Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-10

learning that the young princes had
been taken to Schwed on the Oder
for safety, thither she hastened
Embracing the two boys she said
"You see my tears. / am weeping
for the destruction of our army
Prussia, its army and its traditional
glories are things of the past
After my death, and when you
recall this unfortunate hour, do moi
content yourselves with merely shed.
ding tears. Act! Unite your powers
Liberate your people from the dis
grace they will have to endure. Con-
quer France and retrieve the glory oi
your ancestors. Be men. strive to
be great Generals. If you have not
that ambition, then you are unworthy
to be the descendants of Frederick
the Great" The events of 1870 show
how deeply implanted these senti-
ments became in the heart of Prince
William. From Schwed the royal
household was forced to 60 on to
Knnigsberg. By December the French
forces we're SO near that another flight
to Memel became necessary. The
Queen was lying ill of typhus fever.
Said the Queen "Rather than fall
into the hands of the enemy l will
render myself to God" Prince Will
lam was at this time IL years old.
Before the march to Memel was be-
gun he was promoted to the rank of
Second Lieutenant in the Foot Guards.
At Memel he too fell i'll Of nervous
fever and the Crown Prince had an
attack Of scarlet fever. In the spring
was fought the fatal battle of Fried
land, and Prussia was obliged to sub
NIT to the hard terms of the Treaty Of
Tilsit. by which half the kingdom
was lost. In December, 1909, the
court returned to Berlin. About this
time the Queen wrote of Prince
William: eff l am not deceived, he
will be like his father, simple, honest
and sensible" In the following
July, on the 10Th of that month, in
the year 1910, the Queen died. When
the news of this event reached Paris,
Napoleon remarked: "The King of
Prussia has lost his best Minister. +"
Prince William felt most sensibly the
death of his mother. He still pur-
sued his military studies with increas-
ing ardor, so that at Is years of age,
when the French army was marching
victoriously through Prussia, he was
looked upon as quite an accomplished
soldier.
In February, 1918, the King of
Prussia made the tre ity Of Kalisch
with Alexander of Russia. For four
years Scharnhorst had been secretly
forming Prussian army. Now came
q turn for the better in national
affairs. The Order of the Iron Cross
was instituted, and the King called
ON the people "to rise and expel the
invader from German soil" The
response was general. The Landwehr
was formed, and the campaign was
SO successful that in the autumn
Napoleon was forced to retreat upon
Paris.
The young Princes health was so
that he was not allowed
to take part in this last
campaign. His regiment, the
Home Guards was decimated in
the war, and many promotions were
in order. To Prince William was sent
q commission as Second Lieutenant
which he accepted with much hesita-
ton. "How can l." he asked, "be
worthy of this who have remained
at home at ease while my brave
comrades have been exposing their
lives on the field OF battle? ?" Still the
young soldier was not allowed to join
the forces in the field: and it was
long after the great victory Of Leipsic
that the King handed him his cap
tain's apaulettes and granted him per-
mission to go into active service.
At the opening of 1914, the war
shifted to French soil, and on the
9th of February, at Bar-sur-Aube,
the Prince for the first time was un-
der fire. The Foot Guards led the at
tack, the King and his son by his side
following closely. One of the regi-
ments was being hard pressed by the
enemy while another near by
was not in action at all. The
King ordered the young Prince to
ride across and order the officer in
command to lend aid to the regiment
under fire. With perfect GOODNESS he
performed the command, with not a
sign of fear, albeit the bullets whizzed
thick as hail across the field over
which he rode. In the March follow
ing the allied armies were before the
French capital. On the 31st of that
month they entered Paris. Napoleon
fed and the war was over. 1t was the
9TH of August before the army re-
turned to Berlin, amid the universal
rejoicings of all Prussia.
But peace was of short duration
for during the next year the French
Emperor escaped from Elba, and all
Europe was in blaze. Prince Will
liam was Major, and placing him.
self at the head of a battalion OF
Fusiliers, set off on the new cam
paign. But this was not to last long.
Hardly had the young soldier reached
the French frontier when he heard
of the decisive battle of Waterloo.
He was at the storming of Pfalzburg
on the 5th of July, and then with the
allied armies entered Paris the second
time.
From 1915 until the death of Fred
erick William Ill. there was peace in
Europe. In the interval the King
and his Ministers applied themselves
to the rehabilitation of Prussia. On
the 18th of July, 1917, Prince Will
liam represented the court at the
wedding ceremony at st. Petersburg,
when his sister, the Princess Char
lotte, married the Grand Duke Nicho-
las of Russia. Again on Dece ember 1 =,
1925, when the Emperor being dead,
Prince William bore the congratula-
tions of his father to Nicholas, and
his sister the Empress on the
occasion of the crowning of the
new Czar he visited Russia.
Once more in 1884, the Prince was in
st. Petersburg, at the unveiling of a
statue Of the late Alexander. Some
years before this time he went to the
Court of SAKE Weimar on the
occasion of the betrothal Of his young