688 
Answer of Baron Hardenbergh to 
the Note. in the Montteur, of 
March 21. 
_ The Moniteur, of the 21st of 
March, No. 80, in printing a Ictter 
addressed by me, on the 22d of De- 
cember, 1805, to lord Harrowby, 
then his Britannic majesty’s minister 
at Berlin, has called upon me to de- 
clare, whether that Ietter is real or 
fictitious, and has accompanied this 
demand with several remarks, 
That which renders the duties 
and obligations of a statesman pe- 
culiarly painful, is the frequent 
necessity under which he_ finds him- 
self, in being compelled to observe a 
profound silence, at the same time 
when he is either misunderstood or 
calumniated. 
However, I owe it to the king, 
as well as to myself, to declare that 
the letter in question, though altered 
in several essential expressions, is 
official, and was written by his ma- 
jesty’s orders. I owe this declara- 
tion to the king, because at the 
court of Berlin, whatever may be 
the usage cited by the Moniteur, the 
ministers dare not use the liberty of 
taking such steps unknown to their 
sovereign. I owe this declaration 
to myself, because I cannot remain 
indifferent to the supposition, that I 
am capable of such a failure in my 
duty, or that J should expose my- 
self to his majesty’s disavowal, after 
having acted in his name. 
On the 22d of December the 
King, as well as every other person 
at Berlin, was ignorant that a treaty 
had been signed at Vienna, on the 
15th, by M. le Comte Haugwitz, he 
having reserved’ every kind of in- 
formation upon this subject, till he 
should make an oral report: and 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
not arriving at Berlin till the 25th 
of December, as it is expressed in 
my letter to lord Harrowby, we 
were quite uncertain as to the inten- 
tions of his majesty the emperor of 
the French; in the mean while the 
armies of both powers were in the 
field, and upon the war establish~- 
ment. F 
M. le major-general Pfuhl was 
sent to the French head-quarters, 
and count Haugwitz was dispatched 
to explain himself upon the interme- 
diary arrangement, which forms the 
subject of the letter to lord Har- 
rowby, and which had been pro- 
posed by count Haugwitz. M. le 
Pfuhl met this minister on his way, 
returning to Berlin, bringing with 
him a definitive treaty ; of course 
the intermediary arrangement fell 
to the ground. This is the whole 
fact, according to the strictest truth. 
Every impartial judge will know 
how to appreciate the remarks of 
the Moniteur. 1 feel myself honour- 
ed in the esteem and confidence of 
my sovereign and the Prussian na- 
tion. Iam honoured by the senti- 
ments of respectable foreigners, 
with whom I have been connccted, 
and I have the satisfaction of 
reckoning some French among the 
number. [ was not born in Prussia, 
but [ will not yield in patriotism to 
any native. I have obtained my 
rights, as much by my services, aS 
by transferring my patrimony, and 
thus becoming a proprietor. If [ 
am not a soldier, I feel that I should 
not have been unworthy of the pro- 
fession, if fate had destined me to 
defend my sovereign and his rights, 
the dignity, safety, and honour of 
the state, by force of arms. Thus 
much in answer to the remarks of 
the Moniteur. As to the rest, nei- 
‘ther the Bulletins of the Gagettes, 
nor 
