The Enquirer

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY,

By the commander in chief of the imperial Russian army.

By a long series of the most unfortunate events, your country has become a prey to the most cruel and insolent of foes. The manifold suffering to which you have been subjected are known to the emperor my most gracious sovereign: and his majesty is so much the more disposed to take the warmest interest therein, as he himself has sprung from German blood; and mindful of the intimate ties which exist between his imperial house and many of the German princes, he has never ceased to entertain with regard to the German nation, all that esteem to which a people, so numerous, enlightened and virtuous are justly entitled. With this sentiment of the warmest interest in the fate of Germany are naturally and inseparably conjoined his majesty's wishes to deliver this empire from its oppressors, and restore it to its just freedom and independence. His majesty will think no exertion too laborious to attain this great object.

Inhabitants of Germany! the whole Russian army fights for your interests! Under these circumstances so favourable, shall you alone remain inactive?--Shall you be so blinded, as in the present state of things to do nothing for yourselves?

The enemy is at a great distance from his frontiers, in territories, and at a season of the year, which not only do not afford him sufficient means of supply, but also impede all his operations. Will you voluntarily contribute to his relief? Will you act against your own interests? Forget not that you have all possible aid to expect from the brave army entrusted to my command. I trust that I shall victoriously drive back the common enemy of Europe, and convince him that there still remains a people, who, faithful to their country and their monarch, have both the inclination and the power to resist the imposition of his iron yoke.

But however probable this success may be, his majesty will still regard it as incomplete, so long as the foe shall not be driven back beyond his natural boundaries; and as this is the only means of restoring the independence of your country, and obtaining a general peace upon secure foundations, his imperial majesty relies with the fullest confidence, that at this finally decisive crisis, the inhabitants of Germany will not only lend no kind of support to the common foe, but on the contrary, that they will, by a general resistance, render his further stay in Germany impracticable, and throw every possible difficulty in the way of his retreat towards his own frontiers. By this intimate union of the whole Russian force with all the means of the German empire, the common object may be attained, and peace, so anxiously desired, be once more restored to suffering Europe.

Take courage then, brave and virtuous Germans. Reflect on the immortal renown of your ancestors, who in former ages, maintained their independence with the most signal bravery.

Unite yourselves under the colours of such of your princes, in whom the unfortunate events of our times have not yet extinguished a sense of honour, and of their own dignities. To this grand and noble purpose of delivering your country from a foreign yoke, sacrifice every private quarrel, every consideration of internal discord, and then shall you compose a formidable whole, capable not only of disputing every inch of ground with the common enemy, but also of ultimately vanquishing and repelling him for ever within his natural frontier.

"In your efforts to attain so glorious an object, you may rely with the fullest confidence on the powerful and continued assistance of the emperor, my most gracious sovereign. The universally acknowledged principles of his imperial majesty afford you a guarantee, that not only will his majesty not abandon you in the present struggle, but that on the happy termination thereof, he will particularly direct his attention to the restoration of your country, which for a succession of centuries rendered your forefathers the happiest people on the face of the earth, and which could only be destroyed by the domineering ambition of an enemy, who makes no scruple of treading under foot the most sacred treaties.

"Given at the Imperial Russian head quarters.

(Signed) "Baron VON BENNINGSEN,
General of cavalry, military governor of Lithuania, &c. &c."