HISTORY OF EUROPE, 
Mediterranean, were so contiguous 
to his own harbours, that, thinking 
- it more advisable to put himself out 
of danger than to encounter it, with- 
out any visible motive of interest, 
he determined to detach himself 
from the coalition, and tonegotiate 
a peace with France: the terms 
were readily agreed to on both 
sides. The French administration 
was glad of an opportunity to con- 
vince their people, that the war 
in which they were engaged, was 
purely defensive, and that they were 
,teady to put an end to it, by em- 
bracing any reasonable offers on 
the part of their enemies. The 
grand duke was not a formidable 
one; but being the first in the coali- 
tion that formally expressed a de- 
Sire to treat: to accept of his prof- 
fer, which was the only one that 
had been made, would be the first 
step towards breaking up the con- 
federacy. The articles were few: 
the duke engaged, on his side, to 
Felinquish his alliance with the co- 
alesced powers; and the French, 
on theirs, to a renewal of the peace 
and good understanding heretofore 
‘subsisting between France and Tus- 
cany ; which was to remain on a 
footing of perfec neutrality. 
Not long after the conclusion of 
this treaty, the ministry of Sweden, 
in April following, resolved to de- 
Jay no longer the recognition of the 
"French republic: the intrigues of 
ussia had hitherto preventedit, but 
the prudence of the regent dictated 
the propriety of being on a cordial 
footing with a state which, whether 
‘Under a monarchical or a republican 
eet would always, from 
‘MOtives of interest, provea faithful 
ally to Sweden. Baron Stacl was 
Appointed, by the Swedish court, to 
/ Vor. XXXVII. 
[129 
perform the ceremony of the ac- 
knowledgment: the address to thé 
convention, in that monarch’s name, 
was conceived in terms of great 
friendship; but the enemies to tlie 
republic remarked, on this occasion, 
that Sweden had long before dis- 
tinguished itself by acknowledging 
and paying court to usurpers : it had, 
in the last century, paid the same 
honour to Oliver Cromwell, the 
murderer of his sovereign, and the 
usurper of his throne. But these in- 
vettives fell to the ground, when 
it was recolleéted that neither 
France nor Spain, nor any of the 
European powers, had dared to a& 
otherwise. This formal acknow- 
ledgment by a crowned’ head, 
though not of the first importance, 
yet of considerable weight, was 
highly acceptable to the French, aS, 
together with the recognition on the 
part of Tuscany, it formed a species 
of counterpoise to the refusals of 
other powers to acknowledge the 
republic; but the chief difficulties of 
this sort being at length removed, by 
the two treaties with Prussia and 
Spain, other states became less un- 
willing to open negotiations. The 
cantons of Switzerland had been no- 
ticed, ever since the commencement 
ofthe revolution, for their aversionto 
those who had etfeCted and supported 
it; they had explicitly espoused the 
royal cause, and adhered firmly to 
it; even after the dethronement of 
the king, the meeting of the con. 
vention, the abolition of the mo: 
narchy, and the ereétion of the 
republic, all these events, that fol- 
lowed each other so rapidly, had 
not been able to alter thei# deter. 
minations: they still continued in- 
imical to French maxims and po- 
litics, though they cautiously ab- 
[kK] stained 
