Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/557

 Europe and Napoleon 5 1 9 France was no doubt proud of all these victories, and she wished to reap the fruits of them, the first of which, in her eyes, was peace, — a glorious, but also a lasting one. Mod- eration in the hour of triumph could alone insure such a result, and the French character, which is naturally gener- ous, indulged in thoughts of a magnanimous use of victory. So it was that people nourished the illusory idea that the man who had risen so high could not be deficient in the only quality which could make his conquests secure. . . . But no sooner was Napoleon in Berlin than he not only acted and spoke as an angry conqueror, but affected the speech and the attitude of a sovereign giving commands to his subjects. Loyalty to the prince who had fled at his approach was treated as an act of rebellion, and, in his indignation against the opposition of a portion of the nobil- ity which still held communication with the unfortunate king, he exclaimed, in the very halls of the palace of the great Frederick, "I will so humble this court nobility that it shall be reduced to begging its bread." In his proclamations and bulletins he constantly coupled threats with insults. Misfor- tune, which should be sacred, was not even respected in the person of the queen of Prussia. This conduct was far from affording any reassuring preliminaries for the peace so ardently desired. The disaster of Jena and the humiliation of Tilsit forced Prussia to try to regain strength and prosperity through the radical reform of her whole social organiza- tion. The first step was taken in October, 1807, when serfdom and certain ancient restrictions on landhold- ing were abolished. A few paragraphs of this cautious measure are given below. They are in singular con- trast to the generous and thoroughgoing, not to say reckless, provisions of the decree abolishing the feudal system in France given above. 1 1 See above, pp. 404 sqq.