The world: historical and actual . rdand improved the character ofimmigration from continentalEurope. About that time, itmay be added, the Irish fam-ine drove hither an enormousnumber of ignorant German influx was some-thing of a counteractant. In 185? the King of Prussia, Frederick WilliamIV., a weak and feudalistic sovereign, was strickenwith apoplexy, and his brother William, then sixtyyears of age, was made Prince Regent. At once thelatter began the inauguration of some reforms inadministration, aud when he became William I.(1861) a new page was turned in German, and in-deed,
The world: historical and actual . rdand improved the character ofimmigration from continentalEurope. About that time, itmay be added, the Irish fam-ine drove hither an enormousnumber of ignorant German influx was some-thing of a counteractant. In 185? the King of Prussia, Frederick WilliamIV., a weak and feudalistic sovereign, was strickenwith apoplexy, and his brother William, then sixtyyears of age, was made Prince Regent. At once thelatter began the inauguration of some reforms inadministration, aud when he became William I.(1861) a new page was turned in German, and in-deed, European history. Although an old man, hewas blessed with great vigor of body and mind, andhis reign became second only to that of Frederick theGreat in point of influence upon the destinies of thepeople. He early recognized the consummate geniusof Bismarck. Those two names must always belinked in fame. Neither ever showed sympathywith the cause of personal freedom, but sought theaggrandizement of the nation in the interest of the. dynasty. As we write, Germany is in a fermentover the imperial rescript, or official manifesto, ofthe Emperor, to the effect that Germany is not gov-erned by a ministry accountable to a parliament, butthat the ministers are the mere tools of the sovereign,and that the sovereign is the state. In this documentis seen the hand of the premier. Bismarck was born on the family estate April 1,1813. He early showed a taste for public life. Hiscareer began in diplomacy, 1852, except that he hadpreviously been a short time in parliament. KaiserWilliam was not slow in recognizing his intenseloyalty to imperialism, and his consummate abilityas a statesman. He had fromthe first two ideas—the for-mation of a German empirewith Austria left out, and thehumiliation of France. Thefirst was never concealed. Bismarck attracted generalattention for the first time inconnection with the Schleswig-Holstein war. That was begunDecember 7, 1864. At firstAustria helped Prussi
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