all the sovereigns of Europe, animated by the same sentiments, and guided by the same principles, declare, that if, contrary to all calculations, there should result from this event any real danger, they will be ready to give to the king of France, and to the French nation, or to any other government that shall be attacked, as soon as they shall be called upon, all the assistance requisite to restore public tranquillity, and to make a common cause against all those who should undertake to compromise it. "The present declaration, inserted in the register of the congress assembled at Vienna on the 13th of March, 1815, shall be made public. "Done and attested by the plenipotentiaries of the high powers who signed the treaty of Paris, Vienna, March 13, 1815." measures of the allies might be afterwards influenced by any justification he might in future prefer, but the actual and necessary mode of procedure was to complain of and denounce the breach of treaty. The rumours circulated throughout Europe, by the emissaries of Napoleon, had rendered such a declaration, on the part of the allies, a measure of self-defence. It was affirmed that Buonaparte was secretly favoured, in the isle of Elba, by friendly communications from more than one of the allied courts, that Austria was his friend, and that, should he venture to pass the limits of his exile, the empress and the king of Rome would be restored to his embraces. England, it was asserted, is jealous of Russia, and the latter power tired and exhausted by the war. Napoleon's return will be the harbinger of peace and freedom. It was necessary to efface these im Here follow the signatures in the alpha- pressions by a decisive and unanimous exbetical order of the courts: Austria............Prince Metternich France..... Baron Wissenberg Prince Talleyrand Great Britain...Wellington Clancarty Cathcart Stewart pression of their sentiments, and of their determination to unite in the common cause of themselves and of Europe. The finesse of Buonaparte was carried so far as to prepare, and send away, immediately on his return, several state carriages to receive, as he declared, the empress and the young Napoleon. At the same moment an attempt was actually made to carry off his son from the city of Vienna. Several persons arrived in the villages near the outskirt called Count Pamella Saldonha Lobe Schoenbrunn, the residence of the little ex Prince Hardenberg Baron Humboldt Russia.............Count Rasumowsky Count Staeekelberg Count Nesselrode Spain...............P. Gomez Labrador Sweden............Laemenhelm. The language of this document deserves, for its violence and indecency, the most severe reprobation; but its justice, as an act of policy, is too evident to be denied. Buonaparte had annulled the rights which the treaty of Fontainbleau had given him, and had, by the violation of its conditions, again placed himself in a state of hostility with the confederate powers. It is not the duty of one political party to await the plea of the opponent, when he has evidently broken the stipulations of the contract. The future king of Rome. Among them was count Montesquiou, a near relative of the governess of the child. He obtained access to the palace, and formed, with the domestics, a plan for carrying off the son of Napoleon. The scheme was defeated by the want of presence of mind in one of the conspirators, who being arrested by the police, on suspicion of some other offence, imprudently offered a handful of Napoleons to obtain his escape, a circumstance which excited the attention and suspicion of the officer. They discovered from his confession the nature of the plot, and suffered it to proceed to the moment of completion. Every thing was prepared. A maid had the little Napoleon in her arms, and, attended by one of the chief conspirators, was just stepping into the carriage, when the officers appeared, and the whole band was arrested. Had the attempt succeeded, the restoration of the child would have been represented as the consequence of the favour of Austria towards its father. The declarations of the allied powers soon removed the hopes of peace, by which those who were tranquilly disposed had been a short time flattered. A war, of a kind altogether new with respect to the military preparations, was fast approaching, and the address of Chatterton's sir Charles Baudin, to the English, might have been well applied to the people of France. "Say, were ye tired of godly peace, That you would change your easy days Ah! fickle people, ruin'd land, On the 25th of March, before the arrival of Buonaparte in the French capital was known at Vienna, but after it became evident that no successful resistance would be opposed to his advance, the following treaty was entered into by the allied powers: "His majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his majesty the king of Prussia, having taken into consideration the consequences which the invasion of France by Napoleon Buonaparte, and the actual situation of that kingdom may produce with respect to the safety of Europe, have resolved, in conjunction with their majesties the emperors of Russia and Austria, to apply to that important circumstance the principles consecrated by the treaty of Chaumont. 