"I am innocent of this war; I have done nothing to provoke it; it did not enter into my calculations. Let me be defeated if it be of my making. One of the principal motives of the confidence I have, that my enemies will be destroyed, is that I see in their conduct the finger of Providence, who, willing that traitors should be punished, has set wisdom so far aside in their councils, that when they intended to attack me at the moment of weakness, they chose the very instant when I was stronger than ever.”

EXPRESSION OF GENERAL MELAS RESPECTING BUONAPARTE.

AFTER the memorable battle of Marengo a convention was signed between the generals of the French and imperial armies, in Italy, and immediately the French prisoners were restored when Buonaparte set out for Milan; but previous to his departure he made the Austrian General, Melas, a present of a Turkish sabre, which he had brought from Egypt. Upon this occasion, Melas thus expressed himself to Buonaparte's aid-de-camp, who was charged to deliver it. "I am sorry that peace should have been so long delayed. I shall contribute my efforts to obtuin it in order that I may repair to Paris and behold Buonaparte: nay, I would even go to Egypt to see him!"

NAPOLEON'S CONFIDENCE IN MOREAU.

In the famous plot for the assassination of Buonaparte, of which Moreau formed a part, Napoleon sent for him and stated. "I have heard that you

are leagued with a band of assassins; I give no credit to any such tale; I know you to be incapable of a base action; but such is the effervescence of mind among the military that you will greatly oblige me by passing two or three days at your country seat." With this request Moreau willingly complied, but carefully returned to Paris upon the third day, in order that no misconstruction might be put upon his conduct by any party.-Communicated by General Verdier.

NAPOLEON'S SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER ON THE THIRD OF DECEMBER, 1809.

"Gentlemen Deputies of Departments to the Legislative Body,

"SINCE our last session, I have reduced Arragon and Castile to submission, and driven from Madrid the fallacious government formed by England. I was marching upon Cadiz and Lisbon, when I was under the necessity of treading back my steps, and of planting my eagles on the ramparts of Vienna. Three months have seen the rise and termination of this fourth punic war. Accustomed to the devotedness and courage of my armies, I must nevertheless, under these circumstances, acknowledge the particular proofs of affection which my soldiers of Germany have given me. The genius of France conducted the English army-it has terminated its projects in the pestilential marshes of Walcheren. In that important period I remained four hundred leagues distant, certain of the new glory which my

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people would acquire, and of the grand character they would display. My hopes have not been deceived I owe particular thanks to the citizens of the department of the Pas de Calais and the North. "Frenchmen! every one that shall oppose you shall be conquered, and reduced to submission. Your grandeur shall be increased by the hatred of your enemies; you have before you long years of glory and prosperity. You have the force and energy of the Hercules of the ancients. I have united Tuscany to the empire. The Tuscans were worthy of it by the mildness of their character, by the attachment their ancestors have always shown us, and by the services they have rendered to European civilization. History pointed out to me the conduct I ought to pursue towards Rome: the popes, become sovereigns of part of Italy, have constantly shown themselves enemies of every preponderating power in the Peninsula-they have employed their spiritual power to injure it—it was then demonstrated to me, that the spiritual influence, exercised in my states by a foreign sovereign, was contrary to the independence of France, to the dignity and safety of my throne. Although I acknowledge the necessity of the spiritual influence of the descendants of the first of the pastors, I could not conciliate these grand interests, but by annulling the donative of the French emperors, my predecessors, and by uniting the Roman states to France. By the treaty of Vienna, all the kings and sovereigns, my allies, who have given me so many proofs of the constancy of their friendship, have acquired, and shall acquire a fresh increase of territory. The Illyrian provinces stretch the frontiers of my great empire to

the Saave. Contiguous to the empire of Constantinople, I shall find myself in a situation to watch over the first interests of my commerce in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Levant. I will protect the Porte, if the Porte withdraw himself from the fatal influence of England. I shall know how to punish him, if he suffer himself to be governed by cunning and perfidious counsels. I have wished to give the Swiss nation a new proof of my esteem, by annexing to my titles that of their mediator, and thus putting an end to all the uneasiness endeavoured to be spread among that brave people. Holland, placed between England and France is equally bruised by both. Yet she is the debouche of the principal arteries of the empire-changes will become necessary; the safety of my frontiers, and the well understood intents of the countries, imperiously require them. Sweden has lost, by her alliance with England, after a disastrous war, the finest and most important of her provinces. Happy would it have been for that nation, if the wise prince that governs her, now, had ascended the throne some years sooner. This example proves anew to kings, that the alliance of England is the surest presage of ruin.

My ally and friend, the Emperor of Russia, has united to his vast empire, Finland, Moldavia, Wallachia, and a district of Gallicia. I am not jealous of any thing that can produce good to that empire. My sentiments for its illustrious sovereign are in unison with my policy. When I shall show myself beyond the Pyrenees, the frightened leopard will fly to the ocean, to avoid shame, defeat, and death. The triumph of my arms will be the triumph of the genius of good, over that of evil; of moderation,

order, and morality, over civil war, anarchy, and the bad passions. My friendship and protection will, I hope, restore tranquillity and happiness to the people of Spain.

Gentlemen of the legislative body, I have directed my ministers of the interior to lay before you the history of the legislation, of the administration, and of the finances of the year just expired; you will see that all the ideas I had conceived for the amelioration of my people have been followed with the greatest activity; that in Paris, as in the most distant part of my empire, the war has not produced any delay in the public works. The members of my council of state will submit to you different projects of law, and especially the law upon finances; you will see in it their prosperous condition. I demand of my people no sacrifice: though circumstances have obliged me to double my military means."

THE EMPEROR'S PARTING INTERVIEWS WITH
MR. O'MEARA.

THE emperor's parting interviews with Mr. O'Meara, which are characteristic of the man, and equally creditable to both parties, are thus described by the latter gentleman.

"After leaving him with such medical instructions as were judged necessary, Napoleon said, "When you arrive in Europe, you will either go yourself, or send to my brother Joseph. You will inform him, that I desire he shall give to you the parcel containing the private and confidential letters of the Emperors Alexander and Francis, the King of