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What boots it us; if, distant as before,
Between us still Atlantic billows roar?
Now the Plantations, till'd in times of old
By British hands, and rich with British gold,
No more their Sugars for Dutch Vrows p' epare,
But sweeten breakfasts for the British tair:
Now what the master, what the slave consumes
Employs out ships, our forges, and our looms;
Whence many an annual flourish will be made
On rising means, and ever-growing trade,

Till at PITT's soothing strains, stock-jobbers close
Their eyes with CURTIS, in secure repose;
Till manufacturers with merchants vie
New capital, fresh credit to supply,
Nor heed, as bills and balances increase,
What ruin'd houses mark another peace.
Yer you, the victors, still detain`d from home,
We know not why, we know not whither, roam;
If now, where rocky Casson near

Your arms defies, with mightier pow'rs you steer;
If now your course to Guadaloupe you bend,
Or the strong shores that Martinique defend,
Which first we fortified, then gave away,
To find our soldier's work some future day.
All from the islands come, or from the main,
We ask about you;-but we ask in vain.
By all who go we write, and to their care
Give letters for Barbantes and elsewhere."
We sent to Glasgow: Glasgow nothing knew.
To Cork we sent; aud Cok had nothing true.
Better for us, that in some dull blockade,
You, with our tars, whole years had been delay'd,

IMITATIONS.

Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit, rescecandaque falce
Luxuriat Phrygio sangu ne pinguis humus.
Semisepulta virum curvis triuntur aratris
Ossa; ruinosas occulit herba domos.

Victor abes; nec scire mihi, quæ causa morandi,
Aut in que laceas ferreus urbe, licet.
Quisquis ad hæc vertit peregrinam littora puppim.
Ille mihi de te multa rogatus abit;
Quamque tibi reddat, si te modo viderit u quam,
Traditur huic digitis charta notata meis.
Nos Pylon, antiqui Nelcïa Nestoris arva,

Misimus. Incerta est fama remissa Pylo.
Misimus et Sparten. Sparte quoque nescia veri,
Quas habitas terras, aut ubi lentus abes.
Utilius starent etiam nunc monia Phobi.
(Irascot votis hæc levis ipsa meis !)
Scirem ubi pugnares, et tantum bella timerem,
Et mea cum multis juncta querela toret.
Quid timeam ignoro: timeo tamen omnia demens;
Et patet in curas area lata meas.
Quæcunque æquor habet, quæcunque pericula
tellus.

Tam longæ causas suspicor esse moræ, Hæc ego dum stultè meditor (quæ vestra libido est) Esse peregrino captus amore potes. Forsitam et naires, quam sit tibi rustica conjux, Quæ tantum lænas non siuit esse rudes.

NOTE.

This part of Guiana was first colonized by the English, afterwards taken by the Dutch, and finally exchanged with them for New York.

Than conquer'd colonies, which PITT once more
May prompt some specious puppet to restore,
The price of peace. -Ah! wiser by the event,
Our vows for your success we now repent.
Where then would be your station, we should know,
And dread alone the climate as your foe,
Now we have scope for fears of every kind,
By land, by sea: all, all, distract our mind.
Caught by strange comrades, whom you there have

mer,

Haply you now your family forget,

At us poor rustics laugh, and mimic, how
We hold a musket, as we held a plough.
False be that charge; and may you have the grace,
Whenever free, to quit that hated place.
For us, by menaces, by flatteries tried,
We with all others to enlist denied;
And would deny; still faithful, still the same,
Resolved to share your fortunes and your name.
Around us corporals and serjeants prest;
Recruiting constables in scarlet drest;
Beadles, for helmets changing gold laced hats,
Long coats for skitless jackets, whips for cats;
Churchwardens, scoining the meek air of trade
For the fierce looks of martial masquerade;
Drill vestry-clerks, inspecting overseers,
And all the staff of all the volunteers.
Why should Lieutenant LING employ our pen,
From crimping cod advane'd to crimping men,
With Captain COFFIN, Adjutant PTISAN,
And Ensign once, now Colonel PATTY PAN;
Why all the crew, on whom ignobly here
Is lavish'd, what with blood you buy so dear?
Theirs higher bounties, theirs superior pay;
Theirs finer cloaths, accoutrements more gay;
To them alone belong, without a scar,
"Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war;'
They reign at Court; and ever in their praise,
PITT, ADDINGTON, alike their voices raise.
Small are, alas! the numbers which we boast,
Scarce two or three, contending with a host.
We are too weak to drive this trilling race
That mock your semblance, and usurp your place.
Come then, oh! come, and vindicate from shame
The honours, that should await 3 soldier's name.
We, whom you left raw lads, compared to these,
Are steady veterans, come whene'er you please.

