The Vice-prefect of the Isle of Elba, performing the Functions of Prefect, to the Inhabitants of that Isle. "The most fortunate event which could illustrate the history of the isle of Elba is realized before your eyes.

"Our august sovereign, the Emperor Napoleon, is come among us.

"Give, then, free course to that joy which must overflow your hearts: your wishes are accomplished, and the felicity of the isle is secured.

"Listen to the first memorable words which he has condescended to address to you, through the medium of the public functionaries: I will be to you a good father, be you to me good children. Let them be for ever impressed on your grateful

hearts.

"Let us all rally round his sacred person, emulous in zeal and fidelity to save him; this will be the sweetest recompense to his grateful heart, and thus shall we render ourselves worthy of that signal favor which Providence has conferred on us. "BALBIANI, Vice-prefect. "Office of Prefecture, at Porto Ferrajo, May 4, 1814."

Guiseppe Fillippo Arrighi, Honorary Canon of the Cathedral of Pisa, and of the Metropolitan Church of Florence, and under the Bishop of Ajaccio, Vicar-general of the Isle of Elba, and Principality of Piombino, to the Beloved in the Lord, our Brethren composing the Clergy, and all the faithful in the Isle, Health and Benediction!

"That high Providence which irresistibly and beneficently disposes of every thing, and assigns to nations their destiny, has determined, that amidst the political changes of Europe we should in future be the subjects of Napoleon the Great. The isle of Elba, already celebrated for its natural productions, must now be more illustrious in the history of nations, because it renders homage to its new prince of immortal fame. The isle of Elba takes its place in the rank of nations; and the minuteness of its territory becomes ennobled by the name of its ruler. Elevated to an honor so sublime, it receives into its bosom the anointed of the Lord, and those other distinguished personages who accompany him. When his imperial and royal majesty selected this isle for his retreat, he announced to the world with what predilection he loved it. Opulence will inundate this country, and multitudes will flock from other parts to our territory to behold a hero. The first day he set foot upon our shore, he pronounced our destiny and our felicity. I will be a good father,' said he, be you good children.'

"Beloved Catholics, what words of tenderness! what expressions of benevolence! what hopes may we not cherish of our future felicity? Let

these words then form the delight of your thoughts, BOOK XII. and be impressed on your souls with transports of consolation; let fathers rehearse them to their CHAP. X. children, and let the memory of the words which secure glory and prosperity to the isle of Elba be perpetual from generation to generation.

"Fortunate eitizens of Porto Ferrajo! within your walls the sacred person of his imperial and royal majesty is to dwell. Mild in character at all times, constant in affection to your prince, Napoleon the Great resides with you: never belie the favorable idea which he formed of you.

"Beloved, faithful in Jesus Christ, act in correspondence to your fate; Non sint schismata inter vas: idem sapite, pacem habete, et Deus pacis et dilectionis erit vobiscum. Let fidelity, gratitude, submission, reign in your hearts. Let all of you unite in a respectful sentiment of internal affection for your prince, father rather than sovereign; and exult with sacred joy in the goodness of the Lord, who, from the ages of eternity, had destined for you this happy event.

"With this view we order that next Sunday, in all the churches, a solemn Te Deum be sung, in thanksgiving to the Almighty for the precious gift which, in the abundance of his mercy, he has conferred upon us.

"Given from the ecclesiastical court of Elba, this 6th of May, 1814.

(Signed) "GUISEPPE FILLIPPO ARRIGHI, Vicar-general.

"FRANCESCO ANGIOLETTI, Secretary."

On the 5th of May, in the morning, Napoleon, with the commissioners of the allied powers, rode to Porto Longone, about five miles from Porto Ferrajo. He also visited the iron-mines, which constitute the chief wealth of the isle of Elba.

Napoleon was hardly established in his new sovereignty, when he received an account of the death of his late empress, Josephine. This princess died at Malmaison, on the 29th of May, in consequence of a disorder which at first exhibited the symptoms of a catarrhal fever, but suddenly assumed such a malignant character that it carried her off in three days. She had the melancholy consolation of expiring in the arms of her daughter and her son, from whom she had been a long while separated. All parties agreed in giving her an excellent character for a humane and benevolent disposition. Her funeral was celebrated on the 3d of June, at the church of Ruel, the parish in which the palace of Malmaison is situated. It was attended by a number of persons of distinction, among whom were the Prince of Mecklenburgh, General Sacken, many marshals of France, senators, and general officers, both French and foreigners, the two grand-children of the deceased princess, a great number of ecclesiastics from the neighbouring parishes, prefects,

1814.

stitution and rights of the canton against all attacks, and called upon all to whom it was addressed for their support.

