or Metternich's
perfidy, or the force of circumstances, must be postponed for the
present, while we consider events of equal importance and of greater
interest.

While Austria balanced and Frederick William negotiated, the sterner
minds of North Germany rushed in on the once sacred ground of
diplomacy and statecraft. The struggle against Napoleon was prepared
for by the exile Stein, and war was first proclaimed by a professor.

Among the many influences that urged on the Czar to a war for the
liberation of Prussia and Europe, not the least was that wielded at
his Court in the latter half of 1812 by the staunch German patriot,
Stein. His heroic spirit never quailed, even in the darkest hour of
Prussia's humiliation; and he now pointed out convincingly that the
only sure means of overthrowing Napoleon was to raise Germany against
him. To remain on a tame defensive at Warsaw would be to court another
French invasion in 1813. The safety of Russia called for a pursuit of
the French beyond the Elbe and a rally of the Germans against the man
they detested. The appeal struck home. It revived Alexander's longings
for the liberation of Europe, which he had buried at Tilsit; and it
agreed with the promptings of an ambitious statecraft. Only by
overthrowing Napoleon's supremacy in Germany could the Czar gain a
free hand for a lasting settlement of the Polish Question. The eastern
turn given to his policy in 1807 was at an end--but not before Russia
had taken another step towards the Bosphorus. With one leg planted at
the mouth of the Danube, the Colossus now prepared to stride over
Central Europe. The aims of Catherine II. in 1792 were at last to be
realized. While Europe was wrestling with Revolutionary France, the
Muscovite grasp was to tighten on Poland. It is not surprising that
Alexander, on January 13th, commented on the "brilliance of the
present situation," or that he decided to press onward. He gave little
heed to the Gallophil counsels of Romantzoff or the dolorous warnings
of the German-hating Kutusoff; and, on January 18th, he empowered
Stein provisionally to administer in his name the districts of Prussia
(Proper) when occupied by Russian troops.

So irregular a proceeding could only be excused by dire necessity and
by success. It was more than excused; it was triumphantly justified.
Four days later Stein arrived at Koenigsberg, in company with the
patriotic poet, Arndt. The Estates, or Provincial Assemblies, of Eas