years of exclusion from office, in perpetual opposition to the King and
the general feeling of the upper classes, Fox had at length an
opportunity of proving the justice of the reliance which men of liberal
opinions had always placed in him. Large-hearted, with great warmth of
personal affection, and general love of the human race, he had uniformly
opposed war, had constantly declared that either the mismanagement or
ill-will of the ministers had been the main obstacle to peace: he had
believed devoutly in the excellence of the Revolution, traced its
excesses to the wanton opposition of the crowned heads of Europe, and
still persisted in believing that straightforward and friendly
negotiations would bring about a right understanding with Napoleon. The
brief period which elapsed between his acceptance of office in January
and his death on the 13th of September, sufficed to prove to him the
futility of his hopes; and the ministry found itself obliged to take up
identically the same position as that of their predecessors. Like his
great rival, he closed his life in the midst of the unutterable sadness
caused by the complete frustration of those plans on which, according to
his view, the welfare of his country rested, with this additional
bitterness in his cup that upon him was forced the conviction, not only
that circumstances were too strong for him, but that the optimism which
had been the very breath of his political life rested upon no solid
ground, and that the work to which he had devoted himself, and the
maintenance of which had perpetually debarred him from a share in the
government of the country, had been wholly misdirected. That destruction
of illusions which comes to most men in their youth fell upon him when
he was already breaking with age and disease, and when he must have been
conscious that no time was left him to correct the errors into which he
had been led. It is difficult to conceive a sadder close to a noble
political career than that which fell upon the minister as he discovered
too late that the practical logic of facts contradicted all those high
aspirations which had throughout guided his conduct. So complete,
however, was the proof afforded him by his short ministry of the
futility of his hopes, that his friend Lord Howick, after just a year of
office, was compelled to declare of the late negotiations that "there
never was any opportunity of procuring any such terms as would have been
adequate to the just pretensions and consistent with the honour and
interests of this country; 'one thing is clear, the progress of
Bonaparte has never yet been stopped by submission, and our only hope
therefore is in resistance, as far as we can resist his ambitious
projects.'"
[Sidenote: Negotiations for peace. March.]
The negotiations of which Lord Howick thus confessed the disastrous
conclusion were opened by Fox almost immediately after his accession to
office. A few days after his appointment an unknown person called upon
him, and disclosed a plan for the assassination of the Emperor. With
natural indignation, Fox caused the man to be apprehended, and while
warning Bonaparte that the law of England prevented his lengthened
detention, he promised that it should be long enough to enable the
Emperor to provide against the nefarious plan. It is not improbable that
the whole conspiracy was devised by Napoleon himself for the purpose of
opening a negotiation with Fox, in whom he believed he had a sincere
well-wisher, and on whose simple-hearted optimism he believed he could
play. He caused a copy of a speech to reach Fox in which he expressed
his willingness to make peace with England on the stipulations of the
Treaty of Amiens. This led to a direct negotiation between Fox and
Talleyrand, in which the English minister, in accordance with his views,
attempted, as he said, to act upon the assumption that the countries
would treat as two great powers, despising any idea of chicane. But this
was not at all Napoleon's view of negotiation. His diplomacy constantly
assumed the same form--separate treaties with different members of the
coalition, and the hurried continuance of aggression during the time
that negotiations were pending, so as to compel the treating power
either to accept the aggressions or to break off the treaty. This had
been his plan before the Treaty of Amiens, and this he had just repeated
after the battle of Austerlitz.
[Sidenote: Treaty of Schönbrunn, Dec 15, and Presburg, Dec. 26, 1805.]
Prussia was already so far pledged to join the coalition that it was on
the point of receiving the first payment of a subsidy from England. But
Bonaparte succeeded in inducing the vacillating court to break with both
its allies. Two separate treaties were made, one at Schönbrunn, by which
Prussia withdrew from the coalition, and entered into an offensive and
defensive alliance with France, receiving Hanover in exchange for
Anspach, which was to be restored to Bavaria, and the Principality of
Neuchatel, which was to be annexed to France, and the other at Presburg,
in which Austria, having lost all hope of any assistance Prussia might
have rendered, was induced to accept the most disastrous terms. The
kingdom of Italy was to receive Venice and the Adriatic provinces; the
three German powers which were consistently friends of France--Bavaria,
Wurtemberg and Baden--obtained portions of the German dominions of
Austria; the royal title was secured to Bavaria and Wurtemberg; the
rights of the Empire over the immediate nobility were renounced; the
reorganization of Italy was admitted; and Austria even agreed not to
interfere in the affairs of Naples. On these terms the constitution of
the Germanic Confederation was guaranteed. It is needless to point out
what a seed of hatred was sown by these treaties, in which one of the
German powers was humiliated by its ignominious bargain, the other
driven almost to despair by the ruthless manner in which it was
pillaged.
