420 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



His Majesty the Emperor of 

 Austria renews, as far as is need- 

 ful, the engagement to adhere to 

 the prohibitive system against 

 England, during the present mari- 

 time war. 



Art. 8. The present Treaty of 

 Alliance shall not be rendered pub- 

 lic, nor communicated to any Ca- 

 binet, but ill concert between the 

 two High Parties. 



It shall be ratified, and the rati- 

 fications exchanged at Vienna in 

 a fortnight, or sooner if possible. 

 (Signed) 



H. B. Duke of Bassano. 



Prince Chas. of Schwartzen burg. 

 Done and Signed at Paris, 

 March 14, 1812. 



Correspondence between the French 

 and English Ministers on a Pro- 

 posal for Peace. 



Copy of a Letter addressed by the 

 French Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, to Lord Castlereagh, Se- 

 cretary of State for Foreign Af- 

 fairs to his Britannic Majesty. 



« Paris, April 17, 1812. 



*' Sir, — His Majesty, constant- 

 ly actuated by sentiments friendly 

 to moderation and peace, is pleased 

 again to make a solemn and sin- 

 cere attempt to put an end to the 

 miseries of war. 



" The awful circumstances in 

 which the world is at present 

 placed, have induced a resolution 

 in the breast of his Majesty, the 

 result of which has been, to au- 

 thorise me to explain to you. Sir, 

 his views and intentions. 



" Many changes have taken 

 place in Europe for the last ten 



years, which have been the neces- 

 sary consequence of the war be- 

 tween France and England, and 

 many more changes will be ef- 

 fected by the same cause. The 

 particular character which the war 

 has assumed, may add to the ex- 

 tent and duration of these results. 

 Exclusive and arbitrary principles 

 cannot be combated but by an op- 

 position without measure or end ; 

 and the system of preservation and 

 resistance should have the same 

 character of universality, perse- 

 verance, and vigour. 



"The Peace of Amiens, if it 

 had been observed, would have 

 prevented much confusion. 



" I heartily wish that the expe- 

 rience of the past may not be lost 

 for the future. 



"His Majesty has often stop- 

 ped when the most certain tri- 

 umphs lay before him, and turned 

 round to invoke peace. 



" In 180.5, secure as he was by 

 the advantage of his situation, and 

 in spite of the confidence which 

 he might reasonably feel in antici- 

 pations which fortune was about 

 to realize, he made proposals to 

 his Britannic Majesty, which were 

 rejected, on the ground that Russia 

 should be consulted. In 1808, 

 new proposals were made, in con- 

 cert with Russia. England alleg- 

 ed the necessity of an intervention, 

 which could be no more than the 

 result of the negociation itself. In 

 1810, his Majesty, having clearly 

 discerned that the British Orders 

 in Council of 1807, rendered the 

 conduct of the war incompatible 

 with the independence of Holland, 

 caused indirect overtures to be 

 made towards procuring the return 

 of peace. They were fruitless; and 

 the consequence was, that new 



provinces 



1 