At this time, Switzerland was far from being in a tranquil state. The Vaudois and the Argovians were resolute in asserting their independence on Bern. Some time before, a conspiracy was formed at Soleure, for taking possession of the town, and deposing the ruling party, which was disconcerted by an accident; and its ill success was said to have prevented the execution of a similar plot at Bern. The canton of St. Gall having made a demand of a federal aid from the diet, on account of a spirit of disobedience manifested in the districts of Uznach and Sargans, the ministers of the allied powers thought it proper to interpose, by a note addressed to the diet on the 8th of August. In this, the ministers expressed their regret for the doubts they have been compelled to enter tain of the firmness with which they hoped that body would maintain the arrangements of their circular of May 31st, which established the immutability of the status quo of the possessions of every canton, and of the political relations of their inhabitants, till the definitive settlement of affairs in general; and, in a tone of authority, they require the preservation of the public peace by a vigorous execution of that provisory law. This interposition, together with the disturbed state of Switzerland, appeared to have excited very serious apprehensions in the political leaders; and, on the 16th of August, the president of the diet addressed in his own name (that body not then sitting) a circular to all the governments of the cantons. After reciting the violent opposition which the federal compact had met with, and the necessity under which the diet had found itself of framing a new plan, with various modifications, the president warmly exhorts the cantons to unanimity, and proceeds to say, "A note of the ministers of Austria, Russia, and England, officially communicated to the deputations in our sitting of this day, shews the danger which a longer division may draw down upon our country. The opening of the general Congress, a period of the greatest importance to Switzerland in particular, as well as to Europe in general, is approaching. Switzerland attracts the attention of foreign powers; and it daily becomes more probable, that if the Swiss confederation be not fixed at that time, her constitution will no longer depend on herself, but her fate be determined without her participation." He then announced the intention of the diet to return to Zurich on the 4th of September, in order to resume its deliberations on the following day, and take the necessary steps to obtain the guaranty of the independence of Switzerland at the general Congress, and regulate its political interests.

The diet having assembled at the time ap

CHAP. XI.

on this weighty point; and, on the 8th of Septem- BOOK XII. ber, the following important document was signed by the deputies of all the nineteen cantons. Act of the Acceptation of the Treaty of Alliance, concluded between the Cantons of the Swiss Confederation

Switzerland, invested with full and sufficient au"Whereas the deputies of the sovereign states of thority to announce the will of their constituents, on the new plan of a treaty of alliance, dated the 16th of August, 1814, as also on the convention concluded on the same day, terminated the objects of their mission in the sitting of the 6th of September, and having endeavoured, in various private conferences, to remove the difficulties which tained this day, the 8th of September, an object so stood in the way of an absolute union, have atimportant to the safety and the welfare of the country at large.

"The diet has in consequence decreed

"The treaty of alliance between the nineteen the tenor and effect, shall be signed and sealed as cantons of Switzerland, of which the following is a true federal convention, in the forms heretofore used for the acts of the diet:

"FEDERAL COMPACT.

1. "The nineteen sovereign cantons of Switzerland, viz. Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schweitz, Glaris, Underwalden, Zug, Friburg, Soleure, Basle, Schaffhausen, Appenzel, St. Gall, Grisons, Argovia, Thurgovia, Tessin, and Vaud, are united by the present treaty, for the preservation of their liberty and independence, and for their common safety against any attack from foreign powers, as well as for the maintenance of order and public tranquillity in the interior. They reciprocally guarantee their constitutions, such as they have been accepted by the chief authorities of each canton, in conformity to the principles of the treaty of alliance. They reciprocally guarantee their territory.

