THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 25 



part of Central Europe there is a little land that is now known chiefly 

 for the excellence of its dairy produce, but which, from old Viking 

 days, has played no unimportant part in history. I need scarcely 

 say that I refer to Denmark. In the year 1863 the King of Den- 

 mark ruled not only over what is now Denmark, but also over the 

 two provinces Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg. These lay to the 

 south of the Province of Jutland, thus adjoining German territory ; 

 they were, moreover, the most valuable part of Denmark. The peo- 

 ple of these provinces v/ere very largely German in language and 

 sentiment. They had, in fact, a double allegiance, being connected 

 politically with both Germany and Denmark. This produced such 

 friction between the Danish Government and the pro-German party 

 in the Provinces — a friction increased by various other matters, e. g., 

 the question of the language to be used in the schools — that war 

 broke out in 1864 between Denmark and the Germanic Confedera- 

 tion. "The Germanic Confederation," for; at this time, Germany 

 was a loose league, at the head of which were the two rivals, 

 Prussia and Austria. Following these at a respectful distance 

 were certain kingdoms (Hanover, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Bavaria) 

 and about forty principalities and duchies. The capital was 

 Frankfort-on-the-Main. This war could have but one termina- 

 tion : two millions could not stand ^ against seventy millions. 

 After a heroic struggle Denmark succumbed : the territory in 

 dispute was wrested from her rule. The question now arose : What 

 shall be done with it ? Upon this question Prussia and Austria 

 could not agree. This disagreement and various old differences 

 resulted in the war of 1866. This is sometimes known as "the 

 seven weeks' war," and it ended by the Treaty of Prague. By 

 the terms of that treaty Austria — the lineal successor of the Holy 

 Roman Empire, and, still farther back, of the Empire of the C^sars 

 — was removed from her post as leader in the Germanic Confedera- 

 tion, and Prussia was installed in her stead. The rise of the 

 Kingdom of Prussia from the little duchy of Brandenburg is one of 

 the most important events in history, and shows how a determined 

 and united people, under able rulers, can overcome apparently 

 unsurmountable obstacles. For Prussia /lad had able rulers — the 

 Hohenzollerns ; and, as the founder of her greatness, that Frederick 

 who, in the preceding century, had given her a military system such 



