alone^ — ^it was as if the solar system
should be furnished with centrifugal powers only. The
Prince stated to me his own position relative to the great
question, and to the King, with a clearness, precision,
self-command, and openness which delighted me ! He is
quite like his father; throughout a noble-minded Prince
of Brandenburg — ^the house which has created Prussia."
Two years after, William visited England, and was
cordially received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Says the Queen, in her diary published a short time since :
AS CBOWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 279
«I like him. very much. He is extremely amiable,
agreeable and sensible; cheerful and eas}'' to get on
with. He is very amusing, talkative and frank. On all
public questions he spoke most freely, mildly and judi-
ciously, and I think would make a steadier and safer King
than the present. He was in ecstasy with the park and
the trees, as he is with everything in England. He
seemed to take a liking to England — admired her great-
ness, which he perceives to be a consequence of her politi-
cal and religious institutions." But in his " Life of the
Prince Consort," Sir Theodore Martin observes : " The
cry throughout Europe at this time was for Constitutional
government upon the English model; but the Prince
seems to have felt that a Constitution like ours, which had
grown up with the growth of the nation, and owed its
form, as well as its stability, to the fact that it was in
harmony with the national culture and life and habits,
was not a thing to be applied to the other nations of Eu-
rope, where none of the conditions were the same."
Further, Sir Theodore says : "A very cordial and intimate
relation was established between Prince Albert and the
Prince of Prussia during this visit. Frank and sincere as
both were by nature, and both watching with anxious in-
terest the aspect of affairs on the Continent, which was
already prophetic of coming storms, this was only to be
expected. The friendship was cemented by personal in-
tercourse during four sul3sequent visits of the Prince of
Prussia to England in 1848, 1850, 1853 and 1856, and came
to a happy climax in the marriage by which the reigning
families of Prussia and England became united in 1858."
When the news reached Germany that on the 24th of
February, 1848, an uprising had taken place in Paris; that
280 EMPEBOK WILLIAM I.
King Louis Philippe had been driven into exile and a repub-
lic proclaimed, a great impetus was given to liberal ideas
in Germany. The sovereigns of almost all the smaller
States who, but a few days before had remained deaf to
the pleadings of their subjects, now leant a willing ear as
sovereigns always do at the specter of sudden revolution.
They protested they always were the dear friends of the
people, and never had any other object than the people's
interests at heart. The people believed them, and were
for the time being appeased by a change of ministry. The
reactionary cabinets being dismissed, others professing
more liberal views were installed in oflBice. These were
called " the March-ministers."
The people of Prussia were among the first to demand
from Frederick William IV. their rights so long wrong-
fully withheld. "The King's intentions are good," they
said, "but he is under th© reactionary influence of Crown
Prince William," who, at that time, as before stated, had
grown to be most unpopular — ^the best hated individual,
it was claimed, in all Berlin. Conscious of this, and fear-
ing for his personal safety, he was ordered to proceed to
the Ehinish provinces and take command of the portion
of the army stationed there. This order elicited a violent
protest from some of the most prominent men and sup-
porters of the King in these provinces. The order was
finally withdrawn, and the King issued a decree in which
he promised to use his influence with the other German
powers to meet and reform the Federal Constitution. This
decree pleased the people, and in their gratitude they hur-
ried in throngs to the palace to congratulate him. The
King appeared upon the balcony, bowed his acknowledg-
ments, and retired. The people remained, however, and
AS CEOWN PBINOB OF PRUSSIA. 283
after some time the request to disperse was answered from
a thousand throats : "Away with the military ! "
While some of the leaders hastened to the King to
consult w^ith him, two shots were fired, and the cry,
" Treason ! treason ! " was raised by the excited populace.
Flying to arms, they immediately began to erect barri-
cades. They were attacked by the military on March
18th, and the battle renewed next day. Canister was
used, and the revolutionists were mowed down without
discretion. Along in the afternoon, a deputation of both
loyal and liberal leaders appeared before the King, to
impress upon him the necessity of stopping further blood-
shed. The King reluctantly complied, and withdrew the
troops from Berlin. This was interpreted as a concession
and was claimed as a great popular victory, which the
rioters wished to intensify by compelling the King and
Queen to view the ghastly work done by the army.
Transporting about two hundred of the bodies of those
who had been shot to the royal palace, the King and
Queen were requested to appear and honor the dead,
which they did without hesitation, the King respectfully
removing his hat during the oixieal. From the King
their indignation was now transferred to Prince William,
whom they accused (erroneously, as before stated) of hav-
ing issued the order to fire upon the people. The origin
of this charge was that William had urged his brother to
maintain his dignity, and not to quail before the mob.
He had, also, advised him to give the people, without
hesitation, the Constitution they were clamoring for.
That this was his attitude was stated by the officers of
his staff, who solemnly averred, that during the time the
emeute was raging, " he refused to give any order what-
284 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
ever, even upon the most pressing occasion, always reply-
ing, ^I have no orders to give I ' " So that the sobriquet,
''^ Kartdtschen Prince^^ (Canister Prince), which w^
given him at the time, was not deserved. The odium
attached to this act, notwithstanding, finally alarming the
friends of the Prince, the King sent him upon a mission
to England, William refusing to go until it could be
shown he had not fled to escape injury to his person.
While in London he was not idle, but, enjoying the soci-
ety of Peel, Palraerston and Lord Eussell, he had an
excellent opportunity to carefully examine the methods
of the English government. These days of exile were
for him invaluable, because Kings never advance in
earnest except under the spur of necessity. And if this
few months' sojourn in that wonderful country did not
send him back to Prussia an enthusiastic admirer of Eng-
land's representative form of government, it furnished
him with. the evidence that liberty is not inconsistent
with monarchical institutions. That these were his im-
pressions is seen in the following letter, written to the
King on his return journey to Berlin :
" I beg respectfully to inform your Majesty that, in
accordance with the commands imparted to me, I have
quitted London, and am at present on the Continent. I
deem this a most opportune moment for giving renewed
expression to the sentiments, already well known to yom*
Majesty, with which I return to my native country. I
venture to hope that the free institutions, to found which
still more firmly your Majesty has convoked the repre-
sentatives of the people, vrill, with God's gracious aid,
become more and more developed to the benefit of
Prussia. I will devote all my powers sincerely and
AS CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 285
faithfully to this development, and look forward to the
time when I shall accord to the Constitution, about to be
promulgated after conscientious consultation between
your Majesty and your people, such recognition as shall
be prescribed to the Heir-Apparent by Constitutional
charter."
In the meantime, the revolution was making rapid
progress in Germany. The report was circulated that the
King of Prussia had been seen riding through the streets
of Berlin, decorated with the national colors of black, red
and gold, and had publicly declared, that '' Prussia must
henceforth be merged into Germany."
On March 31st, the Vorparlament (Preparatory Par-
liament), composed of the members of the different rep-
resentative assemblies of the states, met at Frankfort. On
the same occasion the old Diet of the German confeder-
ation of princes assembled in the same city, and adopted
an order establishing a German Parliament upon the basis
of universal suffrage. - y
On the 28th of May, Prince "William, who had returned
to Berlin, publicly declared: "A clear conscience alone
has enabled me to live through what has recently befallen
me, and with a clear conscience I return to ray father-
land. I have all the time hoped that the day of truth
would dawn. At last it has dawned. Meanwhile much
has been changed in our country. The King has willed
that it should be so; the King's will is sacred to me ; I am
the first of his subjects, and adhere to these new con-
ditions with all my heart; but justice, order, and law
must govern, not anarchy — ^against this last I will strive
with my whole might. That is my calling in life."
The Prince was even prevailed upon to take a
286 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
seat in the new National Parliament, to which he had
been elected in his absence. At the opening of the as-
sembly, he heartily welcomed his colleagues, and gave his
assurance that he would conscientiously fulfill liis duties
as the first subject of the King?
It could well be anticipated, knowing the leaning of the
King of Prussia, that the concession made by him under
the pressure of events over which he had no control, would
not be received with the same satisfaction by the people
as if made upon his own volition. His good faith was
questioned by many, not only in Prussia, but all over Ger-
many, who declared he could not consider himself in duty
bound to keep promises made under duress. This senti-
ment was fostered by the extremists with pet theories, by
demagogues w^ho had nothing to lose but everything to
gain by revolution, but principally by the adherents of Aus-
tria, who improved the opportunity to intensify the anti-
Prussian sentiment among the people of Southern Ger-
many. Kiots and bloody conflicts between the people of
Prussia and elsewhere were the natural result of such a
state of conflicting public sentiment. Prince William had
retired from public view and was quietly living in Babels-
berg, while political apathy and indifference seemed to
have taken possession of the King. The German Parliament
had committed the blunder of electing the clever sports-
man. Archduke John of Austria, to the position of Reichs-
verweser (Vicar of the German realm), commander-in-chief
of the armies of the German confederation, and charged
with the execution of the decrees of the German Parlia-
ment. Archduke John assumed the office with great pomp ;
but the armies he was to command were not forthcoming,
and the decrees of Parliament remained, consequently,
AS CROWN PfimOE OF PRUSSIA. 287
unexecuted ; nor did this unwillingness on the part of the
German sovereigns to assist him seem to disturb him much,
but rather to give him an excuse for not acting. He was
an Austrian and was elected through Austrian influence ;
consequently, bound to prevent the very thing the re-
form Parliament had charged him with, to-wit : National
liberty and union.
The hopes of every patriot of Germany were now cen-
tered upon Prussia, but the King seemed not disposed to aid
in strengthening the federal power as long as Austria was
at its head. Rome, it was claimed, was also active in en-
deavors to diminish as far as possible the influence of the
Protestant power in the north of Germany. Efforts had
been made by a highly esteemed Catholic prelate, Herr
Wessenberg, to establish a separate German Catholic
Church. Ultramontanism (beyond the Alps) was at its
height in Austria and some of the smaller German states.
Indifference and inaction in Prussia, and impotency at the
head of the German Parliament: such was the condition
of the confederacy in the spring of 1849. In the mean-
time disturbances had taken place in Schleswig-Holstein.
Denmark, by the possession of Ilolstein, had become a
member of the German Confederation, and her population
sympathized more with Germany than with Denmark,
which sentiment took the form of an open revolt in 1848,
and the King of Prussia was appealed to for assistance.
Prussian troops under General Wrangle were sent against
the Danes, who drove them from Holstein, but Russia
having protested, an armistice was signed at Malmo. The
armistice, however, could not be completed unless ratified
by the National Parliament at Frankfort. Its introduction
was received with noisy demonstrations of disapproval, and
288 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I.
only after a lengthy and most acrimonioiis debate between
the liberal and conservative members of the assembly,
was it finally ratified. In the spring and summer of 1849,
Prussian troops again entered the Duchies, but withdrew
in 1850, and, together with Austria, sided with Denmark,
when by this coalition the Duchies were completely sub-
dued.
This seeming subserviency of the central power of Ger-
many to Russia's dictation, created the most intense excite-
ment among the people, which found expression in a mass-
meeting of liberals, held in an open field near Frankfort,
wlien they resolved to march, on the day following, in force
before St. Paul's Church, where the Parliament was in ses-
sion, and there demand that the armistice be declared null
and void, and in case of refusal, to disperse Parliament
by force.
This plan was frustrated, however, by the timely ar-
rival of a body of Prussian troops, after a short but
bloody encounter with the revolutionists in the streets of
Frankfort.
CHAPTER YIIL
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
IN Southern Germany, especially in Baden, the revo-
lutionary element, led by the well-known Frederick
Hecker, was not inclined to await the slow development of
free institutions through Parliamentary action, but resolved
to strike for " liberty, equality and fraternity " at once.
Hecker had been a member of the Eepresentative As-
sembly of Baden for six years, and on every occasion he
espoused the cause of the people with enthusiasm and en-
ergy. But he was far in advance of the people, and when,
in April, 1848, he declared the Republic at (Constance, his
followers were few. But undaunted, and in the firm be-
lief that the people would flock to his standard, he marched
with an army of 1,200 men to Freiburg, with the intention
of declaring a Republic there ; here, also, he found but little
enthusiasm for his undertaking, and after the first en-
counter with some regular troops from Baden and Hesse,
he was defeated, and with a handful of his followers re-
tired across the Rhine into Switzerland. In September
following, another attempt to revolutionize Southern Ger-
many was made by Gustavo von Struve, which failed
more ignominiously than had Hecker's. During Novem-
ber, the liberals of Vienna had raised the standard of
revolution, but the Austrian army, composed of national-
ities inimical to Germany, had no sympathy for the revo-
lutionists, and were consequently not only ready, but eager,
to suppress the popular movement there. The struggle
was short and decisive, the noble Robert Blum, a liberal
288
290 THE REVOLUTIOX IN BADEN.
member of the German Parliament, was shot by order of
the bloodthii^sty General Wendischgratz, while other pat-
riots, among whom were Oswald Ottendorffer, the pres-
ent publisher of the New York Staats Zeitung^ and Hein-
rich Binder, editor of the New York Pitck^ were com-
pelled to fly from their native land.
The revolution in Hungary came nearest being success-
ful of any that was attempted at this time in Europe.
The Magyars were thoroughly organized, and under such
leaders as Louis Kossuth, Bern and others, the liberal
army numbered 200,000 strong. They would have been
successful had not Bussia come to the aid of Francis Jo-
seph with a large army, and decisively defeated the Hun-
garians at Temesvar, when many of the rebel officers were
court-martialed and shot by the infamous Ilaynau.
The revolution which followed in Baden, although un-
successful, left its impress not only upon the countries di-
rectly concerned, but also indirectly upon the affairs of
the United States, as in course of time most of the promi-
nent actors found a refuge and permanent home here.
Although the Constitutional Parliament had succeeded
after much discussion in adopting a series of articles em-
bodying the framework for a future constitution, the peo-
ple, collectively, of Germany, were not satisfied, nor was
it expected this constitution would be accepted by the va-
rious rulers.
On the 28th of March, 1849, the imperial crown of Ger-
many was offered by the majority of Parliament to the
King of Prussia, Frederick William IV.; the smaller states
accepted the choice, but Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Hanover,
and Saxony refused ; Austria formally protested, and after
some hesitation, Frederick William himself declined be-
THE EEVOLCTIOK IN BADEN. 293
cause the Diet of the princes and rulers had not offered
it to hira.
Thus were the fruits of a whole year's Parliamentary
labor lost, and tlie hopes of the people destroyed. All
further efforts by these means appeared now like mock-
ery, and the prolonged deliberations of Parliament hence-
forth seemed but a farce.
There was but one course left, and that was — Revolu-
tion.
The Revolutionists — revolutionists in so far as they
were determined to compel the German princes to give
them a constitutional government as they had promised,
commenced operations early in May, 1849, with the expul-
sion of the Grand Duke of Baden, who, with his family
and court, and the higher civil and military officers, de-
parted in great haste at the sudden uprising of his people,
who were now fully aroused and in bitter earnest. The
rank and file of the army, and a few officers of lower
grade, joined the people and established a provisional gov-
ernment at Carlsruhe ; the places of the deserted officers
were filled from the ranks, and the troops marched to the
frontiers to resist the invasion which would be sure to fol-
low, unless equal success should attend simultaneous move-
ments elsewhere. The adjoining Bavarian province across
the Rhine followed the example of its neighbors in Baden,
and the people took possession of the offices left vacant
by the departed functionaries. The government in Baden
was first represented by a General Committee (Landesaus-
chuss) in May, consisting of twenty-four members, of
which Lorenz Brentano was President and Amand Gogg
Vice-President; on the 1st of June that committee was
substituted by a Provisional Government of five members,
294 THE BEVOLUnON IN BADEN.
Brentano, G5gg, Peter, Fielder and Sigel, and towards
the end of the war the political power was turned over to
an Executive of three members, (Dictator) Brentano,
Gogg and Werner. Besides this, a Constitutional Con-
vention was called, consisting of seventy-four members,
of whom sixty-three appeared at the first meeting; it,
however, adjourned sine die on the 18th of June, after
having appointed an Executive of threcj already men-
tioned. The garrisons (excepting that in the Fortress of
Landau) fraternized with the people. Volunteers in great
numbers poured in from all parts of the country. Gen. Si-
gel raised, organized, and as far as was practicable, equipped
the revolutionary array, which was under his command
during the first period of the war, until Mieroslawski
was appointed Commander-in-Chief, and then Gen. Sigel
himself, although Secretary of War, entered the field
as the Adjutant-General of that officer. An uprising
had taken place in Dresden, but was suppressed, and the
fugitives from Saxony joined the insurgents in Baden and
Rhinish Bavaria. These two countries agreed to form
an alliance for mutual defense, under the direction and
military leadership of Baden. Under this agreement the
military forces of the two countries were organized into six
divisions, with a total strength for active duty of about 25,-
000 men. Those of Rhinish Bavaria formed the Sixth Di-
vision, under the command of Gen. Sznayde. Ten thou-
sand volunteers more of the fugitives from Saxony were or-
ganized ; soldiers deserted in many places and swelled the
ranks of the Revolutionists, who, for a period of about a
month had things all their own way.
Meantime, Prussia, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau gath-
ered up their forces, 70,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry and
THE REVOLUTION IN BADBN. 295
126 pieces of artillery, under command of Prince William
of Prussia, and concentrated them along the northern bor-
ders of Baden and the adjoining states in rebellion ; a few
preliminary skirmishes took place on the southern frontier
of Darmstadt, and finally, in the latter part of June, the
armies of invasion approached in force along both shores
of the Ehine, and also crossed the Bavarian line in two
columns from the north and west, converging as they
advanced. The fortress of Landau had remained in pos-
session of the loyal troops of Bavaria, notwithstanding a
bold attempt to capture it, and with such a dangerous en-
emy in the rear, it was not considered safe to risk any de-
cisive engagement in its vicinity ; the Kevolutionary forces
retreated, therefore, slowly before the invading armies,
and after a few unimportant engagements, crossed the
Ehine opposite Carlsruhe, and joined the better-organized
and much larger forces in the Duchy of Baden. The
plan was to surround the army of the Eevolutionists by a
concentric movement from the north, east and west.
The Eevolutionary army was at that time posted in the
fork of the Neckar and Rhine, from Mannheim to Heidel-
berg, with a small detached corps further east in the
mountains, and consisted of about 25,000 men, of whom
15,000 were revolted regular troops who had taken sides
with the people. The others were volunteers, hastily as-
sembled and armed. Could they have procured arms
enough, they could have put many more in the field —
50,000, easily — but their resources were limited.
Against the projected movement of the army under
the Prince of Prussia Gen. Mieroslawski proposed to hold
his position, defend the line of the Neckar, and throw
himself against the first corps which would pass that river
296 THE EEVOLUTION IN BADEN.
or the Shine. He allowed the Prince of Prussia to cross
the Shine from the fortress of Germersheim, but on the
same day, which was the 20th of June, marched against
him with 15,000 men, 10 squadrons of cavah*y, and 28
pieces of artillery, leaving about 10,000 men to guard
the line of the Neckar against Von Groeben and Von
Peuker, and to protect the crossing of the Shine, in
the neighborhood of Mannheim against the corps of the
Prince of Thum and Taxis. When the Prince of Prussia
crossed near Germersheim, he left one division near Wie-
senthal and Waghausel, and with three divisions marched
east toward Graben. On the morning of the 21st of June
the revolutionists assaulted the division left near Wag-
hausel, and totally defeated it. During this affair the
present Emperor of Prussia, who had accompanied his
father, William, on this expedition, was slightly wounded.
After another engagement near Upstadt between the
Sevolutionary troops from Bavaria and the Prussians, the
combined forces of the rebellion took a second position
near the fortress Eastadt and behind the river Murgh,
where, on the 28th, 29th and 30th a battle was fought
against the united three corps of the enemy. The troops
fought very bravely, but while they were fighting in front
Von Peuker marched into their rear and compelled them
to change their position to meet him. In brief, they were
overpowered. After that battle, and when Ehe troops
were on the retreat to Offenberg, some dissatisfaction
arose in regard to the management of the army by Gen.
Mieroslawski, and besides, he had given up all hope of
success. He therefore resigned, and Gen. Sigel was again
put in command of the forces. They made great exer-
tions to retrieve their losses and continue the war, but
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN. 299
the Revolutionary army was not now over 8,000 strong.
Political dissensions broke out among the leaders, whicli
lead finally to a separation of the troops. A large part
of the army took shelter in the fortress of Bastadt,
where they withstood a siege of nearly a month, while
the remainder, constantly diminished by desertion, re-
treated slowly before the advancing Prussians and other
German troops, through the Black Forest to the borders of
Switzerland, where they were disarmed by the Swiss
authorities and permitted to take refuge in the different
Cantons of the Confederation. Of the army of 25,000
men, about 10,000 crossed the Ehine into Switzerland, and
now the work of " pacification " and revenge under the
special care and authority of Prince WiUiam began. Prus-
sian drumhead courts-martial took charge of the unfor-
tunate prisoners who had laid down their arms and were
now at the mercy of the conqueror. Of those who had
surrendered at Rastadt, nineteen were sentenced to death
and shot. Three were shot in Mannheim, five in Freiburg
and one in Landau ; sixty-six were sentenced to ten years' im-
prisonment ; besides this, 10,000 persons were criminally
prosecuted, and, when found guilty, their property was
confiscated. During 1849 and 1850 Baden alone lost 100,000
inhabitants by fleeing from the hands of their persecut-
ors or by voluntary exile.
The rank and file were quartered and subsisted at the
expense of the Swiss Government, until they gradually
took advantage of the proffered pardon and returned
home. The leaders, who could not return, settled down
temporarily in various parts of Switzerland; but in the
spring of 1850 the Swiss Government, under pressure from
its surrounding neighbors, induced, under the promise of
300 THE BEVOLiUTION IK BADEN.
assistance, the greater number to leave the country. A
general exodus followed; Holland, Belgium, South
America and England were sought by many, but by far
the greater number embarked for the United States at once.
Says M. J. Becker, one of the Forty-eighters and now
Chief Engineer of the St. Louis & Pittsburgh Eailroad
Company, and who with GeneralSigel has furnished the fol-
lowing biographies of the Revolutionists who fled to this
country : " The struggles, hardships, privation and suffer-
ings endured by most of these men during the earlier
days of their American exj)erience would form extremely
* interesting, but in many instances very sad, chapters in the
histories of their checkered lives. Many fell by the wayside
exhausted, and died of want in the crowded cities of the
Eastern coast; some, in utter despair, cut short, with
their own hands, the hopeless misery of their wretched
existence. That the occupations which some were forced
to accept did not in all cases afford opportunities for im-
proving the advantages of their earlier education may be
readily imagined.
Says Mr. Becker, " I remember well, that in my own
case, while I was trinmiing toothsome bunches of bright
red early^ radishes, and tying up bundles of fragrant young
onions for the daily market, long before the rising of the
summer sun, upon a garden farm on Long Island, I often
bewailed the misdirected applications of my early
youth ; and even the mathematical tracing of the parallel
furrows for the transplanting of beets and cabbages, and
the engineering precision displayed in the setting out of
the succulent tomato vines, failed to satisfy my profes-
sional ambition ; nor did I consider the compensation of
four dollars per month for fifteen hours of daily toil an
THE EEVOLUTlON IK BADKN. 801
adequate reward for skilled labor like this. It is true,
I had board and lodging besides. The board, I am bound
to say, was inferior in kind, though ample in quantity ;
but the lodging was on a most liberal ^cale. I had the
whole of Long Island to sleep on, with millions of mos-
quitoes sweetly singing their lullabys,
" One day I met, in the lower part of New York, a
young sculptor, who in his early youth had been a school-
fellow of mine, and who, while pursuing his studies at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, had been drawn into the
common whirlpool of rebellion, and after drifting about
for a while in Belgium and England, had arrived in
America a short time before. Although still quite young,
he had achieved remarkable success, and had been
rewarded with a prize medal in recognition of his talent
and genuis. We were glad to see each other. After a
rapid exchange of experiences, I ventured to ask how he
was prospering in his profession. * Ah, you should come
to my studio and see for yourself,' he said ; ' I am just now
engaged in putting the last finishing touches upon some
magnificent masterpieces of plastic art; you must see
them before they leave my studio.' Eesponding to his
invitation, I found him, a few days afterwards, in a low,
dingy back room of a small carpenter shop in Greenwich
Street, busily engaged in rubbing down with sandpaper
the colossal limbs of a wooden Pocahontas, destined to
adorn the entrance door of a tobacco shop."
But in accordance with the law of natural selection, in
the universal struggle for existence, the fittest will always
survive : and the following sketches of some of these men
of Baden prove the axiom.
General Von Mieroslawski. The General was a
highly educated man, full of fire and courage, a great
302 THE EEVOLUTION IN BADEIN.
speaker, and excellent strategist; but he did not under-
stand the language of the people of the country and of
the soldiers with whom he had to act, and had not suf-
ficient experience in the tactical management of troops.
He was very patriotic, and served the Revolutionary cause
with great faithfulness. He was at that time 34 years of
age, had taken part in the Polish Revolution of 1831, in
the insurrections in Posen and Sicily in 1848, and has writ-
ten several works, among them one on "Revolutionary
War," which is regarded as the best of its kind. Mieroslaw-
ski again took part in an insurrectionary movement in Po-
land in 1863, and died in Paris 1878.
General Sigel crossed the Rhine at Eglisau, near the
Canton of Schafhausen, on the 11th day of July, with
4,000 men and 32 guns, lived an exile in Switzerland,
Italy and England, whence he emigrated to America in
1862 (after the c(yup d^etat of Louis Napoleon) and ar-
rived at New York on the 5th of May, where he soon
found employment as a civil engineer. When war was
declared between the North and the South, he was placed
in command of a brigade in Missouri. His famous retreat
from Carthage, in Missouri, in July, 1861, before Governor
Jackson's superior forces, was a skillfully-executed artil-
lery maneuver — this being the arm of the service in
which Sigel had been especiaUy trained. At Wilson's
Creek and Pea Ridge his professional acquirements again
came in good play on a limited scale, and brought his
name into such prominence, that, when the Army of Vir-
ginia was organized in June, 1862, under Pope, Sigel was
assigned to the command of the First Corps, after Fremont,
who was unwilling to serve under Pope, had resigned.
Between Pope and Sigel frequent misunderstandings arose
Kdifer IPiHtelm T.
Emperor WUllua I.
THE liEVOLUTlON IN BADEN. 305
regarding the meaning of ordere on the one side, and their
interpretation and execution on the other, which led to
ill-natured reproaches on the part of Pope, with com
plimentary returns by Sigel.
After the second battle at Bull Eun, Pope was re-
lieved by McClellan just prior to the Antietam campaign,
during which campaign Sigel commanded the Eleventh
corps of the reorganized army, a circumstance which
goes to prove tliat Pope's war upon Sigel was entirely
the result of personal prejudice.
Since the war the General has lived in New York.
Onc^ or twice he has taken part in political campaigns,
speaking to the Germans, and defending the Democratic
side of the issue since Tilden's nomination. He has held
various offices in the City of New York, Register of Deeds
and on the Board of Public Works, and is now serving the
Government of the United States as Pension Agent for
the district of New York City. He is a man of great
acquirements, speaking several languages, and a writer of
merit, a genial gentleman and honorable man.
Fbedebick Heckeb. Hecker, mortified and sorely dis-
appointed, took refuge in America, and settled, with a
few of his immediate friends, near Belleville, in Illinois.
He had been the leader and Parliamentary champion
of the people in that first crude and primitive specimen of
representative government in Germany — the Chamber of
Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Baden — for six j^ears
prior to 1848. Eloquent, sincere, enthusiastically devoted
to the people by whom he had been chosen, he enjoyed, in
return, a popularity seldom gained by mortal man. Of
handsome presence, graceful figure and impressive coun-
tenance, frank in speech, prompt in action, he was idol-
306 THE BEVOLUTION IN BADEN.
ized by men and women alike. The famous Hecker Song
could be heard upon the highways and byways of South-
ern Germany, in village and city, sung early and late, by
young and by old, with enthusiastic fervor, and encored
to the echo.
Of sanguine temperament himself, personally brave
and fearless to a fault, it is not surprising that he, flattered
by every possible manifestation of popular devotion, and
believing firmly in the righteousness of his cause, did not
only count upon the fullest support of his own people, but
confidently expected to win over to his side the very sol-
diers who were sent to destroy him. How deep must
have been his grief, how sore his mortification, at the sad
failure of his effort. *
When our own Rebellion broke out, Frederick Hecker
hastened to the defense of his adopted country with a full
regiment of men enlisted by himself. The Eighty-second
Illinois, or the Hecker regiment, as it was called, composed
principally of German soldiers, did credit to itself and to
its commander throughout the war, from which he returned
at its close, with a severe wound, and crippled for life.
The honest sinceritv and enthusiastic fervor with
which he performed his duties, and which frequently as-
sumed a degree of energy bordering on vehemence, led
him occasionally into ludicrous and embarrassing situations.
At the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, in the fall of
1864, Hecker ordered his regiment out in full dress, armed
and equipped, and marched the men to the polls, with bay-
onets fixed, drums beating, and colors flying; and the sol-
diers voted for "Old Abe" to a man. When Mr. Lincoln,
who had known Hecker weU as a neighbor in Illinois,
heard of this he felt greatly annoyed, and sent for bim|
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN. 307
and remonstrated with him for committing such a flagrant
breach of propriety. Hecker quite seriously and earnestly
contended that there was nothing wrong in his conduct;,
if it was proper to vote at all, it could not be im2)roper to
do it in good style ; and, as a justifying precedent, he told
Mr. Lincoln that in the days of ancient Home the legions
always emphasized their sufifrage by striking their brazen
shields with their swords. But honest "Old Abe" did not
seem to appreciate the application and failed to see the
similarity between a regiment of Suckers from Western
Illinois and a Roman legion; nor would he admit the
semblance between himself and an imperial Caesar.
After Hecker's return from his four years' service in
the army, he found that the quiet life on the farm no
longer agreed with him ; his crippled condition interfered
with his occupation, and the idle hours dragged heavily.
For a season he sought relief and diversion in a lecturing
tour, but met with indifferent success ; the subjects chosen
for his discourses, although treated with consummate,
scholarly skill, were not adapted to his audiences ; his place
was the tribune, not the platform.
Shortly after the Franco-German war Hecker made a
visit to his old home in Germany, where he was enthusias-
tically received by his former friends and neighbors, with
whom he rejoiced heartily over the final realization of his
hopes, the recently-accomplished uniiication of Germany.
After his return to America he gradually retired from
active life ; the infirmities of old age, attended sometimes
with intense suffering, crept on apace, and he died a few
years ago at his country home, near Belleville, honored by
all who ever knew him, for his uncompromising honesty
and his sterling integrity.
308 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
LoRENz Brentano, who occupied, during the insurrec-
tion of 1848, the position of President of the Provisional
Government, and who still lives in Chicago, was bom at
Mannheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in 1813. He
received a classical education, studied jurisprudence at
Heidelberg and Freiburg, and after graduating practiced
law before the Supreme Court of the State. He first dis-
tinguished himself as leading counsel for the defense in
the celebrated state trial against Gustavo von Struve, for
high treason. After attaining the legal age he was elected
to tlie Chamber of Deputies, where he soon became the
recognized leader of the opposition party.
In 1848 he was elected to Parliament, and after the
outbreak m 1848 he became President of the Revolutionary
Government, for which he was condemned in contuma-
ciajn to imprisonment for life. After his emigration to
this country he settled upon a farm in Kalamazoo County,
Michigan ; in 1859 he removed to Chicago and commenced
the practice of law ; in 1862 he served as a member of the
Illinois Legislature, and after the expiration of his term
he became a member of the Chicago Board of Education.
He was a delegate, in 1868, to the National Republi-
can Convention which nominated Grant and Colfax,
before which time he was also editor-in-chief and prin-
cipal proprietor of the lUinola Stdots Zeitu?ig. In 1869 he
took advantage of the general amnesty and paid a visit to
his native country, from which he returned to recover
what was left of his property by the great Chicago fire.
From 1871 to 1876 he served as United States Consul
at Dresden, and afterwards was elected to the 46th Con-
gress as a member from the Chicago City District.
I happened to be present in the winter of 1848 at a
THE BEVOLUTION IN BADEK. 309
very amusing and somewhat exciting scene, in which
Brentano played a conspicuous part. In the course of a
speech, which he delivered on this occasion in Parliament,
ho alluded in rather disrespectful language to the Crown
Prince of Prussia (the late Emperor), who had just
then returned from his short exile in England, when a
young aristocratic member, a nobleman of high rank, took
exceptions to Brentano's remarks, and in a greatly excited
manner challenged him right there and then for daring to
insult the brother of his King. Brentano looked calmly
at his assailant, and said in a quiet and dignified tone :
"Well, if this little case between the Prince and myself is
to be settled by proxy, I will send my coachman to fight
you ; what time would it suit you to meet him?"
Carl Sohurz, on account of his superior education, and
by virtue of his unquestioned talent and great natural
ability, has become the foremost representative German in
America. The self-sacrificing devotion which he displayed,
when, after having safely escaped capture, he bravely risked
his own life in the rescue of his imprisoned friend, Gott-
fried Kinkel, called forth the exercise of the highest
courage and the most heroic perseverance.
At the commencement of the Revolutionary movement
in 1848, Schurz was a student at the University of Bonn,
where his friend, Professor Kinkel, was reading lectures on
literature. The outbreak in 1849 brought both to the seat
of war, where Kinkel enlisted in Willich's corps of volun-
teer^ and fell, during the battle at Ilastadt,into the hands
of the Prussians, dangerously wounded. Schurz served
as aide to Frederick Anneke, who had assumed command
of the artiUery in the fortress. After the retreat of the
army from the field around Rastadt, the fortress was
310 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
invested and besieged, and finally capitulated. But during
the night preceding the final surrender, Sohurz made his
escape through sewers and ditches and crossed the Rhine in
safety. Kinkel, who was a Prussian subject and soldier, and
who had been captured while fighting against the army of
his sovereign, was sentenced to be shot, and would have
been executed if he had not been rescued by Schurz's dar-
ing effort. They finally landed in England, where Kinkel
remained ; but Schurz soon came to America and settled
at Watertown, in Wisconsin. His general ability, espe-
cially his eloquence, soon brought him into prominence,
and as early as 1856 he carried by storm such far-famed
masters of oratory as Sumner and Wendell Phillips by a
speech which he made at a banquet in Boston. In 1860
he was a delegate to the National Convention which nom-
inated Lincoln, whom he ardently supported during that
memorable canvass which resulted in his election. After
the inauguration, Schurz was appointed Minister to Spain,
which office he soon resigned to take a command in the
army. His military service, although not distinguished
for any particularly remarkable achievements, has been
uniformly honorable and creditable. In August, 1862, he
commanded the Third Division of Sigel's First Corps during
Pope's campaign at Manassas. In May, 1863, he fought
at Chancellorsville at the head of a division in the Eleventh
Corps ; in July of the same year he was at Gettysburg,
where he assumed temporary command of the entire Elev-
enth Corps, when General Howard, after Reynolds' death,
was placed in charge of the First, Third and Eleventh
Corps combined; on the first day of that battle Schurz
displayed great personal courage in attempting to rally
the routed troops of his corps, and on the second day he
THE EEVOLUTION IN BADEN. 811
repulsed a fierce attack of the rebels upon Cemetery Hill,
where his headquarters were.
