AP P EAL
TO
NATI ONS
T HE
O F E% RO P E
A G AI
NS T T HE
A
CO NTI NE NT L S Y S TEM
O
L
P % B I S H ED AT S T C% H
:
O LM
,
I
A % THO RI TY O
BY
IN
F
MAR C H,
'
BERNAD O TTE,
18 13
.
3
LO NDON
P % BLIS HED BY J M R ICH AR DS O N CO RNH ILL
BO S TO N
RE P % BLI S H ED BY S AM% EL H P AR% ER
.
.
,
~
.
%
ni o n
No
Ci r culat i ng Li brar y ,
.
1813
.
.
3 S c h00138tre et
,
.
,
P R E FAC E
T HE
TO
AMERIC AN EDI TI O N
.
W E have seen an
o bsc ur e
Corsican
a scend the
i /i r o ne o f the BO % R B O NS
and de m and in m arriage the
r
r
i
n
c ess o f the proud and ancient Ho us e o f A % S
s
t
fi
p
T RI A
We have seen him subdue the strength and
t o f E ur op e and co mp el its i n
m ind o f all the c o ntincm
h abitants to feel his po wer i n whatsoever they could do
and in whatsoever they could dread
o r abstai n from
or h 0 pe fo r
His daring aggress ions have at length rou sed and di
r ec te d the spirit o f the No r t/z
The flood o f conquest
see m s to have rolled backwards to its source The
rescu ed nations again rise and are per m itted to hope
C o nfi dih g in the i llustr io us A L E % A N D E R they e n c o u n
ter all that re m ains o f fraud and force to Napo leon The
fields o f Ger ma ny so often cri m soned in the w ars o f
u surpation and fanati c zeal are n o w to receive th e tor
rents o f the c onflict bet ween relentless despot is m and
the libe rties o f the w orld
Mada me de S ta el by the authority o f Ber n aao tte
has atte mpted to ani mate the friends o f liberty and o f
n ational rights in their fate ful stru ggle
No one i s
better qualified to acco mplish this purpose Sh e has
w atched the cala m ities o f revol utionary and I mperial
France and has deplored the degradatio n o f Eu rope
w th the philosophy o f the other sex and the sensibility
i
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,
,
of
he r
o
wn
.
It is true that a thousand leagu e s o f ocean are be
t ween us and t he Eastern Continent ; yet no people
sh ould feel a deeper interest in the events which are
there taking place than ourselves It is Nap oleon who
has dra wn ou r country into his c fusade aga i nst hu
man n a tur e
It is he w ho co mpels u s to exhibit the
m elancholy spectacle o f a people abandoning peace
prosperity an d honor fo r war and wretchedness It is
fo r hi m than o u r tho usa nds have perished by the s w ord
by pestilence or fa min e—that A mer i can co mmerce
has ceased— that civil war com menced —that our terri
tory is violated—that a s er v ile war 1 8 probable — that we
and ou r posterity m ust wear the shackles o f debtor s i f
not o f s lav es; a nd a ll thes e thing s a r e don e w itho ut a
,
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,
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mo r e imp erv io us v eil, than the p ret enc e of p r o te c ting
a li ens ag a ins t the ir s o ver e ig ns , w ho c la im the a lle ian c e
g
Those who have bee n the weak or w icked i nstr u
m ents o f Nap o le o n w ill cont i n ue to palliate and pursue
their cou rse o f folly or o f cri me Let no man console
hi msel f that the end o f evil days \approaches
The
Russ ia n Emba s sy l s conceived in the spirit w hich dic
W l th
tate d the intercourse w ith Ro s e and E r skin e
or if w ith be tter spirit Gr ea t
Ja cks on and Fos ter
Br ita in has already su ffered all that A meri can hostility
see m s likely to inflict and w ill be henc efort h careless
o f Ame r i c a and o f HE R W A R
No hope re mains o f escap i ng fro m our m iseries till
the people shall have learned w ho a mong their ser van ts
or
u nti l the A R C H
a r e the r es o ns ible a u tho r s of them
p
FI E N D o f E ur op e shall have fallen
July 2 4 1 8 1 3
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,
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P R E FAC E
.
G RE A Revents have\ re cen tly follo wed
'
suc h
rapid succession th a
t the face
of
,
each other in
Eu r 0pe
has been
change d w ith in the short period whi ch has elapsed sin c e
the follo wing pages
been
a diffe rent kind
of
w ould n o t
perhaps
w hic h
,
w ere
,
begun :
If
the fadts ,
be less au thentic
hereafter
m an y
but
I have drawn as convincing
,
nor can the clouds
,
,
w hich
,
occasionally obscure the
sun extinguish his glo r ious light
,
’
readers
The i mm u ta
.
But success is
t
If Napoleon
my
,
j ustice cannot be altered b y ev en ts
of
~
an argu ment
of
d etailed
not in that case regard the consequences
w ould
ble principles
his c hange had
t
of
.
ellous weight with
m ar v
the
m ultitude
.
had su cceeded in concl uding at Mosco w
peac
e w hich he flattered hi msel f he should be able
the
‘
to dictate politicians w ou ld not hav e b een w ant ing to
\
,
in form u s that his de mands prev ous to co m mencing
i
,
the campaign
,
were fou nded
on j ustice and
and to conde mn the im
prudence
i ng
to his
n
wi shes
of
but Napoleon
m ode ra ti on ,
Russia in not yield
has
bee n un for tunate
6
in
an u
nj ust aggre s sion and th i s
i n the eyes
fortune
IS u
,
of
his apologists
mfallibility
The
.
npardonable even
is dissipated—his reputation as a great cap
,
tain is sh aken and none but a hire d sycophant
would
‘
,
r i sk
his
of
,
,
assertion that in the recent ca mpaign he has
she w n
the foresight even o f an ordinary, general
the
,
,
.
A great blo w has been struck at his po wer
le ayi n g
horror
his sold iers i n the
has
m ids t
of
of
,
ev e ry i mag i nable
w hen , fo r
,
hu m anity he ought to feign the agonies
,
chagrin and re morse
h ilate d , b ut
but he
escaped alone
he p ro clai m s hi msel f in good health
the honour
of
defeats —he
his
has survived
;
His physical strength is ann i
.
To
su
pply the place o f the artillery w hich he has lost he
o m the Jo urnals —he speaks e mphati
n o w t hunders fr
cally o f the gran d ar my -he declare s it to be victoriou s
w hen it is no longer in e x istence
This ar my the m o s t
nu merous and the be st equipped w
hich had been see n
fo r m any centuries c annot n o w furni sh a s m gle hu m an
v o i ce to accuse its leader who se blind presu m pt i on o c
but the
c a s io n e d the dea th o f so m any brave m e n
i mm en se plains o f Russm and of P dland covered
w ith their fro z en bodies,w ill cry aloud to a fter age
fo r vengeance
Napoleon told us that the defection o f
t
a general o f the allie s le called fo r enormous ne w levies
in i mp o sture he redoubles his e fforts
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G e ne r al D Yo rc k
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C
7
Absurd
pr oposit ion
Fi fteen
-
their native l and and
‘
placed by three hund red
Prussians
w ho
,
the i r sove reign have bee n re
of
,
th o us and
»
.
,
fifty thous and French me n i
—
All Fran c e is depic ted as e age rly ru shi n g to ar ms to
—
r
m
de fend a beloved ona ch gala s s o cruelly di sturbed
and
‘
,
‘
r
in his paci ficcaree r He atte mpts to terri fy the p eop le
by the ferocity o f the R ussian soldier If we are to
.
credit the French j ournals
i nto
the civilized
w orld
,
the
fRu ss ian s
’
po u rin g
a re
it is thu s th at nurses fright e n
kind the R ussian s oldier terrible only in battl e is
,
,
,
gio n s obedient to his s uperiors accusto med
,
,
h
n to me o f a
a
p
enlightened me n
the
s
dis me mber ment
el f kno w
,
well
the e xtinction
in
of
E u rope e v en
,
that not hing is
of
their e mpire
the spirit
of
re
li
dis c i -
\
v
n
But all
.
France it
in
wanted fro m
to
“
,
France but
conquest in he r ruler
.
Let the French nation after so many d i re e xperi me nt s
co nfor m to the se vie ws Let the m co n
fine the m selves
,
,
.
w ith in
w ish
their nat ural li mits
they have o nly to express a
to obtain an honourable and solid peace
,
turn to the enj oy ment o f all t hose ad vantages
their ruler alone has deprived t he m
.
an
d to re
of
.
w hi ch
8
T he n ations wh ich have been subjugated by Napo
t
leon
o
thei r senti ments on this occ asi on in
unequ i vocal manner
m ost
a
m an ifested
h ave
.
Their s overeigns hav e
nly to second the i mpulse given by the glorious e x a m;
Russia to reassu me the i r r i ghts
l
e
p
of
we
have described are coarse and
,
m ore
are
u
subtle
ar tifi c e s ,
pon their guard
the co urts
of
these
against
are
The toils
.
worn
but there
out
w hich
which
they
m ust
be
the i ntri g ues resorted to in
E urope to a muse the m by negotiat ions ;
,
to a waken their antient r i valships to dis unite t he allies
,
,
and to detach the m by deceitful o ffers from the t rue
l
j
.
ec ts o f the
that
each
no
the
“
.
o b~
A profound historian has re marked ,
reat
secret
g
of
despotis m is to contrive that
,
i ndividual interest and that
”
shall think o f the public wel fare
It is w ith
m ay
o ne
war
,
see only his
o wn
.
,
.
%
t tes as
s a
,
with
individuals : the secret o f u niversal
archy is to e xti ng uish
all
zeal
by the calculati ng selfishness
But let
fo r
of
the
g eneral
many
w el fare ,
every sep arate state
us hope that the public spirit
po w erful ap peals
r eco ver t he i r i ndepend ence 5
start up at so
mo m
,
of
an
d
Europe
,
will
the n ations
AP P EAL,
Q
‘
c
’
c.
.
% P O N travelling through the provin c es ne wly incor
h e m pire , or those cou n tr ies
Frenc
o r ate d w ith the
p
w hich have fallen u nder its s w ay , it is e a sy to perceiv e
that the people have a v ery ju st sense o f th e ir sit uation
% nani m ous expressions o f regret fo r the p ast , c o m
plaints o f the present , and anx iety fo r the fut u re , are
e
~
°
.
,
ever y w here heard There is no peasant so ignorant as
n o t lo kno w w ho is the true author o f the evils w hi ch
overwhel m his country There is not a cottage in En
rope ho wever m iserable and re mot e where the name
fo r m any c e n
o f Buonaparte has n o t been heard
t a ries no man has acquired such a dishonou rable ce
.
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g
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leb ri ty
.
In F r anc e itsel f the publi c O pinion although radically
the s am e is m ani fested w ith m ore reserve and hesit a
tion In the fi rét place the lan g uage o f the country
place s the inhabitants there i m mediately u nder the su
to
hich
oreign
w
f
e r i n te n de n c e o f the central police
p
langu ages stfl l present an obstacle Besides they c o m
pare their present condition no t w ith the tranquil ti mes
o f the 1 8 th century but w ith th e horrors o f the re v o lu
tion w hich have e lfac e d the re m e mbrance o f the m To
the hopes so frequently de ferred o f a great re form in
the social order incredulity and apathy have s u cceeded
Many persons perhaps o f honou rable m inds ascribe
to Napoleon the restoration o f order and tranqu illity in
the interior they forget that the re volutionary horrors
ceased long before his appearance and that he succeed
ed to a go vern ment wh ich was rather fe eble and vacill a
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IO
1
ting than o pp re sswe They threaten the French n ati o n
w ith the return o f terro r, i f this m an i s n ot per m i tted to
w atch o v er their de stinips
By a
S trange S ophistry
chi mer i cal fear they think to convert into benefits the
Revolutionary te rror m arched
heaviest a fll ic ti o n s
boldly w ith an uncovered front it provoked resistance
and even fro m its very nature could not endure long
The pres ent is also a m o me nt o f terror but i t is
a terror w hich palsies the courage by d is gui s mg the
danger
It is a che f-d oe uvre in the policy o f Napo
leon to g ive an a i r o f stabil ity to a condition tru ly
violent and insupportab le
Ne vertheless in France itsel f the e ulogie s o f Buona
p arte are s carcely heard but fro m the lips o f h is slave s
the supp o rters o f h i s po wer and tho se who e njoy great
person al advantages fro m hi m an d w ho w ould tre m ble
fo r their person al s ecuri ty if he Was overthro wn
He is
not n o w reduced as at the c o mmence ment o f hi s
career to purchase the silence o f orators and j ourn al
i sts
but he still pay s very high fo r a good name the
c on c er to s o f high -fl o wn praises w hich he takes care to
circu late fro m o ne end o f his e m
pire to the other ann u
ally cost his subj e cts many m illion s T he legislativ e
body and the senate the only re m nants o f republ i can i s m
wh ich he has allo wed to subsist have beco m e literally
m ere courts o f record
T hey are the i m peri al con ser
v ato r ie s o f flattery
there amid the noisy u pro ar o f
bad rhetori c they announce to the nation every bu r
den so m e la w every ag gravation o f i m posts every n e w
levy o f me n fro m an exhausted popu lation every n e w
w ar w hich des olates hu manity as a step to wards univer
sal p ac ifi c atio n But the people are deaf to these venal
v oices
they disdain the purple o f fals
w i th
w hich t hey see k to c over their m isery ;
o
r
p
fo undly indi fferent to public affairs
and all those who
do not aspire to o fli c e co nfine the mselves to the circle
o f do m e stic li fe
In preparing to de ve lo pe the nat u re and con se quence s
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9
T he
at P ar i s fo r the e duc ati o n o f yo ung p e r so ns i nte nde d fo r
c alle d the I mp e r i al Co nse r vato r
Tr end
y
s c ho o l
the theatre i s
.
.
