Princess, who soon
arrived. The Princess Charles was also there, and the Crown Prince
himself soon afterwards entered. I could not but long for a
painter's eye to have carried away the scene. All of us seated in
that beautiful room, our aunt in the middle of the sofa, the Crown
Prince and Princess and the Princess Charles on her right; the
Princess William, the Princess Marie, and the Princess Czartoryski
on the left; Count Groeben sitting near her to interpret, the
Countesses Boehlem and Dernath by her. I was sitting by the Countess
Schlieffen, a delightful person, who is much interested in all our
proceedings. A table was placed before our aunt, with pens, ink,
and paper, like other committees, with the various rules our aunt
and I had drawn up, and the Countess Boehlem had translated into
German, and which she read to the assembly. After that my aunt gave
a concise account of the societies in England, commencing every
fresh sentence with "If the Prince and Princesses will permit."
When business was over, my aunt mentioned some texts, which she
asked leave to read. A German Bible was handed to Count Groeben, the
text in Isaiah having been pointed out that our good aunt had
wished for, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen," etc. The
Count read it, after which our aunt said, "Will the Prince and
Princesses allow a short time for prayer?" They all bowed assent
and stood, while she knelt down and offered one of her touching,
heart-felt prayers for them--that a blessing might rest on the
whole place, from the King on his throne to the poor prisoner in
the dungeon; and she prayed especially for the royal family; then
for the ladies, that the works of their hands might be prospered in
what they had undertaken to perform. Many of the ladies now
withdrew, and we were soon left with the royal family. They all
invited us to see them again, before we left Berlin, and took leave
of us in the kindest manner.

One result of the reception accorded Mrs. Fry by royalty was the
amelioration of the condition of the Lutherans. It came about in this
way: in the course of her inquiries and intercourse among the people of
the Prussian dominions, she discovered that adherents to the Lutheran
Church were subject to much petty persecution on behalf of their faith.
True they were not dealt with