At the same time we promise to all those who shall willingly fol. low this our call, and who shall offer to their municipalities to serve in the army,

1. That as soon as ever we shall have secured to the nation, agree ably to our wish and desire an honourable and permanent peace, they shall be dismissed at the termina. tion of the war.

2. That during the war they

shall be treated as volunteers.

3. That they shall be at liberty, agreeably to their abilities and ca. pacity, to chuse and name the regi. ment in which they wish to serve; and that,

4. As a just recompense on their return home, every possible assistance shall be given to them in their employments and settling; and that, on all occasions, they shail be preferred.

Though we can promise our selves the principal operation of this proclamation, from the unequivocal sentiments of our faithful subjects, yet we think it our duty to impress upon their minds, that in following willingly this honour. able call of their country, they likewise protect their families and private property; and that, if on the contrary they should neglect to join us for the general security, they would be forced in case of unfortunate events, to carry parricidal arms against their native land, and, as abused organs of the enemy, to promote the ruin of public order, the destruction of their fel. low citizens, and of their families, and to assist in the common destruction.

Behold the still smoaking ruins of Italy, and the excesses and most inhuman cruelties committed

there! Behold the devastations which the once flourishing territo.. rics of Germany have suffered, in, undated by the armies of the enemy! And you cannot remain dubious about the terrible fate which threatens every country, and every nation, on being invaded by such enemies.

Done at Vienna, 11th August, 17964

Proclamation by his Imperial Majesty.

WE Francis II. by the grace of God, &c. &c. When we assuined the government of this monarchy, we felt it extremely grievous to find ourselves involved in so hard a war as the present: great as our grief was, cqually great was our wish of procuring a speedy and lasting peace to the country. Every body must be convinced, that all the powers and means possible to men, have hitherto been used for that purpose; and it is highly painful for us, that our paternal solicitude, added to so many patriotic contributions of our faithful subjects, and the valour of our troops, so repeatedly proved, could not, as yet, bring it so far as to effect a peace, honourable and not injuri. ous to the monarchy-nay, that it rather seems to be our peculiar destiny, to be obliged, to our continual mortification, to behold the enemy constantly approach nearer to our German hereditary domi nions, and especially to the frontiers of our beloved kingdom of Bohemia. In order, therefore, to pro tect this kingdom, in the safest and most perfect manner, from all hostile attacks, and it being, in other respects, no longer possible to conquer solely with the army now ex isting, and to keep from off the frontiers

frontiers of our kingdom of Bohemia an enemy like the present, who, from day to day, arms the major part of their nation, and leads them against us; we caused several plans to be laid before us, having for their tendency the particular security of the said kingdom of Bohemia; and though we discover in every part of them patriotic benevolence-yet we thought proper to give the preference and our approbation to the establishment of a national militia, particularly from the consideration of its combining with the defence of the country, effectual and ready for every emergency, all possible indulgence to the inhabitants. We do hereby ordain ;—

1. That the measure of a national militia, for the particular defence of the kingdom of Bohemia, be im mediately put in force, and that for this purpose every 20th head be enrolled out of the population of the whole country.

2. That the men thus enrolled be immediately trained in the use of arms, and in every branch of the service for which they are destined, and to which end the staff of the Bohemian general officers shall appoint the commissioned and noncommissioned officers.

3. In order that the men, during such exercise, may be kept as near as possible to their places of resi. dence, the places of rendezvous shall be marked out in such a manner, in the different circles, that each person enlisted shall only have to repair to some place little distant from his own abode.

4. The men enlisted shall, during their absence from home on account of their being exercised, receive the same treatment as the soldiers actu. ally serving in the field.

5. Should there be any occasion for calling any of the men thus kept in readiness into active ser. vice, they are to repair to the ren dezvous pointed out to them, there to wait the farther orders of their commanders.

6. Their sole destination is to cover the frontiers of the country, or to be employed within its limits: but they are by no means to serve against the enemy abroad.

