492 



Invajlon of Pruffia, 



[Dec. I, 



honoured ; that it was, notwithftaiiding, in a 

 ftate to beat the French; and th.it it was ne- 

 cefiary to make war. 



"General Ruche! (killed) and Blucher 

 (who only faved liimfelf hy a fubterfuge, and 

 by abufing the French good faith) fuljicribed 

 this memoir, which was drawn up in the 

 form of a petition to the King. Prince Louis 

 Ferdinand of PrulTia (killed) fupportcd it hy 

 every fpecies of farcafm. The fiarae fpread 

 through every head. The Dulcc of Brunf. 

 ■wick (wounded very badly), a man known 

 only to be without a will, and witliout deci- 

 fion, was enrolled in the war fadtion. In 

 /hort, the memoir, thus fupported, vras pre- 

 fented to the King. The Queen undertook 

 to difpofe the mind of the King, and to make 

 known to him what was thought of him. 

 She reported to him that he was not thought 

 brave, and that if he did not make war, it 

 was becaufe he was afraid of putting himfelf 

 ^t the head of his army. The King, really 

 as brave as any Pruffian Prince, gave way, 

 without ceafing to preferve the opinion that 

 he committed a great fault. 



"We ihould fignalize the men who have 

 not partaken of the illufions of the war parti- 

 sans. Thefe are the refpectable Field Mar- 

 ihal Mollendorf and General Kalkreuth. 



<' We are affured, that after the fine charge 

 of the 9th and 10th Regiments of Hulfars, 

 at Saalfeld, the king faid, ' You pretended 

 tliat tlie French cavalry was good for nothing ; 

 fee, neverthelefs, what the light cavalry is 

 doing, and judge what Cuiralfiers will do. 

 Thefe troops have acquired their fuperiority 

 by fifteen years fighting. As many are ne- 

 ceflary in order to equal them ; but who 

 among us could be fo much the enemy of 

 Pruffia as to defire this terrible procf ?" 



"The Emperor, already mafterof the com- 

 munications and magazines of the enemy, 

 wrote, on the l^th of tliis month, the letter 

 which is annexed, which he fent to the King 

 of Pruffia, by the Orderly Officer, Montef- 

 ^uiou. Tills Officer arrived at four in the 

 afternoon of the 13th, at the quarters of Ge- 

 neral Hohenlohe, who kept him there, and 

 took the letter of which he was the bearer. 



"The camp of the King of Pruffia was 

 about two leagues behind. The King 

 ihould, therefore, have received the letter of 

 the Emperor at fix in the evening at the 

 lateft. We are, however, affured that he did 

 not receive it till nine o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, on the 14th ; that is to fay, when the 

 battle was already begun. 



" It is alfo mentioned, that the King of 

 Prudia faid then— 'If this letter had arrived 

 fooner, perhaps we might not have fought ; 

 but thefe young men's heads are fo high, 

 that if there had been a queftion here of peace 

 yefterday, I fhould not have led back a third 

 of my army to Berlin. 



" The King of Pruffia had two horfes fliot 

 tinder him, and received amufket-ball in his 

 fleeve The Duke of Brunfwick has had all 

 the blame in this war. He has ill con> 



ceived, and ill dircflcd, the movements of the 

 army. He thought the Emperor was at Pari? 

 when he found him on his flanks; he thought 

 to have the lead in the movements, and he 

 found himfelf already turned. 



"As for the reft, on the morning of the 

 battle confterrjation was already among the 

 Chie/s. They perceived that they were 

 ill pofted, and that they were going to 

 play tiie laft ftroke of the monarchy. They 

 all faid, ' Well ! we (hall pay in perfon !* 

 the common fentiment of men who pre- 

 ferve little hope. The Queen was always to 

 be found at the head- quarters at Weimar. 

 It was neceffary at laft to tell her that 

 circuniftances were ferious, and that on 

 the morrow great events for the PrufTiau 

 monarchy might occur. She was defirous that 

 the King (hould bid her go away, and in efi'ed: 

 ftie was reduced to the neceffity of going away. 



" Lord Morpeth, fent by the Court of 

 London to buy the Pruffian blood— a miffion 

 really unworthy of a man like him — arrived, 

 on the 11th, at Weimar, charged to make 

 reducing ofiers, and to propofe confiderable 

 fubfidies. The horizon was already very 

 cloudy ; the Cabinet was not willing to fee 

 this envoy; he was told, that perhaps there 

 was little fafety for his perfon, and they en- 

 gaged him to return to Hamburgh, there to 

 wait the event. What would the Ducheft 

 of Devonfhire have fairl, had ihe feen her 

 kinfman, charged with fpreadir.g the flame 

 of war, and coming to oH'er poifoned gold, 

 obliged fadly to retrace his fteps in fo great 

 hafle ? One cannot reprefs one's indignation 

 to fee England compromife the rank of re- 

 fpeiSable agents, and play a part fo odious. 

 We have, as yet, no news of a treaty between 

 Pruffia and Rulfia, and it is certain, that up 

 to this day, no Ruffian has appeared in the 

 Pruffian territory. In other refpefts, the 

 army defire much to fee them ; they will 

 find another Aufterlitz in Pruffia. 



" Prince Louis Ferdinand of Pruffia, and 

 the other Generals who have fallen under the 

 firit blows of the French, arc at prefent men- 

 tioned as the principal movers in this in- 

 credible frerzy. Ihe King, who has run all 

 the chances of it, and who fupports all the 

 misfortunes which have been the refults of 

 it, is of all men who have been drawn in by 

 it, he who would have remained the moil 

 foreign to it. 



" There is at Leipzig fuch a quantity of 

 Englifh goods, that fixty millions have been 

 already orteied to redeem them. It is afked 

 what will England gain by all this ? She 

 might liave recovered Hanover; kept -the 

 Cape of Good Hope ; preferved Malta ; made 

 an honourable peace, and reftored tranquillity 

 to the world. She was willing to excite 

 Pruffia againft France — to provoke the Em- 

 peror and France : — Well ! ihe has c«ndu£t- 

 ed Pruffia to her ruin, procured greater glory 

 for the Emperor, and greater power for 

 France ; and the time approaches when we 

 may declare England in a ftate of continental 

 bleckiide* 



