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national mind, by transforming into proofs of his Majesty's intention to abandon Portugal all those political events which had occurred for some time, and the popular rumours consequent upon them and his excellency having learnt from some of the accomplices, that at the head of this infernal plot was the Lieut.-Gen. Gomez Freire de Andrade, aided by the Baron d'Eben, and that they altogether had directed, and continued to direct, all their efforts to seduce all they could of the troops and other classes of the inhabitants and as it was no longer possible to doubt the existence of a plot after the fortunate seizure of some proclamations, all ready printed, in the name of a selfstyled regenerating council (such was their assumed title); in consideration of these discoveries, the

governors of the kingdom conceived that they owed it to the monarch who had intrusted them with the government of the kingdom, to the inhabitants themselves, to their own characters, and to the preservation of public order, to prevent without delay those consequences with which all were threatened; and it was with this object that their excellencies determined to arrest, without loss of time, on the night between the 25th and 26th of May, not only the two general officers before named, but other persons also who were known to be acquainted and implicated in the horrible project. All possible efforts were made to learn every circumstance, and to procure every proof, in order to proceed forthwith according to law, to execute justice on the guilty.

CHAP.

CHAPTER XII.

Russia.-Regulation for the Discharge of the Public Debt.-Facilities granted to Mercantile Men.-The Emperor quits his Capital, having first published a Decree for the Regulation of Proprietors and Colonists.Sweden.-Conspiracy against the Crown Prince, and his Address to the Citizens of Stockholm.-Proclamation by the King respecting Economy. -His Address to Prince Oscar.-Speech read by the Prince.-Vienna. -Berlin.

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RUSSIA.

NEW regulation has lately been published at Petersburgh by the committee created in 1810, for the discharge of the public debt of the state. The ukase of his Majesty the Emperor which accompanies it is of the following tenor.

"We, Alexander I. by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, &c. &c.

"The measures announced by the ukases of 1810 and 1812, for the successive payment of the debts of the state were suspended by the events of a war, as fatal in its origin, as glorious in its result: the taxes which were decreed solely for this purpose were diverted from it by the indispensable necessity of employing them towards the expences which the defence of the country required. It was impossible, amidst the rapid course of military events, to think of raising the credit of the state; the system of which had not yet been able to consolidate itself: all that could be done was to maintain it. By the aid of the Almighty, this war has been concluded without an augmentation of the taxes,

and without having injured the public credit. Now that peace is restored, finding that the gradual extinction of the debts of the empire is as necessary to the general welfare, as indispensable to strengthen the confidence in the engagements of the government, we have ordered our Minister of Finance to present to the Council of State, for its examination, a plan for additional measures, which shall complete the regulations made on this subject; and after having examined it, with the advice of the Council of State, we have thought fit to ordain what follows:

1. For the payment of the debts of the state, the imperial treasury shall, in the course of the present year, place at the disposal of the committee for the payment of the debt, the sum of forty millions of roubles.

2 Dating from the year 1818 there shall be annually assigned for the same object sixty millions out of the revenues of the domains of the crown, till the total extinction of the debts, and till the mass of paper currency shall be reduced to the proportion of what is requisite for circulation.

3. The principles lately adopted, and lately completed, to make a foundation for the extinction of the debts of the state, are laid down in the general regulation of the committee of the sinking fund, which we have confirmed. This regulation is to be carried into full effect from the first of September in this year.

4. As all the debts of the government are concentrated in the committee of the sinking fund, all the branches of the administration are expressly prohibited, from this day forward, from making by themselves new debts under any pretext whatever, and this under the personal responsibility of those who are at the head of them; but if there should arise in future some unforeseen circumstances which would make it necessary to open a loan to cover extraordinary demands, exceeding the usual resources of the public treasury, in this case the loan cannot be made except in conformity with the principles laid down in the regulation of the said committee.

Given at Petersburg,
April 16, 1817.

A subsequent operation of the imperial court was for the purpose of extending the facilities of mercantile men in their several dealings. The Emperor Alexander, in a paper dated from Petersburgh May 7th, gives the following notice :

Desiring to afford to the merchants greater means for the facilitating and extending their commercial operations, we have thought fit, instead of the new existing discount bank, whose influence, on account of the smallness of its capital, and the several defects observed in its constitution, is of no visible use; to establish an VOL. LIX.

Imperial Commercial Bank. In consequence of this resolution, we have commissioned the minister of finance to lay before the council of state, for its consideration, all the plans necessary to be prepared on this subject. Now, having taken the advice of our council of state, we decree as follows:

I. Thirty millions of rubles of the capital of the crown are placed at the disposal of the Commercial Bank. [Here follows the statement of the items of which this capital is to be formed.]

II. The Commercial Bank is to be allowed to take money, 1. On interest for circulation, according to the same principles as in the loan bank. 2. To deposit and transfer from one person to another the sums inscribed by private persons, according to the book of the bank.