11
the con tinental syste m I should be al m ost ashame d
to insist upon t ruth s generally kno wn if the re w ere n o t
n ations a m ong w ho m it is still possible to cr é ate delu
sion as to their true interest s because they have been
hitherto but distant spectators o f passi n g events ; and
because they have not yet ,grade the woful experi ment
or in other w ords o f the do m inion o f
o f that sys te m
B uonaparte O f the Whole European states Sw eden
al o ne is in this fortunate p redicam ent She has su ffere d
reat
losses
but
she
has
preserved
her
in
ependence
d
g
She has hitherto retained the liberty o f choosing her
political relation s The ti m e m ay co m e w hen she w ill
The present m o m ent
n o lo n ger have it in he r p o w e r
is decisive fo r he r libei ty her glory and her fut u re
p rosperity
I shall abst ain fro m dra w i n g the character o f that man
Eloquenc e
w hose suc c ess has astonished the w orld
and decl amation are u se ful only w here it is necessary to
but in the deliberate exam ination
excite the pass ions
olitical
s
of a
ubject nothing ought to be exaggerated
p
m
the
si
ple
evidence
a n d n o th i n
advanced vaguely
o
f
g
Whatever are the motives
facts ought to be our guide
by which Napoleon i s act uated whether by u nbounded
am b itio n ap r by th e i m periou s necessity o f his situation
w hich ad m its o f n o recoil the result o f his actions is
still the sa m e Ad m i tting that he labours incess ant
ly fo r the peace and happin e ss o f the hu m an race
it
m ust neve rtheless be granted that he doe s not c o m
prehend the true method o f attaining these desirable o h
e c ts
Since
he
has
held
the
reins
govern
en
f
m
o
t
j
destructive w ars have constantly raged and the sourc es
o f public prosperity have been dried u
herever
his
w
p
influence has extended Since there fo re in spite o f
experience he has fo r so m any years adhered to the
sa me m axi ms it would be ab s urd to i mag i ne that he
w ill ever desist
A short retro spect o f the events w hich preceded the
elevation o f Buonaparte w ith a sketch o f the state o f
E urope at that p e riod will be suffi cie nt to she w t hat he
i
of
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12
upon the S u preme au thority under
m ost fa v o u rab lh fo r a pacific and conciliato ry re ig n
The w ars provoked by the fi rst e ffe rvescence o f the
revolution lasted but a fe w years ; a coalition w hi ch
e m braced nearly t he h al f o f Eu rope
silently dissol ved P ru s s m was the first
in the spri ng o f 1 7 95 and gave peace to
Ger m any by her line o f neutrality Holland received
at the sa me m o m en t the fo r m o f go v er nm ent and the
con diti on s o f pe ace w hic h were dictated by France
The kings o f Spain S ardi n ia and the tw o S ic ilie s fbl
lo wed the e xa m ple Of Prussia and m ade a separat e
n
w
e r a nti e nt alli ance w ith
S
eace
eve
pai
rene
h
d
n
;
e
p
Several prince s o f Ger man v and Italy w ere
Fran ce
co m pelled to purchase their repose at an exorbit ant
no w in g i f they had reall y b e e h
rice
al
ost
ithout
k
m
w
p
A t l ength in 1 7 97 ther e r e
at w ar w ith France
rn ai n e d no other co m batants but Engla d a nd Au stria
n
England negotiated and Austria conclud e d the treaty
the Di recto r y speedily c o nj ur
C
but
am po For m io
f
o
ed u p n e w Wars » They attacked S w itzerland wh ic h
had b e e n re s pected even by Ro b es p ie rne : the y drove
inia fro m the states which Were le ft h im
n u ne n t o f Europe ;
they led the Pe p e int o
captivity drove the c o ti rt o f Naples into exile and d i
they consented to the
v id e d Italy into pett y republics
e xpediti o n to Egypt an d there by irr itat ed Turke y and
All t hese
a fforded a n e w m otive fo r war to England
re s s mn s m ade in the cours e o f a single ye ar broke
a
gg
Russia w hi c h till then had
the cong ress o f Rastadt
m
ealt
o
ro
ises
at
length
seriously
n ly in
e ntered into
d
p
the c o ali tion and the ca mpaign o f th e allied Austrians
an d Russians in 1 7 99 rescued the w hole o f Ita ly f rom
l
t
n
u
ick
than
had
be
i
e
th e Frenc h ar m ies m uch m o re
y
q
sei z ed
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con
ince the c o mm ence m ent o f the war had th e
The fl atte r e rs
m ilitary situation o f Franc e been w orse
o f Buonaparte had not fai led to a s c r i be the sal vation o f
the French republic to his return fro m Egypt it has
been his con stant prac tice to appropriate to hi mself the
.
‘
/
13
successes which w ere prepared fo r h im by others The
revolutions w hich took place even i n the i nter i or o f the
directory had disorganised the ar m ies and cau sed their
re ver ses A man who has since b e en called to higher
destinie s by his genius and activity su c ceeded in a
m inistry o f t w o m onths duration in r e fo r m i n g t
ord e rs the dilapid ations and abu ses o f every kind
The ar m ies w ere re in fo r c
whic h w ere at their height
ed provided w ith every requ isite and as it were crea
ted aga i n i n thi s m anner general Be rn ade tte secured
as a m inister the v ictories w hich he kne w ho w to gai n
As a consequence o f the r e establish me nt
as a soldier
o f the ar m i es the Englis h w ere drive n out o f Holland
Masse na re su m ed the o ffe n s w e in S w n z e r land against
the Russi ans and Mo rea u m ade head a gai n st the Aus
trions i n Italy be fore Buonaparte had done any thi n g
m ore fo r the republic th an to seize upo n the supre m e
r
o
w
e
p
As the E m peror Paul had as s mte d Austria fro m m o
he abandoned her fro m c ap r l c e :
t w e s o f gener o s ity
once m ore thro w n u pon he r o wn exhau sted resources
the brillian t s u ccesses o f Mo reau and Buon aparte in
1 800 constrai n ed her to si g n the treat y o f Luneville at
the beginning o f the follo w i n g year Engl an d after the
cession o f Belgiu m having lost all hopes o f p r e se r v m g
this p rovince fo r Austria in pursuan ce o f the dictates
tran quilliz e d by her V i c to r l e s
o f he r m a r iti m e interests
Egypt and the consequ e nt secur ity o f her easter n
possessions consented the follo w ing year to the m ost
extraordinary peace w hich w as ever m ade after such a
Al ways vic toriou s at sea al ways the c o nqueror
w ar
in the East and W est Indies she recognized all the rob
b e rie s o f France in Europe and gave b ac k nearly all her
o w n conquests in the other thre e quarters o f the globe
w ithout any co m pensation
The fate o f ar m s in the w ars ter m i nated by this gen
eral p ac ific atio n had o ften varied but in the end the re
sult was advantageous to France beyond e v en the m os t
e x travagant hopes o f her pa rtisans ten years p re vmus
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14
acqu ired the c o unt ries o f Avignon and Ven ais
sin
In Italy Savoy Nice and Monaco
Gene va
uhlhausen
and
the
Bishopric
Basle
w
ere
torn
o
f
f
r
dm
M
S w itzerland
I ll Ger many all the states o f the Rhine
fr o m Alsace and Lorraine to the frontiers o f Ho lland
the Austrian L o w Co u ntries w ith D utc h Flanders and
the other posses s-n o us o f the unite d provinces connected
w ith it
she had the mouths o f the Scheldt the Rhine
M
J
t
h
e Alps for frontiers
ura
and
This
i
ense
m
m
;
\ ount
a ggrandise m ent w h ich increased by al most one fourth
t he pop lation o f the a ntient kingdo m
w
as not the
u
m ost i m port ant of the advantages w hich she acquired
The military con side ration o f France which had fallen
in repute un der the latter reigns had risen to an equ al if
not to a g reater height than it h ad been in the days o f
Le w is % IV Spai n w as also attached as fir mly to the
French republic as she had been to the m onarchy The
n e w govern m ents o f Holland S w itzer la nd and Cisalpine
and Ligurian republics w ere entirely devoted to t he p o w
and w ithout w hich support
e r w hich had created the m
they w ould have d w indled into nothing These republics
for m ed so ma ny bul w arks around the Mother Republic
In a w ord France had all that w as requ isite fo r her
glory the co m pletion o f her w ishes and security fo r the
her prepo nderance on the Eu ropean continent
future
w as su ch that it beca me doubt ful fro m that m o m ent
whether any syste m o f equipoise could ex ist or if there
w as an y other guarantee against her universal e m pire
than her o wn m oderation
Ten years o f fruitless ex pe r i ments had disheartened
the antient govern ments fro m any atte m pt to repair their
losses Wa r s mc e the revolution had assu med a char
acter totally different fr o nrthat w hi c h it bore in the for m
er century It was w hat had never been in Europe
since the extinction o f the religious wars a war o f O p i
nion
But in the w ars occasioned b y the refor mation
th e two p arties w ere inspired by an equ al degree o f e n
th u sias m one fo r the de fence o f the established religion
a n d the other fo r that o f the n e w doctrines
In the wars
s ticity
o f the re volution o n the contrar
that
m
oral
ela
y
S he had
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15
is inspired by an i mplicit faith was m ani feste d
only hy the republican war ri ors w hile the troops o f
the antient govern ments fought as u sual fro m m otive s
Thos e Who gov
o f duty and as a point o f honour
erned France could in the na m e o f liberty co m m and
i m mense sacrifices they had the entire disposal o f
perso ns and pr operty The gover n m en ts o f the w all
tions had only their u sual resources and even thes e
they w ere obliged to m anage w ith caution lest t hey
augm ent the dangerou s fer m entation w hi c h
s hould
threatened the ir states w ith the m ost violent explo s ions
The abolition o f all abuses the rei gn o f j u stice reason
and hu manity w ere the —boons pro m is e d by Fra n ce at
first to he r o w n p e O ple a n d which she after w ard s held
out to the universe The people every w here believ e d
there fore that the ti me was co me w hen they w ere to be
rel eased fro m all their troubles every w here philan
thr o p i sts badly versed in h i story g u d s uperficially ac
n e w g o lden
drea
m
ed
f
a
c
t
e d w ith hu man n atu r e
uain
q
every
here
in
t r i u e r s u nder the m ask o f philo
w
a e
g
g
sophy played the parts o f de magogues The govern
m ents w hich had hitherto been considered a s the m os t
free w ere described a s despotic m erely because they
were sanctioned by lo n g dura tion
The kno wn e x c e l
lence o f a c o nstitution which had stood the te s t o f age s
did not save it fro m a revolutionary stor m Not o n ly
-n o t onl y did
w ere Holland and S w itzerl and co n vulsed
the disaffected Irish consp i re to deliver u p their country
to France but in E n gl and itsel f there ex isted a fa ctio n
w hic h boldly announced the project o f su b m itti n g the
constitution to the crucible o f theory A n d w hat was
m os t for m idable chi m e rical ideas an d r eal p as s ions eve
r
y w he re produced a si m ilar deliri u m a t w h atev e r peri
c d they burst forth fo r the first ti m e
Although F rance
had returned fro m her first errors e very n e w rep ublic
b egan precisely at the sa m e origin
Long after the chie f
actors in the great dra m a o f the revolution in France
had disappeared fro m the scene in Italy and S w itzerland
de m ocratic puppets stru tted about on their Lill iputi an
st ages to perfor m the hac knie d parts o f republi an s In
w hich
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16
hort the revolutionary op i n i ons o f the age see m to
have been to n ations w hat contagiou s diseases are to ln
d i v id uals each c ar r ie s t he i r ger m a b o ht w ith hi m , and
m ust go through all their stages be fore he c an be radi
cally cu red
In addition to this popular opposition w hich the so v
c rei g h s had to encounter the event s o f the last ten yea rs
u n veiled the inheren t vices o f coalit i ons
and disc lo s
e d thei r i n s u lfi c ie n cy to meet such e x traordinary cir
c u m s tan c e s
The cabinets w hich mai ntained the an
ci e nt la w s o f nations i n Europe als o retained thei r
o ld prej udices
T hey thought that the p e r fe c ti pn o f
diplo macy co nsisted in fi n ess e they wo uld ha ve been
a sha m ed n o t to have al ways so me m e n tal s e c re t reserva
tions behind o r not to h ave an eye to ulterior objects
b eside that fo r which they o penly labo ured The sy s
te rn o f eq uili b r iu m de m anded fro m all nations m ut ual
vigila n ce petty shifts resor te d to in order to disgu ise
vie w s o f agg randise ment fro m ot her po we rs w ere to a
certain degree in n oce nt i n the peace ful e ra w hich pre
ceded the re volution as they could never go great
len gths
Every thin g w as changed
and yet t here
w as no p o s s i b ili tv o f co n v incing st a tesm e n o f the fact
that a disinterested open and gene r ous polic y co uld
alo ne sa ve the independence o f E uro p e The su cc e s
ses o f O ne o f the allied po w ers e xcited the j ealou sy
the r everses w hich b c fe l o ne in p articular
o f the rest
w ere re g arded w it h i ndi fference n ay w it h satis faction
by antien t r ivals The y a p pro ach e d each o ther coldly
and sep arated w ith disgu st
T he antie nt gover n me n t s o f the contine n t w hich ke pt
their grou n d in s p ite o f the double s h ock o f F rench inva
sion and republic an princi ples , had there fo r e the great
est interest in the maintenance o f peace and the greate st
aversion fro m w ar For three ye ars n o n e o f the m could
bring t he mselves to the resolution o f r e co m m encing it
althou gh Buonaparte as w e shall see gave the m every
provocati on
w
one
hand
France
had
great
reason
to
sh
e
t
h
O n
i
w ere w re sted
pea
it
England
Her
colonies
h
e
w
r
c
o
f
s
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activity o f disp o suio n w hich is peculiar to hi m
t hat he w ould thu s create i n a fe w ye ars a m ariti me
force capable o f kee ping the seas a gainst that o f E ngland
w ho w ould then see her territories t hreatened w it h in
d ig io us
,
,
,
a
,
vas i o n
.
