The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-19

4 curing
February, 1902, has left a deep and
| lasting impression on the German en-
peror and on the German people. The
! citizens of the United States showed
American hospitality and where he ap-
peared. he received greeting which
/ did not merely come from the lips, but
which had the true ring of the heart.
I'm order to give this visit, which
/ had terminated under such happy
auspices, a lasting memorial, Emperor
/ William called on the genius of Ger
many's most renowned sculptor, to
| create a statue of his ancestor. This
he has sent across the seas as gift of
friendship to the American people.
Mr.. President, by order of the
! German emperor I have the honor of
token of his mafesty's and the Ger
man peoples sincere friendship for
the people of America"
The President Speaks.
The last note of die Watch am
Rhine" were drowned in the enthu-
SiaStic greeting given the president as
he arose and advanced to the edge
of the stand to deliver his address of
acceptance. The president spoke as
follows:
wish on behalf of the people of the
United States to thank his majesty,
the German emperor, and the people
of Germany for the gift to the nation
| cred to me. 1 accept it with deep ap-
probation of the friendly regard
which it typifies for the people of this
republic both on the part of the en-
peror and on the part of the German
people. I accept it not merely as the
statue of one of the half dozen great
est soldiers of all time, and therefore
peculiarly appropriate for placing in
this war college, but I accept 1t as the
statue of great man, whose life was
devoted to the service of a great peo-
pie, and VIII ose deeds fastened the ap-
proach of the day when a united Ger
many should spring into being.
LAS a soldier Frederick the Great
| ranks in that very, very small group
which includes Alexander, Caesar, and
Hannibal in antiquity, and Napoleon
and possibly Gustavus Adolphus in
modern times. He belonged to the
ancient and illustrious house of
Hohenzollern, which, after playing a
strong and virile part in the middle
ages, and after producing some men,
like the great Elector, who were
among the most famous princes of their
time, founded the royal house of
Prussia two centuries ago, and at last
in our own day established the mighty
German empire as among the. fore
most of the world powers. We re-
ceive this gift now at the hands of the
present emperor, himself a man who
has markedly added to the luster of
his great house and his great nation
man who has devoted his life to the
Keeping ever ready to defend the
rights of that people, has also made it
evident in emphatic fashion that he
and they desire peace and friendship
with the other nations of the earth
1T is not my purpose here to dis
cuSS at length the career of the
mighty king and mighty general
whose statue We have just received.
mander save only Hannibal fought so
long against such terrible Odds and
while Hannibal finally failed, Fred
erick finally triumphed. In almost
every battle he fought against great
odds, and he almost always won the
victory When defeated he rose to an
even greater altitude than when vic
torious- The memory of the Seven
Years war will last as long as their
lives in mankind the love of heroism,
and its operations will be studied to
the minutest detail as long as the
world sees a soldier worthy of the
name 1t is difficult to know whether
to admire most the victories of
Leuthen and Prague, Rossbach and
Zorndorf, or the heart-breaking cam
paignS after Kunersdorf, when the
great king, after having been beaten
to the ground by the banded might of
Europe, yet rose again and by an ex-
hibition of skill, tenacity, energy, and
daring such as had never before been
seen united in one person, finally
wrested triumph from defeat. Not
only must the military scholar always
turn to the career of Frederick the
Great for lessons in strategy and tao
tics; not only must the military adj
min1Strator always turn to his career
for lessons in organizing success; not
only will the lover of heroism read
the tales of his mighty feats as long
as mankind cares for heroic deeds;
but even those who are not attracted
by the vaIor of the soldier must vet,
for the sake of the greatness of the
man, ponder and admire the lessons
taught by his undaunted resolution,
his inf1exible tenacity of purpose, his
farsighted grasp of lofty possibilities,
and his unfiinching, unyielding deter
mination in following the path he had
marked out.
ut is eminently fitting that the statue
of this iron soldier, this born leader of
men, should find a place in this war
college; for when soldierly genius and
soldierly heroism reach the highest
point of achievement the man in whom
they are displayed grows to belong not
merely to the nation from which he
sprang, but to all nations capable of
showing, and therefore capable of ap-
preciating. the virile and masterful vir-
tues which alone make victors in those
dread struggles where resort is at last
had to the arbitrament of arms
But, Mr.. Ambassador, in accepting
the statue given us today through you
from the German emperor, 1 accept it
not merely because it is the statue of a
mighty and terrible soldier but ac-
cept it as a symbol of the ties IF
friendship and good will which I trust
as the years go on will bind ever closer
together the American and the German
peoples. There is kinship of blood be-
tween the two nations. We of the Uni
ted States are of mixed stock In our
veins runs the blood of almost all the
peoples of middle, northern. and west
ern Europe. We already have a history
of which we feel that we have the
right to be legitimately proud. and yet
our nationality is still in the formative
period. Nearly three centuries have
elapsed since the landing of the Eng
lish at jamestown marked the begin