NAPOLEON’S LETTER TO GEORGE THE THIRD--NAVAL VICTORIES--CROWNED
KING OF ITALY--ALLIANCE OF EUROPE--WITHDRAWAL OF THE ‘ARMY OF
ENGLAND.’
Very shortly after his coronation, and with the commencement of the
year 1805, Napoleon wrote a letter to George the Third, intimating how
beneficial peace would be to both countries.
The text of this letter, and its answer, are as follow:--
Sire, my brother,--Called to the throne by Providence, and the
suffrages of the Senate, the people, and the army, my first
feeling was the desire for peace. France and England abuse
their prosperity: they may continue their strife for ages; but
will their governments, in so doing, fulfil the most sacred
of the duties which they owe to their people? And how will
they answer to their consciences for so much blood uselessly
shed, and without the prospect of any good whatever to their
subjects? I am not ashamed to make the first advances. I have,
I flatter myself, sufficiently proved to the world that I
fear none of the chances of war. It presents nothing which I
have occasion to fear. Peace is the wish of my heart; but war
has never been adverse to my glory. I conjure your Majesty,
therefore, not to refuse yourself the satisfaction of giving
peace to the world. Never was an occasion more favourable for
calming the passions, and giving ear only to the sentiments
of humanity and reason. If that opportunity be lost, what
limit can be assigned to a war which all my efforts have been
unable to terminate? Your Majesty has gained more during the
last ten years than the whole extent of Europe in riches and
territory: your subjects are in the very highest state of
prosperity: what can you expect from a war? To form a Coalition
of the Continental powers? Be assured the Coalition will
remain at peace. A coalition will only increase the strength
and preponderance of the French Empire. To renew our intestine
divisions? The times are no longer the same. To destroy our
finances? Finances founded on a flourishing agriculture can
never be destroyed. To wrest from France her Colonies? They
are to her only a secondary consideration; and your Majesty
has already enough and to spare of these possessions. Upon
reflection, you must, I am persuaded, yourself arrive at the
conclusion, that the war is maintained without an object; and
what a melancholy prospect, for two great nations to combat
merely for the sake of fighting! The world is surely large
enough for both to live in; and reason has still sufficient
power to find the means of reconciliation, if the inclination
only is not wanting. I have now, at least, discharged a duty
dear to my heart. May your Majesty trust to the sincerity of
the sentiments which I have now expressed, and the reality of
my desire to give the most convincing proofs of it.
George the Third could not, constitutionally, personally reply to this
letter, so Lord Mulgrave answered it, under date of January 14, and
addressed it to Talleyrand. It ran thus:
His Britannic Majesty has received the letter addressed to
him by the Chief of the French Government There is nothing
which his Majesty has more at heart, than to seize the first
opportunity of restoring to his subjects the blessings of
peace, provided it is founded upon a basis not incompatible
with the permanent interests, and security, of his dominions.
His Majesty is persuaded that that object cannot be attained
but by arrangements, which may at the same time provide
for the future peace, and security, of Europe, and prevent
a renewal of the dangers, and misfortunes, by which it is
now overwhelmed. In conformity with these sentiments, his
Majesty feels that he cannot give a more specific answer to
the overture which he has received until he has had time to
communicate with the Continental powers to whom he is united
in the most confidential manner, and particularly the Emperor
of Russia, who has given the strongest proofs of the wisdom,
and elevation, of the sentiments by which he is animated, and
of the lively interest which he takes in the security and
independence of Europe.
Apropos of this pacific overture, there is a very badly drawn picture
by Woodward (February 1, 1805), ‘A New Phantasmagoria for John Bull.’
Napoleon is seated on the French coast, directing his magic lantern
towards John Bull, exclaiming, ‘Begar de brave Galanté shew for Jonny
Bull.’ The magic lantern slide shows Napoleon coming over on a visit,
with a tricoloured flag in one hand, the other leading the Empress
Josephine, whose dress is _semée_ with bees. ‘Here we come Johnny--A
flag of Truce Johnny--something like a Piece! all decked out in Bees,
and stars, and a crown on her head; not such a patched up piece as
the last.’ The Russian bear is on one rock, John Bull on another--the
latter having his sword drawn. He says: ‘You may be d--d, and your
piece too! I suppose you thought I was off the watch--I tell you, I’ll
say nothing to you till I have consulted Brother Bruin, and I hear him
growling terribly in the offing.’
So we see that there was no hope of peace, as yet, and the war goes on.
I can hardly localise the following caricature:--
Argus (January 24, 1805) drew ‘The glorious Pursuit of Ten against
Seventeen.
God like his Courage seem’d, whom nor Delight
Could soften, nor the Face of Death affright.’
