Egypt under the command of Kleber, a man of organizing genius, who bid
fair to establish the French influence in that country. He was, however,
assassinated by a fanatical Mussulman (June 1800), and the command fell
into the hands of Menou, a general of but second-rate capacity. Before
this change of command, a treaty, known as the Treaty of El Arish, had
been completed (Jan. 24), by which the French army was to be allowed a
safe return to France. This convention was concluded on board the
flagship, and with the full approval of Sir Sidney Smith; but,
meanwhile, intercepted despatches had made known to the Cabinet the
almost hopeless condition of the French army, and orders were sent to
the Mediterranean that no treaties should be sanctioned by the admiral
which did not insist on the surrender of the French. The Treaty of El
Arish had been concluded without this knowledge and before these orders
had reached Sir Sidney Smith. Moreover, affairs in Egypt had much
changed, for Kleber, indignantly rejecting all idea of surrender, had
at once proceeded to attack the Turks, had won over them a great victory
at Heliopolis (March 20, 1800) and reoccupied Cairo. It became necessary
therefore to renew the war, and Sir Ralph Abercromby, who, with
Pulteney, had been employed in fruitless expeditions against Ferrol and
Cadiz, collecting the troops employed in both expeditions, in number
about 20,000, proceeded to Egypt. Troops also under Sir David Baird were
ordered to attack the country from India. A landing was forced at
Aboukir Bay, under the immediate command of General afterwards Sir John
Moore, and on the 21st of March a battle in the neighbourhood of
Alexandria was fought, where the French were thoroughly defeated. The
English had to deplore the loss of Sir Ralph Abercromby, but General
Hutchinson, who succeeded him, continued to act with vigour. The Grand
Vizier, with a large but disorderly Turkish army, attacked Cairo, while
the English kept Menou besieged in Alexandria. In June Cairo fell, and
General Baird having arrived from India, the combined English army
compelled Menou to capitulate in Alexandria on the 27th of August. The
terms of surrender were honourable. The French army was allowed to
return to France, but all ships, together with all the objects of art
which the French had collected, became the property of the conquerors.
This success, which showed the unbroken vigour of England, tended to
accelerate the peace which was gradually becoming necessary for all
parties, and for which negotiations were already set on foot in London
with the full approbation of Pitt.
[Sidenote: Battle of Copenhagen. April 2.]
[Sidenote: Peace between England and Russia.]
Meanwhile, but a few days after the victory of Alexandria, the cloud
which had risen in the Baltic was also dispersed. The renewal of the
Armed Neutrality, and the general conduct of Russia, made it evident
that that country was engaged in the French interests. A fleet under Sir
Hyde Parker, with Nelson as second in command, was despatched to the
Baltic. Negotiation was tried with the Danes, but wholly unsuccessfully,
and Parker, a dilatory commander, was induced by Nelson's energy to
consent to an attack upon Copenhagen. The passage of the Sound was
forced without loss, but an examination of the enemy's position showed
that they had used the delay which had been given them to great
advantage. Shore batteries had been erected and put into fighting trim;
floating batteries established, and the harbour covered with a line of
vessels of all sorts four miles in length. Within this lay the Danish
fleet. Nelson offered to attack with ten sail of the line; he was
allowed twelve. The attack was made from the south, Sir Hyde Parker on
the outside threatening the batteries and the vessels at the mouth of
the harbour. At ten o'clock on the 2nd of April, Nelson began his
attack. Several vessels grounded and were rendered useless, and so hot
was the engagement that Sir Hyde Parker thought it better to hoist the
signal for discontinuing action. Nelson declined to obey it, and the
other captains took their orders from him. Many of the Danish ships had
struck, but being constantly reinforced from the shore, continued the
fight, it is said, even after they had surrendered. This was probably an
accident; but Nelson took advantage of it to write a friendly letter to
the Crown Prince. "The Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson," he said, "has been
commanded to spare Denmark when she no longer resists. The line of
defence which covered her shores has struck to the British flag; but if
the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, he must set on fire all
the prizes he has taken without having the power of saving the men who
have so nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the brothers, and
should never be the enemies, of the English." He then agreed to a truce
while the wounded were moved from the prizes. Having taken advantage of
the lull to withdraw his fleet from the difficult channel in which they
were entangled, he went on shore to negotiate a treaty. To enable him to
attack the Russians, he insisted on a long armistice, which a threat of
immediate bombardment induced the Danes to grant. The English fleet then
sailed against the Swedes, who withdrew, and were left unmolested, while
the fleet proceeded against the Russians. On his way, however, Nelson
received the news that the capricious despotism of Paul had excited his
courtiers to a conspiracy, which, though apparently aimed only at the
deposition of the Emperor, had in fact ended in his assassination. The
accession of the young Emperor Alexander I. completely changed the
policy of Russia. The embargo was removed from the British shipping and
the merchant seamen liberated. As the Armed Neutrality still existed,
Nelson would have proceeded to strong measures; but Sir Hyde Parker was
satisfied, and though he was recalled, the complete change in Russian
policy rendered further action unnecessary. In June a treaty of peace
was signed in St. Petersburg, by which the Armed Neutrality, with its
claims, was given up, but the right of search accurately defined. It was
also agreed that blockades must henceforward be really efficient in
order to be valid. Blockades by proclamation were thus abolished, and
could be only sustained when the blockading force was sufficient to
enforce them.
