FRANCE. 
890 
be wholly difcontinued, and the Gregorian almanac re¬ 
fumed from the i ft of January 1806, as in other Chriftiun 
countries. 
Notice was now ifiued to all the departments of the 
empire, for their deputies to attend at the opening of the 
fed!on of the Jegiflative body, which was fixed for the 2d 
of March. B.ut in tiie mean time, namely on the 6th of 
February, a farther diminution of the French maiine hap¬ 
pened in confequence of an engagement which took place 
in St. Domingo buy in tire Weft Indies, between an Eng* 
lifh fquadron under the command of admiral fir John 
Thomas Duckworth, and a French fleet commanded by 
admiral le Siegle, who had .been difpatched with a ftrong 
naval and military force, in the hope of recovering the 
ill and of St. Domingo from the rebel chief Deflalines. 
The Engliftt fquadron confided of feven (hips of the line; 
that belonging to the French of only five. The adtion 
began at ten o’clock, and continued till half pall eleven ; 
when F Alexandre of Sqguns, captain Garreau ; le Jupitre 
of 74guns, captain Laignel; and 1’Brave of 74guns, captain 
Coude, were compelled to ftrike to the Knglifn ; while 
.admiral Siegle run his (hip, l’Imperiale of 120 guns, on 
fbore in St. Domingo bay ; asdid !ikew ife captain Henry, 
his fhip le Diomede of 84 guns ; both of which were 
wrecked, and afterwards totally deftroyed by the Englilh, 
who humanely took out the crews of both fhips, which 
muft otherwife have perifhed through the violence of a 
fempeftuous fea.—See the article Great Britain. 
This check did not diminifh the fplendourof the open¬ 
ing of the feflion ; indeed it was not at that time known 
at Paris, fo that the naval engagement alluded to in the 
following fpeech was the battle of Trafalgar. On the 
2d of March, therefore, the emperor Napoleon went 
in ftate from tire court of the Thuillerie’s to the palace 
of the legiflative body, elcorted by the imperial guard, 
and attended by an infinite concourfe of people ; and hav¬ 
ing taken his feat in the hall of their fittings, he delivered 
the following fpeech : 
“ Gentlemen, the deputies from the departments to the 
legiflative body—Gentlemen, the tribunes, and mem¬ 
bers of my council of ftate— 
“ Since your laft feflion, the greateft part of Europe 
has entered into a coalition with England. My armies 
have never ceafed to conquer, excepting when I ordered 
them to combat no longer. I have avenged the rights of 
* Ire feeble ftates, oppreiied by the ftrong. My allies have 
increafed in power, and in confequence. My enemies 
have been humbled and confounded—the houle of Naples 
has irrecoverably loft its crown—the whole of the penin- 
fulaof Italy forms a part of the great empire. I, as ftt- 
preme head, have guaranteed the lovereign, and the com 
ftitutions that govern the different departments. 
“Ruflia only owes the return of the wreck of her army 
to the advantages of the capitulation which I granted it. 
Able to have overturned the imperial throne of Auftria, 
1 have re-eftablilhed it. The condudl of the cabinet of 
Vienna will be Inch as will prevent pofterity from re¬ 
proaching me for any want of forefight—I have yielded 
an entire confidence to the proteftations which have been 
made to me by its fovereign. Befides, the high deftinies 
of my crown do not depend upon the fentiments and difpo- 
litions of foreign courts. My people will always fupport 
my throne again!! all the efforts of hatred and jealoufy— 
no facrifiee will be painful to them to fecure that firft in- 
tereft of the country. 
“ Bred in camps, and in camps that have always been 
triumphafit, I ought to acknowledge that, in the late 
events, my foldiers have exceeded my expectations. It 
is pleafant alfo for me to declare, that my people have alfo 
fulfilled the extent of their duties. In the heart of Mo¬ 
ravia, I never ceafed for an inftant to experience tire effects 
of their love and emhufiafm. Never have they given me 
any marks of their attachment, which have penetrated 
my heart with fweeter emotions. 
