the Lord, for
his mercies are great: and let us not fall into the hands of men.' In a
blinding snowstorm and a heavy wind the queen and the delicate prince
travelled for three days along the strand of the Baltic to Memel on the
Russian frontier on their tedious, painful journey to exile, knowing not
whether they would ever return. Hufeland reports in his diary: "The
queen spent the first night in a miserable room with a broken window,
and we found the melting snow was dropping on her bed. We were very much
alarmed on her majesty's account, but she was full of trust and courage,
and the fortitude with which she suffered, gave us strength to act. I
cannot say how thankful we felt when we came within sight of Memel, and
just at that moment the sun burst gloriously through the clouds for the
first time since we had been on this journey, and we hailed it as a
happy augury." In Memel the queen recovered, though living under the
most distressing circumstances.

After the retreat of the French from the frontier the Prussian court
repaired again to Konigsberg; the queen and Madame de Kriidener, the
wife of the Russian ambassador, the religious friend of Czar Alexander,
formed a lasting friendship. They attended frequently to the sick and
wounded in the hospitals, and strengthened their faith in a bright
future, at least for the unhappy country. After their separation, Louisa
wrote to Madame de Kruedener: "I owe a confession to you, my good friend,
which I know you will receive with tears of joy. You have made me better
than I was before. Your truthful words, our conversations on
Christianity, have left an impression on my mind. I have thought with
deeper earnestness upon these things, the existence and value of which I
had indeed felt before, but I had thought lightly of them, rather
guessed at them than felt assured of them. These contemplations brought
me nearer to God, my faith became stronger, so that in the midst of
misfortune I have never been without comfort, never quite unhappy. You
will understand that I can never be perfectly miserable while this
source of purest joy is open to me...." And in spite of the loss of
one-half of her realm, and in spite of all humiliations, joy was indeed
vouchsafed her in the development of her noble children, whom she thus
describes to her father: "Our children are our most precious treasures,
and we look on them with happiness and hope.... Now you have my whole
gallery of family portrai