AFFAIRS IN EUROPE, 1808
Early in 1808, Colonel Brock left Quebec to take command in Montreal.
Shortly afterwards he was appointed acting brigadier-general by Sir
James Craig, an appointment which was confirmed in September. In a
letter to his brother, Brock wrote that, although General Ferguson
had been newly appointed major-general, he thought he would not
likely come, as was intended, to Canada, but that he (Brock) would
succeed him both in rank and command at Quebec. Montreal, in 1808,
was both a lively and a hospitable place. The magnates of the
North-West Company were established there, and entertained with a
lavishness that was not to be found elsewhere. The fame of the
Beaver Club has remained unrivalled in Canada.
Montreal, the old Ville Marie, once the fortified Indian stronghold
of Hochelaga, was founded in 1642 by Maisonneuve. Soon afterwards
the hospital or Hôtel Dieu was established by Madame de Bouillon, and
in 1650, the cathedral of Notre Dame was founded by Marguerite de
Bourgeois. Montreal can therefore claim an antiquity almost equal to
that of Quebec.
For more than fifty years a struggle continued {100} between the
French settlers and their Indian foes. At one most critical time in
1660, the whole island, up to the palisades that surrounded the town,
was swept by war parties, and only the sacrifice of Dollard
(sometimes called Daulac) and his seventeen associates, saved the
place. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy arrived with the Carignan
Regiment and established forts at Ste. Thérèse, Sorel, and Chambly,
naming the two latter places after officers in his regiment.
Montreal soon became the centre of the great fur trade with the
North-West. Unlike its sister city, Quebec, whose narrow, steep
streets with the bristling fortifications that towered above, kept
the characteristics of a century before, Montreal, by 1808, had
already put on the appearance of a modern town. The old wall that
had once surrounded it had been removed in 1801. On the banks of the
river St. Lawrence, which flowed around it, were fine warehouses in
which were stored the costly skins destined for the markets of
Frankfort and St. Petersburg. There were colleges and churches and
taverns, too, of no mean repute, and scattered here and there were
the fine mansions and spacious gardens of the "Lords of the North."
Here lived James McGill, to whom the Montreal of to-day owes its
famous university. He had a beautiful house on the slope of Mount
Royal, which he bequeathed with an endowment of ten thousand pounds
to trustees for the purpose of {101} establishing an English
college--the first in Canada. Here also lived William McGillivray
and Simon McTavish, whose names are familiar in the annals of the
"great company."
[Sidenote: Brock at Montreal]
Brock was quartered at the Château de Ramezay, then much out of
repair. When Montreal was occupied by the Americans in 1776, this
had been the headquarters of the leaders of the invasion. Benjamin
Franklin, Bishop Carroll, and Mr. Chase, when they came from congress
on their mission to the French Canadians, had also been sheltered by
its walls.
General Brock, with the _bonhomie_ that was natural to him, seems to
have entered very heartily into the gaieties of the place. His
friend, Colonel Thornton, writes to him from Quebec, "You ought never
to feel uneasy about your friends, for in your kindness and
hospitality no want of comfort can ever be felt by them; in this I am
fully supported by all the accounts from Montreal."
News came at this time that Sir George Prevost had been appointed
lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and had also been made second in
command to Sir James Craig in North America. He arrived in Halifax
in January, 1808, bringing with him the 7th, 8th, and 23rd Regiments
of Foot.
During this year there seems to have been very little correspondence
between General Brock and his family. He complains to one of his
brothers that although he had written to all of them since {102}
navigation opened, he had heard only from Irving, "who, to do him
justice, is the most attentive and regular correspondent amongst
you." It was not always the fault of the correspondents that letters
from England were so few and far between, for each vessel now on the
high seas was liable to capture, and sometimes even when the coveted
mail did arrive, an accident, such as the upsetting of a canoe, would
deprive the colony of the longed-for home news. Official letters
from England by way of Halifax and Quebec took four and sometimes six
months to reach Toronto. There was only irregular communication
between that place and Montreal, and it took a month--sometimes
longer--for the carriage of letters.
Brock, in his letter, tells his brother that he is getting on pretty
well at Montreal, although "the place in summer loses the advantage
it had over Quebec in winter." One thing he rejoices in--"not a
desertion for sixteen months in the 49th, except Hogan, Savery's
former servant. He was servant to Major Glegg, at Niagara, when a
fair damsel persuaded him to this act of madness."
