Upon the abdication of the Prince a separation was arranged between him and his wife. Whilst her son was still a minor and serving in the Prussian army, Princess Marie Louise undertook the government of the country. This Princess preserved her unusually beautiful and graceful appearance to the last. Beloved by her people and children, she knew how to combine a sense of her dignity with great modesty. Wherever her services were required for the good of others she was ready to help with her clear judgment. For two years she presided over the affairs of the country with great circumspection and foresight. In her leisure hours she took great delight in translating the works of French, Italian, and English poets. She rendered Gellert’s odes into French. Many of the hymns she composed are found in hymn-books of that time, and she excelled in music, drawing, and miniature painting. She corresponded diligently with Wieland, and Ernst Moritz Arndt was her friend. Amidst the difficult circumstances of her life of trial, she never lost her calmness and self-control, for her firm faith in the love and mercy of God gave her strength to bear adversity and never to despair. On the 13th of July 1804 she gave up the government of the country to her son. PRINCE AUGUSTUS was very simple in his tastes, just and active, a true German who was impervious to French influence. When the Princes of the south-west of Germany made a league under the protectorate of Napoleon in 1860, Prince Augustus of Wied remained true to his country. He refused to be incorporated in this alliance, which was hostile to the interests of Germany. In consequence of this he was deprived of his sovereignty and became subject to the House of Nassau. Later, when the difficult task of altering the state of things in Germany fell to the Congress of Vienna, it was decreed that the reigning Counts of the Empire should lose their independence. Consequently this fate befell the Princes of Wied also. A large part of their country came under Prussian rule, whilst a small part was given over to the House of Nassau.