They would stifle the
fire of patriotism because they are afraid lest it annihilate them
and destroy their unworthy efforts. For this reason Blucher, with
his heroic soul, is as much an eyesore to them as Stein, with his
plans of liberation and his energetic action for constitutional
reform. One wishes to create a new Prussia, the other a new state,
and both these ideas are utterly distasteful to some, for they cling
to the rotten old system, and new things fill them with terror."
Alexander listened to the words of Scharnhorst with the liveliest
attention, and looked down musingly.
"Listen, general!" he said, in a low and hurried voice, glancing
around the room as if to convince himself that no one could overhear
his words, "reply honestly and sincerely to the following question:
Is the King of Prussia sufficiently strong to cope with France for
any length of time?"
"No," said Scharnhorst, firmly. "The army the king could place in
the field would not be able to achieve a single victory over
Napoleon. But the Prussian nation is strong, and arming itself for a
struggle in which it will triumph, because no army can resist the
will of a united people, and because God is an ally of the nations
fighting for their liberty and their princes; but he who is
audacious enough to endeavor to stifle the flame of this national
enthusiasm, instead of bearing it aloft like an oriflamme in the van
of the great army of liberation, would render himself guilty of a
fearful sin.
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