Brock writes in July from Montreal to his friend Cuthbert as to the
equipment of the volunteer force he had raised: "Be assured the
general has very substantial reasons for objecting to any issue of
arms at this time. Were your corps the sole consideration, be
satisfied he would not hesitate a moment, but he cannot show you such
marked {103} preference without exciting a degree of jealousy which
might occasion unpleasant discussions. I am sorry you have deprived
yourself of the very handsome dagger your partiality induced you to
send me. No such proof was needed to convince me of your friendship.
We have not a word of intelligence here more than what the Quebec
papers give. The Americans appear to me to be placed in a curious
and ridiculous predicament. War with that republic is now out of the
question, and I trust we shall consider well before we admit them as
allies."
[Sidenote: Sir James Craig]
A letter from Sir James Craig to Lord Castlereagh, of August 4th,
gives the possible reason why he delayed equipping Cuthbert's
company, and shows that the prejudices he had formed thirty years
before were still strong. He says: "The militia have hitherto been
only contemplated in theory, except in the town of Quebec. Lord
Dorchester could not assemble any in 1775. In the following year I
commanded the largest body ever brought together, but I was then in
pursuit of a flying enemy. Since then no attempt to assemble them
has been made. The Canadians of to-day are not warlike; they like to
make a boast of their militia service, but all dislike the
subordination and constraint. If the seigneurs possessed their old
influence it might be different. Lawyers and notaries have now
sprung into notice, and with them insubordination. The members
returned to the new House consist of fifteen lawyers, fourteen
farmers, and {104} only seven seigneurs. In the event of having to
contend with a French force no help is to be expected from this
province. On the contrary, arms in their hands would be dangerous.
They are French at heart yet."
From the time of his arrival Sir James Craig was possessed with the
idea that the French Canadians, their leaders especially, were
hostile to British suzerainty, and were to be distrusted in all
things. At his elbow was the partisan secretary, always magnifying
local disputes, and increasing his suspicion of hidden conspiracies.
However, at the opening of parliament in January, 1808, the
governor's address was conciliatory. He spoke warmly of the zeal and
the loyalty of the militia, and said that all appearances gave
promise that if the colony were attacked it would be defended in such
a manner "as was to be expected of a brave race who fight for all
that is dear to it." The session was taken up with the question of
Jews and judges sitting in parliament. A resolution was passed
excluding the former, and by a vote of twenty-two to two the assembly
passed a bill excluding judges as well. This bill was rejected by
the legislative council, and a hostile feeling arose between the
governor and the assembly, whose speaker, M. Panet, he looked on with
special aversion as a shareholder in _Le Canadien_.
[Sidenote: The dismissals]
The first session of Sir James Craig's administration was the last of
the fourth parliament, and a {105} new election took place in May.
Shortly afterwards the governor took the impolitic step of dismissing
from the militia Lieutenant-Colonel Panet (the speaker), Captains
Bédard and Taschereau, Lieutenant Borgia and Surgeon Blanchet. The
letter of dismissal to each, signed by H. W. Ryland, stated that the
reason of the dismissal was that His Excellency could place no
confidence in the services of a person whom he had good ground for
considering as one of the proprietors of a seditious and libellous
publication.
As to the opinion expressed by Brock in his letter of July, 1808,
that war with the United States was now out of the question, it may
be well to glance at the condition of affairs in Europe, and to find
out what had produced the change of feeling in America. Russia, in
1807, had vainly struggled to free herself from the power of France,
but after an unsuccessful campaign had concluded the Treaty of Tilsit
with Napoleon. By its secret articles France allowed Russia to take
Finland from Sweden, and Russia, on her part, promised to close her
ports against British vessels. Napoleon's Berlin decrees had not
really gone into force until the summer of 1807, when he ordered them
to be executed in Holland, and in August a general seizure of
neutrals took place at Amsterdam. From that time trade with the
continent ceased. The seizure of their vessels had been a severe
blow to the United States, and had roused in that country a feeling
of {106} distrust in Napoleon's friendship. Then followed the
British orders-in-council, by which all neutral trade was prohibited
from Copenhagen to Trieste. No American vessel was to enter any port
of Europe from which the British were excluded, unless it had first
cleared from a British port. Truly, neutrals were in a very
difficult position.
In July, 1807, England sent a large naval expedition to Copenhagen
under command of Lord Gambier, with transports containing
twenty-seven thousand troops under Lord Cathcart. This expedition
was sent with a peremptory request to the Prince Regent to deliver up
the Danish fleet. From September 1st to the 5th, Copenhagen was
bombarded. Scarcely any resistance was offered, and the fleet was
surrendered, while Danish merchant vessels worth ten millions of
dollars were confiscated. These arbitrary measures were taken in
order to protect British trade and to defeat the designs of Napoleon
to form a powerful navy. In consequence, the Russian fleet was shut
up at Cronstadt, and the Baltic remained under the control of Great
Britain. The naval combination carefully prepared by Napoleon in the
Treaty of Tilsit utterly failed.