IMITATIONS.

Fallar; et hoc crimen tenues vanescat in auras ;
Nevè, revertendi liber, abesse velis.
Me pater Icarius viduo decedere lecto

Cogit, et immensas increpat usque moras.
Increpet usque licet: tua sum, tua dicar oportet
Penelope; conjux semper Ulixis ero.
Dulichii, Samiique, et quos tulit alta Zacynthos,
Turba ruunt in me luxuriosa, proci;
Inque tuà regnant, nullis prohibentibus, aulâ.
Viscera nostra, tuæ dilaniantur opes.

Quid tibi Pisandium, Polybumque, Medontaquedirum,

Eury machique avidas Antinoique manus, Atque alios reteram, quos omnes turpiter absens Ipse tuo partis sanguine rebus alis? Tres sumus imbelles numero;

Nec mihi sunt vires inimicos pallere tectis;
Tu citius venias, portus et ata, tuis.
Certe ego, quæ fueram, te decedente, puella
1 us at redeas, facta videbor anus.

Printed by Cox and Baylis, No 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall.

Vol. VII. No. 8.]

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1805. [PRICE 10D.

"The committee will perceive, that the great object I have in view, is, to raise a large part of the supplies within the year. The extent to which I wish to carry this principle is this; that there shall be no "increase whatever of the public debt during the war."- -Mr. ADDINGTON's Speech, 13th June, 1803. 2571

PUBLIC PAPERS. LETTER OF NAPOLEON. Letter from the Emperor NAPOLEON to bis Majesty the KING OF ENGLAND, dated 2d January, 1805, and communicated to the Legislative Body of France on the 4th of February,

1805.

SIR

AND BROTHER,-Called to the throne of France by Providence, and by the suffrages of the senate, the people and the army, my first sentiment is a wish for peace. France and England abuse their prosperity. They may contend for ages; but do their governments well fulfil the most sacred of their duties, and will not so much blood, shed uselessly, and without a view to any end, condemn them in their own consciences? I consider it as no disgrace to make the first step. I have, I hope, sufficiently proved to the world, that I fear none of the chances of war; it besides presents nothing that I need to fear; peace is the wish of my heart, but war has never been inconsistent with my glory. I conjure your Majesty not to deny yourself the happiness of giving peace to the world, nor to leave that sweet satisfaction to your children: for certainly there never was a more fortunate opportunity, nor a moment more favourable, to silence all the passions, and listen only to the sentiments of hu manity and reason. This moment once lost, what end can be assigned to a war which all my efforts will not be able to terminate! Your Majesty has gained more within ten years, both in territory and riches, than the whole extent of Europe. Your nation is at the highest point of prosperity; what can it hope from war? To form a coalition with some powers of the Continent! The Continent will remain tranquil a coalition can only increase the preponderance and continental greatness of France. To renew intestine troubles?The times are no longer the same. To destroy our finances ?-Finances founded on a flourishing agriculture can never be destroyed. To take from France her colonies -The colonies are to France only a secondary object; and does not your Majesty already possess more than you know how to preserve? If your Majesty would but reflect, you must perceive that

[258

the war is without an object, without any presumable result to yourself. Alas! what a melancholy prospect to cause two nations to fight merely for the sake of fighting. The world is sufficiently large for our two nations to live in it, and reason is sufficiently powerful to discover means of reconciling every thing, when the wish for reconciliation exists on both sides. I have however fulfilled a sacred duty, and one which is precious to my heart. I trust your Majesty will believe in the sincerity of my sentiments, and my wish to give you every proof of it, &c. NAPOLEON.

LETTER OF LORD MULGRAVE. Answer given by Lord Mulgrave, Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs, dated the 14th January, 1805. The letter was addressed to M. Talleyrand.

