"The nucleus of the present kingdom of Prussia was the margraviate of Brandenburg, of which Berlin is near the centre. By the extinction of the family of its ruler, it was inherited by Sigismond, Emperor of Germany, who sold it to Frederick VI., Burgrave of Nuremburg, in 1417. He was of the house of Hohenzollern, from which the present King of Prussia is descended, and with the territory the electoral dignity was conferred upon him. His successors ruled the electorate for over two hundred years, one of whom signed the protest at Spires, from which the Protestants obtained their name.
"Poland held Prussia after it had conquered the Teutonic Knights, and in 1525 gave the sovereignty of the country to Albert of Brandenburg; but it was not till 1656 that Prussia was declared independent by treaty. In 1618 John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, acquired the Duchy of Prussia, in the right of his wife, who was the daughter of Duke Albert II. By the Thirty Years' War the united country was reduced to misery and desolation, when, in 1640, Frederick William, commonly called the Great Elector, succeeded to the government. He annexed considerable territory to his dominion, and added greatly to its power and influence. His son Frederick, the third elector of that name, by the consent of Leopold, Emperor of Germany, obtained by a bribe, tendered through the imperial confessor, raised his domain into a kingdom, and placed the crown upon his own head at Königsberg, in 1701, taking the title of Frederick I. This was the origin of the kingdom of Prussia. Frederick I. extended his domain, which has been the policy of all his successors. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick William I., who reigned twenty-seven years, and left a well-disciplined army, and six millions of dollars in cash in the treasury, to enable his son Frederick II. to commence business. This son was the renowned Frederick the Great. He used his capital stock to the best advantage for himself, wrested Silesia from Austria, and took part in the partition of Poland. He reigned forty-six years, and at his death had increased his territory from forty-eight thousand to seventy-seven thousand square miles.
"Prussia now ranked as one of the great powers of Europe. Frederick the Great left for his successor an army of two hundred and twenty thousand men, and treasure to the value of fifty million dollars. He was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II., in 1786, who added forty thousand square miles to his kingdom by engaging in the second and third partitions of Poland. In 1797 he was followed by his son Frederick William III., who was the father of the present King of Prussia. He lacked the decision necessary to carry his kingdom safely through the troubles of his time. His armies were defeated by Napoleon, and for six years the conqueror held him in subjection, and deprived him of half his domain. The Prussian soldiers under Blucher, however, took an important part in the overthrow of the Emperor of the French, and in the Congress of Vienna, when the affairs of Europe were readjusted, his territory was restored, and even increased, so that the kingdom, at his death, consisted of one hundred and seven thousand square miles. In 1840 he was followed by his son Frederick William IV. In 1848 an insurrection broke out in Berlin, the result of which was a considerable modification of the absolutism of the government. A constitution was adopted, and repeatedly altered and amended. But the king had the best of it in the end, and Prussia was finally pacified. In 1857 the king was attacked by disease of the mind, and his brother William became regent, and in 1861 succeeded him as king, under the title of William I. He is decidedly absolute in his tendencies, and claims to hold his crown by the grace of God, and not by the will of the people.