lives of the soldiers, should the French be inclined to resist. On this account the Governor was again summoned, under the threat of putting the garrison to the sword; upon which he surrendered at discretion. FRANCE. PARTIAL SUSPENSION OF PAYMENT BY THE BANK. It was to be expected that a general alarm in the interior would necessarily be the consequence of the formidable invasion of the French territory; and we find, accordingly, that, by the failure of confidence, and the discredit of paper securities, the Bank at Paris has been already exposed to such a rapid drain of its specie, that a partial suspension of its cash payments has been the consequence. The value of its stock in specie being reduced to £.600,000. it was resolved to limit its cash payments to 500,000 francs per day, equal to £.20,000, NEGOCIATIONS FOR A GENERAL PEACE. The documents relative to the late nego ciations between France and the allies have been published in the French papers; from which it appears, that the basis then proposed to Bonaparte was, that the French 'territory should be bounded by the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Rhine. The documents in question, commenced with a long report from Baron de St Aig. nau, stating, that, being at the head-quarters of the allied sovereigns, on the 26th October last, he had several interviews with Prince Metternich the Austrian Minister, who requested that he might be the bearer to the Emperor Napoleon of the basis on which the allies professed themselves willing to negociate a peace; that Prince Met`ternich assured him that the greatest moderation prevailed in the councils of the coalesced Powers; that nothing was intended against the dynasty of Napoleon; that England was much more moderate than was thought, and that there never was a more favourable moment for treating with her; that he was afterwards introduced to Lord Aberdeen, who reiterated to him the assurance that England was ready to make the greatest sacrifices, that they possessed much, and would give up bountifully; that the coalesced Sovereigns were willing that the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, should form the natural boundary of France; but France must renounce her influence in Germany; the old dynasty be established in Spain; Austria have a frontier in Italy, to be settled by negociations; that even Hol land should be an object of negociation; and that England was ready to make the greatest sacrifices for a peace founded on these bases, and to acknowledge the liberty of commerce and navigation to which France had a right to pretend. Baron St. Aignau requested permission to commit to writing the substance of this conversation, which was accordingly granted; and the note which accompanies his report was read and approved of by Prince Metternich, Count Nesselrode, and the Earl of Aberdeen. The following is a copy of this memorandum, together with the correspondence that resulted from it. Note written from Frankfort, Nov. 9. by Count Metternich has told me that the circumstance which has brought me to the head-quarters of the Emperor of Austria might render it suitable to charge me to carry to his Majesty the Emperor the answer to the proposals which he has caused to be made by Count Merfeldt. In conse quence, Count Metternich and Count Nesselrode have desired me to report to his Majesty : That the Allied Powers were engaged by indissoluble ties, which constituted their strength, and from which they would never deviate. That the mutual engagements which they had contracted, had made them take the resolution to make no other than a general peace. That at the time of the Congress at Prague, a Continental peace might have been thought of, because the circumstances would not have given time to come to an understanding to treat otherwise; but that since then, the intentions of all the powers, and those of England, were known; that therefore it was useless to think either of an armistice, or of a negociation which had not for its first principle a general peace. That the allied Sovereigns were agreed unanimously respecting the power and the preponderance which France ought to retain in her integrity, and confining herself to her natural limits, which are the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. That the principle of the independence of Germany was a condition sine qua non; that France must therefore renounce, not the influence which every great state necessarily exercises over a state of inferior strength, but every kind of sovereignty over Germany; that besides, it was a principle which his Majesty himself has laid down, that it was proper that great states should be separated by weaker ones. That on the side of the Pyrenees, the independence ependence of Spain, and the restoration of the ancient