¶ In the meantime, Prussia is falling to pieces for lack of the mailed fist. Everything is going to rack and ruin; beloved Prussia repeatedly humiliated by French invaders; and had it not been for noble Queen Louise there might well be no Prussian glory at this hour to record. ¶ Her lovely countenance, wreathed in smiles, is immortalized for us through the art of Joseph Grassi; and is to be seen in the Hohenzollern Museum. The artist depicts her with youthful charm, her fair brow adorned by her slender crown, whose weight, alas, although slight, gave her no rest till death. Her eyes are gentle, and about her face and form is the indefinable touch of ever-present girlishness, never to fade, even in the woman-grown. ¶ It were nearer the truth to say Louise personifies Prussia's ambition to power. ¶ This beautiful woman bore indeed a heavy burden; well she knew the dread and fear of kings and kingly office. ¶ On the one side was the tyrant Napoleon, on the other Fr: Wilhelm, her kingly husband, without an idea outside of cathedral architecture and bishoprics in Jerusalem; yet Louise willed that Prussia should seize the reins of power, shake off the French yoke, and mount the heights of glory. * * * * * ¶ As a foil to the ferocious Bismarck--himself a majestic king-maker--here we reveal to you a true creator of National honor, in the form of a frail, fair woman; showing thus how far the pendulum of Time and Chance often rocks in bringing about political changes. Though poles apart, the brutal Bismarck stands side by side with the lovely Louise; the blood and iron of the man were of no avail without the finesse of the woman. Thus this singular cross-fertilization, compounded of smiles and frowns--the kiss and the lash--the white jeweled hand and the mailed fist in the end makes it possible for humiliated Prussia to rise again--the late harvest of the years bringing the reality of our United Germany. ¶ Bismarck's amazing story we spread before you in detail, but beside that frowning rock we stoop for a moment to pluck the modest violets clinging all unobserved in a gloomy place where the sun seldom comes; these flowers are Louise and their subtle perfume symbolizes the penetrating yet delicate incense of her pathetic life. ¶ Without Louise, our story were soon ended. Otherwise Bismarck himself could not have come into the illustrious pages of history. Noble Prussian queen, heroine of Prussian glory, mother-consoler in the twilight, your gentle spirit hovers like some evening-star, luminous with hope. 17 Napoleon's hated Continental system of domination causes Prussian downfall--The Queen decides to fight back.