the senate, the people, and the army, my first sentiment is a wish for
peace. France and England abuse their prosperity. They may contend for
ages; but do their Governments well fulfil the most sacred of their
duties, and will not so _much blood, shed uselessly_, and without a view
to any end, condemn them in their own consciences? I consider it as no
disgrace to make the first step. I have, I hope, sufficiently proved to
the world that I fear none of the chances of war; it besides presents
nothing that I need to fear; peace is the wish of my heart, but war has
never been inconsistent with my glory. I conjure your Majesty not to
deny yourself the happiness of giving peace to the world, nor to leave
that sweet satisfaction to your children: for certainly there never
was a more favourable opportunity, nor a moment more favourable to
silence all passions, and listen only to the sentiments of humanity and
reason. This moment once lost what end can be assigned to a war which
all my efforts will not be able to terminate. Your Majesty has gained
more within ten years, both in territory and riches, than the whole
extent of Europe. Your nation is at the highest point of prosperity;
what can it hope from war? To form a coalition with some powers of the
Continent? The Continent will remain tranquil; a coalition can only
increase the preponderance and continental greatness of France. To renew
intestine troubles? The times are no longer the same. To destroy our
finances? Finances founded on a flourishing agriculture can never be
destroyed. To take from France her colonies? The colonies are to France
only a secondary object; and does not your Majesty already possess more
than you know how to preserve? If your Majesty would but reflect, you
must perceive that the war is without an object, without any presumable
result to yourself. Alas! what a melancholy prospect to cause two
nations to fight merely for the sake of fighting. The world is
sufficiently large for our two nations to live in it, and reason is
sufficiently powerful to discover means of reconciling every thing,
when the wish for reconciliation exists on both sides. I have, however,
fulfilled a sacred duty, and one which is precious to my heart. I trust
your Majesty will believe in the sincerity of my sentiments, and my wish
to give you every proof of it, &c.
"NAPOLEON."
Instead of his Majesty, George the Third, writing an answer to this
pacific letter from the Emperor Napoleon, a letter was written by Lord
Mulgrave, addressed to M. Talleyrand, the French Minister, couched
in equivocal terms, and which concluded by saying that his Britannic
Majesty had no power to act for himself, and that he could do nothing
without consulting with his allies upon the Continent. After this
conciliatory epistle from the Emperor of France, and the answer, or
rather the failure of an answer, from his Britannic Majesty, no one
that reads this letter of the Emperor Napoleon and the answer of Lord
Mulgrave will ever believe or say that Napoleon was the cause of the
continuance of the war. What oceans of blood might have been spared if
the King of England, if George the Third, had accepted this liberal
and candid offer of peace and reconciliation from Napoleon!
The reign of George the Third may, with the greatest propriety, be
called the bloodiest reign in the annals of history. If his Majesty felt
that he, having the power, neglected such an opportunity, that he
threw away the delightful pleasure of sparing the lives of his fellow
creatures, of stopping the effusion of human blood, if he felt this, I
for one do not wonder at his Majesty's illness--the bare reflection was
more than enough to drive any man out of his senses, to have distracted
the strongest brain. Oh God! what a reflection! The pages of British
history from that hour, that fatal hour, when the answer was written by
Lord Mulgrave, dictated by the hand of a cold-blooded policy, from that
hour, I say, the pages of history have been tarnished; blood having been
shed, which, by a more humane policy, might have been prevented.
Let us now return to our domestic politics. At length a Committee of the
House of Commons declared that George Bolton Mainwaring was not
duly elected, and ought not to have been returned for the county of
Middlesex; but that Sir Francis Burdett was duly elected, and ought to
have been returned. This was a sad blow for the saints, who were the
principal supporters of Mr. Mainwaring. Sir Francis Burdett now took his
seat, out of which he had been unjustly kept at the beginning of the
Sessions by the temporising and partial conduct of the sheriffs of the
county of Middlesex.