Transferred with General Hooker, to the West, he
fought before Chattanooga in September, and in Novem-
ber took part in the storming of Missionary Ridge.
After the close of the war he was sent by President
Johnson, together with Generals Grant and Thomas, upon
a commission of inspection into the Southern States, to
report upon their condition and ascertain the sentiments
of the people. During his term in the United States Sen-
ate he gave offense to the ultra-Republicans by his open
advocacy of a conciliatory policy towards the South ; his
speeches on the San Domingo Treaty and on the German
Arms question were masterpieces of brilliant oratory and
logical argument. As a Cabinet Minister during the un-
eventful administration of President Hayes, he conducted
the affairs of his department on plain but strict business
principles, and left the public service with the undisputed
reputation of being an honest man. He has been a strong
advocate of a civil service in the United States exempt
from political influence. Forty years after his escape from
Prussian justice he returns to Berlin, and is received with
distinction by the Prime Minister of Prussia — Prince
Bismarck.
Alexandeb Souihhelpfennio. The secret agitations
which for a number of years preceded the final outbreak in
Baden, extended in some few instances among the officers
of the Prussian army. The principal centers of this move-
ment were in Westphalia and among the garrisons along
the Lower Rhine ; the officers of the artillery regiments
stationed in Cologne, Wesel, MUnster and Minden were
especially affected. Some of the officers of the infantry
312 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
also caught the contagion. As the movement spread, it
became more and more difficult to maintain secrecy ; dis^
coveries were made by spies and detectives, followed by
peremptory dismissals of some and the forced resignation
of othera. The Seventh Regiment of Artillery was almost
dismembered by dismissals of its officers during the years
of 1846 and 1847. Among them were August WUlich,
Joseph Weidemeyer and Frederick Anneke.
Among the infantry officers who left the service about
that time was Alexander Schimmelpfennig. He had been
a lieutenant in the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Infantry,
stationed in the City of Coblentz. He was then quite young,
short and lithe of stature, blonde and fair, aggressive,
combative, a little haughty, but genial, and quite dashing,
the very picture and ideal of the sub-lieutenant of the Prus-
sian army. His silky, cream-colored mustache was curled
up defiantly at both ends, and he carried his dimpled chin
high up in the air. After a few days he was assigned by
the Provisional Government of Trans-Rhenish Bavaria to
the command of some of the regular troops who had gone
over to the Revolutionary side, and of the volunteers who
were flocking in from all parts of thecountry, and which he
stationed along the Prussian frontier, with headquarters at
Zweibrucken. While Schimmelpfennig drilled his recruits.
Engineer Becker assisted Dr. Weiss in collecting the reve-
nue from the adjacent coal mines and salt works, by a pro-
cess so expeditious and prompt that it could properly be
classed under the head of " direct taxation," This lasted
for about three weeks, but one fine morning two Prussian
columns marched over the border, under the command
of the Cro^vn Prince of Prussia, scattered Schimmelpfen-
nig's regulars and volunteers, and while he was trying to
check the rout, a Prussian rifle ball pierced his leg.
Kaiferin llngufla.
Empreas AugusU.
THE REVOLUnOK IN BADEN. 815
In the Spring of 1861 he enlisted a German regiment
for the war, and served as colonel under Sigel in the Army
of the Potomac during the campaign of Gen. Pope ; fought
bravely at Groveton, and was promoted for gallantry at
the second battle of Bull Bun. At Chance] lorsville he
commanded the first brigade of Schurz's Division of the
Eleventh Corps. At Gettysburg he commanded Schurz's
Division on the first day, and fought with distinction upon
Cemetery Eidge on the second day of that battle. In Feb-
ruary, 1864, he was sent to St. John's Island, in Charleston
Harbor, and in February, 1865, he entered that rebel-
lious city at the head of his division, the first Union soldier
to set foot upon its streets since the firing on Sumter.
His health had become seriously impaired during the
last year of the war, and he died from the effects of his
exposures in the swamps of South Carolina, in September,
1865, at Minersville, Pa.
Frederick Kapp. But the brightest, most genial and
truly lovable character of all was Frederick Kapp. He
was bom in the town of Hamm, in the Prussian Province
of Westphalia, where his father was principal of the Gym-
nasium, as the German colleges are called. Whoever has
traveled through that part of Germany, must have been
attracted by the singular beauty and physical perfection of
its people. Tall of stature, muscular and erect in carriage,
with rosy cheeks and fair complexions, clear blue eyes and
curling hair of golden hue, the very peasants are models
of statuesque beauty and grace ; and of this type, Kapp
was a superior specimen.
Full of health and manly strength, his kindly eyes
fairly aglow with merriment and good humor, he delighted
^o tell his jolly stories and deliver his witty sallies in that
316 THE fiEVOLTTTION IlJ BADEK. *
peculiar lisping Westphalian accent, which to a Southern
German has always a peculiar charm. His features were
clear-cut, regular and expressive of strength and charac-
ter, but his good-natured smile secured him at first sight
the lasting friendship of all ; nor did the deep-cut scar
on his right cheek, a relic of his Heidelberg University days,
mar in the least his handsome face.
Completing at an early age his college studies under
the immediate tuition of his excellent father, he studied
jurisprudence first at Heidelberg and then at Berlin, where
he also served his military time as volunteer in the
Artillery of the Guard. He had just been assigned to duty
as a young advocate of the Superior Court in his native
town of Hamm when the Revolution of 1848 broke out in
Paris and spread over Germany with lightning speed.
After taking an active part in the agitation preceding the
elections, he took up his residence in Frankflirt at the as-
sembling of Parliament in that city, where he remained as
correspondent for some of the leading journals' of the day,
until the bloody insurrection in September, during which
Count Lychnovski and Baron von Auerswald, reactionary
members of Parliament, were killed, when he found it
prudent to remove to Paris, which was just then begin-
ning to be agitated by the movement which resulted in the
election of Louis Napoleon as President in the following
December.
During the winter of 1848 and 1849, Kapp remained in
Paris, engaged as correspondent for various journals and
contributor to several German periodicals.
In May and June, 1848, while the Revolutionists were
in the field in Southern Germany, Kapp came over once
or twice, but did not take any active part in that cam-
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN, 317
paign; but after its disastrous conclusion, he escaped to
Geneva, and lived in the family of the famous Russian
revolutionist, Alexander Herzen, whose literary works he
prepared for publication, while at the same time, he was
entrusted with the education of Herzen's young son.
Early in 1S50 he came to New York, where he first en-
gaged in literary work, publishing among other works a
clear and concise history of slavery in the United States,
which little volume contributed largely to the enlighten-
ment of the German population on this important topic,
which just then occupied such a large share in the political
affairs of this country. He wrote the lives of Baron Steu-
ben and De Kalb, both of which were translated into
English, and obtained quite an extensive circulation.
Later, when he had been appointed Commissioner of Emi-
gration, he wrote a general history of emigration, which
contains much interesting statistical information.
Eapp returned to his native country about the time of
the Franco-German war, and was soon afterward elected
to the Imperial Parliament, in which he served with credit
to himself, and to the recognized satisfaction of his con-
stituents, until the time of his death, about three years ago.
August Willich. Among the Prussian officers who were
dismissed for participation in political movements, was
Captain August Willich, of the Seventh Regiment of Artil-
lery. He was of noble birth, and the descendant of a
long line of soldiers distinguished for bravery in the mili-
tary service of their country. In the Spring of 1848,
he joined the forces under Hecker, in Baden, and, after a
short exile in France, he returned in September with
Gustavo Struve, for a second attempt, and after the failure
of that invasion, he retired with a number of his men to
318 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
the town of Besangon, on the western slope of the Jura
Mountains, which here form the boundary between Switzer-
land and France. Here he organized his fellow exiles into
a military company, and drilled them as only he could
drill. When the general uprising took place in May, 1849,
Willich reported promptly for duty with his body of
refugees, veterans in rebellion, and took a prominent part
in the two days' engagement at Kastadt. After the retreat
of the army into Switzerland, Willich again retired to
Besan9on, but was soon compelled by the French Govern-
ment to leave ; whereupon he embarked for England some
time in 1850, and after a year or two came to America,
where he found employment in one of the engineering
parties of the Coast Survey. Subsequently he came to
Cincinnati, and engaged in journalism. At the outbreak of
our own Civil War, Willich enlisted at once in Robert Mo-
Cook's Ninth Ohio Eegiment, which was largely composed
of soldiers trained in the armies of Germany. He was
appointed Adjutant, and when that regiment left Camp
Dennison for the seat of war in West Virginia, there was
not its equal among the volunteer forces in the service
for general efficiency. While engaged in the West Vir-
ginia campaign, Willich attracted the attention of Gov-
ernor Morton, of Indiana, who offered him the Colonelcy
of the Thirty-second Eegiment of Infantry from that State,
which he accepted, and in command of which he remained
until promoted to a higher rank.
It is no exaggeration to say, that, as a soldier, Willich
was perfection itself, and it is no disparagement, for it is
but the simple truth, to add, that he was absolutely unfit
for anything else. It was inspiring to see him draw his
sword and it was positively humiliating to see his awk-
THK REVOLUTION IN BADEK. 321
ward attempts at the performance of the simplest duties of
ordinary life. He fought at Perry ville under Alexander
McCook ; at Stone Kiver he was captured, in consequence
of his anxiety to report personally to his chief the move-
ments of some rebel ti*oops on his flank, which led him to
ride to headquarters alone, and his running straight into the
enemy's lines on his return. At Mumfordville, the superior
training of his regiment enabled it to resist, though scat-
tered out in skirmish line, a sudden and very fierce attack
of a regiment of Texas Rangers, killing its Colonel and
repulsing the troopers with heavy loss. This little fight is
described as one of the most brilliant achievements of
the war.
Willich arrived at Shiloh in command of the Thirty-
second Indiana early on Monday morning, and at once
made a gallant attack on the enemy, but met with stubborn
resistance. Finding that under the heavy fire some of
his men began to lose self-control, he stepped in front, and
for fully ten minutes drilled them in the manual of arms,
as he said, to cool them off, and make them steady, and
then continued the fight.
It is sufdcient to say, that at Chickamauga he was
with Thomas. In one of the engagements near Atlanta
he received a severe wound in his upper right arm, which
disabled him for active service, and upon his partial recov-
ery, he was placed in command of the post of Cincinnati,
where he remained until the close of the war. He left the
army a Brigadier-General.
Having saved something, and being of frugal habits,
he managed to live abroad for several years after the war,
attending lectures on philosophy at the University in the
same city of Berlin where, nearly fifty years before, he
822 THE REVOLUTION IN BABKN.
had studied the science of war as a youthful cadet. Upon
his return to this country he settled in the quiet little vil-
lage of Saint Marys, Ohio, near some old friends of his
soldier days, and pursued, with the enthusiasm of a
school-boy, the studies he had commenced at the Berlin
University, spending his .leisure in frolicsome playj*
with the children of the village, whose dearest friend
he was.
One night he retired in good health and spirits, and
the next morning he was missed by the children at the
play-ground. He had died during the night, apparently
without a struggle.
Carl Heinzen was a distinguished journalist and an
accomplished writer of wonderful force and influence;
concise and clear in his statements, logical and convincing
in his arguments, bitter and fierce in his denunciations,
and relentless in his persecution ; a severe, uncompromising
critic — a man to be admired, but feared rather than loved.
His prolific pen had kept the German censors busy for
many years prior to the Revolution. Most of his publica-
tions were confiscated, on general principles, as soon as they
left the press, unless they had already been seized by the
police in the composing room.
Physically, he was a man of gigantic frame, six feet or
more in height, able-bodied and strong; but there was no
fight in him. He seemed to feel that his pen was mightier
than his sword, and he preferred to attack the enemy at
long range with fierce pronunciamentos and soul stirring
harangues ; but never a drop of blood would he spill -^
neither the enemy's nor his own ; and while the rest of the
rebels fought and than ran away in order to live and
fight some other day, Heinzen, who had never fought at
THE BEVOLUnON IN BADEN. 323
all, ran away with the others, but evidently more
with a view of saving his life for the time being than
with the intention of renewing the fight at some future
day.
During his refuge in Geneva, he lived at Grand Pr^, on
the hedge-lined road to Petit-Sacconnex, near the county-
seat of Albert Galere, whose hospitable house was made the
cheerful home for many a wanderer during the dreary
winter of 1849. At a little cabaret, where the red wine
from Tessin and the purple-tinted melange from Canton de
Vaux were sold so cheap that even the poverty-stricken
members of the so-called " Brimstone Club,'' could afford
to drink them on credit, Heinzen was a frequent guest.
He reached New York, after a short stay in England,
during the year 1851, and after publishing a newspaperin
that city for a few years, he moved to Boston, where he
continued its publication with considerable success, until the
time of his death, about nine years ago.
Oswald Ottendorfeb. "When Oswald Ottendorfer came
to Kaiserslautem in May, 1849, to offer his services to the
Provisional Government, he wore the uniform of the
Academic Legion of the University of Vienna, where he had
been a student, and where he had taken part in the insur-
rection of the previous year and in the more recent move-
ments in concert with Kossutli's operations in Hungary.
He served during the ensuing campaign in Southern
Germany as a volunteer, and eventually became, like all
the rest, an exile in Switzerland, whence he emigrated to
America some time in 1850. Peddling, in utter want and
sheer desperation, baskets of gorgeously-labeled beverages
of doubtful composition, was the first occupation Otten-
dorfer engaged in. But fortune never smiled upon a
324 THE EEVOLUTION IN BADEN.
worthier and more deserving man. His newspaper, the
New York Staats ZeiPung^ has an immense circulation, and
is read by the German people without distinction of
party ; its democratic spirit, and the great ability with
which it is edited, form a pleasing contrast with the
prevailing journalism of the day, while the high per-
sonal character of its publisher, and his acknowledged
sterling integrity are a source of pride to his immediate
countrymen, and his genial, tender-hearted kindness is
the pleasure and delight of his numberless friends and
acquaintances.
Blenker. Blenker appears to have been a soldier of
fortune from earliest youth. When a mere boy he served
as a volunteer in Greece, during her heroic struggle of de-
liverance from the yoke of the Turks. During the Summer
of 1848 he drilled a militia company in the town of Worms,
famous for its cathedral and for that memorable trial in
which Luther told his judges, " if this is the work of men,
it will crumble to pieces of its own accord, but if it is the
work of God, it is vain for you to oppose it." And when,
in May, 1849, the news reached Blenker of the flight of
the Grand Duke of Baden, he promptly marched his mili-
tia company up the river to Ludwigshafen and seized the
little garrison at the Bavarian end of the bridge which
crosses the Rhine at Mannheim. He was a dashing fellow,
sitting well in the saddle, too proud to be anything but
brave. He made a bold attempt on one bright Sundaj^ morn-
ing to storm the Fortress of Landau, but after receiving a
few rounds of grape shot from the ramparts of the fort,
he reconsidered his plan and concluded to let Landau
alone. He commanded, as well as any one could command
such a body, a large force of heterogeneous volunteers.
THE BEVOLUTION IN BADEN. 327
and his energetic, pale-faced little wife rode by his side
through all that campaign, from Zweibrucken, on the line
between France and Bavaria, through the Palatinate,
across the Ehine, down to Mannheim, back to Bastadt and
over the shady hills of the Black Forest, and past the
lihine into Switzerland.
Just where Blenker spent the short interval between the
close of the war of 1849 and his arrival in New York in
1851, is not known, but after that, the dairy farm which
he cultivated in Orange County, on the Hudson, where
free buttermilk and aromatic cheese were dispensed in
most generous measures to his visiting friends, was his
abiding place.
He evidently was on nand again promptly in 1861,
for we read of his covering the retreat from Bull Run
toward Washington. Early in 1862 he commanded a
division during the operations of the army in the Shenan-
doah Valley, but during the latter part of the Avar his
health failed, and he died before its final conclusion.
Joseph Weydemeyeb was one of those obnoxious
Prussian artillery officers whose resignations were de-
manded somewhere in 1847. In 1848 he was employed
on the Cologne-Minden Railroad as engineer. After the
defeat of the revolutionary movements in 1849, he came
to New.York, where he engaged in journalistic enterprises,
settled subsequently in Milwaukee, and returned to New
York in 1860, under an appointment as engineer of the
Central Park Commission. In 1861 he enlisteded under
Fremont, in St. Louis, where at first he took charge of the
fortifications in that vicinitv, and afterward received a
Lieutenant-Colonel's commission in the Second Regiment
of Missouri Artillery, in which capacity he spent a long
328 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
time in Western Missouri, fighting the guerrillas and
bushwhackers. Toward the close of the war he com-
manded the Fort^'-first Regiment of Missouri Infantry,
and was also Commander of the })ost of St. Louis.
In 1886 he was elected Auditor of St. Louis County,
but he had barely entered upon his duties when he died
of cholera, in the prime of his life.
Max Webeb, who had been a Lieutenant in the
Army of Baden, and his comrade, Schw«irz, who parted
from his father when the latter followed the Grand
Duke into exile, both performed gallant services in our
army during the War of the Rebellion. Weber com-
manded a brigade in General Sedgwick's division of Sum-
ner's Second Corps at the battles of Fredericksburg and
Antietam, and the bravery of Schwarz's battery of artil-
lery during Grant's operations around Fort Donaldson
and Vicksburg is honorably mentioned in the official
reports of that campaign.
Besides these few, whose lives have been briefly
sketched, there have been and still are hundreds of others,
scattered throughout all parts of this Western World,
pursuing in modest ways their humble vocations, yet add-
ing, to the best of their ability, their honest share to its
material development and intellectual improvement.
A few years more, and the last exile of '49 will have
found refuge in the great asylum where extract it ion laws
are unknown, and where, it is hoped, he will not be com-
pelled to serve a probationary term prior to his full admis-
sion to citizenship. But his children and his children's
children will live on, assimilated, absorbed and American-
ized, unmindful of their origiu and indifferent to their
descent.
THK REVOLUTION IN BADEN. 329
Thus, even the patriotic impulses of the German people
for the possession of their inalienable rights, was suffocated
m the blood of their most devoted sons. If the principles
laid down in the American Declaration of Independence
are based upon immutable truth, the uprising of the peoples
of Europe against their oppressors in 1848 was as justi-
fiable as the American Revolution against England's des.
potism, and the hanging of the leading American patriots
in case of failure, would not have been more inhuman and
unjustifiable than the butchering of the German patriots at
Rastadt and elsewhere. In this case, the resistance to over-
come was so insignificant, that Prince William could well
have aflforded to be magnanimous. However, peoples have
short memories of past grievances, and the ghastly per-
formances of 1849 have long since been effaced, if not
condoned, by the glorious achievements of Prince William,
who was alone held responsible for them. All these things
are now forgotten, and the worst hated man in Berlin in
1848, became the most beloved and honored man through-
out Germany in 1888.
The period preceding the Revolution of 1848-9 was one
in which the intellectual activity and advancement of the
Germans kept pace with that of every other nation, and in
some respects outstripped them. Numerous scientific dis-
coveries of practical utility infused new life into commer-
cial and industrial enterprises. Professor Liebig gave a new
impetus to researches in the branches of Natural Science
and Chemistry, and Hegel gave to the philosophical world
food for all ages of reflection, while the studies of the
Grimm Brothers in the field of ethnological, religio-his-
torical, and jurisprudence of the ancients, have challenged
the admiration of the whole scholastic world. Among the
330 THE BEVOLUTION IN BADEN.
celebrated historians of the period were Banke, Scblosser,
Botteckand Frederick von Banmer. Of an army of poets
the following names are most familiar to the reader:
Uhland, Eockert, Immermann, Heine, Hafan, Freiligrath
and HinkeL In no other country in the world has music
made snch rapid progress as in Grcrmanj' daring these
revolutionary years. The names of Beethoven, Von
Weber, Schubert, Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn and Bartholdy
are household friends wherever the harmony of sounds is
cultivated, while the names of Germany's painters and
sculptors are legion.
It was in the year 1850 that success crowned the
efforts of the King to come to some understanding with
his people. After months of difficulty and disquietude, a
new Constitution was published on the second day of
February. This instrument defined the powers of King
and Parliament and the duties of the Ministers of the
Crown. Although many modifications were subsequently
made, it formed the basis of the Constitution as now by
law established. A Bepresentative Chamber, as well as a
House of Peers, was provided for, and a great advance
was made in the direction of universal suffrage, so that it
may be said the Bevolution accomplished this much for
a short time in the way of progress.
As previously stated, the peace of Malmo did not intend
to permanently adjust the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty,
and in March, 1849, war against Denmark was renewed
by the Duchies supported by German troops. The Danes
were defeated at Kolding, the allies pursuing them to
the fortifications of Fredricia. But for prudential rea-
sons the war was not carried on with vigor by Prussia,
and another armistice was agreed upon at Berlin and
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN. '331
placed under a council presided over by an Englishman.
A peace was concluded, and the Duchies returned to Dan-
ish rule. The people, however, rejected the treaty, and
resolving to rely upon their own strength, they marched
tlieir whole force of 29,000 men, under General Willisen, to
Idstadt, where thev were met and defeated bv the Danes.
Although suflfering a loss of 6,000 killed the Danes refused
to submit. The German Diet supported by Russia now
ordered a cessation of hostilities, and Austrian troops were
sent into the Duchies to enforce the order.
In the meantime. King Frederick William IV. of Prus-
sia had made an ineffectual effort to organize a new Ger-
man union, of which the three kingdoms of Prussia, Sax-
ony and Hanover should form the nucleus. But Austria,
having suppressed the revolution at home, was stronger
than ever before, while her foreign affairs had been in-
trusted to the hands of an ardent and aggressive minister,
an inveterate enemy of Prussia, Prince Schwarzenberg.
This statesman was not only determined to defeat all
attempts at separate organization of the smaller States
under the leadership of Prussia, but to destroy, if possible,
her influence in the affairs of Germany. Events as they
transpired seemed to favor Schwarzenberg's plans. In
the electorate of Hesse the people were engaged in a
struggle for Constitutional reform against their reaction-
ary prince, who was ably assisted by his unscrupulous
minister, Hasenpflug. The King having repeatedly vio-
lated the Constitution, the representatives refused to vote
the budget, whereupon the Prince declared the country
under martial law. But the troops stood by the represent-
atives, refusing to break their allegiance to the Constitu-
tion. The Prince now appealed to the Diet, when Austria
332 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
and Bavaria sent troops to assist him. Prussia now
marched troops into Cassel, and it appeared as if the de-
cisive moment between Austria and Prussia for the mas-
tery in Germany was at hand. Austria increased her
armament in Bohemia, and Prussia made great military
preparations. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Bran-
denburg, was dispatched to the Czar at Warsaw to in-
fluence this potentate in Prussia's favor, but instead of
bread he was tendered a stone. The Count was received
by the Czar with the most impudent demands. Prussia
was asked to undo everything she had done toward favor-
ing more liberal institutions in Germany.
These audacious demands, and the grossly abusive
manner in which they were made, so affected the brave
Count Brandenburg as to cause nervous prostration, from
which he died in the following month of November.
Otto von Manteuffel having succeeded Brandenburg at
the head of foreign affairs in Prussia, it soon became
apparent that the policy of political retrogression had now
fairly begun, and that Prussia's complete submission to Aus-
trian and Russian dictation was only a question of time.
The first step in this direction was the departure of
Minister Manteuffel for Olmtttz on the 29th of November,
where he met Prince Schwarzenberg, the Austrian pre-
mier. Then the political surrender of Prussia took place,
Manteuffel most graciously acceding in writing to all the
demands made upon Count Brandenburg by the Czar, and
promising to carry out the reactionary programme of rob-'
biiig the Prussian people of their achievements as far as lay
in his power.
On the 12th of June, 1851, the Diet, which the people
of Germany had long since believed to be defunct, again
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN. 333
assembled. The representatives of the German sovereign-
ties seemed to vie with each other in eagerness to destroy
the last vestige of political progress made during the few
years after the Revolution, and to re-establish the same
order of things that had prevailed previous to March, 1848.
In this assembly of notables sat a man representing
the interests of King Frederick William IV., of Prussia,
who appeared to care very little what the fate of the
German Confederation should be as long as its destinies
were controlled by the Hapsburg Dynasty. In his esti-
mation, the concern was as rotten as could be, and the
sooner it disappeared, in its prevailing condition at least,
the better for Germany in general, and for Prussia in par-
ticular. Although not making himself over-conspicuous,
he was a close observer of the Diet's proceedings. In the
fall of 1853, this Prussian delegate, in private letters to
his sister, Mrs. Von Armin, wrote the following sarcastic
lines, highly characteristic of him, showing the estimate
in which the German Confederation of States was held
by him :
" I have accustomed myself to remain in a state of
yawning innocence ; to bear, all unnoticed, symptoms of
coldness, and to allow a state of mind of the utmost in-
difference to govern me since the occasion when, I flatter
myself, I was enabled, in no small degree, to successfully
contribute towards impressing upon the Bund (Confeder-
ation) a consciousness of its own insignificance. That
well-known song of Heine, " O du Bund^ du Hund^ du
hist nicht gesund^^^ etc. (" Oh Bund, thou Hound, thou art
not sound") , w^ill soon be declared by unanimous consent,
to be the national anthem of the Germans.
" Your true brother,
(VoN BiSMAEOK.) " V. B."
834 THB REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
Also, in the following letter, written on the 11th of
September, 1856, Herr von Bismarck shows that he was
fully cognizant of Austria's anti-German and perfidious
diplomatic manoBuvqring.
"In November, I fancy the Bund will dedicate its
sittings to the Ilolsteiners, and with more good will than
success. On the above subject the several governments
will be outwardly unified. Austria, however, wiU re-
main in secret the friend of the Danes, and in her press
will have her mouth full of German phrases, and place
the fault on Prussia that nothing is done. The center of
gravity in this matter is, in fact, not at Frankfort, but in
whether the Danes are sure of support from one or more
of the non-German powers. If this is the case they will
discover a legal flaw in the decision of the Bund.
'^V. B."
Upon this one point, however, the two rival powers —
Prussia and Austria — ^agreed perfectly, to- wit : uix)n the
question of a repressive policy at home, and to support
any measure brought forward framed for the purpose of
curtailing the rights already secured to the people of the
different States.
Thus, what wonder that the people of Germany began
to look upon this assemblage of royal bosses, first with
distrust, then with indifference, and finally with supreme
contempt.
A noted historian discribing the condition of political
affairs in Germany at this time says :
"Austrian influence was again in the ascendant in
Germany, and was unscrupulously used for purposes which
recall the time of Ferdinand II. The Austrian Constitu-
tion was abolished, and every German monarch, who
THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN. 337
undertook reactionary measures, was sure of support
from Austria and the Confederation. The power of Eome
and of the Jesuits was restored. At the same time,
Austria maintained a defiant and hostile tone toward
Prussia ; strove to bind to itself the smaller States, and
even to weaken and dissolve the Zollverein — the last bond
of German union left in Prussia's hand. The people of the
smaller German States seemed indifferent to these jealousies
of the great Powers. Prussia took no part in the war of
France and England against Eussia, from 1853 to 1855,
having no reason for hostility to that Empire. Austria
finally joined the Western Powers, and her threatening
attitude hastened liussia's consent to humiliating terms of
peace. Prussia was now checked in the path of her growth
and progress, in which she had been moving on from the
accession of Frederick William IV. The Constitution,
indeed, was not overthrown, but the people were full of
suspicion and discontent. The disgrace of the surrender
at Olmtttz was felt as a second Jena.
" During the time of Manteuffel's reactionary regime.
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia had withdrawn from public
view. He did not agree with the inexcusable, illiberal
course of this Minister. In fact, he had publicly declared
that ho was in favor of maintaining, in good faith, the
privileges guaranteed to the people by the Constitution.
But his principal care was given to the army, the organi-
zation and perfection of which he watched with intense
solicitude. On the 1st of January, 1807, shortly before
entering upon the sixtieth year of his age, he celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of his service in the Prussian army.
During this period of his retirement, a pleasant event
enlivened the private circle of his family. On the 20th
338 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
of September, 1856, his daughter Louisa was wedded to
the Crown Prince of Baden, and in July the following
year his son 'Fritz,' the present Emperor, was betrothed
to Princess Victoria of Great Britain. Lord Palmerston
considered that such a union would unquestionably be to
the interests of the two countries immediately concerned
and of Europe in general. In her Journal, tlie Queen
gives the following interesting account of the betrothal,
under date of September 29, 1855: 'Our dear Victoria
was this day engaged to Prince Frederick William of
Prussia, who had been on a visit to us since the 14th.
He had already spoken to us, on the 20th, of his wishes ;
but we were uncertain, on account of her extreme youth,
whether he should speak to her himself, or wait till he
came back again. However, we felt it was better he
should do so, and during our ride up Craig-na-Ban this
afternoon, he picked a piece of white heather (the emblem
of "good luck") which he gave to her ; and this enabled
him to make an allusion to his hopes and wishes as they
rode dovvn Glen Dirnoch, which led to this happy conclu-
sion.' Prince Albert wrote to Stockmar: ^ Vicky has
indeed behaved quite admirably, as well during the closer
explanation on Saturday, as in the self-command which
she displayed subsequently and at the parting. She man-
ifested towards Fritz and ourselves the most childlike
simplicity and candor and the best feeling. The young
people are ardently in love with one another, and the puri-
ty, innocence, and unselfishness of the young man have
been on his part equally touching.' "
On the 25th of January, 1858, Prince Frederick was
married to the Princess Victoria, the Prince going over
to England for the ceremony, which took place in the
THE EEVOLUTION IN BADEN. 339
Chapel Eoyal, St. James. Says an English biographer :
''When the fair English girl went out to the land of her
adoption, never was a Princess received by the Prussians
with as much enthusiasm as she. And their first impres-
sions of her have onlv been confirmed and strengthened
by the good and noble life she has since led amongst the
people."
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria visited their daugh-
ter the next j^ear in Berlin. They met her waiting for
them at Potsdam.
After a stay of nearly seven weeks in Germany, her
Majesty and the Prince Consort returned to England
with feelings of rejoicing over the happiness of their
eldest child, and of thankfulness for the cordial under-
standing which existed between the Courts of St. James
and Berlin.
In 1856 the Prince presided over the Army Commis-
sion, which decided upon the adoption of the needle-gun
throughout the Prussian army. On the 1st of January^
in the succeeding year, he celebrated his fifty years of
military service, when the King conferred upon him the
command of the Seventh Hussars, and gave him as word
of honor. The officers of the army, by whom the Prince
was held in high esteem, presented him with a massive
silver shield, and the veteran old warriors gave him a
magnificent silver helmet. The Queen of England,
moreover, sent him the insignia of the Bath, by the
hands of the gallant Sir Colin Campbell.
While the Prince of Prussia was at Baden in 1857,
visiting his daughter, the Grand Duchess, he became
acquainted with his future antagonist, Napoleon III.
The Prince's period of political inactivity was soon to
340 THE REVOLUTION IN BADEN.
close, however, and the Prussians were soon to have the
opportunity of judging whether he was a worthy descend-
ant of the great Elector and the greater King, Frederick
the Great.
In September, 1857, Frederick William IV., sometimes
irreverently called " Campagner-Fritz," was suddenly
stricken with paralysis of the brain. As his malady was
beyond the help of medical skill, on the 25th of October,
1858, he abdicated and Prince William was made Eegent,
taking an oath of allegiance to the Prussian Constitution.
At the end of this ceremony the Prince expressed himself
in the following not-to-be-mistaken language :
" I have taken upon myself the heavy load and respon-
sibility of the Regency, and I have the firm will to con-
tinue to perform what the Constitution and the laws
exact from me."
In a written address of some length, the Prince Eegent
defined his position fully concerning the great interests of
the state, religion, education, the army, and Prussia's for-
eign relations, thus :
"In religion there has been many abuses, and both
Churches would be strenuously opposed if religion again
were to be used as a political cloak. The Evangelical
Church has returned to an orthodoxy which is not in har-
mony with her principles, and that orthodoxy has placed
the greatest bar on Evangelical union. The Catholic
Church has her rights constitutionallj^ confirmed, but en-
croachments can no longer be suffered. The education of
the States should be so devised that Prussia would become
foremost in the intelligence of the world. The army
has created the greatness of Prussia, though both the
army and the state suffered severely at one time from
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THB EEVOLUTION IN BADEN. 343
neglect. The war of emancipation has proved the capa-
bilities of the Prussian armies, but the victories of the
past must not dazzle us to blindly overlook the defects of
the present. There are many things requiring alteration,
which money and time will effect. It would be a grave
mistake to be satisfied with merely a cheap army reorgan-
ization, which could never realize the expectation of the
country at a critical moment. Prussia should be re-
spected, and to that end it is imperative that a powerful
army be maintained, so that when the supreme moment
comes, she can throw her full weight in the scale. The
world must learn to know that Prussia is always ready to
protect her rights. A firm and, if necessary, energetic
policy, developed with caution and prudence, will procure
for Prussia that political respect and power which it would
be impossible for her to gain by force of arms alone."
These were the ringing phrases the Prussians had
long listened for, and they not only saw the beginning of
a new era for their country, but throughout Germany the
leaven had begun to work. The Manteuffel ministry was
dismissed, and the people expected a man to be placed
where he had stood, whose heart, soul, thought, and
mind were Prussian. Such a man was being prepared and
perfected by the exigencies of the hour. At this time he
was a member of the Bund, and writes: "I take a par-
ticular pleasure in the Bund ; all the gentlemen who, but
six months ago, demanded my recall as a necessary condi-
tion towards the consummation of German unity, now
tremble at the thought of losing me. I say to them all,
' Only keep calm ; everything will be all right in time.' "
The first complication of a serious nature, and which
but for the oool and deliberate judgment of the Prince
344 THE BEYOLUnOK IN BADEN.
Regent might have involved Prussia in a conflict,
were the disputes which arose between the King of
Sardinia and the Emperor of Austria in 1859. Popular
sympathy in Germany drifted towards Italy, whose people
were struggling for liberty and unity, the same as them-
selves ; but when their hereditary foe across the Rhine
allied himself with the King of Sardinia, a revulsion
of sentiment in favor of Austria took place. Count Cavour,
the astute premier of Sardinia, sought to entice Prince
William into an alliance with the intimation that, through
such a course, Prussia might obtain satisfaction for the
humiliation she had suffered in the conference at Olmiitz.
But in the opinion of the Prince Regent, the time for such
revenge, however desirable, had not yet come, and reply-
ing to Cavour, " that Prussia must not have her hands
tied by treaties at this early stage in the affair," con-
cluded to remain neutral for the time being. The war in
Italy having progressed, and appearing to culminate in
Austria's overthrow in Lombardv, the matter was taken
up in the German Diet, where, after an acrimonious debate,
the Austrian delegate introduced the resolution to mobilize
the whole federal army and to place the Prussian Prince
Regent in command — subject to the control of the Diet, or,
in other words, subject to Austria's control. But Prussia
declined the honor unless the assisting army should be
placed under the Prince Regent's entire control. To this
Austria would not consent, and, consequently, the events
of the war between Italy and Austria compelled Austria
to agree to the terms dictated by Napoleon III. of France,
which were signed at Yilla Franca, July, 1859. Of course,
Prussia was held responsible for this humiliating result, a
feeling which naturally increased the animosity already
existing between the two Powers.