The projects o f B uonapar t e were but proble mat i cal
as to t heir ulti m ate success but his ac ti O n s during the
s hor t in ter val o f peace were m ore than su ffi c i ent t o u s
j
tify the re su m ption o f hostilities on the part o f the Eu
glish govern ment Buonaparte has al wav s b o asted o f
his m oderati on i n making p e ace and to a certain extent
h e is en t itled t o his m erit
It is in fact one o f the
m ost art ful calculat i ons i n this policy
C on ditions ,to o
severe m igh t dri ve an ad v ersary w hen hal f crushed to
t he resolu tio n o f perishing i n t he contes t a resolution in
w h i ch alone there is any thing like secu rity fro m su ch
B u t w hen a govern ment a fter seriou s m i s
an ene m y
for t unes has regained a situation so me w h at supporta
ble the re m e m brance o f p ast dangers and the conv i ctio n
o f i t s w eakness i nduce it to consent to every thing w hich
do es no t i m mediately affect i ts e x i stence Thu s Bu on
aparte reserves the richest h ar v ests fro m his wars fo r the
o f peace
h
eriod
instant
th
T
e
at t he ar m s o f the sold
p
;
ie r s are g rounded ( we allude t o those o f his ene my fo r
he never gro unds his o w n % he proceeds to acts w hich
in so m e w ay or o t her extend his d o minion He see m s
to say to each o f the states whi c h are O p posed to him
Without su c cess
Y o u are t o o fo rtu n ate in being per
m itte d to enj oy tranquillity take care ho w you inter fere
i n t he affairs o f another w ith the ex ce ption o f w hat I
le ft yo u by t he last t re aty all the res t o f Europe has fal
len to my share and the m ost tri fl ing opposition to t hese
m y incontestible rights w i ll be regarded as a declara t io n
”
The c o n tin e n tal po we rs u nderstood th is lan
ar
of W
g uage w el l In orde r to p urch ase a shor t respite th eir
fered w i t h ou t mu r m uri n g B uo naparte to ac c umu
s uf
l a te ne w m eans e f a ggression and were cru shed succe s
s i ve l
Suc
h
h
as
bee
n
t
he
h
s
t
ory
the
last
t
en
years
i
f
o
y
Engla n d was far fro m ac quiescin g in this princi ple o f
perp e t ual a gg re ssion s h e p ro test e d agai ns t the o cc up a
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g
19
‘
t ion o f Pied mo nt P arni a and Pla isance and the Isl e o f
El ba ; she c onsidered the prolonged stay o f the Fren ch
garrisons in Holland and a ne w m ission o f t roo p s
t o S w it z erland as attacks u pon the i ndependence o f
these republics guaranteed by the treaty o f L u ne v ille
A s t o Holland ; the foresight o f the Briti s h m i n i stry w as
A fter having l on g
fully j us t i fi ed by posterior events
harassed the S WI S S the fi rst consul at length gave
the m a consti tu tion nearly as good as any wh i c h t hey
could ha v e m ade fo r the m selves ; bu t he w ished tha t
they shou l d recei v e it from his hands and he assu med
t he title o f Mediator o f S w it z erland as i f he had prevent
ed a civil war whereas the w hole nation was unani
m ou s against the Helv e tic go ve r n me n t institu t ed by the
French D irec t or s The V alais w as fro m that m o m en t
detached fro m the Co nfe de ratioh occupied by soldiers
and m arked ou t to be incorporated w ith F r ance w hich
has si nce been e ffected
W hatever was the origin o f this second war England
con tinu ed it fo r nearly ten years w ith increasing s u c
cess earn e d by an heroic perse v erance w hich future
historians w ill duly apprec i a te w he n they contras t it
w ith the sub m ission o f t w othirds o f Eu rope En gland
w as in fast the only ene my be fore w ho m the star o f
Napolean lost i ts brightness it w as En gland wh ich
sunk his fleets be fore A boukir and Tra falgar and which
arres ted the cou rse o f his conquests in Egyp t Sicily
Portugal and Spai n
B uonaparte in the fi rs t ins tance resort ed to hi s ol d
project o f a descent He e xpended enor m ou s su ms
and persisted in his preparations fo r t w o years desistin g
fro m the enterp r ise only w hen he w as convinced o f its
absolute i m pr acticability
A fter so m any po m pou s
procla m ations even 126 w ould have been greatly e m
b arras se d ho w t o apologise fo r qui tting hi s c a mp a t
Boulogne w ithout hav ing e ffected any thing if t he w ar
w ith A u st ria had no t fu rnished him w ith a pre t ex t
En gland derived from these de monstrations the ad y ah
tage o f ha v in g fortifi ed her line o f coast w hich a t o o
grea t co nfi dence in her w ooden wall s had made her n eg ,
,
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20
lect A descen t cou ld no t be e ffec ted bu t u nder the
protection o f a fl eet capable o f cop i ng w ith the En glish
squa drons in the channel
and a fter ma ny sever e
the French fl ag had al m o s t disappeared fro m
c hecks
the ocean The superiority o f the British navy in
nu m bers a n d discipline is su ch that thei r ene m ies thin k
they have gained a triu m p h w hen o ne o f their sq uadro ns
escapes along shore fro m one port to another In vain
did Buonaparte a t the co m mence ment o f the w ar dis
pose o f the ports o f France H olland and Spa m i n va i n
did he a fter wards take p o ssession o f those o f Italy D al
m atia an d o f the north o f Ge r m any i n va i n did be con
stru ct ships o f war i n old and ne w dock yards in vai n
did he establ i sh a m ariti m e conscription so long as the
English co ntinue the war w ithout inte r ruption an d
blockade all the m ost i mportant ports they have noth
ing to fear ; French seam en cannot be trained fo r w ant
a n d these i m me n se p r e p ar a ti o n s a re m ere
o f e x perience
sc h ools fo r s w i m m i ng on dry land
The ar m am ent o f course could do no har m to Eng
lan d in the Euro pean seas A fter the fi rst years o f the
war in the other parts o f the w orld privateers w ere n o t
t o be foun d becau se France had no coloni es she had
lost in su ccession not only all her o w n bu t even those
which see m ed to be the farthest re m oved
o f Holland
fro m any attack
Bu onaparte w as redu ced there fore to m ake w ar o f a
description pu rely negative u pon the trade and naviga
tion o f Engla nd by excluding her ships and m erchan
dise fro m the ports o f France and o f the countries u nder
her con trol He had preached this doctri ne so early as
1 8 00 as an i nfallible m ethod o f forcing England to sue
fo r peace u pon condi t ions w hich should annihilate her
naval superiority but he was not then po wer ful enou g h
to re fuse all toleration o f neu trals In 1 8 06 he pu b
lishe d the fa m ou s Berlin decree and since he has nev
er ceased to e xecute w ith increased vigou r what he
calls the C ontin en ta l Syste m He declared that the
prohibi t ory regulations which he thou ght proper to i m
pose o u his o w n subjec t s w ere bin din g on all the go v
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21
ern me nts o f
the Eur opean cont inen t and he le ft the m
n o choice bu t to break o f
f all comm er ci al intercourse
w i t h Engl and or t o be treated as the ene mies o f Fran c e %
I shall point out the inj ustice the absurdity and the
r u inous e ffec t s o f thi s syste m after ha v ing rapidly t ra
c e d the pro res s o f the w ars w hich s ince 1 7 90 ha v e no t
g
ceased to desolat e E urope
D u r i ng % p w ards o f four years from th e da t e o f the
treaty o f L une v ille the peace o f the con t inent was n o t
disturbed Its long dura t i o n w ould e x ci t e our ast on
i s hment i f w e did not re fl ec t on the i m mense labou r
w hich B uonaparte had to acco m plish in the in t erior
He ha d the address to unite in hi s o w n p erson the
double inheritance o f thé T r enc h republic and o f the
old m onarchy but he cou l d o nly gradually enter into
full possession
I t was necessary t o r i vet his authority
t o discover and punish conspiraci es
a malga mate
frag m en t s o f all parties and by re w ards o ffered to all
to compound the m into one co mm on m ass o f servility
There still e x isted so me thing like pu blic O p i n i on i n
Franc e : it w as necessary if w e may u se the expression
to veer round the hu man mind and to steer it in a dirc e
tion O pposite t o that w hi ch i t had hither t o preser v ed in
the midst ( i f s tor ms all w hich de m anded co mplicated
A fter ha v in g e ffected a c o un te r we v o lu
m an oe uvres
t i on i n a ffairs it w as nece ssary to m ake one in w ords
and repu blicans the z ealo u s de fenders o f the
a lso
m ost arbitrary au t h o rity e x ercised by liberty and equa
Buonaparte
lity revolted at the ver y n a me o f king
t ook care to sink thi s title i n tha t o f e mperor ; bu t i n
order to prod u ce a certain a we an d re v erence he had
There was
r ecourse to the u su al trappings o f ro y alty
a general resu rrection there fore o f what was supposed
to have been buried fo r e v er : the titles c ere mo nie s
custom s o f the court decorat ions e v en the s up er ann u
ated phrases which kin g s only m ade use o f in their let
ters were dragged fro m their m usty repositories and
a fter m an y fleeting cons t itu t ions France r e cei v ed as
he r only per m anent con st i tu t ion the i mp er ial e tiquette
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t h ese do mest ic O ccupati o ns Bu o nap ar te ne
le c ted nothin g which cou ld advance his i ntere s ts in o t
e r countries
He p ut the paci fi c dispos itions o f Aus
tria and Pr u ssia to the severest trial s a sligh t chron o
logical s ke teh o f all the acts O f violence w hich h e c o m
m itte d durin g the p eace w i l l she w w ho w as the r e al
aggressor
In Septe mber 1 8 02 an order fro m t he fi rs t consu l
s tripped the king o f Sardinia o f the states w hich st i l l
re mained to hi m i n Italy and a sm a tus c o nsu lta m order
ed the de fi nitive union o f Pied m ont and France In
t he mo nth o f O c t ober upon the death o f the in fant duk e
t he d uchies o f Par ma and Plaisance were united in the
Buonap arte pre tended to ac t u p o n a
s a m e m anner
cess i on made secretly by the cou rt o f Madrid lon g pre
v i on s * bu t this cession was null becau se A u stria had
eventual rights to these duchies o n the extinc t ion o f
t h e branch o f the Bourbons w ho were invested w i th i t
By these acqu isitions France e x tended beyo nd t he
Al ps part o f the neut ral lim it s w hich she had so l e mnly
prescribed to hersel f in order to tranquilli z e Europe
In 1 803 in the month s o f May and June i mm ediate
ly after the m ariti m e w ar had again bro ken ou t Buona
par te m arched a car/i s d a r mee into Ger many o ccupied
Hanover and sei z ed upon the ad m inistrati o n Geor ge
I I I h ad declared w ar as % ing o f Grea t Britain and n o t
He had not drawn a si ngle
a s Elect or o f Hanover
m an fro m his hereditar y states in Germany to ser v e
again s t France The latter i n the A me rican war h ad
Frederick the
ne ver thou ght o f attacking Hano v er
Great ne v er would hav e su ffered it Pru ssia who had
u ar r an te e d the north o f Ger many durin g the w hole o f
g
the w ar o f the r e v o lutio n was particularly interes te d i n
not ad m
i tting a French ar my into t he heart o f her s tate s
t he Hanoverian m i n i ster de manded her pro te c t ion bu t
wa s re fused
Am id
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s
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s es
e
a
ae
ea
e s
a ea a
tr ty o f S t Ild fo n o w hic h
T h i c si o n w as pro b bly m d by th e t M dr id,
h as n o t b e n p ubli he d I t i s c o nfir me d by nothe r t r ty m d
Th ins
M r c h 2 1 , 1 8 10
a
s
.
—
a
ea
.
v
23
in v asion o f Han o v er w as a mani fe st v iolat ion o f
The E mper or
the peace w ith the G er man e m pire
Francis II as t he head o f Ger many w as there fore cal
le d upon to O ppose it to declare the E m pire at w ar and
t o rep el force by force i f pro testations were i n va i n
b ut A ustria took no part w ha tever
England seein g that t h e neutrality o f the Empire
in a j ust spirit o f reprisal b lo cka ded
o t respected
w as n
t he Elbe and We ser —Ger many , thu s abandon ed by
beca me
the t w o p o wers who alone could protect her
t he theatre o f host ilities by sea and land
In March 1 804 Buona parte cau sed to be sei z ed by
upon the
a detach m en t o f troops the D ue d En gh ie n
t erri tory o f the Elector 6f Baden I sha ll not regar d
t his a t rocity her e in any other light than as an in frin ge
Even su pposing that the de sce n
m en t o f the peace
dant o f t he illustrio us C onde could be a s ubjec t o f Buo n the latter o ught
a parte guilty o f t reason t o ward s h im
to have addressed h i m sel f to the soverei g n in w hose s tate s
If t he obser v an c e
the duke re sided and de manded hi m
o f th e se for ms had gi v en the D u e d En g hie n t i m e to
e scape th e intended object that o f re m o v in g a da n ger
(
ou s character fro m the v icinity o f Fra nce %w ould ha ve
Severa l gov e rn ment s it is tr ue e x te n d
b een attained
the guarantee o f the person al secu rity w hich they o we t o
the governed to the extent o f ne v er delivering the m
u p upon any pretext —A s t ranger once recei v ed in to a
country ca nnot be pursu e d t hither fo r any cr i mes c o m
m itte d else where
Is it intended thereby to fa v ou r i n
—
div id u als un w orthy o f such pro t ec t ion
By n o m ean s
it is a noble privilege gran te d to t he soil i t self as the
law o f asylu m in te m pl e s respected a m ong so many
nations was a ho mage paid to the sanctity o f t he plac e
It is beautiful to say to all m e n W hen even the mo st
pu issant m onarch upon earth is y o u r ene my t ou ch ou r
hallow ed frontiers and you have no longer any thing to
The
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“
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If an ar m ed force had sei z ed , in the paci fi c t erritorie s
o f Ger m any , any individual , ho w ever obscure and cr i m
i nal , i t would at all ti me s ha v e been an act o f host i lity
e
demanded repa ration ; b ut the C i rcums tan c es o f
this c atastrophe were so atrociou s t hat Buon aparte see m
ed thereby loud ly t o declare to the civilize d world his
c ontempt for the law o f nations and his inten t to tram
ple the human race under foot
Ho w striking the co ntrast bet w een this b ar bmous
c ondu ct o f Buonaparte to ward s the grandson o f the great
C onde an d the generosity o f a g e n e r al a rival to the
former , in m ilitary glory but exhibiting in every other
The D uc d En ghic n
r e sp e c t the most perfe c t contrast
c ame se c re tlv to Paris d uri ng the summer o f 1 7 99 ;
Buonaparte w as then in Egypt the republic an g overn
m ent had no lon ger any p o w e r and the Bourbon party
The minister of w ar G eneral Bern a
h oped to rise
dotte then attracted the notice o f all by the splendou r
and by that rapid de cision on perilous o c
o f his name
casion s w h ich is the true characteristic o f m e n destined
to perform a consp i cu o us part The D u c d Enghie n
c o mmu nicated to hi m through the mediu m o f a c o w
m o n friend his arrival at Paris and at the same time
offere d h i m the s word o f the constable o f France if he
w ould assi st i n r e -establishing the Bourbons on the
”
I c ann o t s erve their cause replied Berna
thr o ne
my honour unites m e to the Fre nch h ati n
dotte
—
t
s
f
h
si
n
ce
e
de
cendant
o
a
hero
since a man has
t
bu
e fal h im
hi
self
no
ill
shall
b
i
n my po w er
t
L
et
u
m
p
the D ue d En ghie n set out this instant for his se cret
i n three days w ill no longer be m ine and I shall o w e it
”
to my c ou ntry
It is thu s that a heart truly magnani