His Britannic Majesty has received the letter which has been addressed to him by the head of the French Government, dated the 2d of the present month. There is no object which his Majesty has more at heart, than to avail himself of the first opportunity to procure again for his subjects the advantages of a peace, founded on bases which may not be incompatible with the permanent security and essential interests of his dominions. His Majesty is persuaded that this end can only be attained by arrangements which may at the same time provide for the future safety and tranquillity of Europe, and prevent the recurrence of the dangers and calamities in which it is involved. Conformably to this sentiment, his Majesty feels it is impossible for him to answer more particularly to the overture that has been made him, till he has had time to communicate with the Powers on the Continent with whom he is engaged in confidential connexions and relations, and particularly tle Emperor of Russia, who has given the strongest profs of the wisdom and elevation of the sentiments with which he is animated, and the lively interest which he takes in the safety and independence of the Continent.

MULGRAVE.

LORD ROBERT FITZGERALD'S LETTER to M. D'Aranjo D'Arevedo, Minister of Foreign

Affairs at Lisbon: dated 25th of January, 1805.

SIR,Did I not entertain for the Portuguese nation the highest respect, I should, perhaps, pass over in silence the indecent publication which has appeared in the Supplement to the Gazette of Lisbon of this day, of an article under the title of Manifesto of the Prince of Peace,' dated Madrid, the 20th of December, 1804. But anxious, Sir, as I am to possess the good opinion of a Toyal nation, which is esteemed by mine, it is just that I should protest in an official and ostensible manner against the insertion of so base a libel as that to which I allude, more particularly, as the Gazette of Lisbon is the only journal circulated in Portugal; as it is published under the sanction, and subject to the control of the Government, and as it is, of course, marked with an official character, which gives credit with the public to every thing that appears in it.I repeat, Sir, that anxious of the good opinion of this nation, I cannot be indifferent to the sentiments it entertains of mine; and what would be its sentiments if a public Minister of his Britannic Majesty, witnessing, under the character of authenticity, the publication of those foul calumnies with which that manifesto teems, were by his silence to admit, at least, tacitly, the reality of the abominable crimes with which his countrymen are reproached? What would be its sentiments, if a Minister of his Majesty felt no indignation at the horrible charge preferred against the English, of suffering their prisoners of war to die of hunger, or of compelling them to enter into their service against their own country; finally, if he felt no indignation to hear them denounced to all Europe as objects of universal detestation, with the most shameful and aggravating epithets, and at the same. time degrading to the ancient and brave Spanish nation (to excite whose ardour it was sufficient but to show an enemy); and injurious to the generous people against whom they are directed. No, Sir, we do not starve our prisoners to death;- we do not force them to take up arms against their country. If Spain mourns the fate of the unfortunate persons, who perished at a moment when a measure of precaution dictated the necessity of detaining certain ships of war belonging to that nation by the British cruisers: Do us, Sir, the justice to believe, that that sorrow is as general and sincere in England; and that the mourning we wear is at the bottom of our hearts. No, Sir, our hands are not stained with innocent blood; and we would readily shed some of our own to restore to life the victims of acruel chance,

which we constantly deplore.--These, Sir, are the principle points on which I have to vindicate the outraged honour of my nation, while I wait for the instructions of his Majesty with respect to the exemplary punishment which it is entitled to demand of the Portuguese Government, on the Editors or Printers who inserted in the said Gazette, no doubt, without its knowledge, a libel so prejudicial to the honour of its august ally.I have the honour to be, with the highest consideration, your Excellency's, &c. ROBERT S. FITZGERALD.

FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPĒRS. M. TALLEYRAND'S REPORT, made to e Conservative Senate of France, relative i the Overtures of Peace, made by the Empe Tor of France to the King of England, Do ted 4th Feb. 1805. (See the Emperors' Letter, p. 257.)

