Let this suffice to show that the Prussians have not so
much reason to complain against the French as they pretend to have;
besides, the conduct of the Prussian Government itself was so vacillating
and contradictory that they had themselves only to blame for what they
suffered. They should have supported Austria in 1805. But the fact is that
the vanity and the _amour propre_ of the Prussian military were so hurt at
the humiliation they experienced at and after the battle of Jena that it
was this that has embittered them so much against the French.
Let it not, however, be supposed for a moment that I seek to excuse or
palliate the conduct of Napoleon towards Prussia. I have always thought it
not only unjust but impolitic. Impolitic, because Prussia was, and ought
always to be, the obvious and natural ally of France, and Napoleon, instead
of endeavouring to crush that power, should have aggrandized her and made
her the paramount power in Germany. It was in fact his obvious policy to
cede Hanover in perpetuity to Prussia, and have rendered thereby the breach
between the Houses of Brandenburgh and Hanover irreparable and
irreconcilable.
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