ihilation, fell upon the right wing of the Prussians, commanded by
General Ziethen, and was met with so fierce an artillery fire that he
halted in dismay. And now news of Laudon's disaster was brought to him.
Seeing that the game was lost and himself in danger, he emulated his
associate in his hasty retreat.

Fortune and alertness had saved the Prussian king from a serious danger,
and turned peril into victory. He lost no time in profiting by his
advantage, and was in full march towards Breslau within three hours
after the battle, the prisoners in the centre, the wounded--friend and
foe alike,--in wagons in the rear, and the captured cannon added to his
own artillery train. Silesia was once more delivered into his hands.

Never in history had there been so persistent and indomitable a
resistance against overwhelming numbers as that which Frederick
sustained for so many years against his numerous foes. At length, when
hope seemed almost at an end, and it appeared as if nothing could save
the Prussian kingdom from overthrow, death came to the aid of the
courageous monarch. The Empress Elizabeth of Russia died, and
Frederick's bitterest foe was removed. The new monarch, Peter III., was
an ardent admirer of Frederick, and at once discharged all the Prussian
prisoners in his hands, and signed a treaty of alliance with Prussia.
Sweden quickly did the same, leaving Frederick with no opponents but the
Austrians. Four months more sufficed to bring his remaining foes to
terms, and by the end of the year 1762 the distracting Seven Years' War
was at an end, the indomitable Frederick remaining in full possession of
Silesia, the great bone of contention in the war. His resolution and
perseverance had raised Prussia to a high position among the kingdoms of
Europe, and laid the foundations of the present empire of Germany.

_THE PATRIOTS OF THE TYROL._

On the 9th of April, 1809, down the river Inn, in the Tyrol, came
floating a series of planks, from whose surface waved little red flags.
What they meant the Bavarian soldiers, who held that mountain land with
a hand of iron, could not conjecture. But what they meant the peasantry
well knew. On the day before peace had ruled throughout the Alps, and no
Bavarian dreamed of war. Those flags were the signal for insurrection,
and on their appearance the brave mountaineers sprang at once to arms
and flew to the defence of the bridges of their country, which the
Bavarians were marc