The National Register. — London, England, 1809-05-14 00:00:00

MAY 14. which the events of war gave rise, hro!lght to your Majesty' _ knowledge the negociation of the Spanish Junta with the Aus trian ti:)vernment, and the promise of Austja to the J wit:L with 100,000 men, a promise made, without doubt, with no in tention to fulfil it, and merely to feed thz courage of the insur gents with deceitful hopes ; finall ,y, as if Provideuce,which so vi sibly watches over your Majesty, or rather over France, w hich has conducted you through so many danger:, and in so wonder ful a way every where attended you in your progres;, were it self desirous to unveil the disloyalty and treachery of those who did not yet dare to avow themselves your enemie:, the declara tion of the King of England of the 16th of Decentser, fell into your hands: in this your Majesty read these reniar!illile ex pressions— " And if among the nations which groan under the tyranny of French alliance, or among those which maintain a; - ainst France a doubtful and precarious independence, there should he any which even now are balancing between the certain ruin (If a prolonged inactivity, and the contingent dangers of an ellort to save themselves from that ruin ; to nation. so situated, the delu sive prospect of a peace between Great Britain and France could not fail to be peculiarlyl injurious. Their preparation; might be relaxed by the vain hope of returning trai ciaillity, or their purpose shaken by the apprehension of being I t o con- tend alone." " Thus it was England herself who warned your Majesty con cerning the preparations of Austria. These preparattons were to frustrate what the two Eniverors had dune to elf:fct the mari time pence. Your Majesty could no longer doubt that you were threatened with another war. The pledge given at Erfurth was violated. Austria armed herself against her bettefaetor. 'Your Majesty had to reflect upon what you owed to your peo ple and your allies. With grief you abandoned the pursuit of the English. May your Majesty's Minister, who is now the in terpretor of the common sentiment, and that mode of thinking which is founded on the victories of 15 years, with which no thing can be compared, be permitted to adi, that however great the success of your Majesty's lieutenants may have been, what ever abilities they ma y have displayed, your Majesty, had you in person been able to head your armies, might have expected still greater success---nor one Englishman should have returned to England. 'Your 31ajosty made this sacrifice to the security of your dominions ; you returned hack to Valadolid in order to issue the comawnis which the i;:tfety of Spain required ; wrote front thence to the Princes of the Co2federation of the Rhine, in order that they might equip theinselses and furnish their contingents ; a measure w hirlt the fear; thoy had already expres , ed to your Majet,ty had long reudered necesLary ; and your Majesty repaitett to Paris. " Your Maje•stA made ti new endeavour to avoid this war, whica you !lila not iv en rise to ;—you called fur the interfe retire of the itusiau Minister of Forci.gu Atlairs, who was at that time in Pails. This Minister, having been instructed by your Majesty, vi sited the Austrian Ambassador. lie proposes! an arrangement by which the three Empires should be united by a triple gua rantee, and which secured to Austria the integrity of her terri tory by the guarantee of Russia against the enterprises of France, and that of France against the enterprises of Russia ; and in like manner the guarantee of Austria was accepted by (ht. other two Powers. It is uapleasant to he obliged to declare that these proposals by M. de Romanzoff haft no effect. But your Majesty ever hoping in the good success of these your en deavours, and unable to conceive that the blind zeal which had been excited by a party in Austria, sold to England, could stifle the voice of wisdom in illustrious persons and trite friends to that country, did not put your troops into motion, nor the divi sions of the troops of the Rhenish league. nor those which your Majesty had in the interior of France, and which being intended for naval objects or the maintenance of the Colonies, had partly received orders to march to this destination. " Austria no longer kept herself within bounds. She had been piepariug the fencibles duringeight months; she had called them forth and provided a new army. in the michlle (4 . Fe bruary orders were issued to set, them in motion, and to brina all the troops to the frontiers ; the whole monarchy was under arms. Long before Austria hatl made war upon France at Con stantinople ; she had already effected a reconciliation between England and Turkey she was about to declare herielf cipenly. _ _ _ . . " In rite mean while the Cabinet of Vienna maintained a pro found silmiee. Since the Treaty of Foutuinhtean, it had made oeither rknnonstrance nor cqmplaint. Vour Majesty haki 311 cause for complaint, in the murder of your courier in Croatia; in the lusuits