since the art of printing was discovered. I gistracy; no dominant church; no feudal The pencil has been brought into the aid tenures; no privileged orders; one Code of the pen, in order that those who could civil and criminal, to which all men are neither read nor hear, might imbibe alike subject; no borough elections. In against him hatred through their eyes. short, France has a republican governAnd, as if the exertions of the French ment with a Chief called an Emperor. partizans of the Bourbons were insufficient And, though that government is not yet, in that country, it has been inundated and never may be, precisely what it might with Englishmen and English women, be wished, it is likely to come as near to who looked upon it as a duty to their na- the standard of liberty as the character tive land to aid in the promulgation of and genius of the French people, and these calumnies. Yet, such had been the state of Society in France will his conduct towards the people of France, permit. This is, at least, my hope; and, that he had only to present himself if I am not disappointed, is there any one to their eyes to blow all these calumnies who will say, that the late event is not to to the winds. To give to him and to be hailed with joy? However stiff the TRUTH this triumph, there were want-republicans of France must be; however ed his exile and his return. Had these not taken place, the deep impressions of falsehood would never have been removed. Until now, it has been deemed, in England, almost a crime to express a doubt of his having been a monster of tyranny, held in the utmost abhorrence by the people of France. Did TRUTH ever before gain such a triumph! angry that their own plans of government are not adopted, they must be convinced, that, if the Bourbons had remained, their hopes would have been blasted for ever; and that, therefore, as long as the question lies between the Bourbons and Napoleon, it is their duty, upon their own principles, to be for the latter. It must give any friend of Freedom great satisfaction to see, that, in all the proclamations and decrees of Napoleon, and even in the address of the Imperial Guard, signed by M. DROUET, the great principle is always put forward, of the right of the people to choose their ruler, a principle to which if they adhere, the French will be a happy and free, as well as a great nation. These events will soften, if not wholly do away, the enmity of only fair enemies, the Republicans of France. For it cannot now be pretended, that he does not reign by virtue of the peoples' consent and choice, signified in the freest and most unequivocal manner. The light, in which he now stands, is very different indeed from that in which he stood be- This event, so honourable to Napoleon, fore. He was chosen Emperor; but the is little less honourable to the people of choice was made; it was said, by persons France. They had all possible temptaappointed by himself: that he had all tions held out to them to oppose him, to the power and all the treasure of the take him, to kill him. Not a man; not a country in his hands at the time; and, in single man was found to yield to any of short, that his election was like some other these powerful temptations. Threats elections, the character of which are too were dealt out largely on the other hand. tender to be touched by a pen so rude as They were continually reminded of the mine. This was what was said before; great foreign armies ready to invade and this cannot be said now: for, if he France: they were told that the Prussian be not now fairly chosen by the people of army was advancing upon Thionville: France, never was man fairly chosen in that the Austrians were already at Turin: this world. In his proclamations he rests that 600,000 Russians, with the Cossacks his authority upon the will, the choice of at their head, were on their march; and, the people; he says he owes, and will lastly, that 70,000 English, with the Duke .owe, that authority and his rank to them of Wellington for commander, were on and to them only. The Republicans, their way from Belgium. The people of therefore, cannot now have the same ob- France seem to have heard of the apjections to him which they had before.proach of all these armies with as little Besides, as I have more than once observed, his government, though the Chief be an Emperor, is essentially Republican. No titles but such as are the reward of services and talents; no hereditary ma concern as if they had been told of the approach of so many mice. They seem to have said: "Give us, only give us Napoleon, and let the world come in arms against us." And is it for us, Lord, to think of dictating a government they imprisoned and fined many of the to such a people? There is another characteristic in this great event, which is worthy of particular remark that is the absence of all bloodshed and violence. The Bourbons were not only suffered to depart without harm, but, they appear to have experienced not any obstruction, or even insult, on their journey. It is no more than just to suppose, that their conduct has been such as to excite no very great degree of hatred against them but, however good their conduct might have been, we know, that under such circumstances, the persons of the falling party have seldom escaped with their lives. This example of forgiveness seems, however, to have been given by Napoleon