{GEORGE III. 1807—1809}
Debate on the negociation with France..... Financial
Arrangements..... The Slave-Trade Question..... Bill for
Removing the Disabilities of the Roman Catholics.....
Dismissal of Ministers..... New Cabinet..... Trial of
Strength between the two Parties..... Dissolution of
Parliament..... The New Parliament—Campaign of
Napoleon..... The Peace of Tilsit..... Expedition to
Copenhagen..... Hostilities against Turkey..... Expedition
to Egypt..... Disasters in South America..... War with
Russia..... French invasion of Portugal..... Milan Decree,
&c. Disputes with America..... Meeting of
Parliament..... Debates on the Orders in Council.....
Financial Measures..... Debate on Ireland..... Motion
respecting the Droits of Admiralty, &c. Prorogation
of Parliament..... Rising of the Spanish Nation, &c.
Affairs of Portugal..... Confederation of France and
Russia..... Operations in Spain..... Naval Affairs in the
Mediterranean..... State of the Continent.
DEBATE ON THE NEGOCIATION WITH FRANCE.
{A.D. 1807}
The papers which Lord Grenville had laid on the table relative to the
negociations with France, were taken into consideration on the 5th of
January. In both houses addresses were moved to express to his majesty
approbation of his attempts to restore the blessings of peace, and
determination to support him in such measures as might yet be necessary,
either for the restoration of peace or the prosecution of war. In
both houses the motion was carried unanimously, though there were long
debates in which the comparative merits or demerits of the late and
present ministries were canvassed. All parties, however, agreed that
the continuation of war, and that an increase of power and a proper
direction to our military forces were necessary. An augmentation of sea
and land forces was voted; the total sum devoted to the navy alone being
£17,400,337. The number of seamen including marines was 130,000, and the
number of men under arms about 300,000; while the volunteers actually
armed and regimented nearly amounted to the same.
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
On the 29th of January Lord Henry Petty, as chancellor of the
exchequer, submitted to the house an estimate of the supplies required
for the year, and of the ways and means by which he proposed to meet
them. The expenditure was calculated at a grand total of £45,841,340,
being £40,527,065 for Great Britain, and £5,314,275 for Ireland. Lord
Petty’s plan of finance, in order to meet this expenditure, assumed that
the annual produce of the permanent and temporary revenue would continue
equal to the produce of the preceding year; keeping these premises in
view, Lord Petty proposed that the war-loans for this year and the two
next should be £12,000,000 annually; for 1810, £14,000,000, and for the
next ten years £16,000,000. These loans were to be made a charge on the
war-taxes, which were estimated to produce £21,000,000 annually, and
this charge was to be at the rate of ten per cent, on each loan, five
per cent, interest, and the remainder as a sinking-fund, which at
compound interest would redeem any sum of capital debt in fourteen
years. Lord Petty said that the portion of war-taxes thus liberated
successively might, if war continued, become applicable in a revolving
series, and be again pledged for new loans. It was material, however, he
explained that the property-tax should cease on the sixth of April next,
after peace was ratified, and that on the result of the whole measure
there would not be any new taxes imposed for the first three years from
this time. All that was necessary would be new taxes, of less than £300,
000, on an average of seven years from 1810 to 1816, inclusive. This,
he continued, would procure for the country the full benefit of the plan
proposed, which plan would be continued for twenty years, during the
last ten of which no additional taxes would be required. This plan
after repeated discussions was agreed to, and the funds rose so high in
consequence, that the chancellor of the exchequer was able to negociate
a loan on advantageous terms to the public.
THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.
Wilberforce seems to have placed his main dependence upon Fox, in the
great question of the abolition of the slave-trade; but on the death of
that minister, Lord Grenville took up the matter with greater zeal than
he had manifested. On the 2d of January he introduced a bill for the
total abolition of that inhuman traffic, and this bill was read a first
time and printed. Counsel was heard at the bar of the house against it
on the 4th of February; and next day, after an elaborate speech, Lord
Grenville moved the second reading. He was warmly supported by the Duke
of Gloucester, the Earl of Selkirk, Lord King, the Earl of Rosslyn, Lord
Northesk, the Bishop of Durham, Lord Holland, the Earl of Suffolk, and
Lord Moira; and as warmly opposed by the Duke of Clarence, the Earl
of Morton, the Earl of Westmoreland, and Lords Sidmouth, Eldon,
Hawkesbury, and St. Vincent. On a division, the bill was read a second
time by one hundred against thirty-six; and on the 10th of February it
was read a third time, and ordered to be sent to the commons for their
concurrence. In the commons the reading was moved by Lord Howick; and
so great had been the progress of philanthropic sentiments among British
legislators that only sixteen ventured to oppose it; two hundred and
eighty-three raised their voices in favour of it. The bill was read a
third time on the 16th of March, and on the 18th it was carried back to
the lords. Some amendments had been made in the commons, and these were
assented to by the lords; and on the 25th the bill received the royal
assent by commission. The bill enacted that no vessel should clear out
for slaves from any port within the British dominions after the 14th of
May, 1807; and that no slave should be landed in the colonies after the
1st of March, 1808. Thus this dark spot in the English annals was
wiped out, and a noble example was set to the nations around who still
trafficked in human flesh. It has, indeed, been justly observed that
“almost all the mild and benignant laws, enacted for the benefit and
protection of the negro slave, were of subsequent date to the first
agitation of the question by the British parliament; and may, therefore,
be fairly presumed to have been suggested by that movement.”
“Quick at the call of virtue, freedom, truth,
Weak withering age, and strong aspiring youth,
Alike the expanding power of pity felt;
The coldest, hardest hearts began to melt;
From breast to breast the flame of justice glowed—
Wide o’er its banks the Nile of mercy flowed;
Through all the isle, the gradual waters swelled,
Mammon in vain the encircling flood repelled
O’erthrown at length, like Pharaoh and his host,
His shipwrecked hopes lay scattered round the coast.”
Through the labours of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and other philanthropists,
the slave-trade was therefore abolished: it remained for future
philanthropists to emancipate those on whose naked limbs the shackles
were fastened. On the day after the abolition bill had been carried,
Lord Percy moved to bring in a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery
in the West Indies. This motion was negatived; but it showed that the
subject of their entire freedom would one day or other follow that of
the abolition of the slave-trade.
BILL FOR REMOVING THE DISABILITIES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS.
With the present administration, the catholic question was made a
subject of paramount importance. It was made a matter of discussion in
the cabinet; and although, in consequence of Lord Sidmouth’s aversion to
the measure, and some interviews held by Lords Grenville and Howick with
his majesty, the subject was for a time abandoned, yet about this time
it was partially renewed by a bill for allowing promotion in the army
and navy to Roman Catholics, as well as to other dissenters from the
protestant establishment. This bill which had received the reluctant
acquiescence of his majesty, was read a first time on the 5th of March,
and was ordered to be read on the twelfth of the same month. In
the meantime the king’s sentiments underwent a material change; his
coronation-oath would not, he said, allow him to give his royal assent
to such a measure. The bill was postponed from the 12th, in consequence
of this communication, to the 18th, during which time ministers sought
to remove the king’s scruples. This, however, was a task which they were
not able to perform, and they were at length compelled to consent to
withdraw the bill altogether.
DISMISSAL OF MINISTERS.
The introduction of the bill described above caused a breach between
his majesty and his ministers; a breach which admitted of no reparation.