THS SSYOLUTION IN BADEN. 845
fiut impartial history has placed the blame where it
properly belongs. A prompt and frank acceptance of
German aid under Prussian military leadership, which had
been offered, would undoubtedly have spared to Austria
the Villa Franca treaty, but she preferred the loss of ter-
ritory and of prestige in Italy to a victory secured over
Napoleon, which might redound to the credit of her hated
rival in the affairs of Germany-Prussia. This condition
of things was well understood by the Prince Regent, nor
was he unmindful of the fact that the appetite of the
French for military glory had been sharpened by the vic-
tories of Magenta and Solferino, and which they might
soon wish to satiate in Germany. William remembered
that Russia had of late years assumed the r61e of a military
" bully " toward Prussia, and could, therefore, not be relied
upon as an ally in the event of a conflict with France.
But, above all, he fell the responsibility resting upon him
as a member of the German Confederation to spare no
pains to increase the power of Prussia ; to watch every
move of the Powers ; to checkmate every advance of her
enemies by well-defined and unhesitating counter moves.
A powerful military organization must be his chief reli-
ance. The representatives were not in favor of spending
enormous sums for this purpose. The Prince Regent was
not to be thwarted in this greatest of all ambitions, even
at the cost of coercing the people's representatives, if nec-
essary. Accordingly, after a careful examination into the
actual condition of the army, it appeared by niobilization
that its ranks were composed mostly of heads of families ;
to be more explicit, two thirds of the troops were thus
encumbered. The Prince submitted his plan of reorgan-
ization to the House of Representatives, by which this
346 THE EEVOLUnON IN BADEN.
state of things could be remedied, but was resisted by a
majorit}^ of its members, owing to the accompanymg in-
crease of expenditures. They all agreed with the Regent
that something ought to be done to render the army more
effective, but it might be done cheaper, they thought, than
in the measure proposed.
One of the German Emperor's biographers forcibly
observes that, " the Prince Regent, as soon as he came into
power, hastened to prepare his people for the long series
of struggles which he foresaw to be inevitable, if Prussia
were destined, under his guidance, to achieve her mission
in Europe, viz., to take, and keep in such sort that it might
never escape her, the leadership of Germany. To this end
he drew the whole vigorous youth of the nation into the
ranks of the army, and revived that warlike tone in Prus-
sian feeling that had almost died out since the war of
emancipation. This martial temper, once aroused,
smoothed many difficulties from Prince William's path,
after his accession to the throne, and may with truth be
said to have ignited the enthusiasm which, blown into a
flame by Prussia's first successes in the field, burnt brightly
and more brightly throughout the momentous period of
transition inaugurated by the campaign of 1864, until, in
the spring of 1866, it suddenly burst into a furious blaze,
and, annihilating all that stood in its way, swept along
with awful might, an irresistible torrent of roaring fire
that consumed Prussia's ^favorite foes' and Germany^s
ancient fetters in one grand and terrible conflagration."
CHAPTER IX.
PRINCE WILLIAM AS KING WILLIAM L OF PRUSSIA.
IT WAS during the parliamentary wrangle under the
regency of William that, on January 1, 1861, the King
breathed his last. The following day Prince William
ascended the Prussian throne, in his sixty-fourth year, as
William I.
The anticipations of the people that the new King
would at once enter upon a course of political reforms
were not realized ; to the contrary, it soon became evident
that William was now more than ever determined upon
carrying out his cherished plan, to reorganize and
strengthen the army; the Chamber, however, remained
firm in its refusal to pass a permanent measure for an
increase of men and expenditure, and strictly adhered to
this opinion, that the two years' term of military service was
sufficient to educate the youth in the drill and duties of a
soldier. Public sentiment was rapidly drifting away from
the new King, and seemed to have reached a culminating
point in the attempt upon his life by the young student,
Oscar Becker, at Baden-Baden, who afterward declared
that his conviction of the King's inability to fulfill
Prussia's mission, had impelled him to commit the deed.
In order to disabuse the minds of the people, and of
their representatives, that, by conceding to them a Con-
stitution, the Kingly dignity and power, ** By the Grace ot
God," had also suffered some modifications, the anti-
quated exhibition of a pompous coronation of the King,
Z4»
350 PSINCE WILLIAM
with all the splendor of by -gone days, was resolved upon.
These coronation ceremonies took place at Konigsberg
on the 18th of October, 1861. The following is the de
scription of the occasion by an eye-witness :
'' The first time I saw the King was when he rode in
procession through the ancient city of Konigsberg, some
two or three days before the coronation. He seemed a
firm, dignified, handsome, somewhat bluflf old man, with
gray hair, and gray mustache, and an expression which
if it did not denote intellectual ix)wer, had much of cheer-
ful strength and the charm of frank manhood about it.
No one was just then disposed to be very enthusiastic
about him, but everyone was inclined to make the best of
the sovereign and the situation. But the manner in which
the coronation ceremony was conducted, and the speech
which the King delivered soon after, produced a terrible
shock of disappointment, for in each the King manifested
that he understood the crown to be a gift, not from the
people but from heaven. To me the ceremony in the
chapel, splendid and picturesque as it was, the miae en
sc€7ie^ appeared absurd and even ridiculous. The King,
bedizened in a regal costume, lifting a crown from
the altar, and, without intervention of human aid
other than his own hands, placing it upon his head, to
signify that he had his crown from heaven, not from man ;
then putting another crown upon the h^d of his wife, to
show that she derived her dignities from him, and then
turning round and brandishing a gigantic sword, as
symbolical of his readiness to defend the state and people
— all this seemed to me too suggestive of the opera com-
ique to suit the simple dignity of the handsome olil
soldier. Far better and nobler did he look in his military
/
AS KING WILLIAM I. OF PRUSSIA. 351
ttniform, and with his spiked helmet, as he sat on Ijis
horse in the streets, than when arrayed in crimson velvet
cloak and other such stage paraphernalia of conventional
royalty.
" 'There is just this to say about him,' said Earl Clar-
endon, the British envoy at the coronation, 'he is an
honest man and a man of his word ; he is not a Corsican
conspirator.' Yes, this was the character of the King of
Prussia ; in good and evil he kept his word.
" It is a matter of conmion notoriety that the acts and
words of the Kin^ at this crowning ceremony did not im-
press the people with the deep conviction that his reign
would be a Constitutional one ; but, to tlie contrary, they
were looked upon as new declarations of absolute rule.
Under such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that
the people turned away from the ruler they mistrusted,
calling upon their leaders to stand between them and a
military despot. The next Chamber, which met after the
coronation, proved conclusively that these were the pre-
vailing sentiments of the country. A large number of
representatives had been elected upon the positive under-
standing that they were to give support to Government
measures only upon condition that the Government would
pursue a liberal policy at home and a decided German
policy abroad."
Commenting upon this unseemly effort of the Prussian
King, to rejuvenate the exploded doctrine of the Divine
right of Kings an English writer says :
"But the King's enunciation of the Divine right of
Kings, and his further announcement that he entered into
no obligation to regard the Diet as a Parliament, gave rise
to much solicitude in England. The Prince Consort
352 PBINCE WILLIAM
wrote to Baron Stockmar : ' The speeches of the King of
Prussia at Konigsberg have produced a bad impression
here, and the theory of the Divine right of Kings (apart
from being an absurdity in itself, and exploded here for
the last two hundred j^ears) is suitable neither to the po-
sition and vocation of Prussia, nor to those of the King.
The difficulty of establishing united action between Prus-
sia and England has been again infinitely augmented by
this royal programme.' "
Upon the assembling of the Prussian representatives
in January, 1862, a hostile majority confronted the King,
and after a fruitless wrangle between the King's ministry
and the representatives of the people over the budgx^t for
military expenditures, the House was dissolved by King
William, on the 11th of March, and the resignation of the
unpopular ministry accepted.
A new ministrv, with Prince Hohenlohe as Premier,
was called by the King, and instructions given to lay be-
fore the voters the urgent necessity of furnishing the gov-
ernment Parliamentary support. These instructions were
resented by the people, as undue interference in free
elections, and had the very contrary effect, to-wit : that
of increasing the majority of the opposition against Wil-
liam in the House. The recommendations of the King
were more resolutely resisted than ever, and the argu-'
ments of the Ministry were met by a flat refusal to allow
an increase in army expenditures. In this emergency,
the King's urgent cry for, " A man, a man ! " reminds one
of King Richard III., when, for a horse he oflfered half
his kingdom. The English King did not get his horse,
but the King of Prussia, more lucky, got his man — the
man that was to carry him, not only over these Parlia-
AS KINO WILLIAM L OF PRUSSIA. 353
mentarian difficulties, but eventually to place him upon the
imperial throne of Germany. His name was Otto von
Bismarck-Schonhausen. The first time William I met
this subject of his was at a Prussian court ball, in 1834,
when he was much struck by two youths of lofty stature,
who were introduced to him by the Master of the Cere-
monies, upon which he pleasantly remarked: "Well, it
seems that justice npw-a-days recruits her youngsters in
conformity to the guard's standard 1 " The youths were
lawyers practicing in the Berlin courts, and the taller of
the two was none other than Otto Augustus Leopold von
Bismarck. This was the first glimpse which the Kaiser
and the Chancellor had of each other.
BisMABCK was born in 1815 and came of a distinguished
family some of whom had been prominent military men
under the Electors of Brandenburg and the Kings of Prus-
sia. At the age of seventeen he was sent to Oottingen to
study law and political economy. A year later he entered
the University of Berlin, and in 1835 was admitted to the
bar. During the stormy period of 1847 he was a delegate
of the Saxon nobility to the Diet, and caUed the attention
of the Germans upon himself by his violent opposition to
the demanded reforms of the people.
After the revolution of '48 he attended an assembly of
the country nobility called the Junker Parliament. From
1849 to '50 he was a member of the second Chamber of the
Prussian Diet. He was a strong advocate of increased
monarchical powers and the consolidation of the German
nationality by the joint action of Austria and Prussia. In
1851 he was appointed by Frederick William IV. Prussian
embassador to the Germanic Diet at Frankfort, when he
changed his views in regard to Austria's pretensions and
354 PBIKCB WILLIAM
showed so much opposition that for prudential reasons he
was sent as embassador to Russia, remaining there until
1862, when he was transferred to Paris. Six months after
he was recalled, and succeeded Prince Hohenzollern as head
of the administration and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The tone of the liberal press towards him was neither
friendly nor complimentary. It soon began to be appar-
ent that if Bismarck could not command their respect
he would compel their submission. He foreshadowed his
policy in the following language :
"It is not by speechifying and majorities that the
great questions of the times will have to be decided, but
by blood and ironP
His acts followed his words ; for the amounts
demanded for the army reorganization having been
rejected by the House, at the close of the session
Bismarck informed its members, in the name of the King,
" that the Budget for the year 1862, as decreed by the
Lower Chamber, having been rejected by the Upper
Chamber on the ground of insufficiency, the Government
of his Majesty is under the necessity of carrying out the
Budget as it was originally laid before the Lower House,
without taking cognizance of the conditions prescribed by
the Constitution.^^
This declaration, so startling to the country, was noth-
j ing more nor less than a plain notice to the people's rep-
'; resentatives that the money required would be raised in
\the usual way by the Government, Chamber or no
IChamber, to-wit, in open violation of the Constitution.
>The same policy was pursued in 1863. The King's speech
was read by Bismarck, in which the representatives were
reminded that " if by their decisions with regard to the
AS KINO WILLIAM I. OF PRUSSIA. 355
expenditures they had the right to simply do away with
the army organization, also if they had the right to con-
trol the relations between the King and his Ministers,
they would be de facto in possession of complete power of
the government of the country." This interpretation of
the prerogatives of the Chamber was not however that of
the HohenzoUem William, nor of his Prime Minister.
The King's address raised immediate opposition in the
Chambers, as well as throughout the country, which re-
sulted in a counter address to the King, in which his
Majesty was plainly told, that since the last session his
ministers had carried on the government against the Con-
stitution and without a legal Budget ; that the supreme
right of the representatives of the people had thereby
been attacked. The country had been alarmed and had
stood by its representatives. Abuses of the power of the
Government were now taking phice just as in the sad
years preceding the Regency. "Your Majesty," they
continued, "recently declared that nobody ought to
doubt your intention of maintaining the Constitution;
but the Constitution has already been violated by the
Ministers. Our position imposes on us the most urgent
duty of solemnly declaring that peace at home and power
abroad can only be restored by the return of the Govern-
ment to a Constitutional state of things."
The King's reply, "that* he recognized the right of
the representatives of the people to grant expenditures,
but that since they had not come to an agreement, he
was in duty bound to carry on the Government without
their assistance," did not mend matters. The sessions of
the Chambers again become scenes of charges and denials,
recriminations and disclamations between the King's
356 PRINCE WILLLAM
premier and the representatives. Bismarck had become
B(} aggressive as to openly defy the aathority of the Pres-
ident of the Chamber. The public press thereupon taking
sides with the representatives, Bismarck made it his next
object of attack.
. During tliis reactionary course pursued by the King
and his Minister, it is a pleasure to refer to the fact that
the Crown Prince (present Emperor of Germany) was
openly opposed to this plain violation of the Constitution.
In a letter written by him to his father, May 31, 1863, he
says :
*^ Expressions which you have lately made use of
in my presence, regarding the possibility of forcing your
measures upon the country, oblige me to speak out on the
subject. • On dismissing the Auerswald Cabinet you told
mo that, being more liberal than yourself, I had now got
an opportunity for enacting the usual part of a Crown
Prince, to-wit: throwing difficulties in the way of your
Government. At that time I promised to maintain silence,
and oflfor no opposition. Intending to keep my promise,
as I do, I yet feel it my duty to speak to you in private.
I beseech you, my dearest father, not to invade the law in
the way you hinted. Nobody is more fully aware than
myself that to you an oath is a sacred thing, and not to be
trifled with. But the position of a sovereign in regard to
his ministers is sometimes very difficult. Skilled as they
arc in the lawyer's art, and expert at interpretation, they
know how to represent a measure as fair and necessary,
and by degrees to force a sovereign into a path very
diflforont from that which he intended to tread."
A few days later, on the 3d of June, Bismarck re-
ceived a letter from the Crown Prince, in which as a mem-
AS KING WILLIAM I. OF PRCSSIA. 359
ber of the Council of State, he earnestly protested against
the order muzzling the press :
*' I deem the proceedings of the Cabinet," the Prince
says, "to be both illegal and injurious to the State and
the dynasty. I declare the measure to have been taken
without my wishing and knowing it, and I protest against
any inferences and ascriptions to be possibly based upon
my relation to the Council of State."
Having given expression to similar sentiments, in the
reply to the address of welcome by the municipal author-
ities at Dantzic, the King became angry and demanded
an apology from his son under the threat of recall and
discharge from the army. But the conscientious Frederick
was not to be intimidated, nor driven from a position
which he believed to be honorable and correct. A lengthy
reply to his father closes with the foflowing manly state-
ment:
"I can retract nothing of what I have said. All I
can do is to keep silent. Should you wish me to do so,
I hereby lay at your feet my commission in the army and
my seat in the Council of State. I beg you to appoint
me a place of residence, or permit me to select one for
myself, either in Prussia or abroad. If I am not allowed
to speak my mind, I must naturally wish to dissolve my-
self from the sphere of politics."
Such courageous expressions from the Crown Prince, at
a time of great excitement in his country over his father's
disregard of his oath, gives a glimpse of his character at
the time. His father, it seems, did not accept his offer,
and the death of Frederick VII. of Denmark soon follow-
ing, which threatened new complications, the affair was
allowed to drop out of sight.
360 pfimofi WILLIAM
Everyone had slumbered in the fanciful hope that the
hereditary claim upon the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies
hud found its final and definite settlement in what was
called " The London Protocol," entered into in 1852. It
must be remembered that the claims had been purely those
of different Princes, without the slightest regard to the
1,000,000 of inhabitants composing these provinces.
Three-fourths of them being Germans, with German pre-
dilections and aspirations, they naturally sympathized
with Germany, and had their inclinations been consulted
by the contracting powers in '62, a peaceful incorporation
of the Duchies with Prussia, their nearest neighbor, would
have been the result. In 1848 this public sentiment had
asserted itself by a demand for a union between the two
Duchies, indei)endent of Denmark, and by a request upon
Germany for mUitary assistance.
This repetition of what has been said before is necessary
to a full understanding of this question, which had vexed the
ingenuity of European statesmen for nearly a quarter of
a century. Under the prevailing conditions the question
resolved itself into the simple query, Who shall have the
territory ?
On the 6th of December, subsequent to the King's
death. Christian IX., the new King of Denmark issued
his proclamation to the effect that he would maintain the
integrity of the Kingdom, including Sclileswig-Holstein,
with an armed force if necessarj'^. This was a notice to
the German Confederation to keep its hands off, which
notice was answered by the Frankfort Diet with an order
for a contingent of the army of the German Confederation,
for the object of occupying the Duchies forthwith. The
King of Denmark, expecting the assistance of England
AS KING WILLIAM I. Of PRUSSLi. 361
and France, at once occupied the Dannewirks — theretofore
considered an impregnable stronghold — with 30,000 men
under General Meza. After a severe battle between the
Danes and the Germans in February, General Meza was
compelled to retreat. In the following month o'f April
the Pinssians under the command of Prince Frederick
Charles, nephew of King William, took the strongly
intrenched "Duppler- works" by assault, causing a loss of
5,000 men to the Danes and capturing 120 guns.
An ineffectual attempt to come to an amicable under-
standing was made during a six weeks' armistice, but all
overtures being rejected by the King of Denmark, hostil-
ities were again resumed on the 26th of June. On the 29th
the Prussians, under Frederick Charles, defeated the Danes
between Dlippel and the Island of Alson, inflicting a loss
of 4,000 men and 100 guns.
Soon after Jutland was also occupied by Prussian and
Austrian troops. This ended the campaign. On the 12th
of July the Danish King sued for peace, which was finally
concluded in Vienna, and by which the Duchies were
unconditionally ceded to Prussia and Austria.
All German troops but those of the latter two powers
were npw withdrawn from the Duchies, and Austria,
keenly appreciating the fact that geographical lines
would prevent her from ever reaping substantial benefit
from this accession, would have readily consented to
follow suit had Prussia consented to cede to her a small
jKjrtion of Silesia in compensation for her share in the
Schleswig-IIolstein Duchies. But this proposition was
promptly rejected by the King. Other propositions for
a compromise which were made reciprocally met the
same fate, and in 1865 the tension between the two great
362 PRINCE WILLIAM
copartners in the Duchy proprietorship had reached the
snapping point, and war between Austria and Prussia
was only temporarily averted by the convention at
Gastein^ where the two powers were respectively repre-
sented by Bismarck and Count Bloom. The treaty there
concluded, and subsequently ratified at Salzburg by the
sovereigns of Prussia and Austria, transferred Schleswig to
Prussia and Holstein to Austria. In consideration of two
and a half million dollars Austria ceded all her rights in the
Duchy of Lauenburg to Prussia. The eminent diplomatic
services rendered by Bismarck were rewarded by King
William with the title of Count. By this treaty Pinissia,
or rather Germany, had come into possession of a fine piece
of territory and a number of excellent harbors in the
Baltic.
The English Premier, Earl Russell, gave vent to his dis-
gust at sight of a division of European territory, in which
Great Britain had no part, in the following sententious
language :
" All rights, old or new, whether based upon a solemn
agreement between sovereigns or on the clear and precise
expression of the popular will, have been trodden under
foot by the Gastein Convention, and the authority of
force is the sole power which has been consulted and rec-
ognized. Violence and conquest, such are the only bases
upon which the dividing Powers have established their
Convention. Her Majesty's Government greatly deplores
the disregard thus manifested for the principles of public
law and the legitimate claim that a people may raise to
be heard when their destiny is called into question."
That this arbitrary division of Schleswig- Holstein was
received with jealousy mingled with a feeling of dread
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AS KING WILLIAM I. OF PRUSSIA. 365
both by France and England, is discernible in the tone of
the diplomatic correspondence held at that time between
the ministers of foreign affairs of France and of England
respectively. A letter from the French Secretary contains
the following ebullition of righteous indignation at the
amicable arrangement between the two foreign Powers :
"Upon what principle does the Austro-Prussian com-
bination rest ? We regret to find no other foundation for
it than force, no other justification than the reciprocal
convenience of the co-sharers. This is a mode of dealing
to which the Europe of to-day has become unaccustomed,
and precedents for it must be sought for in the darkest
ages of history. Violence and conquest pervert the
notion of right and the conscience of nations."
The cool assurance of this epistle is especially refresh-
ing, coming from a country whose policy is territorial
robbery.
But Count Bismarck's time and attention were occu-
pied with too serious matters at home to allow himself to
be drawn into lengthy diplomatic controversies with
foreign nations. The relative position between the
Crown and the people's representatives was as unsatis-
factory as ever, and the breach between them seemed to
grow wider from day to day.
The Liberal party in Prussia, and in fact all over Ger-
many, seemed to be struck with the blind hallucination
that the unification of Germany could only be secured
through Austria. They despised and cursed the Bismarck
ministry, fervently wishing its downfall, and this senti-
ment was carefully nursed among the rural population of
Southern Germany by the Ultramontane portion of the
Catholics. Prussia is troubled with the " big head, " they
366 PBINOB WILUAM
said, let us knock it oat of her. This hostile sentiment
against Prussia, but more especially against Bismarck,
had grown to such an intensity that on the 7th of May,
1866, a young man by the name of Blind, son of the well-
known Karl Blind, felt himself called upon to " remove
the tyrant," an attempt which, fortunately for Germany,
was unsuccessful. In the meantime the relations between
Prussia and Austria had become strained, owing to some
supposed intrigues of the latter in the Schleswig-Holstein
principalities. They began charging each other with bad
faith in reference to the Gastein stipulations, when Aus-
tria, feeling her strength in the German Diet, gave notice
to the Prussian Government that she would submit the
Sclileswig-IIolstein question to that federal body for set-
tlement. In the meantime Austria was arming. As early
as April, 1866, Count Bismarck had submitted a propo-
sition to the German Diet to issue a call for a German
Parliament, based upon universal suffrage ; but the prop-
osition had been rejected by all the States except Baden,
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and a few of the smaller Princi-
palities. Under these circumstances both King William
and his ministers, deeming it a matter of self-preservation,
resolved to look elsewhere for a reliable ally in case of an
emergency, and they found one in King Victor Emanuel
of Italy. By a secret understanding it was mutually
agreed, in case of a war with Austria, not to retire from
the conflict until Venice had been secured by Italy and
Schleswig-Holstein by Prussia.
On the 14th of June, 1866, the die was to be cast.
Peace or war lay in the hands of the German Diet. It
decided for war, by agreeing, in spite of Prussia's protest,
to entertain the Austrian proposition concerning the ques-
AS KIKG WILLIAM 1. OF 1»KUSSIA. 36t
tion of Schleswig-Holstein by a vote of nine to six. After
this vote the Prussian representative left the session with
the remark that Prussia would now rely upon herself
alone.
There was great rejoicing among Austria's adherents,
and speculations were rife as to which of them would
secure this or that portion of Prussia, when, as it was surely
predicted, that Kingdom would be dismembered and par-
celed out among the victors. Not even France was for-
gotten in the division of this one German Kingdom, which
more than once had stood like a wall against the dis-
memberment of Germany by foreign enemies.
" These gentlemen are underestimating us," said Bis-
marck, upon hearing of these prognostications; "the world
will be astounded at the power this divided Prussia will
develop in an emergency."
And so it happened. The campaign of but a few weeks'
duration which followed, was sufficient to bring the
victorious banners of Prussia to the very doors of
Austria's capital ; that long expected moment was near at
hand when the King would be able to prove that his inde-
fatigable efforts toward the effectiveness of Prussian arms
were an inspiration, and when the cause for his apparently
autocratic opposition to the representatives would be
understood and his action approved.
Events, as they have since transpired, conclusively
demonstrated the fact that Prussian supremacy in Ger-
many was absolutely essential to the unification of the
country upon a Constitutional basis.
For centuries the destinies of Germany had been con-
trolled by the Hapsburg dynasty, and what was the
result ? A divided and oppressed people at home, and a
368 PBIKOB WILLIAM
convenient foot-ball for foreign assumption. Austria,
with her reactionary tendencies, and her subserviency to
Papal dictation was but a living tradition of past ages.
She was the natural enemy of intellectual and poUtical
progress, and, with her most varied population of Magyars
and Slavs, was no further advanced nor had higher
aspirations than had her near Eussian neighbor. The
faintest attempts of her people to liberalize their institu-
tions, or better their political condition, were met with the
most pronounced and decisive punishment. Inadvertent
expressions were interpreted as treason, and high-minded
women were publicly whipped at the pillory for honesty of
expression. The country was ruled by military satraps.
She was the first German State to repudiate the Constitu-
tion wrung from her in 184:9. Under her leadership were
Germans from Prussia, Bavaria, WUrtemberg, Baden,
Saxony, Hanover, Hesse, Mecklenburg and Austria, but not
Germany, and they have only become Germans of Ger-
many through Prussia's happy interference and elevation
to imperial power.
In the face of all these facts, the Emperor of Austria
had the audacity, on the 17tti of June, 1866, just before
the opening of the hostilities, in a manifesto, to call upon
the world as a witness to the justness of his cause.
Kef erring to the perfidious action of his representative
at the Frankfort Diet, in his attempt to entrap Prussia
into submitting the Schleswig-Holstein question to this
Austria-disposed body, he says :
" While engaged in a work of peace, which was
undertaken for the purpose of laying the foundation for
a Constitution which should augment the unity and
power of the Empire, and at the same time secure to my
V\tt <Sen(TationnL
Suffa IBithlin 1., 611D11, linM unb ninlcl.
Four Qenerations
limperor William I., Son, Qnnd-bou and Greac-Grand-SOD.
'AS KING WILLIAM I. OF PRUSSIA. 371
several countries and peoples free internal development,
my duties as a sovereign have obliged me to place my
whole army under arms. On the frontiers of my Empire,
in the south and in the north, stand the armies of two
enemies who have allied with the intention of breaking
the power of Austria as a great European State. To
neither of those enemies have I given cause for war. I
call on an Omniscient God to bear witness that I have
always considered it my first, my most sacred duty, to do
all in my power to secure for my peoples the blessings of
peace.
" The negotiations with Prussia in respect to the Elbe
Duchies clearly proved that a settlement of the question
in a way compatible with the dignity of Austria, and with
the rights and interests of Germany and the Duchies,
could not be brought about, as Prussia was violent and
intent on conquest. The negotiations were therefore
broken off, the whole affair was referred to the Bund,
and at the same time the legal representatives of Holstein
were convoked.
" The danger of war induced the three Powers — France,
England and Russia — to invite my Government to par-
ticipate in general conferences, the object of which was
to be the maintenance of peace. My Government, in
accordance with my views, and if possible, to secure the
blessing of peace for my peoples, did not refuse to share
in the conferences, but made their acceptance dependent
on the confirmation of the supposition that the public law
of Europe and the existing treaties were to form the basis
of the attempt at mediation, and tliat the Powers repre-
sented would not seek to uphold special interests which
could be prejudicial to the balance of power in Europe,
372 PRINCE WILLIAM
and to the rights of Austria. The fact that the attempt
to mediate failed because these natural suppositions were
made, is a proof that the conferences could not have led
to the maintenance* of peace. Secent events clearly
prove that Prussia substitutes open violence for right and
justice.
"The most pernicious of wars — a war of Germans
against Germans — has become inevitable, and I now sum-
mon before the tribunal of history — before the tribunal
of an eternal and all-powerful God — those persons who
have brought it about, and make them responsible for the
misfortunes which may fall on individuals, families, dis-
tricts, and countries. We shall not be alone in the strug-
gle which is about to take place. The princes and people
of Germany know that liberty and independence are men-
aced by a Power which listens but to the dictates of ego-
tism, and is under the influence of an ungovernable crav-
ing after aggrandizement ; and they also know that in
Austria they have an upholder of ihefreedomy power and
integrity of the whole of the German Fatherland. We
and our German brethren have taken up arms in defense
of the most precious rights of nations. We have been
forced to do so, and we neither can nor will disarm until
the internal development of my Empire and of the Ger-
man States, which are allied with it, has been secured, and
also their power and influence in Europe. My hopes are
not based on unity of purpose — on power alone. I con-
fide in an Almighty and a just God, whom ijiy house from
its very foundation has faithfully served — a God who
never forsakes those who righteously put their trust in
Him. To Him I pray for assistance and success^ and I
call on my people to join me in that prayer."
CHAPTEE X.
THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR.
ON the 18th of June this Austrian manifesto was fol-
lowed by a proclamation from King William I., in
which he called the Prussian people to arms, and declared
that he had sought friendly relations with Austria but had
been treated by that power as a dangerous and hostile
rival. He referred to his policy in demanding the reor-
ganization of the army, and pointed with pride to his
achievement in that direction. In closing the King prom-
ised in case of victory to reconstitute the German Con-
federation upon a firm basis. The proclamation was a
fair statement of facts, and, as events have since demon-
strated, a sincere prognostication of Prussian future policy
as a German Power.
The shock of arms, however, was soon to eclipse the
effect of manifesto and proclamation. Tlie assurance of
Austria's friends in the future success of her arms was not
without foundation. Her General-in-chief, Field-Marshal
Benedek, was an experienced soldier with a well established
reputation, and his army of 270,000 well-drilled, and well-
disciplined soldiers, stationed in Moravia, were believed
to be in as good fighting order as the troops Prussia would
bring against them. In addition to this formidable army,
the auxiliary forces furnished by her partly voluntary,
partly compulsory allies of the different German States,
aggregated 143,000 men, placed in the field in the following
873
874: KING WILLIAM 1.
quotas: Bavaria 30,000 men, Saxony 24,000, Hanover
20,000, Wiirtemberg 16,300, Hesse-Darmstadt 9,400,
Electorate of Hesse 7,000, Nassau 6,400, and Baden, geo-
graphically so situated as to be easily coerced by Austria,
had to contribute a contingency of 10,900 men.
Prussia had 326,000 men ready to take the field, and in
an emergency could rely on 100,000 of the Landwehr arm
of her forces, who all had seen military service.
Geographically, Prussia was at a disadvantage in a war
with Austria, now in league with the smaller German
States.
Hanover and the Electorate of Hesse reached far into
the interior of her dominion on the West, while Saxony
overlapped her territory on the East. Under these cir-
cumstances, prompt and decisive action was imperatively
demanded. The governments of Saxony, Hanover, and of
Hesse-Cassel were informed by Bismarck that unless they
sided with Prussia (in which case the sovereign rights of
the rulers would be guaranteed) war would be declared
against them ; to this proposition an answer was expected
on the evening of the day upon which the notice was dis-
patched. Saxony promptly replied " No I " and the two
others, having failed to reply in the time specified, a dec-
laration of war was instantly made by the Prussian
Government against all three. Prussia was fully prepared.
While King William, in the appointment of Bismarck, had
secured for his affairs of state a man of extraordinarv
genius, he had also been as favored in securing the military
genius of the age for his affairs of war. Bismarck, having
performed his task in the diplomatic field, promptly took
his position in the rear, allowing his masterly colleague,
General Von Moltke, to pass to the front.
THE AU8TEO-PRU8SIAN WAB. 375
Genebal Von Moltke, or rather Ilelmuth Karl Bern-
hard von Moltke, was born at Parchim, Mecklenburg,
in 1800. His father was a general in the Danish army,
and young Von Moltke passed his first years of study
at the Copenhagen Military Academy. He was com-
missioned at the age of eighteen, and at twenty-two
entered the Prussian service. After ten years' labor and
hard study he was received upon the general staflf. In
1835 Mahmoud II. invited him to Constantinople, to su-
perintend the fortifications and direct the warfare against
Egypt and the troublesome Kurds of Asia. He returned
to Berlin after the Sultan's death in 1839, and was employed
until 1856 in staflf service, when he became adjutant to
Prince Frederick William, and two years later Chief of
the General Staflf of the army. Ilis great success as a
commander has been due, it is claimed, to his military
system of making the diflferent army corps advance sepa-
rately and operate simultaneously upon a given point.
While the two monarchs Avere formulating their proc-
lamations, Greneral Von Moltke had completed his prepa-
rations for war, even to the minutest details. The com-
manders of the diflferent army corps only waited for the
word, "Forward I" through the click of the telegraph,
to set their troops in motion.
The word came, and on the next day, June 17th, the
Prussians had entered Hanover, and on the 18th occupied
Dresden, Cassel and Leipsic. The Prince of Hesse was
taken prisoner and sent to Stettin, and after to Konigs-
berg under guard, while his army made its escape south-
ward. The Saxon army of 23,000 also withdrew in the
same direction, finally joining the Austrian army under
General Benedek. King George, of Hanover, having
?»76 KINO WILLIAM I.
failed to effect a retreat toward Austria in time, was sur-
rounded by Prussian forces where, expecting Bavarian
support, he dallied away his time in the vicinity of the
Harz Mountains and Thuringian Forest. His object was,
also, to gain time for negotiations with King William, in
which object he was so far successful as to receive the
same offer tendered him before the commencement of
hostilities. An honorable surrender and alliance with
Prussia was not satisfactory to this unsagacious monarch,
whereupon his army of 24.000 Hanoverians was attacked
by Genend Flies, with a Prussian force of 8,000, at
Langensalza, on the 27th of June. Owing to the great
disparity of numbere in the two contending forces, the
Prussians suffered a defeat; but reinforcements under
Generals Falkenstein and Manteuffel having reached the
scene of action during the night and following day. King
George was forced to surrender. He and the Crown
Prince were permitted to repair to Vienna, and his troops
to return to their homes. Immense quantities of war
supplies were added to the Prus?van army by this first
encounter. Thus, in the space of ten days, had two-thinis
of Austria's German allied forces been placed hora de
eomhat, and without even an attempt at united resistance ;
this blow in the West had resulted from the total absence
of such precautionary measures as a plan for concentrated
action would have suggested.
While these events were transpiring in the smaller
States of Austria's contingent, the main army of Prussia
Lad advanced in two different bodies toward the Bohe-
mian frontier, under the respective commands of Prince
Frederick Charles, the King of Prussia's nephew, and
Crown Prince Frederick William (present Emperor). The
THE AU8TB0-PBUSSIAN WAR. 377
troops of the former were composed of the Second, Third,
Fourth and Eighth Army Corps, drawn from Pomerania,
Brandenburg, Saxony, and the Ehinish Provinces; the
latter was composed of the First, Fifth and Sixth Corps
from Prussia, Silesia, and Glatz, and was under the direct
command of General Von Bittenfeld.
It had been the Austrian General Benedek's intention
to transfer the seat of war to Prussian territory, in oitier
to refresh the memory of these Prussians who had enjoyed
a long period of peace with the remembrance of former Aus-
trian invasions, but unfortunately for the generous inten-
tion of the Austrian commander, General Von Moltke had
anticipated his intentions, and the visit was postponed,
for while General Benedek was quietly marching his troops
from Moravia to the Elbe, Saxony was as quietly being
occupied by Prussian divisions, while Prussian soldiers in
large numbers were already appearing upon the Austrian
frontier. This uncivil and abrupt conduct of General Von
Moltke had a very disconcerting effect upon the Austrian
commander Benedek, who now decided to lay in wait
for the enemy on the Austrian plains near the mountain
passes.
