HISTORY OF EUROPE, 



179 



lights Of the German empire, the se- 

 curity and independence of which he 

 has guaranteed. It would be in vain 

 to attempt to explain otherwise the 

 conduft of Russia, whose motires 

 are so evident, or to discover there- 

 in the influence of the enemies of 

 France : her sole motive is the 

 wretched condition to which the 

 French governmeiit has reduced Eu- 

 rope. Should Russia propose to 

 establish a coalition, for the pur- 

 pose of renewing the war upon the 

 continent, it would not be necessary 

 to seek an unfounded cause for it. 

 The French government has long 

 given too much and too just cause 

 for breaking the bonds of harmony, 

 which the emperor has preserved 

 merely from his moderation, and 

 which he desired to preserve for 

 ever. No person, and the P'rench 

 government least of all, can mis- 

 take the views of the cabinet of St. 

 Petersburgh, since his imperial ma- 

 jesty so explicitly declared, even bt- 

 fore the present war, how neces- 

 sary it was to labour for the conso- 

 lidation of peace ; to prevent new 

 revolutions in Europe, to avoid 

 every cause of mistrust, and to suf- 

 fer every state to enjoy its indepen- 

 dence. At the same time Russia 

 expressed her earnest desire that 

 the French cabinet would, by mo- 

 deration and disinterestedness, give 

 a hope to tlie other states of Europe, 

 that every government might, at 

 length, (after an unhappy war, 

 which cost so much blood,) devot» 

 itself, in security, to the happiness 

 of the people entrusted to it. Far 

 from desiring to rekindle the flames 

 of war on the continent, his Rus- 

 sian majesty most ardently wished 

 to stifle those flames every where ; 

 but his majesty more particularly 

 eatertams the wish that the Fraoek 



government would ieave those na- 

 tions to themselves, who desire no- 

 thing more fei^ently than to avoid 

 taking a part in the present trou- 

 bles. Russia never deviated from 

 those principles : all her transaftions 

 with the French government had no 

 other obje<5t. Upon the same ground 

 she proposed to act as mediator be- 

 tween France and England, but 

 her ofl'er was not accepted. Since 

 the renewal of the war, tlie Frencl^ 

 government has thought itself au- 

 thorised to occupy countries, and 

 deprive them of their commerce, 

 who in. vain appealed to their neu- 

 trality. His imperial majesty was 

 thereby alarmed, not indeed on his 

 own account, since, from the a6lu- 

 al situation and power of his em- 

 pire, his majesty might remain a 

 quiet spectator of those distressing 

 scenes, but he was alarmed for the 

 security of the other states of Eu- 

 rope. His imperial majesty repeat- 

 edly urged, but always inefte6tu- 

 ally, that those countries, at least, 

 should be permitted to remain neu- 

 tral, whose neutrality France and 

 Russia had guaranteed by mutual 

 treaties. His majesty also repeat- 

 edly disclosed his sentiments, with 

 respect to those states that are al- 

 ready in danger of sharing the fate 

 of Italy, of a part of Germany, and 

 of the other countries which France 

 has already in her possession. lu 

 spite of all his remonstrances and 

 exertions, the emperor beheld the^ 

 danger increasing daily. Frendi 

 troops on one side occupying the 

 coast of the Adriatic, on the other 

 levying contributions on the Hani 

 Towns, and menacing Denmark ; 

 consequently, his imperial majesty 

 has resolved, as the theatre of war 

 approaches his frontiers, to estab- 

 lish a military forfiti which shall be 

 N 2 ade- 