Confidence, indeed, between his majesty and his cabinet had never
existed; for the king had accepted his ministers, not by choice, but by
necessity. This was well known; and it is easy to believe, as some have
represented, that his suspicion of them was increased by the whispers of
men who were in search of place and power. Secret advisers, it is
said, encouraged his majesty’s scruples on the subject of the catholic
question, while on the other hand it is asserted that the cabinet sought
to impose the bill on his majesty by unfair means. Be this as it may, it
led to their dismissal. On the 24th of March, Lord Grenville received a
letter from his majesty, directing him and his colleagues to appear at
the Queen’s palace on the morrow, at half-past eleven o’clock, for the
purpose of delivering up their seals of office. This mandate was obeyed;
and “all the talents” ministry was thus dissolved.
NEW CABINET.
Previous to the dismissal of “all the talents” ministry, the king had
been engaging successors. Between the 26th and the 31st of March the
following appointments were announced:—the Duke of Portland, first lord
of the treasury; Lord Hawkesbury, secretary for the home department;
Canning, secretary for foreign affairs; Lord Castlereagh, secretary
for war and the colonies; the Earl of Chatham, master of the ordnance;
Spencer Perceval, chancellor of the exchequer and under-treasurer of the
exchequer; Earl Camden, lord-president of the council; Earl Bathurst,
president of the board of trade, with George Rose for his vice; and the
Earl of Westmoreland, keeper of the privy-seal. Lord Erskine had been
permitted to retain the great seal for a week, in order that he might
have time to pronounce his decrees on some chancery-suits which had been
argued before him; but on the 1st of April, Lord Eldon was appointed,
and sworn in in his stead. On the same day the Duke of Richmond was made
lord-lieutenant of Ireland; and on the 3rd of April Lord Mulgrave was
named first lord of the admiralty, and the honourable Dundas, president
of the board of control. The remaining offices were filled up a few days
after; and, among other appointments, George Rose became treasurer
of the navy. The late ministry seems to have obtained not only the
displeasure of his majesty, but of the country, by their introduction of
the catholic question into the cabinet. A loud cry of “No popery!” was
indeed heard at this time, and when they were dismissed, the public
voice applauded his majesty’s decision. Addresses poured in from all
quarters, expressive of approbation, the terms of which may be seen from
his majesty’s reply to the address of the corporation of the city of
London: “I receive with the greatest satisfaction the assurances you
give me of your concurrence in those principles which have governed my
conduct on the late important occasion. It has ever been my object to
secure to all descriptions of my subjects the benefits of religions
toleration; and it affords me particular gratification to reflect,
that during my reign these advantages have been more generally and
extensively engaged than at any former period; but at the same time
I never can forget what is clue to the security of the ecclesiastical
establishment of my dominions, connected as it is with our civil
constitution and with all those blessings which, by the favour of
Providence, have hitherto so eminently distinguished us among the
nations of the world.”
TRIAL OF STRENGTH BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES.
On the first meeting of Parliament, after the new appointments, there
was a great trial of strength. In the course of negociation with the
late ministers, his majesty had been advised to exact a written pledge
from them, not only to abandon the catholic question, but never to
resume it. His majesty could scarcely have found it necessary to demand
of his new ministers such a pledge; yet, on the 9th of April, Mr. Brand
moved in the commons, “that it is contrary to the first duties of the
confidential servants of the crown to restrain themselves by any pledge,
expressed or implied, from offering to the king any advice that the
course of circumstances might render necessary for the welfare and
security of any part of his majesty’s extensive empire.” As it has been
observed, this was a constitutional truism, a principle not to be denied
without attacking the constitution itself. As, however, this motion, if
carried, would have been followed by other resolutions, implying a want
of confidence in men who had given such advice to his majesty, &c., the
new cabinet determined to try their strength on Brand’s first motion. It
was warmly supported by Mr. Fawkes, Sir Samuel Romilly, and others;
and as warmly opposed by Perceval and Canning. The friends of the late
administration were sanguine of success; but the Prince of Wales, having
declared that the motion was of a nature which must affect the
king personally, the prince’s friends, including Sheridan, absented
themselves, so that on a division it was rejected by two hundred and
fifty-eight against two hundred and twenty-six. A similar motion was
made in the lords, by the Marquis of Stafford; but it was there defeated
by a large majority, chiefly through the same means and agencies by
which it was lost in the commons. Lord Sidmouth on this occasion spoke
and voted against his late colleagues. Moreover, a motion made in the
commons, by Mr. Littleton, to express regret at the late change of
administration, was defeated by a majority of two hundred and forty-four
against ninety, so that ministers were triumphant.
DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.
Yet, notwithstanding their victory, ministers seem to have considered
that they stood on very unsafe ground; for they advised his majesty to
dissolve parliament, in order that a general election might take place.
Canning had threatened this in opposing Brand’s motion; but it was not
supposed that a dissolution would take place before the end of May,
and the regular close of the session. On the 27th of April, however,
parliament was prorogued by commission, and on the 29th the king
dissolved it by royal proclamation. Great efforts were made by both
parties at the new general election; but so effectual were the exertions
of the ministry,—so potent the cry of “No popery!” and, “The church is
in danger!” &c., raised by their partisans, both from the pulpit, by
the press, and in society at large, that of all the members of the late
cabinet, only Mr. Thomas Grenville resumed his seat in the commons for
the place which he had before represented. Bribery, also, did its work
effectually on this occasion: boroughs were sold at a price beyond all
precedent; Tierney offered £10,000, for two seats, but his offer was
refused, as too small for acceptance.
THE NEW PARLIAMENT.
The new parliament was opened on the 22nd of June, and the king’s speech
delivered by commission on the 20th of the same month. The result of the
elections soon became manifest. An amendment to the address, censuring
the late dissolution of parliament, was rejected in the lords by one
hundred and sixty against sixty-seven, and in the commons by three
hundred and fifty against one hundred and fifty-five. The business
transacted by the new ministry during this session was of little
importance. A new military plan was introduced by Lord Castlereagh for
increasing the regular army from the militia regiments, and supplying
the deficiencies so occasioned by a supplementary militia. A bill was
also introduced by Sir Arthur Wellesley for suppressing insurrection in
Ireland, and another was passed to prevent improper persons from keeping
arms. A bill was brought in by Whitbread for the education of the poor,
by establishing schools in all the parishes of England. This bill passed
the commons, but it was rejected by the lords. An address was carried
in the commons, on the motion of Mr. Bankes, praying his majesty not
to make any grant of an office in reversion till six weeks after the
commencement of the session. In all these measures ministers had a large
majority, and they had a fair prospect of being established in office.
Parliament was prorogued on the 14th of August, when the king’s speech,
which was again delivered by commission, breathed hope and cheerfulness.
CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON.
Although the King of Prussia at the close of the last year seemed to be
ruined, yet his spirit was not subdued. When Napoleon advanced in the
hope of crushing him, Frederic William was at Memel, and his Russian
allies were at Prussian-Eylau, A battle took place at Eylau on the 8th
of February, between the Russians and the main body of Napoleon’s army.
A fearful slaughter took place on both sides, and neither could claim
the victory. The Russians, indeed, still kept their ground, but as
they had lost thousands, and there was no prospect of succours, and as
Napoleon on the other hand would soon be joined by Bernadotte’s fresh
division, Beningsen, the Russian general, thought it prudent on the
next day to retreat. Having remained one week at Eylau, Napoleon moved
onwards to the river Passarge, his head-quarters being at Osterode.
From Osterode he sent offers of peace to the King of Prussia, while
at the same time he took measures for recruiting his army and reducing
Dantzic. The important city of Dantzic surrendered in May to Léfêbvre,
and in the meantime re-enforcements had reached both armies. Then
followed the battle of Friedland, in which Napoleon was again
victorious; the Russians were utterly defeated, and while thousands fell
on the field of battle, thousands more perished in the river Passarge,
into which they plunged in order to escape from their pursuing enemies.