mou s al ways fi nds the m eans o f reco nciling d uties i n
app earance the most O pposite
E very e ffor t w ould have been too late to save this
Prussia and A ustria made none
u n fo rtunate prince
S weden an d Russia i n vain e x horted the diet to resent
This adair of honour
the outrage upo n the Empire
% pon w hi c h the re o ught to have b ee n no deliberation
w as fee bly debated and speedily pass e d over in silence
By a s ena tus c o nsultu m o f the 1 8 th May 1 8 049 Buon
ap art e was pro cl aimed emperor th i s ne w dignity was
whic h
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26
r
w
w
t
o
h
ere
thing
it
hich
re
o
ac
h
A
u
tri
n
h
s
w
a
s
a
a
t
p
y
It is curious to observe
e x c ept her too l ong patience
to w hat miserable shifts Buonaparte had re c ourse in his
m anife sto ( i e ; his dis c ourse to the se n ate %in order to
give a c o lour to his aggre ssmns H e imputes am bi
but the aggrandise ments o f
t io us vie ws to A ustria
whic h he complains must be s g u ght for with a micros
c ope Besides it must be admitted that A ustria had
made her ac quisitions in v irtue of antient c onstitution al
With a rare impudence or s arcas
law s or by c essions
ti c derision he repro a c hed her amon g other things ( as a
dangerous aggression upon S witzerland %w ith having
cede d Meinan a smal l island in the lake of C o nstance
a place w hi c h no ne but travellers ever h eard of and the
ossession
of
w
hic
h
ou
l
d
have
tempted
no
person
w
b
ut
p
a n amat e ur o f p ic tu re s qu e S i tuat i o ns to for m an En li sh
g
arden
g
A t the c ommencement of the war the Fren c h t roop s
stationed in H anover passed through H esse to rej oin the
f
f
rand
army
The
e
l
ector
of
H
ess
e
ed
the
k
i
n
o
e
o
f
g
g
r
Prus sia to oppose their passage if he w ould sup port
him the w retched king of Prussia dis c ouraged h im a
fe w days after w ards these same t roops passed throu gh
The king of Pr us
the Prussian states into Fra nconia
fere d hi m
s uf
s ia instead of flying to arms n e g o c iate d
s elf to be a m used by assurances of friendsh i p and fal l a
cio n s promises and obtai ned no s atis fa c tio n fo r the vio
lation of his territory
T h is short but disastrou s war for A ustria was term i
In
t
h
at
of
unevi
l
l
n ate d by the peace of Presbur
e
L
g
had
obtained
compensations
f
o r her lost provinces
sh
e
although by no means e quivalent No w she w as called
up o n to give up all her possessio ns in S uab ia the Tyrol
her gre at bul wark the state of V enice and V enet ian
D almatia w ithout any other compensat i on than the
arc hb i s ho r ic k of S alzb u rg w hich a pri nc e of the H ouse
p
of A ustria already possessed
At the begi n ning of the w ar t h e prin c es o f the Em
pire w ere at pea c e w ith France but th ey w ere n o t he n
allies no r c ou ld t h ey be so in de fian c e of t h e e mpero r
,
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27
of G e rmany and th eir c o -prin ces w hile t h ere e x isted a
Tho se of the north re ma i ned
G erm anic constitution
protection of Prussia those of the
n eutral under
A ustria had m arched tr o p p s in
s outh a w aited e ven ts
to Bavaria this i ndispen sable mea s u r e for the d o fe
o f her most e x posed provinces w as adopted w ith the full
c onsent of the elector w ho demanded only that they
should preserve to w ards him an appearance of n eu tral i
ty as the c abinet of V ienna has p roved by the publica
t i on o f the correspondence w ith the court of Munich
In a short ti me Bavaria perceiving that fortune de c lar
ranged herself under their standard
e d for the French
an d t h e princes of W i r te m b e r g and Baden fol l o wed her
e x ample Then it w as th at the G ermans devoured each
other not in a civil war for they had no cause of qu ar
rel but sol ely for the interests of a for eign po w er The
G erman princes w ere seen making an impious w ar
against their emperor who had so often protected the m
against the invasi ons of France by e x hausting the trea s
ures and p o p ulatio n of his hereditary states Bu t they
w ere richly recompensed : Buonaparte distributed am ong
them the spoils of their benefactor : and althoug h scar ce
1y a king himself he raised the elector of Bavaria and
the dukeo f W ir te mb e r g to the dignity of kings
H o w ever great w ere the losses w hich A ustria e x p e r i
e nc e d by the treaty of Presburg they w ere nothing i n
c ompar ison of those w hich follo wed The court of
Naples forced for a long time to pay trib ute to France
and to m aintain her troops in sup p ort of this ne w coali
tion made a feeble e ffo r t to shake o ff the yoke Aban
d o ued by their allies upon te r r afi r ma e x posed to all the
ury of the con queror they had neither the means nor
the courage to keep the fi eld and fl e d to S icily 3 an
asylu m w hich the assistance of England had secured for
them Two brothers of Buonaparte one in the month
of March and the other in the month of June w ere de
c lar e d kings of Naples and H olland
The territories of
these kings were only separat e d by the form of the incor
o r ati o n of the countrie s w hich w er e given to them from
p
the Fren ch Empire
By a law pro mulgated at the same
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28
ti me Buonaparte arrogated to hi msel f an absolute tutelage
In virtue o f this
o Ver his brothers and other rel ations
r o al o f the Napoleon d nas ty
f
the
quality
prince
w
la
p
y
y
i mplied a perpetual m ino ri
The fi rs t duty o f a k ing
as a serv il e obedience to hi s maso f thi s n e w creati o n W
ter T his cro w n t his radiant circle w ith which Buon
w ished to decorate the br ew s o f his brothers or
h i s allies was b u t the last link of a chain o f whic h he
hel d the othe r end and w hich he could draw tight at
leas ure and the decla m ations o f philosophers agains t
pi ngs as c r ow n ed slav es were literally verified
The Germani c E m pire w as still recognised by the
peace o f Presburg Buonaparte ho wever al ways kept
his ar m ies in Ger many in order to defend all the o ut
r ages c o m m itted by pri nces o f the E mpire even agains t
their fello w states he encouraged the depredations
co mm itted by the strong upon the w eak and by the sat
ellite s o f his po wer upon the loyal and patriotic subjects o f
their country The p lunder o f the i mpe rial ci ties o f the
equestrian orde r o f the p etty kings who w ere pacific
o f all those s tate s w ho had neither the
and in general
po wer nor the w ill to m ake war against Fran ce se rved
to ce ment the c onfeder a tion of the Rhin e into Which n o
e ad mitted unless he had plu n dered his
b
r
nce
ould
C
i
p
neighbou rs It w as about this period that a German
bookseller ale in the m idst o f this pretended peace in the
boso m o f his country was shot by order o f a French
ilitary co mmission fo r havi ng dared to publish that
G er m any was degraded —a strange m ethod o f refuting
assertion
i
s
h
i n the m onth o f August there at length appeared an
act constituting the con federation o f the Rhine Lay
ing asid e the constitutional regulations w hich were
n eve r executed this w as at botto m n ot hing b ut a m utu
u o na arte guaranteed to the
p
pr in ces o f Germany the usurpations m ade under his
auspic es t hey in return gave up to hi m the live sand
prope rties o f t heir subjects pro misin g to assist h im in
.
t
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P alm
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29
all the wars o f aggressio n w hic h he m ighfi still have in
conte m plation
The me mbers o f the con federation annulled o f their
their obligations to the E m pire in virtue
o w n a ccord
The e mperor o f A u stri a
o f w hich they held their fi e fs
a c ceded to this arrange ment by resigning the dignity o f
electoral chief o f the E mpire an d all the rights w hich
belon g to it The treaty o f Presburg recognized these
righ ts but in order to mai ntain the m a n e w war
Prussia since 1 7 95 had
w ould have b e e n necessary
separated her cause fro m that o f the Germ an ic E mp i re
and had given the pernicious exam ple o f making a sepa
rate peace T he ecclesiastical prince s w ho al one were
sincerely attached to the Ger manic ca u se had ceased to
exist in con se quence o f secularizat i ons am o n g m os t
the sacrifices o f Austria fo r the
o f the other princes
E m pire during the long war o f the revolution had been
re w ar ded only by ingratitude or coldness The Aus
tr ian m onarch th ere fore voluntarily laid do wn his an
tient cro w n ad mitted by all Europe to be the first in
dignity and w hich fo r five c e nt uries had adorned the
house o f Hapsburg It w ill ever be recollected w it h
sensibility that equ ity and a paternal solicitude fo r the
o ppressed signaliz ed the last acts o f the i m perial autho r
ity It w as easy to bl am e the debility o f the Ger mani c
constitution w hile it still existed but it required a sad
experie nce to m ake kno w n the full extent o f the ev i ls
w hich its fall w as destined to bring upon Ger many and
Europe
The hour o f Pr ussia w as co me he r ki n g had been
long plunged in a fatal in fatuation ; his e y es w ere at
len gth opened but it was too late He w a s inces s antly
told by his sycophants th at his pacific disposition w as
th e ac m e o f political w isdo m
and he w as pers uaded
that by persisti n g in neutrality he w ould fin all y obt ain
the m an age m ent o f the equilibriu m o f Europe Buona
parte w as h i m sel f one o f the m ost undisgu ised flatte r e r s
o f this unh appy m onarch w hen he called b i n h is nat u ral
g
ally Prus s ia was still entire the secul ari z ations had
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30
a mply co m pensated her fo r the loss o f her provinces be
yond the Rhine % pon adding her share in the last par
tition o f Poland it w ill be fo u n d that she was str o nge r
in population and in r esource s o f every kind than she
had been since the days o f Fre derick But the latte r
s overe i n w ould have prevented
inst
ead o f awaiting
g
events he w ould not h ave rega rded the politics o f the
south o f G er m any as indi fferent to hi m he w ould not
have perm it ted Austria to be cooped % p w ithin her he
states
behind
the
Inn
and
i
n concert w it h
r e ditar
y
he r he w ould have constructed a barr i er su ffi cientl y
stro ng to resist the o ve rflo wings o f a m bition
w as chiefly o w ing to a false c o n fi
dence in her fo r m er s uccesses D uring eleve n years
her civil and m ilitary in sti tutions had n o t been p ut to
the tes t she had not perceived their insu ffi ciency even
In general this is
after so m any cha n ges i n E urope
the danger w ith w hich neutrals are m enaced—inactivity
d u rin g the great co ntests which b r ing into play all the
energies o f hu man n atu re di m inishes those o f gov e rn
It has been said that neutrals ou ght
m ents and n ations
to preser v e their stre n gth because co m bat ants are m u
This is false reasoning the strength
tually exhausted
o f nations consists far less in m asses o f m e n or rich treas
u rie s than in the i m pulses w hich ar e given to the m by
patriotis m and milit ary honour
Th e Pru ssian m inistry proved but too plainly h
far they w ere fro m thinki n g o f an y hostile proj e ct b y
lending the m selves to the m ost insidious proposition s
O verlooking the violation
of the cabinet of St Clou d
o f he r o w n territories P r u s s m consented to cede provin
ces to which she had no title and to receive in exchange
in
the electorate o f Ha n over w hich French troops had
fact occupied b u t w hich the king o f Englan d had by
no means g i ven up
his duplicity Buona
part e n e g o e iate d a pe ace with the British govern m ent o f
fe r i ng the restit ut ion o f Hanover w hile at the sa m e i n
stant he invited Prussia to take p o sse s smn o f it Thus
at the m o m ent w hen he was about to fall u pon he r he
took c are to e mbroil her w ith En gl and In order to
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3i
tranquillize he r as to the con federation o f the Rhine he
prepared to for m a northern lea gue w i th tho se Ger m an
states w hich were not y e t co m preh ended
But w hen the king o f Pru s sia w i s h e d to put this league
in to execution Buonaparte excepted fro m it the Hanse
atic cities adding that his tenderness fo r the i ndep e n
u ld i mpose upon
dence o f
protecting all those w ho re fused to
hi m th
confederate In the mean ti m e the French ar mies re
m ained in Ger ma ny and approached the Prussian fron
tier the ar m a ments w hich w ere indispensable fo r Prus
sia to preserve her front iers were considered as hostil
ities w ar there fore bur st forth in full fu ry
The Prince o f Hesse a fraid that his country w o uld
beco m e the theatre o f the war requested the belligerents
to allo w hi m to re m ain neutral His proposal was e a
e rly ac ced ed to at the French head -quarters and re c e i v
g
ed w it h c o ldne gg by the king o f Prussia Fifteen days
after having recognised the neutrali ty o f this prin ce
Buonaparte , once m ore victoriou s and h aving no l o ng er
any thing to fear stripped him o f all his states aggra
vatin g hi s atr o city by the m o st odious i mputations
A
m e m orable lesson fo r neu trals l —the elector o f S a xony
at first th
voluntary
ally
a
ter
o f Pruss i a
f
w ards turne d
g
his arm s against her w itho ut any reason but her m i s r
tunes and w as reco m pensed w ith the title o f king and
the duchy o f Warsa w
Neutrality is a cri me i n the
eyes o f Buonaparte because i t is a de m onstration o f in
dependence defection on the contrary deser ves to be
enco uraged besides a line o f conduct which depresses
the d ignit y o f a sovereign is al ways the beginning o f an
inti m acy w ith that m an who considers personal es tee m
a s a co n stra i nt
We are n o t w riting the history o f the w ars of N apo
—
leon we ar e rather s ketching the history o f his treaties
It w ill be su ffi cient to recal the i mm ed iate c o n se qu e n
c e s o f the peace o f T ilsit
The fou ndati o n o f the n e w
kingdom o f Westphalia fo r the Napoleon dynasty the
accession o f m ost o f the princes o f the north o f Ger many
to the con federation o f the Rhine the duchy o f War
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32
ucleu s 9 f the fut ure r e establish ment o f the
kingdom o f Poland an useful e ngl ne l n the hahds o f an
adroit politi c ian
and wh ich he might turn at pleas ure
a gains t Russ u or Austria
the re establish men t o f the
r epublic o f D antz i c
w hose independence was g nar an
teed but w hose subjec tion m ight easily have been fore
s een
r
s
w
i
nce
i
t
o
ld
u
ni
h
France
ith a port in the
w
f
u
s
,
Baltic and a strong p lac e d ar ms—fi nally m ili tary
r outes re served to the French ar m ies through the Prus
s ian states
so that in futu re no barrier should be inter
—
f
osed
to
their
progress
to
the
Russian
rontiers
s ueh
p
i n an e vil hour w ere the conditions to which the cabi
t o f St Petersburgh acceded
T his treaty was concluded in the su mmer o f 1 8 07
be fo re the end o f that year Buonaparte had seized upon
t wh kingdo m s Portugal and Etruria
and had ent rap
e d Spain so fir mly that he thought hi mself secure o f
p1 s prey
The occupation o f Portugal a kingdom tribut ary to
France sinc e the p e ac e o f 1 8 01 w as foun ded upon the
retext
o f the ad m ission o f English vessel s into her po rts :
p
w hile the Frenc h govern m ent endeavoure d to tranquil
l ize the Prince Regent and to make h i m believe that the
troops w hi ch had entered his kingdo m w ere intended