General Bittenfeld, with his 40,000 troops of Rhine-
landers, marched up along the right bank of the Elbe and
entered Bohemia on the 22d of June, and on the 23d the
first troop followed and took a position a few miles east
of Bittenfeld. Here they were met by the advance body
of the Austrian army, which had been joined by the
20,000 Saxon auxiliaries, making 60,000 under the com-
mand of Count Clam-Gallas. His efforts to defend
the Iser were in vain, and on the 26th of June Bittenfeld
had forced his way at HUnerwasser, and on the same day
3TH KING WILLIAM I.
the First corps, after a severe conflict near Podol, made a
joint attack upon Clam-Gallas, defeating him after a
bloody struggle at Mtlnchengratz, and compelling his
withdrawal to Getschin. Had the Austrian general re-
ceived sufficient reinforcements he might have prevented
the junction of the two Prussian armies under the Crown
Prince with Bittenfeld and Prince Charles, as he occupied
a strong position between them. Before assistance ar-
rived, however, he was again attacked by Prince Frederick
Charles, and forced to retreat.
In the meantime, the Crown Prince had entered Bo-
hemia through the three mountain passes, Elchenbach,
Reichenberg, and Konigstein. Upon the plains at the
foot of the mountains the Austrians oflfered determined
resistance, and attempted to drive the Prussians back into
the passes. At Nachod, General Steinmetz attacked the
Austrians, and after a bloody encounter took 2,500 pris-
oners. On June 28th the Crown Prince and Steinmetz
advanced to Skalitz, which, after some fighting, was taken.
On the 29th the Aupa was crossed, the Austrians disput-
ing the ground inch by inch, until Gradlitz, in the valley
of the Elbe, was reached, when another battle took place,
but the Austrians were driven from the field and forced
to seek shelter under the guns of the strong citadel of
Josephstadt. During this time the Prussian royal guard
had defeated General Gablentz and taken 6,000 prisoners.
At this stage of hostilities the whole Prussian army of
250,000 men stood waiting near Koeniggratz.
King "William and his Chief of Staflf Von Moltke, whose
matchless genius had planned the whole campaign, his
prime minister Von Bismarck, whose statesmanship had
brought Prussia to a condition where she could manfully
11
lg
THE AUSTRO-PRUSaiAN WAR. 381
sastain herself while passing through a military ordeal of
such magnitude, and his efficient and cautious War Minis-
ter, Von Boon, all were still in Berlin. On the 29th of
June, twelve days after the armies were set in motion,
the victories of Htienerwasser, Podol, and Nachod in
Bohemia, and of Langensalza in Hanover, had reached
the Prussian capital. And behold the sudden change in
public sentiment which, until now, had been more or less
sullen. The joyful tidings threw the people into a state
of the wildest enthusiasm for the vfery men they had been
cursing and traducing but a few hours before. The
stores of the city were forthwith gaily decorated, and an
address of congratulation, containing 20,000 signatures,
was presented to the King the evening of the same day.
Not satisfied with this, the enthusiastic populace were
determined to see the King, and express to him in person
their feelings of admiration and gratefulness, proceeding
in immense throngs to the palace, where, in front of the
historic corner-window, from a hundred thousand throats,
arose Luther's soul-stirring anthem, "A powerful fortress
is our God." When, in response to their enthusiastic
calls, the aged King appeared and acknowledged their
greetings in a few words of thanks for their friendly
eicpressions, adding, " I shall carry these sentiments with
me to the Army," the immense throng burst forth in a
storm of cheers and applause. But there were other
amends to be made ; they had maligned King William's
minister; had called Bismarck names, and had even
suspected him of disloyalty to Prussia. The cry soon
rang out, "Away to Bismarck ! to Bismarck ! let us away to
Bismarck 1 " and the stream of human beings, singing and
shouting, rolled on towards Bismarck's residence.
382 KINO WILLIAM L
The joyous multitude, upon reaching the street in
front of the Premier's house, as it caught a glimpse of his
massive form at the open window, rent the air with
shouts and cheers of commendation. This must have
been a moment of superlative satisfaction to the self-
dependent statesman.
Clouds had been gathering overhead, and while the
people stood shouting and cheering, a sudden flash of
lightning followed by a tremendous clap of thunder
startled the throng. The vivid flash, for a moment, illumi-
nated the impassable face of the man of "blood and
iron " ; raising his arm he pointed upward, and in a voice
equaling the roar of God's artillery, exclaimed : " Behold 1
the heavens are joining in our triumphs of victory. God
sa/ve tlie Fatherland ! "
The cry of exultation that followed these few words
was deafening. It rolled from street to street, from man
to man, until Berlin became as one inspiring, unanimous,
vehement voice in praise of the sturdy, patriotic hero of
the hour. On the same evening, near midnight. King
William, Bismarck, Moltke and Von Roon hurried from
the capital to the front, where the 'King was to take
supreme command over the Prussian army.
Within the few davs in which the several battles had
been fought, the Austrian commander had suffered a loss
of 35,000 men, and of the seven corps composing his army,
five had been thoroughly beaten. The army was demoral-
ized, and apprehensive of the result General Benedek tele-
graphed to the Emperor of Austria as follows : " Sir, you
must make peace.'* But his master was not ready for
peace; there was too much at stake for him and his dyn-
asty, and, on the 2d of July, King William established
V THE AUSTRO-PRtTSSTAN WAR. 383
hi& headquarters at Gitchin. He was most enhusiastio-
ally received by the army, and his presence, as well as that
of his distinguished staff, increased the confidence and
ardor of the troops. In a letter to the Queen, at Berlin,
the King thus described this hearty greeting: "The
rejoicing which broke out here when the guards first saw
me, can not be described. The officers caught my hands
and kissed them, which now and then I was obliged to
permit, and so it continued from one body of troops to
another; everywhere, cheers upon cheers."
During the night from tlie 2d to the 8d, a dispatch
was received at headquarters from Prince Frederick Karl,
in which permission was asked to attack General Benedek
in the morning. A slight apprehension was felt on account
of the possible detention of the Crown Prince's command,
stationed several miles from the proposed field of battle;
however, the general attack was resolved upon. Early on
the morning of the 3d, the Prussian cavalry and horse
artillery were seen moving forward, as if to feel the ene-
my's position, when they were fired upon from an Austrian
battery situated near Sadowa. The main army of Prus-
sia was now drawn up in battle array. General Herwarth
von Bittenfeld was in command of the right wing, and
the center near Sadowa was held by Prince Frederick
Charles. King William, with Bismarck, Moltke, and Von
Boon at his side, sat upon his charger, overlooking the field.
This memorable battle, which determined the future
well-being of Germany, has been often glowingly described
by many German writers. But in order to avoid even the
shadow of German bias, the author prefers to use the
account of a disinterested witness, published in the London
Times a few days after the battle:
384 KING WILUAK I.
"It was ten o'clock when Prince Frederick Charles sent
General Stuhnapl to order the attack on Sadovra, Dohilnitz,
and Mokrowens. The columns advanced, covered by
skirmishers, and reached the river bank without much
loss ; but from there they had to fight every inch of their
way. The Austrian infantry held the bridges and villages
in force, and fired fast upon them as they approached. The
Prussians could advance but slowly along the narrow ways
and against the defenses of the houses, and the volleys
sweeping through the ranks seemed to tear the soldiers
down. The Prussians fired much more quickly than theu'
opponents, but they could not see to take their aim; the
houses, trees and smoke from the Austrian discharges,
shrouded the villages. Sheltered by this, the Austrian
Jagers fired blindly when they could tell, by hearing where
the attacking columns were, and the shots told tremen-
dously on the Prussians in their close formations; but the
latter improved their positions, although slowly, and by
dint of sheer courage and perseverance, for they lost men
at every yard of their advance, and in some places almost
paved the way with wounded. Then, to help the infantry,
the Prussian artillery turned its fire, regardless of the
enemy's batteries, on the villages, and made tremendous
havoc amongst the houses. Mokrowens and Dohilnitz
both caught fire, and the shells fell quickly and with fear-
ful eflfect among the defenders of the flaming hamlets;
the Austrian ^ns also played upon the attacking infantry,
but at this time these were sheltered from their fire by the
houses and trees between.
'" In and around the villages the fighting continued for
nearly an hour; then the Austrian infantry who had been
there, driven out by a rush of the Prussians, retired, but
&
THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAB. 38?
only a little way up the slope into a line with their bat-
teries. The wood above Sadowa was strongly held, and
that between Sadowa and Benatek, teeming with rifle-
men, stood to bar the way of the Seventh Division. But
General Franksy, who commanded this division, was not
to be easily stopped, and he sent his infantry at the wood,
and turned his artillery on the Austrian batteries. The
Seventh Division began firing into the trees, but found
that they could not make any impression, for the defenders
were concealed, and musketry fire was useless against
them. Then Franksy let them go, and they dashed in
with the bayonet. The Austrians would not retire, but
waited for the struggle ; and in the wood above Benatek
was fought out one of the fiercest combats which the war
has seen. The 27th Prussian went in nearly 3,000 strong,
with 90 officers, and came out on the farther side with
only two officers and between 300 and 400 men standing ;
all the rest were killed or wounded. The other regiments
of the division also suffered much, but not in the same
proportion ; but the wood was carried. The Austrian line
was now driven in on both flanks, but its commander
formed a new line of battle a little higher up the hill, round
Lipa, still holding the wood which lies above Sadowa.
"Meanwhile, General Bittenfeld was fighting a des-
perate battle with the Saxon troops at Nechanitz, a vil-
lage seven miles from Sadowa. Courageously did the
Saxons meet the foe, but they were slowly driven back-
ward upon the main body of the Austrian army. The
Prussians now endeavored to carry the wood above Sad-
owa and Dolhilnitz, a very important strategical point,
but the Austrian batteries played upon them with mur-
derous effect. The whole battle line of the Prussians
388 KIKa WtLLIAH t.
could gain no more ground, and was obliged to fight hard
to retain the position it had won. At one time it seemed
as if it would be lost, for guns had been dismounted by tlie
Austrian fire, and in the wooded ground the needle-gun
had no fair field, and the infantry fight was very equal.
Bittenfeld, too, seemed checked upon the right. The
smoke of his musketry and artillery, which had hitherto
been pushing forward steadily, stood still for a time.
Franksy's men, cut to pieces, could not be sent forward
to attack the Sadowa wood, for they would have exposed
themselves to be taken in rear by the artillery on the right
of the Austrian line formed in front of Lipa. All the
artillery was engaged except eight batteries, and these
had to be retained in case of a reverse, for at one time the
firing in the Sadowa wood, and of the Prussian artillery on
the slope, seemed almost as if drawing back toward Bis-
tritz. The first army was certainly checked in its ad-
vance, if not actually being pushed back. It is said, at
this point King William showed great nervousness and
fear/'
The chances of victory were now exactly even for both
armies, and the moment was critical. The Prussian gen-
erals were waiting uneasily for the Crown Prince, and the
position relninded the Times corveaipondent of the closing
of the battle of Waterloo, when the Duke of Wellington
so anxiously awaited the coming of Blucher. But at half-
past one in the afternoon the army of the Crown Prince
emerged into view, and at once engaged the Austrian
right. The Austrian failed to carry the village of Klum,
and now found themselves exposed to a cross fire. What
followed is thus described : "Suddenly a spattering of mus-
ketry breaks out of the trees and houses of Klum, right
THE AUSTIBO-PRUSSIAN WAB. 389
down on the Austrian gunners, and on the cohimns of in-
fantry drawn up on the slopes below. The gunners fall
on all sides — their horses are disabled — the firing in-
creases in intensity — the Prussians press on over the
plateau : this is an awful catastrophe — two columns of
Austrians are led against the village; but they can not
stand the fire, and after three attempts to carry it, retreat,
leaving the hill-side covered with the fallen. It is a ter-
rible moment. The Prussians see their advantage ; they
here enter into the very center of the position. In vain
the staff-ofiicers fly to the reserves, and hasten to call
back some of the artillery from the front. The dark blue
regiments multiply on all sides, and from their edges roll
perpetually sparkling musketry. Their guns hurry up,
and from the slope take both the Austrians on the extreme
right and the reserves in flank. They spread away to the
woods near the Prague road, and fire into the rear of the
Austrian gunners.
" The lines of dark blue which came in sight from the
right teemed from the vales below as if the earth yielded
them. They filled the whole background of the awful
picture, of which Elum was the center. They pressed
down on the left of the Prague road. In square, in
column, deployed, or wheeling hither and thither — every-
where pouring in showers of deadly precision — penetrat-
ing the whole line of the Austrians — still they could not
force their stubborn enemy to fly. On ail sides they met
brave but unfortunate men ready to die if they could do
no more. At the side of the Prague road the fight went
on with incredible vehemence. The Austrians had still
an immense force of artillery; and although its concen-
trated fire swept the ground before it, its effect was lost
390 KING WILLIAM I.
in degree by reason of the rising ground above, and at
last by its divergence to so many points to answer the
enemy's cannon. Chesta and Visa were now burning, so
til at from right to left the flames of ten villages, and the
flashes of guns and musketry, contended with the sun,
that pierced the clouds for the honor of illuminating the
seas of steel and the fields of carnage. It was three
o'clock. The efforts of the Austrians to occupy Klum
and free their center had failed ; their right was driven
down in a helpless mass towards Koniggratz, quivering and
palpitating as shot and shell tore through it. ^AUes iat
verloTenP Artillery still thundered with a force and
violence which might have led a stranger to such scenes
to think no enemy could withstand it. The Austrian
cavalry still hung like white thunder-clouds on the flanks,
and threatened the front of the Prussians, keeping them
in square and solid columns. But alreadv the trains were
steaming away from Koniggratz, placing the Elbe and
Adler between them and the enemy."
Thus was the battle of Sadowa, or, as it was called by
King William " The battle of Konigsgratz," won by the
Prussian army. It was probably the shortest and most
decisive battle, where half a million men confronted each
other in deadly array, which was ever fought. The Prus-
sian loss was 9,000 men, that of the Austrians and Saxons
24,000 killed and wounded, besides the 20,000 prisoners,
the loss of 161 guns, 5 colors, and an immense amount of
war material and army stores. During the whole cam-
paign Austria had lost 40,000 prisoners, 200 pieces of
artillery, and 11 stand of colors. More, the army was
in a state of complete dissolution, and General Benedek
experienced great difficulty in bringing its shattered rem-
THE AtrSTRO-PRUS8IA.N WAR. 393
nants into the fortress of Olmutz for reorganization. Many
interesting reminiscenses of this great conflict are told
concerning the individual part taken by King William.
In a letter to his wife the day after the battle, Bismarck
said : " On the 3d the King exposed himself to danger all
day, and it was very fortunate that I was with him, for he
would not listen to advice from anybody else. No one
would have dared to speak to him as I did on one occasion,
when the bodies of ten troopers and fifteen horses of the
Sixth Regiment of Cuirassiers lay bathed in blood close by,
and the shells were bursting in close proximity to the
King. He was very enthusiastic about his troops, and
rightly so, and did not appear to notice the shells that
were whizzing and bursting about him."
In another letter Bismarck said :
" The attention of the King was wholly fixed on the
progress of the battle. To my repeated request that his
Majesty might not so carelessly expose himself to the
murderous fire, he only answered : " The Commander-in
Chief must be where he ought to be." Later on, at the
village of Lipa, when the King in person had ordered the
cavalry to advance, and the shells were again falling round
him, I ventured to renew my request, saying, '* If your
Majesty will take no care of your own person, have pity
at least on your (poor) Minister-President, from whom
your faithful Prussian people will again demand their
King ; and in the name of that people I entreat you to
leave this dangerous spot." Then the King gave me his
hand, with a " Well, then, Bismarck, let us ride on a little."
So saying, his Majesty wheeled his black mare, and put
her into as easy a canter as if he had been riding down
the Linden to the Tliiergarten, But for all that I felt
394 KING WILLIAM I.
very uneasy about him ; and so, edging up with my dark
chestnut to the King's horse, I gave her a good kick from
behind with the toe of my boot ; she made a bound for-
ward, and the King looked around in astonishment.
With a glance which convinced me that he knew of my
action, but without another word he rode out of the
range of the shells."
King William, fully appreciating the fact that but for
the timelv arrival of Crown Prince Frederick William
and his army upon the field at Klum, the day would have
been lost, and upon the impulse of the moment, sent his
son, by a special courier, the Order ^^Pour le Merited'* but
the Prince was not to be found. Late in the evening,
and by mere accident, they met on the field, and, recog-
nizing each other, fell into each other's arms.
Thereupon the King took the Order ^^Pour le Merit^^
from his breast, and hung it about his son's neck.
The imperturbable coolness of General Moltke under
fire is well illustrated by a writer in the Deutsche Re-
view for October, 1884, in which he relates the following
interesting episode at Sadowa :
"At a critical point in the battle Bismarck met Moltke,
and offered him a cigar. The strategist carefully selected
the best weed in the Chancellor's case, and the latter took
comfort, thinking to himself that if the General was still
calm enough to 'make a choice of the best cigar in the
whole lot, things could not be going so very bad with them
after all."
The unexpected victory of the Prussians at Sadowa,
threw the government at Vienna into a state of dismay
and irresolution. In his sore distress and in the hope of
securing Napoleon III. for an ally, the Emperor, who but
THE AUSTRO-PRITSSIAN WAR. 395
a short month before had solemnly declared to the world,
that all his hopes and aims were in the direction of a
United Germany, was now found oflfering to cede to the
implacable foe of Germany the Italian city and province
of Venice ; to be held, to be sure, in trust for Italy. By
this expectation, however, King Victor Emanuel was not
dissuaded from carrying out his obligations as Prussia's
ally, and Napoleon III. not deeming it prudent to oilend
victorious Prussia just at that time, Austria's hope for a
repetition of the Maria Theresa policy was not realized,
and the Emperor was left to his own resources. His
request for an armistice was promptly rejected, as were,
also the mediatory overtures made by the Emperor of the
French. Orders were issued for an immediate advance.
The army of Silesia was sent towards Olmiitz, as a corps
of observation against General Benedek, while King Will-
iam himself marched his army through Brunn toward
Nickelburg, where, on the 17th of July, he established his
headquarters. During these movements the ad vance-guard
of his army had already reached so short a distance from
Vienna that its camp-fires could be discerned at night by
the astonished inhabitants.
A few days after the battle of Sadowa, and after his
humble demand for an armistice had been refected, Em-
peror Francis Joseph, in a manifesto to his " faithful peo-
ple of the Kingdom of Hungary," — which composed the
principal fighting population of Austria, — cooly informed
them that "To put an end to the unequal contest — to
gain time and opportunity to fill up the voids occasioned
by the campaign — and to concentrate his forces against
the hostile troops occupying the northern portion of his
Empire, he had consented, with great sacrifices, to nego-
tiations for the conclusion of an armistice."
396 KING WILLIAM I.
He then made the following piteous appeal for help
from the Hungarians, his subdued subjects, who, but a
few years before, had seen their best and most patriotic
sons perish on the gallows or die traitors' deaths at the
hands of Austrian executioners :
" I now turn confidently to the faithful peoples of my
Kingdom of Hungary, and to that readiness to make
sacrifices so repeatedly displayed in arduous times. The
united exertions of my entire Empire must be set in motion,
that the conclusion of the wished-for peace may be secured
upon fair conditions. It is my profound belief, that the
warlike sons of Hungary, actuated by the feeling of
hereditary fidelity, will voluntarily hasten under my
banners, to the assistance of their kindred, and for the
protection of their country, also immediately threatened
by the events of war. Eally, therefore, in force to the
defense o^ the invaded Empire ! Be worthy sons of your
valiant forefathers, whose heroic deeds gained never-fading
wreaths of laurel for the glory of the Hungarian name."
Having now lost all hope in French intervention, the
Emperor of Austria finally concluded to approach King
William with propositions of peace. Both the King and
Bismarck were determined, that while they did not intend
to extend the territorial limits of Prussia at Austria's
expense, they unreservedly demanded that Power's exclu-
sion hereafter in the affairs of Germany. The prelimi-
naries for peace with this understanding began at Nichol-
son, were ratified and the agreement signed at Prague,
August 23, 1866.
The chief stipulations of the treaty were :
1. The German Confederation is dissolved.
3. That Germany re-construct itself anew, with exclu-
THE A CrSTRO -PRUSSIAN WAB. 397
sion of Austria, and in the manner that the German States
lying north of the Main river enter into a confederation
with Prussia; while the States lying south of that line
shall form an independent confederation among them-
selves, of which the national connections with the North
German Confederation is reserved for future arrangement.
3. Austria shall waive all right to Schleswig-Holstein.
4. Austria to pay Prussia twenty million thalers war
indemnity. (About the same sum in English.) All acces-
sions of territory in North Germany by Prussia to be
sanctioned by Austria. Saxony to be allowed to retain
her King, provided she joins the North German Con-
federation— a most unmerited »nct of generosity, when it
is considered that the reigning dynasty of this Kingdom
seemed to have inherited a " penchant" for slavish subser-
viency to foreign dictation.
On the day when this Treaty of Prague was signed —
though as yet he was unaware of it — Thomas Carlyle
wrote to a friend : " That Germany is to stand on her
feet henceforth, and not be dismembered on the high-
way; but face all manner of Napoleons, and hungry,
sponging dogs, with clear steel in her hands and an
honest purpose in her heart — this seems to me the best
news we or Europe have heard for the last forty years or
more. May the heavens prosper it ! Many thanks also
for Bismarck's photograph ; he has a Royal enough phys-
iognomy, and I more and more believe him to be a highly
considerable man; perhaps the nearest approach to a
Cromwell that is possible in these poor times."
Although King William had ample justification, it was
not his desire to humiliate Austria by an aggrandizement
of Prussian territory at her expense. He had placed
398 KINO WILLIAM I.
her where she could do no more harm to Germanv, and
where she was powerless to impede her political and re-
ligious progress ; that accomplishment had been his sole
end, and he magnanimously refused to take advantage of
his position to obtain more. As to Austria's auxiliaries of
the South German States, Bismarck had but little diffi-
culty to encounter in the way of an amicable understand-
ing with them. General Von Falkenstein, who had been
left in the South German States, did not deem it wise to
shed more blood of his misguided countrymen than was
absolutely necessary, having been called to Bohemia to
assume administrative duties, relinquished his command to
General Manteuff el, who entered into an armistice with the
princes, thus closing the unbloody chapter of this Austro-
Prussian war.
On the 13th, 17th and 22d of August, a compact was
entered into between Prussia, representing the North-
German Bund, and Wttrtemburg, Baden and Bavaria, on
the other, by which it was agreed, that in case of war
they should stand by each other, and that in such an event
all troops should be placed under the command of Prus-
sia. On the 3d of September Hesse-Darmstadt, and on
October 2 1st Saxony followed suit. The great ground-
work for the definite unification of Get^many had now
been safely laid, consequently the idea for which King
William had been laboring, and for which he had risked
his popularity and his throne, had been realized. The
only feature in this final settlement, which has caused many
regrets and heart-burnings, was the necessary abandon-
ment to Austria of its German population, which had
always been loval to the German cause. The brave
mountaineers, as well as many German citizens of Vienna,
were in hearty sympathy with the German cause*
THE AUSTKO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 399
"With laurel-entwined banners, King William, Bismarck,
Moltke and their trusted regiments made this triumphal
entry into the Prussian capital, amid the shouts of a
grateful and enthusiastic people.
The gallant and soldierly King rode first on horseback,
and was accompanied by Count Bismarck and Generals
Moltke, Roon, and others. Says a correspondent of an
English newspaper, describing the scene immediately be-
fore the brilliant cavalcade passed down the Linden:
" For my part I could spare but little attention for the
King himself. A few yards farther on there stood a
group of horsemen. One was General Von Roon, the
Minister of War, another was (Jeneral Moltke, the soldier
to whom, more than any single person, the conduct and
conception of the campaign are due. On the extreme
right, in the white uniform of a Major-General of Land-
wehr Cuirassiers, a broad-shouldered, short-necked man
sat mounted on a brown bay mare. Very still and silent
the rider sits, waiting patiently until the interview be-
tween the King and the civic authorities is concluded.
The skin of his face is parchment-colored, with dull
leaden-hued blotches about the cheeks; the eyes are
bloodless; the veins about the forehead are swollen; the
great heavy helmet presses upon the wrinkled brows ; the
man looks as if he had risen from a sick-bed which he
ought never to have left. That is Count Bismarck-
Schonhausen, Prime Minister of Prussia. Yesterday he
was said to be well nigh dying ; ugly rumors floated
about the town ; his doctors declared that rest, absolute
rest, was the only remedy upon which they could base
their hopes of his recovery. But to-day it was important
that the Premier should show himself. The iron will.
400 KINO WILLIAM I.
which had never swerved before any obstacle, was not to
be dauated by physical pain or to be swayed by medical
remonstrances. And so, to the astonishment of all those
who knew how critical his state of health had been but a
few hours before, Count Bismarck put on his uniform and
rode out to-day to take his place in the royal cortege.
Even now the man, who has made a united Germany a
possibility, and has raised Prussia from the position of a
second-rate Power to the highest rank among Continental
empires, is but scantily honored in his own country ; and
the cheers with which he was gi'eeted were tame com-
pared with those which welcomed the generals who had
been the instruments of the work his brain had planned.
But to those, I think, who looked at all beyond the
excitement of the day — the true hero of that brilliant
gathering was neither King nor Prince of the blood-
royal — general nor soldier, but the sallow, livid-looking
statesman, who was there in spite of racking pain and
doctora' advice and the commonest caution, in order that
his work might be completed to the end."
By way oi marking the day with a white stone, an
amnesty was proclaimed for all persons who had been
convicted of high treason or other offenses against the
Crown, resistance to the State authorities, violation of
public order, offenses committed by the press in infringe-
ment of the Press Law of 1851, and for infractions of the
ordinance of the 11th of March, 1851, regulating the right
of public meetings.
With a feeling of self-satisfaction and excusable pride
the King opened the sessions of the Prussian House of
Kepresentatives in person. In his sj^eech from the throne,
which he read in a dignified manner and calm tone of
THE AUSTRO- PRUSSIAN WAB. 403
voice, he referred to the recent success achieved by the
Government, which had been gained in spite of the Cham-
ber, and now asked the representatives to ratify the bill
of expenditures. This request was acceded to by a vote
of 230 against 75.
From this time on political aflFairs moved along more
smoothly, and a commonness of interest throughout Ger-
many infused new life into every branch of industry and
trade. Within a year the representatives of the annexed
States were admitted to seats in the Prussian House of
Eepresen tat i ves.
On the 24th of February, 1867, the Parliament of the
newly-formed Korth-German Confederation opened its first
session, and on the 17th of April following its Constitution
was proclaimed. This fundamental law guaranteed to the
people of all the States north of the Main line, equal
citizenship, equality of commercial laws, of jurisprudence,
of weights arid measures, of money and equal telegraph
and postal accommodations. Each State was left to man-
age its own local affairs according to the taste and con-
venience of its people.
In closing the session of this memorable Parliament,
King William pointedly and truthfully said: "As the
direction of the German mind generally is turned toward
peace and her labors, the Confederate Association of the
German States will mainly assume a defensive character.
The German movement of recent years has borne no
hostile tendency toward our neighbors, no striving after
conquest, but has arisen solely from the necessity of
affording the broad domains, from the Alps to the sea,
the essential conditions of political progress, which the
march of development in former centuries has impeded.
404 KINO WILLIAM L
The German races unite only for defense, not for attack;
and that their brotherhood is also regarded in this light
by neighboring nations is proved by the friendly attitude
of the mightiest European States, which see Germany,
without apprehension and envy, take possession of those
same advantages of a great political commonwealth which
they themselves have already enjoyed for centuries.
"It therefore now only depends upon us, upon our
unity and our patriotism, to secure to the whole of Ger-
many the guarantees of a future in which, free from the
danger of again falling into dissension and weakness, she
will be able to further, by her own decision, her Constitu-
tional development and prosperity, and to fulfill her
peace-loving mission in the Council of Nations. I trust
in God that posterity, looking back upon our common
labors, will not say that the experience of former unsuc-
cessful attempts has been useless to the German people ;
but that, on the other hand, our children will thankfully
regard this Parliament as the commencement of the
unity, freedom and power of the Germans.
" Gentlemen, all Germany, even beyond the limits of
our Confederation, anxiously awaits the decisions that
may be arrived at here. May the dream of centuries, the
yearning and striving of the latest generations, be realized
by our common labors I In the name of all the allied
Governments — in the name of Germany — I confidently
call upon you to help us to carry out rapidly and safely
the great national task. And may the blessing of God,
upon which everything depends, accompany and promote
the patriotic work 1 "
These lofty sentiments found lodgment in every
German hearty and, indeed, the benefit of the newly-
tfi£ AU8TBO-P&US8IAN WA&. 405
formed union to the people was becoming daily more
apparent. Of this period of contentment and prosperity,
says a recent writer:
" The benefits which their new union was to confer on
the German States were not long in showing themselves
in every department of legislative administration and
trade, and attracted the recognition of foreign nations.
The people of the districts annexed to Prussia in 1866
were so wisely governed, that most of them soon became
not mere subjects, but patriotic citizens of that Kingdom.
The States which had taken up arms against Prussia rapidly
forgot their enmity; and the whole German people soon
began to regret that the Main line had been suffered to
limit the new union on the South. The Southern States,
however, had been more closely bound to the Northern by
their treaties of offensive and defensive alliances; and
still more so by the ZoUverein, which was now more
firmly established under the administration of a Customs-
Parliament of all the States. There still continued to be
a party of " Particularists " in Southern Germany, whose
local prejudices and aims opposed the national policy of
union ; but its strength depended upon merely temporary
interests, and it was not important enough to resist the
overwhelming popular sentiment. In Prussia, and with-
in the new Confederation, the bitterness of hostility
formerly shown to the Government, now disappeared.
Austria at first showed a disposition to continue its policy
of resistance to Prussian ascendency in Germany, and
Beust, the late Premier of Saxony and long the foe of
Austria, was made Chancellor of the Empire ; but the
Government gradually become more and more concilia-
tory.^'
OHAPTEE XL
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.
IT IS known that previous to the war with Austria, and
while this power was coquetting with Emperor
Napoleon, Mr. Beneditti, the French ambassador at Berlin,
had been instructed to demand from the Prussian govern-
ment the cession of the German provinces along the left
bank of the Rhine, in consideration of France's neutrality
in the coming struggle with Austria, and to threaten
Prussia with war in case of refusal. " Then let there be
war," promptly replied Bismarck. Beneditti evidently not
being prepared for such a manly reply, quietly dropped the
subject for the time being. Furthermore, Napoleon III.
was not prepared for war just then. The French army had
not received its complement of the new Chassepot mus-
kets yet, the efficiency of which was to excel the Prussian
needle-gun in rapidity and precision. He also fondly
hoped that Prussia would emerge from a war with Aus-
tria in a damaged condition, and consequently be unable
to refuse a demand for the Rhine frontiers when again
asked.
Having been disappointed in this expectation, the
French turned upon Napoleon, charging him with weak-
ness and indecision in not preventing the unification of
Germany, when the Austro-Prussian war had offered such
a splendid opportunity. They, also, began to clamor for
their share in the new division of Europe, and their
demands in that direction being refused by Prussia, they
began to bluster about a war of revenge. In 1867 the
406
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 407
Luxemburg question was siezed upon with avidity as an
excellent pretext for a war with the hated tete carri across
the Rhine ; and the opening of hostilities was only averted
by Prussia's magnanimous evacuation of the fortress. In
1870 a most welcome pretext for an attack upon Prussia
by France was found in the circumstance that Prince
Leopold of HohenzoUern Sigmaringen, a distant relative
of Emperor William, had been offered the Spanish Crown ;
but this pretext havmg been removed by the Prince's
prompt refusal of the proffered honor, a war with France
was again averted. The French press grew furious at being
thus disappointed, and its columns were daily filled with ful-
minating articles against Germany. On the 8th of July a
scurrilous attack upon Prussia appeared in iheMoniteur —
the official organ of the Government — in which the
writer said : " The time for taking revenge on account of
the affront suffered at the hands of Prussia, has come 1 "
The entire Parisian press soon followed suit. The influ-
ential Le Paya^ for instance, boasted that in case of a
refusal to the just demands of France, the yoke was ready
for Prussia, who would not dare to cross swords with the
victorious legions of France; and the flighty Emil de
Gerardine flippantly referred, in his La Liberie^ to a tour
de promenade to Berlin, where, within a fortnight, they
would enjoy a glass of absinthe " wUer den ZindenJ^ In
short, day after day, the easily excited Parisians were
supplied with the most inflammatory appeals against the
hated Prussians, until the well-known French "Chauven-
isme" had worked itself into such a fever heat that it
could only be cooled in the blood of the Prussian tete de
choucroute.
The refusal of Napoleon III. at this time to gratify the
408 KINO WILLIAM I.
French longing for glory would have cost him his impe-
rial crown. This evidently was Duke de Graraont's opin-
ion when he insisted upon a personal apology from King
William, while at Ems, in reference to the HohenzoUern
occupation of the Spanish throne. King William, at this
impudent demand, turned upon his heel and left the
French Ambassador to his own construction of the inter-
view. Thus was reached the culminating point between
the two peoples. The next day, the 14th of July, 1870,
Minister Beneditti was recalled and a declaration of war
immediately made by the French.
History affords no parallel to the infatuation — border-
ing upon stupidity — ^with which the French entered into
this war, the result of which, under the most favorable
circumstances was doubtful. War Minister Leboeuf, who
declared as to the fitness of the French Army to engage
in a war with Germany, was either ignorant himself of
the true condition of Napoleon's forces, or he had been
deceived by the reports of his Department commanders.
When, however, the actual facts came to light that the
real strength of the armv had been overestimated and its
supply of ammunition, food and forage was insufficient
for an offensive campaign, it was too late for Leboeuf to
call a halt. Again, hostile demonstrations had been so
open and avowedly in earnest as to surprise the ever-ready,
watchful Prussian General Moltke. Napoleon III. had
also fallen into the egregious error of supposing that
the disaffection of the South German States would
eventually redound to his favor. He pretended to know
that Hanover, Saxony and Hesse-Cassel were only watch-
ing for a favorable opportunity to revenge themselves
for the loss of their sovereigns and independence, and
. THS FftANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 409
would join in an attack against Prussia made by the
French.
But instead of a distracted and dissatisfied country,
he was met at the threshold by a united Germany — by
a people ready to do and die for the common Fatherland.
Bavaria, where the Ultramontane party had labored in
vain to stem the patriotic impulse of the people, promptly
fell into line, as did Wtirtemburg, where the same treason-
able influence had been at work. But, not only in Ger-
many were the people aroused to united action, and to a
determination, now and forever, to emancipate themselves
from foreign dictation, but the Germans all over tlie globe
were to a man in sentiment with their countrymen at
home.
The German-Americans, more especially, furnished
abundant proof of their devotion to their mother-country,
and by enthusiastic public demonstrations, and by liberal
contributions, lent to the cause their moral as well as
material support.
The return of King William from Ems to Berlin was
one continued ovation, and when the order for the mobili-
zation of the German army came, it seemed as if the
master hand of a great clockwork had pressed the spring
and the colossal machinery was set in motion. With won-
derful precision and astounding rapidity were the armed
masses collected at the appointed rendesvous, and before
Emperor Napoleon, who had prognosticated and planned
a war of invasion, could complete his preparations, there
stood before the gates of France 450,000 armed Germans.
