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and the pope having refused at two different periods, from 1805 to 1807, and from 1808 up to the present moment, to execute the clauses of the concordat which bind him to institute the bishops nominated by the emperor; this refusal has nullified the concordat it no longer exists. The emperor has therefore been obliged to convoke all the bishops of the empire, in order that they may deliberate about the means of supplying the vacant sees, and of nominating to those that may become vacant in future, conformably to what was done under Charlemagne, under St. Louis, and in all the ages which preceded the concordat between Francis I. and Leo X.; for it is of the essence of the catholic religion not to be able to dispense with the ministry and the mission of bishops. Thus has ceased to exist that famous transaction between Francis I. and Leo. X. against which the church, the university, and the supreme courts, so long protested, and which made the publicists and magistrates of that period say, that the king and the pope had mutually ceded what belonged neither to the one nor the other. Henceforward it is to the deliberations of the council of Paris that the fate of episcopacy is attached, which will have so much influence upon religion itself."

If, as above asserted, episcopacy be essential to the catholic religion, and if the existence of it is to be determined by the council of Paris, it is evident that the national religion must be in an unsettled, and dubious state; yet the minister goes on, inconsistently enough, to assert," that there exists no cause of disagreements between

the emperor and the pope as the head of religion." It is, however, manifest that such a discourse would not have been hazarded, if the government had been under any apprehensions of a bigotted attachment to the principles of the church of Rome among the French people.

The remainder of the exposé relates to the interior improvements of the empire, the ports, the marine, &c. in which there is no doubt that the most favourable representation is made of the state of every thing in which the credit of the administration and the glory of the emperor are concerned. It concludes with a comparison of the ability of France and England to maintain the present war to an indefinite period, whence it appears that the chief hopes of our enemy rest on the prospect of ruin to our finances in a protracted contest-hopes the fallacy of which we should be happy to be able to demonstrate.

"The prosperity of the Imperial Treasury (it says) is not founded on the commerce of the universe. More than 900 millions (livres) which are necessary to meet the expenses of the empire are the result of home taxes, direct or indirect. France may remain ten years in her present state without experiencing other embarrassments than those she has felt for the last ten years, and without augmenting her debt. England must every year of war borrow 800 millions, which, in ten years, will amount to 8 milliards. How. is it to be conceived that she can contrive to support an increase of taxes to the amount of 400 millions in order to meet the interest

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of her debt-she, who cannot meet her current expenses without borrowing 800 millions a year!" After enlarging upon these ideas, the exposé goes on to observe, that a peace, if it were obtained, would be ruinous to France without a guarantee, which guarantee is explained to be the existence of a "We fleet and maritime power. shall be able to make peace in safety, when we shall have 150 ships of the line; and in spite of the obstacles of war, such is the state of the empire that we shall have that number of vessels! Thus the guarantee of our fleet, and that of an English administration founded on principles different from those of the existing cabinet, can alone give peace to the uni verse." It is somewhat curious that the French ministry argue for the continuance of war from the necessity of obtaining that very end, which we are in the habit of considering as the consequence most to be dreaded from a peace. On the whole, this paper is skilfully adapted to produce the effect of inspiring confidence in the French nation with respect to the final result of the long and severe ⚫ contest in which the unprincipled ambition of its ruler has engaged it.

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As there exists no other limitation to the extension of the territory denominated France, beyond its former confines, than the will of its present ruler, no surprize will ⚫ be excited by the further annexations of districts in Italy, declared in an imperial decree of August the 5th. By this decree, the territories belonging to the kingdom of Italy situated on the left bank of the Enza (a river flowing be

tween Parma and Modena) are
united to France, and its course,
from its mouth to its source is to
be the future boundary between
France and Italy, the boundary
then proceeding along the Appe-
nines to the present frontier of
Tuscany. Other alterations are
also announced of the boundaries
between the kingdom of Italy and
the Illyrian provinces of the French
empire.

Further severities with respect to commercial intercourse with England were put in practice in the north of Germany, by an order of the Marshal Duke of Auerstadt, governor-general of the Hanseatic departments, dated Hamburgh, August 6th. In pursuance of a decree of the emperor which enjoins

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every individual with whom is deposited, in whatever way, any merchandize, capital, or funds in money, appertaining to English commerce, to make declaration of the same to the imperial treasury; it directs that every holder of funds belonging to the enemy do make declaration of the same before the 10th of August, in Hamburgh, and before the 25th, in all other parts, of the 32d military division; and announces that every individual who after the above periods shall be found to possess enemy's property undeclared, shall, besides giving it up, be bound to furnish triple security for its value, in order to answer for the penalties incurred.

With a view, probably, to conciliate the affections of his new subjects in Holland, and to hasten his naval preparations, the French emperor set out from Compeigne on September 19th, on a tour to the coast. He arrived at Boulogne

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on the 20th, where he caused his flotilla to attack the English frigate stationed off that port, the result of which enterprize will be found in our account of naval transactions He then proceeded to Ostend, and afterwards minutely surveyed the new forts erected on the isle of Cadsand, which are represented as extremely strong. He made such a kind of review of the squadron of men of war lying at the mouth of the Scheldt as might be expected from a sovereign and a landman, and sailed in his yacht to Flushing, the repairs of which port he inspected. At Antwerp he received the different authorities at nine in the morning (such are the hours kept by this self-created monarch); and then visited the fortifications, the arsenal, the docks, and all the works of art and industry, which are described as having renewed, and even surpassed, all the wonders presented by that city in its most flourishing periods. The dock-yards are said to afford the striking and formidable spectacle of twenty-four ships of the line, eight of them three deckers, on the stocks, in different stages of advancement; and a basin has been copstructed with twenty-six feet of water capable of containing fifty ships of line.