only to g uard the co asts ; and that he should be al w ays
r esp ected as a sovereign o f Portugal provided he
m itte d hostilities aga i nst England the British g O Ve r n
m ent opened the eyes o f the court o f Li s n to their
true interests and induced the m to e m bark fo r the E ra
Buonaparte then declared in his oracular s tyle
z ils
bu t
tha t the Ho us e q/ Bm g a nz a ha d c eased to r e ig n
It w ould indeed have
i t happened quite other w ise
ceased to reign if it had re mained and w ould have bee n
conde mned to drag out a captive ex i stence a t the mer cy
The h onourable fli ght o f the cou r t o f
o f the u surp er
Lisbon to a nother he m isphere proved that e xtre m es are
The
m ost proper to be resorted to w ith s uch an enemy
day on w hich the prince o f the Brazils set sail fro m Lis
b o n w as the ae ra o f a n e w splendour fo r that monarchy
a
t
t
w
i
f
r
er
v
ctorious
b
h
c
had
allen
in
o
ec
u
s
o
h
o
d
i
m
ly
f
y
saw, the n
‘
‘
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-
%
a
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34
to increase the glory o f his dynasty to pla ce a Buona
rte
upon
that
throne
occupied
a
f
ter
the
illustriou
a
s
p
de sc e n dan ts o f the G oths by the houses o f Hapsbur g
and Bourb on Admitting that it was easy fo r him to
m istake the true cha racter o f the Sp an i ards it m u st at all
events be ad m itted that his enterprize w as badly c alc u
lated in every respect He ought not to have trusted
that the nation in gene ral w ould consent to a change e f
fec te d by open violenc e besides the m e mbers o f the
royal fam ily , w h o were prisoner s in France there exist
ed several clai mants to the throne o f Spain In order to
support an intrusive king he m ust have had a Frenc h
army cons tantly in the peninsula Where the English
could fro m every harbour pou r in assistance to the dis
affected Besides it was clear that the colonies would
e m ancipate the mselves on such an occas ion and that the
gold o f the m ines o f Potosi and Mexico would cease to
fl o w into Madrid and fro m thence to France
But w hat was m ost singular in the afiair o f Bayo nne
w as that Buonaparte therein m anifested hi s true O pin
ions o f the ri g hts o f the very people whose pro te c to r this
Rep u blic a n E mp er or had so o ften declared hi msel f He
treated the Spanish people as a herd o f ca ttle w hic h
their proprietor l s w illing to dispose o f to the highest
bidder Even if the cession o f Ferdinand VII in fa
vou r o f the Napoleon dynasty had been voluntary it
w ou ld have had no validity w ithout the % me m o f the
nation There is a great diffe rence bet w een th e property
Hereditary
o f individuals and politic al prerogatives
sovereignty IS a r i ght purely personal ; and consequently
is not trans m issible except in the established order o f
succession If this order is broken by the ext inctio n or
exclusion o f a reigning fa m ily the nation only can dis
pose o f the vacant throne Certainly B uonaparte is
po werfully interested in recogn i z i ng this eventual righ t
fo r by virtue o f w hat other title but the
o f election
the shado w o f a popular election d oes he lay clai m to
9
f
o
the sovereignty
France
It is nearly fi ve years since the firs t insurgent inhabi
tants were massacred at Madrid durin g these fi ve
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35
o f the Fre nc h and a llied
been
the
to
b
m
y
troo ps she has also b een the quicksand i n w h i ch the
treas ures o f Napoleon have been sunk and her subj uga
tion i sat this mo ment as far distant as ever Thi s beau
ti ful country s o highly fav oured by nat u re ha s been
desolated to such a degree as to p resent in m any places
the flo w er o f the Sp an ish you th
the aspect o f a desart
has m ouldered away or langu ishes in sad captivity and
w ho w as already in
all this th at Joseph B uonaparte
t ranquil po ssession o f the throne o f Naples m ight ( in
spite o f his o wn w ishes %re pl ace Ferdinand V II on the
throne o f Spain % Can it be doubted that this you ng
prince whose faculties were b enu mbed by a confined
education if he had been per m itted to reign would have
placed hi m sel f i m plicitly u nder the tutelage o f h i s po w
e r fo l ally and that the latt er by directin g his councils
could have r e for m ed the abu ses o f the govern m ent res
tored its antient prosperity to the Spanish na tion and
9
f
m ade hi m sel adored
Aft er this recapitulation o f events Si nce the peace o f
Pre s burg there is nothing particular to add as to the
causes o f the last war w ith Austria in 1 8 09 I shall not
ho wever refer to the Austrian m anifesto su ch o f my
readers as ar e not yet convinced o f the j usti ce and ne
A m ong other inconveniences w hich
c e s s ity o f this w ar
attend treaties by which the legiti m acy o f the ne w
French authorit i es l s re cogni z ed an al mo st i n s ur mo unt
able i m possibility has arisen o f draw ing u p a good man
The pen o f the diplo matist as w ell as the s w ord
i fe sto
o f the w arrior w as checked by the recollection o f a too
servile subserviency to exi sting circu mstances Wh at
w as not w ithout exam ple w as not w ithout probability
and the secret fear o f being forced to repeat these sub
m issions i mpos ed caution and silence
There w as only
one good manifesto left ; it consisted in thro w ing t he
gauntlet fo r a w ar o f exterm ination and in saying
In for mer treaties w e have com pro m i sed our dearest
inter ests and sacrificed o u r most sacred du ties : this
man who se us urpation we have recogni z ed against O ur
convict ion who m we h ave permitted to sit a mong us
e ars ,
,
S pain has
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36
legiti mate sovere i gns l s g uided neither by la ws no r by
go od faith W e a ppeal to the universe aga i nst him
Although far les s po we rful than hi m we a r m once
because he leaves u s no alter native but to a wait exter
m ination at his hands or to prevent it
It is easy to observe that since the revoluti on every
n e w w ar w ith France was co m menced u nde r d i sadv an
tages infinitely greater than the preceding and in pro
portion as the danger in c reased hopes o f assistance w ere
di m inished Buo naparte took care to co m pro mise m ore
and m ore each po wer wi th its neighbour Pru ssia had
re mained an indifferent spectator o f the m isfortunes o f
in the follo win g year A irs tria looked
Austria in 1 805
on while Prussia was ruined The s m all portion o f
Pr us s ian P o land which Russia received by the treaty
o f T ilsit m ay be considered as a com pensation fo r the
expen ses o f the war In 1 809 Russia pressed by
France to take an active part in the war made only a
de m onstration bu t at the peace she accepted a c o n sid
crable portion o f G alli c ia In the recent cam paign both
Prussia and Austria furnished c o ntmg e n ts agai nst her
and by c ontributing e fli c ac io usly to over w hel m her
prepared fo r the m selves —G o d kno w s what destiny
All that has been said as to the ruinous e ffects o f
ne utrality pre mature treaties and c o -O pe ratl o n s m ore
or less direct w ith Franc e has not for its object to blam e
the antient govern m ents o f E urope fo r which w e have
the highe st respect T heir situati o n s in c e the r e v o lu
tion an d particularly s ince the usu rpation o f Buo naparte
has b een in fact qu ite novel and truly e mbarrassing
T he first shock o f any great and u nexpected reverse o f
fortune precipitated the conclusion o f peace ; in order
to preserve it , it was necessary to yield to Buonaparte in
every thing to have him fo r an enem y was to be i n
i m m i nent d anger his friendship is i nfallibly per nicio us
but it is n o t so i m mediately and he neglects not hing
to fasc mate the eyes o f those w ho m he c aresses w hile
he m editates their ruin It is to be w ished that the con
t ine n tal po wers w ould m u tually grant an a mnesty fo r
all tha t has pass ed under t his malignant influ ence as
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37
soon as o ne o f them give s proo fs that it sincerely wishe s
fo r its i ndependence arising out o f the deliv erance o f
Europ
T he Austrian govern ment i n 1 809 after making
a sole m n appeal to the patriotis m o f the people she w
e d no persever a
nce They w ere thereby depri v ed o f
the faculty o f having recourse a gain to extraordinary
me ans an d this cooling o f the public o pinion was a
m u ch m ore dangerou s evil than the loss o f so m e pro
vinces Austria lost by the peace o f Sch oenbrunn the
frontier o f the Inn Salzburg a p ortion o f G allic ia por
tions o f Carinthia Carniola and Croatia the latter dis
tr i c ts under the na m e o f the Illyrian Provinces w ere
ielded
i
ediately
to
the
French
E
m
pire
the
r
m
m
e
y
m ain de r w ere presented to her allies
But w hat s ig n ifi
ed a district m ore or less w hen the proportions w ere al
ready so prodigiously altered bet ween t he two e m pires
Even du ring the w ar Napoleon incorporated the Ec
c le s ias tic al States w ith France
stripping the Church
w hich he affected to respect and the venerable old man
w ho thought he had per for med an e m bassy o f peace by
placing the cro wn on his head Soon after w ards he de
posed his b rothe r the % ing o f Holland fo r not having
been a goo d D o ua nier in the prohibitive sy ste m w hic h
reduced his su bjects to beggary The Dutc h n ation
for m erly a m odel o f republican virtues v ictoriou s i n
the two Indies the ri v al o f E n gland w as so hu m bled
that he dared to tell the m in the face o f Eu rope that as
they i nhabited a c o u n try w hi c h was w ashed by French
rivers or such as had beco me French they m u st as a
m atter o f cours e be incorporated w ith France
This
I presu m e was the first ti me that the hypotheses o f ge
ology w ere ever add uced as argu m ents in politics
Subsequently he united the Hanseatic cities —those
republics al w ays pacific long oppres sed by Fran ce
w hich had sold the m a m o m entary protect ion at an ex
orbitant price —the shore s o f G er m any fro m the mou th
o f the Em s to that o f the Trave
and a great a m t o f
territory in the interior com posed partly o f the Hano ve
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38
St ates o f the % ing o f England and partly o f those
o f other princes against w ho m France never had the least
cause o f complaint Two pre fectures were even taken
fro m the % ingdom o f Westphalia w ithou t the brothe r o f
Napoleon being apprised o f it in any other way than by
the decree inserted in the Moniteur
Such there fore was this m onstrou s fede ral system
w hi ch was r apidly verg i ng to w ards universal m onarchy
Ev e ry other arran ge m ent w as only provisional the final
term w as al w ays an incorporation w ith the Grand
E m pire The sam e policy which guided Buonaparte
in 1 7 97 in Italy in m aking and u n m aking ephe m eral
r epublics w as n o w exercised on a larger scale and u n
der des potic form s The nations ran ged under French
controul m ay learn ho w highly they are rated in the eye s
by reflecting on the lan
o f the m aster o f their m asters
gu age o f Buonaparte to his young nephe w when he
invested hi m w ith the G ra n d Du chy o f Berg
Re
m e m be r al w ays that your first duties are to wa rds m e
the second to w ards France and the third to w ards the
”
eopl
e
entrusted
to
you
r
govern
m
ent
The
exa
m
p
l
p e o f the Bourbons dethroned in Spain an d o f Lo u is
Bu onaparte stripped o f his cro w n i n Holland teach all
con federate princes that it is a fine th ing to be a devoted
ally that it is a fine thing to be connected by c o n s an
t
i
n
i
n
e
w
t
w
n
to
the
dynas
y
hich
every
thing
co
tri
u
y
g
butes to preserve fro m the destiny w hich a waits hu m an
events The m ost highly favoured m ay at least e xpect
fro m Napoleon the politeness o f Polyphe m us
% lysse s
My
hav ing presented hi m with so m e excellen t w ine
”
friend
said the grateful cyclop
I shall eat you
am ong the last o f y our co m panions
A fter the last de feat o f Au stria after the change e f
fe c te d in the political syste m o f this po wer by the m ar
rincess
and
Nap
r ia e for m ed bet we e n an Austrian
o le
g
p
on all hopes had disappeared that the Continen t w ould
thro w o ff the yoke w hile Pru ss i a continued her alliance
w it h F
rance
Happily fo r the w orld Buonaparte
blinded by his pride co m m itted a great error in break
man
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if
O
i mr
67 w
wau w
'
au 5
3m m
n ew:
t
e'm
m
g
o
.
O dys s ey, %
.
3 70
.
39
ing a p e ace which was so use ful to him and attacking
that m onarchy w hose ar med force had only foug ht a s
au x rh ar i e s and at a distance fro m their o w n fr on t iers ;
Thr i ce had Russ i a e n gage d i n coalitio n s agains t
France and al ways in a disinterested and gen e rous
mann er Paul I was disar med by the flatter ie s o f th e
Chief Cons ul it required a deeper hypocrisy to
ate Alexander a sovereign equally hu m an e and m ag
n an i m o u s
has been hailed by Ger
w ho since 1 8 05
many as her future delivere r Na pole o n s ucceeded i n
e rs u ad in hi m that the obstinacy o f the English i n m ain
p
g
t aining their m ariti m e preponderance was the sole ca use
w
o f a l the m is for tu n es o f the
civilized
orld
that
l
France having lost her colonies her navigation and the
greatest part o f her co mmerce had been driv e n i n sp ite
o f he r w ishes to aggrandise m ents
that the sovereignty
o f the s eas m ust be w rested fro m England by vigorous
ly excluding her ships and m erchandize fro m the ports
o f Europe
that in this event w hatever w as burden »
so m e in the Continental Syste m w ould cease o f itsel f
and that all the branches o f industry w ould take a n e w
turn w hile the gene ral peace w ould be guaranteed by
the u nion o f the tw o preponderating po wers
Fo r m any years the declai mers and bettors again st
Buon aparte had foretold as the result o f his pro hibitory
m e asures against England the stagnation o f his c o m
merce the ruin o f his m anu factu res the m isery o f his
p eople public bankruptcy insurrection and the over
t hro w o f his states
But all these prediction s w ere n ot
exactly veri fied B uonaparte had o f hi ms el f not a l ittle
dam ped these exaggerated li O p e s by putting o ff this c a
ta s tr o p he fo r thirty years
Ho w ever closely the coasts
w ere w atched by c louds o f douaniers it w as discovere d
that a gre at quantity o f English merc handize had slip
ped into the Continent and even into France Do m i
cili ary visits w ere m ade every w here colonial produce
w as confiscated
and the English m anu factures were
burnt While these co m mercial a uto do fi s were cel
e br ate d w ith ridiculou s po mp
B uonaparte in order to
co ver the deficiency o f h is fi nances caused by the inac
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the dou an i ers opened his ports hi msel f b y gi ving
licences to the English vessels i e be seiz ed upon all
contraband trade as an i m perial m onopoly Rus sia had
therefore a right to c omplain that France was the first to
break he me n gag e me n ts she m ight have co mplai n ed o f
a thousand othe r vexations she contented hersel f with
r e -e stablishing under a neut ral flag a feeble portion o f
h e r antient co m m ercial relat ions a fter having fo r several
m
ears
continued
the
enor
ous and fru itless sacrifice o f
y
her foreign co m merce To conclude she a waited in
a c al m and dignified attitude the m o st i mpude nt and
ti v ity
of
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atr o c 1 0 u s ag g re s smn
.
