rated assurance of my high and per- sideration mutually due to each fect consideration. Berlin, 26th Jan. 1806. (Signed) Hardenberg. To Mr. Jackson, his Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary, and Minister Plenipotentiary. No. II. His Prussian Majesty's Pro- No. III. Copy of a Note from Mr. The undersigned is commanded by his majesty, to state to baron Jacobi Kloest, for the information of his court, the great anxiety felt by his majesty, at the manner in which possession has been taken of the electorate of Hanover. If his Prussian majesty judged it expedient, in order to prevent French troops from approaching so near that part of his frontiers, to take to himself the military occupation of the electorate, it does not appear to his majesty that it was by any means necessary that the civil government of that unhappy country should be subverted, or that an army more numerous, and consequently more injurious to the inhabitants, than necessity required, should be maintained there. His majesty relies with the greatest confidence on his Prussian majesty's declaration, that the present occupation is merely temporary; but his majesty cannot but express a wish that the declaration on this point were, more solemnly made in the face of Europe. The honour of the court of Berlin, as well as the con other, from two princes so nearly connected in blood and alliance, seems to call for a clear explanation on this important subject. His majesty on his part desires to be equally explicit, and to put an end to all hopes (if such, indeed, have been entertained by the court of Berlin) that any convenience of political arrangement, much less any offer of equivalent or indemnity, will ever induce his majesty so far to forget what is due to his own legitimate rights, as well as to the exemplary fidelity and attachment of his Hanoverian subjects, as to consent to the alienation of the electorate. His majesty learns with concern, that it is in agitation to give up Anspach, and other parts of his Prussian majesty's dominions, to Bavaria, in consequence of a convention with France; but he does not pretend any right to interfere, or to give any opinion with respect to the propriety of the measures, whatever they may be, which his Prussian majesty may deem eligible for the interests of his crown and people; at the same time it is to be observed, that his majesty, whether in his capacity of king of Great Britain, or in that of elector of Hanover, was in no way a party to the convention alluded to, or responsible for its consequences. The cessions, therefore, which his Prussian majesty may make to his majesty's euemies, can surely never be alleged as a justification of taking to himself his majesty's lawful inheritance. His majesty, therefore, hopes, that his Prussian majesty will follow the honourable dictates of his own heart, and will demonstrate to the Y y 2 world world, that whatever sacrifices the present circumstances may induce him to make with respect to his own territories, he will not set the dreadful example of indemnifying himself at the expence of a third party, whose sentiments and con. duct towards his Prussian majesty and his subjects, have been uniform. ly friendly and pacific. Downing-street, March 17, 1806. (Translation of No. IV.-Note Verbale. Until the explosion of the last continental war, his Prussian majesty had no other object in view, than to secure the tranquillity of his monarchy, and that of the neighbouring states. He He was then able to effect this upon terms which met the entire approbation of every court. has been desirous of doing the same since the breaking out of the present war. But the choice of the means has no longer been in his power. France has considered Hanover as her conquest, and her troops were on the point of entering it, for the purpose of disposing of it definitively, according to the pleasure of the French emperor, without the possibility of his Britannic majesty preventing it. foreign troops, and the quiet of the north of Germany preserved. This has not been obtained without painful sacrifices on his majes ty's part. Those of the house of Hanover are in no degree to be attributed to the king's measures, but are the inevitable consequences of a war, which his conciliating policy has endeavoured in vain to prevent. This war might have produced still more serious consequences. The treaty between Prussia and France, at least protects the northern states from farther evils, and could every power but duly appreciate how much they are indebted to the system he has adopted, the king would with justice obtain the gratitude of all. The occupation of that country by his Prussian majesty, and the shutting of the ports in the German Seas, and that of Lubeck, against the British flag (as was the case during the pos. session of Hanover by the French) were the indispensible conditions of an arrangement by which the country is secured against the entry of No. V.