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 Leydon, 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 as persons to servitude, by giving him the control 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 negociations 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 mani. fested by an order for the immediate call of 120,000 conscripts of the year 1812.

TH

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 Rudshuck, 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 Bosnia 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 nominated his successor. This new Grand Vizier took the command of the army, and push

ing forwards to the Danube, caused the Russians to evacuate part of the right or southern bank of that river, and spread themselves on the left bank. The vizier seems to have amused the Russians with negotiations, till he had received all his reinforcements, when he explicitly declared the refusal of the Porte to submit to such conditions as were required. In the month of June he advanced upon Rudshuck, at the head of a powerful army, where, on July 4th, he was encountered by the Russian general Kutusow. The result, according to the Russian account, was a signal victory on their part; the consequence, however, from which alone military success can be estimated amidst contradictory narrations, was, that Kutusow, after transporting the inhabitants of Rudshuck to the left bank of the Danube, set fire to the four corners of the town; but the arrival of the Turks put a stop to the conflagration, and saved a great part of the buildings. The Russian general seems to have been fully justified in this step by the superior and increasing numbers of the Turks; and he was supported in his determination by the signed opinion of all the other generals present. This retreat having given a great alarm to the Servians, their senate was assured, in the name of General Kutusow, that they would not be abandoned by the Russians; and the corps of General de Sass, of which a great part had retired into the Lesser Wallachia, again concentrated itself on the right bank of the Danube. Indeed, the Russian army had continued to occupy the district

between Orsowa and Widdin on that bank of the river. Silistria was occupied by the Turks, who were employed in repairing its fortifications.

The Grand Vizier, after employing some weeks in strengthening his posts, and clearing the right side of the Danube, at length put in execution his purpose of crossing that river. His plan was to effect the passage in three places at once, at Widdin, Rudshuck, and in the neighbourhood of Silistria. The attempt at Widdin was completely successful. On the 9th of September, at daybreak, 15,000 Turks got over into Wallachia, and while entrenching themselves, and skirmishing with the Russians, were joined by a second body of equal number. At Rudshuck the passage was also made good, and the Vizier immediately established têtes-de-pont, and other works of defence, and occupied with a camp an island in the river, named Slobodse. This bold movement, however, was the limit of the success and enterprise of the Turkish commander. Gen. Kutusow was indefatigable in collecting all the force of the surrounding districts to oppose his further progress, and fixed his head quarters at a small distance from him. The Russian official account of the subsequent transactions, dated Giurgewo, Oct. 30th, is to the following effect. After mentioning the Grand Vizier's taking a position, strongly fortified, across the Danube, it relates, that for 35 days the opposed armies lay within cannonshot of each other, and were daily engaged in sanguinary skirmishes,

in which both parties displayed the most desperate valour. The confidence of the Vizier induced him at length to convey the greatest part of his army to his entrenched camp on the left bank. Kutusow, who had hitherto acted only on the defensive, ordered, on the night between the 13th and 14th of October, Lieut. Gen. Markow, with a body of 8,000 men, to cross the Danube, above Rudshuck, and attack the Turkish camp near that place. By his celerity he completely surprised the enemy, routed him, and took his camp. The fugitives crowded into Rudshuck, where they were cannonaded by the artillery of their own abandoned camp, whilst from the other bank General Langeron played upon them with 100 pieces of cannon. By this well-combined operation the two bodies of the Turkish army were entirely separated, and an immense booty was made of the arnis, artillery, baggage, and magazines which were left on the right bank, including the Grand Vizier's own tent. He was at that time with the army on the left bank, and as soon as he was in formed of the disaster, he sent to demand an armistice. This being refused, he availed himself of a heavy rain to cross over in a small boat to Rudshuck, the communication between which place and the opposite bank was afterwards entirely cut off by the advance of the Russian flotilla. The island in the Danube, occupied by the Turks, was then taken possession of, and its battery was turned against them. The corps thus cut off was reduced to feed on its horses, when a cessation of

hostilities put a temporary stop to further operations.

In the meantime the Russians were successful in other quarters. General Gamber crossed the Danube in another part, and retook Silistria with its arsenal, artillery, &c. and a thousand prisoners, and afterwards pushed on to Schumla. Ismail, Bey of Seres, who had entered Wallachia, was obliged to recross the Danube, pursued by General Sass. The Grand Vizier now proposed the renewal of negotiations for peace; and M. Italinski being met at Giurgewo by a Turkish plenipotentiary, conferences for that purpose were begun. The Russians are said to have gained another victory before the close of the year; and thus discipline and military skill obtained, in the end, that superiority over the blind impulse of rash valour, which may always be expected from them.

Had the court of Petersburgh encountered no other difficulties than those proceeding from a war which it unnecessarily provoked, and which a little moderation on its part might speedily terminate, its deliberations would have been attended with little anxiety; but it was at the same time pressed by that overwhelming weight of unbalanced power which was lying so heavy upon all the other states of the European continent. Napoleon's favourite plan of ruining the finances of England by cutting offher commercial intercourse with the countries of Europe, required an universal agreement among its potentates; and he had succeeded, by intrigue or intimidation, in causing his measures to be adopted, at least in appearance, in every

part not actually occupied by the British arms. Russia, however, from the remoteness of its situation, and the degree of unbroken power and independence which it still possessed, exercised a will of its own on the subject, and was occasionally disposed to consult its private interest and convenience, rather than the views of the French emperor. Hence, English goods had never been committed to the flames in that country, as in Denmark and Germany; and British colonial produce was admitted into her ports in neutral bottoms. The trade with Great Britain had been highly advantageous to the Russians, and many of the nobility derived a great share of their incomes from the sale of products of which this island was the principal market. The state of hostility which existed between the two countries was therefore generally unpopular in Russia, and the derangement of its finances in consequence of the Turkish war rendered the suspension of a lucrative commerce more severely felt. The presence of an English fleet in the Baltic during the summer, though it produced no declared change in the politicalsystem of Russia, could not fail of affording some opportunities of relaxing the rigour of commercial exclusion, and of giving umbrage to the French ruler. Other occasions of difference arose between the courts of Petersburgh and Paris. The former is said to have refused the demand of the latter, that Finland should be restored to Sweden; and in other points, the arbitrary interference of Napoleon, in the politics of the north, could not but prove galling to the power which knew no equal

From

in that part of Europe. these causes, the whole year 1811 passed in discussions and negotiations between Russia and France, the aspect of which appeared at times so hostile, that an immediate declaration of war between them was confidently expected by the northern politicians. Such a change was supposed to have taken place in the Russian cabinet with respect to this country, that a quantity of ammunition and warlike stores was sent by our government in four transports, under convoy of a sloop of war, to the port of Revel, with the expectation that they would be received. They were indeed greeted on their arrival by the public authorities, as well as by the people, with a hearty welcome; but the Russian government was not prepared to take a step so decidedly hostile to the wishes of France, and the vessels were obliged to return without landing their cargoes. The fol lowing explanation has been given of this singular transaction. The Russian court, being extremely pressed to send supplies of military stores to its army on the frontiers of Poland, applied to the merchants of Riga and Revel for that purpose, who dispatched agents to England in order to purchase the requisite articles. This circumstance becoming known to our ministers, they took upon themselves to furnish the stores from our public arsenals, and chartered transports to carry them out to the Baltic. The newspapers rendered this a matter of notoriety; and the intelligence reaching France, occasioned remonstrances which prevented the reception of the cargoes. Had the business