[Sidenote: Preliminaries of peace. Oct. 1, 1801.]
Bonaparte was still threatening an invasion of England, and gunboats and
rafts had been collected at Boulogne. These the Government ordered
Nelson to attack, but the attempt was on the whole unsuccessful.
However, the supremacy of England on the sea was so great that there
could not be much fear of the landing of a foreign army, and the French,
defeated in Egypt and thwarted in their Northern policy, were ready to
come to terms. In October the preliminaries of a treaty were signed. By
this England gave up all its conquests except Trinidad and Ceylon. "The
Cape of Good Hope was to be restored to the Batavian Republic, and to be
used as a free port. Malta was to be restored to the Knights of St.
John,[17] under the guarantee of one of the great powers; Porto Ferrajo
was to be evacuated. On the other side, the Republic of the Ionian
Islands was to be acknowledged, and the French were to withdraw from
Naples and the Roman States; the integrity of Portugal was to be
secured; Egypt was to be restored to the Porte, and the Newfoundland
fisheries to be placed on the same footing as before the war."[18]
[Sidenote: Opinions in England concerning the peace.]
Although the preliminary treaty had been signed, it cost some time and
much anxious negotiation before its final ratification in the March of
the following year. These negotiations were held at Amiens, on the part
of England by Lord Cornwallis, on that of France by Joseph Bonaparte,
assisted by Talleyrand. At the opening of Parliament, on the 29th of
October 1801, the minister had been able to mention in the King's speech
with satisfaction both the preliminary treaty with France and the
arrangements with the Northern powers which put an end to the threatened
Armed Neutrality. By the bulk of the people the return of peace had been
hailed with extreme delight. General Lauriston, who had brought the
authority for signing the preliminaries, had been received with a public
ovation, the populace had dragged his carriage through the streets, and
London and other towns had been illuminated. In completing these
preliminaries Addington and his friends had acted with the entire
approbation of Pitt, who, at heart cordially disliking war, had brought
himself to believe that Bonaparte, having now obtained the supreme power
in France, would probably be satisfied; at the same time, as he himself
pointed out, Jacobinism had been already checked in England, and the
lesson taught to the world that the fruit of Jacobin principles was
terrorism and anarchy, and its end a military despotism. Seeing the
isolated position which England now occupied, and believing the causes
for further war removed, Pitt accepted the terms of the peace, although
the concessions on the part of England, especially the surrender of the
Cape of Good Hope, were no doubt great. With the support then of Pitt
and of the general feeling of the country, the ministry found in
Parliament large majorities in favour of their peace. But Pitt's views
were by no means shared by a considerable number of his late colleagues.
Grenville, Windham, and Spencer clung tenaciously to their old view that
Bonaparte's career was but beginning, that his policy would continue to
be one of aggression, that his present offers of peace were delusive,
and that for the honour of England and the safety of Europe the war
should be continued.
[Sidenote: Napoleon appropriates Holland, Switzerland, and Italy.]
