y-eight years! How little the
youthful, fiery king of that day resembled the weak old man of to-day;
how little in common the young King Frederick had with "Alten Fritz."
And now in this feeble body dwelt the same courageous spirit. In the
course of these years King Frederick II had become Frederick the Great!
And great he was to-day, this little old man--great in his intentions
and achievements, never heeding his own debility and need of repose. All
his thoughts and endeavors concentrated on the welfare of his people and
his country--on the greatness and glory of Germany. Those eyes which now
glanced over the circle of generals were still flashing as those of the
hero-king whose look had disarmed the lurking assassin, and confounded
the distinguished savant in the midst of his eloquence, so that he
stammered and was silent. He was still Frederick the Great, who, leaning
upon his staff, was surrounded by his generals, whom he called to fight
for their fatherland, for Germany!

"Gentlemen," said the king, "I have called you together to announce
to you that we must go forth to new wars, and, God willing, to new
victories. The Emperor of Austria forces me to it, for, against all
laws and customs, and against all rights of kingdoms, he thinks to bring
German territory into the possession of the house of Hapsburg. Charles
Theodore, prince-elector, having no children, has concluded a treaty
with the Emperor Joseph, that at his death the electorate of Bavaria
will fall to Austria. In consequence thereof an Austrian army has
marched into Bavaria, and garrisoned the frontier.--The prince-elector,
Duke Charles Theodore, was not authorized to proceed thus, for, though
he had no children to succeed him, he had a lawful successor in his
brother's son, Duke Charles von Zweibrucken. Electoral Saxony and
Mecklenburg have well-founded pretensions, even if Zweibrucken were
not existing. All these princes have addressed themselves to me, and
requested me to represent them to the emperor and to the imperial
government--to protect them in their injured rights. I have first
tried kindness and persuasion to bring back Austria from her desire
of aggrandizement, but in Vienna they have repulsed every means of
peaceable arbitration. I, as one of the rulers of the empire (and as
I have reaffirmed the Westphalian treaty through the Hubertsburger
treaty), feel bound to preserve the privileges, the rights, the liberty
of the German states. I have th