Konigs-burg now surrendered to the French ruler. Beningsen retreated
beyond the Niémen; but the French soon reached that river in the
pursuit. The Russians now demanded an armistice, and this was conceded,
and preparations made for an interview between the emperors on a
raft moored in the middle of the river. There they met and embraced,
conversing for a considerable time in sight of their armies on the
opposite banks. In the course of their conversation, Alexander having
expressed resentment against the British ministry—his reason being that
they had departed from Pitt’s system of subsidies—Napoleon replied, “In
that case, the conditions of a treaty will be easily settled.” On the
following day Alexander crossed the river to Tilsit, where the two
emperors where soon on terms of equality and friendship. But not so
was the fallen monarch of Prussia: he was treated by his conqueror with
harshness and disrespect, and even Alexander became cold in his manners
towards his late ally.
THE PEACE OF TILSIT.
A peace was concluded between France and Russia on the 7th of July. The
conditions of this peace were various. The King of Prussia was restored
to about one half of his dominions as far as the Elbe, but all the
Prussian fortresses and sea-port towns were to remain in the hands of
the French until England should be compelled to sign a treaty of peace.
All the Polish provinces which Frederic William had acquired in the
partition of 1772 were disunited from his kingdom, and erected into a
separate territory, to be called the Duchy of Warsaw, and were placed
under the rule of the King of Saxony, who was to be allowed an open road
through the Prussian province of Silesia. The circle of Cotbuss, also,
was taken from Prussia and annexed to Saxony, and Dantzic was to be
under the control of both kingdoms, only until a general peace it was
to be garrisoned by the French. As a matter of course, the czar was not
called upon to make any sacrifice. On the contrary, he was gratified
with the cession of a part of Prussian-Poland, which materially
strengthened his own frontier. France allowed Russia also to take
Finland from Sweden; and Russia on her part engaged to close her
ports against British ships, and to place herself at the head of a new
northern coalition. Both Russia and Prussia acknowledged the thrones
which Napoleon had erected, and recognised the confederation of the
Rhine, and every other league which he had formed. Nay, they even
sanctioned future spoliation and wrong. They recognised a throne which
Buonaparte was about to erect for his brother Jerome—the throne of
Westphalia. It was declared that this kingdom should consist of the
provinces ceded by the King of Prussia, on the left bank of the Elbe,
and of other states at present in the possession of his majesty, the
Emperor Napoleon. In return for this courtesy, it was agreed that the
relatives or connexions of Alexander, namely, the Dukes of Saxe Cobourg,
Oldenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, should be restored to their states, but
only upon conditions that their sea-ports should be garrisoned by French
soldiers till a treaty of peace should be signed between France and
England. By the treaty of Tilsit, Russia agreed to make peace with the
Porte, and to abandon Moldavia and Wallachia. Russia, likewise, ceded
the Ionian Isles to France, and promised the evacuation of Cattaro,
which as well as Ragusa was united with the kingdom of Italy. Although
Russia promised to make peace with the Porte, a scheme was concocted for
the future dismemberment of the empire, and for the distribution of its
spoils to Russia, France, and Austria. Plots were also devised against
Sweden and Spain, although the latter country had recently sacrificed
its whole navy in Napoleon’s cause, and whose army was still engaged for
him in the north. The treaty of Tilsit was, in fact, nothing less than
a league, avowed or secret, to enchain the world; most of the
European countries were already enslaved, and those that were not were
threatened. Even England was menaced; but England was still destined to
be the avenger of humiliated thrones.
EXPEDITION TO COPENHAGEN.
The naval force of England during this year maintained its supremacy. It
was manifest to all the world, from the terms of the treaty of Tilsit,
that Napoleon would, whenever it suited his purpose, occupy Denmark.
Nay, it has been seen that a new northern confederation was to be
formed, with Alexander the Emperor of Russia at its head. It was
determined, therefore, by the British cabinet, that the confederated
emperors should be anticipated: an armament of 20,000 men under Lord
Cathcart, accompanied by a powerful fleet under Admiral Lord Gambier,
was sent against Denmark. Before the expedition commenced operations,
a British envoy required that the Danish fleet should be delivered
into the hands of the British admiral, under a solemn agreement for
its restoration whenever peace should be concluded between England
and France. In case of refusal, the prince-royal was informed that the
British commanders would proceed to hostilities; and as a direct refusal
was given, operations soon commenced. The English army landed on the
16th of August without opposition; and Copenhagen was closely invested
on the land side, while the fleet formed an impenetrable blockade
by sea. A proclamation was issued by Lord Cathcart, notifying to the
inhabitants of Zealand the motives of the expedition, and the conduct
that would be observed towards them, with an assurance, that whenever
his Britannic majesty’s commands should be complied with hostilities
would cease. Copenhagen was bombarded on the 2nd of September, and the
firing continued, more or less actively, for four days, when a flag
of truce was sent to the British commanders by the commandant of the
garrison. A capitulation was settled on the 8th of September, and the
British army took possession of the citadel, dock-yards, and batteries;
engaging to restore them, and to evacuate Zealand, if possible, within
six weeks. All the ships laid up in ordinary were rigged out and
fitted by the British Admiral; and at the expiration of the term, they,
together with the stores, timber, and other articles of naval equipment
found in the arsenal, were conveyed to England. In the whole there were
seventeen ships of the line, eight frigates, besides sloops, brigs,
schooners, and gun-boats captured by the British admiral. But the most
valuable part of the seizure consisted of the masts, spars, timber,
sails, cordage, and other naval stores. They were so immense, that,
exclusive of the quantity shipped on board of the British and Danish
men-of-war, ninety transports brought away full cargoes. The expedition
reached the Yarmouth-Roads and the Downs in safety on the 21 st of
October.
As soon as the British fleet had passed the Sound, the Danes fitted out
a number of small armed vessels, which made successful depredations on
the English merchantmen in the Baltic. Soon after a declaration of war
followed on the part of the Crown-Prince, being instigated thereto by
having a formidable French army near at hand for his aid, and by having
an alliance with the Emperor of Russia in perspective. This was followed
by an order of reprisals from the British government against the ships,
goods, and subjects of Denmark. But even before the capitulation of
Copenhagen Vice-admiral T. Macnamara Russell and Captain Lord Falkland
captured the small Danish island of Heligoland. All Europe exclaimed
loudly against the apparent outrage that had been committed, whence
his Britannic majesty ordered a declaration to be published, in
justification of the motives which induced this expedition. In this
declaration it was stated, “that the king had received positive
information of the determination made by the ruler of France to occupy
with a military force the territory of Holland, for the purpose of
excluding Great Britain from her accustomed channels of continental
communication; of inducing or compelling the court of Denmark to close
the passage of the Sound against British navigation; and availing
himself of the aid of the Danish marine for the invasion of Great
Britain and Ireland.” Further, that Holstein once occupied, Zealand would
be at the mercy of France, and the navy of Denmark at her disposal.
Looking on the surface of the matter, the justice of the expedition
appears to be of an equivocal nature; but when it is recollected that
Denmark would have formed one of the most formidable sections of the
projected northern confederation, it must be confessed that it was a
justifiable precaution on the part of the British government.
During the month of December the Danish West India islands of St.
Thomas, St. John’s, and Santa Croce surrendered to a squadron commanded
by Sir Alexander Cochrane, and a small military force under General
Bowyer. A great many merchant vessels carrying the Danish flag were also
captured.