King William left Berlin on the 25th of Jul}^ 1870, to
take supreme command of the army in the field, which
stood about as follows : The Seventh Corps from West-
410 KINO WILUAM I.
phalia, and the Eighth from the Rhine province, were
situated on the lower Rhine, and were commanded by
General Steinmetz, and formed the right wing of the
Gepman army. The Royal Guards, commanded by
Prince August, of WUrtemberg; the Third Corps from
Brandenburg, and tlie Fourth from Saxony, under Gen.
Alvensleben; the Ninth from Schleswig-Holstein and
Hesse, under Maiistein; the Tenth from Hanover, Bruns-
wick and Oldenburg under Voigts-Rutz ; and the Twelfth,
under Albert, Crown Prince of Saxony, stationed in the
Palatinate, but ready to march either south or westward,
formed the center, under the general command of Prince
Frederick Charles. The Fifth Corps from Silesia and
Posen, under Kirchbach; the Eleventh from Hesse,
Nassau and Thuringia, under Bose; and the First and
Second Bavarian Corps, under Von der Tann ond Hart-
mann, with divisions from Wtlrtemburg and Baden, all
under the chief command of the Crown Prince of Pinissia,
formed the left. In addition to this force of 450,000 men,
there were four corps, or 100,000 men, stationed in the
interior, and pushing in forced marches toward the French
frontier, besides 400,000 Landwehr, which could be
called upon in case of need.
To this vast army of nearly a million men, France had
but 300,000 to oppose it. But, infatuated to blindness,
thej'' still imagined that the march upon Berlin was possi-
ble. Emperor Napoleon himself appeared to be as eager
for the fray as the rest of his countrymen. He began by
attacking a small detachment of Prussian troops at Saar-
brlick on the 2d of August. He met little resistance here,
the withdrawal of the Prussians causing Napoleon to
send to Paris the most remarkable bulletins of the vie-
on Vronprin] Kionprinj von
prin3 Betnriifr
rOKBBAI, PROCESSION OP THE EMPEROR.
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 413
tory. It was upon this occasion that he penned to the
Empress Eugenia the famous account of her son's " bap-
tism of fire."
But on the ith of August the work was begun by
Prussia in earnest. It was the duty of the Prussian Crown
Prince, with his troops from the South German States,
to invade Alsace, and by passing through the Vosges turn
the right of the French armies who were between the Saar
and the fortress of Metz. Marshal MacMahon, with a force
exceeding 40,000 men, stood in his path; but so swift and
decided was the Crown Prince's movements that, on the 4th
of August, he had advanced from Landau andGermersheim,
attacked and defeated a division of MacMahon's corps at
"Weissenbourg, and on the 6th came up with MacMahon's
main forces at Woerth, where the Bavarians, Wtirtem-
burgers and Badeners gave proof of their devotion to the
common cause by completely routing his army.
On the same day, General Kamecke, coming up with a
part of the Seventh Army Corps, attacked General Frossard
who held the steep height of Spichem, and after a stub-
born resistance, drove him from the field towards Forbach.
Thus, in the short time of two days, had the Germans not
only frustrated Napoleon's plan of invadingGerman}'^, but
ha(l driven him to assume the defensive and compelled him
to abandon a large strip of territory. His next mov^ was
to concentrate his armies to the rear. In the meanwhile
glowing telegrams of victories had been sent to Paris,
throwing the populace into a deliri um of joy. But the true
state of affairs soon began to be known, and when the
news of the terrible reverses met by the army at last burst
upon them, it was with great diflBculty that a revolution
against the Imperial regime was repressed, even at this
early stage of the campaign.
414 KING WILLIAM I,
But their cup of disappointment and bitterness had
hardly received a drop compared to the stream that soon
followed.
The invading army now formed a continuous, unbi*oken
line. On the 14th, the first armj' under Steinmetz had
advanced to the immediate vicinity of Metz ; just in time
to intercept the Third French Arm}^ Corps which covered
the rear of General Bazaine's forces on their march toward
Verdun. The bloody battle at Courcelles which followed,
terminated disastrously for Bazaine, and compelled him
to retreat under the walls of Metz. On the 16th, Bazaine
made another effort to march to Verdun ; but as the
Prussians under General Alvensleben had taken possession
of the village of St. Hilaire, on the Verdun road, and of
the villages of Mars la Tour and Vionville, his movements
were agjiin interrupted, and the battles which were fought
here were the most sanguinary of the war. The situation
was held by 33,000 Germans against an overwhelming force
of 150,000 French troops for the space of three hours,
when 30,000 men were sent to their relief. At the most
critical point of this battle. General Bredow, in charge of
the cavalry brigade, composed of the Seventh Regiment of
Cuirassiers and the Sixteenth Uhlans, received an order
from General Alvensleben, to clear the edge of the woods
in front of his infantry. The terrible scene which there-
upon followed, forms the bloodiest and at the same time
the most heroic episode of the Franco-Prussian war, and
will stand in the annals of modem warfare as the worthy
counterpart of the famous cavalry charge at Balaklava.
" On they went," says an English account of the affair, " up
to the batteries in front and took them ; then fell upon
columns of infantry and scattered them ; then attacked a
THE FKANCO-rftUSSIAN WAJt. 415
battery of mitrailleuse, when two French cavalry regi-
ments of cuirassiers were hurled upon them, and the
Germans in their fatigue had to cut their way back along
a pathway of blood. But half of them returned. The loss
on both sides on that day was 15,000 killed and wounded.
Bazaine was now compelled to abandon his plan of
marching to Verdun. Moving his exhausted troops to a
position between Qravelotte and Privat-la-Montagne, he
decided to give tliem a day's rest before attempting another
engagement. But the following day the whole of the First
and Second German armies had reached the left bank of
the Moselle, increasing their effective strength to 200,000
men — the force which General Bazaine would have to cope
with. This army was commanded by King William in
person, with Prince Frederick Charles, Moltke, Boon,
Steinmetz and Bismarck at his side. On the afternoon of
the 18thj the great battle of Gravelotte, which was to de-
cide the fate of the flower of the French army, and con-
sequently of the French Empire, began. The Germans
in pressing forward through the narrow defiles were lit-
erally mowed down and lay in heaps on the road-sides. At
four o'clock, however, the right of the French army had
been turned by the Guards and the Saxons, and now
began the murderous assault upon St Privat, the key of
the French situation. It was dark when the village was
captured, and now followed the rout of the French army,
which fled in disorder towards Metz.
This victory was purchased at an enormous sacrifice by
the Germans. The French had fought with their old-
time valor — that valor which at Austerlitz and Jena had
given them world-wide fame. They had lost 12,000 men
in killed and wounded, but had inflicted a loss upon the
416 KING WILLIAM I.
Germans of 20,000, who were compelled to attack them
in their own chosen position. Bazaine and his army had
taken refuge in the fortress of Metz, and Frederick Charles
with 160,000 men, was left to prevent his escape, while
the rest of the army took up their march toward Chalons
where it was supposed Emperor Napoleon and MacMahon
had concentrated the remaining main strength of the
French army. On the 25th the news reached the King,
however, that MacMahon had left Chalons and was
marching his army towards Reims, with the intention, it
was conceived, of relieving Bazaine. Upon the advice of
General Moltke the King prom])tly changed his march
northward. On the 30th a French corps of MacMahon's
command was surprised in their camp near Beaumont,
which, although reinforced, ended in the defeat of the
French and their withdrawal upon Sedan, where the final
act of the great Napoleonic drama was to be played.
The events which immediately culminated in the sur-
render of Sedan, as well as the particulars of the sur-
render itself, were very graphically described in a letter
written by King William himself to Queen Augusta, at Ber-
lin. No other account gives a better description of the
events than this, and, as it is also deeply interesting from
a personal point of view, we shall give it entire. The
letter, dated Vendresse, south of Sedan, September 3d, is
as follows :
"You will have learned through my three telegrams
the whole extent of the great historical event which
has just taken place. It is like a dream, even when one
has seen it unroll itself hour by hour; but when I con-
sider that after one great successful war I could not ex-
pect anything more glorious during my reign, and that I
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 417
now see this act follow, destined to be famous in the
history of the world, I bow before God, who aJone has
chosen my army and allies to cai'ry it into execution,
and has chosen us cOs the instruments of His will. It
is only in this sense that I can conceive this work, and in
all humility praise God's guidance and grace. I will now
give you a picture of the battle and its results in a com-
pressed form. On the evening of the 31st and the morn-
ing of the 1st, the army had reached its appointed posi-
tions round Sedan. The Bavarians held the left wing,
near Bazeilles, on the Meuse; next them the Saxons, to-
ward Moncelle and Daigny ; the Guards still marching to-
ward Givonne, the Fifth and Eleventh Corps towards St.
Menges and Fleigneux. As the Meuse here makes a sharp
bend, no corps had been posted fi*om St. ]Menges to Don-
chery ; but at the latter place there were WUrtemburgers,
who covered the rear against sallies from M6zi^res. Count
Stol berg's cavalry division was in the plain of Donchery
as right wing ; the rest of the Bavarians were in the front
toward Sedan. .
"Notwithstanding a thick fog, the battle began at
Bazeilles early fnthe morning, and a sharp action devel-
oped itself by degrees, in which it was necessary to take
house by house. It lasted nearly all day, and Scholer's
Erfurt Division (Reserve Fourth Corps) was obliged to as-
sist. It was at eight o'clock, when I reached the front before
Sedan, that the great battle commenced. A hot artillerj^
action now began at all points. It lasted for hom-s, and
during it we gradually gained ground. As the above-
named villages were taken, very deep and wooded ravines
made the advance of the infantrv more difficult, and
favored the defense. The villages of Bly and Floing
418 KING WIJLLIAM I.
were taken, and the fiery circle drew gradually closer
round Sedan. It was a grand sight from our position on
a commanding height behind the above-mentioned bat-
tery, when we looked to the front beyond Pont Torey.
The violent resistance of the enemy began to slacken by
degrees, which we could see by the broken battalions that
were hurriedly retreating from the woods and villages.
The cavalry endeavored to attack several battalions of
our Fifth Corps, and the latter behaved admirably. The
cavalry galloped through the interval between the bat-
talions, and then returned the same way. This was re-
peated three times, so that the ground was covered with
corpses and horses, all of which we could see very well
from our position. I have not been able to learn the
number of this brave regiment, as the retreat of the enemy
was in many places a flight. The infantry, cavalry and
artillery rushed in a crowd into the town and its imme-
diate environs, but no sign was given that the enemy
contemplated extricating himself from his desperate
situation by capitulation. No other course was left than
to bombard the town with the heavy battery. In twenty
minutes the town was burning in several places, which,
with the numerous burning villages over the whole field
produced a terrible impression.
" I accordingly ordered the firing to cease, and sent
Lieutenant-Colonel Von Bronsart, of the General Staff,
with a flag of truce, to demand the capitulation of the
army and the fortress. He was met by a Bavarian
officer, who reported to me that a French jparlementaire
had announced himself at the gate. Colonel Von Bronsart
was admitted, and on his asking for the Commander-in-
Chief, he was unexpectedly introduced into the presence
THE FRANOO-PKUSSIAN Y/ASU 419
of the Emperor, who wished to give him a letter for my-
self. When the Emperor asked what his message was,
and received the answer, " to demand the surrender of
the army and fortress," he replied that on this subject he
must apply to General de Wimpflfen, who had undertaken
the command in place of the wounded General MacMahon,
and that he would now send his Adjutant-General, Reille,
with the letter to mvself.
'' It was seven o'clock when Eeille and Bronsart came
to me, the latter a little in advance, and it was first through
him that I learned with certainty the presence of the
Emperor. You may imagine the impression which this
made upon all of us, but particularly upon myself. Reille
sprang from his horse and gave me the letter of the
Emperor, adding that he had no other orders. Before I
opened the letter I said to him, ^ But I demand, as the
first condition, that- the army lay down its arms.' The
letter begins thus — ^ IP ay ant paspu mourh^ d la t^te de
mes troupes, Je depose mon epee d votre Majesty, ' leaving
all the rest to me. My answer was that I deplored the
manner of our meeting, and begged that a plenipotentiary
might be sent, with whom we might conclude the capitu-
lation. After I had given the letter to General Reille, I
spoke a few words with him as an old acquaintance, and
so this act ended. I gave Moltke powers to negotiate,
and directed Bismarck to remain behind in case political
questions should arise. I then rode to my carriage and
drove here, greeted everywhere along the road with loud
hurrahs of the trains that were marching up and singing
the National Hymn. It was deeply touching. Candles
were lighted everywhere, so that we were driven through
an improvised illumination. I arrived here at eleven
420 KING WILLIAM I.
o'clock, and drank with those about me to the prosperity
of an army which liad accomplished such feats.
"As on the morning of the 2d I received no news
from Moltke respecting negotiations for the capitulation,
which were to take place in Donchery, I drove to the bat-
tle-field, ac<;ording to agreement, at eight o'clock, and
met Moltke, who was coming to obtain my consent to the
proposed capitulation. He told me at the same time that
the Emperor had left Sedan at five o'clock in the morn-
ing, and had come to Donchery, as he wished to speak with
me. There was a chateau and park in the neighborhood,
and I chose that place for our meeting. At ten o'clock I
reached the height before Sedan. Moltke and Bismarck ap-
peared at twelve o'clock with the capitulation duly signed.
At one o'clock I started again with Fritz [the Crown Prince]
and, escorted by the cavalry and staff, I alighted before
the chateau, where the Emperor came to meet me. The
visit lasted a quarter of an hour. We were both much
moved at seeing each other again under such circum-
stances. What my feelings were — I had seen Napoleon
only three years before at the summit of his power — is
more than I can describe. After this meeting, from half-
past two to half-past seven o'clock, I rode past the whole
army before Sedan. The reception given me by the
troops, the meeting with the Guards, now decimated —
all these are things which I can not describe to-day. I
w^as much touched by so many proofs of love and devo-
tion. Now farewell ! A heart deeply moved at the con-
clusion of such a letter. Wilhelm."
France suffered a terrible loss at Sedan. Eighty-four
thousand men, one marshal, forty generals and 2,825
officers fell into the hands of the Germans, together with
UebcrfutlTun^ pon Kaifer IPilhelm's £eid;e nudr <£[iarIotteTitinTg.
TBAKBFSBRntO Tira BHPEROB'B RRMAIHa TO CHARLOTTSBEBO
THE FRANCO-PfiUSSIAK WAR. 423
830 cannon, seventy mitraillieuses, 10,000 horses, and an
immense amount of war material and ammunition. But
while this loss was severe, and the immediate effect
extremely humilating to France, it was no doubt proven a
blessing in disguise.
Imperial Bonapartism and French Chauvanism were
buried at Sedan in a common grave.
On the 31st of August, and also on the following day,
General Bazaine at Metz made an unsuccessful attempt to
break through the German lines. He was' driven back
with great slaughter.
On the 3d of September, Napoleon III., ex-Emperor
of the French, wiis transported to Wilhelmshohe, in com-
pany with Bismarck, a prisoner of war, and on the follow-
ing day the Republic was proclaimed in France, with
General Trochu, Jules Favre, Gambetta and Thiers as its
provisional government.
The disasters of the war, and the collapse at Sedan,
were attributed by the populace of Paris to the ineffi-
ciency of Napoleon, and to the general worthlessness of
the military administration under the imperial regime.
^^Tmtt n^est pas perdu^^ (all is not lost), they encourag-
ingly said to each other, and proudly pointing to the
patriotic sacrifices of their ancestors under the First
Republic, resolved, and proclaimed to the world, they
would not cede an inch of territory nor a stone of their
fortresses to the hated invaders, but would fight them
to the bitter end.
Under these circumstances, the only way for King
William to come to a definite settlement of the diffi-
culties, was to march his troops right on to the French
capital, to compel the new government to submit to his
424 £lNa WILIJAM I.
own terms of peace ; — a step which was at once taken,
and on the 19th of September the investment of that im-
mense and Avonderful city, Paris, began.
When the facts are considered, that the h'ne of circum-
vallation constructed by King Louis Philippe, at an
expenditure of hundreds of millions of francs, and many
years of industrious labor, and which is twenty-seven
miles in extent, and also that a second line is formed by
a large number of detached forts, sonae of considerable
magnitude — at a distance of from one to four miles from
the main wall — or, in all, a defensive line of at least fifty
miles in extent, the seeming impossibility of investing
and besieging such a city can be easily imagined. Paris,
besides its population of nearly two million souls, con-
tained 400,000 armed men.
The German armies investing the city, strongly
intrenched and garrisoned by nearly half a million troops,
numbered about 215,000 men of all arms. The bulk of
the German forces was occupied in besieging the great
fortresses of Metz and Strasbourg, and in preventing nu-
merous French detachments that were constantly forming
from marching to the assistance of their besieged country-
men. The proclamation of Gambetta for a war "«
Voutrance^^ against the invaders had aroused the French
people to a frenzied state of excitement, and in an incom •
parably short time he had succeeded in raising a formidable
army in Southern France. The first Bavarian troops of
the German forces and other detachments were sent
against them, and in the battles which followed, from the
10th to the 17th of October, at Artenay, the French wero
defeated, at which time Orleans fell into the hands of the
Germans. In the meantime^ the Germans had achieved
I
I
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 425
a glorious success in the East. Strasburg, the ancient
German city, which, through the treachery of King Louis
XIV. had been wrenched from Germany two hundred
years before, was surrendered by General XJlrich on the
27th of September. Seventeen thousand prisoners and a
large amount of military stores fell into the hands of tlie
Germans. General "Werder, to whom the garrison h;id
capitulated, now marched against the fortress of Scblott-
stadt, compelling its suiTender, clearing the wliule of
Alsace of the enemy's forces, and leaving a besieging
detachment before the fortress of Belfort, which covered
the passes to the Rhine. From here he continued his
march towards Besanjon and Dijon, in the Champagne
district. But the powerful fortress of Metz still remained
in the hands of the French. The investinsr armv under
Prince Frederick Charles was beginning to be decimated
by disease, through exposure and unwholesome quarters.
On October 7th, Bazaine had made another attempt to
break through the chain of iron which kept him and his
army prisoners, but the effort ended disastrously. For
reasons yet unknown, but probably the latent ambition to
play the r61e of savior of the Empire, he refused to rec-
ognize the French Republic, or any of its representatives,
and entered on his own account into negotiations with
Prince Frederick Charles. He offered to surrender the
army, but not the fortress, addingthese conditions : " That
the Empire be restored." This demand being peremp-
torily refused, and his supplies being nearly exhausted, on
the 27th of October he signed an unconditional surrender.
One hundred and seventy-three thousand men, with three
marshals and 0,000 officers, were made prisoners, and
fifty-three eagles,102 mitrailleuse, 3,000 guns and immense
426 KING WtLUAM I.
quantities of military stores were the German trophies of
that day.
The surrender of Metz relieved the army of Frederick
Charles, and enabled General Moltke to send two corps,
under the command of General Manteuffel, into the north
of France, and to direct Prince Frederick Charles to pro-
ceed, with his remaining three corps, in forced marches to
the Champagne and Burgundy provinces toward Troyes
and Orleans, where the German General Von der Tann
was in a precarious situation.
On November 8th, the latter was attacked by a large
force and was compelled to evacuate Orleans. It was only
with the greatest exertions that he escaped being captured
or annihilated by the overwhelming numbers of French
troops, who in streams were flocking under the standard of
General Aurellesde Paladine, in command of the army of
the Loire. But Prince Frederick Charles, with his 60,000
victorious troops from before Metz, appeared now on the
the scene of action. After a number of minor but sanguin-
ary engagements he advanced upon Orleans in force, and
compelled the French to capitulate. During this time
General Manteulfel, with his two corps from before Metz,
had marched upon Amiens, which was held by 80,000
French troops ; but not until after a bloody struggle was
the place captured, on the 27th of November. The
besiegers of Paris were now protected from serious inter-
ference by an army under General Werder in the vicinity
of Dijon on the east, by Prince Frederick Charles at
Orleans on the south, and by General Manteuflfel at
Amiens on the north.
In the extremity of their condition, the French began
to look for help beyond the frontiers.
THE FBANOO-PBtJSSIAN WAB. 427
Their former arrogance had given place to humility.
Like a resistless torrent the German anuics now rolled
over French territory, driving the enemies steadily before
their columns. On the 12th, the armv of the Crown
Prince having cleared the passes through the Vosges moun-
tains, and finding no further obstructions, was pushing on
towards Chalons, when it came up and opened communica-
tion with the army of Prince Frederick Charles.
The day before. King William had moved his head-
quarters upon French soil, and issued the following Droc-
lamation to the French people :
" We, William, King of Prussia, make known the fol-
lowing to the inhabitants of the French territories occupied
by the German armies. The Emperor Napoleon having
made, by land and by sea, an attack on the German nation,
which desired and still desires to live in peace with the
French people, I have assumed the command of the Ger-
man armies to repel this aggression, and I have been led
by military circumstances to cross the frontiers of France.
I am waging war against soldiers, not against French
citizens. The latter, consequently, will continue to enjoy
security for their persons and property as long as they
themselves shall not, by hostile attempts against the Ger-
man troops, deprive me of the right of according them my
protection. By special arrangements, which will be duly
made known to the public, the Generals commanding the
different corps will determine the measures to be taken
toward the communes or individuals that may place
themselves in opposition to the usages of war. They will,
in like manner, regulate all that concerns the requisitions
which may be necessary for the wants of the troops, and
they will fix the rate of exchange between French and
428 KING WILLLUC L
German currencies, in order to facilitate the individual
transactions between the troops and the inhabitants."
M. Thiere, the accomplished diplomat of France, pre-
tending to seek recognition from foreign Powei^s for the
Republic, started upon a pilgrimage to the courts of Vienna,
St. Petersburg and London. His most importunate en-
treaties, however, in behalf of France, were met with
polite but decided refusals. Upon his return the " extrem-
ists " succeeded in becoming masters of the situation, which
resulted' in the establishment of the Conmiune, and, as
of old, during its short rule and final suppression another
bloody page to the history of France was furnished.
The defeat, however, of the French armies at Orleans
seemed not to have damped the ardor of Premier 6am-
betta in the least, but he realized that for the present the
plan of attacking the besieging Germans in the rear must
be abandoned. He was fertile in plans, however, and his
next was the bold project of raising a new army in the
southeast of France, and after crushing "Werder's forces
at Dijon to send an invading army into the south of Ger-
many. To this end he ordered General Bourbaki to
march his Army of the Loire toward Lyons, to join the
troops collecting there. Simultaneously with the execu-
tion of this plan in the South, General Chanzy was also
ordered to make a demonstration for the relief of Paris ;
but he was met on the 7th by the forces under the Grand
Duke of Mecklenburg at Marchenoir and Meung, and on
the 10th was accordingly driven from his purpose of de-
livering Paris from longer German investment. A few
weeks later in a second attempt he crossed the path of
Prince Frederick Charles, when he was defeated in a num-
ber of hotly contested engagements near Le Mans, losing
THE FBAN0O-PRUS8IAN WAB. 429
20,000 men, killed and taken prisoner. In the meantime
the French army of the North, under General Faidherbe,
had met a similar fate at the hands of the intrepid Gen-
eral Goben, who had succeeded Mantueflfel in the com-
mand of the Germans at Amiens and Kouen. On the
19th of January Faidherbe's forces were attacked at St.
Quintin, and completely routed with a loss of 10,000
men.
These encouraging reports from the interior of the
enemy's country were very gratifying to King Will-
iam, who had established his headquarters at Versailles ;
but both himself and General Moltke were somewhat
apprehensive in regard to General Bourbaki's movements.
This General had left Bourges about the middle of Decem-
ber, 1870, with the evident intention of overrunning Alsace.
The only force to oppose him was Werder's Corps, which,
on the 18th of December, had gained a victory over
20,000 of Garibaldi's Italian Volunteers. Appreciat-
ing the futility of contending in the open field against
such overwhelming odds as Bourbaki would bring against
him, Werder had retired slowly, but constantly fighting,
to a strong position near Belfort. There he determined
to make a stand in order to prevent the passage of Bour-
baki's army, but to defeat his attempt to invade Germany
at all hazards. On the 15th of January the enemy
appeared in sight, and soon attempted a general assault
upon Werder's position. But the Prussian needle-gun
made such havoc in Bourbaki's ranks as to compel his
withdrawal. On the 16th, and again on the 17th, the
assault was renewed with the same disastrous result to the
French. But the near approach of two German army corps,
who, under General Manteuffel, had been sent to Werder's
430' KING WILLIAM I.
relief, completed Bourbaki's discomfiture, who, in attempt-
ing to escape toward Lyon, was intercepted and almost
surrounded on the road thither. The only alternative left
to Bourbaki was to surrender his army to Manteuflfel, or
to cross with his army over the frontier into Switzerland,
('hoosing the latter, his 84,000 men marched over the line
and were disarmed by the authorities of the little Repub-
lic, on February 1, 1871.
In the meantime matters about Paris had taken a
favorable turn for the Germans. All the important and
minor sorties which had been attempted by General
Trochu had failed. On the 27th of December the bom-
bardment of the city tVus begun, causing immense damages,
and the calamities and terrors attending the siege of an
overcrowded city were beginning to be felt in every house-
hold of the capital. But although horse-flesh had become
a rarity, and rats were now counted among the delicacies
of the menuj the fortitude of the unhappy inhabitants of
Paris remained unshaken, and it was not until the corrob-
orated news of the defeat and dissolution of the armies in
the field had convinced them of the absolute needlessness
of further resistance, that the word " surrender " with
safety dared to pass any man's lips.
As a last extremity General Trochu and Gambetta
decided to make one more, one supreme effort to break the
cordon of the enemy's fire. On the 19th of January, under
the protection of the guns of Mount Valerien, the most
powerful fort in the line of fortifications. General Trochu
drew up 100,000 men for the final desperate sortie. Fate
was against him, however ; 20,000 Germans barred his
passage, and drove him, after fearful carnage, back under
the guns of Mount Valerien. This last attempt having
Kronprinj jtiebrti^ ECilltelm anb <5cmat)Iin.
^^i%tt Vaifcr ^iettrid; II[. nni bit Uatferin Dictorio.'
Crown Prince Frederic WiUtam and Wife.
Now Emperor Frederic III, and the Empress Victoria
THE FRANCO PRUSSIAN WAJL 433
failed, the army was discouraged and the morale of the
people broken.
On the 23d of January, Jules Favre, in the name of
the provisional government, proceeded to Versailles, and
on the 28th an armistice of twenty-one days was signed ;
on the 29lh, the now Emperor William I. telegraphed to
Empress Augusta, at Berlin, as follows :
"Last night an armistice for three weeks was signed.
The troops of the line and the mobiles will be interned in
Paris as prisoners of war. The Garde NaUonah Seden-
tai/re undertakes the preservation of order. We occupy
all the forts. Paris remains invested. It will be allowed
to procure provisions as soon as the arms have been
delivered up. A Constituent Assembly will be sum-
moned to meet at Bordeaux in a fortnight. The armies in
the field retain possession of the respective tracts of coun-
try occupied by them, with neutral zones intervening.
This is the first blessed reward of patriotism, heroism
and heavy sacrifices. I thank God for this fresh mercy.
May peace soon follow ! "
The conditions of the proposed treaty of peace were
almost exclusively discussed by Count Bismarck on the
part of Germany, and by Jules Favre and Thiers on the
part of France. Bismarck's demands were the cession of
Alsace, the German speaking portion of Lothringia, and
the payment of five billion francs to Germany. With
bated breaths and beating hearts the two statesmen
listened to the humiliating and severe conditions of the
Iron Chancellor. But not all the protestations and suppli-
cations— not even requests of representatives of foreign
Powers — availed to modify these harsh conditions.
In the meantime the final act of the unification of
434 KING WILLIAM I.
Germany had been performed at the city of Louis XIV.
— the French King, who had done more to disrupt the
Fatherland than any other foreign potentate before the
advent of Napoleon I.
On the 18th of January, 1871, in the celebrated Hall
of the Mirrors of the Louis XIV. royal chateau at Ver-
sailles, the elite of the German army still before Paris,
assembled to witness King William's coronation as Em-
peror of Gennany. A splendid galaxy of oflBcers of the
diflferent armies and grades stood up in a semi-circle,
awaiting the arrival of the King and his suite.
Soon his majesty, followed by the Crown Prince Fred-
erick William, the princes of the Empire and the generals
of the army, all in full uniforms, entered the hall, the King
taking his position upon the elevated center of the hall.
After a somewhat lengthy and imposing religious cere-
mony, Count Bismarck, upon a sign from the King,stepped
to the front, and with loud sonorous voice read the follow-
ing proclamation :
" We, William, by the Grace of God, King of Prussia,
herebv announce that the German Princes and Free Towns
having addressed to us a unanimous call to renew and un-
dertake, with the re-establishment of the German Empire,
the dignity of Emperor, which now for sixty years has
been in abeyance, and the requisite provisions having been
inserted in the Constitution of the German Confederation,
we regard it as a duty we owe to the entire Fatherland to
comply with this call of the united German Princes and
Free Towns, and to accept the dignity of Emperor. Accord-
ingly, we and our successors to the Crown of Prussia
henceforth shall use the Imperial title in all the relations
and afifairs of the German Empire, and we hope to God
r
THE FKANCX) TKUSSIAN WAR. 43.")
that it may be vouchsafed to the German nation to lead
the Fatherland on to a blessed future, under the auspices
of its ancient splendor. We assume the Imperial dignity,
conscious of the duty to protect with German loyalty the
rights of the Empire and its members, to preserve peace, to
maintain the independence of Germany, and to strengthen
the power of the people. We accept it in the hope that
it will be granted to the German people to enjoy in last-
ing peace the reward of the arduous and heroic struggles
within boundaries which will give to the Fatherland that
security against renewed French attacks which it has
lacked for centuries. May God grant to us and to our
successors to the Imperial Crown, that we may be the
defenders of the German Empire at all times ; not in
martial conquests, but in works of peace in the sphere of
national prosperity, freedom, and civilization."
The treaty was ratified by the French Assembly at
Bonleaux, which by resolution, also, formally deposed
Napoleon III., declaring him the individual most respons-
ible for all the nusfortunes, the ruin, the invasion, and the
final dismemberment of France.
It is one of the defects of human nature, to attribute
the results of our own blindness and shortcomings to in-
struments of one's own making. The cry " A Berlin ! a
has les Pmsse!'''^ came from the press, politicians and the
population of Paris, and not from Napoleon III.; he
simply followed the cry because he could not help himself.
On the 3d of March, when the victorious armies had
taken up their return march to Germany, the terms of
surrender having been arranged, the garrison of Paris and
the forts surrendered to the Germans. To complete
France's humiliation, 30,000 Germans entered the gates of
436 KINa WILLIAM I.
the great city. Marching past the Aro de Triomphe,
where, upon plates of brass, the French victories over the
Germans at Austerlitz, Friedland, Jena, etc., are recorded,
they proceeded along the Champa Elyseea as far as the
Place de la Concorde^ playing the whole way the " Wachi
am RhineP This performance was looked upon in sullen
silence by the populace. Bismarck, sitting upon his
charger, witnessed this scene of his final triumph for an
instant, after which he hurriedly rode back to Versailles.
Emperor William telegraphed from Versailles to
Berlin : " I have just ratified the conclusion of peace, it
having been accepted yesterday by the National Assembly
in Bordeaux. Thus far is the great work complete, which
by seven months' victorious battles has been achieved,
thanks to the valor, devotion and endurance of our incom-
parable army in all its parts and the willing sacrifices of
the whole Fatherland. The Lord of Hosts has every
where visibly blessed our enterprises, and therefore, by
His mercy, has permitted this honorable peace to be
achieved. To Him be the honor; to the army and the
Fatherland I render thanks from a heart deeply moved. "
On the 7th, the Emperor and his staff left Versailles,
and on the 16th, at the head of his victorious armies, the
triumphal entry into Berlin took place.
The war had lasted 210 days. During this compara-
tively short period three great French armies were taken
prisoners, and another forced to take refuge in Switzer-
land. Seventeen great battles, and 156 minor engage-
ments Trere fought. Twenty-two fortresses were taken
by the Germans, 7,200 pieces of artillery, 600,000 small
arms, and 385,000 prisoners, including 11,360 officers.
THE FBANG0-PBU8S1AN WAB. 437
The final treaty of peace, including the conditions already
stated, was concluded at Frankfort, on the 10th of May,
1871.
Late at night on the 18th of August, Bismarck penned
this telegram to Queen Augusta, at the dictation of the
King : " The French army in a very strong position west-
ward of Metz, attacked, completely beaten after a battle
of nine hours, cut off from its communication with Paris,
and hurled back on Metz."
Dr. Busch gives the following graphic recital from
Count Bismarck's own lips of his experiences on that
awful day : " The whole day I had nothing to eat but
the soldiers' bread and fat bacon. Now we found some
eggs-five or six. The others must have theirs boiled ;
but I like them uncooked, so I got a couple of them, and
broke them on the pommel of my sword, and was much
refreshed. When it got light, I took the first warm food
I had tasted for six-and-thirty hours; it was only pea-
sausage soup, which General Goeben gave me, but it tasted
quite excellent. ... I had sent my horse to water, and
stood in the dusk near a battery, which was firing. The
French were silent, but when we thought their artillery
was disabled, they were only concentrating their guns and
mitrailleuses for a last great push. Suddenly they began
quite a fearful fire, with shells and such like — an incessant
cracking and rolling, whizzing and screaming in the air.
We were separated from the King, who had been sent
back by Roon. I stayed by the battery, and thought to
myself, ' If we have to retreat put yourself on the first
gun-carriage you can find.' We now expected that the
French infantry would support the attack, when they
might have taken me prisoner, unless the artillery carried
438 KING WILUAM I.
me away with them. But the attack failed, and at last
the horses returned, and I set off back to the King. We
had gone out of the rain into the gutter, for where we
had ridden to the shells were falling thick, whereas before
they had passed over our heads. Next morning we saw
the deep holes they had ploughed in the ground.
" The King had to go back farther, as I had told him
to do, after the officers had made representations to me.
It was now night. The King said he was hungry, and
what could he have to eat ? There was plenty to drink —
wine and bad rum from a suttler — but not a morsel to
eat but dry bread. At last, in the village, we got a few
cutlets, just enough for the King, but not for anyone
else, so I had to find out something for myself. His
Majesty wanted to sleep in the carriage, among dead
horses and badly-wounded men. He afterwards found
accommodation in a little public-house. The Chancellor
had to look out somewhere else. The heir of one of the
greatest German potentates (the young Hereditary Grand
Duke of Mecklenburg) kept watch by our common car-
riage, that nothing should be stolen, and General Sheridan
and I set off to find a sleeping place. We came to a house
which was still burning, and that was too hot. I asked
at another — 'Full of wounded soldiers.' In a third, also
full of the wounded. In a fourth, just the same, but I
was not to be denied this time. I looked up and saw a
window which was dark. ' What have you got up there ? '
I asked. ' More wounded soldiers.' ^ That we shall see
for ourselves.' I went up and found three empty beds,
with good and apparently fairly clean straw mattresses.
Here we took up our night quarters, and I slept capitally."
Once more the Gemums showed their great superiority
in all that concerns the strategical aspect of war.
