SEIZURE OF HESSE. From the French Bulletins. "Marshal Mortier, who commands the 8th corps of the Grand Army, arrived at Cassel on the 31st of October. The Prince of Hesse Cassel, Marshal in, the service of Prussia, and his son, a General in the same service, have withdrawn from it. The Prince, in answer to the note which was transmitted to him, demanded permission to march at the head of his own troops, along with those of France against our enemies. Marshal Mortier replied, he had no orders touching such a proposition; but that the Prince having armed, after the declaration he had made through his Minister, M. De Malsbourg, at Paris, the least farther armament on his part would be considered as an act of hostility, as the Prussians had not violated his territories, but on the contrary were received with pomp therein by the Hereditary Prince; and that, from the period of the Hessian territories being evacuated by the French, until the battle of Jena, there was nought but armaments going forward at Cassel; and that, in point of fact, the Hereditary Prince was more desirous of marching at the head of Prussian troops, and to insult the French by all sorts of provocation.

"He will pay for his frenzied conduct by the loss of his dominions. There is not a principality in all Germany that has been so uniformly the enemy of France. For many years its sovereigns sold the blood of their subjects to England, in order to fight with it against France in the two worlds. By this traffic of his troops, the Prince in question has amassed great treasures, part of which, it is said, are shut up in Magdeburg, and part remitted to foreign countries. This sordid avarice has caused the catastrophe of his House, the existence of which on our frontiers is incompatible with the safety of France! It is at length time to extinguish that which may cause the unhappiness of 40 mil. lions of people, and bring trouble and disorder to their very doors. The Eng lish may yet corrupt certain Sovereigns by means of their gold, but the loss of the thrones of such Sovereigns will be the inevitable consequences of such corruption. On the contrary, the allies of France will prosper, and be aggrandiz. ed.

"The people of Hesse Cassel will be more fortunate; eased of the expence of vast military establishments, they can follow the peaceful occupations of agriculture: freed from a great part of their taxes, they will be governed upon generous and liberal principles, as is France and her allies. If the French had been conquered, their country would have been dismembered; it is just, therefore, that the serious consequences of war should attach to those who provoked it. In this terrible game the chances should be equal. The Emperor has ordered the fortresses of Hanau and Marbourg to be destroyed, all the magazines and arsenals to be removed to Mentz, all the troops disarmed, and the sovereign arms of Hesse Cassel every where to be taken down.

"These measures are not dictated by an insatiable ambition, nor a thirst for further conquests. The Cabinet of the Thuilleries is induced to act so, by its conviction of the necessity for putting an end to a contest such as the present, and causing a durable peace to succeed to this insensate war, instigated by the miserable and low manœuvres of agents. such as the Lords Paget and Morpeth."

CASSEL, Nov. 7.-General Lagrange, Governor General of Hesse, has pub. lished the following Proclamation, dat ed on the 4th inst.

"INHABITANTS OF HESSE,

"You now know the causes to which

you have to attribute the events which have happened.-Circumstances, I venture to believe, will not bring with them the misfortunes which are almost inevitable in the midst of such changes. War and its disasters will not ravage your plains. Remain tranquil, continue your labours and your speculations in trade, give yourselves up to your industry and activity, and be without fear for your laws, your customs, your religion, your persons, and your property: all shall be protected. Named Governor General of Hesse, by his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and King of Italy, I will do all that depends upon me to preserve order, and cause the country to prosper: such is the end I propose to myself! Happylif I attain it! Your duty, inhabitants of Hesse, is obedience to the orders and dispositions of Government, and absolute and punctual execution of all it shall prescribe to you.

This is all I require of you to attain the end which should be the common aim, and from which your happiness and tranquillity are inseparable. The Governor General ordains as follows:

ART. I.-The collecting of all the revenues of the Electorate of Hesse, and the administration of justice, shall henceforward be done in the name of his Majesty the Emperor and King.

II." All the country shall be disarmed. Whoever retains arms after the order given for disarming will put him self in the predicament of being shot.Officers, however, and persons whose rank entitles them to wear a sword, are excepted from this regulation.

III. "Justice shall continue to be administered by the same judges, and no change shall be made among them, provided they do nothing contrary to their duties.

IV.“ The same shall be the case in the other branches of the administration, and in every thing relative to finances, and the police. The persons in actual employ shall preserve their places so long as they shall not cease to merit the confidence reposed in them.

V. "There shall be no interruption in the collecting of taxes and duties. The receipts at present in the chests, as well as those which shall come in in future, shall be sent as before to Cassel, The same shall be done with those belonging to the Chamber of Finances at Hanau.

