Under these circumstances, then, the position of Baron Hardenberg became difficult, nay, intolerable, for was he not considered as the representative of the warlike party and the opponent of Napoleon? How could the minister of the heroic Queen and Prince Louis of Prussia remain at the head of the cabinet, when Prussia, prostrate before Napoleon, seemed almost to solicit pardon for having assumed, however slightly, an attitude of independence? At that time, Napoleon, who was incapable of forgiveness, knew well how to ruin a man by dictating articles for the _Moniteur_, pronouncing thus a sentence against statesmen whom he wished to get rid of. Buonaparte was an excellent pamphleteer, and, when he got into a passion, he gave vent in this manner to his ill-humour, against a king, a minister, or a general. M. Maret used to write from his dictation in short-hand, and send it afterwards to the official newspaper, according to his original profession of a journalist; he, also, possessed a certain knack for composition. Upon this occasion Hardenberg was honoured by the capricious abuse of the Emperor, in consequence of a despatch full of impartiality which he had addressed to Lord Harrowby, concerning the neutrality of Hanover. A word from Buonaparte to the court of Berlin was sufficient to procure the dismissal of the minister, and, having retired from the cabinet, he the very same day repelled the attacks of the French emperor, who had accused him of not even being a Prussian. "I am proud," said he, "of the esteem and confidence of the sovereign and people of Prussia; I am proud of the opinion of estimable foreigners, and it is with great satisfaction that I number some Frenchmen among them. I am not a Prussian by birth, it is true, but I will yield in patriotism to no native of that country; and I have obtained a right to assert this fact, both by my services, and by having transferred my patrimony, and become a proprietor in this country. Though I am not a soldier, I feel that I should not have proved unworthy, had fate summoned me to bear arms in defence of my sovereign and his rights, or the dignity, safety, and honour of the state."