HOSTILITIES AGAINST TURKEY.
Another armament dispatched by the Grenville administration led to
no very honourable result. Towards the end of November, 1806, when our
diplomatists at the Ottoman Porte had been circumvented by the French,
and had failed in their endeavours to prevent the sultan from engaging
in a war with the czar Admiral Louis appeared off Tenedos and the coast
of Troy with three line-of-battle ships and four frigates. It was an
ancient rule, that no ships of war were to pass either the straits of
the Dardanelles or the straits of the Bosphorus; but, nevertheless,
Admiral Louis sent a ship of the line and a frigate through the former,
and the Turks, wishing to avoid hostilities with the English, let them
pass their tremendous batteries without firing at them. They came to
anchor off Constantinople, and while there some attempts at negociation
were renewed on shore. These negociations, however, were all rendered
abortive, partly by the skill of the French envoy, Sebastiani; partly
by the lack of ability in our ambassador, Mr. Arbuthnot; partly by the
victories that Napoleon was gaining over the Austrians and Russians;
and partly by the neutral ground which the Austrian envoy took, and the
shuffling and tergiversation of the ministers of Spain and Holland. Evil
reports, also, had their effect on the sultan. It was told him that
a large English fleet was on its way to the Dardanelles and
Constantinople, and that his capital would soon be bombarded. In such
an unenviable position did the British envoy stand, that he thought it
prudent to take his departure from Turkey. Secret preparations were made
for this purpose, and a scheme was also devised for carrying off with
him the persons attached to his embassy, and the British merchants
settled at Constantinople. After disclosing his project to two or three
persons, he requested the captain of the English frigate, “Endymion,”
which remained at anchor near the mouth of the Golden-Horn, to invite
him, his legation, and the merchants, to a grand dinner on board. All
were invited, and all went to partake of the captain’s good cheer, not
dreaming that there was anything in the wind beyond a good dinner and
a few patriotic toasts. While yet round the festive board, however, Mr.
Arbuthnot gravely informed the merchants that they must go with him to
England; and it was in vain that they pleaded their wives and numerous
families were left on shore: it was answered, the Turks would not hurt
their wives and families, and that they must go away with him as they
were. The guests lost their appetites by this announcement; and at eight
o’clock in the evening the “Endymion” cut her cables, and got under
weigh; subsequently joining Admiral Louis’s squadron, off the island of
Tenedos. Mr. Arbuthnot now finding himself in safety, wrote to the
divan to explain the motives of his sudden departure, and to propose the
renewal of negociations. Feyzi Effendi, a Mussulman of high rank, was
ordered to open a conference with the British ambassador; and day after
day passed in negociations, but all to no purpose. At length, on the
10th of February, Sir John Duckworth arrived off Tenedos, with some more
ships of the line and two bomb-vessels; and this force being united to
that of Admiral Louis, made up a squadron of eight line-of-battle ships,
two frigates, and two bombs. The French envoy, by his agent, M. de
Lascours, had endeavoured to impress the necessity of exertion on
the mind of the Turkish negociator; but he had a predilection for the
English, and would not believe that they would commence hostilities with
the divan. It was not written in the book of destiny that the English
should come; and if they did, there were guns enough to sink them all:
the expenses which the French recommended, were, in fact, unnecessary:
God was great. Nor did the arrival of the squadron of Sir John Duckworth
interrupt the conference between the British envoy and the Turkish
negociator, or incite him to greater exertion; he still smoked his pipe,
and hoped that all things would end well. His confidence was possibly
increased by a terrible disaster which befell the “Ajax,” one of Sir J.
Duckworth’s squadron. While at anchor off Tenedos, she took fire, and
about two hundred and fifty men and women perished in the flames; the
rest, including the Captain, Blackwood, escaped by leaping into the sea,
where they were picked up by boats sent for their relief.
Sir John Duckworth had orders to force the passage of the Dardanelles,
anchor before Constantinople, and bombard the city, unless certain
conditions were complied with. The passage of the straits was effected
in the midst of a fire from the forts of Sestos and Abydos. At the same
time Sir Sidney Smith directed his efforts against a squadron; and a
battery, which, if completed, might have defended the Turkish vessels,
was stormed by a party of the British. The Turkish squadron and bastion
were destroyed, in which enterprise Sir Sidney Smith lost only four men
killed and twenty-six wounded. Sir John Duckworth now passed in apparent
triumph into the Bosphorus, whence he sent a letter to the Reis Effendi,
demanding a declaration of the sultan’s views—whether he was determined
to espouse the cause of France, or renew his alliance with England, and
second her efforts in opposing the tyranny of Napoleon. The British
were again overreached by French subtilty. Sebastiani, the French envoy,
inspired the Sultan with confidence, and persuaded him to enter into a
negociation, while in the mean time all the approaches to Constantinople
should be fortified. All this was done, and when the proposals of the
British government were rejected, the wind and current, as Sebastiani
had foreseen, prevented the hostile fleet from taking such a position
as would enable it effectually to bombard the city. Sir John Duckworth,
therefore, was obliged to hasten his departure; and in repassing
the Dardanelles, he sustained considerable loss from the fire of the
castles. A new enemy was added to the list already in battle array
against England. In Turkey, her agents and settlers were exposed to
considerable annoyance, and a sequestration of British property to a
large amount was promptly executed in various quarters. The fate which
awaited the Mussulman negociator was a lamentable one: he was accused
of imbecility or treachery; and his head was taken off his shoulders to
decorate the niche over the Seraglio gate: he paid dear for his friendly
feelings towards the English. So ended the famed expedition to the
Hellespont and the Bosphorus. It broke the spell by which the passage of
the Dardanelles had for ages been guarded; but beyond this it was little
more than a brilliant bravado, followed by a series of humiliating
blunders. And yet no investigation was instituted into the causes of
the failure, Sir John Duckworth being a favourite admiral of the “all
talents” ministry; and subsequently, after their dismissal, he being
sheltered from censure by the strife of parties.
{GEORGE III. 1807—1809}
EXPEDITION TO EGYPT.
A still more imbecile expedition was sent by the “all talents,” ministry
against Egypt. In the hope of subduing that country, and thus opposing
a barrier to the design which Napoleon meditated against our oriental
possessions, a force of 5,000 men, under the command of Major-general
Mackenzie Fraser, was ordered to invade it. These troops effected a
landing on the coast of Alexandria, and a detachment seized and occupied
the fort of Aboukir. Alexander also surrendered to the British arms,
and its easy conquest induced General Fraser to attempt the reduction
of Rosetta. The inhabitants of that town, however, were more courageous
than the Alexandrians: every house therein was used as a fortress,
whence a constant fire was directed against the assailants. The attempt
to take it was a complete failure: the British were obliged to retreat
with loss. A second attempt was made with about half the army; but it
was fruitless: a retreat again became necessary, and the troops were
obliged to fight their way back to Alexandria. General Fraser remained
at Alexandria till September, when, finding that its retention was
impracticable, he obtained the release of every British prisoner by
consenting to evacuate Egypt.
DISASTERS IN SOUTH AMERICA.
It is an old proverb that “misfortunes never come alone.” Thus it was
with the expeditions planned by the “all talents” ministry—t was hoped
that the reverses in the Mediterranean might be compensated in the
South Atlantic Oceans; but this hope was illusive. In October 1806, a
re-enforcement had been sent to the Rio de la Plata, under Sir Samuel
Auchmuty, who, on arriving at Maldonado, resolved to attack the strong
post of Monte Video, the key to the navigation of that river. His
efforts were at first successful,—the town and castle with fifty-seven
vessels of war and trade were captured. This success, however, was
followed by a series of reverses, induced by rashness and misconduct.
