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Copy of the Answer of Count Romanzoff to the Note of the Minister for Foreign Relations of the 25th April.-Wilna, May 7 (19), 1812.

Tits Majesty, atwwy £:

shall give to them, and which we are de sired by Prince Kurakin to expect, will de finitively settle the important question of peace or war. The moderation which marks that I have now the honour of addressing to you, offers you, my Lord Duke, ample security that any overture that may be made of a pacific nature, will be

My Lord Duke,-The Count de Narbonne has given me the dispatch which your Excellency confided to him. I have not delayed a moment to place it before the Emperor. anxiously accented His Majesty is ful to the line of conduct which he origi- much pleased with the step which has bec nally marked for himself, always persever- taken with respect to the British Government. He is grateful for the attention of ing in a mere system of defence, in short, always more moderate in proportion as the the Emperor Napoleon in informing him developement of his power enables him to thereof. He will always duly appreciate repulse with greater vigour such attempts the sacrifices which that Sovereign shall as might be made against the interests of make, in order to promote the conclusion his Empire, and the dignity of his Crown, of a general peace, for the attainment of is satisfied to adhere to the wish with which which great and attractive object, no sacriyou, my Lord Duke, conclude the interest-fices can, in his opinion, be too considerable.Coning communication of your Court. -I have the honour to offer to your stantly seeking to prove how much he has it at heart to avoid every thing which might infuse into his connexion with France a spirit of animosity and acerbity, such as would endanger its continuance, he

has directed me not to enter into any refutation of alleged grievances, nor to oppose assertions which, for the most part, are grounded upon imputed facts, quite destitute of probability, and upon hypothesis altogether gratuitous. The dispatches addressed to Prince Kurakin, by the Baron de Serdobin, have partly anticipated the answer to all the accusations which have been made. They have represented, in its true light, the loyal conduct which the Emperor has observed in all his relations with France. They have given, with respect to our armaments, explanations, confirmed in such a degree, as appear to have even outstripped the hopes of the Emperor Napoleon. Since, notwithstanding the menacing movements of his armies beyond a line, where, for the security of our frontiers, they ought to have stopped, affairs continue here in the same state as at the time of the departure of the last Courier. Indeed, not a single man has entered the territory of Prussia, or that of the Duchy of Warsaw, and no new obstacle has tended on our part to prevent the continuance of peace. On the contrary, the last instructions which Prince Kurakin has received, furnish him with ample means of terminating all differences, and of opening the negociation which your Court desires.— We have learned with satisfaction, the reception which our propositions have met with on the part of the Emperor Napoleon. The official answer which your Excellency

Excellency, &c. &c.

COUNT DE ROMANZOFF.

Copy of a Letter from the Minister for Fo

reign Affairs to Count Lauriston, Ambassador of his Imperial and Royal Ma jesty, at St, Petersburg.-Dresden, May 20, 1812.

I have the honour, Count, to send you copies of two notes from Prince Kurakin, dated the 30th of April and 17th of May, of a note which I addressed to that Ambassador on the 9th of the same month, and of the answer which he returned to me on the same day; and, lastly, of a note of the 11th of May, which reached me yesterday, and by which Prince Kurakin renews, in the most pressing manner, his demand of his passports.His Majesty, Count, could never have believed that this Ambassador would have taken so much upon himself: he thinks it fit that you should, by a note, addressed to the Count de Soltikoff, demand passports for yourself, in order to proceed to the Count de Romanzoff to Wilna, or to any other place of meeting that shall be appointed. You will announce to Count Soltikoff, that the communications with which you are charged, and which you cannot make but to the Chancellor or to the Emperor himself, are as important as they are urgent.- -You will show Count Romanzoff all the documents which I transmit to you. You will express the astonishment which his Majesty must have felt, when I gave him an account of proceedings so unexpected, and so contrary to the dispositions which the Emperor Alexander manifested to yourself: when he

