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- risk, to talk-about marching to Paris, Tand! It is impossible that they can consent to be there dictating terms of peace. The Allies made cat's paws of at this shocking rate. do not want to lose two or three hundredAfter all, what to think of the result, I thousand men, as they probably would, must confess, I am wholly at a loss. There and be defeated into the bargain; for, after are very strong reasons why this system of all, we see no signs of disaffection in France; things in England should shudder at peace. we see no fear, on the part of the Emperor, The moment peace is made, it will begin to make known his difficulties in the most to feel the want of its old impetus. The candid manner. His speech as well as that heavy taxes that must still be paid will of Count Regnaud, who still retains his ta want a war to keep them in countenance. lent for eloquent composition, breathe con--Men have had their eyes shut for a long fidence in every line. Language like this while; but, peace will make them look is not addressed to as people ready to fall about them. They will, like birds, whose -down before an enemy. This point, which cage door is open, all of a sudden, lift their was the greatest of all of the disposition of heads, stare about them, and begin to try the people of France) seems now to be de- their wings. Since the people of this cided in favor of Napoleon; and, if he has island were shut in by war, wonderful the people of France cordially with him, changes have taken place in the world. the Allies must be very ill-advised, if they Manufactures have been changing their do not choose this moment for treating place; money has been changing its value; aud, on the part of Austria, who means to the capability of living at ease has been leave Napoleon with great power, it must changing its scite. In short, there are be madness not to treat, when she is cer- quite grounds enough for apprehension; tain of securing by treaty, what she would but, still, how is our government to avoid [run some risks at least, of losing by wat. making peace, if the powers of the Continent And, why do we wish to reduce France inake peace, and that, too, upon a basis to a state of imbecility? The impudence proposed by themselves an aware, that of the praposition ds sufficientoto render us there would be found wretches to justify hateful in the eyes of the world; but, why them in so doing; but it could not do for do we wish it? To be sure our situation any length of time.The war could not go in peace will be very embarrassing. The on. When taxes were called for, men Debt, which this war lagainst the French would ask what was the object of them. has brought upon us, will hang about our It could no longer be alledged, that they suecks like a mill-stoneslo Our system of were wanted to defend defend us against France, paper-money, all that we see about us, with whom we might have had peace if we seems to idépend for existence on war, would.) -But, are we certain, that, if we which secures to us a monopoly of trade and reject a peace proposed to us by the Allies, commerce, and which, from the unsettled that none of them will become our enemies, state of Europe, has brought so much sapi- and compel us to accept of such peace? I tal into the country. But, if there be a shall be told, that we have already fought peace upon the Continent, upon such terms them all single-handled. No. We have as will make the several countries safe, called them enemies, and have abused them why should we keep on the war? Are we too; but, they merely yielded to the dic to have war for our lives merely because tates of France, by whom they themselves our paper-system would be sendangered by were oppressed. Their hostility towards peace? What a horrible, what a cruel us was friendship in disguise, which would idea! We cut, at this moment, a very not be the case now, if they were to declare awkward figure. We have, for years past, war against us.I do not know how to been bragging of our disinterestedness. give an opinion; but, I am inclined to beWe said, that all we wanted to see was lieve, that we shall be compelled to make the deliverance of the 'poor oppressed na- peace, after having in vain endeavoured to >tions of the Continent. But, now, behold, prevail on the Allies to continue the war. those nations being, as they think, sufficiently delivered, we are urging them, or, at least, some of our writers are, to run new risks. By invading France once, they were all reduced to the brink of destruction, and the moment they are recovered from that, we want them to invade France again! No: hang it! the hoax is too palpable.

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And, really, ought it not to make one happy to see the likelihood of such an event? Why should we not not fit is a question I am always asking); why should we not trade and live in social intercourse with France? Why should the French not have our hardware and our cloth, and give us their wine and oil in exchange? Why

TRAITORS IN CANADA.The reader will not have forgotten, that, some months ago, I noticed a recommendation, in one of our newspapers, for our government to put

subjects as had been found in arms fighting against us, and made prisoners of war, in the American army. The following document gives us the melancholy history of this affair; and, it may very soon be too

