[Born at Berlin, 1726. Died at Rheinsberg, in Prussia, 1802. Aged 76.]
The son of Frederic William I., of Prussia, and brother of Frederic the Great. A student in his youth, and a distinguished soldier in his manhood. He held important command during the Seven Years’ War. In later life, when he withdrew into retirement, he erected in his garden a monument on a huge mound of earth. It was raised in memory of his companions in arms, and underneath, it, in a vault, he directed that his own remains should be interred.
[By Emil Wolff. Marble. 1847. It was modelled at Rome. The original is in the Palace at Berlin.]
378. Maximilian Joseph I. King of Bavaria.
[Born 1756. Died 1825. Aged 69.]
From 1799, Elector, and from 1806, King of Bavaria. The year that he saw his Duchy raised to the dignity of a kingdom, Maximilian, who for some years was the faithful ally of Napoleon, gave his daughter in marriage to Eugène Beauharnois. In 1813, the Bavarian king, acting in the true interests of his country and of humanity, joined the allies against France, and helped with them to rescue Germany from the fangs of the French invader. In public as well as private life, Maximilian was courteous, benevolent, simple-minded, and true-hearted.
[By Stiglmayer. In marble. It is in the Palace at Munich. Stiglmayer was for a long time at the head of the Royal Foundry for bronze casting.]
379. Frederic William III. King of Prussia.
[Born 1770. Died 1840, aged 70.]
The grand nephew of Frederic the Great. He succeeded to the throne in 1797, and, in 1806, was involved in a war with France, which, before its close, almost extinguished his kingdom. The peace of Tilsit, in 1807, left him little more than a nominal sovereignty. In 1810, he founded the University of Berlin; in 1812, took part with France against Russia; and in 1813, again declared war against France. His army shared in the triumphal entry into Paris in 1814; and in 1815, his soldiers under Blucher partook of the glory of Waterloo at the crisis of the battle. A man of domestic virtues, but of small capacity. Napoleon’s judgment of this King was somewhat harsh. “He is,” said Buonaparte, “the greatest idiot on the face of the earth—without intelligence, and incapable of sustaining a conversation for the space of five minutes—a true Don Quixote.” The present King of Prussia is the son of Frederic William III.