The Sun.
London, England, 1807-04-07 00:00:00

SEIGE OF DANTZIC.

Our:own times have seen a commercial city dis-t_
tinguish itself by courage and fidelity, I mean Dant,
zic, when besieged in 1734 by a vast army of RUS,
scans. King Stanislaus had with him 8000 regular.
' troops, and the citizens, to the number of-20,00,
armed themselves to oppose the enemy ; five hun-,
dred -men wrought night and day to fortify- two
passes. The Russians, in order to compel theM to
a speedy surrender, fill to bombarding and firing
red-hot balls, but in vain ; no sufferings could dis-
hearten the' Dantzickers, who, having invited King
STA NISLAUS. thit her, were determined to stand by him
to the utmost ; and the Russians making a vigorous
push with the flower of their army, against the
most iniportant work of this City, were obliged,
after a sharp dispute of five hours, to retire with the
loss of 3000 men. Every day produced signal testi-
monies'oftheir undaunted valour. But the Russian
fleet, of fourteen large men of-war, arriving in the
road, and their army being „thus supplied with am-
munition and artillery, renewed the bombardment
«itlt the utmost fury, in which the chief magazine
of gun-powder in Dantzic blew up. This, with the
'.capitulation of the French auxiliaries; brought the
Dantzickers to a necessity of submitting. Yet this
they never would have done, had not King STANts-
LAus, in compassion to their bravery, withdrawn
himself- out of the city, as the surrender of his per-,
son was- the first article demanded by the enemy,
-and which the Dantzickers had rejeCted with disdain.
The fidelity and resolution of this city cannot have
.a better vindication. than from King STANiSLAUS,IOr,
whom they fought, who thus expresses himself in a
letter to Cardinal nEURY : " I am sensible that it
has been thought in Prudent in .me for scontinuinv
in that-city till it was reduced to the last extremity;
but, when acting • from principles of conscience, of
-honour, and our country's love, may we be allowed
to arm onrselves against danger, and to prefer the se-
curity of our persons to those three principles, which
constitute the man of honour.? For,Hbesides that I
expected succours daily, and a hasty.retreat would
'have put me out Of condition to receive them, I
should, by my leaving Dantzie, have opened 'the
gate of it to the Enemy ; the Magistrates. balding
out the siege from no other motive than to defend me.
Thus, laying aside the vanity which a consciotiSness
of resolution and intrepidity might inspire„:l•Was
obliged either to continue in the citr, in order that
'the expected succours might have time to arrive, or
bury myself in the ruins of it, with those brave citi-'
zens, and those dear Polish friends, who, with their
wives initl children, shared my fate. I persisted in
this- till the infamous surrender of Witeilta Munde,
the capitulation of which forced the Dantzickers,
with my 'consent, to provide for their otvii safety
upon which occasion, finding they were going to-
change their Sovereign, I thought myself bound in
gratitude, not to -expose them to the grief of aoan-,
'cloning me, but to dispense with their-fidelity, by'my
leaving their city; which, however desperate a re-
sistance soever had been.made, could not :lave held
out any longer ;' not to mention my being solicited-
by:all the Polish Noblemen, who made ,their. safety
consist in my• preservation." Having mentioned
. ,
ithe red-hot balls fired by the Russians into the city,
cannot omit the strange eifeet of one, as contained
in a letter from a Burgher-master of Dantzic, in the
Opere di Litterati : " During the last siege of our
city, whilst a young woman was examining what
damage had been done to a shop by a_ carmen .bul-
let, which had gone through it, another bullet came;
this threw the poor girl into a swoon, that at first
she was thought to have been killed by the bullet;
but no damage being perceived 'on het clothes,• she
was blooded and brought to some sign's of life ; 'but,
-,upon putting her into a bed, her shift was foUnd
be full of little slits, as if done designedlr; and
the girl herself had on her back and breast several'
livid spots and contusions, as if she. had been cruelly
beaten. The shop consisted of cutlery and hard-
ware; a dozen of knives tied up in a' paper, Wrap-
ed together with, the handles of them, were melted
together into one lump, yet the paper and pack-
thread untouched.; whether this bullet was heai.ed
or not, is unknown,; but this fact happened: after
the enemy had begun to fire red -hot balls against the
1- Obi! -