jesty to afford a just foundation for negociation: It was therefore accepted, with this reserve, that the négociation should be conducted by his Majesty in concert with his allies.

No sooner had this basis been mutually admitted, than it was departed from by the enemy, and that, too, in points of so great importance, as to call for an immediate, declaration on the part of his Majesty, that unless the principles proposed by France herself were adhered to, the communications which had been opened between the two Governments must at once be closed.

This produced new professions of the disposition of France to make consider able sacrifices for the attainment of peace, if the discussions were suffered to proceed; at the same time, that a difficulty was started on account of the want of full powers in the person entrusted by his Majesty with this communication. Steps were thereupon taken by his Majesty for opening a regular negociation by Ministers duly authorised, in order to ascertain, in a manner the most satisfactory and authentic, whether peace could be obtained on terms honourable to the King and his allies, and consistent with the general security of Europe.

During these proceedings, a Minis ter sent by the Emperor of Russia to treat for the same important object, in concert with his Majesty's Government, was induced, by the artifices of the enemy, to sign a separate treaty, on terms equally repugnant to the honour and interests of his Imperial Majesty.

Unmoved by this unexpected event, the King continued to negociate precisely on the same principles as before. He relied, with a confidence which experience has amply justified, on the good faith and steadiness of an ally, in concert with whom he had begun to treat, and whose interests he had maintained throughout with the same firmness as his own.

The French Government, on the contrary, elated by this advantage, of which it boasted as equal in importance to the most decisive victory, departed in every conference more and more widely from its own offers and engagements. Not only did it take upon itself to change, at its own will, the basis of the nego. ciation with Great Britain, but violated

in points, still more important, every principle of good faith with Russia. The chief inducement offered to that power, as the price of all the sacrifices extorted from her Minister, had been the preservation of Germany. Yet before the decision of Russia on this treaty could be known, France had already annihilated the whole frame and constitution of the German Empire; had reduced under her own yoke a large proportion of the states and provinces of Germany; and, not content with this open contempt of obligations so recently contracted, had at the same time instigated the Porte to measures directly subversive of her subsisting engagements with Russia.

While such a conduct was pursued towards his Majesty, towards his allies, and towards all independent powers, there appeared so little hope of any fa. vourable issue to the negociation, that his Majesty's Plenipotentiaries demanded their passports to return to England.

This demand was at first eluded by an unusual and unexplained delay, and the French Government afterwards, by some material concessions, accompanied with intimations that others of still greater consequence might be the result of further discussions, procured a renewal of the conferences, which were protracted from day to day, till at length it was announced at Paris, that the Emperor of Russia had indignantly rejected the unauthorised and separate treaty signed by his Minister.

In consequence of this important event, the strongest assurances were given to his Majesty's Minister, that France was now prepared to make sacrifices to a great extent, in order, by securing peace with Great Britain, to re-establish the tranquillity of the world.

The object of these assurances appeared, however, to be, that of engaging his Majesty in a separate negocia tion, to the exclusion of his allies; a proposal which his Majesty had rejected in the outset, and which he could still less admit of at a time when the conduct of Russia had imposed on him an increased obligation not to separate his interests from those of so faithful an ally. To these insidious overtures, his Majesty still refused to listen; but he took the most effectual method to avoid all appearance of delay, and to accele

rate,

rate, if possible, the favourable issue of the negociation. The confidential intercourse which he had constantly maintained with Russia enabled his Majesty to specify terms on which peace with that power might be obtained; and his Minister was accordingly instructed to state to France, in addition to his own demands, those of his ally, to reduce them into distinct articles, and even to conclude on those grounds a provisional treaty, to take effect whenever Russia should signify her accession.

This form of negociating was, after some objection, acceded to by France; terms were now offered to his Majesty, more nearly approaching than before to the original basis of negociation; but these were still far short of what his Majesty had uniformly insisted on, and was now more than ever entitled to expect; and the decisive rejection of the just demands of Russia, as well as of the conditions proposed by his Majesty in behalf of his other allies, left to his Majesty no other course than that of ordering his Minister to terminate the discussion, and return to England.

