were not without apprehensions at Trieste of an expedition similar to that against Copenhagen, the most vigorous measures of defence had been resorted to. A general embargo was expected upon all English merchandise, and upon all property of the English, Sicilians, and Maltese. In consequence of which, all colonial produce had risen 20 per cent. Orders have been issued for reinforcing all the cordons on the Austrian frontiers, for the threefold purpose of preventing smuggling, checking the desertion of foreigners in the Austrian service, and obstructing the influx of emigrants from Venice, Prussia, Hanover, &c. There is a talk of an offensive and defensive alliance between Austria, France, and Russia, being on the eve of conclusion. The three powers have, in the mean time, guaranteed to each other their respective possessions. Mr Adair, the British minister, had left Vienna, and was to embark at Trieste for Eng land.

RUSSIA.

All the late measures of the Court of St Petersburgh, evince its servile submission to the will of the French despot, whose influence is now as absolute in the Councils of Alexander, as in his own abject Court of the Thuilleries. We cannot conceive a more contemptuous insult to the feelings of his Imperial Majesty, than the appointment of Caulincourt, the atrocious agent in the murder of the Duc d'Enghien, as the new ambassador to the Russian Court. (See Vol. 66. p. 305. 467.) We shall refer our readers to the spirited remonstrance made by M. d'Oubril, the Russian Ambassador at Paris, on this occasion (p. 865. )-Yet the infamous Caulincourt is arrived at St Petersburgh, had his first audience of the Emperor on the 21st of January, and his reception was marked with unprecedented splendour, and corresponded in every point with the new order of things. He was attended to and from the Emperor's palace by all the state carriages, and escorted by the Emperor's body-guards. The sum of 37,000 rubles was paid for the hotel assigned for his residence, and at a grand review, an army of 35,000 men was drawn out

for his inspection. He rode on the Emperor's right hand.

Savary the late French Ambassador still continues at Petersburgh, and is extremely active in endeavouring to induce the Russian Government to adopt the same system of confiscation and plunder, with respect to English property, which Bonaparte has enforced in the minor States on the Continent. He has been distributing his bribes, under the nose of the degraded Alexander.Besides his largesses among the people in his public appearances, he has paid down L.10,000 for a four years lease of the House of Mr Irtel, master of the police at Petersburgh, As he is about to return to France, he can have no occasion for the house, in which Irtel is to remain, and the transaction is viewed in its proper light in the Russian capital. A private letter, states that the Court banker at Petersburgh had drawn on London for 60,000 rubles, at the low exchange of 134d.-it has been as high as 4s. 2d.

All accounts agree in stating that the Emperor's adoption of the French politics has disgusted the great body of the Nobles and all the wealthier mer, chants.

By an Ukase, issued the 3d of January, the importation of all foreign salt into the ports of the Baltic is permitted in Russian built ships, and for Russian account, on a moiety of the duties formerly levied.

Letters from Petersburgh, of the 29th January, state, that the members of the committee appointed to liquidate the claims between the English and Russian subjects, had not been, up to that date, summoned to the College of Commerce; and until that measure was adopted, it was impossible for any proceedings to be instituted. Passports to British subjects continue to be refused, and the Emperor had strictly ordered that no British shall be admitted in the Russian merchants' guild, so long as the war lasts, and those who have caused their names to be inscribed, are to be struck off the list.

The names, however, of the greater part of the English merchants have appeared in the Court Gazette, according to the custom of advertising, before they leave the country.

PRUS

PRUSSIA.

His Prussian Majesty has, as was to be expected, been compelled to publish a declaration against England. It bears date Memel, Dec. 1st, and is to the following effect :

"The King being obliged by the treaty of Tilsit to shut his ports against England, has taken, progressively, the appropriate measures to fulfil his engagements. He confesses the injury which the exclusion of British commerce from his ports must occasion to his already distressed subjects, but his hope that peace may be restored thro' the mediation of Russia having failed, and all communication between that power and England being broken off, his Majesty has

no other rules of conduct than his duties founded upon the interests of his states, and the obligations contracted by a solemn treaty. He has therefore ordered his Legation to quit London, and puts an end to all relations and connexions with England, till a definitive peace has been concluded between her and France."

Knowing the influence under which this unfortunate Sovereign acts, and which he cannot resist, every man will feel more in pity than in anger at any step he may take. He makes no complaint, he brings not the slightest accusation against this country; he adopts the measures dictated by Russia and France, but he clearly shows that "his poverty, but not his will, consents." Their Prussian Majesties have returned from Memel to Konigsberg.

