301] AUGUST 24, 1805.-King of Prussia's Letter to Napoleon, &c. in cunning, or set forth with ostentation, to conclude an equitable and useful peace. If Austria takes any delight in seeing France and England worry one another, she will order her armies to march, she will adopt proper dispositions to encourage the war faction in England, and she will acquire the melancholy glory of protracting the anxieties and the sufferings of two great nations. -But the English deceive themselves; such policy can never influence the conduct of a Prince so open, a man so excellent as the Emperor Francis II. There is for Princes, as for individuals, but one road to honour. If the Emperor Francis was hostilely disposed, he would erect his standard. He has a gallant army; a numerous population; he is convinced that a hollow, lowly muttered war, is unworthy of him, and of the nation he governs.--We have no doubt but that Austria is anxious for the glory of contributing to a maritime peace, and she, too, is interested in it, since the present moment alone may determine the separation of the crowns of France and of Italy that it may bar the Russians from Corfu and the Morea; and the English from the Mediterranean, three things equally advantageous to Austria. If such, we say, be the wish of Austria, she has a very simple way to accomplish it. Let her convince England of what Prussia has convinced her; and let the ministerial journals no longer have any colourable pretext to induce a bellef tht by degrees Austria may be prevailed upon imprudently to become the stalking-orse of England.—But is it the interest of England to prolong the war, even with the aid and co-operation of Austria?A well-informed Englisman observed, non a solemn occasion, that the Cabinet & St. James's was in a wrong direction, when it wished and endeavoured to purchase coalition by pecuniary sacrifices; for (said hit was the first coalition that delivered u Belgium and Holland to France; that the send gave her Piedmont and Italy; and that ththird might give her new coasts and new hbours. This political lesson, which is liate to no suspicion in the mouth of an Englis citizen, may appear so in this journal, but is not the less true for that. In the preset position of affairs, England can look for othing so advantageous and so profitable toner commerce as a just and reasonable pee.Let England be persuaded that thpresent race of Frenchmen, educated andiardened in camps, are no longer the Frehmen of Louis the IVth's reign, that thtime when she dictated a eaty of comirce to the Cabinet of Ver [302 sailles is almost as remote from us as the time when she kept a commissary at Dunkirk. It was well said by the Emperor to the King of England, "The world is wide enough for the two nations," or, rather, should we say, for every nation. PUBLIC PAPERS. Letter of His Majesty the King of Prussia, acknowledging Napoleon as Emperor of the French, dated Berlin, May 27, 1804. Sir and Brother,- -The desire to maintain and to cultivate those relations of amity, and that perfect good understanding, in which I have hitherto had the pleasure of being with the French Government, and at the same time to testify to you my high personal regard, has induced me to transmit, without delay, these presents to my Minister of State, the Marquis de Lucchesini, to accredit him to your person in the quality of my Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. I accordingly request you to believe whatever he may have the honour to say or to propose to you on my part. He will, in particular, fulfil my intentions by giving your Imperial Majesty to understand the sentiments which I have ever cherished towards you; the sincere interest which I have never ceased to take in all that is calculated to increase and strengthen the prosperity and the welfare of the nation over which you rule; and my ardent wishes that this prosperity may be still farther augmented by the happy restoration of peace and tranquillity in Europe. You will invariably find, in my mode of thinking and acting, the same candour and the same confidence in you, which I have hitherto been so anxious to shew you. While I give you this assurance, I likewise renew, with pleasure, that of the sentiments of friendship, and the highest consideration with which I am, your Imperial Majesty's good Brother and Friend, FREDERIC WILLIAM. LOUIS XVIII. Letter of His Majesty the King of Sweden, to the Governor of Calmar, dated Stralsund, November 3, 1804. Sir, -After I was informed by your letter of the 25th of October, of the departure of his Majesty Louis XVIII. I could no longer refrain from expressing to you in particular, as well as to the other officers at Calinar, and to the inhabitants of that place, the extraordinary pleasure which I received from the exemplary conduct of them all during the residence of that illustrious personage in Sweden. His Majesty Louis XVII. has himself borne the same testi mony, to which I pay so much the more regard, as I believe it