The foregoing short and simple exposition of facts stands in need of no comment. The first overtures which led to negociation were made by the enemy, and they were accepted by his Majesty in the sincerest spirit of peace. Every opening which seemed to afford the most distant prospect of accommodation has been anxiously embraced, nor was the negociation finally broken off while any hope of a favourable issue could be entertained. His Majesty's demands were uniformly just and reasonable; directed to no objects of personal aggrandizement, but to such only as were indispensibly required by the honour of his Crown, his engagements to his allies, and a due consideration of the general interests of Europe.

It is with heartfelt concern that his Majesty contemplates the continuance of those evils always inseparable from a state of war; but it is with his enemies that this awful responsibility rests; and for the issue of the contest his Majesty trusts, with confidence, to the justice of his cause, to the resources and bravery of his people; to the fidelity of his al lies; and, above all, to the protection and support of the Divine Providence.

In contributing to the great efforts,

which such a contest must unavoidably require, his faithful and affectionate subjects will not forget that all their dearest interests are at stake; that no sacrifices they can be called upon to make can be compared with the certain disgrace and ruin of yielding to the injurious pretensions of the enemy; that, with the inviolable maintenance of the good faith and public honour of their country, its prosperity, its strength, and its independence, are essentially connected; and that, in asserting the rights, and upholding the dignity of the British empire, they defend the most powerful bulwark of the liberties of mankind. London Gazette, Oct. 21. 1806.

WAR ON THE CONTINENT. OUR previous intelligence decided the question of peace or war betwixt Prussia and France. Hostilities have commenced, and sorry we are to state, that the Prussian army has experienced defeats, equally rapid, and we fear nearly as decisive, as those which the Emperor of Austria suffered in the campaign of last year.

Of the battles which have taken place, the Prussian or German accounts, received by the Hamburgh mails, are extremely defective and unsatisfactory.

On the other hand, the French have adopted their old plan of issuing daily bulletins from the army, which are sent with the utmost speed to Paris and Holland for publication. These compositions (which are said to come from the pen of an under secretary of the French prime minister, Talleyrand, now Prince of Benevento, who accompanies Bonaparte,) present a most disgusting mass, in which the insolence of success is mixed with levity, and with all that coarseness and vulgarity, which so often form the prominent features of the characters of men raised by fortune from the lowest obscurity.

2

The bulletins received are of considerable length, and are 21 in number, the first dated Bamberg, Oct. 6. and the last Berlin, Oct. 28. the day after Bonaparte entered that capital. These singular publications can never be considered as historical documents of this most eventful campaign, as all the military intelligence they contain might have been stated in a very small compass. Bonaparte has devoted them to

quite another purpose than that of giving a fair and intelligible account of the operations of his army. He employs them to misrepresent the feelings and sentiments of the Prussian nation, to insult the Queen, and to degrade the character of the King; and in doing this, he discovers an insolent triumph over misfortune, of which only a very vulgar and indelicate mind could be guilty.

The Prussian nobility and Generals are inveighed against with much virulence, in these strange rhapsodies; and the venerable and much respected Duke of Brunswick, is stated to have been in a frenzy, when he advised his Prussian Majesty to submit no longer to the perfidious and deceitful schemes of the unprincipled tyrant of Europe. The English nation too, as might be expect ed, come in for their share of abuse.Lord Morpeth, who was sent to the King of Prussia on a special mission, is represented as the odious agent of the Court of London, come over to purchase the Prussian blood with the poisoned gold of England. "It is asked says the bulletin,) what will England gain by all this?-She might have obtained au honourable peace, and restored tranquillity to the world. She has acted otherwise-she has provoked the Emperor, and has conducted Prussia to her ruin. But the time approaches when we may declare England in a state of continental blockade. Is it then with blood that the English hope to feed their commerce and re-animate their industry?-Great mischiefs may come upon England: Europe will attri bute them to the loss of that honest man and minister, who wished to govern by great and liberal ideas, and whom the English people will one day deplore with tears of blood."

This is a very extraordinary compliment to the character of Mr Fox, who has been always esteemed an humane as well as an enlightened politician. Napo. leon must suppose the people of Europe to be very credulous indeed, if he thinks he can persuade them to believe, that any English Minister of great and liberal ideas would have countenanced the ambitious policy of a man, whom only the atrocious deeds of a cruel assassin, and the treacherous machinations of an abandoned usurper, have been the means of

elevating to, and preserving upon the throne he now occupies. For such is the character. publicly expressed of this singular personage, in all the official declarations of Austria, Russia, and Sweden last year, and in the late manifesto of the King of Prussia. Whatever may be the military talents of Bonaparte, he is certainly indebted for all his wonderful success, to the skill, bravery, and perseverance of the native Generals of France, and who look to be rewarded with honours and principalities, in proportion as they have contributed to his elevation as their imperial chief.

