The Cecil Whig., 1875-11-13

daughter OF the Emperor Charles Nll.-
The province of Silesa, lying on the soutf
eastern frontier of Prussia, had belonge
to Austria for more than century and th
assent of Europe had sanctioned the title
1t was about twice as large as the State {
Vermont, and contained a population c
two millions. OF course Frederick had n
just claim to this province but he was am
bilious and determined to extend his dc
minions. With no more justification tina
has the midnight robber, he matured hi
plans with great secrecy-commenced hi
campaign in midwinter-gathered his arm
near the frontier of Silesia, and then with
out any declaration of war, rushed hi
troops across the border and commence,
taking possession of important posts
There were not two thousand Austrian
troops in the province to oppose him, ant
in short time the country seemed subju
gated. Within six weeks from the TIM
Frederick left Berlin, he had overrun tn,
whole province and virtually annexed it t.
his realm.
But Maria Theresa, as well as Frederick
regarded provinces as the property of SOW
ereigns and not of the people who inhabi
them, and the chivalric spirit of surround
ing monarchies was enlisted in behalf of &
young queen thus unjustly despoied of al
important province. She made great efforts
to regain her lost territory, and the king o.
Prussia consequently sent any army of sixty
thousand men into Silesia to retain his con.
quest. A terrible war was the consequence
"A war in which nearly all the nations
of Europe became involved. Millions OF
money were expended, hundreds of thou
sands of lives were sacrificed. Cities were
sacked and villages burned, while an amount
Of misery was spread through countless
homes which no imagination can conceive.
| These wars extended even to the distant
colonial possessions of the nations engaged
| in them, and in order that Frederick might
rob neighbor, or in consequence of his
doing SO, black men fought each other on
the coast of Coromandel and red men
scalped each other and the colonists in the
woods of North America.
The "Seven Years War" was now fairly
| commenced. The ambition of sovereigns
and generals led them to disregard alike
their own comfort and that of their troops
They were goaded forward beneath the
blaze of Summers sun and through Win
ter's storms, and drifts, and freezing gales.
The sweep of maddened armies spread desc
lation and misery over Europe. Starving
soldiers snatched the bread from the mouths
of starving women and children, and house
When the city OF Prague was besieged DUR
ing this war, the scenes of misery witnessed
were awful beyond description. An inces-
SAINT storm of shot and shell fell on the
crowded dwellings. Confagrations were
continuously bursting forth. Famine came.
Pestilence followed. Demons could not
have inflicted more misery than the wretched
inhabitants endured, and the scenes wit
messed here were repeated in many other
cities of Europe.
At one time, depopulated and impover-
ished Prussia, made so by the grasping
ambition of her ruler, and containing a
population Of less than five millions, had
arrayed against her the combined armies of
Austria, France, Poland, Sweden and Rus
sia, which at that time contained pop
ulation of one hundred millions. Against
such unequal numbers, the king of Prussia
fought with the ferocity of tiger. He
filled his broken ranks with peasant boys
and any raw recruits whom he could force
into the ranks by the energies of absolute
power. He even compelled prisoners of
war, whom he had taken, to enlist under
his banners and fight against their country
men.
The results of this ferocity were terrible.
Villages were burned, harvests tramped
under foot, fields crimsoned with gore, wild
ows and orphans starved on the dreary
plains, and still there were no decisive
results. Frederick acknowledged to his
friends that bis prospects were hopeless,
but resolved to struggle to the last and
bury himself beneath the ruins of his king
dom. Having rejected Christianity, and
having none of the consultations of religion
to sustain him, he carried constantly phial
of poison that, as a last resort, he might
commit suicide.
At length, the tide was turned in favor
of Prussia. The Empress Elizabeth of
Russia, one of the most powerful of the
coalition against Frederick, died on the 9TH
To- La,
the fate of Europe. Peter the I'LL, who
succeeded her, hated Maria Theresa and
admired Frederick. He withdrew his troops
from the alliance and sent them to the aid
of Prussia, for he, too, was an absolute
monarch, and his soldiers fought in blind
obedience to his will, without reference to
the merits of the cause. The Swedish
Court, which was allied to that of Russia,
successful, and retained Silesia. This sue
cess made him hero, and secured for him
the title of "the Great" If he had been
unsuccessful, he would have been almost
forgotten or remembered only with pity
and disgust, and fewer boys would have
been named for him both in Europe and
America
But his greatness was secured by the
partial ruin of his own country, and that
Of others. According to his own computa-
ton, the conquest of the province had cost
the lives Of SIX hundred and seventy thous-
and of the allies, and one hundred and
eighty thousand of his own troops The
population of Prussia had been diminished
five hundred thousand during the seven
years war. The day after the treaty of
peace was concluded, Frederick wrote to
his friend, D'Argens, as follows: "For
me, poor old man that l am, l return to
town where l know nothing but the walls
where l find no longer any of my friends
To form an idea of the general subversion
and desolation, you must represent to your
self countries entirely ravaged-the very
traces of the old towns hardly discernibe
OF the towns, some were ruined from the
bottom, others half destroyed by fire. OF