dynasty, were also a condition Like qua non. That in Italy, Austria ought to have a frontier, which would be an object of negociation; that Piedmont offered several lines, which might be discussed, as well as the state of Italy, provided, nevertheless, that, Exe Germany, it should be governed in a manner independent of France, or any other preponderating power. That in the same manner the state of Holland would be a subject of negociation, always proceeding on the principle that it must be independent. That England was ready to make the greatest sacrifices, for a peace founded on those bases, and to negociate the freedom of commerce and of navigation, to which France has a right to pretend. That if these principles of a general padification were approved by his Majesty, a place on the right bank of the Rhine, which might be judged proper, might be made neutral, whither the Plenipotentiaries of all the belligerent powers should immediately repair, without the negociations suspending the course of military events. ST AIGNAU. Frankfort, Nov. 9. 1813. Letter from the Duke of Bassano to Count Metternich. Paris, Nov. 16, 1813. SI-Baron St Aignau arrived here on Monday (yesterday,) and has reported to us according to the communications which have been made to him by your Excellency, that England has assented to the proposal fr the opening of a Congress for a general peace, and that the powers are inclined to neutralize a town on the right bank of the Rhine, where the Plenipotentiaries may meet. His Majesty wishes that this town may be Manheim. The Duke of Vicenza, whom he has chosen for his Plenipotentiary will repair thither as soon as your Excellency shall have informed me of the day which the allies have fixed for the opening of the Congress. It seems to us proper, Sir, and, besides, conformable to custom, that there should e no troops at Manheim, as that duty should be done by the burghers, at the same time that the notice should be confided to a bailiff, appointed by the grand Duke of Baden. If it were judged proper to have pickets of cavalry, then their force must be equal on both sides. As for the communications of the English Plenipotentiary with his Government, they might be made over France, and by the way of Calais. A peace on the independence of all nations, as well in a continental, as maritime point of view, has been the constant object of the wishes and of the policy of the Emperor. His Majesty augurs well, from the report made by M. Saint Aignau, of what was said by the Minister from England. I have the honour to offer your Excelleney the assurance of my high consideration. The Duke de BASSANO. Answer of Prince Metternich to the Duke of Bassano. SIR-The courier which your Excellency dispatched from Paris, on the 16th November, arrived here yesterday. I hastened to shew their Imperial Majesties and the King of Prussia, the letter which you have done me the honour to write to me. Their Majesties have seen with pleasure that the confidential communication with M. de St Aignau, has been considered by his Majesty the Emperor of the French, as a proof of the pacific intentions of the high Allied Powers: animated by the same spirit, invariable in their point of view, and indissoluble in their alliance, they are ready to enter upon a negociation as soon as they shall be certain that his Majesty the Emperor of the French admits the general and summary basis which I have pointed out in my conver sation with M. de St Aignau. In your Excellency's letter, however, there is no mention of these bases. You confine yourself to expressing a principle common to all the Governments of Europe, and which all of them place among the first of their wishes. This principle, however, considering its wants of precision, cannot supply the plan of these bases. Their Majesties desire that the Emperor Napoleon would explain himself relatively to the latter, as the only means to prevent insurmountable obstacles from obstructing the negociations at their very beginning. The choice of the city of Manheim appears to the allies to offer no obstacles; its neutralization, and the regulations of the police, which your excellency proposes, can in no case occassion any. Accept, Sir, the assurances of my high consideration. Prince METTERNICH. Frankfort on the Maine, Paris, Dec. 2. 