Game IC Thread

[Flamelord]

We Francis II, by the Grace of God elected Roman Emperor, etc.,

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Lunéville, completed with all good faith and conscientiousness the engagements which We had entered into; We had endeavored to maintain firm unity of purpose amongst Our people in these troubled times. Revolution and bloodshed has come to define Europe, and We have acted in such a way as to stem that tide now and in the future. Nevertheless, We have found it necessary to declare it impossible to continue to execute the heavy duties incumbent upon Us as Supreme Head of the Empire, as well as the Emperor of our subjects due to their lack of faith in Our just rule.

Consequently, under the conviction of the impossibility of any longer fulfilling the duties of Our Imperial office, We owe it to our principles and honour to renounce the crown.

We therefore declare by these presents that We consider the bonds uniting all members of the Empire to us in duty as dissolved, consider that We are released from all duties undertaken, and name as our successor in the full titles of the Imperial Crown Napoleon Bonaparte, in their capacity as Head of State of France.

We shall consider this document as having effect only if promulgated prior to the end of the Year 1801, and may be promulgated without further consultation on any date prior to then.

[SIGNED]



His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Franz I, By the Grace of God
Emperor of Austria, King of Jerusalem, Hungary and Bohemia, etc.

[Luc]

REPUBLICANS

Turn out, turn out and save your contry from ruin!

From an Emperor---from a King---from the iron grasp of a British Tory Faction---an unprincipled group of British speculators. The hireling tools and emissaries of his majesty King George the 3rd have thronged our city and spread the poison of principles among us,

DOWN WITH THE TORIES, DOWN WITH THE BRITISH FACTION,

Before they have it in their power to enslave you, and reduce your families to distress by heavy taxation, Republicans want no Tribate-liars---they want no Rufus King's foe Lords---they want no Varick to lord it over them---they want no Jones for senator, who fought with the British against the Americans in time of the war---But they want in their places such men as

Jefferson & Clinton,

who fought their country's battles in the year 76

[CarpeVerpa]

The Lucerne Constitution

We as the representatives of the government and people of the Helvetic Republic, do hereby draft and declare this new constitution, for the good and benefit of the Helvetic people, and all the Helvetic people, for so long as they may be.

Article I

Recognizing that the people of the Helvetic Republic hold many varied faiths, religions, and creeds, and acknowledging the flawed and misguided efforts of the past administration to suppress this variation of belief, the Helvetic Republic does hereby declare complete and total religious freedom. All people of the Republic are hereby allowed to believe, worship, and practice their faith as they see fit, privately and publically, so long as their worship does not violate federal law.

Article II

Recognizing the historical, political, and administrative importance of the old cantons, the Helvetic Republic does hereby initiate the full and total reestablishment of the old cantons, acting as regional units within a federal model.

Article III

Following upon Article II, and in recognition of the important role local self-rule and decentralized decision making have historically played within the old Swiss Confederation, yet recognizing the need for central authority, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic shall henceforth be allowed to vote on and implement their own internal policies and laws, so long as they do not conflict with federal law.

Article IV

Recognizing the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and the importance of upholding and implementing those values among the entirety of the Helvetic Republic and it's people, the Helvetic Republic shall hereby grant full citizenship and protection under the law to all peoples born within the borders of the Helvetic Republic, regardless of any other factors.

Article V

Making note of the importance for wide and varied participation in the process of government by average citizens, we do hereby declare that all men of eighteen years of age shall have right to participate in all federal and cantonal elections, so long as they are able to afford a fee which may be set differently from canton to canton, but may never exceed a federally set maximum, so that the mechanisms of government may be well funded, whilst the franchise cannot be limited to only the wealthy.

Article VI

Acknowledging the importance of direct citizen involvement in the processes of the government, all citizens are hereby given right to, at any time, call for a referendum to be held on any federal or cantonal laws, policies, or other points, so long as they may assemble a petition of sufficient size. Furthermore, to this end, a census shall hereby be conducted every 10 years, with the required number of signatures for a petition being appropriately adjusted in response. This adjustment shall be taken up by independent councils appointed for both individual cantons and the Republic as a whole.