Before the preliminaries were ratified abundant proofs were given that
they were right and that Pitt was wrong. Taking advantage of the
exhausted condition of the Continent, of the eager desire of Addington
to secure peace, and of the position of England, which was not only
without allies, but unable while negotiations were still pending to make
objections upon the score of treaty rights, Bonaparte hastened to
complete his ambitious projects--by the appropriation of those smaller
States which had already fallen into a state of dependence upon France
(the Republics of Holland, Switzerland, and the North of Italy, now
called the Cisalpine Republic), and by the re-establishment of the
French colonial power by means of a great expedition to reconquer St.
Domingo. His method of proceeding with regard to the Republics was
craftily arranged so as to give to the assumption of French supremacy
the appearance of voluntary action on the part of the people themselves.
For Holland a constitution was drawn up in France of a strongly
republican character, which, when rejected by the National Assemblies of
Holland, was put to the vote of the whole body of the people, and being
accepted by a very small minority, while the rest abstained from voting,
was declared established by the national will (Oct. 17, 1801). In
Switzerland, not yet ripe for annexation, instructions were given to the
French minister to thwart all efforts at the formation of a stable
constitution, and to keep things so unsettled that an appeal to France
was certain sooner or later to be made, while French troops garrisoned
the Republic ostensibly for the purpose of keeping order. Less delicacy
was used with regard to Italy. The chief rulers of the Cisalpine
Republic were summoned to Lyons, a constitution of Bonaparte's creation
given them, and they were ordered to elect as their President Bonaparte
himself (Jan. 1802). The expedition to St. Domingo was made still
further to advance Napoleon's projects; for thither was sent, to be
destroyed by the climate, almost the whole of the army of the Rhine, the
only part of the military establishment of France not wholly devoted to
him.
[Sidenote: Negotiations at Amiens.]
[Sidenote: Peace concluded. March 27, 1802.]
Meanwhile the projects for the ultimate annexation of Piedmont and Genoa
were carried on, and distinct orders sent to the negotiators at Amiens
to withdraw entirely from discussion the affairs of Holland,
Switzerland, and the Italian Republics, in other words, to treat with
England as if the affairs of Europe were entirely beyond her cognizance.
The withdrawal of these points of discussion left little to be settled
except minute points with regard to fisheries and prisoners, for
Bonaparte also entirely refused to entertain the idea of a commercial
treaty with England. The only point of interest left was Malta.
According to the preliminaries this island was to be evacuated and to be
restored to the Knights under the guarantee of Russia. But a new
sovereign was now upon the Russian throne less likely to be under the
immediate influence of France. Bonaparte therefore wished to change the
terms, to destroy the fortifications of the island, thus rendering it
useless in a military point of view, and to place it under the
guardianship of the King of Naples; in other words, to render it at once
worthless to the English and an easy prey to the French whenever they
should desire to reoccupy it. In their eagerness for peace the English
ministry consented to be blind to Bonaparte's aggressions, though firm
upon the point of Malta, and though they refused to acknowledge the
existence of the newly-organized republics. No doubt, what the English
meant was that, for the sake of peace, they would bear what Bonaparte
had already done, but that any further step would produce war.
Bonaparte, on the other hand, argued that the refusal to acknowledge
these republics was in fact a resignation on the part of England of the
right of interference with them; henceforward that country could not
complain although they were incorporated with France. There were thus a
number of outstanding questions left unsettled at the peace, which was
finally completed on the 27th of March 1802.
[Sidenote: Napoleon mistakes the temper of England.]
[Sidenote: Continues his aggressions.]
But it had begun to be plain to all thinking men that it could be but a
short truce; and indeed Napoleon was already writing that "a renewal of
war was necessary for his existence, as the memory of old victories was
likely speedily to pass away." In fact, he totally mistook the temper of
England. Addington's ministry, no doubt, was pledged to peace, and was
anxious at all hazards to make it durable. The people of England were
indeed weary of the war and eagerly desirous for peace; but they had
lost none of their independence and pride, and anything which should
prove either that their honour was attacked, their commercial activity
trammelled, or their independence of action limited, would easily
produce a reaction, and bring them back to their warlike temper.
