Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia

by L. Mühlbach

  CHAPTER XXXVIII.

  A FAMILY DINNER.

  In the dining-room was William, the younger prince, who hastened to hisparents, and returned the tender salutation of his beautiful mother bycovering her hand with kisses. There were no guests at the royal table;the king preferred to dine _en famille_, and for several days the queenhad ordered the ladies and gentlemen of the court to dine by themselves,and only with the royal family when company was not distasteful to herhusband. The king looked with a smile of content at the small table, onwhich he noticed only four covers, and, conducting his wife to her seat,he said, with a grateful glance, "You have anticipated my most secretwishes, Louisa; I like, above all, to dine alone with my family. Guestsand strange faces always bring etiquette with them, and that renders ourrepasts formal and unpleasant. Thanks, Louisa!"

  It was a very frugal meal, hardly suitable to a royal dinner-table.Frederick William and the queen, however, contentedly partook of theplain, wholesome food; and, gayly chatting, they did not seem to noticethat the dinner was served up in common china dishes, and that theplates before them were of the same cheap material. Prince William atewith the appetite of a healthy little boy; the crown prince, however,who was twelve years old, did not seem to relish his food. He haddisposed of his soup, although he thought it weak and not well flavored,supposing the other courses would be more to his taste. But when it wassucceeded by roast meat and cabbage, he made a wry face, and handled hisfork very daintily.

  "I suppose you do not like cabbage?" asked the king, who had noticed thereluctant appetite of the crown prince.

  "No, your majesty," said the prince, smiling, "there are dishes that Ilike better, although I know it to be a very respectable one, with whichthe French just now are made acquainted. I will leave the_shucrout_[37] to them, and console myself in the mean time withthinking of two things--of the entremets now, and of my birthdayto-morrow."

  [Footnote 37: French pronunciation of sour-crout.]

  "I suppose you entertain a good many wishes in regard to your birthday?"asked the king, putting more cabbage on his own plate. "Tell me, Fred,what is it you wish?"

  "Above all, that my gracious father and my dear mother may continue tolove me," said the crown prince, glancing at the queen, who nodded tohim. "But, besides, I have a few other wishes. In the first place, Iwould like to have a nice horse with handsome new saddle and bridle, andI would like to be allowed to take frequent rides with my parents, butalways at a gallop--at a full gallop!"

  "But, Fred, that would be bad for you, considering that you are not yeta skilful horseman," exclaimed the queen, laughing.

  "Well, then," said the prince, gravely, "I wish for another birthdaypresent, that I may become a skilful horseman without learning, for thatis a very unpleasant and slow affair, as I found it out again to-day,when, in skating, I wanted to imitate my teacher in describing a circleon the ice, and only succeeded in falling on my nose!"

  "Every thing in the world has to be learned," said the king, "andalthough you may at first fall, you learn thereby to stand the firmerafterward, and to keep your head erect. But have you told us all yourbirthday wishes, or are there any more?"

  "Oh, there are a great many yet, your majesty," exclaimed the prince,laughing. "If I could sow all my great and small wishes, like thedragon's teeth of Cadmus, I would be at the head of a very prettyregiment of soldiers to-morrow."

  "It is strange how many desires young folks have nowadays," said theking, thoughtfully. "That boy, although he is but twelve years old,wishes to have a saddle-horse as a birthday present, and in times sohard as these! When I was as old as you, there were golden times inPrussia, and yet I did not receive many presents on my birthday.Sometimes I had to be content with nothing but a small flower-pot, wortha few shillings, and if my instructor wished to be particularly kind tome he took me to a public garden, and treated me to one, or, at thebest, two silver groschens' worth of cherries."

  "Oh," said the queen, with tearful eyes, "it makes my heart ache when Ithink of the cheerless youth of your good and noble father, and of thesufferings he had to undergo under his harsh instructor."