himself, who, in his proclamations, disclaims all vengeance, and generously repays with a general pardon and oblivion all the calumnies against him, and even the instigation to murder by setting a price upon his head. It will give me great pleasure to find, that the family of Bourbon have experienced no ill-treatment of any sort; because, in that case, the conduct of the French people, upon this memorable occasion, will form so striking a contrast with that of our Cossack writers, who, from the hour of Napoleon's exile to that of his return, hardly let one day pass without inculcating the necessity of destroying him. Their hypocrisy could never make them disguise their malice. It was their object to make the world believe, that he was so much hated in France and the Bourbons so much beloved, that there was not the smallest danger of his being able to give the latter any trouble. It was their object to make the world believe, that he was sunk into complete contempt. Yet, in spite of their hypocrisy, their malice broke out into continual insinuations, that his life was an evil. What a contrast do the conduct of Napoleon and that of the French people form with the conduct of these writers! : printers and public writers. They promised that in matters of religion all men should be free to follow their own opinions, as they had been before and, they punished men for promulgating religious opinions contrary to those professed by the priests. One man, in particular, was imprisoned for five years for uttering what was termed blasphemous language, and that, too, in a country where the King was daily creating men Knights of the Holy Ghost! It is from our own newspapers: from the mouths of the friends of the Bourbons, that we have this account of their conduct: and, when I heard of the landing of Napoleon, the first thought that came athwart my mind was, that now those men who had been imprisoned for LIBELS would be restored to freedom, an object worth, of itself, a little revolution. The truth is, that, from the moment the Bourbons landed in France, our Cossacks were engaged in instigating them to acts of oppression. They pointed out to them victim after victim: they dictated to them whom they should punish and whom they should reward. The Bourbons were beset with these English dictators, whose will they appear to have but too faithfully obeyed. But, the better, the less offensive, the conduct of the Bourbons was, the greater is the triumph of Napoleon: for, it is now certain, that however good they might be, the French nation had found him to be better. Much has been said, in our daily vehicles of falsehood, of the ill-treatment, which the English people in France have experienced. If this be true, as I hope it is not, it has, without doubt, been owing to their restless tongues: to that incessant abuse of Napoleon, which they learnt at home, and which they must have been impatient to perceive was not in fashion in France. In general they would naturally be of that description of persons, who went to enjoy the spectacle The conduct of the Bourbons was not of seeing the French natlon again subwhat they promised. They promised, that jected to the sway of the Bourbons: to they would leave property as they found indulge in the vindictive joy of seeing the it: and, they immediately set to work to conquerors of Europe subjected to the re store part of the National Property to sway of those who had been protected the Emigrants, who had been abroad, if by England. It is very probable, that, not serving against France, for 25 years. amongst all the feelings which have opeThey promised that there should be liber-rated in favour of Napoleon's return, ty of the press; and, they immediately those excited by English arrogance have put that press under a censorship, while not been the most feeble and ineffective. And, my Lord, I think we may be well assured, that, if there were still wanting any thing to endear him to the people of France, that thing would be an attempt, on our part, to drive him again from his throne. It was said, during the war against the French Republic, that we did not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of France: but, that, our own safety required us to war against those whose principles, if we were at peace with them, would subvert our excellent constitution in Church and State. It is curious to observe how the same sort of doctrine is cooked up again, or as the French would call it, rechauffé, for the present occasion. We do not want, not we, now to interfere in imposing a Government upon the French; they might have Napoleon to scourge them for their sins, and we should be glad of it; but, we must iake care of ourselves: and, as he is a dangerous man to us, we ought to march into France ourselves, and call out all our Russian and German allies to go along with us, to compel the French people to take back the Bourbons, who are a good and peaceable sort of people. In other words, we do not pretend to have a right to dictate a Government to the people of France; but, unless they take the Government that we choose for them, we have a right to go to war with them. With persons, who have the folly, or the impudence, or both, to hold such a doctrine it would be useless to attempt to remonstrate; but, your Lordship will, doubtless, look back a little at what the late wars have cost us. We did, indeed, place the Bourbons on