to be made public, and when we are to be favoured with a sight of the new Declaration of the Allies, which, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer admits, may be delayed in its publication by circumstances which may still arise; while, I say, we anticipate the information which we are then to be put in possession of, I have thought it proper to republish here, the famous Declaration of the Allies, which they issued at Frankfort on the 1st of December last; a declaration which the Courier afterwards treated as a forgery, but which, it has since been proved, was genuine, and is now rendered the more interesting and important, that it must have formed the topic of much discussion during the late negociations, and have been frequently appealed to, particularly by the Emperor of France, as forming the basis of a treaty of peace. It will enable us also to judge, by comparison with the new Declaration, how far the Allies have adhered to their former professions, and whether their views as to the recognition of Napoleon's claim to the crown of France, and the independence of the French Empire, have since altered, and what are the causes which may have given birth to this, if any alteration has really taken place. The following is a copy of the Frankfort Declaration:"The French Government has ordered a new levy of 300,000 conscripts. The motives of the Senatus Consultum to that effect contain an appeal to the Allied Powers. They, therefore, find themselves called upon to promulgate anew, in the face of the world, the views which guide them in the present war; the principles which form the basis of their conduct, their wishes, and their determinations. --The Allied Powers do not make war upon France, but against that preponderance, haughtily announced,-against that preponderance which, to the misfortune of Europe, and of France, the Emperor Napoleon has too long exercised beyond the limits of his empire.Victory has conducted the Allied Armies to the banks of the Rhine. The first use which their Imperial and Royal Majesties have made of victory, has been to offer peace to his Majesty the Emperor of the French. An attitude strengthened by the accession of all the Sovereigns and Princes of Germany, has had no influence on the conditions of that peace. These conditions are founded on the independence of the French empire, as well as on the independence of the other States of Europe. The views of the Powers are just in their object, generous and liberal in their application, giving security to all, honourable to each.- -The Allied Sovereigns desire that France may be great, powerful, and happy; because the French power, in a state of greatness and strength, is one of the foundations of the social edifice of Europe. They wish that France may be happy,-that French commerce may revive, that the arts, those blessings of peace, may again flourish; because a great people can only be tranquil in proportion as it is happy. The Powers confirm to the French empire an extent of territory which France under her Kings never knew; because a valiant nation does not fall from its rank, by having in its' turn experienced reverses in an obstinate and sanguinary contest, in which it has fought with its accustomed bravery.- -But the Allied Powers also wish to be free, tranquil and happy, themselves. They desire a state of peace which, by a wise partition of strength, by a just equilibrium, may henceforward preserve their people from the numberless calamities which have overwhelmed Europe for the last twenty years.The Allied Powers will not lay down their arms, until they have attained this great and beneficial result, this noble object of their efforts. They will not lay down their arms, until the political state of Europe be re-established anew,-until immovable principles have resumed their rights over vain pretensions,-until the sanctity of treaties shall have at last secured a real peace to Europe." ENTRANCE OF THE ALLIES INTO PARIS. -This is an event which must afford real cause of joy and satisfaction to every one who values the rights and independence of nations; who wishes the speedy termination of a contest, which has for so long a period desolated the fairest portion of Europe, and inflicted misery incalculable upon the human race. It is an event which I am as serious in congratulating the nation upon, as any of the conductors of our daily press can possibly be. But I am somewhat of opinion, that our exultation arises from very different views of the subject, and that we anticipate a very opposite result from the same premises. Their ground of joy is, that the occupation of Paris by the Allies will extinguish; has, in fact, already extinguished, the power of Bonaparte; enabled the invaders of France to set limits and bounds to that vast empire; and put it in their option to force upon the French people their ancient principles and their ancient sovereign.' Now my cause of rejoicing has nothing to do with the restoration of these ancient principles; nor does it proceed from any wish that the inhabitants of France should be restrained, or dictated to, as to the form of their government. What I am glad of is, that the crisis has at last arrived, when this great question must be decided, ARE THE FRENCH PEOPLE DETERMINED TO SUPPORT THE THRONE OF NAPOLEON ?If they have not adopted this resolution; if, after the experience of twenty years of internal political convulsions, and external war, they have at last resolved to put down the man who, during the greater