therefore, "Is it possible that I have left this man so large a
territory?" it is probable that he did not forgive Prussia the
protection of Alexander; he hated her, because he felt that she hated
him.

In fact, the sparks of a jealous and impatient hatred escaped from the
youth of Prussia, whose ideas were exalted by a system of education,
national, liberal, and mystical. It was among them that a formidable
power arose in opposition to that of Napoleon. It included all whom his
victories had humbled or offended; it had all the strength of the weak
and the oppressed, the law of nature, mystery, fanaticism, and revenge!
Wanting support on earth, it looked up for aid to Heaven, and its moral
forces were wholly out of the reach of the material power of Napoleon.
Animated by the devoted and indefatigable spirit of an ardent sect, it
watched the slightest movements and weakest points of its enemy,
insinuated itself into all the interstices of his power, and holding
itself ready to strike at every opportunity, it waited quietly with the
patience and phlegm which are the peculiar characteristics of the
Germans, which were the causes of their defeat, and against which our
victory wore itself out.

This vast conspiracy was that of the _Tugendbund_[1], or _Friends of
Virtue_. Its head, in other words, the person who first gave a precise
and definite direction to its views, was _Stein_. Napoleon perhaps might
have gained him over to his interests, but preferred punishing him. His
plan happened to be discovered by one of those chances to which the
police owes the best part of its miracles; but when conspiracies enter
into the interests, passions, and even the consciences of men, it is
impossible to seize their ramifications: every one understands without
communicating; or rather, all is communication--a general and