ke behaved in the most reckless and scornful manner,
refusing with sneers to listen to any remonstrances. They seemed to be
bent on oppressing and impoverishing the country, and drinking the last
drop of its heart's blood! I beheld everywhere the same heart-rending
spectacle that I witnessed at the capital. Every city and fortress has
its systematic tormentor in some governor or commander, distinguished
for arrogance and cruelty. The distress is unutterable, and yet the
people hope for speedy deliverance. The eyes of all are turning with
tears, it is true, but with love and hope, to Memel, the heart of the
Prussian monarchy. All the hopes of your subjects are centred in the
king and the queen; to you they look for alleviation."

"Alas!" exclaimed the queen, bursting into tears, "is there, then, any
way by which we can help them? Oh, name it! What can the king--what can
I do to procure relief for Prussia?"

"The greatest burden at this moment is the presence of the French
troops, and the oppressive conduct of the public officials, who are
openly disregarding all the laws and institutions of the country, and
trampling under foot the most solemn rights. We must make every possible
effort to rid Prussia of these men. To accomplish this, we must, in the
first place, try to find means to pay the first third of the
contribution; and next, to induce Napoleon to grant us better terms for
the payment of the remainder. We must endeavor to induce him to consent
to a gradual liquidation (which would be more in accordance with our
ability), and without insisting on retaining the fortresses as security,
and oppressing us with an army of forty thousand men. In this way our
exhausted treasury would not be required to pay the additional twelve
millions for equipping the French soldiers, and the country would be
preserved from the tyranny of a hostile occupation."

"But you may depend on it, there is no way to soften that heart of
Napoleon," said the queen, sighing. "He is certainly a victorious
warrior, but he is not great in the highest sense--he is not good, for
he knows neither compassion nor love. He has marked out his path in
lines of blood, and he pursues it over the slain of the battle-field and
the ruins of once prosperous and happy nations. Napoleon has no pity,
and our complaints would but gratify his pride."

"And yet we must try to dispose him to comply with our wishes," said
Stein. "The king has resolved upon writing to-d