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ples on board, what he thinks of the cus-quering Spain and Portugal, he were, in tom in America, where, at any assizes, he taking the title of EMPEROR OF THE WEST, may hear the crier of the court, standing to declare these islands to make part of his upon the entrance steps, proclaim, after dominions, in as far, at least, as related to three times ringing a bell, the dissolution title and homage. How should we like of marriage between such a man and such that? I beg the reader duly to cona woman, and that, too, without any sider it. I beg him not to rely upon any crime whatever having been alledged thing, till he has tried its foundation. against either party to such marriage. How many, and how many times, have we Nay, I remember, when, a marriage hav- been disappointed in our hopes! How ing taken place contrary to the wish of many times has Napoleon been upon the the parents of the lady, she was forcibly brink of destruction, bodily or political? carried home, and there kept, until an act Still he lives, and at the close of every of the Legislature, without the consent of succeeding year, he seems twice as great the husband, dissolved the marriage. -To as he was at the close of the preceding talk, then, with seeming horror, of the late At every peace, with whomsoever proceeding in France is, to say the very made, he gains something. I beseech best of it, miserably silly; and, it has, the reader to look over the world now; besides, this very mischievous effect, that and then look back to the epoch of the it draws the public mind away from that peace of Amiens. Why, there is such a view of the matter which it ought to take, change in favour of Napoleon's power; and which, if it did take that view, would others have lost so much and he has be preparing itself for the consequences. gained so much, that one cannot, without Instead of affecting to laugh at the grand some time spent in the endeavour, bring political measure in question; instead of back one's mind to the then state of things. affecting (and most wretched affectation Well, if this progress continue; if success it is) to pay the people of France; instead still attend the conqueror, and, if we still of thus wasting the precious time for re- proceed in our present course, what does flection and preparation, we ought to be reason say, that our fate must be?well weighing the probable consequences But, are there no means of effectually proof this grand stroke of policy.The viding for our safety? Are there no project, so long talked of, and such a fa- means, which shall enable us to say: vourite with the people of France, who, we defy your power ? Some there are, down to the street-sweepers, think that who recommend peace as the only means France ought to command the world; the of saving ourselves. I have no objection project of Napoleon's being proclaimed to peace, in the abstract; but, I do not EMPEROR OF THE WEST Seems now to be see how peace is at all to tend towards our upon the eve of being put in execution. safety against the power of Napoleon; The King of Holland resigns, and so, it is how it can at all tend to rescue us from very likely, will the king of Spain. These that danger, into which we have been two countries, including Portugal of course, plunged during the un-checked sway of the once well subdued; once brought to hand, Pittites. Suppose, for instance, that peace as the saying is; once rendered manage- were to be treated for now, is there any able and applicable to all the purposes of one, except, perhaps, Fitzgerald the penwar, that war will, that war must, in all sioned poet, or some such person, who its terrors, be levelled against these Islands. could expect, that Napoleon would perThis is what we should think about, mit us to say one single word about and not about the legality, or illegality, of Spain, Portugal, Holland, the Hans-Towns, Napoleon's divorce, as if we, living, for Denmark, Naples, or any part of Italy or our sins, under a government of barristers, Germany? Is there any man, not much were consulting whether we should not more than half an idiot, who supposes, assail him with an information for bigamy. that he would treat with us about any The divorce, especially if followed up by a thing but mere islands and maritime stamarriage, which shall give fair hopes of tions? Is there upon earth a wretch so children to the Emperor, will greatly con- devoid of sense as to believe, for one motribute towards the establishment of the ment, that Napoleon would make any contemplated WESTERN EMPIRE. Now peace with us, except for the mere pur(start not, reader, at what I am going to pose of being enabled to prepare for a say) I should not be at all surprised, if, war, in which we should breathe our supposing Napoleon to succeed in con- last? I do not believe there is. He

