its evacuation, and only abandons it because the ravages of the plague began to terrify her; she violates the treaty of Amiens in order to retain Malta, to direct the operations of the barbarous corsairs, to carry on the exclusive commerce of the Adriatic, the Levant, the Dardanelles, and the Black Sea, and to shut up from all nations the navigation of the Mediterranean; she unites her efforts to prevent France from retaining St. Domingo*, and enjoying Louisiana; she excites dissensions in the Swiss Cantons, and furnishes arms and ammunition for their civil extermination; she sends squadrons into the North Seas, and before the Texe, and the Meuse, threatening to invade Batavia; she covets the possession of Sicily, demands the island of Lampedosa, and occupies Sardinia. The four quarters of the globe, gulphs, capes, straits, opulent colonies, nothing can satisfy her political and commercial cupidity. The extent of her avarice and ambition is at length discovered. The mask falls, England assigns but *According to the Duke of Clarence (debate of the 23d of May), it is to the exertions of Great Britain that France may attribute the loss of St. Domingo. thirty-six hours for the continuance of peace. She has speculated on a sudden war, for the purpose of seizing, at once, upon the riches deposited on the ocean, which the Spanish, Portugueze, and Batavian colonies were at last sending to their mother countries, as well as upon the ships of the French republic, and the vessels of her scarcely revived commerce. England, at the will of a few hateful and powerful passions, disturbs the tranquillity of the world, violates, without shame, the rights of nations, tramples under foot the most se lemn treaties, and falsifies the sworn faith of governments; that ancient and eternal faith, which even savage hordes acknowledge, and religiously respect.-One obstacle only arrests the progress of her ambitious career; it is France victorious, moderate, and prosperous; it is her energetic and enlightened government; it is her illustrious and magnanimous chief. These are the objects of her delirious envy, her reiterated attacks, her implacable hatred, her diplomatic intrigues, her mantime conspiracies, and her official denunciations. But Europe beholds; France prepares for battle; history relates-that ROME OVER THREW CARTHAGE. → DECLARATION OF THE KING OF ENGLAND, ACCOMPANIED WITH OBSERVATIONS. [From the Moniteur of the 12th of June, 1803.] DECLARATIONS of war, we well know, are neither appeals to reason, nor to justice. In instruments of this nature, it is not uncommon to discover among the alledged motives of hostility, a variety of charges more or less hazarded; injuries are carried to extremes, complaints are exaggerated, and a strong colouring is given to facts, for the purpose of encreasing their general effect. We, nevertheless, are induced to believe, that in no public paper, made sacred by the name of a King, have been ever collected together a greater number of assertions authentically false, of improbable accusations, and of forced conclusions, than are to be met with in all the pages of the long Declaration of the King of England; a translation of which we herewith present our readers.-Were history supplied with no other data, by which she might enlighten posterity as to the real causes of the passing events, than the papers called in to support the allegations of this manifesto, they would alone be sufficient to teach her, and, through her, to teach future ages, what have been the gravity and the vast importance of the engagements entered into and broken, and to whom this violation of the sworn faith of nations ought to be attributed. Yes; this collection, which the British government should مات இதல் injuring each other by the means of accus- conduct. epoch of the King's message. The first act, constituting on the part of England a state of negotiation, is Lord Hawkesbury's letter of the 15th of March. From the period of this note to the 7th of April, the French minister received three laconic notes, two of which were upon points of inferior importance. On the 7th of April, Lord Whitworth announced the alternative of his departure. His Majesty's earnest endeavours, therefore, for the preservation of peace are reduced to a vague and indolent negotiation, which, from the twenty first day, cast off even the appearance of pacific dispositions. In a fortnight after, the English ambassador peremptorily demands his passports, and in the course of another fortnight quits France. Such have been his Majesty's earnest endeavours for the preservation of peace!-We shall make no reflections on the remaining part of the introductory paragraph. The zeal and spirit manifested by his people, the attack on the honour of his crown, and the dangers with which his dominions have been threatened, are the mere trappings of speech, and falsehoods set down "according to due form and order." These two paragraphs are connected together: the first is an eulogium on the justice of his Britannic Majesty, who has had the generosity, since the peace, to place French(1.)" His Majesty's earnest endeavours for men on a footing with the inhabitants of Bre"the preservation of peace having failed of men, Lubeck, Leipsic, and Frankfort. On 06 success, he entertains the fullest confidence the tardiness of their courts of justice, the "that he shall receive the same support from chicanery of their lawyers, and the repug"his parliament, and that the same zeal and "spirit will be manifested by his people, nancy of English debtors to settle their ac "which he has experienced on every occasion counts, the government of the republic as "when the