BELL’S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS
_General Editors_: S. E. WINBOLT, M.A., and KENNETH BELL, M.A.
ENGLAND AND NAPOLEON
BELL’S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS
Scope of the Series and Arrangement of Volumes.
1. Roman Britain to 449.
2. 449-1066.
3. 1066-1154.
4. 1154-1216.
5. 1216-1307.
6. 1307-1399.
7. 1399-1485.
8. 1485-1547. _Immediately._
9. 1547-1603. _Now Ready._
10. 1603-1660. “
11. 1660-1714. “
12. 1714-1760. “
13. 1760-1801. “
14. 1801-1815. _Immediately._
15. 1815-1837.
16. 1837-1856.
17. 1856-1876.
18. 1876-1887.
19. 1887-1901.
20. 1901-1912.
_The volumes are issued in uniform style._
_Price 1s. net each._
ENGLAND AND
NAPOLEON
(1801-1815)
COMPILED BY
S. E. WINBOLT, M.A.
[Illustration: colophon]
LONDON
G. BELL & SONS, LTD.
1912
INTRODUCTION
This series of English History Source Books is intended for use with any
ordinary textbook of English History. Experience has conclusively shown
that such apparatus is a valuable--nay, an indispensable--adjunct to the
history lesson. It is capable of two main uses: either by way of lively
illustration at the close of a lesson, or by way of inference-drawing,
before the textbook is read, at the beginning of the lesson. The kind of
problems and exercises that may be based on the documents are legion,
and are admirably illustrated in a _History of England for Schools_,
Part I., by Keatinge and Frazer, pp. 377-381. However, we have no wish
to prescribe for the teacher the manner in which he shall exercise his
craft, but simply to provide him and his pupils with materials hitherto
not readily accessible for school purposes. The very moderate price of
the books in this series should bring them within the reach of every
secondary school. Source books enable the pupil to take a more active
part than hitherto in the history lesson. Here is the apparatus, the raw
material: its use we leave to teacher and taught.
Our belief is that the books may profitably be used by all grades of
historical students between the standards of fourth-form boys in
secondary schools and undergraduates at Universities. What
differentiates students at one extreme from those at the other is not so
much the kind of subject-matter dealt with, as the amount they can read
into or extract from it.
In regard to choice of subject-matter, while trying to satisfy the
natural demand for certain “stock” documents of vital importance, we
hope to introduce much fresh and novel matter. It is our intention that
the majority of the extracts should be lively in style--that is,
personal, or descriptive, or rhetorical, or even strongly partisan--and
should not so much profess to give the truth as supply data for
inference. We aim at the greatest possible variety, and lay under
contribution letters, biographies, ballads and poems, diaries, debates,
and newspaper accounts. Economics, London, municipal, and social life
generally, and local history, are represented in these pages.
The order of the extracts is strictly chronological, each being
numbered, titled, and dated, and its authority given. The text is
modernised, where necessary, to the extent of leaving no difficulties in
reading.
We shall be most grateful to teachers and students who may send us
suggestions for improvement.
S. E. WINBOLT.
KENNETH BELL.
NOTE TO THIS VOLUME
It will be obvious from the Table of Contents that, though there is a
great wealth of illustrative matter for this period, I have preferred to
draw largely upon the _Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord
Colchester_, published in three volumes in 1861, and the _Despatches of
the Duke of Wellington_, by Lieutenant-Colonel Gurwood. The latter is a
very convenient selection. The title of the volume is justified by the
fact that some eighteen out of the forty-eight pieces have more or less
direct reference to England’s struggle with Napoleon.
S. E. W.
CHRIST’S HOSPITAL,
_October, 1912_.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DATE TITLE PAGE
INTRODUCTION V
1801. BATTLE OF THE BALTIC _Campbell_ 1
1801. STATE OF IRELAND “_Diary of Lord Colchester_” 3
1801. GOLF AND FOOTBALL _Strutt_ 8
1802. PARTY SPEECHES OF SHERIDAN
AND CANNING _Stanhope_ 9
1803-1815. TYPICAL VESSELS OF THE
ROYAL NAVY _Clowes_ 13
1803. DESIRE FOR PITT’S RETURN TO
OFFICE _Stanhope_ 15
1803. CANNING ON ADDINGTON _Stanhope_ 17
1803. NOTES BY PITT ON THE WAR,
GERMANY, AND NAPOLEON _Stanhope_ 18
1803. GUN-BOATS FOR DEFENCE “_Diaries of George Rose_” 20
1804. THE POOR IN MANUFACTURING
TOWNS “_Gentleman’s Magazine_” 21
1804. WHEAT, FLOUR, AND BREAD “_Gentleman’s Magazine_” 24
1805. ENGLAND AND THE MEDITERRANEAN (I.)
_Pitt_ 25
ENGLAND AND THE MEDITERRANEAN (II.)
_Nelson_ 26
1805. THE BLOW THAT KILLED PITT (I.)
_Pitt_ 27
THE BLOW THAT KILLED PITT (II.)