7. We will not only grant to those men, as long as they shall continue under arms, full pay and provisions in the same manner as the troops serving in the field, but we also order,

8. That to those who shall distinguish themselves by their valour on proper occasions, silver and gold medals shall be granted, in the same manner as to the real soldiers, and they shall every where wear them, as honourable marks of services rendered to their country, and enjoy at the same time the annual pension during life.

9. All those who shall serve in. this militia, shall be for ever after considered as peculiarly meritorious, and where equity will permit, all due preference shall be given, and every possible indulgence shewa to them.

We rely, therefore, on the tried fidelity of all our Bohemian subjects, and on that love of their country so particularly their own, that they will voluntarily and rea dily submit to these our orders, and that every individual, whether high or low, will use his utmost exertions, in conjunction with those of his king, to defend the kingdom from every hostile invasion; the more so, as the present moment is most dangerous to the religion and

property

property of every citizen in this kingdom; and as the welfare of every one of them requires that he should help, with all his strength, to, defend his family and the country, we also place the greatest dependence on the patriotic zeal and readiness of our Bohemian subjects in this measure of defence, since, as it has been stated already, the term of service is but of short duration, and only necessary in the present emergency, both to defend the country, and to protect their own property, wives and children, and since by so doing, they will not only have the promised reward, but likewise render themselves worthy of the reputation of faithful subjects and real friends to their country, besides gaining, in addi. tion, the esteem, the love, and grace of their king for ever.

Done at Vienna, August 21, 1796.

Proclamation of the Emperor. BY the increasing and urgent necessity of prosecuting this expensive war with vigour, his majesty the emperor sees himself constrain. ed to demand extraordinary support from his subjects, in order not only to keep off an all-desolating enemy from his frontiers, but also to obtain by force a peace so long desired in vain. But his Imperial majesty constantly directing his thoughts towards treating his be loved subjects with all possible lenity, and choosing always such means as are the least burdensome, expects that every good subject, equally convinced of his duty, and of the pressing exigencies of the state, will strive to alleviate those wants by contributions, voluntary and proportionate to their means, in money, grain, horses, oxen, com

mon clothes, linen, leather, iron, steel, lead, and arms.

Vienna, 18th September.

Rescript addressed to the Duke of Wir. temberg, on the 10th of July, by the Imperial Court, on the Subjec of Prace.

We received the letter you wrote us upon the 23d of last month. You there present your good ad. vice with a respectful frankness. You observe that it only depends upon us to secure the happiness and the safety of Germany; that a speedy peace can alone dissipate the violent storm which impends over the country; that this alone can remove the dangers which in so many ways threaten the Germanic constitution; in fine, that this alone can put a period to those unparal leled miseries under which humanity so long has groaned. At the same time you acquaint us, that if in these difficult circumstances the danger approaches still nearer your states, you will have no resource but to submit to the law of necessity, and to make a separate peace with France.

The empire, in truth, desires with ardour, and has long entertained this wish, the return of peace, but connected with the just feeling of its honour, its dignity, its independence. In this wish it only comprehends a peace, equita. ble, just, suitable, and worthy to be accepted, which rests upon the solid basis of the perfect support of its integrity and its constitution, agreeable to ancient treaties. At the same time, by a proper respect for these fundamental laws, it has never ceased to render its wishes and its resolutions upon this subject subordinate to the rigorous condi

tion, that peace so ardently desired should not be concluded, but agreeably to the constitution, in a most perfect and invariable concert between the emperor and the

states.

The resolutions of the diet of the 22d of December, 1794, and of July last year, become laws of the empire in virtue of our Imperial functions, very pointedly attest this reserve; and the same spirit serves as a foundation to the full powers and authorities for peace, which have been submitted for our acceptance, in virtue of the resolution of the diet of the 7th of October, 1795, as well as for the annexed instructions to the deputies of the empire at the congress for peace; instructions which essentially proceed upon the re-establish ment of peace, just, honourable, stable, permanent, and common to the whole empire, and which have pointedly and expressly as their ob. ject the maintenance of the empire upon the footing on which it stood before the misunderstandings which arose with France, under the special recommendation to observe an. cient treaties.