[Sidenote: Napoleon erects dependent kingdoms. 1806.]
It was shortly after this that Pitt died and Fox entered office. There
were left of the coalition England and Russia, with whom Napoleon had
now to deal. Fox felt, as any honourable man must have felt, that it was
his duty to stand by his allies, and to engage only in negotiations in
common with them. Napoleon, on the other hand, pursued his old policy,
and determined to treat separately; but while treating he continued the
work on which he was then engaged--the erection of a number of small
independent kingdoms and principalities in vassalage to France. In
February and March he overran Naples and established his brother Joseph
as king. In March he ordained a similar fate for Holland, and before
June had established his brother Louis there. Numerous other
principalities were called into existence for his relations and
marshals, and the work was completed by the organization in July of 1810 the
Confederation of the Rhine, consisting of Baden, Bavaria, Wurtemberg,
Hesse-Darmstadt, and several other smaller states, who acknowledged the
protectorate of France, and promised to keep on foot an army of 63,000
men at Napoleon's disposal.
[Sidenote: Progress of the negotiations.]
[Sidenote: Negotiations broken off. Death of Fox.]
While thus proceeding with his aggressions he was treating with both
Russia and England. To the letters of Fox had succeeded personal
negotiations between Talleyrand and Lord Yarmouth, who had been detained
a prisoner after the Peace of Amiens. The terms which were first offered
to Lord Yarmouth show the contempt with which Bonaparte regarded
Prussia, the change in the terms as the treaty continued shows how
little intention there was of really coming to an honest arrangement,
should it prove possible to separate the interests of Russia and
England. At first Talleyrand told Yarmouth that no difficulty would be
found in taking Hanover, which had already been given to Prussia, and
restoring it to England, or in giving Sicily back to the King of Naples.
Sicily indeed Napoleon had not yet conquered; but as the separate treaty
with Russia advanced and became more possible, Yarmouth found the terms
changing. He was told that Sicily was to be conquered and added to the
kingdom of Joseph; and finally, when the treaty with Russia was
provisionally signed, although Yarmouth had been assured that the
constitution of Germany should be unchanged if peace were made, the
Confederation of the Rhine was called into existence. Fox's eyes had
been almost opened by this time. The refusal of Sicily, the separate
peace with Russia, the interference with the constitution of Germany,
led him to see that his friendly negotiations were not likely to lead to
much result. He therefore sent Lord Lauderdale, with fuller authority
than Lord Yarmouth, to re-establish the old basis of negotiation. His
complaints were listened to, but there were no signs of withdrawal on
the part of France. As for the compensation of the King of Naples, it
was desirable enough, but it must not be at the expense of France. He
might perhaps have Albania, which belonged to Turkey, or Ragusa, which
belonged to Austria, or the Balearic Isles, which belonged to Spain.
While affairs were in this unpromising situation news arrived that the
Czar had entirely rejected the provisional treaty his minister had
signed, and almost immediately afterwards Fox died. The diplomatic
intercourse continued about a month longer, and was then broken off.
[Sidenote: Abolition of the slave trade.]
[Sidenote: The Abolition Bill passed. March 25, 1807.]