His Prussian Majesty lives at Konigsberg, in a state of comparative obscurity, and is not expected to proceed to Berlin, for some time at least. He has been obliged to prohibit the importation of salt from England, and a total want of that article is apprehended.

Private letters give the following account of the deplorable situation to which Prussia and her fallen Sovereign

are reduced :

"Bonaparte demands the five fortresses of Stettin, Custrin, Glogau, Colberg, and Graudentz-the maintenance of their garrisons, which are to consist of 40,000 French troops-annual payments of five millions of dollars, till the whole contribution of the country is made up-and land to the amount of 50 millions of dollars, to be divided a mong his officers; so that the amount of the revenue that will be left the poor King will be about 24 millions of dollars, and in that situation it is utterly impossible for the country long to

exist. The unfortunate Frederick William, according to other letters, although invested with the title of royalty, and nominally possessing considerable territories, is unable, from the continued exactions of his insatiate conqueror, to keep up the appearance of regal state, and has scarcely the means of supporting the rank of a private gentleman.His guards are dismissed, his attendants reduced, and his table never consists of more than two courses! Such is the situation of the man who, at the end of 1805, held in his hand the fate of Continental Europe! He is unworthily abandoned by Russia, for whose sake he rejected the favourable terms offered him after the battle of Eylau. From Napoleon he has just what he deserves -scorn and contempt.

The independence granted to the unfortunate city of Dantzick is a mockery of the most insulting kind. It is ground down to the most abject state of misery by the oppressions and exactions of the French, of whom there are no less than 15,000 quartered upon it. While these are rioting in excess, the wretched inhabitants are expos ed to all the horrors of impending famine. A loaf of rye bread, not exceeding 5lb. which, before the irruption of the French, might have been bought for sixpence, is now sold at the enormous price of four shillings! As to fresh provisious, they were beyond the reach of the most opulent of the inhabitants. Every article of that kind was appropriated to the use of the French army.

The situation of Memel is described as still more deplorable;-the scarcity is such as almost to amount to a famine, mitigated in its severity only by the desertion of a vast number of the inhabitants. The King is benevolently active in using the small means which he has been permitted to retain, to alleviate the distresses of the peoverely felt :-a pound of veal costs 12 grople. At Konigsberg also the scarcity is seshen; a load of wood 20 to 30 rix dollars.

In the night between the 1st and 2d of February, a fire broke out in the tanneries of the old town of Dantzic, which raged with such fury, that, notwithstanding all the assistance that could be given, it continued burning for twenty four hours. In the afternoon of the 2d, another conflagration, which threatened to be still more dangerous than the former, broke out in a large magazine, which had been made into a barrack, but the effectual exertions that were made to extinguish it, especially by the French troops, soon stopped the progress of the flames. The city presents a scene of desolation; more than 100 buildings are reduced

duced to ashes; the steeple of the church of the Holy Ghost has fallen down, and many persons have been maimed, and even lost their lives, on this disastrous occasion.

SWEDEN.

Hostilities have actually commenced between Sweden and Russia, The Rus. sian troops entered Swedish Finland, near Abersfors, about the end of Feb. ruary, and advanced within half a mile of Sweaborg, which is represented as the only place in the country capable of making a formidable resistance. The Russian force is commanded by Gen. Buxhovden, and is stated at nearly 40,000 men. The Swedish force in Finland was only 20,000; but every possible exertion was made on the part of Sweden to resist them. The Russian Ambassador at Stockholm, and the Russian Consul at Gottenburg, were arrested, and confined prisoners in their respective houses.

The King of Sweden's ultimatum has been communicated to the Emperor of Russia, and is understood to be to the following purport :

"His Majesty the King of Sweden had long and clearly manifested to all the world, and more especially to his Imperial Majesty, that he was a tranquil and peaceable neighbour; that he still desired to remain so, and, if permitted, would guarantee the free navigation of the Baltic. Above all, he would engage that it should not be infested with British cruisers and priva. teers; but, on the other hand, should he be compelled to draw the sword in defence of his honour, his principles, and his country, he would vindicate them to the last extremity: But if the result should prove unfavourable, and by the chances of war he should be bereft of Finland, he would think himself completely justified in indemnifying himself by the immediate occupation of Norway. Farther, he states, that the Emperor might expect to have all his ports either laid waste, or rigorously blockaded by a combined English and Swedish force."