THE FRANCO PRUSSIAN WAR. 439
The people of Germany, and more especially of Prus-
sia, had now become fully conscious that the solicitude
with which Emperor William during his whole lifetime
had been watching over the military establishments of the
country, had at last borne its fruit. They now, also,
recognized the fact, that they had erred in refusing to
furnish him the means ho had called for for the reorgani-
zation of the army, and felt thankful for his unswerving
adherence to his patriotic convictions in spite of their
opposition. The " geographical expression," of the Ger-
many of pre-Napoleonic times had now become a reality,
thanks to the foresight of Emperor WiUiam I., and the
oversight of the Iron Chancellor, Bismarck. The Germans
soon began to understand the power of nationality, and
the peace which followed was fraught with great industrial
and intellectual progress.
On the 21st of March, 1871, the Parliament of United
Germany opened its sessions. On this occasion Emperor
William in his opening speech gave a hint to the Catholic
representatives, who had begun to agitate the restoration
of the Pope's temporal power, as follows :
'*The new Empire," he said, "takes its birth from the
self-subsisting spirit of the people itself, which, never tak-
ing up arms except for defence, is steadfastly devoted to
the works of peace. In its intercourse with foreign na-
tions, Germany demands for her citizens no greater con-
sideration than what justice and civilization involve, and
uninfluenced by liking or disliking, leaves it to every na-
tion to find its own way to unity, to every State to deter-
mine for itself the form of its constitution. We trust
that the days of interference in the life of other nations
will never, under any pretext or in any form, return,"
440 KING WILLIAM I.
On the 14th of April, 1871, the Eeichstag ratified the
constitution of the German Empire, and, on the 4th of
May following, the constitution went into force.
[The question is often heard, " What is the difference
between the Landtag,Bundesrath and Imperial Diet, etc.?"
and, in order that the general reader may understand the
construction and functions of the legislative bodies called
the Reichstag and Herrenhaus, etc., in Germany, the
author will attempt an explanation by first saying that
the constitution of Germany is not analagous to that of
the United States. The Imperial Diet is the Eeichstag,
and constitutes the legislative branch of the German Em-
pire, and may be compared to our National House of
Representatives. It has the power to originate and,
with the consent of the Bundesrath, to enact national
laws. The members are elected for three years, in the
ratio of one representative for everj^ 10,000 inhabitants ;
but a State having. less than 100,000 inhabitants is en-
titled to but one representative. The members receive
no compensation. They are elected by the voters of each
State at large. Everv German twenty-five years old, of
active citizenship, has a right to vote in the State in which
he was bom. The Bundesrath is the highest executive
and administrative power in the Empire. Its principal
features were created by the Norddeustche Bund of 1867,
and incorporated into the constitution of 1871. It has
peculiarities which do not permit of its being likened to
our Senate or the upper house of any assembly; nor is
it a purely executive body. It resembles a council of
States, and is now composed of fifty-nine members, the
delegates of the several States, which, under the supremacy
of Prussia, compose the German Empire. Prussia sends
THE FflANCX)-PKUSSIAN WAB. 448
seventeen delegates, Bavaria six, WUi-temberg four, Sax-
ony four, Saxe- Weimar and Brunswick two each, the other
States but one each. The Bundesrath has power to de-
cide upon the legislative measures to be proposed to the
Reichstag ; on the rules and regulations to be adopted in
the administrative and executive branches of the Empire ;
in other respects it has some of the powers of the execu-
tive. The members of the Bundesrath have the privileges
of the floor in the proceedings of the Imperial Diet, and
on pending questions to take part in the debates. In
case the delegates of a certain State are unable to carry a
measure in the Bundesrath, they may submit the question
to the Imperial Diet or Reichstag. The Bundesrath and
Reichstag, therefore, form the Imperial Government of
Germany. The postal service, the army and navy are
under their administration. The executive branch, the
third branch of the Imperial Government, is represented
by the executive officer, the Emj)eror, who has the right
to appoint a Chancellor of the Empire, whose duty, among
others, is to receive foreign ambassadors and officials, and
with the consent of the Emperor to appoint representa-
tives of the German Empire — Bavaria excepted — to
other foreign countries. The Emperor can only declare
war for the German Empire in case German territory is
invaded by foreign foes. With the affairs of a single
State the German government has nothing to do. The
states are autonomous, each having its own sovereign and
constitution. As, for instance, Prussia is governed by her
king, Frederick III., who was also chosen in 1888 by the
German sovereigns. Emperor of Germany. Prussia has
her Parliament, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and
House of Lords (Herrenhaus), together called the Landtag.
y
■){
444 KiNO WiLLtAH 1.
The members of the two Chambers are the representatives
of the whole State of Prussia, not of a district. They are
not expected to vote for a constituency nor to give a
reason for their votes. No member can be prosecuted
during the time the Chamber is in session. Each Cham-
ber draws up its own rules by which it is governed. The
Herrenhaus is composed of the princes of the blood who
have reached their majority, hereditary members and
members appointed for life. The number is not limited ;
the members must have reached the age of thirty years,
and can receive no salary nor indemnity of any sort. The
Chamber of Deputies consists of 432 members, elected for
three years. The governments of Bavaria, Wlirtemberg
and the other German States, have their separate Land-
tags, formed of two houses, the same as Prussia.]
The majority of the German Parliament, hand in
hand with the Emperor, now entered heartily into the
work of regeneration.
The next great question in order was the act of incor-
poration of Alsace and Lorraine into the Empire. Prince
Bismarck knew that his measure would meet with opposi-
tion in Parliament, and from the following speech which
he delivered on the 8d of May, his expectations on this
subject are set forth :
" Ten months ago no one m Germany desired war, but
all were determined, if it should be forced upon us, to
carry it through, and to obtain guarantees against a recur-
rence of attacks by France. France, possessing Alsace,
continually threatened Germany. On the 6th of August,
1866, the French ambassador handed me an ultimatum
demanding the cession of Mayence to France, and telling
us, in the alternative, to expect an immediate declaration
THB FRANOOPBUSSIAN WAS. 445
of war. It was only the illness of the Emperor Napol-
eon which then prevented its outbreak. During the late
war neutral Powers made mediatory proposals. In the
firet instance we were asked to content ourselves with the
costs of the war and the razing of a fortress. This did
not satisfy us. It was necessary that the bulwark from
which France could sally forth for attack should be pushed
farther back. Another proposal was to neutralize
Alsace and Lorraine. But that neutral State would have
possessed neither the power nor the will to preserve its
neutrality in case of war. We were obliged to incorpo-
rate Alsace with the territory of Germany in order to
insure the peace of Europe. It is true the averaion of
the population of Alsace and Lorraine is an obstacle to
such a measure. Still, the population is thoroughly Ger-
man, forming a sort of aristocracy in France by virtue of
its noble and Teutonic qualities. We shall strive to win
back to us this population, by means of Teutonic patience
and love. We shall especiallj' grant communal liberties.
The Federal Council will carefully examine all amend-
ments proposed by the Reichstag. Let us work together
with mutual confidence."
The act of incorporation provided that ".he govern-
ment of Alsace and Lorraine be vested exclusively in the
Emperor until January 1, 1874, when the constitution
of the German Empire was to be introduced and the
provinces form an integral part of the German realm.
The act was passed with the almost unanimous vote of
the assembly.
Prince Bismarck, the new Chancellor of the Empire,
was thereupon appointed by the Emperor governor of
the annexed provinces. Thus was the act of restitution
446 THE PHAKCOPBUSSIAN WAB.
completed bj^ which Germany was repossessed of a portion
of her territory which had been forcibly taken from her
nearly two hundred years before by Louis XIY. There is
great waste of sentiment in the united states over this
I'iglitful restitution performed by Emperor William I., on
tlie ground that it was accomplished without leave oi
consent of the re-annexed provinces. One might as well
complain about the injustice of returning a child to its
rightful mother from whom it was stolen while a helpless
babe. The original title of the provinces was with Ger-
many, and both justice and the law of self-preservation
demanded their restitution to the mother country.
CHAPTER XII.
EMPEROR WILLIAM'S ECCLESIASTICAL WAR
A Lit difficulties in the path of Germany's unification
jLJL and peaceful progress had now been apparently over-
come. Victories had been obtained through iron and
blood for the repossession and retention of territory ; but
during the debates ui)on the King's address and the annex-
ation act, evidences were not wanting to show that some
secret force, and, as afterward appeared, the same force
which had been in operation in Germany for centuries,
was again at work, but under a new guise.
As we have repeatedly shown, the supremacy of Prot-
estant Prussia in Germany was exceedingly distasteful to
the Roman hierarchy. The fact that the Roman Catholic
Church was recognized in Prussia as a legal institution,
that it stood in every respect upon an equal footing with
the Protestant Church, that its schools and universities
were supported by the State the same as those of the Prot-
estants, and that religious instruction was given to Catholic
children by Catholic priests paid out of the general fund,
did not seem to count a penny's weight against the demands
of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. These demands were noth-
ing short of the absolute control of the educational insti-
tutions of the country. But Prince Bismarck, supported
by the King, stood like a rock against these assumptions ;
and, being aware of the ultramontane efforts in the differ-
ent parts of Germany in furtherance of this pet scheme,
of the efforts of the Jesuits to stir up dissatisfaction against
the imperial government and opposition to the proposed
447
44:S EMPEROR WILLIAM*3 ECCLKSTASTICAL WaR.
unification of the whole of Gennany, and, also, that the
pulpit was prostituted for political agitation, at the meet-
ing of the National Diet in 1872 he was not able to repress
his indignation when Dr. Windhorst, the spokesman of
the Ultramontane party, complained of the loss of Catholic
power and influence m matters of educational moment.
Springing to his feet, in a ringing speech he adminis-
tered the following well-directed rebuke:
" When I returned from France to devote myself to
home affairs," said he, 'Hhe Clerical or Centre party, which
had just been formed, seemed to me a party whose policy
was directed against the predominance and unity of the
State. I will not conceal from vou that the Government
had hoped to rely upon the assistance of the orthodox
element in the people. I thought it had a right to expect
that they, above all, would render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar's. Instead of this we find ourselves svstem-
atically withstood in the South, and most violently at-
tacked in the papers and in speeches destined for the in-
struction of the lower classes. This conduct is the more
extraordinary inasmuch as the Pope and the Prussian
bishops of the Catholic Church have repeatedly acknowl-
edged the perfect liberty their co-religionists enjoy under
our institutions. In their downright hostility, therefore,
the Ultramontane party can not be actuated by dissatis-
faction at the position the Catholic Church holds, and in-
deed has long held among us. Unfortunately, we are at
no loss to account for their motives. When we find this
party leaguing with Radicals of every shade of persuasion
— when we find them acting in concert with men whose
extreme politics make them avowed enemies of the Prus-
sian Constitutional Monarchy and of the German Imperial
EKPSBOB WILLIAM^S ECCLESIASTICAL WAR. 449
Commonwealth — we need not wonder at their drif tmg
into peraistent op|X)sition, and placing us in the painful
position in which we now stand with regard to them."
This speech had the effect of an immediate declai*ation
of war against clerical assumption in Germany, and was
followed by the introciuction of a School Inspection bill, by
which the supervision of all educational institutions were
intrusted to the State. After a long and acrimonious
debate, in which Windhorst and Bismarck were the prin-
cipal champions, the bill passed with the small majority
of 197 against 171 votes.
In the Upper House, the debates upon this bill elicit-
ed very damaging facts against Windhorst and the
clerical party. Among the many compromising documents
read by Bismarck, the following dispatch from an Im-
perial representative abroad created the greatest indig-
nation :
" The revenge," it said, " for which people are panting in
France is being prepared for by getting up religious trou-
bles in Germany. It is intended to cripple German unity
by denominational discord, for which pui*pose the whole
of the clergy are to be utilized under immediate orders
from Eome. In connection with the overthrow of Ger-
man power, the Pope hopes to be able to reestablish his
secular power in Italy."
Eeferring to this dispatch, Prince Bismarck said: "Need
I point out who our enemies are? While two Catholic
Powers existed on our borders, each supposed to be strong-
er than Prussia, and more or less at the disposal of the
Catholic Church, we were allowed to live in peace and quiet.
Things changed after our victory of 1866, and the conse-
quent ascendancy of the Protestant dynasty of Hohenzol-
450 EMPEBOB William's eoolesiastical wab.
lern. And now that another Catholic Power has gone the
same way, and we have acquired a might, which, with
God's help, we mean to keep, our opponents are more
embittered than ever, and make ns the butt of their con-
stant attacks."
This plain language of the German Chancellor exas-
perated Windhorst and the Catholic Party beyond meas-
ure. The conflict had, however, but just begun, and the
expose of this ecclesiastical duplicity formed one of the
principal grounds of justification for most of the anti-
clerical laws that were in course of preparation.
Another event occurred, just at this time, which aggra-
vated the situation, and widened the breach between Ger-
many and the Vatican.
It was the latter's rejection of Cardinal Hohenlohe, who
had been appointed by the Emperor as ambassador to Rome,
upon the pretense that the Cardinal was an opponent of
the Pope's infallibility dogma. This inimical action of the
Vatican was resented by Prince Bismarck, in a speech
before the Reichstag, May 14, in which he severely criti-
cised this extraordinary proceeding of the Pope, taking the
ground that he should always reject any treaty with Rome,
in which the Papacy might claim that certain state laws
should not be binding upon a portion of the subjects of the
Empire. The most animated discussion, however, in
reference to this Ultramontane controversy, took place in
the Reichstag upon the introduction of the bill for the
expulsion of the Jesuits from Germany. The bill was
passed, however, and after having been signed by the
Emperor, it was promulgated on July 4, 1872. It read as
follows:
" We, William, by the grace of God, Emperor of Ger-
EMPEKOR William's ecclesiastical war. 461
many, King of Prussia, etc., in the name of the German
Empire, with the assent of the Federal Council, and of the
Parliament, ordain as follows : I. The Order of the Society
of Jesus, as well as the monastic orders of Congregations
affiliated to the said Society, are excluded from the terri-
tory of the German Empire. The creation of establish-
ments by them is forbidden. Establishments of theirs at
present existing shall be suppressed within a period to be
settled by the Federal Council, but not later than six
months. II. The members of the Order of the Society of
Jesus or of Orders and Congregations aflBliated, may, if
aliens, be expelled from the territory of the Confederation.
If they are natives, their^residence in certain districts, or
certain places, may be forbidden or prescribed to them.
III. The Federal Council will take the measures necessary
for securing the execution of this law. In faith of which
we have set our hand and seal Imperial."
The justice of this act was not questioned by aiTy but
the most extreme Ultramontanes. When, however, it is
considered that under the influence and perseverance of
the Society of Jesus, the number of convents in Prus-
sia had increased from 69 in 1855 to 826 in 1869, with
8,319 inmates — Pius IX., himself being compelled thirty
years before to expel the Jesuits from Rome — the Pope's
displeasure at this act of the Emperor lacked every ele-
ment of consistency. His denunciatory epistles of the
measure, sent to the priests throughout Germany created
a spirit of antagonism against the constituted authorities,
bordering upon insubordination. This ecclesiastical re-
volt against the liberalizing tendencies of the Imperial
Government took the form of organization in the consol-
idation of all Catholic societies into the ^^ Catholic Union
452 EMPEROR William's eoglesiastigal war.
at Fulda," in the following September — the place of the
monastery and school founded by Winfried in 750 a.
D. There it was boldly declared that canon laws were
more binding upon the citizens than those enacted by
legislative assemblies, and that the Church was rightfully
supreme in educational affairs and in marriage contracts.
W hile the clerical party — which, oddly enough, was sup-
ported by the socialists— was thus engaged in attempting
to rejuvenate the theories of the dark ages, the reputed
" despotic " government of King William of Prussia sub-
mitted a bill to the Prussian House, conferring upon the
people of towns and villages the blessings of local self-
government. The adoption of this measure at a time of
great reactionary activity, and in spite of the nobility and
landed aristocracy, formed an epoch in the life of the
German people and one of the brightest pages in the
history of these two remarkable men, Emperor William I.
and Premier Bismarck. The Kultur-Kampf (Ecclesiastical
War) had now assmned serious proportions in Germany.
It was the old question of the Franconian and Hohen-
staufen right of rule in their own domain. It appeared
that the question, whether Emperor William or Pius IX.
was henceforth to rule Germany, could not long remain
unanswered. Accordingly, in January, 1873, Dr. Falk,
the minister of education, introduced into the German
Diet four very important bills, the main features of
which were, "freedom of religion," " State protection to
the dergy against arbitrary acts of their superiors, and
the requirement, that henceforth, all candidates for the
priesthood must attend a State — ^that is, lay-university."
These acts produced the greatest consternation in the
ranks of the clerical party. The Catholic bishops entered
EMPEROR William's, ecclesiastical war. 453
a solemn protest against their enforcement, and resolved
upon their resistance, whereupon the State instituted
criminal proceedings against a number of the most recal-
citrant bishops. These trials resulted in the conviction
of Archbishop Ledochowski, and the imposing of a sen-
tence of four months' imprisonment upon his Grace. Thus
far, the conflict between Church and State had been
waged between the representatives of the Vatican and the
Imperial Government. But now Pope and Emperor
appeared upon the scene of action.
On the 7th of August, 1873, his Holiness Avrote to the
Emperor that, having heard the harsh measures adopted
by the German government against the Catholic clergy
had not yet been approved by him, he desired to warn
him of the danger threatening the Empire in case they
should be carried into execution. " I speak with frank-
ness," said Pius IX., " for my banner is truth. I speak in
order to fulfill one of my duties, which consists in telling
the truth to all, even to those who are not Catholics; for
everyone who has been baptized belongs, in some way or
other — which to define would be here out of place — be-
longs, I say, to the Pope."
On the 3d of September, nearly one month after the
receipt of the above, Emperor William transmitted to the
Pope the following reply :
" I am glad your Holiness has, as in former times, done
me the honor to write to me. I rejoice the more at this
since an opportunity is thereby afforded me of correcting
errors which, as appears from the contents of your letter,
must have occurred in the communications you have
received relative to German affairs.
" To my deep sorrow, a portion of my Catholic sub-
454 EMPEROR William's ecclesiastical war.
jects have organized, for the past two years, a political
party which is endeavoring to disturb, by intrigues hostile
to the State, the religious peace which hasexisted in Prus-
sia for centuries. Leading Catholic priests have unfortu-
nately not only approved this movement, but joined in it
to the extent of open revolt against existing laws
" It will not have escaped the observation of your
Holiness that similar indications manifest themselves at
the present time in several European and some Trans-
Atlantic States. It is not my mission to investigate the
causes by which tlie clergy and the faithful of one of the
Christian denominations can be induced actively to assist
the enemies of all law; but it certainly is my mission to
protect internal peace, and preserve the authority of the
laws in the States whose government has been intrusted
to me by God. I shall maintain order and law in my
States against all attacks as long as God gives me the
power; I am in duty bound to do it as a Christian mon-
arch, even when to my sorrow I have to fulfill this royal
duty against servants of a church which I suppose ac-
knowledges no less than the Evangelical Church, that the
commandment of obedience to secular authority is an
emanation of the revealed will of God. Many of the
priests in Prussia subject to your Holiness disown, to my
regret, the Christian doctrine in this respect, and place
my government under the necessity, supported by the
great majority of my loyal Catholic and Evangelical
subjects, of extorting obedience to the law by worldly
means.
"I willingly entertain the hope that your Holiness,
upon being informed of the true position of affairs, will
use your authority to put an end to the agitation carried
£MP£ROR William's ecclesla-stical war. 455
on amid deplorable distortion of the truth and abuse of
priestly authority. The religion of Jesus Christ has, as I
attest to your Holiness before God, nothing to do with
these intrigues, any more than has truth, to whose ban-
ner, invoked by your Holiness, I unreservedly subscribe.
There is one more expression in the letter of your Holi-
ness which I can not pass over without contradiction,
although it is not based upon the previous information,
but upon the belief of your Holiness — namely ^ the expres-
sion that every one who has received baptism belongs to
the Pope. The Evangelical creed, which, as must be
known to your Holiness, I, like my ancestors and the ma-
jority of my subjects, profess, does not permit us to ac-
cept in our relations to God any other mediator than our
Lord Jesus Christ. This difference of belief does not
prevent me from living in peace with those who do not
share mine, and I offer your Holiness the expression of my
personal devotion and esteem."
The publication of this letter was received with demon-
strations of approval by a majority of the people of Ger-
many.
On the 7th of December the Emperor, as King of
Prussia, issued a decree, making it obligatory upon the
bishops to take the oath of allegiance to the King before
assuming their functions. This unfortunate conflict be-
tween State and Church continued to prevail with greater
or less severity until 1882, when, from some cause not yet
explained, Bismarck appeared to wish to be upon more
amicable terms with Rome, and when Herr Windhorst
brought in a bill for the repeal of the law prohibiting the
exercise of clerical functions without the sanction of the
State, Bismarck did not oppose the motion, and it was
456 EMPEROR William's ecclesiastical war.
concurred in. Another bill, in substance aJlovving foreign
priests to officiate in Grermany, was also favorably acted
upon, and further, in order to naiTOw the chasm between
Germany and the Holy See, 90,000 marks, about $20,000,
were appropriated to defray the expense of a Prussian
Catholic representative to the Vatican.
Later on, the anti-clerical enactments, knoAvn as the
May laws, were almost wholly repealed, and this circum-
stance is often quoted by the adversaries of the Chan-
cellor in support of the charge that he had made a " trip to
Canossa." This charge however, when calmly and im-
partially investigated, is found to be without foundation
in fact.
The object of Prince Bismarck in not having his State
policy in reference to the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine
and other political measures any longer interfered with
by ecclesiastical intrigues had been accomplished. The
Pope himself having mildly rebuked Mr. Windhorst for
his over-officious zeal in mattere not strictly ecclesiastical,
the provisions of the May laws had become superfluous.
The principal point, however, that is, the control over the
appointment of candidates to clerical positions in Prussia,
has never been relinquished by Prince Bismarck.
That the relations of Prince Bismarck and the present
Pope are of the most amicable nature, the fact that the
settlement of the Caroline Islands difficulty in 1886 was
placed in his Holiness' hands by Bismarck, is ample evi-
dence. Upon the peaceable conclusion of the m^^tter, the
Pontiff sent the Prince the decoration of the "Order of
Christ." Upon the receipt of the diamond cross, Bis-
marck replied : "As your Holiness has expressed it, the
Eomish pontificate could not be better fitted than for just
I
80CIAU8TIC WAB. 457
such mediatory services in the peaceful settlement of diffi-
culties between nations as that just performed between
Germany and Spain, and for this very reason I had called
upon your Holiness for interposition. Tiie fact that the
attitude of the two countries toward your Holiness in mat-
ters of religion was not the same never weakened my
confidence in your impartiality. The relations between
Germany and Spain are such that the existing feeling of
friendliness could not lastingly be disturbed, and I was,
therefore, most confident that the work of your Holiness
would secure permanent friendly relations between us."
In conclusion, BismarcTc assures the Pope that he would
embrace every opportunity to show the gratitude his kind
offices have earned for him when not inconsistent with
his duty to his master and country.
SOCIALISTIC WAR.
The next question that appeared to agitate the Impe-
rial parliament was the repressive measures required
against the Socialists. This question greatly embittered
the declining yeai's of Emperor William's life. The sit-
uation was fraught with many perplexities; although
painfully conscious of the many hardships to which the
laboring classes were subjected, peace and good order
compelled him to sanction with his signature, the anti-so-
cialistic laws adopted by the German Diet. But the sen
timents of his heart were expressed when, in a rescript to
the Eeichstag, he said: "I deem it one of the first duties
of the Emperor to turn his attention and direct his care
to the improvement of the condition of the laboring
classes," and later on insisted, " that legislation upon this
question should not be limited to police and penal meas-
4:58 SOCIALISTIC WAR.
ures, but should be directed to the removal of the causes
of oppression in the realm."
The socialistic propaganda, headed by Karl Marx
and Ferdinand La Salle, had developed into a political
power before the establishment of the Empire, and the
liumanitarian intentions of the Emperor had little effect
upon the progress of the anarchist wing of the party. So
zealous had they become, that an attempt was made upon
the Emperor's life on the 28th day of September, 1883, at
the unveiling of the Niederwald Monument. The culprit,
Reinsdorf, had employed a man to place a stone bottle
containing dynamite, upon the road upon which the
Emperor was to pass. The man employed did not light
the match, and therefore the Emperor's life was saved.
This atrocious act naturally hastened the reenactment
of former repealed anti-social laws, and the adoption of
others more severe, and prolonged for two years those
that were to terminate the following September. On the
18th of May, the famous "Explosive" bill was passed,
which made the ordering of explosives with the willful
intent of endangering life and property, as well as the
delivering of inflammatory speeches, and the publishing of
incendiary pamphlets, crimes punishable with imprison-
ment, and if followed with fatal results, punishable with
death.
These laws seemed only to increase the believers, and
socialism had made such headway in Germany in 1884
that many of the representatives of the Government were
found to be connected with either one or the other of the
various socialistic organizations; as for instance, Bebel,
Von VoUraar, Auer, Frohme, Dietz, Viereck, Ulrich, and
others — ^the first five being members of the German
SOCIALISTIC WAB. 469
Reichstag, the other two journalists were indicted upon
the charge of having taken part in the socialistic con-
gress held in Copenhagen from March 29 to April 2,
1883, and, also, at the Chateau Wayden, Switzerland, in
August, 1880. The proofs against them were the minutes
of the meetings, in the hands of the prosecuting attorney,
and numerous articles published in the Social Deniokrat
of Switzerland. The indictment went on to say that
there existed in Germany a social-democratic organization,
the members of which were punishable under the criminal
code; that the resolutions passed at the two congresses
favoring a firmer organization, the collection of a fund
for agitation and publication, and, also, for the support of
the victims of the law against socialism, were all offenses
indictable under this provision of the code; that the
Social Dmwkrai recommended secrecy, and that the
language ^^the infamous law against socialists in Germany
compels us to hold our meetings upon foreign soil, and
because the detectives are wide-awake we recommend to
you extreme caution,'' is against the laws; that there were
sixty delegates present, most of whom were registered
under false names at the hotels ; that their participation
in this unlawful movement is established, as well as their
intention to consolidate the organization and to promote
the principles of socialism in Germany, all of which is
contrary to the paragraphs of the criminal code referred
to.
Thus, were laws enacted and executed against the
right of the citizen to assemble and the most obnoxious
press-laws — which laws have retarded the intellectual and
political progress of Germany for a century — the fruits
of the insane ravings of a handful of crack-brained
460 flociALisno wab.
theorists in this endeavor to annihilate individual
genius, thrift and enterprise, and to merge the country
into the communistic despotism, called " The State."
One of the most extraordinary acts of the Prussian
Government under William as King of Prussia, was the
expulsion of 35,000 Poles from Prussian soil — many of
them landed proprietors and thrifty artisans, ruthlessly
driven from their homes. The subject having been
brought before the German Parliament, Prince Bismarck
took tlie ground that Prussia's local legislation was not
subject to confederate control. The only explanation the
Government deigned to give was that these expulsions
were the simple execution of Prussian police regulations.
During this same session the Ultramontanes, supported
by the Socialists, introduced a Sunday law. In opposi-
tion, Prince Bismarck delivered one of his characteristic
speeches. He emphatically denied the proposition that
workmen would be benefited by such a law, or that
the industrial prosperity of England and the United
States was due to the English Sabbath. " England," said
he, " would not to-day enjoy so great an industrial superi-
ority over Germany if her coal fields and her iron mines
were not in close proximity to each other, and if she had
not enjoyed the blessings of civilization long before Ger-
many did. Even in the time of Shakespeare, about 300
years ago, there 'was a degree of prosperity, culture and
literary development in England far above what we pos-
sessed at that time in Germany. The Thirty Tears'
War had a retrograde effect upon Germany more than on
any other nation. But I can not admit that Englishmen
are better Christians than the Germans. If the keeping
of the Sunday had not been from time immemorial an
fiOOIALISTIC WAR. 461
English custom, I doubt very much if any Government
or Parliament would now be strong enough to make it
compulsory. For my own part, however, the English
Sunday has always produced an unpleasant impression
upon me; I was glad when it was over, and, judgino;
by the way the Sunday was passed in England, I think
that Englishmen were so, too. Here, in our villages, we
are glad to see the people enjoying themselves in their
Sunday best, and we thank God that we are not undei
the compulsion of the English Sunday. Some forty
years ago I went to England for the first time, and I was
so glad to land, after a bad passage, that I whistled
a tune. * Please don't do that,' said a fellow passenger.
* Why not? ' I inquired. ' Because it is Sunday ! ' "
These bold expressions of Bismarck were the senti-
ments of the majority of Germans — for Germans the
world over are opposed to Sunday restrictions — and
therefore, very naturally, the bill was defeated.
OHAPTEE XIIL
EMPEROR WILLIAM I. AS A MAN.
IT IS not an easy task to impartially judge the pergonal
character of a man bom to occupy an exalted sphere of
action, and whose tender years were hedged about by the
conventional conditions of a prospective king ; a man, in
other words, of whom little is known that is not intjended
to be known. But the late Emperor William seems to
have been a striking exception to the rule. Born with an
original and sturdy nature, his artificial training appears
not to have destroyed, but rather strengthened, these char-
acteristics.
The school of adversity in which his early years were
spent— the loss of his sainted mother, coupled with the
ever-present fear of loss of ancestral domain — gave to his
mind a peculiarly devotional cast, which is clearly seen in
his after letters, and is emphasized in the following pre-
served paper, written at the age of eighteen, and entitled
his '' Precepts of Life " :
" With a thankful heart I acknowledge God's great
beneficence in permitting that I should be born in an
exalted station, because thereby I am better enabled to
educate my soul and heart, and am put in possession of
copious means wherewith to build up worthiness in myself.
I rejoice in this station — not on account of the distinction
it confers upon me amongst men, nor on account of the
enjoyments it places at my disposal, but because it ena-
bles me to achieve more than others. In humility I
rejoice in my station, an^ am far from believing that God
4 4ed
EMPEBOB WILLIAM I. AS A MAN. 463
has intended, in this respect, to put me at an advantage
over my fellow-men. I am equally far from considering
myself better than anybody else on account of my exalted
station. My princely rank shall always serve to remind
me of the greater obligations it imposes upon me, of the
greater efforts it requires me to make, and of the greater
temptations to which it exposes me.
" I will never forget that a prince is a man — before
God, only a man — having his origin, as weU as* all the
weaknesses and wants of human nature, in common with
the humblest of the people; that the laws prescribed for
general observance are also binding upon him ; and that
he, like all the rest, will one day be judged for his behav-
ior. For all good things that may fall to my share I wiU
look up gratefully to God; and in all misfortunes that
may befall me I will submit myself to God, in the firm
conviction that He will always do what is best for me.
I know what, as man and prince alike, my duty is to true
honor. I will never seek honor to myself in things illu-
sory. My capacities belong to the world and to my fath-
erland. I will therefore work unintermittently within
the circle of activity prescribed to me, make the best use
of my time, and do as much good as it may be in my
power to do.
^^ I will maintain and keep alive within me a sincere and
hearty good will toward all men, even, the most insignifi-
cant — for they are all my brethren. I will not domineer
over anybody in virtue of my princely dignitv, nor bring to
bear upon any one the pressure of my princely prestige.
When compelled to require any service at the hands of
others, I will do so in a courteous and friendly manner,
endeavoring, as far as in me lies, to render the fulfillment
464 EMPEBOB WILLIAM t. Ad A MAK.
of their duties easy to them. But, in accordance wHh my
own duty, I will do all I can to destroy the works of hy-
pocrisy and malignity, to bring to scorn whatever is wicked
and shameful, and to visit crime with its due measure of
punishment ; no feelings of compassion shall hinder me
therefrom. I will, however, be careful not to condemn
the guiltless ; on the contrary, for me it shall ever be
a labor of love to defend the innocent.
" To the utmost of my ability I will be a helper and
advocate of those unfortunates who may seek my aid, or
of whose mishaps I may be informed — especially of wid-
ows, orphans, aged people, men who have faithfully served
the State, and those whom such men may have left behind
them in poverty. Never will I forget the good that has
been done to me by my fellow-men. Throughout my
whole life I will continue to value those who have ren-
dered me service.
" For the King, my father, I entertain a respectful and
tender affection. To live in such sort that I may be a joy
to him will be my utmost endeavor. I yield the most
punctilious obedience to his commands. And I entirely
submit myself to the laws and constitution of the State.
I will perform my service — duties — ^with absolute exacti-
tude, and whilst assiduously keeping my subordinates to
their duty, will treat them amicably and kindly."
The heroic period of his youth, also, offered a superior
school for the growth of his manly qualities, a school
which has been opened to few men since the days of Char-
lemagne and Barbarossa. The death straggle of the
nations of Europe, to maintain their integrity and inde-
pendence against the overreaching ambition of a military
genius of which the world has produced no equal, the
EMPEBOB WILLIAM L AS A MAN. 465
waves upon waves of armed men rolling over half a con-
tinent and by the tide of events rolled back again, the
roar of the modern machinery of destruction, the gigantic
minds met in deadly combat to retain all that a man holds
dear in life, principles, home and country — these were
the events which daily engrossed his attention.
The earnest activity and sterling qualities of such men
as Stein, Scharnhorst and Blticher, who had been charged
with the preservation of the State, could but leave a last-
ing impress upon his young and plastic mind. He came
early to understand that a life of leisure and luxury had
its demoralizing and enervating effect upon both body and
mind, and holding to the precept of his ancestor, Fred-
erick the Great, ^'that he belonged to the State rather
than the State to him," he deemed it his duty to foster
and preserve the physical vigor and moral strength
required of one destined to his high and exalted position.
Accordingly, we read that his daily habits were those
of a man with a purpose in life.
He had little taste for the levities and follies of court
ways, spending fourteen out of his twenty-four hours in
the various tasks of his great office ; and it is related of
him that, believing himself called upon to serve as an
example to his army, of order and readiness for action,
he was always dressed in his uniform and military boots,
or, until the later years of his life, when, under the advice
of his ph slcian, he exchanged his heavy military trappings
for the lighter official garb.
In order to show the discipline to which he had sub-
jected himself for almost eighty years, the following de-
tails of his daily habits for the last few months of his life
are here given :
466 EMPEBOB WILLIAM I. AS A MAN.
At seven o'clock in the morning a valet entered the
Emperor's bedroom with a small cup of tea, which he
drank before rising. In former times it had been his cus-
tom to rise when he felt that he had slept enough, and to
go at once to his dressing-room; but of late he had made
it his habit to lie in bed for an hour and a half after
waking. At half past eight he arose, and with very little
assistance dressed himself. He had three personal serv-
ants, who took turns in waiting upon him for twenty-four
hours at a time. These were his wardrobe man, Engel, and
his two valets, Ukermaker and Krause. At nine the Em-
peror went to his library, where he breakfasted, usually
on tea and toast. On Tuesdays and Fridays, however,
breakfast was served about twenty minutes earlier than
usual, and by nine o'clock he was in his study, where he
received the report of the president of police. On other
days, the Emperor did not begin work until twenty minutes
after nine. His first business was to open letters and sign
documents. Punctually at ten Herr von Wilmowski, the
chief of the civil cabinet, arrived for a brief interview,
and from that hour audiences succeeded audiences until
half past twelve, when he took his second breakfast. This
consisted invariably of a basin of plain soup and some
meat of an easily digestible kind. The menu for break-
fast and dinner was drawn up by a physician in consulta-
tion with the cook, and then submitted to the Emperor,
who generally made some slight alterations; but there is no
foundation for the stories that have been told of his inor-
dinate fondness for hot boiled lobsters and crabs. The
doctors had ordered the Emperor to drink a glass of good
old Bordeaux with his breakfast as well as with dinner;
but he cared little for wine and generally deluged his Bor-
EMPEROB WILLIAM I. AS A MAN. 467
deaux with the national Selzer water. When the guards
of the palace were relieved, the Emperor seldom failed to
appear at the well-known window to return the saluta-
tions of the crowd which was always assembled without.
