The war broke out on the 1st of October 1806: a fortnight after wards the glory of the Prussian name was prostrated on the field of Jena. The king behaved gallantly in this unfortunate battle ; he had two horses killed under him, and his cloak was pierced by bullets. Another fortnight, and Napoleon I. entered Berlin. The Prussian army was annihilated : corps of 20,000 or 30,000 men, commanded by heroes of the Seven Years War, laid down their arms to small detach ments of the French. Spandau, Stettin, Ciistrin, Hameln, Glogau, opened their gates, before their walls had been touched by a cannon shot ; Magdeburg surrendered without resistance, though occupied by a garrison of 20,000 veterans, who were to defend there tho great magazines of the army. " In the Seven Years' War," wrote Frederick William to his queen, "Prussia stood alone against Europe, and was often in a more dangerous position than now : we are not alone now, we have Russia." This is another instance that the fact of Prussia having been victorious in the Seven Years' War was still considered as a proof that she would always remain Bo : but there is a difference between talking of great things and doing them. The assistance of Russia. only delayed the ruin of Prussia. In the battle of Eylau (8th of February 1807) both the French and the Russians claimed the victory ; but on the 14th of June, the anniversary of the battle of Marengo, the fate of Prussia was decided in the field of Friedland. A few days afterwards Napoleon entered Konigsberg, his troops pushed still farther on towards the Russian frontier, and before the month of July the whole of the Prussian kingdom was in the hands of the French, with the exception of a few fortified places, and Memel, an open town in the extreme eastern corner of Prussia Proper.
Both Alexander and Frederick William now sued for peace : separate conventions of peace had already been made between Napoleon and the German allies of Prussia, namely, Saxony and some smaller states. The town of Tilsit was chosen as the place for the ensuing uegocia Hons. The three sovereigns were to meet on a raft constructed on the river Niemen, which formed the boundary between Prussia and Russia. The first interview took place between Napoleon and Alexander alone, on the 25th of June 1807. On the following day Alexander presented Frederick William to his victor. Napoleon was haughty, sometimes bitter ; Frederick William, worn out by care, showed him self cold and reserved, speaking little, yet betraying his personal hostile feeling towards Napoleon. Some days afterwards Queen Louisa arrived, and it was expected that she would succeed, through her amiable character and ability, in bringing Napoleon down from his condi tions; for it was already known that he did not intend to givo back many of his conquests. But so far was she from making the slightest alteration in Napoleon's intentions, that he treated her several times rather rudely, giving her to understand that he guessed very well the motive of her presenco at Tilsit.
Peace was concluded at Tilsit on the 7th of July 1807. The first article of this peace, referring to Prussia, is a proof that Napoleon not only despised Frederick William as a man, but wished to make him feel it, for the article begins with these words: "Moved by esteem for the Emperor of Russia, and in order to give a proof of his earnest desire to unite the Russian and French nations through the bonds of friendship and unalterable confidence, the Emperor Napoleon consents to give back to the King of Prussia part of his conquered kingdom." Upon this follows the description of those territories which Napoleon gave back, but not of those which the vanquished party ceded, as is generally the case in transactions of the kind; and this circumstance is another instance of Napoleon's desire to humble his unfortunate enemy. By this peace Frederick William lost the greater part of his realm ; all the territories west of the Elba, and nearly the whole of his Polish dominions—altogether about 70,000 English square miles, with a population of 6,000,000. The Polish dominions were given to the elector of Saxony, who had assumed the title of King of Saxony, as the grand-duchy of Warsaw, except the district of Bialistok, which Russia received; and thus the Emperor Alexander was rewarded at the expense of his unfortunate ally. Out of the German dominions was created the new kingdom of Westphalia, and some parts were given to Saxony and the grand-duke of Berg. The king was further required not to prevent any German priuce from adhering to the Rhenish Con federation ; to promise to become a member of this confederation at some future time ; to reduce his army to 40,000 men, and to pay 146,000,000 of francs (nearly 6,000,000/. sterling) to France. Till this money was paid French troops were to occupy Berlin and the principal fortresses of Prussia.
