not but remind and refer his high co-estates to the declarations he has already caused to be made on that subject by his comitial legation on the 22nd of August, of the pre ceding year, and on the 25th of last month.

Circular Note from M. Talleyrand, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, to all the Agents of his Majesty the Emperor of the French. Dated Aix-la-Chapelle, Sept. 5

1804.

You must, Sir, have observed and known, according to my instructions at the time of the communication of the note of lord Hawkesbury to the foreign ministers residing in London, the impression which this publication of the strongest maxims of political and social morality could not fail to produce on the mind of the government with which you reside. I think I ought to return to the subject. I therefore send you, officially, a copy of this note, and expressly charge you, by order of his majesty, to make it the object of a special conference with the ministry. The project which the English government has conceived for the last half century, gradually to abolish the tutelary system of public law which unites and engages all civilized nations, developes itself with a fearful progression. Will other governments refrain from making opposition to such an enterprise till there no longer exist any moral bond which may preserve their rights, guarantee their engagements, and protect their interests?-The powers of the continent have seen with what audacity the faith of oaths VOL. XLVI.

has been sported with by this government, and solemn treaties violated, even before they were carried into execution. The maritime nations every day experience its tyranny. There no longer exists any theoretical principle of navigation, any written convention, which have not been scandalously violated on every shore, and in every sea. Neutral states know, that even in using the rights which still remain to them with the most timid circum

spection, they expose themselves to insult, to pillage, and to extermination. Those states, in fine, which have the unhappiness to be at war, no more rely on any reciprocal principle of moderation and justice. All the bonds existing between them and the neutral powers are broken. Approach to the coasts and entrance into the ports and islands, though situate at the distance of 200 leagues from the station of their squadrons, have been prohibited by simple proclamation. Thus the English goverument has hitherto opposed to every power, according to its particular position, a maxim injurious to its honour, and subversive to all its rights. It now attacks them altogether, and the more completely to attain its end, directs its blow against morality itself, and, if I may so speak, against the religion of public law.

In every country, and at all times, the ministry of diplomatic agents was held in veneration amongst men. Ministers of peace, organs of conciliation, their presence is an omen of wisdom, of justice, and happiness. They speak, they act but to terminate, or prevent, those fatal differences which divide princes, and degrade a people, by the pas sions, murders, and miseries, which

generality of their attacks, have placed coasts, isles, ports, neutrals, general commerce in a state of in terdiction; in fine, they have just proclaimed the prostitution of the most sacred and most indispensible ministry, to the repose of the world. His majesty thinks it his duty to excite the attention of all governments, and to warn them, that without new measures, adopted under the conviction of the present danger, all the ancient maxims upon which the honour and independence of states rest, will be immediately annihilated.

(Signed) Ch. Mau. Talleyrand.

Decree passed by the Tribunate on the 3d of May, 1804, and carried up to the Conservative Senate on the 4th of May.

The tribunate considering, that at the breaking out of the revolution, when the national will had an opportunity of manifesting itself with the greatest freedom, the general wish was declared for the individual unity of the supreme power, and for the hereditary succession of that power;―That the family of the Bourbons having by their conduct rendered the hereditary government odious to the people, forced them to lose sight of its advantages, and drove the nation to seek for a happier destiny in a democratical form of government;--That France having made a trial of different forms of government, experienced from these trials only the miseries of anarchy;-That the state was in the greatest peril, when Buonaparte, brought back by Providence, suddenly appeared for its salvation;That under the government of a sin

gle individual, France recovered tranquillity at home, and acquired abroad the highest degree of consideration and glory;-That the plots formed by the House of Bourbon, in concert with a ministry, the implacable enemy of France, warned France of the danger which threatens it, if losing Buonaparte she continued exposed to the agitation. inseparable from an election.That the consulship for life, and the power granted to the first consul of appointing his successor, are not adequate to the prevention of intrigues at home or abroad, which could not fail to be formed during the vacancy of the supreme power: -That in declaring that magistracy hereditary, conformity is observed at once to the example of all great states, ancient or modern, and to the first wish of the nation expressed in 1789;-That, enlightened and supported by this experience, the nation now returns to this wish more strongly than ever, and expresses it on all sides;-That in all political changes it has been usual for nations to confer the supreme power on those to whom they owe their safety;-That when France demands for her security a hereditary chief, her gratitude and affection call on Buonaparte;-That France will preserve all the advantages of the revolution by the choice of a new dynasty, as much interest◄ ed for their safety, as the old one would be for their destruction ;That France may expect from the family of Buonaparte, more than from any other, the maintenance of the rights and liberty of the people which chose them, and all those institutions best calculated to support them;-That there is no title more suitable to the glory of Buonaparte, U u 2

and

and to the dignity of the supreme chief of the French nation, than the title of emperor.

