The Sun.
London, England, 1806-04-26 00:00:00

FRENCH EXPOSE.

[PROM THE MON ITEUR..]
PARIS, AP,RII, 18.

, . .
" England has -declared War against Prussia. All
the King's Ships have received Orders to attack. the
Prussian Vessels', and Letters of Marwae have been
issued to• Privateers. 'thi s a just prOceeding on-the
narteof the English Governtiaent ? Is ifdpolitie one ?
arequeStions which if is not our intention "to
examine.' It is'sufficient for.us to discover, that this
Measure is. advantageous to' prance ; that one of .its
Corisequences will be to shut the North agaipst,
,the English trade; and•that.there is little wisdom on
the part of England, in acting so towards a Consider-
adele Power, whom she forces into a nearer connexion
with Frafnce ; and ..WhOm she deter Mines to remove
from her Councils the Agents and the influence of
• England. Prance and Prussia- united, can, if 'they
'please, shut the Sound. , If *England had learned
bow to aueorrirsiodate her policy tacireurnstances; she
would have maintained herparty and her creatures in
• credit in Berlin. 'She would have rendered the block-
- ade of the Ports of the North less severe. She would
have, in fait, preserved the 'advantage which she de-
rives from the Prussian Flag ;1 for commerce'has
caiien for. intermediate agentsbetween the. merchant
and the consumer: But, hoWever it may be, we can-
' n`ot consider this new political event but as tending to
accelerate Peace ; Tor, assuredly, .Prussia is neither a
weak enemy for England, nor a weak ally for, France:
We know that there are persons who,accustom them-
selves with- difficulty to the idea of theseconneCtions
betWeeti France and. Prussia; but they do not see that
• the hesitation which was first manifested by the latter:
Cabinet; depended- uponlemporary circumstances
which have neither-altered the principles of the King,
nor tho4e of his most faithful and intelligent servants.
If there Was any thing, which gave offence to France,
it could only be imputed to a frahtic Minister, .who
was sold to England, who was formerly in her ser-
vice, and who quitted it for reasons 'which the dig-
nity of this Paper will not allow us to- mention. It,
perhaps, "maybe supposed, that England, in the new
circumstances in which she-finds herself with regard
to Prussia, hdd no medium left her, and could not
avoid declaring War. But the occupatiOn of Hanover,
, by Prussia; was, the only _enbans of preventing the
French from returning to that country ; and if they
- had-returned, the freedom of the English trade would
- not have-been -the greater. It may be said,
,that
Prussia has-not only shut the .ports of _the Elbe and
'the Weser; as they'were by the French, but that the
,-+
occupation was made in the'pame of the King, and .
in the same form as if he had determined -to annex
this rine province to. his vast Monarchy. However,
there is'',notking; fret, to pave that-this was' the in-
, t:iztiolt ofPrussiii; and it-is very possible, that the ces-
sion of Cleves,Anspach, and Neufchatel, may relate
to smile other principles of arrangement, since the po-
pulation cif all thethree does notequal a 5 thoftbepopu-
lation of Handier. Some discussion, therefore, might
have taken place between Prussia and England ; and
the Wisest course would havestssee.ri,not to have began
by declaring -war.- Supposing occupation to be equal
to thial iticorperation, England, .instead of avoidihg
that consequence, makes it more certain ; for what-
ever losses the -Prussian trade may experience during '
two or three-years war,she Will be indemnified by the
more considerable loss. which ,the trade of the enemy
will sustain ; and England submits to these losSes for
- aa 'interest which the English ‘'Naticin has ali.Vays .
disowned. It:has always 'considered Hanover as a
foreign property, solely belonging to .the House of
BetinSwick. How happens it that it has so suddenly
Chahged its principles in this respect !
lt appears—that M. SCHIMMELPENNINCK, the,
Grand Pensionary of Holland,, has entirely lost his
sight. Who is to be his successor? What effect will
beproduced by this change in the Magistracy.? These
questions excite-the attention -and -anxiety of all the
Pinch who tire' sincerely attached to the Country. It
is well knoWn, that the Emperor never gave: any'po-
sitive sail:Slim to the late changes in the Constitution
of that Country; and. that he said, on that occasion,,
that the prosperity and liberty of Nations could only
be assured by two modes of Government—either a
tempered and constitutional lgonarcliy; or a Repub-
lic constituted according 'to the theory of liberty, and
which-should be the true organ Of -the public will.
All hations,cannot, with safety, leave to the people
- the choiCe of their Representatives ; and when, a Da-
_tion has to apprehend the effects of assembling the
people; when-the advantages which it expeelsare less
than the inconveniencies. which it foresees ; such a
• hatien, which cannot find Proteaionnnder a Repub—
lican form of Government,. has recourse to the prin-
ciples of a good and prudent Monarch Under the
present .Constitution of Holland, the Grand -Pen-
sionary has more rower than the King has in Eng-
land--he-has even more than the Emperor has in
Fratiee; or than any Sovereign has 'in an}- country :
end, what is without example in a Republij, their -
',Hligh-,Mightinesses, the Representative and'lsegis-e
.BOdies,_ have been nominated by- the Grand
Pensionary. The defeetof this Constitution-tannot
c seape the observation of the sagacious. That cannot
' be called a RepubliC, where the Representative and.
Le-,islatii;e Bodies are not nominated by the Electors :
and if there heany fear of the,EleCtors, it will be best
'to renounce, et once the Republican form of Govern-
ment. A GovernMent, which neither having the ad-
vantages of a Republic, nor of a Monarchy, corn-
- 'Vries, all the inconvenieneies of both, should not
be absolutely prescribed. Such being the situation
of Holland, she must be a'gainer by any ,changes
'that she may , make in her Constitution. If the
landholders, the merchants, the enlightened men,
are of opinion that they can have a Tepresentatien
. made by the choice 'of the people without
of classeS or
pinch religion, they will create a. system
. .
_nteb more proper than the present one.-- If-that be
northeir opinion, and that they think it necessary to
have,recourse te. a Constitutional Monarchy, they
will do that WhiCh will be more,advantageous to their
Country than the preservation of theireetisting Con-
, siltrition can. , be. It ,is their duty- to examine their
-situation, to judge of the circumstances in; which,
they are; placed, and to -choose between the -two, sys,
tema that-Which:is best suited to them, and the most
. •
likely.to establish,' on a-solid foUndation, the public
-prosperity and liberty • .
Bavaria has-taken ogscsiion'of 't'ie Margraviat
of Asfspach, and hAS ceded to. France the Duchy of
Aerg, pited with -that of Cleves, is settled
e,pon prince Joachim, the Grand Admiral of the Em-
.
Fe; Wesel is.a strong Fortress on qi4r,Fpnticrs,