SPAIN AND HAYTI
Are not Martinique, Mole St. Nicholas, and the Cape of Good Hope
most important conquests?--PITT, _Speech of 9th December 1795_.
More than once it has happened that, after a time of national revival,
Spain has fallen under the dominion of a ruler led by wrongheaded
counsellors and intriguing favourites. Such was the case in the year
1788. Charles III, who then passed away, had restored the finances, the
prosperity, the navy, and the prestige of that land. But his successor,
Charles IV, proved to be one of the weakest and most indolent members of
that dynasty. Fond of display, and devoted to the pleasures of the chase
and the table, he squandered the resources of the State, and soon saw
his finances fall into hopeless confusion. Worse still, his consort, a
princess of the ducal House of Parma, and a woman of much energy,
conceived a violent passion for Manuel Godoy, a young private in the
royal guards, on whom she heaped favours and dignities, so that he
forced his way into the highest circles with the title Duke of Alcudia.
He was endowed with a dignified mien, handsome features, affable
manners, and good abilities, so that the British ambassador, Lord St.
Helens, happily characterized him as a Birmingham Villiers. The measure
of his importance and of the degradation of the Sovereigns may be gauged
from the fact that the paramour of the Queen became the chief Minister
of the King. In truth, the Queen, her lover, and her two confessors
governed Spain.
The habits of the favourite were as follows. He rose early, drove or
rode for an hour, and after breakfast transacted business for a time. He
then relieved the tedium of that time by witnessing exhibitions of skill
and daring by his private matadors, after which he spent about three
hours in the society of the Queen. He then devoted the same length of
time to the conduct of public business with the King; and the day ended
with dinner, fêtes, the opera, or the consideration of requests for
patronage. This function of State generally occupied three evenings in
the week; and on these occasions a crowd of some 250 suitors filled his
meanly lit ante-room with jealous expectancy and long baffled
hopes.[384]
Certainly the representatives of monarchy at this time of acute trial
were unequal to the strain. Catharine of Russia was supremely able, but
no less corrupt. Frederick William of Prussia equalled her in vice and
in nothing else. Francis of Austria had the brain of a master of
ceremonies; George III that of a model squire; Ferdinand of Naples was
in his place in the kennel; Victor Amadeus of Sardinia, in the
confessional. It is difficult to say to what place Charles IV of Spain
and his consort can most fitly be assigned; for they could not live
apart from Godoy; and with Godoy they would have been excluded from any
residence but the royal palace of Spain. The policy of that Court
wavered under his whims and devices. Hated by the grandees, loathed by
honest people, and yet fawned on by all alike, he sought to strengthen
his power by jobbery, with results fatal to the public services. Such a
man evades difficulties instead of grappling with them. He lives for the
day. "After me the deluge" is the motto of all Godoys.
The favourite soon perceived that the war with France pleased neither
the Court, the merchants, nor the people. Charles IV had gone to war for
the restoration of royalty; but, thanks to the perfidy of Prussia and
the vacillations of Austria, that ideal had vanished; and in its place
there appeared the spectres of want and bankruptcy. By the end of 1794
the Republicans had gained a firm foothold in Catalonia and Biscay; and
the prospect of further campaigns was highly distasteful to a Court
which kept up the traditional pomp of the Spanish monarchy. Even when
the Spanish forces in Catalonia and Biscay were wellnigh starving, the
Court borrowed £160,000 to defray the expenses of the usual migration to
San Ildefonso; and the British ambassador computed that the cost of a
campaign could be saved by a sojourn in Madrid for the whole year. But
parsimony such as this was out of the question. Accordingly the only
possible alternatives were, peace with France, an issue of paper money,
or a bankruptcy. Godoy inclined strongly to peace, and discovered in
Anglophobia a means of betraying the French House of Bourbon. England,
so he averred, had entered on the war solely for her own aggrandisement,
with the view of appropriating first Dunkirk, then Toulon, and, failing
them, Corsica and Hayti, to the manifest detriment of Spain. The
argument was specious; for Pitt's resolve to cripple France by colonial
conquests necessarily tended to re-awaken the old jealousies of the
Spaniards; and herein, as in other respects, the son had to confront
difficulties unknown in the days of his father. The task of the elder
Pitt was simple compared with that of humouring and spurring on five
inert and yet jealous Allies.
Among them Spain was not the least slothful and exacting. After the
quarrels between Langara and Hood at Toulon, the despatches from Madrid
to London were full of complaints. Now it was the detention of Danish
vessels carrying naval stores, ostensibly for Cadiz, but in reality, as
we asserted, for Rochefort. Now it was the seizure and condemnation of a
Spanish merchantman, the "Sant' Iago," on a somewhat similar charge.
England had equal cause for annoyance. The embers of the quarrel of 1790
were once more fanned to a flame by Spanish officials. Captain
Vancouver, of H.M.S. "Discovery," while on a voyage to survey the island
which now bears his name, had his ship and crew detained and ill-treated
at Monterey Bay by the Governor of California. The Court of St. James
warmly protested against this conduct as contrary to the Nootka Sound
Convention of 1790; and thereby inflamed that still open wound. Valdez,
Minister of Marine, the only rival of Godoy, now openly avowed his
hostility to England. Early in February 1795, in a conference with the
King, he hotly denounced British designs in Corsica and Hayti.