the throne of France, at the end of 21 years of war; but, in what a condition has the enterprize left us? Are we prepared to add another 700 millions to our National Debt? Are we prepared to continue the Property Tax? Are we prepared for 21 years more of sacrifices? that, if there wanted any thing to unite the people of France; to give them a degree of alacrity and of courage greater than ever were witnessed in any other people, it would be a repetition of the attempts of 1792 and 1793? I know, that it is said, that the Powers of Europe are better prepared, than they were in 1793; that their armies are all on foot; and that they have not forgotten that they have very recently marched to Paris. Granted that they be ready, and that we be ready with the ne cessary subsidies. But, let it be borne in mind, that Napoleon has 2, if not 300,000 veteran troops in France more than he had last year; that the treaty, which his presence of mind, his deep diplomacy, pointed out to him, has restored to him such an army as the world never before saw; that he has obtained by that treaty more means than he, at any one time, ever before posses sed; and that, along with these immense means, he has in the eyes of all the world, but especially in those of France, acquired a reputation and has obtained claims to greater confidence than at any former period of his wonderful career. His restoration, and more particularly the manner of it, clearly shews to every one, that he can place implicit reliance on his people. He needs no garrisons in the interior; scarcely a guard at Paris; all the mighty means of France he may safely draw towards the frontiers, and there pour them forth upon the first assailant. Very different indeed, then, is the situation of France from what it was in March and April 1814. In short, the conquerors of Amsterdam, Berlin, Hanover, Vienna, Rome, Madrid and Moscow are all again, and that, too, under the same chief, ready to repeat their march; and let the blame fall on those, who shall give them any fair pretence for the repetition. For my part, I am for giving them no pretence There is something truly ominous in at ali, and, therefore, I am against all the similarity of the state of things now attempt at interference, even in words, to that of things in 1792. The French in the internal affairs of France. I am Princes were then hovering on the Nor- for none of the half hostile measures of thern frontier of France; they were then 1792; I am for cordially receiving his hoisting the white flag at Coblentz; and ambassador, if he send any, land, in short, we are told, that they are now to hoist it for doing every thing consistent with our at Brussels. The Austrians and Prus-honour, calculated to prevent a renewal sians were then marching to their aid; and, we are told, that they are now to march to their aid. Is it not evident, of war. With regard to the other proposed object of war; namely, the securing of And, we must observe here, that Napoleon might have retained his throne, if he would have consented to do the same thing, He refused; the war was pushed on; he was overpowered and exiled: and Louis le Desiré gave up to us and our allies that Belgium, which had been won by France, during the time that he was absent from France. So that, it must be evident, to lose this part of their Empire must be very galling to the French. Belgium to the new king of the Nether- should determine. I know how some people will stare and But, you will say, and with very good reason; what is their soreness to us, if it be for our good to keep them out of Belgium? Now, my Lord, I do not say, that it is not desirable to us, that the French should be kept out of Belgium; but, I am convinced, that it would be much better for us that Belgium should return under the sway of France, than that it should belong to a power, which, without our aid, without our constant assistance, never can keep it for any length of time. When Belgium belonged to the House of Austria, then, indeed, there was a power with half a million of soldiers at its command to defend Belgium. This power was unable to defend it; and, if such a power could not keep it out of the hands of France; if Austria was glad to get rid of the burthen of its defence, how is it to be defended by the King of the United Netherlands," who took the Royal title on him only on the 16th in. stant, and who has been made a King in that Holland, which was before so proud of its Republican institution and liberties. Belgium, we are told, is a barrier against France. A barrier to protect whom, and what? For an answer to this question, I will refer to your memorable Speech, made on the very day on which the Enperor Napoleon entered Paris. Your reporter makes you say, in that speech;"With respect to Holland, it was evident"that nothing could be of greater im "portance to this country, than that France "should not have a continuity of sea-coast By Belgium I mean all that country, which, it seems, has, by the Congress, been taken from France and given to the new King. It is not all properly so called: but, one name is better than three or four, if it answers all our purposes as well. This Belgium, before the French Revolution, belonged to the House of Austria. It was conquered from that House by the brave and insulted Republicans of France, who also conquered other countries, not belonging to the House of Austria. By