subsidies extracted from Spain and Portugal, in virtue of the treaty of St Ildefonso, were above £3,500,000 yearly; finally, that the Grand Army, two hundred thousand strong, had, since it broke up from the heights of Boulogne, in September 1805, been exclusively fed, clothed, lodged, and paid at the expense of the German states. Napoleon made it an invariable rule, when application was made to him for money for any other purpose but those of beneficence, to say he had got none —a system which had the effect of habituating his lieutenants to extracting all the supplies they required out of the country they occupied-the thing of all others which he most ardently desired.* The revenues of France, therefore, did not furnish more than half the total sum required by the expensive and gigantic military establishment of the Emperor; while its inhabitants received almost the whole bene * THIERS, Consulat et l'Empire, viii. 633. + The receipts and expenditure of France. as exhibited in the budget of the Minister of Finance for this year, were as follows: Receipts. Francs. £ fit from its expenditure a state of things which at once explains the necessity under which he lay of continually advancing to fresh conquests; the extraordinary attachment which the French so long felt to his government; the vast internal prosperity with which it was attended, and the grinding misery, as well as the inextinguishable hatred, with which it soon came to be regarded in foreign states.† 19. Early in March, a grand convocation of the Jews assembled in Paris, in pursuance of the commands of Napoleon, issued in the July preceding. Seventy-one doctors and chiefs of that ancient nation attended this great assembly-the first meeting of the kind which had occurred since the dispersion of the Israelites on the capture of Jerusalem. For seventeen hundred years the children of Israel had sojourned as strangers in foreign realms ; reviled, oppressed, persecuted, without expense of Germany, this table exhibited a most fallacious view of the real expenditure and receipts of Napoleon during the year. Without mentioning lesser contributions, the following table exhibits the enormous sums which, by public or private plunder-for it deserves no better name-he was enabled, 311,840,685 or 12,500,000 | during the same period, to extract from the 172,227,000, 90,115,726 Salt mines of government, 480,000 6,900,000,, 632,323,740 £27,318,000 Expenditure. £ £ 604,227,922 or 24,200,000 30,000,000 1,200,000 72,000,000 2,880,000 16,000,000,, 640,000 from October 1806 Francs. 50,000,000,, 2,000,000 Francs. 880,000 10,379,000,, 420,000 772,227,922 £30,920,000 Expenditure. 2,200,000 Cost of the Grand Ar 25,624,000 1,025,000 Public treasury, 8,571,000 195,895,000 343,000 7,850,000 147,654,000 5,900,000 117,307,000,, 4,700,000 490,000 General police, 708,000 38,215,000 " 28,000 1,500,000 410,000 Roads and bridges, Incidental charges, 10,252,000 777,850,000 £31,106,000 But as the Grand Army, 200,000 strong, was solely maintained, paid, and equipped, at the 1806 to July 1807, 228,944,363 or 9,160,000 Leaving of plunder levied to be ap ternal service of a capital, without a government, with-ing of Jerusalem from the hands of 20. This first approach to a reunion and settlement of the Jews, impossible under any other circumstances but the rule of so great a conqueror as Napoleon, is very remarkable. The immediate cause of it, doubtless, was the desire of the Emperor to secure the support of so numerous and opulent a body as the Jews of Old Prussia, Poland, and the southern provinces of Russia, which was of great importance in the contest in which he was engaged; but it is impossible not to see in its result a step in the development of Christian prophecy. And thus, from the mysterious manner in which the wisdom of Providence makes the wickedness and passions of men to work out its great designs for the government of human affairs, did the French Revolution, which, nursed in infidelity and crime, set out with the abolition of Christian worship, and the open denial of God by a whole nation, in its secondary results lead to the first great step which had occurred in modern Europe to the reassembling of the Jews, so early foretold by our Saviour. And it will appear in the sequel that in its ultimate effects it is destined, to all human appearance, by the irresistible strength which it has given to the British navy, and the vast impulse which it has communicated to the Russian army, to lead to the wrest 21. The two grand armies, in their respective positions on the Passarge and the Alle, remained for nearly four months after the sanguinary fight at Eylau in a state of tranquillity, interrupted only by skirmishes at the outposts, followed