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Excerpt from Acme Library of Standard Biography Tm: Prussian monarchy, the youngest of the great European States, but in population and in revenue the fifth amongst them, and in art, science, and civilization entitled to the third, if not the second place, sprang from an humble origin. About the beginning of the fifteenth century, the marquisate of Brandenbur was bestowed by the Emperor Sigismund on the noble family of Ho enzollern. In the sixteenth century that family embraced the Lutheran doctrines. Early in the seventeenth century it obtained from the King of Poland the investiture of the duchy of Prussia. Even after this accession of territory. The chiefs of the house of Hohenzollern hardly ranked with the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria. The soil of Brandenburg was, for the most part, sterile. Even around Berlin. The capital of the province. And around Potsdam. The favorite residence of the Mar graves. The country was a desert. In some tracts the deep sand could with difficulty be forced by assiduous tillage to yield thin crops of rye and oats. In other places, the ancient forests, from which the conquerors of the Roman empire had descended on the Danube, re mained untouched b the hand of man. W'here the soil was rich it was generally mars y, and its insalubrit repelled the cultivators whom its fertility attracted. Frederick Villiam, called the Great Elector, was the prince to whose policy his successors have agreed to ascribe their greatness. He acquired b the of festphalia sev eral valuable possessions. And among t ism t 0 rich city and district of Magdeburg and he left to his son Frederick R principality as con siderable as any which was not called a kingdom. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the or