  "It is true, Counsellor Benisch was a rigorous and harsh man," said theking; "he treated me very roughly, often wreaked his ill-humor upon me,and thought he ought to rob me entirely of my youthful pleasures. He didnot do so because he was a bad man, but because he believed it to be thebest system of education. And then it produced good fruits. I learnedearly to bear disagreeable things, and uncomplainingly to do withoutagreeable ones; thus I succeeded in submitting to a great deal thatseemed intolerably burdensome to others. When I was a boy, it was aholiday for me, for instance, when the entremets at dinner consisted ofomelet, while I see that our Prince Fred is no better satisfied withthat than with the cabbage."

  "Your majesty is right; I do not like either," said the crown prince,"and it was in vain that I consoled myself with the hope that there wassomething more to my taste."

  "What?" exclaimed the queen, smiling. "You do not like omelet? If youare a true son of mine, it must become a favorite dish, for when I wasyour age, I greatly liked it; and if you will now eat a good plate ofit, I will tell you a story about omelet and salad."

  "Oh, mamma, just see, I have liberally supplied my plate; I am,therefore, entitled to the story," exclaimed the crown prince.

  "I will tell the story if the king will permit me," said the queen,looking at her husband.

  "The king requests you to do so," said Frederick William, noddingpleasantly. "I wish to hear your story, Louisa; you always know new andvery pretty ones; your memory is really a little treasury!"

  "It is not a very interesting story, after all," said the queen,thoughtfully, "except to myself as a youthful reminiscence.--I had gonewith my father and my brother George to Frankfort-on-the-Main to witnessthe coronation of the Emperor Leopold. I remember but little of thefestivities, for at that time I was only fourteen years old, and thepompous ceremonies, together with the deafening shouts of the populace(who cheered the roast ox, larded with rabbits, no less enthusiasticallythan the German emperor), were indescribably tedious to me."

  "Dear mamma," exclaimed the crown prince, "possibly the people may havetaken the roast ox for the German emperor."

  "Possibly my witty son may be right," said the queen, "and the peoplemay have rejoiced in so boisterous a manner because they were betterpleased with the roast ox than with the emperor himself. The ceremonieslasted too long for me, and as all eyes were fixed on the emperor, andno one paid any attention to the daughter of a younger son ofMecklenburg, I softly slipped from the gallery of the princes, beckonedto my sister Frederica, and, followed by our governess, dear MadameGelieux, we left the Roemer, and entered our carriage, which made butslow headway through the dense crowd, but finally conveyed us to a morequiet street. We intended to do homage to some one else--to pay ourrespects to the king of literature. We desired to make a pilgrimage tothe place where the greatest poet of Germany was born, and visit thedear lady his mother, Mde. Counsellor Goethe.

  "Our heart was transported with gladness when the carriage halted infront of the door, and a handsome face, with dark, brilliant eyes,appeared at the window, and nodded to us very cordially. We were oldfriends and acquaintances, and, therefore, did not beg leave to enter,but hastened directly into the sitting-room. Madame Goethe met us with akind salutation, and made a sign to the servant-girl to remove the tablestanding in the middle of the room. But we saw that the dish was stillfilled, and that Madame Goethe, after returning from the coronation, wasabout to take dinner.

