®G0 LON 
between the two courts; and a cloud was manifestly ga¬ 
thering; which was foon to involve the north in the hor¬ 
rors of blood and devaftation. 
Tire humiliated court of Vienna had been principally 
occupied in the restoration of its impaired finances. The 
reft of Germany, in part annexed to France, and the re¬ 
mainder in clofe league with it, or under flavifh depend- 
ance on the French emperor, contributed little of import¬ 
ance to the political hiftory of the year. If fympathy 
could be excited for the degradation of a power which had 
itfelf rifen hv ufurpation, the condition of Pruffia was 
fuch as to call forth the emotions both of compafiion and 
indignation. Its trade nearly annihilated, its public of¬ 
fices under the dire&ion of Frenchmen, its finances over¬ 
burdened to pay the exaffted contributions, every political 
motion an objefl of fufpicion to one of the two great 
powers by which it was encompaffed ; it had loft its prof- 
perity and independence without obtaining the compen¬ 
sation of lecurity. Its fovereign, who had been unwil¬ 
lingly accelTary to the fall of his country, preferved the 
affgftion of his fubjefits by liis readinefs to undergo per- 
•fonal privations for the public welfare; but melancholy 
■ereyed on his mind, and of all the humbled monarchs he 
was probably the mod deferving of pity. His inclination 
Jed him to a family-conneHion with the Ruffian emperor; 
but fuperior power obliged him to fubmit to the political 
interefts of France. After much reluctant delay, he was 
compelled to join the Confederation of the Rhine, and to 
place a confiderable body of his troops under the orders 
of genera! Rappe, the French commander on the fouthern 
•coaft of the Baltic. 
Of the other northern dates, Sweden has been the prin¬ 
cipal objeft of political intereft, on account of the pecu¬ 
liarities of her fituation. Under the nominal rule of a na¬ 
tive king, but declining in years and conftitution, (lie was 
really governed by an adopted fiiccefior, a Frenchman, for¬ 
merly one of Napoleon’s officers, and generally fuppofed to 
have been defied to the ftation of crown-prince through 
his influence. It was therefore natural to expect that Swe¬ 
den through his means would be wholly devoted to the 
French intereft ; and thedeclaration of war againft England, 
with the exclusion of its commerce, were apparent proofs 
.of this fubferviency. But thefe meafures were . manifeftly 
unpopular with the Swedifh nation ; and Bernadotte, the 
crown-prince, foon began to exhibit fymptoms of looking 
more to the honour and fecurity of a crown which he was 
deftined to wear, than to the gratification of a former maf- 
ter—in fhort, to be changed from a Frenchman to a Swede. 
A jealoufy on the part of the French of an interconrfe be¬ 
tween the Swedes and the Englifh appeared early in the year, 
from a complaint tranfmitted to Stockholm by the French 
conful at Gottenburgh, importing that the governor of 
that town connived at a clandeftine communication with 
the Britifh fnipping; and, although upon an inquiry the 
allegations were declared to be unfounded, it was thought 
proper to remove the governor. The Englifh fleet under 
fir J. Saumarez being in the Baltic in the month of June, 
a negotiation took place between him and the Swedifh go¬ 
vernment refpefling fome detained fhips with colonial 
produce; and the taking pofleffion of the (hips was ex¬ 
plained as being merely a meafure of retaliation againft 
Pruffia, which had detained Swedifh fhips in her ports. 
■The conduff of the Englifh admiral toward the Swedes was 
Highly fatisfaflory to that nation, as he not only fuftered 
their coafting vefiels to pafs unmolefted, but even gave 
them all the protection in his power. 
