de Liewen, who was marching on Wysso-whence he caused his van-guard to adkolitorsk, had detached Lieutenant-Colonel vance; which having on the 14th (26th) Minitzki from his corps, who having ad- come up with the enemy, between Rutzaw vanced on Brest Litovsky, occupied that and Polangen, near Buderscheff, beat town on the 13th (25th), and there made them, and took two Officers and eighty upwards of 100 prisoners. His patrols soldiers. On the 14th (26th), the column extended as far as Biala, Janow, and Dro- proceeded as far as Polangen, where it was gilchene. Major-General Boulatoff, who rejoined by Lieutenant-Colonel Kounitski. was marching by the way of Prougane and Chircheff to Kaminitz Letovsk, has, on his way, picked up about 500 prisoners. He pushes his patrols as far as Briansk and Bielsk. The Aid-de-Camp General Wassiltchikoff reports under date of the 18th (30th), that the corps under his orders entered Tikotchine on the preceding day. The inhabitants and the clergy, bringing bread and salt, came to meet the Russians with transports of joy. The women left the houses with their children in the tenderest emotions; the cries of hurra! a thousand times repeated, and the name of His Imperial Majesty, which reverberated from all sides, announced the joy with which every one was animated. General Wassiltchikoff is meanwhile in pursuit of the enemy on the road to Warsaw. Dec. 21 (Jan. 3).-On the 17th (29th), General Count Platoff detached the Regiment of Dragoons of Negine to go to Bialystock, by the way of Grodno, under the orders of the Aid-de-Camp General Baron de Korff. General Doctoroff, who likewise takes the route to Bialystock, with the body of troops under his orders, arrived on the 19th (31st) at Wolkawilsk. Dec. 22 (Jan. 2).-Lieutenant-General Paulucci reports, under date of the 18th (30th), that after the occupation of Mittau, he directed Lieutenant-Colonel Kounikski, of the Regiment of Polish Uhlans, to pursue the enemy who were dispersed in the woods, and that this Officer, in march ing by Granzhoff, Gegary, Martynischki, and Okmiana, had taken two Officers and eighty soldiers prisoners.-On the 9th (21st) ditto, the Marquis put himself in march with his column from Mittau to Trouenburg, where his van-guard, under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Sanden, of the artillery, came up with the enemy on the 11th (23d) and defeated him, taking 60 prisoners, and making himself master of several carriages, taken under requisition some waggons laden with biscuits, flour, and oats; and took about 40 horses. On the 12th (24th), he arrived at Sehrunden, where the enemy abandoned considerable magazines. On the 13th (25th), he was at Upper Barthau, from On the 15th (27th), it arrived before Memel. The garrison, after some resistance, surrendered prisoners of war, to the number of two staff Officers, twenty subalterns, and upwards of seven hundred soldiers. It was thus that our troops entered Memel on the 15th (27th). We there found 200 sick, and about 100 of our prisoners. We seized on three armed sloops, of the French flotilla, in the harbour; we likewise took six sloops, belonging to the Prussian flotilla, with 30 guns; 31 vessels belonging to different nations, and a considerable quantity of colonial produce, imported by the French. In the town we found five pieces of cannon, 900 fusils, 19 carbines, 19 pair of pistols, 900 cartridge boxes, 26,000 cartridges, 60 sabres, and 19 hussar saddles, three field batteries, with five Officers, 84 soldiers, 16 surgeons, one chariot, 85 horses, and four iron boilers. The magazines contain large quantities of all kinds of corn and of brandy.The head-quarters of His Imperial Majesty and the Marshal continued to be for some time past at Wilna. Thus, there no longer remains an enemy in the whole extent of the frontiers of Russia, and all the former Polish provinces, at this present time under subjection to the Russian sceptre, are evacuated by the foreign troops. -The anointed of the Lord has, without doubt, said by inspiration-"I will not lay down my arms until I have driven from the Russian soil the enemy who has dared to transgress its limits."-This prophecy is fulfilled. The only traces of the enemy which are yet perceptible, are his bones spread over the fields from Moscow to the frontiers of the Empire! Letter from General Field-Marshal Prince Bestow your benediction on this present offered by your warriors to the Giver of Victory, the brave Don Cossacks; restore to God the treasure plundered from his temples. They have intrusted me with the duty of transmitting to your Eminence this silver, which was once the ornament | General D'York, by the detachment of of the images of the Saints, afterwards the Major-General Dubilsch, whom he at the prey of barbarous robbers, and at length same time instructed to enter into a negowrested from their gripe by the brave Don ciation with that General. Cossacks. The leader of this corps of On the 18th (30th) of this month, Lieut. Cossacks, Count M. J. Platoff, all his Gen. D'York signed an agreement to rebrave warriors, and myself, wish that this main neutral with the troops under his plate, which in weight amounts to forty command, consisting of thirty battalions of pounds, shall be made into images of the infantry, and six squadrons of cavalry, with four Evangelists, and adorn the Church of thirty pieces of artillery. By this means, the Mother of God, of Kasan, in Peters- Macdonald has not more than about 5,000 burgh. All the necessary expenses of men of all descriptions with him, and casting these holy images we take on our twenty pieces of artillery.