Star.
London, England, 1814-02-19 00:00:00

THE HAGUE, FEBRUARY 16.

In a former Stoats Courant we mentioned the unex-
pected dissolution of the Legislative Body of France,
by order of the Emperor ; and also, that the cause
which led thereto was the peace-recommending tenour
of the Report of the Extraordinary Committee ap-
pointed to examine the official documents relating to
the negociations for peace. We now communicate
this Report itself, the same as it came out of the hands
of the Committee, and was presented by M. Laine,
in their name, after first mentioning several singular
circumstances which took place on the occasion.
This Report was discussed in a General Committee
on the 28th and 29th of December, and on the 30th
it wets put to the vote, in open assembly ; without,
however, having been read on this occasion. The
result of this vote, by which it was only decided whe-
ther the Report should be printed, was in the affir-
mative, and six copies were ordered to be delivered
to each of the members cn the following day. In-
stead of this distribution, the members, on coming
that day to the lobby of their hall of meeting to re-
ceive their copies, were told that no distribution of
the Report would take place, and also, that there
would be no meeting, as the Legislative Body was
adjourned by order of Government. It also tran-
spired, that in the night between the 30th and 31st
of December, at the printing-house of the Legislative
Body, the copiei of the Report, as far as they had
been thrown off, were dearoyel by the Police, the
forms broken to pieces, and the printing-house shut
up. Some time before the Members of the Legisla-
ture had received an invitation to repair on the day
following, being New Year'S Day, to the place of the
Thuilleries in grand costume, where the Emperor
would receive them in the hall of the throne. '

In the evening of the 31st the invitation was re-
peated, with the addition, that the adjournment of
the assembly would make no alteration. On New
Year's-day, therefore, they appeared in the appointed
place ; and there the Emperor, standing before the
Throne, in midst of the Hill, in presence of the Mi-
nisters and Great Officers of State, addressed the Le-
gislative Body with great violence, and expressed his
highest displeasure with the Report they had pro-
duced, and the order for printing it, as being a
Re-
pott which, he said, had no other tendency than to
set the French people against their Government, put
weapons into the hands of the Allies, and overturn
the existing order of things in France.

REPORT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY COMMITTEE, CONIST.
JNG OF MESSRS. ICAYNOCARD, LAINE, GALLOIS, FLAG.

GERGUES, AND MAINE DE MAN, PRESENTED TO THE

LEGISLATIVE BODY, SITTING OE DEC. 28, 1813.
" Gentlemen, the Extraordinary Committee wHch
you nominated, in virtue of the Imperial Decree of
the 20th of December, comes to communicate to yon
the Report of which you are in expectation at.this
important crisis. It is proper that not only the Com-
mittee, but the whole Legislative Body, should be
maJe acquainted with the information contained in
the original documents in the portfolio for Foreign
Affairs, communicated by order of his ktjebty.

" This communication, Gentlemen, took place.
under the I'residency of his Highness the Arch-
Chancellor of the Empire. The pieces placed before
us were nine in number; among them were the notes
which passed between the French and Austrian Mi-
nisters up to the 18th and 19th of August last ; there
was also the Speech which the Prince Regent deli-
vered to Parliament on the 6th of November, in
which it is said, that it was the wish neither of the
British Government nor of the Allied Powers to de-
mand any sacrifices of France incompatible with her
honour and legitimate pretensions.
"The present negociatiens for peace commenced
on the 2d of November. Their opening took place
through the intervention of a French Minister, )s,ho
was present at a conference between the Austrian,
Russian, and English Ministers : he was charged to
convey words of peace to France, and thus lay the
general baies on which negociations could take place
" The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Duke of
Bassano,.in consequence of this communication, re-
plied on the 16th, declaring to the 4ustrian Minister,
that a peace by land as well as sea, founded on the
general independence of nations, was the object of
the wishes and the policy of the Emperor ; and he,
therefore, proposed that a Congress should assemble
at Manheim. •
44 The Austrian Minister replied, on the 25th of
November, that their Majesties the Emperor and the
King of Prussia were ready to enter into negociations
as soon as they received the assurance, that the Em-
peror of the French adOpted the general bases, in the
same way as they were communicated t 9 him the
Powers were of opinion, that the principles laid down
in the letter of the 16th, though all'the Sovereigns
would be ready to assent to them, sure not esplicit
enough to serve as general bases;
" On the 2d of December, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, the Duke of Vicenza, gave the required as.-
siirance, repeating the general principles contained in
the letter of the 16th of November : he made known,
with great satisfaction, that his Majesty adopted the
• ,

