§ Te Aged 
together with their respect: ve crews, 
on which an embargo was laid last 
year; but we also prohibits by 
this proclamation, the entry of any 
vessel from that country into our 
ports, and such as do arrive shail 
be treated the same as French 
ships- In other respects they shall 
not be molested. 
The original was signed by her 
majesty, 
CATHERINE. 
Zarskoselo, May 20, 1796. 
Copy of a Dispatch from Count Oster- 
man, Chancelior to the Empress of 
Russia, to M. Bulzow, Russian 
Charge d’ Affaires at Madrid, dat- 
ed Petersburgh, December 25, 
1795. 
SrR, 
THE empress was already in- 
formed, through the public prints, 
of the treaty of peace concluded 
between Spain and the French, and 
the unpleasant sensations which 
this unexpected and disagreeable 
transaction bad produced in her 
Imperial majesty’s mind, were 
greatly increased when this intelli- 
gence was confirmed by the minis« 
ter of his Catholic majesty. The 
empress, however, has during the 
new conneétion which so happily 
subsists between ber and his Catho- 
lic majesty, met with too many op- 
portanites of learning the true sen- 
timents of that prince; not to be 
thoroughly convinced that the con- 
currence of the most imperious cire 
‘cumstances «an alone have deters 
mined him to aét im direét opposi- 
tion to his principles» No doubt it 
has been: for him a task infinitely 
hard; to enter inte negrciations 
with those, who with their own 
hands murdered the chief of his il» 
bustrious family and to conclude a 
PAPERS. [215 
peace with thoSe disturbers of the 
tranquillity and safety of all Eue 
rope. No one knows better than 
her Imperial majesty to Value and 
appreciate all the difficulties and 
obstacles, which his Catholic mas 
jesty must have had to surmount, 
before he could prevail upon hime 
self so adopt a measure, which to 
all appearance has been brought 
about through the most urgent nes 
Cessitys and the most threatening 
danger. 
Her Imperial majesty being at a 
loss to account for the motives 
which can have determined his Ca= 
tholic majesty thus to insulate his 
interest from that of the coalitiong 
cannet but persevere in the opinie« 
on, that notwithstanding this sud 
den change, his Catholic majesty 
will continve sincerely to interest 
himself in the success of the opes 
rations of the evangelic powers 3 
and so. far from throwing any obs 
stacle in the way of the new meas 
sures which those powers may find 
it necessary to pursue, rather sup« 
port them by every means, which 
the system of neutrality he mays 
perhaps, think proper to adopt, 
does not preclude. 
His Catholic majesty cannot yet 
have forgutten the high importance 
of the cause for whith the coatesced 
powet's are contending—to ree 
store order and tranquillity; to lead 
the nations back to a sense of their 
duty, aud to shteld all Europe from 
the most dangerous infeétion.— 
These are the important motives 
which have induced thé coalesced 
powers to unite their counsels, and 
exert their joint efforts to render 
them triumphant. 
It is for this purpose, that the 
three courts have just nowy, by 
means ofa solemn treaty of alliances 
P4 strengthened 
