terest of the continent. We unite, therefore, said they, in intreating your majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, silencing that of the passions; to seek, with the intention of arriving at that object, to conciliate all interests, and by that means to preserve all the powers which still exist; and to ensure the happiness of Europe, and of this generation, at the head of which Providence has placed us. The official notes stated, that Russian plenipotentiaries would be sent to Paris, there to receive the answer of England; and that French plenipotentiaries would repair to any city on the continent, to which the King of Great Britain and his allies should send theirs. It was added, that the King of England must, with out doubt, feel the grandeur and sincerity of this conduct on the part of the two emperors; that their union was beyond the reach of all change; and that it was formed for peace as well as for war.

In answer to the Russian minister, it was stated, that however desirous his majesty might be to reply directly to the Emperor Alexander, the unusual manner in which his Oct. 28. letter was drawn up, deprived it entirely of the character of a private and personal communication, and it was impossible to adopt that mark of respect towards him, without, at the same time, recognizing titles which the King of England never had acknowledged. This was a needless demurral. We have sent ministers to treat with Buonaparte since he has been Emperor of France, surely this was, to all intents, an effectual recognition of his title. It was weakening the moral strength of our cause, to rest, even for a moment, upon a point of punctilio. In all other respects, the

correspondence on the part of England was worthy of the cause. An immediate assurance that France acknowledged the government of Spain as party to any negociation, was declared to be absolutely necessary: that such was the intention of the Emperor of Russia, it was added, his majesty could not doubt. He recollected the lively interest which that emperor had always manifested for the dignity and welfare of the Spanish monarchy, and wanted no other assurance that he could not have been induced to sanction, by his concurrence, or by his approbation, usurpations, the principles of which were not less unjust than their example was dangerous to all lawful sovereigns.

The letter of the two emperors was fully and most ably answered in an official note, which, like all Mr Canning's state papers, is distinguished by its pointed and powerful style. The king's readiness and desire to negociate a peace on terms consistent with his own honour, and with the permanent security of Europe, were repeated. If the condition of the continent were one of agitation and of wretchedness, if many states had been overthrown, and many more were still menaced with subversion, it was a consolation to the king to reflect, that no part of those convulsions could be in any degree imputable to him. Most willing was he to acknowledge that all such dreadful changes were indeed contrary to the policy of Great Britain. And if the cause of so much misery was to be found in the stagnation of commercial intercourse, although he could not be expected to hear with unqualified regret that the system devised for the destruction of the commerce of his subjects had recoiled

upon its authors or its instruments, yet it was neither in his disposition, nor in the character of the people over whom he reigned, to rejoice in the privations and unhappiness even of the nations which were combined against him. He anxiously desired the termination of the sufferings of the continent. The war in which he was engaged was entered into for the immediate object of national safety; but, in its progress, new obligations had been imposed upon him, in behalf of powers whom the aggressions of a common enemy had compelled to make common cause with him, or who had solicited his assistance and support in the vindication of their national independence. The interests of Portugal and of Sicily were confided to his friendship and protection; and he was connected for peace, as well as for war, with the king of Sweden. To Spain he was not yet bound by any formal instrument, but he had, in the face of the world, contracted with that nation engagements not less sacred, and not less binding uphis mind than the most solemn treaties. He therefore assumed, that, in an overture made to him for entering into negociations for a general peace, his relations subsisting with the Spanish monarchy had been distinctly taken into consideration, and that the government acting in the name of his Catholic majesty, Ferdinand VII., was understood to be a party to any negociation in which he was invited to engage.

The answer of the RusNov. 8. sian minister was, that the admission of the sovereigns in alliance with England could not be a point of any difficulty; but the principle by no means extended to the necessity of admitting the pleni

potentiaries of the Spanish insur gents, and the Emperor Alexander could not admit them. He had already acknowledged King Joseph Napoleon; he was united with the Emperor of the French; and he was resolved not to separate his interests from those of that monarch. But Count Romanzoff added, he saw, with pleasure, that, in this difference of opinion respecting the Spaniards, there was nothing which could either prevent or delay the opening of a congress; because his Britannic Majesty had himself admitted, that he was bound to no positive engagement with those who had taken up arms in Spain.-Count Romanzoff did not intend to insult a British king, by telling him he might violate his word and honour, because he was not bound to keep them by any formal instrument; but M. de Champagny's reply was intentionally insulting. "How," said he," is it possible for the French government to entertain the proposal which has been made to it, of admitting the Spanish insurgents to the negociation? What would the English government have said, had it been proposed to them to admit the Catholic insurgents of Ireland? France, without having any treaties with them, has been in communication with them, has made them promises, and has frequently sent them succours." The insolent Frenchman did not perceive what warning this utterly irrelevant argument held out to the disaffected in Ireland, by thus plainly informing them, that however Buonaparte might promise them support, he was at all times ready to abandon them, whenever it might suit his views. Menacing language was then introduced. England, we were told, would find herself under a strange mistake, if, con