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should we he penned up in this island all our lives, when, at a few leagues distance, we could see so many things to delight the eye and inform the mind? Why should those, who are able to travel, be forced totol death, as traitors, such English born swallow fogs, while they might inhale the wholesome air of Languedoc? Why, above all things, should we hate the people of France? What have they done to us, which we have not done to them? We have beat one another by turns; but, it be--late to endeavour to prevent the bloodshed longs to us only to deal in abuse. They which it threatens to produce. GENEhave never abused us a nation; whereas RAL ORDERS.Head-quarters, Montreal, our abuse of them, under all the changes of Oct. 27. His Excellency the Governortheir government, has been unbounded. General and Commander of the Forces, having transmitted to his Majesty's Cỏvernment, a letter from Major-General Dearborn, stating, that the American Commissary of Prisoners in London had made it known to his Government, that 23 soldiers of the 1st, 6th, and 18th regiments of United States' infantry, made prisoners, had been sent to England and held in close confinementas British subjects, and that Major-Gen. Dearborn had received instructions (from his Government, to put into close confinement 23 British soldiers, to be kept as hostages for the safe-keeping and restoration in exchange of the soldiers of the United "States, who have been sent as above stated to England:-in obedience to which instruction, he had put 23 British "soldiers into close confinement, to be kept as hostages; and the persons referred to in Major-General Dearborn's letter; being soldiers serving in the American Army, taken prisoners at Queenstown, who had declared themselves to be British-born subjects, and were held in custody sin England, there to undergo a legal trial.

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Here I shall leave this subject for the present, waiting with no small anxiety the result of those able efforts, which my Lord Castlereagh is so likely to display in the way of effecting an union amongst our Allies. Some persons say, indeed, that he will not have so genial a soil to work upon as he had in Ireland, where, amongst those especially with whom he had to do, the enlightened state of mind was so very favourable for the reception of his arguments, all which going at once to the heart as well as head of his honest hearers, produced an" effect exactly proportioned to their intrinsic" value. There is some weight in this observation to be sure, It does require different arguments to produce conviction in different minds; or, at least, it requires a greater weight of argument. The arguments which were sufficient to convince the keen and docile Irish Members, might have been insufficient to work conviction in the ministers of the Court of Vienna, There is no doubt, however, as I said before, that Lord Castlereagh goes amply supplied with the most powerful kind of arguments, nor is there any fear of his wanting the zeal necessary to the making use of them. If his object be, as the Courier says it is, to prevent the Allies from granting peace to France upon too good terms for the latter; and, at the same time, to persuade them," that at they must not think of meddling with the maritime claims of England; if this be object of his mission; if it be his object to induce the Allies to unite in this respect, he" must, indeed, he well stocked with arguments. This task now is a f fearful one, compared to that of convincing the Irish Members of the propriety of giving up" their Parliament. He had then to do with men, quite open to conviction, which will

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His Excellency the Commander of the Forces has received the coinmands of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, through the Right Hon. the Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State, to lose no time in communicating to Major-General "Dearborn, that he has transmitted the copy of his letter, and that he is in consequence instructed, distinctly to state to Major-General Dearborn, that his Excellency, has received thei.commands of his "Royal Highness the Prince Regent, forthwith to put in close confinement forty-six American officers and non-commissioned officers, to be held as hostages for the safe keeping of the twenty-three British soldiers stated to have been put in close confinement by the American Govern-` ❝ ment.→→→→And he is at the same time to

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"apprise him, that if any of the said Bri-" and the rights of war.→→→→ (Signed).
"tish soldiers shall suffer death, by r
"that the soldiers now under confinement
"in England have been found guilty, and
"that the known law, not only of Great
"Britain but of every independent State in
" similar circumstances, has been in conse-
"quence executed, he has been instructed
"to select, out of the American officers
and non-commissioned officers, put into
"confinement, as many as may double the
"number of British soldiers who shall
"have been so unwarrantably put to death,
" and cause such officers and non-commis-
❝sioned officers to suffer death imme-
"diately.And his Excellency is fur-
❝ther instructed to notify to Major-General
"Dearborn, that the Commanders of his
"Majesty's armies and fleets on the coasts
❝ of America, have received instructions to
"prosecute the war with unmitigated seve-
"rity against all cities, towns, and vil-
"lages belonging to the United States, and
"against the inhabitants thereof, if after
"this communication shall have been duly
"made to Major-General Dearborn, and a
"reasonable time given for its being trans-
"mitted to the American Government, that
"Government shall unhappily not be deter-
"red from putting to death any of the sol-
"diers who now are, or who may hereafter
"be kept as hostages for the purposes stated
"in the letter of Major-Gen. Dearborn
"His Excellency the Commander of the
"Forces, in announcing to the troops the
"commands of his Royal Highness the
"Prince Regent, is confident that they
"will feel sensible of the paternal solici-
"tude which his Royal Highness has
evinced for the protection of the person
"and honour of the British soldier, thus
"grossly outraged, in contempt of justice, hu-
manity, and the law of nations, in the per-
"sons of 23 soldiers placed in close confine-
ment, as hostages for an equal number of
"traitors, who have been guilty of the base
" and unnatural crime of raising their parri
"cidal arms against that country which gave
"them birth, and who have been delivered
over for legal trial to the just laws of
"their offended country. The British
"soldier will feel this unprincipled out-
rage, added to the galling insults and
* cruel barbarities that are daily wantonly
❝inflicted on many of his unfortunate com-
rades, who have fallen into the enemy's
"hands, as additional motives to excite
his determined resolution never to resign
"his liberty but with his life, to a foe so
regardless of all sense of honour, justice,