2. "For the maintenance of this guaranty, and the neutrality of Switzerland, there shall be raised among the men of each canton, fit to bear arms, a contingent upon the calculation of two in each hundred. The troops shall be furnished by the cantons as follows:-Bern 4,184, Zurich 3,858, Vaud 2,964, St. Gall 2,630, Argovia 2,416, Grisons, 2,000, Tessin 1,084, Lucerne, 1,784, Thurgovia 1,670, Friburg 1,240, Appenzel 972, Soleure 904, Basle 816, Schweitz 602, Glaris 482, Schaff hausen 466, Underwalden 282, Zug, 250, Uri 236, making a total of 30,006 men.

"This proportion is fixed for one year, and shall be revised by the diet in 1815, in order to its being corrected.

3." The cantons, in order to furnish the means for defraying the expenses of war and the confe

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"These contributions are in like manner to continue in force for one year, and the diet shall decide anew, in 1815, on this subject, and on the appeals which each canton may find it expedient to make on the subject. A similar revision shall take place every twenty years, as well for the adjustment of the contributions as for the contingents of men.

"In order to meet the expenses of war, there shall be established, besides, a federal war treasury, the funds of which shall accumulate until they amount to a double contingent in money. This military chest shall be exclusively applied to defray the expenses arising from the movements of federal troops; and, in case of emergency, one moiety of the charge shall be defrayed by the produce of a contingent in money, according to the scale, and the other moiety paid out of the military chest.

"To supply this military chest, duties shall be imposed on all foreign goods introduced, not being articles of the first necessity; these duties to be levied by the frontier cantons, which will make returns to the diet, according to the tariff and regulation to be fixed by the diet, which will also take care of the appropriation of the

money.

4. "In case of danger, external or internal, each canton is entitled to claim the aid of the confederates. When disturbances arise in any canton, notice must be sent to the chief place; and if the danger continues, the diet, on the invitation of the government of the canton, shall take the necessary measures.

5. " All differences or claims between canton and canton, not provided for by the treaty of alliance, shall be decided by the confederation.

6." There must not be concluded between separate cantons any alliance unfavorable to the general confederation, or to the rights of other cantons. All recourse to arms in disputes between canton and canton is prohibited.

7. "The confederation does homage to the principle according to which, having recognised the nineteen cantons, there is no longer any subject in Switzerland; and thus the enjoyment of rights cannot any longer be the exclusive privilege of any particular class of the citizens of a

canton.

8." The diet, according to the provisions of the treaty of alliance, takes care of the affairs in the confederation, confided to it by the sovereign

states. The diet is to consist of nineteen deputies, one from each canton, who shall vote according to their instructions; each canton to have a voice by its deputy.

The diet declares war, concludes peace, makes alliances with foreign states; but in these important matters two-thirds of the voices are required to determine-in all others an absolute majority. The diet is also to decide on treaties of commerce.

"Treaties to furnish soldiers, or other minor engagements, with foreign powers, may be contracted by the cantons severally, but without infringing the general confederation. All envoys from the confederation to be named by the diet. "Done at Zurich, the 8th of September, 1814. In the name of the diet-its president, burgomaster of the canton of Zurich, "REINHART. "MOUSSON.

"The Chancellor of the Confederation."

Such were the conditions of this compact, which on being ratified by the deputies of the cantons, the diet received the congratulations of the ministers of the three allied powers. An union of the Geneva, Neufchatel, and the Vallais, with the Helvetic body, was afterwards effected.

The restoration of the republic of Geneva to a state of independence, was a consequence of the overthrow of the French military power, which cannot fail of giving pleasure to all who have been interested by the moral and literary character of that city. Occupied provisionally by the Austrian troops on their entrance into France, and burdened by the usual military requisitions, it was soon permitted to entertain hopes of a favorable change in its condition. On the 1st of May, the envoys-extraordinary of their imperial and royal majesties addressed a declaration to the syndics and council of Geneva, in which, referring to an address presented by the citizens of Geneva, on the 22d of April, to the provisional council, expressing their wishes for the restoration of the republic, and its aggrega tion to the Helvetic body, they congratulate the Genevans on the accession of the provisional council to their desires. They affirm that the allied powers are desirous that the republic of Geneva, strengthened by a liberal constitution, and by a suitable increase of territory, should offer itself to Switzerland as a co-estate; for which purpose, they advise that the provisional council should employ itself in preparing the plan of a constitutional act for the republic, the cantons being now engaged at Zurich in drawing up their federal compact; and they declare that Geneva shall be authentically acknowledged in the pos session of its political rights, and of the territory which the allied powers intend to assign to it.

