CHAP. LVIII. 1809. to remove the unfavourable impression produced by this unlucky discovery. Napoleon, who, after the battle of Aspern, had no need of another powerful enemy on his hands, feigned to be satisfied, and the approach of the Russian troops to the theatre of war, soon after, caused the affair to be hushed up. But the impression 1 sav. iv. 92, made on his mind was never effaced: he saw that the 93. Pel. iii. 71,72. Thib. ascendant of Tilsit was at an end, and frequently repeated vii. 310. to those in his immediate confidence, "I see that after all I must make war on Alexander."1 trust it Conversing at Ebersdorf on this subject, with Savary, who was in a peculiar manner admitted to his inmost 62. thoughts, from having been formerly ambassador at Great disSt Petersburg, he said, "I was perfectly in the right excited in the not to trust to such allies. What worse could have mind of Napoleon. happened if I had not made peace with the Russians? What have I gained by their alliance? It is more than probable that they would have declared openly against me, if a remnant of regard to the faith of treaties had not prevented them. We must not deceive ourselves; they have all fixed a rendezvous on my tomb; but they have not courage openly to set out thither. That the Emperor Alexander should not come to my assistance is conceivable; but that he should permit Warsaw to be taken, in presence almost of his army, is indeed hardly credible: it is plain that I can no longer reckon on an alliance in that quarter. Perhaps he thinks he does me a great favour by not declaring war: by my faith if I had entertained any doubt on that subject before engaging in the affairs of Spain, I should have 2 Savary, iv. cared very little for the part which he took. And yet, 92, 93. after all, they will probably say that I am wanting to my engagements, and cannot remain at peace." 2 63. between The most important political event, however, which flowed from the battle of Aspern was the commencement of a secret negotiation between Austria and Prussia, Secret negowhich, though from the tardiness of England unsuccessful tiation at that juncture, was not without its effect in future Austria and times, and showed that the ancient jealousies which had wrought such wonders for French supremacy, were fast giving way under the pressure of common danger. Even before that great event, a vague correspondence had been VOL. XII. 2 A Prussia. LVIII. 1809. June 8. CHAP. kept up between the two courts; and in consequence of distant overtures transmitted, first through the Count de Goltz, and subsequently the Prince of Orange, Colonel Steigenstesch had been sent by the cabinet of Vienna to Konigsberg, where the King of Prussia then was, with a letter from the Emperor of Austria, in which he earnestly invited that monarch to declare openly for the common cause, and enter upon a concerted plan of military operations. Early in June the Emperor of Austria, in reply to a letter of the King of Prussia, wrote to the cabinet of Berlin, announcing that "the bearer was authorised to regulate the proportions of the forces to be employed on both sides, and the other arrangements not less salutary than indispensable for the security of the two states, in conformity with the overtures made by Count de Goltz." The proposals of Colonel Steigenstesch were, that as the war in which they were now engaged was of such a kind as was likely to decide for ever the fate of the respective monarchies, they should become bound to support each other with their whole forces; that the general direction of the campaign should be intrusted to the Imperial generalissimo; that they should mutually engage not to enter into a separate negotiation; and that the peace to be ultimately concluded should embrace not only their own, but the interests of the adjoining states. These propositions were warmly supported by Scharnhorst and Blucher, and the whole war or patriotic party in the Prussian dominions. The former offered in a fortnight's time to have fifty, in a month a hundred and twenty thousand disciplined soldiers under arms: he assured the King of secret intelligence which would secure for him, on the first signal of hostilities, Magdeburg and several other important 1 Stadion to fortresses; and strongly supported the justice of Count Wusserberg, June 9, 1809, Stadion's opinion, so clearly expressed in his despatch, Hard. x. 321, that the fate of Prussia was inseparably wound up with vii. 306, 307. that of Austria, and that the two monarchies must stand or fall together.1 325. Thib. On this occasion, the cupidity and exorbitant demands of the Prussian cabinet again marred the prospect of a European alliance, and prolonged for four years longer the chains and misery of their country. Still clinging to the idea that victory must be clearly pronounced before CHAP. LVIII. 1809. The exorbi cause it to they declared themselves, and that they might turn to some good account the dangers and distresses of Austria, the Prussian government replied, that they had every disposition to assist the cabinet of Vienna, but that they 64. were in want alike of arms, ammunition, and money; that tant demands they could not take a part in the contest till the views of of Prussia Russia in regard to it were known; and that they must fail. have the guarantee of a treaty for the intentions of Austria, in the event of success, before they took a place by her side. To the envoy of the Imperial government, however, it was insinuated that "a great stroke would determine the irresolution of the cabinet of Berlin ;" but that, in that event, they would expect not merely the restoration of all the Prussian provinces of Poland, but also of Austria's share in the partition, Anspach, Bayreuth, a part of Saxony, and various lesser provinces, ceded at different times to France or other powers. It was, of course, beyond Colonel Steigenstesch's powers to accede to such extravagant demands: they were referred, with the proposal for a separate treaty, to the cabinet of Vienna; and June 23. meanwhile the negotiation, notwithstanding all the care of those engaged in it, to a certain degree transpired. A joint requisition was made by the ministers of France and Russia for a communication of the proposals of Austria; and although this inconvenient demand was eluded at the moment, Steigenstesch was obliged to quit Berlin, and before diplomatic relations could be established in any other channel, of which the King of Prussia still held out 1 Thib. vii. the prospect, the battle of Wagram had taken place, and 308, 309. Austria, beset on all sides, and unsupported by any Con- Hard. x. 326. tinental power, was driven to a separate accommodation.1 Jom. ii. 41. resources as the Operations in strength be felt Italy, and diversion Affairs wore a menacing aspect for the interests of Napoleon in more distant parts of his vast dominions. 