THE SECOND COALITION
To reduce France within her ancient limits is an object of
evident and pressing interest to the future tranquillity and
independence of Europe.--_Foreign Office Despatch of 16th
November 1798_.
It is difficult to realize that the independence of Europe was
endangered by the French Republic. We associate the ascendancy of France
in Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland with the personality
of Napoleon; and by contrasting him with the pygmies who strutted on the
stage after the death of Pitt we find the collapse of Europe
intelligible. But a backward glance of one decade more shows France
dominating the Continent. True, it was Bonaparte's genius which brought
Austria to the humiliating Peace of Campo Formio (October 1797); but his
triumphs in Italy merely crowned the efforts of France in 1793-5. After
the close of his Italian campaigns a touch of her little finger unseated
the Pope. At the Congress of Rastatt her envoys disposed of German
duchies and bishoprics in the lordliest way. Switzerland she overran,
plundered, and unified. Ferdinand IV of Naples and his consort, Maria
Carolina, quaked and fumed at her threats. Prussia was her henchman. And
in the first months of his reign Paul I of Russia courted her favour.
French policy controlled Europe from the Niemen to the Tagus, from the
Zuyder Zee to the Campagna.
Yet this supremacy was in reality unsound. So fitful a ruler as the Czar
Paul was certain to weary of his peaceful mood. He had good ground for
intervention. By the Treaty of Teschen (1779) Russia became one of the
guarantors of the Germanic System which the French now set at naught.
Moreover his chivalrous instincts, inherited from his mother, Catharine,
were chafed by the news of French depredations in Rome and Switzerland.
The growth of indignation at St. Petersburg begot new hopes at Vienna.
In truth Francis II, despite his timidity, could not acquiesce in French
ascendancy. How could his motley States cohere, if from Swabia,
Switzerland, and Italy there dropped on them the corrosive acid of
democracy? The appeals from his father-in-law, Ferdinand of Naples, also
had some weight. In fine the Court of Vienna decided to make overtures
to London. On 17th March 1798 the Chancellor, Thugut, urged his
ambassador, Stahremberg, to find out whether England would help Austria
against "a fierce nation irrevocably determined on the total subversion
of Europe, and rapidly marching to that end"; also whether Pitt would
send a fleet to the Mediterranean, and, if necessary, prolong the
struggle into the year 1799.[502] The entreaties from Naples were still
more urgent.
Pitt resolved to stretch out a helping hand. Early in April he sought to
induce Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, to send to that sea a
strong squadron detached from Earl St. Vincent's force blockading Cadiz.
His letter asking for information on several topics is missing; but
Spencer's letter to Grenville throws so much light on the situation that
I quote parts of it, summarizing the remainder:[503]
Admiralty, _April 6, 1798_.
"I send you by Mr. Pitt's desire a sketch I have made out of
answers to the queries he put down upon paper yesterday in
Downing Street. The result is to my mind a decision which I fear
will not tally very well with our wishes and the views you have
formed as the groundwork of the communication at present
proposed with Vienna." He then states that, even if a Russian
squadron appears in the North Sea, yet we cannot keep a
permanent squadron in the Mediterranean. "For that purpose we
should at least have 70 sail, as the Channel cannot be trusted
with safety with less than 35, including the coast of Ireland,
and the remaining 35 would be but barely enough to watch Cadiz
and command the Mediterranean. Our best plan appears to me to be
to maintain as long as we can a position between Lisbon and
Cadiz, and when we are excluded (which I conclude we soon shall
be) from the Tagus, to send Lord St. Vincent with the fleet he
now has to take a sweep round the Mediterranean and do all the
mischief he can to the French navy." If, he adds, the Spaniards
come northward, our home fleet can deal with them: if they go to
the Mediterranean and join the French there will not be much
danger from so ill-combined a force when opposed to St.
Vincent's fleet, "which I consider as being the best formed to
act together that perhaps ever existed." If Austria would be
satisfied with our sweeping round the Mediterranean, Spencer
advocates that plan, but not that of keeping a fleet there,
"because, exclusive of the great expense, it would leave the
Spaniards too much at liberty."
In answer to Pitt's questions Spencer states the force
disposable for the Channel and the coast of Ireland as 34, for
the Mediterranean 24; 3 more were fitting for sea, and 8 others
were nearing completion; but the chief deficiency was in men,
8,000 more being needed. He adds that the Neapolitans have 4
sail-of-the-line and 7 frigates: the French have 6 sail at
Corfu; but he thinks not more than 10 sail can be equipped at
Toulon. He regards the Venetian fleet as valueless.
Clearly Spencer underrated the force at Toulon and in the ports of North
Italy. But, even so, the position was critical. To send an undermanned
fleet into the Mediterranean, while France was preparing a blow at
Ireland, seemed almost foolhardy. Nevertheless, Pitt resolved to do so.
