The emperor proposed a declaration and common measures for preventing the fatal consequences of the French revolution; imminent dangers were threatening the liberty, honour, and safety of the king and royal family, as well as the preservation of the monarchical government in France, attacked in its essential principles by the progress of a popular anarchy which became dangerous to all the governments of Europe. These perils are no longer pressing; the late events give hopes of better times. It seems that the greater part of the French nation, struck with the misfortunes she was preparing for herself, returns back to more moderate principles; she acknowledges the necessity of maintaining the only form of government fit for a great state, and endeavours to restore to the throne the dignity and influence upon which depends the essence of a monarchic government. It appears, in short, that the king yields with confidence to this prospect; and that his accep. tation, grounded upon this confidence, has been voluntary. On the other hand, it cannot be concealed that such new appearances, even imperfect ones in many respects, cannot sufficiently tranquillize on the solidity and conti will continue to be the object of a common cause for the other powers; but what seems to his Imperial majesty evidently to result from this uncertainty itself, is, that, as long as it shall subsist, all the powers will have a common concern, that the present good appearances, the failure of which would immediately re-produce the necessity and the rights of a common interference, should be realized and consolidated. The emperor has thought it useful not to disguise this manner of thinking, in his answer to the letter of his most Christian majesty'; and he is persuaded that, if the other powers were to express similar sentiments, this would only contribute in an advantageous manner to the encouragement and to the success of the moderate party which at present prevails in France; and his Imperial majesty proposes to his majesty to authorize his ministers to occasional intimations of this kind. Circular Note sent by the Emperor to the different Powers in Europe, on the Subject of the French King's Acceptance of the Constitution. nuance of the events which they HISimperialmajesty announces announce, and entirely dispel apprehensions which the violence and extremity of preceding events do justify but too much. The emperor does not dissemble that, in the uncertainty which proceeds from this opposition of hope and fear, he cannot yet form a definitive advice on the question, whether or not the situation of the king and the kingdom of France to Courts to which he has sent his first circular letter, dated Padua, 6th of July, 1791, and also to the governments of Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Portugal, that the situation of the king of France, which was the cause of that letter, being changed, he thinks it proper to express to the said powers his present opinions. His majesty thinks they ought to look upon the king of France as free, Republic of Valais.-Your majesty having communicated to us your acceptation of the constitution presented to you by the French nation, we have the honour to assure you that we take the most lively interest in whatever can contribute to the honour and glory of your majesty and the nation, and the strengthening of our alliance. We form the most sincere and ardent vows for the preservation of your majesty's sacred person, and all the royal family. King of Poland-Joins to his thanks his wishes for the prosperity of the king and of the French nation; he implores for them both the assistance of that God who governs over kings, and by whom legislators extend the voice of justice over empires. The City of Dantzic.-We thank your majesty for communicating a copy of the new constitution: be happy in the prosperity of a free nation; and continue your august protection towards us. Copy of an Order of the Court of Brussels to the Magistrates of Ostend, dated October, 1791. Dearly and well beloved, Hing, on the demand of the IS majesty, the emperor, hav ambassador of his most Christian majesty, resolved to acknowledge the French national flag throughout his dominions, we send you these presents to inform you of his sovereign intentions, according to which the officers of the police and of navigation are to regulate their conduct. (Signed) MARIE ALBERT, (Countersigned) Van de Velde. Copy of a Circular Dispatch of the Aulic and State Chancellor, Prince de Kaunitz, to the Ambassadors and Ministers of his Imperial and Royal Majesty at the several foreign Courts, dated Vienna, Nov. 1, 1791. Sir, Twhich HE state of detention in which the king and royal family of France were, having ceased, the emperor has not hesitated to grant to the French ambassador at this court the audience he asked from him on his return from Prague. He received from his hand the annexed letter, by which he informed him of the king's acceptation of the new French constitution. His imperial majesty orders you, Sir, to communicate it to the court where you reside, and also his answer to this annexed letter; and as he thinks he ought to expose, without restraint, to his majesty what he thinks of the new state of things, and the relations which the court of France actually offers, and the decision of his most Christian majesty, he orders you to accompany these communications with the following overtures. The The emperor proposed a declaration and common measures for preventing the fatal consequences of the French revolution; imminent dangers were threatening the liberty, honour, and safety of the king and royal family, as well as the preservation of the monarchical government in France, attacked in its essential principles by the progress of a popular anarchy which became dangerous to all the governments of Europe. These perils are no longer pressing; the late events give hopes of better times. It seems that the greater part of the French nation, struck with the misfortunes she was preparing for herself, returns back to more moderate principles; she acknowledges the necessity of maintaining the only form of government fit for a great state, and endeavours to restore to the throne the dignity and influence upon which depends the essence of a monarchic government. It appears, in short, that the king yields with confidence to this prospect; and that his acceptation, grounded upon this confidence, has been voluntary. On the other hand, it cannot be concealed that such new appearances, even imperfect ones in many respects, cannot sufficiently tranquillize on the solidity and continuance of the events which they announce, and entirely dispel apprehensions which the violence and extremity of preceding events do justify but too much. The emperor does not dissemble that, in the uncertainty which proceeds from this opposition of hope and fear, he cannot yet form a definitive advice on the question, whether or not the situation of the king and the kingdom of France will continue to be the object of a common cause for the other powers; but what seems to his Imperial majesty evidently to result from this