eserves our sympathy at this moment;
his courage and firmness have not been shaken by our last disasters; he
was ready to make any sacrifice, because he thought it better to fall
nobly than to live dishonorably. He clung with sincere attachment to
your friend Hardenberg, and just at this moment when all are deserting
him, when he has neither power nor will, he loses this well-tried
friend, who, actuated by his love of the country, and affection for his
master, left him with a grief that deeply moved my heart. At this moment
the eyes of us all are turning toward you, my dear Stein. From you we
hope for consolation, and for forgetfulness of the wrongs which have
removed you from us, and which you will be too generous to remember at a
time when he who insulted you only deserves your sympathy and
assistance. Can you withstand our solicitations? Can you see this
country deserted, and refuse to it the co-operation of those talents
that alone are able to raise us from our prostration? Hardenberg sees no
other hope for his master than in you, and if you are not restored to
us--if you do not yield to the wishes of those yearning for you, what is
to become of our future?

"I admit that to call upon you to share our fortune is to deem you
capable of the greatest disinterestedness; for nothing has ever been
done by you to deserve the conduct formerly manifested toward you; but
your soul is too generous to remember those insults, and I know you too
well not to be sure that you will unhesitatingly come to the assistance
of this unfortunate prince, who for five months possesses just claims to
sympathy. Even at this juncture he maintains his dignity; he has gained
friends and zealous adherents, and appears to me never more estimable
than since these disasters, in which I have seen him assert a courage
and resignation of which I should never have deemed him capable. It
grieved me to see Hardenberg depart; he himself is very sad, and I am
sure that only the hope of restoring you to the service of his master
sustains him. Do not refuse to comply with our request, my dear Stein,
and be not as cruel as that destiny which is taking from us all the
distinguished characters that were able to reconcile us with life and
mankind. I look for your reply with impatience; may it be favorable to
us! It needs no assurance of mine to make you believe in the
affectionate and constant attachment which I have always felt for you.

"LOUISA."

Stein liste