part of that period, has so highly gratified their passion for military glory, and has availed himself of this to establish himself on the throne of the Capets. If, I say, the French have resolved to get rid of Bonaparte, I do not see that any man has a right to find fault with them for this. They gave their consent to his assumption of the Imperial purple. Whatever his enemies may say, it is a historical fact, that of all the sovereigns who ever reigned in France, not one of them held the crown, except Napoleon, by the immediate suffrage or vote of the people.This same people, who placed him on the throne, and even declared the succession hereditary in his family, have a right to call upon him to descend from that elevated station, and to compel him to submit, if he should refuse. But it yet remains to be seen, whether the people of France will act in this manner; whether they are so dissatisfied with Napoleon's government as to bring about a change; and whether that change will lead to the total exclusion of his dynasty, the restoration of the Bourbons, or of the Republic. If the establishment of a free republican government in that country, is to be the result of the possession of Paris by the Allies, then, indeed, would the fall of Bonaparte be a desirable event; then might the friends of freedom rejoice; then might they congratulate themselves, once more, on the opening prospect of liberty and independence being about to be restored to man. But if he is to be put down, merely for the purpose of placing another tyrant in his place, and of submitting the people to the arbitrary will and 'caprice of another despot, I do not see how any benefit is to result to mankind from this counter-revolution. Still, if the French people, who, it must be allowed, are the best judges of their own affairs, *wish the change, in God's name let them have it. Let them, if they will, restore the Bourbons, and, with them, the Bastile, and all the horrid and oppressive inquisitions which disgraced the reign of the ancestors of the remaining stock of that now unfortunate and degraded family. No friend of humanity will pity them if they bow to this; no hand will be found stretched out to succour them, if they should even submit to the chances of being again, reduced to their former abject and deplorable state of political degradation. But, if we are to believe the conductors of the daily press, the work is already done; a counter-revolution has already been brought about; and nothing remains to complete the work, but to invite Louis to Paris, where he will be crowned amidst the shouts and triumphs of loyal and grateful people. The Courier, in the plenitude of its frenzied zeal, thus exclaims: 6 "The march to Paris has at length been accomplished-the Capital of France has fallen; and Vienna, and Berlin, and Moscow, and Madrid, and Lisbon, have been avenged. Surely we may now apply with grateful piety the expressions which the Tyrant used at Dresden, Is not the finger of Providence here?' How often in our impatient indignation at the successful career of This Desolator of Europe,' have we wondered that he should be permitted to remain the scourge of men and of nations? Let us now confess that he has been spared till the harvest of his crimes and his disgrace was full ripe. The scene would have been imperfect, the denouement would have been incomplete, had he been cut off sooner: something would have been wanting to the moral; some finishing touch and colouring to the picture. The shame and prostration of his character would not have been so openly exposed, had not the edifice he had raised been crumbled to the dust, and had not he, who had profaned the capitals of the Cæsars and the Czars, beheld his own capital share the same fate." Now one would have thought, that, instead of the mere occupation of Paris affording a proof of the total subversion of Bonaparte's power, the very recollection of what followed his possession of Vienna, of Berlin, of Moscow, and of Madrid, might have led the Courier writer to draw a very different conclusion from this event. Napoleon was in Vienna, as a conqueror, more than once; but we do not find that Francis lost his crown on that account, or that he was so crippled in his power as to be unable again to make head but we may have the consoling hope, that against his opponent. Neither do we find that the Emperor of Russia, or the King of Prussia, were brought to this low pass when Bonaparte entered their capitals. Had they been so, they would not now have been found exulting over their powerful rival in the city of Paris. While they would do well, in my opinion, to imitate the moderation of their former conqueror, his apparent humiliation, I think, is calculated to alford them a very beneficial lesson as to the instability of fortune. What was their situation once, is now his. What at present is his, may again be theirs. These reflections, however, do not seem to have once occurred to the sovereigns who are now in possession of the French capital. Nothing but the subversion of Bonaparte's power will satisfy them; nothing but the restoration of the Bourbons will now induce them to sheath the sword. In a proclamation issued by Prince Schwartzenberg to the inhabitants of Paris, he tells them, that "the attempts to put an end to so many misfortunes have been useless, because there ex-umph to his inveterate and personal foes; ists in the very power of the government but this has not been the case. The Allies which oppresses you, an insurmountable