Thenceforth there was no hope of securing the co-operation of the
Spanish fleet for the blockade of Toulon and other duties too exacting
for Admiral Hotham's squadron. On 11th February Godoy handed to Jackson,
our _chargé d'affaires_, a state paper containing the assurance that
Spain desired to continue the struggle against France; but "if His
Christian Majesty finds another road less dangerous than that which he
follows, he will take it with the dignity becoming his rank; he will
exhaust the means he may have till he shall obtain the welfare of his
people; but he will not look on their annihilation with indifference, if
those who have a similar interest vary the mode of pursuing it." In
plain language this meant that, as Prussia was then treating with
France, Spain would follow her example when she thought fit.[385]
Thereafter the Spanish Ministers either manifested sullen reserve or
indulged in petulant complaints respecting the "Sant' Iago," Corsica,
and Hayti. The conduct of the Marquis del Campo at London was equally
sinister; his despatches represented the policy and conduct of England
in the darkest colours. In the hope of softening these asperities Pitt
and Grenville decided to send the Earl of Bute to Madrid in place of
Jackson, who desired to escape from the insolences of that capital. Thus
by one of the subtle ironies of history, the son of Chatham despatched
to the Court of Madrid the son of the man who thwarted Chatham's aims
respecting that same Power. Bute's instructions (dated 5th April) bade
him humour that Court, but none the less look out for any signs of a
Franco-Spanish compact, and discover at what place in the Spanish
colonies a blow might be dealt with most effect.
On 13th April, after receiving news of a Spanish success in Catalonia,
Grenville urged Bute to re-awaken Castilian pride by holding out the
prospect of gains beyond the Pyrenees, and expressed the hope that Spain
might renew her treaty with England, promising also to consider her
claims to parts of the north-west of Hayti. These hopes were futile.
Early in that year France and Spain began to draw close together. The
more moderate Republicans, Sieyès, Boissy d'Anglas, and Cambacérès, let
it be known that France would offer moderate terms. Barthélemy, the able
French envoy in Switzerland, furthered these plans, which came near to
fulfilment when Prussia signed with France the Treaty of Basle (5th
April 1795). Charles IV was only waiting for some excuse to follow suit.
As a relative of Louis XVI, he scrupled to take the lead; but he was
ready to follow the lead of Prussia. The sacrifices demanded of him in
March 1795 were considerable, viz., the province of Guipuzcoa and San
Domingo. But Bourgoing, the special envoy to Madrid, offered a prize
which far counterbalanced these losses. He held out to Godoy the bait
which in the more skilful hands of Napoleon was destined to catch both
him and his credulous master. Portugal was to be theirs if they made
common cause with France. Acting together, the two Latin nations would
overwhelm this "province of England," and together they would chase the
British from the Mediterranean. That Portugal had loyally supported
Spain in the monarchist cause mattered little. In place of the costly
war of principle, Godoy sought to substitute an effort with limited
liability, effective partnership, and enormous profits. He knew not that
in entering on this broad and easy path, he assured the ruin of Spain
and the ultimate loss of her colonial empire.
In this secret chaffering Pitt and Grenville were worsted as inevitably
as in the similar case of the Partition of Poland. The Power that cries
"hands off" to abettors of robbery needs to have overwhelming force at
its back; but both here and on the banks of the Vistula England was
helpless. There was no Court of Appeal. Christendom had vanished amidst
the schemes of the monarchs in the East, and under the stabs of
regicides in the West. Thus, while the champions of monarchy were
sharing the last spoils of Poland, France succeeded in detaching Spain
from the royalist league by inciting her to the plunder of Portugal.
Few moves have been more mean and cowardly; though the conduct of the
Court of Madrid in this matter touches far deeper depths of infamy. For
its present position was far from hopeless. With the help of the British
fleet the progress of the French troops towards Bilbao might have been
stayed. Affairs in Catalonia wore a hopeful aspect. England offered to
recognize the Spanish conquests in Hayti and to press for further
indemnities from France at the general peace. But all representations
were in vain. Godoy brushed them aside in order to compass the ruin of
the House of Braganza. On this enterprise he concentrated all his
faculties. He inveighed against the invasion of Hayti by British troops.
"His Britannic Majesty," he said, "ought to have abstained from any
interference with the island of San Domingo, upon the whole of which His
Christian Majesty had a well-founded claim; or, if any enterprize was
undertaken there by Great Britain, it should have been in the way of
auxiliary to Spain in order to restore to her her ancient possessions in
the West Indies." On other occasions he moaned over the heavy expenses
of the war, the misery of the people, and the impossibility of resisting
the superior power of France. But his chief theme was Hayti, and he
finally suggested that the British acquisitions in that island should
be held in trust for Louis XVII. He was not a little ruffled by the
reply that they belonged of right to George III, who would keep them as
compensation for the expenses of the war. Another significant fact was
the removal of a fine corps of French _émigrés_, some 3,300 strong, from
the northern provinces to Cadiz, on their way to the West Indies.
