trine of happiness to the nations; but they have converted it into a revolting image: they have degraded it by using it as an instrument to promote their ambitious views, and as a cloak for their secret designs.

An institution, projected by the fanatical imagination of a Spanish veteran, in one of the southern parts of Europe, which attempted to obtain universal dominion over the human mind, and, with this view, wished to subject every thing to the infallible senate of the Lateran, must have been an unwelcome present to the descendants of Tuiskon.

The principal object of the Loyolists was to acquire glory, to extend their power, and to spread darkness over the rest of the world.

Their intolerance caused Germany to endure the misery of a thirty-years' war. Their principles deprived the Henrys of France of their life and crown; and they were the authors of the abominable edict of Nantes."

The powerful influence which they had over the Princes of the House of Habsburg is too well known. Ferdinand II. and Leopold I. were their patrons to their latest breath.

The education of youth, literature, rewards, the distribution of the first dignities of the state, the ear of kings, and the hearts of queens, all were confided to their wise counsels.

We know too well what use they made of their power, what plans they executed, and what fetters they imposed on the nations.

It is not unknown to me, that, besides the great Clement, the ministers of the Bourbon Courts and Mons. de Pombal have labored to effect their suppression. Posterity will do justice to their efforts, and will erect altars to them in the temple of fame.

If I were at all capable of hatred, I should hate a race of men who persecuted a Fenelon, and who effected the Bulla in cana Domini, which created so much contempt for Rome. Adieu!

Vienna, July, 1773.

To Maria Theresa, Empress Queen Mother.

JOSEPH.

Madame,-The Grand Duke and myself have arrived in Venice several days earlier than we expected; the Archduke Ferdinand from Milan arrived the following night, and at last my youngest brother. Our residence here is according to the symbol of all my travels, incognito, as Count Falkenstein. I

1

The Emperor must have meant its revocation.-Translator.

have seen every thing in this celebrated city; there is an extraordinary concourse of strangers, on account of the approaching nuptials of the Doge with the Adriatic Sea.

I have seen the celebrated armory of the Republic, which is two and a half Italian miles in circumference. I assisted at a regatta, in company with my brothers and the Duke of Parma; visited several theatres, some nobles, and the Ambassador of your Majesty, the Marquis Durazzo.

I must, however, now say something of the celebrated nuptials of the Doge. On Ascension-Day, his Highness sails in the Buzentaur, with the whole senate, in the greatest splendor, between il Lido and Santo Erasmo, to the high sea; and the Patriarch having gone through several ceremonies, the Doge drops a golden ring into the sea, at the same time pronouncing these words: Desponsamus te, mare, in signum veri perpetuique Domini. The roar of the cannon, the numerous suite of some hundreds of the finest barges, and the vast concourse of people, make this farce very imposing. On returning the Patriarch holds a high mass in the church of St. Nicholas; and in the evening the senate, and those who accompanied the Doge in his Buzentaur, are splendidly entertained by the Signoria.

The day previous to our departure, we visited the great council, where there were present above four hundred persons; we afterwards heard an oratorio sung by the virgins of the Conservatorio de Mendicanti; and supped at the Chevalier Tron's, where upwards of three hundred ladies and one hundred and twenty nobles were present.

From Venice I went to Padua, not without a very numerous suite, among whom were the Marquis Durazzo, the Princes Lobkowitz, Rohan and Salm, and Count von Rosenberg. As soon as I arrive at Florence I will give your Majesty further news of my journey through Italy.

I respectfully kiss your hands, and am, for life, your Majesty's most dutiful son,

Padua, June, 1775.

To Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

JOSEPH.

Madame,-I congratulate you on your consort's accession to the throne. He will compensate France for the late government; he will rekindle in the nation the love which they formerly had for their kings; and will render the kingdom as happy and great as it once was.

The nation groaned under the burden which had been imposed upon them of late years by Louis XV. He dissolved

the parliaments, gave his favorites too much power over the + people, and removed the Choiseuls, Malesherbes, and the Chalotais. He placed at the helm of affairs men like Maupeou, the odious Abbé Terray, and the Duke d'Aiguillon, who, with the abominable Du Barry, plundered and distracted the kingdom; and this deprived him of the love of his people.

I often pitied this Prince from my heart, for having made himself so much the slave of his passions, thereby degrading himself in the estimation of his respectable family, and even of his subjects; and that, as a king, he was so wavering in his resolutions.

Unite your efforts with those of your consort to gain him the love of his people. Leave nothing untried to insure the affection of your subjects, and you will thus be the most precious gift of providence to the empire of the Franks.

Live always contented, my Queen! Confirm the harmony that exists between France and the German Empire, and to the utmost of your power answer your destination, which has made you the pacificator of two of the most celebrated nations of Europe.

I kiss your hands, and am, with the greatest esteem, your Majesty's most obedient brother and friend, Vienna, May, 1774.