have reached the capital without any serious obstacle to peace." "The allied Sove- interruption; a circumstance which carries reigns seek, in good faith, a salutary au- this conviction at least along with it, that thority in France which may ceinent the Napoleon will not leave them long in ununion of all nations and of all governments disturbed possession. Every circuinstance, with her; it is to the city of Paris that it indeed, connected with this unlooked for has fallen, under the present circum-alteration of affairs, renders it extremely stances, to accelerate the peace of the world." | probable that the French Emperor was not Here we have an express avowal, that the altogether unwilling to change the ground power of Bonaparte presents an insurmount- of action, and to place the Allies in a si able obstacle to concluding any treaty with tuation where he could operate upon them him, and, that the Allies had been led, with more effect than he was able to do, in consequence, to seek for another power consistent with the system of tactics upon to treat with, which they call "a salutary which they had hitherto acted. The Alauthority in France." This authority they lies themselves seem to have been puzzled seem to think they have found in the city of by his movements; for, when he was adParis, and therefore they appeal to the in-vancing towards the rear of the Austrian habitants. "Parisians (continues the proclamation) you know the situation of your country, the conduct of Bordeaux, the friendly occupation of Lyons, the evils "Three objects might be now in his brought upon France, and the real dispo view, by the movements round our right; sitions of your fellow citizens. You will to force us back; if this failed, to operate find in these examples the termination of upon our communications, and even proforeign war, and of civil discord; you can- ceed to form a junction with Marshal Aunot search it elsewhere.". -The conduct gereau; or, finally, by moving to his for, of Bordeaux.-Could there be a more ex-tresses of Melz, &c. prolong the war by plicit call than this upon the people of Paris to hoist the standard in favour of the Bourbons? But what removes all doubt as to this point, is the bold and unqualified avowal, which has been published in our own Gazette.Our loss (says Sir Charles Stewart) has been something considerable; army, we find by the following expressions in Sir Charles Stewart's dispatches, that no one could discover his real intention : resisting on a new line, while he placed us in the center of France, having taken the best precautions in his power for the defence of the capital.' -Even after the combined army had been considerably in advance towards Paris, Sir Charles appears to have had no very consoling prospects as to the and taken of this, the reader cannot have forgot the many tricks which have been played off by the belligerents upon each other during the contest. We have the recent, highly applauded example, of a Spanish commander, who obtained possession of two fortresses by counterfeiting the cypher of the enemy. What is worthy of praise in: our Allies, cannot surely be censured in Bonaparte, supposing he has resorted to a similar stratagem. After all, it does not appear to whom this letter, which contained such important information, was addressed. Some of our hireling prints say that it was "a letter to Bonaparte's wife.' -But can any one, possessing ordinary. penetration, believe a tale so absurd as this? Is not silence one of the leading features of Napoleon's character? and are we to suppose that a man, who is known to ma¬. ture all his projects in the closet, and never to have discovered these even to his most favourite generals, would sit down on this, or on any other occasion, to gratify his va result of this movement: "Whatever (says | he) may be the ultimate result of the operations in progress, however brilliant they appear, the Sovereigns who are present, and the Prince Field Marshal who leads their armies, will have the proud and consoling reflection, that by their intrepid manœuvres, they have acted right by their countries, their people, and the great cause." Now why speak, why even think of ultimate results, when, according to their own sentiments of the matter, as echoed by the Courier, the possession of Paris has given the death blow to all Bonaparte's hopes? Why use desponding language when this great and glorious event has signed the death-warrant of his fame and his power?" One would be apt to suppose that the Allies were in fact really apprehensive for their own safety; and that the "destroyer of nations" may actually intend, by moving to his fortresses of Metz, &c. to prolong the war by resisting on a new line, while he placed then in the center of France." This would indeed benity (for it could be nothing else) by dis striking a blow which they were not prepared for; this, unfortunately for them, would be cutting off all their supplies and reinforcements; and, supposing this same "terrible destroyer" were to succeed in collecting an army, amounting to double the number of the Allies, and at the same time to bring the army en masse, which has been organizing of late, into action; I confess there would be some small grounds at least for alarm. O but then, says my Lord Burghersh," By an intercepted letter of Bonaparte's, the objects of his move ments were discovered." Were they so? How then came Sir Charles Stewart to intimate, in a subsequent dispatch, that Napoleon might have three objects in