-

oft.
A

bare before laid down; that Franc* Was Idling to
inali pea; Aacrificei to restore peace to Eurve.
I Ili To this letter /be Austrian Minister replied, on
the 10th of December, that their Majesties had seen
with satisfaction that the Emperor of the French had
accepted the principles essential to the rerptoration of
the balance and tranquillity ot Euroglf; that they
would gommunicate die letter to their Allies, and
had no doubt that, immediately on receiving their
answer, the negociations might be opened.
With this last document, so tar as has came
under our inspection, the negotiations ceased. We
Aare to hope that they will resume their natural train,
as soon as the delay caused by a very distant commu-
nication shall cease. In the mean time, upon these
two documents our hopes are founded.
During this correspondence on both sides, there
appeared in the Frankfort Gazette, (which also, in
consequence of a letter of his Highness; was laid
before the Commission), a declaration of the Allied
Powers, dated the Ist of December, in which we re-
mark the following among other passages :

" The Allied Powers wish France to be great, powerful, and
happy; because Prance in a state of greatness and strength, is
one of the principal foundations of the political system of Europe :
they wish that France may be happy, that French commerce
may recover its prosperity, that the arts and sciences, the bless-
ings of peace, may flourish, because a great people can only be
tranquil when' it is happy ;—tbe Allied Powers assure to the
French Empire an extent of territory, such as it never had under
any of its Kings, because a brave nation must not be dishonoured
because it has suffered reverses in some obstinate and bloody
battles, where it has fought with its usual valour."

" From all these documents it appears that the
coalesced Monarchs have loudly declared a wish for
peace : you will also probably have remarked, Gen-
tlemen, that the Emperor has declared his resolution
to make great sacrifices, and that he has adopted the
above-mentioned bases, which the Allied Powers had
themselves proposed.
44 Amidst our cares for our country, it is not ne-
cessary to be more particularly acquainted with the
above-named bases, nor to dive into the secrets of the
Cabinet, while the knowledge of them is unnecessary
to the object which we wish to attain ; sufficient is it
for us to know, that the bases are nothing else but
conditions towards the opening of the asked for Con-
gress. Is it not then satisfactory to remark, that the
conditions were proposed by the Allied Powers them-
selves, and to be convinced that his Majesty has
adopted the bases which are necessary to the opening
of a Congress, where all the claims and interests may
be discussed ? The Austrian Minister himself has
declared, that the Emperor has acceded to .the essen-
tial bases of the restoration of the balance and the
tranquillity of Europe. The accession of his Ma-
jesty to these bases, was therefore a great step to-
wards the peace of the world.
44 Such, Gentlemen, is the substance of the consi-
derations which, in conformity to the Constitution,
are submitted to you. It now belongs to the Legis-
lative Body to dechrre the sentiments which this is
calculated to excite ; because, in Conformity to the
30th Article of the Senalus Coniultum, of the 23th Fri-
make, year 12, 4' the Legislative Body shall, as often
as the Government communicates to it any matter
distinct from deliberation on the laws, return a reply
to the same in full assembly."
44 While the Legislative Body awaits the observa-
tions of its own Committee, appointed to prepare a
reply worthy of the nation and the Emperor, we may
also perhaps be permitted to express our sentiments.
The first is that of gratitude for a communication by
which the Legislative Body is now invited to take a
share in political affairs ; to this sentiment I add, that
of hope, when we hear, amidst all the calamities of
war, Sovereigns and nations pronouncing the word
peace in the most impressive accents.
is " And, indeed, Gentlemen, the repeated impor-
tant declarations of the Powers at war completely
coincide with the general wishes of Europe, and with
those expressed around us, and in our departments,
of which the Legislative Body is the natural organ.
" According to the observations contained in the
Deceleration, the wishes of humanity are directed to-
wards an honourable and lasting peace. The peace
Jhould be honourable, because both with nations and
individuals, honour consists in maintaining their own
legitimate pretensions, and in respecting the rights of
others ; the peace should be durable, because the best
guarantee of peace consists in the determination of
the contracting Powers to be true to themselves.
Who, then, shall rob us of its blessings ? The Allied
Powers have given this important testimony of the
Emperor, that he has adopted the essential bases for
:he restoration of the balance and tranquillity of
Europe.

