to maintain a friendly intercourse with so illustrious a power as Great Britain.

That it was the interest of France, even at this period of aggrandisement of power, to live in harmony with England, is fully apparent; and every manœuvre was practised to effect that important object in view. But the interests of Great Britain were not to be sacrificed for a few shallow and fallacions offers; and in spite of all the secret policy of the court of St. Cloud, England could not be cajoled into terms of pacification, which would have proved a deadly wound to her national dignity; and an inexhaustible source of injury to her allies. Prussia already had cause of repentance for the rash and perfidious alliance she had made with France, the particulars of which we are about to detail.

Bonaparte never lost sight of the part Prussia formerly had taken against him; and with a particular design of mortifying the monarch of that country, he bestowed the Duchies of Berg and Cleves, on Joachim Murat, his brother-in-law. The former Duchy had appertained to the King of Bavaria, as Count Palatine of the Rhine. The appointment of Murat excited a great spirit of jealousy and dissatisfaction throughout Germany; and was peculiarly galling to the King of Prussia. Murat was a bird of prey, and the greatest apprehensions were justly entertained that his eagle eye would be fixed upon those places within the sphere of his vicinity these apprehensions were not groundless Murat violently seized upon several Abbies, asserting that they belonged to the Duchy of Cleves, although Prussia had a just claim to them; and Wesel, though on the German side of the Rhine, was annexed to the French dominions.

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Amongst other propositions offered by Napoleon for effecting a peace with England, was the restoration of the Electorate of Hanover to his Britannic Majesty. This scandalous offer, after he had bartered away that Electorate to the King of Prussia, while it demonstrated the baseness of Napoleon's policy, and was a palpable evidence how little he regarded the friendship of the King of Prussia, was well calculated to rouse the feelings of the latter to a sense of the injury he had experienced.

The Emperor of France, ever since the treaty of Presburg, had supported a large army at the expence of the free towns and states of Suabia and Franconia. Remonstrance followed upon remonstrance, protesting against this flagrant innovation, but all in vain; and Count Haugwitz was justly considered, throughout Germany, as the minister to whom these outrages were to be imputed. Prussia now began to place herself in an hostile position. Lucchesini, the Prussian minister at Paris, was recalled, and General Knobelsdoff, whose principles were congenial with the French court, was appointed Ambassador in his room.

On September 11, a memorial was transinitted by Talleyrand to Berlin, in which the King was accused of making warlike preparations against France; at the same time communicating the intelligence, that Bonaparte was reinforcing his army with the design of marching against Prussia. Several explanatory notes passed between the two courts: but on the 24th of September, Bonaparte left Paris to take the command of his army, having three days before called upon the several members of the confederation of the Rhine to furnish the quota for the expedition.

On October 1, General Knobelsdorff presented a note to the French minister, imperatively demanding that the whole of the French troops should instantly pass the Rhine; that France should place no impediment in the way of a northern confederation; and that the basis of any negociation should be the separation of Ulesel from the French empire; and the restoration of the three Abbies which had been seized upon by Murat. There was as much imbecility as there was perfidy in the cabinet of Berlin. What folly! What madness for Prussia to attempt single handed to encounter the gigantic_power of France, supported by the confederation of the Rhine; it was as an infant struggling with Hercules, Had she enjoyed the powerful co-operation of England and Russia, her resources would have been ample for the contest; but the former she had made her enemy; and the latter being at peace with France, could not be her friend: in addition to which, his Prussian Majesty was surrounded with men who were friendly to the French interest. Some intimations, through Count Krusemark, were given to the Emperor of Russia, of the hostile disposition of

Prussia; but if his Imperial Majesty had been disposed to grant auxiliary aid, the information arrived too late for that purpose. With respect to England, the maritime rights of which Prussia had so greatly violated, the territories annexed to which she had so scandalously seized upon, it was resolved to make proposals for obtaining a subsidy; and Count Krusemark was dispatched to Petersburgh to confer with Mr. Thornton, the British minister, on the subject; this communication was of a most extraordinary nature, and fully characterised the folly of the Prussian cabinet, for no mention whatever was made of the restoration of Hanover; nor a sufficient clue given to elucidate the real cause of the existing difference between France and Prussia. Notwithstanding, Mr. Thornton having apprised the British ministers of the propositions submitted to him, Lord Morpeth, son of the Earl of Carlisle, was deputed to go as a plenipotentiary to the head quarters of the Prussian army, where he arrived in the month of October, 1806. The mission of this nobleman proved inefficient; and through the nefarious counsels of Count Haugwitz, Prussia was destined to experience a series of calamitous events.

