Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-06-21

time of day that the Prussian Princes
grow up CLOTH in uniform, and, like
other Prussian subjects, are taught their mill
tary duties very early in life. The Crown
Prince had excellent ENTHUSIASTICALLY Ernst
Curtius; and in 1880 he became q student at
Bonn. and later on, rector. With q father so
manly and serious, yet s.joviar' as one courtier
calls him, and mother so accomplished, the
Prince could not fail to be well taught and
trained. He was tall healthy. blue-eyed, frank
and simple, aud he won regard wherever he
went when youth. In the English court his
father was held in special esteem; and when,
having become Prince Of Prussia and heir-ap-
parent, he was driven from Berlin in
1s4S, his son accompanied him to
England. Although politics forbade his
reception. he saw Queen Victoria
who deeply sympathized with him-and
Prince Albert; and it was then that Prince
Frederick William, q lad of seventeen, first
saw Princess Victoria, lively and engaging
child. It was the hope OF several persons that
these two in after years might be united and
the hope was fulfilled. Five years afterward
In the month of September when Sebastopol
had been captured, Prince Frederick William
paid his famous visit to Balmoral, to ask for
the hand OF Princess Victoria, still Q young
maiden in all the '-unconstraint of girlhood'.
The engagement was announced September
%, 1855, and the marriage occurred in 1883
The bride and bridegroom were heartily well
coined in Berlin, and in August of the same
year the Queen and Prince consort visited them
in their new home. great change was inn
pending over Prussia. The then King was
stricken with painful malady, and after the
royal travellers from England had returned to
her shores Prince William was obliged to be-
come Prince Regent. He had acted in that
capacity since the autumn of 1857, but in Octo-
Der. 1888, he was appointed Regent with full
powers.
The Regent at once set about the reform of
the army, which slowly but surely brought on
constitutional crisis.
Prince Frederick William, who had become
Crown Prince, was Imbued with English opin-
ions, and he did not conceal his views. In 1883
the strife had reached critical stage, the
policy OF the government became harsh, and
the Crown Prince was SO moved that he ad-
dressed words Of strong remonstrance to his
father. 81 beseech you, my dearest father"
he wrote, mot to invade the law in the way
you hinted"-forcing on the country his own
views of military reform, and issuing decree
shifting the opposition press. The King vindi-
Gated his course, and advised his SON to be
cautious: but Immediately after the Crown
Prince formally declared ''the proceedings of
the cabinet to be both illegal and injurious to
the state and the dynasty" So far did the dis
pute go that the King limited at the dismissal
of his son from his command on account of a
speech at Dantzic. The Crown Prince did not
then comprehend the scope of Bism arck's vast
policy, or discern in him the qualities which
made him the first statesman of Germany. but
he acted with honesty and courage and deserved
the respect he won from all.
In the Schleswig- Holstein war the Prince
saw service on the stan of Field Marshal Won
Wrangel. 1t was this war which brought the
long contest between Austria and Prussia
to head, and discord in Denmark proved to
be the prelude to unity in Germany. The re-
suit of a series of moves and counter-moves
was that in 1856. the Austrian Emperor
and the Prussian King found themselves at
war; and Prussia, with only one ally, sent out
her armies to fight against the whole resources
OF the confederation. The Crown Prince was
intrusted with the command of what was called
the Army of Silesia,' which, besides cavalry,
consisted of the guard and three corps. The
chief of the STAFF with the Prince was &c neral
Blumenthal, Skilful and hardy soldier. The
plan OF campaign was that while two armies,
which soon became one, broke into Bohemia
from the northwest, heading for Iser, the
Princes force should emerge into the scenes of
decisive action through the passes of the east
W ard-passes famous in the history of his
great ancestor, Friedrich H. But line
of mountain wall, forty miles long-the Giant
mountains-separated the armies at the out
set, and their operations had to be nicely COM
bined IL they were to form a junction. They
were combined by the aid of the electric tele-
graph: and, being well directed and fighting
stoutly, they did meet on the decisive field Of
Sadowa.
Then followed four years of peace. The
Crown Prince had the satisfaction of hearing
his father ask the Parliament to pass bill of
indemnity to cover and legalize the irregular
military expenditure of several years; and he
probably had come to appreciate the European
situation and its relation to Germany better
than he did in 1868.
The four years were anxious ones for Europe;
yet, although war had been expected every
spring, nevertheless the events OF July, 1870,
took every one by surprise. The Emperor Ma
poleon had won diplomatic victory at Ems
when the Hohenzollern candidature for the
Spanish throne was withdrawn. Not content,
he allowed himself to be forced into war by
the Empress and his intimate councillors; and
the challenge. promptly taken up in Berlin,
brought on the strife which broke to pieces for
a time, the military power of France.
twas in the campaign of 1S70-1 that the Crown
Rrinca IN mi hef no