  "'Madame Goethe,' we exclaimed, 'if you do not have your dinnerimmediately served up, we shall leave at once, and will never believeagain that you are our friend, and that we are your children, as youalways call us. If you will eat, and permit us to be present, we willremain; but if you persist in receiving us ceremoniously as princesses,and in having the dinner removed, we must go.' 'Good heavens,' exclaimedthe good lady, in surprise, 'I will comply with the wishes of the
littleprincesses, and eat if they insist on it. I am only ashamed of my dinnerto-day, for I have permitted the cook to go to the coronation, and shehas not yet returned. The chambermaid, therefore, prepared some food forme; it is so plain, however, that I cannot invite you to partake ofit.'--'Oh, we do not want to eat, but only to sit with you,' exclaimedFrederica and I; we then took the arms of the old lady and conducted herto the table. She sighed, but yielded to our solicitations. We sat downopposite her, and Madame Gelieux took a seat close to us in thewindow-niche. Madame Goethe quickly ate her soup, and rang the bell forthe servant to bring the second course. When she appeared and placedtwo dishes on the table, madame became greatly embarrassed. 'That is adinner,' she said, 'that ought to be ashamed of showing its mean face inthe presence of two little princesses so beautiful, and dressed inbrocade! Why, it is nothing but an omelet and a salad.' And she then cutoff a small piece of the omelet and put it among the green leaves of thesalad. We looked on, and the dish seemed by far more desirable to usthan the imperial ox. In spite of our brocade dresses, we were not atall ashamed of having a strong appetite. I looked at my sisterFrederica, and she looked at me, and then both of us looked at theomelet, and at our governess. Finally, I was unable to resist thetemptation any longer, and said, timidly, 'Madame Goethe, pray let mealso have a little.' 'Ah, yes, dear madame,' said my sister, 'give ussome.'"

  The two princesses interrupted the queen's narrative by loud laughter,and the king himself joined gayly in it.

  "That was right, mamma," exclaimed the crown prince. "Your story hasgiven me an excellent appetite for omelet, and I have eaten all on myplate."

  "That is just what I intended," said the queen, smiling.

  "But what is the end of the story?" asked the crown prince. "Did MadameGoethe give you some? I hope she complied with the request of the Queenof Prussia."

  "I was not yet Queen of Prussia, my son," said Louisa, with a slightexpression of melancholy; "but even queens beg sometimes in vain. Then,however, I did not. The kind old lady cheerfully consented, and it wasof no avail that Madame Gelieux admonished us not to deprive MadameGoethe of her dinner, and not to eat at so unusual an hour. We moved ourchairs to the table; Madame Goethe laid two covers for us, and,notwithstanding the brocade dresses, and the coronation of the emperor,the two princesses of Mecklenburg commenced partaking of the omelet andsalad with the strong appetite of peasant girls. Madame Goethe looked atus with a smile; our governess, however, frowningly. But only aftereating all before us did we look up and see the kind countenance ofMadame Goethe, and the angry air of Madame Gelieux. The dish had greatlyincreased our courage; instead of being afraid of the governess, we onlylooked at the face of the dear old lady, and when she said, 'Now I wishI had some good dessert for my two little princesses,' I exclaimedquickly, 'I know something that I would like to have for dessert!'

  "'I know it also!' exclaimed sister Frederica, 'we have already beenwishing for it for a whole week.' 'Well, what is it?' asked MadameGoethe. 'Tell me what you wish, and I pledge you my word your wish shallbe fulfilled, if it is at all in my power.' 'Dear Madame Goethe,' Iexclaimed, imploringly, 'a week ago we saw your servant-girl pumpingwater at the well, and we have ever since been longing to pump waterjust once!' 'Yes, to pump water just once, but to our heart's content,'begged sister Frederica. 'You shall do so!' exclaimed Madame Goethe,laughing merrily, 'come, we will go to the well in the yard; there youmay pump.' 'No, _mesdames_, that is impossible,' exclaimed thegoverness, approaching in her dignity, and placing herself withoutspread arms in front of the door, 'never shall I consent to sounseemly a proceeding.' 'Unseemly!' exclaimed Madame Goethe,indignantly. 'Why should it be unseemly for the dear little princessesto move their arms like other children, and to draw up the freshspring-water? It is an innocent pleasure, and they shall have it as sureas I am Goethe's mother. Come, I will conduct you to the well.' And shewalked proudly across the room to the small door opposite. Weaccompanied her, and slipped out, Madame Goethe following us. WhenGelieux exclaimed she would never permit us to pump water, and would, ifneed be, use force to prevent us from doing so, Madame Goethe shoutedangrily: 'I should like to see the person that would deprive the littleprincesses of such a pleasure, which they can enjoy only at my house!'And just as the governess had reached the door, Madame Goethe closed andbolted it. And we, naughty children, went to the well and pumped wateruntil our arms were quite weak and tired. That is my story of the omeletand salad, and the pumping for dessert," said the queen, concluding hernarrative, and bowing with a sweet smile to her husband.

