ting in here, with which we are

reproached, as if it had been pre

meditated."

Elector of Saxony. Published at Vienna, on the raifing the fiege of Drefden.

to his co-eftates of the circle of Weftphalia, who have fent deputies to the illegal affembly of the circle of Cologn.

H'

IS majefty the king of Pruffia, &c. my moft gracious mafter, hath heard that feveral of the laudable co-eftates of the circle of Weftphalia have been recently required by the Imperial court, to furnish against his Pruffian majefty their contingent of troops, or rather to commute for the past and for the future in ready money, according to an arbitrary rate fixed by the court; though this demand of money, instead of troops, be no less extraordinary, than contrary to the conftitutions of the empire.

For thefe caufes, the underfigned hath received exprefs orders from his majefty to declare, ás he doth by thefe prefents, to all the high and laudable ftates who have fent deputics to the affembly which is illegally held at Cologn, "That if, contrary to all expectation, they should give way to fuch a demand, or if they thould continue to give affiftance to his enemies, either by furnishing troops, or an equivalent in money, and thus actually take part in the war againft his majefty and his high allies, he will confider them as his declared enemies, both now and at a proper AMMON.

time hereafter.
Munfter, April 14, 1760.

defolate Germany, his majesty the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, hath been too often obliged to make juft complaints to his high allies, to the diet of the empire, and to all Europe. Stript of his hereditary dominions by a neighbour, who, on entering them, atked only a paffage through them, made proteftations of friendship towards the Sovereign, and declared he had no ground of complaint against him, nor any claim on the country; the king could not but look on the acts of hoftility committed by the Pruflians as fo many injuries, as fo many breaches of the law of nations, and manifeft violations of the laws of the empire. But things were foon carried to fuch a length, that Saxony would have thought herself too happy to find in the king of Pruffia, not a depofitary, but a declared enemy, provided this enemy would have refpected the laws and cuftoms of war, which humanity prefcribes, and which all civilized nations have hitherto obferved. She would not, in that cafe, have feen her towns fubjected to contributions which exceed all meafure; the fuburbs of the capital fet on fire, without neceflity; the lands laid wafte; and, what completes her misfortunes, her young men torn from her by force, and constrained to bear arms against their fovereign: horrid treatment! and so opposite to humanity, that it is without example, not among civilized nations only,but even among the greatest barbarians.

Sunk under fuch grievous oppreffions, Saxony feemed to have no room to fear that her condition could be worfe. Neverthelefs, the hath found within the space of the Jaft year, that froh misfortunes were in referve for her; and that, if the Pruthiaus feemed for fome time to preferve the country, it was only that they themselves might enjoy its produce. This tendernels was not dictated by humanity, but by intereft. As the danger of being expelled Saxony increated, they difplayed their cruelty. If they quitted any part of the country without hope of returning, they gave it up to pillage: wherever they came, the unhappy peafant was plundered without mercy; grain, forage, horfes, cattle of all kinds, wete taken from him; and he was left without fubfiftence. Whole families, and the best workmen of all forts, were carried off; even women found no fafe-guard in their fex; but all who were thought useful for Brandenburgh were torn from their families, and carried into flavery.

The city of Drefden remained. Notwithstanding the ruin of its fuburbs, it full maintained a numerous people; it was the refource of the neighbouring country. To complete the ruin of Saxony, the unfortunate city was to be deftroyed, Had the enemy attacked the place according to the rules and cuftons of war, had they directed their efforts againft the ramparts, the king would, without doubt, have lamented the evils that would have refulted from it to his people; but he would have lamented them without complaining and though in the fierceft wars the refidences of fovereigns have hitherto been generally fpared, his majefty would have been

VOL. III.

filent; for, in fhort, one is accuftomed to confider the king of Pruffia not as an ordinary enemy: 'but the Pruffians made war on the innocent townfinen: their, fire was wholly directed against the houfos; and they endeavoured to destroy a town which they could not take.

