722 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



a.x)d their issue, with the limit of the 

 right of adoption, not being pprmi; ted 

 to extend to any other person tiian a 

 citizen of the French empire, or of 

 the kingdom of Italy. — -1. That the 

 crown of Italy shall not be united to 

 the crown of France, except on his 

 head; that this union be forbidden 

 to all, and each of his successors : 

 and that no one of them be allowed 

 to reign in Italy, unless he resides 

 on the territory of the Italian re- 

 public. — 5. That the emperor Na- 

 poleon shall have the right to give 

 himself, during his life, a successor 

 among his legitimate male children, 

 •whethe'r begotten or adopted, but 

 that he cannot make use of this right 

 without compromising the security, 

 the integrity, and the independence 

 of a state, the existence of which is 

 one of his most brilliant titles to 

 glory, as long as the French troops 

 occupy the kingdom of Naples, as 

 long as the Russian armies keep pos- 

 session of Corfu, as the British for- 

 ces hold Malta, and the peninsula 

 of Italy is threatened with becom- 

 ing at every instant the field of bat- 

 tie of the greatest powers of Europe. 

 —6. Ihat the separation of the 

 crowns of France and Ital)'- will be 

 incompatible with the surety of the 

 state, only when these circumstances 



shall have ceased. 7. That the 



point most important for nations, 

 for the nahire and stability of the 

 supreme power being regulated, the 

 emperor Najioleon be requested to 

 repair to Milan to take the crown ; 

 and after hearing the consulta of 

 state and the extraordinary deputa- 

 tions of the coUciies, to give to the 

 kingdom a definitive constitution, 

 ■which shall guarrautee to the peo- 

 ple its religion, the integrity of its 

 territory, the equality of its rights, 

 political and civil liberty, and the 



irrevocability of the sales of the na- 

 tional property; to the law alone 

 the power of imposintf taxes ; and 

 to the natives the exclusive powers 

 of being called to the employments 

 of state ; principles which the em- 

 peror Napoleon has consecrated by 

 the laws he has already given to 

 Italy, the proclamation which was 

 the first cry that resounded from the 

 summit of the Alps, w hen he twice 

 descended from them to conquer and 

 free our country. — $. That finally, 

 Europe will remain persuaded, that 

 all the parts of the kingdom of Italy 

 are consolidated for ever, and that 

 no one part can be separated from 

 the rest without threatening the very 

 principle on which the whole has 

 been founded. — Paris, 15th March, 

 1^05, year 4. 



(Signed) 



Melzi, Manschalchi, 

 Caprara, &c. 



His majesty replied in the follow- 

 ing terms : 



From the moment of our first ap- 

 pearance in your country, we have 

 entertained the desire of establishing 

 the Italian nation free and indepen- 

 dent; we have prosecuted this ob.. 

 ject in the midst of the uncertainty 

 of events. In the first instance we 

 formed the inhabitants of the right 

 bank of the Po into the Cispadane, 

 and those of the lolt bank into the 

 Transpadane rc})ublic. INIore for- 

 tunate circumstances have since en- 

 abled us to unite those states, and ta 

 form of them the Cisalpine republic. 

 In the midst of the manifold objects 

 which then engaged our attention, 

 our people of Italy were affeeted by 

 the interests which we felt in every 

 thing that could secure their pros- 

 perity and happiness ; and when, 

 a few years after, we learned on the 

 banks of the Nile, that our work 