Bonaparte, while intending to renew the war sooner or later, meant to
keep the occasion in his own hands, but, trusting to the weakness of
Addington, he pursued a line of conduct exactly fitted to prove to
England the absolute necessity for an immediate renewal of hostilities,
and which touched the sensitive nation in its most tender points. He
never ceased from his course of aggression, thus treating the
remonstrances of England as if they were completely worthless and beside
the point. In August he annexed the island of Elba, in September the
whole of Piedmont, in October Parma and Placentia; and at length, taking
advantage of the carefully fostered disorders in Switzerland, he
suddenly occupied that most important military point with an army of
30,000 men under Marshal Ney, and took to himself the title of Mediator
of the Swiss Republic. It has been mentioned that he refused a
commercial treaty with England at the Peace of Amiens; this under the
plea of a desire for the protection of native commerce he undoubtedly
had a right to do; but he now obliged all the countries dependent on him
to adopt a similar course, to exclude English productions, and thus
closed half Europe to English trade.
[Sidenote: Demands the repression of the English press,]
[Sidenote: and the expulsion of the emigrants from England.]
Not content with this conduct abroad, he took upon himself to interfere
with the internal affairs of England. His course of policy was such as
to be wholly incompatible with a free press; his underhand machinations
were certain to be exposed where such a press existed. On the Continent
he had succeeded in enforcing silence; in England alone an unfettered
press was able to direct its assaults both on his policy and his
character. No doubt some of the attacks were sharp enough; especially
had an emigrant, one Jean Peltier, established a French paper in London
called _L'Ambigu_, which was full of strong invective against the First
Consul. Again, the emigrants had not ceased from forming conspiracies
against the French Government, conspiracies which Bonaparte delighted to
exaggerate, to mingle with doubtful charges of assassination, and to
connect (wholly without grounds) with the English ministry. Those
emigrants were enjoying the hospitality of England: Otto, the French
agent in London, was therefore instructed to bring the matter to the
notice of Lord Hawkesbury, and to demand the suppression of the
obnoxious papers, and the dismissal of the emigrants from England.
Hawkesbury's answers were at first of a peaceful and conciliatory
character. He replied that he would consult the law officers on the
matter of the press, and would go so far in the matter of the emigrants
as to withdraw them from the isle of Guernsey. This answer was followed
by still more peremptory demands, requiring effective measures of
repression with regard to the press, the withdrawal of the emigrants
from Jersey, the removal from England of the Bourbon princes, and the
expulsion of all emigrants wearing the orders or distinctions of the old
régime. What rendered these demands more grotesque was the fact that the
_Moniteur_, the official paper of France, was constantly full of
assertions of the complicity of the Government with the attempts of
assassins in France, and of libels on the English Constitution; there
was even an English paper, the _Argus_, published in Paris, a
counterpart of the _Ambigu_ of Peltier. To demands thus formulated no
English Government could afford to give a temporizing answer, and
Hawkesbury replied that the freedom of the English press was limited by
English law alone, and that the exercise of hospitality could not be
curtailed. At the same time, as Peltier appeared to have exceeded all
legal license in his writing, an action was commenced against him, and
in spite of a brilliant defence by Macintosh he was found guilty.[19]
[Sidenote: Consequent change of feeling in England.]
[Sidenote: Negotiations for Pitt's return. Nov. 1802.]
Such conduct on the part of Bonaparte was rapidly changing the feeling
of England and rendering war inevitable. It became evident that, no
longer to uphold an aristocratic government, but for our very existence
as an independent country, we must plunge into war. As this feeling
gained ground, so did the desire that when that war should come it
should find England in the hands of its ablest statesmen, and not in
those of an incapable man like Addington. Even from the first, as soon
as it was understood that Pitt, in deference to the King's weak state of
health, had consented to forego the support of the Roman Catholics, his
immediate friends had desired his return to office, and had regarded as
false his position as the supporter out of office of Addington's weak
ministry. Already, in November 1802, Canning, the most eager of his
supporters, in conjunction with Lord Malmesbury, had set on foot an
address to Addington begging him to resign. This plan had been
peremptorily closed by Pitt himself. Indeed, the obstacles in the way of
his resumption of office were very awkward. In some sort the creator of
the present ministry, and known to have had a share in most of their
earlier measures, Pitt could not come forward in opposition till some
flagrant instance of incapacity or some great national crisis should
justify such a step. The only other hope was that modesty (which was not
one of his characteristics) might induce Addington to acknowledge his
incompetence, and himself advise the restoration of Pitt to the
ministry. Fully aware of these obstacles, and feeling his position an
anomalous one, Pitt withdrew for a time from Parliament.