For, as he stated to Grenville on 7th April, they must encourage Austria
to play a decisive part in resisting French aggression; and, in view of
the revival of the old English spirit, he was prepared to brave the
risks of invasion, deeming even that event preferable to a lingering and
indecisive war. As usual, Pitt's view prevailed; and a few days later
orders went forth to St. Vincent to despatch a squadron under Nelson to
the Mediterranean, Austria being also apprised of this decision, in
terms which implied the formation of a league against France. While
Russia and, if possible, Prussia defended Germany, Austria was to expel
the French from Italy.[504] Here again Pitt's hopeful nature led him to
antedate the course of events. The new Coalition came about very slowly.
England and Austria were held apart by disputes respecting the repayment
of the last loan, on which Pitt and Grenville insisted, perhaps with
undue rigour. Distrust of Prussia paralysed the Court of Vienna, and
some time elapsed before it came to terms with Russia. But in the midst
of the haggling came news which brought new vigour to the old
monarchies.
On 1st August 1798 Nelson destroyed the French fleet in Aboukir Bay;
and thus, at one blow, naval supremacy in the Mediterranean passed from
the tricolour to the Union Jack. This momentous change resulted
primarily from the bold resolve of Pitt to encounter even a French
descent on our coasts, provided that he could strike at France in the
Mediterranean. Thus he exchanged the defensive for the offensive in a
way no less bewildering to the French than reassuring to friendly
Powers; and it is noteworthy that he adopted the same course in 1805, in
sending Craig's expedition into that sea, thereby replacing Addington's
tame acceptance of events by a vigorous policy which heartened Austria
and Naples for the struggle against Napoleon. On both occasions he ran
great risks, but his audacity proved to be the highest prudence. The
results of the Battle of the Nile were immeasurably great. Bonaparte and
his 30,000 veterans were cooped up in Egypt. The Maltese rose against
the French garrison of Valetta two days after the arrival of the glad
tidings from the Nile. At Naples the news aroused a delirium of joy, and
filled Queen Maria Carolina with a resolve to drive the French force
from the Roman States.
To Pitt also the news of Nelson's triumph brought intense relief. The
disappearance of Bonaparte's armada after the capture of Malta had
caused much concern. True, Naples, which was thought to be his
objective, was safe; but Ireland and Portugal were deemed in jeopardy.
No one at Whitehall anticipated the seizure of Malta and Egypt, still
less the emergence of plans for a French conquest of India. A tone of
anxiety pervades Pitt's letter of 22nd August to his mother: "The
account of Bonaparte's arrival at Alexandria is, I am afraid, true; but
it gives us no particulars, and leaves us in entire suspense as to
Nelson."[505] All the greater, then, was the relief on 2nd October, when
tidings of Aboukir at last arrived.
Further, there were signs of a Russo-French war. The romantic nature of
the Czar was fired by the hope of acquiring Malta. At Ancona, early in
1797, Bonaparte had intercepted a Russian envoy bearing offers of
alliance to the Knights of the Order of St. John; and their expulsion by
the French at Midsummer 1798 seemed to Paul a personal affront. Some of
the Knights proceeded to St. Petersburg and claimed his protection. The
affairs of the Order became his most cherished concern; and on 24th July
Sir Charles Whitworth, British ambassador at that Court, reported that
Russia would now become a principal in the war against France, her aim
being the re-establishment of peace on safe and honourable terms, but
not the restoration of the French monarchy, on which Catharine had
insisted. With this declaration the British and Austrian Cabinets were
in full accord; and thus at last there was a hope of framing a compact
Coalition. Fortunate was it that Bonaparte's seizure of Malta incensed
Paul against France; for, early in August, the Swiss thinker, Laharpe,
tutor of the future Czar Alexander I, brought tempting offers from
Paris, with a view to the partition of the Turkish Empire.[506] That
glittering prize was finally to captivate the fancy of Paul; but for the
present he spurned the offer as degrading.
Nevertheless, the news of Aboukir did not wholly please him. For, while
rejoicing at the discomfiture of the French atheists, he saw in Nelson's
victory a sign of England's appropriation of Malta. In truth, that
island now became the central knot of far-reaching complications.
Formerly the bulwark of Christendom against the infidels, it now
sundered European States.[507] So doubtful was the attitude of Paul and
Francis that Pitt, in October 1798, twice wrote despondingly as to any
definite decision on their part. All that was clear was their inordinate
appetite for subsidies. These he of course withheld, knowing full well
that neither would Paul tolerate for long the presence of the French at
Malta, nor Francis their occupation of Switzerland. In any case he
resolved not to give more than £2,000,000 to the two Empires for the
year 1799.[508] For the time his hope lay only in the exertions of
England, Europe being meantime "left to its fate." In order to humour
the Czar, who was about to become Grand Master of the Knights of St.
John, Grenville, on 23rd November, wrote to assure his Government that
England renounced all aims of conquest in the Adriatic, or of the
possession of Malta.
