e129 
kept its station before the seraglio 
point at the end of the present 
year; and in the beginning of the 
next, rendered a similar service te 
Mr. Arbuthnot, the English ambas- 
sador; when, yielding to his fears 
of Turkish violence, he unfortu- 
nately determined on quitting Con- 
‘stantinople, and abandoning the field 
of diplomatic warfare to his more 
dextrous and successful adversary. 
While Russia by her conduct to- 
wards Turkey was unnecessarily 
increasing the number of her ene- 
mies, part of her forces continued 
to be occupied on the shores of the 
Caspian, in gaining fruitless victo- 
ries and making useless acquisitions 
cat the expence of the Persians. Un« 
able to contend with her arms, and 
hopeless of assistance or relief from 
England, whose good offices for the 
restoration of peace with Russia, 
they had in vain solicited during Mr. 
Pitt’s last administration, the Per- 
Sians, in the course of the present 
year, sent an embassy to Paris, to 
request the aid and cultivate the 
friendship ‘of Bonaparte. That 
-restless and ambitious conqueror, 
,whose views were still turned te- 
wards the east, had already dis- 
patched M. Doulcet Pontecoulant, 
a member of the French senate, on 
a secret mission to Persia, to pro- 
mote his schemes and advance his 
interests in that quarter. 
_ The invasion of Moldavia by the 
Rassians, besides other bad ‘conse- 
quertces to the allies, excited the 
jealousy and ill-humour of Austria, 
and produced inher cabinet a tem- 
porary alienation from their cause. 
The system of Austria during the 
present campaign had been that of a 
eautious and prudent neutrality. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1808. 
When war between France and 
Prussia became inevitable, she ase 
sembled a formidable army on the 
frontiers of Bohemia, but declared 
at the same time to the belligerent 
powers, that she had no other in- 
tention in taking this. step, than to 
maintain inviolate the integrity of ° 
her territories.* While the fortune 
of the war was uncertain, those 
assurances appeared to both parties 
satisfactory, and no one presumed 
to find fault with. her conduct, or 
doubt the sincerity of her profese 
sions. But, when the Prussians were 
driven across the Oder, an imperi- 
‘ous message was delivered at Vienna 
in the name of the French emperor, 
‘demanding the recal of the Austrian 
troops from the frontiers of Bohe- 
mia, and insisting on their return to 
their usual quarters. ‘To this order 
the Austrian ministers had the pru- 
dence to submit without delay or 
hesitation. Jt was at the moment 
when this humiliation was fresh in 
their recollection, that the Russians 
chese to awaken their jealousy and 
alarm their fears by advancing to 
the Danube, and threatening to en- 
compass them on the side of Turkey 
with the dominions or vassals of the 
court of St. Petersburg. 
‘Towards the close of the present 
year the courts of inquiry, which 
had been appointed to sit on the 
conduct of the Austrian officers, 
accused of misbehaviour in the cam. 
paign of 1805, brought their la- 
bours to a conclusion. Many offi- 
cers were in ccnsequence of these 
inquiries degraded and dismissed 
from the service. The prince of 
Auersberg, who had neglected to 
burn the bridge at Vienna, though 
he had received positive orders to 
-™® A circular note of count Stadion to the foreign ministers at Vienna, 
destroy 