At this time, in March, 1805, the tenth report of the commissioners
of naval inquiry was laid before the House of Commons, which report
implicated _Lord Melville_ and _Mr. Trotter_ in the crime of defrauding
the public of the monies entrusted to them, intended to discharge those
accounts as connected with the office of Treasurer of the Navy, an
office held by my Lord Melville. Trotter, Lord Melville's deputy, who
had a salary of no more than 800_l_. a year, was found to have increased
his funded property since 1791, a period of fourteen years, to _eleven
thousand three hundred and eight pounds one shilling_ PER ANNUM!!--Lord
Melville, on his examination before the commissioners, being asked,
_upon his oath_, "whether Mr. Trotter had ever applied any of the naval
money for his (Lord Melville's) benefit or advantage?"--_he refused to
answer_, for fear of _criminating himself_. What came out upon this
inquiry before the _Commissioners_ of _Naval Inquiry_, now absorbed
the whole of the public attention, and caused an universal sensation
throughout the country. This said Lord Viscount Melville was that
Henry Dundas, Esq. who was formerly a Lawyer in Edinburgh, became Lord
Advocate of Scotland during the American war, and a strong supporter of
Lord North's administration; was then made Treasurer of the Navy at the
same epoch that Mr. Pitt first became Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
Lord Shelburn's administration; again became Treasurer of the Navy in
the administration of Mr. Pitt, in 1784; then became President of the
Board of Controul for India affairs, and afterwards Secretary of State
for the War Department, retaining all the _three offices_ in his own
person till the year 1800, when he gave up the Treasurership of the
Navy, still keeping fast hold of the other two offices till he resigned,
together with Mr. Pitt and the rest of that Ministry, in the month of
March, 1801. This same Henry Dundas, who was again brought into place by
Mr. Pitt, and put in greater power than ever, was, on the 8th of April,
1805, degraded by a censure of the House of Commons, inflicted by a
solemn vote, on the motion of Mr. Whitbread, who brought the affair
before them with great manliness, ability, and perseverance. The
eleventh resolution moved by Mr. Whitbread, and carried by a majority of
the House against all the influence and exertions of Mr. Pitt, was as
follows--"That the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Melville, having been
privy to, and connived at, the withdrawing from the Bank of England,
for purposes of private interest or emolument, sums issued to him as
Treasurer of the Navy, and placed to his account in the Bank, according
to the provisions of the 25th of Geo. III. chap. 31, has been guilty of
a gross violation of the law, and a high breach of duty."
Public meetings were on this occasion held all over the kingdom, calling
for a rigid inquiry into the conduct of Lord Melville, and petitions
were presented by the electors of Westminster, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen
and Citizens of London, the electors of Southwark, from Salisbury, from
the county of Surrey, city of York, the counties of Norfolk, Hants,
Hereford, Bedford, Berks, Northumberland, Cornwall, Essex, &c. &c.
against Lord Melville.
A county meeting was called for Wilts, at Devizes. I had myself written
to the old Marquis of Lansdown, proposing to sign a requisition to the
Sheriff, which his Lordship immediately complied with; but our High
Sheriff, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, took _that opportunity_ to take a trip
into Wales, or some part of the West, without leaving any orders at home
where his public or private letters were to be forwarded to him. In
consequence of this circumstance, our county meeting was delayed three
weeks or a month, and before it could be held, articles of impeachment
were exhibited and agreed to by the House of Commons against Lord
Melville. The meeting, however, having been at length advertised by the
High Sheriff, to be held at the Town Hall at Devizes, a great number of
freeholders assembled, and amongst that number were myself, Mr. Hussey
and Lord Folkstone, the two members for Salisbury. In consequence of the
decision of the House of Commons, to impeach Lord Melville, Mr. Hussey
and Lord Folkstone recommended, that there should not be any petition
sent up from the county of Wilts, because it would be prejudging the
question before the House. Finding that no petition was to be submitted
to the meeting, I sat down and drew up some resolutions, expressive of
the indignation of the freeholders at the conduct of Lord Melville,
and their approval of that of Mr. Whitbread. Amongst the number was a
censure upon the High Sheriff, for his delay in calling the meeting,
and his gross negligence in being absent from the county at such an
important period. It was here that, for the first time, I addressed my
brother freeholders at a county meeting. Mr. Collins, of Salisbury,
seconded my resolutions, and they were carried by acclamation; but in
consequence of the earnest entreaties of the venerable Mr. Hussey, who
was the father of the House of Commons at that time, backed by those
of his colleague, I, being young in politics, was prevailed upon to
withdraw my vote of censure upon the conduct of the Sheriff, after
having heard from him an explanation and an apology.