65. England, seeming to rise in vigour and contest advanced, was making her giant in more than one quarter of Europe. Wellington had from Sicily. again landed in Portugal; the consternation produced by the Corunna retreat had passed away; and Soult, defeated on the banks of the Douro, had with difficulty escaped from the north of Lusitania by the sacrifice of all his artillery and baggage. The Spanish armies were again assembling in the south of Castile; large forces were CHAP. LVIII. 1809. May 17. collecting in the plains of La Mancha; and every thing indicated that, ere long, a formidable demonstration against the Spanish capital would be made by the united English and Peninsular forces. A considerable expedition was preparing in the harbours of Sicily to transport a large body of English and Sicilian troops into the south of Italy, where it was well known their presence would speedily produce a general insurrection. This was the more to be dreaded, notwithstanding the well-known imbecility of the Italians in military operations, that the recent annexation of the whole Ecclesiastical States to the French empire had aroused, as might have been expected, the most vehement hostility on the part of the Roman See and its numerous adherents in the Italian states. At the same time General Miollis, the French governor of Rome, had so small a force at his command that it would be compelled, in all probability, to yield to the first summons of the Anglo-Sicilian forces. Lastly, the English, not content with their exertions in other quarters, were, it was well known, preparing an expedition of unpre cedented magnitude in the harbours of the Channel: fame had magnified to a hundred thousand armed men and forty sail of the line the forces to be employed on the occasion; the Scheldt, the Elbe, the Seine itself, were alternately assigned as the probable destination of this gigantic armament; and Napoleon, with all his resources, was too clear-sighted not to perceive that he might ere long be overmatched by the strength of a more formidable confederacy than he had yet encountered; that the English standards would soon rouse the might of northern Germany into mortal hostility; and that a second reverse on the shores of the Danube, would at once dissolve his splendid dominion, and bring the forces of Europe in appalling strength to the banks of the Rhine.* The impression produced over the Continent by the battle of Aspern was immense. It dissipated in a great degree the charm of Napoleon's invincibility; and, more even than the dubious carnage of Eylau, diffused a general hope that the miseries of foreign domination were approaching their termination, and that a second victory over the remains of the French army, now shut up in the *See chaps. lx. and Ixi. where the events here alluded to are narrated. CHAP. LVIII. 1809. 66. Situation and prospects of after the Duke of takes island of Lobau, would at once restore freedom to an injured world. While the English nation abandoned themselves to transports of joy at the prospects which were thus dawning upon Europe, active endeavours were made by Austria to turn to the best account the extraordinary prosperous change which had taken place in Napoleon their fortunes. Not discouraged by the failure of former battle of attempts to rouse the north of Germany, the Duke of Aspern. Brunswick Oels again advanced from Zittau, at the head Brunswick of his gallant band of volunteers, towards Westphalia; Dresden. while a considerable body of Imperial landwehr from June 1. Bohemia, under General Amende, invaded Saxony, and another, under Radivojivich, five thousand strong, overran Franconia and penetrated to Bayreuth. The forces remaining in that kingdom, the bulk of which had been drawn under Bernadotte to the banks of the Danube, were in no condition to oppose this irruption; and the royal family, flying from their dominions, took refuge in France. Dresden and Leipsic were occupied by the Austrian troops; Bayreuth and Bamberg fell into their hands ; the insurrection spread over all Franconia and Swabia; symptoms of disaffection were breaking out in Saxony June 12. and Westphalia; and a chain of Austrian posts, extending from the Elbe, by Nuremberg and Stockach, to the mountains of the Tyrol, entirely cut off the communication between France and the Grand Army. Meanwhile, the June 22. most energetic appeals were made every where by the Austrian commanders to the people of their own and all the adjoining countries, to take up arms; while Napoleon, weakened by a disastrous battle on the banks of the Danube, could maintain himself only by a concentration of all his forces under the walls of Vienna.1 1 Pel. iv. 18, 22, 26. Hard. x. 393, 394. 67. "Germans!" said the Duke of Brunswick, "will you continue to combat Germans? Will you, whose mothers, wives, and sisters have been outraged by the French, shed Proclamayour blood in their defence? It is your brothers who now tion and energetic proinvoke you-come to break your fetters-to avenge the ceedings of liberty of Germany! To arms, then, Hessians, Prussians, Brunswick. Brunswickers, Hanoverians! all who bear the honourable name of Germans, unite for the deliverance of your fatherland, to wipe away its shame and avenge its wrongs. Rise to deliver your country from a disgraceful yoke, under the Duke of |