parture. He consequently demanded his passports, which were immediately granted him. This mezzotermine proposed by the French was far from the Treaty of Amiens; but it had the double advantage of coming as near as possible to its spirit, that is to say, to make Malta independent of both nations, and at the same time offering that guarantee which was so much called for, and which the British ministers pretended to be the only object of their alarms.

The British government understood the force of these reasons, and the unhappy fatality which leads it now into war, afforded it no reply but a false assertion.

The 21st of this month Lord Whitworth delivered a note, in which he stated that Russia had refused what had been demanded of her.

There were three guaranteeing powers, and if Russia had refused her guarantee, still there remained the Emperor of Germany and the King of Prussia. But how could Russia have signified its intentions on a new proposition which had been suggested only a few days? It was in the knowledge of England, that Russia and Prussia had promised to guarantee the independence of Malta with some slight modifications, and that the French government were anxious to accept the guarantee, and from the consistency and fidelity to his engagement, which characterises the Emperor Alexander, there was no doubt but he would accept the proposition which was submitted to him: but Providence, which is sometimes pleased to confound bad faith, caused to arrive at the same hour, at the same instant, even when Lord Whitworth delivered his note, a Courier from Russia, addressed to the plenipotentiaries of that power at Paris and at London, by which his Majesty the Emperor of Russia manifested with particular energy the pain that he had felt at hearing the resolution of his Britannic Majesty to keep Malta. He renewed the assurances of his guarantee, and declared, that he accepted the demand made of his mediation by the First Consul, if both the powers would accede to it. The undersigned without delay informed Lord Whitworth, by a note, of the error into which his Court had fallen, not doubting that since that was the only objection which had been presented, that as soon as that Court should be informed of the reiterated and positive assurances of Russia, she would readily deliver Malta to one of the three guaranteeing powers. What, then, must have been the astonishment of the undersigned, when Lord Whitworth, instead of entering into any explanation, or without endeavouring either to con

tradict or discuss the declarations which the undersigned has made him, has informed him by a note of the same day, that by the tenor of his instructions, he was ordered to depart thirty-six hours after the delivery of his last note, and has renewed his demand for passports! The undersigned therefore forwarded them to him immediately.

Could the English Ambassador have behaved himself differently if the French government had been besieged in a town incable of defence, and that the question was not about the most important interests which the British cabinet has treated of for more than 300 years, but about a simple capitulation.

The opening of the negotiations has been preceded by armaments announced with great parade. Every day, every hour, the commencement of hostilities has been expected; and what is this ultimatum which is presented to the French government to be signed in 24 hours?-It must consent to give up an Island which does not belong to it; it must violate, itself, to its own disadvantage, a solemn treaty, under the pretence that England wants some new security against her; it must give up all the respect due to the other contracting parties, in destroying, without their consent, an article of the treaty, which, for their sake, had occupied a considerable time in the conferences of peace. It must also be wanting in respect for the guaranteeing powers, in consenting that an Island which they have wished to be independent, shall remain ten years under the authority of the British Crown. That it is to take from the Order of Malta the sovereignty of that state which has been restored to it, and that this sovereignty is to be transmitted to the inhabitants: that by this spoliation it is to offend all the powers which have acknowledged the re-establish ment of the Order, which have guaranteed it, and which, in the arrangement of Ger many, have secured its indemnities for the losses which it has experienced.

Such is the substance of this ultimatum, which presents a series of pretensions always increasing, in proportion to the moderation which the government of the Republic has shewn. At first England consented to the preservation of the Order of Malta, and only wished to subject the Order and its possessions to the British authority.—To day, and for the first time, she demands the abolition of the Order, and that this must be agreed to in thirty-six hours.

But as to the conditions proposed, were they as agreeable to the Treaty of Amiens and the interest of France as they are contrary to them, the form of the demand, the

term of 36 hours prescribed for the answer, must decide the determination of the French government. No, never will France acknowledge in any government the right of annulling, by a single act of its pleasure, the stipulations of a reciprocal engagement. If it has even permitted that in a form somewhat menacing an ultimatum of seven days to be considered, if it has received another ultimatum with a term of 36 hours annexed to it, and treaties presented in a conclusive form which were never negotiated, it could have no other object than to give the British government an example of moderation, but it can consent to nothing that compromises its dignity or its power.

The undersigned is then charged to declare to his Excellency Lord Whitworth, that no communication which, both in substance and in form, does not agree with the usages observed among the great powers, and with the most perfect equality between the two states, can any longer be admitted in France; that nothing shall oblige the French government to dispose of countries which do not belong to it, and that it never will acknowledge in England the right of violating, in any manner whatsoever, the treaties made between the two countries.

The undersigned repeats the proposition of giving up Malta to one of the three guaranteeing powers; and as to every other object, unconnected with the Treaty of Amiens, it renews its declaration, that the French government is ready to open a negotiation with respect to them.

If the English government shall give the signal of war, nothing remains for the government of the Republic but to confide in the justice of its cause, and in the God of armies.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
(Signed) CH. M. TALLEYRAND.