III. The Commercial Bank gives loans on Russian goods, according to the principles of the discount office, and accepts bills, but in this case taking the percentage according to the course of commercial operations.

IV. Half of the directors to consist of public officers, and half of merchants.

V. The Commercial Bank shall be opened on the first of January next year.

VI. At the same time we hereby issue the regulations of the Commercial Bank, confirmed by us: we take it under our protection, and guarantee with our imperial word the integrity of the capitals which shall be intrusted to it by private persons; as also that the rights of every person to the same shall remain inviolate. With the opening of the Commercial Bank, we shall not fail to increase [K]

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It was announced in the month of August, that the Emperor was preparing to quit his capital on The first of September. His absence was intended to be from fifteen to sixteen months. His Majesty was first to proceed to Witepsk, in order to inspect the troops of General Barclay de Tolly; whence he was to arrive at Moscow in November. Remaining in that quarter till June, he was then to visit the southern provinces of his empire. From Astracan he was to go to the Crimea, and inspect the troops of General Bennigsen; and then cross into Germany, to assist at the assembly fixed by the allied Sovereigns in 1815, to be held either at Frankfort on the Maine, or at Aix-la-Chapelle. After paying a visit to Warsaw, he was to return to Petersburgh.

Before the Emperor's quitting Russia be published the following ukase concerning the settling of foreign colonists in the country.

1. Not only every noble proprietor, but every individual who, according to the decree of the 12th of December 1801, has the power of acquiring land by purchase or other title, may invite foreigu cultivators.

2. That these colonists, who are ignorant of our laws and language, may not incur the danger of contracting too onerous engagements, and that, on the other hand, the proprietors may not be exposed to the exaggerated pretensions of the former, we ordain that all contracts made between them, and founded on principles already existing and authorized, shall, after being examined by the competent authority, be submitted to the revision of the Minister of the Interior, who is charged with the duty of watching over the colonists in general, and is required in particular to protect against every kind of vexation those who are established on the lands of the nobility.

3. These contracts are not to exceed the term of twenty years. They must clearly specify the conditions to which planters submit, as well as the annual rent which they engage to pay to the landlord in money or kind.

4. The reciprocal payments which at the term of the contract shall be exigible by the consent of the contracting parties, on the supposition that then the planter quits the land, or the proprietor refuses to retain him, shall be determined with clearness and precision.

5. On the death of the proprietor, his contracts shall be binding on his heirs, who shall not have the power of making changes, except with the consent of the planters, and the permission of the authorities.

6. The planters who may be established on the lands of the nobility shall enjoy during their residence in Russia a full and entire liberty of conscience, and shall

be

be exempt from all civil and military service, except by their own

consent.

SWEDEN.

In the month of March a conspiracy was formed against the life of the Crown Prince, the particular purpose of which appears little understood, though it cannot be doubted that the focus of it was chiefly among the nobility. The prince, however, met with the warmest attachment from the general representatives of the nation, and from the citizens of Stockholm; and his answer to an address presented by the latter deserves attention, from the spirit by which it is distinguished. The following were some of the most remarkable passages.

"For some months loose reports have been circulated in the country. Sometimes they said that the king was dead; then my son was dying; then my life was in danger this was done to alarm the country. Some later denunciations have attracted the attention of the police and the government. Judicial inquiries are instituted; and the criminals, or the false informers, will be punished. I could forgive the authors of these reports if they only aimed at my life; but they seek to overturn your liberty, your constitution, your national honour; in short, every thing that is most sacred to the honest citizen.

"They have ventured to mix the names of a family which you have excluded from the throne. You know yourselves, Gentlemen, that I did not cause their fate When, in the distressed state to which a series of misfortunes had reduced you, you cast your eyes

on such princes as were known by the services they had done to their country, and your choice was fixed on me; I resolved to accept it. The very idea of the dangers that surrounded you, made me feel myself greater, and capable of the mightiest plans to merit your confidence. For you I consented to renounce the pleasures and tranquillity of private life, to which I had destined the rest of my days. I gave myself wholly up to a people once so renowned, then so unhappy. I came among you, and brought, as title and pledge, my sword and my deeds. If I could have brought you a series of ancestors from the time of Charles Martel 1 could have wished it only on your account: for myself, I an equally proud of the service I have done, and of the glory which has raised me. These pretensions are still increased by the king's adoption, and the unanimous choice of a free people. On these I found my rights; and as long as honour and justice are not banished from this earth, these rights must be more legal and sacred than if I had descended from Odin. History shows that no prince ever mounted a throne except by the choice of the people, or by conquest. I did not open a way to the Swedish succession by arms: the free choice of the nation called me; and this is the right on which I lean. Remember our condition at my arrival, and see what we are now. There are ill-disposed men in all countries; but in Sweden their number is so small, that no extraordinary measures are necessary to repress them.

"The interior peace of the country is undisturbed : from without there is nothing to fear [K 2]

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