honour of his crown has been not deemed it proper to publish the com "attacked, or the essential interests of his plaints it has received on the part of French "dominions have been endangered." creditors. It concluded that charges of this The discussions between France and Eng-nature might arise from impatience, exagger land commenced on the 8th of March, the ation, and, in some instances, from injustice; * 000 2 but from the perfect equity of its own inten- On this point, the ministers of his Britan tions, and the silence of the British ambassador nic Majesty are explicit, beyond what we on this head of complaint, it had a right to con- had a right to expect from their known pro clude, that it could not be made the article of dence. A peace without a treaty of com a manifesto. Thus, the assertion of the Bri-merce, a peace without unlimited freedom tish government, with respect to "the repeat- in the consumption of their produce; a ed representations made by his Majesty's am- peace, in short, which does not leave them bassador," is totally unfounded, The French the exclusive privilege of introducing every collection of official papers proves that no re- where the fruits of their industry, and of monstrance on this subject was ever pre- proscribing at home the industry of other sented, and the English collection does not countries, is no peace at all. We must either afford us a single complaint or procedure of renounce the right to establish custom-houses, this kind; but, since the English government and encourage national manufactures, or de were resolved upon making a political charge clare war!-This doctrine is, indeed, strange. of this pretended non-success of the repre- What! are there no general laws of com sentations made by their ministers, it is rather merce? Can we have no trade with England surprising, in a collection so arbitrarily com- without a commercial treaty? Can we not piled, digested at leisure, and arranged ac- employ commercial agents, unless we have cording to the good inclination of those by especial commercial stipulations? Well! be it whom it was published, that no real, or pre- so; let us have no commercial agents in Engtended letter, signed Hawkesbury, Merry, or land? But why must England possess the Whitworth, should make its appearance in right of interdicting all access to her ports, support of the royal allegation. The asser- and why may not France exercise the same tion that "acts of violence have been offered right at the entrance of her own territory? to the property and vessels of his Majesty's Why, in this as well as in every thing else, subjects," is equally false: and here, if the should not reciprocity be the rule admitted simple denial of a charge, hazarded at ran- and acknowledged between two rival nations? dom, did not carry its conviction with it, the Who forbids you to proscribe the consump shameful embarrassment betrayed by the tion of French produce? And what power on English ministry when they were called on, earth can compel us to consume the produc in the early part of the present sittings of tions of England? Is it not the height of pres parliament, to produce proofs and specify sumption to say to us: "unless the peace is facts, would alone render every develope- alone profitable to our industry, we will break ment on this head altogether superfluous. it; you shall either leave French industry to languish and perish, or we willarm in defence of the industry of England; in short you shall either pay dearly for the labour of our manufactures, or you shall have war." In avowing so openly this insolent and tyrannical doctrine, we know not whether the ob ject of the British government be to render the war they are about to commence popular in England. If such should be their intention, and if, by this means, they should suc ceed in attaining that object, it will then be for the powers of the continent to determine what degree of importance is attached in (3.) To a system of conduct thus open, "liberal, and friendly, the proceedings of the "French government afford the most striking "contrast. The prohibitions which had been "placed on the commerce of his Majesty's "subjects during the war, have been enforced "with encreased strictness and severity; vio"lence has been offered in several instances "to their vessels and their property; and, in 86 66 no case, has justice been afforded to those "who may have been aggrieved in consequence of such acts, nor has any satisfactory "answer been given to the repeated repre"sentations made by his Majesty's ministers or "ambassador at Paris. Under such circun stances, when his Majesty's subjects were "not suffered to enjoy the common advan-England to the opinions, the rights, and the "tages of peace within the territories of the interests of those nations, which have not "French republic, and the countries depend- the happiness to trade and navigate under the "ent upon it, the French government had re"course to the extraordinary measure of send-flag and protection of the British government. ing over to this country a number of persons It will then be for them to decide, whether "for the professed purpose of residing in the the war now commenced by England against "most considerable sea-port towns of Great France, like all those she has waged for a vitable consequence of a system, uniformly century past, be not the necessary and inehostile, on the part of English industry, to the industry of all other nations.