_Canning_ 28
1805. ROUTINE ON A BRITISH
MAN-OF-WAR _Clowes_ 29
1805. NELSON’S PLAN FOR
TRAFALGAR _Clowes_ 32
1805. TRAFALGAR _Southey_ 34
1806. THE YOUNGER PITT _Scott_ 43
1806. MINISTRY OF ALL THE
TALENTS _Earl of Malmesbury_ 44
1806. MILITARY PLANS _Lord Colchester_ 46
1807. CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION (I.) _Lord Colchester_ 47
CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION (II.) _Malmesbury_ 50
1807. PARTY POLITICS _Leigh Hunt_ 52
1807. BERLIN DECREES _Colchester_ 53
1809. CORUNNA (I.) _Colchester_ 55
CORUNNA (II.) _Charles Wolfe_ 55
1809. PUBLIC ECONOMY “_Diaries of George Rose_” 57
1809. RESIGNATION OF PORTLAND _Colchester_ 58
1809. DUEL OF CANNING AND
CASTLEREAGH _Colchester_ 59
1806-1809. MILITARY EXPENSES _Colchester_ 60
1809. TALAVERA: PROTEST BY LORDS _Protests of the Lords_ 61
1810. WALCHEREN EXPEDITION _Colchester_ 62
1810. WELLINGTON’S DIFFICULTIES IN
SPAIN _Wellington’s Despatches_ 65
1811. THE REGENCY _Colchester_ 71
1811. FÊTE AT CARLTON HOUSE _Colchester_ 73
1812. WEAVING MACHINES _Byron’s Letters_ 76
1812. BADAJOZ _Wellington’s Despatches_ 79
1812. MURDER OF PERCEVAL _Colchester_ 84
1812. SHERIDAN’S LAST UTTERANCES
IN THE HOUSE _Moore_ 85
1813. SIR STAPLETON COTTON’S MILITARY
SERVICES _Colchester_ 86
1813. VITTORIA _Wellington’s Despatches_ 87
1814. DEPOSITION OF NAPOLEON _Byron’s Letters_ 95
1814. CAPTURE OF TOULOUSE _Wellington’s Despatches_ 96
1814. DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S
THANKS _Colchester_ 102
1814. NEGOTIATIONS WITH
BUONAPARTE _Southey_ 105
1815. INTERVIEW WITH NAPOLEON IN
ELBA _Vivian_ 109
1815. WATERLOO _Wellington’s Despatches_ 112
ENGLAND AND NAPOLEON
1801-1815
THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC (1801).
=Source.=--Thomas Campbell: _Historical Lyrics and Ballads_. P. 93.
I.
Of Nelson and the North
Sing the glorious day’s renown,
When to battle fierce came forth
All the might of Denmark’s crown,
And her arms along the deep proudly shone;
By each gun the lighted brand,
In a bold determined hand,
And the Prince of all the land
Led them on.
II.
Like leviathans afloat
Lay their bulwarks on the brine;
While the sign of battle flew
On the lofty British line:
It was ten of April morn by the chime:
As they drifted on their path,
There was silence deep as death;
And the boldest held his breath
For a time.
III.
But the might of England flushed
To anticipate the scene;
And her van the fleeter rushed
O’er the deadly space between.
“Hearts of oak!” our captains cried; when each gun
From its adamantine lips
Spread a death-shade round the ships,
Like the hurricane eclipse
Of the sun.
IV.
Again! again! again!
And the havoc did not slack,
Till a feeble cheer the Dane
To our cheering sent us back;--
Their shots along the deep slowly boom:
Then cease--and all is wail,
As they strike the shattered sail;
Or in conflagration pale
Light the gloom.
V.
Out spoke the victor then,
As he hailed them o’er the wave,
“Ye are brothers! ye are men!
And we conquer but to save!
So peace, instead of death, let us bring;
But yield, proud foe, thy fleet
With the crews, at England’s feet,
And make submission meet
To our King.”
VI.
Then Denmark blessed our chief,
That he gave her wounds repose;
And the sounds of joy and grief
From her people wildly rose,
As death withdrew his shades from the day:
While the sun looked smiling bright
O’er a wide and woful sight,
Where the fires of funeral light
Died away.
VII.
Now joy, Old England, raise
For the tidings of thy might,
By the festal cities’ blaze,
Whilst the wine-cup shines in light;
And yet amidst that joy and uproar,
Let us think of them that sleep
Full many a fathom deep
By thy wild and stormy steep,
Elsinore!
VIII.
Brave hearts! to Britain’s pride
Once so faithful and so true,
On the deck of fame that died
With the gallant good Riou!
Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o’er their grave!
While the billow mournful rolls
And the mermaid’s song condoles,
Singing glory to the souls
Of the brave!
IRELAND IN 1801.
_Source._--_Diary of Lord Colchester_, 1861. Vol. i., p. 286.
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS IN IRELAND FROM JULY TO DEC. 1801; AND
OUTLINES OF IRISH BUSINESS FOR 1802, REPORTED AND READ OVER TO MR.
ADDINGTON, FEB. 1802.
IRISH AFFAIRS, JAN. 1802.
I. Their present state, including a detailed Account of the Government
Transactions there during the last Six Months.
II. Outline of the Public Business of Ireland for the Year 1802.
I. THE GOVERNMENT.
1. _Lord-Lieutenant._--Unsettled powers; question whether a
Lord-Lieutenant from England, administering the protection and patronage
of the Crown subordinately to the King’s Ministers--or a Government by
Lords Justices setting up for themselves, and tyrannising over their
countrymen--or endeavour to govern Ireland entirely by a Secretary of
State at Whitehall.
N.B.--No communication has been made to Lord Hardwicke in answer to the
paper transmitted by him to Lord Pelham, containing remarks upon Lord
Pelham’s proposition.
2. _Chief Secretary._--Unsettled emoluments of the Office in Ireland.
Unsettled footing of the Irish Office in London.
Query.--Suppress its establishment as an Office accredited with the
Secretary of State for the Home Department; and as hitherto employed for
soliciting Civil Patents and Military Commissions in the place of the
old office of Resident Secretary (Fremantle and Jenkinson). And transfer
the agency and fees of the business to the Secretary of State’s Office;
leaving no establishment in London for the Chief Secretary to transact
his business, except what assistance he may personally obtain for
himself from Dublin Castle, etc.