1813. PRINCE-I have shewn to his Majesty the letter which your Excellency addressed to the Duke of Bassano, the 25th November last. In admitting, without restriction, the independence of all nations as the basis of peace, as well in a territorial as maratime light, France has admitted in principle what the the allies seem to wish. His Majesty has by this admitted all the consequences of this principle, the final result of which, must be a peace, founded on the ballance of Europe, or the recognition of the absolute independence of all States, so that no one can arrogate to itself over another, any kind of sovereignity or supremacy, under whatever form it may, either by sea or land. It is, however, with lively satisfaction, that I announce to your Excellency, that I am authorised by the Emperor, my august inaster, to declare that his Majesty adheres to the general and summary bases which have been communicated by M. de St Aignau. They will bring with them great sacrifices on the part of France, but his Majesty will make them without regret, if by such sacrifices England gives the means of attaining a general peace, honourable for all, which your Excellency affirms to be the wish, not only of the powers of the Continent, but also of England.-Accept, &c. CAULINCOURT, Duke of Vicenza. Answer of Prince Metternich to the Duke of Vicenza. SIR-The official letter which your Excellency did me the honour to send me on the 2d December, has reached me from Cassel through our out-posts. I have lost no time in laying it before their Majesties. They have observed with pleasure that his Majesty the Emperor of the French had adopted bases essential to the re-establishment of a state of equilibrium and to the future tranquility of Europe, They have resolved that this paper should, without delay, be communicated to their allies. Their Majesties do not doubt but that the negociations may be opened as soon as the answer shall have been received. We hasten to inform your Excellency of it, and to concert with you then the arrangements which shall seem best calculated to attain the end we have in view. I beg you to accept, &c. Prince METTERNICH. Frankfort on the Maine, Dec. 10. Letter from the Duke of Vincenza to Prince Metternich. Luneville, Jan. 6. 1814, PRINCE, I have received the letter which your Excellency did me the honour to write to me on the 10th of last month. The Emperor will not form a precipitate judgment on the motives which have required, that his full and entire assent to the bases which your Excellency has proposed, in com mon with the Ministers of England and Russia, should be communicated to the allies before the opening of the Congress. It is difficult to suppose that Lord Aberdeen wan have had powers to propose bases, and not to negociate. His Majesty will not affront the allies. They have been undeceived, and they still deliberate. They know well, that every conditional offer becomes an absolute engagement for him who has made it, as soon as the annexed condition is fulfilled. In every case, we had reason to expect, before the 6th January, the answer which your Excellency announced on the 10th December. Your correspondence, and the reiterated declarations of the allied powers, did not let us foresee any difficulties; and the accounts of M. Talleyrand, on his return from Switzerland, confirm that their intentions are still the same. Whence, then, can these delays procced? His Majesty hav ing nothing more at heart than the speedy re-establishment of a general peace, has thought he could not give a stronger proof of the sincerity of his sentiments in this respect, than by sending to the allied Sovereigns his minister for Foreign Affairs, provided with full powers. I hasten, therefore, Prince, to acquaint you, that I shall wait at the out-posts of our army for the necessary passports to pass through those of the allied armies, and repair to your Excellency. Accept, &c. Answer from Prince Metternich. Friberg, in the Brisgau, Jan. 8. Sir-I have received to-day the letter your Excellency did me the honour to write me from Luneville the 6th inst. The delay of the communication which the French Government expected, in consequence of my official letter of 10th December, results from the manner of proceeding which the allied powers must observe among themselves. The confidential conversations with Baron St Aignau, having led to official overtures on the part of France, their Imperial and Royal Majesties have judged, that your Excellency's answer of the 2d December was of a nature that required its being communicated to their allies. The supposition of your Excellency, that it was Lord Aberdeen who proposed the bases, and that he was furnished with powers for that purpose, are wholly unfounded. The Court of London has just sent to the Continent the Secretary of State for the Foreign Department.' His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias being for a short time absent from this place, and Lord Castlereagh being hourly expected, my august master, and his Majesty the King of Prussia charge me to inform your Excellency, that you will receive, as soon as possible, the answer to your proposal, to repair to the head-quarters of the allied Sovereigns. I beg your Excellency, &c. The Historical Affairs. The obtructions to negociation