YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

GIFT OF
FREDERICK SHELDON PARKER
o.A*, LL.o.
YALE 1873

ADDRESS

TO THE

SOVEREIGNS OF EUROPE,

AS TO THE

MANNER OF TREATING

^ragwleon ttttim&gwrte*

BY LEWIS GOLDSMITH,
Author of "The Secret Histobt or the Cabinet of Buonaparte,"
&C. iiC.

LONDON:
PRINTED f OB TH AUTHOR, bt T. WOOD, 22, RUSSEL COURT,
COVENT 6ARDEK;
And Sold by T. HOOKHAM, Jun. and CO.
OLD BOND STREET.

1815.

PREFACE.

Jr ROM the intimate knowledge which
I possessed of the dispositions and system of Na
poleon Buonaparte and'*, his accomplices;, and of
his entire system, I suggested (in a letter which I
addressed to the Allied Sovereigns through the
medium of my Journal), the propriety of bringing
him t© trial before a solemn tribunal, instituted by
the States of Europe. This letter or address was
published in the Antigalliean of the 23d of January*
1814, when I conceived the tide of success which
bore the Allies along: was likely to be followed by
that fortunate result which took place about three
months after that time. Had this advice (which
was most respectfully offered), been attended to at
that time, all the dreadful consequences which
have resulted from the recent; invasion of France
would have been avoided. Millions of treasure
have been expended, and torrents of human blood
have been spilled from thus suffering one guilty
wretch to escape ; and by Britons the consequences
are particularly to be lamented— a great proportion
of the treasure lately expended, and of the blood
which has been spilled, f are British. A similar
crisis is fast approaching---This great criminal
is likely to be shortly in the hands of the Allied
Sovereigns — most probably given up by bis accom
plices, or an . insulted nation over which he has
so long, tyFannised. I think this is a proper
time, therefore, to repubbsh the above-mentioned
Address,1 without adding or altering a single
line; .and shall only observe; that if the Allies

]V
were then called upon, in the name of suffering
Europe, to raise the sword of justice, and to inflict
punishme- t on that great scourge of mankind,
the occasion for this, my second appeal, is still
stronger.;r especially as we find that it is even now
attempted to continue him in power by means of
a mock resignation in favour of his son. He and
his partizans must indeed entertain a very low
opinion of the understandings of the Allied
Sovereigns, if they suppnse>for a moment, that the
resignation of that man. in. favour, of hi^son is to
be looked upon in any other light than as a contri
vance (and a very gross. one it is) to get rid of the
danger -which impends! over him. What ! the
man who so lately violated; an unconditional and
absolute resignation of his power-— a resignation
made not only in 'his.own name but that of his
entire family, in which, of course, this Son was
included ; and assigned as a reason for that re
signation the necessity he was under at the time,
r~J who offered that -as his only apology for its
violation— -for such a fellow to expect to be again
listened to is indeed surprising, especially as he
knows that the allies in their declaratien of the
1st of April, 1814, (signed by the Emperor Alex
ander himself,) proclaimed tbat.they would never
treat with him or anv of his family !— What would
be the reign of Napoleon II. but the reign of
Napoleon the First, even if it were to hold ?— but 1
repeat it, that the only ohject is to induce the allies
to stop short in their career of victory. Away with
such flimsy attempts at mystification— let, justice
at length take its course !
Surely it will not be said thatusurpation sanc
tifies the person of the criminal—that any thing