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of things in the relations of the two Cabinets, invites you, Mr. Ambassador, to choose rather not to quit St. Petersburg, and to have the goodness to do me the honour to address to me, in writing, the communications which you have to make, or else to convey them, in writing, directly to his Imperial Majesty, at your own option; and in order to afford you the means of so doing, his Majesty has commanded me to place, for this purpose, at your disposal, the Sieur Baereus, an Officer in the corps of Field, who will have the honour to deliver you this letter.I entreat your Excellency, &c.

perceived, that in the notes of the Russian | sions to his Majesty, has been unable to obAmbassador, the evacuation of Prussia tain permission to pass the frontier into his was put forward as a condition upon which States, and that it has been necessary for -Acts so extraordinary France was not even to deliberate—a con- him to turn back.dition such as his Majesty had never pro- require to be cleared up. His Majesty, not posed after the greatest victories; when, in being previously apprized of the nature of fine, by the demand of the independence of the communications with which your ExcelPrussia, his independence was violated, in-lency is charged, faithful to his own sysasmuch as the destruction has heen insisted on of those political engagements which he has contracted in the exercise of the right which belongs to all Sovereigns. You will, Count, make it be felt sensibly, how much the notes of Prince Kurakin are, in their form, and by their contents, opposed to those pacific dispositions, of which that Ambassador had given the assurance; by what spirit of conciliation his Majesty is induced to suppose, that in presenting their notes and combining to them the demand of his passports, he has trangressed the bounds prescribed to him, and with what regret, if they were really the expression of the intentions, and the result of the Orders of the Court of Petersburg, his Majesty would see every hope vanish, of succeeding, by a negociation, which he has been constantly soliciting for nearly two years, in the adjustment at last of the differences that divide the two countries. You will insist, Count, on obtaining explanations which may still leave the way open for an accommodation. I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

COUNT DE ROMANZOFF.

Gopy of a Leller from Count de Lauriston to Count Romanzoff. -St. Petersburg, 31st May (12th June), 1812.

Sir, Count,-The goodness which I have experienced on the part of his Majesty the Emperor Alexander, the marks of confidence with which he had condescended to honour me, prevented me from foreseeing any obstacle to the journey which I proposed Copy of a Letter from Count Romanzoff to to make to Wilna. I had, therefore, made arrangements for my journey, notwithstandCount Lauriston.Wilna, 27th Maying the very violent rheumatic pains which (8th June), Evening, 1812.

I have suffered for many days, sensible of Mr. Ambassador,-His Imperial Majesty all the importance of the communications has just been informed by Count Soltikoff, which I was charged to make to his Mathat your Excellency had demanded pass-jesty, or to your Excellency, under circumports, for the purpose of attending his Ma- stances when the smallest delay might be jesty, with a view to execute in person the injurious.What, then, was my astoorders which you had received from the nishment on receiving your Excellency's Emperor, your master.- -Though, in the letter! I saw all my hopes vanish; I saw. midst of his troops, his Majesty would have that I had deceived myself in the idea I had felt pleasure in withdrawing himself for of the confidence which I supposed his Maa short time from his present occupations,jesty would be pleased to confer on me, inin order to receive near his person the Am-asmuch as he refuses me any direct commubassador of a Sovereign, his Ally; but a circumstance, totally foreign to all his Majesty's thoughts, prevent him.He has just learned that the course of the post by letters between his Empire and foreign nations, has been suspended at Memel, and, according to every appearance, all communication with his Empire prohibited.He has since been informed, that one of his Couriers, returning from one of his mis

nication either with himself or with your Excellency, at a moment when this confidence, which I believed I had merited by my conduct, by my invariable zeal for the maintenance of the alliance, might be, as I have no hesitation to say it would have been, of the greatest advantage to the two Empires. The reasons even which your Excellency has put forward to prevent my (To be continued.)

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As illustrated in the Prosecution and Punishment of

WILLIAM COBBETT.