being removed by the arrival of Lord Castlereagh, on the Continent, the different plenipotentiaries met at Chatillon-sur-Seine on the 4th February, and immediately proceeded in the work of peace. The statesmen to whom this important labour is entrusted, are Lord Castlereagh and the Earl of Aberdeen on the part of England; the Duke of Vicenza, (Caulincourt) on the part of France, the Austrian Count Stadion, the Russian Count Rasumowski and the Prussian Baron Humboldt. Since this congress opened, several messengers, bearing dispatches from Lord Castlereagh, have arrived in Britain; but until the negociations' terminate in some decisive results, the nature of these communications cannot be publicly known. HOSTILE OPERATIONS. While an attempt is thus making to give to Europe that repose for which it has so many years languished; war still rages in France in all its horrors.-Bonaparte left Paris to take the command of his armies, on the 24th January, and after a trifling affair with a corps of Blucher's army, on the 26th at St Dizier, he made an attack upon the force under the command of that veteran, at Brienne, on the 29th. armies of the Allies, in their advance into The the heart of France, had hitherto met with but feeble resistance, the different French corps retreating as they advanced, occasionally engaging in skirmishes with their advanced bodies. We extract from the French papers the following official report of this action, to which we shall subjoin, the acCounts published in the London Gazette, from the dispatches of Lord Burghersh :Paris, Feb. 5. The Emperor arrived at Vitry on the 26th of January. General Blucher, with the army of Silesia, had passed the Marne, and was marching upon Troyes. On the 27th the enemy entered, Brienne, and continued his march, bat he had to lose some time in repairing the bridge of Lesmont on the Aube. On the 27th the Emperor caused St Dizier to be attacked. The Duke of Belluno presented himself before that town. ral Duhesme overthrew the enemy's rearGeneguard, which was still there, and took some hundred prisoners. At Eight in the morning the Emperor arrived at St Dizier. It is difficult to describe the intoxication of joy of the inhabitants at this moment. The excesses of every kind committed by the enemy, especially by the Cossacks, are beyond all description. On the 28th the Emperor went to Mon tierender. On the 29th, at eight in the morning, 141 valry, sent word that General Milhaud, General Grouchy, who commands the cawith the 5th corps of cavalry, was between Maieres and Brienne, in presence of the enemy's army, commanded by General Blycher, which was estimated at 40,000 Russians and Prussians, the Russians commanded by General Sacken. At four o'clock the little town of Brienne was attacked.-General Lefebre des Nouettes, commanding a division of cavalry of the guard, and Ge nerals Grouchy and Milhaud, made several fine charges on the right of the road, and took possession of the height of Perthe. The Prince of Moskwa put himself at the head of six battalions in close column, and advanced against the town by the road of Maziers. General Chateau, chief of the staff of the Duke of Belluno, at the head of got into the castle of Brienne by the park. two battalions, turned by the right, and At this moment the Emperor directed a column on the rosd of Bar-sur-Aube, which seemed to be the retreat of the enemy. The attack was warm, and the resistance obstinate. -The enemy did not expect such a brisk attack, and had but just time to call back his parks from the bridge of Lesmont, where he intended to pass the Aube, to advance. This countermarch had much embarrassed him. Night did not put an end to the combat. The division Decouz, of the young guard, and a brigade of the division Meunier, were engaged. The great force of the enemy, and the excellent situation of Brienne, gave him many advantages; but the taking of the castle, which he neglected to guard with a sufficient force, caused him to lose them. About eight in the evening, seeing that he could no longer maintain his ground, he set fire to the town, and the flames spread with rapidity, all the houses being of wood. Profiting by this event, he endeavoured to retake the castle, which the brave Commanintrepidity. der of a battalion of the 56th, defended with He covered with his dead all the approaches to the castle, particularly the staircases on the park side. This last check determined the retreat of the enemy, which was favoured by the burning of the town. At eleven in the morning of the 30th, pursued him beyond the village de la RoGeneral Grouchy and the Duke of Belluno therie, where they took their position. The 31st was employed by us in repairing the bridge of Lesmont, on the Aube. The Em. peror, intending to advance towards Troyes to operate upon