VI. “Every administrator, creditor, or collector, who shall dare to secrete any part of the public receipts, shall be immediately seized and given up to a Court Martial, to be condemned according to all the rigour of the military law.

VII. "Whoever shall conceal money or other objects appertaining to the State, and shall not make his declaration of the same within 24 hours after the proclamation of these presents, shall be in like manner seized and punished according to the tenor of the preceding article.

VIII. "The Governor reserves to himself the right of determining the expences and payments for the different objects which shall be submitted to him.

IX. “This present regulation shall be published throughout the whole propince of Hesse, and it is enjoined the

Ministers to look to its execution, every one in what concerns him.

"Done and ordained in the Palace of the Government at Cassel, the 4th of November 1806.

"(Signed) Lagrange, "The General and Governor."

Dresden, Nov. 6. "The Wirtemberg contingent army, from 10,000 to 12,000 men strong, en. tered this city on the 3d inst. under the command of Field Marshal Lieutenant Baron Von Seckendorf. The Governor of the city, M. Von Thiard, went out with his suite to meet them, and accompanied them to the presence of his Electoral Highness, our gracious Prince. Without considering the haste and forced march of these troops, there is little appearance of any new cessation of hostilities. They seemed destined to remain here; however, on the fourth evening, they suddenly received orders to break up. The first brigade began to march yesterday, the last regiment of the second is filing off at this moment. The troops of our beloved Sovereign mounted all the guards again yesterday, and to-morrow the company of guards resume their duty."

Accounts from the Continent state the following as the outline of the new political arrangements which Bonaparte has declared he is determined to en force :

"The Electorate of Brandenburgh, with some contiguous territory, to be erected into a kingdom, under the domi. nion of Jerome Bonaparte. Prussia Proper to be retained by his Prussian Ma jesty, with the title of King. His capital to be Konigsberg. The Polish ter ritory to be wrested from Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and re-consolidated into one state, of the same extent as before the partition. Murat to be proclaimed King of the Poles. Holland to receive a very considerable accession of territory, particularly in Westphalia. The Duchies of Cleves and Berg, at present possessed by Murat, to be given to one of the French Marshals."

The King of Prussia, according to the last accounts, (Nov. 24.) was at Konigs berg, with about 8000 men.-An armistice for ten days was signed at Charlot tenburgh, on the 17th by M, Lucchesini

on

on the part of Prussia, and Marshal Du. roc on the part of France.

The situation of Denmark is, at this moment, still more critical than that of Austria. Murat has already begun to insult the Prince Royal, by desiring him to withdraw his troops from the confines of Holstein; and threatning, that if any misunderstanding ensues from their remaining in their present position, and if, in consequence, a single trigger is drawn against a French soldier, he would give up Altona to be pillaged. This is evidently seeking, and that in the most odious way, for a pretext of quarrel.

SEIZURE OF HAMBURGH.

The last of the Hamburgh mails brings intelligence which to many individuals must prove highly afflicting.Hamburgh is now occupied by the French, and all British property found there has been confiscated! On this subject the following letter was sent from Lord Howick to the Lord Mayor of London :

"Foreign Office, 19th November. "MY LORD, "It is with the deepest concern that I inform your Lordship that the city of Hamburgh was occupied by a French corps under Gen. Mortier on the 19th

instant.

"The property of English merchants was immediately confiscated;-on the night of the 21st all the English merchants were arrested, but were afterwards released on their word not at any moment to absent themselves till the determination of Bonaparte respecting

them should be received.

"Mr Thornton, his Majesty's minister at Hamburgh was proceeding to Kiel. Mr Nicholls, his Majesty's ViceConsul, was gone to Gluckstadt, in order to provide for the English ships proceeding from that port in safety. He was to go to Cuxhaven and Husum, and proper precautions had been taken for the security of the merchants remaining in Hamburgh, and their property. (Signed) "HoWICK."

The following is an extract of a letter from Hamburgh, of date Nov. 22.

"This city, which has so long preserved its independence, is reduced to a state of vassalage.-After the most solemn farce practised by the French