Fox's friends thus learnt the error of their previous views, and the
necessity of carrying on the war with vigour; but Fox's ministry was
not entirely without fruit. As he had himself stated, the second great
object of his life was the abolition of the slave trade. For upwards of
thirty years the horrors of slavery had occupied the minds of a large
section of benevolent men in England. In 1783 the Quakers had petitioned
against the slave trade. From that time till 1788, Clarkson, a young
Cambridge man, had devoted his life to collecting evidence on the
horrors of the trade. He had succeeded in interesting in his cause Pitt,
Fox, and, before all, Wilberforce; and in that year Pitt had brought the
matter before Parliament, and a resolution had been carried to take the
slave trade into consideration. Circumstances and the interests of
public business had prevented Pitt from entering fully into the plans of
the abolitionists, although Wilberforce was constantly urging him to do
so. Still, again and again, in 1792 and 1796, Bills had been carried in
favour of abolition in the House of Commons, though subsequently
defeated in the House of Lords. In 1804, on Pitt's resumption of office,
Wilberforce renewed the question, which had been allowed to slumber by
the Addington Cabinet, and a Bill for abolition, or rather suspension of
the trade for a term of years, was again carried. In the House of Lords
it was again postponed, but Pitt tried what could be done by a royal
proclamation, which was issued to prevent the trade at all events in the
conquered colonies, the possession of which had greatly increased the
trade, so that nearly 60,000 slaves were yearly imported in British
vessels. In February 1805 a larger measure had been rejected in the
House, but on the accession to office of Fox, who was known to be more
enthusiastic on the matter than Pitt had been, the hopes of the
abolitionists rose high. Nor were their hopes disappointed, though the
party against the measure was strong. The West India merchants were all
against it, and a number of Tories, with the King at their head,
regarded slavery as a natural and scriptural institution by no means to
be lightly touched. On the 10th of June 1806, Fox pledged the House of
Commons, almost without opposition, to take measures as speedily as
possible for abolishing the trade. Even in the House of Lords the
minister found that there would be no serious opposition, and determined
to produce a Bill to prohibit the slave trade entirely. This Act
prohibited slave trading from and after the 1st of January 1808, but as
the punishments were only pecuniary, it required a new Bill, introduced
by Mr. Brougham in 1811, making slave trading felony, to secure its
final extinction. These Bills did not abolish slavery, but only the
slave trade. Fox did not live to bring in the Bill, but it was produced
by his colleague Lord Howick, afterwards Lord Grey, on the 2nd of
January 1807, and in spite of the opposition of the royal dukes, of Lord
Eldon and of Lord Sidmouth (Feb. 3), the Bill was passed by a majority
of sixty-six. When it was brought to the House of Commons (Feb. 23) it
met with quite an enthusiastic reception, and was passed by an
overwhelming majority of 283 to 16. The Bill was rapidly hurried through
its other stages, in order that the ministry which had been successful
in passing it might have the honour of completing it; for before the
royal assent was given it was well known that the Grenville ministry had
ceased to exist.
[Sidenote: Fall of the Grenville ministry.]
[Sidenote: Revival of the question of the Catholic claims.]
[Sidenote: The Grenville ministry resigns. March 18.]
The cause of this rapid termination to a ministry which had begun under
such good auspices was the attempt again to bring forward the Catholic
claims, against which the King was set with immoveable obstinacy.
Grenville's conduct was dictated by high policy, and in itself wise,
although, if we regard the minister as a mere party politician, in the
last degree indiscreet. As he himself told the King, he and the majority
of the Cabinet thought that in the present critical state of England it
was most necessary to secure content and unanimity at home, and to be in
a condition to use to the full the military capacity of every class of
his Majesty's subjects. For this reason he was desirous of removing so
much of the disabilities both of the Catholics and of the Dissenters as
affected their military position. There seems, however, to have been
some complication in the matter. The Irish Catholics, headed by Lord
Fingal and Mr. O'Connor, were preparing a great petition, demanding not
only change in the army regulations, but the admission of Catholics to
the offices of sheriff and to corporations; and although Grenville was
careful to forestall the presentation of their petition and to avoid all
appearance of compromise, it is probable that his measure was in fact in
some degree a concession to prevent further agitation; besides which he
could not help feeling that the just expectations of the Catholics had
not been satisfied at the Union. By a law passed in Ireland in 1793 the
Roman Catholics had been permitted to hold rank in the Irish army up to
the rank of colonel; but certain restrictions had been laid on their
holding staff appointments. By the Union the two armies of Ireland and
of England had been made one, and the anomaly had therefore arisen, that
officers capable of holding their rank while in Ireland were incapable
of so doing when they came to England. The ministry determined to remedy
this glaring anomaly, and at the same time to remove the disabilities
which tended to exclude the English Dissenters from the army. For that
purpose a clause was added to the Mutiny Bill of the year. Some of the