The first intelligence of the commencement of hostilities on the 8th of Oct. was communicated by the Hamburgh papers. From these it appears, that the left wing of the Prussian army under Prince Hohenlohe had changed its position, leaving a small corps under General Tauenzein at Hoff. This corps was suddenly attacked on the flank by a strong division of the French, but the Prussian General effected his junction with Prince Hohenlohe, without loss.

On the oth, the corps of Prince Hohenlohe advanced, for the purpose of attacking Soult's division, but was anticipated by that General, who, with 16,000 men, had penetrated through the Voigtland, in order, by a bold and rapid movement, to turn the Prussians, and burn their magazines at Naumburg.Prince Louis Ferdinand,with the advanced guard, consisting of between five and six thousand men, was posted at the bridge of Saalfeldt, with directions to defend that pass, while Prince Hohens lohe made a movement on the road to Grafenthal, with a view to take the enemy in flank --For nearly six hours Prince Louis resisted Soult's entire column, and at length repulsed it; when, flushed by his success, and too indiscreet valour, he abandoned his position in the pursuit of the enemy, and, while leading his brave troops, he fell by the fire of the sharp-shooters, who cover. ed the rear of the fugitives.-His body was penetrated by two bullets.--One of his adjutants, with a few followers, endeavoured to save it, but failed.This Prince, who was in the 34th year of his age, was son of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, the brother of Frederick the Great. He was beloved by the army.

This enterprise, although brilliant in itself, defeated the plans of the Commander in Chief, the enemy having retired before he could come up with them.

The loss of the Prussians in this action was 1500 killed and wounded; that of the French is stated at 3500.

After the affair at Saalfeldt on the roth, the Prussian General, Prince Hohenlohe, took a position between that town and Schleitz on the Saal; and on the 13th, the divisions of Bernadotte and Soult, under the immediate orders of the latter, advanced by Legenstein, with a view to turn his left flank. A desperate action ensued, which terminated in the defeat of the enemy, with the loss of six thousand men killed and wounded, and it is stated, fourteen thousand prisoners.-This corps was composed of the flower of the French army. On the 15th, Count Schulemburgh, Governor of Berlin, caused a placard, to the following effect, to be posted on the Government House.

"Prince Hohenlohe has totally defeated General Soult.-General Ruchel too has defeated the left wing of the Freach. The grand and decisive action with the centre will take place tomorrow."

The Queen of Prussia, on the 15th, sent to the Crown Prince a birth day gift, accompanied by the following note: "Cheer up, my boy, your father has been victorious!"

It is somewhat remarkable that no official accounts have been received from the Prussian army of this great victory; and altho' it is suppressed in the French bulletins, it may nevertheless be true. The reason given at Ham. burgh was, that a French army had approached so near to that city about the 15th, as to be able to intercept the mails from Russia, Prussia, and all the north of Germany; and that this interruption still continues. We must therefore have recourse to the French bulletius for the further details of these important military operations.

The four first give a detail of the movements of the army from the commencement of hostilities to the 13th but of Prince Hohenlohe's reported victory on that day, no mention is made. In the action in which Prince Louis fell, the Prussians did not maintain their po

sition, but were obliged to retire before the greatly superior numbers of the enemy. But as these preliminary affairs seem to have been of little impor tance, and to have been attended with but small loss on either side, we shall pass over the four first bulletins.

The fifth bulletin contains the relation of the fatal battle of the 14th, which was fought near Jena. A great part of it consists of a detail of the several movements of the French troops to occupy the most advantageous positions, previous to the battle, and to defeat the manoeuvres of the enemy, or pursue their own advantages. After describing the positions of the two armies, the bulletin thus procecds:--

"The enemy's army, which had no other view than to fall on whenever the fog which obscured the morning should have cleared up, took up their. arms.An army of 50,000 men from the left wing posted itself to cover the defiles of Naumburg, and to get possession of the passes of Poesen. But this was already forestalled by Marshal Davoust. The two other armies, one amounting to 80,000 men strong, placed themselves before the French army, which was opening out from the level height of Je

na.