When intelligence arrived in England of the recapture of Buenos Ayres
by the Spaniards, orders were transmitted to General Crauford, who had
been sent against Chili with 4,200 men, accompanied by a naval force,
under Admiral Murray, to proceed with his army to the river Plate.
He reached Monte Video on the 14th of June, where he found General
Whitelocke, with a re-enforcement from England of 1,600 men. The chief
command of the British forces was entrusted to General Whitelocke, and
he had orders to reduce the whole province of Buenos Ayres. A general
attack on the town was ordered to be made on the 5th of July, each
corps being directed to enter the streets opposite to it, and all with
unloaded muskets. No mode of attack could have been so ill-adapted
against a town consisting of flat-roofed houses, disposed in regular
streets, intersecting each other at right angles. Volleys of grape-shot
were poured on our columns in front and flank as they advanced, and they
were equally assailed from the house-tops. The service was executed,
but it was with the frightful loss of 2,500 men in killed, wounded, and
prisoners. Sir Samuel Auchmuty succeeded in making himself master of
the Plaza de Toros, where he took eighty-two pieces of cannon, and an
immense quantity of ammunition; but General Crauford, with his brigade,
and Lieutenant Colonel Duff, with a detachment under his command, were
obliged to surrender. Surrounded with foes, General Whitelocke, who
had arrogantly refused to treat before the attack, now consented to
a negociation with the Spanish commandant; and he not only agreed to
evacuate the town, on condition of recovering his own prisoners, and
those taken from General Beresford, but to give up Monte Video, with
every other place on the Rio de la Plata held by British troops, within
the space of two months. The result of this expedition brought General
Whitelocke before a court-martial, and he was sentenced to be cashiered
for lack of zeal, judgment, and personal exertion. Against the
ill-success of these expeditions, the solitary capture of the Dutch
colony of Curacoa only can be recorded: this island surrendered, on the
1st of January, to a squadron of our frigates under Commodore Brisbane.
WAR WITH RUSSIA.
The Emperor of Russia strongly resented the conduct of England towards
Denmark; and as the treaty of Tilsit had tended to relax the bond of
union between England and Russia, it was feared that Alexander might
soon combine against that power with which he had so long co-operated.
These fears were soon realized. A manifesto soon issued from the
imperial palace of Petersburgh, in which this country was not only
accused of provoking a war by the enterprise against Denmark, but as
“cooly contemplating a bloody war, which had been kindled at her will,
while she sent troops to attack Buenos Ayres; and as despatching from
Sicily another army, which appeared destined to make a diversion
in Italy, to the African coast, for the purpose of seizing and
appropriating Egypt to herself.” This declaration was followed by a
spirited reply on the part of the British government, by the British
ambassador’s leaving Petersburgh, and by a grant of letters of marque
and reprisals against Russian vessels. The Emperor of Russia now issued
a declaration of war against England, and proclaimed anew the principles
of the armed neutrality, and engaged that there should be no peace
between Russia and England until satisfaction should have been given
to Denmark. Such were his pretexts for declaring war against his late
powerful ally; but it is clear from the treaty of Tilsit, that war
was in his heart before England had committed the aggressions, if
aggressions they were, of which he so loudly complained. Moreover, had
English subsidies still been forthcoming, Alexander had yet been the
friend of King George.
FRENCH INVASION OF PORTUGAL.
Napoleon was equally clamorous against England as was Alexander for her
conduct towards Denmark. While, however, he was making Europe ring with
his maledictions against her, for violating the neutrality of Denmark,
he was devising schemes and giving positive orders for falling upon
Portugal in a time of peace. On the 27th of October it was agreed
between France and Spain—That Spain should grant a free passage through
her territories, and supply with provisions a French army to invade
Portugal; that she should also furnish a body of troops to co-operate
with the said French army; and that as soon as the conquest should be
completed, the provinces which now composed the kingdom of Portugal
should be divided between the King of Etruria, the King of Spain’s
grandson, and Manuel Godoy, who was the Queen of Spain’s infamous
favourite. Thus the province of Jutra Douro, and Minho, with the city
of Oporto, was to fall to the lot of the King of Etruria, and was to be
erected into a kingdom, under the name of Northern Lusitania; and the
sovereignty of the Alentejo and Algarves was to be given to Godoy, who
was to assume the title of the Sovereign Prince of the Algarves. These
two principalities were to own the King of Spain as their protector;
but France was to keep the city of Lisbon, and the provinces of
Tras-os-Montes, Beira, and Estremadura until the period of a general
peace. In consideration of obtaining this new kingdom, the Queen of
Etruria, acting as regent for her son, was to abdicate and give to
Napoleon those districts in Italy which he had previously annexed to the
King of Etruria’s kingdom. This treaty was not signed, as before seen,
until the 27th of October; but nine days before this a French army had
crossed the Bidaso, and had commenced its march through Spain for the
Portuguese frontier. This army was commanded by Junot; and on the 26th
of November that commander advanced to Abrantes, within three days’
march from Lisbon. The Moniteur had already announced that “the house of
Braganza had ceased to reign;” and as if to fulfil this imperial edict,
the royal family embarked on board a British fleet and set sail for the
Brazils, leaving the country in the hands of the enemy. In the whole,
about 18,000 Portuguese abandoned their homes and their country with
their sovereign. They were accompanied a part of their voyage by a
strong British squadron, under the command of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith;
and when that commander left them, he returned to blockade the
Tagus. Junot’s first measure was, on entering Lisbon, to disarm the
inhabitants: and this done he commenced the levy of contributions. In
every respect he treated the country as a conquest of France, and
his Spanish auxiliaries followed the example of his rapacity. The
Portuguese, indeed, were so oppressed by the French and Spanish, that
they everywhere cherished the intention of rising upon the invaders,
and they looked to England, whose flag was never out of sight of their
coasts, for aid in their extremity.
MILAN DECREE, ETC.
The British order in council of the 7th of January, prohibiting neutrals
from trading to any port in the possession or under the control of the
enemy not being efficient, additional orders were issued, on the 11th of
November, declaring every port from which England was excluded to be in
a state of blockade, and all trade in its produce illegal, and liable
therefore to be captured. The Americans were allowed still to trade
with the enemy’s colonies for articles of their own consumption; but the
double restriction was imposed on their intercourse between France and
her colonies, of calling at a British port and paying a British duty.
To avoid the losses and hostilities apprehended from the measures of the
two great belligerent powers, the British council likewise laid a strict
embargo on all American vessels, by which they were prohibited from
leaving their ports, while the ships of all other nations were ordered
to quit the harbours of the United States, with or without cargoes, so
soon as they should receive notification of the act. These directions
were responded to by Napoleon, by his celebrated Milan decree, which
enacted “that all vessels entering a port of France after having touched
England should be seized and confiscated, with their cargoes, without
exception or distinction.” This decree was succeeded by another on the
19th of December, which had more explicit reference to our late orders
in council, and which declared “that every neutral which submitted to
be searched by an English ship, or which paid any duty to the British
Government, should, in consequence, become liable to seizure, as a
lawful prize, by French ships of war.” Neutral powers, as it has been
observed, were thus placed between two fires: if they entered a French
port without paying a duty on their cargoes in England, they were
subjected to capture by British cruizers; and if they touched at England
for that purpose, they became subject to confiscation in the ports of
France. The system, however, which Napoleon had adopted towards British
commerce, and which gave rise to these perplexities among nations, was
the means by which he was hurled from his throne.
DISPUTES WITH AMERICA.