High Tories in Parliament, such as Lord Eldon and Mr. Perceval, thought
it unnecessary, and the King's friends, as Lord Sidmouth and
Ellenborough were called, offered some opposition, but on the whole the
proposal was regarded as reasonable. The intention was notified to the
Viceroy in Ireland, and the King himself was finally induced to consent,
at the same time declaring that he would not allow any further step in
the matter. The question then arose in Ireland as to whether the new
clause retained the restrictions as to rank or not, and the majority of
the Cabinet determined that they were removed, and that the whole army
and navy were thrown open to the Catholics. This determination was laid
before the King, and for some reason or other he took no notice of it,
conduct which the ministers (although the Bill undoubtedly exceeded what
the King had already accepted) construed as giving the royal consent. It
was then thought better to make a separate Bill instead of merely adding
a clause to the Mutiny Act; Lord Howick took the Bill to the King, and
understood that he had his consent. But meanwhile Lord Sidmouth had had
interviews with the King, and attempted to rouse his fears, and for the
same purpose had sent in his resignation. Even more than this, Lord
Malmesbury and the Duke of Portland thought they saw an opening for
dislodging the ministry, and between them concocted a letter,
exaggerating the difficulties of the situation, and containing an offer
on the part of the Duke of Portland to form a ministry according to the
King's wishes. Thus, apparently alarmed as to what he was doing, and
feeling his hands strengthened by the Duke's offer, the King sent for
the ministers, and told them he did not agree to anything beyond the
completion of the Act of 1793. As soon as this determination of the King
was known, the conduct of all Pitt's friends was fixed, and although
they were at that moment thinking of joining the ministry, they now
expressed their determination to oppose the Bill; the whole party felt
itself bound by Pitt's promise that the question should never be moved;
so strong was this feeling that even the ministry expressed themselves
willing to drop their Bill. But in dropping it they were guilty of a
most impolitic act. They drew up a minute of the Cabinet, reserving to
themselves the right of avowing their sentiments if the petition from
the Catholics, which was at that time in preparation, was presented,
and of submitting to the King from time to time such measures as they
deemed advisable for the good of the country. Upon this the King
demanded from them a withdrawal of their minute, and a written
declaration that they would never offer him any advice upon the subject
of Catholic concession. It was of course impossible for any
constitutional ministers to give such a pledge; and it was upon this
point--a point of real constitutional importance--that the Cabinet were
dismissed. On the 19th of March the Duke of Portland received orders to
form a ministry in consultation with Lord Chatham. The health of the
Duke was such that his Premiership could be little more than nominal.
Indeed, from the first he suffered Lords Hawkesbury and Eldon in fact to
supersede him, and when Mr. Perceval became Chancellor of the Exchequer
he virtually assumed the lead of the new administration. Canning became
Foreign Secretary, Lord Hawkesbury Home Secretary, and Castlereagh
Secretary for War and the Colonies.
[Sidenote: Constitutional importance of the question.]
We have here, then, the final triumph of the policy of George III. It
was again his personal wish which overthrew the ministry, it was again
the underhand intrigues of those professing to be his friends which
strengthened his hands in doing so, and we again find such things
mentioned as that the nephews of the Duke of Portland had had his
distinct orders to vote against the ministers' Bill should it be
produced. The same exercise of prerogative that secured the ministry of
Pitt and supported the feeble ministry of Addington now again introduced
into the ministry men entirely after the King's own heart--pledged to
oppose the great Liberal measures of the day, and, say what they would,
really answerable for the unconstitutional pledge the King had demanded
from his late ministry. The conduct of the incoming ministry was not
allowed to pass without comment. Attempts were made in both Houses to
establish two points of constitutional law now absolutely
received--first, that it is contrary to the first duties of the
confidential servants of the Crown to restrain themselves by any pledge,
expressed or implied, from offering to the King any advice which the
course of circumstances may render necessary for the welfare and
security of the Empire; and, secondly, that it was impossible for the
King to act without advice. In upholding this last point, Sir Samuel
Romilly asserted that there could be no exercise of prerogative in which
the King could act without some advice. No constitutional doctrine is
more important than this, for without it the King, who theoretically can
do no wrong, would be answerable for his own acts. On a motion by Mr.
Brand supporting these doctrines, the Opposition thought themselves
secure of a majority. But so great was the royal influence, so strong
the Protestant feeling of the country, that they found themselves in a
minority of more than thirty. A dissolution of Parliament followed on
the 27th of April. And as the King, in the speech with which Parliament
was closed, appealed as it were to the constituencies for the
vindication of his conduct, the personal loyalty of the people, combined
with their attachment to the old cry of Church and State, placed the
ministry in possession of a majority which secured its permanence.
