Prussia should have an equivalent on the side of Upper Silesia. The King of Prussia declared that no hostile engagement subsisted between him and the Belgic provinces; and that he would co-operate with the maritime powers for the purpose of appeasing the troubles in those countries, and restoring them to the Austrian dominions, on conditions of the re-establishment of their ancient privileges and constitution; and the English and Dutch ministers engaged, in behalf of their respective courts, to guarantee these conditions. The conferences (the parties concerned being all desirous of tranquillity) were soon brought to a conclusion. A convention was executed on the 27th of July, 1790*, by which, besides the conditions just mentioned, it was agreed that the King of Hungary should retain the provinces of Gallicia and Lodomeria, which he already possessed in Poland; that, should Russia persist in carrying on the war against the Porte and Sweden, his Prussian Majesty should be at free liberty to fulfil these engagements, without the court of Vienna taking any part, directly or indirectly, in the contest. On the other hand, the King of Prussia engaged to give Leopold his vote on the approaching election, for the imperial throne; but under the express and indispensable condition that the Emperor of the Romans should never enter into any alliance with Russia: as in case of such a connexion, he would be disabled from discharging his duty as head of the Ger man empire, and resisting any future attack of that power on Germany. It is unnecessary to mention that the negotiations at Reichenbach by no means interrupted, but rather, as is usual in such cases, accelerated the military preparations on both sides. It is in fact the surd eloquence of those preparations, as it is well known, that gives the greatest weight to that of political negotiations. The conferences at Reichenbach, though on the whole carried on with uncommon harmony and expeditious effect, were at one period so nearly broken off, that the King of Prussia had, in expectation of immediate hostilities, prohibited all further intercourse between Silesia and the Austrian territories; and had at the same time signified to the court of Dresden, that he would not admit of its neutrality; but, in case of war, expected that it should explicitly declare in favour of one of the parties. Nor was the court of Vienna, in conjunction with its Russian allies, less intent It may be mentioned as a curious fact, that neither the Prussian nor Austrian ministers were friendly, but, on the contrary, averse to the treaty of Reichenbach. Count Hertsberg, bred in the school of Frederic, thought the moment favourable for attacking and weakening Austria, by taking the rest of Silesia. Prince Kaunitz, on the other hand, still meditated plans for the further aggrandizement of the Austrians. The convention was forced on and brought to a speedy conclusion, chiefly by the unremitted exertions of the English minister, Mr. Ewart, seconded and sup ported by the favourable inclinations of Leopold; whose mind, we have been well assured, was prepared and well-disposed for pacification and union among the great sovereign powers, by much reflection on the causes and consequences of the convulsed state of Europe and by long habits of conversation with an English gentleman, of great experience in affairs, as well as intelligence on the nature of assignats, or paper credit under any name, hypothecated on spoliation; and who, after a residence at his court for more than a year, accompanied him in the summer of 1791, to his coronation at Frankfort. intent on the most active measures. Large bodies of troops were continually approaching the Austrian acquisitions in Poland, which, in case of the conferences proving ineffectual, were expected to become the scene of action. By the treaty of Reichenbach, the allies made a very considerable advancement to wards the great object of their interference, the prevention of the ruin or dismemberment of the Turkish empire; and an easy way was opened to Leopold for quieting the discontents and disturbances in different parts of his extensive dominions, and the attainment of other desirable and dear objects. During the conferences at Reichenbach, deputies from Hungary arriving at Vienna, presented a long list of twenty-four articles to the King, which they pressed him to sign previously to his coronation for that kingdom. The principal demands of the Hungarians were, that they should have tribunals of justice and other departments, entirely independent of the imperial courts of the same nature at Vienma: and especially a council of war, for the government of their army; the officers of which should thenceforth depend on it alone for their promotion; and that no German troops should enter Hungary without the formal consent and requisition of the states. Leopold, foreseeing that the issue of the negotiations would soon put him in possession of the usual ways and means of governing the Hunga