Page images
PDF
EPUB

Spain, Austria, Portugal, and Turkey, and even before he had yet conquered Calabria, and expelled from the Adriatic and the Mediterraneau the Pope and the Queen of Etruria, could any thing be more ridiculous and presumptuous than, under such circumstances, to decree that the whole continent hould shut its ports against the English, and Bacrifice its interests, commerce, and territory, because such was the sovereign pleasure of Napoleon? The decree, however, went forth; and the exalted imaginations of French visionaries already beheld the industrious Britons expiring under their burdens, and left to the mercy of the waves. What a sad picture did they give us of their situa tion! Great Britain presented nothing but jasctivity, famine, discontent, and frequent insurrections; and there were some who already beheld King George on his knees,

ploring peace from the hero of the age, the arbiter of the destinies! So great is the influence of falsehood, under the reign ofignorance! But the English, though excommunicated by the bull of Buonaparté, instead of declining, continued to advance in riches and strength, whilst specie was disappearing in France and Spain; and the man of opulence was compelled to eat the same breakfast with the porter, for want of sugar, toffee, cocoa, and other colonial commodities. The colonies, both Spanish and French, were, in consequence of this decree, exposed to the manifest hazard of being revolutionized, and proclaiming themeives independent. Those of his allies, Those of his allies, who exist by commerce alone, would have been compelled, as the only means of saving themselves from total ruin, to cast off the protection and alliance of their lord Napoleon, and his armies would have run the risk of being dissolved and dispersed, in consequence of there being no more money to plunder, nor kingdoms to conquer; at the same time that having no maritime force to cope with the British, the latter would continue in the exclusive enjoyment of the commerce of the Indies; and the necessity of obtaining the productions and manufac tures of Europe would compel the inhabitants of America to open their ports to the English. The project was therefore ridiculous and chimerical; and Buonaparte knew well enough that this was not the way to deprive England of the dominion of the seas, nor to deliver the ports of the continent from blockade, and to retaliate in his turn; for England had a force to keep us in a state of blockade, and Buonaparte had none to prevent it. But he longed to Conquer and divide the continent among his

brothers, and devised this project, to conceal from the French his true intention, and that he was dragging that nation into the field of slaughter, for the purpose of creating kings, after having, in order that they might get rid of kings, sacrificed three millions of the youth of France; and thus he disguised the private interest of his own family under the pretence of the general interest of the nation. This decree was, therefore, a political prognostic of the premeditated articles of the peace of Tilsit, and the, division of Europe into two empires: Bonaparte taking to himself, for the present, all that part of the continent which extends from the Vistula to Corfu, and is bounded i by the Baltic, the Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic, leaving the rest to Russia: so that this project comprehended the conquest of Spain, Portugal, Etruria, the Papal, States, Denmark, and the Hanse Towns, and ultimately Austria, which was the only thing wanting to complete his work of desolation. All were included in his decree of continental blockade; and this was a sweeping expedient, in order to furnish a decent pretence for the entrance of his armies, whose approach would have been preceded by proclamations, affirming, that they came only, to compel the common enemy; to keep within his own limits, and to con clude a maritime peace. The French ap-, peared on the stage, and the performance. commenced; and those who in the first act performed the parts of friendship and moderation, in the second boldly threw off the. mask, and represented the robberies and frauds of their leader and his gang. The. English, beyond all comparison wiser and more sagacious than the French, saw, in the execution of the decree of continental blockade, the destruction of the monstrous empire of France, and the recovery of the freedom of Europe and the world. They protected their allies, and left the other powers to be undeceived by experience. All of them are accordingly undeceived, and resolv ed to shake off the yoke. They open their hearts and their ports to the English, who are, capable of affording them, in the most generous and energetic manner, copious aids of every description; and on opening the com munication, they find that Great Britain, instead of being sunk into dejection and poverty, is much more flourishing and opulent than before. They blush for having placed any confidence in the French, complain of their seductive proclamations, and for ever detest and abjure ter friendship. They acknowledge with shame the acsuid and extravagant course which they were

pursuing, in lending their aid to the continental blockade: they now hold it up to ridicule, and swear eternal friendship to Great Britain.

