The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-29
THE RISE
 OF PRUSSIA

This is the centenary of. the royal edict issued by King Frederick Will liam III. of Prussia by which that monarch declared war on the forces of liberalism. The conflict which was to rage for many years, and which resulted in the imprisonmentl of thou sands of men, the closing of several universities and the suppression of the societies which sought to preserve and propagate the seeds of democracy Revolutionary agitations, wherever they manifested themselves, were put down with ruthless severity The name of the King was made Odious in the universities by the suppression and
 persecution of the student societies.
 The Prussian police stopped the ora. tory of Arndt, Cores, Jahn and other
 famous patriots and friends of free discussion. Driven from the light, the liberals formed secret societies which plotted behind closed doors, but their plans were all ineffective
 In 1916 Prussia and the other Ger man states were as if the spirit of revolution had never been spread over
 Europe. The old patriarcha1 system of rule by divine right was restored and maintained by vast army. In l1816 SPrussian. league of nobles was instituted to maintain feudaI in1nRuni- ties and the distinction of classes The
 promises of 1913 were forgotten, and ''1nSC0au or a CoI1SlAtuC1O14, Fl AdoS1oS AAeSO a countersign."
 One Of the brayest and most devoted of the Teuton patriots of that period a man to whom all lovers of humanity owe a great debt of gratitude-was
 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the father of
 German gymnastics He was the founder of the Turnkunst or system of physical culture which has been so widely adopted in other lands His gymnasai were for short time sup
 ported by the government, but when it was discovered that the Turner
 schools were becoming political and liberal clubs they were all suppressed and Jahn was thrice imprisoned.
 In other German states the rulers attempted to wipe out all the effects of the revolutionary era. The Duke of Hesse, who had added to his wealth by renting his subjects as soldiers. re- vfved the stocks and other feudal in- stitutIons Serfdom was re-estabIish- ed in Wurtemberg and other states.
 The Prussian and Austrian monarchs re-af1irmed the doctrine of divine rights of kings. declaring: Useful or necessary changes in the legislation and administration of the states are to. eInanate only from the free will,
 the enlightened and deliberate impulse of those whom God has rendered de- positories of power.'' At the Con
 gress of Carlsbad, composed of Ger
 man ministers, a commission of in-
 quiry was established, and multitude e l of spies were employed to search out l and punish the enemies of the estab- Iished order. Newspapers and re-
 views were suppressed and many phil
 osophers and scientists were thrown
 into prison. \ 1 It was during this period that Prus-
 sia laid the foundation for it's future dominant position in central Europe. | Half of Saxony, the grandduchy of Posen, nearly all of the region along | and a portion of Westphalia were in- | and a portion of West phalia were in | corporated with Prussia, and this ex- 1 tension of territory formed the l groundwork of her future career as | the predominant state of Germany.
 In the century that has passed since | Frederick William III, began his war l on liberalism, Prussia has made tre-