The national solemnity of the corona tion, this noble and necessary consumma tion of our social institutions, was connect ed with sensations too profound and too ge neral not to have occupied the undivided attention of all classes in the state; on the approach, after the accomplishment of the great internal event, which has just secured for ever the destinies of France, in conse crating by the suffrages of men, and by the voice of Heaven, all that we have acquired in glory, in grandeur, and independence. it was generally, and as it were by che common impression felt, that the interes of all other events was weakened and diminished, and even the thought of the war, in the bosom of a nation owing so much to its victories seem to disappear. Every thing is accomplished; the Empire is found ed, and in resuming his attention to exte rior concerns, and in recalling the spirit of the nation to the interests of the war, the first sentiment of the Emperor has been to raise himself above every passion, and to justify the exalted destiny which Provi dence reserves for him, by shewing himself inaccessible to hatred, ambition, venge. If there exist the men, who have conceived the project of combating us with the arms of crimes, who have to the utmost of their power, realised this cruel thought, who have hired assassins, and who, even at this very moment, pension our enemies; it is over these identical passions that the Emperor wished to triumph. The more natural and common it was to feel a live y resentment against personal attacks, the more was he sensible that it was the part of a great mind to be proof against it. This determination is noble; but it differs widely from ordinary rules; and on so rare an

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occasion, I ought to forget for a moment the principles of propriety, which would prevent me, in other instances, from offending by my praises the Sovereign, whose minister I have the honour to be. In the present instance, I cannot explain those measures, the generosity of which supposes an insensibility to the common laws of prudence, without justifying them; and without intending it, my justification is our eulogium.The Emperor has made the first overtures to a government, which has been guilty of aggression, which has manifested without motive and without disguise, sentiments of inveterate hatred towards him and towards us. In order to comprehend adequately such an instance of mode. ration, we must resort to the remembrance of the past, and follow the progress of an august Sovereign through the whole extent of his noble career. Have not such men, as have studied his character, discovered in the bold flight, in the vigorous and constant execution of all his enterprises, a stock of calmness and of prudence which regu lated them, a check that prevented every abuse; in a word, a burst of justice and humanity, incessantly tending to moderate the effects, and to accelerate the term of necessary acts of violence? Thus, after a succession of advantages gained on the Banks of the Drave, far from suffering himself to be led on by the hopes, with which the most bountiful fortune seemed disposed to intoxicate him, he calculated, that it was more advantageous for France, and for her enemies, that he should act temperately. To the great attractions of glory, he opposed the grand interest of humanity. He was sensible to the cries of those victims, who were to be, without delay, sacrificed in the last actions of an implacable war, and he made propositions of peace. From that time, with that view into futu rity which outstrips events, and discriminates them even in the causes that are to produce them, he had foreseen all the blood that was to flow on the fields of Marengo and Hohenlinden; and insensible to these presages, which held out to France, and to its brave army, fresh laurels and new conquests, he listened only to wisdom and humanity, which give a sanction to glory, but dictate sacrifices.--The same principle inspired him with the same magnanimity; when called upon to take the reins of vernment, he united the title of First Consul to his reputation as a general, and the authority of the chief magistracy to the unlimited ascendancy of the glory which he had acquired. On all side; he addressed

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the language of peace, and he succeeded in making himself understood. After peace had been restored to the Continent, there yet remained an enemy to France. On the 24th of January, year 8, he made a proposal of peace to the King of England. The generous conqueror of the year 5, the First Consul, pacificator of the year 8, could not be deficient in the same magnanimous moderation, in the person of the august sovereign, to whom Heaven has confided our destinies. The degrees of power, the diversity of situations, produce no change in those eminent qualities, which may justly be styled the virtues of character: and the Emperor was bound for the third time to propose peace, in order to prove, that it was not idly he had uttered, on a solemn occasion, these never to be forgotten words, "Soldiers, as First Consul, I had but one sentiment; as Emperor, I can entertain no other." It is two years since war has been declared, and it has not been practicable to commence it. All its operations have been preparatory in projects; but the moment having arrived when the prosecution of it must produce real events, and give birth to the most terrible chances, the Emperor thought that it was essential to the principle of that political religion, which, without doubt, draws down upon the thoughts and efforts of just and generous princes the assistance of Heaven, to do every thing in his power to prevent great calamities by mking peace.--I am directed to communicate to you the letter which, with this view of moderation and humanity, his Mjesty the Emperor has thought proper to write to his Majesty the King of Great Bri tain: (Here he read the Letter of Napoleon to the King of England, see p. 257) In estimating the advantages of our position, and in reflecting on that unanimous display of affection and respect, which during the late circumstances exhibited to us the whole of France absolutely disposed to devote itself to maintain the honour of the French name, the glory of the throne, and the power of the empire, I shall not conceal that, being the only person admitted, as minister, to the participation of that determination, I ought, in order to appreciate it fully, to regard it less with a view to itself, to its beroic principle-to contemplate it rather as a result of character than as the application of a maxim of state. If any other prince had communicated to me such a disposition, I should have felt, that the power of my office and my personal devotion would in pose on me the duty of opposing it by my advice. And, in fact, what is our situation?

