St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-12-10


ram. lhc c;l-t-iron king, rejoicing in
hardship and exposure, robbed his deli
cate child even of ncedful sleep. saving.
10" much sleep stupeiies a fellow"
lhls rude, coarse discipline was thor
oughly uncon9enial to the Crown Prince.
He was Il boy of delicate feelings and
sensitive temperament. The poetic ma
turc very decidedly predominated in him.
lie was fond of music, played the flute.
wrote verses, and was literary in his
tastes, lie simply hated chasing boars,
riding on the sausage car, and being
drcnched with rain and spattered with
mud. The old king, mere animal with
an active intellect, could not appreciate,
could not understand even, the delicate
mental and physical organization of his
child. 1t Is Interesting TO observe how
early III lie these constitutional charac-
tcristicS vii! develop themselves, and how
unavailing are all the efforts of education
entirely 10 obiterate them. When Fred
crick William was 4 boy, he received, as
a present Il truly magnificent dressing
gown, of graceful French fashion, richly
embroidered with gold. Indignantly he
thrust ihe robe into the fire, declaring
that he would wear no such iincrv, and
demanded instead, Il Jacket OF wholesome
home>pun.
TIE GIANT REGIMENT.
Fritz, having cnterel his fourteenth
year, was appointed by his father, in
May, l725, captain i'll the Potsd.m
Grcnadicr Guard This giant regiment
has attained worldwide lcuown, solely
from the peculiarly Of lis organization.
Such Il body of men never existed before,
never will again. 1t was one OF the sin
gular freaks OF the PrueSian king to form
@rcuadier guard OF men of gigantic
stature. In the prosecution OF tins sense
les aim. not only his own realms were
ran-ackcd, but Europe and even Asia
were explored il search Of giants. The
army was with Frederick William, the
.reat object of hl- life, and the giant
guard WIS the soul OF tine army. This
1iItItl tOil-i~ltNl VI l!IhtI '''
III each, 2lOO in all. The shortest OF
| the men were nearly seven feet high.
| Ihc t4llc>t We're almost nine 'crt IN
height. Tncy had hcen gathered, at an
enormous expense, out 0i every country
where tErv u,.ui bc found. No greater
favor could bc conferred upon the kim
than to obtain tur him "iant. Many
amusing anecdotes are related of the
~lrstc.cnl- t. which the KIM rcsprtcd, to
obtain Ihe-, mammoth soldiers. por-
trait, were painted "l all OF them. Fred
cric> William paid very little regard 10
individual rghrs, or 10 the law OF na-
tiums, ii any chance presented itself by
which he could seize upon one OF these
monster men. RclGmmG in absolutism
compared with winch the dcspoI,m OF
rurkcv j. miId. If hr found in his do
mains any young woman OF remarkable
stature. he would compel her to marry
one oi his gi;ln's. 1t dos not, however
appear that hc t,u, 81 :ceoded IN perpct-
u.,Iu4 i -i-iurIr race.
plu--lAu recruiters were sent in ali dl-
Itfll'lll~ ~ u " a.li t.i-lN " l'I
candidates rur the Potsiam Guard
Their pay WAS higher than that of any
other troops, and they enjoyed unusual
privileges. Thrir drill ami discipline
were a, perfect - could 10y any pos>ibii-
ity h. q, nic>cl. The following >toric,
are apparently well authenticated. Le
-cribiug the means To winch !ht kim ot
ten rc,orted to obtain these men.
In !nc town of /ulich there was u Yer,
tall voun" carpenter 10y the name OF I'in
mcrman \ rru->iau recruiting officer
in dl~.uJ:r, baron Won IIompe>ch, cmtere,
the shop and ordered 4 stout chest TO be
made. lin feet slN inches i'll length, Il
!rA,t-at all events, longer than yourself
Mr.. Zimmerman. Mnd You, he ad
dcd. '.lt too shor, it will he of no >ervic,
to me" At the appointed time lie ctilc'
for the chest. Looking at II he eNclaim
ed, in apparent disappointment, To-
short. aS | dreaded :" Il am certain i
i over six feet sin" SAID the carpenter
taking out his rule. but ! said that /
was to be longer than YOURSELF WAS Tn
lDIlN- w tli, IL -. lNJolllSi ''lC Nai
, penter. To prove it, he jumped into til
chest llompcsch slammed down III
lid, locked it, whi>ticd, and three stou
fellows came in, who shouIdcrcd tn
chc,t and carried it through the street
! | to Il remote place outside OF the town
Here the chest was opened, and poo
Zimmerman was found dead, stltlcd /
death.
On another occasion, AN Austria
gentleman, VI. Won Ientcnrcider, wi!
wis exceedingly tail, WA, .,Ourmey,ns
=, from the emperor Charles VI. TO III
y Congress Of Cambria. When near Ha
berstcIdt, some part OF his carriage brok'
= While the smith was repairing ii, y
! Bcntenrcidcr walked on. lie passed
l'ru,si:n guard-houSc, alone, i'll plal
clothes, on loot, an immensely tall, we
: formed man. 1t was too rich Il prize
be lost. The officials seized hln and hu
ried him into the guard-housc. Bl
, soon his carriage came along with Ii
suite. lie was obsequiously hailed ;
..Your Exccllency." The rccruitil
-. officers OF Frederick William, mortiiit
>, and chagrincd, with many apology
released lhe cmbaS5adUr ut the cmperO
As we have mentioned, the agents
!, the kin. OF Prussia were eager 10 kidn;
10 tail men, in whatever country the
:, could find them. This greatly eXaspc