LON 
emulation of only great aliens and ufeful enterprifes; 
- and was determined to .perpetuate a peace, that Ihould 
conftitute the happinefs of the French, and the happinefs 
of humanity.” This indeed would have been true policy, 
and true glory. And there were not a few who entertained 
fanguine hopes that Bonaparte would have exhibited as 
illuftrious an example of moderation and jnftice, as he 
had done of bravery, fkill, and fuccefs in war. But it 
foon appeared that he was aftuated only by the vulgar 
fpirit of domination, which he purfued, both by arms and 
political intrigue. Peace was always in his mouth, war 
in his heart. Where the interefts and the rights of men 
are confulted, though war may be reforted to in cafes of 
neceffity, the uniform end is peace. When tyranny and 
the lull of conqueft prevail, though peace may occafionally 
be made the means, the end conftantly in view is war. 
This fyftem, unfortunately for the nations of Europe, was 
the fyllem adopted by Bonaparte. 
After the battle of Jena, a proportion was made, either 
by Ruffia in concert with her allies to the ruler of France, 
or by the ruler of France to Ruffia and her allies, for a 
congrefs of all the belligerent powers, to be held for the 
purpofe of a general pacification. The Ruffian govern¬ 
ment, keeping a Heady eye on Conftantinople, objected 
to the admiffion of the Turks into the congrefs. Bona¬ 
parte infilled on the admiffion of the grar.d-fignior as the 
friend and ally of France, in return for which, Rullia would 
be permitted likewife in the congrefs to make common 
caufe.with England. Though the negotiation had been 
interrupted by a feries of hot actions, and the king of 
Pruffia, and the Ruffian generaliffimo, had declined to en¬ 
ter into any treaty for an armiftice, or peace, as noticed 
at p. 150, after the battle of E.ylau ; Bonaparte, on the 
fall of Dantzic, made a direft propofal for renewing 
the negotiation to the emperor Alexander, accompanied 
by a declaration, that he was defirous of peace above 
all things, and ready to liften to any reafonable overtures 
for that end. 
The fecret hiftory of the negotiation for peace, the cir- 
cumftances that determined the'Ruffians to avoid a gene¬ 
ral aflion before the fall of Dantzic, and yet to make a 
vigorous attack on the French fifteen days after the ca¬ 
pitulation of that place, time has not yet difclofed. On 
the 5th of June, the campaign began, and was concluded 
on the 15th ; in the courfe of which ten days, were fought 
the battles of Hiellberg and Friedland, which will make 
a prominent figure in another article. On the 19th of 
June, 1S07, at two o’clock P. M. Bonaparte with his 
guards entered Tilfit, the fecond town in Pruffia, af¬ 
ter Koninglberg; containing ten thoufand inhabitants. 
The Ruffians, purfued after the battle of Friedland by 
the grand duke of Berg, evoffed the Niemen, burned the 
bridge of Tilfit, and continued their retreat eaftward. 
The emperor of Ruffia, who had remained three weeks 
with his Pruffian majefty at Tilfit, left that place along 
with the king in great hafte. On the 19th, an armiftice 
was propofed to the chiefs of the French, army, by the Ruf¬ 
fian commander-in-chief. In confequence of this, an ar¬ 
miftice was agreed on at Tilfit, on the 22c! of June,in which 
the Pruffian armies were included. The firft interview 
between Bonaparte, or the Emperor Napoleon as he was 
now called, and the Emperor Alexander, took place, on the 
25th of June, on a raft conftru£ted for the purpofe, on 
the Niemen,. where two tents had been prepared for their 
reception by the French. Alexander and Bonaparte landed 
from their boats at the fame time, and embraced each 
other. Great were the mutual courtefies and expreffions 
of kindnefs and refpeft that enfned among French, Ruf¬ 
fians, and Pruflians, of all ranks; visiting, feafting, and 
all kinds of entertainment and feftivity that could be 
thought of. Human nature gladly relaxed from the mi- 
ferable rage of war, and indulged, and was eager to ac¬ 
knowledge, and emphatically to exprefs, every fentiment 
of focial and generous affection. A magnificent dinner 
tvas given by Napoleon’s guards to t’nofe of Alexander 
DON. 159 
and the king of Pruffia. At this entertainment they ex¬ 
changed uniforms; and were to be feen in the ftreets in a 
motley kind of drefs, partly Ruffian, partly Pruffian, and' 
partly French. A ft ranger to the ways of Europe, wit- 
neffing, at Tilfit, fuch ardent love among thofe different 
tongues and nations, from the higheft to the loweft, might 
have wondered what could potlibiy have impelled fuch 
good-natural and tender-hearted people to the moll horrid 
feenes of war and bloodthed. 