  The king nodded pleasantly to her. "I would I were a painter!" he said;"I should paint the scene where both of you are sitting at the roundtable and eating, while Madame Goethe is looking kindly on, and yourgoverness with an angry frown. It would be a pretty picture, I shouldthink."

  "And I, although no painter, will draw the other picture," exclaimed thecrown prince; "oh, I see it distinctly before me. A fine old tree in alarge yard; under the tree a well, and the two princesses pumping.Madame Goethe in her old-fashioned dress, and at the open window of theside-building the angry face of the governess. Oh, as his majesty says,it will certainly be a pretty picture, and if my mother will graciouslypermit, I shall present it to her as a proof of my gratitude for herbeautiful story."

  "Dear, dear mamma," exclaimed Prince William, "if you know anotherstory about an omelet, pray tell it to us, and I will then also try topaint the scene for you like Fred."

  "See, Louisa, what you have done," said the king, laughing. "They areanxious to hear your stories, and will, perhaps, become great painters,if you tell them more about omelets."

  "That will unfortunately not happen, my husband," said the queen,smiling, "for I do not know any other stories. It is true," she added,musingly, "I remember another omelet that caused me a great deal ofpleasure."

  "Where was it, dearest, dearest mamma? Oh, pray tell us," exclaimed thecrown prince.

  "Pray tell us, mamma," begged little Prince William; "be so gracious asto tell us a story for my picture!"

  Louisa looked at her husband. The king nodded. "Your last story was soappetizing," he said, gayly, "that I am quite ready to have another."

  "I ate this second omelet during our journey to East Prussia, where theestates of the province were to take the oath of allegiance. Oh, mybeloved children, that was a splendid journey. The whole world wasspread out before me like a bright summer day; everywhere I heardnothing but greetings of love. Everywhere addresses and banquets!festoons, pealing bells, children and young ladies strewing flowers! Andour good people did not receive us in so festive a manner throughcompulsion, or in accordance with an old custom, but because theirhearts impelled them; for they had already perceived that the youngking, your noble father, would also be their benefactor; they loved andworshipped their king, and, in their kindness, transferred part of theirlove and veneration to myself. We had already passed through Stargard;the king had preceded me to Coeslin, and I was following him. At noon Iarrived in a large village at no great distance from Coeslin. All thepeasants and peasant-women came to meet me, dressed in their holidayattire, and the supervisor of the village, to whose hat a large bouquethad been fastened, stepped up to the carriage to deliver an address tome. It contained but a few artless words; the kind-hearted man beggedme, in the name of the people, to do their village the honor to alight,and partake of some refreshment, for they desired to entertain the"mother of the country," that the inhabitants of the cities might notdeem this an exclusive privilege. You may imagine that I allowed thegentleman to conduct me to the farm-house where the entertainment hadbeen prepared. The cloth was laid on a round table in the smallsitting-room, and a huge omelet lay in a large pewter dish. I laughed,and, to the great delight of the peasants looking through the openwindows into the room, ate a large piece, while the girls outside sangwith the voices of larks."

  "And the omelet constituted the whole entertainment?" asked the crownprince, laughing.

  "Oh, no, my little epicure;
there was also a dessert: bread, and freshbutter wrapped in green leaves, and more fragrant than we ever have it."