rians, refused to comply with their request: considering their demands as too importunate and peremptory; and under the conviction that compliance with requests so made, would tend only to the exaction of further and further concessions. It was the first maxim of this humane and wise prince, in the administration of government, to abstain from all acts of injustice and oppression: and the second, to improve the condition of his subjects, by voluntarily anticipating their just complaints; but never yielding to the appearance of combination and importunate solicitation. A remarkable instance of his prudence and address, in maintaining the authority of the crown by avoiding a contest, in which perhaps he must have been constrained to yield to the popular current, we are about to relate.. The Hungarian malcontents were so numerous, and the spirit of discontent, discord, and division, had risen to such a height, that a motion had been made in a full diet or assembly of the Hungarian states, after the conclusion of the treaty of Reichenbach, and strongly supported, for sending ministers directly from the nation to Constantinople, without any notice or regard to the King; who were to negotiate in the name of the diet, and entirely on its own account, a treaty with the Ottoman Porte. This bold and dangerous proposition, which had been for some time expected by the court of Vienna, was eluded by another made by the King's ministers, and supported by all the weight and influence of the crown, for an address to the King for permission to send deputies to the congress that was to meet, for settling a peace with the Ottomans. This motion being carried, not without very great opposition, a letter was sent to the King, in which the diet stated, "That, to the great grief of the states, and contrarily to the fundamental laws of the kingdom, the present war had been C 2 com commenced without their knowledge; and that they would be penetrated with still greater grief, if now that they were assembled in diet and bent on the establishment of their rights, any treaty of peace should be concluded without their concurrence. Essential laws (which they quoted) did not permit a King of Hungary to begin a war in the kingdom, nor in the provinces united with it, without the knowledge and consent of the nation: and a peace with the Turks could not be concluded, either within or without the kingdom, but with the advice and consent of a Hungarian council. Trusting that his Majesty would readily acknowledge the justness of these representations, and the reasonableness of their demands, they proposed deputies, men of approved integrity, knowledge, and ability in public affairs, to attend the conferences for peace and other negotiations for the public good, in conformity to the spirit of the Hungarian laws and constitution; which they would consider as a particular proof of his Majesty's justice, and as a tie which would attach still more strongly, that free, faithful, and loyal nation, to his Majesty's person and government." Leopold received the deputation and application of the states (which he had himself been secretly instrumental in procuring) very graciously; and empowered the diet to nominate whomsoever they should think proper, to act as representatives of the Hungarian nation, and to attend to their interests at the congress. This concession of Leopold, however, though made with grace and as an homage due to justice, might perhaps have encreased the importunity of the Hungarians on: other points to a dangerous height, if a coalition had not been made between Austria and Prussia. The Hungarian malcontents had become so numerous and appeared so formidable, that Leopold at one time entertained serious apprehen-. sions with regard to the security, and even the preservation of the kingdom: and it was intended on the conclusion of peace with the Porte, to send the Hungarian army to the low countries, and to replace them in Hungary entirely by German regiments. But the various interests that divided the higher ranks of the nobility from the inferior; the jealousy entertained by the popular classes of both these, and the difference of religion among them all, prevented that unanimity which would have been necessary to an effectual resistance of a long established power, and enabled the court of Vienna to play off the different parties against one another, and to balance and manage the whole. The Protestants hated the Roman Catholics, and the Catholics the Protestants. The peasants abhorred the nobles, and the nobles (though divided among themselves) concurred in despising and oppressing the peasants: and as these parties were at enmity among themselves so also they were differently affected towards the sovereign. The Magnats and Comitats, with the exception of those who held great offices of the crown, were bent on a revolution, and desirous of cementing the closest alliance_that could be formed with the Porte and with Prussia. Many of the Noblesse, envious and