See what name is given in Germany to our disastrous defeat at Leipsic--the Victory of the Nations! Yes! it was indeed there, the nations overcame the terrible oppressor who had crushed them to the dust! It was from the battle of Leipsic, that dated the sudden, but prolonged reaction, which finally delivered the people and the governments from that giant hand. Accustomed as we are to place the character of Napoleon in the highest rank, we will not understand that he was the tyrant of Europe, and that even now we are undergoing the reaction of two fatal ideas--the recollection of our conquests and of our disorganising principles. After Leipsic, the Rhine was crossed, and Hardenberg did not for a moment quit the head-quarters of the Allies: he also represented Prussia at the congress of Châtillon. From this moment, in all the diplomatic proceedings, as well as in the military operations, Prussia always manifested the strongest animosity against the French Emperor; she hoped for great reprisals, and would undoubtedly have obtained them, had not the general inclination in Europe for peace, and the exclusive and generous influence of the Emperor Alexander, swayed the negotiations concerning the treaty of Paris, and the restoration of the Bourbons. All the political transactions were signed by Hardenberg, from his having been the powerful hand which for two years had steadily directed public affairs; the King of Prussia conferred upon him the title of Prince; and he was invested with that high dignity when he accompanied the sovereigns to England. The sight of the palace of St. James's must have awakened melancholy feelings in his mind; in his youth he had there experienced domestic sorrow, and been agitated by contending passions; for he had been the lover and husband of the Countess Randlaw, the most beautiful woman in Germany: she had been lost to him through the means of the Prince of Wales, and her seducer was now the Regent of the British islands. But they had both grown much older; and when twenty-five years have been passed in political agitations and tempests, the heart has been worn out by emotion, and but little room is left for recollections of enmity and vengeance. Prince Hardenberg was therefore presented to the Prince Regent, who received him with marked attention; and the past only recurred to their minds, like one of those views which scarcely leave a trace in the memory.