[Sidenote: Continuation of the war. 1806.]
[Sidenote: Prussia declares war with France. Oct. 1, 1806.]
During the last days of the Grenville ministry it had been compelled to
pursue the warlike policy of its predecessors, and had exhibited an
incapacity which might have been expected from so mixed a body acting
upon compulsion, and in contradiction to its preconceived ideas of
policy. The renewed war which at once followed upon the cessation of the
negotiations undertaken by Fox was on this occasion directed towards a
new enemy. We have seen the contempt with which Bonaparte habitually
regarded Prussia: his conduct seems to have been wilfully directed to
drive that country into war, and it is interesting to observe that it
was this unjustifiable conduct which gave the first obvious proof of the
changed character of his policy, and roused that animosity, not of the
Court, but of the people assaulted, which finally caused his ruin. All
his late acts had tended to the detriment of Prussia. By the
Confederation of the Rhine the constitution of Germany, in which Prussia
might at all events have claimed some voice, was entirely changed;
French fortifications had been raised on the German side of the Rhine at
Mayence, and the fortress of Wesel had been re-established; the very
bribe with which the apparent friendship of Prussia had been secured had
been tampered with. Hanover, which in the winter had been given in full
possession to Prussia, was in June without scruple offered to England;
as a sort of counterpoise to the Rhenish Confederation, the King of
Prussia had been invited by Napoleon to form a Confederation of the
North; but he soon found how illusory the offer was, for he was
everywhere practically thwarted by the diplomacy of the French. The
people even more than the Court had smarted under the disgrace of the
Treaty of Schönbrunn; and when Napoleon showed the temper in which he
intended to interfere in Germany,--by the apprehension (in a neutral
town which chanced to be occupied by French troops) of the bookseller
Palm, and his cold-blooded murder on the charge merely of selling a book
exciting the national feeling of Germany,--the popular anger grew so
high, that the King of Prussia was obliged to act with some energy,
especially when the young Queen put herself prominently forward as the
leader of the national war party. A declaration of war with France was
the consequence.
[Sidenote: Mismanagement of Prussia.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Jena. Oct. 14, 1806.]
But it was too late to be of any use. The French army, considerably more
numerous than any troops Prussia could bring against it, was already in
Franconia, a few marches from the frontier. There was no time to put to
good account the strong national feeling which had been excited. Prussia
could rely upon its army alone, and though strong in the military
reminiscences of the Great Frederick and admirably appointed, the
Prussian troops had never seen war; the generals were old men wedded to
obsolete traditions, while the King, in his anxiety to please Napoleon,
had even gone so far as to discharge many of his troops in the previous
year. The consequence of an encounter between such an army and the
veterans of Napoleon might have been foreseen. The catastrophe was
hastened by the bad arrangements of the generals. The King and his Court
and crowds of enthusiastic nobility were with the army, but the chief
command was in the hands of the Duke of Brunswick, an old man past
seventy. Anxious to incorporate the troops of Hesse-Cassel, he repeated
the error of the Austrians of the previous year, and advancing far
beyond the Elbe, which forms the only good line of defence of which
Prussia can boast, he took up a position between Eisenach and Weimar,
covered by the Thuringian Forest, behind which the French could make any
dispositions for the assault they pleased. The mistake was much too
obvious to escape the eyes of Napoleon. His army passed rapidly through
the defiles which lead to the upper waters of the Saal, and proceeding
down the course of that river, interposed themselves between Brunswick
and the Elbe. Perceiving too late his false position, the Duke attempted
to withdraw towards Magdeburg. With the larger portion of his army he
found himself stopped near Auerstadt as he approached Naumbourg on the
Saal, by the division of Davoust, while the Prince of Hohenlohe, with a
smaller division of the army, who was to have followed him, was fallen
upon and overwhelmed at Jena by Napoleon himself with the greater part
of his army. Beaten back from Auerstadt, Brunswick retired towards
Weimar, only to meet the fugitives of Hohenlohe's army and their
victorious pursuers. His troops were involved in the disaster, the
whole Prussian army was broken and destroyed, and that one day's defeat
drew with it the destruction of the monarchy. Such fugitive detachments
as still kept together were one by one destroyed, and Napoleon entered
Berlin in triumph (Oct. 27).