British and Foreign State Papers

usurped from them by a handful of Spaniards, who have characterized their Government by horrid crimes and infamous injustice, in which was included that of robbing, persecuting, and banishing those distinguished Foreigners who justly merited the protection and consideration of the Government, in our first political transformation; and as the conduct of a Free People ought to be entirely opposite to that which has been observed by our Enemies, who have been, and will always be, inimical to the prosperity and happiness of America,

I have accordingly determined:

First, to invite again all Foreigners, of whatever Nation and profession they may be, to come and establish themselves in these Provinces under the immediate protection of the Government, who will dispense it to them openly and frankly, fully persuaded that the fertility of our soil, its various and precious productions, the mildness of our climate, and a prudent Administration, which will guarantee personal security and the sacred rights of property, will insure to all the advantages and comforts they could derive in their own Countries.

Secondly, to declare, that any Stranger who enlists under our Flag to defend the cause of liberty and independence, is by right a Citizen of Venezuela, and that his services shall be recompensed in a suitable

manner.

Given at Head Quarters, Caracas; registered by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and sealed with the Seal of the Republic, 16th of August, 1813 (3rd of Independence).

ANTONIO MUNOS TEBAR, Secretary of State.

SIMON BOLIVAR.

REPORT made to the King of Sweden by his Minister of State and of Foreign Affairs, relative to the Relations between Sweden and France.-Stockholm, 7th January, 1813. (Translation.)

SIRE,

THE day of compliance with the order which Your Majesty gave to me, to present you with an Exposition of the political relations that have existed for more than 2 years between Sweden and France, has arrived.

Nothing honours a Nation so much as the publicity that the Government gives to its Diplomatic acts, and nothing better consolidates the harmony of the Monarch with his People, than the opportune communication of Political Secrets. The good Patriots will view the account that Your Majesty commands me to give, as a new proof of the desire that the Sovereign feels to enlighten them, and of the love. that he bears to his Country. The Nation will learn from the subjoined Documents, and which Your Majesty has ordered to be published,

the conduct that the Government has observed during the bloody tragedy of the devastation of Europe.

The relations of Sweden with Great Britain had not yet arrived at open hostilities at the end of November, 1810. The commerce of Sweden, though less active, principally on account of the Peace of Paris, was not entirely interrupted; such was the moderation of the English Cabinet!

The marks of ill will on the part of France, which in the year 1810 frequently indicated serious pretensions, seemed at first solely to relate to the rigorous observance of the principles of the Continental System in Pomerania; but they were afterwards openly directed against Sweden, and it even evinced an intention to exclude the Americans from our Ports. Your Majesty, however, succeeded in preventing these consequences by dint of moderation and perseverance.

It was, nevertheless, to be presumed that this happy state of things would not continue; and Sweden therefore prepared to recruit her Forces, which had been debilitated by a terrible War. The Emperor Napoleon had established, as the inviolable rule for subjugated Europe, that those Powers only should be acknowledged by France as Friends who were the Enemies of Great Britain; that Neutrality, the ancient bulwark of Free States during the strifes of the powerful, had no longer any meaning; and that all combinations of politics and sense of dignity must submit to the force of arms, and to the irresistible power of him who wielded it.

In the beginning of November 1810, a few days before the separation of the States of the Kingdom, a Despatch of the Baron de Lagerbjelke arrived from Paris. It contained the details of an Interview that he had had with His Majesty the Emperor of the French, from which it resulted that Your Majesty was to resolve, either to break the relations with France, or formally to declare War against England. The Minister of France in Stockholm, Baron de Alquier, presented a Note at the same time to the same effect, and required a decisive Answer within the term of 5 days, observing that he should leave Sweden, if the Government did not accede to the wishes of his Master.

In such critical circumstances, Your Majesty took into consideration the external and internal situation of the Kingdom, and saw no means of adopting a free resolution. The Powers of the Continent followed at the same time the will of France, and the season took away all hope of deriving any assistance from England, in case the Kingdom should be attacked in the course of the winter. Within the time prescribed for an answer, it was impossible to learn the disposition of the neighbouring States; and the resources of the Kingdom were so limited, both in money and means of defence, that it was not possible to expect effectually to support the integrity and security of Sweden. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, convinced of the necessity of

saving the States, imposed silence on his affections, and solemnly declared that Your Majesty ought not to be influenced by his particular position, or his former connexions, and that he would execute, with fidelity and zeal, whatever Your Majesty should command, for the glory, preservation, and independence of the Kingdom.

Your Majesty, reserving for a more opportune season the efficacious resource contained in the Declaration of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, judged it then an imperious necessity to yield to the storm; trusting that the Emperor Napoleon would not jeopardize the last resources of Sweden, by rigorously exacting open hostilities against Great Britain.

The Declaration of War had scarcely, however, been published against England, and Swedish commerce abandoned to the will and discretion of the British Cabinet, when the French Minister began to develope a plan, which was afterwards followed up unceasingly, to induce Sweden to contract the same obligations that had occasioned so many evils to the Confederated States. At first a numerous Body of Seamen was asked, to man the French Fleet in Brest; and soon afterwards, Swedish Troops, to be put under French pay; the introduction into Sweden of the Tariff of 50 per cent. upon Colonial produce; and finally, the permission to have French Custom-house Officers at Gottenberg. These proposals were not admitted, both on account of the Laws of the Kingdom and of the interests of the Nation: and the consequence was, that the tone of the French Government assumed a character of hostility.

The Baron de Alquier, shortly after his arrival, spoke of the necessity of a more intimate Alliance between Sweden and France; and although he was answered with politeness, the proposal had no effect. He afterwards proposed an Alliance between Sweden, Denmark, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, under the protection and guarantee of France; this proposal had for its object to create a Confederation of the North, similar in its obligations and design to that which subjected the Forces of Germany to the Dominion of France. But as Your Majesty did not judge it convenient for your situation and rights to give an affirmative answer, he renewed, without loss of time, the former proposal of a particular Alliance with France. Although the Baron de Alquier had only announced verbally the wish of the Emperor, his Master, he required a written Answer; but, in the difficulty of obtaining it, he saw the mark of indifference with which the Swedish Government considered the French System.

Your Majesty might, undoubtedly, have required that the propositions of the Emperor Napoleon, in regard to the projected Alliance, should have been communicated to you fully and in writing; and although it was to be suspected that the written Answer, required upon a verbal Communication, was only for the purpose of exhibiting it at St. Petersburgh, in order to prove that Sweden was entirely de