N.B.--The salary and fees of this Office upon Peace Establishments, viz.
about 5,000_l._ British, are not more than adequate to the necessary
expenses of the office conducted with economy; having houses and
servants in each country; and the removal of a family twice a year
across the Channel.
3. _Private Secretary._--Unprovided present subsistence, and no certain
future provision.
4. _Lord Chancellor_ (_Lord Clare_).--Hostile to any Government by
Lord-Lieutenant. Desirous himself to be Lord-Deputy, or at the head of
Lords Justices; and for Mr. Cooke to be Secretary of State under him.
5. _Commander of the Forces._--Sir W. Meadows, cordially co-operating
with the Lord-Lieutenant.
6. _Royal Building, &c._--In the Castle a library for printed books
upon Irish affairs. Orders also given for arranging the State Papers,
&c., in the Birmingham Tower. Plans and estimate ordered for rebuilding
the Castle chapel, and adapting it to choir service.
_Parliament House._--A proposal transmitted to the King’s Ministers for
selling it to the National Bank of Ireland, or appropriating it to
Public Offices.
_Phœnix Park._--Walls and roads ordered to be repaired; rights of
Park officers ascertained; encroachments defeated.
7. _Union Engagements._--Many liquidated. No vacant office has been
given away without considering to what promise it could apply.
II. FINANCE.
1. Treasury Statements of Annual Income and Expenditure of Ireland
assimilated to the British series of Public Accounts, and adapted to the
same annual and quarterly periods.
2. _Revenue Boards._--Examination into its past state by personal
conference with each of the four senior Examiners; all of them agreeing
that it was corrupt and inefficient; proved also by lists of Officers
accused and protected; proved also by reports of Mr. Beresford, in 1792;
and of the Acting Surveyor-General, Mr. Cooke, in 1800.
Division of the Board into Customs and Excise, as projected in Lord
Townsend’s and Lord Buckingham’s Administration, and executed now in the
manner prescribed by Mr. Beresford, in a letter written by himself on a
former occasion; a copy whereof was delivered to me by Mr. B., with a
recommendation of its being adopted for this purpose at this time.
_Dublin Quay Regulated._--Tobacco stores, gate notes, &c., under advice
of the Board, and upon suggestion and report of Mr. Croker, who was
appointed acting Surveyor-General of the port, with joint approbation of
Mr. Beresford and Mr. Annesley, and established in the Office of
Surveyor-General by Lord Hardwicke.
Regulations enforced prohibiting all Revenue Officers from being
traders.
Revision and Amendment of the Distillery Laws considered. Throughout
Ireland the Surveyors-General ordered to report quarterly from their
actual surveys.
N.B.--Dublin Customs’ duties are one half, and Dublin Excise duties one
quarter of all Ireland.
A mode settled for passing Collector’s accounts in Dublin with more
expedition, and (as in England) without their personal attendance.
Cruisers called in; inspection of repairs ordered, and a report upon the
future complement of men for their Peace Establishment.
Additional officers appointed, not for patronage, but upon special
reports of the Board, and upon considerations of personal merit, viz.
two Surveyors-General, one Inspector-General, and one Inspector, and two
Landwaiters in the Port of Dublin.
General plan for prevention of smuggling and illicit distilleries
prepared for consideration.
Commercial regulations between Great Britain and Ireland considered, and
reported upon by the Commissioners of Revenue.
3. _Auditors of Public Accounts._--Their accounts methodised on the
British plan, and brought up to 5th January, 1802, showing the actual
amounts of debts due from Public Accountants.
4. _Stamps._--After a previous investigation by the Treasury, and
personal conference repeatedly with the Commissioners.
Establishment settled on the British model, and report upon the building
purchased for the use of this Office before the Rebellion.
Consignments to distributors, and the appropriation of their receipts
new modelled.
Debts from deceased and dismissed distributors called in; securities of
distributors raised.
Inspectors-General ordered upon survey throughout Ireland, and to make
quarterly reports; and two new inspectors added at inferior salaries,
with prospect of succession to the higher, if merited.
Revision and amendment of the Stamp Laws prepared.
N.B.--Last summer, in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, several
Justices of Peace refused to convict in penalties for evading the Stamp
Duties.
5. _Crown Lands._--A report upon their state, extent, and value ordered
to be made out in thirty-two books for the thirty-two counties.
6. _Board of Works._--Appropriation of issues between May 1801, and
August 1801, viz. 20,000_l._ having been called for, and no account
being produced of time or place, of articles supplied, or work done, nor
any check appearing; an inquiry directed for settling an efficient
system of checks for the future; report made and instructions issued to
take effect prospectively from 5th January, 1802.
N.B.--By Comptroller of Accounts (who has controlled the Barrack
Accounts), and two Privy Councillors.
All the old accounts ordered to be balanced and closed to 5th January,
1802, where a debt stated in November to be 11,000_l._, was stated in
January to be a debt of 37,000_l._; though no new work was ordered or
executed in the interval. And it appeared also that no final accounts
had been settled with the tradesmen for [1] years. How many years?
N.B.--During the period within which this debt was incurred, there was
an annual issue to the Board of from 25,000_l._ to 32,000_l._ a year. No
new building, except one house, which cost 3,000_l._, was erected. The
Castle or public apartments are worse furnished than any private
gentleman’s house in England.
_Note._--The First Commissioner of the Board, consisting of seven, is
also sole Barrackmaster-General; and has the sole expenditure of nearly
300,000_l._ a year. And the latest of his accounts delivered in to be
audited, viz. March, 1800, did not come down to a later period than 25th
March, 1796.