by no material results, and too inconsiderable to deserve the attention of the general historian. Both parties were actively engaged in measures to repair the wide chasms which that conflict had occasioned in their ranks, and preparing for the coming struggle which was to decide the great contest for the empire of Europe. Napoleon, during this respite from active operations, was indefatigable in his endeavours to provide for the vast multitude which was assembled round his standards. He soon had three hundred thousand rations of biscuit at Warsaw; but he ordered fifty thousand additional to be forwarded daily to Osterode from that capital, and two thousand pints of brandy. Europe," said he, now depends on procuring subsistence. To beat the Russians, if I have bread enough, is mere child's play. Biscuit and brandy are all I require: they will defeat all the efforts of our enemies."* But in "The fate of * "I have 300,000 rations of biscuit at Warsaw. Warsaw to Osterode; you must work miraIt is eight days' journey from cles, but, at all events, let 50,000 rations be forwarded to me daily. Endeavour also to send me daily 2000 pints of brandy. The fate of Europe, and all our vast calculations, hinge upon the means of subsistence. It is child's play for me to beat the Russians if I have provisions. I have millions; I shall not done, but on receipt of this letter you must spare them. Everything you do will be well despatch to me 50,000 rations and 2000 pints of spirits. It may be done by eighty carriages a-day, paying them in gold. If the patriotism of the Poles is not equal to this effort, they are good for very little. The instructions I now give you are more important than all the negotiations in the world. Give money; I shall sanction all you do. Biscuits and brandy are all we want. These 300,000 rations, and 18,000 or 20,000 pints, which may reach us in a few days, will defeat the machinations of all the powers."Napoleon to Talleyrand, March 12, 1807. THIERS, Consulat et l'Empire, vii. 412, 413. addition to these preparations for the use of the troops under his immediate command, Napoleon felt too strongly the imminent risk which he had run of total ruin by a defeat on the frontiers of Russia, before the fortresses in his rear were all subdued, to incur it a second time-until his right flank was secured by the reduction of the remainder of the powerful chain of strongholds in Silesia, which still hoisted the Prussian colours, and his left by the surrender of the great fortified emporium of Dantzic. To these two objects accordingly his attention was directed during the cessation of active hostilities in the front of the Grand Army; and his operations in these quarters were not only great in themselves, but had the most important effect upon the future fortunes of the campaign. ters of Napoleon, and this plentiful- were 23. No sooner was the besieging force before Neisse strengthened by the artillery and reinforcements which were forwarded from Schweidnitz, than the operations of the French for its reduction were conducted with more activity. This fortress, originally situated exclusively on the right bank of the river which bears the same name, was extended by Frederick the Great to the left bank, where the principal arsenals and military establishments placed. The works surrounding the whole were extensive, though in some places not entirely armed or clothed with masonry; but a garrison of six thousand men, great part of which occupied an intrenched camp without the fortress, promised to present a for22. Schweidnitz and Neisse were in-midable resistance. Finding, howvested about the same time, in the end ever, that the trenches had been of January; but serious operations opened, and that the place was hard were not attempted against the latter pressed, an attempt to relieve it was fortress, which was the chief strong- made by General Kleist with four hold of the province, till the former thousand men, drawn from the garriwas reduced. The siege of Schweidnitz son of Glatz. Their efforts, which took accordingly was carried on with great place on the night of the 20th, were activity, and with such success, that it combined with a vigorous sortie from capitulated, after a feeble resistance, the walls of the place; but though in the middle of February. This re- the attack at first was attended with duction of the capital of Silesia was of some success, it was finally defeated the highest importance, not merely as by the opportune arrival of Jerome putting at the disposal of Napoleon a Buonaparte with a powerful reinforcepowerful fortress, commanding a rich ment, who had received intelligence of territory, but giving him a supply of the projected operation, and came