A treaty of peace was concluded, between his majefty 
Napoleon, ftyling himfelf Emperor of the French and 
King of Italy, and his majefty the Emperor of all the Ruf- 
fias, at Tilfit, July 7th. The great facrifice to peace, 
was, of courfe, the kingdom of Pruffia, which was reduced 
at once from the rank of a primary to, at beft, that of a fe- 
condary power of Europe, and all that had been done for 
the augmentation and aggrandizement of the monarchy 
by the great Frederic in the courfe of twenty years un¬ 
done in one day. The king of Pruffia, by the peace of 
Tilfit, together with an immenfe territory, loft near the 
half of his yearly revenues', and five millions of his fuh- 
jecls. For particulars we muft refer our readers to the 
articles Prussia and Russia. On the whole, Pruffia w'as 
brought back nearly to the ftate in which it Was on the 
ill of January, 1772, before the firft partition of Poland. 
Mr. Arbuthnot, the Englifh minifter at the Porte, who 
had obferved, that, ever fince the great victories obtained 
by the French over the Pruffians, the influence of the 
French at Conftantinople had increafed, and that of Ruffia 
and England been proportionably diminilhed, did not fail 
to write home to our government the ftate of affairs there ; 
and intelligence to the fame effect was communicated to 
the Britifli government by the Ruffian miniftersat Peterf- 
burgli, accompanied with a recommendation to fend a 
Britifli fleet, with a large military force, which might de¬ 
feat the afcendancy of the French counfels at the Porte, 
and caufe a powerful diverfio.n of the force of France in 
favour of Ruffia. A negotiation for peace w ith the Porte’ 
was commenced by the Ruffian in conjunftion with the- 
Englifli government. To give weight to this, a fleet, un¬ 
der the command of fir Thomas Duckworth, was lent to 
force the paflage of the Dardanelles, and, if certain terms. 
Ihould not be acceded to by the Turkifli government, to 
bombard Conftantinople. The fleet confided of fevera 
Blips of the line, befides frigates and bomb-ihips. Two 
of the fliips of the line were three-deckers, three carried 
84 guns, and two 74. This naval force calt anchor at 
the Ifle of Tenedos about the middle of February, where 
it was joined by the frigate on-board of which Mr. Ar- 
burhnot had made his efcape from the perlonal violence 
of which he had been in apprehenfion at Conftantinople-; 
he carried along with him all the Englifli refidingin that 
city. 
Oar fleet paffed the Dardanelles on the morning of the 
19th. A Turkifli fquadron, confining of a 64-gun (hip, 
four frigates, and feveral corvettes, had been for (bine 
time at anchor within the inner cattles. Orders were 
given to commodore fir Sidney Smith, who was well ac¬ 
quainted with thole Teas, having been llationed there, 
with a naval force under his command, in 1799, to bear 
up with three Ibips of the line, and. dedroy them, if any 
oppofition Ihould be made to their paflage. This divi- 
fion was followed clofely by the other fliips. At a quar¬ 
ter before nine o’clock, the whole of the fquadron had 
paffed the outer caftles, without having retiTrne.d a (hot 
to the Turkifli fire, which did our (hips but little injury. 
This forbearance was intended to exprels the pacific dif- 
pofition and amity of our fovereign and government to¬ 
wards the Sublime Porte. But, in palling the narrow 
ftrait, between Seitosand Abydos, our fquadron fnltained 
a very heavy fire from both caftles. A tremendous fire 
was therefore opened by our fliips of war on the caftles, 
with fuch effed, that the firing of the Turks was in a 
great meafure llackened when they were palled by the 
Iteramoft velfels of the fquadron. The fmall .Turkifli 
fquadro.a. 
