d aristocracy of Prussia, Thou shalt admit
the poor into the participation of thy privileges; the serf shall be a
free man, and the merchant shall shake hands with the noble: quite a
different thing to say to the King of Bavaria, in the spring of 1813,
after the peace, Thou shalt be swallowed up in Austria; and to the Elector
of Hesse-Cassel, Thou, who didst in 1807 flee _from_ Jerome, shalt in 1813
flee _to_ Frederick William III., who, like mighty Brahma, (in the Hindoo
history,) shall absorb thee quite into his Prussian godhead. The eager and
impetuous old Freiherr, with his racing pulse, had manifestly been
anticipating a few centuries, and attempting to dictate to necessity here.
He wished a good thing, perhaps, and a great thing; but a thing that, in
the circumstances, could not possibly be. Hear how sensibly the calm,
cool, and moderate Hanoverian, Graf Muenster, argues the matter. 'Tis plain
that our brave Luther is getting too violent, and will require a
Melancthon and an Erasmus to keep him in order.

"London, 4th January 1813.

"With regard to the future arrangements of the German states, you
yourself say, we should invite the expelled princes to join our
cause; and we cannot do this surely, if we intend, after the risk is
over, to throw them overboard: or is it likely that they will resign
of their own accord, and offer their thrones to either of the two
masters of whom we may give them the option? The peace of Westphalia
you call an abortion. Be it so; but it was better any how than a
thirty years' war; and I see nothing more likely than such war to
arise from any project to _conquer_ Germany, and to make a violent
subjugation of Bavaria, Saxony, Hessia, Baden, Brunswick, &c. In the
most of these lands, the princes themselves will have the chief voice
in determining what side their subjects shall take in the approaching
struggle. I do not speak particularly of the Confederation of the
Rhine, or of the state of things introduced in 1802; but from the
days of Monbod and Hernam until now, Germany has always been divided,
except, indeed, for one short period, during which the country
suffered much misery. It is plain enough, I grant, that the
constitution of Germany was not the work of an enlightened national
will--did not proceed from any clear consideration of the best
interests of the country--but _what c