Napoleon had fixed for the day following. The latter moved on to the advanced-posts, and received the Emperor of Germany at a windmill on the roadside near Sarutchitz, still shown to travellers, where the fire of a bivouac protected them from the inclemency of the weather. "I receive you," said Napoleon, "in the only palace which I have inhabited for the last two months."-"You have made such good use,” replied Francis, “ of that habitation, that it should be agreeable to you." The officers of their respective suites then retired, and the two emperors conversed for above two hours, in the course of which the terms of accommodation were verbally agreed on. Napoleon took advantage of that opportunity to display all his talent in the colouring which he gave to his own conduct, and the dark shades in which he represented that of the Allies. Everything, as usual, was laid on England. It was the incessant ambition, corrupting gold, and Machiavelian policy of those islanders, which had so long divided the Continent; the blood and misery of the European powers were the means by which they elevated themselves to greatness, and, amidst universal suffering, engrossed the commerce of the world; the reproaches which they lavished on his ambition were in reality applicable to themselves; the cause of France was the cause of Austria, was the cause of Russia, was the cause of the civilised world; and the real enemy of them all was that perfidious power, which, having nothing in common with European nations but its situation, continually sowed the seeds of dissension on the Continent, and, secure from attack itself, found the principal source of its grandeur in the misfortunes of the states by which it was surrounded. The Emperor Francis was in no condition to enter the lists of controversy with the conqueror of Austerlitz; but he did not forget his own dignity in misfortune, and sullied his character by none of those sallies against his former allies, which Napoleon, with his usual disregard of truth, put into his mouth in the bulletins. 139. The conference lasted two hours, after which the two emperors embraced and separated with all the marks of mutual esteem. The conditions had been verbally agreed on, and it was arranged that Pressburg should be the seat of the negotiations, and that an armistice should immediately take place at all points. The Emperor of Russia was no party to the conference; but the Emperor of Austria engaged his word of honour for his ally, that he would accept the conditions which were offered, namely, that hostilities should cease between the two armies, and that his troops should retire by slow marches, without further molestation, to their own country.* Savary was sent next day to the Emperor Alexander to invite him to accede to these terms, which were immediately agreed to; and without requiring any other guarantee than his word, Napoleon immediately stopped the advance of his columns. In truth, after the seces * the Emperor Alexander derived great benefit *Though not a party to this conference, from it, in securing the retreat of the troops under his command. Their only means of retreat over the Marche (or Morava) was by the bridge of Goding, which was defended by an Austrian division under General Meerfelt. Davoust had already commenced his march against that point, and had arrived within little more than a mile of it, at the placed their artillery, when Alexander suspended the operations by a note written with his own hand, in which he announced the conference which was going forward between the Emperors of France and Germany. Whether Davoust could have gained possession of the bridge at Goding is very doubtful, as, independent of the Austrians, twenty-six thousand Russians were at hand, who would have come up before evening, and fought with the courage of despair.-Savary, ii. 144, 145. entrance of a defile where the Austrians had + Savary reached the Emperor of Russia's headquarters at four in the morning of the 5th. He found that monarch already dressed; and he immediately received an audience. "I am very happy to see you again," said Alexander, "on an occasion so glorious for you; that day will take nothing from the reputation which your master has earned in so many battles. It was my first of his manoeuvres never gave me time to engagement, and I confess that the rapidity succour the menaced points; everywhere you were at least double the number of our forces."-"Sire," replied Savary, "your Majesty has been misinformed. Our force, upon the whole, was twenty-five thousand less sion of Austria, the war, at least in that quarter, had no longer an object, and the Emperor of Russia justly deemed himself fortunate in being able to extricate his army, without further loss, from its perilous situation. Anxious to conciliate the good-will of so powerful an adversary, Napoleon returned several of the Russian officers who had been made prisoners, without exchange; and Alexander set out two days after, by post, for St Petersburg. 140. On the 6th December an armistice was formally concluded at Austerlitz, by which it was stipulated, that until the conclusion of a general peace, the French should continue to occupy all those portions of Upper and Lower Austria, the Tyrol, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and Moravia, at present in their possession; that the Russians should evacuate Moravia and Hungary in fifteen days, and Galicia in a month; that all insurrectionary movements in Hungary and Bohemia should be stopped, and no armed force of any other power be permitted to enter the Austrian territories. This latter clause was levelled at the Prussian armaments, and it afforded the cabinet of Berlin a decent pretext for withdrawing from a coalition into which they had entered at so untoward a time. Napoleon issued a proclamation to his troops, in which he spoke with just pride of their great achievements, and awarded a liberal recompense to the than yours; and even of that, the whole was not very warmly engaged; but we manœuvred much, and the same division combated at many different points in different directions; it was that which apparently multiplied our numbers. Therein lies the art of war; the Emperor, who has seen forty pitched battles, is never wanting in that particular. He is still ready to march against the Archduke Charles, if your Majesty does not, by accepting the arinistice, dispose it otherwise.""What guarantee does your master require?" replied Alexander; "and what security can I have that your troops will not prosecute their movements against me?"-"He asks only your word of honour, and has instructed me, the moment it is given, to suspend the march of Marshal Davoust."