206] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



led to a negotiation, which was 

 coiiducted, on tlie part of the em- 

 peror, hy count St. Julian, who, on 

 the twenty-eighth of July, signed, at 

 Paris, t!ie preliminaries of peace, on 

 the hasis of the treaty of Campo 

 Formio. On the partof the French, 

 they were signed by the minister 

 for foreign aifairs, the ex-bishop 

 Talleyrand. 



We have already seen the over- 

 bearing weight of those circum- 

 stances which induced the Austrian 

 government to request a suspension 

 of arms. The same circumstances 

 urged the necessity of carrying the 

 preliminaries into a definitive treaty 

 of peace. But if the emperor had 

 grounds for apprehension, there 

 were some also that tended to keep 

 up his spirits, and revive the pride 

 and ambition inherent in his family. 

 A strong disposition to repel the ag- 

 gressive and the intolerable oppres- 

 sion of the French, whose exactions 

 were greater in this than they had 

 been in any former campaign, began 

 to manifest itself in all the heredi- 

 tary states, particularly in Hungary. 

 And the emperor, being pressed by 

 the British court to accept fresh 

 pecuniary supplies, had concluded 

 a treaty, on the twentieth of June, 

 by which he became indebted to 

 Great Britain, in the sum of two 

 millions sterling, not liable to in- 

 terest before the expiration of six 

 months from the adjustment of a 

 peace between him and the French. 

 It was also stipulated that the war 

 should be carried on with all possi- 

 ble vigour : and, that neither party 

 should conclude a peace that did 

 not also comprehend the other. His 

 imperial majesty, faithful to this en- 

 gagement, endeavoured for some 

 weeks to include the British nation 

 in a treaty of general peace ; and 



a temporaiy correspondence was 

 opened between the French go- 

 vernment and the British court : 

 but it was not productive of a for- 

 mal negociation. The emperor, 

 therefore, refused to ratify the pre- 

 liminaries that haci been signed by 

 the count St. Julian, alleging withal, 

 that the count, in that act, had ex- 

 ceeded his powers. 



The French government, towards 

 the end of August, informed the 

 generals of its armies, that the 

 emperor, havingrefused to subscribe 

 to the conditions of the prelimina- 

 ries of peace, which had been sign- 

 ed by liis plenipotentiary at Paris, 

 the government was under the ne- 

 cessity of continuing the war. The 

 armistice was of course broken off, 

 and would cease to have efiect, on 

 the seventh of September, at one 

 in the afternoon. The general 

 officers, and chiefs of corps, were 

 instructed to profit by this interval, 

 to pass the troops in review, and to 

 dispose every thing in such a man- 

 ner, that they might be able to 

 march and fight as soon as they 

 should receive orders. 



The emperor also issued a pro- 

 clamation, on the sixth of Septem- 

 ber, announcing the rupture of the 

 armistice ; which, he said, had 

 been discontinued by the French, 

 unexpectedly, and without cause. 

 In order to give an incontrovertible 

 proof to his own subjects, and to 

 all Europe, how much he had their 

 v.'elfare and protection at heart, he 

 had resolved to repair in person, 

 widi his royal brother, the arch- 

 duke John, to his army in Germa- 

 ny. His imperial majesty declared, 

 at the same time, that he was unal- 

 terably disposed to accept with plea- 

 sure any reasonable propositions, 

 and conditions of peace. The re- 



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