Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/74

 2oO WORKMEN AND HEROES glistening silver robe she took part in the solemn torch procession round the White Saloon. Then her young husband took her home to their palace in the " Unter den Linden." They were very happy. In the sunshine of his wife's presence the prince's spirit, crushed in childhood by a harsh tutor, soon revived, while Louise, though the darling of the court, was always most content when alone with him. " Thank God ! you are my wife again," he exclaimed, one day, when she had laid aside her jewels. "Am I not always your wife?" she asked, laughingly. " Alas ! no ; too often you can be only the crown princess." Her father-in-law never wearied of showering kindnesses on his " Princess of Princesses." On her eighteenth birthday he asked if she desired anything he could give. " A handful of gold for the Berlin poor," was the prompt petition. " And how large a handful would the birthday child like ? " '* As large as the heart of the kindest of kings." The Castle of Charlottenberg r one of his many gifts to the young pair, prov- ing too splendid for their simple tastes, he bought for them the Manor of Paretz, about two miles from Potsdam. There Louise busied herself with household affairs, while her husband gardened, strolled over his fields, or inspected his farm stock. They played and sang together, or read Shakespeare and Goethe, while to complete this home-life came two baby boys : Fritz, born in October, 1 795, and Friedrich Wilhelm, in March, 1797. Someone once asked Louise if this country existence was not rather dull. " Oh ! no," she exclaimed ; " I am quite happy as the worthy lady of Paretz." But in the late autumn of 1797 the king died, and the quiet freedom of Pa- retz had to be exchanged for the restraints of court life. Little as either of the two desired regal pomp, they played their new parts well. Friedrich Wilhelm, stately in bearing, and acknowledged as the handsomest man in his realm, looked every inch a king ; and if his laconic speech and caustic criticisms sometimes gave offence, the winning gentleness of his beautiful wife more than made amends. Nobles and citizens, statesmen, soldiers, and savants were alike made welcome ; and Louise knew instinctively how to make each show at his best With eager interest she discussed Pestalozzi's ideas with his disciples ; and when Gotloeb Hiller, the poet-son of a miner, was presented to her, she led him aside, and by the friendly ease with which she talked of things familiar to him, speedily banished his shyness. Indeed, ready as she was to recognize high gifts and to learn from all able to teach, yet it was to the obscure and suffering that her tones were most soft and gracious. Even in trifles her thoughtfulness was unfailing. When a count and a shoemaker were announced at the same moment, she gave audience first to the shoemaker. " For time is more valuable to him." At Dantzic she constantly wore an amber necklace, because it had been the gift of the townsfolk. The voice which in childhood had pleaded for the pant- ing footman running beside her grandmother's coach, might still be heard inter- ceding, for when the royal carriage was overturned near Warsaw, and the Oberk