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appeared in sight, which was standing to the shoals of Corril. At this juncture the wind failed her, and the Venerable was able to bring her to action, and had nearly silenced her, when the loss of the mainmast obliged the captain of the Venerable to desist; and this ship, which was an eighty-four, escaped along with the rest.

In the course of the summer an expedition was fitted out, under the command of admiral lord Nelson, for the purpose of destroying the harbour and shipping of Boulogne; but, like all the other expeditions to the coast of France, it ended only in discomfiture and disgrace. On the 4th of August lord Nelson found the enemy's vessels (consisting of brigs and flats, lugger-rigged, and a schooner, twenty-four in number), anchored in a line in the front of Boulogne. The wind being farourable for the bombs to act, he made the signal for battle, and gave orders to direct their shells at the vessels, and not at the town. After a severe engagement, how ever, the noble admiral was compelled to retreat. Lord Nelson imputes his failure to the darkness of the night, with the tide and half tide which separated the divisions of the British fleet, The loss in killed and wounded amounted to about 130.

Why the British ministry engaged in no offensive operations of greater importance has since been explained to the complete satisfaction of the nation. It was because they were occupied with a matter of much higher consequence, and because they wisely anticipated the event. Attached to no party, we feel a sincere pleasure in giving honour to whom honour is due; and we cannot but allow that the negotiations with France, which

commenced in the beginning of the summer, were conducted with equal ability and moderation. We had always predicted, that a ministry of a truly English spirit, with English honesty and frankness-a ministry who depended not on stratagem, but integrity, would be successful in any negotiation for the restoration of peace. The dissolution of the Northern confederacy, and the successes in Egypt, had removed the most powerful obstacles; and administration had the wisdom not to lose the favourable opportunity which these circumstances presented. The negotiation was carried on with a prudent reserve. The agents, lord. Hawkesbury and M. Otto, did not enter the list as prize-fighters, and call in the whole of Europe to decide on the diplomatic skill which they respectively evinced. The objects in dispute were discussed with temperance, as if discussed by men seriously bent on bringing them to a happy termination. Not even the persons who were in official situations, except those immediately concerned, were acquainted with the state of the negotiation; and the lord-mayor of London was the first person out of the cabinet to whom the result was communicated. Thus no unfair advantage could be taken; and this treaty stands almost singular on our records, since, at a period when the practice of gambling in the public funds was, from the wide extension of public credit, more predo minant than at any previous crisis, not a single instance occurred of any sinister practice whatever. The treaty, thus honourably conducted, was in every part consistent with justice, and with an enlarged and wise system of policy. The great object in all pacific arrangements

rangements should be to leave as little cause of regret and dissatistisfaction to the respective parties as possible. Great-Britain did not want colonial possessions: almost all new acquisitions of that description must have interfered with the interest and advantage of those she already possesses; and the state of the French West-India islands rendered them most dangerous and improper connexions. Great-Britain gained some acquisitions by the treaty, which were of considerable importance without being burdensome or dangerous; while the justice and moderation of her demands were such as were well calculated to inspire confidence in those nations with whom she had been unfortunately engaged in hostilities.

The aggrandisement of France and the enlargement of her European territory are circumstances which, however they may be regretted, were not to be remedied: for, as that incomparable statesman, Mr. Fox, has most justly observed, "France was made great by the war, and not by the peace." She had acquired what could not be wrested from her by Great-Britain; and of the only two powers able to contend with her on the continent, one (the court of Petersburg) was united by a strict treaty of alliance, and the other (that of Vienna) had been reduced to the necessity of accepting such terms of peace as she thought proper to impose. Yet increase of territory is sometimes contemplated by politicians with a more anxious eye than the circumstance deserves. Increase of territory does not always imply proportionate accession of strength. The amalgamation of different people with different habits, and even a difference of language under the same government,

is not always an easy task; and it is the less easy if any degree of political liberty form a constituent part of that government. Time will evince whether France is made really more powerful by the addition of the Netherlands and the other countries which she has acquired by the war. We think we see in them the seeds of discontent and disorganisation; but we may be mistaken.

