704 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



ihc chiefs of the state miiy proceed 

 in this important business with the 

 energy whicli the occasion requires, 

 and tiic king commands, I proclaim, 

 in his roj'al name, that if the suc- 

 cess of any enterprise should not be 

 equal to the wisdom by which it is 

 planned, and the gallantry with 

 which it is executed, they will not 

 be considered responsible for the 

 event : but they will be liable to the 

 consequences, if they do not put in 

 activity the full extent of the re- 

 sources with which they are entrust- 

 ed. Nations not provided with the 

 means Mi(h which Ave are supplied, 

 and placed in situations much more 

 critical, have known so well how to 

 economise their limited powers, as 

 to make that peo))le which dared to 

 trample on their rights, feel the ef- 

 fects of their resentment. Fan the 

 public ardour into general confla- 

 gration ; avail yourselves of the 

 magnanimity of a whole country, 

 and prodigies will lose their charac- 

 ter, and become familiar. Under 

 the present circumstances, it be- 

 comes the governors g»f the provinces 

 to spread the generous spirit of en- 

 thusiasm amongst the troops under 

 their orders ; it behoves the vene- 

 rable dignitaries of the church, and 

 the civil officers in the. various poli- 

 tical departments, to animate all or- 

 ders and ranks of men to assert the 

 honour of their king and country, 

 by the powerful influciice of example, 

 and by the attractive charms of elo- 

 quence. In cases out of the ordi- 

 nary current of events, it will be 

 expedient to recur to means equal 

 to the occasion ; and each province 

 of the empire will, according (o its 

 peculiar situation, vary in the cfi'orts 

 it directs to annoy the common ene- 

 my. Learn how to blend wisdom 

 with patriotiafflj and let every com- 



mander, and every district, in obe- 

 dience to him, present before the 

 sovereign and citizens of the state, 

 and before the eyes of all ilurope, 

 deeds worthy . of the country to 

 which they belong. When any op- 

 portunity be aflfordod of destroying 

 the foe, wait not for orders from a 

 distant otficei* of government: Jet 

 not delay diminish the impressions 

 of nascent valour, and let not the 

 natural courage of man be frittered 

 away in the collision of idle forma- 

 lities. Contemplate coirtraband 

 commerce as the highest crime ; it 

 is conducive only to satisfy the ava- 

 rice of our enemies ; the manufac- 

 tures they olfer you are prepared 

 by the reeking hands of those who 

 arc bathed in the blood of your fa- 

 thers, and your brethren. Im])ress 

 all around you with a sense of Jior- 

 ror, at the practice of this nefarious 

 intercourse; and when it is univer- 

 sally felt, when not a Spaniard will 

 disgrace himself by this pernicious 

 connexion, when Europe shall un- 



derstand 



her genuine 



interests, and 



every port of the continent shall bo 

 closed upon these intruders, then 

 will our vengeance be complete : the 

 insupportable arrogance of the 

 Islanders will be humbled ; they will 

 be lost amid the chaos of their own 

 ruins ; and they will be recognized 

 only as the violators of public right, 

 and as the tyrants of the ocean. — 

 ]\lay the spirit here applauded be 

 that of the whole nation ; may we 

 all of us readily sacritice our private 

 indulgence to the general cause; 

 and if there should be an insulated 

 c'laracter among us not animated by 

 this noble disposition, may he catch 

 the Hame of patriotism from his as- 

 sociates, and not disgrace the Spa- 

 nish name by frigidity and indiffer- 

 ence. The age ai>d inlirmities of 



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