Ombre illustre, ombre chère; âme héroïque et pure; Toi que mes tristes yeux ne cessent de pleurer, Quand la fatale loi de toute la nature Te conduit dans la sepulture, Faut-il te plaindre ou t'admirer? Les vertus, les talents ont été ton partage; Tu vécus, tu mourus en sage; Et, voyant à pas lents avancer le trépas, Tu montras le même courage, Qui fait voler ton frère au milieu des combats. Femme sans préjuges, sans vice et sans molless Tu bannis loin de toi la superstition, Fille de l'imposture et de l'ambition Qui tyrannise la faiblesse. Les langueurs, les tourments, ministres de la mo T'avaient déclaré la guerre; Tu les bravas sans effort, Tu plaignis ceux de la terre. Hélas! si tes conseils avaient pu l'emporter Sur le faux interêt d'une aveugle vengeance Que de torrents de sang on eut vus s'arrêter Quel bonheur, t'aurait dû la France. Ton cher frère aujourd'hui, dans un noble repos, Recueillerait son âme, à soi-même rendue; Le philosophe, le héros, Ne serait affligé que de t'avoir perdue. Sur ta cendre adorée, il jetterait des fleurs Du haut de son char de victoire; Et les mains de la paix, et les mains de la gloire Se joindraient pour sècher ses pleurs. Sa voix célèbrerait ton amitie fidèle, Les échos de Berlin répondraient à ses chants; Ah! j'impose silence à mes tristes accents, Ils n'appartient qu'à lui de te rendre immortelle. While Wilhelmina's devotion to her brother was absorbing and self-sacrificing, her friendship to Voltaire was constant and faithful. And may we not hope that he felt the benefit of a contact with her more than even appears? One of her letters to him contains in a few words a statement of the simple Christian faith that was hers:--"I pity," she says, "your blindness only to believe in one God and to deny Jesus." Frederick had erected in his garden at Sans-Souci a temple in memory of his sister dedicated to "Friendship." Although his life was darkened by her loss, his subsequent victories and final conquest, and the peaceful evening of his life, justified the belief she always had in his greatness and ultimate success. The Margravine had one child only, the Princess Elizabeth Frederike Sophie, who afterwards became Duchess of Wurtemburg. Writing of her, Voltaire says that she was the most beautiful child in Europe, that he should have recognised her without warning, that she had the turn of her mother's face with Frederick's eyes. As this lady died childless the Margravine lives only "in minds made better" by her life; but we cannot doubt that in many ways her influence still lives, and that the intellectual life of Germany owes much to her bright and stimulating example. SUSANNE KOSSUTH MESZLENYI.