the columns which directed their march by Bar-sur-Aube, and the road of Auxerre upon Sens. The bridge of Lesmont could not be re paired before the 1st of February in the morning. A part of the troops was imme diately made to file off. At three in the afternoon the enemy hav ing been reinforced by his whole army, debouched upon la Rothiere and Deinville, which we still held. Our rear-guard shewed a good countenance. General Duhesme distinguished himself by preserving Ro. thiere, and General Gerard by preserving Dienville. The Austrian corps of General Guilay, which attempted to pass from the left bank to the right bank, and to force the bridge, had several of its battalions de stroyed. The Duke of Belluno maintained himself the whole day at the hamlet of la Giberie, notwithstanding the enormous disproportion of his corps to the force that attacked it. This day, in which our rear guard maintained itself in a vast plain against the whole of the enemy's army, and quintuple forces, is one of the finest achieve ments of the French army. In the midst of the obscurity of the night, a battery of the artillery of the guard following the movement of a column of cavalry, which was advancing to repulse a charge of the enemy, lost its way, and was taken. When the caunoneers perceived the ambush into which they had fallen, and saw that they had not time to form their battery, they formed themselves in a squadron, attacked the enemy, and saved the horses and har ness. They lost fifteen men killed or taken prisoners. At ten in the evening, the Prince of Neufchatel visiting the posts, found the two armies so near that he several times took the enemy's posts for ours. One of his Aidesde-Camp, being ten paces from a vidette, was taken prisoner. The same accident happened to several Russian officers, who were carrying orders, and who got among our posts, taking them for their own. Few prisoners have been taken on either side; we have taken 250. On the 2d February, at break of day, the rear-guard of the army was en bataille before Brienne. It successively took positions to finish the passing the bridge of Lesmont, and rejoining the rest of the army. On the 3d, at noon, the Emperor entered Troyes. We have lost in the battle of Brienne the brave General Baste; General Lefebre des Nouettes has been wounded by a bayonet; General Foristier has been severely wounded. Our loss in these two days may be estimated at from 2 to 3000 men killed or wounded. That of the enemy has at least been dou ble. Extracts of Dispatches from Lord Burghersh Published in the London Gazette. Bar Sur Aube, February 1. 1814. I have the satisfaction of announcing to your Lordship, that the enemy, commanded by Bonaparte, have this day been defeated. Thirty-six pieces of cannon, and three thou sand prisoners, are already in the hands of the allies. Bonaparte had placed his army in two lines, extending across the plain from the front of Dienville, on the right, by the vil age of La Rothiere, towards Tremilly, on the left. In front of the left, he occupied the village of La Gibrie, and the woods by which it was surrounded. In reserve, General Marmont was placed in the village of Morviliers. The heights also about the town of Brienne were eccupied. Your Lordship has been informed, that the corps of Marshall Blucher, consisting only of General Sachen's division, and part of General Langeron's divison, had yester. day taken up a position near Trannes. The Prince Royal of Wertemburgh was in communication with the right of General Blucher, and in position at Maison. General Guilay removed from Bar sur Aube to support General Blucher; his corps was formed on the great road between Trannes and Dienville. I reported to your Lordship that General Wrede was to co-operate with General Wittgenstein, in his attack on Vassy. The enemy having, however, abandoned that position, General Wrede marched upon Doulevent, from whence he was directed to advance upon the road by Tremilly to Chaumenil. Two divisions of Russian grenadiers, and a division of cuirassiers, amounting to about six thousand men, and forming a part of the reserve under the orders of General Barclay de Tolli, formed the support of the different corps, and were engaged in the action of this day. General Blucher began his attack about twelve o'clock, by advancing the corps of of General Guilay towards Dienville, and by forming the divisions of his own corps in front of La Rothiere. The Prince Royal of Wertemburgh advanced about the same time from Maison upon La Gibrie; he was strongly opposed in the woods about that place, but at last succeeded in forcing the enemy to retire, and in carrying the village. The enemy made an attempt to retake this position, but was received most gallantly by the troops of the Prince Royal, and totally repulsed. Du |