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them redress or advantage, as it is detestable, in every view of religion, humanity and honour, As the King was returning to Nov. 3d. his palace at Warfaw, about nine o'clock in the evening, it being then very dark, and he not attended by his customary guard of Uhlans, the coach was fuddenly attacked at the corner of a street by fix men on horfeback, the principal of whom was Koczinski, an officer among the Confederates; thefe defperadoes fired their carbines and pistols into the carriage, after which they dragged the King out, and carried him off, held by the hands between two of the horfemen. Two Heyducks who were behind the coach, bravely expofed their lives to fave the King; one of them was eut to pieces, and the other defperately wounded; an aid de camp and a page were allo wounded. The crowd and the Ruffian patrols who were immediately affembled, found the carriage covered with blood, and the wounded, but no account of the King, nor knowledge whether he was dead or alive. All the roads were immediately scoured, and guns fired to alarm the guards and patrols that were stationed upon them.

The affaffins in the mean time, had joined twenty-five more of their accomplices, who waited at fome distance, and not only got clear of the city, but arrived, notwithstanding the difficulties they encountered, near Willanow, at the diflance of fix or feven Englifh miles from the capital. The firing of the cannon as fignals, and the continual fhouts of the Ruffians who were in purfuit, difconcerted them however confi

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derably; and whether it was from this motive, or that he was inftantly feized with a compunction for what he was doing, Koczinski advised the officer who was along with him, to a feparation, as the only probable method of efcaping the Ruffians. By this means he got the King into his own custody, and that of four others only, whom he also contrived to get rid of, by fending them to obferve the motions of the purfuers. He then quitted the road and his horfe, and throwing himfelf at the King's feet, implored his pardon, and of fered to fave his life; after which they marched an hour and half on foot through difmal woods and moraffes, till they arrived at a hut, from whence the King fent to the Ruffian general, and was conveyed to Warfaw early in the morning.

The King had received two wounds on his head, one from a ball, and the other from a fabre; and his escaping with life may be confidered among the most extraordinary incidents in hiftory. Koczinski produced a paper, by which it appeared, that he and the rest of the accomplices were bound by the strongest and most folemn oaths, to deliver the King, dead or alive, to the Confederacy at Czenftochau. It is evident that their carrying the King off in the manner they did, was attended with much more difficulty and danger, than the conveyance of his body would have been, if he had been killed at the first onfet; and it is much to the honour of Koczinski, that it does not at all appear from the circumstances which fucceeded the event, that any thing had intervened, at the time in which he changed his mind,

which

which could have prevented the fuccefs of their scheme in either way. His whole conduct in this affair is a ftrong inftance, that the mind of man has an inherent difpofition to virtue, and that however it may be warped and depraved, and think itself, while at a distance, capable of committing the moft enormous crime, it will frequently fhrink back with horror, and recover its original tone, when it comes to the execution.

The affairs of Poland feem nów drawing to a crifis, that will probably decide its future fates and

that may poffibly determine its exiftence as a kingdom or republic. The vifible concert and union fub fifting between the two great Germanic powers and the court of Petersburg, the late extraordinary conduct of the two firft, and the motions of all their troops, leave but little room to doubt of the general scope of their defigns, however difficult it may be, to point out the particular line of their intended arrangements. The time feems near at hand that will develope the whole.

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Otwithstanding the bleffings of peace, the year of which we treat has been productive of uncommon calamities in Germany. A course of inclement, or irregular feafons in fome countries, and the miferies of war in others, had occafioned a general scarcity of corn, which was more or lefs felt in every part of Europe. Indeed the first of thefe caufes as well as the effect, was unhappily extended to fome of the remoteft parts of the globe, of which Bengal, and feveral countries in the fouthern hemifphere, afforded melancholy examples.