Buonaparte published no m anife sto on the subject o f
this war he relied too m uch o n his good fortune to ap
peal to j ustice Neverth eless by his o w n con fession
his only m otive w as the ad m issio n o f English vessel s
m
erchandize
into
the
ports
an d Engl is
o f Ru ss i a
h
This dreadful conflict bet ween the Ru ssians single
handed on the one hand and on the other a mul titude
o f nations s uch as had n o t been seen fo r ages united
u nder one flag ; o f Ger m ans and Italians o f all deno m
i n ati o ns ; D utch m en and Croats already beco m e Frenc h
S wiss P o rtuguese and Spaniards torn from
ntr y
this de vastaing w ar whi c h dragged the
youth s o f Western Eu rope to the confines o f Asia
this holy league —W ill p o ste ri ty believe it —was an
n o u n c e d to the world as a crusade agai nst sugar an d
coffee and m uslins a n d laces Is the h um an race to be
thus tr ifle d w ith And ho w long w ill the mo s t enlight
ened nations sacrifice the m selves patiently, to a m use the
ennui fl atter the vanity and allay the a m bition o f a sin
_
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But perhap s it m ay be obj e cted to all we have said
that if the policy o f F rance be oppressive that o f Eng
not less so and that her m ariti m e desp o tis m i s
equally contrary to the wel fare o f other nations as is the
spirit o f conquest which ani m at e s the French govern
Assertions the m ost devoid o f truth; i ncessa nt
m ent
1y repeated w ith assurance and inculcated w ith d ue e m
hasis , end in making an i mpressio n upon unthinkin g
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42
‘
confined in port fo r want o f a squadron to p rotect t hem
the neutrals b eco m e he r carriers ; they transport m e r
c h an di z e be tw een the m other -coun try and her colo ni es ;
e ve n bet w een the two hostile
a n d i f they are requested
countr ies and a fte r all the subj e cts o f the po wer
w hich has recourse to the m only lose by this expedi
c ut the pro fi ts o f the frei ght retaining those o f the trade
i tsel f
There could not be a m ore l ucrative situation than
that o f a neutral in a m ariti me war i f the belligerents
w ere dupes to these pretend ed rights O f n e utrality and
put no restrictions upon the m Their s hips w ould be
w asted i a fruitless cruises if they did not n o w and the n
hu mble an ene m y fo r the honou r o f the flag and all the
profits o f the w ar w ould accrue to the states w h ich had
borne n o share in the risk
It is u seless , i n ord er to el ucidate this subject to go
back to the principles o f the law o f nature the d e c ision s
w ithout the concur rence o f
o f w hich ar e o fte n vague
positive law s founded upon treaties ; but m ore pa rti c u
l arly ins uffi cient fo r relations o f so co m plicated a nature
as those o f the co m merce o f civilized nations The
rights o f neutrality can only be li m ited there fore by
the conflict bet w ee n the disadvan tages o f reciprocal n e
and
th
o se consequent u po n
a
rupture
It
o c mtl o n s
g
w il l be necessary fo r the belligerents fo r instance to
ascertai n if they ought to pre fer the w ar in d isgu ise
w here
w hich ne utral s w age again s t the m to open Wa r
as neutral stai e s m u s t consider w hether it is their inter
est to subject t heir navigation to so m e constraint or to
expose it e ntirely
To m ariti me b elligerents the r ight is generally grant
ed o f preventing the i mportation o f goods contraband
o f war into an en em y s port and the righ ts o f blo c kad
ing one or m ore o f his p o rts w hich i n cases o f contra
No
v e n tio n j usti fi es the confisc ation o f neutral vessels
dispute has ar isen as to th e right to seize the property
o f an ene my in neutral vessels and co nsequently to v is
i t the m and to blockade their coasts
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43
During the war w ith Am er i ca a r med n eutr a lity pro
clai med the principal that the flag covered the m er
”
E n gl and never recognised this p r inci ple
c hahd i z e
This clai m if pushed to e x tre m ities
fo r good reasons
w ould not only place belligerents at the m ercy o f the
neutral po wers so far as goods contraband o f war are
c o n c e rn e d b u t w o u ld ad m i t o f tr 0 0 ps bei n g conveyed in
neutral vessels fo r the invasion o f an ene my s territ o ry
The blockade o f a coast differs i t e m that o f a partie
ul ar port o nly in the extent o f the m easure I f a p o w
er has the m eans o f e ffecti n g it why has she not the
right also If it is diffi cult to blockade a w hole coast as
vigorou sl y as a single port neutral vessels w ill enter
t
and depart at their o w n peril
fi
Finding his shore s blockaded Buonaparte by the
Berlin decree declared the British isles the m selves i n a
state o f blockade as in a quarrel an i nsult i s retorted
on the person o ffering it The En glish govern ment
m ay w ell despise this stupid menace since it w ould re
quire i m mense naval re so ur c e s J o realize it and those
I f it w ere
w hich France possesses are al m ost u seless
an act o f reprisal it w ould only fall upon neutral s and
it was a violation o f their rights infinitely m ore atro
cion s than any thing that E ngland had ever done Buon
a parte declared to all m ariti m e states
I have n o t a
single ship o f w ar at sea to prevent your vessels fro m
visiting England but I forbid you to send the m there
I cannot hinder English vessels fro m freely nav i gat i ng
the seas but I orde r yo u to exclude the m fro m y ou r
ports If you do not prohibit all intercourse wit h Eng
la nd all is over w ith you I shall attack you nor shall
I lay aside my ar m s until your coasts are guarded by
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o wn
This is n o t all As there w ere mariti me sta tes w hich
Buonaparte could not attack by land —a mong others
A merica -he m ade expre ssly on their account an o r
d inan c e which bears
that
After any neutral vessel
shall have been visited by any English s hips o f w ar
an d s hall have touched
by thei r orders at any Englis h
port and p ai d dutie s t here her flag is den a tio mzlzz ed
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44
and wherever she 1 8 se i zed she shall be declared a law
”
ful pri z e
In this way Buonaparte punishes neutrals fo r the
w eakness which puts it out o f their po w er to oppo se the
clai ms o f the British govern ment As a m otiv e fo r
this outrage he says that it behoves every state to m ain
tain its o wn independence G ranted — but it is a duty
Who gave
which she o wes to her s elf; and not to y o u
Besides
no
obli
o u the right to call her to account
y
a tio n is binding beyond a possibility
g
Fro m all that has been said it results that if England
Buonaparte n e ver
s o m eti mes handles neutrals ro u ghly
tolerates any w hatever and destroys as far as lies in his
po wer even to thfi hado w o f the rights o f neutrality
The violence o f his proceedings bei n g such w h ile his
ships are blockaded in port what would his conduct b e
i f h e were po w er ful at sea
The French minister incess antly proclai m s the liber
ty o f the seas as the subli me object o f the continental
syste m it is the watch word fo r e ve ry ne w war
n all the ne oti ations w ith England this sa me
e rthe le ss
g
i
m inister has never paid neutrals the co m pli m ent o f pro
n g any st ipulation in their favou r fo r the future
osi
p
For t w enty years Eu rope has been delu ged w ith dec
lamatio n s and calu m nies a gainst the British gov ern
ment : fo r ten years and m ore the j ou rnals and othe r
political w ritings published in En gland have been c o n
trabaud in France and in all the countries under her in
fl ue n ce
Facts are disfigured by m utilated extracts fro m
the o pposition ne w spapers If t he ne w French cate
chis m were to contain a lectur e on the sacred rights o f
the Napole on dynasty one o f the article s o f their creed
would be the Eng lish a r e the tyr an ts q/ the O c ean and
”
the e te r n a l en e mi es qf the Co n tine n t
We have al
ready refuted the first o f these i m putations the sec
ond w ill disappear upon exam ining the true relations o f
England w ith Europe
The English are described as a nation o f shopkeep
ers Th is m ay be said in as m uch as co mmerce is one
o f the principal bases o f their riches and their po w er ;
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45
consequently in public tran sactio ns their govern
m ent ou ght ne ver to lose s ight o f c o m merci al advanta
ges b u t it i s an arrant fals e ho o d to say that c om m erce
i s the i r sole occupation t heir o nly r es o ur c e an d that no
other m aterials enter into the ad m irable s tr u ctm e o f their
national p r o s peri ty
The occu pati on o f a m erchan t on a li mited scale
fro m i n c apacity or ave r s i o n to o ther pursuits wi th a
desire fo r gain disproportio n ed to the m e an s o f ac qu 1 r
ing it produces that m erc antile spirit w hich is j ustly
conde m n e d as s elfi sh and co ntrar y to a noble and dis
But w hen co m merce l s con d ucted
i nterested nature
on a large scale by a great an d enlightened n atio n w hose
social i n stitutions are c he fs d oe uvres o f reason an d ex
r i e n Ce
a
le
r
i
g
the
e
m
o n g w ho m the sc i ences a
n
n
d
a
n
p
m echanical arts and agric u lture far fr o m bei n g n e g
le c te d are brought to per fectio n in proport i on as m e r
c an tile speculatio n s beco m e e xtended
then c o mm e rc e
necessari ly leads t o liberal v ie w s an d ren ders e very c it
i z e n a cos m opolite
Not only in order to be fl o u r ish
ing do t he y requ ire p eace and liberty but a c omm er
c i a l people
as a m atter o f n ecessity are interested th at
others should enjoy the sam e benefits War takes o ff
h ands fro m the m an ttfac to rie s w hile it consu me s a quan
tity o f produce ; it i m poverishes there fo re in gen eral
the t wo belligerents at least one o f the m Liberty and
the reign o f equ i table la w s to the exclu sion o f every ar
and it is upon this secu
b i tra ry act secure property
rity that public and private credit rest Can we fo r a
m o m ent suppose that a co m mercial nation w ill rej oice
in the oppression an d r uin o f those w ith w ho m th ey car
r
on
trade
They
could
longer
find
any
arkets
n
o
m
y
fo r a poor country has nothi n g to sell and has no m o n
w
w
i
e
th
h
ch
to
purchase
Petty
erchants
m
m
b
a
i
y
y e
jealous o f each other may w ish to seize u pon a m onopoly
or grasp at m erchandize and % se all m eans to succeed
and the politics o f s ome states have frequently rese m
bled these vices o f trades m en But s u ch ar tifi c e s c an
n o t be profitable in the m am
i n co mm ercial a ffairs o f
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46
t tes as o f individuals noth ing is durable but that
w hic h is voluntary in every sense o f the w ord and
fou n ded u po n in u tual advant ages
When a n ation has
a c u i red a superiority in m ost branches o f hu m an indus
q
try when their navigation intre p idly v isits every portion
o f the globe and t r ave rses the ocean as secure ly as th e
w aters o f a canal
w hen the m ost valuable lu xuries o f
all countries pour into their harbours as w ell as the first
objects o f n ecessity when it possesses the art o f m u l
t ip lyi ng one hundred fold the value o f the latter by fa sh
i o n in g th e m w ith durability elegance and per fection
and w hen t he perfection o f mechanics sparing m anual
lab our ad mits o f their commanding fo r the productions
then the w hole
o f their manu factures a superior m arket
progress o f civilization w hether in e xtent o r i n rapidity
It is w ith
ar e so m any au g m entations o f their capital
the s u rpl u sag e o f productive labour over the c o n su mp
tion o f the interior that a nation procures fore i gn mer
and the m ore nu m e rous the productions it
c hand i z e
h as to receive , the m ore w ill it be able and w illing to
b uy A taste fo r the conven i ences o f life the enj oy
m ents o f lu xury and o f all the external e mbellish ment s
o f life m ay be di ffused a m ong all classes m ultiplied and
varied a d infini tu m A nation w hich kno w s ho w to sa
t isfy this taste i n a thousand w ays m ust add to the c o m
forts o f its o wn p opulation and to the lu xuries o f other s
The experience o f several years see ms to have proved
that England can subsist her population althou gh shut
out fro m the Co ntinent but n o t w ithout sub m itting to
privations The other three quarters o f the globe are
m ore open than ever to her m e rcantile speculations to
her colonial establish ments and e v en to her conque sts
We
i f such w ere n ecessary to m aintain her prosperity
do not m ean to say that E uropean connections are n o t
Very i m portant to England but they ar e not so m uch so
as for merly : a w onderful foc us o f m oral an d in te lle c tu
w ithin a space e o mp ara
al excellence has concentrated
ti ve ly s m all and little favoured by natu re a p o pulation
the m ost nu m erous the m ost active and the m ost p o w
But if by
at ful by the ascendancy o f the h uman m ind
s a
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47
this fright ful levelli ng W ith which all states are thre at
the genius o f national character is sunk into a
e ned
m echani cal un ifor mity if the m ost insolent and illiberal
despotis mshould plu nge Euro pe i nto m i sery and into
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glo be fro m w hich
re m aining like t he ar k afloat in the midst o f t he u niversal
deluge w il l find a mple co mpensat ion i n directing all
her efforts to w ards those vast and rich countr ie s o f
Asia where civilization has beco me stat iona ry fro m its
an tiq ui ty and to wards others still u nexpl o red in Afri
ca A m erica and the Paci fic O cean w here p rodigal
Let u s not
t ure only wants the fi nishing hand o f m an
forget that there already e x ists an Europe beyond th e
seas our languages our m anners an d our arts have
be en carried there this A merican Eu r o pe
its infancy becaus e it has been neglected or
m inistered : that part which has beco me independent
has sprung u p w ith astonishing rapidity I f there be
not so m e happy change i n store fo r our old w orld the
v igorous yout h o f the n e w m a
sp
e
edily
put
to
sha
e
m
,
y
In several
the age d decrepitude o f the m o ther -country
countries con federated w ith France proje c ts o f e m i gra
tion to wards the other he m isphere are treated as state o f
fences w h il e the English govern m ent by the w is do m
has in a fe w years trans for med a place o f
o f its la w s
transportation fo r cr i mi nals into a flourishing
Can We m istake the revolutions w hich are anno
those sy m pto m s
So far is England fro m fi nding it her interest to fe r »
m ent the troubles and to perpetuate the d iss e n S i o n s
o f the Continent that she is interested that Euro e after
p
t wenty years c o n vulsmn should fi nally enj oy peace —
a
peace w hich shall be guaranteed by the stabil ity o f her
govern m ents and the re -establish m ent o f the barriers o f
the independence o f every state Let it not b e said
that the English minister pursues a line o f poli cy sepa
rate fro m the interest s o f the nat i on that is rendere d
i m possible by the British consti tution by virt ue o f
w hich the govern ment m ust al ways gi ve w ay to the
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48
enlightened m ajority En gland continues
the w ar at the expense o f i m mense s acrifices she may
purchase peace w ith a stroke o f the pen , by subscribing
to the n e w syste m o f the o ppression o f the public la w o f
E urope The greatest disappoint m ent w ould be s u f
fe re d by those po wers w hich are still in the field and
by those nations w hich by their o wn princes have bee n
forcibly chained to the c har i o t w hee ls o f the usurper
En g land co n tinued ad verse to every pr oject o f conque s t
i n Eu ro p e no t w i th s tanding the allure m ents w hich pre
sen ted th e m selves she has been al w ays faith ful to her
engage m ents an d al w ays zealous in succou r ing s u ch o f
her allies as re m ai ned true to the m selves As she ough t
to have done she has i n the first place fou ght fo r her
b u t it m u s t be at the sa m e ti me a dm itted
o w n s afety
that she has fought w ith a noble enthusias m fo r the
co m m on cau se
The m inisters o f Buo n aparte like o ffi cial de fenders
anathe m a against Engli sh co m m erc e
o f the general
m aintain that he ought to take a d vantage o f his interna l
co m me rce and i m prov e his agricul t ure and m anufac
tures t hey say tha t England her self has p r o hibi to
la w s against the i m portation o f fore ign co m m odities It
m ust be in the fi rst pl ace re m arked t hat exportation is
also annihilated by the Conti nental S yst e m since that o f
England is interdicted by t he decrees o f block ade an d
there is no navy to protect the re mains o f the navigation
o f those cou ntri es w hich are i n a state o f hostility against
her The carriage by land o f goods to great distan ces
i s so expensive that i t a m ou nts to a prohi b ition o f m any
product ions and the c anals w hich ought to supply the
w ant o f external navigati on as yet are only m agnificent
projects Measures proh ibitory o f i m p or tation adop ted
u nder proper m odific ations and regula t i o ns m ay h a ve a
o od e f
f
e c t w he n the re is a prog r essi v e ad v a n ce o f industry
g
and prosperity in a c o un tr y For it i s cle ar th at there
I n ust be dispo sable or at least spa r e ca p i tals i n order to
a m eliorate agriculture and fo r t he cultivation o f n atural
produ ctio ns but there is nothing o f this kin d in France
But w hen the m ariti m e cities for merly so opulent are
w ishes
of
the
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50
the finances o f w hich Napoleon s ministers make an
ostentatious parade the re is a deficit in his rece ipts
w hich he is constan tl y obliged to m ake good by m ilitary
enterpr i zes not daring to di min ish his m ilitary po wer
a n d not being able to keep it u p w ith h is o w n resourc es
Be the case as it may it is certain that not only has he
brought to the highest point o f perfectio n the art o f sub
but
s isting his troops at the expense o f the ene m y
even in the intervals o f peace he scarcely per m it s the m
to r et urn to France: The m o st fortunate o f his allies
are those through whose states his nu merous ar mies