——Adjutantaccount; your Eminence will have the General Wassiltchikoff reports, on the 19th goodness to order that able artificers may (31st) Dec. that the Austrian troops contibe employed to fulfil the pious wish of our nue their retreat, having divided themwarriors, by casting these images of the selves into three columns, and directed Holy Evangelists, which they offer in their their march towards Warsaw, and that he zeal for the Temple of God. As soon as is at Menshenin, with his detachment.you shall inform me what the expense will General Count Platoff continues his march be, I will remit to you the money. It towards Ingleburg, with the regiments of appears to me that these images would be Don Cossacks under his command.Adappropriately placed close to the door of miral Tschitschagoff has sent in three Rethe sanctuary, and before the great Com- ports, all of the 20th inst. (Jan 1). In the munion table, that they may strike the eye first he states, that he had detached Majorof the devout when they enter the tem- General Lanskow from the van-guard with ple. On the pedestal of each of these the Alexandrian and white Russian regiimages must be engraven the following in- ments of hussars, the Livonian regiment of scription:-The zealous offering of the dragoons, and the 3d Oural regiment, with Corps of Don Cossacks.- Hasten to erect orders to march to Augustow. In the sein the temple of God this monument of cond, that he arrived on the 21st inst. (Jan. battle and victory, and while you erect it 2), in the village of Werbalin, from whence say with thankfulness to Providence-the he will proceed in three marches to Insterenemies of Russia are no more-the ven-burg, and that Gen. Count Platoff marches geance of God has overtaken them on the soil of Russia-and the road they have gone is strewed with their bones, to the utter confusion of their frantic and proud ambition. The Commander in Chief, Field Marshal Prince G. Kutusoff, of Smolensko, has laid before His Imperial Majesty the continuation of the operations at War, from the 23d to the 29th Dec. (4th to 10th Jan.) Dec. 23 (Jan. 4).-General Count Wittgenstein reports, under date the 19th (31st) instant, that in the direction which he had taken towards Prussia to act against the corps of Marshal Macdonald, he had overcome all the difficulties in his way on the country roads, and come up with the enemy already at Tilsit. He immediately surrounded Macdonald's troops of the van with his cavalry, and separated him from the Prussian troops under the command of before the army with his regiments. In his third he states, that all the Prussian inhabitants are well satisfied with the approach of the Russian troops, and every where received them with joy.- -Lieutenant-General Baron Sacken writes under date of Dec. 21 (Jan. 2), that he has pursued Gen. Regnier's corps as far as the Bug, and that the enemy had lost within that time upwards of 1,000 men in prisoners, and an equal number of sick, whom they had left behind at different places. Lieut-General Sacken, with his corps, is at present between Grannym and Thoren, in which latter place he has the left wing of his army. Dec. 24 (Jan. 5).-Gen. Count Wittgenstein reports, under date of the 22d inst. (Jan. 3), that when the Prussian troops, 10,000 men strong, with 60 pieces of arul(To be continued.) Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden. COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER. VOL. XXIII. No. 10.] LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1813. 289] TO JAMES PAUL, PRINCESS OF WALES. Letter II. Bolley, 3d March, 1813. My dear Friend, Since the date of my last letter I have returned home, where I found my children delighted to hear, that I had resumed my correspondence with "Grand-daddy Paul;" but very much surprised, that I did not write to you about sheep, and turnips, and carrots, in preference to the subject which I had chosen. To say the truth, I should prefer the former topics; but, I have a duty to perform with regard to the latter. It is certainly one of the most important public matters that ever has been discussed in England. It is a matter that must make a great figure in the history of a country which fills a high rank in the community of nations; and, viewing it in this light, I cannot help being anxious, that those, who, some years hence, may refer to the Register for information relating to it, should not have to blame me for their disappointment. [Price 1s. [290 shape, a farthing of the public money as long as I live, and never to suffer any son of mine to do it, if I have it in my power to prevent him, and I do flatter myself that neither of them will ever entertain such a design. Thus standing before the public, having nothing to complain of with regard to either party; having nothing to fear, and nothing to hope for, from either, I shall, I trust, be listened to without prejudice, and that the facts, or the reasonings, which I shall bring forward, will, at the least, have a fair chance of producing their wished-for effect; a just decision in the minds of all persons of sense and integrity. My last letter concluded with a remark as to the separation of dwelling-places of the Prince and Princess. The lime, however, was not exactly named; and, as I wish to leave nothing less perfect than circumstances compel me. I have now to remind you, that this separation of dwellings took place in April, 1796, twelve months after the marriage, and three months after the birth of the Princess Charlotte of Wales. It is said, that, as to the cause of this unhappy event, and as to the manner of its taking place, there is a Letter in existence, in the hands of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales; and, as this