Excerpt from The Portfolio Collection, Vol. 4: A Collection of State Papers, and Other Instruments and Correspondence, Historical, Diplomatic, and Commerical It had ever been the policy of England, consecrated by experi ence, to ally herself firmly with that power in Germany most interested in preserving the independence Of the separate states in that empire. We allied ourselves with the Empress Queen to preserve her rights against a formidable confederacy. In the seven years war, we lent our efleetive assistance to Frederick the Great, when asserting the liberties Of Germany in opposition to a formidable league to partition the Prussian monarchy. The power which was most capable Of maintaining the independence of the German states, when not engaged in aggressive schemes herself, was Austria. 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 original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.