512 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



for, sooner or later, the great in- 

 terests of nations, of justice, and of 

 humanity, will prevail over passion 

 and hatred. But the experience of 

 sixty yearshas shownus that peace 

 with England can only afford to 

 commerce a deceitful security. la 

 1756, in February 1793, in 1801, 

 in the instance of Spain, as in May 

 1803, the period of the rupture of 

 the treaty of Amiens, England 

 commenced hostilities before she 

 declared war. Vessels which navi- 

 gated in the faith of peace were 

 taken by surprise ; commerce was 

 plundered, peaceable ciiizenswere 

 deprived of their liberty, and the 

 ports of England were filled with 

 these disgraceful trophies. Should 

 these examples be ever renewed, 

 the subjects of England, travelling 

 either for pleasure or business, 

 whose properties and persons shall 

 be secured in all our ports, from 

 the Baltic sea to the Adriatic gulf, 

 will be answerable for these at- 

 tempts; and if the English govern- 

 ment, for the purpose of making 

 the people of London forget the 

 injustice of the war, will gratify 

 them with the sight of prizes taken 

 in contempt of the law of nations, 

 they will also have it in their power 

 to show them the losses which 

 most certainly result from it. 



Sire, your majesty will perse- 

 vere in your decrees so long as 

 England persists in her orders in 

 council. You will oppose to the 

 maritime blockade the continental 

 blockade ; and to the plunder of 

 the seas, the confiscation of Eng- 

 lish merchandize on the conti- 

 nent. 



It is my duty to acquaint your 

 majesty that you can have hence- 

 forth no hope to bring back your 

 enemies to more moderate ideas 

 than by persevering in this sys- 



tem. The result of it will be to 

 place England in such a disagree- 

 able situation, that she will be at 

 length compelled to acknowledge 

 that she cannot violate the laws 

 of neutrals on the sea, and claim 

 their protection on the continent ; 

 that the sole source of her mis- 

 fortunes is in her orders in coun- 

 cil ; and that the increase of the 

 power of France, which will long 

 excite her spite and jealousy, is 

 owing to the blind passion of 

 those who have broken the treaty 

 of Amiens, put an end to the 

 negociation at Paris, rejected the 

 propositions from Tilsit and Er- 

 furtb, disdaining the overtures 

 made before the annexation of 

 Holland, have given the last blow 

 to her trade and her power, and 

 conducted your empire to the ful- 

 filment of its high destinies. 



Champagny, Duke of Cadore. 

 Pari*, Dec. 8, 1810. 



II. HOLLAND. 



1. Address q/Lotiisto hissithjects 

 on his abdication. 



Louis Napoleon, by the grace 

 of God, and the constitution of 

 the kingdom, King of Holland, 

 Constable of France, to all those 

 who may see or hear, or read 

 these presents, health. 



Hollanders. — Being convinced 

 that nothing more for your inter- 

 est or your welfare can be eflFect- 

 ed by me, but, on the contrary, 

 considering myself as an obstacle 

 which may prevent the good will 

 and intentions of my brother to- 

 wards this countr}', I have re- 

 signed my rank and royal dignity 

 in favour of my eldest son, Napo- 

 leon Louis, and of his brother, 

 Prince Charles Louis Napoleon. 



