The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1807-12-09 00:00:00

••••"-- Wier to attempt an invasion at all times, and the season which confines you in your ports is that which offers to them the greatest number of chances of success• In speaking of Zealand, the French could not have attempted an attack, except in a season as favourable to your forces as to Oleic' ; and if they bad then employed against you the Danish fleet, whit a fine opportunity would they not have offered your superiority, to carry off with honour those vessels, which, instea4 of being your conquest, are your robbery ! r. Yet, even under these circumstances, In calling upon Denmark fur the satisfaaion and security which His Majesty eat compelled to require, and in demaiid.ng the only pledge ►y which that security could be rendered effeemaithe to Kr prey pcesemien of that fleet, which was the skis( induce meet to France for forcing Denmark into hifttilitiaw with Great Britain—His West) , accompanied this demand with the offer dewy conditioa which could tend to reconcile it to the inte ract and to the feelings of the Court of Denmark. .1t was for Denmark herself to state the terms and sttpula• lions which she might require. is If Denmark was apprehensive that the surrender of her ism would be resented by France as en act of connivance, Ir i s Majesty had prepared a force a such formidable magui_ tune, as must have made concession justifiable even in the estimation of France, by seniethig resistance altogether un- availing. If Denmark was really prepared to resin the demands tit France, and se maintain ber isidependeuse, His Majesty proffered his eo-operation for her d..teneee..naval, military, mid pecuniaty aid $ the guarantee of her European territories $ xrd the eternity and extension of her colonial vrtsgssions." It is after having heaped up so many falsities in a few lines, that yoo, at length, speak of your pre tensions with a freedom which would merit another name. You ppm having demanded that the Da nish fleet should be tutrendered to you. It is for the whole univarse to answer and to say, if ever a more insulting proposition was made to an inde pendent people, even to a people borne down by a long train of misfortunes t And you speak of 0 conditions, of arrangrments, favourable to the in terests" of Denmark I as it the Dines could put price upon their honour, and enter into a market to know what their infamy was worth to them ! Ah ! shall it then be true, that what is held the most sacred amongst men has been with you deemed as article of merchard!ze, and has had its book of rates t The Danes make of it an article of culture aid test of traffic. How then should they have come to an understanding with you to dishonour aral deceive, ly semblance of constraint unwor thy of their loyalty. a power that never had conceived injuries towards them ? Will Europe, in reading your Declaration, have the power to con ceive that you have dared to avow views so base awl a policy so wretched ? Jr-Mope cannot well byre conceived that you could have proposed to Denmark your protection, your " guarantee fir her Luropeisa Irrr:r/r9," after so many and so humiliat ing experiments which, you have made of this kind. If I except from these Russia, where is the power in Europe, and who is the Prince, the integsity of whose territory you have =guaranteed? Who is he that bas not experienced the sad proof of your imbecility ? In the same act you evince fears for your safety and your guaran. tees. How is it possible to reconcile so much alarm with so much power ? Is there a falsity in these offers? or is there a falsity in these alarms? We be have we see craft and ostentation gainA hand in hand. " That the sword has been dawn in the execution of a service indispensable to the suety of his Majesty's dominions, is muter of sincere and painful icret to It.. Majesty. That the state and circumstances of the world are such u to hare I:gained and justified the mealurcs of self-pre.ervatiest, to winch His ►tajesty has found himself under the neceuity resorting, is s truth which His Ma,esty deeply deplores, but fur whiat he is u uo degree respeesible." If you henceforth speak of yuur afilitlion. of your grief, nobody will be deceived by such hypoctisy. if you repeat that your atrocious measures against Denmark were only 6 , measures of sell) 4) the world will every where inquire it it really be necessary for your preset v ettion, that all the maritime forces of odier states should be annihilated t If you cannot 'list without appropriating to yourself their marine and their commerce, without sending amongst them a band of robbers, tun carry off even ii,e very last of their vessels—even the very last remnant of their arsenals—even the very last plank 1.1 thtir magazines ? All Europe will rise at this idea—arid wisi answer, that your measures of pruerrefies are measures of ambition and avarice. " Nr Majesty has long Genies( on a most unequal eontc , s; of scrupulous luibearanco agaim.t unrelenting violence and eppleeeion. But that lorheao AUCd it, its bounds. When the design via. openly ay.iwei, and already but tcri far advanced a wards its eccemplislimeut, of