(GENERAL HISTORY. 



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oti a variet)' of operations at once, 

 which might have been regarded 

 as imprudent, had they not relied 

 upon a general insurrection in 

 their favour. The Austrians gra- 

 dually retired before general Mi- 

 loradovitch, abandoning their posts 

 on the Narevv; and that com- 

 mander, on the 8th of February, 

 entered Warsaw, being met at some 

 distance by a deputation from the 

 different orders of the city, who 

 presented him with the keys. On 

 the same day, the town of Pillau 

 was surrendered to the Russian 

 arms, the French garrison, by a 

 convention, being allowed to retire, 

 under an obligation not to act till 

 they should have reached the left 

 bank of the Rhine. Thorn, as well 

 as Dantzic, was invested ; and on 

 February 6th, Alexander, with his 

 army, arrived at Polotzk. The 

 Austrians concluded an unlimited 

 truce, and withdrew into Gallicia. 

 The Saxons, under Regnier, en- 

 deavoured to profit of this circum- 

 stance by retiring towards their 

 own country behind the Austrians; 

 but being pursued and overtaken 

 at Kalitch by general Winzingrode, 

 as they were endeavouring to form 

 a junction with a body of Poles, 

 they were attacked, and a general, 

 many officers, and 2,000 privates, 

 with seven pieces of cannon, fell 

 into the hands of the Russians. 



The king of Prussia, now assum- 

 ing the office of a mediator be- 

 tween the belligerent parties, made 

 a proposal on Feb. 15th for a truce, 

 upon the condition that the Rus- 

 sian troops should retire behind the 

 Vistula, and the French behind 

 the Elbe, leaving Prussia between 

 them entirely free from foreign oc- 

 cupation. It does not appear, how- 

 ever, that cither party paid atten- 



tion to this proposal, which was 

 probably thrown out only for the 

 purpose of a temporary demonstra- 

 tion of neutrality; for on Feb. 22nd 

 a treaty of alliance, oftensive and 

 defensive, between the emperor of 

 Russia and the king of Prussia, 

 was signed, the plenipotentiaries 

 being, on one side marshal Kutu- 

 soff, now raised to the title of 

 Prince Kutusoff Smolensk, on the 

 other, the Chancellor Baron Har- 

 denberg. The two sovereigns had 

 an interview in the next month at 

 Breslau, from which place the 

 king of Prussia issued a proclama- 

 tion to his people, dated March 

 17th, briefly touching upon the 

 motives which had induced him to 

 join his arms to those of Russia, 

 and animating his subjects to 

 make the necessary sacrifices for a 

 contest, which he represented as 

 that which must be decisive of 

 their existence, theirindependence, 

 and their property. The true mo- 

 tive may be regarded as avowed in 

 the following paragraph : " We 

 bent under the superior power o( 

 France. That peace which de- 

 prived me of half my subjects, pro- 

 cured us no blessings ; on the con- 

 trary, it was more injurious to us 

 than war itself." It may indeed 

 be added, that the occupation of 

 the greatest part of his country by 

 the Russian troops, and the impos- 

 sibility of preserving a neutrality, 

 were other powerful inducements 

 for his Prussian Majesty to act as 

 he did. The detailed justification 

 of this measure presented by the 

 Prussian minister at Paris, and its 

 elaborate confutation by the Duke 

 of Bassano, were therefore a mere 

 formality. It was easy on one 

 part to show the abuse of power 

 exercised by the French in their 



