Government and that of St. Petersburg...."

In "F.O.," Russia, No. 55, is a despatch of our ambassador at St.
Petersburg, Admiral Warren, of June 30, 1804, in which he reports
Czartoryski's concern at rumours of negotiations between England
and France: "The prince [Czartoryski] remarked that he could not
suppose, after what had passed between the two Courts, and the
manner in which the Emperor [Alexander] had explained himself to
England, and after the measures which Russia had since proposed,
that Great Britain would make a peace at once by herself."

Of these earlier negotiations I have found no trace; but obviously
the first proposals for an alliance must have come from Russia.
Sweden was the first to propose a monarchical league against
Napoleon. (See my article in the "Revue Napoleonienne" for June,
1902.)

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXIII

AUSTERLITZ

After the capitulation of Ulm, the French Emperor marched against the
Russian army, which, as he told his troops, _English gold had brought
from the ends of the earth._ As is generally the case with coalitions,
neither of the allies was ready in time or sent its full quota. In
place of the 54,000 which Alexander had covenanted to send to
Austria's support, he sent as yet only 46,000; and of these 8,000 were
detached into Podolia in order to watch the warlike moves of the
Turks, whom the French had stirred up against the Muscovite.

But Alexander had another and weightier excuse for not denuding his
realm of troops, namely, the ambiguous policy of Prussia. Up to the
middle of October this great military Power clung to her somewhat
threatening neutrality, an attitude not unlike that of the
Scandinavian States, which, in 1691, remained deaf to the entreaties
of William of Orange to take up the cause of European freedom against
Louis XIV., and were dubbed the Third Party. It would seem, however,
that the Prussian King had some grounds for his conduct: he feared the
Polish influence which Czartoryski wielded over the Czar, and saw in
the Russian request for a right of way through Prussian Poland a
deep-laid scheme for the seizure of that territory. Indeed, the
letters of Czartoryski prove that such a plan was pressed forward, and
found much favour with the Czar, though at the last moment he
prudently shelved it.[34]

For a time the hesitations of Prussia were ended by Napo