sow distrust and jealousy in the councils of those who were combined to resist her oppression; and if, among the nations which were groaning under the tyranny of French alliance, or among those which maintained against France a doubtful and precarious independence, there should be any which were balancing between the certain ruin of a prolonged inactivity and the contingent dangers of an effort to save themselves from that ruin―to nations so situated, the delusive prospect of a peace between Great Britain and France could not fail to be peculiarly injurious. Their preparations might be relaxed, by the vain hope of returning tranquillity, or their purpose shaken, by the apprehension of being left to contend alone. That such was, in fact, the main object of France in the proposals transmitted from Erfurth, his majesty entertained a strong persuasion. But at a moment when results, so awful from their importance, and so tremendous from their uncertainty, might be depending upon the decision of peace or war, he felt it due to himself to ascertain, beyond, the possibility of doubt, the views and intentions of his enemies, It was difficult for him to believe that the Emperor of Russia had devoted himself so blindly and fatally to the violence and ambition of the power with which his imperial majesty had unfortunately become allied, as to be prepared openly to abet the usurpation of Spain. He therefore met the seeming fairness and moderation of the proposal, with fairness and moderation on his part real and sincere, expressing his just confidence that the Spanish government, acting in the name of Ferdinand VII., was un

derstood to be a party to this negociation. The reply returned by France to this proposition cast off at once the thin disguise, which had been assumed for a momentary purpose, and displayed, with less than ordinary reserve, the arrogance and injustice of that government. The universal Spanish nation was described by the degrading appellation of the Spanish insurgents, and the demand for the admission of its government as a party to any negociation was rejected, as inadmissible and insulting. With astonishment, as well as grief, he had received from the Emperor of Russia a reply similar in effect, although less indecorous in tone and manner. The king would readily have embraced an opportunity of negociation which might have afforded any hope or prospect of a peace compatible with justice and with honour. He deeply lamented an issue by which the sufferings of Europe were aggravated and prolonged; but neither his honour nor the generosity of the British nation would admit of his consenting to commence a negociation by the abandonment of a brave and loyal people, who were contending for the preservation of all that is dear to man, and whose exertions, in a cause so unquestionably just, he had solemnly pledged himself to * sustain.

Such an answer was consistent with the honour, the principles, and the feelings of the British people. Buonaparte anticipated it: his proposals might have that effect which the English cabinet had foreseen, upon the powers which he oppressed, and they might deceive the French people; at least they gave a popular topic for his sycophants in the se

mate, and those whose office it was to mislead the public mind. He himself knew what the result must be, and did not for a moment suspend or slacken his preparations. Before a reply could be made to the first overture, he returned to Paris, and, in his address to the legislative body, informed them that Oct. 25. he should depart in a few days, to put himself in person at the head of his army, and, with God's help, (such was the expression of the blasphemer,) to crown the King of Spain in Madrid, and plant his eagles on the forts of Spain. It was a distinguished favour of that providence, he said, which had constantly protected his army, that passion had so far blinded the English councils, that they had abandoned the defence of the seas, and at last produced their army on the continent. His vaunts and his impieties were, of course,echoed by those whom he addressed, but their flattery was far exceeded by the language of some deputies from the new Italian departments, who had audience on the same day. The destinies of the whole world, they told him, were confided by the Almighty to his impenetrable views, to the supreme power of his genius, to the miraculous exploits of his arms. Hence a new order of things, already written in the books of the Eternal, was prepared for their country. In the necessity in which he was to overthrow, to destroy, to disperse all enemies, as the wind dissipates the dust, he was not an exterminating angel; but he was the being that extends his thoughts, and measures the face of the earth, to re-establish happiness upon a better and surer basis. He was destined before all ages to be the man of God's right hand; the

VOL. I. PART I.

sovereign master of all things. Language of more idolatrous adoration was never listened to by the frantic Caligula, nor uttered by the infatuated followers of Sebatai Sevi. It was not, however, too gross for the tyrant to whom it was addressed; and he applauded it in his reply. Immediately after this scene he left Paris, reached Bayonne on the 3d of November, and, five days afterwards, put himself at the head of his army at Vittoria.

The annual exposé of the French empire was made at this time, by the minister of the interior. Amid a pompous enumeration of improvements which in England are made by parishes and hundreds, and not heard of beyond the county in which they are carried on, a few things worthy of notice are mentioned. The assembly were told, that, in the Napoleon code, trial by jury had been introduced; and this was a question which they would have to examine in their present session.The institution of a jury took its rise amid the simple manners of their ancestors. Feudal despotism banished it from France, but it took refuge among a neighbouring people, where it acquired a great celebrity, That people, after a long use of it, considered it as the exclusive guardian of individual liberty, and even of political freedom. The system had been re-established in France by the constituent assembly, but, in complicating its forms, they injured its effect. It was now restored in all its purity; the emperor himself had taken a great share in improving it, and among the important changes which would be proposed to them, they would perceive the suppression of the jury of accusation: experience had shewn that it was useless, and

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