The National Register.
London, England, 1808-01-24 00:00:00

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4'OtIT CAL DISQUISITION. Portugal was not derived from any vague or suspicious source I
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- . ji it was directly communicated by the government of Portugal, la
?MAWR FOUR. r The friendly assurances of that Court,i t is stated, prevented qi;
--esene-. from taking nny forcible measures to secare its fleet and Its Ode.
HIS MAJESTY'S SPEECH. lity. Why, it may be asked, was not the same reliance placed t
Seldom has his Majesty's speech excited more anxious ex- on the good faith of Denmark ? At the time when the attack •
pectation than at the present moment. The critical and extra- was made, it might have been difficult to answer this inters°,
ordinary state of our foreign relation', the singular trans- ration ; but ties result of the confidence we placed in the For.
actions and discussions in which we have lately been involved, tuguese, may Sow induce Ministers to think their treatment of the .
anti the question ofpeace or war so important to us and to the. Danes the wiser measure. The Prince Regent of Portugal pre- •
universe, would, it was expected, have the most interesting "pared in Tor entigratiote but he still deprecated the arrival s r
light thrown upon them by this official document. If these aof our fleets in his harbours; and, at length, delivered bimse -
expectations be not wholly realised, they are so, at least, in tirely up to the sehetnefef Bonaparte, twined himself., malty i
part; and if there is much which tie still wish to see explain- with our coatinentalamomfetessass) commenced hostijiiiies against
cif, we can, however, pretty clearly discern the sentiments of our us by shutting his pits our trata, oiae persons and
Ministers, and the line of conduct which they intend to pursue. property of British residents In his (tom is.. ".The secret op-
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We could have wished to find the Speech more satisfactory ; proach of the French army to Lisbon, and the implacable hatred
but we shall at least endeavour, in a short commentary, to give which Bonaparte denounced against the House of Braganza, II .
the public an explicit vietv of its contents and defects. again fortunately turned his afection to Britain, and induced
The Speech immediately proceeds to inform us, "That no him to withdraw his person and his fleet from the grasp of 80.
f' sooner had the result of the Negotiations at
.Tilsit confirmed naparte. Our Ministers may thus boast that their intentions
" the influence anti commit! of France over the Powers of the were fulfilled in both cases, in the one by moderation, in the !
" Continent, than his Majesty was apprised of the intentions other by violence; but unfortunately the fernier has been fol.
•4 of the enemy to combine those Powers in one general Con- lowed by little praise, and the latter continues to be pursued by
" federacy, to he directed either to the entire subjugation of deep obloquy.
" this kingdom, or to the impositig upon his Majesty an inse- The speech proceeds to state the success of the enemy with
" cure and ignominious Peace.—That for this purpose, it was Russia, Austria, and Prussia; and the departure of the AM.
" determined to force into hostility against hi, Majesty, States bassadors of these powers from this country. It is stated, that. 4 .
" which bad hitherto bee.' allowed by France to maintain or neither Austria nor Prussia have given any reason for this fro os -.-. . .
"to purchase their neutrality I and to bTing to bear against ceeding, end indeed they must he considered as wholly passive 1 St . •
" different points of his Majesty's dominions, the whole of the instruments in the hands of France. .1
" naval force of Furor, and especially the fleets of Portugal ' It is stated that the r,niperor of Russia has attempted to just \..
" nod Denmark " tify his hostile conduct by a statement of wrongs and grievances
This paragraph affords much room for observation. No which have no real foundation; that his Majesty did not refuse
mention is made of the secret articles of the Treaty of Tilsit, the mediation of that Prince; but that he could not accept ail
which have formerly been stated to contain the actual terms of until his Majesty should have been able to ascertain that Russia
the confederacy against us :it is not even hinted that such secret was in a condition to tnediete impartially, and until the prin.
articles are in existence. The use which will he mail:, by the eiples of the basis on which France was ready to negociato
enemies of Government, of this silent retractation, is not doubt- were made Isitsiwn to his Majesty.
fat: they will insist that our Ministers were originally duped, The reason ur..;ed against accepting the mediation of Russia,
by some false information, into a belief that secret articles did would certainly be very conclusive, were the arbitration be- s
exist in the Treaty of Tilsit ; that they have since discovered tween two great nations at all similar to the arbitration between % ;''.
the falsehood of their informer; but that having acted too far two individuals.. In the latter case, the arbitrator is chosen to
upon his false intelligenee,shatne prevents them from disavowing deride upon the points in dispute, and by his decision the pasties Fp
it altogether, and they therefore confine themselves to speaking pledge themselves to stand : it is therefore of the utmost Ce)e-
of it in general terms, and passing over in silence particulars sequence that his impartiality be ascertained beforehand, other-
which •,.
might be refuted and exposed. They will urge that we wise the interests of the one party may be directly sacrificed to •
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ere now left wholly to conjecture, whether the hostile conk- the other. But the part of a mediator between too great A
&racy formed a part of the Treaty of Tilsit, or was a subse- nations is altogether different. He is called upon to decide no,
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quent transaction ; and that no hint whatever is given of the thing : his task is merely to receive and transmit the first over. IS
manner in which his Majesty became apprised of this combina- tures of both powers, to Bevel by his friendly offices any rising *V,
tion. We should be heartily sorry to find that this were ac- animosities of the interested parties, ant to he the organ of 1
wally the case with our Ministers, and we still hope that they communication when the etiquette asid forms of deplomacy I
mas he able to give more satisfactory explanation : but if they , might occasion dangerous delays and obstreetions. None of the
should not be able to do so, either from the deficiency of their principals in the negoeitition is bound to accept any pooposal of
information, or from the nature of the channel through which the mediator, unless he chuses; and it is entirely the fan4e of the•
it was procured, deeply it is to be regretted that they CV' ambassador, if the interests of their countiv are at all injaredi
. , nsted their measures on this foundation. It will cause their by any undue impartiality. Ir. thie point of view, we see no
• ood f nth to be questioned by the present generation, and to good reason for rejecting the mediation of Russia, ta'eause she
,e susp eted by posterity. was suspected of being friendly to France. It France Iva!:: in-
The Information respecting the enemy's intentions against ' cere la' her desires fur peace, Ansi* if actuf4t4 by 640101114.
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