Ile first security of I peace,loving disposition
lies, not only in adversity, wbich, according to the
proverb, is the best teacher of Kings, but also in the
so severely felt privations of the people, and in the
wants of the Crown itself. You will probably, there-
fore, think it unnecessary to request his Majesty to
add to these securities some still more solemn.

" If the Declaration of the Foreign Powers were
fraudulent ; if they wished to bring us under the
yoke ; if it was their object to tear in pieces the sacred
territory of France, then must we wage a national
war to prevent our native country from becoming the
prey of foreigners. But at a period such as that in
which we live, the power of the Empire would be
still more vigorously displayed by drawing closer the
ties which mutually bind the nation and the Sove-
reign. Assurances in the form of Proclamations,
would be one means of silencing the reproaches of
the enemy, as to the lust of conquest and of colossal
predominance, and of tranquillising the people. Is
it not wot thy of his Majesty, by means of solemn de-
clarations, to remove all doubt with regard to the ob-
jects of France and the Emperor ?
' " When the Prince, to whom history has given the
surname of Great, would inspire his people with vi-
gour, he disclosed to them what he had done for
peace, and his frank communication did not remain
without effect. To prevent the. Allied Powers from
reproaching France and the Emperor with ambition,
let all grounds for: the reproach be removed by a for-
mal declaration.
It belongs not, certainly, to us, to put words
into the mouth of ate Prince ' • but should not such a
declaration (that it may make, beneficial impression
on Foreign Powers, and have due influence in France)
' solemnly announce, in the face of all Europe, that we
make war only for the independence of the French
people, and the inviolability of our territory !
" When his Majesty had thus replied in his own
name, and in that of France, to the declaration of the
iAlliod Powers, then it would be seen whether they

were sctusted by othie views than those of the mai-
librium of Europe. But let it once be well under-
stoodr that France alone remains true to honourable
principles, which she /11111 have thus solemnly pro.
claimed, in the face.of Europe, by all the authorities
of the nation, tlttri will France be driven by the ob-
stinacy of her enemies, into a national war, whic:,
will be acknowledged to be just and necessary, for the
maintenance of her independence and righu ; vigour,
unanimity, and daring, will be displayed, her whole-
force will be directed towards conquering rage, Ras
a new proof will be furnistivd in the wor!d, that a
great nation can always maintain its 1.onou: arid it:
rights.
4, In the mean what-, it is not enough kr tLe in.
spiriting of a people to summon them, accurdiug
the laws, to place themselves in a defensive attitude
but the Government must establish the surest a:oa
speediest means of compelling the enemy to make
peace on durable grounds. These :Leans will he
effectual whenever Frenchmen shall be convinced
that their blood shall no lur.ger be shed but for th..
defence of their native country and it. protecting
laws.; but the sacred names ot peace and country
may be echoed to the winds, when men cannot tecure
those constitutional limits on which the blessings ot
both depend.
66 Your Committee considers it as one of their im-
perious duties, while the Government adopts the
speediest measures for the defence of the State, to
beseech his Majesty to maintain the full and corn-
piece execution of the laws, which secure to the
French the rights of personal freedom, and of secu-
rity of property, together with the free developemeni
of their political rights.
66 This security appears to your Committee the best
means of communicating to the French the necessary
vigour for their own defence. Your Committee founds
these ideas only on the wish, and the necessity, of re•
uniting more closely the throne and the naticin, for
the purpose of their joining their efforts against mis-
government, arbitrary power, and the enemies of our
country.
s. It was the first thought of his Majesty, at this
important crisis, to assemble around him the repre-
sentatives of the nation ; is it not, then, theit first duty
to reply as becomes them to the summons, by laying
before the Monarch the truth, and the universal wish
fur peace ?"