At the time of the arrival of Bute at that port (25th May), Fortune
vouchsafed a few gleams of hope to the Allies. Spanish pride having
kicked against the French demands, especially that of the province of
Guipuzcoa, Bourgoing's mission proved fruitless. The diplomatic
situation also improved. In February 1795, as we have seen, Catharine II
of Russia signed a defensive treaty with Great Britain, to which Austria
acceeded on 20th May. Thus did Pitt replace the outworn Triple Alliance
with Prussia and Holland by a more powerful confederacy. With these
bright prospects in view, and animated by the hope of rousing Western
France from Quiberon, Pitt had a right to expect some measure of
fortitude even in the Court of Madrid.[386] But Godoy remained obdurate.
On 11th June, in his first interview with Bute, he said he had no faith
in Russia; the vacillations of Austria were notorious; and Pitt was said
to be about to send Eden to Paris to sue for peace. As for Spain, she
was hard pressed; French and American emissaries had stirred up strife
in her colonies; and affairs were most "ticklish" in San Domingo. His
Government had therefore sought for a composition (not a definite peace)
with France. In fact, the war as a whole had failed, for whereas the
Allies had set themselves to crush French principles, they had succeeded
merely in uniting the French people in one common cause. On 11th July he
promised to recall the Anglophobe Governor of San Domingo; but he
declared the island to be in so distracted a state that both Spaniards
and British would probably be expelled. He then complained that somehow
England always got the better of Spain; witness Nootka Sound, Hayti, and
Corsica. In spite of Bute's assurance that he came to end these
jealousies, Godoy continued to drift on the tide of events. "No plan is
prepared," wrote Bute on 11th July, "no measures are taken. The accident
of the day seems to determine everything, and happy do the Ministers
feel when the day is passed." He therefore advised that Godoy should be
bribed.
The advice came too late. Already the favourite had instructed Don
Domingo d'Yriarte, his envoy to the now extinct Polish Republic, to
confer with Barthélemy, the French Ambassador at Basle. The actions of
Yriarte, of course, depended on the secret behests of Godoy. On 2nd July
Godoy informed him that peace was the only means of thwarting the
efforts of the bad counsellors of the Crown; and four days later he
wrote:
Every day makes peace more necessary. There is no hope of
restoring affairs in Navarre. Cowardice has unnerved our army
and the French will dictate their terms to us.... I fear that
their claims will be excessive, and condescension is our only
resource if we are to succeed in saving ourselves even in part.
Your Lordship need not take alarm at the rigour of the terms of
peace; listen to them, accept them, and forward them to me,
saying to yourself that perhaps they will not be so fatal as the
results of a delay in the negotiation might be.[387]
Yriarte, a nervous valetudinarian, eagerly accepted this despicable
advice. Already one of his secretaries had allowed Barthélemy to see an
almost equally base effusion from Godoy; so that the French ambassador
on 21st July informed the Committee of Public Safety that the game was
in their hands. This was the case. Yriarte, after receiving two packets
from Madrid, hastily sought a nocturnal interview with Barthélemy by the
help of a dark lantern. The French ambassador received him with some
surprise, especially on hearing that he came to sign a treaty of peace
on terms not yet known at Paris. When the Spaniard insisted on signing
at once, Barthélemy examined the conditions, and finding them highly
favourable to France, consulted his secretaries, with the result that he
finally decided to conclude the affair.
Thus came about the Peace of Basle (22nd July 1795). Spain now waived
her former demands, the restoration of religious worship in France, and
French aid in the recovery of Gibraltar. The French, however, now agreed
to restore all the districts held by their troops in the North of Spain,
while the Court of Madrid ceded San Domingo. Spain also made peace with
the Dutch or Batavian Republic, and offered to mediate between France
and Portugal, Naples, Sardinia, and Parma.[388] Such were the chief
clauses of this astonishing compact. It dealt a deadly blow to Pitt. For
at the very time when he was building up a formidable league and rousing
Brittany against the Republic, Spain seceded from the monarchist cause,
and by surrendering San Domingo to France, doomed to failure his costly
efforts in Hayti. Further, as will appear in Chapter XI, by setting free
large numbers of the French troops at the Pyrenees, she greatly enhanced
the difficulties of the expedition of General Doyle to the coast of la
Vendée. Worst of all, it soon appeared that Godoy was bent on reviving
the policy of the Family Compact, making common cause even with the
murderers of Louis XVI in order to thwart England's expansion oversea.
Bute therefore warned our Government to prepare to strike a blow at
once, before the Spanish fleet should be ready to help the French either
in Corsica or Hayti. These precautions proved, for the present at least,
to be unnecessary. The degradation of the Court and populace of Madrid
may be measured by the joy with which the news of that inglorious peace
was received. The Queen, fearful that the failures in the war would lead
to the fall of her paramour, procured the speedy ratification of the
Treaty of Basle and decorated him with the title Prince of the Peace.