But it was at Amsterdam, "proud of the title of third city of the empire," that the expected presence of the great visitant excited, according to the French accounts, the most enthusiastic emotions; and it is certain that the festive preparations publicly enjoined by the magistrates could not be well exc eded. He arrived there, in company of the empress, on Oc

tober the 9th, and was received, it is said, with general acclamations, and all the tokens of joy and satisfaction. In the speech of M. Van Scholten, president of the tribunal of the first order, the people of Amsterdam are said to be Frenchmen more in heart than in consequence of the union," and to "feel all the honour of forming part of the empire of Charlemagne, restored by a monarch who is superior to him in all respects." If the sturdy republican Dutch can be so soon brought to practise such base adulation, what reliance can be placed on political principles or national character to resist the influence of successful power? It is probable, indeed, that the feelings of the people do not altogether correspond to those of the public functionaries.

Napoleon's business in Holland was not, however, to receive compliments; for we find him, on October 13th, issuing from the imperial palace at Amsterdam a decree for the assembling in council of the deputies to the legislative body from the Dutch departments, at that city, on the 17th. In consequence of this convocation, a series of imperial decrees was issued, the most important of which were to the following purpose:-The departments and their boundaries : Holland is divided into seven departments, viz. the mouths of the Meuse, of the Issel, of the East Ems, of the West Ems, Frizeland, the Upper Issel, and the Zuyderzee. They are subdivided as in France. Introduction of the French system of taxation into Holland on January 1st, 1812; with this is joined the establishment of two imperial manufactories of to

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bacco with an exclusive privilege, one at Amsterdam, the other at Rotterdam. Roads with their tolls, canals, &c. houses of detention; aqueducts for conveying water to Amsterdam and the Hague. The proportion of the budget in Holland for the year 1810, by which the revenue is fixed at 95 millions of livres, and the expenses at 111 millions, the difference to be paid in debentures on the syndicate. The establishment of two academies in Holland, as branches of the imperial university, one at Leyden, the other at Groningen; also secondary schools, lyceums, &c. all upon the plan of the French system of education, and subjected to similar inspection; and an obligation on all the teachers of private schools to teach the French language. The establishment of a guard with pay for the service of Amsterdam, to be maintained by the city. The spirit of all these regulations is evidently to gallicize as completely as possible the new acquisition, and merge all local feelings and associations in the sentiment of partaking in the fate and consequence of the great nation. This, however, is a task which even military despotism may find it difficult to accomplish; for every

exertion of power to effectuate its purpose will add rancour to the repugnance naturally felt against a total change in institutions long regarded with veneration. In the meantime the complete subjugation of Holland to the French yoke, besides its political consequences, must powerfully aid the tyrant of Europe in his plan of reducing minds as well persons to servitude, by giving him the controul over that press, and those seminaries of education, whence so much light has for ages been diffused over the continent.

Napoleon returned to Paris on the 11th of November, after a tour which appears to have had no other important objects than such as regarded his Dutch dominions. There is no doubt, however, that he was during this period carrying on active negotiations with the northern powers of Europe, especially with the court of Russia, the effects of which will be mentioned in another place. At the conclusion of the year, the waste of the past, and the demands of the coming season were manifested by an order for the immediate call of 120,000 conscripts of the year 1812.

CHAPTER

CHAPTER XVI.

Russia.-War with Turkey.-Differences with the French-Austria.-
The rest of Germany.

THE

HE empire of Russia must now be regarded as the power on the European continent ranking next to France, and the only one which has a chance of asserting its independence with effect against the dictates of the French emperor. A view of its political situation is therefore of the first importance in forming an estimate of the prospects now presented by Europe.

The impolitic war in which Russia has for some time past been engaged with Turkey has, during this year, continued to be a drain upon the finances and population of both countries; doubtless to the secret satisfaction of that ambitious potentate who, in his distant projects, probably meditates the reduction of one of these empires to a state of subserviency, and the spoliation of the other. At the beginning of the year, the greater part of the Russian army was in cantonments on the south side of the Danube, between Rudsbuck, Nicopolis, and Silistria. The head quarters of the Grand Vizier were at Schumla, strongly fortified under the direction of foreign engineers. His right wing extended to the coast of the Black Sea; and it appeared to be his intention to relieve Varna, which was blockaded by the Russians on the land

side, but was open to receive supplies by sea. A plan laid to gain possession of this place on Dec. 26th by treachery had failed, with considerable loss to the assailants. The Turkish force in Bonia was chiefly in winter-quarters, near Serai, and the state of the season rendered the troops in that part, on both sides, inactive. Negotiations for peace were supposed to be carrying on; but the government of the Porte, determined not to submit to the disgraceful conditions proposed, was exerting every effort to recruit its armies, and enable the Grand Vizier to open the campaign with advantage.

In February, the Grand Vizier marching from the mountains of Bulgaria, with the intention of turning the right wing of the Russian army, his advanced guard was attacked by Field Marshal Kamenski, near Lofeza, and defeated with considerable loss. That town was taken possession of by the Russians after a vigorous defence, but was subsequently evacuated. As an earnest of more active measures to be undertaken by the Turks, the aged vizier, Jussuf Pashaw, was deposed, and Ahmed Aga, a man of courage and talents, celebrated for his gallant defence of Ibrail, was nomi

nated

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