Chapter VIII

The State of Frederic the Great (1700).--The kingdom of the Hohenzollerns, its small size; character of the people and princes--Childhood of Frederic--Opposition to his father--Catastrophe--Training and its influence on his character--His marriage and relations with women--Residence in Rheinsberg--His character when he became King--Striking contrast between his poetic warmth and his inexorable severity--Inward change in the course of the first Silesian war--Loss of the friends of his youth--The literary period till 1766--His poetry, historical writings, and literary versatility--Seven years of iron labour--His method of carrying on war, and heroic struggle--Admiration of Germans and foreigners--His sufferings and endurance--Extracts from Frederic's Letters from 1767-1762--Principles of his government--Improvement of Silesia--Difference betwixt the Prussian and Austrian government--Feeling of duty in the Prussian officials--Acquisition of West Prussia--Miserable condition in 1772--Agriculture of Frederic--His last years

CHAPTER IX.

Of the Year of Tuition of the German Citizen (1790).--Influence of Frederic on German art, philosophy, and historical writing--Poetry flourishes--The aspect of a city in 1790--The coffee gardens and the theatres--Travelling and love of the picturesque--Different sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and peasants--Characteristics of the life of the country nobles--The piety of the country people--Education of the citizens--Advantages of the Latin schools and of the university education--The sentimentality and change in the literary classes from 1750-1790--The Childhood of Ernst Frederic Haupt

CHAPTER X.

The Period of Ruin (1800).--The condition of Germany--Courts and cities of the Empire--People and armies of the Empire--The emigrants--Effect of the revolution on the Germans--The Prussian State--Its rapid increase--Von Held--Bureaucracy--The army--The Generals--The downfall--Narrative of the Years 1806-1807, by Christoph Wilhelm Heinrich Sethe--His life

CHAPTER XI.

Rise of the Nation (1807-1815).--Sorrowful condition of the people in the year 1807--The first signs of rising strength--Hatred of the French Emperor--Arming of Prussia--Character and importance of the movement of 1813--Napoleon's flight--Expedition of the French to Russia in 1812, and return in 1813--The Cossacks--The people rise--General enthusiasm--The volunteer Jaegers and patriotic gifts--The Landwehr and the Landsturm--The first combat--Impression of the war on the citizens--The enemy in the city--The course of the war--The celebration of victory

CHAPTER XII.

Illness and Recovery (1815-1848).--The time of reaction--Hopelessness of the German question--Discontent and exhaustion of the Prussians--Weakness of the educated classes in the north of Germany--The development of practical activity--The South Germans and their village tales--Description of a Village School by Karl Mathy

CONCLUSION.--The Hohenzollerns and the German citizens

PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE.

Second Series.