The Cecil Whig., 1875-11-13


ing members of the Polish diet, and partly
by force, the three powers accomplished
their purpose, and the kingdom of POLAND
was at an end.
Soon after this the mortal career of the
"great" Frederick, falsely so called, was
also ended. His death occurred on the
18th of August, 1856, aged "A. He died
as he had lived, dreary death of pain and
hopelessness. He had no faith in the i'm
mortality of the soul, or the existence OF
any God who takes an interest in the
affairs of men, and in the anguish of his
dying hours avoided all allusion to religio
subjects. The Prussian territory had been
nearly doubled under his reign, and con-
tained, at the time of his death, about six
millions Of inhabitants. But he left to his
country, as a standing curse, standing
army of two hundred and twenty thousand
men, which consumed four-fifths of the
revenues of the State, and enabled his sue
cessors to intlict still further evils upon
Prussia and the rest of Europe.
Such was the man whom historians call
" Great" and whom even the present gen.
Grafton honors and reveres. We have shown
why he is so called, but it is only because
wrong ideas of greatness prevail that the
title is conceded to him. When warriors
come to be regarded in their true lirht such
monsters of selfishness and cruelty, !.
Frederick and his father, will be classed
with robbers and murderers, and their
names and memory will be execrated. If
what we have written will tend to divest
such men of the halo of glory which sur
rounds them and teach the boys of our
country to be
"Great; not like Frederick, stained with
blood,
But only great as they are good -
the object of thus exposing his wickedness
and presenting him in different light from
that in which he is ordinarily viewed, will
be accomplished.
The present king, William of Prussia,
or Emperor of Germany, as he now styles
himself, is not descendant of Frederick
the Great, bat is a descendant of his father,
the tyrannical Frederick William l., whom
we have noticed, being great great grand
son of a brother of Frederick H. He in
herits from his ancestors their false ideas
of the divine right of kings, and by the
aid of the INSCRIPTIONS Bismarck, represses
the desires of the Germans for peace and
liberty, and makes them subservient to his
lust of dominion and power. And yet,
unless the civilization Of coming genera
tions is in advance of that of the present,
he, too, will be called great, and held up to
admiration because he was successful.
The military system of Prussia is an out |
rage upon humanity and a curse to that
country and to all Europe. BY it every
young man is compelled to
spend several years of the best part of his |
life in the army, where he is liable to con-
tract habits of idleness and dissipation and |
to become untitled for the duties of civil |
life. To avoid this slavish military service
is one of the principal reasons why so
many Germans emigrate to America. The
large standing army of Prussia, ready to
be used at any moment as an instrument
Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT or revenge, is also one
of the principal reasons why the war cloud
so often bursts upon the nations around
her, for no maxim is truer than that pre-
paration for wars produce rather than pre-
vent them.