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A. Lail Dimathu Brown

In order that my countrymen and that the two sureties in the sum of 1,000 pounds each; world may not be deceived, duped, and cheated that the whole of this sentence has been executed upon this subject, I, WILLIAM COBBETT, | upon me, that I have been imprisoned the two of Botley, in Hampshire, put upon record years, have paid the thonsand pounds TO THE the falling racis; wit: Imai, ne June, 1809, the following article was pub- and Peter Walker, Esqrs. being my sureties; lished in a London news-paper, called the that the Attorney General was Sir Vicary Gibbs, COURIER:- "The Mutiny amongst the LO- the Judge who sat at the trial Lord Ellenborough, "CAL MILITIA, which broke out at Ely, was the four Judges who sat at passing sentence Ellen"fortunately suppressed on Wednesday by the borough, Grose, Le Blanc, and Bailey; and that "arrival of four squadrons of the GERMAN the jurors were, Thomas Rhodes of Hampstead "LEGION CAVALRY from Bury, under the Road, John Davis of Southampton Place, James « command of General Auckland. Five of the Ellis of Tottenham Court Road, John Richards "ringleaders were tried by a Court-Martial, and of Bayswater, Thomas Marsham of Baker Street, "sentenced to receive 500 lashes each, part of which Robert Heathcote of High Street Marylebone, "punishment they received on Wednesday, and John Maud of York Place Marylebone, George 66 a part was remitted. A stoppage for their knap- Baxter of Church Terrace Pancras, Thomas "sacks was the ground of the complaint that ex- Taylor of Red Lion Square, David Deane of St. "cited this mutinous spirit, which occasioned John Street, William Palmer of Upper Street "the men to surround their officers, and demand Islington, Henry Favre of Pall Mall; that the "what they deemed their arrears. The first Prime Ministers during the time were Spencer "division of the German Legion halted yesterday Perceval, until he was shot by John Bellingham, at Newmarket on their return to Bury."- and after that Robert B. Jenkinson, Earl of LiThat, on the 1st July, 1809, I published, in the verpool; that the prosecution and sentence took Political Register, an article censuring, in the place in the reign of King George the Third, and strongest terms, these proceedings; that, for so that, he having become insane during my impridoing, the Attorney General prosecuted, as sedi-sonment, the 1,000 pounds was paid to his son, tious libellers, and by Ex-Officio Information, the Prince Regent, in his behalf; that, during my me, and also my printer, my publisher, and one imprisonment, I wrote and published 364 Essays of the principal retailers of the Political Register; and Letters upon political subjects; that, during that I was brought to trial on the 15th June, the same time, I was visited by persons from 197 1810, and was, by a Special Jury, that is to say, cities and towns, many of them as a sort of depuby 12 men out of 48 appointed by the Master of ties from Societies or Clubs; that, at the expirathe Crown Office, found guilty; that, on the tion of my imprisonment, on the 9th of July, 1812, 20th of the same month, I was compelled to give a great dinner was given in London for the purbail for my appearance to receive judgment; pose of receiving me, at which dinner upwards of and that, as I came up from Botley (to which 600 persons were present, and at which Sir place I had returned to my family and my farm Francis Burdett presided; that dinners and other on the evening of the 15th), a Tipstaff went parties were held on the same occasion in many down from London in order to seize me, per- other places in England; that, on my way home, sonally; that, on the 9th of July, 1810, I, toge- I was received at Alton, the first town in Hampther with my printer, publisher, and the news shire, with the ringing of the Church bells; that man, were brought into the Court of King's a respectable company met me and gave me a Bench to receive judgment; that the three dinner at Winchester; that I was drawn from former were sentenced to be imprisoned for more than the distance of a mile into Botley by some months in the King's Bench prison; that I the people; that, upon my arrival in the village, was sentenced to be imprisoned for two years in I found all the people assembled to receive me; Newgate, the great receptacle for malefactors, that I concluded the day by explaining to them and the front of which is the scene of numerous the cause of my imprisonment, and by giving hangings in the course of every year; that the them clear notions respecting the flogging of the part of the prison in which I was sentenced to be Local Militia-men at Ely, and respecting the emconfined is sometimes inhabited by felons, that ployment of German Troops; and, finally, which felons were actually in it at the time I entered is more than a compensation for my losses and all it; that one man was taken out of it to be trans- my sufferings, I am in perfect health and strength, ported in about 48 hours after I was put into the and, though I must, for the sake of six children, same yard with him; and that it is the place of feel the diminution that has been made in my confinement for men guilty of unnatural crimes, property (thinking it right in me to decline the of whom there are four in it at this time; that, offer of a subscription), I have the consolation to besides this imprisonment, I was sentenced to see growing up three sons, upon whose hearts, I pay a thousand pounds TO THE KING, and to trust, all these facts will be engraven. give security for my good behaviour for seven years, myself in the sum of 3,000 pounds, and

