For some time an invasion of Britain had been threatened by France;
and, sacred as the land had been for centuries from the touch of a
foreign enemy, the successes of the republicans had hitherto so
greatly exceeded all previous calculation, that the execution of their
design did not appear improbable. Just as the inteference of the
neighboring powers had, in 1792, roused the energies of the French, so
did this proposed invasion stimulate the spirit of the British people.
The clamors of reformers, and of those who were friendly to France,
were now lost in an almost universal zeal for the defense of the
country; and not only were volunteer corps everywhere formed, but the
desire of prosecuting the war became nearly the ruling sentiment of
the nation. The ministers, perceiving the advantage which was to be
derived from the tendency of the national spirit, appeared seriously
to dread an invasion, and thus produced an unexpected and very
distressing result. The credit of the Bank of England was shaken; a
_run_ was made upon it for gold in exchange for its notes, which it
could not meet. On the 25th of February 1797, therefore, the Bank was
obliged, with the sanction of the privy-council, to suspend cash
payments――that is, to refuse giving coin on demand for the paper money
which had been issued. This step led to a great depreciation in the
value of Bank of England notes; and was followed by a very serious
derangement of the currency for a number of years.
In April, a new alarm arose from the proceedings of the seamen on
board the Channel fleet, who mutinied for an advance of pay, and the
redress of some alleged grievances. A convention of delegates from the
various ships met in Lord Howe’s cabin, and drew up petitions to the
House of Commons and the Board of Admiralty. Upon these being yielded
to, order was restored; but the seamen on board the fleet at the Nore
soon after broke out in a much more alarming revolt; and on the
refusal of their demands, moored their vessels across the Thames,
threatening to cut off all communication between London and the open
sea. The reduction of this mutiny appeared at one time as if it could
only be effected by much bloodshed; but by the firmness of the
government, and some skillful dealings with the seamen, a loyal party
was formed, by whom the more turbulent men were secured, and the
vessels restored to their respective officers. The ringleaders, the
chief of whom was a young man named Richard Parker, were tried and
executed.
The same year was remarkable for several victories gained by the
British fleets. A Spanish fleet of twenty-seven ships was attacked by
fifteen vessels under Admiral Jervis (February 14), off Cape St.
Vincent, and completely beaten, with the loss of four large vessels. A
fleet under Admiral Harvey, with a military force under Sir Ralph
Abercromby, captured the island of Trinidad, a Spanish colony. In
October, a Dutch fleet, under Admiral De Winter, was attacked off the
village of Camperdown, upon their own coast, by Admiral Duncan, who
after a desperate battle, captured nine of the enemy’s vessels. These
naval successes compensated in some measure for the many land
victories of the French, and served to sustain the spirit of the
British nation under this unfortunate contest.
In 1798, the French overran and added to their dominions the ancient
republic of Switzerland, which gave them a frontier contiguous to
Austria, and enabled them eventually to act with increased readiness
and force upon that country. In this year, the directors of the French
Republic, beginning to be afraid of the ambition of their general,
Bonaparte, sent him at the head of an expedition to reduce and
colonize Egypt, intending from that country to act against the British
empire in the East Indies. The expedition was successful in its first
object; but the fleet which had conveyed it was attacked in Aboukir
Bay, by Admiral Nelson (August 1), and almost totally destroyed or
captured. While so much of the strength of the French army was thus
secluded in a distant country, the eastern powers of Europe thought
they might safely recommence war with the republic. Austria, Naples,
and Russia, formed a confederacy for this purpose; and Britain, to
supply the necessary funds, submitted to the grievance of an income
tax, amounting in general to ten per cent., in addition to all her
previous burdens.
The new confederacy was so successful in 1799, as to redeem the
greater part of Italy. A Russian army, under the famous Suwaroff,
acted a prominent part in the campaign; but, in the end, attempting to
expel the French from Switzerland, this large force was nearly cut to
pieces in one of the defiles of that mountainous country. In August of
the same year, Great Britain made a corresponding attempt to expel the
French from Holland. Thirty-five thousand men, under the Duke of York,
formed the military part of the expedition. The fleet was successful
at the first in taking the Dutch ships, but the army, having landed
under stress of weather at an unfavorable place for their operations,
was obliged, after an abortive series of skirmishes, to make an
agreement with the French, purchasing permission to go back to their
country by the surrender of 8000 prisoners from England.
The reverses which France experienced in 1799, were generally
attributed to the weakness of the Directory――a council of five, to
which the executive had been intrusted. Bonaparte suddenly returned
from his army in Egypt, and, by a skillful management of his
popularity, overturned the Directory, and caused himself to be
appointed the sole depositary of the executive power of the state,
under the denomination of First Consul. He immediately wrote a letter
to King George, making overtures of peace, but was answered, by the
British secretary, that no dependence could be placed by Great Britain
on any treaty with France, unless her government were again
consolidated under the Bourbons. Bonaparte, having much reason to wish
for peace, made a reply to this note, vindicating France from the
charge brought against her, of having commenced a system of aggression
inconsistent with the interests of other states, and asserting her
right to choose her own government――a point, he said, that could not
decently be contested by the minister of a crown which was held by no
other tenure. But the British government was at this time too much
elated by the expulsion of the French army from Italy, and the late
changes in the executive, which, in their estimation, betokened
weakness, to be immdiately anxious for peace.
The events of 1800 were of a very different nature from what had been
calculated upon in England. Sir Sidney Smith, who commanded the
British forces in Syria, had made a treaty with the French army after
it had been left by Bonaparte, whereby it was agreed that the French
should abandon Egypt, and retire unmolested to their own country. The
British government, in its present temper, refused to ratify this
arrangement, and the consequence was a continuance of hostilities. The
French overthrew a large Turkish army at Grand Cairo, and made
themselves more effectually than ever the masters of the country, so
that Britain was obliged to send an army next year, under Sir Ralph
Abercromby, to accomplish, at an immense expense, and a great waste of
human life, what the French had formerly agreed to do. In Europe, the
presence of Bonaparte produced equally disastrous results. By one of
his most dexterous movements, he eluded the Austrians, led an army
over the Alps by the Great St. Bernard into the Milanese, and having
gained a decisive victory at Marengo (June 14), at once restored the
greater part of Italy to French domination. Cotemporaneously with
Napoleon’s movements, Moreau led another army directly into Germany,
overthrew the Austrians in several battles, and advanced to within
seventeen leagues of their capital, Vienna. These reverses obliged
Austria next year (1801) to sue for and conclude a peace, by which
France became mistress of all continental Europe west of the Rhine and
south of the Adige.