The Tribunate, exercising the right given them by the 29th article of the constitution, have come to the following vote:-That Napoleon Buonaparte, the first consul, he proclaimed emperor of the French, and in that capacity invested with the government of the French republic;-That the title of emperor and the imperial power be made hereditary in his family in the male line, according to the order of primogeniture ;-That in introducing into the organization of the constituted authorities, the modifications rendered necessary by the establishment of hereditary power, the equality, the liberty, and the rights of the people shall be preserved in all their integrity. This vote shall be presented to the senate by six orators, who shall explain the views of the tribunate.

Senators,

for ever the triumph of equality and public liberty, and present to the nation and to the government the double guarantee they are in want of.-We have been constantly guided by this grand truth, that the sovereignty resides in the French people, in the sense that every thing, without exception, ought to be done for its interest, its happiness, and its glory. It is in order to attain this end, that the supreme magistracy, the senate, the council of state, the legislative body, the electoral body, the electoral colleges, and the different branches of the administration, are and ought to be instituted.-In proportion as I fix my attention upon these great objects, I am still more convinced of the verity of those sentiments which I have expressed to you, and I feel more and more that in a circumstance as new as it is important, the councils of your wisdom and experience were necessary to enable me to fix my ideas. I request you then to make known to me the whole of your thoughts.-The French people can add nothing to the honour and glory with which it has surrounded me, but the most sacred duty for me, as it is the dearest to my heart, is to secure to its latest posterity those advantages which it has acquired by a revolution that has cost it so much, particularly by the sacrifice of those millions of brave citizens who have died in defence of their rights.-I desire that I might declare to you, on the 14th of July, in the present year. Fifteen years have passed, since, by a spontaneous movement, you ran to arms, you acquired liberty, equality, and glory. These first blessings of nations are now secured to you for ever, are sheltered from every tempest, they

are preserved to you and to your children: institutions conceived and began in the midst of the storms of interior and exterior wars, developed with constancy, are just terminated in the noise of the attempts and plots of our most mortal enemies, by the adoption of every thing which the experience of centuries and of nations has demonstrated as proper to guarantee the rights which the nation had judged necessary for its dignity, its liberty, and its happiness.

Official Account of the Proceedings of the French Nation on confering the Title of Emperor on Napoleon Buonaparte.

On the 18th of May, the senate, under the presidency of Cambaceres, decrees the organic senatus consultum, which confers the title of emperor on the first consul, and establishes the imperial dignity hereditary in his family. It instantly decreed, that the members should immediately repair to St. Cloud, to present the organic senatus consultum to the emperor. They set out after the close of the sitting, accompanied by several bodies of troops. -The senate, on its arrival, being immediately admitted to an audience of the emperor, the consul Cambaceres, the president, presented the organic senatus consultum to the first consul, and spoke as follows: -Sire, The decree which the senate has passed, and which it takes the earliest opportunity of presenting to your imperial majesty, is only the authentic expression of a will already manifested by the nation. This decree, which confers on you a new title, and which after you, secures the dignity hereditary to

your race, adds nothing either to your glory or to your rights. The love and gratitude of the French people have, for four years, entrusted to your majesty the reins of government, and the constitution of the state reposed in you the choice of a successor. The most august denomination, decreed to you, is then only a tribute which the nation pays to its own dignity, and to the necessity it experiences in giving you daily testimonies of respect and of attachment, which every day incrcase. How could the French people find bounds to its gratitude, when you place none to your care and solicitude for it? Preserving the remembrance of the evils which it suffered when abandoned to itself, how could it reflect without enthusiasm on the happiness it has experienced, since providence inspired it with the idea of throwing itself into your arms? Its armies were defeated; its finances were in disorder; public credit was annihilated; factions were disputing for the remains of our ancient splendor; every idea of morality, and even religion, was obscured; the habit of giving and resuming power, left the magistrates without consideration, and even rendered odious every kind of authority. Your majesty appeared; you recalled victory to our standards; you established order and economy in the public expences; the nation, encouraged by the use you made of your authority, resumed confidence in its own re sources; your wisdom allayed the rage of party; religion saw her altars raised up; ideas of justice and injustice were awakened in the minds of the citizens, when they saw crimes followed by punishment, and virtue signalized and rewarded with U u 3 honourable