The Sun. — London, England, 1807-12-19 00:00:00

THE WINTON GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY. sATURDAi, Dr•.Cli*Beß 19. DECLARATION. THE Declaration issued at St. Petersbut:gh by his Majesty the Emperor of all the lussias, has'exeited in his Majesty's mind the strongest sensations of astonishment and regret. His 'Maiesty was . not unaware of • the, nature of those secret engagements, whiehf.had been imposed upon Russia in the conferences of Tilsit ; but his Majesty had entertained the hope, that a review of the . transaaions . of that Unfortunate Negotiation, and a justestitnate of its, effeas upon the glory of the Russian name, and upon the interests of ( the Russian Empire, would ha%e induced his Itiverial Majesty to extricate himself from the embarrassitentuf those new counsels and oonnexions badiatlopted in a moment of despndency and . alartn. ;: and to re turn to a policy more congenial to the- principles. which he has so invariably professed . , and,more con duciveto the honour of his CrOwn;and to the pros perity- of his Dominions. This hope has digitated to his Majesty the utmost forbearance and modetation iu all his Diplociiatie Jtt tercourse with the Court of St. Peter burgh since the Peace. of Tilsit. • His Majesty had mrich: cause for suspicion, and just groultd of complaint; But he abstained front the language of reproach. His AlajeStY deemed it ne cessary ta require specific explanation.with respeta to those arrangements with Ratite, the concealment of,which.frorn his Majesty could not but 'confirm the impression already recei'ved, of gum Charaaer . and tendency. But his Majesty; neverthelesS, direet ed.tke demand of that explanatioilTo'beiiiade, not only without asperity or the,.indication of any hostile chiposition, but, with that considerate regard to the feelli)gs and situation of the' : Emperor of Russia, which resulted from the recolleEtion. of for mer friendshiP,,and frorn.contidence interrupted but not destroyed. • The Declaration of the Empwr of RusSia proves that the objets of : his J'!4ljesty's forbear:Ake and deratiop has • not been attained. It proves, Unhan pity,' that the ii!titten& of that Power, -winch is equally and .essentiallY the Ene'tny both of Ureat B'rtain and of Russia, has aCquired 'a' decided ascend • alley in the Cotinsels of the Cabiliet of St. Peters , ., burgh ; and has' been able to excite a cause teBS en mity between two Nations, Whose tong-established connexion, and whose mutual interests, prescribed the most intimate union and coqyerition. His Majesty deeply laments the extemion of the calamities of War. But called uponots be is;to de fend himself 'agaiot an aet of unprOveked hostility, his Majesty is anxious to refute, in the fne of, the world, the pretexts by which that aet,is attempiettto be justified. The Declaration asierts, that' his Kijesty the Emperor of has twice taken up.arrni in a cause in which the interest. of • Great-Brit: I'h) tira . s more direct than .hi ciwn ; and Inthrds npon Chis as ilertion the ch.,:lqe against 'GrCat Britain (..)1, having twgleoled to second and suppqrt..tht± military opera•. tions of anssia. • '',Nilajearywillingly does jOitice to the motives ,which originally engziged Rtmia in the great strug gle against Irra4ze. His NTAjesty with equal readiness; the interdst which Gnat Britlin has uni formly taken in the fatei and fortiml.l4,4 the Powers of the outinern. But it wouldSurelybe difficult to' piove that Great Britain„ who was'WrseitiO a < strife of hostilitY with Prussia whi the W:n brae out laistween,Prussia and France, had an inwrest and a duty more diren . in esponling:the than the Emneror of Russia ;' the A',;)..nlhii Prit4- slam Maiesty, the.Proteaor of the Nofth of Enroi)e, and the Guaitintee of the Germanic Conititution. It k not in a public Declaration that his Majesty ' can disenis the policy cif having, at any particular priod of the: War, effeaed, or omitted 'to etieta, disembarkations of Troops on the Colif , ts of Naples. But the instance of the War with . the Porte is still more, singularly chosen to illustrate the charge against Great Britain of indifference to the interests of her : a War uNertaken by Great. Britain at the in stiFst:on of ftttssia, 4nd solely for the purpose of trenntaining Russian interests against tie. ic,fluenci of. France. • If, however, the' Peace of Tilsit indeed, to he cnusitiered as the consequence and the punishment .