view; and to evince, as he did, a total want of information as to which of these the eneiny meant to adopt. Either the Allies had discovered Bonaparte's plans, or they had not. If they had, how came they to place themselves in a situation, where circumstances rendered it at least possible they might afterwards regret the step they had taken? But if, as Sir Charles Stewart seems to insinuate, the Allies were unacquainted with the real object which Napoleon had in view, it is very clear they must have been deceived by their arch enemy;" who, having very likely heard of the late hoax on the Stock Exchange, had resolved to try the effect of a similar ruse de guerre on his unwary opponents. But whatever view may be To closing these important secrets to the Em- currence, which, if it had happened, would | bestir themselves, and think of going home have formed the most prominent and con- again; when, having to encounter Bonastantly recurring theme of their disgusting parte's well disciplined, well formed, and strictures. Until, therefore, I see the PEO-healthy armies of his different numerous PLE of France declare against their Emperor, garrisons, however they themselves may I never can persuade myself that 200,000 be loaded with plunder; with what is termmen, or even four times that number, ed the soldier's legitimate harvest; yet will be able to shake the stability of his encumbered with this plunder, and enthrone. feebled by want and sickness, it is possible that, though they have made their way to the capital of France, they, on their re-. turn, may have sorrowfully to exclaim with the caged starling, mentioned by Sterne, Since writing the above, I have been favoured, by a friend, with the following very pertinent and sensible remarks, on the subject of BONAPARTE AND THE ALLIES. In war the greatest events arise sometimes out of the slightest causes-The interception of a letter, or any thing equally trifling, may decide the fate of a capital. Yet, had Bomaparte, two years ago, marched to Petersburgh, instead of going to Moscow, Alexander would not at this moment have been in Paris. Had Bonaparte, instead of making kings, converted the many countries he overran into republics, they would have secured him from royal ingratitude; they would have furnished him with troops to fight his battles, instead of suddenly starting up against him as foes and invaders. But the Allies are now in Paris, and the grand question is, what is to be the result?The mask is now completely thrown off: the man who, but the other day, for the first time in this metropolis, was officially styled the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH the man with whom, under that title, long ago, by other nations, solemn treaties have been entered into: that man is how to be hunted down as a mad dog, and the Bourbons are to be set up in his stead. Even his father-in-law, and one of his quondam officers who owes him every thing, now join in the exterminating chase. Such are the ties of affection and gratitude among some crowned heads. For this purpose the Allies are in Paris, and we understand that Louis the XVIIIth has actually been sent for! So far then are the Allies successful. But Bonaparte is not yet killed he is not yet taken: he is still at large, enjoying the affections of the people for whom he has done so much; and he is at the head of a large and powerful army, with others at his disposal, and having in his possession a chain of fortified and well garrisoned towns, which forbid exit to the invaders now in France.No such large body as the allied army is reported to be, cau long remain stationary, or cooped up in a town: they must shortly "I can't get out." A wide-spreading torrent may devastate the neighbouring country; but the land it overflows, absorbs, in its turn, the widespreading element; the only remaining traces being stench and mud. Bonaparte's position is critical.-Not less so is the position of Alexander. Bonaparte is in his own country, and surrounded with friends. -Alexander is far from home, bewildered perhaps by flattery and foreign gold; in the country of an enemy from whom retaliation is every hour to be expected? Should a levy en masse take place, not merely the Allies, but our brave Wellington and his army would stand a chance of extermination. While thus stating our ideas on the possible results, let us not be misunderstood as casting the slightest censure on the cause in which the Allied powers are engaged. The contest is the more meritorious, that it is carried on by crowned heads, who, contrary to what has taken place in former times, are now combating, not for, but in fact, against themselves. They are, according to their own repeated declarations, fighting not for the paltry purpose of destroying an Emperor, to set up a King in his stead; but for the noblest of all purposes;-for that for which every man ought to arm-namely, for the purpose of restoring liberty to groaning Europe. Often have they given us their royal word, that they are fighting for the liberties of Europe, and against despotism: this, therefore, implies that if they conquer, their intention is to render all Europe free: -to abolish despotism in every shape, and in every country; and to restore universally, to the long oppressed inhabitants of Europe, those rights to which they have an undoubted claim.. -The Autocrat of Russia will then restore freedom to his vassals.The King of Prussia will then abolish all Tyrannical proceedings in his dominions, if any exist.The Emperor |