Botley, July 23, 1812.

WM. COBBETT.

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden.
LONDON: Printed by J. M'Creery, Black Horse-Court, Fleet-street.

VOL. XXII. No. 6.]

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1812.

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"I implore your Royal Highness to reflect on the manifold miseries that may arise from this cause, and to be pleased to bear in mind, that, to yield hereafter upon force or menace, will be "disgrace; whereas to yield now would indicate a sentiment of justice."- Letter to the Regent, Vol. XXI. Pol. Reg. p. 789.

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If I have now to refer to the proofs of the correctness of those opinions which I addressed to your Royal Highness many months past, upon the subject of the Dispute with America, I beg you to be assured, that I do it not in the way of triumph, but in the hope, that even yet my advice, most respectfully offered to your Royal Highness, may have some weight with you, and may, in some small degree, tend to avert that last of national evils, a war with America, a war against the children of Englishmen, a war against the seat of political and religious freedom."

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Highness verbally; but, how wretchedly have the nation and you been deceived!

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The state of affairs between the two countries now stands thus: There exists a Dispute on the subject of our Orders in Council, on that of the Impressment of American Seamen, and on the possession of the Floridas. There are some other matters of inferior importance, but they would admit of easy arrangement. With regard to the Orders in Council, your Royal Highness was advised to issue, on the 21st of April last, a Declaration, stating that you would not repeal the Orders in Council, until France, Officially and Unconditionally, by some public promulgation, repealed her Berlin and Milan Decrees. France, so far from doing this, has, in the most public and solemn manner, declared, that she will never do what your Declaration required, though, at the same time, she has repeated (and she has done no more) what she had said to the American Government in 1810, and what was then communicated to our Government by the American Minister in London. Nevertheless, you were afterwards advised to repeal the Orders in Council, though the conditions of the Declaration before issued were not at all satisfied, but were, in fact, set at open def ance.

In my former Letters I took great pains to endeavour to induce your Royal Highness to distrust the statements in our public prints as to the power of the English party in the American States. I assured you, that the venal press in England was enaged in promulgating a series of deceptions with regard to the opinions of the people of America. I took the liberty to point out to your Royal Highness the mischiefs which must result from listening to the advice of those whose language might correspond with that of this press; and, in short, I showed, that, if the endeavours of that pernicious, partial, and corrupt press had their intended effect, war with America must be the consequence. By this press (the vilest instrument of the vilest corruption that ever existed in the whole world) the people of England were induced to ap-intelligence of this having been received in prove of the measures which have now produced a war with America; or, at least, they were induced to wink at them. They were made to believe, that our measures of hostility against America were useful to us, and that the American Government had not the power to resent them by war. The same, I doubt not, was told to your Royal

This repeal, which took place on the 23d of June last,+ was, however, too late in its adoption to prevent war. The American Government, who had been making their preparations for many months, and which preparations had been the subject of mockery with the venal press in England, declared war on the 18th of June last. The

England, your Royal Highness was advised to issue, on the 31st of July, an Order in Council for an embargo on all American vessels in our ports, and also for capturing and detaining all American vessels at sea.

