The King stood on the theatre of war, and was not acquainted with the negociation for an armistice and peace until the latter was concluded, contrary to the express stipulations of the treaty concluded between Sweden and Russia, the 14th of January, 1805, Art. IX. The intelligence of this unexpected event was followed by an offer to contribute to the conclusion of peace, (*) which induced his Majesty to renew the demand of an armistice (which was stipulated in the Treaty of Tilsit), but met with a denial, and he then learned to appreciate the value of the co-operation of Russia. The King being now unable to defend any longer his German dominions, was obliged to surrender them.After this loss, occasioned by the secession of Russia, his Royal Majesty left the theatre of war, and merely endeavoured to enjoy in his kingdom that tranquility which he was entitled to expect from his situation. He had fulfilled his engagements with Russia, and now expected to learn what under a changed system would be done in his favour. The King had supported the Russian operations with his ships of war, had opened to the emperor his magazines of warlike stores, and rejected and hardly noticed the terms offered to him by the French government, one of which was, that in case of a rupture with Russia, in the midst of war, when the Russian frontiers and the capital itself were perfectly defenceless, all the provinces lost in the reign of Charles XII. should be restored to Sweden, and that besides any part of the Russian Empire * General Bernadotte, made an offer of Norway to a Swedish officer who was taken prisoner. The French minister Bourienne offered to the Swedish charge d'affaires, Netzel, the 14th. of November, 1806, and General Grandjean to Colonel Baron Tawast, the 27th. of May, 1807, any extension of the Sweith frontiers that might be desired in case of a rupture with Russia. should be procured to the King which he should require. His Royal Majesty is far from claiming any praise for having rejected such offers, but his right of expecting honourable proceedings from the power spared was strengthened by his conduct.— The tendency and bearing of the secret articles of the treaty of Tilsit, which were first suspected to exist, and afterwards acknowledged by the Russian ministry, began to appear. The terrific menaces of France to hem in the whole Continent of Eu rope, and shut it against the English trade, commenced to be carried into effect, and to spread misery and want throughout Continental Europe, from port to port, and from state to state. No government was permit ted to act according to its own judg. ment and experience, and no medium acknowledged between vassals and foes. Peace meant confederacy,confederacy subjection; and principles, laws, and systems, were dictated by France to her so styled independent allies, who humbly received them from Paris, unmindful of the wounds which they should inflict on the common welfare. Preparations for a rupture with England were made in Petersburgh as early as last Autumn, and merely a convenient season was waited for to carry them into execution, when, by a note of the 6th of October, it was proposed to his Majesty to co-operate in the same manner as in 1780, in an attempt to shut the Baltic against foreign ships of war. His Majesty returned for answer, under date of the 30th November, that as long as the French government was lording it over so considerable a part of the southern parts of the Baltic, and practising its excluding system, there could be no tranquillity in the Baltic; wherefore his Imperial Majesty must first prevail on the French to quit them; and as the above demand was repeated the 27th of the said month, and compliance was requited as an obligation arising from the convention of the year 1780, it was fully stated, in a reply given the 21st of Jan. last, that by the convention concluded between Russia and England in the year 1801, and to which Sweden acceded, by the express desire of Russia, and under her own guarantee, the former armed neutrality was perfectly done away; that his Majesty then entered into direct engagements with England, which he could not in justice violate, as long as that power continued to fulfil them on its part; that along with the former armed neutrality, the stipulation to shut the Baltic naturally fell to the ground; a stipulation which was the less fitted for the present circumstances, as the former Danish navy, then reckoned upon, did no longer exist, and as England had besides opened a passage through the Great Belt; but as Sweden was not at liberty to contribute, with an armed force, to preserve tranquillity in the Baltic, she would endeavour to obtain, by negociation with Eng land, that the latter should send thither no ships of war, unless some other power should render that measure necessary, by hostilities comnitted in that sea. That Sweden should serve Russia for a bulwark since she had been pleased to provoke England; that Sweden should sacrifice her fleet and her trade to protect Cronstadt, was certainly ask ing too much. Hostile preparations were immediately commenced on the Russian frontiers. His Royal Majesty, however, still looked with indifference on them, as long as no grievance had been stated to him, and no claim preferred. The offer to obtain, by negociation, the tranquillity of the Baltic, opened prospects of peace and profit for Russia, and for the whole of the North of Europe, and therefore assuredly could not be refused. The ports of Russia could then have continued their trade undisturbed, and this trade could not but prove extremely desirable to his Imperial