The king cannot forbear pointing out to all Europe this remarkable circunftance, that the enemy redoubled their fire against the houfes in Drefden, and did them the greateft damage, when the arrival of M. Daun, with his whole army, left them no hope of being able to take the place; and, in fhort, that in drawing off their men from the fuburbs before Willdruff-gate, they laid in athes upwards of an hundred houfes that had cfcaped in the preceding fires. The king of Prullia fucceeded in completing the misfortunes of Saxony by the difalters that befel the capital. Three hundred and fifty houfes deftroyed, with all that was in them, and a great many others half ruined, are a fatal lofs to a city already exhaufted by four fucceflive years of misfortunes. After thefe things, the king thinks it fearce worth while to mention his palaces and his gar dens, which were facked and ruined, in contempt of the regard usually paid from one fovereign to another. Is there a man in the em pire, or even in all Europe, who doth not fee in thefe terrible effects' an implacable hatred, and a deftructive fury, which all nations ought to concur in repreffing?

It is not to render his enemy odious that the king holds up this picture to all the powers in Europe, and particularly to his co-eftates, and his high allies; but in hopes of exciting them to redouble their

P

efforts,

efforts, without delay, for the deliverance of Saxony, and not fuffer that unfortunate country to be abfolutely ruined; to move their compaffion in favour of an innocent people, reduced to the utmost diftrefs, and who can expect but a very feeble afliftance from their fovereign, ftript himfelf of all things. by acts of oppreffion, no lefs violent than unforeseen.

This inability is of all his majefty's misfortunes the most fevere. He loves bis people. He hath a father's bowels for them; and he fees them overwhelmed with diftrefs, without being able to fuccour them. The king hath the confolation left, of employing, in their favour, all that the goodness of his caufe, his invariable love of juftice, and the great facrifices he hath made for the common advantage and the prefervation of the empire, in fhort, all the regard and attention that he may merit by his misfortunes from the friendly powers. By all these titles he conjures those powers to take the propereft meafures for the relief and prefervation of the fubjects left him in Saxony.

As to what regards him perfonally, his majefty puts his whole truft in the fovereign mafter of kings, in that judge who fearcheth the heart, and weigheth right in the fcales of juftice. He is encouraged to hope that he will in the end be pleafed to enable him to dry up the tears of the Saxons, to guard them for the future from all external vio-, lence, and to ensure their domeftic happiness by paternal government.

His confcience beareth him this precious witnefs, that he hath not drawn fo many evils upon himfelf and his dominions by unjuft or am

bitious enterprifes. The juftice of his caufe is fo evident, fo inconteftible, and even fo fully acknowledged by every one, that he cannot be refufed an indemnification proportioned to his lofies, if in the future pacification any regard be paid to juftice and equity.

An account of the barbarcus manner in which the Ruffian, Auftrian, and Saxon troops, laid waste the Marche of Brandenburgh; and of the cruelties they committed in the month of October, 1750, in their. expedition against the cuy of Berlin.

Published at Berlin by authority.

H

Owever enormous the cruelties were to which the king's dominions were a prey last year, one would imagine that his majefty's enemies wanted to out-do themfelves in this refpect, by their barbarous conduct this year. It would, in fact,,feem, that after four unfuccefsful campaigns, they thought they fhould more eafily obtain their ends, by means equally fhocking to humanity, and inconfiftent with the practice of civilized nations, than by endeavouring to terminate the war by arms, and the fuperiority of their forces.

In this light, all the operations of this campaign, and in particular the famous expedition against Berlin, naturally prefent themselves before the impartial public. The whole united forces of the house of Auftria, in conjunction with the numerous armies of Ruffia, have over-run Silefia, not with a view to fight battles, or get poffction of the fortreffes by regular fieges; but to carry fire and fword into a province,

which they are pleased to confider at Vienna as part of the inconteftable dominions of the house of Auftria. Towns that were already laid under contribution have, nevertheless, been plundered and facked: Landthut, in particular, furnishes a memorable example of this conduct, fo contrary to all the laws of war. The capital, and other fortreffes of Silefia, of which they could not make themselves maiters by ftratagem, or other indirect methods, for want of artillery to lay fiege to them, have been bombarded without any hopes of fuccefs: one would think they did it only for the pleature of beholding a great number of houses and public edifices on fire.