66 They have consequently resolved to renew by a solemn treaty, signed separately by each of the four powers with each of the three others, the engagement to preserve against every attack the order of things so happily established in Europe, and to determine upon the most effectual means of fulfilling that engagement, as well as giving it all the extension which the present circumstances so imperiously call for. "Art. 1. The high contracting parties above mentioned solemnly engage to unite the resources of their respective states, for the purpose of maintaining entire the conditions of the treaty of peace concluded at Paris, the 30th of May, 1814, as also the stipulations determined upon and signed at the congress of Vienna, with the view to complete the disposition of that treaty, to preserve them against all infringement, and particularly against the designs of Napoleon Buonaparte. For this purpose they engage, in the spirit of the declaration of the 13th March last, to direct, in common, and with one accord, should the case require it, all their efforts against him, and against all those who may already have joined his faction, or shall hereafter join it, in order to force him to desist from his projects, and to render him unable to disturb in future the tranquillity of Europe and the general peace, under the protection of which, the rights, the liberty, and the independence of nations, had been recently placed and secured. "2. Although the means destined for the attainment of so great and salutary an object, ought not to be subjected to limitation, and although the high contracting parties are resolved to devote thereto all those means which in their respective situations they are enabled to dispose of; they have, nevertheless, agreed to keep constantly in the field each a force of one hundred and fifty thousand men complete, including cavalry in the proportion of at least one-tenth, and a just proportion of artillery, not reckoning garrisons, and to employ the same actively and conjointly against the common enemy. "3. The high contracting parties reciprocally engage, not to lay down their arms but by common consent, nor before the object of the war, designated in the first article of the present treaty, shall have been attained, nor until Buonaparte shall have been rendered absolutely unable to create disturbance, and to renew his attempts to possess himself of the supreme power in France. "4. The present treaty being principally applicable to the present circumstances, the stipulations of the treaty of Chaumont, and particularly those contained in the sixteenth article of the same, shall be again in force as soon as the object actually in view shall have been attained. "5. Whatever relates to the command of the combined armies, to supplies, &c. shall be regulated by a particular convention. "6. The high contracting parties shall be allowed respectively to accredit to the generals commanding their armies, officers who shall have the liberty of corresponding with their governments, for the purpose of giving information of military events, and of every thing relating to the operations of the armies. 66 "7. The engagements entered into by the present treaty having for their object the maintenance of the general peace, the high contracting parties agree to invite all the powers of Europe to accede to the same. "8. The present treaty having no other end in view but to support France, or any other country which may be invaded, against the enterprises of Buonaparte and his adherents, his most christian majesty shall be specially invited to accede hereunto; and in the event of his majesty requiring the forces stipulated in the second article, to make known what assistance circumstances will allow him to bring forward in furtherance of the object of the present treaty. "Separate article. As circumstances might prevent his majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from keeping constantly in the field the number of troops specified in the second article, it is agreed that his Britannic majesty shall have the option, either of furnishing his contingent in men, or of paying at the rate of thirty pounds sterling per annum for each cavalry soldier, and twenty pounds per annum for each infantry soldier that may be wanting to complete the number stipulated in the second article. "In testimony whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed the same." The 8th article of the treaty, which invites the accession of the king of France, seemed to include a determination in the allies, not merely to attack the usurped power of Buonaparte, but to reinstate the Bourbons on the throne, thus interfering with or denying the right of the French to choose their own form of government. To force any particular dynasty or form of government on a people is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the British constitution, and the liberal policy on which it has been the pride of England ever to act: when, therefore, the ratification of the treaty by the prince regent was sent to Vienna, the following explanatory declaration accompanied it,-a declaration highly honourable to the British government: 66 DECLARATION. "The undersigned, on