CHAP. LXII. PRUSSIA-ITS HISTORY. PRUSSIA, the smallest of those powerful kingdoms which flourished in the eighteenth century, owes its aggrandisement to Frederic William the Great, who reigned during the years 1640 and 1688 A.D. His victory over the Swedes near Fehrbillin, in 1675, first rendered his name glorious. He colonised and enriched his provinces with the French Reformers who had fled from Paris, and at the same time encouraged the arts and sciences. His son, Frederic I., who reigned between the years 1698 and 1713, assumed in 1701 the title of King. Frederic William I. was the very pattern of economy, and a true father to his people. He followed the practice of his grandfather, in filling his dominions with industrious foreigners. He assembled a powerful and disciplined army, and left at his death a well-filled treasury. Frederic II. knew how to avail himself of his father's acquisitions. Maria Theresa of Austria refused to resign some Schlesien principalities, which justly belonged to Prussia; whereupon Frederic in 1741 conquered the whole of Schlesien; and by a treaty of peace Theresa was obliged to resign the whole territory. Theresa secretly meditated revenge, and formed a con A. D. 1741 1786. A. D. federacy against Frederic, with Russia, Saxony, France, Sweden, and several German kingdoms. Hence arose the seven years' war, from 1756 to 1763. Frederic marched against his enemies, and in 1756 took the whole of the Saxon army prisoners, won a victory near Prague in 1757, and, though defeated at Collin, he gained in the same year several other splendid victories; one over the French, near Rosbach, a second over the Austrians, near Leuthen, and a third over the Russians, near Zeradorf, which eventually drove the enemies of Prussia from her territories. On the other hand, his defeat near Eunersdorf, the plundering of the enemy, and the desperate exertions of all the powers of the land, so weakened him that in 1760 the hopes and wishes of enemies were well nigh crowned with success. However, in January 1762, Elizabeth of Russia died. Her successor, Peter III., united the forces of Russia and Prussia, and, though he died in July, his wife Catherine II. made peace with the King. France, for want of money, was unable to continue the war, and therefore, in 1763, a general peace was concluded with Frederic II. without yielding one foot of land. Having now won for his country the respect of all foreign powers by war, Frederic endeavoured by good laws and the establishment of manufactories, to increase its power and independence. Frederic II. died on the 17th of August, 1786, a pattern for all the sovereigns of his age. CHAP. LXIII. THE BRITISH NAVY-SHIPPING-COMMERCE AND DISCOVERIES. Great Britain has now a more powerful navy 1579. than any other nation, and her merchant vessels sail in every known sea. The foundation of this extensive power was laid by Queen Elizabeth, between the years 1558 and 1603. At that time Spain was the first kingdom in Europe. The vessels of Spain brought over the precious metals of America, and the Portuguese transported to Europe the merchandise of India. But the persecutions exercised by Philip II. upon the Protestants of the Netherlands hurried them on to revolt. Elizabeth seized this opportunity of assisting the Netherlands: seven of those provinces declared themselves independent of Spain, and, since 1579, have formed the state called Holland, under their own government. From this time the English and Dutch sought every opportunity of breaking the power of the Spaniards. They ventured even with small vessels on voyages to the East and West Indies, and also to America; and generally returned heavily laden with valuable booty. Sir Francis Drake accomplished the second voyage that ever was made round the world; the first being that, already described, of Ferdi 1688. A. D. nand Magellan, in 1522. To avenge all these acts of hostilities at a single blow, Philip II. equipped a formidable fleet, called the Invincible Armada, designed utterly to crush the power of England; but, in every engagement, the lighter vessels of the English did considerable damage among the larger and less manageable ships of the Spaniards; and, in 1588, by the merciful interposition of Providence, a storm arose, which favoured the valour of the English, and utterly destroyed this proud work of men's hands. From this epoch the power of Spain gradually declined, and the spirit of enterprise before dormant in England awoke. Instead of mere expeditions for plunder, a flourishing trade arose, the foundation of British prosperity, which has ever since been increasing. In 1651, Cromwell, the Protector, gave a new impulse to the commerce of Britain by the Navigation Act, the effect of which was, that no nation should be the carrier to England of any freight but the productions of its own respective soil or manufacture. This tended much to impair the commerce of Holland, consisting, as it did, chiefly of foreign commodities, and the naval power of England was greatly augmented in a short space of time. And although, in 1688, William, Prince of Orange, and Governor of Holland, became King of England, the English merchants successfully resisted every attempt to make even the least alteration in the navigation laws in favour of the trade of Holland. Since Lewis XIV., and all his ministers and generals, sought for military rather than for naval glory, and therefore the naval power of France was comparatively neglected, and since the same line of policy was followed by his successors, England had little to check the extension either of her shipping or her commerce; and thus Great Britain attained a high and commanding position in the rank of nations, without even the necessity of winning it by her arms; and in other respects the British enjoyed general prosperity between the years 1714 and 1740. The year 1740, however, saw the commencement of hostilities between England and France, which continued, with only brief intermissions, till a late period, producing in the English greater energy and enterprise, and an increased sense of the value of her independence, and also of the importance of securing every possible advantage in domestic and foreign commerce. In the course of the seven years' naval war, between 1755 and 1762, the English won Canada, in North America, from the French, and also Florida from the Spanish; and in the peninsula of India, where the French and English merchants had previously conducted their several commercial establishments on a good understanding, each now endeavoured to damage the interests of the other; and the French were almost driven out of India in 1761. The British espoused the cause of certain native princes, and were rewarded for K A. D. 1761. |