198] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



an English officer, who carried 

 dispatches to them from the Bri- 

 tish admiral in the Mediterra- 

 nean. The municipality do not 

 appear to have had any other motive 

 for this deed, than the usual pro- 

 pensity of paltry and overawed 

 states to pay court to the prevailing 

 power, by marks of zealous servi- 

 lity. Lord Keith determined to 

 take severe vengeance for this 

 breach of the law of nations ; and 

 captain Ricket carried his orders 

 into prompt execution. A procla- 

 mation was issued, lamenting that 

 the innocent should suffer with, and 

 for, the guilty, but stating at the 

 same time the necessity of sanction- 

 ing and supporting a law so indis- 

 pensably necessary in all the inter- 

 courses of peace or war, and which 

 the magistrates of Cesenatico had 

 so unnecessarily and wantonly vio- 

 lated. And, a short time after the 

 publication of this, all the vessels 

 within the Mole were sunk or 

 burned. The two piers were con- 

 sumed, and the harbour was ren- 

 dered useless. 



It is not easy, amidst so many 

 complicated views and shifting 

 scenes, to account for the restora- 

 tion of Rome, with the greater 

 part of the Roman territories to the 

 pope. The conclave for the elec- 

 tion of a successor to Pius VI. was 

 held under the auspices of the em- 

 peror at Venice. It was generally 

 supposed, that, in this step, the 

 court of Vienna had it in contem- 

 plation, to stipulate for some ces- 

 sions on the part of the Romish see 



to the house of Austria, in Italy.— 

 The ecclesiastic, honoured with the 

 pontificate, was cardinal di Chiara- 

 monte, a man of good sense, and 

 mild and unassuming manners. As 

 it was customary for the new pon- 

 tiff to assume the name of the pope 

 who had promoted him to the dig- 

 nity of cardinal, Chiaramonte took 

 that of Pius VII. The emperor, 

 on his election, presented him with 

 a sum of money, as an earnest of 

 his regard and protection ; but, did 

 not at first restore any part of the 

 papal dominions. It is not impossi- 

 ble, that after the battle of Ma- 

 rengo, when he became apprehen- 

 sive of the loss of his power and in- 

 fluence in Italy, he resolved to have 

 the credit of delivering up to the 

 pope the greater part of the eccle- 

 siastical estate, rather than that it 

 should fall into either the possession 

 or disposal of other hands. The 

 court of Vienna, it was said, had 

 been for some time suspicious of an 

 understanding between the king of 

 Naples and the Russians. The king, 

 it was suspected, was to accommo- 

 date the court of St. Petersburgh 

 with the long object of its ambi- 

 tion, some sea-port in the Mediter- 

 ranean, and to be indemnified by a 

 portion of the ecclesiastical territo- 

 ries. Be all this as it may, the 

 Austrians having delivered up to 

 his holiness the greater part of the 

 ecclesiastical state, Pius VII. took 

 possession of the see of Rome in July, 

 and began to exercise the functions 

 of sovereignty, with great dignity 

 and moderation. 