[Sidenote: Napoleon's activity]
Late in 1807, Napoleon had stripped the elector of Hesse Cassel of
his dominions on the plea that he had not joined him in the war
against Prussia, and had done the same to the Duke of Brunswick on
the ground that the duke had joined Prussia against him. Out of
these domains the arch dictator {107} had created the kingdom of
Westphalia, and had bestowed it upon his brother, Jerome Bonaparte.
Soon after, because the Prince Regent of Portugal had refused to
enforce the Berlin decrees against England, Napoleon sent Junot with
thirty thousand men to take possession of Portugal, and announced in
the _Moniteur_ that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign in
Europe. Junot entered Lisbon without opposition, to find that the
Prince Regent and the court had embarked for Brazil, taking with them
the ships that Napoleon coveted.
Then Tuscany was seized and added to France, and the Pope was ordered
to declare war against England. Having refused to do this on the
plea that he was a sovereign of peace, the French general, by
Napoleon's orders, entered Rome in February, 1808, occupied the
Castle St. Angelo, and took the papal troops under his own command.
Napoleon's next move was against Spain. The government there was in
a most corrupt state, but up to this time the country had been the
humble and submissive ally of France. Napoleon, still in the guise
of friendship, took possession of her strongest fortresses, and
having by a ruse got the king and queen and the heir Ferdinand into
his power at Bayonne, he induced the old King Carlos IV. to resign
his Crown in favour "of his friend and ally the Emperor of the
French."
Napoleon then issued a decree appointing "his {108} dearly beloved
brother Joseph, King of Naples and Sicily, to the Crowns of Spain and
the Indies." By another decree he bestowed the vacant Crown of
Naples and Sicily on his "dearly beloved cousin, Joachim Murat."
Thus having distributed the Crowns of Europe he turned his attention
with redoubled energy to the humbling of his great enemy, England.
"Great Britain shall be destroyed," he said at Fontainebleau, "I have
the means of doing it and they shall be employed."
In the United States, President Jefferson had determined on a scheme
of non-intercourse and had laid an embargo on American shipping.
"The whole world," he said, "is laid under an interdict by these two
nations (England and France) and our vessels, their cargoes and
crews, are to be taken by one or the other, for whatever place they
may be destined out of our limits. If, therefore, on leaving our
harbours we are certain to lose them, is it not better for vessels,
cargoes and seamen to keep them at home?" Gallatin, secretary of the
navy, wished to limit the duration of the embargo, as he said he
preferred war to a permanent embargo, but Jefferson was obstinate and
said it should continue until the return of peace in Europe. He had
not counted the cost.
[Sidenote: Effect of embargo]
The embargo continued in force all through 1808 in spite of its
extreme unpopularity throughout the United States. As a substitute
for war it proved a failure. By it every citizen was tempted to
evade {109} or defy the law. "It made men smugglers or traitors but
not a single hero."
The embargo reacted in favour of the British provinces in America,
partly by calling forth the energies of the population and making
them acquainted with their own resources, and partly by means of the
indirect trade that was carried on from Eastport in Maine, across the
border, and by way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence. In order
to avoid the embargo on the coasts, goods were smuggled over the
frontier to be sent to the West Indies and Halifax. In spite of new
regulations and restrictions put forth by the American government,
smuggling flourished. Craft of all sorts and sizes crowded the river
St. Lawrence, and Canadian merchants prospered. Immense rafts were
collected near the boundary line on Lake Champlain. These rafts were
said to be loaded with the surplus products of Vermont for a year,
consisting of wheat, potash, pork and beef. The coasting vessels,
which were the means of commerce between the states, used to try to
evade the law by putting into some port in Nova Scotia or the West
Indies on pretence of stress of weather, and then leaving their cargo.
Fresh and stricter regulations were now made. At first the embargo
was not felt in the United States, but when supplies were consumed
the outcry against it became violent. As the year went on it was
found to have paralyzed the country. A {110} reign of idleness was
established, demoralizing to everybody. A traveller (Lambert) writes
that the harbour of New York was full of shipping, but the ships were
dismantled and laid up. "Not a box or a bale to be seen on the
wharves. Counting-houses all shut up, and merchants, clerks, porters
and labourers walking about with their hands in their pockets."
