Show A WONDERFUL LIFE the life of king william I 1 of emperor of germany that has just closed was a most wonderful one a life of many swift and strange vicissitudes sit udes chhin its span of ninety one years was crowded centuries and centuries of old time history the world upon which the infant son of frederick william III opened his eyes one march day in 1797 and the world upon closed them on another march day in 1888 were as different as near a century of time could possibly make them and in many of the changes wrought in the changeful years the kingly will of the william of prussia was an all potent force that germany is today to day not simply an aggregation of petty states rule over by puppet kings and torn with internecine wars and factional 1 strong and mighty nation one and indivisible is owing under god to the firm and masterful policy of the man who now lies tread at the prussian capital when william I 1 entered upon life as an infant prince ninety one years ago there was little left of the kingdom which the power and genius of frederick the great had created to exalt the pride of any one the corsican was just then sweeping over europe le velling cm aires and dynasties before him in one general wreck and rufu and prussia and the house of tasted he cup of humiliation to its bitterest dregs napoleon held the german states in lus bands for nearly ten years and parcelled par celled them out among his favorites as he was wont to do with play aings of this kind william was old enough to serve as a soldier in the closing campaigns against the corsican and did his duty valiantly in battle from eliat time until 1840 hia life ran a peaceful course being largely devoted to the military studies which he after warda utilized to such advantage when alie sceptre came to his hand he emerged from his retirement in 1840 to become governor of a post which lie held until the revolution of 1848 broke out when he fled to england he was elected a member of the constituent assembly in may of alie same year and was soon affet made commander in chief of the prussian army acting against the revolutionary forces of baden in 1849 eight years later his brother the weak and vicilla ting frederick william IV was stricken with paralysis and then the reign of william I 1 really began As begent of the kingdom he prepared the way as far as his power extended for the great work upon which he was destined soon to enter frederick william died on january and william then became king indeed and in truth at konigsberg in october of that year he reached out his hand and put the crown of prussia upon his own head declaring in the act and by word of mouth hia firm belief in the right divine of kings to repeat the history of william I 1 from that day to his death would be to repeat not only the whole history of germany for the same time but that of all central europe one of the first acts of the new king was to call to hia side as counselor hia old and tried friend count otto von bismarck and these two with von moltke formed a mighty trio whose power carried all before it and lifted germany to the highest rank among the nations of the earth first among the great triumphs achieved by them was the humiliation of austria at honigs gratz and then in 1867 the formation of the north german confederation with prussia at its head after aliis came the sharp and bitter struggle with france which proved the supremacy of tho german military system and completed the unification of the german january 18 1871 in the hall of mirrors at versailles the king of prussia was proclaimed emperor ol 01 germany and completed tho unification of the german states the lifework of william king of prussia came to its grand consummation on he of january 1871 when in the hall ol 01 Mir rora at versailles the palace of the french kings lie was proclaimed emperor of germany the supreme ruler oj alie fatherland then began i epoch in the his story of europe the enc of which the world has yet to sec |