jealous of the Magnats and great Palatines, were favourably disposed towards the the crown while others were willing to sacrifice their private animosities to what they deemed the good of their country. With respect to the clergy, a great majo. rity, at least of this order, retaining a bitter remembrance of the late Emperor Joseph, and not much better satisfied with some parts of Leopold's conduct in Tuscany, ranged themselves on the side of the discontented. On the other hand, the Protestants were devoted to the crown from the circumstances of their situation. And the peasants, sensible of the benefits they had derived through Joseph, and aware that nothing but a similar interposition in their favour on the part of the crown could add to them, or even preserve what they had already obtained, were sincerely and heartily attached to his successor. On the whole, the opposite parties were not altogether unequally balanced, though the scale rather inclined to the side of the malcontents, when an event unexpected, and even unthought of on all hands, turned it decidedly to that of the crown and the royal party. An incredible number of Greeks, Wallachians, Serviotes, and Rascians*, amounting, it is said, to 4,000,000, declared themselves, to a man, firmly attached to the cause of Leopold, and determined to support it at all events, and in all cases. Thus as, on the one hand, the house of Austria had experienced the danger of innovation in matters of religion, so, on the other, they found the advantages of religious toleration. The effect produced by the declaration of so powerful a body in favour of the King, was immediate. The blow being followed up, and vigorously supported by the ministers and friends of the crown, above fifty of the malcontents were expelled from the diet, it would seem, in a very summary, despotic, and unjustifiable manner. But the opposition of the malcontents was quashed, and even their complaints and murmurs almost suppressed, by the measures just mentioned; and there was an intermediate party in the diet, whose voice had been drowned amidst the fierce and loud contentions of the royalists on the one hand, and the revolutionists on the other, but who now, when the fermentation had subsided, deserved and obtained attention. This was composed of moderate men and true patriots; being equally inimical to the violence of revolution, and the tyranny of arbitrary power. They were sensible of the encroachments that had been made on the rights and privileges of the Hungarians. Yet they neither laboured nor even wished for an absolute disseveration of the kingdom from the dominion of Austria, after so long and intimate a connexion between the two nations, cemented by numberless ties of friendship, affinity, and mutual sympathy and benevolence. But they anxiously and eagerly wished for the restoration of their ancient constitution in all its parts and all its original purity and further, knowing, from long and sad experience, how little reliance was to be placed *Serviotes, natives of Servia, part of the ancient Mysia. Rascians, natives of Rascia, a territory in the north part of Servia, which takes its name from the river Rascia, and is subject to Austria. The inhabitants of Servia, as well as of Wallachia and Moldavia, together with the ancient Dacia, are chiefly Christians of the Greek church. placed on the faith of the Austrian princes; and aware at the same time of the spirit of domination that always prevailed in the conduct of the Germans whenever they were entrusted with the exercise of absolute power, they were extremely desirous, and proposed that their constitution thus reformed, should be secured by the guarantee of Prussia, Sweden, and Poland. A deputation from the diet waited on Leopold, September 5th, 1790, with an invitation, requesting his personal presence at their deliberations, and particularly at the coronation. They presented at the same time, what was called a new diploma, and what we would call in England a charter, contain ing articles in addition to those which it had hitherto been customary for the monarch to sign, to swear to, and which they requested and hoped that he would accept. The King returned an answer by Count Palfi, the great Chancellor of Hungary, that he had intended that his coronation in that kingdom should have preceded that at Frankfort: but that this, by the delays in their own proceedings, had now been rendered impracticable. He would endeavour however to fulfil his purpose respecting Hungary, by the 15th of November at furthest. At the same time he observed, that the lateness of the season would necessarily preclude him from proceeding further in the country than Presburg: in which city the coronation must of course be celebrated. The place that had been fixed on for that purpose by the Hungarians was the ancient capital Buda, in preference to Presburg, the new capital, which the Austrians had long rendered the actual seat of government, on Leopold, relieved from the weight of |