The French and Spaniards are in full flight, calling out, ‘By Gar dare
be dat tam Nelson dat Salamander dat do love to live in de fire, by
Gar we make haste out of his way, or he blow us all up.’ Nelson leads
on nine old sea dogs, encouraging them thus: ‘The Enemy are flying
before you my brave fellows, _Seventeen_ against _Ten_ of us. Crowd
all the Sail you can, and then for George, Old England--_Death_ or
_Victory_!!!’ His followers utter such sentences as the following:
‘My Noble Commander, we’ll follow you the world over, and shiver my
Timbers but we shall soon bring up our lee way, and then, as sure as my
name is Tom Grog, we’ll give them another touch of the Battle of the
Nile’--‘May I never hope to see Poll again, if I would not give a whole
month’s flip if these lubberly Parly vous would but just stop one half
watch,’ &c. &c.
The style in which our sailors worked is very aptly illustrated
in a letter from an officer on board the _Fisgard_, off Cape St.
Vincent, dated November 28, 1804.[5] We must remember that war was
not officially declared against Spain until January 11, 1805; but
this gentleman writes: ‘We cannot desire a better station; we heard
of hostilities with Spain on October the 15th, and on that very
day we captured two Ships. Lord Nelson received from us the first
intelligence--we have already taken twelve ships and entertain
hopes of as many more. Yesterday we fell in with the _Donegal_,
Capt. Sir R. Strachan, who has taken a large Spanish Frigate, the
_Amphitrite_, after a chase of 46 hours, and 15 minutes’ action, in
which the Spanish Captain was killed; the prize was from Cadiz, with
despatches for _Teneriffe_ and the _Havana_, laden with stores. The
_Amphitrite_ Frigate, of 42 Guns, was one of the finest Frigates in
the Spanish Navy. The _Donegal_ chased the _Amphitrite_ for several
hours, sometimes gaining upon her, and sometimes losing; at length
the _Amphitrite_ carried away her mizen top mast, which enabled the
_Donegal_ to come up with her. A Boat was then despatched by Sir
Richard for the purpose of bringing the Spanish Captain on board. Some
difficulty arose from neither party understanding the language of the
other; at length Sir Richard acquainted the Spanish Captain, that in
compliance with the Orders he had received from his Admiral, he was
under the necessity of conducting the _Amphitrite_ back again to Cadiz,
and he allowed the Spanish Captain three minutes to determine whether
he would comply without compelling him to have recourse to force. After
waiting six minutes in vain for a favourable answer, the _Donegal_
fired into the _Amphitrite_, which was immediately answered with a
broadside. An engagement then ensued, which lasted about eight minutes,
when the _Amphitrite_ struck her colours. During this short engagement
the Spanish Captain was unfortunately killed by a musket ball. The
_Donegal_ has also captured another Spanish ship, supposed the richest
that ever sailed from Cadiz, her cargo reported worth 200,000_l._’
Another letter, dated November 29, adds, ‘We have this day taken a
large Ship from the River de la Plata.’
They had captured the following ships previous to December 3:--
Nostra Signora del Rosario value £10,000
Il Fortuna ” 8,000
St. Joseph ” 12,000
La Virgine Assumpto ” 6,000
Apollo ” 15,000
Signora del Purificatione ” 40,000
Fawket ” 1,100
Gustavus Adolphus ” 1,000
A Settee ” 600
A Ship with Naval Stores ” 40,000
On February 26, 1805, Gillray published ‘The Plumb Pudding in danger;
or State Epicures taking un Petit Souper--’ the great globe itself,
and all which it inherits, ‘is too small to satisfy such insatiable
appetites.’ Napoleon is taking all Europe, whilst Pitt is calmly
appropriating all the ocean to himself.
[Illustration: THE PLUMB PUDDING IN DANGER.]
There is now almost a total cessation of caricature until the autumn;
and it probably was in this wise. Napoleon did not actively bother this
country; his thoughts were, for the time, elsewhere. On March 17 a
deputation from the Italian Republic waited upon him, stating that it
was the desire of their countrymen that he should be their monarch, and
accordingly on April 2 he and Josephine left Paris for Milan.
Another project fill’d his head,
For vanity must still be fed;
A second Charlemagne to prove,
Our hero resolutely strove.
Addresses manufactured he,
All which were sent to Italy;
To get additional renown,
He to restore the iron crown
Of Italy resolved,--by which
He hoped his pockets to enrich.
T’ obtain, was certainly his aim,
O’er the Peninsula, a claim.
Now, Nap, while filling out his wine,
Told Josephine his bold design--
‘My dear,’ said he, and kiss’d her lip,
To Italy, we’ll take a trip.’
To bring about this great event,
The Emperor and Empress went.
When in Milan they both arrived,
To coax the people Nap contrived;
And being a great Saint believed,
With adulation was receiv’d;
He, by his condescension, proved
How dearly he _his children_ loved.
And on the Twenty Sixth of May
Began our hero to display
Another Coronation splendid,
While on a throne he sat attended.
Now highly honor’d and rever’d,
The diadem of France appear’d
On his right hand, and _inter alia_,
All its magnificent regalia.
Whilst on his left hand, to the sight,
The crown of iron sparkled bright;
Tho’ iron, this they used to call,
The cross was iron, that was all.[6]
The rest was diamonds and pure gold,
And very lovely to behold.