In most parts of Germany and Bohemia, the fcarcity was fo great,

that a severe famine prevailed, and great numbers of people unhap pily perifhed for want of food. The extreme feverity of the winter added much to the diftreffes of the people, who were obliged in many parts to ftrip the thatch off their houses, and endeavour to keep their cattle alive by feeding them with it. The fpring was not more favourable. The unusual quantity of fnow which lay on the mountains being then melted, fell down in torrents on the level country, and fwept every thing before it, and the great rivers having burft through their ancient boundaries, fcenes of confufion, terror, and diftrefs, were fpread on every fide.

The fummer had ftill greater evils in store. The continual rains, which fell from the latter end of May, through the whole month of June, and part of July, prefented in the level countries the appearance of a fecond deluge. 'The inundations of the Elbe were particularly dreadful, and the damage incredible. Many parts of the Lower Saxony, of the Old Marche of Brandenburgh, and of the other countries that border upon that river, particularly in the lower part of its courfe towards the fea, were totally ruined. Hamburgh was in a moft critical and diftreffed fituation. The inundation entered fome of the gates, and all the heads and hands of its numerous citizens were occupied, for feveral days, in fchemes and endeavours, either to divert its course, or to prevent its farther progrefs. A public faft was ordained, as for the greatest calamity. The great fuburb towards the Elbe, of two English miles in extent, with the fine country houfes and gardens of the citizens, were fo entirely covered with water, that only the tops of the trees were difcernible. The whole damage to Hamburgh only was estimated at 200,000l. fterling.

The different princes and ftates did every thing in their power to alleviate the diftreffes of the people; but, as corn was alfo fcarce in other countries, the fupplies they could procure were very difproportionable to their wants. Whatever apprehenfion or intention of war had operated upon the king of Pruffia in the beginning of the year, he at that time purchafed prodigious quantities of corn to fupply his magazines,

and had afterwards upon the fame account prevented or impeded the conveyance of corn by the Vistula from Poland to Dantzick. Both these circumstances contributed much to the general diftrefs of Germany.

A riot having happened at Prague on account of the fcarcity, the governor told the people, if they did not difperfe he would order the troops to fire upon them; to which they answered with great coolness and indifference, that they would look upon the execution of his menaces as a favour, a fudden death by a fhot being much preferable to a flow one by famine. The governor had prudence and humanity enough to refrain from fulfilling his threat, and having tranfmitted an account of the tranfaction to the emprefs-queen, that princefs burst into tears, and fent them immediate relief.

Bavaria, which was the ufual granary of feveral of the neighbouring territories, was now in the deepeft diftrefs, and the people having attributed it to fome maladminiftration in the conduct of public affairs, the elector, being upon the road to Nymphenburg, was furprized to find his coach furrounded by a great multitude of people, who cried out, that they did not mean to hurt his perfon, but demanded the immediate difmiffion of four of his principal minifters of ftate, whom they named, and to whom they attributed their prefent immediate diftreffes, as well as all the other misfortunes of their country. Upon this extraordinary demand, the elector ordered his guards to difperfe the populace; with which they abfolutely refufed to comply: and he

was in that fituation reduced to the neceffity of being obliged to promife to redrefs all the grievances of his people. We do not find that this promife was kept; and the contrary feems to have been the cafe, as the garrison of Munich, together with his guards, were immediately augmented to three times their ufual number.

As the neceffity that now prevailed occafioned a ftrict fearch and infpection into the magazines and ftorehouses at Munich, one hundred great barrels of flour were found in one of them, which had lain in it ever fince the year 1631, when the great Guftavus Adolphus ravaged Bavaria. Though this flour was found upon examination to be grown into a hard fubftanee, that appeared like a kind of stone, it was however thought not to be totally useless, and being accordingly prepared, and mixed with fresh meal, was diftributed in bread to the poor. However indifferent this might have been, it was probably much better than the bread which the people about Augfburg were obliged to make ufe of, which was compofed of the bark of beech and alder, mixed with a fmall quantity of fome fpice.

