FRA 
“ But if he, approving what England does, recognizing 
her right to fearch all (hips, to place whole kingdoms in 
a date of blockade, applauding the immenfe increafe of 
her • ower in India, came to reprefent to Fiance, that fhe 
ought ro evacuate Parma and Genoa, and renounce the 
crown of Italy ; then it would appear that it was evidently 
intended to opprcfs France ; then it would be France which 
they would will) to bring back to thole times when Poland 
was partitioned without its own confent, when means were 
found to terrify a degenerate race, to deprive it of the 
confcioufnefs of its worth, and even of the will of oppofing 
the oppreflion. France has arms, courage, and armies; 
yea, of whatever nature the coalition (hall be which the 
Englifh minifters may find means to form, France, though 
regretting the influence of Englilh gold on the continent, 
will diflol ve the gordian knot as often as it lhall be formed. 
“ Poland has been partitioned ; France mud have fpr 
it Belgium and the banks of the Rhine. The Crimea has 
been occupied, the Caucafus, the mouths of the Phafis, 
&c. France mud have a compenfation in Europe; the 
principles of felf-prefervation require it. 
“ Is a genetal congrefs of Europe wifhed for? Well. 
Let each power place at the difpofal of that congrefs the 
conqueds which die has made within the lad fifty years; 
re-edabli(h Poland, reftore Venice to its fenate, Trinidad 
to Spain, Ceylon to Holland, and the Crimea to the Porte ; 
withdraw to a didance from the Phafis and the Bofphorusp 
give up Caucafus and Georgia; let the Porte, after fo 
many difaders, take a little breath ; let the dominion of 
the Mahratta, and the kingdom of Myfote, be re-efta- 
blilhed, or no longer remain the excluftve property of 
England—then lhall France recede within Iter ancient 
boundaries, and in fo doing France affuredly will not be 
the greated loler. Whence then this furious outcry, this 
futrillions to a crufade againd a power wliiclt for the lad 
fifty years has derived lei's advantage than any other from 
the revolutions of dates, and the changes which have 
taken place in every part of the globe, and which, uni¬ 
formly victorious, has retained nothing of her conqueds 
but what was necelfary to form an equitable compenfation ? 
“ It is the fafnion at prefent to inveigh againd the am¬ 
bition of France ; bad the, however, been difpof d to re¬ 
tain the territories conquered by her arms, the half of 
Audria, the dates of Venice, the kingdom cf Naples, 
Swiflerland, and Holland, would dill have been (object 
to her dominion. 'The real boundaries of France are the 
Rhine a.nd the Adige. Did not the French penetrate be¬ 
yond the Adige and the Rhine ? Were they prevented by 
force of arms from taking the Suiza and the Drave as 
their boundaries ? Or did they not forego tluTe bounda¬ 
ries from a generous moderation ? 
“ As to England, the treaty of Amiens is dill in force. 
It was concluded after a deliberate and long invedigation 
of the reciprocal intereds of the two dates ; it was broken 
unexpectedly, and upon idle pretences. Re-eftablifti that 
treaty, and both dat.es are at peace. But if England re¬ 
quires new conditions—if ihe wifiies to enter into a dif- 
cudion refpeCting the frontiers of France on the fide of 
Italy—let her give to France a (hare of the Mahratta ter¬ 
ritory ; let her, in (hort, adopt maxims confident with 
the independence of the other powers. But the Englidt 
will perhaps fay, ‘ It is better to fink than to confent that 
the flag (hall protect the cargo—that a veil'd, for what¬ 
ever ihe contains, or whatever is done on-board her, fhall 
be accountable only to the fovereign of the date to which 
fhe belongs—that the Indies lhall ceafe to be our proper¬ 
ty, or that any other power whatfoever (hall have a right 
to (hare with us in our fuperiority in the Indies!’ Do not 
then expeCt that France (hall enter into difcuflions upon 
points which do not concern you, cr do you confent to 
enter into difcuflions with her upon points which involve 
the facred interefts of all nations?—France duly appre¬ 
ciates the advantages of peace: but (he will carry on the 
war as long as it (hall be necelfary towards maintaining 
the honour of her flag, and the preponderance which it 
Vol. VII. !No. 475. 
