se old commanders of the
Prussian fortified places and armies, to whom every thing that was
new was entirely unknown! A conscientious monarch who has not
the happiness, and I use the word designedly, the happiness to have
a parliament as in England, makes a habit of every thing, in order
to avoid making too much use of his own will: and in the present
times we must abandon ancient usages, and look for strength of
character and understanding, wherever they can be found. Be that as
it may, Berlin was one of the happiest and most enlightened cities
in the world.

The writers of the eighteenth century were certainly productive of
infinite good to Europe, by the spirit of moderation, and the taste
for literature, with which their works inspired the greater part of
the sovereigns: it must be admitted, however, that the respect
which the friends of knowledge paid to French intellect has been one
of the causes which has ruined Germany for such a length of time.
Many people regarded the French armies as the propagators of the
ideas of Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire; while the fact was,
that, if any traces of the opinions of these great men remained in
the instruments of the power of Bonaparte, it was only to liberate
them from what they called prejudices, and not to establish a single
regenerating principle. But there were at Berlin and in the North of
Germany, at the period of the spring of 1804, a great many old
partizans of the French revolution, who had not yet discovered that
Bonaparte was a much more bitter enemy of the first principles of
that revolution, than the ancient European aristocracy.

I had the honor to form an acquaintance with Prince Louis-Ferdinand,
the same whose warlike ardor so transported him, that his death was
almost the precursor of the first reverses of his country. He was a
man full of ardor and enthusiasm, but who, for want of glory,
cultivated too much the emotions which agitate life. What
particularly irritated him against Bonaparte was his practice of
calumniating all the persons he dreaded, and even of degrading in
public opinion those whom he employed, in order, at all risks, to
keep them more strongly dependant on him. Prince Louis said to me
frequently, "I will allow him to kill, but, moral assassination is
what revolts me." And in truth let us only consider the state in
which we have seen ourselves placed, since this great libeller
became master of all the newspapers of the European