-Proclamation of Count Schulenburg, announcing the shutting of the Ports of the North Sea, against the British Ships and Trade, dated Hanover, the 28th of March, 1806. Declaration. George the Third, by the grace of God, of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, arch-treasurer and elector of the holy Roman empire, &c. &c. The court of Prussia has avowed those hostile designs, which she thought to conceal by her friendly professions. The Note Verbale*, delivered on the 4th of April by the Prussian envoy, baron Jacobi Kloest, to the * See No. IV. in the preceding Article. British British ministry, announces that the electorate of Hanover has been taken possession of, and that the ports of the German Sea, and of Lubeck, have been closed against the British flag. This declaration gives the lie to all those assurances by which the cabinet of Berlin has hitherto endeavoured to cloak its proceedings: to which it moreover adds the preten sion that his Prussian majesty has acquired, by his system of policy, claims to the gratitude of all the northern powers. Thus actually dispossessed of the ancient inheritance of my family, and insulted in my rights as a sovereign, I have ordered those measures to be taken which the honour of my crown require: but I still owe it to myself, to Europe, and to my subjects, to make a public declaration of my sentiments, as elector of Brunswick Lunenburgh, upon the unjust usurpation of my German possessions. It is not necessary to prove how contrary this act is to the rights of nations, or to the laws of the German empire. Their infraction is too evident to be required to be proved. It is the most sacred principles of good faith, of honour, and in fact of all the obligations upon which the reciprocal safety of different states amongst themselves, and of each civil society in itself, repose, which are trodden under foot in such a manner, that the world would have difficulty in believing it, if I did not cause the facts to be laid before them, which are authenticated in the narrative which I have ordered to be prepared. The proceedings of the court of Berlin, when the electorate was occupied by its troops, in 1801-its conduct, far from being friendly during the negociation for the indemnities which followed the peace of Luneville-the declaration which it made, when France prepared to invade the electorate-and, lastly, the burthensome conditions under which it endeavoured to cause it to be evacuated, to substitute her own troops instead of those of France, had given too many proofs to the government of Hanover, not to oblige it to endeavour to avoid all sort of intervention on the part of this power, even at the moment that it was on the point of engaging in a dispute with France. The events which retarded the arrival in Hanover of the expedition concerted between Great Britain, Russia, and Sweden, gave the Prussian troops an opportunity of anticipating them, after the French army had been obliged to evacuate the electorate. This step was accompanied by the most friendly protestations on the part of Prussia. She invited the Hanoverian government to resume its functions in my name, and to collect the wreck of the army. The country, already so unfortunate, doubly felt the weight of the numerous requisitions extorted by the Prussian corps, without the least regard to the situation in which the French left it. After the unfortunate result of the campaign of the allies in the south of the empire, an attack in the north was to be expected. His imperial majesty of Russia, to obviate the dangers to which Prussia might be exposed, placed, in consequence of the convention of Potzdam, his troops under Count de Tolstoy, and the corps of general Benningsen, under the orders of his Y y 3 Prussian majesty, and promised him, more. over, all the assistance for which he might have occasion. It was scarcely to be expected that Prussia would avail herself of this advantage, and of that which the promise of the subsidy she had asked of Great Britain gave her, to obtain from France terms contrary to the interests which these resources were intended to protect. This, notwithstanding, has actually happened. The secret treaty, the effects of which are beginning to appear, was signed by count Haugwitz and the French general Duroc, the 15th of December, 1805, the period fixed as the term when Prussia was to declare against France, in case that power should have rejected the propositions which count Haugwitz was to make to her in consequence of the convention of Potzdam. Seven days after, Dec. 22, the cabinet of Berlin proposed to the British ambassador, the arrangements to be taken in common with the Prussian generals, for the posi. tions of the allied armies in Lower Saxony; and dispatched, in consequence, lieutenant-colonel baron de Krusemark, with a letter to the Hanoverian government, to induce it to furnish provisions for the French garrison at Hameln. It was necessary to concur in this arrangement, (which was only provisionally terminated the 4th of January) because it was to prevent the French troops from undertaking any thing against Hanover