N.B.--Lord Tyrawley, from a very moderate beginning, is reputed to have
made a landed property of 10,000_l._ a year, out of private trusts (viz.
law arrears, &c.), and out of public offices, viz. the Board of Works
and Barrack Office.
As to the economy of his department, _ex uno disce omnes_. Ready-made
sentry-boxes sent in carts from Dublin to Cork. Extravagant expense of
carriage, and destruction of the articles themselves.
GOLF AND FOOTBALL (1801).
=Source.=--Strutt’s _Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_, 1801.
Pp. 93 and 97 of Methuen’s edition, 1903.
There are many games played with the ball that require the assistance of
a club or bat, and probably the most ancient among them is the pastime
now distinguished by the name of golf. In the northern parts of the
kingdom golf is much practised. It requires much room to perform this
game with propriety, and therefore I presume it is rarely seen at
present in the vicinity of the metropolis. It answers to a rustic
pastime of the Romans which they played with a ball of leather stuffed
with feathers, called _paganica_, because it was used by the common
people: the golf-ball is composed of the same materials to this day; I
have been told it is sometimes, though rarely, stuffed with cotton. In
the reign of Edward III. the Latin name _cambuca_ was applied to this
pastime, and it derived the denomination, no doubt, from the crooked
club or bat with which it was played; the bat was also called a bandy,
from its being bent. Golf, according to the present modification of the
game, is performed with a bat, not much unlike the bandy: the handle of
this instrument is straight, and usually made of ash, about four feet
and a half in length: the curvature is affixed to the bottom, faced with
horn and backed with lead; the ball is a little one, but exceedingly
hard; being made with leather, and, as before observed, stuffed with
feathers. There are generally two players, who have each of them his bat
and ball. The game consists in driving the ball into certain holes made
in the ground; he who achieves it the soonest, or in the fewest number
of strokes, obtains the victory.
Football is so called because the ball is driven about with the feet
instead of the hands. It was formerly much in vogue among the common
people of England, though of late years it seems to have fallen into
disrepute, and is but little practised. I cannot pretend to determine at
what period the game of football originated: it does not, however, to
the best of my recollection, appear among the popular exercises before
the reign of Edward III., and then, in 1349, it was prohibited by a
public edict; not, perhaps, from any particular objection to the sport
in itself, but because it co-operated, with other favourite amusements,
to impede the progress of archery. When a match at football is made, two
parties, each containing an equal number of competitors, take the field,
and stand between two goals, placed at the distance of 80 or 100 yards
the one from the other. The goal is usually made with two sticks driven
into the ground, about two or three feet apart. The ball, which is
commonly made of a blown bladder, and cased with leather, is delivered
in the midst of the ground, and the object of each party is to drive it
through the goal of their antagonists, which being achieved the game is
won. The abilities of the performers are best displayed in attacking and
defending the goals; and hence the pastime was more frequently called a
goal at football than a game at football. When the exercise becomes
exceeding violent, the players kick each other’s shins without the least
ceremony, and some of them are overthrown at the hazard of their limbs.
SHERIDAN FOR ADDINGTON, CANNING FOR PITT (1802).
=Source.=--Stanhope’s _Life of Pitt_, 1862. Vol. iii., p. 415.
The great speech of Sheridan was, however, reserved till the 8th of
December, when the Army Estimates came forward. They were moved by Mr.
Charles Yorke as Secretary at War. “I was much surprised,” said Mr.
Yorke, “when, on another evening, I heard an Hon. gentleman (Mr. Fox)
maintain that there was no reason why a larger establishment than usual
in former periods of peace should be maintained in Great Britain; and
that there were reasons why even a smaller force would suffice
everywhere but in the West Indies.” It was no hard matter for Mr. Yorke
to argue against this proposition, or to point out the dangers that
impended from the Continent of Europe. He could reckon on the support of
the House for the proposal which his speech contained--to provide for a
regular force of nearly one hundred and thirty thousand men, counting
officers, and including the regiments in India. This was an increase on
the establishment voted on the first conclusion of the peace.
Then and after some other speeches Sheridan rose. He referred to Fox as
to the man whom of all men upon earth he most loved and respected. But
these sentiments did not withhold him from some keen animadversions,
although in covert terms, upon the course which Fox had latterly been
seeking to promote. He approved of the King’s Speech. He approved of the
large establishments. He approved of Addington as Minister. What (he
asked) had other members really to allege against that Right Hon.
gentleman? Theirs was a mere capricious dislike; for no better reason
than is given in an epigram of Martial, or in an English parody upon
that epigram:
“I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I’m sure I know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.”
Those who call to mind that Addington already bore the nickname of “the
Doctor,” and who know the keen relish of the House of Commons for almost
any jest, may easily imagine the roars of laughter with which Sheridan’s
allusion was received.
Sheridan proceeded in a strain of blended wit and argument. “What,” he
said, “did these gentlemen expect from the present Chancellor of the
Exchequer? We treated him when in the Chair of this House with the
respect he merited.... But did they expect that when he was a Minister
he was to stand up and call Europe to Order? Was he to send Mr. Colman,
the Serjeant-at-Arms, to the Baltic and summon the Northern Powers to
the Bar of this House? Was he to see the Powers of Germany scrambling
like Members over the benches, and say--Gentlemen must take their
places? Was he expected to cast his eye to the Tuscan gallery, and
exclaim that strangers must withdraw? Was he to stand across the Rhine,
and say--The Germans to the right, and the French to the left? If he
could have done these things, I for one should always vote that the
Speaker of the House should be appointed the Minister of the country.
But the Right Hon. gentleman has done all that a reasonable man could
expect him to do.”