-If the mo tive above given should be that by which the British government is actuated, the future question between England and Europe may be reduced to this double alternative: If Eng "Britain and Ireland, in the character of com "mercial agents or consuls. These persons "could have no pretensions to be acknow"ledged in that character, as the right of being so acknowledged, as well as all the privi"leges attached to such a situation, could only "be derived from a commercial treaty; and as no treaty of that description was in exist-{] ence between his Majesty and the French "republic." 1 land possesses public spirit, and Europe should be destitute of that spirit, woe to Europe! But should Europe prove not destitute of public spirit,-if the English government should not succeed in making the present war popular, woe to that government!—if it should Succeed in making it popular, woe to England! (4.) "There was consequently too much reason to suppose, that the real object of "their mission was by no means of a com"mercial nature, and this suspicion was con"firmed, not only by the circumstance that "some of them were military men, but by "the actual discovery, that several of them "were furnished with instructions to obtain "the soundings of the harbours, and to procure military surveys of the places where it "was intended they should reside. His Ma"jesty felt it to be his duty to prevent their "departure to their respective places of des"tination, and represented to the French go"vernment the necessity of withdrawing "them; and it cannot be denied, that the "circumstances under which they were sent, "and the instructions which were given to "them, ought to be considered as decisive "indications of the dispositions and intentions "of the government by whom they were cm"ployed." The English ministers brave ridicule with degree of hardihood altogether unparalleled. The French government dispatched into England, as it has done into every part of the globe a certain number of commercial commissioners. Out of eighty agents of this description, whom the republic maintains in foreign countries, several of them have served either in the last war, or in preceding ones. It was discovered, that among the number of those appointed for England, one had served in the armies of the republic; and instantly a cabinet alarm multiplies the number of these military agents of France, as the appearance of a few fishermen was formerly multiplied into the advanced guard of a fleet destined to make a descent, and spread terror throughout the whole country. This foolish exaggeration might, without any great impropriety, have made its appearance in an English newspaper, but to introduce it into a royal manifesto, was, in our opinion, contrary to all decency.The second subject of alarm to the British ministry is still more ridiculous. A few questions to be answered, on the state of commerce, such as might have appeared in a public journal, were addressed to a commissary of the republic. For more than one hundred and fifty years this series of questions has formed part of the patent instructions of the commercial agents of France. So little were they calculated taexcite distrust, that those agents transmitted them to the sub-agents of the district in which they resided, who frequently were merchants entirely independent of France. In short, these instructions, put together with no other view but that of obtaining such information as it was the interest of those very places to extend and propagate as much as possible, are written and addressed without any mysterious form, and it is thus that they have traversed Europe in ostensible characters. It is then through the medium of the post-office that this grand secret has been brought to light; and, after all the outcry which has been raised against these instructions, it appears to us, that nothing has been proved, but that the sanctity of correspondence is not religiously respected at the post-offices of England, and that letters are opened by the agents of government. For the rest, we cannot but applaud the prudence of his Britannic Majesty, in not permitting these French agents to repair to their respective places of destination, since, on the faith of the alarms of his cabinet, they would have been taken for military men, and had they been suffered to proceed, would certainly have dispatched to their government extracts from journals and almanacks, on the balance of exports and imports, on the banks and commercial houses, the duties of tonnage, and other mysteries of equal importance. (5.) "The conduct of the French govern "ment, with respect to the commercial inter"course between the two countries, must "therefore be considered as ill suited to a state "of peace, and their proceedings in theity "more general political relations, as well as "in those which immediately concern his "Majesty's dominions, appear to have been "altogether inconsistent with every principle "of good faith, moderation, and justice. His "Majesty has entertained hopes, in conse. quence of the repeated assurances and pro❝fessions of the French government, that "they might have been induced to adopt a "system of policy, which, if it had not in"spired other powers with confidence, might at least have allayed their jealousies. If the "French government had really appeared to "be actuated by a due attention to such a sys"tem; if their dispositions had proved to be "essentially pacific, allowances would have "been made for the situation in which a new "government must be placed after so dread"ful and extensive a convulsion as that which "has been produced by the French revo"lution." It is difficult to discover the real intention of the ministry in making this observation. Did it wish to point to the recent origin of the French government? Certainly, it is not without reason that it seeks to recall