At the same time the same definitive treaty of peace was concluded between France and Austria, Russia, and Prussia, respectively; and BOOK IV. signed, on the part of the former by the Prince of Benevente, for Austria by Prince Metternich and Count Stadion, for Russia by Count Rasumoffsky and Count Nesselrode, and for Prussia by Baron Hardenberg and Baron Humboldt; with the following additional articles. TO THE TREATY WITH AUSTRIA. The high contracting parties, wishing to efface all traces of the unfortunate events which have oppressed their people, have agreed to annul explicitly the effects of the treaties of 1805 and 1809, as far as they are not already annulled by the present treaty. In consequence of this determination, his most Christian Majesty promises, that the decrees passed against French subjects, or reputed French subjects, being or having been in the service of his Imperial, Royal, and Apostolic Majesty, shall remain without effect; as also the judgments which may have been given in execution of these decrees. TO THE TREATY WITH RUSSIA. The duchy of Warsaw, being under the administration of a provisional council established in Russia, since that country has been occupied by her armies, the two high contracting parties have agreed to appoint immediately a special commission, composed of an equal number of members on either side, who shall be charged with the examination, liquidation, and all the arrangement relative to the reciprocal claims. TO THE TREATY WITH PRUSSIA. Though the treaty of peace concluded at Basle, on the 8th of April, 1795; that of Tilsit, of the 9th of July, 1807; the convention of Paris, of the 20th of September, 1808; as well as all the conventions and acts whatsoever, concluded since the peace of Basle between Prussia and France, are already virtually annulled by the present treaty, the high contracting powers have nevertheless thought fit to declare expressly that the treaties cease to be obligatory for all their articles, both patent and secret, and that they mutually renounce all right, and release themselves from all obligation which might result from them. His most Christian Majesty promises that the decrees issued against French subjects, or reputed Frenchmen, being or having been in the service of his Prussian Majesty, shall be of no effect, as well as the judgments which may have been passed in execution of those decrees. CHAP. XXV. 1814 [In the group of portraits of the plenipotentiaries engaged in the "Execution of the Treaty of Paris," Lord Castlereagh is seated at the head of the table, with Prince Talleyrand, in profile, to the left, and Count Metternich to the right of his lordship. At the foot of the table Lord Cathcart is seen, in profile, with the Earl of Aberdeen on his left, and Sir Charles Stewart standing nearly opposite to Prince Talleyrand. The engraving is on wood, by Mr. Branston, and is considered by the Society of Arts, to which it has been submitted, one of the most successful specimens of historical engraving ever produced in this department of the art.] BOOK IV. 1814 CHAPTER XXVI. BRITISH HISTORY: Meeting of Parliament-Inquiry regarding the Cession of Norway to THE parliament of Great Britain, which assembled in the winter of 1813, principally for CHAP. XXVI. the purpose of voting those supplies by which the overthrow of the French empire under the Napoleon dynasty was essentially promoted, adjourned on the 20th of December, and was not re-assembled till the 21st of March in the following year, when the negociations at Chatillon had failed, and when the allied armies were within a few days' march of their ultimate destination. Money was still wanted; and the first business of importance brought before the house of commons was a motion made by the chancellor of the exchequer, for a grant of two millions on account of the army extraordinaries, making, with three millions before voted, the sum of five millions. This grant, he stated, was much beneath the sum that would be required for the current year; but as the necessities of the state were urgent, it was deemed expedient to propose the present grant thus early, and to wait the developement of events in order to regulate the amount of the further supply. While the momentous occurrences, which took place in the month of April, were passing in rapid succession before an astonished world, the attention of the people of England was almost entirely absorbed by those public demonstrations of joy which prevailed in every city, town, and village of the empire; and the members of both houses of parliament partook so largely of the public exhilaration, that the business of parliament was for some time suspended. the 29th of April, Lord Liverpool stated, in answer to a question from Lord Holland, that in the cessation of hostilities between France and the allied powers Norway was not included, but that, on the contrary, orders had been given at the admiralty to take measures for the blockade of the ports of Norway. In effect, that the ports of Norway were to be blockaded by Great Britain, in order to compel the inhabitants of that country, under the pressure of famine, to submit to unite themselves with a foreign power. Against a proceeding so abhorrent to the feelings of independence, a motion was made by Earl Grey in the house of lords, and by Mr. C. W. Wynne in the house of commons, for an address to the prince regent, entreating that the blockade of Norway by a British force should