  "That is a good dessert," exclaimed the prince. "It seems to me theentertainment was not so bad, and--"

  At this moment the door opened. High-Chamberlain von Schiaden enteredand approached the king. "Pardon me, sire, for venturing to disturbyou," he said. "A peasant and a peasant-woman have just arrived. Theyask urgently and imploringly to see your majesty; and, on being toldthat you were at dinner, the woman insisted only the more to be at onceadmitted to her majesty, for she had brought her something necessary toa good dinner. I confess, the bearing of these persons is so simple andkind-hearted that I ventured to disturb you, even at the risk of beingrebuked for it."

  "Where do they come from?" asked the king, musingly.

  "From the lowlands of the Vistula, near Culm, sire, and it seems to methey belong to the sect of the Mennonites, for they never take off theirhats, and address everybody with 'thee.'--These patriotic persons haveperformed their journey on foot, and say that their eyes have known noslumber, and their feet no rest, since they left their village in orderto see the king and queen."

  "Oh, my husband," exclaimed the queen, "pray do not make them wait anylonger. They come hither to manifest their love for us, and love mustnever be kept waiting in the anteroom."

  "That is not my intention," said the king, smiling. "We will admit themat once. Come, Lousia, let us go to your sitting-room, and M. vonSchladen will be so kind as to conduct them thither." He offered his armto Louisa, she wrapped herself more closely in the Turkish shawl thatcovered her shoulders, and, taking leave of the two princes with atender smile, repaired with the king to her own room.

  A few minutes afterward the door opened, and M. von Schladen ushered inAbraham Nickel and his wife. The queen sat on a sofa; and the king,supporting his hand on the back of it, stood by her side. Both of themsaluted the peasants, who approached slowly, and who, in their simple,neat costume, with their pleasant, healthy faces, which betrayed noembarrassment whatever, made a very agreeable impression. The womancarried on her arm a basket carefully covered with green leaves. The manheld in his right hand a small gray bag, which seemed to be heavy. Bothsaluted the royal couple very reverentially--the woman making a deepcourtesy, and the man bowing, without, however, taking off hisbroad-brimmed hat.

  "I suppose thee to be the king, our good sovereign," said the peasant,fixing his fine lustrous eyes on the king's countenance.

  "I am the king," said Frederick William, kindly.

  "And I see by thy beautiful face," exclaimed the woman, pointing withher hand at Louisa, "thee is the queen, the dear mother of ourcountry--Louisa, whom all love--for whom we are always praying, and whomwe are teaching our children to love and pray for."

  "I thank you, kind folks," exclaimed the queen, feelingly, "I thank you.Yes, pray for me, and above all, pray for Prussia; pray that she may besaved and protected, for when Prussia is happy I am."

  "Prussia will be happy again, and the Lord will not forsake her!"exclaimed the woman. "All of us hope for it, and we wandered hither tobring to our beloved king and queen the greetings of their faithfulsubjects in the lowlands of Culm, and to tell their majesties that weare praying day and night that God may drive the French from thecountry, and render our king and queen again powerful. But with yourleave we should like to give you a small proof of our regard in thepresents we have brought."

  The king nodded his consent, while the queen smiled and said: "What yougive us with loving hearts we will accept with loving hearts."

  "What I have brought is but little," said the woman. "But I have beentold that our gracious queen likes to eat good fresh butter, and thatthe young princes and princesses are also fond of sandwiches; now," sheadded, removing the leaves from the basket, "this butter is clean andgood; I churned it myself in my dairy, and as the article is so veryscarce at present, I thought it would be acceptable, and the graciousqueen would not spurn my humble gift. Thee looks so kind-hearted andgood, dear queen, and I am glad to see thee face to face, and shall bedoubly so if thee will be so kind as to accept my butter."

  "I accept it joyfully," exclaimed the queen, taking the basket which thewoman presented to her. "I thank you for your nice present, my dearwoman, and I myself will put some of it to-day on the sandwiches of mysons, who shall eat them in honor of good Mde. Nickel."