The orders in council described above gave rise to much irritation in
the United States. Another unfortunate subject of dispute also rose
between the two countries: an American vessel was seized by Captain
Humphries, because the commandant refused to admit a search for some
deserters which were supposed to be on board. In consequence of this a
proclamation was issued by the president, ordering all British ships
of war to quit the harbours of the United States. Satisfaction for the
outrage was demanded of Great Britain; and although the British ministry
expressed their readiness to make reparation for the act of unauthorized
aggression which had been committed; disavowed the conduct of Admiral
Berkley, under whose orders Captain Humphries had acted; and sent a
special envoy to America, with overtures of conciliation, as will be
seen in a future page, the breach was not healed.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
{A.D. 1808}
Parliament met on the 31st of January, when the speech, which was
delivered by commission, dwelt at great length upon foreign affairs, and
mentioned nearly every country in Europe as in a state of hostility
to England. Some light was thrown by it upon the system conceived by
Napoleon for uniting all the navies of Europe against us: it was shown
that he had counted upon obtaining the fleets of Portugal and Denmark;
and regret was expressed that, in the latter case, we had been compelled
to resort to force. The Hostility of Russia was attributed to the
military successes and machinations of France. Allusion was made to the
differences existing between England and the United States of America.
Greater exertions were inculcated, and the determination was announced
of never yielding to pretensions inconsistent with the maritime rights
of Great Britain. Commerce, notwithstanding Napoleon’s Berlin and Milan
decrees, was still in a flourishing state; for the produce of the taxes
and duties was considered to demand his majesty’s congratulation to
parliament. The speech concluded with asserting that the sole object of
the war was to attain a lasting and honourable peace; that there never
was a more just and national war waged than the present; that the eyes
of all Europe and the world were fixed upon the British parliament; that
his majesty felt confident that they would display the characteristic
spirit of the British nation, and boldly face the combination which
had gathered around us; and that his majesty was firmly persuaded
that, under the blessings of Providence, Great Britain would ultimately
triumph. The addresses were carried in both houses without a division.
The attention of parliament was early called to the expedition to
Copenhagen; which was, by a large party, both in parliament and the
kingdom at large, considered a disgrace to the administration from
whom the plan emanated. The act was chiefly defended on the plea of
necessity, arising from the powerful combination of European states
formed against us after the treaty of Tilsit. Several motions were made
on this subject by opposition; but in every instance they were outvoted
by immense majorities. In these debates Mr. Canning was the great
champion of the ministry; and his eloquence was such that he bore
away the palm from every competitor, and carried conviction to every
unprejudiced and candid mind. It has been well remarked, “A capital part
of the case reduced itself simply to this:—if we did not make sure
of the Danish fleet, Buonaparte was sure to get it, a little sooner or
later. The justification adopted by our government may be explained with
almost equal brevity: a man knows that his next-door neighbour has in
his possession a large barrel of gunpowder; he may believe that his
neighbour will not set fire to this powder so as to endanger his house
and property, but he knows that there is an evil-disposed person living
over the way, who has a design upon the powder, and the intention of
blowing up his house with it; and knowing at the same time that the
owner of the powder cannot defend it or keep it out of the way of the
evil-disposed person, he demands that it should be put into his hands,
which are strong enough to keep it, and which can put it beyond the
reach of the evil-disposed party; offering to restore it when the danger
shall be passed, or to pay the price of it: and when the weak neighbour
rejects this proposition, he takes the powder by force, to prevent its
being seized and employed against his own house and property.” Just so
it was in the matter of Denmark. That country had a powerful navy which
she would not have used against England herself, but Napoleon wanted it
for that purpose; and to prevent his designs, England demanded it for a
time till the danger was over; and this being refused, seized it _sans
cérémonie_. It was the law of self-preservation which dictated this act
of our government; and Grotius, a great writer on the law of nations,
has remarked:—“I may, without considering whether it is merited or
not, take possession of that which belongs to another man, if I have
any reason to apprehend any evil to myself from his holding it. I cannot
make myself master or proprietor of it, the property having nothing to
do with the end which I propose; but I can keep possession of the thing
seized till my safety be sufficiently provided for.” The instinct of duty
and self-preservation suggests this course. And thus it was that our
government was induced to seize the navy of Denmark. And it was seized
without any declaration of war on our part, for the simple reason that
dispatch was necessary. If we had delayed, the Danish fleet would soon
have been in the hands of the enemy; hence his maledictions against
what he termed our “aggressions:” we had anticipated him, and he was
mortified with the bitter disappointment he thereby sustained.
DEBATES ON THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL.
On the 5th of February Mr. Perceval, the chancellor of the exchequer,
moved that the orders in council should be referred to the committee of
ways and means. The opposition took this opportunity of declaring that
we ought not to retaliate by such measures; that these orders were
unjust, and would do as much mischief as the Berlin and Milan decrees;
that they were as contrary to justice as to policy; and that they went
to violate both the law of nations and the municipal law of England. On
the other hand it was argued, that we had a right to retaliate upon the
enemy his own measures; that if he declared we should have no trade,
we had equal right to declare he should have none; and that if he
proclaimed British manufactures and colonial produce good prize, we were
justified in doing the same with respect to France. This was inculcating
the old worldy maxim of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth;” and
ministers were supported in their line of policy by a large majority.
Subsequently, a bill, brought in by the chancellor of the exchequer, for
regulating the orders in council, as they affected neutrals, was carried
through both houses. This had reference to the differences between
England and America; and it was followed by a bill for regulating
commercial intercourse with the United States, which was intended to
give time for making some amicable arrangements with the Americans;
continuing at the same time another act without which trade could not
have been carried on with England in American vessels.
FINANCIAL MEASURES.
In opening the budget for this year the chancellor of the exchequer
stated the amount of supplies at about £43,000,000 for England, and
£5,700,000 for Ireland. The produce of the war-taxes was estimated at
£20,000,000, and among the ways and means was a loan of £8,000,000, and
more than £300,000 additional taxes. As Portugal was occupied, Sicily
threatened, and Sweden brought to the brink of ruin by its alliance with
England, an increase of soldiers and sailors was demanded. The number of
seamen voted for the year was 130,000; and the total number of soldiers,
cavalry and infantry, was 300,000. All the corps were represented as
being in a higher state of discipline than heretofore; and although
24,000 men had been drafted from the militia into the regular army, it
was stated that it was nearer to its establishment than it had been
last year. On the motion of Lord Castlereagh a bill was introduced
for establishing a local militia of 200,000 men, to be trained for
twenty-eight days every year; and this bill, which passed into a
law, extended to Scotland. Lord Castlereagh moved, likewise, for the
insertion of a clause in the mutiny bill, to permit soldiers to enlist
for life; and this was carried in spite of the stern opposition of
Windham, whose system it affected. Early in the session Mr. Bankes
reproduced his bill for preventing the grant of offices in reversion,
or for joint lives with benefit of survivorship; but though it passed
the commons, it was rejected by the lords. Subsequently he brought
forward a new bill, limited to one year’s duration, which passed into a
law.
DEBATE ON IRELAND.
In the course of this session there was a vehement debate on Ireland.