Message from the First Consul of France to the Legislative Body, relative to War with England, dated St. Cloud, May 20, 1803. The English Ambassador has been recalled; compelled by this circumstance, the Ambassador of the Republic has quitted a country where he could no longer hear the Language of peace.

In this decisive moment Government lays before you, will lay before France, and before all Europe, its first relations with the British Ministry, the negotiations which were terminated by the Treaty of Amiens, and the new discussions which seem to terminate by an absolute rupture. The present age and posterity will there see what it has done to put an end to the calamities of war, with what moderation and with

what patience it has laboured to prevent the return of them.

Nothing could break the course of the projects formed for rekindling the flames of discord between the two nations. The Treaty of Amiens was negotiated amidst the clamours of a party hostile to peace. Scarcely was it concluded, when it be came an object of the bitterest censure. It was represented as fatal to England, because it was not disgraceful to France. The seeds of uneasiness were soon sown and dangers were supposed, on which was established the necessity of such a state of peace, that it was a permanent signal for new hostilities. Those base miscreants who had torn the bosom of their country, and who are still destined to tear it, were kept in reserve and in pay. Vain calculations of hatred! The object of it is no longer, France divided by factions and agitated by storms. It is France restored to internal tranquillity, regenerated in her administration and laws, ready to fall with her whole weight on the foreign nation which shall dare to attack her, and to unite with the brigands which atrocious policy might pour into her territories, to organize in it pillage and assassination.

At length an unexpected Message suddenly alarmed England with imaginary armaments in France and in Batavia, and supposed important discussions which divided the two Governments, while no discussion of the kind was known to the French Government.

Formidable preparations for arming were then begun on all the coasts and in the ports of Great-Britain. The sea was covered with ships of war, and it was amidst this preparation that the Cabinet of London required of France to abrogate a fundamental article in the Treaty of Amiens.

They wished, they said, for new guarantees, and they disowned the sacredness of treaties; the execution of which is the first of guarantees that nations can give to each other.

In vain did France invoke that faith which they had sworn to maintain: in vain did she consent to wink at the actual nonexecution of the article of the Treaty of Amiens, which England pretended to pass over; in vain did she defer taking a definitive part until the moment when Spain and Batavia, both contracting parties, should have manifested their will; in vain did she call for the mediation of the powers which had been invited to guarantee, and who, indeed, have guaranteed the stipulation, the abrogation of which was demanded. All her proposals were rejected, and the de

mands of England became more imperious and more absolute.

It was not consistent with the principles of Government to yield to threats; it was not in its power to make the Majesty of the French people bend under laws prescribed to it with forms so haughty and so novel; had it done so, it would have consecrated to England the right of annulling by its will alone all the stipulations by which it is bound towards France.

It would have authorized it to require from France new guarantees on the least alarm which it might be pleased to suppose, and hence two new principles which would have been placed in the public right of Great-Britain, along with that by which it has disinherited other nations of the common sovereignty of the seas, and subjected to its laws and regulations the independence of their flag.

Government has stopped at that line traced out to it by its principles and its duty. The negotiations have been broken off; we are ready to combat if attacked.

At any rate, we shall combat to maintain the faith of treaties, and for the honour of the French name.

Had we yielded to vain terror, it would have been necessary to combat in order to repel new pretentions; but we should have combated, dishonoured by weakness, de. graded in our own eyes, and vilified in the eyes of an enemy, who would have made us at once yield to their unjust pretentions.

The nation will confide in a sensation of its own strength, whatever may be the wounds which the enemy may inflict where we can neither prevent nor reach them. The result of this contest will be such as we have a right to expect from the justice of our cause, and from the courage of our warriors.

The First Consul, BUONAPARTE.
By the First Consul,

The Secretary of State, H. B. MARET.

by the two principal contracting parties to the Treaty of Amiens, to accede in quality of guarantee to this Treaty, so far as relates to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and their restoration to the possession of the Island of Malta and its dependencies, is authorised to give to the communications of (he 22d of October the following reply:

His Majesty the Emperor, from the moment of his accession to the throne, has constantly shewn so strong a desire to seize every opportunity which presented itself of giving to the two principal contracting parties to the Treaty of Amiens the most unequivocal proofs of his sincere desire to do whatever might be agreeable to both of them, and to contribute as far as was in his power to re-establish and to confirm the continuance of the peace existing betwixt them, that it cannot now be supposed that his invariable sentiments on this point can have suffered any change. On the other hand, the two governments are too equitable not to acknowledge that it is beyond the power of the Emperor to yield to the demands made to him in virtue of the 10th article of the Treaty of Amiens, which fixes the future establishment of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, since it is, under every consideration, impossible for his Imperial Majesty to accede as a guarantee to stipulations which are not only contrary to wishes expressed relative to the Order, honoured by the interest he felt in their favour, and the protection he had pledged himself to give them, but which would be inconsistent with what had been agreed upon anterior to that treaty betwixt his Imperial Majesty and one of the two contracting powers, with respect to the said Order, and relative to the independence and neutrality of the Island of Malta.