After the second breakfast there were more audiences
and interviews, until it was time for the daily drive. He
usually returned about 3 o'clock and at once resumed
work. Between three and five the higher officials of the
Emperor had audience and at five dinner was announced.
It lasted an hour, and immediately afterward the Emperor
went back to his study, when for an hour he read the
newspapers of the day or had passages from them read
to him. At seven he ordered his carriage, and, if he had
nothing more important to do, went either to the theater
or to the opera. Ke always had been a great lover of the
drama, and was very unwilling to allow anything to inter-
fere with his evening enjoyment of it; yet, for many
years he had made it his rule never to go to the theater
while the body of one of the leaders of his armies or of
any old political servant lay unburied. When the Em-
peror returned from the theater, tea was served, and some
time was spent in social conversation, but at about 10
o'clock he went once more to his study to give attention
to any pressing matters that might have come up during
the day. After having disposed of these he went to his
room and at 11 o'clock the valet of the day left him, taking
away the lamp and leaving a lighted night-lamp on the
table by the bed-side. The Emperor slept uncommonly
well, and the tinkle of the electric bell which rings in the
neighboring room in which sits the valet on duty was
very seldom heard during the night.
He was very found of corn-flowers and liked to have a
468 SICPEBOB WILLIAM I. AS MAAK.
vase of them filled on his study table, and he often declared
jocosely, that if there were no corn-flowers, there would be
no work done. Flowers for this vase were, therefore,
specially grown in a hot-house at Potsdam all the year
round. For making marginal notes upon public docu-
ments, the Emperor generally used a very thick pencil.
These also were specially prepared for him ; but for years he
used an ordinary carpenter's pencil, and he only relin-
quished it when it was represented to him that the softness
of the lead caused his writing to smear and become illegible.
Emperor William never smoked nor took snuff, and any
spare moments that were at his disposal during the day,
were spent with the Empress, in whose presence he was
always most punctilious and attentive. At the time of
the attempted assassination by Noebling, in 1878, the
Empress was in very bad health, and she was una6le to go
to her husband's room until some days after the event.
At last she dragged herself down stairs to his apartment,
ejaculating ^'how happy I shall be to see you again!"
The Emperor, whose room was full of officers, and whose
door was open, heard her, and laughingly shouted, "Well,
come along, wife ; coiiie along !" And when the Empress
appeared, both burst into tears. The Emperor had very sim-
ple, suave manners, but he was not interesting, and had not
much conversation. In this respect he contrasted with
Bismarck, who can be a delightful boon companion, because
he has so much to say, and says it in such an original way.
Emperor William's countenance went a long way in
giving charm to his address, whereas the countenance of
the Chancellor has often gleams of savage ferocity, and
shows that the cunning of a wild animal can be united to
intellect. At different times, and on noteworthy occasions
BMPEBOK WILLIAM I. AS A MAN. 469
both master and man could be seen together. The Emp-
eror was to the observer much more a puzzle than Bis-
marck. There were moments when he struck one as being
somewhat the apparent hon homme^ leaving things to Bis-
marck with a private intent to do as he pleased. He liked
to be on good terms with Providence, to be true to his princi-
ples, and to set a good moral as well as military example
to his armed nation.
Taking all in all. Emperor William was the finest
specimen of the old gentleman that could be imagined.
If he lived in soldiers' uniform from the age of seven to
ninety-one, and was a strict disciplinarian to himself, he
was free from buckram and pipe-clay. His smile was
inviting.
The Emperor let the ladies of his family be as exact-
ing as they pleased, except in military affairs or politics.
Nor would he have minded their interfering with the
latter if Bismarck had not stood out against the ^' petti-
coat camarilla."
William remembered his mother's virtual Kingship
of Prussia — to its advantage. Then he rather enjoyed
yielding to female despotism. His weakness in this
respect made the Chancellor wage a relentless war on
the Empress and her tea-party cronies. The " Victorias "
were his pet animosities.
Though not miserly, the Emperor loved thrift and
plain living. What he spent on himself was trifling. His
household w^as kept up on the economical lines dear to his
ancestors. The Crown Prince's income was small. The
Empress had often to make the birthday gifts she wanted
to present to friends and relatives, ter private purse was
so slender. So had the Crown Princess. She gave pict-
470 EMPEROR WILLIAM L AS A MAK.
ures of her own painting. Her mother-in-law gave stand-
ard works in which were bound blank sheets filled up by
her with autograph annotations. The Emperor thus grew
comparatively wealthy. When Prince of Prussia he was
fond of romping games and practical jokes in the home
circle. He had a sense of fun and of humor. In music,
of which he was very fond, he preferred Weber to Wagner.
Notwithstanding the order in which Emperor William
kept his papers, he left quantities of letters in a cupboard
at the Versailles prefecture, where Mme. Thiers found them.
Hundreds of them were letters from French victims of
the war or exasperated patriots. They were all annotated
in the Emperor's handwriting. The marginal observa-
tions were creditable in the extreme to him. In noting
complaints of how Prussian soldiers had harried villages,
he said, " This must be put a stop to." In another letter
he was accused of waging a wicked war, so he wrote:
" This may be true. God give me light." There were
notes of orders for money to be sent to some families
which had been burned out of house and home."
True to his profession when a mere boy, he steadily
continued to value those who had rendered him service.
He was devotedly thankful to Prince Bismarck for the great
services that statesman had performed both for him and
his country. He never failed to honor him when an
opportunity to do so presented itself, and was not to be
outdone by the people in their demonstration of admiration
and gratitude for the great Chancellor.
On the Ist of April, 1885, Prince Bismarck celebrated
his seventieth birthday. It was made the occasion of fes-
tivals and rejoicing all over Germany. They all felt that,
although he had been a hard task-master, the country owed
EMPEBOR WILLIAM I. AB A MAN. 471
him much. He was the recipient of many testimonials of
esteem and good will, and at the close of that day he must
have retired with the satisfactory resum6 in his mind that
if he was cursed by a few, he was loved and honored by
the many.
The most prominent of his admirers who improved the
opportunity to present him with a testimonial of their
gratefulness was Emperor WiUiam himself, who, in com-
pany with the Crown Prince and other members of the
family paid Prince Bismarck a friendly visit, and presented
him with a reduced copy of Von Werner's great painting,
"The Proclamation of the Empire at Versailles," ac-
companied by the foUuwing autographic letter from the
Emperor :
"My Dear Prince — The German people having shown
a warm desire to testify to you, on the occasion of your
seventieth birthday, that the recollection of all you have
done for the greatness of the Fatherland lives in so many
grateful hearts, I, too, feel strongly impelled to tell
you how deeply gratified I am that such a feeling of
thankfulness and veneration for you moves the nation.
I am rejoiced at this, for you have most richly earned
the recognition, and my heart is warmed at seeing such
sentiments manifested in so great a measure; for it dig-
nifies the nation in the present, and strengthens our hopes
of its future, when it shows appreciation of the true and
the great, and when it celebrates and honors its most
meritorious men. To me, and to my house, it is an especial
pleasure to take part in such a festival; and by the
accompanying picture, we wish to convey to you with
what feelings of grateful recollection we do this, seeing
that it calls to mind one of the greatest moments in the
4:72 EMPEBOB WILLIiLM I. AS A MAN.
history of the House of HohenzoUern — one which can
never be thought of without at the same time recalling
your merits.
" You, my dear Prince, know how I shall always be
animated towards you with feelings of the fullest confi-
dence, of the most sincere affection, and the warmest grat-
itude; but, in saying this, I tell you nothing which I
have not often enough already repeated to you, and mo-
th inks that this painting will enable your latest descend-
ants to realize that your Eaiser and King, as well as his
house, were well conscious of what they had to thank you
for. With these sentiments and feelings, which will last
beyond the grave, I end these lines.
"Tour grateful, faithful and devoted Kaiser and King,
"WlLHELM."
This was the proudest moment in the life of the great
statesman. For it was more than the formal acknowl-
edgment of a grateful sovereign — ^it was a proclamation to
the present and to coming generations, by the crowned
representative of the German people, that by honoring in
Bismark truth and greatness, they honored them^lves. |
Two years later, on the 22d day of March, 1887,
Emperor William celebrated his own birthday. It was
his ninetieth^ and was the last he enjoyed on earth. The
day was enthusiastically commemorated, not only in Ger-
many, but wherever the German tongue is spoken.
That the German people had a profound and ardent
love for the Emperor i& t fact that was patent to every-
body who lived for any length of time among them.
They admire and respect Bismarck, but they also fear
him. The great Chancellor never had the knack of making
himself a place in the public heart. It is said that even
SMPEBOB WILUAM I. AS A MAN. 473
in the princely family circle love is somewhat strongly
flavored with awe. But with the Emperor it was quite
otherwise. Not only was he the object of love on the
part of his family, but the same feeling was found through-
out the Empire and among all classes of people. When-
ever the Emperor returned from opening the new Prussian
Parliament to the old palace, the Linden was lined with
people on both sides, and as his majesty drove by the
entire multitude would stand with uncovered heads.
There was no mistaking the sentiment with which these
people regarded the man.
Fredrick SchiUer's sentence in his great poem, "The
Bell," ''Das Werk es soU dm Meister lobm,'' (" The work
shall praise its master "), never found a more appropriate
application than in the instance of the founder of the new
German Empire.
, '
' •- .<
OHAPTEE XIV.
DEATH AND BURIAL OF EMPEROR WILLIAM L
»
AT THE beginning of March, 1888, the aged Emperor
r\ was found to be suffering from an aflfection of the
mucous membrane of the throat and irritation of the
membrane of the eyelids — the general symptoms of a
cold, to which were added, after a few days, painful
abdominal disorders, in consequence of which his appetite
materially diminished. Becoming greatly weakened
through his disinclination to receive nourishment, but a
few days had passed before he fell into frequent fainting
fits. The morning of March 7 brought the certainty to
the attending physicians that the Emperor, could not
recover. His real ailment wsisrenal calculvsy which is the
crudest of all kidney diseases.
The Grand Duchess of Baden, the Emperor's daugh-
ter, and her husband, and the Crown Princess of Sweden,
the Emperor's granddaughter, were telegraphed for, and
arrived the following morning.
At midnight there had been no change for the worse,
but not until then had the Emperor been able to sleep.
Morphia had been administered; but during the night he
had frequent and serious fainting fits. The doctors were
unable to wake him to administer food until late in the
afternoon.
On the morning of the 8th the Emperor spoke a
few words to Prince William about the impending
drill of the guards, but in a wandering manner.
474
DEATH AND BUBIAL OF EMPEBOB WILLIAM I. 475
Prince Bismarck tried to speak to him, but it was
useless. The Emperor soon fell into a swoon, and
his pulse, which was usually 57, rose to 108 and he had a
fever. About midday he became conscious and the sacra-
ment was administered. At noon all the members of the
Imperial family except the crown prince and crown prin-
cess were in a room adjoining that occupied by tlie Emper-
or. At 12:25 Court Chaplain Kogel gave the last sacra-
ment to the Emperor. Before this he had been occasion-
ally delirious.
The Empress and the Grand Duchess of Baden remained
with the Emperor throughout the night. At one o'clock
the next morning the Emperor's voice was so strong that
it could be heard outside his room. He was given oysters
and egg and a little champagne and sherry. lie was fully
conscious, showing an interest in what was passing around
him. He asked the Grand Duchess of Baden, who sat by
the bed, whether she had already dined and with whom,
and then asked why she had not dined with the Empress."
He expressed regret that he was "causing so much trou-
ble"— a gentleman to the last. An immense but silent
crowd stood near the palace all day, notwithstanding the
fact that a cold rain was falling. The palace was
guarded by cavalry. Business in the city was virtually
suspended and the theatres were closed.
Divine service was held in the palace at 5 o'clock.
All the members of the Imperial family,, the Court dig-
nitaries, and the members of the household were present.
Hundreds of people stood bareheaded in the rain outside
the Palace and joined in the prayers offered by Chaplain
Kogel.
Prince Bismarck went to the bedside at five o'clock
476 DEATH AND BUBIAL OF EMPEROR WILLIAM I.
and the Emperor spoke to him. It was the parting
moment between friend and friend, rather than king and
subject, and so Prince Bismarck seemed to consider it.
From this hour on, with few lucid moments, the Emperor
passed the night, dying at 8 o'clock a.m., March 9 th.
He was buried March 16th, at noon, in the Eoyal Mau-
soleum,of Charlottenburg,his remains being placed between
the tombs of his father and mother — that mother whose
memory he worshiped with a reverence so profound and
tender that he was often heard sadly repeating to himself
the couplet, said to have been written by her at the cot-
tage where she passed the night on her flight to the East
of Prussia,
" Who never ate his bread with tears.
Who never aat through nightly hours
Upon his bed, a prey to fears.
He knows you not, ye Heavenly Powers."
The grand and imposing funeral, which lacked what
should have been its most interesting feature — the pres-
ence of the new Emperor and King, Frederick III., who
was compelled by the state of his health and by the severe
weather to remain within the palace at Charlottenburg —
was attended by kings and royal princes, and by repre-
sentatives of aU European nations, as well as of Germany,
and was especially a demonstration of patriotic loyalty on
the part of the capital and kingdom of valiant Prussia.
The body. of the aged monarch lay in state at the
Domkircbe or cathedral of Berlin from Monday, the 13 th,
to Thursday night, on a catafalque erected in front of
the altar, covered with purple vdvet, having an ermine
border. The Emperor's head, on a white silk pillow, was
covered with his military cap, the body clad in the oni-
Death akd burial of empeboh avxlliam i. 477
form ot the First RegimeDt of the Guards, and wrapped
in the gray military cloak. The decorations on the breast
were the star of the Black Eagle, the order Pour le Merite^
and the Qrand Cross of the Iron Cross suspended from
the neck. At the feet was deposited a laurel wreath. By
the catafalque were placed five tabourets, with the crown,
insignia and orders of the late Emperor. On each side
were three large candelabra, each holding thirty lighted
wax tapers. An immense mass of floral wreaths, some
of huge size, and of every variety of design, accumulated
round the catafalque. The highest court dignitaries and
officials and generals of the Prussian army kept guard
over the body of their sovereign. The whole interior of
the church, its columns as well as the altar and pulpit,
had been draped in black. It was densely thronged with
visitors coming in and going out. The Empress Victoria,
the Crown Prince and others of the imperial family early
visited the church ; the Crown Prince returned with the
officers of his Hussar regiment of Guards. The Prince of
Wales, on Thursday, with Prince Albert Victor and
the Duke of Cambridge, paid his reverence to the body of
the deceased Emperor; so did the Crown Prince of Aus-
tria, the Czare witch, the King of the Belgians, the King
and Queen of Eoumania, the Crown Princes of Denmark
and of Sweden, and the German Grand Dukes and Princes.
The streets and public edifices of Berlin, as the day of
the funeral approached, put on their garb of mourning.
The funeral ceremonies began with a religious service
in the Cathedral, performed by the Rev. Dr. Kogel, the
Court Chaplain, assisted by other clergymen. The high
Court officials and Ministers of State, except Prince Bis-
marck, stood at the tabourets aroimd the bier ; the Em-
478 DEATH AND BUEIAL OF EMPKBOB WILLIAM L
press Victoria, with the Princesses of the Imperial fam-
ily, the Queen of Koumania and other ladies of royal or
princely rank, occupied seats to the left of the altar ; the
King of Saxony, King of the Belgians, King of Eou-
mania, Imperial and Royal Crown Princes, Grand Dukes
and many other Princes, to the right. After the bene-
diction, the soldiers outside fired three salutes ; and the
military officers, General Von Pape commanding the
Guards, and his aides-de-camp, General Von Lehndorflf
and Prince Eadziwill, with drawn swords, took their post
at the head of the coffin, while deputations from several
Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon and WUrtemberg regiments
drew up at its foot. The coffin was then raised by
twelve Colonels, and carried, preceded by the royal
Chamberlains and the State Ministers, bearing the imperial
insignia, followed by the Imperial banner, to the royal
hearse, while four Knights of the Order of the Black
Eagle held the corners of the pall, and the Generals car-
ried the baldaquin above the royal coffin. The organ
continued playing whilst Her Majesty and the royal fam-
ily took their places in the funeral procession. The pro-
cession then started, amidst the pealing of all the bells of
the town, over the Castle bridge, through the center
promenade Under den Linden, through the Brandenburg
Gate, as far as the Sieges -Allee. It was escorted by
squadrons from eight cavalry regiments, with trumpeters,
seven battalions of infantry (the Guards), with regimen-
tal bands, and twelve guns of field artillery. The Eoyal
household preceded the different "insignia," the Electoral
Sword and Hat of Brandenburg, the Order of the Black
Eagle, the Imperial Seal, Sword, Globe and Sceptre, and
the Eoyal Crown, each carried by a Minister of State.
DBATH AND BUBIAL OF EMPEROR WILLIAM I. 479
Then came the hearse, drawn by six black horses, led by
Staflf Colonels, with Generals holding the pall and balda-
quin. The late Emperor's war-horse was led behind it.
General Von Pape bore the Imperial banner of white silk
with a black eagle. The foreign Kings, Crown Princes,
German Grand Dukes and Royal Princes, walked together,
mostly wearing their hats and cloaks, followed by Ambassa-
dors, Generals, and officers of their suites. The Imperial
Chancellor, Prince Bismarck, and Field-Marshal Count
Moltke, could not join in the procession ; but the Coun-
cillors of State, the Presidents of the German Reichs-
tag and Prussian Landtag, the heads of the Govern-
ment offices and of the Church, and deputations from the
Univeraities, magistracy, provincial councils and munici-
palities passed in due order. In rear of the procession
were more infantry and artillery. The line of route from
the Cathedral to the Sieges-Allee was kept by various
guilds of the town, and by students of the German Uni-
versities. The widowed Empress Augusta saw the pro-
cession from a window of the Old Palace.
At the Sieges-Allee, in the Thiergarten, the imperial
and royal personages, with many others of rank, left the
procession and entered their carriages to drive on to Char-
lottenburg. The Empress Victoria and the Crown Prince,
and others of the Imperial family, had reached the palace
and were with the Emperor, who looked out from an upper
window to see the procession go through the park to the
mausoleum. It passed through a long avenue of pine and
fir trees, to that small marble building, at the door of which
the coffin was taken from the hearse and carried in. The
chief mourners, the Empress Victoria, the Crown Prince
and Prince Henry, and the Grand Duchess of Baden,
480 DEATH AND BURIAL OF EMPEROR WILLIAM L
with their friends, then entered the mausoleum. The walls
inside were decorated with wreaths of flow^ers. The Rev.
Dr. Kogel said over the coflBn a few prayers and a bless-
ing. Finally, the Empress and all the other mourners,
one by one, knelt by the coffin in silent pm3"er. At tiieir
departure, a salute of 101 guns was fired by the artillery
in the park.
In his wiU, written by himself, the late Emperor
William, according to the National Zeitung^ left only
24,000,000 marks, $6,000,000, of which sum the Empi-ess
receives $750,000, the Grand Duchess of Baden, the Crown
Prince and Princess, and Prince Henry each $250,000,
the latter receiving also an estate purchased for him. Of
a sum of $250,000 saved by the Emperor, the Emperor
Frederick is to receive, according to a clause inserted in
the will in tlie sixtieth year of the late Emperor's life,
$93,000, and the Grand Duchess of Baden $62,000. The
Crown Treasury is to receive $3,000,000, the i-emainder
being absorbed by various other bequests. To the Hall
of Glory the following objects: The sword which he
carried from 1810 to 1834, the sword he carried in the
battle of Koniggratz, July 3, 1866, and all through the
Austrian and Franco-Gei'man wars, its blade having the
names of the principal battles engraved upon it ; the sword
carried by him on parades, the sword inherited from his
brother. King Frederick William IV.; all his decorations
for military merit, together with the presents received on
his military jubilees, and his gold and silver laurel wreaths ;
and finally the sword carried by his father in the unlucky
days of 1806 and during the Napoleonic wars, which
during the Emperor's lifetime (as distinctly added by him)
always stood by his writing-desk in the historic corner
Death ai^d ruiual Of emperor William i. 481
room of the Royal Palace. As a souvenir, the Lichterfelde
Qorps of Cadets received the sword presented to the
Emperor at St. Petersburg in 1834, and carried by him
until the morning of the day of Koniggnitz. Finally
the Emperor ordered the uniforms of all the regiments of
which he was the honorary commander, to be distributed
to the respective regiments.
" Vale^ Senex Imperator. " Such was the touching fare-
well of the people of Berlin to the sovereign who raised
their city to be the capital of United Germany. All that
was mortal of him had passed from their midst, but his
spirit and work remain as a priceless heritage for them
and the whole German people. This is what gives to
the late ceremonial its deep historical significance. It
was no mere court ceremonial, such as invest with pomp
and circumstance the burial of an ordinary sovereign who
has succeeded to a secure throne and occupied it with
peace and prosperity. It was a whole nation's mourning
for a man who first made it one with itself. The
Emperor William was no man of genius in the ordinary
sense, and his military capacity is not to be compared with
his ancestor, Frederick the Great ; but he had the inesti-
mable gifts in a ruler of good sense, of simplicity of char-
acter, of unswerving fidelity to the interests of his coun-
try, of untiring industry in the discharge of his public
duties. " I have no time to be tired " was one of his last
utterances. " My life is on the decline," said Frederick
the Great a short time before his death, " the time which I
still have I must employ. It belongs not to me, but to the
State." In these two utterances of two great Hohen-
zoUems we have the true spirit of the HohenzoUern race,
the spirit which has raised the HohenzoUems to the
482 DEATH AND BURIAL OF EMPEROK WILLLIAIT
throne of Prussia^ and Prussia to the hegemony of Ger-
many. It was to this spirit that the whole German
nation did homage in its mourning for its lost Emperor.
It recognized in him the best representative of its own
earnestness, its own native piety of disposition, its own
firm grasp of reality, its own homespun integrity, its own
love of the Fatherland, its own passionate aspirations after
national unity and greatness, its own patient endurance
of the labors, trials and perils which those aspirations
entailed. For this reason the noise of the mourning of a
mighty nation has resounded throughout the world — for
Germans are everywhere — and has met with a heartfelt
response from all who honor true greatness and respect a
people's sorrow ; for United Germany may well say of its
first Emperor with the poet, he was
' Great, yet with leaBt pretence,
Great in council and great in war»
Foremost captain of his time.
Rich in saving common sense.
And as the greatest only are.
In his simplicity sublime." '
CHAPTER XY.
"UN8ER FRITZ."
UPON the death of Emperor William I. his only son
was at once proclaimed Emperor of Germany and
King of Prussia under the title of Frederick III. He
was at San Eemo at the time when his father fell ill, and
was unable to be present at his bedside when the end took
place. But immediately afterwards, and in spite of the
precarious condition of his own health, he left San Eemo
to assume his new duties at Berlin. He issued the usual
proclamation to his subjects (supplementing it with a
letter to Prince Bismarck), in which he shadowed forth a
programme of educational and social reforms for the
Empire, but also indicated with sufficient clearness that nis
foreign policy would be one of peace. He was unable,
however, owing to inclement weather, to be present at
his father's funeral or to go through the usual ceremonies
in the Prussian Diet and the German Eeichstag, attend-
ant on the assumption of sovereignty.
As has been before stated, Frederick TIL was the only
son of the late Emperor of Germany, and was born at
the palace of Potsdam, October 13, 1831. He was, conse-
quently, about eighteen years old at the breaking out of
the revolution in Germany, in 1848, and was an interested
witness of the stormy scenes of this period. This fact,
coupled with the circumstance that he was educated from
the first for a military life, helped to prepare him for the
great part he was destined to perform in the unification
of Germany.
488
484 " UNSER FRITZ."
At the same time, it was, perhaps, as well for a time
at least, that the young Prince was not thrust very
prominently forward either in political or military life;
this saved him from losing that love of domesticity which
forms the chief if not the sole relief from the pressure of
the military life.in Germany. It was not till the mind of
his uncle gave way, and his father was, in consequence,
appointed Regent, that the young Prince became a per-
sonage in the public life of his country. Three years
later his father ascended the throne as William L,
and he, in consequence, became popularly known as the
Crown Prince of Prussia. Meanwhile, he had risen to the
position of General in the army. An event, however,
had by this time occurred, which although neither polit-
ical nor military, was yet of no inconsiderable importance
from the standpoint not only of Germany, but of Great
Britain, and was his marriage with the Princess Vic-
toria Adelaide, the oldest daughter of Queen Victoria, of
England. Prince Frederick was twenty-six years of age
and the Princess seventeen. It is said to have been a
love match from the first, and the union proved a singu-
larly happy one, the Prince and Princess having many
tastes in common ; and when the war broke out the Princess
had an arduous task to perform, and one very differ-
ent from that to which her life in England had accus-
tomed her: she had to take her place by her husband's
side, almost literally in the field. She was, however, able
to perform her part with perfect success. In consequence,
she became as great a favorite in Berlin as she had pre-
viously been in London. The issue of the marriage were
seven children — Frederick William Victor Albert, bom
January 27, 1859, who, popularly known as Prince Wil-
" UN8ER FRITZ." 485
liam, and married to the Princess Victoria of Schleswig-
Ilolstein Augustenburg, now succeeds to his father's posi-
tion; Victoria Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte, born July
24, 1860; Albert William Henry, bom August 14, 1862;
Frederick Amelia Wilhehnina Victoria, born April 12,
1866; Joachim Frederick Ernest Waldemar, bom Feb-
ruary 10, 1868, (now dead) ; Sophia Dorothy Ulrica Alice,
born June 14, 1876 ; and Margaret Beatrix Feodore, bom
April 22, 1872.
It was not till the year 1866 that the Crown Prince of
Prussia was enabled to show the practical value of the
training he had received in the art of warfare. For mili-
tary, and perhaps also for family reasons, he took no part
in the war which broke out in the Duchies of Schles-
wig and Holstein, between the Kingdom of Denmark on
the one hand and Austria and Prussia on the other. But
(as has been seen in a foraier chapter) in June, 1866, the
conquerors of Denmark, Prussia and Austria quarreled.
The Crown Prince and his relative, Prince Frederick
Charles, were appointed to the command of the two
armies which Marshal von Moltke sent forward for the
invasion of Austria. The Crown Prince's part in the
campaign was of the most difficult, yet also most brilliant,
description. He led his troops, numbering 125,000 men,
from Silesia through the passes of the frontier into Bohe-
mia, an operation attended with the greatest difficulty.
One of the engagements that took place, known as the
battle of Nachod, threatened to have somewhat serious
consequences for the Crown Prince. The advance guard
of the Pmssian army was forced to retire by the fire of
the Austrian artillery, and two squadrons of dragoons,
ordered to stop an Austrian Cuirassier regiment, were
*^6 "UNSER FfilTZ."
driven back Ifke chaff. " Confusion," says one eye-witness,
seemed to cover the advance, and the Crown Prince
entangled in the whirl, was for a moment unable to extri-
cate himself from the mass of dismounted dragoons, loose
hors^, mfantry columns, artillery and ammunition wagons
mmglmg with each other in the narrow and steep^a^s!
The first moments of surprise over, the Crown Prince
ordered up artillery to his right, and in the couree of the
day upwards of eighty gnns were m position at one time
sweeping the ground which sinks from Wvsokow down-
wards towards Skalitz. The Austrians, whcise sole purpose
during the day had been to turn the Prussian right, were
of"stl 1 "^ ^^ f P' """^ ^* ^^"^ ^'^'^^k the Uole
p1!! nf w ,^'T ^f debouched, fighting, out of the
Pa^s of Wysokow." The Crown Prince gained another
victory at Skalitz, this time over the Archduke Leonid S
Austria Fmally, he was able to interfere, and wiih de-
cisive effect, at the battle of Sadowa or KbniggrStz, which
took place on the 3d of July,
This great battle, which decided the supremacy of
Prussia in the affairs of Germany, ha. been describ^ L
Chapter X., page 384 of this volume.
When the Franco-German War broke out in 1870 it
was natural that the Crown Prince should b; appointed
to a promment position of command. He was charc^d
with the task of invading Fi^ce through AlsaS ^d S
rame. [See page 413.] «»"" -lwx:
For his eminent services to his countiy and father
npon him the nighest military dignity known in the Gei-
man Army, that of Field-Marehal General
thJ^ll ^"/^^"^Ph lettersof the Emperor, accompanyimr
the promotion, read as follows: p«"ymg
« tt«tot:<t, ^T>Tm'» "
UKSEB FRITZ." 487
" Versailles, October 28, 1870.
"Whereas, in consequence of the capitulation of Marshal
Bazaine and the surrender of the fortress of Metz, the
two armies that had been arrayed against the joint forces
of Prussia and Bavaria in July last, at the opening of a
war which was entirely unprovoked by us, have fallen
prisoners to their foe, I feel myself constrained to mark
this important pause in the hostilities by an act of special
significance. In bringing our diificult task to a successful
issue, you have had a prominent part ; first, at the open-
ing of the campaign, by two victories in rapid sequence ;
next, by covering the left flank of the main body by a
strategical advance, that it might proceed in security to
attack the army of Bazaine ; further, by effecting a junc-
tion of your division with the Grand Army to follow up
the operations against Sedan ; and now, finally, by proceed-
ing to invest Paris itself; every one of which achieve-
ments serves to betoken a great and successful commander.
It is only fitting, therefore, that you should be promoted
to the very highest military rank, and accordingly I
hereby appoint you Field-Marshal General.
" It is the first time that this distinction (which at the
same time, I confer upon Prince Frederick Charles) has
ever been borne by a prince of our line. But the suc-
cesses achieved in this campaign are of so much higher
and more pregnant importance than those that have pre-
ceded them, that I hold myself completely justified in
departing from what has hitherto been the rule of our
house. What my fraternal heart feels in making this
signal expression of the gratitude of your King and of
your fatherland, no words of mine need tell.
" Your affectionate and grateful father, ** Wiluam."
488 " UNSEB FRITZ.
The modest dignity with which this extraordinary dis-
tinction was received by Frederick is exemplified in the
reply made to. a congratulatory letter from hisoldcom_
mander, Field-Marshal General Von Wrangol.
" The King," he said, " has informed me of my promo-
tion in an autograph letter, as grateful as gracious, in
which lie specifies the reasons which have impelled him
to depart from the usages of our house, a prince of which
has never hitherto been made Field-Marshal. As my
brave troops are also honored in my promotion, I accept
the new dignity, rejoicing that the credit appertains to
others besides myself.
" Great things have been accomplished by our arms,
and now it is to be trusted that the work of bloodshed
may be crowned by a peace that shall be a securitj^ for
the well-being of our fellow-countrymen, and advance the
internal aggrandizement of what we hope we may now
designate our great and united Fatherland.
" I thank you for all your proofs of kindly sympathy,
and especially for the message which I have just received
from you, my old comrade and commander of 1864."
When, on the 18th of January, 1871, his father was
proclaimed German Emperor within the " Hall of Mirrors,"
at the Palace of Versailles, he was present, and had as-
signed to him a prominent place in the ceremonial of the
day. At the same time the Crown Prince, in virtue of
his birth, became Prince Imperial and heir to the throne
of Germany.
At the close of the war, but previous to the disband-
ment of the army, the Grown Prince was ordered home
by his father to attend to the duties of State. Before
leaving his brave troops with whom he had shared the
"UNSER FRITZ." 489
dangers and hardships of a sanguinary campaign, he
issued the following farewell address :
" Soldiers of the Third Army I When, last July, I un-
dertook the command over you, I did not hesitate to
express my trust that the bravery of the united German
races would succeed in vanquishing the foe who had inso-
lently challenged us to fight. That confidence you have
. admirably vindicated, for in this eventful campaign the
Third Army has won as many victories as it has seen
engagements.
" At the outset you broke through the enemy's door
at Weissenburg, thus opening the way for your career of
victory, and within two days afterwards, the enemy,
obstinate as he was, was routed in the engagement at
Worth ; in rapid march you hung upon his retreat, and took
your glorious part in the decisive action of Sedan. With
unabated ardor you pressed onwards to the heart of the
hostile country, drove the fugitives back within the walls
of their capital, and for well-nigh five months, with in-
credible endurance, bearing up against the severities and
hardships of a trying winter, you kept them closely be-
sieged.
Upon his return to Germany " TTnser Fritz," as he was
now generaUy called, subsided into the old position he
had occupied before, although naturally with an acces-
sion of dignity and reputation. He was, besides, a man
of forty years of age, and, as was to be expected, had
opinions of his own. It was about this time that it became
generally understood, both, that he did not hold quite
the same views of the European situation and of the
attitude of Germany toward her neighbors, as Priuce Bis-
marck, and that he was influenced in his views upon many
490 " UNSER FKITZ." '
things by the Crown Princess — much better and more
generally known, as the Princess Koyal of Great Britain.
As events turned out, this surmise proved correct, at least
essentially. -Not that the Crown Prince ever quarreled
with the great Chancellor, to whose policy the completion
of the task of the unification of Germany was due, as no
one was readier to admit this than himself. But he had
a more friendly, or perhaps it should be termed a more
considerate feeling for France than his father's friend, and
there is reason to believe that this feeling was shown to
some purpose a few years after the war, when, as was
proved afterward, a scare in Berlin very nearly led to an
early renewal of the war. On that occasion the Crown
Prince's weight in his father's council was thrown into
the scale opposed to the Chancellor, and his opinion car-
ried the day. Further, the Empress Victoria very natu-
rally took over to Germany from her country a good
number of the opinions she had inherited from her
mother in regard to education, the value of art, etc., as -a
a civilizing agent, and the position of women in society.
She very naturally gave effect to these opinions as circum-
stances permitted, and to a certain extent she became un-
popular with the more old-fashioned of the German aris-
tocracy. Under her influence the Crown Prince developed
an interest in art, technical education, and a number of
those subjects to which the late Prince Albert was partial,
and indeed it was very commonly said of her, by way of
summing up the charges against her, that she sought to
model her husband upon her father. The Crown Prince,
however, sustained no evil effects from the influence. In
England, " the White Prince," as he was commonly styled,
from the uniform which he wore on great State occasions,
a TT^TOw^n -n.V>-rr.«. >5
UNSER FEITZ." 491
was quite as much a favorite as he was in his native Prus-
sia, owing to his modesty of demeanor, his fondness for
the pleasure of domesticity, and his liberal and unosten-
tatious charity. ♦
"And afterw^ards, whilst one detachment was employed
in keeping back the forces, which overmatched you in
numbers, from advancing to relieve the invested city, and
was thus continually in the midst of bloodshed, the
troops, who were intrusted with the seige, energetically
repulsed every sortie till the enemy had no alternative
but to lay down his arms and to open the proud gates, of
which he had boasted, that they were impregnable.
" Such achievements belong to history, and you who
have wrought them, the Fatherland accounts as worthy
sons. But glorious as is the issue, it has not been attained
without costly and painful sacrifice, and it is with the
most sympathizing sorrow that we recall the memory of
our fallen comrades, whose fame shall never die.
