ay
back again to the frontier which he had so rashly abandoned. Napoleon,
meantime, had posted his divisions so as to watch the chief passages of
the Saale, and expected, in confidence, the assault of his outwitted
opponent. It was now that he found leisure to answer the manifesto of
Frederick William, which had reached Paris a day or two after he himself
quitted that capital for the camp. His letter, dated at Gera, is written
in the most elaborate style of insult. The King of Prussia (said he) had
sent him a silly pamphlet of twenty pages, in very bad French--such a
pamphlet as the English ministry were in the habit of commanding their
hireling scribblers to put forth--but he acquitted the King of having
read this performance. He was extremely anxious to live on the most
friendly terms with his "good brother," and begged him, as the first
token of equal goodwill, to dismiss the counsellors who had hurried him
into the present unjust and unequal war. Such was the language of this
famous note. Napoleon, now sure of his prey, desired his own generals to
observe how accurately he had already complied with one of the requests
of the Prussian Manifesto--"The French army," said he, "has done as it
was bidden. This is the 8th of October, and we _have_ evacuated the
territories of the Confederation of the Rhine."

The Prussian King understood well, on learning the fall of Naumburg, the
imminent danger of his position; and his army was forthwith set in
motion, in two great masses; the former, where he was in person present,
advancing towards Naumburg; the latter attempting, in like manner, to
force their passage through the French line in the neighbourhood of
Jena. The King's march was arrested at Auerstadt by Davoust, who, after
a severely contested action, at length repelled the assailant. Napoleon
himself, meanwhile, was engaged with the other great body of the
Prussians. Arriving on the evening of the 13th October at Jena, he
perceived that the enemy were ready to attempt the advance next morning,
while his own heavy train were still six-and-thirty hours' march in his
rear. Not discouraged with this adverse circumstance, the Emperor
laboured all night in directing and encouraging his soldiery to cut a
road through the rocks, and draw up by that means such light guns as he
had at command to a position, on a lofty plateau in front of Jena, where
no man could have expected beforehand that any artillery whatever should
be plante