The National Intelligencer And Washington Advertiser

Replies of the members of the Diplomatic Corps to M. Talleyrand.

TRANSLATED
For the National Intelligencer.

SIR,

I have received with the letter of your excellency, of the 3d Germinal, a copy of the report of the Chief Judge, relative to the correspondence of M. Drake, minister of his Britannic majesty at the court of Bavaria, with a list of those who have conspired in the interior of France against the government.

The tender attachment of his holiness for the person of the First Consul, the respect which I know he entertains for him, in consideration of the important services he has rendered to religion, and the special protection he has extended to the Church, the gratitude which, not only French catholics, but likewise those of neighbouring countries, owe him, have excited in me the most lively sorrow when I learned that his life was in danger, and the public tranquility had been so near being disturbed. I was then very far from thinking that any of the diplomatic agents could be implicated in this conspiracy; the public and sacred character with which they are clothed sheltered them from such a suspicion. I perceive with great regret, by the correspondence which your excellency has transmitted to me, that one of these agents has permitted himself to address to the enemies of the French government in the interior, instructions, means and plans. I am persuaded that his Holiness will feel as sensibly as myself this melancholy intelligence. Deign to assure the First Consul that the Sovereign Pontiff has viewed, and will always continue to view with horror whatever shall tend to disturb the interior peace of his government, on which rests the entire edifice for the re-establishment of the catholic religion in France. Every attempt against his precious life will be viewed by His Holiness as a crime as atrocious in itself, as it is fatal to the Church, and to the repose and tranquility of France. I have no doubt but that the diplomatic corps of Europe will participate with me in these sentiments, and that they will openly disavow whosoever, among the members that compose it, shall abuse his character to propagate discord, and foment disturbances.

Your excellency will please to accept on this occasion the assurance of my high consideration.

J. B. Cardinal Caprara,
legate of the Sovereign Pontiff
Paris, March 26th, 1804.

Citizen Minister,

I offer my thanks to your excellency for the communication you have been pleased to make to me of the report of the chief judge, a copy of which I have forwarded to Vienna for the information of my court. The opinion which the First Consul entertains of the sentiments and character of the diplomatic corps which has the honor of being accredited near his person, evinces that he renders justice to all the members which compose it. And surely he does not deceive himself by entertaining the opinion that there is no one amongst us who will not strongly condemn whatever a diplomatic agent or his government allows themselves to do contrary to the laws of nations and the principles of justice generally adopted among civilized nations.

Accept, citizen Minister, the assurances of my high consideration.

LE COMTE COBENZEL.
Embassador of the Emperor, &c.
Paris, 25th March, 1804.

Citizen Minister,

I have hastened to transmit to my court, by a courier, the letter which your excellency did me the honor to write to me on the 3d Germinal, and a copy of the report of the grand judge on the conspiracy fortunately discovered by the vigilance of the police.

You know, citizen minister, the lively interest which the king, my master, has always felt for the life and welfare of the First Consul, as well as for the maintenance of order and tranquility in the state, of which he is the worthy chief. You may then imagine the effect of this communication on the mind of his Prussian majesty, whoever may be the authors and agents of the conspiracy, and your excellency will easily conceive the interest which the king will take in the cessation of those alarms which have disturbed the friends of France. In acquitting myself of the commission which has been given me, I have conceived it my duty to assure his majesty of the perfect union which reigns between the august chief of the Republic and all the servants of the state, between the whole nation, its representatives and defenders,

It is by such details that I shall always endeavor to reconcile with the sacred function, with which I am invested, the confidence and esteem of the government to which the king my master has deigned to send me,

Receive, citizen minister, the expression of my high consideration.

At Paris, the 26 March, 1804. [6 germinal year 12]
MARQUIS DE LUCCHESINI,
Envoy extraordinary from his
Majesty the king of Prussia.

The ambassador of the Batavian Republic, to the minister of Foreign Affairs.

Citizen Minister.

The ambassador, who while at London, saw the vessels of his nation, brought into English ports, during the time of peace, had reason to expect that a war preceded by such a flagrant violation of the common principles of justice, and of the rights of nations, would be carried on with little delicacy as to the choice of means. It is with governments, as with individuals, when once the barriers of injustice have been broken down, power is the only guide, and neither know where to stop their career. Although the history of every nation attests this melancholy truth, it was still difficult to conceive the possibility of an event, such as is detailed in the communication of your excellency, and it has been reserved for the present age to furnish so fatal and daring an attempt. If the facts developed in this correspondence inspire the deepest affliction in the breast of every individual, capable of calculating the fatal consequences arising from the abuse of one of the most sacred and respectable of characters, how poignant must be the sensations of one who is invested with this character and who has endeavoured by an adherence to his own duties, to acquire a right to that respect, protection and inviolability which the laws of nations assure him?

