I, therefore, Brothers, at his request, and in his name, present this book to the Five Nations, as a token of his regard for you and your rising generation, by which many valuable lives may be preserved from that most dreadful pestilence, the small-pox. (Signed) W. CLAUS, D.S.G.I.A. Speech of the Five Nations, assembled in Council at Fort George, in Upper Canada, to Dr. Jenner, London, on the 8th of November, 1807. Brother! Our Father has delivered to us the book you sent to instruct us how to use the discovery which the Great Spirit made to you, whereby the small-pox, that fatal enemy of our tribes, may be driven from the earth. We have deposited your book in the hands of the man of skill whom our great Father employs to attend us when sick or wounded. We shall not fail to teach our children to speak the name of Jenner; and to thank the Great Spirit for bestowing upon him so much wisdom and so much benevolence. We send with this a belt and string of Wampum, in token of our acceptance of your precious gift; and we beseech the Great Spirit to take care of you in this world and in the land of spirits. Signed by two representatives of each of the Five Nations, 109. A SPIRITED STATE PAPER (1805). England's share in the general European contest which arose from the French Revolution was not of Pitt's seeking. Months after Louis XVI. fell1 and the Republic was established 2 he favoured a neutral policy. Eventually the regicide, the wishes of George III., and popular excitement forced his hand, but the declaration of war in 1793 was against his judgment and his preferences. He saw in the light of a calamity what his father would have welcomed as a splendid opportunity. This was at the outset. When committed to the fight he showed great vigour, and endured bravely the reverses which English arms suffered by land. After the Peace of Amiens admirers called him "the pilot that weather'd the storm," and on the renewal of hostilities no one could question that his rightful place was at the head of English affairs. Mack's surrender to Napoleon 2 21st Sept., 1792. 1 10th August, 1792. (Ulm, Oct. 17, 1805) preceded Trafalgar by four days, and dealt Pitt a blow from which, even after receiving word of Nelson's final victory, he never recovered. Still it did not destroy his courage. The following anonymous despatch, though it proceeded technically from Lord Mulgrave and the Foreign Office, bears every sign of the Prime Minister's own hand. None of his subordinates commanded such eloquence, and, with public business in a critical state, he may well have taken upon himself the draft of instructions to Sir Arthur Paget, British Minister at Vienna. SOURCE.-Despatch to Sir Arthur Paget.1 William Pitt (1759-1806), for Lord Mulgrave. Although no Official Dispatches have yet been received, nor any more authentic accounts than can be collected from the French Official Publications in the Moniteur, sufficient information has arrived through that channel to remove all doubt of the Surrender of the Fortress of Ulm, and of a Capitulation having been signed by General Mack by which that officer, with the whole force under his immediate command, are become Prisoners of War. Various other Accounts of Disaster and Discomfiture have been published under the same authority. It is most probable that much exaggeration has been used in the Accounts given of the nature and extent of the events which have taken place, and that the true and accurate statements which may be daily expected to arrive from Vienna will give a more favourable aspect to the general result of the operations which have marked the Commencement of the War on the Continent. I have, however, received the King's Commands to communicate to you without delay, the Sentiments entertained by His Majesty with respect to the favourable prospects which still remain of an early change of circumstances, even if the successes of the enemy should prove to have been carried to the full extent of their own statements. His Majesty places the fullest reliance on the Energy and 1 This despatch is taken from the Austrian Papers belonging to the Foreign Office, but preserved in the Record Office. It is printed from the original MS. Fortitude of His Imperial Majesty, and looks with Confidence to the great exertions which the Powerful Resources of the hardy and warlike Population of the Austrian Dominions may immediately afford, in conjunction with the Armies of Russia. These to the amount of an Hundred and Forty Thousand Men (exclusive of the Force at Stralsund) were from the Beginning destined for active operations in Germany. The first Army, consisting of above Fifty Thousand Men, is stated to have already joined the Austrian Forces on the Inn, and the remainder may, at no distant period, be expected to arrive at the scene of Action. In addition to this powerful Force His Majesty trusts that the favourable Disposition of the Court of Berlin may enable the Emperor of Russia to move forward another Body of Forty Thousand Men, which it had been originally intended to leave as an Army of Observation on the Frontier of Lithuania. This Corps may possibly, under the present circumstances, be moved forward to the immediate Aid of Austria, especially as the Emperor of Russia will probably find no difficulty in replacing it very speedily by an equal force from Russia. His Majesty on His part sees with the most lively Interest the Fortitude with which the Court of Vienna has encountered the first impetuous Exertions of the Enemy, and His Majesty will leave no means untried, which the period of the Season and the nature of Maritime Operations will