LON 
cables. The praams, which had'the option of choofing 
their diftance, came up fuccefiively within gun-fhot, gave 
their broadfides, and tacked, and continued this mode of 
engaging, joined afterwards by ten brigs, for upwards of 
two hours without intertnifTion. The Naiad, which had 
returned their lire, and had not a lingle man hurt, then 
weighed and (food off, partly to repair fome finall damages, 
but principaliy to-endeavour to get to windward, that the 
might be enabled to clofe with the enemy. After a time 
fire tacked and made all fail towards them ; but, it fall¬ 
ing calm, the flotilla anchored under the batteries east¬ 
ward of Boulogne, a. d the Naiad returned her former an¬ 
chorage. On the following morning, the enemy’s flotilla 
of 7 praams and 15 fmalier vefl'els weighed and flood out, 
apparently to renew their former diftant cannonade. The 
Naiad weighed, and, getting well to windward, joined the 
armed brigs Rinaldo, Redpole, and Caftilian, with the 
Viper cutter, which had come in the night to her Support. 
They all lay to on the larboard tack, gradually drawing 
off-fhore, in order to entice the enemy farther from the 
protection of his batteries. At the moment when the 
French admiral, having reached his utmoft diftance, tacked 
in-lhore, the Englifh fquadron bore up with the greateft 
rapidity in the midlt of a (hovver of Shot and fhells, with¬ 
out returning any till within piftol-fhet, when their firing 
threw the enemy into inextricable conrufion. The French 
admiral’s praam was the Naiad’s chief object ; but he 
pufhed lo faff for the batteries, that it was impoflible to 
reach him without too great hazard. The Naiad, how¬ 
ever, fucceeded in feparating one praam which had gal¬ 
lantly attempted to fuccour her chief, and, running her 
on-board, after an obltinate refiftance obliged her to fur- 
render. She carried 112 men, of whom 60 were Foldiers 
of the line. The remainder of the flotilla was completely 
defeated, but efcaped capture on account of the proximity 
of the formidable batteries. The lofs on the Englifh fide 
was inconfiderable ; and the whole affair was only im¬ 
portant as a kind of experiment of what might be ex¬ 
pected in a more ferious encounter of the fame nature. 
Bonaparte next proceeded to Offend, and afterwards 
minutely furveyed the new forts ereffed on the ifle of 
Cadfand. He made fuch a kind of review of the fqua¬ 
dron of men-of-war lying at the mouth of the Scheldt as 
might be expected from a fovereign and a landman ; and 
failed in his yacht to Fluffing, the repairs of which port 
he infpeffed. At Antwerp he received the different au¬ 
thorities at nine in the morning; and then vilited the 
fortifications, the arlenal, the docks, and all the works of 
art and induftry, which are deferibed as having renewed, 
anti even furpafled, all the wonders p re fen ted by that city 
in its molt flourifhing periods. But it was at Atnfterdam, 
“ proud of the title of third city of the empire,” that the 
expeffed prefence of the great vifitant excited, according 
to the French accounts, the molt enthufiaftic emotions ; 
and it is certain that the fettive preparations publicly en¬ 
joined by the magiftrates could not be well exceeded. He 
arrived there, in company of the emprefs, on October the 
oth, anti was received, it is faid, with general acclama¬ 
tions, and all the tokens of joy and fatisfaftion. In the 
fpeech of M. Van Scholten, prelident of the tribunal of 
the firft order, the people of Amiterdam are laid to be 
“ Frenchmen more in heart than in confequence of the 
union and to “ feel all the honour of forming part of 
the empire of Charlemagne, reftcred by a monarch who 
is fuperior to him in all refpefts.” 
Napoleon returned to Paris on the util of November, 
after a tour which appears to have had no other important 
objefls than fuch as regarded his Dutch dominions. There 
is no doubt, however, that lie was during this period car¬ 
rying on aftive negotiations with the northern powers of 
Europe, efpecially with the court of Ruftia, the effects of 
which will be mentioned prefently. At the conclufion 
of the year, the wafte of the pall and the demands of the 
coming feafon were manifefted by.an order for the imme¬ 
diate call of 120,000 coafcripts of the year 1812, 
BON. 
