BOOK dable combination againft her; that, neverthelefs, the
— ' friendihip of that houfe was to be purchafed by acceding to
the partition 5 that upon this condition the emperor was
willing to renounce his connexion with the Grand Signior,
and would fuffer the Ruffians to profecute the war without
interruption. Catharine, anxious to puffi her conquefts
againft the Turks, and dreading the interpofition /of the
emperor in that quarter; perceiving likewife, from the
intimate union between the courts of Vienna and Berlin,
that it would not be in her power, at the prefent jun<fture, to
prevent the intended partition, clofed with the pnopofal,
and felefted no inconfiderable portion o f the Polifh territories
for herfelf. The treaty was figned at Peteriburg in the
beginning of February, I 7 7^> ^*y Ruffian, Auftrian,
and Pruffian plenipotentiaries.
As the troops of the three courts were already in pof-
feffion of the greateft part of Poland, the confederates,
hemmed in on all fides, were foon routed and difperfed;
and Europe waited in anxious expe&ation what would
be the iffue of this unexpe&ed union : yet fuch was
the profound fecrecy with which the partitioning powers
proceeded, that for fome time after the ratification
of the treaty, only vague conje&ures were entertained
even at Warfaw § concerning their real intentions ; and
the late lord Cathcart, the Engliih minifter at Peteriburg,
was
* I have a colle&ion o f MS. letters written
from Warfaw before and after the partition
: the following paflages from thofe
letters will iliew the myfterious conduit o f
the three courts, and the uncertainty o f the
Poles concerning the difmemberment.
On cache à Vienne les vrais motifs et le
“ but de la prochaine entrée des troupes en
“ Pologne,” &c. May 6, 1772.
A ll the letters fpea^c o f the apprehenfions
o f difmemberment ; but the firft which
mentions it with any certainty is dated May
*9»
was able to obtain no authentic information of its fignature, c^ p-
until two months after the event. <— „—
The firft formal notification of any pretenfions to the Pô-
lilh territory was in the month of September, 1772, announced
to the king and fenate aflembled at Warfaw, by the
Imperial embaffador ; which was foon followed by the memorials
of the Ruffian and Pruffian courts, fpecifying their re-
fpeilive claims. It would be tedious to enter into a detail of
the- pleas urged by the three powers in favour of their feveral
demands ; it would be no lefs uninterefting to lay before
the reader, the anfwers and remonftrances of the king and
fenate, as well as the appeals to the other ftates which had
guarantied the pofieffions of Poland. The courts of London,
Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, remonftrated againft the
ufurpations ; but remonftrances without affiftance could be
of no effeft. Poland fubmitted to the difmemberment, not
without, the moft violent ftruggles, and now, for the firft time,
felt and lamented the fatal effefts of fatftion and difcord.
A diet being demanded by the partitioning powers, in order
to ratify the ceffion of the provinces, was, after, fome
delay, convoked by the king in the following fummons :
“ Since there are no hopes from any quarter, and any further
“ delays will only tend to draw down the moft dreadful cala-
“ mities upon the remainder of the dominions which are left
S to the republic; the .diet is convened for the 19 th of April,
“ I 773) according to the will of the three courts : neverthe-
19, which relates, that one o f the king o f u dent là deflus ne peucvent, pas être fur
Pruffia’s officers, palling through Marien« “ de vaines imaginations et conjectures, ” &c*
burgh, even faid, that the neighbourhood o f Auguft 13. “ La bombe va crever, on
that town had fallen to the king by the “ achevé le traite de partage,” &c.
partition.. . Auguft 24. “ C ’en eft.fait, le traite ébau-
May 30. “ On croit de plus et plus qu’on “ chè au mois de Février vient' de prendre
44 nous partagera, tant d’avis qui s’accor- “ confidence,” &c.
yoL. I. H “ lefs,