to be a characteristic of Swedes to treat with respect and veneration the legitimate rulers of every country. This is the most satisfactory manner in which you can evince your attachment and devotion to me. I charge you to acquaint all whom it may concern with my sentiments, and am, your truly affectionate,GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. FRENCH ACCOUNT OF THE LATE NAVAL ACTION. -Dispatch from Admiral Villeneuve to the Minister of Marine, dated on Board the Emperor's Ship, Bucentaure, 8 Thermidor, 27 July, 40 leagues W. S. IV. off Cape Finisterre. her were two of the enemy's, one totally dismasted, and the other, a three-decker, with her topmast gone, and much cut in her rigging; running both before the wind. The dismasted ship appeared in great confusion, and could scarcely keep the sea with all her pumps going. An excessively thick fog covered the whole van and rear of the squadron, and prevented us from executing any movement. As far as I could see, all the advantage of the combat was with us. The fog did not abate during the remainder of the evening. During the night the two squadrons remained in sight, making signals to keep together. I thought, however, I perceived that the enemy retreated. As soon as the day broke we saw them much to leeward of us. All the reports received from the French vessels were satisfactory; those of Admiral Gravina evinced a firm determination to pursue and again attack the enemy. When the weather afterwards cleared up, we did not perceive two Spanish ships, le Firme and le St. Raphael. I ordered a general bringing-to, and forming a line of battle on the larboard tack, bore down upon the enemy. The wind abated, the sea was high, the enemy bore down, and it was imposible for me, during the whole of the day, o engage them in the manner I should have wished. I was busy all night in keeping the fleet in order, that I might be ready to renew the engagement at day-break. At the first peep of dawn I made signal bear down upon the enemy, who had takn their position at a great distance, and endavoured, by every possible press of sail, o avoid renewing the action:-Finding it impos şible to force them to a re-engagement, I thought it my duty not to removeny further from the line of my destination but so to shape my course as to effect, agreably to my instructions, a junction with te squadron in Ferrol. I experienced' nita opposi tion from contrary winds at E. and E. N. E. which during yesterday continued to blow with the utmost violence. The following is the only account I ha received of the two ships which are missir from the Spanish squadron: Captain Conao, who commanded the Pluto, (a Frenclship), informed me that from the very ginning of. the action the Firme had lost h main and mizen-masts; that he had protted her as long as he could keep sight of he by placing himself between her and the nemy, but that he soon afterwards lost sig of her in the fog. As to the Saint Raph, it appears certain that she was not dismad, but that vessel being a bad sailor fell toeward, and we lost sight of her the first ght.To I have the honour, Monseigneur, to give you an account of the combined fleets having quitted Martinique on the 16th Prairial. On the 9th of July, being off Cape Finisterre, there came on an E. N. E. and N. E. wind, which blew with great violence. The Indomptable lost her maintopmast, and the fleet suffered much damage in its yards and sails. The wind moderated, but continued blowing from the same quarter, and I remained without being able to make more way, still contending with adverse winds to the 22d July, when I descried 21 sail of the enemy. I immediately formed in line of battle on the larboard tack. Admiral Gravina made to the Spanish squadron the signal to head the line, and he himself led the combined squadrons. The weather was excessively foggy; we steered towards the enemy, who steered towards us in a long line, with the apparent intention of hauling their wind upon our rear, and of placing it between two fires, by tacking before the wind. As soon as I saw them to leeward, I made the signal for luffing up and going about. The fog began to disperse. As soon as my signal was seen by Admiral Gravina, he immediately obeyed it with much resolution, and was followed by all the vessels of the fleet. As soon as he closed, he engaged the enemy's ships, which had already began their movement before the wind. But the fog then became so thick that it was impossible to see any thing, and each ship could scarcely see the vessel next to it.The battle then began almost along the whole line. We fired by the light of the enemy's fire almost always without seeing them. It was only at the end of the battle, when the weather cleared up a little, that I could see to leeward of the pun&f the line under Spanish under her cer 17 305] AUGUST 24, 1805.