fhips of the Hamburghers in his ports. The French government, incenfed at the furrender, ordered a fimilar embargo, and denounced against the petty state farther vengeance. The burgomafters fent to Buonaparte, about the middle of December, a fubmiffive and cringing letter of apology, excufe, and congratulation. They had fubmitted the matter, they faid, to the decifion of the king of Pruffia, in capacity of chief director of the circle of Lower Saxony, and as a guarantee of the neutrality of the North of Ger

many.

His majefty perfifted in leaving it undecided. Their ruin, and utter annihilation, they faid, would have been the inevitable confequence, had they attempted a vain refiftance. The only means left for efcaping this deftruction, was, to confide in the generofity of the French nation. They prefumed to hope that the chief conful, having maturely weighed the merits of their caufe, would not hesitate to fufpend the fevere meafures which the directory had adopted, and ordered to be enforced againft their town; and they concluded, with praying, that he would be pleafed to accept the homage of their profound refpect.

It is the fad lot of human kind, that, in large fates, the bulk of the people potiefs little or no fhare of political power; and that fmall ones do not enjoy political independence.

To the letter of the Hamburghers, fo like thofe of the fmall refractory ftates, reduced to obedience to the

Roman republic, Buonaparte gave the following anfwer, dated the thir tieth of December, 1799: "We have received your letter, gentlemen. It is no juftification of your conduct. It is by virtue and courage that ftates are preferved: cowardice and vice prove their ruin. You have violated the laws of hotpitality; fuch a violation would rot have taken place among the barbarian hordes of the desert. Your fellowcitizens will impute it to you as an eternal reproach.

"The two unfortunate men, whom you have given up, will die illuftrious; but their blood will be a fource of greater evils to their perfecutors than could be brought upon them by a whole army." But Buonaparte, himfelf, recognized the va lidity of the plea of weaknefs, urged by the burgomafter of Hamburgh, when he imperiously ordered the fenate to arreft the editors of the paper called the Cenfeur, printed at Hamburgh, and circulated through all the north of Germany. This paper made repeated and continual attacks on the French government, with the most unbounded freedom. One Burgoyne, citizen Burgoyne, as he called himfelf, on the twenty-firft of July, demanded, in the name of his government, the apprehenfion of the editors, Meffieurs Berlin and Melmot, who were arrested accordingly by the magiftrate prefiling over the police of the city, taken into cuftody, and feals put upon their papers.

CHAP.

DOTH houfes of the British par

ment, met on the 21st of January.* In the houfe of commons fome papers were laid on the table, and motions made and agreed to for the production of others. In the house of peers lord Grenville intimated that he would, the next day, bring down a mellage from his majefty, and at the fame time, by his majefty's command, lay certain important papers on their lordships' table, to be taken into confideration on a future day. On January 22d, his majefty's meffage was delivered accordingly. As the fupplies granted in the commencement of the prefent feffion had been calculated to provide only for the first months of the year, his majesty recommended it to the commons to make fuch farther provifion as they might judge neceflary under the prefent circumftances, for the feveral branches of the public fervice and for the vigorous profecution of the war. And on this occafion he had thought it proper to direct that there fhould be laid before the houfe copies of communications

recently received from the enemy,

returned thereto by his majesty's command.-Thefe communications and anfwers have been noticed in the laft chapter.-His majesty had no object more at heart than that of contributing, as foon as the fituation of affairs fhould render it practicable, to the re-eftablishment of the general tranquillity of Europe, on a fure and folid foundation. And he relied on the continued fupport of his parliament, in fuch measures as might beft tend to confirm the fignal advantages which had been obtained to the common cause, in the courfe of the laft campaign, and to conduct the great conteft in which his majefty was engaged to a fafe and honourable conclufion. After the papers mentioned in the king's meflage had been read, lord Grenville moved, that "his majesty's meffage be taken into confideration, on Tuefday next," which was agreed to. Lord Grenville then prefented a fecond mellage from his majefty, relating to the accommodation of the Ruffian auxiliary troops in his

majefty's

France, in her prefent fituation; every power with whom the republic had treated, whether for armiftice or peace; could furnish melancholy inftarces of the perfidy of France, and of the ambition, injuftice, and cruelty, of her rulers." This pofition lord Grenville illuftrated by a review of their conduct to the Swifs, the grond duke of Tufcany, the king of Sardinia, the pope, the king of Naples, Spain, Holland, Venice, Genoa, and other fmaller Italian ftates: and, laftly, on this fubject of the ambition and injuftice of the rulers of France, he mentioned the French invafion of Egypt.