AUSTRIA-Proclamation issued by the Emperor of Austria, for organizing a National Levée en Musse. Dated Vienna, June 9, 1808.

We, Francis I, by the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Gallicia, and Lodomeria, &c. &c. Archduke of Austria, &c. &c -- We have discovered to our beloved subjects, in our letters patent, of the 12th ult. our design attending the organization of the reserves, namely, the defence of the monarchy, which is to be founded on such means as to afford us the possibility of facilitating the finances of state by a reduction of the regular army.

In this design we have found it good to organize a national levée in masse, tending to defend the country.-We do, for this end, choose a period when we are in friendly relation with all the powers of the Continent for only then, if such measures are ripely adopted, and cemented by time, can success be expected from them, in case they should become needful.-To execute these measures, we have appointed plenipotentiaries, whose knowledge, zeal, and attachment to our person and the state, have been repeatedly tried, viz. for Austria. Carniola, Carinthia, Stiria, Triest, and Saltsburgh, our aulic commissioner, Count Von Saurau. -For Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, our serene cousin, his Royal Highness the Archduke Ferdinand, with our Upper Burgrave Von Wallis and Governor Count Lazansky. -For Lower Austria, and Austria on the Ems, our serene cousin, his Royal Highness the Archduke Maximilian, with the President Count Von Bissingen and Baron Von Hackelberg.-For Gallicia, our general of cavalry. Count Von Bellegarde, and the vice president of government, Count Von Wurmser. They have received definitive instruction as to the manner and time of execution, and will take the other requisite measures accordingly.-We expect our beloved subjects, who have always shewn in a most laudable manner their unshaken devotion and fidelity towards us, will acknowledge in that regulation the full measure of our paternal designs, and assist to carry them into effect with all their might, as a measure inseparable from their welfare. The activity and prudence displayed in this business shall obtain our special approbation, and recommend them who shall laudably distinguish themselves in this particular.Given in our capital and place of re

sidence, Vienna, June 9th, in the year 1808, and of our reign, the eighth year. FRANCIS ALOYS, Count Von Ugarte, First Chancellor. JOSEPH, Baron Von der Mark. JOSEPH CHARLES, Count of Diedrightein. JOSEPH, Baron Von Kielmansegge.

PORTUGAL. Proclamation of the Duke of Abrantes (the French General Junot) General in Chief of the Army of Portugal, to the Portuguese. Dated, Palace of Lisbon, June 26, 1808.

What phrenzy agitates you? Into what an abyss of calamities are you about to plunge yourselves? After seven months of the most perfect tranquillity, of the most complete harmony, what cause have you to rush to take up arms-and against whom? Against an army which was to secure your independence, which was to maintain the integrity of your country, and, in a word, without which you would cease to be Portuguese. Who can thus urge you on to betray your own interests? Do you then wish that the ancient Lusitania should henceforth be no more than a province of Spain? What can you expect in a contest with an army, numerous, valiant, and inured to war, in whose presence you would be dispersed like the sands of the desert, by the impetuous blasts of the south wind? Do you not perceive that those who mislead you, look not to what may further your interests, but solely to the means of gratifying their revenge, and, provided the continent is disturbed, what signifies it to them how much blood may flow? Should those perfidious islanders land on your territory, leave me to combat them; this is the duty of my army; yours is to remain peaceably in your fields. your error; but should you persist in it, should you continue deaf to my voice, tremble; your punishment shall be terrible. Can you regret a dynasty which had abandoned you, and whose government has so humiliated you, that you were no longer ranked among the nations of Europe? What do you wish for? To remain Portuguese? To be independent? This the great Napoleon has promised you. You, yourselves, have earnestly entreated of him a king, who, aided by the omnipotence of that great monarch, might raise up again your unfortunate country, and replace her in the rank which belongs to her. Doubtless, at this moment, your new monarch is on the point of visiting you. He expected to find faithful subjects; shall be find only rebels? I expected to have delivered over to him a peaceable kingdom, and flourishing cities. Shall I be obliged to shew him only ruins, and heaps of ashes,