This was my first public entry into political life. I had always borne
the character of an independent country gentleman; but I had never taken
any decisive part publicly in politics till this occasion. I was very
successful in my maiden speech, as it might so be called, for which I
was highly complimented by Mr. Hussey and by Lord Folkestone. But, as I
said before, by compliments and by flattery they wheedled me out of the
main jet of my resolutions. The fact was, that my resolutions were
too sweeping, as they cut at the Whigs as well as the Ministers. They
contained a general condemnation of all peculations and peculators; and
Mr. Hussey, as well as Lord Folkestone, who was a very young man and a
very poor orator at that time, were neither more nor less than Whigs:
it was therefore necessary, by a _ruse de guerre_, to get rid of my
resolutions, which they found I was sure to carry, by a large majority
of the meeting. The public spirit evinced by the Wiltshire freeholders
was, however, an earnest of their future patriotic disposition to take
the liberal side of the question in public matters, whenever they might
again be brought upon the carpet.
On the 25th of May, three men, who had falsely sworn themselves
freeholders of Middlesex, to vote for the popular candidate, were, upon
conviction, sentenced to seven years' transportation each. On the 26th
of May the Emperor Napoleon was crowned King of Italy at Milan.
On the 13th June, 1805, a resolution was passed by the House of Commons,
and that the fullest House that ever was known, for ordering the
Attorney-General to commence, in the Court of King's Bench, a criminal
prosecution against Lord Melville, for having used the public money for
private purposes. This resolution of the Honourable House gave universal
satisfaction to the people throughout the country. The examination of
Mr. Pitt before the committee excited general interest, and nothing
else was talked of or thought of in the political world. His shuffling,
equivocating testimony, so much resembles what has been going on,
during the last ten weeks, within these walls, that I will here insert
some of his answers before the committee. It will be recollected that
Mr. Pitt was a man who, whenever it suited his purpose, did, with a most
surprising power of memory, revert to all the arguments and opinions of
his adversaries, for a space of time, comprising his whole political
life; not with _doubt, hesitation, or embarrassment_, but with the most
direct, unqualified, and positive assertion. The following were his
answers before the committee.
Answers. Times.
He _thinks_, &c............... 6
He _rather thinks_........... 2
He _thinks to that effect_... 1
He _thinks he understood_. 1
He _conceives_ ............... 7
He _believes_ .................. 8
He _rather believes_ ......... 1
He _believes he heard_ ...... 1
He _understood_ ............ 3
He _understood it generally_ ..................... 2
He _was satisfied_ ......... 1
He _was not able to ascertain_ ........................ 1
He _can only state the substance_ ...................... 1
He _did not recollect_ (Non mi ricordo!) ............. 9
He _really did not recollect_ 1
Answers. Times.
He had _no recollection_... . 1
Did _not know_ from _his own knowledge_ ............... 3
Did _not know_ that it _occurred to him_ ........... 1
Was not in his _contemplation_ ........................ 1
Did not _occur to his mind_ 1
No _impression was _left on his mind_ ................. 1
He could _not say_ ......... 2
He could not _undertake to say_....................... 2
He could not _speak with certainty_ ................. 1
He could not _speak positively_ ...................... 1
He could not state the _substance very generally_.. 1
ANSWERS. TIMES.
