STATE PAPERS. 



629 



the sacred oath which the Almighty 

 bad accepted, to live for the happi- 

 ness and the glory of the French 

 people ; and in order to enter upon 

 the accomplishment of that holy en- 

 gagement, he collected, set down, 

 and addressed to the king of Eng- 

 land, the expression of all the gene- 

 rous, moderate, and, if I may so 

 speak, the religious sentiments that 

 can be conceived and professed by 

 a Hoble soul : and indeed, that im- 

 mortal dispatch will not rank among 

 the less glorious monuments of the 

 reign of his majesty ; nor will it be 

 the least certain of his titles to the 

 giatitude and love of France ; nei- 

 ther will it be the least secure pledge 

 of the esteem of those wise philan- 

 thropists, who, in whatever light 

 they may be represented by obscure 

 and perverse men, by whom they arc 

 calumniated without being under- 

 stood, still form so numerous a class 

 in the bosom of enlightened Europe. 

 But on this occasion may not the 

 humanity of the monarch have de- 

 ceived his wisdom ? Could his reason 

 have long continued to cherish the 

 hopes suggested by his benevolence? 

 Had he forgotton how, and upon 

 what perfidious grounds, the most 

 sacred compacts had been violated ? 

 Had he forgotten, that when the leo- 

 pards were tearing the treaty of 

 Amiens, no fiend of aggression had 

 provoked their rage? Had he for- 

 gotten how, on the 8th March, it 

 was stated to the parliament of Eng- 

 land, that our ports and our arse- 

 nals, though then in a state of pacific 

 silenco and inactivity, were filled 

 with armed vessels, and holding out, 

 in the state of their equipment, a 

 most menacing appearance ? — No, 

 tribunes ; such reeollections arc not 

 to be efl'aced ; but since the sra that 

 gave them birth, what happy changes 



have taken place in the attitude of 

 France, attacked, as she has been, 

 by imprudent and unjust enemies! 

 — Is it necessary, tribunes, that I 

 solicit your attention to our internal 

 situation, and to remind you of the 

 strong pledge it holds out to you of 

 security, strength, and well-ground- 

 ed expectation ? Were you not the 

 first to interpret and express the na- 

 tional wish, ratified by the suftrages 

 of five millions of citizens, and since 

 the accomplishment of that wish, 

 since the establishment of the Napo- 

 leon dynasty has for ever fixed the 

 destinies of the French empire, was 

 ever an empire more firmi}' founded ? 

 Never in any nation has the conspir- 

 ing will and energies of the govern- 

 ment and of the people created a 

 mass of strength and power more 

 imposing and more formidable ! Ne- 

 ver has any state advanced with more 

 rapid strides towards prosperity and 

 greatness! For these two years past, 

 it is true, war with England has oeen 

 declared, and no important occur- 

 rence has marked its progress ; no 

 decisive blow has been struck that 

 can furnish any conjecture of its ter- 

 mination. But in our ports we have 

 fleets ; in our harbours armed flotillas. 

 — Of the four chances to be got over 

 in reaching a descent, since, after all, 

 Ave must utter that formidable word, 

 three of them have already decided 

 in our favour. The ships are built ; 

 they are collected together ; and 

 ports have been prepared to receive 

 them. The whole advantage of the 

 %var has therefore been in our fa- 

 vour; since, without having experi- 

 enced any check in the face of a su- 

 perior enemy, we have employed 

 two years in assembling together im- 

 mense means. The whole advan- 

 tage of the war has been in our fa- 

 vour, sinccj in spite of.tbe numerous 

 S s 3 .slypi 