  "And now I should like to beg leave to present a small gift to theking," said the peasant. "I--"

  "Ah, I guess what it is," exclaimed the king, merrily. "You bring me afine cheese to be eaten with the fresh butter."

  "No, most gracious king. Thy loyal Mennonite subjects in the province ofPrussia have learned with the most profound grief how great the distressis which God has inflicted upon thee, thy house, and thy states. We havelearned that the funds of thy military chest are entirelyexhausted--that the French have put them into their pockets. All thisaffected us most painfully, and we thought thee might sometimes even beout of pocket-money. All the men, women, and children of our community,therefore, looked into their saving-Boxes, and contributed joyfully themite that is to manifest the love we entertain for our king. And here isthe money we have collected, good king, and I would urgently entreatthee in the name of our community graciously to accept the trifleoffered thee by thy faithful Mennonite subjects, who will never cease tolove and pray for thee."

  "No," exclaimed the king, in a tremulous voice, his face quivering withprofound emotion, "no, I am not poor so long as I have still subjects sogood and loyal as you are!" And he offered his hand with a gratefullook.

  The queen had listened to these words with increasing emotion; herbeautiful countenance was beaming with joy; her eyes were lifted toheaven, and her lips seemed to whisper a prayer of gratitude. When theking cordially shook hands with the Mennonite, the queen, overcome byher feelings, burst into tears--tears such as she had not shed for along while. She took the costly Turkish shawl from her shoulders andthrew it around the surprised woman.

  "Keep it in memory of this interview," whispered the queen, in a voicechoked by tears.

  "Thee permits me, kind king, to give thee our little savings, and toplace them on this table?" asked Abraham Nickel.

  "I do," said the king. The peasant stepped to the table. Afterdeliberately untying the string of the gray linen bag, he turned itupside down, and poured out the contents. The queen uttered anexclamation of surprise, and the king himself was unable to suppress hisastonishment; for gold-piece after gold-piece rolled from the bag andfell ringing in a bright pile on the table. "Well, indeed," said theking, "my people of the Vistula have good things in their saving-boxes."

  "There are three thousand louis-d'or, dear king," said Abraham Nickel."Unfortunately, this is all, although we ardently desired to make you abetter present."

  "Three thousand louis-d'or are too much," replied the king, "and Icannot accept the sum as a mere gift. Accept my thanks, and rest assuredthat I shall ever gratefully remember your kindness. I will, however,accept it as a present now, but at a later day, when times are moreprosperous, it must be considered as a loan, which I shall repay withinterest. Accept a receipt, my friend, and tell the elders of yourcommunity to preserve it carefully, that I may redeem it."[38]

  [Footnote 38: The king did not forget his promise. In 1816, when thefatherland had been delivered, he requested the authorities ofMariemverder to give him information about Abraham Nickel. It wasascertained that the poor man, owing to the calamities of war, had losthis whole property, his buildings having been burned down by the enemy.The king had them rebuilt in a much better style than before, gave himample means to start again, and redeemed the due-bill he had given tothe Mennonites.--Vide Hippel's work on Frederick William III., vol. iii,p. 391.]

  "The king's will be done," said Nickel. "If times remain as they arenow, thy receipt, dear king, shall be preserved in our community as asacred token of thy love. But when affairs are better, then thee may doas thee pleases, and we will gladly perm
it our king to fill again thesaving-boxes of his people."

  "There will be better times for Prussia," said the king, solemnly, "forI hope in God and in my countrymen. I hope that we shall have strengthto outlive these evil days, and to be worthy of the prosperity to come.Prussia is not lost; she cannot be, for her people and her king areunited in lore and fealty, and that is the source of heroic deeds. Godsave Prussia!"

  "God save Prussia!" exclaimed the queen, raising her tearful eyes andclasped hands.

  "God save Prussia!" whispered the peasant and his wife, bowing theirheads in silent prayer.

  BOOK V.