“Sir,”--so Sheridan continued--“I confess I wish to know what Mr. Pitt
himself thinks. I should be glad to hear what his sentiments are of the
call made for him; and loudly too, in another place by a vigorous
statesman.[2] I well remember, Sir, and so do we all, the character Mr.
Pitt gave of the present administration. Does he mean to retract that
character? I cannot suppose he does.... Sir, when I see so many persons
anxious about that gentleman, I am glad to hear that his health is
re-established. But how, I would ask, can we with any consistency turn
out the man who made the peace to bring in the man who avowed his
approbation of it?... I suspect, therefore, that the political
Philidor’s game has been misunderstood; that his friends have displaced
a knight and a castle when they should only have taken two pawns; that
they have made an attempt to checkmate the King when they had no
instructions for doing it. I cannot forget the period when the august
Person of the Sovereign was held up as the only man who was against
extending privileges to the Catholics in Ireland; and I cannot,
therefore, brook the idea of calling that Right Hon. gentleman back to
power, and forcing him upon the Crown.... Mr. Pitt the only man to save
the country! If a nation depends only upon one man, it cannot, and I
will add, it does not deserve to be saved; it can be saved only by the
Parliament and people.”
Next after Sheridan rose Canning. In his great speech that evening he
displayed not only a luminous eloquence, but the rarer gift (rarer, I
mean, in him) of perfect discretion. He desired to express his
sentiments, not of satisfaction merely, but of thankfulness, for the
part which his Hon. Friend (Mr. Sheridan) had that day done.
“It is by no means the first time,” he said, “that my Hon. Friend,
throwing aside all petty distinctions of party feeling, has come
forward, often under circumstances of peculiar difficulty, often
discouraged, always alone, as the champion of his country’s rights and
interests, and has rallied the hearts and spirits of the nation.[3] I
trust we shall now hear no more of those miserable systems, the object
of which is not to rouse us to ward off our ruin, but to reconcile us to
submit to it.... ‘We have nothing to dread from France but a rivalry in
commerce,’ says the Hon. gentleman opposite to me (Mr. Fox). Look round,
Sir, on the state of the world, and can such an argument even from such
a man need farther refutation?”
“And what, Sir”--so Canning went on in another passage--“what is the
nature of the times in which we live? Look at France, and see what we
have to cope with, and consider what has made her what she is? A man.
You will tell me that she was great, and powerful, and formidable before
the date of Bonaparte’s Government; that he found in her great physical
and moral resources; that he had but to turn them to account. True, and
he did so. Compare the situation in which he found France with that to
which he has raised her. I am no panegyrist of Bonaparte; but I cannot
shut my eyes to the superiority of his talents, to the amazing
ascendency of his genius. Tell me not of his measures and his policy--it
is his genius, his character, that keeps the world in awe. Sir, to meet,
to check, to curb, to stand up against him, we want arms of the same
kind. I am far from objecting to the large military establishments
which are proposed to you. I vote for them with all my heart. But, for
the purpose of coping with Bonaparte, one great commanding spirit is
worth them all. This is my undisguised opinion. But when I state this
opinion thus undisguisedly, is my Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Pitt) to be
implicated in a charge of prompting what I say?...
“Sir, of all the imputations to which that Right Hon. gentleman could be
subjected, I confess I did think that of intrigue and cabal the least
likely to be preferred against him by any man who has witnessed his
public conduct.... No, Sir. Never did young Ambition, just struggling
into public notice and aiming at popular favour, labour with half so
much earnestness to court reputation and to conciliate adherents, as my
Right Hon. Friend has laboured since his retreat from office not to
attract, but to repel; not to increase the number of his followers, but
to dissolve attachment and to transfer support. And if, whatever has
been his endeavour to insulate and individualize himself in political
life, he has not been able to succeed wholly, even with those who would
sacrifice to his wishes everything but their attachment to him--if with
the public he has succeeded not at all, what is the inference? what but
that, retreat and withdraw as much as he will, he must not hope to
efface the memory of his past services from the gratitude of his
country?--he cannot withdraw himself from the following of a nation; he
must endure the attachment of a people whom he has saved.”
TYPICAL VESSELS OF THE ROYAL NAVY (1803 to 1815).
=Source.=--Clowes: _The Royal Navy_, 1900. Vol. v. (1803 to 1815), p. 15.