the recollection of the past; for it is so completely lost in the blaze of glory which has signalized the birth of this government, and in the noble train of power, of energy, of wisdom, and of dignity which followed, that the respect and love we bear towards it is confounded, in the imagination of the people, with sentiments confirmed by habit, and transmitted by long tradition. There is one expression in this paragraph, the arrogance of which is so excessively ridiculous, that it does not even excite our indignation. The word allowance in English is nearly equivalent to indulgence; and it results from this sense of the expression, which is but a very slight equivoque, that the government of his Britannic Majesty, on certain conditions which it takes the trouble to point out, was disposed to judge without rigour, and to excuse with goodness, the government of the French republic. What magnanimous condescension! The English government would have pardoned France! And what would it have pardoned? Its vigilance, its greatness, its glory? This we can with difficulty believe. But for what consideration would it have shewn so much indulgence in favour of the recent existence of the French government? This consideration deserves to be weighed.--The English government is of no great antiquity; and if it be true that princes can only be naturalized by glory, it may be permitted us to ask, whether the branch of the House of Brunswick, now reigning in England, is not yet foreign? It may be permitted us to ask, what it has done to confirm and establish its naturalization? It is rather a doubtful point whether, at a future period, the difference of date between the accession of George the First, King of Great Britain, and the election of Bonaparte, called by the French people to be First Consul of France, will cause any great sensation in the festivals of Europe. There is, indeed, an interval between these two epochs; but the learned men of future ages will, with difficulty, unravel to posterity the precise manner in which the princes of the House of Hanover passed their time during that interval. + (6.) But his Majesty has unfortunately had too much reason to observe and to lament, "that the system of violence, aggression, and "aggrandizement, which characterized the “proceedings of the different governments of "France during the war, has been continued "with as little disguise since its termination." This accusation of violence and ambition, directed against all the governments which have existed in France since the revolution, the affectation of not wishing to make any distinction, together with the naked and indeterminate comparison between the government of the First Consul and all those which preceded it, afford sufficient reason to believe, that the British government has been no stranger to the system of offence and insult, employed with the most virulent perseverance, by the English journalists during the short interval of peace. Since it now copies these very insults, have we not a right to conclude, that while it was constrained to behave with decency towards us, it secretly dictated to these periodical writers the outrages which now, only, it dares openly to avow? (7.) "They have continued to keep "French army in Holland against the will, " and in defiance of the remonstrances of the "Batavian government, and in repugnance to "the letter of three solemn treaties.” The French army has not continued in Holland in defiance of stipulations, but in conformity to the stipulations of a treaty with the government of that republic. Must the notions transmitted by the English cabinet to parliament infringe upon engage ments consented to, in order to make known the real intentions of a government? And these notions, all insufficient, all uncertain as they appear to be, on what are they founded? From what source have they reached the British government? By whom have ministers been informed, that there were no stipulations between France and Holland? These questions have been addressed to them in parliament, and they have eluded a reply; nor could they produce a single dispatch from their minister. We shall nevertheless see, in the course of our examination of the official papers, that they are not sparing of their dispatches, and that, in a case of necessity, they know how to arrange them according to their views, when they find in them disclosures which they deem it their interest to suppress. (8.) They have, in a period of peace, "invaded the territory, and violated the in"dependence of the Swiss nation, in defiance "of the treaty of Luneville, which had sti pulated the independence of their territory, "and the right of the inhabitants to choose "their own form of government." We shall here venture to ask the English government, whether it is at one and the same time the judge, the commentator, the guarantee, and the avenger of the treaty of Luneville? When all Europe is tranquil lized by the blessings of that memorable compact, what interest or what right has a power, that would not interfere in the negotiation, and who, from views of animosity or ambition, at that period separated itself entirely from the contracting states, to refer to a treaty to which it was not a party, and which has for its guarantee the greatest powers of the continent? Is it a contempt of those powers? Is it a pretention to European supremacy? Or, rather, is it not the expression of bitter regret which it cannot conceal, that without England, and in spite of England, Europe remains in peace, by the force of a treaty, which it was not in the power of England to prevent, which it is not in the power of England to disturb? ་ |