At the close of the year Pitt proudly displayed the inexhaustible
resources of Great Britain. His Budget speech of 3rd December 1798 marks
an epoch in economic history, alike for the boldness of the underlying
conception and the statesmanlike assessment of the national resources.
Well might Mallet du Pan declare that the speech surpassed all previous
efforts in its illuminating exposition of a nation's finance. As
appeared in our survey of the Budget of 1797, Pitt then sought to meet
the year's expenses within the year. To a generation accustomed to shift
present burdens on to its successors the proposal seemed Quixotic; and
Fox blamed him for not adopting this device. Pitt held to his plan, and
outlined a ten per cent. tax upon income. Having failed to gain the
requisite tenth by means of the Assessed Taxes, he proposed to raise it
by methods which even the shirkers could with difficulty circumvent.
In order to lay a first rough actuarial basis for his Income Tax, he
made a careful study of the nation's resources in the autumn of 1798.
The results he summarized in an interesting statement. There were
available at that time only rough estimates, even as to the area of
cultivated land and its average rental. Relying upon Davenant, King,
Adam Smith, Arthur Young, and Middleton, he estimated the area at
40,000,000 acres, and the average rental at 15_s._ an acre. He prudently
fixed the taxable value at 12_s._ 6_d._ an acre. The yearly produce of
mines, timber, and canal shares he assessed at £3,000,000. He reckoned
house rent at double that sum, and the earnings of the legal profession
at one half of it. Half a million he deemed well within the total of
doctors' fees. He assessed the incomes derived from the British West
Indies at £4,000,000, and those from the rest of the world at
£1,000,000, a highly suggestive estimate. Tithes were reckoned at
£4,000,000; annuities from the public funds at £12,000,000; the same sum
for profits derived from foreign commerce; and £28,000,000 for the
profits of internal trade, whether wholesale or retail. Fixing the
rental of land at £6,000,000, he computed the total national income as
£102,000,000, which should therefore yield not less than £10,000,000 a
year. He proposed to safeguard the collection by imposing an oath at the
declaration of income, and enjoining absolute secrecy on the Crown
commissioners. The new tax, beginning from April 1799, would take the
place of the Assessed Taxes. As will appear in a later chapter, the new
impost did not yield the amount which Pitt expected; but the failure was
probably due to defects in the methods of collection. Pitt further
proposed to set aside £1,200,000 for the Sinking Fund.
His purpose in making this prodigious effort was to inspirit other
nations to similar patriotic exertions. He pointed out with pride that
after nearly six years of war British exports and imports exceeded those
of any year of peace. Thus, far from declining in strength and prowess,
as croakers averred, England had never shone so transcendently in the
arts of peace and the exploits of war, a prodigality of power which
presaged the vindication of her own rights and of the liberties of
Europe.
What was the new Europe which Pitt sought to call to being? The question
is of deep interest, not only as a psychological study, but as revealing
glimpses of British policy in the years 1814-15. The old order having
been rudely shaken in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy,
Pitt sought to effect a compromise between the claims of tradition and
those of expediency. It being of paramount importance to safeguard
Europe against France, Pitt and Grenville insisted on the limitation of
that Power within its old boundaries, and the complete independence of
Switzerland and Holland. That of the Kingdom of Sardinia afterwards
figured in their stipulations. But one significant change now appears.
The restoration of Austrian rule at Brussels being impracticable, it was
suggested that the Belgic Provinces should go to the Prince of Orange
when restored to his rights at The Hague. In the desperate crisis of
1805, as we shall see, Pitt sought to allure Prussia by offering Belgium
to her; but that was a passing thought soon given up. The other solution
of the Netherlands Question finally prevailed, thanks to the efforts of
Pitt's pupil, Castlereagh, in 1814. The Foreign Office did not as yet
aim at the retention of the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon as a set off to
British efforts for the Dutch and their acquisition of Belgium; but this
thought was already taking shape. The barrier against French aggressions
in the south-east was to be found in the reconstituted Kingdom of
Sardinia, the House of Savoy rendering in that quarter services similar
to the House of Orange in Flanders and Brabant. In other respects the
British Cabinet favoured Austria's plans of aggrandisement in Italy as
enhancing her power in a sphere which could not arouse the jealousy of
Prussia. The aims of Berlin not being known, except that the restoration
of the House of Orange was desired, Pitt and Grenville remained silent
on that topic.[509]
The question whether the peoples concerned would submit to this
under-girding of the European fabric did not trouble them. They saw only
the statics of territories; they had no conception of the dynamics of
nations. A future in which Nationality, triumphant in Italy and Germany,
would bring about a Balance of Power far more solid than any which their
flying buttresses could assure, was of course entirely hidden from them.
But they failed to read the signs of the times. The last despairing
efforts of the Poles, and the _levée en masse_ of the French people, now
systematized in the Conscription Law of 5th September 1798, did not open
their eyes to the future. For they were essentially men of the
Eighteenth Century; and herein lay the chief cause of their failure
against Revolutionary France. They dealt with lands as with blocks. She
infused new energy into peoples.