By the preliminary articles which were signed at London on the 1st of October, 1801, by M. Otto on the part of the French republic, and lord Hawkesbury on the part of his Britannic majesty, Great-Britain agreed to the restoration of all her conquests, the island of Trinidad and the Dutch possessions in Ceylon excepted. The Cape of Good Hope was to remain a free port to all the contracting parties, who were to enjoy the same advantages. The Island of Malta was to be evacuated by the British troops, and restored to the order of St. John of Jerusalem. Egypt was restored to the Ottoman Porte. The territory of Portugal was to be maintained in its integrity: and the French troops were to evacuate the territory of Rome and Naples. The republic of the seven islands was recognised by France. The fishery at Newfoundland was established on its former footing: and, finally, plenipotentiaries were to be named by the contracting parties, to repair to Amiens, to proceed with the formation of a definitive treaty in concert with the allies of the contracting parties.

Thus terminated a contest the most dangerous and disastrous in which this country was ever engaged a contest which we have said, and which we still believe, might have been avoided in its

origin,

origin, and which at different times might have been terminated with infinite advantage to this country; but which would perhaps have not been concluded till the country had been drained of its last shilling, had not the old ministry (who we conscientiously believe engaged in it from fantastical dreams of ambition, and carried it on under the most puerile and delusive hopes) been fortunately dismissed. We hope, for the sake of our country and of mankind, never to see these men employed in any public capacity. They are not ministers adapted to the character of the English nation: they might be fitted for the crooked and intriguing politics of a despotic court, but their habits and their measures we trust are as foreign to the plain and open disposition of the sovereign as to that of his people. The fairness, the candour, the moderation, and the constitutional principles of Mr. Addington, form a happy contrast to that motley conduct, that tissue of pride and meanness, of intrigue and arrogance, to which we had unfortunately been accustomed before; and if he perseveres in the same career, we have little doubt but he will prove one of the most popular ministers whom this country has seen for a series of

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nation is still in a comparative state of wealth and prosperity. Theoretical politicians may arraign our ancient constitution; they may project reforms which would probably disappoint their hopes, though it is even possible that in some instances it might admit of some amelioration, could it with safety be attempted. But, in the mean time, it may satisfy us, that under a legislature elected by ourselves, and by the protecting influence of such a system of jurisprudence as no other country in Europe can boast, we can individually sit "under our own vine and own fig-tree," unmolested by the hand of tyranny or the machinations of fraud. Compare this happy constitution with that of other countries, for by this only we shall learn to estimate its value: compare it even with what has been the result of theoretical reform: compare it with the experiments on government, which we have lately seen! The time is not yet arrived for us to present our readers with an analysis of that complex form of despotism established in a neighbouring country: when it does, our readers will feel grateful to their ancestors for the invaluable privileges which their wisdom and their valour have secured to their posterity. And that we may be just to all men, when we reflect on these blessings, and resolve to defend them on every emergency as our dearest "rights," let us not forget that to Mr. Addington and his colleagues we are at least, for the present, indebted for the restoration of PEACE and the CONSTITUTION.

CHAP. X.

CHAP. X.

Foreign History. France. Delays in the Ratification of the Preliminaries signed by Count Julien at Paris. Preparations for opening a fresh Campaign. Positions of the two Armies. Dismission of the most meritorious of the Imperial Officers-Resignation of others. Emperor and Archduke John repair to the Army. Notification from Moreau of the Re-commencement of Hostilities. A further Armistice concluded at Hohenlinden. Internal State of France. Inspection and Reform of the Emigrant List. Return of Emigrants. Treaty between France and the United States of America. Changes in the Ministry. Negotiation for Peace with Great-Britain. Proposal on the part of France for a general Armistice by Sea and Land-Rejected by the British Ministry-Rupture. of the Armistice. Opening of the Winter Campaign. Attack upon

Augereau. Capture of Aschaffenburg by the French. Moreau attacked by Klenau. Battle of Hohenlinden-Flight and rapid Pursuit of the Imperial Army. Recall of Prince Charles to the Command of the Austrian Forces. Austrians again defeated. Third Armistice. French enter Florence and Leghorn. Convention of Treviso.