aubjetling the Powers of Europa to one universal usurpation, and of combining them by terror or by force is a confederacy agaiwit the maritime rights and political existence of this kingdom, it became necessary for His Majesty to anticipate the success of a syetelni.r.ut mare hod to his Mimosas than to those of the Pt•wera who inc &stled to be the instruments of it. execution. " It is, time that the sant. of that dread which reline* hat inspfieJ into the nations of the woad, should be counter acted by an ' , season of the pow sr of Great Brita.n, ca led fo by tbinexigency of the aisle, and proport.oited to the tmag toile of the danger." - . But this perversion of ideas, and this abuse of words, are nothing, when compared with those which you have reserved for the end of your Decla ration. You boast of "an extreme forbearance," as a generous power might do, who nad for a long time endured attacks, and suffered outrages, dis daining to reveege them. You complain of a " violence always oases," as an oppressed people, whom it would always have overawed ; let ns, however, put fads in place of words. Which is the Power, who forming and nourishing four suc cessive coalitions, has, during fifteen years, spread over the Continent all the scourges of war ? Which is the Power that has been the last to decide upon peace, who was the first to violate the condi:ions of it, and who has been the first to break it off ? By whom bas the treaty of A miens been annihilated, almost as soon as concluded ? What Power is it, whn, by hostilities and robberies, committed during a profound peace, forced Spaia into a war ? What Power is it that has enriched herself with the spoils of Spain and of Holland ? and who in India has usurped the throne of Tippoo Saib ? What Power is it that has, without ceasing, varied and multiplied its vexations in regard to neutrals ; who has tyrannized over all the commer cial world; and who, not long since, has further pretended to subjed ilie Americans to the most humiliating law ? What Power is it that has constantly trampled under foot the law of nations, plotting among its enemies eompiracies, assassina t;ens, and proscriptions ? What Power i. it that Europe has accused of horrible executions at Naples; of the assassination of Paul I. ; of attempts against the life of Napoleon? What Power is it that the whole world accuses of proteding the butchers of Sr. Domingo ? I might confine myself to one of these last ques tions, and I might be able to add, Ma sa presses(' rentrnemergrem refaria si bus ens, sot papala widasrl indignists. But to all these questions there is tut one and the same answer—/f is kngland. And yet it is you who at this day boast your forbearance. — Your absurd boast reminds us of those Chiefs of barbarous hordes of Africa, who, after having had the heads of some hundreds of slaves cut off for their pleasure, call themselves mazaanilaars Priam. After so many and such tertible adi of violence, what right have you to complain of the avowed design of combining against you all the Powers of Europe ? Undoubtedly if you reflect on the period when you combined every state against France, and come dowa to your present situation, you may be somewhat astonished at the contrast of the two situations; you may even be somewhat alarmed at your present state, notwithstanding that enormous Mini of usurpations which you strive to increase every day, as it you were capable of supporting its weight ; but is not this general coalition which you dread, your own work ? Have you not long enough since tired out the Continent with your alliances and vezatons,with your subsidies and your cupidity, with ycur precipitation and your tardiness. with your tut bulence and your iaadivity, with your promises and your impotence, with your successes and your reveries ; and to comprise all in a few wends, with your friendship and your hatred? Which of these two sentiments would have been the most for tunate far the King of Sardinia, for the late King ' Naples, for Austria, for Prussia, for so many other States? Wnat recompense has Denmark ob tained fur so much respect, so much attention, so many ads of docility. which she granted upon your imperious requisition? Were the coalition which you dread, the effect of the terror with which the Emperor Napoleon has inspired the nations, you have nobody but your selves alone to blame far it. Napoleon has a l wa y s predicted to you, that war would turn out to the aggrandizement of France, and yet you have suc cessivela armed every nation against him. He has conquered them all ; he has scattered terror among the enemies whom you raised up against him ; and you reproach him with this as a clime; and you strive to discover in this terror a justification of your tyrannical oppression! Happily for Europe, your calculrions are as false as your claims are absurd. You fl :tier yourselves with being able to balance the effeds of the terror which France has struck into the nations by the ex ercise of the poVrer of Great Britain ; that is, you flatter yourselves with being able to balance the victories of Napoleon by expeditions similar to those of Copenhagen. Being unable to inspire terror