The National Register.
London, England, 1808-10-24 00:00:00

OCT. 24.

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usurped title to the Crown of that country, and that King
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FERDINAND be restored to his subjects. wit __.y, That ...-VRAT
should abandon Napks to the lawful Sovereign. sdly, That
the Mice Ton of Retie CASSEL, the PRINCE of ORANGE, the
Delis of Bavisswict, and the Kara of -PRIDSSIAI should be
put in re-possession ,of their former dominions. 4thly, That
Finland should be restored to the gallant KING of SWEDEN.
And, lastly, we insist on the restitution of Hanover.—We
have a right, and a very justifiable one, to insist on much
more; however, we are willing to renounce those preten-
sions, in order to give peace to the nations who arc now
groaning under the scourge of a ruthless Tyrant. But is
there any man in this country insane enough to believe
the insolent, haughty Upstart has any other object in this
farce of seuding messengers, than to deceive ALEXANDER ;
or, in concert with that unfortunate Monarch, to endea-
vour to sanction the pretended necessity of some nefa-
rious project he is about to embark in ? We admire the
conduct and moderation of our Government in allowing
those men to land. They acted with wisdom in suppress-
ing their indignation, and condescending to read the con-
tents of the dispatches. Had they sent them back un-
opened, there is not an honest, or au honorable man in the
country who would have blamed them. It 'is a folly to
speculate on the subject. Just Heavens ! When we recol-
lect the missions and promises of Marshal Bysst ERES to K two
ham NAND, we cannot conceive how we had the resolution
to stain our columns with any serious reflections relative to
the sincerity of a rtian whose whole life is one tissue of
falsehood, treachery, deception, and atrocity. Peace and
.reconciliation with that man !—We might as well enter
into a treaty of amity with the liangry tygcr. Never will
he forgive us our virtue, our commerce, our freedom. It
is madness to negotiate, or to answer the dispatches. The
injury that will ensue from such imprudence is incalcu-
hie. The Spaniards will be tortured with suspicion if
another messenger is allowed to land on our shores. Why
did we make a difference between a Russian and French
Messenger ? If Alexander had been•sincere in his overtures
he would have made them from his capital, unclogged by
French influence ; but in making them from Erfurt!), he
has no other object in N icw than to insult our Government,
by confessing his perfect acquiescence in the projects of the
Enemy. That this circurustanoe has been noticed by no
other Paper is surprising.. Bonaparte vaunted, before -his
departure from Paris. the friendship' subsisting between
him and Alexander; and, in order to let this country know
that what he advanced was perfectly true, he requests that
infatuated Sovereign to send a messenger as the bearer of
pacific dispiitches. The moment we heard of the arrival
of the Messengers we had not a doubt relative to the object
they were sent for ; which was no other than an insolent,
triumphant display of the dependence of Russia ; a wish to
turn aside the attention of the Continent from the disgraces
be suffers in Spain, and a desire to excite some jealousy be-
tween that country and this. He knows very well we will
lint, nor cannot, listen to his overtures*:. but he hopes, if
me should have the fully to receive more of his dispatches
to keep Austria in suspense, and, perhaps, compel her to
submit to some ignominious conditions.
The Messengers having delivered their dispatches were
given into the hands of Mr. Shaw, one of the Messengers of
the Foreign Department, with orders that he should take
them to his own house, and give them every accommcda-
Con in his power. At an early hour on Saturday mornings

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