during the negociation. Was the court of Berlin then ignorant in what manner count Haugwitz had concluded this negociation? Did it not know, before the signature of the treaty, what would be the end of it? or, did that minis ter dispose as he pleased of the good faith of his master? It was on the 27th of Jan. that the cabinet of Berlin announced to the Hanoverian government, "That, in consequence of a treaty signed and ratified by the two parties, my German possessions would no longer be occupied by the French troops; that they would be entirely eva. cuated by those who were still there, and delivered up, until a future peace between England and France should have decided their condition, to the protection of the troops of his Prussian majesty, and to his exclusive administration." The Hanoverian government was rc. quired, but to no purpose, to intimate to all the public officers, that they were, for the future, to consider themselves as finally re sponsible to the Prussian commission of administration, excluding all foreign reference. The dispatch addressed the 25th of January to the Prussian minister and intended to justify his proceed. ings, was signed with the king of Prussia's own hand. It ended with these words: "I think it unnecessary to observe how much the terri tories in question ought to be satisfi ed with this change of scene; and my wishes would be fulfilled if, in consequence of the disinterested views by which I am impelled, the administration I have taken upon me should turn out to the happiness of the country and its inhabitants; and by that means satisfactory to his Britannic majesty, to whom I desire nothing more than to give in this instance, as in all others, all the proofs of consideration, of defe. rence, and of friendship, which cir cumstances may put in my power." The experience of the past, and a well a well-founded apprehension of the future, did not allow me to hesitate about the part necessary to be taken; and my electoral government was instructed not to enter into any negociation, the object of which might have been to avoid a new French invasion, by allowing the Prussians to occupy Hanover. The protest made upon this occasion by my electoral minister of state, was ineffectual. The king of Prussia caused the greatest part of the country to be occupied at the moment that my troops re-embark. ed; and his measures were executed without the least regard. It was too easy to foresee that count Haugwitz would find means at Paris to bring back the arrange ment between Prussia and France, announced here as ratified by the con tracting parties, to its original intention. This was what took place; and the French troops took possession of Anspach, one of the objects of compensation according to the treaty of December 15, the very day that the marquis de Lucchesini could reach Berlin with intelligence that France required the execution of the articles agreed upon at Vienna. The answer returned by the British cabinet to the communication of January 25, did not arrive at Berlin until after the minister of state, Baron Hardenberg, had announced to the British envoy the hostile measures which have compelled me to suspend my relations with a court which could so far forget itself. The Prussian note of April 4, can furnish no good arguments, to establish an unjustifiable measure. It begins by vaunting the pacicific dispositions of Prussia. This disposition is no further sincere than as it has for its foundation the principles of a just neutrality. The note delivered by the cabinet of Berlin to the French minister on the 14th of October, at the very instant that Prussia appeared to feel the affront which she received by the violation of the territory of Anspach, acknowledges that the conduct which she had followed to that time had proved of advantage to France. Her actions had much less pre tensions to the character of impar tiality. After having permitted the French troops, who seized on the electorate of Hanover, a passage through the Prussian territory; she declared herself ready to oppose, sword in hand, that which the emperor of Russia had demanded for his armies. France herself forced the passage: she pretended to offer excuses for that step, but it was in a manner equally offensive. She had seen too clearly where the resentment of Prussia would terminate, which in fact appeared to be stilled when his imperial majesty of Russia engaged in a personal communication with the king. Prussia then demanded subsidies of Great Britain, which were promised to her, and she signed the convention of Potzdam, the conditions of which she would doubtless have been more disposed to fulfil, if I could have so far forgotten my duty, as to consent to the proposition of ceding the electorate of Hanover for some Prussian province. Prussia affirms, that from the events of the war, she has not had the choice of means to secure the safety of its monarchy, and of the states of the north. She wishes to make it appear, that she has been compelled to aggrandize herself, and Y y 4 |