He did not at _present recollect_ .................. 2
He could not _recollect with precision_ ............ 2
He could not _recollect at this distance of time_ .. 1
He could not _recollect with certainty_ ............ 1
His _recollection did not enable him_ .............. 1
To the _best of his recollection_ .................. 4
As _well as he could recollect_ .................... 2
Could not _pretend to recollect_ ................... 1
Not able to _recollect at this distance of time_ ... 1
He had a _general recollection_ .................... 4
He could _not state with accuracy_ ................. 3
He could not state _precisely_ ..................... 3
He could assign _no specific reason_ ............... 1
He did not _know_ .................................. 2
Not that he _knew of_ .............................. 2
He had no means of _forming a judgment_ ............ 1
He did not _think_ ................................. 1
He had no _knowledge_ .............................. 2
He could not _judge_ ............................... 1
_Probably_ ......................................... 1
He was _led to suppose_ ............................ 1
He was _led to believe_ ............................ 1
He was _persuaded_ ................................. 1
He _learnt_ ........................................ 1
He _heard surmises_ to that effect ................. 1
ABSTRACT.
He thinks, rather thinks, or thinks he understood ............... 10
He conceives .................................................... 7
He believes, rather believes, &c. ............................... 10
He understood, was satisfied, &c. ............................... 6
Not able to ascertain, could only state the substance ........... 2
Did not recollect, to the best of his recollection, &c. ......... 31
He could not say, speak with certainty, &c. ..................... 6
Did not occur to his mind, &c. .................................. 7
He could not state with accuracy, precision, &c. ................ 7
He had no knowledge, not led to believe, to suppose, &c. ........ 16
I am _perfectly convinced_ ...................................... 1
No, I believe it impossible ..................................... 1
___
104
Now it is almost impossible to imagine that a witness could have made
such answers to 104 questions, unless he deliberately and pertinaciously
meant to conceal and withhold the truth by equivocating.
Mr. Pitt's memory, be it observed, was equally bad and treacherous upon
the trial of poor old Hardy, the shoemaker, and Mr. Horne Tooke. He
_then_ could not recollect any thing that was likely to tell in favour
of the prisoners: when their exculpation was likely to be the result of
a plain honest answer, "_Non mi ricordo_" was his reply. That Mr. Pitt
had connived at the peculations of Lord Melville, was clearly proved;
and also that he had lent _Boyd and Benfield_, two ministerial Members
of the Honourable House of Commons, 40,000_l_. of the public money,
without interest. These transactions being made known by means of Mr.
Whitbread's exertions in Parliament, the public mind was in a violent
ferment. Petitions were poured in from all parts of the country against
the conduct of Lord Melville, and the people were delighted at the
resolution passed by the House, ordering the Attorney-General to
commence criminal proceedings against him in the Court of King's Bench.
But they were very much mortified at the notice of the motion given by
Mr. Leicester, on the 25th, for the rescinding the resolution passed
on the 13th of June, and thus to do away with the vote of the House on
that night, in order to substitute an impeachment of Lord Melville,
instead of the criminal prosecution.
On the twenty-sixth of June, an impeachment was ordered by a vote of the
House, instead of a criminal prosecution. This was considered, by every
honest man in the country, to be a measure adopted for the purpose of
screening the newly made _noble delinquent_. Mr. Cobbett took up the
discussion of these proceedings, with his accustomed zeal and ability;
and his Weekly Political Register was universally read, not only in
the metropolis, but all over the kingdom. His clear, perspicuous, and
forcible reasoning upon this transaction, convinced every one who read
the Register; he proved to demonstration that Mr. Pitt had been privy to
and connived at his friend Lord Melville's delinquency, and it was made
evident, to the meanest understanding, that the public money had been
constantly used for private purposes, and to aggrandize the Minister's
tools and dependants.
This was a mortal blow to Mr. Pitt, and it is with great truth said that
this was the primary cause of his death. His friends had always cried up
his integrity and disinterestedness, and his total disregard of wealth.
This was very true as to himself; but he aggrandized all his friends and
supporters; every tool of his ambition grew rich and fattened upon the
public money; and having carried on this trade for so many years, and
to be caught out in this barefaced fraud at last, I believe went far
towards breaking his heart; I am sure he never well recovered it. To
be detected in lending _Boyd and Benfield_, two Members of Parliament,
40,000_l_. of the public money, without interest, was bad enough: but
for that he had impudence enough to offer something like an excuse; and
lame as that excuse was, yet he obtained a bill of indemnity for his
violation of his duty. But to have connived at Sawney's tricks, and to
be detected in it, was too much for his proud spirit to bear! He was,
however, determined at all hazards to screen and protect him from
punishment; and hence the House was surprised into a vote, to rescind
the solemn decision of the House for Lord Melville to be criminally
prosecuted by the Attorney-General, little Master Perceval. Oh! what
shuffling and cutting there was amongst the Minister's tools in the
Honourable House; but Mr. Whitbread was made of too stubborn stuff to be
driven from his purpose!