* * * * *
Meanwhile the return of Nelson to the Neapolitan coast intoxicated that
Court with joy. Queen Maria Carolina, ever the moving spirit at Naples,
now laid her plans for the expulsion of the French from Italy. Trusting
to her influence over her son-in-law, Francis II, and to a defensive
compact which the Courts of Vienna and Naples had framed on 20th May
1798, she sought to incite him to take the offensive. Her close
friendship with Lady Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador at Naples,
also enabled her to gain complete ascendancy over Nelson, who, with his
usual hatred of "the French villains," counselled open and immediate
war. For abetting this design, Sir William Hamilton received a sharp
rebuke from Downing Street. Francis II and Thugut were even more
annoyed. They repulsed the Neapolitan emissary who begged for help, and
roundly accused the Pitt Ministry of inciting Naples to war in order to
drag in Austria. Their anger was not appeased by the successes of the
Neapolitans near Rome, which the French evacuated on 29th November. The
counter-stroke soon fell. The French, rallying in force, pushed the
Bourbon columns southwards; and the early days of 1799 witnessed in
swift succession the surrender of Naples, the flight of its Court and
the Hamiltons to Palermo on Nelson's fleet, the foundation of the
Parthenopean Republic, and the liquefaction of the blood of St.
Januarius in sign of divine benediction on the new _régime_.[510]
Nevertheless, Nelson and the royal fugitives had set in motion forces
which elsewhere made for triumph. Paul, re-assured as to England's
desire to re-establish the Order of St. John at Malta, entered into an
alliance with her on 29th December 1798, whereby the two Powers agreed
to reduce France within her old boundaries, Russia furnishing to England
an army of 45,000 men, mainly with a view to the support of Prussia, on
condition of receiving £75,000 per month and three months' subsidies in
advance. She also promised to send 3,000 men to help in the siege of the
French garrison at Malta and others to assist England in the defence of
the Neapolitan lands. Austria, resentful towards Pitt and fearful of
Prussia's designs, still held back, though the events in Italy,
especially the dethronement of Charles Emmanuel IV of the House of Savoy
by the French should have spurred her to action. Probably she waited
until the needs of England and Russia should enable her to dictate her
terms. The cupidity of Thugut had been whetted by Pitt's speech as to
the wealth of England; and the efforts of Cobenzl at St. Petersburg led
Whitworth to sign a compact on terms so onerous to the British Treasury
as to draw on him a sharp disclaimer and reprimand from London.[511] So
matters dragged on far into the year 1799, when plans for the ensuing
campaign ought to have been matured.
Still more luckless were the dealings of the British Cabinet with
Prussia. In the hope of winning over Frederick William III, Grenville in
November 1798 despatched his brother Thomas on a mission to Berlin. His
journey thither was one of the longest and most eventful on record. At
Yarmouth he was detained by easterly gales; and when at last the packet
boat made the mouth of the Elbe it was wrecked. The passengers and crew
succeeded in making their way to shore over the pack-ice, Grenville
saving his papers, except the "full-power" needful for signing a treaty.
He reached Cuxhaven in great exhaustion; and arrived at Berlin on 17th
March, only to find that the French by daring and intrigue had cowed the
North German States into subservience. The terrible winter of 1798-9
largely accounts for the delays which ruined the subsequent campaign.
Whitworth remained long without news from Downing Street; and at last,
on 12th February, announced that he had received nine posts at once.
Meanwhile France, controlling all the coasts from Bremen to Genoa, not
only excluded British messengers, but carried on her diplomatic
bargaining in Germany without let or hindrance. For all his trouble,
Thomas Grenville could get no firm footing amidst the shifting sands of
Prussian diplomacy. So nervous were the Austrian Ministers as to
Prussia's future conduct that they seemed about to come to terms with
France and join in the plunder of the smaller German States. This might
have been the upshot had not French armies crossed the Rhine (1st March
1799), and shortly afterwards invaded the Grisons Canton.[512] Goaded to
action, Francis II declared war eleven days later. On 28th April
Austrian hussars seized the French envoys withdrawing from Rastatt,
murdering two of the four and seizing the papers of all.
Thus began the war of the Second Coalition. Bonaparte's seizure of Malta
and Egypt without a declaration of war, and the unbearable aggressions
of the French in Switzerland, Italy, and on the Rhine, stirred to action
States which the diplomatic efforts of Pitt and Grenville had left
unmoved. For none of the wars of that period was France so largely
responsible. Even now, when the inroad of the French into Germany
threatened the ascendancy of Prussia, Frederick William declined to join
the Allies; and his unstatesmanlike refusal thwarted the plans of Pitt
for the march of the subsidized Muscovite force through Prussia for the
recovery of Holland.