The late ministry and their friends attributed the disaffection which
still prevailed in that unhappy country to the coercive policy of the
present administration. The appointment of Dr. Duigenau, to a seat in
the privy-council, which took place about this time, was considered as
a wanton insult to the feelings of the Irish people; and as Mr. Canning
was mainly instrumental in making that appointment, he was unsparingly
condemned for the act. Mr. Tierney asked how ministers could suppose,
that in recommending such an appointment, they were cherishing that
unity and harmony which it appeared to be his majesty’s earnest desire
to cultivate. It was the boast of Mr. Canning, he said, to be the
representative of Mr. Pitt’s opinions; but, he would venture to
say, that if Mr. Pitt were living, he would be ashamed of such
an appointment; and that he never would have lent himself to the
contemptible system of irritation which the present administration
seemed to have adopted. This debate took place on the presentation of
the Roman Catholic petition, on which occasion ministers were anxious to
elude the question. Opposition, however, not only pressed it upon them
in this debate, but also in others, when it was wholly out of place;
going occasionally to some unjustifiable lengths, in the way of
assertion. Thus Lord Hawkesbury affirmed, that ministers and the country
had learned from the disaffected in Ireland, that there were secret
engagements in the treaty of Tilsit, which secret engagements he
declared in his speech. All the powers of Europe, he said, were to be
confederated to engage or seize on the fleets of Denmark and Portugal;
and then Ireland was to be attacked from two points, i.e. from
Lisbon and Copenhagen. This ministers, he added, had learned from the
disaffected in Ireland, and they had never yet found the information of
these parties false!
MOTION RESPECTING THE DROITS OF ADMIRALTY, ETC.
Sir Francis Burdett, considering that the proceeds from the droits of
admiralty were so large as to become dangerous to public liberty, moved,
with a view to ulterior inquiry, that an account of the net proceeds
paid out of the court of admiralty since the 1st of January, 1793, with
the balances now remaining, be laid before the house, which motion was
agreed to. This year witnessed a diminution of rigour in our criminal
code. Sir Samuel Romilly introduced a bill to repeal so much of an
act of Elizabeth as tended to take away the benefit of the clergy from
offenders convicted of stealing privately from the person. A clause was
introduced by the solicitor-general, providing that the act, instead of
being punished by death, should be punished by transportation for life,
or for a term of years, according to the discretion of the judge. During
this session a bill was also passed for the better administration of
justice in Scotland; its object being to divide the court of session
into two chambers of seven or eight judges; to give those courts certain
powers for making regulations with respect to proceedings, and to
executions in pending appeals, and also for issuing commissions to
ascertain those cases in which it might be proper to establish a trial
by jury. In the course of this session the charges against the Indian
administration of the Marquess Wellesley were fully disposed of by his
full and entire acquittal. Sir John Anstruther’s motion, that the noble
marquess had been actuated by an ardent zeal for the service of his
country, and by an ardent desire to promote the interests, safety,
and prosperity of the British empire, was carried by one hundred and
eighty-nine against twenty-nine. Subsequently a vote of thanks was given
to the noble marquess for his services in the Copenhagen expedition; and
in communicating this, the speaker of the house of commons dilated on
his Indian exploits, and pointed him out as the officer best fitted to
command in chief a great expedition. While parliament was sitting,
a grand movement had begun in Spain against the French nation; and
Sheridan called the attention of the house to this subject, and demanded
its exertions in favour of the Spanish cause. But ministers seemed to
think, that though they fully sympathized with the patriots who
had taken up arms in that country, the time had not arrived for the
interference of England.
PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament was prorogued by commission on the 4th of July. By this
time ministers had become convinced that it was their duty to aid the
Spaniards in their struggle against Napoleon; for the commissioners
stated, in his majesty’s name, that the Spanish nation must now be
considered as the ally of Great Britain, and that it was his majesty’s
intention to make every exertion in his power for the support of their
cause.
RISING OF THE SPANISH NATION, ETC.
It has been seen that a compact had been entered into between Napoleon
and the Spanish court for a division of Portugal, when the conquest
of that country should be made. Napoleon, however, never intended that
Spain should share in the spoils of his conquests. Contrary to the
treaty, the Spaniards were almost wholly excluded from the occupation
of the country; and added to this, French troops suddenly marched
by different routes into the very heart of the Spanish kingdom. The
Spaniards saw their soil in the hands of a foreigner, and their proud
hearts beat high with indignation at the outrage committed. Godoy,
the “Prince of Peace,” saw that he had been overreached, and that his
empire, as well as that of his master, was at an end. He advised the
royal family to take refuge in flight; but the people seeing that this
was determined upon, resolved upon a desperate resistance. One voice
alone was heard throughout the provinces, and that one voice loudly
accused Godoy of imbecility or treason. A terrible sedition broke out at
Aranguez, in March of the present year. Summoned to arms by Ferdinand,
the Prince of Austria, an avowed foe to Godoy, the whole population
rose, stormed the palace in which the favourite dwelt, abused him, and
would have murdered him, but for the intercession of the queen. Covered
with wounds, he was, however, conducted to prison, and then they
compelled the king to resign, and placed the sceptre of power in the
hands of his son Ferdinand, who had incited the revolt. Ferdinand
entered Madrid in the character of King of the two Spains; but the
French troops, under Murat, entered that city on the next day, and the
newly-created king soon discovered who was to be master. Murat refused
to acknowledge the Prince of Austria as king, and announced the near
arrival of Napoleon in Madrid. He was advised to go to meet Napoleon,
in order to secure his favour; but when he met him at Bayonne, he was
informed that the French emperor’s determination was to remove the
Bourbon house from the Spanish throne. He was compelled to declare the
unconditional restoration of the crown to his father, who was called to
Bayonne for the purpose of receiving it; and then the old monarch ceded
to Napoleon by treaty all his rights to the throne of Spain and India,
with the single condition, that the prince whom the emperor intended
to place thereon should be independent, and that the Roman Catholic
religion should continue to be the only religion in Spain. The king, the
queen the royal family, and Godoy received in return an assured abode in
France, with certain pensions; and the whole court went immediately to
the castle of Compeigne, which the conqueror allotted them. Napoleon now
gave the throne of Spain to his brother Joseph, who reigned at Naples,
giving the latter throne to Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Bergand Cleves.
The members of the national junta were now convoked to Bayonne from
all parts of the kingdom, and anew constitution was formed, after which
Joseph set out for his kingdom in Spain. Napoleon thought his work
consummated; but events proved that it was only now commenced. The royal
house of the Bourbons had vanished, but the nation still lived. The news
of what had passed at Bayonne filled all Spain with fury: the national
pride revolted against the yoke of the foreigner, and a contest was
roused, the flames of which raged over all the provinces of the kingdom.
In the very day that Napoleon declared his brother King of Spain, the
junta of Seville proclaimed war against the oppressor; and on the day of
the entrance of King-Joseph into Madrid, the French were repulsed from
Saragossa, and compelled to lay down their arms at Baylen, to the number
of 26,000 men. So furious was the storm of war which Napoleon had thus
called up throughout the whole country, that his brother Joseph was
obliged to quit Madrid one week after his entry therein. In every part
the population rose to arms and massacred the French: the very clergy
aiding the people and the army to root them from their soil. From this
time for six long years Spain fought against the formidable forces of
the world’s tyrant; and, as will be seen in a future page, she came
off victorious. At the very first onset, indeed, by the capitulation at
Baylen, the charm of French invincibility was broken, and the star of
Napoleon was covered with an opaque cloud. It was this battle, fought
in July, which induced England to assist the Spaniards. Money, arms,
munitions of every sort, and troops were sent to both Spain and
Portugal; and, as regards the latter country, their power was soon
rendered effective.
{GEORGE III. 1807—1809}
AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL. CONFEDERATION OF FRANCE AND RUSSIA.