the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty of the 25th of March last, on the part of his court, is hereby commanded to declare, that the 8th article of the said treaty, wherein his most christian majesty is invited to accede under certain stipulations, is to be understood as binding the contracting parties upon principles of mutual security, to a common effort against the power of Napoleon Buonaparte, in pursuance of the 3d article of the said treaty, but is not to be understood as binding his Britannic majesty to prosecute the war, with a view of imposing upon France any particular government. "However solicitous the prince regent must be to see his most christian majesty restored to the throne, and however anxious he is to contribute, in conjunction with his allies, to so auspicious an event, he nevertheless deems himself called upon to make this declaration on the exchange of the ratifications, as well in consideration of what is due to his most christian majesty's interest in France, as in conformity to the principles upon which the British government has invariably regulated its conduct." The intelligence of Napoleon's escape from the isle of Elba, arrived at a moment of popular agitation; when the corn bill, so ob noxious to the people, was the subject of parliamentary discussion; and its clamorous opponents endeavoured to intimidate their representatives by illegal violence. The house of lord Castlereagh, in St. James's square, was assailed by the populace, and two attempts were made to destroy the residence of Mr. Robinson, the mover of the bill. In the second of these attacks fire arms were discharged from the par.our window of Mr. Robinson, which proved fatal to two in nocent persons, Mr. Edward Vyse, a midshipman, and a Mrs. Watson. Notwithstanding the tumultuous assemblies of the people, and the general opposition to the bill, it was passed by a large majority, and has equally falsified the prophecies of its advocates and its enemies, by producing no effect whatever on the price of corn. Its enact ment, however, in defiance of the unanimous opinion of the nation at large, presented a melancholy proof that the house of commons no longer regards the instructions of its constituents as the guides of its decisions, and that any motion, however pernicious and absurd, if supported by the ministry, will be triumphantly carried by a majority of placemen and pensioners. In the midst of these civil contentions a bulletin announced the landing of Napoleon on the coast of France. In a moment the internal storm was hushed: astonishment and mute suspense succeeded to the turbulence of popular resentment: the corn bill was forgotten; and the interest excited by the financial measures of the chancellor of the exchequer was absorbed in one universal feeling of alarm and anxiety. A message was immediately transmitted by the prince regent to the houses of parliament, requesting their assistance and advice in this momentous emergency. His appeal was not made in vain. The British ministry was determined on war, and the opposition were divided among themselves with respect to its expedience. A subsidy of five millions was immediately granted to the continental pow. On the 25th of May lord Castlereagh, in moving an address to the prince regent, spoke as follows: ers. "No one," he said, "could entertain a "could entertain a more awful sense of the eventful magnitude of the question now brought before the house, or was more seriously impressed with the nature of that determination to which he considered it his duty to persuade the house itself to come. If, however, in performing this task, it was expected that he should enter into all the topics in any way connected with that at present, more immediately as it were in view, it certainly was not his inten tion so to consume the time, and weary the patience of the house. It was unhappily no longer a novel question, it involved a discussion of principles and a consideration of evils which had long since been in operation, and were unfortunately so still. He should, therefore, rather touch upon certain leading topics, than enter into more minute details; for though he apprehended the matter was important, as to the question in itself, yet, when stripped of all extraneous circumstances, it would be found not of the most complicated kind. He wished, in the first place, to separate from it the topic which had hitherto been admitted to embarrass it; and here he adverted to the objection of its being proper to enter into the merits of this subject, while one of our principal allies had not returned a quite definitive assent on her part. Although from his knowledge of the views of that power, and his confidence in her, this circumstance of a mere informality would have had no weight whatever in his mind, yet he was extremely glad to have it in his power to inform the house that he this morning had exchanged with the ambassador of his imperial majesty, the emperor of Austria, the ratification of the treaty of March 25, which he should have the honour to lay before the house to-morrow.