HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



133 



would secure it to them permancnt- 

 Iv, and ^uard the e'seiitial interests 

 o'f his states ; that this great end 

 Gould only be obtained by arrange, 

 nieiits, which siiould also ensure the 

 trarKiiiiliity of the rest of Europe. 

 That, conformably to this sentiment, 

 hi' majesty could not attend more 

 particulariy to tlic overture which 

 had been made him, until he should 

 have consulted the powers of the 

 continent, with whom he was en- 

 gaged in conlidenfial connections 

 and relations, more particularly 

 with the court of St. Petcrsbnrgh ; 

 and concludes with a well-merited 

 eulogium upon the emperor Alex- 

 ander. 



M.Segur, in prcsentins; the above, 

 introduced them with a speech, 

 which plainlyevinced thatthe French 

 government was by no means pleased 

 with the answer they had received. 

 He denied the existence or the 

 chance of a coalition on the conti- 

 nent of Europe agai\ist France ; 

 asserted that Russia would not 

 . embark in a war merely to gratify 

 JEngland, and that the emperor had 

 received the most unequivocal tesr 

 timonics of the amicable disposi- 

 tions of Austria and Prussia. In a 

 word, that the hopes of England, in 

 a third coalition, were vain and 

 chimerical, and that, " it only re- 

 mained for French bravery to dis- 

 play its whole energy, and to tri- 

 umph, at last, over that eternal enc- 

 my to the liberty of the seas and the 

 repose of nations." 



The two other great public bodies, 

 the tribunate and the conservative 

 senate, were also at this period se- 

 parately addressed by the proper 

 functionaries, to the same effect "ith 

 the oration of M. Segur. Both con- 

 tain only illustrations, coroHarics 

 andampljlcationsof the same sihemj 



and design, namely, the presentl ig 

 a flattering picture of the Fien h 

 resources and government u on the 

 one hand, and on the other, to fal- 

 sify and discolour the (ruth, in t'vevy 

 particular connected with Great 

 Britain and her continental allies. 

 From the speech of M. Talleyrand, 

 however, to the tribunate, it should 

 seem that it was the wish of the 

 French government, that this over- 

 ture should be considered as yet 

 open, and, that after llussia had 

 been consulted, farther discussions, 

 of an amicable nature, might take 

 place. The passage, to which we 

 ])articular!y allude, is too remarkable 

 not to give it insertion. 



" The character that pervades 

 this answer,'' says the orator, " is 

 vague and indeterminate. One sin- 

 gle idea only presents itself with 

 some precision, that of having re- 

 course to foreign poAvers, and this 

 idea is by no means pacific ; a super- 

 llnous interference ought not to be 

 appealed to. if there be not a de- 

 sire to embarrass the discussions and 

 to render them endless. The ordi- 

 nary conseq,uenre of all compli- 

 cated negociations is to weary out 

 good intentions and to throw^ hack 

 nations into a war, become more 

 furious from the vexation of an un- 

 successful attempt at accommoda- 

 tion. Nevertheless, on a questioa 

 regarding a multitude of interests, 

 and of passions which have never 

 been in unison, we should not rest 

 upon a single symptom. Time will 

 soon dcvelope to us the secret reso- 

 lutions of the government of Fng- 

 land. Should they be just and mo- 

 derate, the calamities of war will 

 cease : — Should, on the contrary, 

 this first appearance of accommod; - 

 tion prove but a false light, intend, d 

 only to answer speculations of cii.- 

 K 3 dii; 