“ Frenchmen 1 I have not been deceived in my hopes. 
Your love, more than the extent and riches of your ter* 
ritory, conftitute my glory. Magiftrates, clergy, citizens, 
all have fhevvn themfelves worthy of the high deftinies of 
that admirable France, which for two ages pad lias been 
the objed! of the leagues and the jealoufies of its neigh¬ 
bours. 
“ My minifter of the interior will inform you of the 
events which have taken place in the courfe of the year. 
My council of (late will lay before you plans of laws to 
ameliorate the different branches of the adminiftration. 
My minifters of finance, and of the public treafury, will 
lay before you the accounts which they have prefented to 
me. You will perceive by them the profperous ftate of 
our finances. Since my return, I have been inceftantly 
occupied in giving to the adminiftration that fpring and 
activity which give life to the extremities of this va(l em¬ 
pire. My people will have no new burthens to bear, but 
new plans will be propofed to you refpedting the fyftem 
of the finances, the bafes of which were eftablilhed laft 
year. I intend to diminifh the immediate impofitions 
which bear upon the territory alone, and to replace a part 
of thefe charges by indiredt duties. 
“ Through the elements we have loft fome fhips, after 
an engagement imprudently undertaken. I cannot praife 
too match the greatnefs of foul, and the attachment which 
the king of Spain has (hewn in thefe circumftances for 
the common caufe. I wifli for peace with England. On 
my part, it (hall never be retarded for a moment. I (hall 
always be ready to conclude it, in adopting for its bafts 
the conditions of the treaty of Amiens. 
w Gentlemen, deputies to the legiflative body, 
“ The attachment you have fliewn to me, the manner 
in which you have feconded me in the late fittings, leave 
me no doubt of your afliftance. Nothing (hall be pro 
pofed to you, but that which is neceflary to guarantee 
the glory and fafety of my people.” 
Flattering diftindtions, and addreffes of congratulation, 
were now the only modes by which the French people 
could honour and elevate the man who had approved him- 
felf at once the protector and faviour of their country ! — 
who had, in the fliort compafs of ninety-feven days, with¬ 
out receiving the fmalleft check or fhadow of repulfe, de¬ 
feated the united power of tlie emperors of Auftria and 
Ruflia, deftroyed four formidable armies, captured Vienna, 
the third metropolis of thevvorld, which had never before 
fubmitted to an enemy, abolifhed the kingdom of Naples, 
and reftored, or rather enforced, peace upon the conti¬ 
nent of Europe! 
The character, the conduct, the prowefs, and active 
perfeverance, of this extraordinary perfon, all contribute 
to mark him as a prodigy. From an oblcure individual, 
of an equally obfeure illand, Corfica, he was fent for edu¬ 
cation, firft to the fchool of Autun, and afterwards, at 
only ten years of age, to the military academy of Brienne* 
He was born on the 15th of Auguft 1769; his father was 
in the profeflion of the law ; but to general Marboeuf, 
the French governor of Corfica, he owed his education, 
who patronized him from an infant, and afligned him to 
the army. In the earlieft tumults of revolutionary war¬ 
fare, he fought for employ ; but was difcountenanced and 
rejedfed, on account of his attachments to the politics of 
his countryman general Paoli. Thus deprefied in his firft 
efl'ay for military fame, he was living in indigence at a 
Ihort diftance from Toulon, when that city was feized by 
the Englilh. Having the good fortune to be known to 
Salicetti, the deputy then on commiflion with the repub¬ 
lican army, he got employed during the fiege as chef de 
brigade ; and from a diftinguiftied combihation of courage 
and talent, he contributed greatly to the recovery of the 
place. The cruelties which followed the furrender of 
the town, being afterwards imputed chiefly to his example, 
he was arrefted at Nice in 1794, as a terrorijl , and lent to 
prifon. As it was impoffible to profecute all the fubor- 
dinate agents in thefe fanguinary fcenes, he was at length 
releafed, and call upon the town, in extreme penury, with 
a nu» 
