Star.
London, England, 1810-07-17 00:00:00

REPORT TO THE EMPEROR.

PARIS, 1;;LY 9•

I have the honour to lay before your Majesty an
act of the King of Holland, dated the 3d inst. by
which that Monarch declares, that he abdicate. the
Crown in favour of his eldest son, leaving, according
to the Constitution, the Regency to the Queen, and
establishes a Council of Regency composed of his Mi-
nisters.
Such an act, Sire, ought not to have appeared
without a previous concert with your Majesty. It
can have no force without your approbation. Ought
your Majesty to confirm the disposition taken by the
King of Holland ?
The union of Belgium with France has destroyed
the independence of Holland. Her system has neces-
sarily become the same with that of France. She is
obliged to take part in all the maritime wars of France
as if she were one of her provinces.
Since the creation of the arsenal of the Scheldt,
and the annexation to France of the provinces coin-
posing the departments of the Mouths of the Rhine
and the Mouths of the Scheldt, the commercial exis-
tence of Holland has become precarious. The mer-
chants
of Antwerp, Ghent, and Middlehnrgh, who'
can, without any restriction, extend their specula-
tions to the extremities of the Empire, of which they
form a part, necessarily carry on the commerce which I
Holland transacted. Rotterdam and Dordrecht are
already on the verge of ruin—these cities having lost
the commerce of the Rhine, which goes direct, by the i
new frontier, to the ports of the Scheldt, passing
through the Biesboch. The part of Holland, which
is still alien to the Empire, is dqprived of the ad-
vantages enjoyed by the part united thereto. Com-
pelled, nevertheless, ,to make common cause with
France, Holland will have to support the charges of
this allowance,, without reaping any of its benefits.
Holland is sunk under the weight of her public
debt, which amounts to between 85 and 90 millions,
that is to say, a fourth more than the debt of the
whole empire ; and if a reduction had been projected
by the Government of the country, it would not have
been in its power to give a guarantee for the inviola-
bility
-nd permanence of such a measure, inasmuch ,
as the debt, if even reduced to 30 millions, would I
still be beyond the actual means and ability of that'
country. It is estimated Holland pays triple the
sum that France pays. The people groan under the
weight of 23 distinct descriptions of contributions.—
The Dutch nation sinks under its contributions, and
can no longer pay them.
Nevertheless, the necessary expences of the Gc vern-
rnent require that this burden should be augmented.
The budget for the marine amounted, in 1809, to
three millions only of florins, a sum scarcely suffi-
cient to pay the administrators, the officers, and sea-
men, and to defray - the expence of the arsenals, and
which has not admitted of the equipment of a single
ship of war. To provide for the armament ordered in
1810, and which is the minimum of the naval force
necessary for the defence of Holland—triple that sum
world be requisite.
The war budget has scarcely afforded a sufficiency
for maintaining the fortresses and 16 battalions—and
whilst two brandies of such importance are so far
from having what is necessary for supporting the ho-
nour and dignity of independence, the interest of the
-public debt hasseased to be paid. It is more than 7.
year and a half in arrear. • .
If, in such. a state of things, your Majesty main-
tain the recent dispositirini, by assigning to Holland
ss provisional Government, you will only be prolong-
ing her painful agony. lithe Government of a Prince
in the vigour of life has left the country in so distres-
oil asituation, what can be expected from a long
minority ? It cannot, therefore, be saved but by a
new order of things. The period of the power and
prosperity of Holland was when it formed part of the
greatest monarchy then in Europe. Her mcorpora-
tlbn with the gre it Empire if the only stable condi-
tion in which Holland can henceforth repose from her
sufferings and long vicissitudes, and recover her an-
. cient prosperity.
T 1414 ought your Majesty to decide in favour of
such an union, for the interest, nay more, for the sal-
tation of Holland. She ought to be associated in
our blessings, as she has been associated in our cala-
seines. But another interest still more imperiously
indicates to your Majesty the conduct which yOu ought
to adopt.
Holland is; in fact, a shoat from the French* ter-

ritory ; it constitutes a portion of soil necessary to
.tonsple:e the form of the Empire. To become tall
master of the Rhine, your Majesty should advat.e to
the Zoyder Se.t. by this means all the rivers which
have toL‘ir source in France, or which wash the fron-
tiets will blong to you as tar as the sea. To leave
the a,oothi ► f your livers in the possession of gran-
prs weuld, nn tact, Sir, confine your power to an
eJ n. narchy, instead of erecting an Imperial
Throw.. To 1 .ive in the power of loreigners the
mouths of the Rhine, die Mc nsc, and Scheldt, would
be tantamount to submitting your laws to them ; it
Kt uld render your manufactures and commerce de-
-pen *lent on thi. powers who should he in possession of
these mouths ; it would admit a foreign influence in
61, which is most irrp,.rt.nt.to the It: ppioess of your
subjects.
'1 be annexation of 1-1.,11;m4 is still ncass:-.ry to
eosuk4‘e the s) stem &pi the En pipe, pulicolarifo ace

a. .. .