"EDW. BAYNES, Adj. Gen. Brit. N.
America."I before stated very fully
my reasons for believing, that the English-
men, thus taken in the American army,
could not be fairly considered as traitors.
Our government has, it seems, de-
cided in the contrary; and, I suppose, we
are to see these inen tried. I hope, that
the Americans will not retaliate, whatever
they may consider as their right; but, I
fear they will. That nation has been, by
one mean and another, worked up to such
a pitch of resentment, that I do not expect
much forbearance at their hands.
not here go over the arguments, which I
before used, having then, as I thought, ex-
hausted the subject; but, I cannot refrain
from remarking, that, if it was really in-
tended to punish these men as traitors; as
persons who deserved to be quartered and
to have their bowels ripped out; if this was
really intended, our writers have been very
imprudent in their unbounded praises of
General Moreau, who not only joined the
enemies of his native country, but who per
formed a sea voyage for the express pur
pose of joining those enemies. He could
not plead his attachment to the ancient fa-
mily of France; for he had fought against
that family, and had got great riches in the
service of the revolutionary government.

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It was, therefore, very imprudent in our writers to sing the praises of this manj seeing that our government considered the natives of England, found in the army of America, as determined traitors. -One more remark I must make. It appears to me, that it is extremely unfortunate, to say the least of it, that our government should find it necessary to resort to such measures. For, in the first place, the fact will be written in blood, that England breeds traitors, and that, in order to deter others from becoming traitors, such measures are necessary. This is a most melancholy fact. Will not the world wonder what it is that can induce Englishmen to become traitors in such numbers? have not heard of any such thing in any other country. The Americans do not seem to be afraid of their people becoming traitors! and yet, we are told, that their government and the war is unpopular! Our law of treason, if acted upon in all its rigour, might produce very awful effects

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-An Englishman, for instance, who emigrated with his father when a child, and who may now be living in some little sea-port, if he were, to take up a gun or

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earth, and all that in them is, were made for us.The peace, which is approaching, may tend to remove the delusion.

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that the public should see clearly where the fault lies, if there be any fault,→→Mr. Mant is said to be preparing a publication on the subject, to which, in all probability, Captain Campbell will reply; so that the truth will come out, and, be it on which side it may, the truth ought to come out. WM. COBBETT

sword to protect his family against a boat's crew of ours attacking his house, would, if taken, be liable to be cut in quarters and to have his bowels ripped out and flung in his face! -Horrid, however, as is the idea MR. MANT and GAFT. PATRICK GAMP of this rigour, it is not impossible, that it BELL.These two gentlemen, the latter may lead to good in the end. It will uu- late Captain, and the former late Surgeon, questionably tend to the complete separation of the Frigate, UNITE, serving in the Me of the two countries, which, in the opi diterranean, are, in a dispute upon the nions of many, would be likely greatly to subject of the management of Prizes, now benefit mankind. It will destroy the party, dividing the opinions of people at Southwhich, through the means of commercial ampton, where they both live. But, influence, has divided America. It will from what I have heard, and, indeed, from diffuse the manufacturing arts. It will what I have seen in a printed paper, it apmake America more independent than she pears to be impossible, that the discussion was before. It will hasten the time when can long remain confined to such narrow she, by being a great maritime power, will limits.Certainly the public, who pay be able to interpose and prevent destructive so dearly for the maintenance of a navy, on wars between us and France. Her political which they are everlastingly told, that they principles are those of real and not of solely depend, for their safety, are deeply sham freedom; and, for the sake of her interested in the proper employment and principles, we may (provided she do use of that enormously expensive establishus no harm) when peace arrives, wish ment. It is very much to be desired, to see her power extended. The that this matter should be fully investigatCongress has lately received a reported; that the parties should have a fair opfrom a Committee on the acts of Great-portunity of producing legal proofs; and Britain during the war; and the Courier says, that it is quite sufficient to say of it, that it is wholly false. I do not think so; for, though it be really false, it demands a contradiction by authority here.The acts, charged upon us are so atrocious, that I, as an Englishman, cannot bring myself to believe, that they have been committed; but the same feeling, which makes me reject a belief in them, makes me anxiously wish to see them officially shown not to have been committed; because I know, that the people of other nations may believe, though I cannot. -There are persons, who sup pose, that, in consequence of the late events on the Continent of Europe, we may do what we please with America. It is a great mistake. We could do nothing with her when her population amounted to only two millions of souls; and now it amounts to eight or nine millions. Besides, do we suppose, that we shall be permitted to have a word to say in the Continental Peace without permitting the Continental powers to have something to say about our war with America? All these powers are more or less interested in the independence of the American trade. Her commerce is singularly beneficial to them all; and, what is more they must naturally wish to see great naval power, able to form somewhat of a balance against England. sul But, like the dock in Pope's Essay on Man, we think that the heavens and the

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OFFICIAL PAPERS.

