The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1867-07-18

Cootng away IN hse tender spesca,, 81 yla4f.f}rl
1 Songs like the twitter Of Nesting birds. -
Creeping, ers.pabsover tic door X .sTSf
Soon my birdie will ind her wings.
1luttering ont At tho open door,
Il Into tho wonderful world Of thinev.
j tga !2:3, ra1,," For the st. Cloud Jounrrnal.
PRUsslA-rHE SEWN YEARs' War
"Hf Titus5s*qaaT --ss,tio'; / ,n1,1ras !
The recent triumohs Of Prus,ia,
which give her the undisputed suprem. n
aoy Of Germany, cnhance the interest
Of her previous history, and Increase the
wonder With which we oast 4 retrrospec.
tive glance upon the progress and, for.
tunes sof st . State whish from the hum.
ole, dignity and limited: dimensions. Of
an :sleotorate, has, 10 little more Is than r q
century and half, become one Of tho
greatest powers Of Europe. Frederic
l., son tho Great Elector, assumed lllpd
the title Of king in the year 100. He
va reluctantly acknowledged as such
BY tho sovereisus oflEarope; and Aus.
tria exaoted ! large sacrifice in Re return i'm
for the; sungraciousa b concession. q His
grandson, Frederick, surn.med the
Great, was the. real founder of the Prus-
sian u: = monarchy. The best statesman
and the greatest general Of: his ,seee- ! =,
though careless Of the rules: Of political
justice ana morality-this prince wrest-
ed silesia from Austria by sudden in
vasion, and after . s1tere .,pl struggle per.
manently annexed it to his dominions.
This act Of rspacity brought on him the
implacable hatred Of the empress Ma.
ria Theresa, who finally succeeded in
forming against him one of the most
formidable eonfederaeies which Europe
had yet beheld. France, Austria, Rus,
sia, .saxopy and. Sweden wore .r1ayed
against a:small Kingdom in the north of
Germany which did not contain five
millions Of souls. The very existence
Of Prussia was menaced with extreme
danger: Frederic had, however, a large
army admirably Offered and equipped,
and subjected to an iron disoipliue.-|
His people were devoted, to him, and
he had BY rigid frugality amassed
considerable treasure. When hostili-
ties became inevitable, Frederic struck
the first blow BY, the invasion Of sax
ony, which began the famous Seven
Years War; r., This .xas i'm August, |
1855. He was st dist victorious over |
the saxons and Austrians; he invaded |
Bohemia and gained great victory at
Pragne;s but vas soon aftee completely !
b beaten at .Kolin, and this disaster was
the prelude Of long train of calami-
ties. But Frederic was not dismayed. |
1nsolent and imperious in prosperity,
he was equally stubborn and energetic
in adversity!' <Begirt on every side, his |
hereditary dominions invaded by the
veteran bands Of France, Russia aud
Austria, his country desolatcd and the
substance Of his people devoured, he
fought battle latter battle with these
hosts Of enthusiastically exposing bis
person in almost every engagement-l
and frequently defeated armies much
superior to his own. For a period,
| however, bis enemies were as pertinac-
ious as he was resoluto; and gradually
closing around tacir. prey, seemed de-
termincd that his death or captivity
should terminate the contest. Frederic
himself sexpeetedI no favorable result,
and carried sure and speedy poison
about his person, being resolved never
to be taken alive. In the fourth year
of the war, Frederic encountered the
Russians in the disastrous battle of Ku-
;nersdorf: It was midsummer, and at.
ter six hours Of incessant and often des-
per.te fighting, tic Russian liues were
broken and half their, artillery taken.
The king sent a courier to Berlin, an
nouncing : complete victory. But
meanwhile the stubborn Russians had
rallied in = Jewish graveyard, on 40
eminence in rear Of their original posi-.
ton. They were immediately attack
ed, but no efforts could shake them.-
Frederick led three charges in person,
two horses we're killed under him, and
bis clothes we're pierced with bullets.
But it was al in vain !; tho PrussiAns
were repulsed and thrown into disorder,
and : furious charge Of cavalry put
them to utter lrout..J : The king
himself narrowly escaped being made
captive; his artillery was taken ; and
such was the slaughter and dispersion
Of his army that Ct the fifty thousand
men he had in the morning led to bat
tie, not three thousand could in the
evening be mustered in military array.
Frederic now sent another dispatch, to
Berlin announcing his utter defeat, and
he had serious thoughts Of making .use
Of his poison and closing his life and
misfortunes. But his indomltable spir-
/ il soon rose equal to the emergency
| He collected the broken remains Of his
lEarmy, procured cannon from The neigh
boring fortress, and taking advantage
Of Tho slow movements of his enemies,
was in short time Is formidable a. be-
fore. Fortune seemed at last to relent
in favor Of : prince whose drmness and
energy rose superior to al tho storms
Of fate; and after continuing through
several campaigns, tho sudden death Of
the Empress Of Russia enabled him 70
make peace with tie most formidable