716 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



prised, alarmed, and have even com- 

 plained of the patience of Napoleon. 

 — Napoleon would not belicTe that 

 war was possible. He demanded 

 cxplanatiors : he did not rccal his 

 ambassador: he considered the re- 

 sidence at Paris of the anibussador 

 from Vienna, as a pledge th;it the 

 house of Austria wished for peace : 

 and hence it was that the armies of 

 that house, taking advantage of the 

 generous confidence of Napoleon, 

 invaded the territory of a prince of 

 the empire, of a prince gyilty of the 

 unpardonable crime of having re- 

 mained faithful to treaties, and of 

 having continued our ally. Unac- 

 countable blindness, which has led 

 the emperor of Germany to compel 

 those states to take refuge under the 

 protection of the emperor of the 

 French, which he had at his corona- 

 tion been bound to protect and de- 

 fend. The cry of the Bavarian peo- 

 ple has been heard by Napoleon. 

 Napoleon is gone to put himself at 

 the head of his armies. Soon shall 

 <hc crime perpetrated against Bava- 

 ria be avenged. After a few clforts, 

 peace, which has so often been grant- 

 ed, and so often ofi'ercd by Napole- 

 on, shall be secured for a long pe- 

 riod. I'eople of the kingdom of 

 Italy ! I am in the midst of you, 

 such as my august and dearly be- 

 beloved father-in-law, who has 

 placed me here, has wished that I 

 should be. On my part 1 will take 

 care that your property shall be re- 

 spected, and your laws and consti- 

 tutions preserved. Unquestionably, 

 even with the greatest valour, there 

 is yet cause for a peopfe, still with, 

 out defence, to apprehend those mis- 

 fortunes which are inseparable from 

 the state of war. Rely upon my 

 zeal for the performance of all my 

 duties : rely wpon the sentiments of 



my heart, which I have declared tw 

 you. People of Italy, I will remove 

 from you all the inconveniencies 

 which I possibly can. 1 expect from 

 you, zeal, attachment, and courage. 

 Vou know the unlimited confidence 

 which you all ought to place 

 in that part of the French army, 

 which is destined for Italy. You 

 know the confidence which is due to 

 the darling son of victory, to whom 

 the emperor has entrusted the care 

 of defending you. People of Italyl 

 Napoleon relies entirely upon you : 

 rely entirely upon him. Napoleon 

 has on his side tiie God of armies, 

 always terrible to the perjured. lie 

 has in his favour his own glory, his 

 genius, the justice of his cause, the 

 valour and fidelity of the people of 

 Italy. Our enemies shall be van- 

 quished. 



The Prince Eugene. 



Proclamation addressed to the Inha- 

 bitants of the Electorate of Hano~ 

 ver by Licuteuant General Don. 

 Given at Sladf, November lOih. 



I George Don, lieutenant-general 

 in the service of his majesty of the 

 united kingdom of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, commander-in-chief of 

 a corps of British troops npon the 

 continent, hold it for my first duty, 

 upon my arrival in his majesty's 

 German sta*^es, to make known and 

 declare hereby to the inhabitants of 

 the electorate of Hanover, that the 

 principal object of the troops I have 

 the honour to command, is to effect 

 the evacuation of his majesty's Ger- 

 man states, and to undertake the 

 defence of the same, against the ene- 

 my. — The well-known discipline of 

 the troops under my command, is to 

 Bue the best assurance of their good 



conduct 



iii 