Another essential point was Switzerland. Like a bastion frowning over
converging valleys, that Alpine tract dominates the basins of the Po,
the Inn, the Upper Rhine, and the Upper Rhone. He who holds it, if
strong and resolute, can determine the fortunes of North Italy, Eastern
France, South Germany, and the West of the Hapsburg domains. Further, by
closing the passes over the Alps he can derange the commerce of Europe;
and the sturdy mountaineers will either overbear the plain-dwellers, or
will serve as mercenaries in their forces. Accordingly Switzerland, like
her Asiatic counterpart, Afghanistan, has either controlled her
neighbours, or has been fought for by them. As commerce-controller,
provider of troops, and warden of the passes, she holds a most important
position. Fortunate it is that the Swiss have loved freedom, or money,
more than dominion. For so soon as a great State possesses their land,
the Balance of Power becomes a fiction.
Pitt evinced sure insight in his resolve to free the Switzers from the
Jacobin yoke. To it the men of the Forest Cantons succumbed only after
desperate struggles, which inspired Wordsworth with one of the noblest
of his sonnets. There is no sign that Pitt set much store on winning
over the public opinion of Europe by siding with the oppressed against
the oppressor, as his disciple, Canning, did during the Spanish National
Rising; but help from the Swiss was certainly hoped for. So early as
August 1798 Pitt proposed to allot £500,000 for assistance to them, and,
but for the delays at St. Petersburg and Vienna, the Allies might have
rescued that brave people before it fell beneath the weight of numbers.
Even in March 1799, when the rising against the French had scarcely
begun, he set apart £31,000 per month for the purpose of equipping a
corps of 20,000 Swiss. On 15th March, after hearing of the outbreak of
war on the Rhine, Grenville urged that the Russian force subsidized by
England should march towards Switzerland, now that Prussia's doubtful
behaviour prevented a conquest of Holland by land. He also insisted that
this addition to the allied forces destined for Switzerland must not be
allowed to lessen the number of Austrians operating there.[513]
The Court of Vienna at once saw in the subsidized Russian army a tool
useful for its own plans, and requested that it should serve with the
Austrians in Swabia. The answer to this singular request can be
imagined. For a day or two Whitworth was also disturbed by a belated
effort of the French Directory to restore peace. It offered Poland to
the Elector of Saxony, and Saxony to Prussia for her friendly services,
Austria being led to expect Bavaria, if she would keep Russia "within
her ancient limits." Whitworth mentioned this overture to Cobenzl, and
saw him blush for the first time on record.[514] Probably, then, the
scheme had some powerful backing; but now Austria had crossed the
Rubicon.
At first all went well. The French had played a game of bluff which they
could not sustain. On all sides they were worsted in a way which
suggests how decisive the campaign might have been had the Allies
heartily seconded the salutary plans of Pitt. Unfortunately, despite
his efforts, no compact came about between Great Britain and Austria.
Russia and the Hapsburg State were but loosely connected; and, owing to
a long delay in the arrival of the ratification of the Anglo-Russian
Treaty, Paul did not until the beginning of May send forward the
subsidized army under the command of Korsakoff.
On the other hand, the auxiliary Russian force sent forward to the help
of Austria had by that time helped the white-coats to win notable
triumphs in North Italy. In the months of April and May, Melas and the
Imperialists, powerfully backed by Suvóroff's Muscovites, carried all
before them, and drove the enemy from Milan. Soon afterwards the Allies
entered Turin; and only by hard fighting and heavy losses did Moreau
with the chief French army cut his way through to the Genoese coast.
Meanwhile General Macdonald, retiring with a French corps from Naples,
left that city to the vengeance of Nelson and Maria Carolina with
results that are notorious. The French general made a brave stand in
North Italy, only to fall before the onsets of the Allies at the Trebbia
(17th-19th June). He, too, barely escaped to Genoa, where the relics of
the two French armies faced about. These successes aroused the highest
hopes at Westminster. Canning, who resigned his Under-Secretaryship of
Foreign Affairs in March 1799, wrote that he cared not whether the
Austrians were beaten; for their failure would serve as a good example
to Europe. But in June, after their brilliant successes, he expressed a
confident hope of the collapse of "the monstrous fabrick of crimes and
cruelties and abominations" known as French policy; he added that
Prussia could not be so stupid as to hold aloof from the Coalition; and
that Pitt, again vigorous in mind and body, would carry through the war
to the end.
But now in the train of victory there appeared its parasite, discord.
The re-conquest of Italy was so brilliant and easy as to arouse disputes
about the spoils; and when the Imperialists began to treat Suvóroff and
his heroes cavalierly, the feud became acute. His complaints to his
Sovereign that the Austrians thwarted him at every turn threw the
irascible Czar into a rage, and he inveighed against the insolence of
the Court of Vienna and its minions. Finally, in order to end these
disputes, the British Ministry proposed the departure of Suvóroff to
Switzerland in order to take command of Korsakoff's subsidized force.