would make a peace; aye, would he, and ask for it too; for the pride of punctilio he leaves to kings who have empty noddles; but he would certainly not sufler us to interfere in the concerns of the Southern Peninsula. He would not hear a word from us upon the subject. Well, then, what should we get by such a peace? Diminish our expences? Yes, indeed, if we were to act upon different principles of defence than those we now act upon. But, supposing our present system all to continue, how should we dare to diminish our expences, either by land or sea? Napoleon, who, be it observed, is never in any fear of us; and here I cannot refrain from taking a look at our situation in this respect; at the dreadful odds against which we have to contend; and at the humiliating contrast which the state of England now presents when compared with her state only seventeen years ago. At that time, if any one had said; at that time, when the grand master of talk was annually making his display of the inexhaustible resources of the nation; if, at that time, any one had risen up, at the end of one of the grand master's rattling speeches, and foretold, that, under the sway, the absolute unchecked sway, of this same "heaven-born" talker and his disciples, the English nation should be in such a situation as for it to become a matter of course, that the contest, in which she should be engaged, should, on her part, be a contest for existence, and, on the part of France, a contest merely for conquest; if any one had, at the time referred to, so predicted, he would have been set down as a madman or a fool; he would have been the standing jest of all the pert tribe of" young friends," of all the swarm of punsters and parasites, by whom the grand talker was surrounded. First the grand talker made war against France, in order to keep democracy in check; next he wanted indemnity for the past and security for the future; last, his disciples and successors are making war for our existence as a nation. The result of the combination against France puts me in mind of what I once saw with respect to a CAT, an animal renowned for its number of lives, but not for more lives than the French, whom the grand talker, with the aid of D'Ivernois and others, killed more than nine times. The cat, of which I was speaking, was doomed to die, and in order to save trouble, and, at the same time, to turn his carcass to account, he was tossed into a den,

containing nine or ten ferrets, who, it was supposed, by forming a grand coalition, would destroy him in a twinkling. In the morning, however, when the door of the den was opened, out bounced the cat, leaving all the ferrets dead upon the straw.. From being the assailed France quickly became the assailant; and other nations, from entertaining hopes of being able to partake in the spoils of her, have, one after another, had to supplicate her to spare them some trifle of their possessions. There remains not one nation, England excepted; in al! Europe there remains not one, except England, which has not been compelled to bend the knee to France; and, can any man believe, that the ruler of France will ever, while he has life, cease to endeavour to make England also bend the knee?-Napoleon has, and will have, in case of peace nothing to fear from us. He will need to employ none of his resources for purposes of defence, while we must be always as much upon the alert, as if war were actually going on. He will, in the meanwhile, be employed in building ships and in establishing a navy, and that, too, upon a scale of which none of us seem to have formed any idea. But, let any man cast his eye over the ports and think of the maritime means, of all sorts, that Napoleon will possess; then let him look at the last "Ex"POSE" let him see what stupendous works are even now going on in our enemy's vast empire; let him look at the extensive preparations which are already making, all pointing to the last great object, our subjugation; and then let him say, if he can, that our danger is not most imminent; let him say, if he can, that there could possibly be, for England, any chance of repose in peace, unless our system undergo a change.The peace of Amiens was never finished. Our ministers then told us, that we went to war again, because we could not remain at peace. How, then, should we be able, with the same system, to remain at peace when Holland and the Southern Peninsula, when all continental Europe in short, is moulded into one solid empire, under the sway of a man, capable of wielding it for our destruction?—————If peace, then, brought no repose; if its dangers and alarms were as great, or greater than those of war; if it brought no sensible diminution of expense, is it to be expected, that we could long live in that state? And, is it not to be feared, that the nation, at last wearied out by the harrassing threats

of an enemy, whom it never could harrass with any alarms in return, would feel disposed to lend its neck to his yoke, having the example of all other nations to keep it in countenance?The title of EMPEROR OF THE WEST; the bare taking of that title, would have not a little effect upon men's minds. The title would grow familiar amongst us in spite of ourselves. By little and little the desire for repose would subdue the remains of national spirit and of antipathy towards the conqueror; and, from that state, it would be but one step to submission to his sway. Let any man take a calin and impartial view of the matter; let him consider, that it must be the anxious desire of Napoleon to conquer England, in which object he will have the hearts of all Frenchmen with him, and in which object, from the joint operation of shame and envy, he will have with him the hearts of all the nations he has subdued; let it be considered, that, without the conquest of this kingdon, Napoleon can never look upon his work as half finished: let any man calmly consider these things; let him consider how rapidly we have gone on from bad to worse, and that the last year of our progress, in this way, has been more rapid than any former one; and, when he has thus considered, let him say, what hope we have of safety, unless we have recourse to means not hitherto tried.We have, God knows, not been wanting in exertions. We have made exertions enough; but, they have proved to be of the wrong sort. We have raised armies and fitted out fleets; but we have not made exertions enough, nor, indeed, any at all, towards arming the hearts of the people, and especially the people in that part of the kingdom, which, in all cases, must be most exposed to the attacks of the enemy. I have lately described the state of Ireland; I have lately appealed to my readers, as to what the feelings and disposition of the Irish Catholics, that is, in fact, the Irish nation, must be; and, I need not ask what their additional feelings must be upon reading, in Napoleon's Erposé, his sentiments, views, and measures with regard to religious toleration. Upon the subject of "RELIGIOUS WORSHIP," the Exposé says: "The Government, in " its respect for conscience, has not de"viated from the line which it had traced "out to itself. Its principles, with re"spect to religion, have had their appli"cation, this year, as in the preceding. "It does not confine itself to the tolera