and by, peace was made between these powers. Austria confirmed Belgium to France by treaty, and received from France other of her conquests in return. This was nearly twenty years ago. Belgium has belonged to France from that time to the month of May last, when the King of France, by the Treaty of Paris, concluded while the Russian and German Armies were there," gave it up to be disposed of as the Congress extending along the whole of the Nether"lands. He had the satisfaction to say, "that the Allied Powers on the Continent were not more convinced of the impor"tance of this point to us, than tothem"selves; and therefore all were agreed "that the union of the Netherlands with "Holland was one of the most important improvements of the face of Europe in "modern times. Neither was it consider 66 66 66 46 "that no interest was felt so strongly in "this country, as the conservation of the "general liberties of Europe." Such, then, is to be the use of Belgium ! Belgium is to cover the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is to cover the Kingdom of Hanover," which should be very dear "to us!" I will pass over your episode on the Hanoverian Legion and on the character of the Prince of Grange, as matters too high for my pen; but, really, I cannot refrain from saying, that this scheme, this darling scheme, which you seem to think so advantageous to England, and the account of which seems to have given so much pleasure to your Honourable Hearers; seems to have wrapt them in wonder at your surprising skill, penetration, and grandeur of views; Í cannot refrain from saying, that this scheme appears to me to be one of the weakest that ever entered the head of mortal man; and, which is a great deal worse, fraught with endless calamities to England, because it must be a source of continual war and expence. You say, that this new Kingdom (which by the bye, has not yet actually been organized) will be able to resist any us"sault," at least" till other powers ean "ed by them as a concession to Great Britain, or to the Prince of Orange in particular, but was most cordially listened "to as a means of strenghtening the equi"librium of Europe. A kingdom would "thus be formed powerful in all the resources of soil, commerce,navigation, and mi"litary strength; and he had the satisfac"tion of stating that no Sovereign ever "resumed the exercise of bis functions "who displayed more industry and talent "in calling forth all the resources of Holland, and uniting into one, its various "parties, than the Prince of Orange had "done. He hoped that this kingdom "would be sufficiently strong, both from “nature and art, and in future to be able "to resist any assault either from the "north or the west, at least until other powers came forward to its support. "He trusted it would not be supposed "that any undue concessions had been made, with the view of obtaining an increase of territory to Hanover. On this point there had alwaysbeen some degree "of jealousy in this country; but he was "rather inclined to think that Hanover "had generally speaking suffered more "than she gained from the connection. Its people had recently proved themselves faithful supporters of Great Britain; and "he would say, that there had not been a more efficient, more faithful, and honest body of men in our service than the "Hanoverian Legion; they amounted to not less than 12,000 men, to which num"ber they had always been kept up by voluntary enrolment, and it was not too "much to say, that the absence of such a corps might have had a most injurious "effect on our military exertions. The "preservation of the importance of Hanover, as a constituent state of Germany, "should, therefore, be dear to us, as well "in this point of view, as from its con"nexion with our reigning family. The "increase of territory she had received, tended to consolidate her connexion with "this country, by the extent of sea coast which it gave her: while liable to be intercepted from this country, her effi-it is my opinion, that we ought to suffer ciency was less considerable. From the "moment she was also in close contact with Holland for an extent of 150 miles, "this naturally contributed to strengthening, that they should possess all those and protect her. Neither was this a connection of which our continental allies were at all disposed to feel jealousy. They were thoroughly convinced 66 66 66 66 66 66 86 66 come to its support." So this King, like a Watchman, is, when danger approaches, to spring his ratile, and call others in to his assistance! My good Lord! pray keep yourself cool; but, really, such a scheme! such a scheme was never before thought of in this world. I will not enquire, whether the Belgians, the Dutch, and the Hanoverians would be better off under these arrangements, than if they were under the French; and, I will, for argument's sake, allow, that if Belgium be yielded to the French, the Kingdoms of the Netherlands and of Hanover will soon be blown into very thin air. But, what I contend for is, that, to keep Belgium from France England must constantly keep on foot a great army in the country; rather than which, the French to regain, not only those countries, but all the countries which they possessed in 1813. I am far from wish countries; but it would be preferable to our being involved in continual war, In truth, my Lord, military achievemeats have turned our heads. We have |
