320 
deteriorated; she and her allies not 
having received the benefit of those 
conditions which had been stipu- 
Jated in their favour by the articles 
of the treaties of Luneville and 
Amiens, were positively weakened ; 
while the French nation, retaining 
Holland, Switzerland, the Italian, 
and Ligurian republics, (all of which 
it had beenexpressly bound to evacu- 
ate by the letter and spirit of both 
treaties,) had acquired a prodigious 
acquisition of strength and influ- 
ence: the balance of course 
turned decidedly against Austria, 
and from the day of the final settle- 
ment oi the German indemnities, 
Bonaparte, and not Francis, must 
be looked to as the arbiter of Ger- 
many. Thenceforward the influ- 
ence of the emperor may be consi- 
dered as strictly confined within the 
limits of his hereditary estates. 
In those transactions the views 
and policy of the court of Berlin 
were so extremely narrow and self- 
ish, as even to disgust France, at 
the very moment she was exerting 
her all powerful influence, to ad- 
vantage Prussia. The Moniteur, 
the official paper of the French 
government, did not hesitate to ac- 
cuse the king of Prussia of obstruct- 
ing the arrangement of the indem- 
nities, by his confined views; and 
it must be allowed, that the uni- 
form conduct of the cabinet of Ber- 
lin was such, as to merit, and draw 
upon it, the contempt of all Eu- 
rope. The Prussian nation had no 
jonger on its throne that Frederic, 
who madeit his boast and glory to 
be the protector of the smalicr 
states of Germany, and who, by a 
wise and liberal policy knew how 
to unite the force of the lesser pow- 
ers to his own, in the common 
ANNUAL REGISTE 
R, 1803. 
defence of the rights and liberties 
of the Empire. ‘The present mon- 
arch appeared to consider the ac- 
quisition of a petty district, how- 
ever small, as an object of greater 
moment than that influence which 
should of right attach to his power 
in Germany, and which a spirited 
line of conduct must have insured. 
The consequence was such as- 
might have been expected. The 
lesser states of the north of Germa- 
ny, seeing no prospect of protection 
from a power whose politics were 
so mean and debased, naturally 
submitted to the authority of 
France. Frederick the great, by 
protecting the smaller states with 
the same zeal as he would his own 
territories, became formidable to 
the most powerful monarchs of his 
age, and obtained for Prussia the 
rank of a primary power. The 
policy which raised Prussia to such 
a Rank among the nations of Eu- 
rope was abandoned athis death ; 
and since that period, Prussia, al- 
though constantly increasing in 
_territory, has visibly declined in 
importance; insomuch that Eu- 
rope at present knows nothing of 
that power, save as the ally and in- 
strument of France, It may with 
propriety be said of this kingdom, 
what one of the most accomplish- 
ed orators of his age applied to 
France, “‘ If we look upon the map 
of Europe we see a chasm where 
once was Prussia.” Nor can it be 
expected from the present aspect of 
things, that a sovereign imbued 
with the spirit of the ereat Frede-. 
rick shall again arise to crown the 
Prussian name with glory, and hold 
with steady hand the balance 
among the rude and restless nations 
of the borth, On the contrary it 
appears, 