In the meanwhile, the whole country was alive to the transaction, and
watched with a scrutinizing eye every step that was taken by the wily
Minister, who was beset in every quarter. Mr. Cobbett contributed more
than any other individual to bring this nefarious affair fully before
the public eye. As I had taken a conspicuous part at the Wiltshire
County Meeting, I called on Mr. Cobbett the first time that I went to
London after it had occurred, as I was desirous to obtain a personal
interview with a man who had afforded me so much pleasure by his
writings, and who had given me weekly so much useful information as to
politics and political economy. He lived in Duke-Street, Westminster,
where, on my arrival, I sent in my name. I was shown into a room
unfurnished, and, as far as I recollect, without a chair in it. After
waiting sometime, the great political writer appeared; a tall robust
man, with a florid face, his hair cut quite close to his head, and
himself dressed in a blue coat and scarlet cloth waistcoat; and as it
was then very hot weather, in the middle of the summer, his apparel had
to me a very singular appearance. I introduced myself as a gentleman
from Wiltshire, who had taken a lead at the county meeting, the
particulars of which I had forwarded to him. He addressed me very
_briefly_, and very _bluntly_, saying that "we must persevere, and
we should bring all the scoundrels to justice." He never asked me to
_sit down_; but that might have arisen from there being no other seat in
the room except the floor.
I departed not at all pleased with the interview. I had made up my mind
for a very different sort of man; and, to tell the truth, I was very
much disappointed by his appearance and manners, and mortified at the
cool reception which he gave me. As I walked up Parliament-Street,
I mused upon the sort of being I had just left, and I own that my
calculations did not in the slightest degree lead me to suppose that
we should ever be upon such friendly terms, and indeed upon such an
intimate footing, as we actually were for a number of years afterwards.
It appeared to me, that at our first meeting we were mutually disgusted
with each other; and I left his house with a determination in my own
mind never to seek a second interview with him. I thought that of all
the men I ever saw, he was the least likely for me to become enamoured
of his society. The result was, nevertheless, quite the reverse;
we lived and acted together for many years with the most perfect
cordiality; and I believe that two men never lived that more _sincerely,
honestly_, and _zealously_, advocated public liberty than we did,
hand in hand, for eight or ten years. Although, perhaps, it would be
impossible to pick out two men more different, in many respects, than
we are to each other; yet, in pursuing public duty for so many years
together, there never were two men who went on so well together, and
with such trifling difference of opinion, as occurred between Mr.
Cobbett and myself. It was, however, some years after this, before we
became intimate. I constantly read his Political Register with unabated
admiration and delight, for even at this time he far surpassed every
other political writer, in my opinion.
At this period, 1805, many volunteers having refused to pay their
fines for not attending their drills, under an idea that it was not
compulsory, the magistrates decided that they were legally liable, and
compelled them to pay their arrears.
On the 31st of August, the old humbug of invasion having been again
played off by Buonaparte, Sir Sidney Smith attacked the flotilla off
Boulogne, by means of catamarans, but with very trifling success, he
having done but very little mischief to the enemy.
On the 8th of September, hostilities commenced once more between Austria
and France; and, on the 2d of October, the success of the French arms
began, by the defeat of the Austrians at Guntzburgh, and was followed
up by the action of Wirtingen on the 6th. On the 7th, the French army
defeated the Austrians on the Danube; and on the 14th, Memmingen
surrendered to the French. On the 16th, six thousand Austrians
surrendered to Soult; and, on the 17th, Ulm was surrendered to the
French by the Austrian General Mack. On the 19th, the Austrian army was
again defeated near Ulm by the French; on the same day the Battle of
Elchingen was fought, where the Austrians were again routed; and on the
20th, the French forces in Italy passed the Adige. Werneck surrendered
with 15,000 men to Murat.