FRENCH PAPERS. 9.101 Paris, Dec. 19th. To day, Sunday, Dec. 19, his Majesty, the Emperor and King, set off at one o'clock from the palace of the Thuilleries, to repair in state to the Legislative Body, where, having been received with the usual cere monies, his Majesty, after taking his seat, made the following speech:

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"Senators, Counsellors of State, Depu ties from the Departments to the Legislative Body is on Für lok ngay

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Splendid victories have raised the glo. ry of the French arms during this campaign:idefections without parallel have rendered those victories useless all has turned against us. France itself would be in danger, but for the union and energy of the French In these weighty circum stances, it was my first thought to call you around me. My heart has need of the presence, and of the affection of my subjects

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-I have never been seduced by prospe- energy, which may recommend your gene rity. Adversity will always find me superation to the generations to come. Let them rior to its attacks. I have several times not say of us; They have sacrificed the given peace to nations when they had lost best interests of their contry! They have every thing. From a part of my conquests I acknowledged the laws which England has have raised thrones for Kings who had forsake in vain sought, during four centuriesy to en me. I had conceived and executed great impose on France My people cannot designs for the prosperity and the happi- fear that the policy of their Emperor will ness of the world. A monarch and a fa ever betray the national glory. On my ther, I feel that peace adds to the security side, I feel the confidence, that the French of thrones, and to that of families, Nego will be constantly worthy of themselves, ciations have been entered into with the and of me !'' B71AE :dond op Allied Powers. I have adhered to the 701150 201ɔn 9. Paris: December 21. preliminary bases which they had present Legistative Body, under the Presidency of ed. I had then the hope, that before the opening of this session the Congress of Manheim would be assembled: but new delays, which are not to be ascribed to France, have deferred this moment, which the wishes of the world eagerly call for

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I have ordered to be laid before you all the original documents which are in my port-feuille of my department of foreign affairs. You will make yourselves ace quainted with them by means of a Gbm mittee. The Speakers of my Council wild acquaint you with my will on this subject.

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His Excellency the Duke of Massa♫t ni After the usual introductory business, Gount Regnaud de Saint Jeano d'Angely spoke as follows: woverb ew slivetai Gentlemen, in the two last campaigns, without having beers abandoned by victory, we have been betrayed by fortune. În the first, one of those winters which afflict nature but once in a century in the second an abandonment, defections, of which Enrope offers few examplesy have rendered stéril: the most brilliant successes.uad Happily, Gentlemen, the nation which -On my side, there is no obstacle to had enjoyed prosperity without being ins the re-establishment of peace, I know and toxicated by it has supported misfortune partake all the sentiments of the French, without dejection, and after having ges I say of the French, because there is not nerously in the preceding wars, defended one of them who would desire peace at the the territories of our allies from the evils of price of honour. It is with regret that war, we are prepared courageously to pre I ask of this generous people new sacrifices, serve our own from them. Called round but they are commanded by its noblestrand the throne under weighty circumstances, dearest interests. It was necessary to re the Emperor has just associated you, Cencruit my armies by numerous leviés: na tlemen, in the views of his policy, as in tions cannot treat with security except by the efforts of his administration.I have displaying their whole strengthAn ih said the views, and not the secrets, of his crease of taxes becomes indispensable policy; and, in short, this policy has al What my Minister of the Finance will ways been the defence, and the indepen propose to you is conformable to the system denge, of the honour, of the industry, and of finance which I have established. We of the commerce of France and her allies. shall meet every demand without a loan,But nations, like governments, deepwhich consumes the future, and without ly impressed, strongly pre-occupied by the paper money, which is the greatest enemy more recent events, forget those more disof social order.I am satished with thetant, keep faintly in their memory first sentiments which my people of Italy have causes, and lose sight of the links of that testified towards me on this occasion. historic chain which connects the past with Denmark and Naples alone have remained the present. God forbid, Gentlemen, faithful to their alliance with me. The that I should now describe here any past Republic of the United States of America grievances, calculated to irritate any minds, continues with success its war with Eng: to rekindle any resentments: I do not land.I have recognised the neutrality carry back my thoughts; I do not call of the nineteen Swiss Cantons.olo 29sm your's to the pasty but because that in each "Senators, Counsellors of State, Deput of the pages in which the remembrance of ties from the Departments to the Legislative it is preserved, one can discover with cerBody:39 40 Jaeji Portainty who have been the provokers of the "You are the natural organs of this war: War has existed in Europe for throne: it is for you to give an example of 20 years. The last was connected with

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