Article VII

Recognizing the gravity and importance of the constitution, and the weight all alterations to said, would carry, it is hereby declared that all amendments or changes to the constitution shall henceforth be put to national referendum, without need of a petition.

Article VIII

Noting the American model of legislature, and it's success up to this point, the Republic's legislature shall hereby be organized in a similar, bicameral fashion. The first body shall be the Federal Council, to which each canton may elect one representative each. The second shall be the Cantonal Council, to which each canton shall have a number of representatives based upon their population, adjusted accordingly every ten years along with the aforementioned census.

Article IX

Noting the importance of fair and equitable representation of each canton in the federal system, and the need for a system in setting federal policy, all laws, policies, and decision made on a federal level shall hereby be voted upon by both the Federal and Cantonal Councils simultaneously, requiring a simple majority in both bodies in order for any proposition to be passed.

Article X

Recognizing the importance for true and total representation in government, it is hereby declared that all appointments to the Federal and Cantonal Councils shall occur by public election, with all eligible voters being able to take part. Furthermore, it is decided that representatives to the Federal Council shall be elected to four year terms, whilst representatives to the Cantonal Council shall be elected to two year terms.

Article XI

Noting the possibility of future expansion of the Republic, and welcoming all those who would like to be part of it, it is hereby declared that any petitions from other territories to join the Helvetic Republic, so long as they hail from or have the approval of the governing body of the territories concerned, shall be approved, so long as the Federal and Cantonal Councils are given right to determine jointly the borders of the resulting new canton or cantons.

Article XII

Recognizing the many diverse and different languages within the Republic, and the world itself, the Republic does hereby recognize as official languages German, French, Italian, and Romansh, and gives right to any cantons to add to this any language they see fit, so long as the effort is approved by local referendum.

[Serenissima]

A popular song in the taverns and public houses of England in early 1801, likely prompted and inspired by the number of sailors returning to England after the signing of Peace, flush with Prize Money from the many defeats of the French Fleet:

I'm bold Jack Tar, returned on shore,
Look at this, my portion!
I've gold and silver in great store,
Long time I've been on the ocean!

I've come back, to find my love,
To see if it is me she'll have.
"Nancy, will you be my wife?
Wed with a tarry sailor?"

Nancy turned around with a frown,
"I'd rather a man of high renown!
Do you think I'd marry you?
No, not I! Wed with a tarry sailor!"

So Jack reached into his jacket's fold,
bringing out two fists of gold,
"Nancy, will you marry me now?
Wed with a tarry sailor?"

Nancy turned around with a smile,
and looked at the money with a hard regard,
"I was only joking, Jack, my love,
t'be sure I'll marry my sailor!"

"If it's a joke, likewise I jest!
I can see it's cash that you love best.
I'd rather a girl that's of true heart,
and you'll never get you a sailor!"

So Jack he took his gold elsewhere,
and he found himself a maiden fair,
which made poor Nancy fit and frown
for the day she refused a sailor.

I'm bold Jack Tar, returned on shore,
Look at this, my portion,
I've gold and silver in great store,
Long time I've spent on the ocean!

[Serenissima]

Despite the Peace, Bonaparte remains exceptionally unpopular in the British Press.

[Smyg]

King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, arrested by his officers in the palace itself.

______________________________________

Proclamation Against Tyranny

Citizens!

The Nation is in pain, and must be healed. First, the sickened branch shall be cut off, to revitalise the whole tree.

The Regiments of the Royal Swedish Army stationed in Stockholm have apprehended King Gustav IV Adolf, alongside Duke Carl, Duke Fredrik Adolf, Duchess Sofia Albertina, and their respective families. Behind us stand the entirety of the Armed Forces, and the Four Estates of the Realm. The reign of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, a foreign dynasty imported by foreign powers, which after the Tragedy of 1772 robbed the citizens of our parliamentary rights and ended the Age of Liberty, is over. God bless the Nation.