His lordhip then proceeded to an investigation of the degree of credit to which the prefent character of Buonaparte could be confidered as juftly entitled: "We fhall not be deftitute," faid his lordship, "of fufficient grounds for judging what degree of reliance is to be placed on his prefent promifes and and profeffions, from confidering his paft actions, if we trace general Buonaparte from the period when, in the third year of the republic, he impofed upon the French people, by the mouth of the cannon, that very conftitution which he has now deffroyed by the point of the bayonet." He enumerated many inftances in which Buonaparte had violated the treaties which he himfelf had made." Even the affliated republics," he faid, "were equally the victims of his deftructive perfidy. The conftitution of the Cifalpine republic, which was the work of Buonaparte, was overthrown by the hands of his general, Berthier. But this is not all, my lords; let us now pass from the continent of Europe, and try if the fubfequent

6

conduct of the first conful can fur nifh any grounds more fatisfactory, to give us a favourable opinion of his fincerity. When he arrived at Malta, he held the fame fpecious promifes of good faith, by which he had fo frequently fucceeded in betraying ftates and governments; but he treated this ifland as a con quered country, and defpoiled it of every thing that was valuable. I now come to his proceedings in Egypt. It would be very unnecel fary in me to detain your lordships by details with which you are already too well acquainted; but I cannot avoid calling your attention to that part of his conduct which is diplomatic. I fhall, of courfe, pafs over his deceitful profeffions, his rapacities, and the cruel maffacres which were perpetrated by his troops, and by his immediate orders. He folemnly declared to the Porte, that he had no intention to take poffeffion of Egypt; he declared to his own generals, that his object was to take pofleflion of that country; and he affured the people of Egypt, that he had taken poffeffion of it with the confent of the Porte, What can we think of his blafphemies, his hypocrifies, his repeated acts of perfidy, his multiplied violations of all religions and moral ties? Did he not declare, in the moft unqualified terms, that the French were true Muffulmen? Is it in that country that he has laid the foundation for us to reft with fecurity upon the good faith and fincerity which he now profeffes? Having, therefore, fuch bafes for us to form a correct opinion of his policy, can it be thought inconfiftent to believe that he has no intention of fulfilling his engagements? Can we so foon forget his delicate apprehen

fions

fons, with respect to the lives of his remaining foldiers,, after his flight, and his directions to general Kleber to propofe preliminaries of peace to the Porte; to enter into a treaty of peace, and to defer the execution of the articles? You may, (fays he, in his official letter,) fign a treaty to evacuate Egypt'; but do not execute the articles, as you may obferve, with great plaufibility, that it must be fent home, in order to be fubmitted to the inspection and ratification of the directory.'-Thus, my lords, we are in complete poffeffion of his fyftem of politics, a fyftem as fraudulent, perfidious, and deftructive, as ever was practifed, to the difgrace and mifery of human nature. Thus are we provided with unqueftionable pledges of his future integrity. In the correfpondence which appears upon your table, his motives are open and undifguifed; and there is not the leaft neceffity for having recourfe to conjecture to ascertain that he has a double object in his communication. The one is to amufe Great Britain, and the other to induce her to give offence to her allies. I hope I fhall not be accufed of entertaining any unfounded jealoufy of fuch a man, who, having done nothing to redeem his good faith, fo often violated, but the overturning the government of his country by the terror of military defpotifm, now comes forward with propofals of pacification. When we are fully fatisfied with the hare which he has had in previous aggreffions and depredations, can we be too flow in giving him credit for profeffions of fincerity?"

Lord Grenville had heard it reported, as a matter of opinion, that it was the peculiar intereft of the firft conful to make peace, He was

convinced that it might be the intereft of general Buonaparte to confolidate his power; but it could not be forgotten, that whenever any acts of atrocity were to be committed by the French, they had been ufually effected by a fufpenfion of arms. The propofed negociation would relieve France from the prefent preffure of numerous and alarming difficulties, and could not relieve England from any. The ports of France, now blockaded byour fleets and cruifers, would be thrown open, for the purpofe of introducing naval ftores: fleets too would be sent to bring back the troops which were now deprived of all intercourfe with the republic.-From a negociation Buonaparte would derive confiderable advantages to the commerce and manufactures of the republic, whilst this country, with respect to any benefit, would be left merely in its prefent fituation. He would also enjoy the fatisfaction and the triumph of lowering the tone and the character of a people who had hitherto proved the great and the ef fectual barrier againft the encroachments of republican policy, and infufe into our allies, and the other powers, a diftruft of our refolution and integrity.-His lordship obferved, that, in turbulent republics, it had ever been an axiom, to preferve tranquillity by conftant action; this axiom had uniformly been the ftandard by which the fyftem of the poli tics of France had been regulated. Buonaparte had made ftrong profeffions of a defire of peace, and he had faid that the prefent overture was the fecond proof of his with to effectuate a general pacification. But lord Grenville was at a lofs to find any proof of his having entertained fuch a defire. Did he allude