have only occasio n to pass other c o untries h ave the
burden o f providi ng fo r all their
He is at all ti mes parti
r esidence
country in reser ve to be given up to plu nde
when there IS
fate b e definitively settled
he then unites it to the Grand
n othing m or e to extort
E mpire or generously gives i t to so me ally The fo r
t unate inhabitan ts o f S weden w ho have never seen o ne
cannot
o f Bu o n ap ar te s ar mies inundate the i r country
conceive ho w expensive li is friendships have been e v
o f G er m any c an furnish m elancholy de
of
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:
partisans o f Napoleon assert that these
are m ere transito ry evils arising out o f the re sist ance to
his grand plans o f regeneratio n that the population o f
Eu rope hav e noth ing to do but to take ar m s again st
their antien t govern m ents and when once fir mly con
the w ar i s
ne c te d wit h the F ederal syste m o f France
while u nder the shade
re moved fro m their frontiers
\
o f he r protect i ng po wer their losses are qu ickly repair
ed But is the re any roo m fo r breathing by the side o f
such indefatigable a mbition 9 Napoleon de m ands o f his
as if t hey w ere his subj ects m e n and m oney
all i es
His de mands are not proportioned to their means but
to his o Wn w ant s al w ays urgent an d al way s ex orbitant
It for m s no part o f his character to hu sb and resou rces
he recognizes no future beyon d 11 1 8 next enterpr i ze
The confederate princes are there fore o bliged
h ave co nstantly o n fe e t a military esta blis hment beyon d
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proportion to their population and reven ues whil e
the troops o f Bu onaparte live at di sc ret i on among them
they re main charged w ith the pay o f their o Wn troops
and w ith all their expenses w hen these tro o p s ar e e m
ployed in far distant w ars w ith w hich their countries
have no concern —the continge nts o f every co n federa
ted state are fixed in appearance but w hat does this
s erv e w hen the w ill o f their m aster is s u fli c ie n t to
double or tripl e the m ?2 Besides it is n o t stipulated that
the au xiliaries shall furnish a certain nu mber o f m en once
on the contrary i n prop ort i on
fo r all during every w ar
and the
a s the s w ord o f the ene my destroys the s o ldiers
diseases o f strange cli mates carry the m o ff the blanks
mu st be filled up and as he is in preference prodigal
o f au xiliaries it is a gul f the vast depth o f w hi ch s wal
lo w s up every thing which co m es w ithin i ts vortex
As the o ffensive alliance bet ween the Great E mpire
and states o f the second and third degree is al ways at the
e xpense o f the latter every thing is to the advantage o f
the m o st po w erful and the p e ople are not per m itted to
have a vote in their o wn affairs As a consequence the
vassal kings o u ght to be equally absolute am ong their
subjects g s their m aster i s i n France , but Napoleon has
m ade the m abject
Since the age o f Lou i s % IV the French have been
accu sto med to give the law to Europe The lu s tre o f
this reign celebrated by ar m s and learn i ng ; the uni
v e r sali t
o f the French language ; the ani m ated polite
y
ness o f their m anners e very thing concurred to r ender
to France fro m all E urope the voluntary ho mage o f
i m itation This European a scendancy becom e fr iv o
lous under the regency and un der Lou is % V introduc
ing every w here a m ong the great religious and m oral
incredulity as easily as c hange s in dress and fashio n
was n e v e r the le ss ve r y advantageous to the success o f the
r evolution
Fran ce then w ished to give to E urope and
to the w hole w orld Parisian m odes in politics and con
stitutio n s w ere accepted w ith ecstacy because they w e re
sh aped in the m ode r n te mple o f taste
That for ms o f
govern ment ou ght to be adapted to the character the
all
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5 2
facultie s , and the latitud es o f every nat i on , and to the
lo c alitie s o f every country , so that any su dden and u m
expected change m ight produce no durable e ffect ,
truths so evident that they struck the co m m on sense o f
every one ,— w ere m isconceived by the m ission aries o f the
re v oluti on ary propaganda They wished to co m m u n i
cate to the w hole hu man race the b e n e dic tio ns o f their
n e w order ,
or
rather
social
disord
e r , %before they had
(
tasted it the m selves At first , nation al a sse m blies w ere
every w here convoked after w ards the Lu xe m bourg
Directory brought for th little Director ies , Cisalpine , Ba
som e ti m e after wards there w as a
tav ian , and Helvetic
President , or a G r an d Pensionary no m inated by the First
Consul and, fi n ally ,the re is n o w every w here a n A bso
lute Monarchy u nder the N apoleon dynasty This phe
n o m e n o n w a s , till then , u nkno w n in Europe
m onar
chies , w hich passed fo r the least li mited , w ere , in fact ,
li m ited in a thousand way s by the influence o f the no
blesse and o f the clergy by an tient usag es , w hich t hey
durst not in fringe by the e m ulation o f liberality , w hi ch,
in the 1 8 th century , existed in all govern m ents ; by the
and , finally , by the liberty
force o f European opinion
o f the press , w hich , if it w ere any w here oppressed , took
re fu ge in a neighbourin g state In France , the level
le r s, i n the nam e o f republican equality , paved the w ay
nothin g but the throne was raised above
fo r despotis m
the dust the n e w prerogatives and distinctions o f rank
are only phan to m s w hich their invent i on can annihilate
The regi me o f Buonaparte is ge n erally co m posed o f tw o
ele m ents one o f the m revolutionary measures rendered
per m anent by a m ethodical ex ecution the other , the
abuses o f antient royalty re v ived and m ultiplied There
‘
he has e rected
w as once a single Bastile in France
eight ev ery thing is in the sa me proportion The
luxury o f the antient co urt gave great o ffence it w as
h u mble and m odest co m p ared w ith the po m p o f the n e w
The kings o f his creation have i m itated him in this res
peet feeling their o wn w ant o f m oral dignity , they
think to i mpose on the vulgar by external po m p
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5 3
short the infallible consequences o f the C o ntinen
tal Syste m to every state
are the r uin o f co mmerce
and industry 3 over whel m ing taxes the overthro w o f
all constitutional for m s interm inab le wars on acc ount
ry ; arm ies
o f others ; equally exp e nsi ve and san guin a
estranged fro m their country and all o f the m ready to
tu rn their ar ms against their fello w -citizens princes
incapable o f protecting endo w ed With an unli mited
po wer o f oppressing their subjects and tre m bli ng in
their tu fn be fore their m aster fi nally in the m idst o f
ter ror m isery i gn o m i ny the obligation to ere ct trl
u m hal arches and to sing hy mns o f adulation
p
I shall finish these pages by hazarding so m e r e fle c
tion s u pon the follo w ing question What is the safest
the m ost advantageo us and the m ost honourable part
fo r S weden to take under present circu m stances 9 I
spe ak o f my o w n a cco r d fo r a hu mble individual can »
not be perm itted but with extre me circu m spection tci
anti cipate the inten tions o f govern m ent
An alliance w ith m o dern France or rather w ith Na
o
l
on
e
f
carries
ith
it
the
necessity
ent
r
i
ng
i
nto
w
o
e
all
p
the principles o f the Continental Syste m I do no t sup
pose that all w hich has been developed on this subjec t
w ill be re futed by the h ac kn ied adage that France is the
natural ally o f S wede n Is it n o w the sa me France
the sa me S w eden the sa me Europe to whic h this thesis
applied 9 For merly France gave subsidies ; n o w she
for merly France had a great naval
exacts tribut e s
force
she could e fli c ac io usly support the nav i gation o f
S w e den in the event o f an attack fro m E ngland
France has n o w n o navy 5 and as soon as any po w er
is allie d wi th her it runs the ris k o f losing its o w n :
fo r merly France was se parated fro m S weden by a n um
ber o f states placed bet ween the m at present they ad
j oin each other fo r France has Den m ark at her d ispo
sal for merly o f all the po w ers o f Europe France w as
most inti mately connected w ith the Port e she could by
her influence m ake an use ful diversion fo r S weden in
the event o f a rupture with Russia At present France
is a frontier to Tur key and her proj ects o f conquest are
In
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5 4
u nequivoc al As every thing has ch ange d so has the
m eaning o f the expression na tu r a l a lly ch an ged also
While any e quilibriu m ex isted challe n ges w ere gene r
a lly sent to a dj oi ning states
Countries w hich w ere r e
m ove d to su ch a di stance as to prevent the m fro m c o m
ing in coll isio n bu t w hich n everthele ss could help each
other ind irectly w ere reputed natural allies At pre s
ent whe n revolutionary politics have subj u gated tw o
thirds o f th e Cont i nent and atte m pt to over turn w h at
ever still re m ains u nshaken all the states which are able
and w illing to m aintain their indepen dence and to forti fy
it by the dissolution o f the federal sys te m o f France
ought to u n i te str i ctly w hether they ar e neighbou rs or
placed at the ext re m itie s o f Europe and w hatever m ay
be the i r antient rel ation and even their present quarrels
Rivalr i es individual clai m s and recri m ination ou gh t
to be forgotten in order to labo u r with one co m m on
a ccord i n a danger so urgent
But since there are persons who think the y h ave found
i n the past rule s fo r their cond uct at present
since w e
m eet w ith prej udices w hich are as it w ere pe trified in
the head s o f those w ho like be tter to repeat the lessons
received in their yo u th than to ob s erve an d reflect fo r
the m selves let u s take the trouble to exam ine the
history o f the alliances bet wee n S w eden and France and
w e shall find that the for mer never reape d any ab n ud
ant fruits In the seventeenth century France in fac t
c ontributed by su bsidies to place Gustavus Adolphu s
I in a condition to undertak e that w ar w hich w as so
glorious fo r S weden but her assistance was al way s
hollo w the French m inis try w ere j ealou s o f her su cces
ses and in the n e g o c iatio n fo r the peace o f Westphalia
they intrigued in every p o s s ible vvay to de feat the adv an
tages which her e fforts had gained O n e o f the m ost
respectable S w edish poli ticians Chancellor O x en stier n
dre w u p in 1 692 a me m oir in w hich he strongly de
ce
ll
s
m
rec
tes
ith
os
j
udicious
arg
u
ent
an
a
ian
w
m
t
a
p
This was ne vertheless the gloriou s ag e
wi th France *
o f Le w is % I V
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5 5
This w ill be s u fli c ie nt to prove to ou r readers that
even for merly the O p i n i on o f enlightened m e n in S we
den has n o t been un ani m ous as to the syste m Whic h
ought to be p ursued to w ards France But we repeat
that the circu m stances in w hich Eu rO pe i s placed are so
extraordinary that no co m m onplace diplo matist can
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S weden has a right to re main n e utral but w e have
seen that Napoleon ad m its o f no n eutrality that he r e
gards as e ne m ie s all those who do not assist hi m i n
I f fo r the
m aking a negative war against England
m o m ent he cannot p revent the neutrality o f a state he
w ill bear i t in m ind and will sei z e the first opportunity
o f reven ing hi m sel f by thro w i ng that state into s uch a
g
dependent condition that it can nev er rise
To ha z ard a w ish to preserve independence w i thout
for m ing posi tive connection w ith the po wers coalesced
against Napoleon w ould be to attra ct his resent ment
9
m
the
other
hand
hat
ust
be
done
to
satis
y
w
f
hi
m
n
O
S hut our ports her metically against the English ; and as
a consequence subm it to see the m blockaded deprive
ourselves not only o f the advantage o f m utual ex portation
be tw een S w eden and England but o f the possibility o f
treat as state
all navigation and all external co m m erce
cri m inals the inhabitants o f states which fo r want o f
other resources w ould atte m pt to resist regulations
so rigorous di minish the revenues o f the state like
those o f indi vid uals expose o urselves to fam ine in
co nsequence o f obstacles which the English can inter
pose to the arrival o f grain fro m the Baltic and to the
-trade
w
oasting
these
are
the
sacrifices
hich
Napole
c
on requires fro m S weden fo r an indefinite ti me w ith
out holding o ut any return except fro m ti me to ti m e a
m ajesti c sign o f approbation
These presu mptuou s
de m ands are so insulting that laying aside all se l f
interest the senti m ent o f national dignity alone ought
to ind uce u s to rej ect the m
In order to see w ith the i r o wn eyes w hat it costs a
mariti m e po wer to have Napoleon fo r an ally the S wedes
h a v e only to look at their nei g hbours the Danes I
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5 6
to speak o f the affairs o f Den mark bec aus e
i n the ge neral pro gress o f events they have only been
o f secondary i mportance
Mu ch praise has been b e s
to wed upon the ne utrality whic h t his govern ment ha s
f
t
h
n t o f the w ars o f th e
ro
essed
since
e
c
m
e
n
c
e
o
e
m
m
p
r ev o lution
T his conduct was nevertheless but a p it
ifnl mercan tile speculation
S unk in profo und apathy
d uri ng the revolutions o f E urop e Den m ark had noth
i ng in vie w but the mo m e n tary advantages o f her c o m
m erce w ith out ever dre am in g that the fal l o f s o m any
s tates w ould s con shake the basis o f her o w n politica l
e xis te nce
T he fact is that Den mark after having
d one a great deal o f m ischie f to the coalesced po wers
has in the e n d drawn upon hersel f irreparable evils
The British govern m ent after having long tolerat e d a
n eutrality
entirely
to
its
disadvantage
finally
w
t
s
a
i
%
(
s el f obliged to take precautions fo r its safety in a conte st
w hich i t maintai n ed alone against so m any ene m ies
B ut it was content w ith disar ming Den m ark by sei zin g
h er fleet and it evacuated % eal and al ready conquered
w hich it m ight e as ily hav e kept by its sea and land fo r
c e s and continued to m ake w ar against the Danes w it h
that m oderation w hich it had adopted as a pr i nciple
w hen hostilities w ere co mm itted by le ss po wer ful states
at the i nstigation o f France
The king o f Den mark during the war o f the e mp i re
fro m 1 7 91 to 1 8 01 never furnished the contingent that
h e w as bou n d to do as a m e mb e r o f the Ger mani c Body
O n the contrary the Danes took the odious part o f con
tributing to rivet the chains o f Ger m any by send i ng
Witho ut
troops to overw hel m the un fortu nate Schill
the king o f
entering into the Rhenish con federation
Den m ark behaved like the princes w ho engaged in that
league by annulling his own authority as duke o f H0 1
stein , by destroying the privileges o f the i nhabitants o f
that pro vince and by subj ugati ng the m to the absol ute
la w s o f his m onarchy , Neither the abdication o f i ts
chief the only conseq uence o f which should have been
a n e w election nor the violent acts o f som e d isloyal prin
i
t did e x
c e s could extinguish the Ger manic e m pire
,
and
e
ur e
t
d
it
still
e
not
6
at
leas
z c to
d
st
if
x ists
j
fi
i ,
have o mitted
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5 8
l ittle
Napoleon is in no haste to seize a body wh i ch
is w ithi n his grasp If he term inate the presen t war
successfully what a m iracle w ill it not re quire to save
Den mark ? If on the contrary the coalesce d po wers
su cceed she runs the greatest risks beca use on the
general shock she is placed at the outposts o f the Fren ch
e mpire % pon this las t suppos ition i f the D anish go v e rn me nt does not m ake co mm on cause w ith the allies
the d o w n fal and dis m e m bermen t o f her monarc hy are
inevi table
To retu rn to S weden with who m an am icable alli
ance w ith England appears an indis pensable requisite t o
secure its mariti m e prosperity and w hich fro m its
geographi cal po sition it is peculiarly calculate d to e n
force w ith every possible advantage
At this critical period an d during the su spension o f
Britis h co mm ercial in tercourse w ith the Co ntinent the
Britis h govern m ent s hould d uly appreciate the ad van ta
e s o f r ene w ing and strengthening t heir for m e r ties w ith
g
It
s u ch states as c o m m and an e x tent o f se a c o as t
sho uld seek to p ro m ote navigation and co m merce an d
the present m o m ent is singularly favourable fo r this
pu rpose England w ant s European ports and inlet s ;
she fear s no rival on the seas w here her flag flies al mos t
—
She is absolutely oppressed by the
al w ays tri u m phant
w eight o f her colonial conquests ; a t least it is certa in
that she has made several w ith no other benefit t han that
as they can afford her
o f taking the m fro m the ene m y
nothing to export o f Which she had not already a super
abundance Why then does not S weden obtain fro m
the English govern m en t so m e o f her colonies in ret u rn
fo r her e flec t ual c o operations — Why d o es not her
invigorate and strengthen itsel f
c dm m e r c ial syste m
w hile that o f Holla nd o f Den m ark and the Hanseatic
to w ns are paralyzed
Why sho uld not S weden situa
t e d bet w een tw o seas and intersected by nu m ero us fine
lakes not avail he rsel f o f this ad vantageous position 9
Fro m ti m e i m me m orial her inhabitants have been fe d by
the w atery ele ments that surrou nd w hat m ay be ter m ed
the Scandinavian peninsula While their ancestors vie we d
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5 9
the p e rils whi ch encircle their dangero us co ast the fl o at
ing islands o f ic e and the bleak stor ms to w hich a n o rth
ern cli m ate is subject they o nl y laughed because the se
w ere dangers w hich they w ere accu sto m ed to m eet in
their re m ote expedit ions and the first m e n tion o f the m
in history is that o f bold intrepid nav i gators Why
should not the S wedes retrace the footsteps o f their
illustrious forefathers q ualifying at the sa m e ti m e t hat
spirit o f enterprize w ith the progress o f ci v iliza ti o n ?