The impolitic war in which Rnffia had for fome time 
pail been engaged with Turkey, continued to be a drain 
upon the finances and population of both countries; 
doubtlefs to the fecret fatiff'aflion of that ambitious po¬ 
tentate, who, in his diftant projeffs, probably meditated 
the reduction of one of thefe empires to a ftate of fubfer- 
viency, and the fpoliation of the other. For the 'progrefs 
of this war, we muff refer to the articles Russia and 
Turkey. 
Had the court of Peterlbufgh encountered no other dif¬ 
ficulties than thofe proceeding from a war which it unne- 
ceflarily provoked, and which a little moderation on its part 
might fpeedily terminate,its deliberations would have been 
attended with little anxiety ; but it was at the fame time 
prefled by that overwhelming weight of unbalanced now r er 
which was lying fo heavy upon all the other ftates of the 
European continent. Napoleon’s favourite plan of ruin¬ 
ing the finances of England by cutting off' her commercial 
intercourfe with the countries of Europe, required an uni- 
verfal agreement among its potentates; and he had fuc¬ 
ceeded, by intrigue or intimidation, in caufing his mea- 
fures to be adopted, at leaft in appearance, in every part 
not aflually occupied by the Britifh arms. Ruftia, how¬ 
ever, from the remotenefs of its fituation, and the degree 
of unbroken power and independence which it itill pof- 
felfed, exerci/ed a will of its own on the fubjeff, and was 
occafionaily difpofvd to confult its private iutereft and con¬ 
venience, rather than the views of the French emperor. 
Hence, Englifh goods had never been committed to the 
flames in that country, as in Denmark and Germany 5 and 
Britifh colonial produce w,as admitted into her ports in 
neutral bottoms. 
The trade with Great Britain had been highly advanta¬ 
geous to the Ruffians, and many of the nobility derived 
a great fhare of their incomes from the fale of products of 
which this ifland was the principal market. The ftate of 
hoftility which exilted between the two countries was 
therefore generally unpopular in Ruftia, and the derange¬ 
ment of its finances in confequence of the Turkifli war 
rendered the fufpenfion of a lucrative commerce more fe- 
verely felt. The prefence of an Englifh fleet in the Bal¬ 
tic during the fummer, though it produced no declared 
change in the political fyflem of Ruftia, could not fail of 
affording fome opportunities of relaxing the rigour of 
commercial exclusion, and of giving umbrage to the 
French ruler. Other occafions ot difference mole between 
the courts of Peterfburgh and Paris. The former is faid 
to have refufed the demand of the latter, that Finland 
fhouid be reftored to Sweden ; and, in other points, the 
arbitrary interference of Napoleon in the politics of the 
north could not but prove galling to the power which 
knew no equal in that part of Europe. From thefe caufes, 
the whole year 1811 pafied in difeuffions and negotiations 
between Ruftia and France, the afpeft of which appeared 
at times fo hoftile, that an immediate declaration of war 
between them w'as confidently expeffed by the northern 
politicians. Such a change was fuppofed to have taken 
place in the Ruffian cabinet with re Ip eft to this country, 
that a quantity of am munition and warlike /lores was fent by 
our government in four tranfports, under convoy of a (loop 
of war, to the port of Revel, with the expeftation that 
they would be received. They were, indeed, greeted on 
their arrival by the public authorities, as well as by the 
people, with a hearty welcome ; but the Ruffian govern¬ 
ment was not prepared to take a ftep fo decidedly hoftile 
to the withes of France, and the velfels were obliged to 
return without landing their cargoes. Upon the whole, 
it could not be queftioned that the inclination of the 
court of Ruffia, at the dole of this year, was more 
friendly towards England than towards France ; but 
the fame dread of the overbearing power of the latter 
country, which rendered her an objeft of averfion, alfo 
operated to infpire great caution in adopting meafures 
which might afford a pretext for converting her into an. 
open enemy. All oouiidence, however, was at an end 
s between. 