Minister, to produce the conviction that the neutrality of Hamburgh would be respected, 2000 infantry, and 250 Dutch cavalry, suddenly entered the place on Wednesday, (19th,) with Gen. Mortier at their head, and formally took possession of the city in the name of Napoleon. The next day (Thursday) French soldiers mounted guard at all the public offices and gates, and free quarters were provided for the troops, who were distributed at the houses of the citizens. A few hours only had expired, when the names of the Generals, Colonels, and Commissaries of the French army, were inscribed on the doors of the principal mansions, so that it might have been supposed to have been a garrisoned town for six months. The Commissary of War occupies the house of the British Minister, which he entered half an hour after the latter had quitted it. The head quarters are at

a Senator's, in the Blichen. One of the first measures has been a demand by the Commander in Chief of all the English property, in whatever form it may ap pear. To this application, the Senate replied, "that to enforce such a requisition would be the total ruin of the city." General Mortier signified, on receiving this communication, that it was his determination not to relax a shilling of his demand. Means are already taken to carry the scheme into immediate execution; and for this purpose the merchants are required to give in an estimate of all the English property in their hands; domiciliary visits are appointed to ascertain the validity of such accounts; and yesterday afternoon many of the most respectable persons were put under arrest, to operate on the public mind by intimidation. Among these I am sorry to name Mr Burrows, Mr John Thornton, Mr George Smith, and Mr Parish. At first these Gentle

men were confined in a house near the

Exchange, after seals had been put upon their effects; but they have since been permitted to occupy their respective houses. A guard, however, always attends them. In this situation of things, apprehensions are entertained, that more of the English will be put under arrest, until the avarice of these public plune derers is satiated. Since Wednesday, about 5000 more French infantry have arrived here; and it may naturally be

ex

expected, that from the total stagnation of trade, and the increased price of subsistence, the lower orders will not be able to maintain themselves; and that the greatest disorder will prevail in a city, the population of which extends to 120,000 souls. The famine threatened at Berlin is to be alleviated by supplies from the garrison at Hamburgh, which is another cause of anxiety, under the immediate necessities and difficulties with which this unfortunate city has to contend. I am sorry to present before you so melancholy a picture, and I should with more reluctance make any comment upon it, as affecting the interests of the great commercial city in which you reside, and the manufacturing towns throughout the British empire. Unfortunately the destruction of war is not confined to those who perish in the field; it is brought home to the fire-sides of those who are the best friends to the peace, order, and happiness of society."

Hamburgh, Nov. 21. "The Senate yesterday received a letter from Marshal Mortier, which, after stating the grounds on which his Majesty the French Emperor finds himself compelled to make reprisals on Eng. land, contains an order to seize and place under sequestration all the English commodities which may be found in this city and its territory. The communication then proceeds as follows:"Within 24 hours from the present notification, every banker or merchant, having English manufactures or funds in his possession, arising from the sale of English manufactures, whether be longing to the English or others, shall give in a statement of the same in writ. ing, to be copied into a register at the residence of the commandant. In order to verify these declarations, domiciliary visits shall be made, both to those who give in and those who do not give in such declaration, for the purpose of ascertaining their good faith, and inflicting the pains of martial law in all instances of fraud, if such should take place."

"The Senate issued a decree yesterday for carrying the above order into effect. Another decree of the Senate, of the same days regulates the provisions to be furnished by the inhabitants to the French soldiers quartered upon them. Each soldier is to have for breakfast a

glass of French brandy, with a slice of bread; for dinner, half a pound of meat, one pound and a half of bread, with vegetables in proportion, and a bottle of beer; and for supper, a slice of bacon or beef, with bread, and a bottle of beer. If the soldier should not be satisfied with this supply, the burghers are directed to complain to Col. Bazancourt, the Commandant."

"In pursuance of Mortier's Proclamation, requiring all Bankers and Merchants, having British funds and manufactures in their possession,,to give in correct statements, the Commercium, or Chamber of Commerce, at Hamburgh, requested, by public notice, that those complying with the proclamation should also furnish them with copies, and at the same time send an estimate of the losses they shall be subject to, should the measures enjoined be carried into effect, in consequence of reprisals by the British Government. The great object intended by this estimate is to shew, by a petition to Bonaparte, that the plan of confiscation must be ultimately more favourable to Great Britain than to the interests of Hamburgh. The underwriters were also desired to state, as far as they were able, the injury they would sustain by the capture of Hamburgh and other vessels, in order that a fair balance might be made out. A meeting of the Underwriters was accordingly held at Borsen Halle, but the result had not transpired."

Mr Thornton, our late Minister at Hamburgh, arrived in London on the 6th Dec. He has brought the intelligence of all the British merchants in Hamburgh having been declared by Bonaparte prisoners of war! Report says, that they. and all the British resident at Hamburgh, have been sent off under a strong escort for Paris and Verdun. A letter from a passenger in a vessel arrived at Yarmouth states as fol lows:

"I have only time to say I am just arrived here from Hamburgh, which we were obliged to leave at a few mo ments notice, after a decree making all the English there prisoners of war. Bonaparte's last proclamation is to this ef fect: That British property of every description is to be confiscated-England declared in a state of Blockade, and all British subjects, who may be found in

the