Things carried much the appearance of war both at Vienna and Berlin at the beginning of the year, though the politicians were much at a lofs to judge what direction the ftorm would have taken. A great promotion of general officers took place at the former; 18000 recruits were demanded from Hungary, instead of 6000 which was the former complement,

and 30,000 from Bohemia; vaft bodies of men were marched to Moravia, Tranfylvania, and the borders of

Hungary, and great quantities of heavy artillery were fent down the Danube. Every thing befpoke fome great event at hand. It is not improbable that the great fcarcity of corn, and the public calamities which afterwards took place, contributed to the prefervation of the general tranquility. It was faid that the king of Pruffia was beforehand with the emperor in filling his magazines, a measure which the latter afterwards found impracticable.

Whatever the political views of the court of Vienna were at that time, it is probable that they have been fince changed, and that a new arrangement has taken place' between that court and thofe of Petersburg and Berlin, to the fatisfaction of the three. Notwithftanding thefe warlike appearances, the court of Vienna, in concert with that of Berlin, has acted the part of a mediator between the belligerant powers, and various propofitions relative to a peace have been tranfmitted through the hands of their minifters at the Porte. Mr. Obrefcow, the Ruffian minister at Conftantinople, who was imprifoned at the beginning of the war, has alfo been enlarged through the influence of the court of Vien

out and adjusted. Thefe troops have been fince increased to a confiderable army. Some of the Polifh nobility remonftrated upon this meafure, but without any redrefs. The heads of the confederates had before prefented a memorial to the emperor, in which they hoped that the great force he had affembled on their frontiers was intended to restore their liberties, and generoufly relieve their country from the dreadful calamities fhe laboured under; or at least, if that was not the motive, that they relied upon his clemency and generofity not to take any advantage of her prefent deplorable fituation.

The conduct of the Pruffians, who, first under pretence of forming a line to prevent the fpreading of the infection, and afterwards of protecting the inhabitants from the exorbitances of the confederates, had fent feveral confiderable bodies of troops into Regal or Polith Pruffia, was oppreffive and arbitrary in the highest degree; exceffive contributions were raised. Dantzick in particular, and its territories, fuffered feverely: If the generally received opinion be well founded, that this province is to be difmembered from the republic of Poland, and added to the dominions of Pruffia, the inhabitants have already had a difmal foretafte of the wretchedness they are to experience under an arbitrary and military government.

The vifit which prince Henry of Pruffia made to the court of Petersburg, in the latter part of the foregoing year, was probably in a great measure decifive of the fate of Poland; at least there is little room for doubting, that the arrangements to be made were then

Feb. 12th

concluded upon, fo far as they related to two of the great parties who were to be its arbiters. Whatever effect these measures may have upon the ftate and government of that country in particular, there is every reafon to think that they will for the prefent be the means of re establishing the general tranquility. Indeed if the apparent confent and union, upon this fubject, between the two great Germanic powers and the court of Petersburg, be real, as it appears at prefent to be, we know of no force fufficient to counteract their defigns, or to prevent the full completion of them. The fudden death of the king of Sweden, and the acceffion of the princeroyal, his fucceffor, has caufed no change either in the general fyftem of Europe, or in the particular state of that kingdom. The prefent king and his brother, prince Frederic Adolphus, had fet out fome time before upon their travels to fee the principal countries in Europe, and were in Paris at the time they received that account. If the abfence of a prefumptive heir, upon fuch an occafion, might in fome other cafes be not totally unattend ed with difficulty or danger, the free government of Sweden afforded no apprehenfion of that nature, The fenate met early in the morning of the day which fucceeded that event, and iffued immediate orders for proclaiming the prefent king, which was done in the ufual forms without the fmalleft disturbance.

The new king, notwithstanding the account of his father's death, did not quit Paris till towards the end of March. His vifit thither was not merely a matter of pleasure. France was in arrear to

Sweden