I pity

inhabitants shall fire upon the French troops, shall be delivered up to pillage, and totally destroyed; and the inhabitants shall be put to the sword. · Every individual taken in arms, shall be instantly shot.--Done at the head quarters, in the Palace of Lisbon, Jane 26, 1808.-(Signed) The DUKE of ABRAN

TES.

and dead bodies? Would he reign over a desolate country? Certainly not. You would only be an unfortunate province of Spain. Your customs, your laws, every thing has been preserved. Is not your religion ours? Has it suffered the slightest insult? Are not you, on the contrary those who violate it? You yield to the seduction and guidance of heretics, whose only wish is to destroy you and your religion. Ask the unfortunate Irish catholics what oppression they groan under in their own country, and by the orders of their own government. Is it not you who violate it, by obeying the ministers of that holy religion, (whose first precept is obedience and submission to the laws,) when they dare to instigate you to commit murder and assassination upon men who lived in the midst of you as brothers? Let them tremble! They will pay dear for the calamities which they inflict upon you; but you, Portuguese, will be the unfortunate victims of their crimes.-If there still existed a few abuses in the administration, the experience of each successive day was diminishing them. My decree of the 14th of Jane has already regulated an interesting branch of the finances, by settling the pay of the soldiers on a sure footing. The salaries of the administrators and judges are regularly paid. The emperor Napoleon, satisfied, in consequence of my reports, with the public spirit in this kingdom, has just remitted the half of your contribution; and it is at the instant that he is accomplished by his genius. Napoleon the great adopts ing all your wishes, that you permit yourselves to be hurried away by the influence of a few miscreants; it is at the moment of reaping the fruit of your tranquillity-it is at the instant that happiness is within your grasp, that you deliberately cast away from you even the most distant hope of it. Well! Portuguese, you have only the interval of a moment to implore the clemency of the emperor, and to disarm his wrath. Already bis armies in Spain approach your frontiers; if you hesitate, you are undone. Lay down your arms; return in peace to your homes; imitate the tranquillity of your capital, and the adjacent provinces; foliow your agricultural pursuits; reap that fine harvest which heaven has sent you, after so many alarms of a dreadful famine, from which I have been able to preserve you. Expel with horror from among you those wretched miscreants whose only object is the pillage of your cities. Merit pardon by prompt submission, and a prompt obedience to my orders; if not, think of the punishment which awaits you. -Every city, town, or village, which shall ake

TUSCANY.-From the Paris Papers, July 18, 1808.

In pursuance of an imperial decree, dated the 12th of May, at Bayonne, an extraordi-, nary junta is appointed to conduct the adininistration of Tuscany. It consists of general Menou, the councillor of state Auchy and the masters of the rolls Chaban, Degerando, and Jeanet, together with the auditor Balbe Berton Crillon. secretary general. General Menou takes the title of governor, is invested with the chief command of the troops, and will officiate as president of the junta. According to a decree of the junta, the commencement of the session of the extraordinary junta will be notified to all the civil and military authorities of the three departments of Tuscany. The following proclamation to the inhabitants of that country has been ordered to be published and placarded all over the three departments :-Tuscans! His majesty the emperor and king has been pleased to confer upon you the honour of being adopted into the great family, and of uniting yourselves to the destiny of the empire form

up arms against my forces, and whose

you as his children, and the French salute you by the name of brothers.-This adoption promises to you all the effects of the beneficent cares of our illustrious emperor-the protector of religion and morality.--You will now be happy. You will receive a code of laws, which being the offspring of wisdom and the experience of ages, secures the rights of property, and the stability of families. Your agriculture and industry will flourish. You will restore to Tuscany, the native country of a Dante, Gallileo, and Michael Angelo, the Athens of Italy, that splendour which the BellesLettres, the arts and sciences, of which it was the cradle to modern Europe, formerly conferred upon it.-Delegated from the greatest of heroes and of sovereigns, our first wish is to merit your attachment. To attain this purpose, we have nothing more to do than to make you acquainted with, and faithfully to fulfil the instructions which we have received. Your feelings have even anticipated our wishes; and already, not less than ourselves, your esteem, love, and admire our illustrious emperor.---Tuscans!