The full concurrence of the court of England

to this disposition of the other allies was made known on the 4th of May, by a note to the provisional government, transmitted by M. d'Ivernois, from Mr. Stratford Canning, minister-plenipotentiary from the prince-regent to the Swiss confe deration. In this paper his royal highness expresses, in the most obliging terms, his friendly sentiments towards Geneva, and promises his efforts at the Congress to bring to effect the purposes in its favor declared by his allies.

On the 18th of August two companies of Zurichers arrived at Geneva to form its garrison; and on the same day was published the constitution of the Genevan republic. The following are its most important articles. The Protestant religion is the predominant. There shall be at Geneva a church appropriated to the Catholic worship; it shall be maintained at the expense of the state. The constitution recognises neither patrician nor privileged classes. All the Genevese are equal in the eye of the law. The liberty of the press is acknowledged, but every work must be signed. Should circumstances require it, the representative body shall have power to limit the exercise of that liberty. The legislative power is vested in a representative council, composed of 250 members, or 268, including the syndics and council of state. The legislative council shall conform to the general laws of the Helvetic confederation; it shall possess authority to fix the taxes annually, to accept or reject treaties, to coin money, to appoint to the administrative and judicial offices that are reserved for it, to regulate all matters relative to the ordinary and extraordinary diets, and to name the deputies to the latter, The representative council shall be convoked as a matter of course, on the first Monday in May and December; each session shall last three weeks. The executive power is vested in a council of state, composed of twenty-eight members, elected from among the members of the legislative council only. Official intelligence of the union of this state with the Swiss confederacy, as one of the cantons, arrived on the 19th of September at Geneva, and was received by the whole population with every expression of joy.

We shall now turn our attention towards Holland. It is a remarkable circumstance, that the Prince of Orange was invited, on the commencement of the revolution in that country, to take the reins of government, not under the ancient title of stadtholder, but the new and indefinite one of sovereign. Whence this alteration originated has not been made public; but we may learn from the past history of Holland, that the zealous friends of the house of Orange have always been vigilant to take occasion of the dangers and necessities of the state to enhance an authority perhaps too limited for the exertion of the powers equisite for the executive head of the common

1814.

wealth. Accordingly, soon after the entrance of BOOK XII. his serene highness into Amsterdam, which we have mentioned in our tenth book, the general CHAP. XI. commissaries of the national government issued an address to the inhabitants, in which they announced the change in the supreme authority in the following terms: "It is not William VI. whom the people of the Netherlands have recalled, without knowing what they have to hope or expect from him. It is William I. who, as sovereign-prince, by the wish of the Netherlanders, appears as sovereign among that people, which once before has been delivered by another William I. from the slavery of a foreign despotism. Your civil liberty shall be secured by laws, by a constitution giving a basis to your freedom, and be better founded than ever.' On the 3d of March, the following paper was issued by the Prince of Orange:

Dutch Political Constitution.

"The Hague, March 3, 1814. "We, William, by the grace of God, Prince of Orange Nassau, Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands, &c.

"To all whom these presents come, greeting! "Invited to the sovereignty of these states by your confidence and your attachment, we from the first declared, that we would undertake the same only under the guarantee of a wise constitution, which might secure your freedom against all possible abuses; and we have ever since continued to feel the necessity thereof.

"We regarded it, therefore, as one of the first and most sacred of our duties, to summon together some men of consideration, and to charge them with the weighty task of establishing a fundamental code, built upon your manners, your habits, and corresponding to the wants of the present time.

"They cheerfully took upon themselves this office, performed it with zeal, and have submitted to us the fruits of their uninterrupted labours.

"After a careful examination of this work, we have given it our approbation. But this does not satisfy our heart. It respects the concerns of the whole Netherlands. The whole Dutch people must be recognised in this important work. That people must receive the strongest possible assurance, that their dearest interests are sufficiently attended to therein; that religion, as the fountain of all good, is thereby honored and maintained, and religious freedom disturbed by nothing of temporal concerns, but secured in the most ample manner; that the education of youth, and the spread of scientific knowledge, shall be attended to by the government, and freed from all those vexatious regulations which oppress the geniur and subdue the spirit; that personal freedom sha!.