A courier had arrived at Stockholm from St Petersburgh, with the Russian declaration to the Swedish Government. The Emperor commences with expres

sing his friendship and regard for his Swedish Majesty's person and goverment, and then declares, “That having contracted engagements which urgently call upon him to contribute all in his power towards accelerating a solid and lasting peace for the Continent of Europe, he feels himself under the necessity of taking provisional possession of Finland, until his Swedish Majesty shall think proper to adopt a new and wiser system of politics."

DENMARK.

The Crown Prince has arrived at Copenhagen, where vast preparations are making for the conquest of Sweden. Twenty thousand French troops are about to cross over to Zealand, and are to be united with a Danish army of 25,000 or 30,000 men. A part of Hanover is to be ceded to Denmark.

The Prince of Denmark has issued another order for the confiscation and payment into the royal treasury of all English property, or from the colonies or possessions of England. The loss which Denmark has sustained by the British expedition is estimated at no less than 67,880,000 rix dollars.

HOLLAND.

The Dutch papers of the 1st of March contain a decree of the Dutch Legisla ture, ordaining, that as the state of Kniphausen, and the Lordships of Jevers and Varel, are become a part of, and united to the kingdom of Holland, (forming part of the department of Groningen,) the flag of Kniphausen is to be abolished, and the vessels are in future to sail under the colours of Holland. There are to be no neutral flags, excep ting,those of America and Bremen. The Queen of Holland is six months advanced in her pregnancy. Prayers have been offered up in all the churches and chapels for her health, calling on the Deity to realise the prospect they enjoy of seeing an heir to the Crown of Holland.

King Louis is in future to reside at Amsterdam, which, at the date of the last accounts, he was about to visit, and where magnificent preparations were

making for his reception. Of the rigour with which he continues to enforce his brother's decrees, the following may serve as a tolerable specimen :"The Skylark schooner, Lieutenant Banks, was sent by Admiral Russel, as a flag of truce to the Texel, to inquire into the particulars of the loss of the Flora frigate. Lieut. Banks was the bearer of a private letter from Captain Paget of the Goliah, commanding the blockade of the Texel, to Capt. Bland of the Flora; but the Dutch officer who came out to meet the schooner would not allow her to proceed; nor would he receive the letter which was open, and contained only intelligence relative to Captain B's family. He said his orders were to permit no sort of communication, whether public or pri. vate, with any vessel coming from England. Lieutenant Banks was therefore under the necessity of returning with only this information-"That the Flora had been wrecked on the coast of Holland, and that every person on board had been saved." The rejection of an opeu letter, under the circumstances in which this was offered, and the refusal of that particular information respecting the crew of the Flora, which the relatives of persons in such an unfortunate situa. tion must always be anxious to obtain, are acts of inhumanity, which until the period of Bonaparte's anti-social decrees never disgraced any civilized nation."

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The French squadron which escaped from Rochefort on the 17th of January, (as mentioned in our last, p. 147.) has found its way into the Mediterranean. Sir Richard Strachan had received at sea some information of its course, and immediately stood for Gibraltar, where he arrived on the 10th of February, and where he learnt that the enemy had passed the Straits on the 29th of Jan. twelve days before. Sir Richard took in some water at Gibraltar, and sailed straight for Sicily to join Lord Collingwood.

The French papers assert, that the Rochefort squadron had actually got safe into Toulon, having been previous ly joined by a Spanish division from Carthagena, and that they all sailed

again in conjunction with the Toulon squadron, on the 7th and 8th of Feb. and steered a S. E. course. Their object is represented to be to attack Sicily, or Lord Collingwood's fleet, before he receives reinforcements. The com bined French and Spanish force is stated at 24 sail of the line, and 8 frigates.

But later intelligence gives us room to doubt the accuracy of the French statement. The Auckland packet is arrived at Portsmouth, with mails from Malta, Sicily, and Gibraltar; the latter she left on the 1st of March, and reports that the Hydra frigate had arrived at Gibraltar the day before, with the intelligence, that while cruizing off Cape de Gatt, near Carthagena, about the 10th, she descried an enemy's fleet, consisting of nine men of war, steering eastward, but with a very strong gale of wind a-head; that she dodged them till the 26th, when the enemy was forced to take shelter in Palmas Bay, in the island of Majorca, where the Hydra left them, and run straight to Gibraltar with the intelligence.

Admitting, however, the force of the enemy, when combined, to be what is stated, no apprehensions need be entertained of the inferiority of Lord Collingwood's fleet. His Lordship was off Syracuse in the beginning of February, with six ships of the line; Admiral Thornborough lay off Palermo with the same force; and Sir Richard Strachan, with his squadron of seven ships of the line, had a chance of reaching Sicily as soon as the enemy. This united force, (among which is seven three deckers,) would enable his Lordship to give a very good account of the enemy, should he make his appearance.