up extensive stores in ammunition and in time to render it totally abortive. artillery, which were forthwith for- The defeated troops took refuge in warded to Dantzic and Neisse, and Glatz, after sustaining a loss of seven proved of the utmost service in the hundred men. Immediately after, the sieges of both these towns. The re- bombardment was resumed with fresh sources of the province, now almost vigour; the town was repeatedly set entirely in the hands of Vandamme, on fire in many different places; the were turned to the very best account outwork of the Blockhausen was carby that indefatigable and rapacious ried by assault; already the rampart commander. Heavy requisitions for was beginning to be shaken by the horses, provisions, and forage, followed breaching batteries; and the explosion each other in rapid succession; besides of one of their magazines spread congrievous contributions in money which sternation through the garrison; when were so considerable, and levied with the governor offered to capitulate on such severity on that opulent province, the same conditions as the other forthat before the end of March 1,500,000 | tresses of Prussia. This offer was francs (£60,000) were regularly trans- agreed to; and on the 6th June, this mitted once a-week to the headquar- great stronghold, with three hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, two hundred thousand pounds of powder, a garrison still above five thousand strong, but entirely destitute of provisions, fell into the hands of the enemy. 24. Glatz alone remained to complete the reduction of the province, and it did not long survive its unfortunate compeers. Prince Jerome commanded the attacking force; and though the garrison was numerous, it was so much discouraged by the bad success of the besieged in all the other fortresses of the province, that it made but a feeble resistance. The intrenched camp, which communicated with the town, having been attacked and carried, this last stronghold of Silesia capitulated on the 14th June, the very day on which the battle of Friedland was fought. Thus were all the fortresses of this province, so long the bulwark of Prussia, reduced by a force hardly equal to the united strength of their garrisons; and Vandamme, with a corps not exceeding twenty-five thousand men, had the glory of wresting from the enemy six first-rate fortified towns, containing about twelve hundred pieces of cannon. The defence which they made did little credit to the Prussian arms, as not one of them had resolution enough to stand an assault, and almost all lowered their colours while the rampart was still unbreached. population since the disastrous era when it lost its independence, yet it was still a place of great importance and strength. Its situation at the mouth of the Vistula gave it a monopoly of all the commerce of Poland; it served as the great emporium of the noble wheat crops, which in every age have constituted almost exclusively the wealth of that kingdom, and imported, in return, the wines, fruits, dress, and other luxuries which contributed to the splendour of its haughty nobles, and the rude garments which clothed the limbs of its unhappy peasantry. The river Moltaw, a branch of the Vistula, traverses the whole extent of the city, and serves as a canal for the transport of its bulk in merchandise, while its waters fill the wet ditches, and contribute much to the strength of the place. 26. Previous to the war the fortifications had been much neglected, as its remote situation seemed to afford little likelihood of its being destined to undergo a siege; but after the battle of Jena, General Manstein, the governor, had laboured indefatigably to put the works in a good posture of defence; and such had been the success of his efforts, that they were in March all armed and in a condition to undergo a siege. It was surrounded in all places by a rampart, wet ditch, and strong palisades, in most by formidable outworks; the fort of Weichselmünde, in its vicinity, commanding the opening of the Vistula into the sea, required a separate siege for itself, and was connected with the town, from which it was distant four miles, by a chain of fortified posts. But the principal defence of the place consisted in the marshy nature of the ground in its vicinity, which could be traversed only on a few dikes or chaus 25. The siege of Dantzic was an operation of more difficulty, and of much more immediate influence upon the fate of the campaign. Napoleon felt the imminent danger which he would have run if Benningsen's army, during the irruption which preceded the battle of Eylau, had succeeded in throwing a powerful reinforcement into that fortress. Thirty thousand men, resting on its