[Sidenote: Napoleon examines the resources of Egypt, England, and
Ireland. 1803.]
[Sidenote: His interview with Lord Whitworth. Feb. 18, 1803.]
During his absence the difficulties with France continued to increase,
and the signs of Bonaparte's intention of making war sooner or later
became more obvious. At length, in January 1803, was published a report
of Colonel Sebastiani, who had been sent by Napoleon, nominally for
commercial purposes, to examine the resources of Egypt and the East; in
fact, so far from being commercial in its character, the report was
devoted almost entirely to show with what ease Egypt could be again
conquered by the French. It was impossible that such an official
document could be issued by a power which was really friendly. At the
same time Bonaparte had sent both to England and to Ireland agents who,
under the same commercial pretext, were really minutely examining the
resources of England and instigating Irish rebellion. Nor was the
question of Malta as yet at rest. The project of obtaining a guarantee
from the European powers had failed, and in face of the constant
aggressions of Bonaparte, it was impossible for England to evacuate the
island with the certainty that it would be immediately occupied by the
French. But Bonaparte was still anxious to keep the occasion of war in
his own hands, and still hoped to impose upon the feeble ministry of
England. He summoned Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador, to an
interview, in which he declared that he did not desire war, but that he
would rather see England in possession of the Faubourg St. Antoine than
of Malta, that he was ready to attempt a descent upon England if
necessary, but how much better would it be for England to join with him
and share his spoils and his greatness. Two things only were necessary
for this,--the suppression of the press, and the removal of Georges, a
Chouan leader and emigrant, from English protection. As for the
counter-charges of the appropriation of Piedmont and of Switzerland,
they were but trifles not worth mentioning. Almost immediately after
this the _Moniteur_ declared, in its annual account of the condition of
the nation, that as long as party government existed in England an army
of 500,000 must be kept on foot for defence and vengeance.
[Sidenote: The militia embodied. March 11, 1803.]
[Sidenote: Failure of renewed negotiations for Pitt's return.]
[Sidenote: War declared. May 18, 1803.]
This was too much even for Addington, and on the 8th of March a message
was brought down from the King to the Commons, declaring it necessary
that measures of precaution should be adopted, alleging for this the
great military preparations which were going on both in Holland and in
France, which were in fact intended for St. Domingo, but which in the
feverish state of international feeling were a just cause of uneasiness.
In accordance with this message the militia were on the 11th ordered to
be embodied. In spite of all that Bonaparte had done he pretended to be
indignant at this step; and at a public reception at the Tuileries
accosted Lord Whitworth with passionate words, accusing England of
driving him into war. Then at length Addington began to yield to public
feeling, and through Lord Melville opened negotiations for the return of
Pitt to office. But a frank resignation and an open acknowledgment that
Pitt was the better man of the two was beyond him. He stipulated that
Grenville and Windham, who had throughout opposed him, should be
excluded from the new arrangements. He wished Lord Chatham to assume the
position of nominal Prime Minister, while he and Pitt should be equal
Secretaries. Pitt was not a man to accept a position of even nominal
subordination; he did not even hear Lord Melville's proposition to the
end. "Upon my word," said he, "I had not the curiosity to ask what I was
to be." And thus England plunged afresh into war, while all her best
statesmen were still excluded from office. For the crisis came rapidly
nearer. The feeling of the nation was aroused, and Addington could no
longer withstand it. An ultimatum with regard to Malta was drawn up,
demanding its retention for ten years, its surrender after that period
to the inhabitants, and the cession to England in its stead of the
island of Lampedusa. Bonaparte was somewhat taken aback by this
exhibition of vigour, but as his answer to the ultimatum was not
satisfactory, Lord Whitworth demanded his passports, and withdrew from
Paris on the 12th of May. The French ambassador left London on the 16th,
and on the 18th a declaration of war was published.
[Sidenote: Character of the war.]
[Sidenote: Napoleon arrests all the English in France.]