The National Register. — London, England, 1812-05-03 00:00:00

"Iff - I , NFCF "".' . 7 '; I THE NATIONAL REGISTER. Zuu /kin, Conaftution, and 7LabuS. PRINTi.D ANb PUBLISHED AT NO. 5, PICKETT-STREFT, STRAND, NEAR TEMPLE BAR. SUNDAY, MAY 3, I cq2. PRICE 9k?. . 8 00 d order amongst hissW)iects, on acc.)unt of the sly: rt aess of grain. They wisely aF .:rt that he has, in conse quence, applied to us, to give him the means of represshlg s.-dition amongst the millions of slaves who groan under his rule, by allowing the importation of grain into France, and offered to take an equal quantity of colonial produce and manufactured articles in return. A third class, still more credulous, gravely maintain that NAPOLEON has thrown himself on the generosity of this country. • That he ha; informed us of serious dis turbances having broken out in his own capital, and of an attempt having been male on his life ; and has con• descamded to request we would assist in quelling them ; not by sending troops into France, but by refraining from hostilities. He is made to have acknowledged that the • people had risen in behalf of the BOURBONS ; that M.ASSENA had placed himself at their head, but had sub sequently been taken prisoner, and s-2nt to . Vicennes, to be tried in the same summary manner as the Duke cI'ENOuIEN ; and that. unless we should accede to his wishes, the magnificent fabrick of the French empire, cemented by the blood of so many nations, must speedily fall into ruins. . A fourth sect ground their opinion, not on wild conjec ture alone, but on.observation. They tell us that gleams of information have burst from official quarters, which have been unnoticed by the Public, and caught by them• selves alone. They mention, as an instance, the state ment lately given in a Government print, that the Duke del INFANTADO had delayed his departure for Spain, in order to wait for NAnoLLos's reply to" the dispatches sent from this country in answer to his first communication. They infer from this, that BUONAPARTE has not oaly made proposals of peace, but has included the reninsula in them. This great point once settled to their satisfac tion, they proceed to describe the conditions on which he is willing to treat of peace. They assert, that he is ready to replace FERDINAND VII. on the Throne, provided all the territory lying beiween the present frontiers of France and the Ebro be ceded to him, and our armies withdrawn from the rest of the Peninsula. They add, that he has urged the magnitude of his preparations against Russia, as an argument why we should make peace, - as the sole means .of snatching that empire from destruCtion. They make him bring forward Holland as in instance of the consequences occasioned by our refusal to treat with him, and a pied - ge of the state of dependence and . national an nihilation to which, with the aid of Prtl; - .4and Austria, he interris to reduce Russia, should we not avert the storm collected against her, by a prompt compliance with his wishes. thich are the chief rumours that aitato the political N° 2.27. POLIAIC AI, DISQUISMON. Na. 213. NEGOTIATIONti WITH FRANCE. • A few hours may sometimes decide the fate of : Em pires for the crisis of events which have been silently prepared through a long course of years, like the ex plosion of a mine laboriously formed, frequently occupies hut a few moments. A short time ago the idea of enter ing into negotiations with a man who, at the call of in terest or ambitioo, had broken the most solemn treaties, Ivoulci have been rejected with general scorn. How fickle is popular opinion ! Tumults, chiefly excited by the agents and bri')es of our most inveterate enemy, sud denly burst ont in some of our counties. They arc in stantly and artfully followed by overtures from France, and the popular mind, blind to the intent that gave them birth, and to the consequences that are expected to follow from their non-rejection, hails them as pledges of return ing prosperity ! The funds, that unerring measure of cur hopes and our fears, rise at the repeated arrival of flags of truce from the opposite coast ; and rumour, ever thirsty and lavish of pretended information, unable to live into the secrets of the State, assumes a variety of shapes in order to gain from the Public a portion of cre. dit, to which it is in no wise entitled ! It is really amusing to consider, the numeTous reports that have sprung. frnm the single fact of a renewed inter mrse with the French . Government. We shalt enume rue the most prominent, and conclude by some observa— tiong on the probable intent of BUONArARTF. in making ;!ny sort of overtures to this country. Probability is, of course, kept in view by the authors of the rumours in question, but we Irive authority to declare, that none of them rest on the disclosure of any part of the proposals that have formed the subject of discussion between the two countries. The citizens, whose appetite is almost as keen after news, as after turtle feasts, have, if not created, at least en couraged the growth of these rumours. We find, in conse quence, that it has been most positively asserted in the city, that BLSONAPARTE had proposed to open the whole of his ports, from MorLii v. to Rouen, for the admission of ves sels of all nations, including Great Britain : the cargoes of such vessel:, to consist of certain articles, to be afterwards agreed on, ,Another political sect supposes a difftlent opinion.— Tney assert with great simplicity, not to say creduli,y, that NAPOLEON, who owes many of his brilliant successes to Ills artful concealment of the inadequaci of his means, ha owned to our Government that he is unable to xn.aiataill voi. F. No. X VAL 1 , , ,