Saturday morning, Feb. 13. Lieut.Gen. Sir George Prevost, Bart. Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, with his suite, embarked on board the Penelope frigate, Capt. Dick, and sailed for Halifax. The 7th, 8th, 13th, and 22d regimeats, sailed with Sir George in 20 transports. The Undaunted frigate, Capt. Maling, escorts them as far as Madeira.

Another expedition under Gen. Spencer sailed from Falmouth on Sunday, March 6. under convoy of the Antelope. It consists of between 12,000 and 14,000 men. The fleet, consisting, besides the ships of war, ef about 60

trans

transports, were all clear of the harbour without any accident by 12 o'clock, and proceeded on their voyage with a fine breeze at N. E. The object of this expedition is still unknown.

The Subtile schooner was totally lost on the rocks of Bermuda, in the night of the 26th of October-officers and crew saved.

The Sparkler gun-brig, of 14 guns, Lieutenant Dennis, was also lost on the coast of Holland, on the 15th Jan.The following is a list of the men drowned on this unfortunate occasion. Richard Riley, midshipman; John Davies, boatswain's mate; William Eagers. field, clerk and steward; William Clarke, John Long, Edward Crawford, Timothy Denovan, and Andrew Hofregan, seamen; John Whiteheaves and James Brown, ordinary; Henry Shaw and John Malcolm, boys; Edward De Cruze and John Roberts, marines.Total 14.

The Flora frigate, Captain Bland, was lost upon Schelling Reef, on the coast of Holland, in the night of the 18th of January. The Captain, most of the officers, and 130 of the crew, got ashore on the island of Ameland, where they were made prisoners. The remainder refused to leave the wreck, but, after remaining four days and nights on board, they also got ashore on rafts, and are prisoners at Harlingen.-(See Holland.)

On the 30th of Jan. the Leda frigate of 40 guns, Capt. Robert Honyman, encountered a most violent storm in the Irish channel, which obliged her to run for Milford haven; when unfortunately missing her stays in the night time, she ran ashore, and in spite of the exertions of the officers and crew, was totally wrecked. All the officers and men were saved by boats from the shore. The captain and officers have been tried by a court-martial, and honourably acquitted.

On Friday morning March 18. arrived in Leith Roads the Childers sloop of war, Captain Innes, from a cruize, having sent into Leith harbour a Danish dogger, partly laden with fish, which they cut out of one of the creeks on the coast of Norway. After the Childers had captured this vessel, she fell in with a large privateer vessel, of very supe-, rior force and weight of metal, with which she maintained a conflict, for

some time, when the privateer made off. The Childers had three men killed, and several wounded, amongst whom is the Captain, who was severely wounded by a splinter in his thigh.

The brig, Rambler of Leith, James Norris jun. master, cleared out at Thurso in September last for Pictou, with emigrants. They left Stromness the 1st of October, and on the 29th of the same month were totally wrecked near the Bay of Bulls in Newfoundland. When the ship left Thurso, she had on board 130 passengers; the crew consisted of 14 seamen, besides the Captain and surgeon. Of these the only survivors are three passengers, the second mate, and four seamen; so that, melancholy to relate, 138 persons have perished on this unfortunate voyage. Captain Norris was a very promising young man, only 21 years of age, and his untimely fate is greatly lamented. The Rambler was a large fine brig, of 4c0 tons, and of considerable value; she was the property of Capt. Norris sen. of Leith..

The following singular facts respecting the passengers in the Rambler, we have received upon the best authority.

Amongst those ill-fated people who had taken their passage for America in the Rambler at Thurso, was a man, his wife and several children, natives of Caithness. He had previously sold off his cattle and every thing he had on his little farm, and realized thereby from 600l. to 7ool. This sum, by reason of some restrictive regulation regarding emigrants, it would seem, he was induced to divide, and privately intrust to the care of three or four of his fellow passengers, in order the more securely to take it away with him to America.— It happened, while they were all on board, and lying at anchor in the harbour of Thurso, waiting for a fair wind, this man took it into his head to change his mind, and resolved upon relinquishing his plan of quitting his native country. With this view he hastened on shore to settle some matters, and prepare for bringing his family and baggage back from the ship; but, before he could return to her, a fair wind sprung up, and he, in the greatest agony, beheld the vessel under sail, and proceeding on her voyage with all that he had in the world, and held most dear, on board of her. It is, perhaps, need

less