But we must not be too hasty in condemning a genius so great and
universal; we shall shortly hear from himself by what urgent necessity
he was hurried on; and even admitting that the rapidity of his
expedition was only equalled by its rashness, success would have
probably crowned it, if the premature decline of his health had left the
physical constitution of this great man all the vigour which his mind
still retained.




CHAP. II.


As to Prussia, of which Napoleon was completely master, it is not known
whether it was from his uncertainty as to the fate which he reserved for
her, or as to the period at which he should commence the war, that he
refused, in 1811, to contract the alliance which she herself proposed to
him, and of which he dictated the conditions, in 1812.

His aversion to Frederick William was remarkable. Napoleon had been
frequently heard to speak reproachfully of the cabinet of Prussia for
its treaties with the French republic. He said, "It was a desertion of
the cause of kings; that the negotiations of the court of Berlin with
the Directory displayed a timid, selfish, and ignoble policy, which
sacrificed its dignity, and the general cause of monarchs, to petty
aggrandizements." Whenever he followed with his finger the traces of the
Prussian frontiers upon the map, he seemed to be angry at seeing them
still so extensive, and exclaimed, "Is it possible that I have left this
man so large a territory?"