Majesty, after an unfortunate war, and a still more unfortunate peace. The offer was made on the supposition of England's consent, which there were strong grounds to expect, and his' Imperial Majesty hoped to obtain it before the English fleet, which was so much dreaded, should be able to reach the Baltic. A direct answer to this offer being avoided, his Majesty's ambassador was directed the 15th of February, to make remonstrances on this subject, when at once all official communications with Sweden were broken off, and the Russian, troops entered Finland with their proclamation. Every lawful government, every manly and honourable soldier, every faithful subject, condemas this proceeding. The sudden invasion of at friendly country, commenced with treacherous attempts to stir up revolts, is unprecedented, even in our times, otherwise so rich in instances of the most unwarrantable acts of violence and despotism! The Russian empire, allied. with France, is not sufficiently powerful to overcome the resistance of a province, which, on account of the season, is entirely left to itself. Treachery and rebellion must be called in for assistance, The government endeavours to buy the people in a mass, and seduce them by offers of happiness and li berty; the commander in chief endeavours to buy soldiers by the piece, who had not been able to buy serfs in the markets of Petersburgh and Riga. Faithful inhabitants of Finland, respectable people, your King, since the beginning of his reign, has constantly endeavoured to diffuse knowledge and prosperity through your country; a treacherous friend is now attempting to disturb your repose, and throw you back into the darkness of ancient times. His sword is unsheathed over your heads, his blood-stained hands are extended to complete your ruin; do not rely on his treacherous promises, which merely tend to unnerve the arm of loyalty, and decoy you from your faithful attachment to your King and country. Concerned at the misfortunes attending on war, but convinced that he has not provoked them, your King feels satisfied that your attachment to his person re-, mains unimpaired; and you may depend on his making the utmost exertions, assisted by a powerful ally, to protect and avenge you, Stockholm, March 11, 1808. DECLARATION OF DENMARK AGAINST SWEDEN. The Danish government has with Just impatience waited to see the effect of the efforts employed by the Court of St. Petersburgh for the purpose of recalling Sweden, by the most friendly means to those interests which are common to her with all the powers of the North, and to those principles which are the first bond of her connection with Russia and Denmark. These efforts having finally proved ineffectual, the Danish government finds itself placed in a position towards Sweden which will no longer allow its relations with that kingdom to remain uncertain. What these had become, it is indeed impossible to dissemble, after a perfidious aggression had suddenly for ced Denmark from the path she had followed during a long series of years without the slightest deviation. All Europe has resounded with one cry of indignation at the crime committed by Great Britain against a neutral and peaceful state; and from all quarters has the Danish government received testimonies of the most lively interest in its cause. The court of Stockholm alone, notwithstanding the particular ties which united it with that of Copenhagen, observed a total silence, which it at length broke, only to prefer complaints the most unfounded, and reproaches the most unjust, with respect to the inconveniences that had indirectly resulted to it from the events of the war, as well as from the rigorous measures which the situation to which the Danish government has been most unexpectedly reduced, has imperiously required it to adopt, and which the chicane and endless vexations of Sweden bave been little calculated to induce it to abandon, The Danish Cabinet would have been extremely embarrased to interpret this conduct on the part of a Sovereign, whose interests, principles, and sentiments, it had regarded as being equally wounded by an act of atrocity, which has suddenly lighted the flames of war in the North, if it had not quickly seen cause to suppose, that the resolution taken by the King of Sweden under these circumstances was not merely that of indifference. The extraordinary facility with which that monarch, several weeks before the reduction of Stralsund, had consented to the departure of the major part of the English forces in Pomerania (whither, as it should seem, they came with no other view than to await the opportunity of being conveyed to Zealand,) and the pains his Swedish Majesty took to inform his people that this re-embarkation took place by virtue of a sepa rate article of his convention with Great Britain, gave the first indications of a secret understanding at the expence of Denmark. These indications were very soon increased. The Danish government is not acquainted with the extent of the assistance which its enemy received in the ports of Sweden; but it has felt the consequences of that assistance in a manner the most lamentable to itself, It is easy to conceive the impression which has been produced upon Danish nation by the relations of every kind, and the uninterrupted the communication which the English found no difficulty in maintaining with Sweden. No one could fail to remark how much Denmark was insulted by the pleasure which the King of Sweden appeared to take in repairing to the coast opposite to the Sound, and beholding personally all the injustice and outrage committed against a neighbouring