Models of many of the most typical vessels which were added to the Navy
during the period under review are to be seen at Greenwich. Among them
are whole or half-block models of the following ships:
+--------------+------------+----------+----------+
| Name. | Length of | Beam. | Depth in |
| | Gun-deck. | | Hold. |
+--------------+------------+----------+----------+
| | Ft. In. | Ft. In. | Ft. In. |
|_Caledonia_ | 205 0 | 54 6 | 23 2 |
| | | | |
|_Hercules_ | 176 1 | 48 4¼ | 21 0 |
| | | | |
|_Bulwark_ | 181 10 | 49 3 | 20 7 |
| | | | |
|_Java_ | 171 11½ | 44 1 | 14 3 |
| | | | |
|_President_ | 173 3 | 44 4 | 13 11 |
| | | | |
|_Chesapeake_ | 151 0 | 40 11 | 13 9 |
| | | | |
|_Lively_ | 154 1 | 39 6 | 13 6 |
| | | | |
|_Euryalus_ | 145 2 | 38 2½ | 13 3 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|_Lacedemonian_| 150 4 | 40 0½ | 12 9½ |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|_Barbados_ | 140 0 | 36 7 | 16 0 |
| | | | |
|_Eden_ | 108 6 | 30 8 | 9 0 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|_Andromeda_ | 129 7 | 36 5-3/8| 11 0 |
| | | | |
|_Florida_ | 119 5½ | 32 0 | 14 2 |
| | | | |
|_Epervier_ | 95 1 | 28 6 | 8 9½ |
|_Cadmus_ | 90 3 | 24 6 | 11 0 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
+--------------+------------+----------+----------+
+--------------+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+
| Name. | Tons. | Men. | Guns. | When and where Built, or how |
| | | | | Acquired, etc. |
+--------------+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+
| | | | | |
|_Caledonia_ | 2,616 | 875 | 120 | Launched 1808, at Devonport. |
| | | | | Designed by Sir W. Rule. |
|_Hercules_ | 1,750 | 590 | 80 | Launched 1815, at Chatham. |
| | | | | Designed by Surveyor’s Dept.|
|_Bulwark_ | 1,940 | 590 | 74 | Launched 1807, at Portsmouth. |
| | | | | Designed by Sir W. Rule. |
|_Java_ | 1,458 | 480 | 60 | Launched 1815, at Devonport. |
| | | | | Designed by Surveyor’s Dept.|
|_President_ | 1,533 | 480 | 50 | Taken 1815, from |
| | | | | the Americans. |
|_Chesapeake_ | 1,135 | 315 | 48 | Taken 1813, from |
| | | | | the Americans. |
|_Lively_ | 1,076 | 284 | 46 | Launched 1804, at Woolwich. |
| | | | | Designed by Sir W. Rule. |
|_Euryalus_ | 946 | 264 | 42 | Launched 1803, by Adams, |
| | | | | Bucklershard. |
| | | | | Designed by Sir W. Rule. |
|_Lacedemonian_| 1,073 | 264 | 38 | Launched 1812, at Portsmouth. |
| | | | | Built after the French |
| | | | | _Hébé_, taken in 1782. |
|_Barbados_ | 800 | 195 | 36 | Ex. _Brave_. Taken from |
| | | | | the French, 1804. |
|_Eden_ | 451 | 150 | 28 | Launched 1804, by Courtney, |
| | | | | Chester. Designed by |
| | | | | Sir W. Rule. |
|_Andromeda_ | 812 | 195 | 24 | Ex. _Hannibal_. Taken 1812, |
| | | | | from the Americans. |
|_Florida_ | 539 | 135 | 20 | Ex. _Frolic_. Taken 1814, |
| | | | | from the Americans. |
|_Epervier_ | 315 | 121 | 16 | Taken 1803, from the French. |
|_Cadmus_ | 237 | 76 | 10 | Launched 1808, by Dudman, |
| | | | | Deptford. Designed |
| | | | | by H. Peake. |
+--------------+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+
DESIRE FOR PITT’S RETURN TO OFFICE (1803).
=Source.=--Stanhope’s _Life of Pitt_, 1862. Vol. iv., p. 28.
_Mr. Long to Mr. Pitt._
BROMLEY HILL,
_April 3, 1803_.
DEAR PITT,
I am anxious to give you some account of what passed between Addington
and myself upon my return, reserving details upon the whole subject till
we meet. He seemed extremely anxious that you should not consider a
pending negotiation as any obstacle to coming forward at the present
moment, but it is hardly necessary to say what he stated upon this
subject, because he has since altered his opinion, and rather thinks the
fit time would be when the negotiation is brought to a point _either
way_, which (in conjunction with Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Castlereagh, and
your brother) he is satisfied will be determined before you meet at
Bromley Hill. Upon the whole question of arrangement he seemed disposed
to adopt what you had authorized me to state, not as anything settled,
but as a general idea upon the subject, but at the same time expressed
great difficulties about Lord Hobart (none about Lord Pelham). He ended
this part of the subject by saying that of course you were the best
judge of those persons who had claims upon you, but that he trusted you
would not decide anything upon this point (if the thing proceeded to
that length) without also considering the fair pretensions of those who
had claims upon him. I instanced Bragge, Smyth, Lord C. Spencer, and
Wickham, as persons _accidentally_ placed in the situations they held,
and whom it might be necessary to call upon to give way: he admitted the
justice of what I said upon all these persons, and of the possible
necessary arrangement respecting them, but added that he believed the
last particularly agreeable to the Chancellor of Ireland and the Lord
Lieutenant, and also well qualified for his office. With respect to Lord
Grenville, he thought it impossible to admit him or any of his friends
at the present moment without a marked degradation of himself and his
colleagues, but that he could not mean to proscribe them, or to preclude
you from taking whatever assistance you thought right at any future
time. I then mentioned Canning and Rose: he said the first had been
personally offensive to him; but upon my submitting to him whether he
could justify the suffering even personal offence to stand in the way of
what he had taken so much pains to convince me was a necessary public
arrangement, he seemed very much softened upon this point, and with
respect to Rose he stated no objection. There was no difficulty in
leaving the vacancies at the Treasury, provided something else was done
for Broderick, for whom he had pledged himself to provide. He then
showed me a letter from Lord St. Vincent, requesting, on account of his
state of health, that he would find him a successor as soon as he
conveniently could, and expressed a wish to send the papers which
referred to the points upon which you desired information. It is very
probable you may want further information upon these subjects, which of
course you can have at Bromley Hill.
I saw Lord Castlereagh the next day: very anxious that you should be
induced to come into the proposal, even during negotiation, if, contrary
to all appearances, it should be protracted. He argued the cases of war,
of peace, and of protracted negotiation very ably, as each affording
sufficient grounds for your placing yourself at the head of the
Government. If we were led into war, no person could conduct it with
effect but yourself. You could prevent the negotiation spinning out to a
disadvantageous length; and in peace, the state of parties was the
ground upon which he urged the necessity of your taking the Government.