V
which has once assumed the garb of royalty—^
that " ' ¦ ; ¦ ¦ a vice of kings :
" A cutpurse, of the empire and the rule ;,
" That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
*' And put it in his pocket !"—
" That such an ignominious intruder is to escape
with impunity, merely because he, the captain
of the gang, was saluted king by his associates in
crime ! Let the reader peruse the following
passage from Vatttl, and then say whether even,
a lawful monarch may not, in the opinion of
that enlightened .publicist, render himself ob
noxious to general hostility, and to capital pu
nishment; and if a lawful Hereditary Monarch,
surely much more so an Usurper.
The words of Vattel are — " As to those mon-
" sters who, under the title of sovereigns, render
" themselves the scourge and horror of the human
" race, they are savage beasts, whom every brave
" man may justly exterminate from the face of
" the earth." — Law of Nations, b. 2, ch. 4.
But hCTe I would most earnestly deprecate the
rash interference of private vengeance, or the hasty
zeal of the misguided partizan— the criminal is
now in our power — the peace of Europe (provided
the Allies do their duty) is secured. Let this great
example of retributive justice be exhibited in a
manner that will not diminish the moral effects of
the lesson that is to be taught by it ; to inflict
punishment hastily, privately, or under the influ
ence of passion, would be to destroy its impression.
" Justice" says our Burke, " is grave and decorous,
and in its punishments rather seems to submit to a

VI
necessity than to make a choice." Let the Allied
Sovereigns attend to the observation of this enlight
ened statesman. Well would it- have been for
Europe had they from the very commencement of
the Revolutionary Wars, understood his princi
ples, and adopted his policy !
LEWIS GOLDSMITH.

76, CHARlLOTTErSTREET, fTTZROY-SCWJARE.

iOSDOjf, June 2Sth, 181S.

XtttlX&U, #*?

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR IMPERIAL
AND ROYAL MAJESTIES,
IN addressing myself thus publicly to
your Majesties, I feel the importance of my
present undertaking. I may perhaps be accused
of presumption, in doing that which perhaps
never was before done by any public writer. But
as we live now in very extraordinary times, I
have adopted a very extraordinary line of conduct.
Our great Burke has said, " If ever a time called
for no vulgar conception of things, and for exer
tions in no vulgar strain, it is the awful hour that
Providence has now appointed.'*
But what emboldens me to undertake this
arduous task is, that I conceive it is known to
your Majesties, that I have been well initiated
in all the revolutionary mysteries and proceed
ings of the mock Emperor of France. Their
Majesties of Prussia, Bavarja, and Wirtemberg,
and the Elector of Baden and their Ministers,
have seen rae, and know what I now advance to
be true.

8
It has pleased Providence to crown the efforts
of your arms with every possible success; that
success must be followed up— it must go on till
every germ of the French revolution is destroyed ;
for as every government which arose out of that
revolution existed by wrong, robbery, and murder,
such governments must be inimical to all other
governments. It must be fresh in the recollection of his
Prussian Majesty, that before the regicides of
France were at war with Prussia, a French am
bassador, M. de Segur, going to the court of Ber
lin, was overheard, in a conversation at Strasburg,
to say, that it would be easy to kill the King of
Prussia, should he be opposed to revolutionary
France. De Seguf could not deny this charge
when accused of it by Count Schulemburg, then
Prussian minister for foreign affairs.
The Emperor of Austria, when at peace with
the regicides of France, detected an ambassador
from the Directory in an attempt to subvert his
government. The Kingof Naples, in 1791,, was compelled
to receive a common grenadier at his Court, de
puted to him-by the French admiral commanding
off Naples ; and speaking of the King of Naples,
the rebel government of France called hrm, ce
fripon a diadem (the scoundrel with a diadem).
• But the conduct of the so-called republican
government was mild and moderate, when com
pared to the policy adopted and acted upon by
Napoleon Buonaparte, whose titles, I am sorry to
say, have unfortunately been recognized, and
many of his acts appeared to have your sanction.
I allude to his conduct in Spain and Naples, Hoi-