The Batavian ambassador, the minister of a nation renowned in all ages for its justice and incorruptibility, to whom loyalty has become habitual, and which observes a religious respect for the laws of nations, must in the present case, feel a double portion of the general indignation.

Will you, citizen minister, be the interpreter of these sentiments to the First Consul, and accept the assurance of my high respect.

Signed,
J.R. SCHIMMELPENNINCK.

Citizen Minister,

I have the honor to announce to your excellency the receipt of the communication which has been made to me by order of the First Consul, of the report which has been presented by the grand judge on the conspiracy, contrived in France by Mr. Drake, his Britannic majesty's minister, at the Court of Munich. I have made it my duty speedily to transmit this communication to my court.

The reading of the letters and authentic papers emanating from Mr. Drake, which are printed at the end of the grand judge's report, the originals of which your excellency informed me have been sent to his serene highness the elector of Bavaria, will deeply afflict all the members of the diplomatic corps. It is afflicting to discover that a public minister should descend to practice intrigues which should be abhorrent to the honorable character with which he is invested, and to the dignity of his functions. Every foreign minister will regret with me that a public man exposes himself to an accusation for such conduct; and I do not doubt but all the members of the diplomatic corps, accredited by the First Consul, will share, in respect to the conduct of Mr. Drake, my sentiments and my opinion.

Accept, citizen minister, the assurances of my high consideration.

DREYER.
Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of his majesty the king of Denmark.
Paris, 25 March, 1804.

SIR,

I have just received the communication which your excellency had been pleased to make to me of the report of the Grand Judge to the First Consul, and the annexed papers, on a conspiracy directed against France.

The justice which the First Consul rendered to the sentiments of the diplomatic corps who have the honor of being accredited by him, excites the gratitude and corresponds fully with the sensation of profound sorrow with which it has beheld the sanctity and dignity of a public character prostituted, whose functions are consecrated by honor and fidelity.

I cannot conceal from your excellency the extreme pain with which I read the papers which contain this communication, and which I have made it my duty to transmit immediately to my court.

The sentiments of his majesty, the king my master, for the person of the First Consul and for the interior tranquility of a respected nation, whose situation has such influence on surrounding nations, are too well known to the First Consul to render it necessary for me to remind your excellency of them on this occasion.

I have the honor to be with sentiments of the highest consideration, Your excellency's
Most obedient and most
Humble servant,

The Marquis De Gallo, ambassador extraordinary of his majesty the king of Naples, and of the Two Sicilies.
Paris 26th March, 1804.

CITIZEN MINISTER,

I have received the letter in which you have communicated the report of the Grand Judge on the shameful and criminal plots of Mr. Drake, minister of his Britannic Majesty at my court. I do not hesitate to assure your excellency, that the Elector will manifest by measures the most severe, the most effectual, and the most conformable to his personal friendship for the First Consul, the grief and indignation which this Prince will feel at any one having dared to meditate and pursue in his states, under the mask of a sacred character, designs the most wicked and perverse.

I should vainly endeavor to express to you, citizen minister, how greatly I deplore the violence offered by such conduct to the respectable functions with which I am invested. I am fully sensible of the value of your attention in making known to me the justice rendered by the First Consul to the sentiments of all those who have the honor of being accredited by him. I shall be always ambitious of his approbation, as a flattering recompense of my zeal, and as the most honorable means of meriting the favor of my sovereign.

I pray your excellency to accept the homage of my respectful consideration.

Paris 26 March, 1804.- (5 Germinal, year 12.)
CETTO, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Elector of Bavaria.

CITIZEN MINISTER,

I have received the note which your Excellency did me the honor to address to me, of the date of 3d Germinal, with a copy of the report which has been presented to the First Consul by the Grand Judge on the conspiracy formed by Mr. Drake, Minister of his Britannic Majesty, at the court of Munich; also the printed copies of letters and other authentic papers of the said Mr. Drake, and I have hastened to transmit the whole to my court. There is no one, Citizen Minister, who will not learn with grief that Mr. Drake, invested with the most honorable public character, should descend to such a profanation of it.