uncertainty itself, is, that, as long as it shall subsist, all the powers will have a common concern, that the present good appearances, the failure of which would immediately re-produce the necessity and the rights of a common interference, should be realized and consolidated. The emperor has thought it useful not to disguise this manner of thinking, in his answer to the letter of his most Christian majesty; and he is persuaded that, if the other powers were to express similar sentiments, this would only contribute in an advantageous manner to the encouragement and to the success of the moderate party which at present prevails in France; and his Imperial majesty proposes to his majesty to authorize his ministers to occasional intimations of this kind. To succeed in their designs, it was necessary they should take the audacious measure of depriving us both of a right, which their own decrees gave us, to the regency. Sufficient time has elapsed to judge of the effect which this new crime has produced upon the sovereigns of Europe, and more especially upon your majesty; but if they can be persuaded of your indifference, or of the prevalence of a dilatory system, which is equally dangerous, they will hasten to consummate their crimes; they will annihilate the phantom of royalty which they now suffer to exist; they will make an attempt on the life of the queen; and they will elect a thief, by bestowing the regency upon the duke of Orleans. We do not advance any thing of which we are not certain; and your majesty may be persuaded, that we speak not the language of exaggeration. But, sire, by a single word, by a single action, which will prove the firmness of your resolutions, not only will your majesty disconcert all the projects of our enemies; but the change of opinions is such, the discredit of the assembly so great, that at one and the same instant an insurrection will take place in all parts of the kingdom, and more especially in the heart of the capital, where the people are kept in subjection by the audacity of the rebels alone. What we now demand of your majesty is, that you will be pleased to make a public declaration on purpose to assure the French princes of your protection, and also the other French, whose zeal, and the purity of whose principles, have obliged them to leave the kingdom. There is nothing personal in our conduct; we act only for honour, which is our sole recompence; nothing can deprive us of it. But it is left for your majesty to consider whether you will guarantee the life of the king and of the queen, and produce the best and greatest effects by a measure which will not any way affect you; or whether you chuse to leave the dearest and most precious claims to the chance of events, and the audacity of crimes. We are, With the most respectful sentiments, &c. Note of the Spanish Minister at the Court of Vienna, delivered the 30th of November, 1791, to the Imperial Minister. Ν is court, the undersigned enIN consequence of the orders of voy extraordinary has the honour, in the name of the king his master, officially to declare to the imperial minister, that his majesty participates with the empress of Russia and his Catholic majesty the same sentiments for the re-establishment of the French monarchy, and with them the king regards his most Christian majesty as in a state of captivity, notwithstanding the acceptance that he has made of the constitution; that, agreeing in the principles and conduct of the empress of Russia, he has sent the baron Oxenstern to the French princes as an envoy; and that he ments, guided by the sentiments of his heart, and enlightened by his own proper interests, now wishes, and always will wish, to succour his ally, deliver his sister, and guarantee his own states by destroy ing the germ of contagion. A great occasion has at length presented; never could a more fa vourable opportunity be offered. It is our duty to submit to your majesty what can be done in favour of France. It is for you to determine. We do not here recall to your memory the present state of Europe. The North and the South have published their intentions. Prussia and your majesty have but one opinion. We are desirous to speak of the internal situation of France. The new assembly has fallen into disrepute; the frightful disorder of the finances announcing an ap proaching bankruptcy; no power, no order, any longer exists in the state; our enemies are acquainted with their danger; they perceive their ruin inevitable, but they still persevere in the audaciousness of their crimes; and we dare to say, to a sovereign who loves truth, that the seeming conduct of your majesty sustains their hopes, and emboldens them in their sanguinary projects. The decree which they passed against monsieur and the emigrants sufficiently develope their designs. They know that the brothers of the unfortunate Louis XVI. despise their menaces; they know that the nobility of France are attached only to honour; but directed at present by the duke of Orleans and the republican party, they wish to profit by the silence of Europe, and to seek their safety in the excess of their crimes. To of the feudal rights of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine, though the subject of much controversy, and a pretended reason for hostility, was certainly not the real cause of the war between the emperor and France; nor is it imagined that any person will maintain it to have been so, since, in the most important papers which passed between the cabinets of Vienna and Paris on the eve of the rupture, it is either but slightly noticed or wholly disregarded. It may not however be improper to state, on this question, that the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to France by the treaty of Munster, signed in 1648, to be held with the privileges, rights, &c. of the house of Austria. But stipulations were made by the 88th article, notwithstanding the sovereignty thus transferred, for the privileges of the nobles, &c. in those provinces, and also for their immediate, which may be translated, their dependance upon, or right of protection from the German empire. Upon the construction of these jarring articles, disputes arose in the negociations at Nimeguen in 1678, which, however, terminated without any decision; and the treaty of Rhyswick in 1697, though it settled some other points relative to the treaty of Westphalia, passed over this matter in silence. it was therefore inferred, by many able writers, that by that silence the German empire had relinquished her claims contained in the 88th article above mentioned. But the national assembly having abolished the feudal system throughout all the French dominions, and this abolition depriving the bishops of Mentz, Treves, Spire, and Bale, of a metropolitan and diocesan jurisdiction exercised by them in Alsace and Lorraine, they complained in a diet of the German empire, which resolved, that all things, both temporal and spiritual, must be put upon their ancient footing, agreeable to treaties and conventions. France refused to comply with that resolution, and on this subject a very long correspondence took place. |