the father and protector of his people, but one task to fulfil that of preserving the loyal and well-meaning majority of his subjects from the dangers and calamities of a war brought on by the blind obstinacy or the culpable ambition of certain individuals. In this conviction it was that his Majesty addressed to his Son, the presumptive Heir to his Throne, a frank and paternal letter, for the purpose of representing to him the importance of the circumstances, and the necessity of employing, for the safety of the Kingdom, all the means which might be at his command. The expression of these pacific sentiments of the King was accompanied by more explicit instructions, issued by the Cabinets of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, to their Diplomatic Agents at Naples; and the Plenipotentiaries of his Majesty the King of France likewise sent instructions to the Chargé d'Affaires of their Sovereign. The effect of these important measures must decide the impending fate of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In this state of things, the army destined to carry into effect the decisions taken at Laybach, has received orders to cross the Po, and to march towards the Neapolitan frontiers. It is repugnant to the feelings of his Imperial Majesty to suppose that this army can meet with any serious resistance. None but the enemies of the public welfare, the incurable partisans of a system, leading at once to the ruin of the Sicilian Monarchy, can mistake what, under the circumstances in which that Monarchy is now placed, is owing by every loyal soldier and every man attached to his country, to his Sovereign, and to the safety of his fellow citizens. The great mass of the nation devoted to its Monarch, disgusted with an imaginary liberty which has only produced the severest tyranny, and tired of a disturbed and precarious existence; conscious, likewise, for some time past, of the just and benevolent intentions by which the Emperor is animated; will receive with confidence those, who, in the name of his Imperial Majesty, and of his august Allies, come to offer peace, friendship, and protection. If this just hope should not be realised, the army will know how to surmount the difficulties which may impede its progress; and if, contrary to all calculations, and contrary to the fondest hopes of the Allied Monarchs, an enterprise formed with the purest intention, and actuated by no hostile spirit, should degenerate into actual war, or if the resistance of an implacable faction should be protracted for an indefinite time, his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, always faithful to his principles, and convinced of the necessity of struggling against an evil so serious, and guided by that noble and constant friendship, of which he has lately bestowed so many precious tokens on the Emperor, would lose no time in joining his forces to those of Austria. In the whole of the transactions which have just taken place, the Monarchs have only had in view the safety of the States they are called upon to govern, and the tranquillity of the world. This is the secret of their policy; no other thought, no other interest, no other question, has found a place in the deliberations of their Cabinets. The inviolability of all established rights, the independence of all legiti mate Governments, the integrity of all their possessions, these are the bases from which their Resolutions will never deviate. The Monarchs will have obtained the summit of their wishes, and will be fully rewarded for all their efforts, if it should be possible to insure on these foundations tranquillity in the interior of States, the rights of Thrones, and the true liberty and prosperity of nations, blessings without which external peace itself could have neither value nor duration. They will bless the period, when, set free from all other causes of anxiety, they can devote exclusively to the happiness of their subjects all the means and the power which have been conferred upon them by Heaven. (Frankfort Gazette, Feb. 19.) CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SIR W. A'COURT, AND THE The following are copies of the Correspondence relative to the British Naval Force in the Bay of Naples: (TRANSLATION.) Naples, Feb. 10.-AFTER the official Communications made to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent by the Envoys of Russia and Prussia, and the Chargé d'Affaires of Austria, in the name of the Powers assembled at Laybach, relative to the determination taken there with respect to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, this Royal Government can no longer remain in a state of uncertainty with regard to the object of the assemblage of the British Naval Force stationed for some months past in the Bay of Naples. The Undersigned, therefore, being in charge of the Portefeuille of Foreign Affairs, in conformity with the orders he has received from his Royal Highness, addresses himself to his Excellency the Chevalier A'Court, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty, beseeching his Excellency to be so good as to make known to him precisely what instructions he has received on this point from his Court, and flatters himself, that in consequence of this communication the Government may be enabled to have a clear view of the manner in which the Neapolitan question, which has excited such interest all over Europe, is viewed by the British Cabinet. In this expectation, the Undersigned renews to the Chevalier the assiirances of his highest consideration. His Excellency the (Signed) Chevalier A'Court, &c. &c. &c. COMMENDATORE PIGNATELLI. Naples, Feb. 11. THE Undersigned has the honor to acknowledge to his Excellency the Duke of Gallo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the receipt of the note addressed to him by his Excellency the Commander Pignatelli, charged ad interim, with the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, intimating the necessity of a further explanation of the motives which induce the British Government to keep so large a Naval Force stationed in the Bay of Naples-an explanation rendered necessary by the communications made to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, by the Ministers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, in the name of the Powers assembled at Laybach. The Undersigned acknowledges the justice of this appeal made to him, and has, therefore, no hesitation in giving a frank declaration of the intentions of his Government. The British squadron at anchor in the Bay is simply a squadron of obser vation, the presence of which is sufficiently explained by the critical circumstances of the country, and the necessity of providing for the security of the persons and property of British subjects, under all possible chances. The British Government, faithful to the principles it has always professed, is determined to maintain a strict neutrality, and to take no part either directly or indirectly in the war which there seems to be but too much reason to apprehend is on the point of breaking out. It will interfere in no way with the affairs of the country, unless such interference should be rendered indispensable by any personal insult or danger to which the Royal Family may be exposed. Not foreseeing the possibility of such a case, the Undersigned flatters himself that nothing will alter the peaceful attitude in which Great Britain is placed. 39 The Undersigned takes this opportunity of offering to his Excellency the assurance of his highest consideration. (Signed) To his Excellency the Duke of Gallo. W. A'COURT. PROTOCOL OF CONFERENCES, AND DECLARATION OF THE November, 1818. 1. THAT they are firmly resolved never to depart, neither in their mutual relations, nor in those which connect them with other states, from the principle of intimate union which has hitherto decided over all their common relations and interests-a union rendered more strong and indissoluble by the bonds of Christian fraternity, which the Sovereigns have formed among themselves. 2. That this union, which is the more real and durable, inasmuch as it depends on no separate interest or temporary combination, can only have for its object the maintenance of general peace, founded on a religious respect for the engagements contained in the treaties, and for the whole of the rights resulting therefrom. 3. That France associated with other Powers, by the restoration of the legitimate Monarchical and Constitutional Power, engages henceforth to concur in the maintenance and consolidation of a system which has given peace to Europe, and assured its duration. DECLARATION. THE intimate union established among the Monarchs who are joint parties to this system, by their own principles, no less than by the interests of their people, offers to Europe the most sacred pledge of its future tranquillity. The object of this union is as simple as it is great and salutary. It does not tend to any new political combination--to any change in the relations sanctioned by existing treaties. Calm and consistent in its proceedings, it has no other object than the maintenance of peace, and the security of those transactions on which the peace was founded and consolidated. The Sovereigns, in forming this august union, have regarded as its fundamental basis, their invariable resolution never to depart, either among themselves or in their relations with other States, from the strictest observation of the principles of the right of nations; principles which, in their application to a state of permanent peace, can alone effectually guarantee the independence of each government, and the stability of the general association. Faithful to these principles, the Sovereigns will maintain them equally in those meetings at which they may be personally present, or in those which shall take place among their Ministers; whether it shall be their object to discuss in common their own interests, or whether they take cognizance of questions in which other Governments shall formally claim their interference-The same spirit which will direct their Councils, and reign in their diplomatic communications, shall preside also at these meetings; and the repose of the world shall be constantly their motive and their end. (Signed by all the ALLIES.) |