On the 6th of Dec. an armistice was concluded at Austerlitz, and Alexander sent to Berlin the Grand Duke Constantine to ascertain if the Prussian King was prepared to join with him, according to the principles which he had sworn to adhere to at the tomb of the great Frederick, in the vigorous prosecution of the war. But the disaster of Austerlitz had wrought a perfidious change in the policy of the Prussian Cabinet.
An ambassador was sent to Napoleon to congratulate him upon his success, and to propose a treaty. Napoleon broke out into a vehement declamation against the policy of the Prussian Cabinet, and expressed his determination now to turn his whole forces against them; but at last yielding, the treaty was concluded, and a new alliance entered into between Prussia and France, the former receiving as a reward Hanover, with all the other continental dominions of his Britannic Majesty.
During the year 1807, disagreements sprang up between France and Prussia, which resulted at the battle of Jena, (Oct. 14th) in the total discomfiture of the latter, and triumph of Napoleon, who now became master of the whole country from the Rhine to the Vistula. Passing the sanguinary contests of Eylau and Friedland, we come to the treaty of Tilsit, the arrangement of which took place under circumstances eminently calculated to impress the imagination of mankind.
Certain misunderstandings having arisen between England and Russia, and the latter power being somewhat crippled for the moment by numerous defeats, an armistice was proposed by Alexander, and accepted by Napoleon, on the 22d of June, which ended in the treaty of Tilsit.
There was little difficulty in coming to an understanding, for France had nothing to demand of Russia, except that she should close her ports against England! Russia nothing to ask of France but that she should withdraw her armies from Poland, and permit the Emperor to pursue his long cherished projects of conquest in Turkey.
The armistice having been concluded, it was agreed that the two Emperors should meet, to arrange, in a private conference, the destinies of the world.
It took place accordingly on the 25th June. On the river Niemen, which separated the two armies, a raft of great dimensions was constructed. It was moored in the centre of the stream, and on its surface a wooden apartment surmounted by the eagles of France and Russia, was framed with all the magnificence which the time and circumstances would admit.
This was destined for the reception of the Emperors alone; at a little distance was stationed another raft less sumptuously adorned, for their respective suites.