Neither he nor Lord Hawkesbury concealed from me the _necessity for a
change_. Lord H. was of opinion Lord Grenville could not possibly come
in under this arrangement, but seemed to think there would not be any
difficulty at a future period.... I have made some endeavours to obtain
the opinion of the City: as far as I have been able to ascertain it, it
is uniform--a very strong wish that you should take the lead in
Government, but an almost equally strong opinion that Grenville should
be no part of it. Thornton gave me some strong grounds for supposing
this was the general opinion upon both points; but as I know how often
people give their own opinion as the public opinion, only for the
purpose of strengthening it, I receive a public opinion with some
caution. At the same time I have heard the [same] from so many quarters,
that I believe it is not mistaken; and there is one point at least in
which I think you will concur with me--that pending the negotiation it
would be extremely prejudicial to yourself to take office with
Grenville; for if it ended in war, his influence would be supposed to
have occasioned it; and things are certainly in that state in which it
is the general wish that we should at least give ourselves every fair
chance of preserving peace....
I have only had time to scribble this as fast as I could since Huskisson
told me he was going to Walmer. I hope you will find it intelligible.
Ever yours,
C. L.
VERSES BY CANNING AGAINST ADDINGTON (1803).
=Source.=--Stanhope’s _Life of Pitt_, 1862. Vol. iv., pp. 58, 59, 60.
Praise to placeless proud ability
Let the prudent Muse disclaim;
And sing the statesman--all civility--
Whom moderate talents raise to fame.
* * *
Splendid talents are deceiving,
Tend to counsels much too bold;
Moderate men we prize, believing
All that glitters is not gold.
When the faltering periods flag,
Or the House receives them drily,
Cheer, oh cheer him, brother Bragge!
Cheer, oh cheer him, brother Hiley!
Each a gentleman at large,
Lodged and fed at public charge,
Paying, with a grace to charm ye,
This the fleet, and that the army.
Brother Bragge and brother Hiley,
Cheer him! when he speaks so vilely;
Cheer him! when his audience flag,
Brother Hiley, brother Bragge.
If _blocks_ can from danger deliver,
Two places are safe from the French:
One is the mouth of the river,
The other the Treasury Bench.
Pitt is to Addington
As London to Paddington.
NOTES ON THE WAR, GERMANY, AND NAPOLEON, BY PITT (1803).
=Source.=--Stanhope’s _Life of Pitt_, 1862. Vol. iv., p. 223.
THE WAR.
(_Paper-mark_, 1803.)
“Whether the attacks should be numerous or few in order to strengthen
them, and in what points:--
“1. _South of Italy._--Besides Neapolitans, 10 or 15,000 British troops
and as many Russians; besides free corps raised in Albania and Italy,
the latter by the King of Sardinia.
“2. _North of Italy_.--_Switzerland and South of Germany._--Austrian
troops supported by 60,000 Russians as auxiliaries.
“_North of Germany._--40,000 Russians, with a body of Hanoverians, a
Swedish army, and a diversion from England. To advance towards the Low
Countries.
“The operations on the two flanks may be modified according to the
conduct of Turkey. These will probably only act when forced. Austria and
Sweden may, it is thought, be brought to act voluntarily.
“It is not meant by diversion that any descent should be made from hence
in the beginning, but that we should continue to menace their coasts,
and not attempt anything in the interior till after some decided
success.
“Advantages to be given to any Power if necessary should be regulated
with a view to the future safety of Europe, and the zeal shown by each
Power. It is supposed nothing can be proposed for Prussia consistent
with the safety and interests of the rest of Europe, except the
provinces she ceded to France. Austria is expected from the little which
has passed to be very moderate, and content with inconsiderable
acquisitions in Germany and Italy.
“King of Sardinia should not only be re-established, but his share
should be made as large as possible.
“Switzerland should be _arrondi_, and its position strengthened as much
as possible.
“The same principle should be followed with respect to Holland.”
GERMANY.
(_Paper-mark_, 1803.)
“The present situation of the German body neither good for the countries
themselves nor for Europe.
“Should a part of it be _englobé_ by the two great Powers, or a third
great State formed in the middle of Germany? This can scarce be thought
of, from its injustice to so many Princes of the Empire.
“Could a more concentrated Federative Government be formed out of the
different States; and should not in that case both Austria and Prussia
be separated from it?
“Principle of mediation being to precede war.
“Intimate union necessary between England and Russia, who are the only
Powers that for many years can have no jealousy or opposite interests.”
NAPOLEON.
“I see various and opposite qualities--all the great and all the little
passions unfavourable to public tranquillity--united in the breast of
one man, and of that man, unhappily, whose personal caprice can scarce
fluctuate for an hour without affecting the destiny of Europe. I see the
inward workings of fear struggling with pride in an ardent,
enterprising, and tumultuous mind. I see all the captious jealousy of
conscious usurpation dreaded, detested, and obeyed--the giddiness and
intoxication of splendid but unmerited success--the arrogance, the
presumption, the self-will of unlimited and idolized power, and--more
dreadful than all in the plenitude of authority--the restless and
incessant activity of guilty but unsated ambition.”
GUN-BOATS FOR DEFENCE (1803).
=Source.=--_Diaries ... of the Right Hon. George Rose_, 1860. P. 69.
_Mr. Pitt to Mr. Rose._
MARGATE,
_Oct. 18th, 1803_.
