he would also find them irritated at seeing their blood set up to auction, exchanged for English guineas, and proving, by their indignation, that the Swedish warriors, whose fathers filled the armies of Charles XII. are not made to stoop to such baseness and meanness !--Where then are the elements, the centre of this coalition to be found?-Will it be in Russia? The king of England himself announces that no tie exists with that power. He speaks of a correspondence, but a correspondence begun is not an alliance concluded. Besides, Russia is a great power with out doubt; but she can do nothing against the French empire. I go farther, if the Woronzoffs and the Marcoffs could entertain the idea of selling the force and influence of Russia to the English cabinet, Alexander has wiser counsellors, and forms more prudent resolutions. He has not forgotten how the Russians were last war treated by England, their ally, and how that war terminated, in Switzerland and Holland, during the expedition undertaken by great generals and brave soldiers, but undertaken with plans that could not be executed under the influence of a disastrous star.In fine, the coldness between the cabinets of the Thuilleries and St. Petersburgh is not enmity. They have neither of them any real subject of misunderstanding, and what has passed within these three months between the two governments, shews sufficiently that England would, in that conjuncture, have conceived vain projects, and speculated upon false hopes, if she thought of converting her correspondence into a coalition. Woronzoff may have conceived such a hope; but who does not know that Woronzoff is

less a Russian than an Englishman? that, residing in England, he wishes to fix himself there; and that a foe and disapprover of Paul the First, he is equally so of the great Catherine?-The cabinet of St. Petersburgh is acquainted with the true interests of its country; it will have always before it the audacious insult of lord Nelson, wishing to dictate laws in the Gulph of Finland. It cannot dissemble that the attack committed in the Mediterranean by the English against the Spanish frigates, against an almost unarmed regiment, against defenceless women and children, menaces also, on every sea, the ships and subjects of the czar. It cannot dissemble that that attack proceeds from the same spirit and the same principles that produced the attack upon Denmark, iu her capital, which may produce an attack upon the Russian squadron in the Mediterranean, or in the Baltic; a spirit of fury and intoxication, which, pervading the English cabinet, induces them to despise all the powers of the continent, make no allowances for any one, and consider themselves as out of the social state, and the great civilised family of the world. There exists, then, no threatening or possible coalition; but the sacred guarantee of the French empire against all fear, is, that could one have been formed, the emperor would have attacked, beat, and broken it; and after vic. tory, would still have proposed peace; he would have written to the king of England that letter, in which he invites humanity to the aid of reason, and the interest of the English people. Let us repeat it then, gentlemen-one sentiment, and the most honourable of all, could alone have led the emperor to

take

take the glorious step he has done with respect to England. This sentiment is the same which, in other situations, dictated to his majesty the dispatch he wrote before the passage of the Saave and the Drave. It is the same that inspired that let ter to the king of England, some months before the battle of Marengo. It is the same, that, after the victory, made the conqueror offer peace to Austria. In short, it is the same sentiment, which, at the peace of Luneville, made his majesty resolve to sacrifice immense conquests, and upwards of 20 millions of inhabitants, who had submitted to the French arms. It is the love of social order, the love of the contry, the sacred love of humanity, so often professed in vain speeches and so rarely carried into action, and which, always respected by the emperor, always taken as the guide of his steps, has been the pledge and consolation of his success.-You will find, gentlemen, the touching and august expressions in the letter I am about to read to you. [He then read the letter, and lord Mul grave's answer.] Shall I compare, at present, gentlemen, the two monuments of what history is already in possession? Shall I remark to you, in the French dozument, elevation, frankness, and force; in the English, cunning, duplicity, and weakness? Here every thing wears noble air, every thing bears the stamp of dignity and grandeur; warfare is menacing, but generous; warfare is menacing, but regulated by the guidance of that rare courage which sacrifices the charm of conquest, the splendor of victory, the illusions even of glory, to the cry of humanity, to the tears of a hundred thousand national or foreign

families, who call out for peace to heaven and their monarchs. There every thing is uncertainty and hesi tation, suppositions are given as answers to facts; the uncertain and equivocal future is opposed to the present, where no doubt exists; to a frank overture is opposed the possibility of a coalition, which, even did it exist, would neither intimidate the nation nor her emperor; which whether it continues to act, or is vanquished, would neither increase or retract their pretensions, neither add to or take from the conditions written down in the treaty of Amiens. If, in the communication which she seems to announce, England speaks a language more worthy of the overture she has received, peace may be restored. But if this only opportunity which seems to be offered, by the master of all empires, of re-establishing the peace of the universe, is left unimproved by England, all Europe will see that the cabinet of London only has desired, docs desire, and will alone desire the continuance of war.—And if, on the answer by which the king of England, in the 8th year, rejected the noble overtures made by his majesty, judgment be passed; if, with respect to the conduct of Eng gland, at that period, the present generation is, as it were, posterity; if a portion of the great prosperity of France, and of the crisis in which England is now placed, result from that refusal to enter into negotia tion, I am warranted in thinking that a similar cause will produce similar effects; that a fresh refusal, no less criminal than the former, will open to us new advantages, and that posterity, which, in this second emergency, will pronounce upon the English government, will

