Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia

  CHAPTER XV.

  THE VICTORIA OF THE BRANDENBURG GATE.

  Without waiting for further permission to withdraw, the prince hastilyopened the door and went out. For a moment he sat down in the anteroom,for his feet were trembling so as to be scarcely able to support him,and such a pallor overspread his cheeks that Colonel Gerard, who hadbeen waiting, hastened to him in dismay, and asked whether he wouldpermit him to call a physician. Prince Augustus smilingly shook hishead. "The physician of whom I stand in need is in my mother's kitchen,"he said, "and your emperor has permitted me to seek him." Just then thegrand marshal entered the room, and, making a sign to Gerard, whispereda few words into his ear.

  "Your royal highness is delivered from the burden of my company," saidthe colonel to the prince when Duroc had withdrawn. "Permit me, however,to conduct you to the carriage that is to convey you to the palace ofPrince Ferdinand."

  In the court-yard below, an imperial carriage was waiting, and ColonelGerard himself hastened to open the door to assist the prince inentering. But the latter waved his hand deprecatingly, and stepped back."I am unworthy of entering the imperial carriage," he said. "See, eventhe coachman, in his livery, looks elegant compared with me; and allBerlin would laugh, if it should see me ride in the emperor'smagnificent coach. Let me, therefore, walk off quite humbly and modestlyand enter the first conveyance I meet. Farewell, colonel, and accept mythanks for the great attention and kindness you have manifested towardme."

  The prince kindly shook hands with him and then hastily walked acrossthe court-yard of the palace toward the place in front of it--theso-called _Lustgarten_. He crossed this place and the wide bridge, builtacross an arm of the Spree, without meeting with any vehicle. But thefresh air, and the sense that he was free, agreed with him so well thathe felt strong enough to proceed on foot to his father's palace.

  "No one recognizes me in this miserable costume," he said, smiling--"nonotice will be taken of me, and I will be able to reach my home withoutbeing detained." And he walked vigorously across the Opera Place towardthe Linden. This neighborhood, generally so lively and frequented, wasstrangely deserted--no promenaders--none of the contented and happyfaces, formerly to be met with on the Opera Place and under the Linden,were to be seen to-day. Only a few old women were mournfully creepingalong here and there; and, when the prince passed the guard-house, hesaw French soldiers standing in the front, who looked arrogantly andscornfully at the Prussian officer, and did not think of saluting him.

  "Ah, my brother," muttered Prince Augustus to himself, "your prophecyhas been quickly fulfilled! The drums are no longer beaten when we rideout of the gate and pass the guard-house. Well, I do not care. I wouldgladly do without such honors, if Prussia herself only werehonored--if--" A noise, proceeding from the lower end of the Linden,interrupted his soliloquy. He advanced more rapidly to see what wasgoing on. The shouts drew nearer and nearer, and a dark, surging crowdwas hastening from the entrance of the Linden through the BrandenburgGate. Soon the prince was able to discern more distinctly the characterof the multitude approaching. They were French soldiers, marching up thestreet, and on the sidewalk, as well as in the middle of the Linden; thepeople and the citizens belonging to the national guard accompanyingthem--the latter in the brilliant uniform which they had put on with theconsent of the French authorities, who, now that there were no Prussiantroops in Berlin, had permitted them to mount guard together with theFrench. But the people and the national guard did not accompany theFrench soldiers quietly; on the contrary, the bewildered princedistinctly heard the sneers, the derisive laughter, and jeers of thecrowd; even the boys in the tree-tops were casting down their abusiveepithets. When the procession drew nearer, and the people surrounded theprince, he discovered the meaning of these outbursts of scorn andderision.