$ of the itnputvd inaCtivity.of . Great Britain, his ma jesty cannot bot regret that the Emperor of should have e resorteg to so precipitate and fatal a measure, at the MOIDentW4iVI.I he had received nsufances that his Majetly tittai roaltipg the sxrost u wi. les and strenuous exertions' to flfirt) e • s t . espeetations of his Ally (assurancea',which his im perial Majesty received and acknowledged with ap parent confidence acid satisfattion):;' and when his majesty was, in fa& prepared JO , employ for the pdvanctment of the co:onion bjeets of the . war, those Forces which, after the Peace of Tilsit,. I,e' was under the necessity of employing to discor6ert . a cdmbination dire6ted against his own immediate interests and Security. The vexation. of Russian Commerce by Great Bri tain is, in truth, little more than an irnaginarypiev once. , Upon a diligent examination, made by his 'Majesty's command, of the Records of the British Courts of Admiralty,,thete has been discovered only a solitary instance in the course of the present War, Of the condemnation of a Vessel really Rm.- shin i a Vessel which had carried Naval Stores to a Port 'of the common Enemy. There are but few in stances of Ritstian Veisels' detained: and none ih which justice has been refused to a-party. re gularly complaining. of such detention. It is therefore matter of surprise as well as of con cern' to 'his Majesti, that the Emperor of Rus sia should have condescended to bring forward a complaint which as it canniit be seriously felt by thole in whose behalf' it is urged, might appear. to • bc: intended to, cduntenance, those exaggerated, de darn:loos' by which ~ -ittice perseveringly .endea yours to inflame the jealousy of other Countries, and to justify her Own inveterate animosity aping Great Britain. • . . 4'„ The Peace of Tilsit wai followed hy an offer of mediation on,the part of the Emperor of Rnsstri,' for the conclusion of a Peace bt.twecn Great Britain and France, which is asserted that his . .Majesty re fused. - His, ty% did not refuSe the mediation of. the _Emperor of Russia • altheugh the offer of it Was accompanied by, circuinstances of concealment which might well have justified his refusal, . The Afticles of the Treaty of Tilsit- were not cornmunicated to his 'Majesty : and specifically..'that Article of :the Treaty, in virtue of .which - die mediation was pro* posed; •and which prescribed a limited 'Mut for the return of hiSMajesty 7 s ansvi.n- to that proposal. And . his Majesty was . thns.led into an apparent comp. , atice with a limitation so OffensiVe to the dignity:of an independent Sovereign. Jut the answer sate . turned by , his Majesty was not a refusal. It was a conditional acceptance. The conditions required by his Majesty 'Were--,a statetueUt of the basis upon' which . the Enemy - was disposed to treat and a cornmurtication.olthe Articles of the Peace' of Tilsit. The first oc thesc'corrlitions was Precisely the. same which the. I,.tuperor of Russia had himself annexed not four . rof)ntlis befor'e tq his oWn acceptance of the .proffered roediittiou of the .Emperor of Austria. The second was, one which his Majesty would have had a right to tequire even as the Ally - of his Imperial .Maje.sty but which it would h:tve beet proviln)t when tit;was invited tosonfide to his 1:11;wria1 Majesty the care of his honour an 4 of interests. But even if these ecindititins .(neither of which has beeri fulfilled, thu fulfdittent of them been repeatedly royilred by his Maiesty's Atubaf•sa c4ir at St. Petri shurgh) had tint 'been in thetnselyes, perfeOly natttral an,lll4..cessary ; tlerc were not want— ittg,donsiderations Wll ;.Cl.l might warranted his 'Majesty in eudeavouring t with more than ordinary anxiet . y, to ascertain the vie4s'and intentiOns of the Etpperor of itt;Sia, awl the precise naturc;and'egti.et - , o( the new relations wiliab his 'atrial Majesty hiri 'coniraoed. • -•• , • The complete abnadOnntent atilt! interests of the of . Priosia (wholtut , twice` rejeatyll proPoal i s of tit,parate Peztce,frtitn'4!str*'ailberence to his cur gAgements ..