Denmark retained too ftrong a feeling of indignation 
againft England, and was too apprehenfive of the power 
of France, now become a clofe neighbour in confequence 
of the annexation of the northern coaft of Germany, to 
make any change in its political fyftem. Having lott its 
navy, and fuftered a great part of its feamen to enter the 
French fervice, its maritime exertions were limited to at¬ 
tacks upon the Englifh trade by privateers and gun-boats, 
in which it obtained fuccefs enough to be a troublefome 
D O N. 
adverfary. With the view of avoiding occafions of quar¬ 
rel with Sweden, the Danifh court ilfued a decree early in 
February, containing feveral immunities from detention 
or capture to Swedifh (hips which had been engaged in 
communication with England; as it is, however, difficult 
in all countries to reftrain the predatory habits of corfairs, 
the Swedes had reafon during the courfe of the year to 
complain of the hoftilities praftifed upon their commerce 
by the armed vefiels of Denmark. 
The moll confiderable enterprife undertaken by the 
Danes in this year, was their attempt to recover the ifland 
of Anholt, which had been captured by,the Englifh, and 
rendered a ftation whence they were much incommoded. 
On March the 27th, a Danifh flotilla with troops on-board, 
conftituting a force of near 4000 men, arrived off the ifle 
of Anholt, garrifoned by no more than 350, and, effecting 
a landing without oppofition, made an attack upon the 
Englifh works and batteries. Though their efforts were 
vigorous and frequently repeated, they were repulfed in 
every point, with the lofs of their commander, and a 
number of men killed and wounded ; and a body of 500, 
unable to get back to their boats, was obliged to furren- 
der prifoners. 
Of much more probable importance to Great Britain 
than the political frate of the remote countries of Europe, 
is that of tile United States of North America, which, 
though feparated from us by a wide ocean, already exert 
a powerful influence upon our commercial prcfperity, and 
mu ft progrefTively become of greater weight in our public 
fyftem in proportion to their advance in wealth and popu¬ 
lation. The year 1811 pafted in a broken intercourf'e 
with this people, and in difputes with its government con¬ 
tinually tending to widen the breaches made in the amity 
which ought to fubfift between nations fo nearly allied in 
origin, manners, and fentiments. 
About the clofe of the year 1810, difcuffions took place 
in the fenate of the United States relpeffing the occupa¬ 
tion of Weft Florida. The opponents of the bill for its 
annexation maintained that the title by which they claimed 
it was infufficient, and that the prefident had not autho¬ 
rity to caufe it to be forcibly occupied ; they alfo urged 
that, in the prefent ftate of Spain, and of her relations 
with Great Britain, there would he danger that fuch a 
meafure might involve them in a war with thofe powers. 
The advocates of the meafure dwelt upon the juftice of 
the claim, and the obligation of aflerting a national right 
under any circutriftances whatfoever. TJie occupation, was, 
however, carried into effect without refiftance. 
On the 22d of January, 1811, the prefident laid before 
congrefs copies of a difpatch from Mr. Pinckney, minif- 
ter-plenipotentiary from the United States to the court of 
London, relative to his correfpondence with the marquis 
Wellefley on the fubjeft of the orders in council. Ia 
his enclofed letter to the marquis, dated Nov. 3, 1810, he 
refers to a notification he had made of the repeal of the 
Berlin and Milan decrees by the court of France; and re¬ 
minds his lordfnip, that the day was now paft on which 
that repeal was to take efi'eft ; and that therefore, accord - 
ing to the repeated pledges of the Britifh government, its 
relinquifhment of the fyftem adopted in confequence of 
thofe decrees was indifpenfable. Mr. Pinckney then in¬ 
forms the American fecretary of ftate, that no fteps had 
been taken, or apparently thought of, towards the revo¬ 
cation of the Britifh orders. On the iff of March, Mr. 
Pinckney had his audience of leave from the prince-regent. 
When this circumftance was mentioned in parliament, as 
implying that all negotiations were at an end with the 
United States, the minifter attempted to foften the infer¬ 
ence by faying that a charge d’affaires would be left, 
through whom any new propofals might be tranfmitted. 
It is certain, however, that Mr. Pinckney considered his 
miffion as quite concluded. He thus expreffes himfelf in 
a letter to Mr. Smith, fecretary of ftate :—“ I had my au¬ 
dience of leave at Carlton-houfe yefterday. In the courfe 
of the fhort addrefs which the occaflon required, I ftated 
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