the present war entertain views of territorial aggrandisement.  All they unanimously desire is to put an end to the system of aggrandisement which your Emperor has established and acts upon with such alarming rapidity.  In our first war against France, at the commencement of your Revolution, we fought for questions respecting the rights of sovereigns, for which, I assure you, I care very little; but now the case is altered, the whole population of Prussia makes common cause with its Government.  The people fight in defence of their homes, and reverses destroy our armies without changing the spirit of the nation.  I rely confidently on the future because I foresee that fortune will not always favour your Emperor.  It is impossible; but the time will come when all Europe, humbled by his exactions, and impatient of his depredations, will rise up against him.  The more he enslaves nations, the more terrible will be the reaction when they break their chains.  It cannot be denied that he is tormented with an insatiable desire of acquiring new territories.  To the war of 1805 against Austria and Russia the present war has almost immediately succeeded.  We have fallen.  Prussia is occupied; but Russia still remains undefeated.  I cannot foresee what will be the termination of the war; but, admitting that the issue should be favourable to you, it will end only to break out again speedily.  If we continue firm, France, exhausted by her conquests, must in the end fall.  You may be certain of it.  You wish for peace.  Recommend it!  By so doing You will give strong proofs of love for your country.”

In this strain Blucher constantly spoke to me; and as I never thought it right to play the part of the public functionary in the drawing-room I replied to him with the reserve necessary in my situation.  I could not tell him how much my anticipations frequently coincided with his; but I never hesitated to express to him how much I wished to see a reasonable peace concluded.

Blucher’s arrival at Hamburg was preceded by that of Prince Paul of Wutrtemberg, the second son of one of the two kings created by Napoleon, whose crowns were not yet a year old.  This young Prince, who was imbued with the ideas of liberty and independence which then prevailed in Germany, had taken a headlong step.  He had quitted Stuttgart to serve in the Prussian campaign without having asked his father’s permission, which inconsiderate proceeding might have drawn Napoleon’s anger upon the King of Wurtemberg.  The King of Prussia advanced Prince Paul to the rank of general, but he was taken prisoner at the very commencement of hostilities.  Prince Paul was not, as has been erroneously stated, conducted to Stuttgart by a captain of gendarmerie.  He came to Hamburg, where I received many visits from him.  He did not yet possess very definite ideas as to what he wished; for after he was made prisoner he expressed to me his strong desire to enter the French service, and often asked me to solicit for him an interview with the Emperor.  He obtained this interview, and remained for a long time in Paris, where I know he has frequently resided since the Restoration.