In the third week of June Grenville urged this plan on the Russian Court
as securing concentration of force and unity of command, the result in
all probability being the liberation of Switzerland, whereupon the
Allies could prepare for an invasion of France on her undefended flank,
Franche Comté. England (added Grenville) disapproved of the presence of
"Louis XVIII" at the Russian headquarters; and if Monsieur, his brother,
issued a declaration, it must be drafted with care. The need of caution
appears in Monsieur's offer of pardon and clemency to the misguided
French, provided that they joined his standard.[515]
The Allies, it will be seen, built their hopes on a revolt of the
royalists of the East of France. In fact, widespread risings were
expected. Bordeaux had been the centre of a conspiracy for leaguing
together the malcontents of la Vendée with those of the South, these
again being in touch with the royalists of the Lyonnais and Franche
Comté. Wickham, who was sent as British agent to Switzerland in June
1799, opened up an extensive correspondence which promised to lead to a
formidable revolt whenever the Allies invaded Franche Comté and Nice.
The malcontents had as leaders Generals Précy, Pichegru, and Willot. In
due course the Comte d'Artois ("Monsieur") was to appear and put himself
at their head. Accordingly, in August 1799, he left Holyrood, came to
London, and dined at Grenville's house with him and Pitt. The Prime
Minister afterwards paid him a private visit: but the details of their
conference are not known. It is certain, however, that the Cabinet
accorded large sums of money to Wickham for use in the East of France.
Even after the failure in Switzerland, he pressed for the payment of
£365,000 in order to maintain the royalist movement.[516]
Pitt, then, was bent on using all possible means for humbling France;
and, in view of her disasters in the field, the discontent at home, and
the absence of Bonaparte's army in Egypt, the triumph of the Allies
seemed to depend solely on their unanimity. Much can be said in favour
of the British plan of uniting the two Russian armies in Switzerland to
act with that of the Archduke Charles, in order to strike at Franche
Comté in overwhelming force, while the Austrians in Italy invaded Nice.
If all the moves had taken place betimes, formidable forces would have
been massed for an attack upon the weakest parts of the French frontier.
The Czar agreed to the plan on 9th July; but the Emperor Francis
withheld his sanction for a suspiciously long time. Here again, as in
1794-6, the men of the pen interfered with the men of the sword.
Immersed in plans for a vast extension of Austria's domains in Italy,
Thugut turned a deaf ear to the demands of Russia and England for the
restoration of the House of Savoy to the throne of Turin. He declared
that, as Austria had recovered the continental domains of that dynasty,
she could therefore dispose of them. It soon appeared that she sought to
appropriate Piedmont, as well as Venetia, Lombardy, Parma, Modena, and
the northern part of the Papal States in place of her troublesome Belgic
domains, thus liberally fulfilling Pitt's suggestion that her chief
gains should be on the side of Italy.
On this question Pitt and Grenville differed. The latter, sympathizing
with Russia, strongly objected to Austria annexing Piedmont. Pitt,
however, maintained that such an acquisition would not resemble the
partition of Poland or of Venetia; for Charles Emmanuel had lost his
lands through his own weakness, and now did nothing towards recovering
them. Further, it was to the advantage of Europe that the rescuing
Power, Austria, should hold them as a barrier against France. If the
Czar Paul could not be induced to take this view we might leave the two
Empires to settle the matter; but, at present this solution offered the
best chance of arriving at a compact with Austria so much to be desired.
Thus, in order to strengthen the Barrier System against France, Pitt was
prepared to sacrifice legal rights to expediency, while Grenville upheld
the claims of justice.
* * * * *
Limits of space preclude an investigation of the causes of the
humiliating failure of the campaign in Switzerland. Suffice it to say
that, when Korsakoff's army finally entered the north-east of
Switzerland, the Archduke Charles was compelled by imperious mandates
from Vienna to withdraw into Swabia. He foresaw disaster; and it soon
came. While Suvóroff's army was toiling down the northern defiles of the
St. Gotthard, Masséna, after receiving strong reinforcements,
overwhelmed Korsakoff at Zurich (25th-26th September). That Pitt
expected defeat after the withdrawal of the Archduke Charles appears
from his letter to Windham:
Downing Street, _30th August 1799_.[517]
I should gladly accept your proposal to join the water-party
today, but I came to town to meet Lord Grenville; and, having
seen him, I am preparing to return part of the way to Walmer in
the course of the evening. I was brought to town by the
vexatious accounts from Vienna, which give too great a chance of
our being disappointed in our best hopes by the blind and
perverse selfishness of Austria's counsels.