The mist hang over both armies for two hours; but at length was dissipated by the brightness of the sun.The two armies mutually beheld each other at the distance of less than cannon shot. The left wing of the French army, supporting itself against the village of Averstadt and the woods, was commanded by Marshal Augereau; the centre by Marshal Lannes; the right wing was drawn together out of the corps of Marshal Soult.

"The enemy's army was numerous, and displayed a fine cavalry; their manœuvres were exactly and rapidly executed. But the impetuosity of the French was too ardent for him. Several battalions had begun to engage in the village of Hollstedt. The Emperor saw that the enemy was getting into motion to drive them out; he gave immediate orders to Marshal Lannes to march with expedition to the support of the village. Marshal Soult had attacked a wood on the right. The enemy having made a movement with the right wing upon our left, Marshal Augereau was commanded to repulse him,

and

and in less than an hour the action was general. Two hundred and fifty or three hundred thousand men, with seven or eight hundred pieces of artillery, scattered death in every direction, and exhibited one of the most awful events ever witnessed on the theatre of history. On one side as well as on the other, every manœuvre was performed as if it were on a parade.

"Among our troops there was not for a moment the least disorder; the victory became ours at this moment.— The Emperor had all along by him, be. sides his Imperial Guard, a large body of troops, as a reserve to act in unfore

seen events.

"Marshal Soult having got possession of the wood, which occupied him two hours, made a move forwards. At that instant the Emperor gave orders that the division of French cavalry in reserve should begin to take post, and that the two new divisions from the army of Marshal Ney should take station upon the field of battle by the rear. All the troops of the reserve were advanced to the foremost line, which being thus strengthened,threw the enemy into disorder, and they instantly retired.

"They retrieved themselves for about an hour, but were cast into dreadful confusion at the moment when our divisions of dragoons and cuirassiers, having the Grand Duke of Berg at their head, 'were able to take a part in the engagement. These brave Cavaliers, aware that the fate of the battle, especially at the conclusion of the day, depended upon them, bore the Prussians down before them in great confusion wherever they met them. The Prussian cavalry and infantry could not withstand the shock. In vain did they form them'selves into a square; five of their battalions were put to the rout-artillery, cavalry, infantry, all were surprised and taken. The French came at the same instant to Weimar as the enemy, who found themselves pursued for six hours. "The result of the battle is from 30,000 to 40,000 prisoners of war, 300 pieces of cannon, immense magazines and quantities of provisions. Among the prisoners are more than twenty Generals; among others several Lieutenants Generals; one is Lieut. General Schmettau. The amount of the loss of the Prussian army is enormous; it

is estimated at above 20,000 killed and wounded.

"On our side we have only to lament the loss of General de Belli, and the wound of Brigade General Conroux. Among the killed are several Colonels and Officers of inferior note.

"The Prussian army has, in this campaign, lost every point of retreat in its line of operations. The King was forced to retreat across the field at the head of his regiment of cavalry.

"Our loss is 1000 to 1100 men killed, and 3000 wounded.

"At one moment there was room for doubt; every mouth at once was filled with the universal cry of" Long Live the Emperor!" a sentiment which ran through every heart in the midst of the battle. The Emperor, seeing his wings threatened by the cavalry, set forward at full gallop to the spot to direct other manoeuvres, and order a charge in front.

"Erfurt is taken; the Prince of Orange Fulda, Marshal Mollendorf, several other Generals, and a considerable number of the troops, are prisoners of war."

Such are the French accounts of this dreadful battle, in which there is manifestly much of exaggeration; but the complicated disasters of the Prussians, there is too much reason to fear, will easily be retrieved,

The Hamburgh Papers give the following account of the battle :

"The battle was fought on the high road between Naumburgh and Erfurt. The march of the French troops along the Saal towards Weissenfels and Naumburgh, had induced his Majesty to alter the position of his army, in order to prevent the enemy from advancing upon his rear. The head-quarters were removed from Blankenburgh thro' Weimar, to Averstadt, while General Ruchel advanced to occupy the position of Weimar. The attack was made at three in the morning of the 14th by the French, and the advance of the Prussian troops was prevented by some defiles which were in the possession of the enemy. Both sides fought with the greatest courage and animosity. The Duke of Brunswick was wounded in the face not dangerously, by a grape shot in the beginning of the action, while he was reconnoitring with a telescope. The

battle,