See Register, Vol. XXI. p. 735. + Register, Vol. XXI. p. 815,

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This is the state of affairs between the two countries; and the main question now appears to be, whether, when the American Government hears of our repeal of the Orders in Council, they will revoke their declaration of war. This is a question of great interest at this moment; and, I shall, therefore, proceed to lay before your Royal Highness my sentiments with respect

to it.

The same sort of infatuation that has prevailed here, with regard to American affairs, for many months past, appears still to prevail. Indeed, Sir, I can call it no other than insolence; an insolent contempt of the Americans, thought by those who hate them, and who would, if they could, kill them to the last man, in revenge for their having established a free government, where there are neither sinecures, jobs, or selling of seats. This insolence has induced people to talk of America as a country incapable of resenting any thing that we might do to her; as being a wretched state, unsupported by any thing like vigour in government; as a sort of horde of half-savages, with whom we might do what we pleased; and, to the very last minute, the great mass of the people here; ninety-nine out of every hundred, firmly believed, that 彝 America would never go to war with us. They left provocations quite out of the question. They appeared to have got into their heads a conclusion, that, let us do what we would to America, she would not go to war with us.

clusive of the wars in India. He has been not only the greatest warrior, but the greatest conqueror of any European prince that ever lived. Napoleon is nothing to him as a conqueror; and yet the Americans have dared to declare war against him. But, even now, now that she has actually de[clared war, and that, too, by an Act of Congress, by a law passed by real representatives of the people; by men elected by the free voice of the nation; by an un bribed, unbought, unsold, unenslaved assembly, not by a set of corrupt knaves whom the President can at any time twist about by means of the people's money; even now, when she has declared war in this solemn manner, the hireling newspapers in London would fain make us believe, that the whole thing is a mere makebelief, that it is a mere feint, and "will "end in smoke." At the least, they tell us, that when the news of the repeal of our Orders in Council reaches America, there must be a revocation of the declaration of war. They seem to forget, that the declaration of war in America is an Act of Congress, and that to do away the effect of that Act, another Act must pass. They seem to forget, that it is the people who have declared war; and that the people must be consulted before that declaration can be annulled, or revoked. But, Sir, the fact is, that these writers talk miserable nonsense. We are at war with America; and, before we can have peace with her again, we must have a treaty of peace.

This way of thinking has pervaded the But, the main question for rational men whole of the writings upon the subject of to discuss is: "Will the repeal of our Orthe Dispute with America. At every stage "ders in Council be sufficient to induce in the progress towards war, the corrupt "America to make peace with us, without press has asserted, that America knew better" including the redress of her other grievthan to go to war with us. When she" ances?" This is the question that we went so far as to pass Acts for raising an army and equipping a fleet, and that, too, with the avowed intention of making war against us; still the hirelings told the people, that she dared not go to war, and that she only meant to bully. I could fill a large volume with assertions from the Times news-paper alone, that we should not yield a billle, and that America would not dare to go to war. But, the fact is too notorious to dwell upon. There is no man, and especially your Royal Highness, who can have failed to observe the constant repetition of these assertions.

At last, however, America has dared to go to war, even against that great warrior George the Third, nearly three-fifths of whose reign has been occupied inwars, ex

have to discuss; it is a question in which hundreds of thousands are immediately interested; and it is a question which I think may be answered in the negative; that is to say, Sir, I give it as my opinion, that the repeal of our Orders in Council will not be sufficient to restore us to a state of peace with America, and, I now proceed respectfully to submit to your Royal Highness the reasons, upon which this opinion is founded.

In my last Letter (at p. 787, Vol. XXI.) I had the honour to state to your Royal Highness, that there was another great point with America: namely, the Impressment of American seamen, which must be adjusted before harmony could be restored between the two countries; and, as you must have perceived, this subject of com

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