N C E. 8 6tj 
has acquired ; and until (he has obtained the aflurance, 
that in whatever quarter of the world a Frenchman may 
fliew himfelf, lie fhall not have occafion to blufli in con- 
fequence of the infults and arrogant aflumptions of the 
Englifh.” 
A continental war now appearing inevitable, contend¬ 
ing princes ferioufly prepared to augment their armies, 
and called forth all their energies for carrying their re- 
fpeCtive plans into efi'eCt. Bonaparte, averfe to procraf- 
tination, and determined to bring the point to an iflue, 
on the 16vh of Augufl publifhed a declaration, calling 
upon the emperor of Ruflia to avow the objeCl of iiis 
immenfe armaments, and of his real intentions towards 
France ; and alfo on the emperor and king of Auftria and 
Germany to remove his army from the Tyrolefe; and 
either to obferve a find: neutrality, or declare his inten¬ 
tions with rel'peCt to tlie warlike preparations then on 
foot. This requifltion concludes as follows : 
“ The emperor of the French is on the point of under¬ 
taking the expedition againft England, In this inten¬ 
tion, and depending entirely upon the peace exifiing with 
Auftria, and the other powers of the continent, he lias 
afi'embled on the coaft the greateft part of his troops from 
Italy and the Rhine, and has almoft entirely evacuated 
Swiflerland. It was, therefore, to his infinite furprif'e, 
that his majefty learned that great movements have taken 
place among the Andrian troops in Italy, in the Tyrol, 
and towards the frontiers of Bavaria. His majefty confe- 
quently thinks hintfelf not only juftified, but alfo obliged, 
before lie executes the great enterprife in queflion, to re¬ 
quire of the court of Vienna a pofitive declaration rela¬ 
tive to the objects of thofe measures, and its farther in¬ 
tentions, that, in cafe the reply be not fatisfadory, th.a 
emperor of the French may poftpone the expedition 
againft England, and repair to the Rhine with his whole 
forte, for the purpofe of compelling Auftria to preferve 
the peace of the continent.” 
Counter declarations were immediately iflued by the 
courts of Peterlburg and Vienna. The Ruffian minifter, 
on the 31ft of Auguft, delivered the declaration of his 
fovereign to the French minifter at Vienna. It is therein 
ftated to be “ the fixed and inflexible refolution of Ruflia 
to enforce her claim by war; or, if fubmitting to a nego- 
ciation, to maintain a date of armed truce while the arti¬ 
cles are pending. That the emperor conliders himfelf 
as under the folemn obligation of refeuing the dates of 
Europe from French predominance, and of affording them 
an immediate and effectual refiftance. He refufes to re¬ 
commence the negociation, under any circumftance, until 
he has placed himfelf in a fituation to be enabled to affift: 
his allies at the moment when they may be attacked. 
For this purpofe he has ordered, two,armies, of fifty thou- 
fand men each, tcmarch through Gallicia to the Danube, 
a6 a meafure of precaution, in order to continue the 
fupport of a powerful army of obfervation, with the ne- 
gociations for peace ; which army will be in a fituation 
to prevent all farther aggreffions during the period of 
pacification.” 
This declaration of the court of Ruflia, was followed by 
that of the emperor of Auftria, on the 3d of September ; 
“ The court of Vienna yields, without delay, to the re- 
queft which the emperor of France has made of a cate¬ 
gorical explanation ref'pecting the motive of its prepara¬ 
tions. The court of Vienna has no other motive than 
that of maintaining peace and friendlhip with France, and 
fecuring the general tranquillity of the continent. It has 
no other wi(h than that the emperor of the French may 
entertain correfponding fentiments. The maintenance of 
peace, however, between tire two dates, does not merely 
confift in their not attacking each other. It depends not 
lefs, in reality, on the fulfilment of thofe treaties on which 
peace is founded. 
“ The peace between Auftria and P'rance was founded 
upon the treaty of Luneville. One of the articles of that 
treaty ftipulated and guaranteed the independence of the 
10 M Italian, 