On hearing of the defection of Spain, Pitt at once took steps to guard
Hayti against a treacherous attack by detaching the greater part of the
British force then preparing to help the French Royalists of la Vendée.
The general opinion both in London and Madrid was that war must ensue.
Godoy kept a close watch upon Bute, who took a mansion in Madrid on a
long lease in order to lull that Court into security. It was of the
highest importance to avert or delay a rupture with Spain; for the
condition of the British West Indies was most critical. The French,
having recovered Guadeloupe and St. Lucia, despatched thence emissaries
to fire the slaves in the British islands with the hope of gaining
liberty and equality. The peril became acute in Jamaica. There about 500
negroes had escaped to the mountains, especially in Trelawny and
Charlestown Counties, and by night carried out murderous raids against
the planters and their dependents. So fiendish were the atrocities of
these Maroons, that the authorities in that island applied to the
Spaniards in Cuba for one hundred bloodhounds and twenty huntsmen in
order to track the Maroons to their fastnesses. This device proved
successful; the murderers were by degrees hunted down, and were
transported to British North America, £25,000 being voted by the Jamaica
Assembly for settling them there.
Nevertheless the use of bloodhounds, which placed Britons on a level
with the Spanish crusaders, aroused general disgust. Attempts were made
in the House of Commons by General Macleod, Sheridan, and Courtenay to
represent the Maroons as men worthily struggling for liberty. Dundas,
while pruning these sprays of rhetoric, declared that Ministers would
thereafter prohibit the use of bloodhounds. These troubles with the
slaves prejudiced Parliament against any change in their condition. In
vain did Francis, in one of the last speeches of an acrid but not
discreditable career, press for the amelioration of their lot. At the
outset he showed the bitterness of his enmity to Pitt by charging him
with the betrayal of the cause which, in his oration of 2nd April 1792,
he had irradiated with the beatific vision of a regenerated and blissful
Africa. Why, he asked, did not the Minister resign office after his
failure to realize his heart's desire? He then charged him with
insincerity on the whole question, and urged the House to be content
with alleviating the condition of the slaves by giving them the
rudiments of education and some rights of property, above all by
securing the sanctity of their marriages. Fox followed with a speech
aimed more against Pitt than the slave-owners. The Prime Minister then
replied. Ignoring the charges of his opponents, he pointed out that the
proposed improvements were utterly inadequate to remedy the ills of the
negroes so long as Parliament allowed shiploads of these unhappy
creatures to be cast into the West Indies every year. What was needed,
he said, was the abolition of that hateful traffic, indeed of the whole
system of slavery. For himself, he still hoped that Parliament would
adopt those measures, which alone could be effective. Wilberforce was
absent through illness. Francis, having elicited in the main mere
personalities, not declarations of principle, withdrew his motion.
The lapse of the question of Abolition in the years 1795-6 was a public
misfortune; for the slaves, despairing of justice from England, turned
to France. For the good of the cause they murdered men, women, or
children, with equal indifference; and, when hunted down, died with the
cry _Vive la République_. Here was our chief difficulty in the West
Indies. Owing to the refusal of Parliament to limit the supply of slaves
or to alleviate their condition, we had to deal with myriads of blacks,
exasperated by their former hardships, hoping everything from France,
and able to support climatic changes which dealt havoc to the raw
English levies. In truth, the success of the West India expeditions
depended on other factors besides military and medical skill. It turned
on political and humanitarian motives that were scouted at Westminster.
The French Jacobins stole many a march on the English governing classes;
and in declaring the negro to be an equal of the white man they nearly
wrecked Britain's possessions in the West Indies.
For a great negro leader had now appeared. Toussaint l'Ouverture, though
probably not of pure negro blood, was born at Breda in the north of
Hayti in 1746. His mental gifts were formidable; and when sharpened by
education and by long contact with whites, they enabled him to play upon
the elemental passions of his kindred, to organize them, to lead them to
the fight, to cure their wounds, and to overawe their discontent. A
barbarian in his outbursts of passion, and a European in organizing
power, he became a zealot in the Republican cause. A quarrel with
another masterful negro, Jean François, forced him for a time to retire
into the Spanish part of San Domingo; but he soon returned, and proved
to be our most formidable enemy.
The position in Hayti at the close of 1795 was somewhat as follows. The
Republicans and their coloured allies, often helped by the Spaniards,
held or ravaged the greater part of the territory which the French
Royalists had invited us to possess. Their hopeful forecasts had led
Pitt and Dundas to send far too few troops for what proved to be an
increasingly difficult enterprise; and at this time British authority
extended scarcely beyond the reach of the garrisons. The French
Royalists had not given the help which Malouet and Charmilly had led our
Ministers to expect.[389] And on the other hand, Victor Hugues, the
Republican leader, managed to spread revolt in St. Vincent, Grenada, and
Dominica. In this critical state of things, the Cabinet decided to
accord to Major-General Williamson, Governor of Hayti, a long furlough,
and to place in supreme command a man of great resourcefulness and power
of character.
