which, in that unhappy country, the friends and partizans of the lord-lieutenant and commander in chief, endeavoured, in mutual recrimination, to affix on each of those characters. The result may be easily conceived; it was found impossible to carry on the necessary business of the administration of affairs in Ireland, under circumstances so discordant; consequently general Fox was removed thence; but as soon as a situation of credit and importance presented itself, it was immediately conferred upon him-lord Hardwicke was continued in his lieutenancy. The English government, thus manifesting its intention of hushing up the affair, and of suppressing all farther inquiry. From an attentive consideration of the circumstances we have narrated, it must be deduced, that either the government of Ireland was completely surprized, which, under every appearance and even fact, connected with the conspiracy which must have previously come to its knowledge, argues a degree of security totally inconsistent with wisdom or prudence; or, that being well served, and early apprized of the threatened insurrection, it neglected those means which the nature of the case suggested, and which were abundantly within its reach, of guarding against consequences so much to be dreaded. The judgment is thus suspended, between the imputation of incapacity, and one of a far more serious nature. Certain however it is that information of the impending insurrection was given to the government, the extent of which, and the credit that as should be attached to it, we cannot pretend to ascertain, early on the day of the insurrection; and we must ever regret that it was not thought proper then to set on foot such precautionary measures, might, if not entirely have diverted the meditated attack, at least have saved the lives of the innocent individuals, who were its victims. The heart sickens at the reflection, that the venerable lord chief justice, who might, at the short distance of four miles from the capital, have expected a summons to council; or the parti-' culars of the information received; or the escort of a few dragoons, if any intimation of tumultuous assemblage had been communicated to the lord lieutenant, hesitated, between the doubts raised in his mind, by the rumours which were, towards the evening of that fatal day, continually pouring in upon him, and the total silence of government, until the moment when the increase of the former had amounted to conviction, and impelled him, though too late, to seek refuge in the metropolis! The last subject, connected with the affairs of Ireland, which occurred within this year, worthy of engaging the attention of our readers, was a correspondence of an extraordinary nature, which took place within a short period of the suppression of the rebellion, between the lord chancellor of Ireland and the earl of Fingall. The latter is a Roman catholic, and, from his long line of noble ancestry, possessed of considerable property in Ireland. From his high rank, extensive influence, and universally acknowledged good character, character, his lordship was considered, and with justice, the most considerable person of that persuasion. During the late rebellion, at the head of his tenantry and the neighbouring gentry, he had valiantly and most effectually fought the battles, and guarded the interests of his king and the constitution. Influenced by those considerations, and by the advantage which might accrue thereby to the country, the lord lieutenant of Ireland proposed to put him in the commission of the peace. On the transmission to his lordship * of the instrument under which that authority derives, the lord chancellor thought proper to accompany it by a letter, in which originated the correspondence we have adverted to, and which, as it is inserted in another portion of this work, u8 shall not here recapitulate. Its having excited a considerable degree of sensation in both countries, is our motive for preserving it in our collection; and we are much deceived, if it afford not hereafter for the historian, a valuable and useful document. • Vide Appendix. CHAP. CHAP. XXI. State of Europe. Effect of the Peace of Amiens upon Spain-Portugal-Austria-Prussia-Sweden-Denmark-Italy.-Only beneficial in its effects to France.-Discontent of Russia.-War breaks out between England and France.--Ambitious views of Bonaparte on the Turkish Empire in Africa-Europe-and Asia.--Mission of Sebastiani.-Views of Bonaparte frustrated by the War,--Directs his whole attention to the Invasion of Britain.-Vast preparations at Boulogne-At Brest-anıt at Bayonne.-Levies contributions on Portugal.-Tyranical conduct to the Dutch.-Designs on Germany.-State of the Empire.-French invade and conquer Hanover.-Acquiescence of Austria, and Prussia thereto. And why.-Spirited conduct of Denmark.-Insolence of Bonaparte to Russia, and violation of his Treaties with that Power.Posture of Europe at the close of the Year.-Conclusion. THE year of nominal peace which Europe enjoyed in 1802, was to France alone ultimately beneficial. The French government, however it might affect moderation at the treaty of Luneville, never, in point of fact, gave up any of the advantages it had gained in the war over the different powers which had coalesced against her; but on the contrary, through the medium of that peace, contrived to increase both its territory and influence; and in some degree to restore its finances from the derangement, which interior disturbance and the first year's expences of the war had necessarily occasioned. At the close of the year 1802, France was every way more powerful than at its commencement, while on the other hand Europe had grown It had proportionably weaker. been the undeviating system of the French government, while treating with the other powers of Europe, to manifest a specious moderation, but which was followed by the assumption of the most absolute dominion over them. In conformity to this principle, it had some years before signed a peace with Spain on terms apparently equitable; but from the moment of the signature of that peace, Spain descended from the rank of an independant nation, to a state of absolute vassalage. In like manner the treaty of Luneville appeared in its conditions sufficiently reasonable, had France ever intended to have carried them into execution; and in the treaty of Amiens, from the moment that the preliminaries were signed which led to