514 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



you have experienced many vicis- 

 situdes. Youlostyourliberty when 

 one of the great officers of the re- 

 publ ic, forced by England, employ- 

 ed Prussian bayonets to interrupt 

 the deliberations of your councils. 

 It was then that the wise constitu- 

 tion handed down to you by your 

 forefathers was destroyed for ever. 



" You /orraed a part of the coa- 

 lition, in consequence of which 

 French armies conquered your 

 country — an event which was the 

 unavoidable consequence of the 

 alliance with England. After the 

 conquest a distinct government 

 was formed, yet your republic 

 formed part of the empire. Your 

 strong fortresses, and the principal 

 positions in your country, were 

 occupied by French troops, and 

 your government was changed ac- 

 cording to the opinions which suc- 

 ceeded each other in France. 



" When Providence placed meon 

 this first throne of the world, it fell 

 to my lot to decide for ever the fate 

 of France, and of all the nations 

 which compose this vast empire, to 

 bestow on all, the signal advantages 

 which arise from firmness, consist- 

 ency, and order, and to destroy the 

 baneful consequences of irregula- 

 rity and weakness. I put a period 

 to the wavering destinies of Italy, 

 by placing the iron crown on my 

 head. I annihilated the govern- 

 ment which ruled Piedmont. By 

 my act of mediation I justly appre- 

 ciated the constitution of Switzer- 

 land, andbroughtthe local circum- 

 stancesofthe countryin unison with 

 the safety and rights of this impe- 

 rial crown. I gave you a prince of 

 my blood for your ruler ; this was 

 intended as a bond to unite the 

 concerns of your republic with the 



rights of the empire. My hopes 

 have been deceived ; and on this 

 occasion I have shown more for- 

 bearance than my character gene- 

 rally admits, and my rights require. 

 I have at length put a period to the 

 painful uncertainty of your future 

 fate, and warded off" the fatal blow 

 which threatened to annihilate all 

 your property, all your resources. 

 I have opened the continent to 

 your national industry : the day 

 shall come when you are to con- 

 duct my eagles to the seas, cele- 

 brated by the exploits of your an- 

 cestors; then shall you show your- 

 selves worthy of yourselves and of 

 me. From this moment till that 

 period all the changes that take 

 place in Europe shall have for 

 their first motive the destruction 

 of that tyrannical and irrational 

 system which the English govern- 

 ment, unmindful of the pernicious 

 consequences which arise there- 

 from to its own country, has 

 adopted, to outlaw commerce and 

 trade, and subject it to the arbi- 

 trary authority of English licenses. 

 •' Gentlemen deputies of the le- 

 gislative body, and of the land and 

 sea forces of Holland, and gentle- 

 men deputies of my good city of 

 Amsterdam, tell my subjects of 

 Holland, I feel perfectly satisfied 

 thej' possess the sentiments they 

 profess for me ; tell them that I 

 doubt not their loyal attachment, 

 and depend on their heartily join- 

 ing their exertions to those of the 

 rest of my subjects, to reconquer 

 the rights of the sea, the loss of 

 which five coalitions incited by 

 England have inflicted on the 

 continent; tell them, that in all 

 circumstances they may reckon 

 on my peculiar protection," 



