ཟླ་

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER.

VOL. XXIII. No. 25.] LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1813.

865]

TREATY WITH SWEDEN.

[Price 18.

-[866

who, not content with defeating their eneTo the "Most Thinking People" in the mies, extended vastly the dominions of

World.

Most thinking People,

Though I, who have had the misfortune not to reside amongst you during a very considerable part of my life, do not, of course, pretend to be so "thinking" as the rest of you, or, at least, as the greater part of you, you will, I am sure, excuse me for thinking upon the subject of the Treaty with Sweden, and also for expressing my thoughts to you thereon.

France.

But, during this memorable conflict, the grandest and most interesting that was ever read of by us of this age, the people of France themselves were hurried into numerous acts of folly and cruelty. All the pas sions were let loose; and, while the love of glory led to conquest in the armies, the base passions were at work at home. So that, at last, it became necessary to contract the focus of power, in order to enable the government to yield protection to the weak against the strong. To one change, in this retrograde way, another succeeded, till, in the end, the man who had shone most in arms, was chosen the sovereign of the country, and was called Emperor of France. He has been at peace with all Europe, except England; but, now again, other Powers have raised their heads, and, by the aid of English money, are now leagued against him in war.

Before I come to speak to you of this precious document in detail, let me call your recollection up a little as to some historical facts. The war, in which we now are with France, was, in reality, begun in 1793; the interval, called peace, being, in reality, no peace at all. This war was entered into in order to save what was called regular government, in Europe, from destruction. The French people, weary of the burdens which they had to bear, and The fact, however, to be borne in mind, having imbibed the principles of freedom is, that the war originated in the openlyfrom the writings of Rousseau, Voltaire, avowed motive of preventing the democraand others, having also the example of the tical and disorganizing politics of the French United States of America before their eyes, from spreading over the rest of Europe. rose upon the government of the Bourbons It was a league of the old governments of and destroyed it. The other governments Europe for their mutual protection, against of Europe, taking the alarm at so danger- insurrections of their several peoples against ous an example, combined, for the most them. The league did not answer its purpart of them, against the French people, pose; for, of the numerous potentates of who had then formed themselves into a re- Europe, there remain, at this hour, but publican people, governed by an Assembly two, that I can think of, whose governof Deputies of their own choosing. In ments have not been overthrown. Look this league against France, or, as it was about you, most Thinking People, and see termed, the Democracy of France, all the where are now the Kings of Sweden, Prusother Powers of Europe entered the field, sia, Naples, Sardinia, Spain, and Portugai; irst or last; and this "mud democracy," the Stadtholder of Holland, the Emperor of as it was called, without any King or other Germany, the Pope, the Electors of GerChief, without Nobility, without Clergy, many, the Swiss Aristocracy, the Doge of without Old and experienced Officers of Genoa, the Dukes of Modena and Tuscany; ny kind, had to contend against England, see where they all are, most Thinking PcoSweden, Denmark, Prussia, Russia, Hol- ple, and particularly see where are the old and, Switzerland, Sardinia, the Empire of Royal Family of France; and, then consiGermany, the Dukedoms of Italy, the Pope, der, that, in this war, you have added six Naples and Sicily, Spain, and Portugal. hundred millions to a debt, of which you One after another all these Powers made have to pay the interest, whether you now heir peace with the Republicans of France, have peace or war.

Having thus refreshed your most Thinking Minds; having called to your recollection, the fact, that this long, and, apparent ly, endless war, arose out of the alarm of the old governments for the safety of the settled order of things; having reminded you of the time when you were called upon to make a voluntary offering of your money in this cause, we will now, if you please, read over this famous treaty together; and, when we have so done, let us give way that disposition for deep thinking, for which the sinecure placeman, Lord Stormont, said we were so remarkable.

to

of Charles XIII. Great Eagle of the Legion of Honour of France; and Gustavus Baron de Wetterstedt, Chancellor of the Court, Commander of the Order of the Polar Star, one of the Eighteen of the Swedish Academy; who, after having exchanged their re spective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following arti

cles:-
:-

ARTICLE I. His Majesty the King of Sweden engages to employ a corps of not less than thirty thousand men, in a direct

TREATY OF CONCERT AND SUBSIDY BE- operation upon the Continent, against the

TWEEN HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY AND
THE KING OF SWEDEN ;- -SIGNED AT
STOCKHOLM, MARCH 3, 1813.

common enemies of the two high contracting parties. This army shall act in concert with the Russian troops placed under the

In the name of the most Holy and Undi- command of his Royal Highness the Prince vided Trinity,

Royal of Sweden, according to stipulations to this effect already existing between the Courts of Stockholm and St. Petersburgh.