Sir Ralph Abercromby was at this time sixty-one years of age; but in
zeal and ardour he excelled nearly all the junior officers. His
toughness and energy had invested with dignity even the disastrous
retreat from Holland early in the year. He was not a great commander;
for he lacked both soundness and firmness of judgement, and he had no
grasp of the principles of strategy; but he restored the discipline and
prestige of the British army; and in him Moore and Wellesley hailed the
dawn of a brighter era. "The best man and the best soldier who has
appeared amongst us this war," was Moore's comment after Abercromby's
glorious death near Alexandria.[390] Pitt has often been charged with
lack of judgement in selecting commanders. Let it be remembered, then,
that he sent Abercromby to the post of difficulty and danger.
Unfortunately, delays multiplied at Spithead. Though the Cabinet
withdrew the marrow of the Vendean expedition, yet not enough troops
were available to complete Abercromby's muster; and when the men were
ready, the ordnance and transports were not at hand. What Department and
what officials were answerable for this scandalous state of things it is
hard to say. Buckingham, who had several correspondents at Portsmouth,
suspected Abercromby of shiftlessness. However that may be, the autumn
wore away amidst recriminations and growing discontent. When the fleet
at last put to sea, it encountered a terrible storm off Portland;
several transports were dashed to pieces on that point; while others in
the van were flung back on to the Chesil Beach or the shore near
Bridport (18th November). The horrors of the scene were heightened by
the brutality of the coast population, which rushed on the spoil in
utter disregard of the wretches struggling in the waves. The rest of the
convoy put back to Spithead; and not till the spring of 1796 did
Abercromby reach Jamaica. Dundas had instructed him first to recover St.
Lucia and Guadeloupe, whence Victor Hugues had flung forth the brands of
revolt. Ultimately the flames shrivelled up the colonies of France; but,
for the present, they were more formidable than her fleets and armies.
It was therefore sound policy to strike at those two islands. In a
"secret" despatch of 4th November, Dundas also warned Major-General
Forbes closely to watch the Spaniards in San Domingo, and, though not
attacking their posts, yet to support the French Royalists with arms and
money in case they desired to do so.
Among those who sailed from Portsmouth early in 1796 was Colonel
(afterwards Sir John) Moore.[391] He found the West India service most
unpopular. Yet the energy of Abercromby and Moore brought about the
surrender of that almost impregnable fortress, Morne Fortunée, in St.
Lucia. Moore was left as governor of the island, but with a garrison
insufficient to complete the subjection of the fanatical blacks. General
Whyte found the conquest of the Dutch settlement of Demerara a far
easier task than its retention. Abercromby then relieved St. Vincent and
strengthened the defences of Grenada, that island having been recaptured
by General Nicols. Abercromby and his comrades thus saved those
possessions from the most imminent danger. His services were almost as
great in the quarters as on the field. He adapted the cumbrous uniform
to the needs of the tropics, and, by abolishing parades and drills in
the noontide heats, and improving the sanitary conditions of the camps,
sought to stay the ravages of disease, of which the carelessness or
stupidity of officials had been the most potent ally. On 21st April 1796
Sheridan moved for a return of the troops who had succumbed to disease
in the West Indies. He asserted that several of them, on landing, were
without shoes and stockings, that hospitals crowded with sick were
without medicines or bandages, and that in one case a hundred patients
had to spend the night on the bare beach. Dundas's reply was virtually
an admission of the truth of these charges.
The declaration of war by Spain in the autumn of 1796 brought about a
new situation. The Republicans and their black allies regularly took
refuge and found their supplies in the central parts of San Domingo now
ceded to France; but when the British sought to follow and attack them
there, they were assured that it was neutral territory. The British
Government warmly protested against this duplicity. Either the island
was Spanish, or it was French. If the former, then Toussaint and his men
had no right to retreat thither. If the latter, the British could attack
them. In point of fact, plans for the transfer of San Domingo to France
were at that time dragging slowly along at Madrid: and when the French
General, Rom, failed to bend that Court to his terms, he departed for
the island under the convoy of a Spanish squadron. This incident was
typical of the recent policy of Madrid. In every possible way it
favoured France. Early in 1796 seven French warships underwent extensive
repairs in the royal dockyard at Cadiz. Merry, secretary of legation at
Madrid, further reported numerous seizures of British merchantmen by
French privateers which brought them into Spanish harbours. Twelve ships
were thus brought into Alicante in the winter of 1795-6; and English
merchants could get no redress for these seizures. French privateers
also fitted out at Trinidad to act against Grenada and Tobago.[392]
Provocations were not all on one side. Early in 1796, three Spanish West
Indiamen were overhauled by two English frigates and taken to Bermuda,
in the belief that war had broken out. They were, however, at once
released. Godoy protested angrily against this indignity, and early in
March hinted that Spain's neutrality would cease on the establishment of
a French Government. Two months later Bute found that Spain was seeking
to form a Quadruple Alliance, namely, with France, Denmark, and Sweden,
a scheme which Ehrenthal, the Swedish envoy, warmly furthered. The news
of Bonaparte's victories in Italy and of the financial troubles in
England evidently puffed up Godoy with the hope of playing the part of
an Alberoni for the humiliation of England; and in 1796 Spain had better
prospects of worsting the islanders than in 1718 when they had the
alliance of France, Austria, and Holland. In truth, no period was more
favourable for a revival of the Latin races than the years 1796-7, when
England was in dire straits, when Austria succumbed under the blows of
Bonaparte, and the Dutch, Danes, and Swedes opposed the British Power.