9
land and Hesse; for all the Courts of Europe, ex
cepting that of St. James's, had an ambassador at
the Courts of Joseph, Murat, Jerome, and Louis.
Governments, as well as individuals, with the
best intentions, are sometimes led to the commis
sion of acts which they think right when they do
them, but which, on mature reflection, and after
experience, they repent of. If Governments
therefore err, individuals may also: " Humanum
est errare"-- -But this is not the time to recur to
past errors.— We have every bright prospect be
fore us, and we must avail ourselves of the oppor
tunity which the bounty, of heaven has sent us,
to shew the world that crimes are not to be com
mitted with impunity. A private robber and
murderer is executed on a gibbet— no compromise,
no parley is made with him— Pirates too are con
sidered the common enemies of all nations— Then
why should any be made with the Chief of a
government whose conduct resembles more that
of a piratical chief than a sovereign of a civilized
country ? That his conduct has been such, is, I
believe, tolerably well known to those Illustrious
Personages whom I now have the honour of ad
dressing, and to the French people.
If I consider Buonaparte's conduct towards the
different Governments of Europe,, or towards in
dividuals residing in foreign territories, or subjects
¦of other governments, it is the same—it is tyran
nical and unprincipled, and contrary to the law of
nations, the laws of honour, and the laws of God !
The limits of this address will not allow me to.
enter at large into his conduct towards Spain —
towards Portugal^— towards Hesse — towards Hol
land — towards the Pope — towards the Hanse

10
Towns— towards Switzerland—towards the Ita
lian states.— His arresting on a neutral territory
an English ambassador— * his. robbing an English
messenger of his dispatches, likewise on a neutral
territory-— his arresting the duke d'Enghien on a
neutral territory T and afterwards assassinating him
— The murder of Palm on a neutral territory—
his murder of the loyal inhabitants of Moscow,- of
Bremen, of Hamburgh, and of Oldenburg— his
murder of an English prisoner of war, Captain
Wright— his attempting to stir up revolts during
peace, in Poland, which was then incorporated
into the states of Russia, Austria, and Prussia — •
Further, his attempts to change the present dy
nasties of Prussia and Austria. His bribing minis
ters and clerks in public offices of friendly powers.
His bribing post-masters and their clerks in almost
every post-office in Germany and in Russia, for
the purpose of purloining letters----Further his not
allowing any state to remain neuter-.-and generally
his making war on states which have given him no
provocation, but whichi, on the contrary, were his>
allies. Such conduct certainly does not entitle
Buonaparte to be. treated as a sovereign ; and that
such a power, whether Buonaparte's or any other
Government that would act thus, should be anni
hilated, is clear. I now proceed to quote autho
rities : —
" Every nation, as well as every man, (Vattel.book 11. ch.
4,) has a right to prevent other nations from obstructing her
preservation, her perfection and happiness— that is, to preserve'
herself from all injuries : and this right, is a perfect owe, since
h is given to satisfy a natural and indispensible obligation : for
when we cannot use constraint in order to cause our rights to
be respected, their effects are very uncertain. It is this right
10 preserve herself from all injury that is called the right to
security.

11
" It is safest to prevent the evil when it can be prevented.--
When the evil is done, the same right to security authorises the
offended party to endeavour to obtain a complete reparation,
and to employ force for that purpose, if necessary.
Finally, " The offended parties have a right to provide for
thejr future security* and to chastise the offender by inflicting
upon him a punishment capable of deterring him thenceforward
from similar aggressions, and of intimidating those who might
be tem pted to i m i tate hi m . They may even, if necessary, disable
the aggressor from doing further injury. They only make use
of their right, in all these measures which they adopt, with good
reason ; and if evil thence results to him who has reduced them
to the necessity of taking such steps, he must impute the con
sequence only to hisown injustice."
What the author applies in the following para
graph to a nation, is equally, applicable to an in
dividual, as is evident from the context.
" If then there is any where a nation of a restless and mis*
chieyous disposition, ever ready to injure others, to traverse
their design's, and to exeite domestic disturbances in their
dominions, it is not to be doubted that all the others have a
right to, form a coalition, in order to repress and chastise that
nation, and to put it for ever after out of her power to injure
them. Such would be the just fruits of the policy which
Maehiavel praises in Ucesar Borgia. The- conduct followed
by Philip II. King of Spain, was calculated to unite all Europe
against him; and it was from just reasons that Henry the
Great formed the design of humbling a power -whose strength
was formidable, and whose maxims were pernicious."
In book II. chap xv. he lays down the right of
nations against him who disregards the faith of
treaties, in the following manner : —
" As all nations are interested in maintaining the faith of
treaties, and causing it to be every where considered as sacred
and inviolable,; so likewise they are justifiable in- forming a
Confederacy for the purpose of repressing him who testifies a
disregard for it— who openly sports, with — who violates and
tramples it under foot. Such a man is a public enemy, who
saps the foundation of the peace and common safety of nations.'
But we should be careful riot to extend this maxim to the pfei.
j-udice of that liberty and independence to which every natioo