After having thus expressed, in a manner equally constitutional and agreeable to the interests of the Germanic empire, its sentiments with regard to the re-establishment of peace, the general diet, full of respectful confidence in our pater. nal solicitude for the common advantage of Germany, entreated us to negotiate, as well in our own name as in that of the Germanic body, the preliminaries o pe ce. We were very well dispos d to act agreeably to these desires; but the sequel proved that the soi dist committee of public safety, by which

the foreign affairs of France then were governed, had very different views from coming to an amicable understanding with the empire, for the purpose of putting an end to a war into which the empire had been forced, and thus to reconcile themselves with suffering humanity by scrificing to peace their passion of conquest.

All Germany has seen the an. ser of the committee of public safety, the contents of which were ordered to be published by our decree of the 19th of November last. This piece contains the most mani. fest proofs of the decided repugnance of France to listen to the pa. cific overtures desired by the enpire, and of the clear determination of this power not to engage in immediate negotiations, till finding herself in a situation imperiously to dictate the conditions of peace to the empire, she could, to the eter nal shame of the German name, leave her no other part in this mea sure but a passive subscription of the treaty. The empire being thus, convinced of the refusal of the French government to make a suitable return to the overtures which had been made, it had no other resource left but that foreseen by the resolution of the 22d of De. cember, 1794, to as-ume an atti, tude which should oblige the ene. my to gant that peace desired by the head and by the members of the Germanic body under the condi tions announced in the resolutions of the diet.

The diretory, however, which has succeded the committee of publie safety in the management of foreign affairs, has not adopted more moderate sentiments. Wa find, on the contrary, in all their actions

actions, and all the public papers which they have issued, the marks of the inflexible obstinacy of a conqueror inflamed with pride by the fortune of his arms. Upon this point we refer to the note addressed by the French ambassador to the plenipotentiary of his Britannic majesty, upon the 25th of May, this year. We remark, with regret, in this note, how much the spirit in which it is drawn up, the nature and extent of the demands which it contains, and the manner in which they are announced, are remote from a reciprocal desire of peace. We are not mistaken even in considering this very note as a new proof of the aversion of the French government to enter into negotia tions with the empire united under its constitutional head, since, in effect, if we compare that note with the above-mentioned answer of the committee of public safety, we find that both absolutely announce the same political maxims; to which we must likewise add, that the note of the directory demands, as an invariable preliminary of peace, a status quo relatively to the countries conquered by the enemy, and united in virtue of its decree, which carnot in any way be reconciled with the basis of peace laid down by the diet.

To divide, to conquer, and to rule, is the spirit of the egotist policy of France. But every division infers a diminution of strength in the measures of resistance of the whole, and which must necessarily lead to the dismemberment, to the devastation, to the dependance, to the subjection, and, in fine, more or less rapidly, to the decomposition of our respectable constitution. Concord, on the contrary, firmness,

the love of our country, and the faithful observance of the laws, are the first duties of society; the dearest and more sacred duties of every vassal of the empire, when our common country is menaced, is the most emitent and essential object of all political societies, its safety and preservation. Such is the object of the fundamental constitution of the German empire, which renders all the individual means of resistance possessed by the states of the empire subordinate to the direction of one supreme authority, and prohibits in the most forcible inanner the conclusion of a sepirate peace during a general war of the empire. But, independently of this consideration, it is not less certain that it is to act against all experience to reckon upon the very are instance of the generosity of the enemy, and to expect only, from the magnanimity and love of justice, a peace that can be accepted, instead of constraining them to grant it by force of arms. In fine, we find a manifest contradiction in not ceasing to desire an object, and yet failing to proportion the means by which it is to be attained to the magnitude of the dangers interposed. The example of the invincible constancy and vigour with which the enemy exert themselves to execute their plans, ought to afford to the citizens of Germany a sufficient motive of emulation to excite them to the most obstinate resistance, and to the defence of their political and religious constitution.

After this faithful disclosure of circumstances, we put it to your judgment to decide, whether, how. ever much we are disposed to restore peace to the empire, as soøn as it can be established on an ho

nourable