ISOG.] 



Invafion of Prujia. 



493 



fclockade. Is it then with blood that the 

 Englifli hoped to feed their commerce and re- 

 animate their induftiy ? Great mifchie.'s may 

 come upon England ; Europe will attribute 

 them to the lofs ot th.it honeft man and mi- 

 nifter, who wilhed to govern by great and li- 

 beral ideas, and whom the Englifh people will 

 6ne day deplore with tears of blood. 



"The French columns are already march- 

 ing upon Potfdam and Berlin. Deputies from 

 l^otfdam are arrived to recjueft protection. 

 Letter to the King of Pruffia, carried by Mon- 



fieur De Montefquioii, Captain, loho Jet out 

 from Gcra the 13th of OHober, 18')6, at ten 



t'chck in the morning, and arri-ved at the 



tamp of General Ihbenlohe at four o'clock in 



the aftcrmon. 



"Sihe, my brother, 



"I have only received upon the 7th your 

 Majefty's letter of the 2,^th of September. I 

 am foiry that you h^ve been induced to fign 

 a pamphlet of that kind *. I only anfwer 

 y«iir Majelty's letter for the purpofe of alfur- 

 Lrtg you, that I rtiall never attribute to your 

 Majefty the things contained in it- Every 

 thin^ in it is contrary to the charafter of 

 your Majeftv, and to the honour of us both, 

 I pity and defpife thofe who have been the au- 

 thors of fuch a production. 1 have received 

 immediately afterwards the note of your minif- 

 ter, dated the 1ft of Odtober. It has given me 

 the rendezvous for the 8th. As a true 

 Knight, I have kept my word, and am now 

 in the middle of Saxony. Let your Majefty 

 believe me, I have fuch a force, that all your 

 M.ijefty's forces cinnot keep the vidlory long 

 rloubti'ul. But why ihould we ihed fo much 

 blood '> For what purpofe is it ? I ihall ufe 

 to your Majefty the fame language that I ufed 

 vn the Emperor Alexander, before the battle 

 •f Aufterlitz. May Heaven grant, that cor- 

 rupt men and fanatics, who are more the ene- 

 mies of you and your throne, than they can 

 be of rae and my nation, may not give you 

 I he fame advice, to bring you to the fame 

 refult ! 



" Sire, I have been your friend for thefe 

 fix years. I do not wilh to prolit by this 

 Kind of vertigo wliich animates your 

 councils, and which has made you commit 

 eirors in politics with which Europe is quite 

 sftonilhed, and errors in a military point of 

 view, with which Europe will foon refound. 

 \^. your Majefty had, in your note, demanded 



* " This alludes to a letter of the King of 

 Pruffia, conljfting of iiO pages, which was a 

 mere rhapfody, that the King, moft certain- 

 ly, could not have read nor iinderftood. We 

 cannot print it, becaufe whatever relates to 

 the private correfpondence of Sovereigns, re- 

 mains in the Port-folio of the Emperor, and 

 does not come before the public. If we pub- 

 Jifh that of hit Majefty, it is becaufe many 

 copies of it having been made at the Pruffun 

 Head (.2u^ftci3 (where it was much admired^, 

 e.ic copy has fallen into cur liandj," 



MONTH.J.Y Mac. No. 150. 



any things that were pofuble for me to grant, 

 I ihould have granted them: you have aiked 

 what woud be diflionour to me, and there- 

 fore you might be fure about what would be 

 my reply. War is, therefore, declared be- 

 tween us, and the all ance broken for ever. 

 But why (hdukl we ftie^l the blood of our fub- 

 je£ts ? 1 let no value upon a victory which is 

 purchafed by the lives of a number of my 

 children. If I were now be.ginning my mili- 

 tary career, and if I could fear the changes of 

 war, this language would be out of its place. 

 Sire, your Majefty lu'dl be conquered: You 

 will have compromifed the peace or" your life, 

 and the exiftence of your fubjetts, without 

 even tli« ihadow of a pretext. This day yon 

 are unbroken, and may treat with me in a 

 manner fuitable to your rank: your ^iajefty 

 may treat with me be.fore a month is over, 

 but in a (ituation very different. Your Ma- 

 je'iy has permitieJ yourfclf to ufe irritating 

 exprellions, which h.we been artfully pre- 

 pared. You have told me that ycu have q^- 

 ten rendered me fervices. Well, then, I (hall 

 give you a great proof of the recoUedtion that 

 I have of them. It is now in your power to 

 fave your fubjefts from the ravages of war. 

 It has hardly now begun, and you may fiiiifh 

 it, and Europe will be much indebted to you. 

 If your Majefty fli.iU liftento thofe frantic per- 

 fons, who, fourteen years aoo, wifiied to take 

 Paris, and who now have induced you to em- 

 bark in a war, and in oftenfive projcfts equally 

 inconceivable, your Majefty will do an injury 

 to your people, that the remainder of your 

 life will nut be able to heal. Sire, I have 

 nothing to gain in a conteft wit'i your Ma- 

 jsHy : I wai)t nothing, norever did want any 

 thing, from you. The prefent war is a moft 

 impolitic one. I feel that, perhaps, by this 

 letter, I am irritating that feniibility which 

 naturally belongs to every Sovereign ; but the 

 prefent circumftances admit of no difguife. I 

 tell your Majefty what I think. Let your 

 Majefty moreover permit me to tell you, that 

 it is no great difcovery to Europe to learn, 

 that France is three times more populous, 

 and as brave and warlike, as the States ot your 

 Majefty. I have not given you any real fub- 

 ject for war. Let your Majefty then order 

 this fwarm of malevolent and inconfiderate 

 perfons to be filent, with that refpeCt that is 

 due to your throne, and reftore that tranquil- 

 lity that is due to yourfelf and to your domi- 

 nions, li' you will never again iind an ally in 

 me, you will find a roan who is deiirous ol ne. 

 ver waging any wars that are not indilpenfa- 

 ble for the interefts of my people, and of ne- 

 ver ihedding blood in a conteft with So- 

 vereigns who have no oppojite inlere/i to me 

 from indtiflry, comma ce, and poUticul Jyjlem, 

 I pray your Majefty to fee in this letter only 

 the dcfire 1 have to fpare the eftufion of hu- 

 man blood, and to fave a nation, that, froai 

 its geographical pofition, cannot be an enemy 

 to mine, from the bitter repentance '.vhicH it 

 y.ould hav? to feel, from buving liaen«d too 