be raised; but in both houses the motion was rejected, and the Norwegians, unable to withstand the combined efforts put forth to coerce them into submission, ultimately passed under the Swedish yoke. At a time when the British cabinet and foreign governments were more closely drawn together, and more intimately connected than at any former period; when all the nations of Europe were about to revive their commercial relations with each other, and to study the elements of a lasting peace; Mr. Wilberforce, rising in his place in the house of commons,* said, it appeared to him that there was no better or more acceptable mode of expressing our gratitude to that Providence which had brought us in safety and triumph through all our dangers and trials, than to do what in us lay to diminish the mass of human suffering, by recommending the abolition of the slave trade. When the present circumstances of Europe were taken into consideration, when it was considered what great provocations some of the allied powers had re*On the 3d of May. The treaty between Sweden and Denmark, by which the kingdom of Norway was transferred to Sweden, under the guarantee of Great Britain, without the consent, and, as it now appeared, against the will of the Norwegians, detracted from the general satisfaction, and soon arrested the attention of parliament. On ceived from France, and what noble revenge they had taken, by returning benefits for injuries, and good for evil, he felt the most sanguine hopes, that when they were made thoroughly acquainted with the nature of this horrid traffic, they would consummate their noble conduct by joining heartily in this great act of justice and humanity. The slave trade of France had been practically destroyed by the war, and therefore that country had nothing to give up in this respect. Spain was no longer in a situation to be afraid of adopting a measure that might give offence to the merchants of Cadiz; Portugal had signed an engagement with this country for the gradual abolition of the trade, but Portugal, he was sorry to say, still persisted in that shameful traffic; Sweden had already acquiesced in the proposition of our government; Denmark, much to its honour, had discontinued the trade for a long time; and America had declared against it. It would be a noble sequel to the glorious event which had just taken place in Europe, if a foundation were now laid for the future security, peace, and happiness of the inhabitants of Africa. He did not think the present motion necessary for the purpose of reminding ministers of the subject, but his object was to strengthen their representations, by showing to all foreign powers, that in abolishing the slave trade the British parliament had not acted from a mere transient fit of humanity and justice, but that they con. sidered this as a subject of the most serious nature, and deserving of their unremitting attention. With these views he should move that a humble address should be presented to the prince regent, beseeching him to interpose the good offices and interference of government with the allied powers on the continent, to induce them to aid and assist in this desirable and humane object, by discontinuing and forbidding the same in their respective dominions. In these sentiments both sides of the house expressed their cordial concurrence; but all that the unanimous declaration of the British parliament, seconded by numerous petitions from the people of England, could effect in the cause of humanity, was an engagement on the part of his most Christian Majesty, "to unite all his efforts to those of his Britannic Majesty, at the approaching congress, to induce all the powers of Christendom to decree the abolition of the slave trade, so that the said trade shall cease universally, as it shall cease definitively, under any circumstances, on the part of the French government, in the course of five years."* 1814 The distinguished services rendered by BOOK IV. Field-marshal the Marquis of Wellington were duly appreciated by his country; and on the CHAP. XXVI. 3d of May, the prince regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his majesty, conferred upon this illustrious chief the dignities of Duke and Marquis of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by the style and title of Marquis Douro and Duke of Wellington in the county of Somerset. To support the dignity thus conferred upon the duke, the sum of four hundred thousand pounds was voted to him by the unanimous consent of parliament, on the recommendation of the prince regent, in a message presented to both houses on the 10th of the same month, and which, added to the sum of one hundred thousand pounds voted on a further occasion, swelled the amount of the grants placed at the disposal of the duke to half a million sterling. Honours and emoluments were at the same time bestowed upon the duke's companions in arms: Sir John Hope was raised to the peerage under the title of Lord Niddry; Sir Stapleton Cotton was created Lord Combermere; Sir Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch ; Sir Rowland Hill, Lord Hill; and Sir William Beresford, Lord Beresford; and the dignities of Lords Lynedoch, Hill, and Beresford, were accompanied by a grant of two thousand per annum each. In addition to the honours conferred upon * See Additional Articles to the Definitive Treaty of Peace between France and Great Britain, dated May 30, 1814.-Vol. II. Book IV. Page 346. |