You are a good, a virtuous, and a loyal people. The emperor knows and esteems you. Place your whole confidence in him. Let violent men of all parties become silent, and forego their absurd expectations. Let the brave, the wise, and the impartial classes of persons unite, and as in all other parts of France, possess one soul and one heart. It is by such conduct, that you will make yourselves worthy of being the children of Napoleon.

BRITISH ARMY.-General Orders.

1st, The officers of infantry, with the exception of the mounted officers, are to wear black cloth leggins when on duty, and at all inspections and reviews.-2d, Officers are to wear their hats straight when on the parade or on duty, and not with the corners in front.-3d, The mounted officers of infantry to wear the shoulder belt and regulation sword.-4th, Lace on the skirts of the officers' coats is contrary to regulations and must be discontinued. -5th, The staff sergeants to be dressed according to regulations: the sergeant-major, and quartermaster-sergeant, to be distinguished only in the manner pointed out.-5th, The bugle horn players to be dressed as the drummers of the regiment.-7th, The men are to carry their great coats at inspections and reviews, as likewise on all duties. Sth, Regiments not provided with grenadier caps and pioneer appointments, are to be immediately sup plied.-9th, The plates on the caps of some of the corps, and the sergeants' swords and sashes, (the latter being crimson) are reported contrary to orders. They must be in strict conformity to the king's regulations; and the general officers will give orders accordingly, and see that they are complied with-10th, The clothing is to be made up in strict conformity to the sealed patterns; and general officers, when inspecting regiments, are enjoined to pay particular attention on this head, and to report any devi. ation therefrom, for which commanding officers will be made responsible.-It appear ed some time back, on an inspection being made of the clothing of the militia, that the coats of many regiments were tight, particularly in the sleeves, as not to admit the waistcoat being worn, which was supposed to be the cause of the sickness which prevailed at the close of the last winter, and the early part of the spring. The colonels must be cautioned with respect to the ensuing clothing, and the general officers will be careful to see that the men have on the proper waistcoat with sleeves, which

SO

is always to be worn, except in very hot weather. (Signed) W. SHENER, Maj. A. Assist. Adj. Gen. I. D.

SWEDEN. From the Stockholm Gazette. Head-quarters, Gralsby, July 27-His royal majesty received yesterday the following report from field-marshal Count Kling. spur, dated Head quarters, New Carleby, the 20th instant.

-

My last report was of the 9th instant, and was dispatched by messenger Brolia. Major Fleandt was since forced to retreat from Peroo and Kockonsari, and to fall back, upon Dankas. By this retrogade movement the rear of our army was so much exposed, that nothing but a brisk attack on the ene my's main force, near Lappo, could ward' off the impending danger. I therefore or dered major general Adlercreutz to take the command of the troops assembled near Lower Harma to attack the ene.ny, which was done on the 14th inst. with so much success, that victory, although dearly bought, declared in favour of your majesty's troops. The enemy has retreated since that action to. Salmai, and taken up there a strong and advan tageous position. Before the above ex pedition against Lappo was undertaken, ag Svedish brigade, with a considerable 'park of artillery, marched under the orders of Colonel Von Essen from Socklott to Dan kars, to join major Ficandt's corps, and make a diversion in that quarter; but the enemy's position was found so strong, as to render an attack in front utterly impos sible. I accordingly ordered Colonel Essen to endeavour to turn the enemy; but before! he was able to perform that movement, he received intelligence, that the enemy had left the above position, and was retreating, burning and destroying all the bridges imme diately after he had passed them. Colonel Von Essen is in full pursuit of the enemy, and I entertain some hope, that this opera tion will soon force the enemy to quit Salmi, and fall back to Kuortane and Alawo.— Colonel Sandals has reported from Sawolax, that he detached major Aerenkihl, with 500 men, in fifty small boats, to make an attack on nine of the enemy's gun-boats which had sailed from Kuopio: although the object of this attack, to take the above gunboats, could not be attained on account of the enemy's superior weight of metal, and the wind coming foul, yet the enemy's gunboats were compelled to make a precipitate retreat to Kuopio.-M. KLINGSPOR,-Field marshal and general-in-chief of the army.

Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street; published by R. Bagshaw, Brydges Street, CoventGarden, where former Numbers may be had: soid also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall,

VOL. XIV. No. 9.]

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1808, [PRICE JOD.

66

5 Here, not to be corrupted is the shame.”- -POPE.

3213

LETTER I.

TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS

OF THE

CITY AND LIBERTIES OF WESTMINSTER.

St Austle, Cornwall, Aug. 22, 1808.
GENTLEMEN,

It is now sometime since I
had the honour of addressing a letter to
you. Indeed, having completely extricated
yourselves from the trammels of the regu-
larly drilled opposition, as well as from those
of the ministry of the day; having, by
actions as well as by words, clearly proved
that you are no longer to be made the dupes
of any set of trading politicians, there re-
mained no longer any occasion for me to
trouble you with my advice. It is not,
therefore, with a view to convey to you
either advice or instruction that I now ad-
dress you. My object is to communicate to
the nation at large facts, which I have re-
cently collected, which, in time, may, if
deply imprinted upon the minds of men,
become of great public utility, and I choose,
as the vehicle, an address to you, first, be-
ause I am always anxious to show you
marks of my respect, and, secondly, be-
ause, as it will evidently appear from the
equel, the conduct of the persons, of whom
shall have to speak, is of that sort which
ou, above all other men in the kingdom,
ave a right to canvass and to judge of.-
he subject is that, in which, more than in
ny other, you have, of late years, shown
at you took an interest; namely, the
reans that are used for returning Members

the Commons House of Parliament; but, when you observe what part of the kingom it is, whence I address you, you will of anticipate any very striking instances of hose salutary effects, which many persons ere sanguine enough to expect from the xcellent example, given by you, of purity f election.

On the 19th and the 20th of this month, ere were two Trials, at the assizes, held Bodmin, in this county, and, it is the cts, brought to light upon these trials, at I am about to communicate, having ken particular pains correctly to collect em.As for yourselves, you appear to

[322

have imbibed a thorough conviction, that, until the constitution be again acted upon, in substance as well as in form, with respect to the electing of members to serve in parlia ment, there will be, and can be, no really useful reform, of any kind, take place; that all the talk and all the attempts, relating to abuses, will in future, as they hitherto have, produce no other ultimate effect, than that of causing new burthens to be laid upon the people; that it is foolish to hope for any of the political changes, which all good men would wish to see take place, until measures be adopted to give good men a chance of having a voice in the returning of those, who have the power to promote or to prevent such changes; that, in short, while the source is foul, while that is poisoned by corruption, it must be folly in the extreme, or the basest hypocrisy, to believe, or affect to believe, that the stream can be pure. With respect to the foulness of the source, generally speaking, there are few persons who have any doubt; and, except the Edincluding your old friends, the Whig reformers, burgh Reviewers and their disciples, inthere are no persons, not interested in the trade of votes, who do not lament the existence of the evil. All men have a general notion of the vile traffic that is carried on in Boroughs; but, notions received from general descriptions have not upon the mind the same effect as those which are received from a detail of facts, especially when that detail is of undoubted authenticity. For this reason it was that I attended personally the two trials above spoken of, took down the evidence with great care, and strictly ings; and, in now communicating to you, watched the whole course of the proceed and to the public through you, what transpired and what took place upon this occasion, I am not without hopes, that something may be done towards the producing of that deep and general abhorrence of these corrupt practices, which must precede the adopting of measures for their destruction.

In both of the cases, to which the trials related, SIR CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS, Baronet, was the principal party accused. The first, was a prosecution of him and eighteen others (amongst whom was a clergyman)

L

« PreviousContinue »