Thus, one terrible blow prostrated Prussia, and reduced one of the great monarchies of Europe to the rank of a third-rate power. The
remaining part of Prussia was completely exhausted. Upwards of 7,000,000/. sterling had been paid to France during the war under the title of contribution or fine, according to the circumstances ; as much in money or in value had been taken by the French soldiery ; and wherever the French had been quartered—and they had been quartered in all parts of the kingdom—the houses were burnt, the fields destroyed, the cattle killed, and the horses taken away. Under these calamities the king betrayed no symptom of despair. The re-organisation of his kingdom occupied all his thoughts. Such a sudden downfall of his power and glory at last taught him that he had laboured under a most fatal mistake, that his glory was that of his ancestors, and his power a phantom. Still at the mercy of Napoleon, he nevertheless conceived the plan of removing the causes of so much evil, and of introducing radical reforms into all the branches of administration ; and he carried his plan out with a patience, a resignation, a perseverance, for which he deserved more praise than he deserved blame for his insolent conduct in the time of his prosperity. No sooner was the peaco concluded than he proceeded to St. Petersburg ; he afterwards lived at Memel and till the French troops evacuated Berlin, when lie returned to his capital in December 1809, after an absence of three years. Most of his ministers and many high functionaries were dismissed, and the Baron von Stein appointed prime minister. Those among the generals who had behaved like cowards in the field, or shamefully surrendered the strongest fortresses, were tried and punished ; others who had behaved well were promoted, and among these were the generals Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the regenerators of the Prussian army, and the brave Blucher, who alone saved the Prussian name from eternal disgrace, till he also was compelled to surrender to the superior forces of Bernadotte after the battle of Lubeck in November 1806. Stein having displeased Napoleon, the king was obliged to dismiss him ; he appointed Von Hardeuberg in his stead, who however acted in the same spirit as hie predecessor. Many important reforms were effected in the internal government ; among others—the last remnants of the bondage of the peasantry were abolished; the exclusive privileges of the lower nobility were taken away; government offices were thrown open, talent, learning, and merit being declared to be the only qualifications required ; trade and the exercise of all mechanical arts were made free, and the existing corporations, with their exclusive privileges, were abolished ; tho municipal corporations in the towns received (in 1808) privileges of self-government of a nearly democratical character ; the military system was radically reformed : every subject able to carry arms was declared under obligation to fight in case of necessity, and to serve in the army three years ; so that, although the army was apparently only 40,000 men strong, it was really much stronger. The greatest diffi culties in tho reformation of the kingdom arose from the state of its finances ; a system of economy was therefore introduced of which history offers few parallels. Frederick William set a noble example by selling his plate and jewellery, for which he received several millions of thalers from Hamburg merchants, and also many of the crown lands of which he was the owner ; and he sent his brother William to Paris for the purpose of obtaining better conditions for the payment of the sums due to France. On the 8th of September 1803 this priuco made an agreement with Napoleon's minister De Champigny, aocording to which Frederick William was relieved from his obligation to enter the Rhenish Confederation, and the French troops were to evacuate Prussia, on condition of 73,000,000 of francs being paid within tweuty days, and twelve bills given for 72,000,000 francs, each of 6,000,000 of francs, payable monthly. Prussia being still unable to raise so much money in so abort a time, another convention was made by which the debt was diminished by 20,000,000 franca, on condition that the rest should be paid in thirty-six monthly instalments. Eveo this obligation Pruysia would not have fulfilled if the king had not declared that he could pay one half of it, feeling himself bound to do so as possessor of the crown-lands. Struggling with all thew difficulties, the king approved of the plan of establishing a university at Berlin ; and he showed much zeal in its foundation, which took place in 1810. lie also invited dietiuguished men from other parts of Germany to assist him in his difficult task of regenerating Prussia: the historian Niebuhr, who deserves so much praise for his laudable conduct in this period, had entered the Prussian service as early as 1808.