78] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



France, in her present situation ; 

 every power with whom the repuh- 

 lic had treated, whether for armi- 

 stice or peace, could furnish melan- 

 choly instances of the perfidy of 

 France, and of the ambition, injus- 

 tice, and cruelty, of her rulers." — 

 This position lord Grenville illus- 

 trated by a review of their conduct 

 to the Swiss, the grand duke of 

 Tuscany, the king of Sardinia, the 

 pope, the king of Naples, Spain, 

 Holland, Venice, Genoa, and other 

 smaller Italian states ; and, lastly, 

 on this subject of the ambition and 

 injustice of the rulers of France, he 

 mentioned the French invasiop of 

 Egypt. 



His lordship then proceeded to 

 an investigation of the degree of 

 credit to which the present charac- 

 ter of Buonaparte could be consi- 

 dered as justly entitled : " We shall 

 not be destitute," said his lordship, 

 "of sufficient grounds for judging 

 what degree of reliance is to be 

 placed on his present promises and 

 professions, from considering his 

 past actions, if we trace general 

 Buonaparte from the period when, 

 in the third year of the republic, 

 he imposed upon the French people, 

 by the mouth of the cannon, that 

 very constitution which he has 

 now destroyed by the point of the 

 bayonet." He enumerated many 

 instances in which Buonaparte had 

 violated the treaties which he him- 

 self had made. — " Even the affili- 

 ated republics," he said, "were 

 equally the victimsofhisdestructive 

 perfidy. The constitution of the 

 Cisalpine republic, which was the 

 work of Buonapar*;e, was over- 

 thrown by the hands of his general, 

 Ber thier . But this is not all, my lords ; 

 let us now pass from the continent 

 of Europe, andtry if the subsequent 



conduct of the first consul can fur- 

 nish any grounds more satisfactory, 

 to give us a favourable opinion of 

 his sincerity. When he arrived at 

 Malta, he held the same specious 

 promises of good faith, by which 

 he had so frequently succeeded in 

 betraying states and governments ; 

 but he treated this island as a con- 

 quered country, and despoiled it of 

 every thing that was valuable. I 

 now come to his proceedings in 

 Egypt. It would be very unneces- 

 sary in me to detain your lordships 

 by details with which you are al- 

 ready too well acquainted ; but I 

 cannot avoid calling your attention 

 to that part of his conduct which is 

 diplomatic. I shall, of course, pass 

 over his deceitful professions, his 

 rapacities, and the cruel massacres 

 which were perpetrated by his 

 troops, and by his immediate orders. 

 He solemnly declared to the Porte, 

 that he had no intention to take 

 possession of Egj'pt : he declared to 

 his own generals, that his object 

 was, to take possession of that coun- 

 try ; and he assured the people of 

 Egypt, that he had taken possession 

 of it with the consent of the Porte. 

 What can we think of his blasphe- 

 mies, his hypocrisies, his repeated 

 acts of perfidy, his multiplied vio- 

 lations of all religions and morali- 

 ties .'' Did he not declare, in the 

 most unqualified terms, that the 

 French were true Mussulmen ? Is it 

 in that country that he has laid the 

 foundation for us to rest with secu- 

 rity upon the good faith and since- 

 rity which he now professes ? Hav- 

 ing, therefore, such bases for us to 

 form a correct opinion of his policy, 

 can it be thought inconsistent to be- 

 lieve that he has no intention of ful- 

 filling his engagements.'' Can we so 

 soon forget his delicate apprehen- 