New England was in a worse plight. The people believed that
Jefferson was sold to France. Wheat in the Middle States fell from
two dollars to seventy-five cents a bushel. The chief burden however
fell on the Southern States, especially on Jefferson's own
state--Virginia. Tobacco there was worthless. Planters were
beggared. The country was deprived of tea, coffee, sugar, salt,
molasses and rum.
During 1808, the feeling in the country against France became
stronger. By Napoleon's Milan decree, which reached America in
March, "every ship which should have been searched by a British
vessel, or should have paid any duty to the British government, or
should come from or be destined to any port in the British
possessions in any part of the world should be good prize." It was
after the Milan decree that the question was mooted in the United
States of an alliance with England, and it was announced by Secretary
Madison that an order had been issued to discharge all British
subjects from national ships. The non-intercourse and embargo had
done England immense harm and were {111} working havoc among certain
classes of the population. The artizans of Staffordshire, Lancashire
and Yorkshire were reduced to the verge of famine, while quantities
of sugar, coffee, etc., overfilled the warehouses of London. Under
the orders-in-council the whole produce of the West Indies, shut out
from Europe by Napoleon's decrees, and from America by the embargo,
came to England, until the market was overstocked. English merchants
sent their goods to Brazil until the beach at Rio de Janeiro was
covered with property perishing for want of buyers and warehouses.
[Sidenote: The war of trade]
While this war of trade was going on, Napoleon, by every means in his
power, by taunts, and threats, and cajolery, was trying to force
America into a declaration of war against England. He said, "The
United States, more than any other power, have to complain of the
aggressions of England. In the situation in which England has placed
the continent, His Majesty has no doubt of a declaration of war
against her by the United States." He wrote to his secretary of war,
Champagny, "In my mind, I regard war as declared between England and
America from the day when England published her decrees." Again he
wrote, "Let the American minister know verbally that whenever war
shall be declared with England, and whenever, in consequence, the
Americans shall send troops into the Floridas to help the Spaniards
and repulse the English, I shall much approve of it. You will even
{112} let him perceive that in case America shall be disposed to
enter into a treaty of alliance and make common cause with me, I
shall not be unwilling to intercede with the court of Spain to obtain
the cession of these same Floridas in favour of the Americans." So
the tempting bait of Florida was held dangling before Jefferson,
whose cherished hope it was to see that territory added to the United
States.
General Armstrong, the American minister in Paris, does not seem to
have been deceived by Napoleon's manoeuvres. He writes: "With one
hand they offer us the blessing of equal alliance, with the other
they menace us with war if we do not accept the kindness, and with
both they pick our pockets with all imaginable dexterity, diligence,
and impudence."
Napoleon during this year (1808) was not having the success in Spain
that he had expected. A patriot party had arisen there, aided by
English troops and gold, and had driven Joseph Bonaparte from his
ill-gotten throne. Arthur Wellesley had landed, and at the battle of
Vimiera, on August 21st, had defeated Junot, who at Cintra consented
to evacuate Portugal on the consideration that his army of twenty-two
thousand men should be conveyed by sea to France. In August, also,
news came to the emperor that General Dupont's army had been captured
by the Spaniards, and eighty thousand French troops were thrown back
on the Pyrenees. Napoleon was stung {113} to anger at this
ill-success, and in September sent a fresh army of two hundred and
fifty thousand men across the mountains, and announced that he
himself was departing in a few days in order to crown Joseph as king
of Spain in Madrid, and to plant his eagles on the fort of Lisbon.
It was not the probable loss of Spain and Portugal that he cared for
then, but the loss of their fleets that were to have given France the
supremacy of the ocean.
Napoleon left Paris October 29th, 1808, and in November began his
campaign. He occupied Madrid on December 4th, and learned that Sir
John Moore had marched from Portugal to the north of Spain. He then
hurried over the mountains to cut off his retreat, but was
out-generalled. Moore escaped to his fleet, and Napoleon, in
January, 1809, leaving Soult to march to Corunna, abandoned Spain
forever.
[Sidenote: The repeal of embargo]
England at this time was defiant, and fondly hoped that the power of
the devastator of Europe was on the wane. She passed a new
order-in-council in December, doing away with export duties on
foreign articles passing through England. It was her object now to
encourage Americans to evade the embargo by running produce to the
West Indies or South America. England had to feed her own armies in
Spain, and the Spanish patriots also, and did not want to tax
American wheat or salt pork on their way there. By the end of 1808
the embargo was so unpopular in America {114} that its repeal was
decided on. Jefferson wished to be spared the humiliation of signing
the repeal, and hoped that it would continue in force until June,
1809, when the new president, James Madison, would be in power, but
public opinion was too strong, and its withdrawal was signed as the
last act of his administration.
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