Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-08-05
The HohenzolIern Family of Pru
. sia.

The Hohen zolIern Family of Prus-
a STA.
Prussia. now well-nigh the dominant
power in Europe, and with the climax OF
her greatness not yet reached, is the
youngest of continental nationalities.
Her origin is dated no farther back than
early in the fifteenth century, when the
Emperor Sigismund gave the marquisate
of Brandenburg to the Hohenzollern
family, and thus virtually planted the
seed from which has grown the mighty
tree of Germanic unity, whose branches
promise to overshadow the ancestral do
main of the house of Hapsburg. In the
sixteenth century Professionalism spread
among the northern people, and the
Hohenzollerns, previously Catholics, en-
braeed the, Lutheran creed. Within a
hundred years after they obtained from
the king Of Poland the investiture of the
duchy Of Prussia, which gift was re-
warded in l772 by the subject of our no
tice, when he joined with Russia and
Austria in the dismemberment and ami
hilation ofthe unhappy land of Sobieski
and Kosciusko. But the duehy of Prus-
sa, when thus donated, amounted to bnt
little, either in natural advantages or
acquired resources. The poorly cult
yated soil was almost desert, the prime
val forests stretched far and wide, and
the scattered population, sunk in igno-
rance and poverty, were scarcely able to
find the means of even the most scanty
subsistence. The Hohenzollerns, how
ever, are thrifty family, and none of
their chiefs have eyer been more thrifty
than Frederic William, commonly
called the Great Elector." ~ shrewd
diplomacy ut the treaty of Westphaiia,
he managed 10 obtain possession of CON
siderable additional territory, embracing
the city and district of Magdeburg, and
the INHERITANCE left to his son was equal
in size and wealth TO any Of the minor
prineipalities Of Epropc, This son ; sole
object in Life was to secure the title OF
king. and that object was finally gained
in I71O. Dying, he was succeeded BY
another Frederic William, who was per
haps the nearest specimen Of humanity
that ever sat on a throne. The closest
of misers in financial matters, the harsh
est of tyrants ia his family as well as IN
MS DONtfHlntul, HC lduyfNH otNoN''y ~
ward one end-the organization of an
army. He starved his children and ina
poverished his kingdom for the sake
of his soldiers, and ransacked the
world to recruit his famous corps
of gigantic greRadiers, whose proper
tioas and cost are among the strangest
legends of military history. But Fred
eric William was only an amateur war
rior.I He fought no battles, wasted no
blood, but fed and clothed and dlsel-
plihed bis splendid battalions for the
sheer love Of the thing. aud nothing else.
The fruits of his economy and Curious
taste we're destined 10 be employed fcF
less peaceful though grender purposes
by his illustrious son. Frederic, fairly
entitled to the surname of " Great, was
born January l7l2, and from the hour Of
his birth, until he became king, he led
the life Of a dog rather than that Of
prince. His fathers svarice was not the
worst feature in that royal beasts dispo-
sition: he had an intense appetite for
infiicting pain upon others; and never
hesitated 10 crafty il az any time-or IN
any way. If he chanced 90 meet o lady
on the street. he would first curse. then
kick ber, and then bid her 90 home and