The battle of Freiberg was the last battle of the Seven Years' War.
It brought to Prince Henry such laurels as the king had gained at
Leignitz and Torgau; it placed him at his brother's side as an
equal. Frederick saw it without envy or bitterness, and rejoiced in
the fulness of his great soul, in his brother's fame. When he found
himself, for the first time after the Seven Years' War, surrounded
at Berlin by the princes and generals, he advanced with a cordial
smile to his brother, and laying his hand gently on his shoulder,
said aloud:
"You see here, sirs, the only one amongst us all who did not commit
a single mistake during the war!"
Seven years had passed since Prince Henry had seen his young wife,
Princess Wilhelmina. He could at last return to her--to his beloved
Rheinsberg, and find rest after his many years of wandering. He had
written to the princess, and requested her not to meet him in
Berlin, but to find some pretext for remaining at Rheinsberg. His
proud soul could not endure the thought that the woman he loved, who
appeared to him fit to grace the first throne of the world, would
occupy an inferior position at court--would have to stand behind the
queen.
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