¶ In the wearisome stretch of time till that distant day of German glory, Prussia henceforth becomes Germany--in spirit--in moody thoughtfulness--in stubborn determination--yes, under God, by blood and iron! There float before us many noble names, poets, prophets, soldiers who aid in stimulating "German national faith"--Fichte, Arndt, Kleist, Roon, Moltke, Scharnhorst, Humboldt--and in the historical twilight big with mutterings and rumblings of the New Time to come with all its glory, taking the place of the Prussian ruin between 1806 and 1813, is Queen Louise, her gentle spirit a veritable evening-star, luminous with hope. * * * * * ¶ By 1813, Fr: William III had been induced by the pressure of public opinion to join Russia to fight off the French. May 17, 1813, William's famous decree, "To My People!" called for help to expel invaders, thereby to recover Prussian independence; and Napoleon was totally defeated in the tremendous battle of Leipzig, October 16-19, or "Battle of the Nations," as the Germans call Prussia's return to power and glory. ¶ It was this patriotic appeal "To My People," that made William's troubles; the Prussian Liberals felt that the Government owed the people a Liberal political Constitution, in return for Leipzig. ¶ His Majesty grabbed on it, twice, and was at his wit's end to know how to keep his crown and his declaration of friendship for the people. In the meantime, twenty-three minor German states having adopted constitutions, more or less liberal, the growing demands of the common people for a share in Prussian government could be no longer denied. 19 Kingcraft comes upon evil days--in the rising tide of liberal ideas, monarchies of old are all but swept away. ¶ When the Napoleonic dynasty collapsed, after Waterloo, there were 39 petty principalities in the German-speaking area grouped about Rhein, the Main, Neckar, Elbe; these knights' holdings, ecclesiastical strongholds, and domains of various descriptions became merged by cross-fighting throughout the Napoleonic era. ¶ The Congress of Vienna (1815) deeming it advisable to set up a loose confederacy of the multitude of petty powers, founded a German Confederation, but whether it was geographical, racial or political no human being could say. The local German princes kept full sovereign powers, but gradually, as a matter of expediency, the various states grouped themselves around Prussia and Austria. As for the Nation, there was no German sovereign, no supreme court, no commercial or political relationship worthy of the name. Instead, on every hand was intense local hatred, aloofness and suspicion. This condition continued for very many years.