The Cardinal Archbishop then
Began the ceremony--when
Nap was Italian King protested,
And with th’ insignia too invested;
The altar steps he hasten’d soon up,
And taking quick the precious boon up,
He placed the Crown upon his head,
And in a voice of thunder said
‘Since heav’n has giv’n to me this Crown,
Who dares to touch it, I’ll knock him down.’[7]
An amateur drew, and Gillray etched (August 2, 1805), ‘St. George
and the Dragon, a Design for an Equestrian Statue from the Original
in Windsor Castle.’ Napoleon (a most ferocious dragon) has seized
upon poor Britannia, who, dropping her spear and shield, her hair
dishevelled, and her dress disordered, with upraised arm, attempts to
avert her fate; but St. George (George the Third) on horseback, comes
to the rescue, and, smiting that dragon, cleaves his crown.
As a practical illustration of the servile adulation with which he was
treated, take the following etching by Woodward (September 15, 1805):
‘Napoleon’s Apotheosis Anticipated, or the Wise Men of Leipsic sending
Boney to Heaven before his time!!! At the German University of Leipsic,
it was decreed that the Constellation called Orion’s Belt should
hereafter be named Napoleon in Honor of that Hero.--Query--Did the Wise
men of Leipsic mean it as an honor, or a reflection on the turbulent
spirit of Boney, as the rising of Orion is generally accompanied with
Storms and Tempests, for which reason he has the Sword in his hand.’
Orion has his belt round Napoleon’s neck, and is hoisting him up to
heaven thereby; Napoleon is kicking and struggling, and exclaims, ‘What
are you about--I tell you I would rather stay where I was.’ The German
_savants_ are watching him through their telescopes, saying, ‘He mounts
finely’--‘I think we have now made ourselves immortal’--‘It was a
sublime idea’--‘Orion seems to receive him better than I expected.’
This is confirmed in ‘Scot’s Magazine,’ 1807[8]: ‘The University of
Leipzig has resolved henceforth to call by the name of Napoleon that
group of stars which lies between the girdle and the sword of Orion;
and a numerous deputation of the University was appointed to present
the “Conqueror” with a map of the group so named!’
Napoleon hardly reckoned on Austria taking up arms against him without
a formal declaration of war, and was rather put to it to find men to
oppose the Allies, whose forces were reckoned at 250,000 men; whilst
France, though with 275,000 men at her disposal, had 180,000 of them
locked up in the so-called ‘Army of England.’ We can imagine his
chagrin in having to forego his cherished plan of invasion, and being
compelled to withdraw his troops from the French shores.
The ‘Times’ (how different a paper it was in those days to what it
is now!) is jubilant thereupon.[9] ‘The _Scene_ that now opens upon
the soldiers of France, by being obliged to leave the coast and march
eastwards, is sadly different from that _Land of Promise_, which, for
two years, has been held out to them, in all sorts of gay delusions.
After all the efforts of the _Imperial Boat-Builder_, instead of
sailing over the _Channel_, they will have to cross the _Rhine_. The
bleak _forests_ of Suabia will make but a sorry exchange for the
promised spoils of our _Docks_ and _Warehouses_. They will not find any
equivalent for the _plunder_ of the _Bank_ in another bloody passage
through “_the Valley of Hell_”; but they seem to have forgotten the
magnificent promise of the _Milliard_.’
The French papers affected to make light of this death-blow to their
hopes; one of them, quoted in the ‘Times’ of September 13, says:
‘Whilst the German Papers, with much noise, make more troops march than
all the Powers together possess, France, which needs not to augment her
forces in order to display them in an imposing manner, detaches a few
thousand troops from the Army of England to cover her frontiers, which
are menaced by the imprudent conduct of Austria.’
The caricaturist, of course, made capital out of it, and Rowlandson
(October 1, 1805) designed ‘The departure from the Coast or the End
of the Farce of Invasion.’ Napoleon, seated on a sorry ass, is sadly
returning, inland, homeward, to the intense delight of some French
monkeys. His Iron Crown is tottering off his head, and his steed is
loaded with the Boulogne Encampment, the Army of England, and Excuses
for non-performance. The British Lion on the English cliffs lifts his
leg and gives Boney a parting salute. The latter exclaims, ‘Bless me,
what a shower! I shall be wet through before I reach the Rhine.’
The action of the Allies is shown by the caricature, ‘Tom Thumb at Bay,
or the Sovereigns of the Forest roused at last,’ by Ansell (October
1805), which shows the Lilliputian Emperor, who has thrown away his
crown and sceptre, being fiercely pursued by a double-headed eagle,
a bear, and a boar, and is rushing into the open jaws of a ferocious
lion. ‘Which way shall I escape? If I fly from the Bear and the Eagle,
I fall into the jaws of the Lion!!’ Holland, Spain, and Italy, all have
yokes round their necks--but, seeing Bonaparte’s condition, Holland
takes his off and lays it on the ground. The Spaniard, surprised,
exclaims, ‘Why! Mynheer, you have got your yoke off!’ And the Italian,
who is preparing to remove his, says, ‘I think Mynheer’s right, and
now’s the time, Don, to get ours off.’ An army of rats is labelled,
‘Co-Estates ready to assist.’