n
has a claim. When a sovereign breaks his treaties, or refuses to
fulfil them, this does not immediately imply, that he considers
them as empty names, and that he disregards the faith of'
treaties. He may have good reasons for thinking himself'
liberated from his engagements, and other sovereigns have not
a right to judge him. It is the sovereign who violates his en
gagement on pretences that are evidently frivolous* ' or who
does not even think it worth his while to ailed ge any pretence
whatever. to give a colourable gloss to his conduct, and casta
Teil over his want of faith— it is such a sovereign who deserves
to be treated as an enemy of the human race."
I have confined myself to the opinions of Vattel,
as he is considered the latest and best authority,
embracing the doctrines of Grotius, Puffendorf,
&c Has Buonaparte, or his predecessors in the Re
volution acted in a manner so as to entitle them
to be received among the legitimate governments
of the continent? If Buonaparte: is suffered to
exist, and is not punished for his crimes, what is
to prevent hereafter any other miscreant who, like
him, may call himself a sovereign, to entrap and
dethrone sovereigns, and to act in every' other
respect as he has done ? No ! the people of
Europe cry aloud for his punishment, and the
safety of the legitimate line of Princes demands it.
However, let it not be inferred from what I now
say, that I mean to recommend the private mur
der of Napoleon.
No ! 1 recommend that he be brought before a
tribunal, that he may be tried for his crimes.—
Let every state send two persons well qualified in
every respect for the purpose, skilled in the law
of nations, in history, and diplomacy, to assist as
judges ; let this court be called the Grand Euro
pean Tribunal; from thence let it be publicly
promulgated that the principles on which Buona-

13
parte has acted ought hot to be tolerated by the
Family of the Sovereigns: of Europe, and that who
soever acts in a similar way must be treated as a
disturber of the public peace and tranquility of
the world.
The last century produced no similar, instance
of atrocity and murder, of the violation of every
tie and law which binds man to man, and nation
to nation — of every crime the meanest miscreant
could conceive, and of villanies that even would
disgrace the gibbet, as this Captain General of
Iniquity has committed.
Charles XII. was blamed for putting Patkul
to death, yet he was not dragged away by force ;
Augustus was weak enough to give him up to
Charles, who was considered, and very justly so,
as a maniac. Frederic the Great of Prussia was
also blamed for arresting on a neutral territory
(Danfzig) Baron Trenk, who, however, was a
Prussian subject, and arrested on a charge of
treason against his country. This was the extent
of the despotisms (as philosophers and reformers
call it) of the legitimate sovereigns of Europe
during the last century. The tales of woe are not
to be numbered, from Moscow to Lisbon---from
Memel to Madrid— occasioned by the blood
thirsty disposition of a monster in human shape J
And is such. a being to escape with impunity ? —
If he does, other monsters who may resemble
Buonaparte (which I think is scarcely possible)
may argue thus: Buonaparte was crushed because
he was obstinate and went too far. His acts were
not disowned. Did not Russia, Prussia, and
Austria enter into alliance with him ? Did they
not sanction his usurpations in Spain, Holland,