-"I give it with pleasure," rejoined the Emperor; "and should it ever be your fortune to come to St Petersburg, I hope I may be able to render my capital agreeable to you."-SAVARY, ii. 142, 143. wounded, and the widows of those who had fallen in the battle.* At the same time he paraded the Russian prisoners who could be moved from the hospitals, above sixteen thousand in number, in the most ostentatious manner through the streets of Vienna on their road to France, and returned himself to Schönbrun to superintend the negotiations about to commence at the town of Pressburg.+ 141. Faithful to the principles which he had sworn to adhere to at the tomb of the Great Frederick, Alexander no sooner found himself delivered from the grasp of his redoubtable adversary, than he sent to Berlin the Grand-duke Constantine and Prince Dolgorucki, offering to place all his forces at the disposal of the Prussian cabinet, if they would vigorously prosecute the war. But the veteran diplomatist to whom the fortunes of Prussia were now committed had very different objects in view, and he was prepared, by an act of matchless perfidy, to put the finishing-stroke to that system of tergiversation and deceit by which, for ten years, the conduct of the cabinet of Berlin had been disgraced. Haugwitz, as already mentioned, had come to condensed energy-"Soldiers! I am content *In the bulletin he said, with his usual with you; you have decorated your eagles with immortal glory; peace cannot now be When everything necessary far removed. country is obtained, I will lead you back to to secure the happiness and prosperity of our France. My people will again behold you with joy and it will be enough for one of you to say, 'I was at the battle of Austerlitz,' for all your fellow-citizens to exclaim, 'There is a brave man !" Liberal donations at the same time were made to all the wounded; the generals received 3000 francs each, and the common soldiers a napoleon each; the pensions to the widows of the generals were 6000 francs, or £240; of the colonels, 2400, or £96; of the common men, 200, or £8 sterling yearly.-SAVARY, ii. 148; and BIGNON, iv. 560. On his road thither, Napoleon met a large convoy of wounded Austrians on their route for the hospitals of the capital; he immediately descended from his carriage, and uncovering as the waggons passed, while his suite did the same, be said, in a loud voice, "Honour to the brave in misfortune!" So well did this great man know how to win the affections, and command the admiration, of the very soldiers who had lavished their best blood in combating his power. Vienna to declare war against Napo- | against them; wrest from them Silesia, leon, and the 15th December was the whose fortresses, unarmed and unproday fixed for the commencement of visioned, were in no condition to make hostilities; but the battle of Austerlitz any defence; excite an insurrection in totally deranged their plans, and the Prussian Poland, and punish them in very day before he was admitted to a the most signal manner for their infasecond audience of the French Empe- mous perfidy. Reasons of state, howror, the armistice had completely de- ever, he added, sometimes compelled tached Austria from the coalition. No- sovereigns to bury in oblivion the best thing was more natural than that so founded causes of animosity on this calamitous an event should make a occasion he was willing to overlook their total change in his view of the policy past misconduct, and ascribe it entirely of the war, and the severest morality to the efforts of England; but this could not condemn a statesman who could be only on one condition-that sought to withdraw his country from a Prussia should at length abandon its contest which now appeared hopeless, doubtful policy, and enter heart and and in which, from being an accessory, hand into the French alliance. On it was likely to be called, without any these terms he was still willing to inadequate preparation, to sustain the corporate Hanover with its dominions, principal part. in exchange for some of its detached southern possessions, which were to be ceded to France and Bavaria. 142. But not content with this, Haugwitz resolved to go a step further. On the breaking up of the confederacy into which he had just entered, he determined to secure a part of the spoil of his former allies; and, if he could not chase the French standards beyond the Rhine, at least endeavour to wrest from England those Continental possessions which she now appeared in no condition to defend. With matchless effrontery he changed the whole object of his mission; and when admitted into the presence of Napoleon after the victory, congratulated him upon his success, and proposed a treaty, the basis of which should be the old project of annexing Hanover to the Prussian dominions until the conclusion of a peace between France and England. Although Napoleon had not received full accounts of the treaty of 3d November, yet he was aware of its substance, and well acquainted with all the military movements which Prussia had been making in conjunction with the Russian reserve, thirty thousand strong, which had advanced from Warsaw to Breslau. Upon receiving Haugwitz, therefore, he broke out into vehement declamation against the perfidy of the Prussian cabinet; informed him that he was acquainted with all their machinations; and that it now lay with him alone, after concluding peace with Austria, to turn his whole force 143. Overjoyed at the prospect thus afforded of extricating his country, not only without loss, but with a great accession of territory, from its perilous situation, Haugwitz at once accepted the stipulations. It was agreed that Prussia should enter into an alliance with France, and receive, besides the margravate of Baireuth, the whole electorate of Hanover in full sovereignty, as well as all the other Continental dominions of his Britannic Majesty; and, on the other hand, cede to Bavaria the margravate of Anspach, and the principalities of Neufchâtel and Clêves to France; and accede to all the conditions of the general peace of Pressburg. A formal treaty to this effect was signed by Haugwitz on 15th December, the very day when hostilities were to have commenced. And this treaty the King of Prussia, with disgraceful cupidity, ratified under only a slight modification. But the ultimate effects of this treacherous conduct were in the highest degree disastrous. It excited a just indignation in the government of Great Britain,* without really propitiating * As this treaty is one of the most disgraceful passages in the history of Prussia, it is due to the many high-minded and honourable men which the cabinet of Berlin contained, and especially to that able statesman and intrepid counsellor, Baron Hardenberg, to say, that it was signed by Haugwitz of his |