formidable ram-sées, and the power which the besieged parts, and amply supplied with every necessary from the sea, would have paralysed all the movements of the Grand Army. This important city, formerly one of the most flourishing of the Hanse Towns, had fallen to the lot of Prussia on occasion of the last partition of Poland in 1794; and though it had much declined in wealth and had, by the command of the sluices of the Vistula-the waters of which, from their communication with the Baltic, where there are scarcely any tides, are almost always at the same level of inundating the country for several miles in breadth round two-thirds of the circumference of the walls. Beyond this marshy circle rose a series of sandy thousand, under the most experienced marshals of France, were stationed so as to protect the operations against any incursions of the enemy. hills like a great exterior mound of | Thus, while twenty thousand men defence, batteries on which command- were assembled for the siege, thirty ed any part of the city, and from which in former times all the principal attacks on Dantzic had been directed. They were now covered with outworks, which presented a serious obstacle to the progress of the besiegers. The works of the place were not formed of scarps in masonry, but of steep slopes with enormous palisades, each fifteen inches in diameter, at their feet; and at all the inner angles of the works, blockhouses of wood had been constructed, of such strength as almost to bid defiance to cannon-balls or bombs. The fortress was amply stored with ammunition, and provisions both for the garrison and citizens for a twelvemonth. The garrison consisted of twelve thousand Prussians and six thousand Russians, under the command of Field-marshal Kalkreuth, a veteran whose intrepid character was a sufficient guarantee for a gallant defence. 28. So early as the middle of February, the advanced posts of the besiegers had begun to invest the place, and, on the 22d of that month, a sanguinary conflict ensued between the Polish hussars, who composed their vanguard, and a body of fifteen hundred Prussians, at Dirschau, which terminated, after a severe loss on both sides, in the retreat of the latter under the cannon of the ramparts. After this check, General Manstein no longer endeavoured to maintain himself on the outside of the walls; and as the French troops successively came up, the investment of the fortress was completed. The first serious conflict took place on the island or peninsula of Nehrung, the well-known tongue of land which separates the waters of the salt lake, 27. To form the besieging force, Na- called the Frische-haff, and of the Vispoleon had drawn together a large tula, from the Baltic sea. It is twelve body of Italians, Saxons, Hessians, leagues in length, but seldom more troops of Baden, with a division of than a mile or two in breadth, comPolish levies, and two divisions of posed of sand-hills thrown up by the French-in all twenty-seven thousand meeting of the river with the ocean, men. The most inefficient part of in one part of which the waves have this motley group was employed in the broken in and overflowed the level blockade of Colberg and Graudenz; space in its rear, which now forms the and the flower of the troops, consist- Frische-haff. As it communicates with ing of the French divisions, a Saxon Dantzic, which stands on the other side brigade, and the Baden and Polish of the Vistula, opposite its western hussars, amounting to about twenty extremity, the approaches to the town thousand men, was destined to the on that side could not be effected until more arduous undertaking of the siege it was cleared of the enemy. Sensible of Dantzic. The artillery was com- of its value, the besieged had spared manded by the gallant General Lari- no pains to strengthen themselves on boissière; the engineers were under this important neck of land; and the the able directions of General Chasse- besiegers were equally resolute to disloup; Marshal Lannes, with the grena- lodge them from it, and thereby comdiers of the Guard, formerly under plete the investment of the fortress. Oudinot, who was confined by sickness, Early in the morning of the 20th formed in the rear of the Grand Army March, a French detachment crossed the covering force; and he was in com- the Frische-haff in boats, and surprised munication with Massena, who had the Prussian posts on the opposite superseded Savary in the command of shore; fresh troops were ferried over the corps which had combated at Os-in rapid succession, and the besiegers, trolenka, and was reinforced by the before evening, established themselves warlike Bavarian grenadiers of Wrede. in such force in the island, that though VOL. VIL B |