Upon receiving the intelligence of these reverses, Napoleon assembled a
far more powerful army, and resolved to crush the insurrection of Spain
at least in person. Other dangers, however, awaited him. Alarmed at
the treaty of Tilsit, and invigorated by its consequences, Austria had
increased her regular force, and organized a militia; and the French
reverses in Spain and Portugal gave a new impulse to her evident
preparations for war. Napoleon saw this with alarm, and he resolved at
once to menace and insult that country, by arranging the co-operation
of Russia and the confederated states of the Rhine against the Emperor
of Austria, should he attempt to take advantage of the Spanish war. A
meeting between Napoleon and Alexander of Russia took place at Erfurt in
September and October; and although the sovereigns of the confederation
of the Rhine were permitted to pay their court there, Austria was
excluded as a secondary power. Thus insulted afresh, the Emperor of
Austria resolved in the course of the next year to renew the struggle
with France, though he should find himself opposed to Russia likewise. A
mysterious veil covered for a time the transactions of Erfurt; but what
transpired in relation to them and what ensued justified the conjecture
that they confirmed the conventions of the treaty of Tilsit; and that
the new dynasty in Spain was acknowledged by Russia for permitting her
to aggrandize herself in the north and the east. From Erfurt the two
emperors directed a common proposal of peace to the King of England,
accompanied by the declaration, that this step was the consequence
of the most intimate connexion of the two greatest monarchs of the
continent for war as well as for peace; but this proposal was without
effect. They were answered that, however desirous both the government
and the people might be to put an end to the miseries of war, they were
prepared to endure any extremity before they sacrificed the interest
of their allies by negociating a separate peace, and leaving Sicily,
Sweden, Portugal, and Spain to the tender mercies of Napoleoa. “The
hideous presence of the British leopards” was still to prove a terror to
Frenchmen.
OPERATIONS IN SPAIN.
Having strengthened his alliance with the Emperor of Russia, Napoleon
recalled his legions from the banks of the Niémen, the Spree, the Elbe,
and the Danube, in order to reduce Spain. Placing himself at the head
of them, he crossed the Pyrenees early in November, and the battles of
Burgos, Espinosa, and Tudela, fought under his auspices, once more placed
his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. Napoleon, accompanied by
Joseph, again occupied Madrid; and he now sought to appease the fury
of its inhabitants and of the people in the provinces by conciliatory
measures. The promises made to the Spanish people were ample; but
he spoke to men who had no ears for his offers, On every hand the
population flew to arms, and all vowed to drive him from their land.
Even conflicting parties agreed to shake off their natural enmity to
each other, in order to effect this triumph. A guerilla warfare was now
pursued: agile bands of men appeared, and having cut off some of their
enemies, retired with equal rapidity. In the meantime a British army,
under General Moore, was marching to their aid from Portugal. When
this army had arrived at Salamanca, however, the Spaniards had already
experienced successive defeats, so that when Napoleon advanced against
him, General Moore deemed it prudent to retreat. The French emperor
expressed his joy aloud at seeing the “British leopards” fly before him;
but while pursuing them he received fresh accounts of the preparation of
Austria, and suddenly turning his horse, he returned to Burgos, and from
thence hurried to Paris. Soult was left to combat with the English; and
that general, overtaking them at Corunna, was defeated by them, though
inferior in numbers. The greatest loss on the side of the English was
that of their commander, Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded by a
cannon-ball. So great was the bravery displayed by General Moore on this
occasion, that his very antagonists erected a monument to his memory.
After his death the command of the army devolved on Sir John Hope, who
pursued a plan devised by General Moore, that of embarkation during the
night, and who carried this plan into effect with complete success.
The British quitted Spain in January, 1800, leaving the Spaniards to
struggle with the French by their own prowess.
The flame of patriotism enkindled in Spain soon spread to Portugal. The
Portuguese arose against Junofc, and they were quickly aided in
their struggle by the English. A small army, collected for a distant
enterprise, was ordered thither, under the command of Sir Arthur
Wellesley. This army landed in August at the mouth of the river Mondego,
north of Lisbon; and soon after Sir Arthur defeated the French forces,
under de la Borde, at Rohia, and the main army, under Junot, at Vimiera.
The result of this last victory was the capitulation of Cintra, in
virtue of which Junot’s army was conveyed to France upon English
vessels; and all Portugal was left in the power of the British. From
this time the English had a firm, foundation for their campaigns in the
Peninsula. Subsequently a Russian fleet of nine ships of the line, which
lay in the Tagus, under Admiral Siniavin, surrendered by convention:
it was to be held with all its stores by England as a deposit, till
six months after the conclusion of a peace; the admiral, officers,
and seamen being sent to Russia at the expense of England. After the
evacuation of Portugal by the French troops, a regency was established;
which, by restoring comparative tranquillity, taught the people to
estimate the advantages they had obtained from their British allies.
It was not long, indeed, before the Portuguese, laying aside their
characteristic pride and vain boasting, clung to their ancient
protectors, and submitted to their direction with a docility and
patience that produced the happiest result.
NAVAL AFFAIRS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Napoleon had not yet abandoned all hopes of assistance from his navy, or
relinquished the fond wish he had entertained of diminishing the power
of the British on the sea. Nay, he had recently declared that a true
Frenchman could not rest till the sea was open and free. This year he
had collected a large squadron at Toulon, to co-operate with his troops
on the side of Calabria, in an attack on Sicily. Possessed of that
island, he would have been able to injure our commerce effectually; and
in order, therefore, to counteract his views, measures were taken
to fortify that part of the Sicilian coast where a landing could be
effected; while Lord Collingwood blockaded the port of Toulon as
closely as he could consistently with his efforts to second the Spanish
patriots in their noble cause, which double duty was imposed upon him by
the British Government. A considerable French fleet, stationed at Cadiz,
surrendered in June to that people who had experienced so many insults
and injuries from its flag. Collingwood wished these men-of-war to join
his squadron, for the purpose of intercepting any French fleet that
might be sent against the Spanish dominions in South America; but the
supreme junta of Seville, instead of complying with his request, began
to dismantle them. A want of confidence in the British government, and
an overweening trust in their own internal resources, notwithstanding
the serious reverses they had recently met with; still pervaded the
Spanish nation.
STATE OF THE CONTINENT.
During this year the Russian autocrat and the Emperor Napoleon pursued
that system of aggrandizement, which they had contemplated in making
the treaty of Tilsit. In February a Russian army entered Finland, which
province had always been an object of cupidity to the court of St,
Petersburgh, and on the accession of Frederic VI. to the crown of
Denmark, that monarch declared war against Sweden. After several bloody
battles, the fate of Gustavus Adolphus appeared inevitable; when, to
avoid falling under the yoke of Russia, he entered into a convention
which virtually left the granary of Sweden in the hands of his
conqueror.
This year Napoleon affected great changes in the affairs of Italy.
Having adopted his son-in-law, Eugene Beauharnois, as his own son, he
settled that kingdom upon him in tail male, and incorporated with the
legations of Ancona, Urbino, Macerata, and Camerino, which were the
pope’s dominions; stating in a decree as the sole reason for this act of
undisguised despotism, “that the sovereign of Rome had refused to make
war against England.” Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, were also annexed
to the kingdom of Italy, as were Kehl, Wesel, Cassel, and Flushing to
France. To complete his domestic policy, Napoleon now instituted an
hereditary nobility; princes, dukes, counts, barons, and knights of the
empire sprung up like mushrooms on every hand, in order to ennoble
his newly created empire. Napoleon likewise instituted an imperial
university; but his school was rather calculated to train up agents of
imperial despotism, than men of learning and enlightened minds. As the
sworn enemy of liberty, he declared himself the head of this university,
and decreed that all schools or seminaries should be under its control.