SUAVE E 
That treaty was unquestionably 
founded: upon the same principle as 
every other antecedent treaty or 
convention, on the assumption of 
the state of possession and of en- 
gagements subsisting at the time of 
its conclusion; and if that state of 
possession and of engagements is 
materially affected by the voluntary 
aét of any of the parties, so as to 
prejudice the condition on which 
the other party has entered into the 
contraét, the change so made may be 
considered as operating virtually as 
a breach of the treaty itself, and as 
giving the party aggrieved a right to 
_ demand satisfaction or compensation 
for any substantial difference which 
} such acts may have effected in their 
relative situations; but, whatever 
may be the principle on which the 
treaty is to be considered as founded, 
there is indisputably a general law 
of nations, which, though liable to 
be limited, explained, or restrained 
by conventional law, is antecedent 
to it, and is that law or rule of con- 
duét to which all sovereigns and 
states have been accustomed to ap- 
peal, where conventional law is ad- 
mitted to have been silent. The 
treaty of Amiens, and every other 
treaty, in providing for the objects 
{} to which it is particularly directed, 
does not, therefore, assume or im- 
3} ply an indifference to all other ob- 
dj jects which are not specified in its 
stipulation, much less does it ad- 
judge them to be of a nature to be 
left, to the will and caprice of the 
violent and the powerlul. ‘The jus- 
_ tice of the cause is alone a sufficient 
_ ground to warrant the interposition 
of any of the powers of Europe in 
i) the differences which may arise be- 
il} tween other states, and the applica- 
ie} tion and extent of that just interpo- 
| sition is to be determined sole! x 
® Vou. XLY. 
‘8 
PAPERS. 
737 
considerations of prudence.—These 
principles can admit of no dispute 7 
but if the new and extraordinary 
pretensions advanced by the French 
government, to exclude his majesty 
from any right to interfere with re- 
speét to the concerns of other pow- 
ers, unless they made a specific part 
of the stipulations of the treaty of 
Amiens, was that which it was pos- 
sible to maintain, those powers 
would have a right, at least, to 
claim the benefit of this principle, 
in every case of difference bétween 
the two countries. ‘The indignation 
of all Europe must surely then be 
excited by the declarations of the 
French government, that, in thé 
event of hostilities, these very pow- 
ers, who were no parties to the 
treaty of Amiens, and who were not 
allowed to derive any advantage 
from the remonstrances of his ma- 
jesty in their behalf, are neverthe- 
less to be made the victims of a war, 
which is alledged to arise out of the 
same treaty, and are to be sacrificed 
in a contest, which they not only 
have not occasioned, but which they 
have had no means whatever of pre- 
venting. 
His majesty judged it most expe- 
dient, under the circumstances which 
then affected Europe, to abstain 
from a recurrence to hostilities, on 
account of the views of ambition, 
and -acts of aggression, manifested 
by France on the continent ; yet an 
experience of the charaéter and dis- 
positions of the French government 
could not fail to impress his majesty 
with a sense of the necessity of in- 
creased vigilance in guarding the 
rights and dignity of his crown, and 
in proteéting. the interests of his 
people. 
Whilst his majesty was actuated 
by these sentiments, he was galled 
3B upon 