also

also pronounce between the emperor of France and the king of Great Britain; nor is that posterity far from us. If, on the other hand, so worthy and so honourable a use of the power with which the people have invested Napoleon the First will call forth in the empire an unanimous sentiment of gratitude and love, on that occasion, at least, we should be bound to give thanks to the British cabinet, who, by the equivocal publicity given to the most candid of communications, has induced the necessity of that solemn explanation, of that unreserved declaration of the emperor towards his people; we shall congratulate France on having acquired the proof, that by bestowing the throne on Napoleon, French citizens have given themselves a father, jealous of their happiness, sparing of the treasures of the state, and equally sparing of the blood of their children.

The president made the following reply:-Gentlemen, orators of the government, the tribunate have long shared in the sentiments of indigna tion which Europe must feel at the insatiable cupidity of the English go. vernment, who, without daring to own it in a formal manner, attempt to number among their prerogatives, the absolute and exclusive empire of the seas, and the right of arrogating to themselves the commerce and indus. try of all nations. We must not, therefore, be astonished that they elude every kind of overture for peace; that they multiply obstacles, that the most moderate propositions should appear to them inadmissible; and that their politics should be in decisive and uncertain. The government must be well convinced that the tribunate will concur with all its might, and with all its in

fluence, in the maintenance of the glory of the throne, and of the national honour, which has been thus insulted.

Opinion of Mr. De Langer Van Wyngaarden, in the Dutch Legislative Body, 24th January, 1805.

It would be shewing very little love for, or desire of the preservation of, our country and independence, if any man, for the purpose of carrying a favourite system or idea, should advise the rejection of a measure, which, in the present circumstances, is asserted to be the only one, and the speediest in its operation, for filling the public trea sury, which is again declared to be empty to the very bottom, and without which immediate succour, the public administration is in danger of a total derangement. But, on the other hand, I must ask, Was not this to be foreseen long since? and why then suffer the time to be wasted in useless invectives on paper-and why not proceed to savings, and other means of finance? It is at length come to this; as soon as there is a pressing necessity, we are threatened with great calamities, as if it were to extort a consent for the prevention of that unavoidable stagnation, which has been so frequently declared. But the most dreadful and unexpected consequences, such as those of a bayonet or pistol clapped to the breast, compel us now to consent. only sitting here to provide money for the public treasury, on every proposition and demand of the executive power, and to tax the inhabitants to that effect? Is the most unlimited power given or delegated to us, merely for this purpose? and

Are we

is not the greatest duty imposed upon us, to take care, in good time, that the inhabitants be not burdened and oppressed beyond measure? This is a very serious concern. ---› The motive for the present propositions is, the pressing demands of a contractor for the troops, who was kept waiting for payment until a million was due to him, and he had complained to the French general, threatening to stop his deliveries, consequently those of meat and bread for the French soldiers. So this contractor and co. hold in their hands the fate of the republic! because our financiers have not chosen or not been able to satisfy them, they endeavour to obtain a new impost of one per cent. on property; the state directory, openly, and without reserve, announcing a military contribution or quartering, at the expence of the citizens, just as is practised in an enemy's country, unless we chuse to agree to their proposal immediately. To what extremes are they come! It seems as if they would reduce us to this, to demand another government, at the head of which some individual should be placed.-Financial impotency and the derangement resulting therefrom, is ever the fore-runner of the downfal of a government, and especially of such an unwieldy and expensive one as ours, which, staggering from day to day, tries to preserve its existence only by forced contributions; and which, as we are publicly told, must endure unheardof degradation, and lose its character both at home and abroad. Government wants again to carry the proposed contribution, by hurrying us, and without hardly allowing us time to give it a thought. It gives us to understand, at the same time,

and as it were in the same breath, the insufficiency of the measure; which certainly will not answer the expectation, on account of the natural counteraction which may be expected. With some modification, it is cutting the pill into four pieces, and continuing to the very last the cherished system of immoral and ruinous imposts on property, which not only clash with the constitution, but are also known beforehand to be insufficient, and that there will again be a deficiency; whilst in several cities the whole of that of 1803 is not all come in, and of that of 1804 nothing is yet received. Whatever measures of coercion may be used, whatever detestable and unlawful means may be employed, to persecute those who should contribute, the petty or secret war against the finances increases in the same proportion as the pressure; the people can no longer endure it; they begin to feel, after having but too long performed their duty to their country with their purses, that the first duties of a husband and a father call on them to be careful, and make them swear to resist new extortions, and the dangers impending over their heads. I have long since thought this operation muststop, as it was only kept on foot in the hope and expectation of uncertain events. I have seen, during and since last summer, how obstinately, and without the least concession, the state directory, notwithstanding this assembly endeavoured to preserve unanimity with them (which is the best way to promote the greatest concerns of the state, especially in such ruinous and deplorable circumstances) thought proper to try to intimidate it by the most improper and preposterous menaces.

This

has