‘nh hieittikett 4 ,4o:,: ato.the ter of those provisio i ni . .44ll‘4),,the . ,,Etnperor of Aup,ia was contenti to , snake , for interests hi" the Negotiation' , ile-Titetj;..`*(:.i.2l)ii4ho ent:ouraging .•1 • • . ,p,prospectof ,the re tilt ,oaf ,ex l Ltr.tiotis Which his I.lllpeOal .Nlsiesty mt tit. itist tiltspa*id to, tun gloy, in, favour of Great • is not ~viide 'a Vreti,..:ll oectipies and lays waste the rein:lining dontinitos of the King, of Pru:sia, in spite of ^ tiic stipulations of the Prussiau n Treaty of while contributions are art* t:nily exeled by France from that remnant of the Prus,i,iii Monarchy, such as,,, in its entire and most now ish- Mg state, ttrc Prussian 'Altman...Ai) , wouid haVe . unable to discharge bile the in - ft:oder , is denLiml ed, in timeof Peace,'6l Pi:tphiao Fortreseq, which had not been re'tluceddurin , .; tl3r W ir; and while . . the t)o\ver of I.'ratiee is,(..%orcised over Vrussia %;vith . finch shaniel2i6 tyranny, as to designate and demand for instant death,' Individuak,' sub:jot:ls of his haus: slat Majesty, and re?,idctit. iu ht' dominions, upon' 4 Charge of disrop,.eLtov,,,ird3 the emit Govern went ; it is pot ‘i,,IIW till tir..se things are done and suffered, under the eyes ut the Emperor of Russia, arid without his interference on belailf of his Ally, that his'Majesty, 4,141 feel himsel( called count to Europe for having • heiitated to re l )Osti an unconditional cOnlidence in the. et-Hooey 'of Majesty'i .Nfediationc• :` Nor, even it that iin',tilatiOn had , taken foirctila, if a 'Peace . had'heett edit cluded ntider it, :nal that Peace guaranteed by 'his imperial Maje: , v, could hi 3 Majesty' have placed implicit reliance o‘t the At - hihik of 'any such arrsngernztti, ;_if ter 6 ! /) the Emperor of Au* . itt opvoly transfer to Vrance Gov rel H oity of the lonian Republic, the indepen!ente rile basis. :knd the Emperor o of which his Imp.erial Ma j ,*esty had recently and sol' riatimenitier that the laid Negociationbetween ('relit letrinly,guaranteed. - But while' the alleged rejection Etta for 7. 4 . l. , .pri .rowi tsi d e tid tei a yatr Fran eaii ce ig,n va o s t off jest) - 7, u s p o o w n n po iz i l i t l e ts res in t i s: of Rusaia'S Mediation, between Great Britaitifrand -- . but':.tilease of his Imperial „Ally. • gut 1 149 major France, is stated as a just ground of his Imperial neidier l :encleritands, nor wilf'he admit the -preteb - Majesty'sresentment ; his Majesty's request of . that '::•• - sioti=iff-hie Emperor of Ittusla to dictate the time. mediation, for the re-establishment of Peace betweenvitiartfle of his Majesty's Fiticifi Negotiations Great Britain - arid - Denmark, is represented as an in- ! with:Other PoWers. It never will be endured by - auk which'it was beyond the bounds of his Imperial his Majesty. that any GovernMent shall ind e m nif y ' ,C . . , Majesty a moderation to endure. • itsJf for the hUtuiliatiera of' Subserviency to France, His Majesty feels himself under no obligation to 1 by the Atitiritiotrof sib itisUlting and peremptory tone offer an,. atonement 'or apology to . the'Emperor of towards Gieat'Britain. Russia for the F.xpeditiotzlaga hist- Copenhagen. His Majesty proclaims anew` those principles of . .is not for those *hp way parties. to -.the_ secret - at- Maritime;LaW, against which the Alined Neutrality, rangements of Tilsit to demand satisfaetion for a under-theauapices of the Ehipress.dathatine, -was measure to which those ar i an i e ii ien i s gave rise, and direeled ; and against' the present . by which one of this'objetts of them has been hap,- flOstiliiia of -Russia are denotineed. Those P r i nca4 . pily defeated. pies hate-been recognized aaad upon in th e HisMtljesty's jostifiCationPf the Expedition against best periods of .the History ef Europe ; and atleti Copenhagen is before the world: The Declaration upoci 7 by'no,PWA'er , with more stridness and severiti of the Emperor of Russia would supplis whatever than byßussia -herself in the reign of the En)Pre' s was wamieg in it ;if any thing could be wanting to Catharine. convince the omit incredulous of theiargeney of that Those principles it, is the right