Too frequently has it been our painful task to relate acts of cruelty committed by Napoleon Bonaparte; we have now to record one at which humanity shudders. A bookseller at Nuremberg, of the name of Palm, had published a work, in which he had introduced some pointed animadversions on the political conduct of the French Emperor: this work had a very extensive circulation, was eagerly bought up, and a number of copies had found their way even to Paris. No sooner was Bonaparte acquainted with this circumstance, than he privately issued orders for the execution of this unfortunate man; in consequence of which, he was tried by a court martial, found guilty, and executed August 26, 1806, at Brannau.

All Europe was filled with horror at the perpetration of this atrocious act of barbarity, which would have disgraced any of the tyrants of Syracuse. The measure of the cup of Bonaparte's iniquity was now nearly full; many who hitherto had been sceptics with respect to Sir Robert Wilson's detail of his cruelties in Egypt, were now inclined to view that account as authentic. A very handsome subscription was raised for the widow

of this innocent victim of the fury of an enraged tyrant, who set all the laws of nature and nations, of God and man, at defiance.

CHAP. XII.

Continuation of Negociations with France. Embassy of Lord Lauderdale. Campaign in Prussia, in 1806, and 1807.

THERE had not been a period since the commencement of the war with France, so favorable for Bonaparte's making peace with England, as during the administration of Mr. Fox: but Napoleon now wished in his turn to amuse the British cabinet with hopes of peace, which he was resolved not to conclude but upon terms which he well knew could never be acceded to, without sacrificing the dignity and glory of the British empire. There was an apparent degree of sincerity, an outward display of a conciliatory disposition in the communication transmitted by Lord Yarmouth. France was undoubtedly in a proud and flourishing situation; and at this time she was carrying on a negociation highly advantageous to her with Russia; this naturally made the French minister gradually rise in his demands. Before Lord Yarmouth arrived in England, he had made an offer of giving up Sicily; but when that nobleman returned with instructions from the British cabinet, Talleyrand withdrew that offer, and insisted upon Sicily remaining in the possession of France. Sicily was of infinite importance to Great Britain; besides, although France and Prussia could barter away countries appertaining to other powers, at their pleasure; yet the honor of Great Britain was pledged to hold Sicily for the rightful monarch; it could not, therefore, be ceded to France without flagrant injustice, this Talleyrand well knew. Mr. Fox was very indignant at the change of sentiment respecting Sicily; he viewed it as an evidence of the insincerity of France, and as a proof of the little dependance there was to be placed on French promises. In the further progress of

the negociation, Lord Yarmouth was especially instructed to make Sicily a sine qua non, from which in no respect he was to depart.

The overtures for peace with Russia were formally opened on July 10; the plenipotentiaries were, M. D'Oubril, and General Clarke. The politics of the court of St. Petersburgh were entirely changed in favor of France, and so rapidly were the negociations going forward, that a separate treaty between Russia and France was concluded, and in ten days the said treaty was officially signed.

Lord Yarmouth was now tampered with, and he was informed of the treaty which had been concluded with Russia, a circumstance of which he was in total ignorance before. His lordship having transmitted the account of this treaty to his court, it was deemed expedient to recall him, and appoint another plenipotentiary; and the Earl of Lauderdale, an intimate friend of Mr. Fox, was nominated in his room.

Lord Lauderdale, upon his first interview with the French ministers, Champagny and Clarke, insisted that the basis of the negociation should be the uti possidetis, and the application of that to Sicily: this was. however, artfully evaded by the French ministers. The English plenipotentiary was also kept in suspense until the sentiments of the Russian cabinet were known as to the treaty. Lord Lauderdale had received instructions, that in case the Emperor Alexander should refuse to ratify the treaty, he was then to consider the two courts as having reverted to their former situation, with additional bonds of union, resulting from fresh proofs of their respective adherence to the spirit and principles of their alliance.

Early in September, a messenger arrived in Paris, announcing, that the Emperor of Russia had refused to sanction the treaty which M. D'Oubril had signed. This intelligence was communicated to Lord Lauderdale by Talleyrand himself, who commented upon it, by observing, that now France was inclined to treat upon terms more moderate. This was a master-stroke of policy in that able statesman; he was in hopes, by holding out this lure, to detach England from Russia; it was roundly asserted that the terms were to be more moderate; but