by vielories over your enemies, you fell upon a neutral state, where you perceived a rich booty ; you car ried off your prey without danger; and you hops d by t!lis to terrify the States who have reason to re venge your excesses. " Natorrharanains the declaration of war on the part of the Danish ti reerninetit, it shit imams tot Denmark to determine, whether wet shall centavos between the two nations. Ills Majesty still pv , .ffers so amicable arrangement. tie w anxious .fresh the seta* *lsla be Lit Inca most .elurtantly cum- Pdhels‘sw. Awl bale *lady to daMosiersas to !lemma& and as ttis worIJ, that having acterl solely iyon the sense of w►st wa g 4 u e to th e wont, of ►is own donsiolous, he is not desirous, from any other motive, or for an, object of advantage or aggrviid.sentent, to rosy measures if hostility beyond the limits of the necessity Which had produced the& " You even presume so much upon the asTendancy .which you think you have acquired, and you kern such a false idea of the charafter of the Danes, as still to propose to them amicable arrahgements, your alliance, your friendship—as if treaties could be made between vittions and their oppressors—as if any possible arrangements could appease the just resentrnrnt of the Danes—rebuild the ruins of their capital—recal to life their unfortunate fellow citizens ; in a word, make that brave nation forget the perfidy with which it has been attacked and despoiled. Denmark will doubtless disdain to reply to an offer se insultiag ; or rather her Prince has already given an answer to it, by publishing the orders which he issued to burn the Bret rather thaa to stif fer it to fall into your hands. Worthy of his origin, worthy of the nation whom he governs, at once a German and a Dane, this Moe, will never bend either under the weight of misfortune or under that of the British dominion. All the ties which bound him to gngland were consumed in the flames of Cespephagen. His cause, having become that of all the Continent,will be proteded by a herd whose support promises vengeance. But were they aban doned by every state, the Danes would never aban don themselves. Were all the powers of the Conti nent at peace with England, the Danes, faithful to their honour, would only reply to the British Go vet nmeht by a cry of war ; and that one of them which should be cowardly enough to advise any other step, would deserve to be treated like the Athenian who proposed an accommodation with the King of Persia. Your declaration could only serve to irritate the cruel wounds of the Danish nation s , and to pro voke all the o:her people of the Continent more and more against you. You have informed Eu rope, that your justification was confined to the pretext of your security. Europe koows that this pretext is the more ridiculous, since, at the moment when you attacked Denmark, you turned a deaf ear to the offers of RUSila, to mediate a peace, which would have relieved you from all your dan gers. Europe is informed, from your own words, that you have ao cause of complaint against the Danes, and that all their wrongs against you were the existence of their fleet, and their perseverance in neutrality. What a lesson for all nations I You will give yourselves little concern, I know, about my answer to your apology, and the light which I have thrown upon your imposture. While you behold your booty, you laugh at the principles which I have opposed to your plunder. Reason alone is not capable of checking it ; but it is suffi cient to confound you at tne tribunal of public opi nion; it is sufficient to unmask your undertakings to Europe, till Europe snail punish you ; and most assuredly this expeditioii, in which you are perhaps rejoicieg, of which you are perhaps at this moment tasting the ft uits, most accelerate the day of verge. aoce. You are mistaken is the effeele which you ex peeled from it. Instead of terror and dismay, you have excited uniy horror and iudignation. You have, it is true, a few ships more; but you have your selves shut the last ports that remained open fur you on the Continent. You have rallied round Na poleon all the States which still resigned themselves to your tyranny, and he is hastening to avenge them, and to re-establish their rights. You have accomplish ed an union, which his policy perhaps would not withoutgrcat difficulty have elated and his genius will soon teach you the falsehood of the hopes which you had grounded on your expedition. You will then find that your measures for your own security were fraught with ruin, and you will dis cover that even in politics, utility and infamy are never combined. I a radon it wattles •et turpitude me nee pant 40 . History is full of fads which 41evelope this great truth ; but you either forget or despised it. You have bhewa at what a moral distance you are from the Athenians, who, deliberating on a measure proposed by Thentistocles, mod thought to be of great utility by Aristides, rejefled it without inquiring into the particulars, because the same Atiusues had pronounced it unjust, It was, nevertheless, proposed to provide for the security of Athens, by destroying the fleet of the enemy, and Aristides thom4ht that