14
&c. by sending ambassadors to the usurpers who
were placed at the head of the governments of
those countries ? Did they not allow themselves
to be forced into wars which'he excited ? iittfiU
These impressions must be removed ; and that
can only be done by bringing him before a compe
tent tribunal, where a, doctrine should be esta
blished 'that would put a bar to such atrocious
actsJ'^It will establish a precedent for the punish
ment of wicked sovereigns, "fr ¦ vi ".!-»•» n
In furtherance of this plan, the following persons
should be called as witnesses, after a promise of
pardon given to them, viz. Murat, Talleyrand,
Champagney, Maret, Caulincourt, Savary, Clarke,
Berthier, Fouche, Hauterive, Real, Regnier, Gene
ral Hulin, Dubois, the late prefect of police of
Paris, Miot, Pelet de la Lozere, Desmarest, chief
.Clerk of the secret police of Paris; Bouriennei
Menneval, Buoraaparte^s private secretary; Veyrat,
inspector-general of the police of Paris ; the jailors
of the Chateau de Vincennes, of the prisons of
-Bicetre, La Force, &c. ; likewise those persons
who were Buonaparte's ambassadors at foreign
courts, viz. Otto, Rheinhard, Bigrton, La Foret,
Semonville, Alexander la Rochefaucault, Generals
Andreossi, Heudoville, Brune, and Beauharnois',
ambassador a.t Madrid in 1808, as also Victor
Hughes, late governor of Cayenne, tl These are
the accomplices;— but they will, no doubt, to
save themselves from an ignominious end, tell all
they know. The other witnesses to be summoned,
should be Emanuel Godoy (the Prince of Peace) ;
the ministers of police, and of the foreign depart
ments of the different states of Europe ; indeed the
archives which will be seized in the various go-

15
vernment offices of Paris will he the best clue to
lead to the discovery of persons proper to be sum
moned before this grand tribunal.
From the knowledge I have of his intrigues in
foreign countries, I offer myself also as a witness.
I can give not only parole but written evidence ;
and. what I have to say can be confirmed not only
by the French, but by the Prussian and German
witnesses. All I require is a safe conduct during
my residence at the place where the said tribunal
shall hold its sittings. I do not fear the conse
quences as to myself. I may perhaps be censured ;
but persons of candour would diseover that my
errors were greatly extenuated by my situation
and circumstances.
This plan, which I now take the liberty of
submitting to your Imperial Royal Majesties, is a
novel one ; such a procedure has never before
taken place ; but then let it be recollected, that
there never before was .such a being as Napoleon,
who acted as he has done, under the title of
Sovereign. I do not know any better plan than
this for giving publicity to the horrible transactions
which have been committed by this man in every
country in Europe. . If he is found guilty, let him
be dealt with as a wretch who has caused more
misery in the world than any other being by
whose existence it has pleased providence to curse
mankind. Caligula and Domitian were cruel ; but their
cruelties were confined to Rome only ; not even
the distant provinces under the Roman yoke felt
the tyrannies of these monsters; but Napoleon's
cruelties extended even to the subjects _of those
states who were at peace with him, and which

1G
were too weak to .resist his tyranny. If your
Majesties adopt this plan, it would be the surest
way of preventing, similar conduct in future,
whilst, at trie same time, your Majesties will have
an opportunity of thus publicly condemning all
usurpations, which without such proceedings may,
from your former alliances, appear to have received
your sanction. ,
When once judgment is pronounced on the
tyrant, let the Legitimate Sovereign of France be
proclaimed ; this measure only can operate as a
lesson to the disaffected of all countries, and will
put a stop to their attempts at reform and revolu
tion ; let every germ of. rebellion and regicide be
destroyed ; that only will ensure repose to Europe,
and safety to your respective thrones.
I have the honour to subscribe myself,
Your Majesties' devoted
Humble Servant,
LEWIS GOLDSMITH.

WQOD, Printer,,
S3, Rusttll Court, Loudon.

BUONAPARTE.
Reward of One Thousand Pounds !

W&fytXtW* it has not hitherto been attempt
ed" to carry into execution the law for punish
ing Murder committed upon British subjects out
of the King's dominions, in the case of Captain
Wright of the'Navy, by reason that the contriver
of that murder, Signer N. Buonaparte, has been
out of the reach of the law of England ; first, in
being placed in a situation where he was allowed
to rule in spite of all law, human and divine, un
der the name and pretence' of Emperor of the
French; secondly,' in being . suffered to exist in
exile, under a corn promise with the Allied Sove
reigns, by virtue of which he ought to have led an
innocent life in private, and thus purchase to him
self forgiveness and forbearance from an offended
world ; and whereas that wicked offender has
broken his engagement with the Allied Sovereigns,
and has proceeded to place hifnsalf, as lie supposes,
in a station sirhilar to that which he before held in
France, but which in reality is nothing more than
the place of fool and instrument in the hands of
? . . , i . . . . • • , ...
certain known conspirators against government
and peace and civil order, known by the name of