II. The said Courts having communi cated to His Britannic Majesty the engagements subsisting between them, and hav ing formally demanded His said Majesty's accession thereto, and his Majesty the King of Sweden having, by the stipulations contained in the preceding article, given a proof of the desire which animates him to contribute also on his part to the success of the common cause; His Britannic Majesty being desirous in return to give an immediate and unequivocal proof of his resolution to join his interests to those of Sweden and Russia, promises and engages by the present Treaty to accede to the conventions already existing between those two powers, insomuch that His Britannic Majesty will not only not oppose any obstacle to the annexation and

His Majesty the King of the United King dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Majesty the King of Sweden, equally animated with the desire of drawing closer the ties of friendship and good intelligence which so happily subsist between them, and penetrated with the urgent necessity of establishing with each other a close concert for the maintenance of the independence of the North, and in order to accelerate the so much wished for epocha of a general peace, have agreed to provide for this twofold object by the present Treaty. For this purpose they have chosen for their Plenipotentiaries, namely, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on behalf of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Honourable Alexander Hope, Major-General of His Majesty's Armies; and Edward Thornton, Esquire, his Envoy Extraordi-union in perpetuity of the Kingdom of Nornary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the King of Sweden; and his Majesty the King of Sweden, Lawrence Count d'Engestrom, one of the Lords of the Kingdom of Sweden, Minister of State and for Foreign Affairs, Chancellor of the University of Lund, Knight Commander of the King's Orders, Knight of the Royal Order

way, as an integral part, to the Kingdom of Sweden, but also will assist the views c his Majesty the King of Sweden to that ef fect, either by his good offices, or by employing, if it should be necessary, his nava co-operation in concert with his Swedish Russian forces. It is nevertheless to b understood, that recourse shall not be h

Treaty.

to force for effecting the union of Norway to|ing Parties in the first article of the present Sweden, unless his Majesty the King of Denmark shall have previously refused to join the alliance of the North, upon the conditions stipulated in the engagements subsisting between the Courts of Stockholm and St. Petersburgh; and his Majesty the King of Sweden engages, that this union shall take place with every possible regard and consideration for the happiness and liberty of the people of Norway.

III.-In order to give more effect to the engagements contracted by his Majesty the King of Sweden, in the first article of the present Treaty, which have for object direct operations against the common enemies of the two powers, and in order to put his Swedish Majesty in a state to begin without loss of time, and as soon as the season shall permit, the said operations, His Britannic Majesty engages to furnish to his Majesty the King of Sweden (independently of other succours which general circumstances may place at his disposal), for the service of the campaign of the present year, as well as for the equipment, the transport and maintenance of his troops, the sum of one million sterling, payable at London monthly, to the agent who shall be authorized by his Swedish Majesty to receive the same, in such manner as not to exceed the payment of two hundred thousand pounds sterling each month, until the whole shall be paid.

IV. It is agreed between the two High Contracting Parties, that an advance, of which the amount and the time of payment shall be determined between them, and which is to be deducted from the million before stipulated, shall be made to his Majesty the King of Sweden for the "mise en campagne," and for the first march of the troops; the remainder of the beforementioned succours are to commence from the day of the landing of the Swedish army, as it is stipulated by the two High Contract

V. The two High Contracting Parties being desirous of giving a solid and lasting guarantee to their relations, as well political as commercial, His Britannic Majesty, animated with a desire to give to his ally evident proofs of his sincere friendship, consents to cede to his Majesty the King of Sweden, and to his successors to the Crown of Sweden in the order of succession established by his said Majesty, and the StatesGeneral of his kingdom, under date the 26th of September, 1810, the possession of Guadaloupe, in the West Indies, and to transfer to his Swedish Majesty all the rights of His Britannic Majesty over that island, in so far as his said Majesty actually possesses the same. This colony shall be given up to the Commissioners of his Majesty the King of Sweden in the course of the month of August of the present year, or three months after the landing of the Swedish troops on the Continent; the whole to take place according to the conditions agreed upon between the two High Contracting Parties, in the separate article annexed to the present Treaty.