oll'ered at frieste to French ()dicers ; in acts of vio lence comm:tted against some of your Italian subjects. You patiently waited the re:kess of these grievances, w hen the Au. strian Minister. on the t?.d of March, came and announced to ine that the Emperor, his muster, had given orders that his troops shotill he put upon the war establishment. He assigned, as tne reasons for this measure, the report transmitted from Val ladolid to the Princes of the Confederation of the ft hive, and the retort) of your Majesty to Vs.r6. " Your Majesty charged me to amwer, in a note, in which confined myself to the remnsk that there was, in fact, between :he two Courts, no source of ditrerence, and merely asked what it was that Austria required, and in case she was disposed to re cede, I annuunee'l azain the wish of your Majesty, that the na tion of Enrobpe 11 . 6-lit - Hoy ail the blessings of peace. M. Von Th.iternich en:leavoored, in his answ...r of the lith, to make it appear that it was the armament of your !lajesty, which hail nude that of Austria noceFsary ; just as if your Majesty had taken up armi against A th;tria ilt the moment you evacuated Si lesia the ljnehy of arsaw, and that . ..'.et.),.riUjof your troops had pr"ceedeil fro!" tier:ll:toy to SpAin. " it was then that yilur Majesty renounced all eour prtjeets a..4.aing the EnAlish,:ia:l the expedition agattist Sicily, for which Ow King of Napik's aati pa'ol)7l:'e,l ; and the egularkations which hid been made at Brest,. llookigne, Flushing. and Toulon, were all laid wide. Evei'y thin,; was suspended and the troops of our Majesty directed their tn:trch toward, C.L.‘rittany ; those too of t±teConfederationof the It hire were set in motion. No, it was by no means because France had taken up arms, that Austria made her armaments; but on the contrary because ,he thought France was enfeebled by another weir, and deemed this a favourable moment for regaining her ancient .Anstria makes was, because, without at doubt, she cApects to gain by it ; she makes war, without any ground of complaint, it'aaut preceding it by any demand, :Lay proposal, rir leaving any alternative; she mikes war at a :valeta when your .`da josty, far from yourself promoting it, has manifesied nothing but good-will toward: tier, and ‘vishrs for her peace and wel fare ; at the very moment when your iilajesty hart offered to he the guarantee of the integrity 1;1 her territory; at the very mo ment that the Emperor Alexander himseir, even While he de. dared to the Anstrian Minister his di-apprnhation of the coe duct of the Cabinet at Vienna, renewed his (Airy - -; to guarantee that integrity against France. Austria makes war upon France and Russia, upon the two empires w hich had offered her their protection. It is therefore out for her own secitri:v that s he has had recourse to arms. The tieaties which tier ne cessities had estahlisheil, are no longer L•. ties fo her own efindufl. She says they were made in nionhatts oi'do.:l!..ter, as if rennuci atian9 which yictary had enforced Were (Mt binding upon tumour and gaod faith ; e‘ ea tvli . n the gent rosity of tho conqueror did not excite gratitude. Every generous action has been disre garded, every duly yio;ated. cur 'Majesty has received the tidings that the Austrian army has ern ;ell the Inn. They have begun the war. A letter from the Au:Arian General announces to the French Commander that he is advanciog. and that be shall treat any one as an enemy who opposes his progre,s. " Your Majesty knows, that in order to avert these Menu sidera te commencements of war, your. Majesty has dime all that foresight and moderation could dictate. Your Majesty was de sirous to spare your people new disenietude, and humanity a bloody conflict. But as the spirit with which Austria has at all times been animated, has rendered it the political maxim of that Power to interpose a lasting obstacle to the maritime pence, it is perhaps by no mean: to be lamented that she herself has produced the crisis which eau remove that obstacle. The mari time peace cannot be secured till the contniental peace be first ilimoveably established, and until the I,snglish have utterly lost all hopes of disturbing it by their gold and their intrigues. Be this at lerot the result of this hew war! Your Majesty cannot ht. jealous of the power of Austria. You do not desire her an 'titillation, hut, Atice tio artier means are left, may you by your arms reduce her substantially to the (erudition of a pacific Power. Peace is the conquest of which your Majesty is most worthy, for it is that you must ilesire. " Sire! l our people will support von in this new cortlict. The astonishing foresight of your Majesty, which enables von to undertake a new war, w ith adding the leait to the hurthen; of the State, is profoundly felt by a people 101 l ofgratitude and pnsibility, who admire what is great, are the defenders of what idu4, and who glow with military ardour. Ilerhapr, new cvertions way be ucee - isary to secure the sus!, THE NATIONAL REGISTER.