Grenville was equally indignant and accused Austria of treachery.[518]
Much can be said in support of that charge. Whatever may have been her
motive, her conduct ruined the campaign. South-east of Zurich, Soult
routed Hotze's Austrian corps, which might have linked the movements of
Suvóroff with those of Korsakoff, and Suvóroff on arriving at Altorff
found no other course practicable than to strike away eastwards over the
Panixer Pass to Coire in the Grisons. There he arrived after severe
hardships on 8th October, and swore never again to act with the
Austrians. Paul, on hearing these dire tidings, registered the same vow,
and informed the Viennese Court that thenceforth he separated his
interests entirely from hers. Thus was it that Pitt's plans miscarried.
Thus was it that British subsidies were flung away into the limbo strewn
with tokens of Hapsburg fatuity.
* * * * *
The Anglo-Russian effort against the Batavian Republic is often referred
to as if it were the principal event of the year 1799. On the contrary,
it was little more than a diversion intended to help the chief
enterprise in Switzerland and Franche Comté. The Czar Paul and Pitt
probably did not intend to hold the Dutch Provinces unless the Allies
pressed France hard on the Swiss frontier and the Orange party rose in
force. If these contingencies held good, then Holland might be held as
far as the River Waal. If not, then the effort must be temporary. Even
so, its advantages were great. The seizure of the Dutch fleet at the
Texel and Helder would end all chance of invasion from that quarter.
Fears of such an attempt had prompted a counter-stroke dealt by General
Coote's force in the spring of 1798 at the sluice-gates near Ostend. Its
surrender under untoward circumstances was, perhaps, nearly
counterbalanced by the destruction of canal works necessary for the
assembly of the flat-bottomed boats at Ostend.
For a brief space the doubtful attitude of Prussia led Pitt and
Grenville to concert a larger scheme. They hoped to form a great array
of Prussians, Russians, Britons, and Hanoverians which would sweep the
French out of Holland; but obviously such a plan depended on the support
of the Berlin Cabinet. If it were hostile, or even unfriendly, no force
could advance through Hanover for the delivery of Holland; for it would
be at the mercy of Prussia. In order to bring her into the league, Pitt
and Grenville held out the promise of gains near the Dutch frontier; but
she held coyly aloof, doubtless from a conviction that Austria would
oppose her aggrandisement. So at least Thugut declared to Eden on his
departure from Vienna. Well might his successor, Lord Minto, remark that
the Allies spent as much time in watching each other's moves as those of
the enemy.
Prussia being immovable, England and Russia laid their plans for a naval
expedition to Holland. By a Convention signed at midsummer 1799 at St
Petersburg, Russia agreed to send a squadron of 11 ships, convoying an
expeditionary force of 17,500 men to the Dutch coast, England paying
£44,000 per month for their services after embarkation. The Czar hoped
that England would send some 6,000 men. The help of 8,000 Swedes was
also expected; but the King of Sweden, annoyed at England's seizure of
Swedish merchantmen, refused all assistance. For a time Pitt desired
both to attack the Island of Voorn below Rotterdam, and to effect a
landing in the estuary of the Ems, provided that 25,000 British, 18,000
Russians, and 8,000 Swedes were available. Here, as so often, Pitt's
hopes outran the actuality. Windham believed that he wished to conquer
Flanders. But Windham's moods were so various and perverse that he can
scarcely be trusted. In his view every effort not directed towards
Brittany was wasted; and certainly feints against the coasts of Brittany
and Spain promised to further the Dutch expedition.[519]
Early in August Pitt and his colleagues finally resolved to send the
expedition to the Dutch coast; but they had not decided as to the length
or extent of the occupation. So, at least, it appears from a letter of
Pitt to Sir Charles Grey:
Downing Street, _Aug. 23, 1799_.[520]
You will not wonder that the circumstances of the present moment
have strongly recalled to Mr. Dundas's mind and mine the
conversations which we have at different times had with you
respecting the possibility of a successful stroke against Brest.
The assemblage of the combined fleets[521] in that port renders
such an object more tempting than ever. We have a prospect, if
the expedition in Holland should terminate speedily, of having a
large army of 30,000 men at least, and a large body of marines,
with any number of sail-of-the-line that may be thought
necessary, applicable to such a service by the month of October;
and if the Allies continue to push their operations on the other
side of France, the bulk of the French force will find
sufficient occupation at a distance from their coast. In all
these respects the time seems as favourable as it can ever be
expected to be to such an enterprise; and if it is to be
undertaken, we shall derive the greatest confidence of success
from seeing the execution of it placed in your hands. Many
circumstances may undoubtedly arise in the course of the next
six weeks which may oblige us to abandon the idea....