and the duty of iris necessity under which his Majesty acted. . Majesty to , maintain : and agiiinst . everyconfeden4 Zit until rho De,elai at ion was published, his Majesty . is .i deterrained,,,under the blessing of , his Majesty had ,no I e:lsou to suspeathaf arty opi- vino Providenceoo maintain them. have at niens whiChltio - E,:uperor of Russia might entertain all times contributed essentially to the. supportof of the transiOiork ;At C,Openliagen, could be such 's the Marititne Power of Great Britain ; but they 11!e to Fedi:l:le his Imperi3l Alajt stj'' from undertaking,,, become ihc:ol2liigii mote valuable and important 3t at the requeSt 'of Great Britain,. that sameotßen of, a period when the Maritime Power of Great 1360 14 mediator, which lie li . ad assnined' with so•trtuch aIA 7 1 constitutes the sole - remaining against the crity on the behalf of France; nor can his Majesty overwlielming,usurpations 'of - France; the only re' forget thattlxi'first .:,ytripteins of reviving cOnfideace; - fuge to which other Nations may yet. resort, itr hal" . since the PeaceOf Tilsit-, the only prospeCt of success, pier times, for assiStanci and protection. .„ . in the Oncleavoura o f his Maje4ty'ii Ambassador to 'When' the opportunity ( for Peace bet Ween Great restore the at tient good 4nclimtanding between' Brit:Wl - land Russia shall arrive, his Majesty will etn7 Great Britain and Russia, appeared :when the inte4- braieit witfreagerness. The at Beget 411C11 _.• ligence of the Siege oft,ipenliagen had been recently a Negotiation will pot be difficult or con)l l4 lc 2-re "' received at 'St. Peteraburg h.' His' Majesty, as. he has nothing 010 the invielabilitY of the Baltic Sea, aud the- reciL - has . nothing . to reqnire ; satiiiirch procalsguaranties el the , Rivers, that border upon it, manifest a disposition te..return to her ancient guaranties said to have. been contraCted with the ingg o f frientlihip Ri war d s Great .nrita.Britaini::to a 300 knowledge of the British Governme e.o att, are stated as .nsideration of h w her on true intareSc 4 ; o .1" to t l aggravations of his. Majesty's pruceedinSs' in tho sepse . .of her own dignity as an independent . 7 :'. \l . Baltic, It cannot be intended to repre se n t liis` ,17:iairlOster, December 18, 1807. h s.. l . Majesty as having at any time acquiesced hi the, principles upoo which the inviolability,of the Baltic is maintained) however his Majestymay at icir -lar ation. periods liarofbrborne, for special reasons, iuflu encing his conduCt at the time, to ha in contradic• tion to them. Such forbearance neveetould hive' applied but to a state of Peace and - real Neutrality in the North ; nisei his 11:j • in ost assuredly could not be e%pet.ited tit recur m u it, after France . 1m 'beep, suffered to establish 11 , ..5e1l in undisputed Sovereign ty along the e. , hole Coast of the Baltic Sea from Dantzig to Lubec;;. CI :a. t 7 111 It. . t , At the CQtrt at Windsor, the I S tit' of December, But the higher the value which the Emperor of Russia places on the engagements rcspedting the tranquillity of the Baltic, which he describes him self as inheriting from his. immediate predecessors,! .the: Empress Ca;harine. and the Emperor Paul, he less Jody can his Imperial Majesty resent the : p \.l peal made to him by W the-Gana tee s Majesty as the - Ga- • tee of the Peade to 'be'conelnded between Cited': Biitain and Denmark. In spatting that appeal,with the utmost confidence and 'sincerity, his Majesty neither intended,. nor can he imagine that he offer- , ed, any insult to the Emperor of • Russia. Nor can his Majesty conceive that, in propo3ing to the'Prince Royal Terms of .Peace, .such as the tnostsuccesiful w4r or the ,part of Di:dinark , could hardly have been expeSted to extort twin Great Britain, his' ; Majesty rendered hitnseif hahle to the inviit.itiod,t either of exasperating:, the resentment ; or of . 