it, Bonaparte seemed to consider Great Britain (as well as Spain and Austria) to have fallen from the rank it formerly held to the condition of a secondary had the address to prevail upon the pacific disposition of the emperor of Russia, to co-operate with him in settling the affairs of Germany. The court of St. Petersburgh, anxiously desirous of healing the wounds of Germany, and induced by the hope of restoring the different nations of Europe to permanent tranquillity, and the quiet enjoyment of their independence, allowed itself for a season unwittingly to enter into the views and projects of the wily Corsican. secondary power, no longer able to cope with France, or of consequence enough to interfere in the continental relations of Europe. From the first establishment of her republic, France had followed closely the maxim of the ancient Romans, who only gave peace to those nations they were willing to receive as dependant tributaries. Spain was not the only nation that descended from its elevated sphere, and became degraded into insignificance, by a specious peace. TheGerman empire,which had been Opposed to such mighty powers as shaken to its centre by the disastrous events of the war, was still a greater sufferer by the short and deceitful pacification which ensued. By the treaty of Luneville, the independence and freedom of Switzerland, Holland, and the Italian republic, were guarded by the most solemn engagements; but in the short interval of suspended warfare which succeeded, Bonaparte, so far from respecting those stipulations, established his domiaion but the more firmly over those countries, in violation of the faith he had pledged to them and to all Europe. It had been provided in the same treaty, that the brother of the emperor Francis, the grand duke, should be fully indemnified in Germany, for his immense losses in Italy. This stipulation, although most immediately affect ing the personal honor and feelings of the emperor, was most shamefully evaded. Bonaparte, well aware of the great difficulties that the jarring interests of the different German powers would throw in the way of that plan of indemnities and compensations, on which the treaty of Luneville was founded, France and Russia, the German nation was necessitated to patiens acquiescence, and with scarcely an exception, every point that was proposed at Ratisbon, by the French and Russian ministers conjunctively, was ratified by the diet. One solitary instance of successful opposition to the determinations of those powers however occurred. Originally, nothing equivelant to his claims was proposed to be given to the archduke Ferdinand for the loss of Tuscany; But the emperor of Germany had the spirit to protest so often and so strongly against this manifest violation of the treaty of Luneville, that France and Russia at length consented that the bishoprick of Eichstadt should be added to his brother's compensations. This event is principally remarkable, as it is the only stand which Austria has attempted to make against the overbearing influence of France in Germany, since the cessation of hostilities. The question of the indemnities however having been thus disposed of, the relative situation of Austria to France at the termination of a year of peace, was materially deteriorated; deteriorated; she and her allies not having received the benefit of those conditions which had been stipulated in their favour by the articles of the treaties of Luneville and Amiens, were positively weakened; while the French nation, retaining Holland, Switzerland, the Italian, and Ligurian republics, (all of which it had been expressly bound to evacuate by the letter and spirit of both treaties,) had acquired a prodigious acquisition of strength and influence: the balance of course turned decidedly against Austria, and from the day of the final settlement of the German indemnities, Bonaparte, and not Francis, must be looked to as the arbiter of Germany. Thenceforward the influence of the emperor may be considered as strictly confined within the limits of his hereditary estates. In those transactions the views and policy of the court of Berlin were so extremely narrow and selfish, as even to disgust France, at the very moment she was exerting her all powerful influence, to advantage Prussia. The Moniteur, the official paper of the French government, did not hesitate to accuse the king of Prussia of obstructing the arrangement of the indemnities, by his confined views; and it must be allowed, that the uniform conduct of the cabinet of Berlin was such, as to merit, and draw upon it, the contempt of all Europe. The Prussian nation had no longer on its throne that Frederic, who made it his boast and glory to be the protector of the smaller states of Germany, and who, by a wise and liberal policy knew how to unite the force of the lesser powers to his own, in the common defence of the rights and liberties of the Empire. The present monarch appeared to consider the acquisition of a petty district, however small, as an object of greater moment than that influence which should of right attach to his power in Germany, and which a spirited line of conduct must have insured. The consequence was such as might have been expected. The lesser states of the north of Germany, seeing no prospect of protection from a power whose politics were so mean and debased, naturally submitted to the authority of France. Frederick the great, by protecting the smaller states with the same zeal as he would his own territories, became formidable to the most powerful monarchs of his age, and obtained for Prussia the rank of a primary power. The policy which raised Prussia to such a Rank among the nations of Europe was abandoned at his death; and since that period, Prussia, although constantly increasing in territory, has visibly declined in importance; insomuch that Europe at present knows nothing of that power, save as the ally and instrument of France. It may with propriety be said of this kingdom, what one of the most accomplished orators of his age applied to France, "If we look upon the map of Europe we see a chasm where once was Prussia." Nor can it be expected from the present aspect of things, that a sovereign imbued with the spirit of the great Frederick shall again arise to crown the Prussian name with glory, and hold with steady hand the balance among the rude and restless nations of the north. On the contrary it appears, |