I pray your Excellency to receive the homage of my respectful consideration,

Paris, 4th Germinal, year 12.
COUNT DE BUNAU,
Minister Plenipotentiary of the Elector of Saxony

To his Excellency M. Talleyrand Perigord, Minister of Foreign Relations of the French Republic.

CITIZEN MINISTER,

The undersigned Minister Plenipotentiary of his Highness the Elector Arch Chancellor of the Germanic Empire, having received with respectful acknowledgment the letter which your Excellency had been pleased to address to him, of the date of the 3d inst. in which is enclosed a copy of the report presented to the First Consul on the conspiracy formed in France by Mr. Drake, Minister of his Britannic Majesty at the Court of Munich, he has hastened to send the above pieces to his Highness the Elector. The more necessary fidelity, honor, and probity are in the actions of a man to whom has been entrusted the honorable function of diplomacy the deeper is the sorrow which must be felt at the contemplation of this perfidious plot.

The unbounded sentiments of attachment, and the high consideration which the Elector Arch Chancellor has expressed for the First Consul, are so well known that the indignation which he will feel at this news may be easily conceived.

The undersigned, who by the express order of his Highness the Elector his Master, has already had the honour of expressing these sentiments himself at the last Diplomatic Audience, begs of your Excellency to repeat to the First Consul an assurance of the warm interest in and sincere wishes for his preservation entertained by his Highness the Elector.

CHARLES COMTE DE BOEUST.
Minister to Arch Chancellor of Empire.

The Baron of Pappenheim, Minister Plenipotentiary of his Serene Highness, Landgrave of Hesse, Darmstadt, near the First Consul of the French Republic, to the Minister of Foreign Relations.

CITIZEN MINISTER,

I have hastened to transmit to my Court the letter with which your Excellency has honored me, and a copy of the report of the Grand Judge, with the printed letters and authentic papers of the Minister of his Britannic Majesty at Munich.

Every honest man must be deeply afflicted on discovering that Mr Drake has so far forgotten what he owed to the dignity of his public character and to himself, as to become the author of the vile conspiracy against the French Republic and its august chief.

I am persuaded that the opinion of the First Consul relative to the diplomatic corps will be fully justified by each of its members, and I hope in regard to myself that after a residence of many years, the perpetual attachment which...
I have always entertained for the person of the First Consul a respect so profound and sincere, that you need no assurances to be convinced of the sentiments of indignation and horror with which the dishonorable conduct of Mr. Drake has inspired me.

I venture to entreat your Excellency to make known to the First Consul these my sentiments, and to accept at the same time the assurance of my high consideration.

Paris, the 5th Germinal, year 12th [26th March, 1804.]

AUGUSTUS De PAPPENHEIM.

SIR,

I hasten to inform your Excellency that I have received your letter of the 31st Germinal, with a copy of the report of the Grand Judge, relative to the conspiracy designed by Mr. Drake, Minister of his Britannic Majesty at the Court of Munich. I shall immediately transmit this communication to his Highness the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. His attachment, his profound devotion, as well as that of the Order over which he presides, to the interests of France, and to the august person of the First Consul, are such, that he will feel the greatest horror and indignation when he hears of this odious plot.

Accept, Sir, the homage of my most high consideration, with which I have the honor to be, your most obedient humble servant,

THE BAILIFF OF FERRETTE,

Minister Plenipotentiary of his Highness the Grand Master of Malta.

Citizen Minister,

I have just received the letter which your excellency did me the honor to address to me, together with the printed letter and authentic papers of Mr. Drake, Minister of his Britannic Majesty at Munich, relative to a conspiracy planned under his direction.

The impression which a knowledge of these details must make upon every man who respects the rights of nations and the general interests of humanity, cannot but be of the most painful nature. Such at least will be the feelings of the magistrates of the free towns of the Empire. This sentiment will be the stronger, as the conspiracy was principally directed against the person of the First Consul, whom all the inhabitants of the free towns of the Empire regard as the generous protector, who has preserved their independence, and for whom they feel the highest veneration and the most perfect attachment.

The discovery of this plot has nowhere produced so strong and general a sensation of sorrow as among the inhabitants of these towns. The letters which I received on their hearing the news of this conspiracy discovered, show how great was the consternation among all classes of the citizens, and subsequent ones testify the general felicity on hearing that this plot has been completely crushed.

Permit to accept, citizen Minister, the assurance of the highest consideration, with which I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant,

ABEL,

RESIDENT MINISTER OF THE FREE CITIES of the EMPIRE.