The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-02

.,,,a Merchant OF Berlin" Mrs. Mundt
sad little TO do except to recast and
,,ut into the form of a romance the
tory of the life OF the patriot mer-
,I,ant Gotzkowsky. as it is told in his
n,n memoirs and in PruSSian history
nj ,he reign of the Grea Frederick.
case was one OF those i'll
,,!,jch facts supply all the material
hat i requisite for romance and the
embellishments Of fiction are unneedeH.
nine hast. ingratitude with which the
merchant was treated by the King. by
The cities of Berlin and Leipsic and by
the people whom he had b~efriended
~ their need would hardly be believed
did not the record stand in the pages
Of history. This historical novel is in
MANY ways the best Of FRAU Mundt's
uorks, for in it there is more OF noble
ness and less of II than we gen
orally find in her pages. Her descrip-
dion of the PrusSian capital in the
hands of the invaders. her character
drawing of the King, her picture of the
social and business life of the times
are all valuable sidelights of history.
Fear, distress. sorrow was over
wheIming the city of Berlin. 1t was
The fifth year of the tremendous struS-
gle between Prussia and Austria for
the possession OF SileSia. The Rus
SANS 0d0 taken the SLUe Oh Austria
and the army of the Empress Eliza
beth was within a hundred miles of
the Prussian capital. Going through
the wide and empty streets of the city
there were to be met only sad coun-
t~enanceS, women clothed in black who
mourned their husbands fallen in the
var. or mothers who were looking with
anxiety into the future and thinking Of
their absent sons who had cone to the
army. Only in one spot of that dis
consulate city did there seem to reside
confidence and c~heerfulness. 1t was
the great house Of the rich merchant
GotZkowsky, who was giving a festival
TO his WOrkmen to celebrate the mar
riage Of one OF them.
The mansion of Gotkowsky was, in
deed. the largest and most magnificent
private residence in Berlin. and it was
filled with pictures and other works
Of art which the merchant had col
IeCted with rare taste and at an enor-
NOUS expense. Several times had he
travelled to Italy to purchase pictures
for the King, the Great Frederick.
but though he had bought the pictures
with his own money he had as Yet
seen none Of the Kings, for the Seven
Years War was N, and Frederick was
oev0ting every cent he could raise to
the necessities of his armies, while
~ IL leu d "dlIut1Ilg NE OI
battle and march far from Berlin.
The dinner in the house being ended.
G~otzkowsky told his head bookkeepsr
to lead the guests to the garden.
where the festivities were to continue.
Rertram had been brought up by the
merchant and was treated by him as
his son. 1t was his dearest wish to
see the excellent young man married
TO his motherless- daughter Elise. In
the bloom of youth and beauty. Elise.
though the daughter of the richest
man in Berlin. was unhappy. Counts
and princes had made proposals for
her hand-and fortune-only to be re-
1eoted. Upon Bertram she had looked
WITH affectiOn, but not with love. He
was a brother to her. nothing O
And now as Elise sat alone in her
hanbe hearing the noise of the we'd
ding festivities of one of her fathers
Wdfkmen her beautiful eyes were fill
td with tears. She drew from her
bosom of a sudden a miniature in a
gold case and pressed it p~assionately
10 her lips. 1t was the picture of a
Young man in the Russian uniform.
'~.Feodor." she murmured so softly
that it sounded like q sigh. and then
continued, why did we meet only to
be separated f~OreVer?' Why did not
fate allow me to be born a poor serf
upon one Of thy estates, giving thee
the right to possess me. to me the
sweet duty of loving thee?' In short,
Elise was desperately in love with the
Young Russian. Count Feodor Won
frenda. a colonel in the service Of
the Northern Empress who had been
some time before a prisoner of war in
Rerlin and had been CHARTERED upon
her father. OF her father Elise had of
late seen but little: the cares Of his
business and the cares of many public
affairs which he had voluntarily taken
mp had occupied so much of his time
that the girl thought:
My father is Indifferent to my lone
llness. He Is immersed in business. /
nate this wealth. And my fathe has
declared that he will never allow me
10 marry an enemy of my country.
What can keep Feodor away from
or of boundary lines? Love is mightfer
than ALI thaSa It'll narr.- Eoo-