be to make for an English port. The prince, before he quitted the road of Scheveling, wrote to M. Van Spiegel, counfellor penfionary of the province of Holland, with the opinion of the marine officers and pilot of the above-mentioned veffel, figned by them. The counfellor penfionary having communicated the fame to their high mightineffes, they, by their refolution of the 19th of January, approved of the prince of Orange's departure, as a measure of abfolute neceflity; declaring, moreover, that they were defirous of hearing of that Prince's fafe arrival in one of the ports of the kingdom of Great Britain on board a fhip of war belonging to the ftates, and that he might fhortly be able to return to the republic, in order to continue affifting them with his counsel and prefence for the maintenance of the independence and conflitutionof the republic. The prince's intention, of which he had already informed M. Van de Spiegel, penfionary counfellor, in his letter, was to inform himself, during his ftay in England, of the fituation of affairs, as well in the provinces of Zeeland as in the provinces of Friezeland and Groningen, and to embark on board a fhip of war of the states for either of thofe provinces in which it fhould appear his prefence might be moft ufeful. It is right to obferve that all correfpondence between thofe provinces and the Hague was at that time intercepted, not only by the enemy but by the froft.

As foon as the ftates of Holland had refolved to admit forces inimical to the republic of the United Provinces into the place where the States General were affembled, and had given orders to their different

garrifons no longer to oppofe the progrefs of the French, the prince of Orange was defirous that the States General, to whom this refolution had been communicated, thould determine to diffolve their affembly, and to call it together again in one of the provinces which had not fubmitted to the yoke of the conqueror.

The States General thought proper to remain atfembled in a place where the enemy's troops, joined by a number of malcontents, deprived them of the liberty of deliberating and doing what the public good required.

The French troops having arrived at the Hague, the States General were compelled to do every thing that was exacted from them. The deputies lawfully named by the provinces of Holland were obliged to quit that affembly, and have been replaced by deputies named by thofe who have taken upon themselves the fupreme power of that province, under the name of provifional reprefentatives of the people. Thefe latter being admitted into the affembly of the States General, that affembly ceafes to be legal, and the refolutions taken fince that time cannot be confidered as refolutions dictated; by the real States General.

The prince of Orange's defign. was, as has already been obferved, to go into Zeeland, as foon as he fhould have received information relative to the fituation of affairs in that province, hoping that his prefence there might be ufeful. But the States General having given" orders foon after the prince's departure, and nearly at the time of the arrival of the French troops at, the Hague, to the commanding officers of Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda,

Willemstadt and Steenbergen, fortreffes which ftill held out, to capitulate, likewife to the troops who were in those/provinces which had not yet fubmitted to the French, as alfo to the thips of the ftate, not to defend themfelves againft the French, the ftates of Zeeland were under the neceffity of following the example of thofe of Holland and Utrecht, in capi tulating for their province, or rather in fubmitting to the conqueror.

The prince of Orange being informed of this refolution, and per ceiving that his prefence could no longer be of any fervice there, was obliged to give up his intention of going into Zeeland, and the ice having for a long while prevented all communication between the provinces of Friefland and Groningen with England, during that time the prince could not receive any intelligence from thofe provinces, and the first he received was, that they had fubmitted in. the fame manner as the others had done, which frustrated his plan of going into either of thofe provinces. The prince of Orange waits with confidence the judgment which every impartial perfon will pafs on his conduct, and cannot think it was expected he fhould remain in a country which had fubmitted to the French arms, whilft the French national convention had declared war against him perfonally, and deliver himself into the hands of his enemies, without being able thereby to furrender the leaft fervice to his country.

He leaves it to the impartial public to judge if it is with reafon that the pretended States General could declare, on the propofal of

the felf-named provifional repre fentatives of the Dutch people, that the ftadtholdership was abolifhed, because the ftadtholder, captain and admiral general, had thought proper to quit his poft whilt the faid provifional reprefentatives of the people of Holland judged it right, in the fame affembly where they have changed the form of government, and ufurped the fupreme power, to abolish thofe charges for the province of Holland, without aligning any other motive than that the nobility and hereditary offices were incompatible with equality.

The prince of Orange confiders himself authorized to appeal to the whole univerfe from a refolution fo unjuft, and declares that he will not acknowledge as lawful any refolution taken by those who now call themselves the States General, or States of the Provinces, as long as the republic fhall be occupied by the French troops. He flatters himself, that if more fortunate circumftances thould deliver his unhappy country from a foreign yoke, the nation reftored to itfelf, and enjoying, as it has done for thefe two cen turies, a true liberty founded upon law, will do him juftice by not delaying to call him to the exercife of the hereditary charges which he poffeffes in that republic, and which have been granted to his house, by the will of the nation, with the view of contributing to the, maintenance of the religion, good order, independence and profperity of the ftate, and of the true liberty and well-being of its inhabitants.

W. PR. OF ORANGE.
Hampton Court Palace,
May 28, 1795.

Decree

Decree of the King of Spain, dated February 1795.