And on which side are the advantages of the war? We have not lost any thing. Within and without every thing has been improved amongst us. Our flotillas, the creation of which seemed a chimerical project, the union of which appeared to be impossible, have been created and collected together as if by enchantment. Our soldiers are become seamen; we might say, that the ports and the coasts have been transformed into cities, where the landsmen and seamen apply themselves in full scenrity, and as, during peace, to the terrible and dangerous exercises of war. No doubt we have fewer vessels than England, but their number is sufficient to enable them, after a conjunction wisely prepared, to strike a mortal blow against the enemy. Spain, involved in the contest by provocations without pretext or excuse, has given us, for auxiliaries, the disapprobation of Europe for an unjust aggression, the indignation of a generous people, and the forces of a great kingdom. Invulnerable on our territory, we have proved that vigilance and an energy which never relaxes, are sufficient for our security. Our colonies are beyond the reach of attack: Guadaloupe, Martinique, the Isle of France, would defy an expedition of 20,000 men. Our cities, our plains, our manufactures prosper: the regular and ready receipt of the imposts attests the inexhaustible fecundity of agriculture and industry: commerce, accustomed during the last ten years to be conducted through its expensive relations with England, proceeds now in another channel, and substitutes for these relations, communications more profitable, more independent, and more secure. There are no new imposts; no loans; a debt which cannot increase, but must diminish: in a word, an union of means sufficient to support during ten years, the existing state of war; such is the position of France. This war has indeed been scarcely offensive; but it is far from having been inactive, France has been guaranteed. She has created strength hi therto unknown. She has produced in the bosom of an enemy's country, a perpetual source of disquietude, without remedy; and by a prudence and an unbending energy, she has acquired for ever the confidence of the Continent, at first somewhat shaken by the commencement of an incendiary war, which might set Europe in a flame, and whose progress has been arrested by the ceasing efforts of vigilance, moderation, firmness, and wisdom.--What is the situation of the enemy? The people are up in arms, and whilst necessity, seconded by

genius, has led us to invent a new species of marine, necessity and terror have compelled the Cabinet of England to substitute in general the pike for the ordinary implements of war. This cabinet is divided betwixt projects of invasion, and projects of defence. It is lavish in useless entrenchments; it covers its coasts with fortifications; it erects and destroys its batteries without end; it makes experiments, whe ther it could not stop or turn the course of rivers. It plans inundations on its own fertile plains; the indolence of cities reigns in the fields; the turbulence of the country pants in its cities.-Ireland, the Indies, the shores, even England, are an everlasting and unbounded object of uneasiness. All that belongs to England is endlessly menaced by 1500 vessels which compose our flotilla, at present by sixty ships of the line, and by a valiant army commanded by the first generals in the world. Of all kinds of menaces, would not that of simple patience be the most terrible, which would enable us to persevere for ten years in this state of delay and of effort, which leaves to our ac tive hostilities the knowledge and the choice of the place, the time and the means of annoyance.annoyance. These considerations, and this contrast should, in my opinion, have inspired the English government with the wise resolution of taking the first steps to prevent hostilities. It has not done so. It has left to the Emperor all the advantage of originating this honourable overture. It has given an answer, nevertheless, to the propositions that had been made to it; and if this answer be compared with the shamefully celebrated declamations of Lord Grenville in the year 8, I am ready to ac knowledge, that it is by no means void of moderation and wisdom. I shall have the honour to read it to you. (Here be read the Letter of Lord Mulgrave, see p. 258.) The character that pervades this answer is vague and indeterminate. One single idea pre sents itself with some precision, that of having recourse to foreign powers; and this idea is by no means pacific; a superfluous interference ought not to be appealed to, if there be not a desire to embarrass the discussions, and to make them endless. The ordinary consequence of all complicated negotiations, is to exasperate the mind, to weary out good intentions, and to throw back nations into a war, become more furious from the vexation of an unsuccessful attempt at an accommodation. Neverthe less, on a question regarding a multitude of interests and of passions, which have never been in unison, we should not rest upon a

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