HISTORY OF EUROPE. - 208 
almost all the fortified places in 
his possession, besides engaging, 
what he could not perform, to pre- 
yent the entrance of the Russian 
troops into his dominions. Despe- 
rate as was the chance of war, it 
was better than submission to such 
conditions. 
While this negotiation was going - 
en, the French were prosccuting the 
war with unremitted actiyity. ‘Two 
corps of their army crossed the 
Oder early in November; the one 
under the command of marshal 
Davoust entered Posen on the 10th; 
and the other, consisting of the 
troops of Wirtemberg and Bavaria 
with Jerome Bonaparte at their 
head, undertook the conquest of 
Silesia, where victory seemed easy 
and sure, as there was no army to 
contend with, and the fortified 
‘places were destitute of the means 
of defence. But the panic, which 
had delivered up so many Prussian 
-fortresses without resistance, had 
egun to subside. Great Glogaw, 
the capital of lower Silesia, though 
invested on the 8th, and defended 
by a garrison of only 2500 men, 
held out till the 29th; and Breslau, 
though bombarded for more than 
three weeks, did not surrender till 
the 5th of January, 1807. Re- 
peated sallies were made by the 
garrison, and the besiegers were re- 
pulsed with loss in an attempt to 
_stormsome of the works. Nothing 
could exceed the gallantry and 
firmness of the inhabitants during 
the bombardment, though the town 
was set on fire in different places, 
and many persons were killed, 
and many houses and churches de- 
stroyed, An attempt was made to 
raise the siege by the prince of 
Anhalt Pless ; but his army, drawn 
from the _garrisoas in upper Silee 
sia, after being repeatedly defeated, 
was at length dispersed. This dis- 
aster extinguishing all hopes of re- 
lief, Breslau surrendered by capitu- 
lation. 
‘As the attempts of the French 
emperor to excite insurrection in 
Poland were attended with little 
effect, and failed ultimately of suc. 
cess, it will be unnecessary to enter 
at length into the measures taken 
by his emissaries for that purpose, 
or to make extracts of their speeches 
and proclamations. Dombrowski, 
a Polish exile in the French service, 
was the chief actor in this scene, and 
even the celebrated Kosciusko was 
brought again upon the stage. Some 
little sensation was produced in 
South Prussia, where the French 
armies were in force, and where the 
nobles were discontented with the 
Prussian government, for interfering 
with their privileges, and abridging 
their antient authority over their 
serfs, But even in this part of the 
country none of the great nobles 
joined the French, or showed a dis. 
position to profit by their flattering 
offers of raising Poland again to her 
former rank among nations, and 
avenging her of her now hum- 
bled oppressors. In Russian Poland 
all classes were reconciled to their 
chains, and the nobles in particular, 
delighted with the splendor and 
consideration they enjoyed at Peters- 
burg, had lost all recollection of the 
republic of Poland and diberum veto 
of their ancestors, as completely as 
those who now summoned them to 
freedom had forgotten the rights of 
man and republic one and indivi- » 
sible. 
The Russian troops, advancing to 
assist the Prussians, reached Warsaw 
before the French, and having taken 
porsetsion of that city with 4 view 
to 