Letter was, as it is stated, written by the Prince himself, it will, doubtless, be found to be, at once, satisfactory in its reasons and delicate in its sentiments and diction. This being the case, we shall, I hope, sce this Letter in print; because it will answer one great purpose; it will clear up every thing to the day of separation, and will, I have no doubt, show the world, that any infamous tales, which the tongues of base parasites may have been engaged in circu It is impossible for any one to enter on a discussion with more perfect impartiality than I have entered upon this. I know nothing personally of either of the Royal parties most concerned; I have never received either good or evil from the hands of either; I have never been under any indirect influence flowing from either. I reside at a great distance from the scene of all cabals and intrigues; I hold no correspond-lating, are wholly without foundation. ence which the people at our Post-office may not, if they like it, amuse themselves with reading; I never deal in secrets, and never desire to hear any thing that may not be uttered by the mouth of the cryer in the open streets. I can have no motive to make my court either to the Prince or the Princess, seeing, that I am bound by the most solemn pledge never to touch, in any Before I come to that consideration, which I have promised, of the several parts of the Princess's Letter, let me request you to bear in mind, that, in 1806, when Lord Grenville, Lord Erskine, Lord Grey, and Mr. Fox were in the ministry, there was, in our news-papers, many articles published, relative to an inquiry, which was then going on, respecting the K state of things, the nation seemed, with one voice, to ask, why no change was to be made in the pecuniary circumstances and conduct of the Princess of Wales. This was called, at that time, the "Delicate "Investigation." by which name it has ever since gone. The Princess was observ-the exterior appearance of the Princess of ed, at that time, and for sometime after- Wales, the wife of the Regent and the mo→ wards, not to go to court, as she had done ther of the sole heiress to the throne. The before, which circumstance had the effect question was actually asked in Parliament; of producing an opinion to her disadvan- it was put to the then minister, Perceval, tage. Some months after this, however, what was the cause of this marked slight to she re-appeared at court; but, in the mean- Her Royal Highness; and, finally, it was while, the ministry had changed, and the put distinctly to him, who had been intilate Perceval and his set had become mi- mately acquainted with all the facts, whenisters. It was understood, also, that an ther there existed any ground of charge account of the Delicate Investigation had against the Princess: to which he as disbeen formed into A BOOK, had been tinctly answered, that there existed none. printed, had been upon the eve of publication, had, all at once, just when the change of ministry took place, been stopped; and that, certain copies, which had escaped by chance, had been bought up by the supposed authors at an enormous price. What I state here as matter of mere report, will, probably, hereafter appear in a more autho. ritative shape; but, in the meanwhile, there having been such reports current is fact sufficient for our purpose; namely, to explain certain parts of the Princess's Letter, which, without such explanation, must appear unintelligible to you. Bearing in mind what has been said, you will now have the goodness to follow me to the period of the establishment of the Regency in the person of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Hitherto the Princess had lived chiefly at a small mansion at Blackheath, upon, apparently, a very limited pecuniary allowance, which, by almost all the public prints, we were told she participated with the poor and distressed persons of her neighbourhood. I do not know that this was the case. I cannot know it, and, therefore, I vouch not for the fact; but, I do know well that the fact was asserted in print, and that the assertion so often met the public eye, accompanied with a detail of the instances of her benevolence, that it was next to impossible that it should not have obtained general belief. Now, my friend, you will observe, that this declaration was made by a man, who had been a minister at the time when the Princess was restored to court, and who, of course, had advised that measure. He, as a Privy Counsellor, was sworn to give the King the best advice in his power. Besides, he, at the time of his making the Declaration, was the prime minister, chosen by the Prince himself to fill that office. He was the man who directed the councils of the Prince, now become Regent with kingly powers. Therefore, his Declaration of the innocence of the Princess had deservedly very great weight with the public, who then, more than before, seemed astonished, that, while the Prince was raised in splendor as well as power, to the state of a king, the Princess, his wife, should experience no change whatever in her circumstances, but appeared to be doomed to pass the whole of her life in obscurity. The public did not seem to wish to pry into any family secrets. They generously wished not to revive past disputes. They were willing and anxious to forget all the reports which had been circulated. They wished to have no cause to suspect any thing improper in either husband or wife; and, therefore, anxiously wished to see the Princess placed in a situation suited to the rank of her royal spouse, by which means all doubts, the effect of all malicious insinuations and rumours, would, at once, have been