DEAR ROSE
I received your letter just as I left home this morning. I had not
forgot your wish to have a description of our gun-boats; but as many of
my friends here are more expert in fitting a boat, or fighting it, than
in writing or drawing, I could not at once obtain one which would
explain to you the last improved mode of fitting as accurately as I
wished. But Mr. Whitby, the Assistant of Sheerness Yard, who has been
appointed to superintend the work, and whom I saw yesterday, has
promised me to send immediately to your house, in Palace Yard, a small
model of the frame and slide, which will, I trust, completely answer the
purpose. I should hope it will reach your house in a day or two, and you
will, I take for granted, send orders for its being immediately
forwarded to you by coach. We have now fitted, or are fitting, I
believe, about 170 boats between Margate and Hastings, which, I think,
will contribute not a little to giving the enemy a good reception
whenever they think proper to visit us. By the intelligence I collect,
and by the orders for extraordinary preparation which are received from
London by this post, I am much more inclined than I have ever been
hitherto to believe that some attempt will be made soon. In this
situation I am likely to have my time very completely occupied by the
various concerns of my regiment and my district. I hope, however, to
find some interval for attending a little to the cursory remarks, when I
hear from Long, which I am expecting to do every day. Our volunteers
are, I think, likely, to be called upon to undertake permanent duty,
which, I hope, they will readily consent to. I suppose the same measure
will be recommended in your part of the coast. I wish the arrangements
for defence were as forward everywhere else as they are in Hythe Bay,
under General Moore. We begin now to have no other fear in that quarter
than that the enemy will not give us an opportunity of putting our
preparations to the proof, and will select some other point, which we
should not be in search of in the first instance. I write here to save
the post, as I shall not get back to Walmer till a late hour.
Ever sincerely yours,
W. PITT.
CONDITION OF THE POOR IN MANUFACTURING TOWNS (1804).
=Source.=--_Gentleman’s Magazine._ Vol. 74, July to December, 1804, p.
710.
_July 17._
MR. URBAN,
“Judge not, lest you be judged.”
The benevolence and humanity of Dr. Lettsom must ensure esteem; and
certainly the trouble he has taken to meliorate the condition of the
labouring poor must deserve praise, and be grateful to his own feelings,
but, in the way of doing good, there is much delicacy required; and
while we are zealous in our endeavours to promote an active charity in
one particular instance, we should be careful, in the extension of this
important Christian duty, not to forget the other Christian branch of
charity to others also.
In his Remarks on the Condition of the Children of our labouring Poor,
this worthy medical gentleman has, I think, been too partial in
confining his subject to the great manufacturing towns of this kingdom,
and very particularly so in his comparative view of the new Lanark Mills
and those of Holy-well and Manchester.
I have always understood there is great difficulty in the attempt of
separating the cause of the evil which a state derives from the
immorality and the emasculated condition of the poor, from the important
benefits which it derives from the increasing manufactures carried on by
these objects of our speculation. That the regulation of the morals and
the health of the rising progeny of a state, as conducive to industry
and to opulence, demands every attention, it is needless to argue; but
let us see the great difficulties which our principal manufacturing
towns labour under, such as Birmingham and Manchester, compared with the
less contaminated primitive and more hardy poor connected with the
manufactories of Scotland.
From several generations past, the manufactories of our great commercial
towns have encouraged the most extensive employment to the labouring
poor; motley groups of individuals from various quarters have been lured
to them; the parental stock in various particulars originally defective
in point of stamina, and their progeny of course, unhappily tainted with
the same misfortune; the gleanings of work houses from the capital, from
many parts of the country, have been thrown into these great towns;
forsaken children from impure connexions, in whom squalid poverty has
laid the foundation of many disorders, and which growing up and settling
in these places have been communicated to a succeeding race: this evil
is therefore not the present growth of our large factories. In Scotland,
it is but of late years the manufactures have sprung up; the stamina of
their labouring poor is naturally more hardy and less corrupted, not
having the intercourse of the Southern provinces; and by recruiting
constantly from the same parental source, no wonder that the children at
the Lanark Mills have been found more healthy than those of the English
manufacturing towns.
Although the proprietor of the Lanark Mills may deserve praise for his
attention to the health of the children employed in his establishment,
it does not follow that other gentlemen, eminently signalized for their
enterprising spirit, industry, and abilities, owing to the natural
advantages of Mr. Dale,[4] deserve a public exposure and stigma.
I think Mr. Bott, of Nantwich, in Cheshire, is highly to be commended,
for his denial of an entry into his manufactory; and if the visit of the
benevolent Mr. Neild was only to wrest from his mill articles of
crimination for an exposure before the public, Mr. Bott has acted very
wisely, by the interdiction of curiosity and intrusive inquiry at his
own expense; but there are many other reasons which may be fairly
alledged for this gentleman’s refusal. I am informed, that it frequently
happens that many persons, on gaining admittance to these extensive
manufactories, have suborned the artisans from their employers, and in
various other respects have caused much disorder to the establishment.
By the law of the land, it is ordained that these factories should be
opened to the regular and periodical visits of Magistrates; therefore,
by thus exposing the partial evils of these extensive commercial
establishments, which few human undertakings of such a vast magnitude
can be exempt from, where such immense numbers of hands are employed, an
oblique reflection is doubtless cast on the judicial administration of
the State.
The benevolence and zeal of a patriotic character should recommend
itself in a more effectual manner than by publicly praising one man or
set of men at the expense of others, equally, and in the fullest extent
as much deserving. All memorials for the public good should be
circulated through the hands of the civil Magistrate or members of the
country where the evil exists; reforms can thus be more certainly
obtained than by innuendos, which but too generally carry with them the
appearance of party consideration, or other interested motives.
CONSERVATOR.
ANNUAL STATEMENT OF WHEAT, FLOUR, AND BREAD FOR THE YEAR 1804.
=Source.=--_Gentleman’s Magazine._ Vol. 74, January to June, 1804, p.
[iv].
WHEAT.