It is time to return to that Age, until now lost to us. A new Constitution is underway, one free of the Absolute Monarch's despotism, that which divided rather than united our peoples. For too long, Gustav IV Adolf and his father Gustav III before him waged war with impunity, throwing away Swedish and Finnish lives by the thousands for petty titles and mere vanity, all while restricting our fundamental rights as citizens. No more. Remember Anjala - Sic semper tyrannis!

--- Stockholm,
Carl Johan Adlercreutz
Riksföreståndare.

[Smyg]

Declaration on the Colony of Sankt-Barthélemy

The Colony of Sankt-Barthélemy, known in French as Saint Barthélemy, has long been a blot upon the proud Swedish name. It was acquired by the "Theatre King" Gustav III in 1784, a petty boon granted to that monarch by the Kingdom of France. Its cotton, sugar, cocoa, tobacco and fruits - and the trade brought by its harbours - lured the King in. But kept within the isle was not only vital natural resources, but also Slaves, 281 of these cursed Souls. Since that year, the amount of Slaves has increased plentifold, and today around 2,000 Men, Women and Children are in chains, enslaved by a Nation that abolished Thralldom already in the Dark Ages. The Human Bondage practised upon said isle has been well-documented by many writers, prominently among them the now deceased scholar Herr Bengt Euphrásen, and it has shown itself to be against the will of God and the Nation both, and of a particularly brutal nature.

Hence, the Provisional Government has decided upon the following decrees, which are to be matched by the equivalent legislation, this declaration being a brief summary:

• All regulation allowing the Enslavement of members of the species Homo Sapiens, as classified by Dr. Carl von Linné in the year 1758, are hereby declared null and void. Slavery shall be forbidden in the Kingdom from now into perpetuity. A process of Abolition, in which the Enslaved are freed, shall begin upon the arrival of the new Governor to Sankt-Barthélemy, and the last Slave shall be free no later than the year 1805, once the administrative process has been carried out. All those who hold Slaves shall be given a compensation equal to the market price of said Slaves such as it was on 1 January 1801, provided that they register their Slaves with the Colonial Administration. Failure to comply will result in the forfeiture of their Enslaved property. Former Slaves shall receive the financial support of the Crown, to ensure their assimilation into free society.

• All inhabitants of the Colony of Sankt-Barthélemy, including the formerly Enslaved, are hereby declared to be full and honest Citizens of the Realm, as subjects of the Crown and inhabitants of the Kingdom. As such, all rights awarded to Citizens shall be awarded to them as well.

• The entry of vessels carrying a Human cargo into Swedish territory, colonial or otherwise, is hereby wholly banned. Any Slaver Captain who brings his ship into a Swedish port shall be seen as having forfeited his property, and the Enslaved shall be confiscated for liberation. The importation of Slaves into Sankt-Barthélemy in any way shall indeed be strictly forbidden.

• A Regiment of the Royal Swedish Army, and several ships of the Royal Swedish Navy, shall be deployed to the West Indies to guard the Territory and Waters of the Isle of Sankt-Barthélemy, to prevent the entry of vessels carrying a Human cargo, and to ensure order in the Colony.

• As the tenure of the Governor of the Colony, Major Georg Henrik Johan af Troll, ended upon January 1801, and no replacement has yet been appointed, Dr. Anders Sparrman - the Linnean naturalist, whose travels to Africa and Asia with Captain James Cook makes him accustomed to the tropical climates, and whose work in the British Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade has equipped him for the task ahead - shall be appointed as the 5th Governor of Sankt-Barthélemy, the first civilian one.

• The Swedish West India Company which maintains the Colony shall receive a temporary 5-year extension of their chartered trade privileges in the Caribbean and the Western Coast of Africa, as requested by the Company itself. However, all rights regarding the enslavement of Human beings are hereby revoked, and any Employee or Representative of the SWIC that engages in such devilry shall be hanged by the Crown as a Pirate and Smuggler.

[Serenissima]

The end of war and the resumption of trade with France, who only some months before were a committed and deadly enemy, is not without its humourous aspects, according to the satirical cartoonists. Prime Minister Pitt is shown on the battlements of Walmer Castle, his personal gift from the King as the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, overseeing the flood of trade of British goods to the recent enemy.