That unfortunate province would doubtless have been irrecoverably ruined, had not Providence thought proper to fet bounds to their exceffes, and to humble them by an event which destroyed all their flattering hopes. The battle of Lignitz ftopt the execution of their valt defigns, and difconcerted their plan for the reft of the campaign. Three armies, each of them fuperior in number to that of the king, which had even entirely furrounded him, and which counted fo much on the fuccefs of the measures they had taken to overwhelm him, that they had even fixed the day which was to decide his fate, were, by this victory, reduced for a long time to total inaction, and obliged to think more of defending themfelves, than of forming offenfive enterprifes, The Ruffians retreated towards the frontiers of Poland, fetting fire to every place where they had received any lofs, or apprehended an attack. The two Auftrian armies fhut themfelves up in the hills of Silefia, and

oppofed thofe natural barricades to the efforts which his majefty made to come to blows with them. There they waited for the iffue of the diverfion which the policy of their court was to procure to be made. marthal Soltikoff remained the whole month of September, without daring to make the leaft motion, in prefence of the fmall corps under general Goltz; the operations of his troops being confined to the defolating those parts of Lower Silefia that were in his power. But as this proceeding could not deliver the Auftrian army from its confined pofition, which in the end might prove fatal to it, the court of Vienna again had recourse to these methods, which it employs with fo much fuccefs to extricate itself from a dilemma, and prevailed with the Ruffians to invade the Marche of Brandenburgh.

For this end, the generals Czernichef and Tottleben were detached with upwards of 20,000 men, and general Lafcy was fent against Berlin with 14,000 from the Auftrian army. The whole Ruffian army followed at a small diftance, to suftain this grand enterprife, But each party wanting to get before the other, general Tottleben, without waiting for the arrival of the large corps of troops, appeared on the 3d of October before Berlin, with 2000 light troops and fome foot. He immediately fummoned it, and upon its refufing to furrender, he threw into the town fome hundreds of royal grenades, bombs, and red-hot balls, in hopes of obtaining by fire and by terror, what he could not promife himself from his forces. The three affaults made on Halle-gate were repelled; and the flames, which had broke out in P 2

five

five different parts, were happily extinguifhed. The prudent meatures taken by the Pruflian generals who were at Berlin, at latt obliged the Ruffian general to retire without effecting his purpofe. Meanwhile, prince Eugene of Wurtemburgh, and lieutenant general Hulien, had come to the affiftance of the capital, and for fome time put a ftop to the enemy's enterprifes :They would probably have obliged them wholly to drop their defign, had not count Czernichef, on one fide, and general Lafcy, on the other, come up with the troops. At the fame time the grand Ruffian army arrived at Francfort on the Oder, and general l'anin, with feven regiments, was detached towards Berlin, to fuftain general Czernichef; and he could be followed every day by freth detach

ments.

The two Pruffian generals abovementioned, feeing the great fuperiority of the enemy, would not expofe the city to the precarious ifiue of a battle, and refolved to give it time to capitulate, in order to prevent the calamities to which it might be expofed; accordingly they withdrew on the 6th, before day-break, to Spandau, and the governor and the magiftrates made feparate capitulations with general Tottleben. It was agreed that the town fhould be delivered up to the Ruflians; that the garrison, confifling of two battalions of Itzenplitz's regiment, and one battalion of Ludenitz's mi. litia, fhould be prifoners of war; and that, on paying a contribution of 1,500,000 crowns, and 200,000 as a gratuity to the troops, for which the town was obliged to become bound, it thould enjoy full liberty, protection and fafety, while the

enemy ftaid in it. The prifoners, who, at the moft, amounted but to 1200 men, and not to 4000, as the foreign news-papers have given out, were carried off; and the cadets, who could not be com→ prehended in the capitulation, which mentions only generals, officers, fubalterns and foldiers, were carried away with the reft on foot. Though fcarce above ten or twelve years old, their tender age could not fecure them from this hard usage, which, we hear, hath already put an end to many of their lives.

According to the public newf papers, the Ruflian generals divided them among themfelves, to take the keeping of them, as if they were flaves condemned to perpetual captivity. Neverthelets they can be confidered only in two lights: if they were prifoners of war, they ought to be exchanged; and, if they were not, they were unjustly carried away, and ought to be inmediately discharged.

By virtue of the capitulation concluded with general Haddick in 1757, the city of Berlin was no more to be molefted or burthened by the Auttrians during the whole courte of this war nevertheless, fome Auftrian regiments took up their quarters by force, and againit the will of the Ruffians, at Frederickftadt, and in the New Town, where, by this act of violence, and the exceifes of every kind which. they were guilty of, they gave freth proofs how little they regard their own engagements.

The capitulation made with general Toitleben was no better obferved, either by the Ruffians or Auftrians. By the third article of the two capitulations for the garri fon, and the town, it was fettled,

that