San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-06-22
The Retirement Of the Emperor
Of Germany.

allotted to man, and after o term OF II
years spent as Regent and King Of
Prussia and Emperor of Germany, VIII
liam l., lying in his palace and suffer-
ing from the wounds Of cowardly as
sassin, retires from the cares and du-
ties Of the throne and appoints as Re-
gent his son, the Crown Prince Freder-
tex William Nicholas Charles, or " I'm
ser Fritz" as the Germans Familiarity
call him. The old Emperor has had an
eventful life. He was born March 20,
1897, son Of Frederick William III.
and Queen Louisa, and as a boy march,
cd with the Allies into Paris after the
overthrow Of Napoleon. Coming into
manhood as soldier, he has always re-
manned one, never giving up his uni
form, and always sleeping under his
military blankets upon rudeiron couch.
When his brother, Frederick VIII
liam w., assembled the throne
in 1910, he was recognized as
the heir apparent. His military
predictions gave rise to the idea that
he was an absolutist, and so general
was this idea that, in the uprising Of
1S4S, he had to leave the country. A.
ter an absence of few months he re-
turned, put down the Republican insur-
rection, and subsequently held several
Important military positions. In 1857,
his brother being incapacitated by i'll.
ness, he assumed his functions, and the
next year was formally installed as Re-
gent, succeeding as King Of Prussia in
1861. From that time until 1870 he &C.
complished great work in giving Ger
many her present military strength and
prestige. He organized the army as
his first step. He made Bismarck Min
lister Of Foreign Affairs in 1862; secured
Schleswig and Lauenburg in the Schles-
wig Holstein war; in 1866, extinguished
Austria as German Power, and
added Schleswig- Holstein, Hanover,
Hesse- Cassel, Nassau, and Frank
fort to Prussia, and established
the North-G German Confederation,
and in 1867 made Bismarck Chancellor.
The candidature of the Spanish throne
in 1870 precipitated war between France
and Germany. The South German
States Joined the Northern, and the war
was marked by succession of brilliant
victories achieved by the German
armies, with which he remained from
the firing Of the first shot to the final
surrender Of Napoleon at Sedan. On
the 18th Of January, 1871, at the mill
tary headquarters at Versailles, by the
request of the German States, he was
crowned Emperor of Germany, and his
first proclamation Incorporated Alsace
and Lorraine in the Empire. Since that
time he has cemented still stronger the
friendship Of Germany with Russia,
Austria, and Italy, and carried on
prolonged and severe contest with the
Roman hierarchy during the Pontifcate
of Plus TX.
The Emperor has but one daughter,
the Princess Louisa, born in 1883, and
married in 1856 to the Grand Duke
Frederick of Baden; and one son,
Prince Frederick William Nicholas
Charles, in whose favor he has retired.
The Crown Prince, now Regent, was
born in 1881, and graduated from the
University Of Konigsburg. In 1858 he
married Victoria Adelaide, the Princess
Royal of Great Britain, by whom he has
had six children. Like his father he is
great soldier, and has performed dis
tinguished service in two important
wars. In 1866, as COMMANDMENT
Chief of the second Prussian army, he
contributed largely to the decisive victo-
ry of Sadowa, and in the Franco-Ger-
man war he served as the COM
mander of the third army at the
head of the South German
forces. He won the first victory Of the
war at Weissenburg, defeated MacMa-
hon at Worth, and played conspicu-
Gus part in the catastrophe of Sedan and
the siege of Paris. The past has fur
nished a clear and unquestionable record
of his military abilities. The future
must determine his measure Of states
manship; but, SO long as Bismarck re-
mains at the helm, there will probably
be no change in the policy of the EN-!
pire, unless it be that its edicts and laws
will be more severely enforced. The
title of the Prince upon his accession to
the throne will probably be Frederick
William 1. Of Germany, though he will