VI. As a reciprocal consequence of what has been stipulated in the preceding article, his Majesty the King of Sweden engages to grant, for the space of twenty years, to take date from the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, to the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, the right of entrepot in the ports of Gottenburgh, Carlshamn, and Stralsund (whenever this last-mentioned place shall return under the Swedish dominion), for all commodities, productions, or merchandise, whether of Great Britain or of her colonies, laden on board British or Swedish vessels. The said commodities or merchandise, whether they be of such kind as may be introduced and subject to duty in Sweden, or whether their introduction be prohibited, shall pay

without distinction, as duty of entrepot, the cession before-mentioned, every engagement which may be judged necessary with His Britannic Majesty, and to execute all acts conformable thereto.

5. To exclude, during the continuance of the present war, all armed vessels and privateers belonging to States at war with Great Britain, from the ports and harbours of Guadaloupe; and not to permit in any

Done at Stockholm, the third March,
in the year of our Lord one thou-future wars in which Great Britain may be

Done at Stockholm, the third March,
in the year of our Lord one thou-French, so far from being Atheists, are a

But, now, behold, we find, that the

most devout people; that, upon every occasion of triumph, they flock to their churches (of which, I assure you, they have not a few) to sing praises to God, and to ascribe their victories to Him; that they go to Mass as regularly as we go to Church, and, I believe, a little more regularly than the greater part of us; that the Emperor Napoleon himself is remarkably pious, never writing a letter without thrusting into it some religious sentiment; that he has made a sort of bargain with the Duke of Friuli to meet him in heaven, but that the Duke, though full of confidence in the meeting, was generous enough, for the good of Europe, to express his readiness to wait in heaven thirty years before the meeting should take place; and lastly, that the Grown Prince of Sweden, whom we have now acknowledged to be a most worthy Gentleman, but who was a revolutionist in France, is now actually in the field, at the head of an army, on our side, in virtue of a treaty made" in the name of the Most "Holy and Undivided Trinity."

Now, most thinking People, you see, that this treaty is made in the name of "the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity;" that is to say, in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, who are not three Gods, but one God; and, you will observe, that this takes place too, while there is a Bill before Parliament, the object of which is, in fact, to enable men with impunity, to speak and write against all belief in this same Trinity. Well; but here is the Holy Trinity invoked to witness the good faith of the parties to this treaty; and, as we shall presently see, this treaty recognizes the right of succession to the Swedish Crown and territory to be in "His Royal Highness," the present Crown Prince, who is a Frenchman, who Where, then, my dear Countrymen, was a French revolutionary soldier and ge- and Most Thinking People; where was the neral, who was promoted and ennobled by ground of Old George Rose's alarm, that Buonaparte, and who is, in fact, now our the French Atheists would come and take from Ally. you "the blessed comforts of reliMost thinking People, you were told,"gion?" We now find that the French that the French Democrats were Atheists; are full as religious as you are; and, therethat is to say, that they believed in no fore, I do hope, that neither John Bowles God at all; that they were wholly without nor George Rose, nor any body else, will religion; and, that, unless you, by the again call upon us to subscribe voluntarily means of your purses, enabled the govern- for the carrying on of the war in order to ment to make war against them, they would preserve "our Holy religion." destroy your religion too. This was what In the opening of the Treaty we find, Old George Rose told you in a pamphlet, that COUNT D'ENGESTROM," one of the written for the purpose of encouraging you Swedish Plenipotentiaries, has, amongst to go on with the war; or, rather, to back his other titles, that of "Great Eagle of the government in carrying it on. He, in "the Legion of Honour of France;" his winding up, put the thing to you in which, as you know, is an order of Knightthis way that you had your choice, either hood emanating from the Emperor Napoto part with your money for what he called leon, whom, however, our stupid canting the support of government, or, to "ex-news-papers have the folly as well as the "change the blessed comforts of religion audacity to call an Usurper and all manner If he be an usurper, and "for the gloomy despair of Atheism." of vile names. He did not, indeed, stop to show you how if our government viewed him as such, the French Atheists could possibly force they ought to resist this title of Mr. D'Enyou to become Atheists; he did not point gestrom; for, to suffer it to be inserted in out to you how they could go to work to a treaty, made in the name of the Most deprive you of your belief in the Trinity, or "Holy and Undivided Trinity," does, it in any other article of faith; but he did seems to me, amount to something very assert, that you would be so deprived, if nearly approaching to an acknowledgment you did not freely and largely contribute of the legitimacy of the source whence it your money; and, really, as far as my has proceeded. discernment can reach, you appear to have believed him.

The FIRST ARTICLE of the Treaty stipulates, that Sweden shall send 30,000 men