6 
without invasion, to give occupation 
to a great part of the English army, 
and to keep England ina state of 
constant preparation and alarm. 
The expences of the war were 
exhausting the resources of ing- 
land, while the evils attending that 
state of things in France were com- 
paratively small.* The interruption 
of her foreign trade had produced 
little inconvenience, except in some 
particular districts, after the first 
six months of the war. Her agri- 
culture was flourishing. Her domes- 
tic manufactures were encouraged 
by the difficulty of procuring ma- 
nufactured articles from abroad. 
Her capital was invested in occu- 
pations, which the hostility of Eng- 
land could not materially disturb. 
There was nothing to precipitate 
Bonaparte’s measures, except the 
impatience of his army, which was 
pining in inaction at Boulogne. 
But it was not difficult to foresee, 
that, if the discontents of his troops 
should ever compel him to take the 
field, he would contrive to carve 
out for himself some easier work 
on the continent, than the perilous 
expedition against England. 
But, whatever opinions might 
have been held with respect to the 
probability or improbability of in- 
vasion, antecedent to the period of 
which we treat, the issue of the late 
unfortunate campaign upon the 
continent had, at this time, mate- 
rially altered the grounds, on 
which the question might formerly 
have been argued. It belongs not 
to us, as historians of 1806, to enter 
at length into the history, or to 
expatiate on the errors of the ill. 
concerted and worse conducted co- 
alition of 1805. Without any de- 
finite or attainable object in view, 
it was formed of discordant mate- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
rials, which accident had lately 
brought together, but which time 
had not cemented. Russia, recently 
in the closest connection with 
France, had been disgusted with 
herally, on account of an atrocious 
and unprovoked act of violence, 
committed by order of the French. 
government within the territory of 
the German empire, the indepeny 
dence of which Russia as well as 
France was bound by treaty to 
protect. The resentment of 
Russia for this offence had been in- 
creased by the bad faith of the 
French government towards her- 
self, in some private transactions 
between them, not ‘very reputable 
to either party; and the petulant 
and insolent tone, with which her 
complaints and claims of redress 
were answered by France, had pro- 
voked her to recall her minister 
from Paris, and to break off all in- 
tercourse with the French govern- 
ment. In this moment of disgust 
and ill humour, she. was unfortu- 
nately prevailed upon by the soli- 
citations of England to come for. 
ward as the champion and protector 
of the liberties of Europe, which 
only two years before she had lent 
her aid to oppress and subvert, 
Austria, who still owed her a grudge 
for her conduct on that occasion, 
was, next, mostunwillingly and re- 
luctantly dragged into the confede- 
racy. Prussia, without whose co- 
operation, hostilities against France 
should never have been resolved 
upon, was unaccountably neglected 
or overlooked in the formation of 
the alliance ; and so little were her 
sentiments with regard to it known, 
that, even when the allies had taken 
the field, it was doubtful whether 
she would not throw her weight 
into the opposite scale, and declare 
against 