04t- Of ritging the dignity, Deninark. . His Mitjesty hits H thus ieplied .to.:nll the difreeent '. accusatio6 by which the ga s si a: i Governnient la, bouts to justify the itipture of a Cormexion which has. subsisted•for'ages,. with reciprocal advantage t 4 `great Britain and Russia; 'and attempts' to disgt* the orration of that external influence by which I),.tiNia is driven into. tiDjilst hostilities focintereits. ... iv!, .present t . . . The King's Mast Excellent Majesty ,in Coianc . il. . His Majesty having takeg, into, constderatiall the injurious and hostile - proceedings . of the gum perm - - of all the Rnssias, as set-forth M the "Del=l ration 91 this date, issued'by'his Majesty's crorP.l. mond ; .and being deterrifibbit to take such sores as are necessary for vindicating the WO ; of ,his Crown, and . procuring reparation allA r , " tisfaaion; his Majesty therefore is please& 1 4° 4 with the advice of his and it is hereby ordered, Privy , Connell, to. 900 be granted against the Ships t , bi4 G t oo g de en , er at a i l d ir S rib i l, :„ ' Of the' Emperor of all; the Russias (save ' ga d ax "' cept any Vessels to, '.whicb' his MatelV l Li' . cence has ,been granted, or which have beef! d ,1 0" . 'ed to be . released froM ,the Embargo, and have Dot --tiic'e . Ii rived at any Foreign Port.), so that'a weilil,i° • 'Majesty's. Fleets and, Ships, as ...also all other Ship'' and Vesseletlikt shall be commissionatcdby.-LetLiCA of Marque „or - deneral . ..Reprisals; ot • ••totherwisc , r ' b i" his Majestfs cl,jrprnissioners for emecutink ilit,Y l , l " fice a r:oid ligh Admiral of Great Britaii4 4 P l ' . and may lawfully seize all Ships, Vessels, and Goa ds ' belonging:to the Etriperat i of all'the Russias, or° , Ittitar Mlaers,iphabiting within the Territoo,o7 of the gip pqr.Pr..449l,the RuSsitiS; and briPg t he ' ' , Tire (4,ii.legruel)t.,io any of die Courts of Adilli' rally 7,v,:kt4.in his Majesty's Dominioni ; ond . , to 11 , 1 at end, h s'Alaiesty's Adyncat;.Genersi, with the Ad" v9cate of the Admiralty, arefinibwithfo,' prOill the draft at a' cetuniision‘,acid pr'e:sent' the •einba to his Majesty at this Board, authorising Abe connvig'' sioners for oxecutin the Office of. Lord fligh M l ' d ed miral, or any person or persons by them empowe r i and appointed, - to 'issue fortli antl...grant:tbsto""°,. Marque and Reprisals to any of his Majesty's fitib:. jeers ; or others-whom the, said Commis:loners Shalt . deem fitly qualifwd-' in that behalf, for the appr!. bending, seizing, and taking the ,Ships, Vocl'i and Goods, belonging, to Russia, and the Oa CAS and Subjeßs of the Ertiperor of all (be, ilussias, or any inhabiting within , his C° lll r , tries, Territories, or Dominions (eXceptas afore'. said), and that such powers and clauses be in u sual , serted in. the said Commission as have been i ~, . ut are according to former precedent ; and h M -Majesty's Advocate-General, with the re _ e of the ,Admiralty; area also forthwith to fire r . . the draft of a Commiiiion, and preent the Sttill ° • .. •-, the to. his I‘lajestv..at this ,Board, authorizioti. . said Ctlmmissioners for executing 'the Free ()fi-xiLPurr‘it.' [ ofifiramAirtitvraol,ftoG r ‘ e s a i t ll B a r n it d nai r n e a qu a i n rd d titi,,e"Lligeltil ton ant .p br ' :;iiiiii:ti":4l:l7:::s,y,,,o4:ll6;poth:oll4'esaistieidivo'Cenrolucrt iti,tl.:kltleisso6ogSfAunrcriinagisnr.tcal;yo()%vfllitefolidril i joii.cially.or4cee4 al ob, all and all manner ol vi I' not her own, The Declaration procmds atn several cOnd;tioni -ottWhie . h. atone the" e hostilities can be terinfnatt,-1; thlotercotirse of the two Conattleven,,,ewed. • • • J His.Majosty 'has aliea(ly had Occasion to assert, that jilstice l has 'in no itstonce been denied to, the allots of his Itnverial Maiesty's Subjeas, The torminatioir of the vwir Wilt) Pc111.11,41k Ittl9 44511•50 ,Inr.10 ; 11 ) 1 y . sotll,l,t .1?y. 14ts1\taic ily, that it for .kkis, .Ilittiesty.to renew any ,proyessint - is.upon'. ‘ ;that : subjtt , t = But- his Majesty is at los . sto'reconcire the EtngOr Of Ilus•,ia's' present anxiety for the cotnpletion of ,stiCh an an ingement. with his linperiat Majesty's recent refusal - to contti i) to his rood otiices for eilitaing it. • , The req4isition of Atli imperial MljeFty for the itnlnediate.conclusion, by hi 4 Majesty, of a Peace with France; is as extraordinary in the substance, as it is otTensive in the manner. .His Majesty has, a; , . no time declined to neat H ith Vrtince, what, Frattco . • has professed a 'willingness tot eat on any admio'