THE expences of the prefent war being fo great, and being ever defirous of eating my beloved fubjects from impotts, taxes, and contributions, which are neceffary for fupporting the prefent war with vigour, which, in many refpects, is of fo much importance to the nation, amongst whom our holy religion occupies the firft place, I have reprefented to his holiefs the Pope, by my minifter the plenipotentiary in Rome, the indifpenfable neceflity of causing the eftates of the military orders to contribute towards the faid expences, as likewife the religious order of St. John, in my dominions, by taxing them at the rate of twelve per cent. in kind or produce, or eight per cent. in money, per annum, and that the penfions of the Spanish order of Charles the Third fhould be included in this regulation.

His holiness being convinced of the juft and urgent motives which render this impoft neceffary, had agreed, that it fhall be levied, on condition that it is only to laft two years after the expiration of the prefent war. This difpenfation, dated the 5th of November latt, has been fent to the council of the orders, and in confequence, therefore, it fhall commence from the beginning of this year, through the medium of the general office for the impofition and levying of the refpective twelve or eight per cent, upon the eftates of the four military orders, as the contribution fhall be either in produce or money, taking fpecial care, by all means and precautions, that the fame

may be levied jufly and faithfully.

Refpecting the religious order of St. John and the royal Spanish order of Charles III. I have given the neceffary orders for the collection of this temporal impost; confequently, there only remains under the faid council, the exaction of the military orders on which it is to have immediate jurifdiction, putting the produce annually in the difpofition and power of my fecretary of state and the office of finances, by which means all doubts or difficulties which may arife in the execution of this, upon which will be heard in the council, and head I give particular charge, after july examining, order that the fulfilling fhall be punctually complied with.

In Aranjuez, 4th Feb. 1795. (Signed) THE DUKE OF HEJAR.

Edict of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

HIS royal highnefs having, fince. the very beginning of the prefent war, been of opinion, that it was neither juft nor convenient for Tufcany to take any active part' in the tranfactions which at this prefent time convulfe Europe, that the welfare and fafety of this country fhould not be entrusted to the preponderance of any of the belligerent powers, but to the facred right of nations, and to the inviolable faith of thofe treaties which guarantee the immunities, and of course the neutrality of the port of Leghorn; and laftly, that the natural and political fituation of his dominions demand the molt impartial line of conduct, has re

folved,

folved, with the ftricteft impartiality, to obferve the edict of neutrality, published by his auguft father, under date the firft of August, 1778, as a fundamental law of the duchy.

The beneficial confequences of this refolution rendered it highly agreeable to his beloved fubjects, who, profiting by the trade and commerce of other nations, without hurting any of them, found themselves relieved from thofe alarms and troubles which are occafioned by the fear of war. Whilft his royal highnets enjoyed the fatisfaction of feeing that Tufcany, fuperior, as it were, to the occurrences of the times, refted peaceful and quiet on that neutrality, which was conftantly refpected by the French republic, he found himself involved in thofe unpleasant tranfactions, which are already known to all Europe. Although his royal highnefs was unable to refift them, yet he confented to nothing but the removal of the French minifter re

fiding at his court, the only act which the imperious circumftances of that period could extort from him, and which can never be quoted as an act derogatory to the conftitutional neutrality of Tufcany.

The fincere explanation of thefe facts, which admit neither difcuffion nor refutation, and the impartial line of acting obferved afterwards towards the French republic, as well as towards individuals of that nation, have reftored Tufcany to the enjoyment of all the bleff ings which had been taken from her. His royal highnefs having concluded with the national convention of France a treaty, calculated to re-establish his former neutrality for the benefit of his

fubjects, without encroaching upon the rights and interefts of the belligerent powers, with refpect to whom he had never taken upon himfelf any particular obligation, has thought proper to publifh the terms of that treaty.

His royal highness therefore wills, that in all his dominions, the edict of neutrality of the ift of Auguft, 1778, confirmed by the ordinance of the 2zd of March, 1799, and published at Leghorn on the 28th of April, 1792, be fcrupulously obferved; for which purpote, a fufficient number of copies of this edict fhall be sent to the confuls of foreign nations refiding at Leghorn, and to the Tufcan confuls refiding in foreign ports.

Given on the 1st of March, 1795.
FERDINAND,

V. A. SERRISTORI,
ERNEST DI GILKENS.

Imperial Decree of Commission from the Emperor to the Diet at Ratifbon, reSpecting the Propofition for negotiat ing a Peace with France.

The Preamble to this Decree contains a brief Statement of the Caufes and Progress of the War, and the Proceedings of the Diet, till its laft refolution relative to peace, after which it proceeds to the following purport:

THAT the restoration of tranquillity to the empire, by a speedy peace, is an event to be defired, and cannot admit of a doubt in the mind of any one, who fhall, for a moment, compare the heavy calamities occafioned by the prefent war, unexampled for the violence with which it has been con

ducted,