162 
insincerity, and rapacity of the court 
of Berlin, and solemnly protesting, 
for himself and his heirs, against 
every encroachment on his rights 
to the electorate of Brunswick 
Lunenburg, and its dependencies. 
It appears, that Prussia had so 
little expected prompt measures of 
retaliation on the part of England, 
that after the ratification of the 
treaty of Paris, count Harden- 
berg gave assurances to the mer- 
chants of Berlin,* that the naviga- 
tion and property of Prussian sub- 
jects had nothing to apprehend 
from Great Britain. It has been 
said, that, though the Prussian go- 
vernment was compelled to issue an 
order for shutting its ports against 
the British flag, nothing was far-. 
ther from the intentions of those, 
who were friendly to the connection 
of Prussia with France, than to en- 
force this order, or carry it strictly 
into effect; but, that the execution 
of this part of the treaty of Paris 
‘ belonging officially to ministers,who 
disapproved of the whole transac- 
tion, these persons determined to 
enforce it with the greatest rigour, 
for the purpose of bringing into dis-. 
credit the political system of their 
opponents, by the losses and incon- 
veniences to which, they foresaw, 
the exclusion of British shipping 
from thcir ports would necessari- 
ly lead; ‘saying, in their own 
justification, that they were not 
made for half measures.—What- 
ever truth may be in these re. 
ports, it is certain, that soon after 
the hostile acts and declarations of 
England were known at Berlin, the 
Prussian government shewed a dis- 
position to relax its system of ex- 
cluding English trade and naviga- 
* March 15. + May 14. 
§ April 27, and May 6. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806.” 
tion from the north of Germany, by 
giving orders+ at Stettin, Colberg, © 
and its other ports in the Baltic, not . 
to oppose the entrance of British 
ships, but on the contrary to re= — 
ceive them in the most friendly man- 
ner, In the mean time an order of 
council was issued by Great Bri- 
tain,t for seizing and bringing to 
judgment, before the admiralty 
courts, all vessels found navigating 
under Prussian colours; in conse« 
quence of which, that flag, lately | 
so common upon the ocean, quickly 
disappeared, and gave place to Da- 
nish, Pappenberg, Kniphausen, and 
other neutral ensigns, 
In addition to her war with Eng- 
land, the subserviency of Prussia 
to France involved her in hostili« 
ties with Sweden. The Swedish 
troops, who occupied Lunenburg 
for the king of England, having op- 
posed the entrance of the Prussians _ 
into that dutchy, were compelled, 
after a slight resistance, to retreat 
into Mecklenburg ;|| upon which 
the king of Sweden laid an embargo 
on all Prussian vessels in his har- 
bours, and issued an order for the 
blockade of all the Prussian ports 
of the Baltic.{ It was supposed 
that Prussia would take her revenge 
by expelling the Swedes from Pome-~ 
sania; but, if she ever entertained 
such a design, she was prevented from 
carrying it into effect by a new reyo- 
lution ia her politics, which gave a to- 
tally different direction to her arms. 
We have hitherto contemplated 
Prussia, unsteady and fluctuating in 
her policy, constant only in her 
duplicity ; professing neutrality at 
the commencement of the war, 
though secretly under engagements 
to France, detrimental to the allies ; 
$+ May 14. || April 23. 
assuming 
¢ 