This consideration, as important in itself, as it is necessarily supported by considerations of a different kind, has obliged the Emperor not to accede to the pressing requests which have been made to him on the point, by the Court of London, in spite of the ardent desire of his Imperial Majesty to comply with the wishes expressed on this subject. The dispositions, which that Courc has manifested to accede to the wishes of the Emperor, with respect to the Order and the Island of Malta, and the readiness expressed by the French government to concert measures for promoting the same end, have not failed to be felt with corresponding sentiments of gratitude by his Imperial Majesty. But, the obstacle which opposed his compliance with their wishes, was not weakened, since the public and formal act

-That besides the assertion contained in the Note of his Excellency, dated the 10th instant, and which is expressed in these terms-y the refusal of his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, to accede, entirely contrary to the guarantee which his Imperial Majesty has formally offered, under the condition of some slight changes which the First Consul had no difficulty in adopting, and which he knows that the English ministry refus ed, doubtless meditating upon the strange pretensions of keeping Malta.- Moreover, this assertion is in direct contradiction to the assurances which the First Consul has received from Petersburgh, since the Message from his Britannic Majesty was known, and which has been renewed by an authentic communication, which the Count De Marcoff made yesterday of the intentions of his Court. From whence it results that it is impossible to reconcile the last Note, transmitted by his Excellency Lord Whitworth, with the new confirmation which has been acquired of the disposition of his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, and he cannot refuse to believe that his Britannic Majesty, better informed, will himself hasten to give to his Excellency different instructions to those which he has received and communicated, in the name of his Government.The undersigned seizes this occasion of renewing to his Excellency Lord Whitworth, the assurance of his high consideration.

(Signed) C, M. TALLEYRAND.

And the English nation calls itself free, and the parliament represents the nation.We have translated the whole verbatim, which will be printed in this Journal, for nothing ought to be hidden from the French people.-If they have had the shamelessness to suppress the most important notes, and to garble those of which the originals are in the hands of our government, with respect to objects so important, what confidence can we place in the recital of conversations made by English agents, and turned by the ministry to suit its own purposes?--And thus fifty millions of men are delivered up to be slaughtered.-The giddy spirit which has for two months seized the English government will not allow it to reflect; it doubtless thinks that we have neither ink nor arms. But of what importance to the cabinet of London is the opinion of Europe, or that of posterity? The parliament will make its address, several of the members will be led away by false reports, and this is all that the English ministers desire.-The following decree was communicated on Monday, to the senate, the legislative body, and the tribunate, by the orators of government,

upon

Extract from the Register of the Deliberations of the Government of the Republic. May 22, 1803.

The government of the Republic having heard read, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the acts of his Britannic Majesty, dated the 16th of May, and which are to the following effect.

(Then follow the orders of council for an embargo, and for the issuing of Letters of Marque) Having heard read by the Minister of Marine

and Colonies, a dispatch from the Maritime Prefect of Brest, dated this day, announcing that twa English frigates having taken two Freach merchant vessels in the Bay of Audierne, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest vio lation of the law of nations, which dispatch is to the tollowing effect:he day before yesterday two English frigates captured two vessels in the Bay of Audierne; the one was destined for Quimper, to procure timber for building, and the other was laden with salt for Fecamp. (Signed) " CAFFARELLY, Maritime Prefect."

DECREES.

Art. I. It is prescribed to all Commanders of Squadrons or Naval Divisions of the Republic, Captains of its Ships and other Vessels of War, to chase those of the King of England, as well as those vessels belonging to his subjects, to attack, capture, and conduct them into the ports of the Republic.

II. Commissions will be delivered, in course, to those French Privateers for which they are demanded, and which, in the event of obtaining those commissions, will be regulated, in conformity with the existing laws and regulations, or with whatever may be made in the mean-time.

III. All the English enrolled in the Militia, from the age of eighteen to sixty, or holding any commission from his Britannic Majesty, who are at present in France, shall be immediately constituted prisoners of war, to answer for those citizens of the Republic who may have been arrested and made prisoners by the vessels or subjects of his Britannic Majesty, previous to any declaration of

war.

IV. The Ministers are charged each with what concerns him with the execution of the present decree, which shall be inserted in the Bulletin of Laws.

The First Consul (Signed)

BUONAPARTE
By the First Consul, the Secretary of State
(Signed)
H. B. MARET.

The English government has then com menced hostilities by the ruin of one or two miserable traders, who under the faith of treaties were peaceably navigating on our coasts. It has committed this act of hosti

lity without a declaration of war, without any of the forms used by polished nations and agreed upon amongst them, and in pursuance of those odious principles of public law which it has created for itself alone, and which are entirely barbarous. It is with pain that the government of the republic ees itself forced to use reprisals, and to constitute prisoners of war all the English enrolled in the militia, and residing in the French territory.-In every thing that is illiberal it will always leave initiation to England, but the French people. ought to act towards England as she acts towards France. For too long a period Europe has pursued a different line of conduct. This is what has more particularly authorized England to constitute for herself alone, a public law, to which she is now so much accustomed, that every act of just