  A strange and mournful procession was moving along in the midst of thesplendidly uniformed French soldiers. It consisted of the capturedofficers of the Prussian guard, who had been obliged to walk fromPrenzlau to Berlin, and whom the French grenadiers had received outsideof the city limits and escorted by the walls to the Brandenburg Gate, sothat, in accordance with the emperor's orders, they might make theirentry through that way. Two months before, they had marched out of thesame gate in full uniform, proud and arrogant, looking downsuperciliously on the civilians, whose humble greetings they scarcelycondescended to return. Two months before, General von Ruechel had beenable to exclaim: "A Prussian officer never goes on foot." The Prussianguard had really believed that it would be scarcely worth while to drawtheir swords against the French--that it would be sufficient merely tomarch against them. But now the disastrous days of Jena had taught theofficers how to walk--now they did not look down scornfully from theirhorses on poor civilians, and faith in their own irresistibility hadutterly disappeared. They marched with bowed heads, profoundlyhumiliated, and compelled to suppress the grief overflowing theirhearts. Their uniforms were hanging in rags on emaciated forms, and thecolors of the cloth and the gold-lace facings were hidden beneath themud that covered them. Their boots were torn, and robbed of the silverspurs; and, as in the case of Prince Augustus of Hohenzollern, many worewooden shoes. But in spite of this miserable and heart-rendingspectacle, the populace had no pity, but accompanied the melancholyprocession with derisive laughter and insulting shouts!

  "Just look at those officers," exclaimed a member of the national guard,approaching the soldiers--"look at those high-born counts! Do youremember how proud they used to be? How they despised us at the balls,in the saloons, and everywhere else? How we had always to stand aside inthe most submissive manner, in order not to be run down by them? Theywill not do so again for some time to come."

  "No," cried the crowd, "they won't hurt anybody now! Their pomp andcircumstance have vanished!"

  "Just look at Baron von Klitzing!" exclaimed another. "See how the wetrim of his hat is hanging down on his face, as though he were a modestgirl wishing to veil herself. Formerly, he used to look so bold andsaucy; seeming to believe the whole world belonged to him, and that heneeded only to stretch out his hand in order to capture ten Frenchsoldiers with each finger."

  "Yes, yes, they were tremendous heroes on marching out," shoutedanother; "every one of the noble counts and barons had already hislaurel in his pocket, and was taking the field as though it were aball-room, in order to put his wreath on his head. Now they have comeback, and the laurels they have won are not even good enough to boilcarps with." A roar of laughter followed this hit, and all eyes turnedagain in ridicule toward the poor officers, who were marching along,mournfully and silently, with downcast yet noble bearing.

  Filled with anger and shame, Prince Augustus pressed through the crowd.He could not bear this disgraceful scene; he had to avert his head inorder not to see the unfortunate Prussian officers; he hurried away,that he might hear no more the cruel taunts of the populace. The ranksbecame less dense, and this terrible procession passed by--the streetwas once more unobstructed. The prince rushed onward regardless of thedirection he was taking, crushed as he was by the disgrace andwretchedness brought upon Prussia. He was again suddenly in front of alarge gathering. He looked about him wonderingly and in dismay. Withoutknowing it, he had gone down to the large square in front of theBrandenburg Gate, where was a dense crowd.

  But the thousands here did not utter sneers or praises--they were sadand silent; there was no malicious sparkle in their eyes as they rushedin one direction to the Brandenburg Gate.

  The prince beheld an inclined scaffold erected near the lofty Grecianpillars of the gate, and reaching up to the cast-iron goddess ofvictory, standing in her triumphal car, and holding the reins of herhorses. He saw the ropes, pulleys, and chains, attached to her form, andit seemed to him as if they were around his own breast, and choking hisvoice. He had to make an effort to utter a word, and, turning to a manstanding by, he asked in a low voice, "What is going on here? What arethey doing up there?"

  The man looked at him long and mournfully. "The French are rem
oving the'Victoria' from the gate," he said, with suppressed anger. "They believethe state no longer suitable to Berlin, and the emperor is sending it toParis, whither he has already forwarded the sword and clock of Frederickthe Great."

  The prince uttered a groan of despair. At that moment a loud Frenchcommand was heard by the gate, and as if the "Victoria" were conscious,and obedient to the orders of the emperor, a tremor seemed to seize thegoddess. She rose as the horses began to descend, and her figure bentforward as if greeting Berlin for the last time. A loud noise resoundedabove the heads of the crowd--the "Victoria" had glided safely to theground. The prince uttered a cry, and, as if paralyzed, closed his eyes.When he opened them again the beautiful pillars of the Brandenburg Gatehad been deprived of their ornament, and the "Victoria," with hertriumphal horses, stood deposed from her lofty throne.

  Prince Augustus raised his tearful eyes to heaven and whispered, "Oh, mybrother, I envy you your death, for it was not permitted you to beholdthe humiliation and sorrow of Prussia!"

  BOOK II.