JOSEPH.

To Frederic II., King of Prussia, and Elector of Brandenburg.

My Brother, Since the death of the Elector of Bavaria you wish to act the part of a protector in the contest for the succession. You assume the character of a guarantee of the Westphalian peace, in order to mortify Austria, and after several negociations in this matter, you demand, in a dictatorial manner, that Bavaria be restored.

I hope you will kindly allow me, as head of the empire, some knowledge of our imperial constitution; conformably to which, every state of the empire may enter into treaties with the Agnats, by an amicable agreement, with respect to claimed lands, and may, after the agreement, take possession of such lands. Least of all do I believe that your Majesty will expect Austria should submit to the tribunal of the Elector of Brandenburg, in a case where he has no other authority than such as belongs to him as a member of the empire in a general assembly.

You opposed neither the negociations concerning the succession of Bavaria, nor the taking possession of it, at the time when Austria could have retreated without injury to her honor, or to the authority which she enjoys in Europe.

You began to doubt when the time for doubting was gone by; and you were irresolute in an affair, the uncertainties of which had long before been removed by agreements. Perhaps you fancied yourself as living at the epoch of the death of Charles VI., and of your acquisition of Silesia.

It

appears to me, that it is too much in your recollection that you have been a successful general-that you have had an experienced army of 200,000 men-and a colonel who has written a commentary on the work of Cæsar "de bello Gallico." Providence has given this advantage to several other powers besides Prussia; if it gives your Majesty pleasure to lead 200,000 men to the field of battle, I shall be there with the same number; if you wish to make the trial whether you are still a successful general, I am ready to satisfy your passion for fighting; and, finally, with respect to authorship in tactics, I might name to your Majesty some generals of mine, who are on half-pay, and who for pastime comment on the commentaries of the Count of Saxony.

I hope to find you on the banks of the Elbe, and when we shall have fought, and given Europe a spectacle of obstinacy, we will return our swords into their scabbards.

Je savois bien que vous êtes faché contre moi.
Jaromirs, July, 1778.

To Maria Theresa, Empress Queen Mother.

JOSEPH.

Madame,-The King of Prussia, who possessed the reputation of being extremely expeditious in preparing for war, and who thought himself in this point almost unequalled, was displeased at my boldness in disputing this possession with him, and at my having arrived with the troops of your Majesty earlier at the place of their destination than probably corresponded with his views.

We took our stand in Bohemia, in a well-chosen position, in order to receive the disputer, should he choose to attack us. I had 200,000 defenders of the rights of your Majesty, and able generals, at my side.

After the negociations had been broken off, and war had been declared, the King passed the Rubicon, and, with the hereditary Prince of Brunswick and general Ramin, pushed forwards as far as Nachod. I collected the troops of your Majesty, and occupied an advantageous position of defence, near Jaromirs, opposite the enemy.

The King saw, in one of his rides of observation, that it was impossible for him to advance by Arnau, in order to give battle near Czaslau, or Prague; he found Arnau impregnable, and

our field fortification on this side the Elbe in the best state of defence.

His Majesty passed his time in the camp in foraging, and waited the result of an operation undertaken by Prince Henry against Turnau, by way of Rumburg. Laudon had anticipated him, and occupied a well-fortified camp near Kosmanos, on the banks of the Iser.

The vanguard of his troops obtained some advantages over a few infantry regiments from Lombardy, and near Mladenko the Prussians dispersed some squadrons of cavalry. These trifles were not of much service to him. Laudon advanced by forced marches from the banks of the Elbe to Münchengratz, and near Names gave prince Henry- -check.

General Platen marched by Linay, and occupied Lentmeritz; the king, however, with his troops and the hereditary prince of Brunswick, left his camp for Burkersdorf. The fatigues to which his troops were thereby exposed, and the impassable defiles, augmented the danger of his retreat, which was covered by general Lossow, who was the more secure as the conferences at Braunau prevented me from pursuing him.

The generosity of your majesty, and the orders which you gave me not to pursue the king on his retreat, do honor to your majesty, but deprived me of the opportunity of proving that I know how to act as a general in the moment of danger, as well as Frederic the Unique.

I respectfully kiss your majesty's hand, and am your majesty's most dutiful son,

In the camp of Jaromirs, August 14, 1778.

To Maria Theresa, Empress Queen Mother.

JOSEPH.

Madame,-The Baron von Thugut, who had shown your majesty's autograph letters, and his full powers to enter into negotiations with the king, was commissioned by his philosophical majesty to return to Vienna for more minute instruc

tions.

Your majesty condescended to state, in a letter to the king, that you would consult with me, and that the minister was authorised to make such propositions as might at once put an end to the disastrous war.

The conferences in the convent of Braunau lasted no longer than four days, and during this interval, the king left the camp he had occupied on the left bank of the Elbe, and which began to be disadvantageous to him.

All negotiations immediately ceased, since the king, under