With singleness of purpose and honesty in their administrations, France,
Spain, and their Allies should have wrecked the lifework of the two
Pitts.
The British Ministers felt the gravity of the situation. In view of the
collapse of the Austrian Power in Lombardy, Pitt wrote to Grenville on
28th June in unusually despondent terms, that it was hopeless to expect
Austria to prolong the war after the present campaign. We should be left
alone to confront France and Holland, "probably joined by Spain, and
perhaps favoured more or less openly by the Northern Powers."[393]
Accordingly we must see to our home defences, and also consider the
possibility of a general peace. Grenville therefore urged Bute to seek
by all methods compatible with his dignity "to preserve the good
understanding of the two countries." In fact, Pitt and his colleagues
now decided to bring about a general pacification; and, as will appear
later, they held to that resolve, in spite of the strong opposition of
George III. But, on 5th August, while they were discussing details,
Bonaparte won a crushing victory over Wurmser at Castiglione, and,
eleven days later, Godoy definitely sided with France. Pitt feared that
the hostile league would include Denmark and Sweden; and, but for his
foresight in gaining over Catharine, this would have been the issue of
events. Even so, Godoy hoped to form a Quadruple Alliance with France,
Holland, and Prussia. He therefore took a high tone with Bute, declaring
that England would not be allowed to attack San Domingo, as it was still
Spanish, and there was a necessary connection between France and Spain;
but he would not hear of Bute accepting that statement as a declaration
of war.
Clearly, Spain was trying to gain time; for reports from Cadiz showed
her fleet to be far from ready, several of the ships being leaky. The
repairs to the French ships at that dockyard also went on in the most
leisurely manner. But on 4th August all was ready. Admiral Mann with a
small blockading force having been called by Jervis into the
Mediterranean, the French ships set sail, escorted by twenty Spanish
sail-of-the-line. The French squadron made for the Bank of Newfoundland
and inflicted great damage. Why it did not proceed along with the
Spaniards to the West Indies is hard to say. The impact of twenty-seven
sail-of-the-line in that quarter would have been decisive; but probably
Godoy did not yet feel warranted in throwing down the gauntlet. Pitt and
Grenville decided to overlook the gross breach of neutrality at Cadiz,
and even now hoped for a change in Godoy's mood. On 26th August
Grenville informed Bute that, though England had good cause for
declaring war, she would await the result of the recent proposals to
Spain. On or about that date Las Casas, the Spanish ambassador,
pettishly left London on a flimsy pretext; and two days later Dundas
warned the commander-in-chief in Hayti of the imminence of war.
Nevertheless, while taking every precaution, he was not to attack the
Spaniards until definite news of a rupture arrived. Further, on the
31st (as will appear in the following chapter) Portland despatched
orders to Sir Gilbert Elliot, Viceroy of Corsica, to prepare for the
immediate evacuation of that island.
It is therefore clear that Pitt and his colleagues used all possible
means to avert war with Spain. Bute, acting on orders from London,
carried complaisance to lengths derogatory, as he thought, to the honour
of Great Britain, and Godoy humoured him to the top of his bent. Thus,
on 10th September, in the course of a singular interview, Godoy assured
him that, even if war broke forth, it would be brief. If (he continued)
England had not annoyed Spain by her naval and colonial policy, the
latter might have arranged to find some indemnity, either at the expense
of Holland, or else "something on the coast of California. You English
have a passion for California, and the trade is in the most flourishing
state." Half amused by these dilatory tactics, Bute sought to find out
the real state of the case; and he discovered that the Franco-Spanish
compact aimed at the joint conquest of Portugal as well as of Naples,
Sicily, and Gibraltar, while England was to be compelled to surrender
Honduras and Hayti. On the 5th of October he received from Godoy the
Spanish declaration of war. It laid stress on the disputes at Toulon,
England's seizure of Corsica, Hayti, and Dutch Demerara, besides the
founding of British mercantile posts on the River Missouri, which
evidently aimed at securing the routes to the Pacific.[394] Of these
schemes, the conquest of Portugal lay the nearest to the heart of Godoy.