-(Loud cheers.) It was accompanied by a note from Prince Metternich, who informed him that the declaration of the 8th, on the part of his Britannic majesty, in explanation of one of the articles of the treaty, met likewise with the perfect concurrence of his court; as, although the emperor of Austria was irrevocably resolved to concentrate all his forces, for the purpose of putting down Napoleon Buonaparte, yet he never had intended to wage a war with the design of imposing a form of government on France, however much he desired to see Louis XVIII. established on his hereditary throne. This exchange now having been made, and explanations accepted of, there was no longer the least difficulty on this point. Another and still remaining difficulty he apprehended was, the idea of an address or general assurance of support to the throne, would be a binding down the opinion of Parliament, before they could properly come to a conclusive judgment. Now there never was an instance of parliament not proceeding to take into their consideration a message from the crown, immediately upon its communication, and giving an assurance of support to the throne. Such was the practice of the house in the case of the grand alliance during the reign of queen Anne; and it was always customary for parliament to act in this manner towards the crown, without at first going into all the stipulations, but acting on the propriety or expediency of the vote submitted to them. Treaties were at such times communicated to the house only to apprise it of the general policy adopted by the crown; and nothing could be more dangerous than for parliament then to go into the whole extent of the mea-, sures of the executive government, when it might be ruinous to the country if they were exposed. It was not his intention to deviate from the practice which experience had set before them; he begged in no degree to bring the merits of the treaty of Vienna to an issue now; the vote he should call upon the house to come to, this night, would be of a very different kind. Whatever he himself might feel regarding that treaty, he wished the house to remain master of its own judgment on that question. He trusted, at the same time, that after such a dislocation of Europe, rendering some remedy most necessary, he should not shrink from a justification of that measure, when the proper moment did arrive wherein to make it. It had remained for him only to follow up the plan of the late Mr. Pitt, disclosed in an abstract of the only diplomatic document he had devised, when he contemplated a powerful confederacy of Europe in opposition to the ambition of France, and the security for the future repose, by bringing Prussia in advance on the Rhine. Holland did not indeed form part of his plan; for in his fondest moments that truly great statesman could not imagine that Holland would have attained her present strength and pre-eminence. It was no small satisfaction to him to reflect that he had lived to see the principle of European security, laid down by that eminent man, +embodied and executed in every point, even beyond his hopes. Wishing to narrow the question yet before them, the only proposi tion he should call upon the house to adopt was, whether they would support the executive government in the war in which we were engaged? There was no question as to going to war; we were actually at war, owing to the contravention of the treaty of Paris on the part of France, who had provoked the war; and the simple question was, whether, being at war, we should wage it conjointly with our allies, or separate ourselves from them? He never heard it denied that we had a right to go to war with Buonaparte; nor even with the French nation, if they chose to support him in contravention of the treaties they had assented to. But those treaties had provided that the government of that nation should be administered by other hands. What! were we compelled now to accept of Buonaparte as the conservator of the treaty of Paris, when, by that very treaty, he was excluded from France? Any question as relating to him, therefore, could only be as to the policy of opening a negociation with him. He admitted the dreadful necessity that might exist for involving nations in the punishment due only to those who ruled over them; but some cases were so extraordinary as not to admit of separating the two, and he considered the present to be such a case. Buonaparte had the army, in fact, united to him, and was wholly adverse to that pacific system which Louis XVIII. would have cultivated. If we watched him in prosperity, we should find him filled with gigantic plans of ambition; if we looked to him in his adversity, we should perceive that he remained the same. His greatest territorial acquisitions were continually made in time of peace; he was more conquering in peace than even in war. The whole system of his policy with regard to Holland, Switzerland, the Ligurian republic, Spain and Portugal, and the thirty-second military division, was consolidated in time of peace; and if a comparison of his policy was instituted in war and in peace, we should find it was always more profoundly pursued during an interval of nominal peace. Adversity and prosperity left his character still unrelentingly the same, so that he seemed to be destined for nothing but a course of activity both against the independence and hap |