18
jacobins; it appears to us,- upon a view' of this
change in circumstance^}:- highly suitable and
necessary to call the attenjpbn of the people of this
'kingdom to the part which they ought to act
amongst those who are now taking measures to
bring this offender to justice for the various crimes
he has committed against Europe at large.
. We see, that the Allied Sovereigns, after con
sidering the conduct-of this public disturber,
have, according to the Law of Nations, adjudged
him aWtminal ; and, for carrying into execution
againsf him this sentence of Political Jurispru
dence^ they have published a Declaration, full of
wisd"on% and firmness, exposing the crime, the
conviction, and the judgment passed by them
upon him ; this Declaration appears before the
public in the nature of an Act of Attainder, that
waits only for the execution, which ought to give
effect to the sentence of political justice therein
pronounced. What the execution may be, we
know not.
In this state of things, there seems a fit oppor
tunity, and a sort of obligation, for Englishmen
(who are used to look to the common Law of the
Land for the possession of all they have, and for
the recovery and vindication of all they lose) to
bring forward the distinct claim they have for
justice, in their own way. ^e have a special
charge of Murder against this man : amongst the
numerous crimes he has committed against us and
others, we can by the common Law proceed
against him for this crime in an ordinary court of
justice ; he may be tried by a jury ; he may be
convicted, sentenced, and executed at the Old
Bailey, like the most vile, most impotent, and

19
friendless Thief ; all this in the ordinary course of
legal proceeding, begun and concluded by the mi
nistration o* the civil officers of judicature ; what
a triumph this, of established Law, and of munici
pal justice ! What an appropriate testimony, that
anarchy and revolutionary fanaticism are subdued,
and that civil order and government have resumed
their Sovereignty ! what a distinction for this
blessed Land of Law and Liberty !
Impressed with these considerations, we, the
publishers of this notification, take the liberty
which belongs to all Englishmen, of contributing
what is in our power, towards bringing this noto
rious Criminal to justice. For that purpose, we do
hereby offer the Reward of One Thousand Pounds
to any one who will Seize, and bring to this King
dom, the person of Signor N. Buonaparte, and de
tain him in safe custody, so as he may be forth
coming, when the process of Law, in such case
provided, shall be issued against him.
We rely on his Majesty's Privy Council for
proceeding against this criminal, when so taken
and detained, agreeably with the provisions of
Stat. 33, Henry VIII. ch. 23 : and Stat. 43, Geo.
III. ch. 113. Sufficient evidence for a prosecu
tion will be laid before the Privy Council.
N.B. The reward will be paid, on proof of the
service performed being made to the satisfaction
of any Magistrate in any part of the kingdom.
The foregoing Proclamation first appeared in the Anti-
gallican of April 9th, 1815, and has since then been posted
up in different parts of the Metropolis. Should the Grand
Criminal be brought to this Country, I have no doubt the
Gentleman who issued the Proclamation, and whom I know
to be of great respectability, will pay the reward on demand. '

er.

The fallowing Works, by the same Author,
Are to be had at T. Hookh am's, Jun. and Co.

RECUEIL des DECRETS, MANIFESTES, BULr
LETINS, &c. &c. de NAPOLEON BtrQNAPARTE,
depuislel8m Brumaire, 1799,, jusqu'a son Abdjcapo^ en
Avril, 1814, extraitsdu fyloniteyr.rr-P ripe $7 79. boards.
THE SECRET HISTORY op, aw* ..CABINET or
BUONAPARTE, Translated into French, Price 18s.
A Translation of CARNOT'S MEMORIAL, arid of
MEHEE DE LA TOUCH E'S DENUNCIATION- to
the KING, with SKETCHES 01 the LIYES of the
AUTHORS, Price p, 6d.

'" 'WOOtMFfiiittr,