Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1808-11-08

In proposing to your majesty 10 declare.
that henceforth no retrospective call shall
take on an antecedent CONSUMPTION, | only
participate, Sire, your paternal wishes.
think 1t expedient, at the same time, to
propose to your majesty to order out the
conscriptlon ofthe year 1910. and to deter.
| mine the amount it, from the present in
slant, at eighty thousand men, TO furnish
the means, as occasion may require, of for
ming camps of reserve, and of protecting
the coast in the spring time. This con-.
scriphon would be raised only under the ap..
prehension of war with other powers ncr
would 1T be called out before the month of
January next.
Sire, it IS a misfortune inseparabe from
the present state of Europe, that when one
power exceeds the amount of the forces pro-
portoned to its population, the other pow
ers cannot dispense with increasing theirs
III the same proportion.
England, independent of the immense
number OF her seamen, has on foot an army
~ more than two hundred Thousand men !;
nor IS she occupied in every Session of her
pirhament. with anv thing 50 much as with
the increase of her land forces. The ar
mes OF Aus ria have been considerably in
creased. France, although she has armies
more numerous than all the other powers
mas, notwithstanding, fewer men under arms
than any OF them, compared with her pop
ulation
Your minister for foreign affairs assures
me, that strict alliance subsisted between
your majesty and Russia. ':'he armaments
ot Austria have often excited my solicitude
The same minister assured me, tnat the best
understanding was kept up with Austria.
and that her levies should duly be consid-
a1tt hos.
OF approximations, which are forcihly i'm
pressed on every court, by the numerous A e.
gents which England continues in pay ON
the Continent.
But If it does not belong to the business oC
nv department to dive into the views and
interests of states, and explore the tortuous
labyrinth ot politics, IL is ~ least my duty
to neglect nothing to make vour majesty
ARMIES maintain, at all points, that lust su
perlorty which they ought to possess. The
armies oF Albania and Dalmatia, of Dem
mark, and of the Elbe, will NOT allow of any
fimnu;ion, under the circumstances of the
moment.
What l have to propose to your males
~, VIII give the army of Spain two hun
dred thousand men, without weakening the
other armies; 50 that, notwithstanding the
augmentation OF our force eyand the Pvre
nccs, when the CONSUMPTION o. 1910, Shall
be called on, your majesty will have increa-
sed your armies Of Germany of the North.
AID OF Italy, by more than eighty thousand
men.
And when, in order to escape the crisis
into which she has been drawn by a falls:
as wella an angry policy, the English GO.
vernment, exertiug cry where IT'S ACTIVE
", does not hesitate III combine, with the
resources it draws from its iuexhaustibIe
finances and its formidable fleets, the arts
oil intrigue, of corruption, and imposture,
would it be at all extraordinary, that the
Immense population of France should hold
out the spectacle ola million Of armed men,
ready to punish England and all those whom
she may seduce; and present every where
the same huge mass of forces, 10 protect
with the same shield, the honor and secuEi :
ty of France
What other result, Sire, is there TO be e.. .
pected from armies so numerous, and a DO
sition so formidable, bat the speedy re.es
Establishment of the tranquility Of Spain, that
of maritime peace, and of that general
tranquility, the object of Your maiesty's in
cessaDt wishes Much blood will have
been split, because great number of men
will have been ready TO shed il. A dura-
bic happiness, prepared by the combinati.
on Of your powerful genius, will be the ef..
feet, Sire, of the new proof of affection and
attachment which your people will afford
you, and of the noble aspect of that nation,
which your majesty has pointed out to pos
/ terity, under the name of the great natl
/ on.
War minister, and under this denomi-
nation the organ of the French soldiers, al
low me, Sire, to be the interpreter of their
sentiments for you. Your majesty shall al
ways see us ready to sacrifice our lives for
your glory, which is inseparabe from natl :
onal glory, to which you have so powerful
ly added, and for nc important interests Of
the country.
am, with respect, sc.
! This paper also contains the Act Of Re.
nunciation negotiated between the Prince
Of Peace and Duroc, by which Charles the
| vi. and the Prince of Asrurias, abdicated
their right to the crown Of Spain to Napo-
leon.1
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