The rupture with Spain is an event of prime importance. Because her
fleet was disastrously beaten by Jervis off Cape St. Vincent in February
1797, it has too often been assumed that she counted for little in the
war. An examination of the British Records reveals the error of that
assumption. The evacuation of Corsica and of the Mediterranean by the
British forces resulted solely from the Spanish offensive. Though weak
in herself, Spain held so strong a position in Europe and the West
Indies as to endanger British enterprises at many points, besides
threatening the coasts of Ireland. In truth, but for Spanish support in
the Mediterranean, Bonaparte could never have ventured upon his Eastern
expedition. Thus the defection of the Court of Madrid changed the
character of the war. Thenceforth it revolved more and more around
colonial questions, to the weakening of the royalist and republican
motives which had worked so potently in its early stages. The oriental
adventure of the young Corsican was to emphasize the contrast between
the years 1793 and 1798; but the scene-shifting began with the intrigues
of Godoy. In a sense Pitt himself helped on the transformation. He did
not regard the struggle against France as one of political principle. He
aimed solely at curbing the aggression of the Jacobins upon Holland; and
the obvious device of weakening France by expeditions to the West Indies
further helped to bring events back into the arena of eighteenth-century
strife. Now that Spain, the protagonist of the French Bourbons, deserted
their cause and attacked the Power in which they most trusted, all
pretence of a war of principle vanished. The importance of the change
was not perceived at the time, though signs of it were not wanting. Both
in France and England democratic enthusiasm speedily died down, and the
discontent, which now and again flared forth in both lands, was but a
feeble sputter compared with the devouring flame of 1789.
In the West Indies the effects of the rupture with Spain were speedily
felt. On 9th September 1796 Dundas instructed Forbes, commander-in-chief
in Hayti, to help the Spanish settlers if they resisted the transfer of
their part of the island to France. He also enjoined the utmost possible
economy in public expenditure, and urged that the French settlers should
have a large share in the conduct of local affairs. This zeal on behalf
of local self-government was markedly opportunist. It arose from a
suggestion of Colonel Wigglesworth, Commissary-General in Hayti, that
the expenses of that colony would not lessen until there was a regular
Government. In the midst of the financial strain at home Pitt and his
colleagues desired that the French settlers should bear their share of
the expense of maintaining bands of native auxiliaries. By one of the
unaccountable impulses that sway the negro mind, a considerable force
was now available; but it could not be utilized owing to the rigid
economy enjoined by the Home Government. As the financial outlook
darkened, Portland and Dundas sent urgent warnings to the new Governor
of Hayti, Major-General Simcoe, bidding him concentrate the whole of the
British force at Cape Nicholas Mole, the probable objective of the
French and Spaniards. The military administration must be withdrawn to
that fortress, the British cavalry being sent home. Further, as Great
Britain could in no case bear a larger financial burden than £300,000 a
year for Hayti, expenses were to be reduced on all sides, the residue
falling to the share of the colonists. A larger naval force would,
however, be sent; and Simcoe was advised to seize the island of Tortuga
and to alarm the Spaniards by feints against Havannah.
This was the beginning of the end at Hayti. Ministers, in despair of
pacifying that racial cauldron, now looked on the Spanish colonies as an
easier prize. Dundas therefore ordered Abercromby to capture Porto Rico
or Trinidad; and he even dallied with a fantastic scheme for shipping
the Haytian colonists to Porto Rico. Abercromby, however, who again set
sail from Portsmouth in November 1796, decided to make for Trinidad, and
by a brilliant stroke captured its capital, Port of Spain. The attack on
San Juan, in Porto Rico, met with unexpected difficulties, and ended in
failure (February and April 1797). Matters now became desperate in
Hayti. The rebels captured several posts near Port-au-Prince, largely
owing to dissensions among the defenders. Simcoe, despite a serious
illness on his way out, worked miracles with his skeleton regiments, but
both he and his subordinates failed to cut down expenses as the Cabinet
demanded. Accordingly, on 9th June 1797, Portland and Dundas reminded
him that no further reinforcements could be sent out, and added this
ominous sentence: "It is but too obvious that ... the immense sacrifices
this country has made for the protection of the French part of San
Domingo have too frequently been diverted from purposes of public
utility to answer the worst ends of private peculation and inordinate
cupidity."
In a recent debate in the House of Commons St. John assessed the
expenses of Hayti for January 1797 at £700,000; and stated that, for the
discharge of judicial duties, a Frenchman was receiving £2,500 a year,
which he was now squandering in London. Pitt remained silent. Dundas did
not deny these allegations, but begged members to recollect the great
difficulties of our officials in Hayti.[395] This was undeniable. It is
the curse of a policy of retirement that waverers haste to leave betimes
with all the spoils obtainable. The signs of abandonment of Hayti caused
a stampede, demoralizing to all concerned. On 1st January 1798,
Portland and Dundas penned the order for the evacuation of Hayti, owing
to the impossibility of making good the loss of troops or of recruiting
in the island. After dwelling on the impossibility of reducing the
expenditure to the requisite amount, Ministers explained that they had
deferred the evacuation of Hayti "as long as the negotiation which His
Majesty had opened with the enemy at Lille, and the disposition of a
majority in the two Councils of Legislature in France, left a hope that
some immediate arrangement might be made with that country, which in its
consequences might operate to relieve England from the intolerable
burdens by which the British part of St. Domingo is retained, and to a
certain degree to ensure to its inhabitants a continuance of security
and protection.... The rupture of the negotiation and the avowed system
of the present Government of France appear on the one hand to render the
attainment of this desirable end precarious, if not remote, whilst on
the other they impose on H.M.'s confidential servants an additional
obligation of reducing the heavy burdens of a war, the continuance of
which is unavoidable, within the narrowest limits, in order to be able
to persevere in it until adequate terms of peace can be obtained; and it
is certainly their first and essential duty to appropriate the resources
of the country with such management and economy as may ensure the
preservation and defence of the essential possessions of the Crown...."