the measute could not fail of succtsi. But in this state, divided by faftions, the munitude in the public place approved itself mote just and more wise, than among you here been the men, wbo ate call ed to the counsels of the Prince, and become the ablest men of the nation. You have violated with respeft to Denmarl the most sacred laws ; but it is in this impious treason that may be found the lope of vengeance, like the Spartan general,t who expeEled his victoty trout the minty by which his enemies had irritated men and cfiended the Gods. • Cie. S• Uffic. lib. 3 t Muhunk in so se eonsequi dicenet (Agrarians) qu. d issa pite, :IL • pojtinu aJo tv,usints ci ulas tu.t unldt:t2t (Cu viel "4:eut ) • , PAllif t wow. I. His MAjesfilit out at fonro'clock this morninz to pets a few days at Milan ind Venice. He will return in the beginning of December._(Monieeur.J wow. IS. We are assured, that His Majesty the Emperor , and King is accompanied in his journey to Italy only by the Grand Duke of Berg and the Prince of Neufchatel. It appears, hoivever, that the Minis ter of the kingdom of Italy, and the Minieter fur Foreign Affairs of the Fres* Empire, will 4130 re pair to Milan. wow. 20. • The Empress Queen returned to Paris last WISP day. soy. 23. His Excellency the Minister of Marine is on a , vlsit to the coasts of the Empire. now. 25. Authentic letters from Munich state, that tLe King of Bavaria and the Prince Itsyal will set out 't for Italy immediately after the arrival of a Cou rier, from Paris, with dispatches, which will sip prize them of the day fired for The departure of the Emperor of the French for Milan. Several other crowned heads wall assemble in that city. Amang them are mentioned the King and Cl•reen of Na. pies, the Queen of Etruria, and His Holiness the Letters from Frankfort, of the 18. h inst. state, that the domains of the Principality of Fuld, will be immTdiately taken possession of in the name of the Emperor of the French. •, • Fot the Gottenba,gh Mail, ace th• Last pop. THE BRITISH PRESS. lA)NDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9. it' , We have received Paris papers to the 26th last, t from one of which, the Mendeur of the 23d, w‘.: have 11,1 copied an articfe, in answer to His Many' . v's De claratian respeding the Expedition to Zealand. It purports to be written by a native of Germany, in which country it is said to have excited a great sen sation, but is obviously of French manufacture. Its 1 great length obliges us to defer several other articles until to-morrow. In this number is one dated Ma drid, t!!e sth, containing two Letters from the Prince of Asrualas to hit father, the King of SPAIN, confessing his crime, and imploring forgive ness, and also a Declaration of HisMaJesrY, avow ing that the PR I secs bad made a full discovery of the plot, and granting bis pardon. These letters aim? we the appearance of French rnanufadure. A public thanksgivitv has been ordered in Simi% for the escape c,f His MAJESTY from the plot against his BONAPARTE set out, on the morning of the 16th, from Paris, on a visit to Milan and Venice. He is expelled back early in this month. The Aloadefir states, in an article from Ham burgh, that General Pay MAN has been arrested, and that General IW•LrEa.ouarr has committed suicide. The Conscript Laws are to be extended to Den o:ark, and to be executed in concert with the French Minister. An article, dated Calais, states:that the Courier who sailed on the 15th last, for Dover, in a Flag of'Truce, was charged with dispatches from thi Emperor cf AULT I• for our Court. The French funds were, on the 23d, 86 fr. 35 A Mail from Gottenburch arrived yesterday, and brought HAmburgh and A,tona Papers to the 21st, and Dani s h and Swedish to the 24th u:t. The French troops have taken possession of the Castle of St. Angelo, at Rome, The Pore, we suppose, will soon receive his sentence of banish ment, and be ordered to take up his abode in the French territories. The occupation of the Castle of St. Angelo is preparatory to the creation of another kingdom, the king.fom of Latium, which it is reported at Venice is to be given to Lt ciEN BO PAPAIITC. A triple viaace has been concluded between France, Denmark, and Russia; and Ru , sia is endea vouring to induce Sweden to mete& to it. An article from Lisbon, dated the 26th of Oc tober, asserts, that the PaiNea Rectsr, who was about to embark, is to remain at Lisbon ; and that General JUNOT, who is now at Madrid, is only to occupy the post of of Ambassador at Lisbon. • SsaAsrtAnt has certainly left Constantinople, and is on his return to Parrs. '~ His Maf sire is expelled in town, th:s day, to bold a Ptivate Levee, ice. at the Quasm's Palace. His MAJIITY has not been nut c Wintiscr Castle since Sunday, owing to the. severity of the weather. Oa Monday the Duke of Your, after transacting business ssi.it His Mascsry, dined with Her MA JESTY and the PRIMCMIS, and, in the evening, came to London. Yesterday, h., Rovas. Hion. Mtn held a Public Day at his Ofl.e in the Hoes. I, Guards. and g.sve audiences co a number of Oth cers of distinCtion. Sir Cllaliftltl COTTON had another jauntier, ". yesterday, with theXt.mcsi tf Admiralty. •