Such was the result of a war of ten campaigns, the most destructive, the most eventful, and the most important in its consequences, of any upon record. In the course of it, so entire a revolution had taken place in France that not a wreck was left of the old system as a memorial of its existence: the most unfortunate Lewis the Sixteenth, and all the princes of the original stem of the house of Bourbon were either brought to the scaffold or driven into exile: and the republic founded on the ruins of the ancient monarchy, amidst scenes of turbulence and bloodshed, accomplished what Lewis the Fourteenth had attempted in vain; it completely conquered "shall not be in future either a French or English language; and that no individual belonging to either the one or other of these powers shall be admitted into the order. 66 66 4. The forces of his Britannic majesty shall evacuate the island, and its dependencies, "within three months from the exchange of the ratifications, or sooner if possible. At that "epoch it shall be given up to the order in its present state, provided the grand master, or "commissaries fully authorized according to the statutes of the order, shall be in the island to "take possession, and that the force which is to be provided by his Sicilian majesty, as is "hereafter stipulated, shall have arrived there. 66 5. One half of the garrison, at least, shall be always composed of native Maltese; for the "remainder the order may levy recruits in those countries only which continue to possess the lan66 guages (posseder les langues.) The Maltese troops shall have Maltese officers. The commander "in chief of the garrison, as well as the nomination of the officers, shall pertain to the grand master; and this right he cannot resign even temporarily, except in favour of a knight, and in "concurrence with the advice of the council of the order. 46 "6. The independence of the isles of Malta, of Gazo, and Camino, as well as the present “arrangement, shall be placed under the protection and guarantee of France, Great Britain, 66 Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia. "7. The neutrality of the order and of the island of Malta, with its dependencies, is "proclaimed. "8. The ports of Malta shall be open to the commerce and the navigation of all nations, who "shall there pay equal and moderate duties; these duties shall be applied to the cultivation of the "Maltese language, as specified in paragraph 3, to that of the civil and military establishments of "the island, as well as to that of a general lazaretto, open to all colours. 66 12. His Sicilian majesty shall be invited to furnish 2000 men, natives of his states, to serve "in garrison of the different fortresses of the said islands. That force shall remain one year, to "bear date from the restitution to the knights; and if at the expiration of this term the order "should not have raised a force sufficient, in the judgment of the guaranteeing powers, to gar"rison the island and its dependencies, such as is specified in the 5th paragraph, the Neapolitan 66 troops shall continue there until they shall be replaced by a force deemed sufficient by the said 13. The different powers designated in the 6th paragraph, to wit, France, Great Britain, "Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia, shall be invited to accede to the present stipulations."— Gentleman's Magazine. p. 453 454. 1802 1802 conquered the Austrian Netherlands; it made the Rhine the boundary of its dominions towards Germany, and the Alps towards Italy.—In the course of this war, the house of Austria lost a considerable part of its territories, and still more of its weight in the scale of Europe: the Prussian monarch lost his fame: the Dutch and Swiss republic, though indulged with the denomination of independent states, were, in fact rendered absolutely dependent on France: the pontiff was suffered to slumber in the papal chair as long as he should be content with the mode of existence which was assigned him: the Italian states were entirely new modelled, and subjected to the power of the first consul: and the king of Sardinia, and the remaining sovereigns of the house of Bourbon, can be considered in no other light than as captive monarchs, gracing that conqueror's triumphal car. Far different was the state of Great Britain at the close of this contest. In all that is essential to dignity of character her conduct claims a most distinguished pre-eminence. She had, it is true, made a full trial of her resources, and had strained the sinews of public credit: but she had preserved the honour of the British crown unsullied. If she was disfigured with wounds and bruises in the combat, they were all in front: if her shield be battered, it is yet resplendent: intaminatis fulget honoribus. * Whilst other states were crouching before a foreign oppressor, she still maintained her proper station among the powers of Europe, and braved his utmost effort to subdue her spirit. And although the present generation may have suffered in their fortunes, they have the satisfaction of transmitting their rights and liberties unimpaired to posterity.* a It is observed by a writer of high repute," that no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth; and to see the errors and wanderings, and mists and 66 tempests in the vale below." -No period of history ever afforded so great a variety of such objects to engage the attention of mankind as the present. No humane person can contemplate the scenes of misery which attended the French revolution, and the events which ensued on it, without feelings of pity towards the sufferers in them, and awful presages of the evils which still threaten Europe should its powers continue to be tame spectators of the aggrandizement of France. Bacon's Essay on Truth. These These may be considered as matters of interesting speculation only to the generality of men; but they are matters of the most serious contemplation to those who fill the highest departments in society. The future fortune of their empires depend, perhaps, on the line of policy which they pursue at this important crisis: and happy are those countries where the reins of government are held by men whose dispassionate and enlightened minds place them on that vantage ground from which they may see the errors and wanderings of others; and who have judgment and inclination to apply their observations on them to the regulation of their own conduct. "Hoc "illud est præcipuè in cognitione rerum salubre ac frugiferum, omnis te exempli documenta in "illustri posita monumento intueri: inde tibi, tuæque reipublicæ quod imitere capias: inde "fædum inceptu, fædum exitu quod vites."b 1802 VOL. IV. 20 Liv. Præfatio. MISCELLANIES. MISCELLANIES. ARTICLE I. GREAT BRITAIN. THESE miscellanies consist of such information relative to internal government, revenue, military and naval force, arts, sciences and letters, commerce and manufactures, public works, and other matters, as could not be introduced in the general histories of the several states without interrupting the narrative of civil, political and military events and transactions, or could not be given so connectedly.-They may, perhaps, be interesting to such persons as are not provided with better sources, as not only affording them some information respecting these matters, but giving them a comparative view of the state of the several kingdoms, &c. and the means employed for their improvement. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Great Britain, happily, was not interested in those affairs relative to religion which embroiled some of the nations on the continent during this period. It had partaken, in common with all Europe, of the benefits derived to the literary world from the labours of the jesuits: but, the 202 283 |