The good faith of Pitt in the Lille negotiation appears clearly in this
interesting statement, which further proves that he held on to Hayti in
the hope of ceding it to France on terms satisfactory to Great Britain
and the colonists. Doubtless it was the perception of this truth which
led many of the settlers to decamp after spoiling the Egyptians. The
thankless duty of evacuation devolved on Brigadier-General Maitland, who
carried it out with skill and patience. Especially admirable is his
secret bargain with Toussaint, whereby that able chief agreed not to
molest the British either in Hayti or in Jamaica, while in return he was
to receive provisions at certain ports under his control. Ministers had
not advised any such proceeding, but they cordially approved of it,
despite the clamour of the West India planters at a compact with a
negro.[396] Thus was laid the basis of that good understanding which
subsequently enabled Toussaint to defy Bonaparte.
The success attending this agreement shows what power England might have
wielded had not her King, her Princes, and her Parliament insisted on
maintaining intact the institution of slavery. They thereby aroused an
enemy more terrible than yellow fever, the negro. France profited by the
blunder; but she rushed blindly forward, using the black man with a
recklessness which gave him the mastery. On the other hand, if Pitt and
Wilberforce had succeeded in carrying out their programme in the years
1790-2, the incendiary devices of Brissot and Victor Hugues would have
come to nought. In that case the transfer of Hayti to England would have
placed at her disposal myriads of devoted blacks, ready and able to
plant the Union Jack on every fortress in the West Indies, and to
conquer the colonies of Spain if she changed sides. It was not to be.
Far from gaining an accession of strength in that quarter, England lost
heavily in men and treasure, and at the Peace of Amiens retained only
Trinidad in return for all her sacrifices.
In no part does Pitt's war policy appear to more disadvantage than in
the West Indies. He entered into those expeditions when the army at home
was unable to meet the demands of the service in Flanders, and on the
coasts of Brittany and Provence, not to speak of the needs of Ireland
and the East Indies. He allowed Dundas to send out levies which were far
too raw to withstand the strain of the tropics. This fact, together with
the stupidity of the regulations and the inexperience, or worse, of the
medical staff, accounts for the waste of life and the barrenness of
these tedious campaigns. At no time had England in the West Indies a
force sufficient to withstand the ravages of disease and to overcome the
Republicans and their black allies. Nevertheless, while the conduct of
the West Indian campaigns is open to censure, it is difficult to see
what other course could have been adopted towards those important
colonies, in view of the resolve of the French Jacobins to revolutionize
them. The attempt was made and partly succeeded. Could Pitt and his
colleagues stand merely on the defensive, while incendiaries sought to
stir up a war of colour? Was it not the natural and inevitable step to
endeavour to extirpate those fire-brands? And when so attractive an
offer as that of Hayti was made by the royalist settlers, could the
British Government hold timidly aloof and allow that rich land to breed
revolt? Surely a servile war could be averted only by intervention at
the natural centre of influence. If from Guadeloupe, after its recapture
by the French, the seeds of rebellion were sown broadcast, would not
Hayti have become a volcano of insurrection? Finally, it is
unquestionable that the change of front of the Court of Madrid in the
years 1795-6 blighted the whole enterprise at the very time when success
seemed attainable. On Godoy, then, not on Pitt, must rest the
responsibility for the lamentable waste of life in the West Indies and
the ultimate lapse into barbarism of their most fertile island.
FOOTNOTES:
[384] "F. O.," Spain, 36. Bute to Grenville, 26th June 1795.
[385] "F. O.," Spain, 36. Jackson to Grenville, 2nd January and 11th
February 1795.
[386] "F. O.," Spain, 37. Grenville to Bute, 5th, 12th, and 19th June.
[387] Del Cantillo, "Tratados," 660.
[388] "Papiers de Barthélemy," vi, Introd., xv, 71, 77-85.
[389] "W. O.," vi, 6, which contains other despatches of Dundas cited
later.
[390] "Diary of Sir John Moore," i, 208, 221, 233, 243; ii, 18, 19.
[391] "Diary of Sir John Moore," 2 vols. Edited by General Maurice.
[392] "F. O.," Spain, 39, 40. Merry to Grenville, 20th and 25th December
and 19th January, 10th February, 6th and 29th March.
[393] "Dropmore P.," iii, 214.
[394] "F. O.," Spain, 44. Bute to Grenville, 10th September and 21st
October.
[395] For the disgust of Pitt and Dundas, see "Dropmore P.," iii, 390.
[396] Malouet wrote to Pitt on 24th June 1798: "The wisdom of General
Maitland's measures, the perfect order in which he has conducted the
operations have lessened the disasters attending it, and by means of a
truce and convention agreed on with the Republican chiefs, not an
inconsiderable number of inhabitants has been induced to remain on their
plantations" (Pitt MSS., 146).