"An honorable peace being thus concluded, it is by the
Emperor's command that I return home. In leaving you
I offer you my true and earnest thanks ; I part from you,
Prussians and Bavarians, troops of Wtirtemberg and of
Baden, with the unshaken confidence that the bond of
comradeship formed on the field of battle wMll never be
torn asunder, but rather be strengthened by time, for the
honor, renown and well-being of the common German
Fatherland.
(Signed) " Fbederick William,
" Crown Prince,
"Commander-in-chief of the Third Army.
"Nancy, March 14, 18T1."
As we have seen before, the Crown Prince was not in
492 "UNSER FBITZ.**
full sympathy with Prince Bismarck's policy, and conse-
quently improved every opportunity to conveniently
absent himself from the sittings of the Council of State.
He visited foreign lands, where, on great occasions, he rep-
resented his father. Thus, he was present at the opening
of the Suez Canal, and upon this occasion extended his
visit to the regions of the Upper Nile and to the Holy
Land.
His diary, which he kept during the journey, is full of
highly interesting passages, revealing the man of culture
and sentiment. "Writing of Egypt, he says : " A Nile
journey is, perhaps, one of the most interesting a traveler
can undertake. It requires, however, an enormous length
of time, and, notwithstanding the satisfaction it gave me,
I confess I have no desire to go a second time." His sin-
cerity and unpretension in religious belief is expressed in the
following passage, taken from his description of Palestine:
"As long as I live I shall never forget this first evening
in Jerusalem, as I watched the sun set in a stillness which
is always solemn as it settles over nature. Drawn away
from earth, the soul seemed able to linger undisturbed
upon the thought which must thrill through every Chris-
tian as he surveys the scene on which the great work of
salvation was consummated. To be in such a place, and
there to read the familiar passages of the holy Gospels, is
a religious service of itself."
Prince Frederick's letter accepting the invitation to
be present at the unveiling of General Stein's statue,* in
1872, showed his high appreciation of the services of this
worthy patriot, rendered in Germany's " War for Inde-
pendence," and is in marked contrast to the ingratitude
shown by republics to the men who have sacrificed health,
"uNSER fritz/' 493
homes and honorable civQ careers for the success of a
common cause. " My presence," said he, " at this festi-
val, will not only show the deep and thankful reverence
that I feel for this noblest among Germans, but will lay
ui)on me the obligation of expressing my sympathy with
Isis leading ideas as a statesman, to which Prussia, in the
(lays of her misfortune, owed her regeneration and rescue
from a foreign yoke. May the moral force of these ideas
which, on one occasion already, have thus resolved them-
selves into deeds of deliverance, continue so thoroughly
to pervade the body politic, that in them the Empire may
find a pledge of a great and happy future."
To show that, notwithstanding the strong feeling of
State independence existing still in Gei'many, the feeling,
also, existed of great love and respect for the prospective
head of the Eussian Kingdom and the German Empire.
The welcoming speech of the Burgomaster of Augsburg,
at the inspection of the Bavarian troops, is here given :
"I have the honor, most illustrious Prince," said he, ''here,
at the entrance of our ancient hall, to offer you our most
joyful and respectful welcome. Our town, which long
boasted of its rank as a free imperial city, in the lapse of
time has become truly Bavarian, whilst it has ever re-
maine<l as truly German. Hence it is that our rejoicing is
great at the restoration of the Empire, which, whilst it
secures us the right to manifest the German sentiments
which we have always cherished, yet reserves us also the
right of being true Bavarians still."
The Prince heartily endorsed these sentiments in his
reply. " I can hardly express my views better than by
repeating the language I used last year at Munich, to wit:
that each component element of the German Empire
494 "UNSKR FRITZ."
should retain its proper individuality, but each, para-
jnountly revering the Fatherland, should contribute his
best powers to continue that unity Avhich has been so
dearly purchased in field and State. That it has fallen to
my lot to fight in comradeship with your brave country-
men I shall always remember as one of my highest privi-
leges, and I shall not fail to treasure up the kindly senti-
ments of the Bavarian people to myself. My reception
here binds me to you in still deeper gratitude, and I ask
you to convey my thanks to the men of Augsburg. God
grant that the noble aspirations you have breathed for the
welfare of our Fatherland may be fulfilled and that our
buds of hope may come in their richest bloom ! Animated
by this spirit, I can shout, 'Long live His Majesty, King
Louis II. of Bavaria ! ' "
Although the education of Frederick III. had been
principally in the military line, his tastes were evidently
in the direction of peace. In the progress of the arts
and agricultural pursuits of the German people he was
sincerely interested. He deemed agriculture and its
branches as the chiefest source of his country's prosperity,
and, from his writings and speeches, it must be assumed
that, had his life been spared, his special work would have
been directed towards the elevation, amelioration and
instruction of the peasantry class of Germany. At a
speech, made at the Agricultural Exhibition of Bremen,
in 1874, he said : " In all the fields of industry, which give
vital progress to the State, that of agriculture deserves
the most consideration. Who will deny that the pros-
perity of agricultural interests concern all classes alike;
not only in times of peace, but more especially in time of
war, as well as holding out the fairest hope of a calm and
contented future,^ "
^riebridf III,, 6er twtblidjent Kaifet pon Drnlfd^lanb nni 'Kontg pon preugm
PREDRRICK III., I.ATi: EUPEROH O
"UNSER FRITZ." 495
Bat of all the noble traits characterizing the late Em-
peror Frederick III. Ins love and constancy to his family
life is the most conspicuous. It is declared of hinl that he
Avas never more happy than in the circle of his wife and
his numerous children. The old saying, " The life of a full
nest is the best calculated to the development of nobleness
of character," because attendant upon the friction of daily
life — ^the spirit of forbearance, consideration and good-hu-
mor are nurtured, while a spirit of emulation, a desire for
approbation, and generosity are equally fostered — was
never better illustrated than in the household of the
Emperor Frederick III.
The story of his private life is so opposed to the ac-
cepted idea of the homes of kings and princes, that it finds
few parallels in history, if we except that of his grand-
father. King Frederick William III. and his wife. Queen
Louisa. Frederick's home was conducted after the simple
fashion of private citizens. With all the fervency of his
conscientious nature, his utmost care and fondest atten-
tion were directed toward the education and welfare of
his children, in which task he was worthily assisted by a
loving mother and devoted wife.
As an illustration of how Frederick III. lived at home,
it is related, that one day a prominent staff-officer, ap-
pearing at the door of his private apartments, was agree-
ably surprised at the unusual scene there presented.
In the midst of his boisterous children the Crown
Prince lay outstretched upon the floor, while his wife sat
upon the sofa occupied with her needle. The Prince did
not seem to be disturbed in the least by the entrance of
the official, who had come on a charitable errand in aid of
a distressed family. " You see," said the Prince jestingly,
4d6 " UNSER FRITZ/^
upon learning the object of the visit, "my wife and chil-
dren are all healthy, and have the best of appetites,
leaving nothing for others." Notwithstanding this declar-
ation, the venerable officer received a generous gift, after
wliich the Prince returned to his " fun with the children."
Another characteristic anecdote is told of the man-
ner in which he administered family discipline at Pots-
dam. One of the young princes was proverbially afraid
of water. He was in the habit, therefore, of refusing to be
washed. The Crown Prince, upon perceiving this, gave
orders to the officers on guard at the palace not to give
the customary salute to the young gentleman when he
should pass the sentinel. The prince, having thus been
ignored a few times, did not know what to make of it.
At last he carried his grievance to his father, who curtly
replied : " Prussian soldiera do not present arms to un
washed princes."
It is not generally known that Frederick III. was a
Mason, and the fact that he was, and honored the organi-
zation, will be of interest to the *' craft '' m the United
States. An interesting reminiscence of his connection
with the ancient order is preserved in the address of his
father, William I., who, at the close of the ceremony con-
ferring the first degree upon his son, said : " To the man
who has aimed and striven for the highest good, there is
but one object in life. To a right understanding of this
object, this social order will lead you. Only make it your
constant endeavor to hearken to its pious teachings, and let
it be your determination truly to stand to its rules, and you
shall find it so. Amongst the uninitiated, no doubt, there
is suspicion as to the principles of the Order, and clamorous
voices are ready to traduce it; but, as I can yield to no
"imSEB FRITZ.'' 497
one who has never been admitted to the brotherhood the
right to pass a judgment at all, so I can declare by my
own knowledge that no heed should be gi ven to the clamor.
In the future that is before you, you will not fail, I trust,
to give a proof of your clear and uncompromising de-
fense of the Order to which you are admitted. The veil
of secrecy with which it covers itself causes it to be
attacked, and there are those who maintain that such
secrecy cannot be indispensable. Thus there are some
who Avould like to level everything just for the sake of
having a plain and uniform surface ; and many of those
who traduce us look only superficially, and do not desire
to be undeceived. Be it your part, however, to show
yourself a firm protector of the Order, and so not only
will you be providing for your own security in the future,
but you will be sustaining yourself with the noble con-
sciousness that you are striving to promote what is true
and good."
Upon ascending the imperial throne of Germany,
and the royal throne of Prussia Emperor Frederick IIL
issued the following significant message to the German
Keichstag :
" We, Frederick, by the grace of God, Emperor of
Germany, King of Prussia, &c., proclaim that, with the
demise of our beloved father, under 'God's inscrutable
will, the imperial dignity, with the Prussian crown, has
devolved upon us, and wo have taken upon ourselves the
rights and duties bound up therewith. We are resolved
to keep inviolable and firmly to uphold the imperial con-
stitution, and by this policy conscientiousl}" to respect
and guard the constitutional rights of the individual fed-
eral States and the Eeichstag. Fully conscious of our
498 " UNSER FRITZ.
exalted task, after the example of our ever remembered
father, it will always be our endeavor, in conjunction
with the princes and free towns of the Federation, and
with the constitutional co-operation of the Keichstag, to
shield justice, freedom and order throughout the Father-
land, safe guard the honor of the Empire, maintain peace
at home and abroad, and foster the welfare of the
people.
"By the unanimous readiness with which the Reich-
stag agreed to the proposals to strengthen the defensive
power of the Fatherland in order to assure the security
of the Empire, the late deeply lamented Emperor had the
last days of his life rejoiced and strengthened. He was
not, however, permitted to express his thanks to the
Reichstag. All the more, therefore, do we feel the need
of transmitting to the Reichstag this legacy of its impe-
rial master, who is now resting with God. We express
our thanks in recognition of the patriotism and devotion
it has again shown. Trusting confidently to the devotion
and tried love for the Fatherland of the whole people
and the people's repesentatives, we place the Empire's
future in God's hands.
'*Given,at Charlottenburg the 15th day of March, 1888.
[Signed] "Fkedbeick.
[ Countersigned] " Bismarck.'*
To the Prussian Landtag he also addressed the fol-
lowing message, as King of Prussia :
" We, Frederick, by the grace of God, King of Prus-
sia, hereby proclaim and make known, that it having
pleased God, after the demise of the Emperor and King
William, our much beloved father, to call us to the throne
Pic Kaifcriit'lPittmc Pictoria.
THE DOWAGER EMPRESS VICTORIA.
a „^To,..»» i^.r,^"
unsp:r fritz. 499
of our ancestors, we herewith send to the Landtag our
greeting.
"The sentiments and purposes Yiith which we enter
upon our government, and the principles on which we
shall exercise our royal office, have been proclaimed by
us to our faithful people. Walking in the paths of our
glorious father, we shall know no other aim to strive for
than the happiness and welfare of the Fatherland.
" By conscientiously observing the constitution, fully
safeguarding all prerogatives of the crown, and loyally
co-operating with the national representation, the King
hopes, with God's help, to attain his object, which is the
happiness and welfare of the country. The condition of
his health prevents him from taking the oath personally.
Desiring to declare, without delay, his position regarding
the constitutional laws, although this could admit of no
doubt, he now solemnly undertakes to adhere to the con-
stitution firmly and inviolably, and to rule in conformity
with the laws."
In relation to the newly -annexed provinces of Alsace
and Lorraine, the following proclamation was issued :
" Our beloved father, His Majesty, Emperor William,
having departed this life, in accordance with God's decree,
the Imperial dignity, together with the laws of the Em-
pire and the government of the Reichsland, has devolved
on us. We have taken it over in the name of the Empire,
and are determined to preserve the rights of the Empire
over the German territories reunited to the Fatherland
after a long interval. We are conscious of our duty to
cultivate in the Reichsland German sentiments and German
customs, to protect right and justice and to promote the
welfare and prosperity of the inhabitants. In our endea-
500 "UNSER FRITZ."
vors todojasticetothis task we count upon the confidence
and devotion of the people and the faithful fulfillment of
their duties by the authorities. We demand and expect a
conscientious observance of the laws. At the same time
we shall do our part to extend imperial protection to the
rights of all by means of an impartial administration of
justice and benevolent governme t, conducted circum-
spectly, but with a firm hand. The union of Alsace and
Lorraine, which a lapse of years cannot impair, again bo-
comes as intimate as it was in the time of our ancestors,
before tliese German lands were severed from the ancient
and glorious union of their kindred countrymen.
[Signed] " Fbbdebiok.
[Countersigned] " Hohenlohb.
" Oharlottenbubg, March 15."
But the most remarkable documents issued by the late
Emperor Frederick III. are " The Address to His People"
and the autographic letters to Prince Bismarck, in which
his policy is outlined and his high aims and aspirations for
the welfare of Germany clearly defined.
The proclamation to his people ran as follows:
To My People:
The Emperor has ended his glorious life. In the much-
loved father whom I bewail, whom my royal house with
me laments in deepest sorrow, the faithful Prussian peo-
ple have lost their fame-crowned King, the German
nation, the founder of its unity, and the newly-risen
Empire the first German Emperor. His illustrious name
will remain inseparably bound up with all the greatness
of the German Fatherland, in whose new creation the
strenuous labors of the Prussian people and princes has
met with its most splendid reward. While King William
"UNSER FRITZ." 501
raised the Prussian army to the heights of its earnest
vocation by never-tiring care, a nation's father, he laid a
sure foundation for the victories which were afterward
gsiined by German arms under bis leadership, and out of
which sprang national unity. He thereby secured to the
Empire a position of power, such as up to that time every
Grerman heait hjid yearned for but scarcely dared to hope
for. And that which he won for his people in honorable,
death-bringing fight he was destined to strengthen and
beneficially increase by the long and peaceful toil of his
laborious yeai-s of government.
" Safely resting upon her own strength, Germany stands
forth esteemed in the council of the nations, and desires
only to enjoy in peaceful progress that which she has won.
That this is so we have to thank Emperor William. In
his never-wavering devotion to duty, and his indefatigable
activity, consecrated to the welfare of the Fatherland, he
was supported by his reliance upon the self-sacrificing
devotion of which the Prussian people had giyen unvary-
ing proofs, and in which all the German races shared.
"All the rights and duties which are connected with the
Crown Prince and my house, and which, for the time that,
according to God's will, may be allotted me to rule, I am
resolved to faithfully preserve, have now passed to me.
Imbued with the greatness of my mission, I shall make it
my whole endeavor to continue the fabric in the spirit in
which it was founded — to make Germany the center of
peace and to foster her welfare.
" To my faithful people, who have stood by my house
throughout the history of the whole century, in good as in
evil days, I offer my unbounded confidence, for I am con-
vinced that on the basis of the unbreakable bond between
502 "UKSER FEITZ."
the sovereign and the people, which independently of
every change in the life of the State, forms the unalterable
inheritance of the house of flohenzollern, my crown rests
henceforth as securely as it does upon the devotion of the
country to the Government of which I am now called, and
of which I solemnly promise to be a faithful King, both in
happiness and in sorrow.
" May God grant me His blessing and strength to carry
out this work to which my life shall henceforth be
devoted. '' Fkedekiok.
" BerUn, Mai'ch 12th, 1888".
The autographic letter to Prince Bismarck contains
probably more truly loyal and high minded sentiments,
than were ever officially communicated by a powerful
monarch, to his prime minister :
" My DfiAB Prince — At the commencement of my reign
it is necessary for me to turn to you, for many years the
trusted servant of my late father, who now rests in God.
You are the true and courageous counsellor who gave to
his policy its aim and form, and secured its complete
f uliUment. You, I am in duty bound to warmly thank
for the maintenance of my house. You have, therefore,
the right, before all others, to know what are the stand-
points which will be the guiding spirit for upholding my
Government.
'* The ordinances, the Constitution, and the right of the
Empire and of Prussia must, before all, be consolidated
in veneration and in the customs of the nation. The
concussions, which frequent changes in State regulations
and measures entail, should be avoided as much as
possible. The advancement of the administration of the
Imperial Government must be left undisturbed on the
« TT^TO^n ^:^Tr», 5>
UNSEB FRITZ. 503
firm foundation whereon the Prussian State has hitherto
rested in security in the Empire.
"The constitutional rights of all the Federal Govern-
ments must as conscientiously be respected as those of
the Eeicbstag, but from both a similar respect for the
rights of the Emperor must be expected. At the same
time we must keep before our eyes that these mutual
rights must only serve for promoting the public welfare,
which remains the supreme law of the land, and wliich
must always be employed in fully satisfying any fur-
ther and undoubted national requirements which may
arise.
"As the necessary and surest guarantee of the unim-
peded execution of these tasks, I see the unabated main-
tenance of the warlike power of the country, of my well-
tried army, and of the navy now growing up, for which
important duties have arisen in the acquirement of trans-
oceanic possessions. Both must at all times be maintained
by the full completion of their organization, which already
forms the foundation for their fame, and which insures
their further effective service.
"/ am resolved to conduct the Oovemment^ hoth in the
Empire and in Prussia^ with a conscient/iouB observation
of the provisions in the constitutions of each. These have
been founded by my predecessor's throne upon the wise
recognition of the irrefutable necessities for the settlement
of the difficult task arising in the social and official life of
the country, and must be observed on all sides in order
to insure their force and beneficent efficacy. I desire that
the bases of religious toleration which for centuries past
were held sacred by my house shall continue to be extended
to all my subjects of whatever religious community or
504 "UNSKE FKITZ."
creed. Every one of them stands equally near my heart,
for all have shown equally complete devotion in times of
danger.
" In agreement with the views of my imperial father, I
shall warmly support all efforts calculated to improve the
economical prosperity of the different classes of society, to
conciliate their opposing interests, and as far as it is in my
power to alleviate unavoidable perplexity, without^ how-
eiJer^ raising the exj>eciati<m8 as though it were possible to
end all ills of society by State intervention.
" Closely bound up with the social question, I regard
that of the education of 3'outh. The efforts to this end
must be on a higher scale and more widely accessible.
We must avoid ci'cating dangers by partial education and
awakening demands which the economical powers of the
nation cannot satisfy. We must also be careful that
through one-sided efforts for increased knowledge the task
of education shall not be neglected. Only a generation
growing up upon a sound basis, in the fear of God and in
simplicity of morals, can possess sufficient rising powers
to overcome dangers which in times of rapid economical
'movement arise for the entire community through ex-
amples set by highly luxurious individuals.
"It is my will that no opportunity be lost in the public
service to offer every opposition to temptation dispropor-
tionate to proper expenditures. My unbiased considera-
tion is that every proposal of financial reform be assured
in advance, unless the long-proved economy in Prussia
will not permit the avoidance of the imposition of fresh
burdens and effect an alleviation of the demands hith-
erto made upon the country.
" The self-government granted the greater and lesser
"UNSER FRITZ." 505
communities in the State I consider beneficial. On the
other hand, I would suggest for examination of the ques-
tion the right of levying taxes conferred upon these com-
munities, which is exercised bv^ them without sufficient
regard for the burden simultaneously imposed by the
Empire and the State, may not weigh unfairly upon indi-
viduals. In like manner it will have to be considered
whether, in simplifying matters, a change in organizing
the authorities, wherebv a reduction in the number of offl-
cials would permit an increase of their emoluments, should
we succeed in maintaining in their strength the bases of
the State and social life. It will specially gratify me to
bring to its full development the blossom which German
art and science shows so rich a measure for realization.
*' These are my intentions, and, counting upon your
well-proved devotion, and on the support of your tried
experience, may it be vouchsafed me thus, with the unan-
imous co-operation of the organs of the Empire, and the
devoted activitj' of the representatives of the people, as
well as all the officials, and the trustful collaboration of all
classes of the population, to lead Germany and Prussia to
new honors in the domain of pacific developments.
Careless of splendor and glorious achievements^ I shaU he
contenty if H can he liereafter said of my government that
it has heen heneficial to my people^ useful to my covmiry^
and a hlessing to the Empire.
" Your affectionate
" Frbderigk."
Of the Emperor's reign of ninety-nine days, history
records not one so melancholy ; a monarch though he was,
not a day of his reign could he call his own in the sense
of absolute freedom from physical suffering; never
506 "UN8ER FRITZ."
formally crowned, because unable to appear before the
Reichstag to take part in the ceremonies necessary to the
assumption of the imperial power of Germany and Prussia.
His tragic reign was not, however, without a certain
compensation, if fame is the prize which men most aim
for. The pains and sorrows of his last years brought to
him the pity of all mankind, while the patient and cheerful
stoicism with which he bore his affliction drew from the
world eulogies of the loftiest character. He left behind
him a singularly high reputation; and it is not too much to
say that he was the most loved ruler that ever reached a
European throne. It was matter of regret for some years
among many of the Emperor William's subjects that he
did not in his later reign and enfeebled state of health
associate his honored and competent son more intimately
in the management of German affairs, some going so far
as to aver that both people and prince would have been
well pleased had he gracefully placed the imperial mantle
upon the shoulders of his son, ere disease had robbed him
of all desire to rule and taken from him all enjoyment
in life. Even before he ascended the throne, IVederick
had demonstrated in a quiet and modest manner that,
although his mind was of a different order from his
father's, it was one that marked him out as well fitted for
his high destiny. He came, indeed, into the world of
politics with a solid reputation as a soldier. It did not
fall to his lot to organize great wars like the veteran
Moltke, but he bore the burden and heat of the day in two
of the greatest campaigns of modem times, and divided
the honors of both with Prince Frederick Charles. His
soldiering was quite as notable for prudence as for brilliant
qualities ; it was conspicuous, also, and perhaps above all
if
"UNSER FKITZ." 507
things, for his power of making himself popular with the
rank and lile of his army. In politics he showed sub-
stantially the same qualities as distinguished him in war-
fare.
" Our Fritz " of the battle-field would have been " Our
Fritz " of the Fatherland, if the chance had ever come to
him of manifesting fully what he was made of. As it is,
Europe has lost, by his death, one of the most open-
minded and magnanimous of her leading public men. He
was the hope of the liberal party of Germany.
As has been said before, the last few months of Fred-
erick's reign was but a weary chronicle of suffering, borne
with great fortitude and cheerfulness, and watched with
alternate hope and fear by all Europe. The immense
crowds of citizens of all classes waiting patiently day after
day before the palace gates at Potsdam for the official
bulletins, or for a sight of the Emperor at his window,
was the most eloquent and touching tribute to his worth,
and a striking testimonial of the appreciation in which he
was held by the people.
The Emperor's ailment was a throat disease, but its
malignant character had not been fully developed until
1887, when an operation of the larynx was determined
upon. A year of cahn, dignified and resigned suffering
followed.
Day after day the public were informed of what
appeared to be his gradual restoration to health, and what
seemed like adequate proof of this was afforded by his fre-
quent drives through the streets of Berlin. It did not
seem to be credible to the Germans that the robust sol-
dier, the handsome, stately figure which they had seen
but a few years before at the head of the German armies,
608 "UNSKR FRITZ.^*
throwing terror and dismay into the ranks of Germany's
enemies, should actually have been smitten by a malady
which might prove fatal. The mere rumor, much more
the reality, called forth a prompt and sustained outburst
of strong, sympathetic feeling. For, though he was mod-
est and retiring, and had been only the dutiful first sub-
ject in a mighty empire, he ha<l won the hearts of friends
and foes, and men in all lands looked toward him as one
who would be a great, just and kindly sovereign when he
should be permitted to rule. That day came, but under
what tragic conditions 1 The aged Emperor died afar
from his "dear Fritz," whom he so longed to see again,
and Fritz himself, bereft of the power of speech, was com-
pelled to cross the Alps, ill as he was, in order to take
his place at the heiul of an empire, and yet was not per-
mitted to stand beside his father's bier I Few more touch-
ing journeys have been recorded than this of the stricken
Prince from his sunny refuge on the Riviera to a city — a
nation — in mourning, deep and sincere. A profoundly
impressive accession; watched with eagerness and sym-
pathy, not only in Germany, but beyond the Atlantic, on
remote Af^.can plains, and on the shores and islands of
the Farther East — wherever the English and the German
tongues are spoken.
Thus vacillating between hope and fear, it became
known to his admiring subjects that the Emperor had
experienced a relapse; that his original malady was com-
plicated with others of as serious a nature. The alarm
which prevailed at San Remo before the operation of tra-
cheotomy had been performed was revived, and with good
reason. Again, however, so unwilling were the people lo
relinquish the long-deferred hope of seeing him upon the
'^UNSKR FRITZ.*' 509
throne of Germany, came the news that his disease had
assumed more favorable conditions; that his improve-
ment allowed him to attend the marriage of his second
son, Prince Henry, and the idea finally found lodgment
in the public mind that, after all, Frederick III. would
regain sufficient health to reign for a few years, at least.
It was not to be, however. For his disease there was
alleviation, but no cure; and on June 12th the fatal re-
lapse occurred. At midnight, June 14th, there seemed to
be a slight improvement in his condition. He was prepar-
ing to sit up for a half hour in his arm-chair. He then
returned to bed, and at midnight the Empress dismissed
the Crown Prince and other members of the Imperial
family to their apartments, and prepared herself to pass
the night-watch in a room adjoining the sick chamber of
the Emperor. Dr. Hovell shared in the vigil. At this
time the Emperor was in the full possession of his facul-
ties. Shortly after 1 o'clock he Tvrote on a slip of paper
the following questions, which he handed to Dr. Hovell:
" How is my pulse ? Are you satisfied with it ? " He then
wrote something more, but retained the piece of paper in
his hand after erasing the words. Between 3 and 3
o'clock his breathing became terribly labored, and some
moments of struggle would occur, alternating with
spasms and great distress as the hanl fight with approach-
ing death progressed. By this time the strength of the
dying Emperor was seen to be waning. As soon as it
became evident that the end was near, the Empress
. caused the royal family to be summoned. At 8
o'clock all gathered around the bedside. Dr. KiJgel,
Court Chaplain, who had been summoned by telegram
from Ems, did^not arrive in time to administer the last
510 "UNSER FBITZ.'*
sacrament. Dr. Persius, therefore, officiated in his stead.
Pastor Eogge was also present in tJie death chamber.
During the administration of the sacrament, and indeed
even to within fifteen minutes before his death, the
Emperor appeared to be quite conscious. He showed by
tlie expression of his eyes and. by the movements of his
eyelids that he still recognized all who approached the
bedside, relatives and others.
During the last hour the Empress held the Emperor's
right hand, and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess
stood on the left side of the death-bed.
A touching scene occurred at the bedside on the morn-
ing of June 15th, while the Emperor's life was passing
away. Bismarck had called to bid his dying master a last
farewell. The Emperor was thoroughly conscious, and,
taking the hand of the aged Chancellor in his own feeble
grasp, and motioning the Empress to draw nearer, he took
her hand and joined it with that of Bismarck, thus giving
a silent and pathetic token of his desire for a reconcilia-
tion of all differences between his wife and the Prime
Minister.
His death gave to Germany her profoundest moment
of grief. Every mark of esteem was shown at the fare-
well ceremonies attendant upon his burial. When the
procession reached the church it was filled with more than
a thousand wreaths of flowers that in no way suggested a
funeral. The laurel wreath lying on the coffin was given
to Frederick by his father after the battle of Worth.
The Dowager Empress Augusta, the Princess of Wales,
and all the daughters of the late Emperor were waiting in
the church when the procession arrived. Forty clergy-
men preceded the coffin up the aisle and formed a semi-
IDilt)eIin 11-, Kaifec ron Heutftt^lonD unt> KSni^ Don pitngen.
WTLLIAM n., EUPBBOR OP OERUANT AND KINO OF PBUBBtA.
« wr^^^t^ ir-orr^ »
UNS£K FEITZ. 511
circle aroand it as it was Dlaced on the altar. The Chief
Court Marshal, Prince Badolinski, and four other Marshals,
assisted by the Ministers of State, placed the crown and
other insignia of royalty around the coffin. While the
organ played softly, a hymn was sung, and then the Court
Preacner K5gel read a chapter from the Bible. Then, as
salutes were being jQred from without, the young Emperor,
William II., accompanied by the King of Saxony, went
forward to take a last farewell of the dead. The choir
chanted softly, and the royal and princely personages
drew back. The King of Saxony bent forward and
kissed the cloth that hung from the coffin. For a
moment the young Emperor stood erect, and then,
dropping suddenly on his knees, he seized the cloth with
both hands and buried his face in it. What his thoughts
were, who can tell 2 The older King knelt beside him.
After a long time the young Emperor arose, and, with his
head bent down, moved to the side of the altar. One
after another the others went forward and kissed the
robe, and the funeral of Oermany's martyr Emperor was
over.
OHAPTEK XYL
EMPEROR WILLIAM H.
EMPEROE FEEDERIOK III. had hardly breathed
his last, when his son, Frederick William, born at
Berlin, January 27, 1859, was raised to the throne of Prus-
sia and imperial power of Germany, as William 11. It
would be both unprofitable to the reader and equally un-
just to the young Emperor, to enter upon wild prognostic
cations concerning his aims or probable policy. There is
nothing in his antecedents, nor utterances since assuming
his imperial title, to justify the assumptions of certain
publicists that his reign will be of a despotic character, or
that he would recklessly precipiate his country into
a foreign war.
What we do know of him is, that like all of the
Hohenzollems, from the Great Elector, with one or two
exceptions, he has a penohmU for military Ute, and will
always regard his army as the strongest safeguard to the
maintenance of good order and the continued stability of
Germany — a conviction which can not be said to be with-
out justification, when it is remembered, on the one side,
that under Austrian supremacy, in the Reichstag of 1849,
attempts were made to liberalize Germany, and on the
other side, the crude and visionary schemes of the social-
ists for fundamental changes in the form of the imperial
government.
We also know of him that, aside from his military
training, he has received a liberal education, first at the
Gymnasium (high school) at Cassel, where it is said his
512
EMrEKOK V/ILLIAM II. 513
manner of training was thoroughly democratic, the prince
being placed upon an exact equal footing with the hum-
blest of his comrades. Here he remained several years,
graduating among the first of his class. From Cassel he
was sent to the University of Bonn, where it is well known,
the slightest attempt on the part of the distinguished
Hohenzollern to assume " princel}'^ airs," would have been
met by the whole corps of students with sneers of deris-
ion. The fact that on his graduation from the Uni vei-sity,
at a collation given in his honor, he gave expression to
sentiments which Avere in full accord with those of the
most democratic and humblest of his fellow-students, is
also to be placed upon his credit side. During his speech
he said, after the health of his grandfather and his own
had been drunk, " I thank you gentlemen, first of all, for
the salamander you have so heartily drank to the health
of my grandfather and then to me, and I cannot but ex-
press the deep pain I feel at the thought of leaving your
joyful ranks so soon. I thank you for having received
me as a corps student. I have learned to know the spirit
animating the fighting clubs as well at their duel ground
as in their social gatherings. It is a good and right hon-
est German mood, and I will remain true to the spirit of
this corps till the end of my life."
Upon his return from the University, he at once en-
tered uiK)n his military career. It was on this occasion
that Emperor William gave him the following fatherly
talk : " You have learned from a study of history that
all the kings of Prussia have, together with their
duties as regents, always paid chief attention to the
army. The great Elector gave a mighty example to his
hosts bv his own personal courage. Frederick knew very
514 EMPEROR WILIJAM II.
well when be placed the crown upon his head that he
would be compelled to defend his steps. He knew well,
however, that his troops, tried in battle, would enable him
to do so. Frederick William I., in the garrison which
you now enter^ and which has been well called the cradle
of the Prussian army, laid the firm foundation to its or-
ganization by the strict discipline which he introduced,
without which no army can exist, and this spirit still lives.
Frederick the Great, possessed of natural talent as a com-
mander, took this firmly built organization as the basis of
the army with which he made war and fought battles
that made him immortal. In the last year it was the
Prussian army, with its invincible courage, its steadfast
endurance, that enabled Prussia to attain the great posi-
tion she now occupies. Your youth fell in these days.
*"" You have in your father a noble example in the guid-
ance of wars and of battles. In the service which you
are about to enter, however, you will come across matters
that may seem insignificant to you ; but you wiD learn
that in the service nothing is small, and that every stone
belonging to the structure of an army must be properly
formed if the completed edifice is to be firm and lasting;
therefore, I bid you go and do your duty."
On the 27th of February, 1881, Prince William waa
married to Princess Augusta Victoria, daughter of the
late Grand Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Four sons have
been born to them, the eldest of whom is now the Crown-
prince, Frederick William, and is six years old.
A slight incident transpired in 1885, which, although
insignificant in itself, proves the young Emperor to be a
man above the punctilious observances of the oldregimes,
and also furnishes a glimpse of his personal character.
*
«
EMPEROR WILLIAM H. 515
At a fine-art exhibition in Berlin, at which it was
known the Prince would be present, Mr. Adolph Loeb, of
Chicago, was invited. Knowing the old severity of court
etiquette, Mr. Loeb, when asked to attend, said " he would
not be able to appear in a swallowtail, as he was only
traveling in Europe on business." Being assured that
the absence of this garment would not be noticed by His
Eoyal Highness, Mr. Loeb consented, and in passing be-
fore the picture on exliibition, unexpectedly met and was
introduced to the Prince. After saluting him, Mr. Loeb,
doubtless deeming the Prince the man he is, replaced his
hat, as he would have done in a public place after salut-
ing the President of the United States. Naturally, the
courtiers surrounding the Prince were dumbfounded, but
the Prince seemed not to notice this departure from the
usual formalities, and appeared to enjoy meeting a man
who had either forgotten or never learned the art of
"foot-scraping" before royalty. During the remainder
of the exhibition, the Prince repeatedly returned to Mr.
Loeb to talk of Chicago, to which city he had made a
flying visit some years before, and upon parting, cordially
shook hands with him, and wished Mr. Loeb to take his
greetings to his fellow Germans in Chicago.
The admiration of William II. for Chancellor Bismarck
is well known, and it is the knowledge of this fact which
fills the minds of the socialistic agitators with appre-
hension, as well as the sober-minded conservatives with
feelings of satisfaction and security.
No true friend of Germany's well-being will indulge
in gratuituous forebodings concerning the probable course
of her youthful ruler. There is an impression abroad,
that a well-defined streak of practical common sense has
516 EMFBBOR WILLIAM H.
governed the rule of action of the Hohenzollern family
from its earliest period, and it will require more than the
simple assertion of speculating pessimists to eradicate
this soothing impression. It may be well here to remem-
ber, that those in the old Fatherland, who, before the
difficulties with Austria and France, were bitterly opposed
to King (Emperor) William's urgent demand for ample
army appropriations, have long since acknowledged, they
were wrong and he was right.
The American, who is only a distant ^nd disinterested
observer, when confronted with lugubrious prognostica-
tions about the willful and autocratic disposition of
Emperor William II., will wisely interpose his standing
admonition of fair play, to wit: ^'Give the man a
chance."
May 5 - 1915
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