but little for his capital. His
successor, Frederick I., the first _king_ of the Prussians, was
more fortunate. To him the city is indebted for most of its present
features. He was the originator of the Friederichsstadt, the
Friederichsstrasse, the Dorotheenstadt,[2] the continuation of the
Linden to the Thiergarten, the arsenal, and the final shaping of the
old castle. In 1712 the population was 61,000. The wars of Frederick
the Great, brought to a triumphal issue, made Berlin more and more a
centre of trade and industry. To all who could look beyond the clouds
of political controversy and prejudice it was evident that Berlin was
destined to become the leading city of North Germany and the worthy
rival of Vienna. Even the humiliation of Jena and the subsequent
occupation by Napoleon were only transitory. Berlin, not being a
fortified city, was spared at least the misery of a siege. After the
downfall of Napoleon, Prussia and its capital resumed their mission of
absorption and expansion. The "Customs Union" accelerated the pace. In
1862 the population was 480,000; in 1867, 702,437; in 1871, 826,341.
At present it is in excess of Vienna. The Austrian and French wars
have given to its growth an almost feverish impulse.

[Footnote 2: The Friederichsstadt and Dorotheenstadt are those parts
of the town with which the tourist is most familiar as places of
residence and shopping; Coeln is the island on which stand the castle
and the two museums; Old Berlin is the part beyond the Spree.]

A comparison of Berlin and Vienna in their present state will suggest
many reflections. We have seen that they resemble each other in
origin, rate of growth and actual size. In their composition, however,
they differ widely. The population of Berlin is homogeneous, devotedly
attached to the Hohenzollern dynasty, enterprising in trade and
manufactures, thrifty and economical. It spends far less than it
earns. For upward of half a century it has been subjected to the most
careful military and scientific training. Moreover, Berlin is the
geographical and political centre of a thoroughly homogeneous realm.
We cannot afford to encourage any delusions on this point. It has
become of late the fashion among certain French writers and their
imitators to sneer at the Prussians as semi-Slaves, to call them
Borussians, and contrast them with the so-called Germans proper of
Bavaria, Swabia and the Rhine; whereas the fact of ethnography is that
the Pruss