permit, to create a diversion favourable to the Allies. Nothing but the Prevalence of contrary winds has retarded the sailing of 12,000 British and Hanoverian Troops, which have been for some time embarked in the Downs, for the purpose of landing in the Elbe, and co-operating with the Russian and Swedish Forces, and any others which may be collected in that Quarter. A large additional British Force is also prepared, and in the greatest forwardness, which will be ready to be used to the best advantage according to the Intelligence which is daily expected from the Continent, of the views and Motions of Prussia. The King has already sent Lord Harrowby, one of His Cabinet Ministers,1 to negotiate the Alliance of the Court of Berlin, and to urge the early activity of the Prussian Armies. There seems at present every reason to hope that this Mission will be effectual, and should the King of Prussia be prevailed upon to act, Saxony and Hesse (and perhaps Denmark) 2 will 1 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 2" (and perhaps Denmark)" crossed out in the Draft. Great as have also probably accede to the Confederacy. already been the Pecuniary Efforts which His Majesty has made for the Common Cause, He is ready still to extend them to such a farther Amount as may enable those Powers to bring forward an active Force of from Two Hundred to Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Men; and his Majesty has no doubt of being enabled Himself to augment His own Active Force, to be employed, either in co-operation on the Continent, or in Offensive Maritime operations against France, by the next Season, to not less than Sixty Thousand Men. The Cordial union and United Exertions of the Great Powers of Europe1 cannot fail of ultimate success, and of the final establishment of a better order of Things, of General Tranquillity and of permanent Security in Europe. With so great and necessary an object in view, with such vast and extensive means in Reserve, His Majesty is persuaded that the antient Spirit of Austria would still remain unshaken and undismayed, though the Common Enemy of Europe should for a moment effect his declared purpose, and establish his Standard on the Walls of Vienna. Should he, contrary to expectations possess himself of the Capital of the Austrian Empire, he would there have to encounter the concentrated Energy of a great and loyal Nation, and the United Efforts of powerful Allies, all deeply interested in the Destruction of his Power, which he would also be less capable of maintaining in proportion as success shall have carried him to a distance from the source whence that Power must derive its Augmentation and Support. These are considerations too obvious to have escaped the Wisdom of the Court of Vienna, and they have doubtless already produced the determination which will naturally result from them. The principal object of this Dispatch is to authorise you to express in the strongest Terms, the lively Interest which His Majesty takes in the Security and Success of Austria, and His determination to second the Efforts of that Power in every way that may most effectually conduce to their early and entire success. 110. THE BERLIN DECREE (1806). In 1805 Napoleon entered upon his first imperial campaign, not having commanded in any action since the battle of Marengo. (1800). Against him were allied England, Austria and Russia. 1" of Europe" crossed out in Draft. T Prussia made the fatal mistake of remaining neutral instead of striking at a moment when her assistance would have been worth something. Between the declaration of hostilities and the issue of the Berlin Decree, the military landmarks are Trafalgar, Austerlitz and Jena. The two latter battles left Napoleon as supreme in Central Europe as England was on the seas after Trafalgar. Jena was fought October 14th, 1806, and Napoleon entered Berlin thirteen days later. There he drafted the edict which he hoped would ensure the ruin of England's commerce and cause her speedy overthrow. It proved a twoedged sword, and in the end did him grievous damage. Quite apart from England's retaliation through the Orders in Council, continental trade was damaged to such an extent that hatred of this measure became a distinct factor in the final uprising of Europe against French ascendency. SOURCE. The Berlin Decree. Napoleon (1769-1821). Text trans. by J. H. Robinson. Philadelphia, 1897. (The Univ. Translations and Reprints. Vol. ii., No. 2.) The Berlin Decree. From our Imperial Camp at Berlin, November 21, 1806. Napoleon, Emperor of the French and King of Italy, in consideration of the fact: 1. That England does not recognise the system of international law universally observed by all civilised nations. 2. That she regards as an enemy every individual belonging to the enemy's state, and consequently makes prisoners of war not only of the crews of armed ships of war but of the crews of ships of commerce and merchantmen and even of commercial agents and of merchants travelling on business. 3. That she extends to the vessels and commercial wares and to the property of individuals the right of conquest, which is applicable only to the possessions of the belligerent power. 4. That she extends to unfortified towns and commercial ports, to harbours and the mouths of rivers, the right of blockade, which, in accordance with reason and the customs of all civilised nations, is applicable only to strong places. That she declares places in a state of blockade before which she has not even a single ship of war, although a place may not be blockaded except it be so completely guarded that no attempt to |