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tianity, founded on the morality of the "Gospel, are all useful to society. The "Lutherans of the Fauxbourg St. Antoine, "whose number amounts to 6,000, had no temple, and, from time immemorial, "exercised their worship in the Swedish "Chapel. Their church has been acknowledged; their Ministers have been ap

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pointed by the Emperor, and are main"tained at the expence of the State.-A "School of Calvinistic Theology has "been established at Montauban." This is as much to be feared as an army of 200,000 men! This is long-sighted policy. How many thousands and hundreds of thousands of hearts will this win! Napoleon, as was observed by the Morning Chronicle, out-bid us in Spain; and he is here endeavouring to out-bid us at home. He neglects nothing that is calculated to advance his purposes. He leaves not a soul untempted to join him, while those who have to combat his seem as if they were afraid of having too many friends. The contest is, indeed, fearfully unequal. He sets all prejudices at defiance; while. they seem to desire nothing so much as petty squabbles about what can be of no use, except it be to produce divisions, and, of course, weakness, amongst those who, if united, might mar their interested views. We should, under the sway of the most wise, and most liberal men, have much to do, in order to enable us to obtain a fair chance of safety. A little matter would be nothing at all. The whole of the people must have a new spirit put into them. But, I think we should begin with Ireland; for, it is impossible to say how soon that nation may be put to the test. Upon this subject, and by way of supplement to my late articles, relative to Ireland, I shall insert, in my next Re-, gister, a letter which comes from Doctor MILNER, the contents of which are very interesting and important. The bare reading of this letter is sufficient to convince any man, that the measures, which it recommends, ought to be adopted without delay. out delay.I do not think, that, amongst all the circumstances, favourable to the views of Napoleon, any one is so favour able as the present state of Ireland. He is, we may be assured, as well acquainted with that state as we are. He knows, to a hair, what can and what cannot be done there. He has, in his pay, persons whose

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sole business it is to collect information relative to Ireland; and, in short, he has, I dare say, an Irish department of politics. It was declared in parliament, that there was a French party in Ireland; and, I dare say, that Napoleon did not, even then, want such information. Well, then: let us out-bid bim; let us seduce his party from him; let us bribe them by kindness; let us purchase them with acts of liberality and justice. The time is now hastily coming, when we cannot afford to have any malcontents; our cause wants the whole of our people; we cannot let one half remain at home to keep down the other half. In one word, the hearts of the people of Ireland must be gained, or there is no hope of safety for England.

WM. COBBETT.

Botley, 4th Jan. 1810.

OFFICIAL PAPERS.

FRANCE Address of the Legislative Body to

the Emperor; and his Answer.

pire, of which they are members, and which regards you both as its head and its founder; but Cæsar, whilst he re-assumes all his power, respects those rights which are not his own. He himself points out, with wisdom, the limits of priesthood, and of the Empire. Religion will not cease to lean upon the throne which has established her, and the Successor of St. Peter will be to us dearer and more revered, by blessing the Successor of Charlemagne, in the name of the God of Peace, whose will changes the empires, but whose worship never changes. All which is attached to you, aggrandizes; all that seeks a foreign influence is threatened by an immediate fall; we must obey your ascendancy; it is at once the counsel of heroism and of politics. Sire, you said, a few days ago, that your first passion was the love of France; this word resounded in all hearts.--This day you announce that victory will not exact any fresh sacrifices; The Legisla tive Body thanks you for it; but, it does not fear to be contradicted by a brave and generous nation, when it replies, that nothing is impossible to Frenchmen, towards a Sovereign, who covers them with so much glory, and who has so amply requited them, by paying their sacrifices with all his love.'

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His Majesty replied to this Address in the following terms :

Paris, Dec. 13-Last Sunday, the Emperor and King, being on the throne, surrounded by the Princes, the Ministers, the great Officers of the Empire, the Members of the Senate, and by those of the Council of State, received, before mass, at the palace of the Thuilleries, a deputation from the Legistive Body. This deputation was conducted to the audience of his Majesty, by a Deputy Master of the Ceremonies, introduced by the Grand Master of the Ceremonies, and presented by his Serene High-tachment of your body to my person. ness the Prince Vice Grand Elector. The deputation being admitted to the foot of the throne, spoke in the following terms, the Address which had been voted to his Majesty:

"Gentlemen, President, and Deputies of the Legislative Body ;-I accept the sentiments which you express; I know the at

France stands in need of a moderate but
strong monarchy. The present epoch
ought to be distinguished, not only by the
glory of the French arms, but also by the
prosperity of its commerce, the wisdom of
its laws, and the brilliancy of arts, of sci-
ences, of letters. I have overcome many
obstacles to conduct France to its actual
situation: both myself and family will be
always ready to sacrifice even our dearest
affections to the interests and welfare of
With the assistance of
this great nation.
God, and the constant love of my people,
I shall overcome whatever can oppose my
great designs.-I wish to live stiil for 30
years, that I may serve 30 years more my
subjects, consolidate this vast empire, and
see this dear France embellished by all the
prosperities which I have conceived."