country; by the caressess and numberless marks of distinction lavished upon the leaders of the English forces; by the honours which they, on their part, affected to render to the ally of their Sovereign; and by the demonstrations of respect towards his Swedish Majesty, to which the ships of war, violently seized from the port of Copenhagen, were not bound, on their passage along the Sound, under the cannon even of that fortress to which their salute was owing. However unfavourable an aspect the concurrence of these circumstances necessarily casts upon the dispositions of the King of Sweden towards the government of Denmark, that government cannot reproach itself with having gratuitously exaggerated those appearances, which the court of Stockholm, far from attempting to remove, wished to produce, nourish, and strengthen, as far as it was in its power. But these simple appearances were soon succeeded by facts. The government of England was the first to develope to Denmark the openly hostile disposition of his Swedish Majesty. Europe already knows the explanations occasioned between Denmark and Sweden by this denunciation. The King of Sweden, when called upon in the most frank and friendly manner to declare himself on this subject, was seen endeavouring to elude the necessity of such a declaration; and, when he was at length closely pressed, his Majesty gave an answer oblique, equivocal, and insulting. Nevertheless, as this answer appeared in some measure to give the lie to the government of England, the government of Denmark was contented with it for the moment, and thought it becoming to dissimulate its just resentments against Sweden, in the hope that, enlightened concerning her true interests, and reflecting on the consequences of her resolutions, she would at last end by yielding to the representations which the court of St. Petersburgh had made, with as much tenderness as patience, in order to engage her to renounce her alliance with Great Britain, evidently become incompatible with the tranquility of the North, and especially with the security of Denmark. The Danish government is but imperfectly acquainted with the nature and extent of the engagements which Sweden has entered into with England; whatever may be the object of them, and whatever their tendency, no one can better conceive or appreciate than itself the repugnance which his Swedish Majesty would feel in failing in any of the obligations he had contracted. But the Cabinet of Copenhagen is not uninformed that the Swedish government itself has admitted, that the term of its engagements recently expired; and after the Cabinet of St. James's had unmasked itself in the face of all Europe, it would have been insulting the court of Stockholm to suppose that it would dare to concur in an attack upon the first bases of the security, prosperity, and digmity of the powers of the North. These considerations could not be balanced by the trifling advantage of subsidies, with which the Cabinet of London shews itself ready at all times to purchase its allies, and whom it then pretends to have the right of treating as mercenaries! These resolutions of the King of Sweden having, however, frustrated the last hopes of his neighbours, the government of Denmark could no longer hesitate, on its part, to take those measures which its security, པཔ་པ་་་ North, has just assured himself of the dependence of the court of Stockholm upon him for fresh pecuniary assistance; when the public declara-. tions of the English ministry sufficiently unfold the nature of the engagements still subsisting or renewed between the two allies, the Danish government deems it right to prefer a state of open hostility to precarious and equivocal relations, towards an enemy whose disposition is become more and more suspicious, and who, during a long period, could be considered only as a disguised enemy. His Majesty the King of Denmark declares consequently that he adopts altogether the resolutions of Russia in respect to Sweden, aud that he will not separate his cause from that of the Emperor Alexander, his august and faithful ally. Given at Copenhagen, the 29th of February, 1808. other powers of the Cont the declaration against E extend the same measur Sweden, which have b against England, on accou alliance with that power. tation of the Declaration the emperor of Russia on (22d) of February, in this Majesty has accordingly b all relations with Sweden, mands all in office under hi the penalty of severe punish refrain from all community course whatever with Swe pursuance of this, from the moment, and till farther or Prussian harbours shall be closed against Swedish vessel sian vessels shall no longer into Sweden, neither shall or neutral ships, or wares come from Sweden, be admit Prussian harbours. Koningsberg, March 6. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS, HOUSE OF LORDS, Monday, Feb. 29. Lord St. John, in rising to make his promised motion, argued that the orders of council had been unwise, ought not to have been issued, and were unjustifiable: and concluded by moving five resolutions to that effect; and the question being put upon the first, The Duke of Montrose, after delivering himself in favour of the or ders, moved the previous question, bers were Contents 66, prox non-contents 24, proxies 23 jority 90. Tuesday, March 1. Lord Hawkesbury's motion, an annuity of 20001. be gran the heirs of the late General Lake," was put and carried nen The order of the day for th cond reading of the reversi grant abolition bill, being read Lord Lauderdale moved for reading of certain passages o Majesty's speeches on the 27t |