removed. When, therefore, the Regency came to be settled, and the Prince came to the possession and disposal of a kingly income, it In the articles, which I wrote at the was natural for the nation to expect to see time, recommending a suitable establishthe Princess placed upon a corresponding ment for Her Royal Highness, I was, I sinfooting; and this became the more a sub-cerely believe, no more than the echo of ject of observation, because, just at the same time, large sums of money were granted by the Parliament for the purpose of enabling the Prince's maiden sisters to keep their state in separate mansions, and to maintain separate, establishments. In this ninety-nine hundredths of the people of England. No such establishment did, however, take place; and Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the wife of the Regent; she who, if the King die before the Regent, will be crowned Queen with her husband; she who is the mother of our cess's Letter, that (at what time is not future sovereign, was left in her former mentioned), the Royal Mother's visits to comparative obscurity, even at a time when her daughter, or, rather, the interviews establishments were granted to the sisters between them, were limited, at first, to of the Prince; and this happened, too, you ONCE A WEEK; that they were afterwill bear in mind, while the prime minister, wards reduced to interviews of ONCE A the Prince's chief adviser, explicitly declar- FORTNIGHT; and that she now learns, ed, in open parliament, that there was no that, "even this most rigorous interdiction ground of charge existing against Her Royal" is to be STILL MORE RIGIDLY ENHighness. "FORCED." It will be said, perhaps, and it has beensaid, that, in not granting an establishment of a higher order to the Princess; in not enabling her to hold a court of her own, and giving her the necessary accompaniments of splendor; it has been said, that, in not doing this no law was violated. Very true; but, if this were a sufficient answer to us, to what a state might she not be reduced before the proper season of complaint would arrive? We are not talking about law: the question before us is a question of feeling; a question of moral propriety. For my part, I appear not as an accuser of any one in authority: my object is simply this: to inquire, whether the foul, the base, the malignant publications against the Princess of Wales do, or do not, admit of a shadow of justification. Justification, indeed, they cannot admit of; but, whether they admit of the shadow of an apology; and the answer to this question will naturally grow out of a consideration of the several parts of Her Royal Highness's Let ter. In entering upon this consideration, we must bear in mind, that the Letter treats of two subjects; namely, the treatment of the Princess herself, and the education of her daughter. These we must keep separate in our mind, or else we shall fall into a confusion which will prevent a clear view of the case. This, her Royal Highness says, has compelled her reluctantly to break a silence which has long been most painful to her. Her complaint is this:-That, at the time of settling the Regency, she was unwilling to obtrude herself upon the Prince with her private complaints; that she waited patiently, expecting redress from the Prince's own gracious condescension; but, that, having waited so long without receiving that redress, and now perceiving that the measures with regard to her interviews with her daughter, are calculated to admit of but one construction, and that construction fatal to her own, reputation, she has now resolved to give utterance to her feelings. Whether the reasoning of the Princess be correct; whether the separation of her from her daughter; whether the limiting of their interviews to once a week, and then further limiting them to once a fortnight; whether, in short, the prohibition against a mother (any mother), seeing and speaking to her daughter at her pleasure; whether such a prohibition can admit of any construction not fatal to the mother's reputation, I will, my sensible and honest friend, leave you to judge. And, with regard to the Princess's maternal feelings, you will, I am sure, want nothing to guide you in your judgment further than the supposition, for a moment, of a similar prohibition laid upon yourself. Upon this part of the subject I would not add a single word, did I not think it my duty to expose some of the unfeeling ruffians of the London press, who have, upon this occasion, assailed the Princess of Wales. In answer to her complaint of not being permitted to have a free intercourse with her daughter, the COURIER newspaper, of the 13th of February, makes the following remarks: The Princess complains, as to herself, that she is debarred from that intercourse 'with her child which it is natural for a mother to expect, and which mothers do usually enjoy. And, here, before I proceed further, you ought to be informed, that, when the Princess went to live at Blackheath, in 1796, she took her daughter with her; that her daughter remained with her till she attained the age of eight years; that she was then placed under the care of proper persons to superintend her education," and that her place of residence was chiefly at Windsor, the place of residence of the" Queen, her mother going frequently to see her, and she going frequently to see her mother. It' now appears, from the Prin "The charge of separating a child from its mother, naturally engages the affections of every parent; and her Royal Highness knowing this, does not forget "to make a strong appeal to the passions of Englishwomen. But to what extent is this charge founded? A visit once a |