Sire; The Legislative Body beholds you greater, every time it has the honour of approaching your Majesty's throne. Each year is for you an age of glory; each return to your capital, is a fresh triumph When you were at a distance from France, your genius did not abandon ber; it still continued to dwell in the centre of us. On the first appearance of the enemy, your people, whom you regarded, from the Banks of the Danube, have fled with precipitation in crowds to the threatened frontiers. The enemy hastened to flee away, as if you had really been present. Your last exploits, and the happy peace which has followed them, will aggrandize the territories of the Princes your allies. Important re-unions are on the eve of accomplishing the system of this vast Em-teur.)

Paris, Dec. 17.-His Majesty the Emperor and King set out at four o'clock, this day, for Trianon. Her Majesty the Empress Josephine is at Malmaison. (Moni

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Fellow Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives; At the period of our last Meeting, I had the satisfaction of communicating an adjustment with one of the principal belligerent nations, highly important in itself, and still more so, as presaging a more extended accomodation. It is with deep concern I am now to inform you, that the favourable prospect has been overclouded by a refusal of the British Government to abide by the act of its Minister Plenipotentiary, and by its ensuing policy towards the United States, as seen through the communications of the Minister sent to replace him. Whatever pleas may be urged for a disvowal of engagements formed by diplomatic functionaries, in cases where, by the terms of the engagements, a mutual ratification is reserved; or where notice at the time may have been given of a departure from instructions; or in extraordinary cases, essentially violating the principles of equity, a disavowal could not have been apprehended in a case where no such notice or violation existed, where no such ratification was reserved, and more especially, where, as is now in proof, an engagement, to be executed without any such ratification, was contemplated by the instructions given, and where it had, with good faith, been carried into immediate execution on the part of the United States.These considerations not having restrained the British Government from disavowing the arrangement, by virtue of which its Orders in Council were to be revoked, and the event authorising the renewal of commercial intercourse having thus not taken place, it necessarily became a question, of equal urgency and importance, whether the act prohibiting that intercourse was not to be considered as remaining in legal force? This question being after due deliberation, determined in the affirmative, a Proclamation to that effect was issued. It could not but happen, however, that a return to this state of things, from that which had followed an execution of the arrangement by the United States, would involve difficulties. With a view to diminish these as much as possible, the instractions from the Secretary of the Treasury, now laid before you, were transmitted to the Collectors of the several ports. If, in permitting British vessels to depart, without giving bonds not to pro

ceed to their own ports, it should appear, that the tenor of legal authority has not been strictly pursued, it is to be ascribed to the anxious desire which was felt, that no individual should be injured by so unforeseen an occurrence: and I rely on the regard of Congress for the equitable interests of our own Citizens, to adopt whatever further provisions may be found requisite for a general remission of penalties involuntarily incurred.-The recall of the disavowed Minister having been followed by the appointment of a succe sor, hopes were indulged that the new Minister would contribute to alleviate the disappointment which had been produced, and to remove the causes which had so long embarrassed the good understanding of the two nations. It could not be doubted, that it would at least be charged with conciliatory explanations of the step which had been taken, and with proposals to be substituted for the rejected arrangement. Reasonable and universal as this expectation was, it also has not been fulfilled. From the first official disclosures of the new Minister, it was found that he had received no authority to enter into explanations relative to either branch of the arrangement disavowed; nor any authority to substitute proposals, as to that branch, which concerned the British Orders in Council; and finally, that his proposals with respect to the other branch, the attack on the frigate Chesapeake, were founded on a presumption, repeatedly declared to be inadmissible by the United States, that the first step towards adjustment was due from them; the proposals, at the same time, omitting even a reference to the officer answerable for the murderous aggression, and asserting a claim, not less contrary to the British laws and British practice, than to the principles and obligations of the United States.-The correspondence between the department of State and this Minister will shew how inessentially the features presented in its commencement have been varied in its progress. It will shew also, that forgetting the respect due to all Governments, he did not refrain from imputations on this, which required that no further communications should be received from him. The necessity of this step will be made known to his Britannic Majesty through the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States in London. And it would indicate a want of confidence due to a Government which so well understands and exacts what becomes foreign

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