The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-07-28

nature bv that heroic kings large policy.
The point that wish to dwell upon Is one
that seemed TO me to be defect in the al tsts
work.
| asked the accomplished lady who was
my gracious guide how it was that such an
Obvious haw in the marble was allowed to
exist upon the foOt-thc right foot think it
was-and she replied that it WAS not a flaw
in the marble, but an intentional work Of
The chisel, and was meant to represent a
patch in the kings boot. saw at once the
intention, and that this King, who had
carried Prussia to such triumph through the
terrible wars with Napoleon, was here por
trayed in majesty, Yet with sagaciOus recog-
milton of his humiliation and sacrifice. lie
who wore the crown and bore the sword was
willing to share the fruits Of his misfortuncs
and have his boots patched, that the nation
might have an example Of frugality and de-
termination, and spare money from. self
indulgence for the great war Of liberation.
The whole story was told 1t O0ce by the light
Of that charming midsummer day that fell
upon the statue Of the king and upon the
island that bore the name Of his wife LOuisa,
and the monument there By SchadOw, that
commentaries her return from KoniSsburg
in 1903. There is great deal Of poetry
about the whole affair, and it speaks we'll for
tee grateful inhabitants Of Berlin" who
erected the statute in 1849
THE PRUssIAN MONARCHs.
AS this scene expresses an important crisis
in modern history, and brings the king and
queen together under the watch Of art and
nature, as they were together in their men,
orable lives, few words Of explanation may
not he amiss. Frederick William, usually
styled the Great clector, and the founder Of
the PrlssIan monarchy, was born in 1870,
| and his accession to the electoral power in
1910 is usually regarded as the founding Of
the nation. He brought Sweden to terms,
freed Prussia from her former subordination
To Poland, kept Louis XIV. ut hay, and even
cut into his conquests, welcomed protestant
| cxiles to 4 free asylum, founded universities,
identified himself with the liberties of Ger
many, and died in 1858, the year Of the
great revolution that gave constitutional lib
erty its triumph in England. His son,
Frederick l, born in 1857, carried out his
fathers policy, furnished troops to the Eng
lish liberators, and January IS. 17Ol, at
tanned the darling object of his ambition, and
with his wife, the sister of George l, Of Eng
land, was crowned at Konigslerg. He died
in 17l3, the first king Of Prussia. His son,
Frederick William j, was born in 1858, and
died l7O, after reign If twenty seven
years that so fully show his slrewdneSs and
folly, his honesty and cruelty, his parental
carefulness and brutality. lie left to his
| son, Frederick H., called the Great, over six
millions Of surplus money, and an army of
seventy-twO thousand soldiers.
Frederick the Great was born in Berlin in
l7l2, and died in Pottslam in 1856. 1t is
we'll 20 remember that he had English blood
in his veins, and that his mother was daughter
Of George l. Of England. His life is too
famous to need notice here, and pass ON to
his nephew, Frederick William ii, who was
grandson of Frederick William I. lie was
born in l743, and died in 1877. He was
austerly educated under his uncle's eve, but
voluplnous and visionary, extravagant and
arbitrary, yet his reign Of eleven years was
not without good influence upon the public
spirit, the laws and industry OF Prussia His
son, Frederick William Ill, with whom We
have now to do, was born in ITO, and died
in 1870
Before speaking Of his Career, will COM
plcte the record of the royal family, and say
that the son, Frederick William ", who
succeeded him in 1910, WAS horn 1875, AMI
in 1858 he WAS compelled by insanity To-
weld the management Of affairs to his brother
William, who succeeded him in 1861, and
Who was borne in 1877, and his son Freder-
lex William, born in 1881, is now the crown
prince of Prussia. l state all theSe partic,,-
lar, because they are very much confused in
the minds Of many people, and ! give to
readers the simple points that find So i'm
Iprtant To hunt up for myself.
FREDERICK WILLIAM III.
Il seems to me that Frederick William
Ill, deserves 10 I've named with his grand
uncle, Frederick the Great, as doing .tlc
work in the nineteenth century which Fred
crick did in the eighteenth. He wiihstOOi
Napoleon and French Capitalization with all
its Latin afhnities, rs Frederick wi,hstood
very much the SINE spirit in the despots Of
Russia, Austria and France, and fought out
the battles Of modern times in his day He
wis carefully educated by good mother,
saw enough Of his fathers cxtravaganccs and
his grand uncle's economy to form habits
and IDEAS Of order, discipline and fr,Igality.
Probably he hest thing for him was his ear
~ marriage at the age of twenty-three to the
beautiful and accomplished Princess Louisa,
Of MccklenburC-Strclitz whom he me-. at
Frankfort in 1885. 1t seems to have been
IN honest oli-faShioned love match, wise Is
it turned out in the end to he, and the Prince
of Prussia was SO struck by her beauty, no
bleness, grace and sense that he ut once asked
her hand The betrothal took place, and
the marriage followed on the oath Of Scp;em-
lrr following. On the death of King Fred
crick William. she assembled the throne with
her husband November IL, 1885, and won
all hearts by her goodness. She helped the
unfortunate, interested herself in art and lit
er,turc, encouraged agriculture and eiuca-
ton, and had an eve for merit of all kinds.
The favorite Of the P1lssian people, she had,
of course, a certain influence in public affairs,
and is supposed in 1905 to have Influenced
the king in favor of the war with France,
which proved to be so disastrous for Prussia,
although it was very popular with the peo-
pie at the time.
LOUISA AND NAPOLEON.
need not rccapitulatc the disasters of the
wars with Napoleon, or the great triumphs
that redeem them. Austerlitz, Jena and
Friedland brought the humiliating peace of
Til>it, July, 1907, which sacrificed half the
territory of Prussia and left ike other at the
mercy of the conqueror. Louisa was with
Frederick William during the treaty, and
there met Napoleon twice at dinner, and al
most persuaded him in spite of himself to
grant her request. The first time he pre-
sented her with rose, and as she accepted it
she added, ''ar.c .MagfeboWg ou moins'-
with Magdebourg at least" She did not
get the fortress from Napoleon, but he con-
ies-ed that she was fully up to him in spirit,
and led the conversation in spite of his efforts
and his address, constantly pressing her
point upon him with great proprietv, and in
a way that could not possibly provoke him.
The queen seems to have been sharp thorn,
however to the French autocrat, and there is
reason TO believe that he countenanced lam
poons against her, and even accused her of
too much regard for Alexander Of Russia.
One Of his bulletins satirized the part she
took at the tomb of Frederick the Great, at
Potsdam, in the oath of her husband and
Alexander against the Frencs, November 5,
1906, and the consequence, which was the
battle of Austerlitz and the evacuation Of
Russia by the German army with marching
rations. Yet in the calm reflection of St.
Helena, he seems to have thought we'll Of
the brave woman who had done 70 much TO
set Germany against him, and whose
spirit strove against him long after her ex-
ha,,s.ed body was laid to rest in 1910.
OMe,ra attributes these sentiments 70 Napo-
leon: Il have had,' said the Emperor, "a
HIGH cVnsidesatin for her: and IL the king