An ex tensive and m ost brilliant perspective n o w ope n s
—
s
co
ercial
speculation
Let S weden t he n hast
fo r
mm
en to av ail hersel f o f all tho se natural and col lateral adv an
tages o f which a c o mbination o f extraordinary circu m
stances see m s to put her in the full possessio n
If Europe is raised u p again they w ill be be fore hand
if she is conde mned to re main bo w ed do w n with a rod
o f iro n her navigatio n w ill be anni hilated w ith all the
rest o f the civilized a rts and sciences The exports
fro m each o f the subju gated harbou rs w ould be guarded
w ith i nvincible Hercul ean pill ars i m pregnabl e even to
the despotis m o f the conqueror -and while his slav es
w ith di ffi culty till the ground bede w ed w ith tears o f
bloo d th n ations which are fre e such as the English
g
and the S w edes in securit y w ill plough the turbulent
ocean as if it were extensively their inheri tance
It is not to be doubted that whatever tends to c o nsol
idate peace and har m ony to t eammate and m ul tiply a
m utual rega rd bet ween England and S weden should
be in this last -na med country al ike con for m able to the
-to
w ants and interest o f the labouring class o f m en
their natural inclination an d, i t m ay be said to the
m oral genius o f the nation at l arge and to the wishes o f
the enl i ghtene d i n di v i d u ad
Let us no w consid e r its political relation with Rus s m
So long as S weden retained the trans m arine provinces
bordering upon that e mpire there al ways existed a poi nt
When P ete r
o f hostile contact bet ween the two states
the Great laid the first stone to erect a n e w c apital at the
extre m ity o f his vast em pi re ( i n a territory snatched
fr o m the S wedish do m inions he laid the foundation of a
long struggle between these nations —Russia had to
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60
defe nd a frontier too nea r the s eat o f g overn ment not to
cause her uneasiness Whenever she w as obliged to carr y
her forc es to any d is tance at present the sea and t he
frozen regions for m a bul wark bet w een her and a neigh
b o u r i ng po w er o ften for m idable No w that th ere can be
no w ar b et w een Russia and S weden actuated by motives
as it w ere
o f reciprocal security S w eden has beco m e
an island o n that side o f the coast havin
not
ing
to
ear
h
f
g
fro m Russia hence she beco m es her m ost natural ally
besides which both states have a c o m m o n in te r e st in the
B altic and w hich has already induced the m m ore th an
o nc e to concentrate and unite their m arit i m e strength
\
We mu st think o f repairing our losses but n o t o bs ti
seek
f
o r that reparation exact ly on t he vulnerable
n ate l
y
side o f the question to m aintain whi ch has so lon g ab
sorbed the greatest part o f the forces o f the E m pire
Divided an d disunited states it is w ell kno wn do n o t
yi eld their sovereign th at vigou r avhi ch they w ould do
w ere they con centrated to a focus and fo r m ed a w hole
co m po sed o f one substa nce besides this fro m the ne
c e s s ity o f keeping these p o s s e s s mn s in a state o f d e fence
the policy o f the govern m ent beco mes co m plicate and
dependant on local circu m st ances It is not enough tn
increase our good fortune but infinitely m o re i m portant
to circu m scribe its li m it s —Every govern ment should
for m and hold its o wn bo undar y and w hich o f its n ature
should be rendered very di ffi cult if not i m possible to
break It is then that it e nj oys w ithout alloy its o wn
i n depe ndence w hen it ha s n othin g to fear in its exte r
n al relations and cannot be entangled against its w ill in
sy ste m s contrary to i ts o wn interest
Many states fro m their geographi cal position are
doo m ed to be perpetually in collision bet wee n the ir
neighbou rs on every ne w rupture ; but S w eden protect
ed even by natu re should aspire to give hersel f a c o m
pact and al most insular integrity ; this w ould inv igorate
her s trength in finitely m ore than any territo rial acqui s i
tion or increase o f population could do
The union o f
Cal m ar for merly brou ght w ith it a series o f con
but w e m ight be surprised
straint and O ppression
that in the schis m s th at fo llo we d be tween these three
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m
kingdo s still represented in the arm or ial beari n gs o f
S weden the two situate nearest the sea coast hav e n o t
re m ained united an d to consider the excuse abstract
e dly
w ithout entering into details o f the cir cu m stance
it would appear m erely an accide n tal event
The acquis ition o f Nor way to S w eden the m ost de
sirable o f any she could make precisely i s the one that
Wo uld give to Napoleon the greatest o ffence and the
one to w hich he w ould least accede s o long as he could
oppose it Ho w w oul d he ever a gree to bind in a
m anner n ever to be undone the indepen de n ce o f a gov
e r nm en t already too fa r beyond his reach w hen his chie f
po licy consists in taking a way s u c c e ssw ely fro m eac h
state w hatever degree o f indepe n dence they m aintained
and co mpelling the m to participate in foreign wars eve n
w hen in opposition to their o w n interest 9 Ho w w ould
he c onsent to give S weden a greater e xte n t on the sea
coast and thu s m ake her m ore an xio u s to av o id ho s tili
ties w ith England 9 Never would he have given to
S weden any other than su ch precariou s posse s sion s in
return fo r her alliance on the o ffensive ; while in w atch
i ng over their preservation she w ould be u nder the ne
c e s s it
o f abiding by his w ill and o f c o operating in the
y
e xecutio n o f all his d esigns
The S w edes s e illu striou s in history possess an in
n ate senti m ent o f dignity
The n atio n has chosen the
best m eans o f repairing adverse ti me s by c alling a
prince to the throne fo r who m they feel ad m iratio n
blended with the ho mage due to the sovereign In this
e lection w e behold the da w n o f a gloriou s day
an d at
tac h m en t to S weden v alour an d the geni u s o f an e x e
p
r ie n c e d w arrior
are the indispens able qualifications fo r
t he chie f o f an e m pire totteri n g a m idst the shocks that
have e n gulphed so m an y o ther nations beca u se their
princes kne w not ho w to conduct their o wn subj ects to
the field o f battle Duri n g long an d bloody wa rs m a
n
n erals have acqu ired the reputation o f being e a r
e
yg
f
less qf dang e r
but it is rare indeed to have be en w ith
out reproach in an epoch o f civil co mm otions The
Prince -Ro yal o f S weden has displayed c hi valrv in re
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62
publicanis m as w ell as in royalty —France is indebted
to hi m fo r having defended her in the most critical peri
ods long b e fore her prese n t rule r w as di stinguished w ho
has sub s equen tly by a thousand ar tifi c e s caparisoned
h i m sel f w it h m ilitary glory
The di fferent countries w hich w ere the theatres o f
his exploits have praised his endeavors to so ften and
m itigate the evil s o f w a r and relieve su ffering hu m ani
S w eden beheld h i m on her shores identi fy hi m sel f
ty
w ith her citizens by senti m ents o f patriotis m w hich no
sovereign o f Scandinavian blood ever surpassed For
the last tw o years the king s reliance on his successo r
and o n the u prightne s s o f his future plans has po wer ful
ly contributed to the r e -establi s h m ent o f order in the
interior o f the country Private safety I S secured by a
a spirit o f m oderation
d ue res pect paid to public drde r
and u nani m ity presides in the asse m blies o f the re pr e se n
co m m erce and navigation have re assu m ed
tati v e s
their w onted activity and the youth ful de fenders o f
their co u ntry exercise their m ili tary talents w ith fervour
and zeal under the au spices o f a hero The S wedes
w ill follo w w ith unli m ited confidence their chie f w ho
has devoted hi m sel f w holly to the m and they re quire
nothing m ore to restore the m to the brightest an d m ost
exalted situation That energet i c cal m ne ss w hich se
cured o n its base the edifice o f social institutions m ani
A style replete
fe s te d itsel f also in its external relations
w ith dignity j ustice and m oderation r esounded fro m
the ut m ost corner bf the north and astonis hed all E u
rope already w ithout appearing to have acted abroad
S w eden in the general state o f affairs has e x ercised an
i m portant and salutary influence The fri endship t hat
so ldn g subsisted bet w een he r and the S ubli m e Porte
facilitated the conclusio n o f peace w ith Russia though
France by every m eans i n her po wer endeavoured to
h
T
e Divan
sensible that it w as its
revent
it
eal
p
r
intere st to cede a part o f its territory rather than to
accept o f any g uarantee o f integrity fro m Buonaparte
offered as a bait to continue the w ar G reat Britain
and Ru ssia are so inti mately connected w i th each oth
e r that any suspe sion o f ami c ab le i nte r c o ur s e bet ween
n
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63
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a v iolent nature an d o f sho rt durati o n
S weden lyin g in the dire ct road o f co mm unicatio n is
They
as it w ere the inte r m ediate li nk o f the ch a in
both seek her friendship an d r e s pect her inde pe n dence
as the surest guaran te e s ag ams t the conti nental s s te m
o f subj ugating the Baltic
In the i n tervie w bet w een the e m pe ror Alexan de r and
th e Prince Royal o f S w eden to w ho m the ki n g had co n
fi de d the secrets l o f the state the t wo n ations cast all fo r
m e r am m o srtte s bet w een the m i nto oblivion fo r ever
and as the Prince Regent o f England had also a re pr e
the u nani m ity o f thre e su ch m agn ani
s e n tati v e there
m ous sovereigns proclai m s the develope m ent o f a p o li c y
a conduct full o f
c ontrary to the subtilty o f egoti s m
liberality a n d enlighten ed patrio tis m Hence the dis
a sters w hich I have feebly atte m pt e d to p o m t are not
by the assistance o f Divine Providence w itho ngga re m e
Since the co mm ence ment o f ou r w oes never have
dy
c ircu m stan ces concurre d so forcibly to augu r that our
deliverance is near at hand Russia fo r a w hile ap
e are d over w hel m ed
n fo r the stea dy
and
had
it
not
bee
p
and u nshaken perseverance o f the e mperor s ttpp o rte d
by his devoted and heroic subjects she m ust have fallen
The e x tfav ag an t pretensions o f the aggre s s or created a
civil w ar it spread its rav ages like a deva stating tor
rent to wards the e ast m ean w hile Spain h ad scarcely
ti m e to breathe w hen another Marlborough arises to
r e establish the fa m e o f British ar m s
and by his glo ri
ou s V i ctories ; r e -ani m ate the enthusias tic spirit o f the
S panish nation
That nati on although conquered w as
never subdued O n the other hand by her i ntern al
o peratio ns
S w eden essentially s erved the co m mon
c a use by keeping Bu o n a ar te s troops and his allies at
p
b ay on the opposite coast
G er many is a w akened to
re v i ved hope and i m patient to thro w o ff the yoke Na
o le o n has act u ally w orn o ut and abu s ed his good fo r
p
tune she alone was w orth all his other adherents he
has no friends and his allies scar cely strive to conce al
their j oy w he n they hear o f his de feats His po w er r e
s e mbles a colo ssus co m posed o f heterogeneous meta ls
a nd its eart hen fe e t is the hatred o f the pe o ple
T o dav
the m
m u s t be
of
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this gigantic idol is adored to -m orro w i t falls to the
ground and the w orld only vie w s it as a fragile m onu
m e n t o f arrogant inordinate prid e
Nations o f the continent l— Let not a false security
lull you to sleep — If he is per m itted to take breath o n
his reverses he w il l convin ce the wo rld o f what may
still be done by subterfuge and e ffrontery his w rath
w ill have no bounds against those w ho have unveiled his
w eaknes s — the w eakness o f a m ortal l— He —the arbi
ter o f dest i n i es the god o f a dulation l
What is the
loss o f a whole ar m y to B uonaparte who to use his
has so m any me n at his disposal
o w n express i on
It is not e nou gh that h e s hould have been unsuccessful
in the war o f anni hilation but he m ust be rendered inca
he m ust be co m pelled
pahle o f %ag ing w ar in future —
to gi ye up his syste m o f universal s o ve re l gn ty and eve
m
w
n dependence o f
r
pre
sion
inco
pati
le
it
the
i
b
h
y
n
nations and the tranqu illity o f the world at large
In this m o m ento us crisis b ig w ith the future fro m
w hich there is no appeal m any nations w ill undergo a
seriou s change It is easy to foresee the fate o f th ose
govern ments under Buo n ap ar te s control w ho p e rtin a
adhere
to
his
cause
Tho
s e w ho re m ain neut er
c io n sl
y
cannot expect th at in the conflict o f so many Jarr i n g
in terests they w ill be su pported by the po wers t hey
have declined to assist or that the latter w ill endanger
them selves ; thence they cannot look fo r a g ratuitous
re m uneration fo r w hat i n their n arrow polic y they m ay
have lost Thos e po w er s w h o hav e united to serve the
good c au se w ill be seated in the front r o w and their
voic es w ill p rep onde rate in the senate o f sovereigns i n
w ho m w ill be invested the m ig hty w ork o f re establish
ing the E uropean con s t it u tion on a m ore fi rm an d solid
ba se Can the S wedish natio n ever cease to rem e m ber
that one o f he r brightest clai m s to fa m e was that advan<
tage o u s peace she m ad e at Westphalia a fter a 10
struggle w ith her ene m ies abroad a peace which %
up w ards o f an hundred and fi fty years w as considered
the founda tion o f i he rights o f all the n ations o f Europe
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THE END
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