Prussia soon received the due punishment for the duplicity of her government. The first consequence of the treaty of l'aris was a declaration of war by Great Britain; in a few months several iniudred Prussian ships were seized by the English cruisers; and England's ally, Kin Gustavus Adolphus IV. of Sweden, occupied the duchy of Lauenburg, an appendage to the electorate of Hanover, for George III., and threatened to invade Prussia. However, as neither Great Britaiu nor Sweden was able to injure Prussia much by land, King Frederick William hoped to settle his differences with those powers and to enjoy the profits of his neutrality, but he was roused from his dreams by the insolent conduct of Napoleon, and at last brought to see clearly his dangerous position. The history of those times shows plainly that in such a contest as was occasioned by the French revolution, there was no lasting neutrality for any power which was iu direct contact with French influence, and that there was no chance left but to fight for or against France. The king and statesmen of l'russia had ill understood the French revolution, and they now suffered for it.
As to the personal character of Frederick William, he was regarded as a man of plain understanding, more admired by his subjects for the qualities of his heart than these of his head, and little disposed to admire others for their talents or genius. There is no doubt Napoleon expressed his real opinion when he spoke of him with contempt, and his contempt changed into animosity in proportion as the Prussian cabinet deranged hie plane without exactly thwarting them. On ceding Hanover to Prussia, Napoleon could boast of having caught Frederick William in a trap from which he could not escape without becoming either his vassal or his enemy; and matters being once in this condition, the French emperor boldly proceeded towards pushing him to extremities. The foundation of tho Rhenish coufedoration, which, as Napoleon openly said, would be as useful to him against Prussia as against Austria, was only notified by Napoleon to the Prussian cabinet after it was completely established, though it would seem that such an union of most of the members of the German empire would not have been proposed to any of them without pre viously'consultieg Prussia, if Frederick William had been regarded by Napoleon with the respect and deference which he owed to the head of one of the great European kingdoms. Another provocation was the occupation by the now Grand-Duke of Berg, Murat, who was the brother-in-law of Napoleon, of the territories of the Prince of Nassau Dietz-Orange, the brother-in-law of the King of Prussia; and perhaps a direct order of Napoleon only could induce Murat to take possession of the three abbotehips In Westphalia which had belonged to Prussia since 1803. In order to soothe Frederick William'e anger at the esta blishment of the Rhenish Confederation, Napoleon, with apparent friendship, proposed to him to form a similar union in Northern Germany; but, with still more manifest disrespect towards him, he ordered the Hanse-Towns not to adhere to the contemplated confe deration, because he would take them under his immediate protection, and he secretly enjoined several princes in northern Germany to refuse any closer alliance with Prussia. At the same time Von
Hardenberg, the successor of Count Haugwitz as prime minister of Prussia, was attacked in the French official newspapers ; nor was there lack of articles in which Frederick William was ridiculed, or the pride of his queen provoked. The majority of the Prussian nation, headed by their queen Louisa, called loudly for war; but the king was now accustomed to neutrality, and time was required to prepare him for acting with decision. A fresh insult from France at last roused him from his state of indecision ; he learned, either through his ambassador in Paris, or indirectly through the British ministers, that in the secret negotiations which were then carried ou between Great Britain and France, Napoleon had promised to restore King George HI. to the possession of Hanover. His language against France became now bolder, and he listened to the proposal of the Emperor Alexander, who promised to assist him with a powerful army if he would wage war with France. Under such circumstances hostilities between Prussia and Great Britain were suspended, and Frederick William sent his ultimatum to Napoleon, demanding that the French armies should immediately evacuate Germany and, retire beyond the Rhine ; that no German prince not belonging to the Rhenish confe deration should be prevented from adhering to the contemplated Northern Confederation ; and that the Prussian territories occupied by the Grand Duke of Berg should be restored to Prussia. This ulti matum was rejected by Napoleon, who stood with his main army on the frontiers of Franconia and Thuringia. The Prussian main army was in Thuringia ; it was composed of troops who, down to the meanest drummer, thought themselves equal to those warriors with whom Frederick II. had resisted Europe, and it was increased by the numerous and well-disciplined contingents of the Elector and Dukes of Saxony, the Elector of Hesse Cassel, the Duke of Brunswick, and several other princes, who had concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the King of Prussia. If King Frederick William had possessed a little sagacity, he would have discovered that his hopes rested on a rotten foundation, and that he was going to fight against the best general and the best troops in Europe, with an army whose natural courage and excellent discipline were led to the field by vanity and overbearing insolence.