Nour account of foreign trans

we left the French, who are the principal actors in these interesting scenes, masters of Germany almost to the banks of the Inn; and of Italy almost to the confines of Venice. The preliminaries of peace, which had been signed by count Julien at Paris, in July, had been the subject of frequent negotiations between the cabinet of the Tuil leries and the court of Vienna. Embarrassed as the situation of this court was now become, the influence of the partisans for the continuance of the war overpowered all pacific considerations. Whatever might be the hopes or secret views of that court, the refusal of the ratification was intimated in a note from the British government, who insisted that a minister should be sent to the congress at Luneville, conjointly with the plenipotentiaries of the emperor.

The French and imperial armies were now preparing to open the

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campaign a second time. The im

forces between Wassenburg and Alt-Oatting, having its advanced guard on the left side of the Inn, stretching its right wing to Braunau, and its left to Kufstein, where it formed its junction with the army of the Tyrol. A few corps of cavalry skirted the Inn, below Braunau, to preserve the communication with the division of general Klenau on the left side of the Danube. The whole of this force consisted of about 60,000 men: the army on the Tyrol amounted to 10,000, who were seconded by an equal number of volunteers of the country.

The right wing of the French army was about 36,000 men. This wing skirted the mountains of the Tyrol on the north side, which it menaced with three columns of 12,000 men cach by the passes of Ehrenberg, Scharnitz, and Arleberg. The centre was composed of nearly an equal number, and was posted in a line of eight or ten

leagues

leagues beyond the Iser, facing the centre and left wing of the imperial army. The left of the French army consisted of 25,000 men, stretched along the river Vils, and threatened to hein Braunau, and cut off the imperial army from its magazines on the Danube and the division of general Klenau.

The changes which had been made in the imperial armies, in consequence of the late defeats by the French, boded still less good for the future. The generals Kray, Hanendorff, Schmit, and Chateler, who were the most distinguished of the imperial officers, and who had yielded only to a valour and impetuosity which commanders more able would have had difficulty in stemming, were replaced by others whose names had scarcely been heard of, and in whom little confidence could be reposed. The court of Vienna had thought fit, however, to dispense with the services of men whose misfortunes were imputed to their own mistakes rather than to the enterprise of the enemy, and whose sentiments respecting the final issue of the war were but little in correspondence with its own. The dismission of these officers was followed by the resignation of general Kinks, commander of Vienna, who alleged, that he could not answer for the tranquillity of the capital, since the garrison was withdrawn to be sent to the army. The state of the imperial forces in Italy at this period was scarcely more favourable for the successful continuance of the war. This army had received reinforcements of 25,000 men; but as it was found necessary to leave 10,000 men in Vienna to secure the tranquillity of the city, there were scarcely 40,000 more left to keep the field,

The generals Ott and Hohenzollern had sent in their resignations; and the only officer of distinguished talent that remained at his post was general Wackassowich.

This situation of affairs, which carried apprehension into the minds of every person interested in the safety of the imperial court, roused it to a seeming temporary effort of personal courage. In a rescript notified to the diet of Ratisbon by the imperial minister, the rupture of the negotiation with the French, and the conclusion of the armistice; were declared. His imperial majesty informed them, that, seconded by the fidelity and love of his ple, he had determined to put himself, with his brother the archduke John, at the head of the army; hoping that this example, as well as the general danger, would reanimate the ancient courage of the German, and engage the subjects of the empire to join themselves to his majesty, to secure an honour-` able peace.

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Agreeable to the rescript of the imperial minister to the diet, the emperor, and his brother the archduke John, repaired to the army, where the latter entered on his office as commander-in-chief. his arrival in this quality, he received a letter from general Moreau, inclosing the instructions which had just been transmitted from Paris, and which he thus literally transcribed:-" Inform the general who commands the Austrian army, that the emperor refuses to ratify the preliminaries of peace; and that you are obliged to re-commence hostilities. You may, however, agree to an armistice of a month, on condition that places of surety be immediately put into your possession." Moreau sent at the same time an officer to state the

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