The Sun.
London, England, 1806-12-11 00:00:00

air of paying lioninge 'with it' fo tic Cat inef'of St.
James's,•with which he was already engaged in:the
negotiation. Upon this well-known disposition, the

Cabinet of St. Cloud might hare made the same
Overture. It was still but a simple proposition, a
matter to "'he discussed ; the only question was to

find a. compensation. Hitherto nothing wounded

the honourof Prussia. She had shewn, or, to speak.

more truly, affeeted so much repugnance to a defi-
nitive possession, that 'one must haiTe thought it ren-
dering her a great service to aisembarrass her of this

'temporary load.

•
Again, nothing can be mire strange than- to see
alledged as the principal motive of a war 'evidently.
excited by England, restitution 'which One wished

to make to his Britannic. Majesty. Supposing that
the King of Prus‘sia, hoped to hold the province
from the, generosity of its former possessors,- thiS

would serve to prove what sacrifiCes. the
.English
Government is capable of making when it is in

contemplation to spread confiavatidn througtiont

the Continent.

As to the proje& of the Confederacy of the North,
it so much flattered the pride of the King of Prus-

sia, that it for a tong time concealed from him the

danger of the Confederacy of the Rhine. Upon
viewing the sovereign protetaion which 'he Wished
to exercise over his equals as a new. dignity, one
might' wonder at the pride of this pretension, and
ask by what exploits it had been inspired, upon what
rights it was' founded ? The Rhenish Confederacy
had appeared necessary to put an end to the intestine
dissentions of which Germany had been.the theatre
for nearly ,two centuries, to regulate interests till .
then irreconcileahle, and to put the Princes wlib
. ,
compose it .under. the prote&ion to 'which they had
always been forced. to recur: But Prussia had no-
thing plausible to ailedge for extending' her. influenct
over independent States ; they were .not menaced.;
she had never drawn her sword for their defence ;
her domination was not necessary to their safety. If.
her aim was to oppose a fival Confederacy to that of
the Rhine, it was 'preparing eternal wars, and re-
.
moving. Europe from the pacific end which•liaci been
- the object of the one formed under the proteClion of
the French Empire.
The Hanse Towns, which have so long been the
envy of Prussia, are indebted to France for their in-
dependence. They are the emporiums of the trade
of Europe ; 'but until trade become the common
property of all Nations, it is important that it be
under the proteCtion and immediate observation
of the Power charged to iletroT commercial des-

potisu

Such then were the real grievances of Prussia. tier
claims were so long veiled under friendly forms,
that the Emperor Napoleon must 'have mistaken
them. But at length the nzinagenzent she affected
towards the Cabinet of St. James's, the Negotiations,
whiCh she resumed with Russia, the secret intrigues
which were a&ively carried on among the Courtiers
Of both sexes ' sold to the interests ofEngland, the
putting the Prussian army upon an extraordinary
footing of war, and above all tl.b obstinacy with
which the king Of Prussia insisted upon the eva'='
citation of Germany before the complete execution
of the Treaty of Presburgh—all this served to open
the eyes of France.
The Emperor of the French resolved on vanquish-
ing, before he answered the. Manifesto of the King
•of Prussia. But now France may ask Prussia, which
ofthe two nations has had most reason, to be satis- •
fied with the other ? Which his been ambitious',
false, and perfidious ? Which has had exaggerated
pretensions, and has excited unjUst wars ? Franca ,
had figured for a thousand years amongst the first
Powers of the world, when the Margraves of
Brandenburgh were not yet in the rank of crown-
ed heads The Prussian Monarchy, raised so
sud-
denly,, and by such equivocal acquisitions, at the
beginning of the I.BBth. century, was in want of the
protealon of France, and made effeEtual use of it in
its-pretensions aOnst the Emperors of Germany:
tiowever, scarcely was it able to exist by itself;
when it thought of undermining, perhaps even of
destroying, the Power v.;lto had defended it. The
French Revolution broke out ; Prussia -was the first
to sound the alarm, to call the Kings to the Con-
gress of Pilnitz, and to sign the treaty by which
France was to be shared among them ! 'But as. soon
as she saw that this nation was more difficult to be
. realised than that of Poland, she abandoned the
project as .quickly as she had conceived it, and
since that time, she has never ceased protesting the
most-Solid-friendship towards her, whole ruin she
had sworn. It was always the same system.—
Prussia, aggrandized by acquisitions wrested' by the
timely importance which she knew how to give her.;
self, thought that Germany and France were going
to. make.war forher benefit, and the first campaigns
. proved in reality the justice of -her-conjeaures: But
at length her dark policy tired out the other Powers,
and as sobn as she attempted to quit her neutrality,