-French Account of the late Naval Action. conclude, the fog continued so thick, that I was unable to distinguish the force of the enemy, but on the day after the action I saw fourteen sail, of which three were threedeckers; the greater part of them appeared much damaged. If it is true, as stated by the Captain of La Didon, who reconnoitered the enemy before the action, that they had fifteen sail, it may be presumed that one of them had disappeared in the action. In short, my lord, thus affair has been honourable to the arms of both powers, and had it not been for the thick fog which continued to favour the movements and the retreat of the enemy, he would not have escaped our efforts noc a decisive action. I am slig norant of the number of killed and wounded, but I believe it is not considerable. I have to regret Capt. De Perrone, of his Majesty's ship l'Intrépide who was killed. Captain Rolland, of Atlas, has received a wound. I shall have the honour to send you immediately more detailed accounts. I intreat your Excellency to accept my respect. VILLENEUVE. From on board his Imperial Majesty's Ship, Bucentaure at Sea, 22d Prairial, April 11. My lord,-I have the honour to inform you, that on the 19th inst. (April 8), having doubled Antigua, I got information. that in the N. N. E. was a convoy of the enemy, consisting of 15 sail. I made signal for a general chace, and at night-fall, the whole of the convoy was in my power, which I sent off to Martinique. These ships, which had come out from Antigua, were all laden with colonial produce, and destined for Europe. The convoy may be valued at five millions (French). I intreat your Excellence to accept my respects.-VILLENEUVE. -P. S.-The Didon frigate has just taken a lugger of 14 guns, and 49 men. On board the Bucentaure, off the Azores, on the 4th Messidor, June 23. My lord,-I have the honour to inform your excellency, that yesterday morning the advanced frigates discerned two sail, to which they gave chace and came up with. One was an English privateer, the Mars, of Liverpool, of 14 guns, and 50 men; the other was a Spanish ship, the Minerva, which lad been captured by the privateer, and which he was escorting. The ship was coming from Lima, having been at sea nearly five months, with a very rich cargo. Independent of 420,000 piastres, her cargo consisted of bark, cocoa, &c. &c. The whole estimation at from five to six millions (French). The privateer being much damaged from boarding, Captain Lameillerie, of the Hortense, set it on fire, alter taking the crew on [306 board. The Didon manned the other, and I have her under my protection. I entreat your Excellency to accept my respects.VILLENEUVE. Notes on the English Account of the Engagement between Sir R. Calder and the Combined Fleets. NOTE 1. From the Moniteur of the 8th of August.--Nothing is said in this. account of the English three-deckers which were dismasted. It is said, that it was the intention of the Vice-Admiral to renew the action on the following day. That is not true, or at least the Vice-Admiral having afterwards found that his squadron was weakened by the loss of the Windsor Castle, and considerably damaged, changed his intention, as during two days which followed he constantly avoided an action.—Upon the idea of retreating into Corunna, the Moniteur says in Note 2-" Retreat into Corunna! Strange expression! as if the object of the operation was not the junction of the combined squadrons with that of Ferrol!” In a word, the combined squadrons kept the sea, and five days after the battle were still off the coast. NOTE 2. From the Moniteur of the 12th of August.-The hopes announced at the close of this article (the hopes of a renewal of the engagement and a more complete victory) have been disappointed.--Vice-Admiral Calder sheered off with his 13 ships of the line, and left the combined fleets mistresses of the sea, and at liberty to pursue their operations. The assertions of the English Journal are as erroneous as its conjectures. It is not true that the two Spanish ships struck. Having suffered in their rig ging, and the combined fleet being to wind-, ward, they fell during the night into the enemy's line: the same thing would have happened to the three English vessels dismasted, if their squadron had been to wind- . ward; they would probably have fallen into the line of the combined fleets."--This is at least a very ingenious way of accounting for our having possession of two ships of a fleet that claims the advantage of the combat. NOTE 3. From the Moniteur of the 13th of August. It is true, that Vice-Adm. Villeneuve had 14 French and six Spanish ships of the line in the action; but it is by no means true, that he had three large 50 gun ships. Admiral Calder admits, in this dispatch, that he was the first to discontinue the action. The reason assigned by him, that he might secure two Spanish ships that had struck, is falsified by the statement of our squadron, inasmuch as these vessels did not fall into his hands till after the en- bined fleet had the victory; two vessels gagement, and in the night, because they have already left your squadron; and the could not manœuvre, and were drifting be- eighteen ships of the combined squadron are fore the wind. The real reason was, that in a good condition, have accomplished the he had four vessels dismasted.-Admiral object of their mission, and obliged you to Calder does not say that the Windsor Castle raise your blockade. This we take to be the and the Malta were so rough handled, that truest sign of victory. Two Spanish vessels, they were scarcely able to make the coast of bad sailers, equipped in haste, suffered greatEngland; and thus his squadron was reduced | ly in the action, then drifted and fell into to 13 ships.As to the fog, it has been your hands during the night, without ita seen by the report of Admiral Villeneuve, being perceived by the combined squadron that he too infinitely regretted it, and that if till the next day. It was a great loss; but it had not taken place the English admiral you also have suffered a real loss of the two would not have escaped as he has done.- vessels that have been obliged to return to As to loss, the killed and wounded of the port.- -Let us accurately compare the combined squadron, are far inferior in nun- force of the two squadrons. You had three ber to those on board the English squadron. three-deckers, and we had none, for there is This engagement fought in the midst of a mistake in your account, the Neptune and darkness, and continued for three hours, is Formidable are but eighties, and the Spanish really an irregular skirmish. ship the Argonaut, is but a seventy-four. The combined squadron had twenty ships, but of two different nations; it is well known that they are not the same as twenty of the same nation. Besides, what more could be required from this squadron ? It remained mistress of the sea, and compelled you to abandon the scene of action. cident occurred in the thick of the fog, and this accident has screened your defeat; has enabled you to make it pass for a victory; but in proportion as things will clear up, Europe will be convinced that you have suffered a real defeat. The combined squadrons wished to enter Ferrol or Corunna, and Sir Robert Calder wished to prevent them. This is the problem that the action is to solve. Has the advantage been on your side, or has Admiral Villeneuve accomplished his mission-The solution of this question will decide that of the victory. It is impossible not to have at once positive notions of this decisive fact. You say that the squadrons fought bravely; very well! the different accounts of the French and Spanish squadrons say, that they had not fought at all, and the whole had been but an irregular skirmish. If the following morning Admiral Calder had not had the prudence to keep aloof, and with the advantage of the wind, your defeat, had been more complete. NOTE 4. From the Moniteur of the 14th of August. [The following note is affixed to a paragraph copied from a paper of Aug. 1, which states, that the communication from the Admiralty to Lloyd's, was far more satisfactory than Sir Robert Calder's dispatch, because it expressed in a more decided tone his determination to renew the action.This communication is worthy of remark; the Admiralty might represent that Sir R. Calder would engage in the manner that it was their interest to suppose; but the Admiralty did not know that he had sent back two ships to England not only unfit for action, but altogether unable to keep the sea. They knew not that two other ships, three-deckers, had been greatly damaged; that the two Spanish vessels had not been captured during the action, but had fallen into the English line during the night, and long after Vice-Admiral Calder had ceased firing, and discontinued the action. NOTE 5. From the Moniteur of the 14th of August.-[The following note is to an extract from the "Sun" stating the verbal message of Sir Robert Calder by Lieutenant Nicholson to Admiral Cornwallis, that he could and would renew the action:]-Here facts alone speak. You admit that the English squadron was the first to discontinue the fight, and to withdraw from the scene of action; this it did because it had four ships dismasted. You admit that Admiral Calder was to renew the attack on the following day, and that it was in his power to do so; he not only did not do so, but kept aloof, and at a great distance, and in the end, disappeared altogether. You say, that Admiral Calder has sent only the Windsor Castle to England, he has also sent the Malta.short your statements prove, that the com -In DISTURBANCES AT VIENNA. An ac -Edict issued by the President of the Police relative to the Disturbances at Vienna, July 10, 1805. His Majesty, who, during the whole course of his reign, has received from his good and faithful subjects and inhabitants of the capital, the most frequent and most sin cere proofs of attachinent to his person, attention to order and obedience to the laws, must have been very deeply concerned by of the news of the disttrbances that broke out yesterday and to-day in the out-skirts of this city. His Majesty, however, is inclined to entertain the consolatory belief that these disorders have only been occasioned by a few desperate persons, who were soon followed by a number of ignorant and lazy fellows, under the influence of intoxication. In this supposition, his Majesty confidently expects that the faithful subjects and inhabitants of the capital will unite together for the maintenance of the public tranquillity, and that, by a prompt and punctual obedience to all orders issued to that effect by the civil and military authorities, they will check the progress of these dangerous disturbances. By the express command of his Majesty, it is therefore ordered as follows:1. All workmen, journeymen, &c. &c. shall forthwith return to their respective labour.——2. Parents, masters, manufacturers, &c. &c. shall be responsible for the disobedience of their children and their servants to the said order, and shall be bound to make a declaration before the police, of those who shall not have returned to their work after the public is certain of the present decree.3. Every mob, crowd, &c. shall be dispersed by the military, who are authorised at the same time to fire on all meetings of the people who shall not separate after the publication of the present.-4. All those who shall be apprehended as forming a part of these mobs, or ring-leaders, if such, shall be tried by the laws contained in the 8th case of the criminal code, and even, as circumstances may require, may be tried by martial law. (Signed)- -SUMMARAW, President of the Police. ST. DOMINGO. CONSTITUTION OF HAYTI. We, H. Christophie, Clerveux, Vernet, Gabart, Petion, Geffrard, Toussaint Brave, Raphel, Romain, Lalondrie, Capoix, Magny, Daut, Conge, Magloire Ambroise, Yoyou, Jean Louis Francois, Gerin, Moreau, Fervu, Bavelais, Martial Besse; as well in our own name as those of the people of Hayti, who have legally constituted us faithful organs and interpreters of their will; in presence of the supreme being, before whom all mankind are equal, and who has distributed so many species of creatures on the surface of the earth, for the purpose of manifesting his glory and his power by the diversity of his work: in the presence of all nature by whom we have been so unjustly and so long a time considered as outcast children do declare, that the tenor of the present constitution is the free spontaneous 24 invariable expression of our hearts, and : the general will of our constituents; and we submit it to the sanction of H. M. the Emperor, Jacques Dessalines, our deliverer, to receive its speedy and entire execution. PRELIMINARY DECLARATION. - Art. 1. The people inhabiting the island, formerly called St. Domingo, hereby agree to form themselves into a free state, sovereign and independent of any other power in the universe, under the name of Empire of Hayti. 2. Slavery is for ever abolished. 3. The citizens of Hayti are brothers at home; equa lity in the eye of the law is incontestibly acknowledged, and there cannot exist any titles, advantages, or privileges, other than those necessarily resulting from the consideration and reward of services rendered to liberty and independence. 4. The law is the same to all whether it punishes or protects. 5. The law has no retro-active effect. 6. Property is sacred, its viciation shall be severely prosecuted. 7. The quality of citi zen of Hayti is lost by emigration and naturalization in foreign countries, and by condemnation to corporeal or disgraceful punishments. The first case carries with it the punishment of death, and confiscation of property. 8. The quality of citizens is suspended, in consequence of bankruptcies and failures. 9. No person is worthy of being a Haytian who is not a good father, a good son, a good husband, and especially a good soldier. 10. Fathers and mothers are not permitted to disinherit their children. 11. Every citizen must profess a mecanic art. 12. No white man, of whatsoever nation he may be, shall put his foot on this territory with the title of master or proprietor, neither shall he in future acquire any property therein. 13. The preceding article cannot in the smallest degree affect white women, who have been naturalised Haytians by government, nor does it extend to children already born, or that may be born of the said women. The Germans and Polanders, naturalized by government, are also comprised in the dispositions of the present article. 14. All acception of colour among the children of one and the same family, of whom the chief magistrate is the father, being necessary to cease, the Haytians shall henceforward be known only by the generic appellation of Blacks. OF THE EMPIRE. -15. The Empire of Hayti is one and invisible. Its territory is distributed into six military divisions. 16. Each military division shall be commanded by a general of division. 17. These generals of division shall be independent of one another, and shail correspond directly with the Emperor, or with the general in chief ap |