This letter proves that Pitt did not expect a prolonged occupation of
Holland, at least by British troops; but the notions of Ministers on
this topic were singularly hazy. All things considered, the expedition
at first fared well. Sir Ralph Abercromby, the leader of the first
detachment of some 12,000 British troops, effected a landing near the
forts at the Helder, and on 27th August speedily captured them. Three
days later Admiral Mitchell captured a squadron of 10 sail-of-the-line
and several frigates anchored behind the Texel. Pitt was elated by these
successes, and wrote from Walmer Castle on 5th September: "We are
impatiently waiting till this east wind brings our transports in sight
to carry the remainder of our troops, in order to compleat speedily what
has been so gloriously begun." He adds that in a short autumn session he
hopes speedily to pass by acclamation a Bill ensuring the doubling of
the regular army by another levy from the militia.[522] Other letters
bespeak his anxiety as to the safety of his brother, the Earl of
Chatham, who served on the Council of War directing the operations of
the Duke of York.
Abercromby's first successes were for a time maintained. At dawn of 10th
September the British force beat off a sharp attack by Vandamme at the
Zuype Canal on the way southwards to Alkmaar. Three days later the Duke
of York arrived and took the command, including that of a Russian corps
under General Hermann. Moving forwards with some 30,000 men, the Duke
attacked a Franco-Dutch force somewhat inferior in numbers but very
strongly posted at and around the village of Bergen. The onset failed,
mainly owing to the fierce but premature and disorderly onset of the
Russians on the right wing, which ended in a rout. Abercromby's flanking
movement came too late to restore the fight, which cost the British
1,000 men and the Russians more than double as many (19th September).
Hermann was taken prisoner.[523]
On 2nd October the Allies compelled the enemy to retreat from Bergen;
but the success was of little service. The defenders, now strongly
reinforced, held several good positions between Alkmaar and Amsterdam.
Meanwhile the Orange party did not stir. Torrents of rain day after day
impaired the health of the troops and filled the dykes. An advance being
impossible in these circumstances, the Duke of York retreated to the
line of the Zuype (8th to 9th October). There he could have held his
own; but, in view of the disasters in Switzerland, Ministers decided to
evacuate Holland (15th October). Accordingly, by the Convention of
Alkmaar, on the 18th, the Duke of York agreed to evacuate the Dutch
Netherlands by the end of November, 8,000 of the prisoners of war then
in England being restored. Most questionable was the decision of
Ministers to evacuate the Helder and the Texel. Grenville desired to
hold those posts as bases for a second attempt in 1800; but this was not
done. The only result, then, was the capture of the Dutch fleet, a prize
gained without loss by the end of September.
The censures bestowed on this undertaking are very natural. Success was
scarcely possible in the narrow, marshy strip of land north of
Amsterdam. In such a district victory must be costly, while defeat spelt
disaster. The whole enterprise was unwarrantable, unless the Orange
party was about to rise; but on this subject Ministers were deceived.
The Prince of Orange and his son assured them that it was necessary even
to hold back the loyalists until armed help appeared, so eager were they
to expel the French.[524] Not a sign of this eagerness appeared.
Undaunted by this failure, which Sheridan wittily called nibbling at the
French rind, Pitt sought to utilize the Russian force withdrawn from
Holland for the projected blow at Brest. It was therefore taken to the
Channel Islands, greatly to the hurt of the inhabitants. Pitt and
Grenville also concerted plans with the Austrian Court, which, chastened
by the disasters in Switzerland, now displayed less truculence. It
agreed to repay the loan of May 1797, to restore Piedmont to the House
of Savoy, and to give back to France any provinces conquered in the war,
on condition of the re-establishment of monarchy. Thus, a friendly
understanding was at last arrived at; and on 24th December 1799
Grenville empowered Minto to prepare a treaty, adding that on the first
opportunity the French Government should be informed of this engagement.
The occasion occurred at once. Bonaparte, having become master of France
by the _coup d'état_ of Brumaire (10th November), wrote on Christmas Day
to Francis II and George III proposing terms of peace. The statesmanlike
tone of that offer has been deservedly admired; but his motives in
making it do not concern us here.[525] Suffice it to say that Pitt and
Thugut saw in it a clever device for sundering the Anglo-Austrian
compact. As appears from a letter of Canning, Pitt looked on the new
Consular Government as a make-shift. Writing early in December to
Canning, Pitt stated that the new French constitution might prove to be
of a moderate American kind. To this Canning answered on the 7th that it
might perhaps last long enough to admit of Bonaparte sending off a
courier to London and receiving the reply if he were kicked back. Or
more probably, France would fall under a military despotism, "of the
actual and manifest instability of which you seem to entertain no
doubt." In answer to Pitt's statement "that we ought not to commit
ourselves by any declaration that the restoration of royalty is the
_sine qua non_ condition of peace," Canning advised him to issue a
declaration "that you would treat with a monarchy; that to the monarchy
restored to its rightful owner you would give not only peace, but peace
on the most liberal terms."
Clearly, then, Pitt was less royalist than Canning; but he decided to
repel all overtures from Paris (so he wrote to Dundas on 31st December),
because the condition of France did not provide a solid security for a
peace. He added that he desired "to express strongly the eagerness with
which we should embrace any opening for general peace whenever such
solid security should be attainable. This may, I think, be so expressed
as to convey to the people of France that the shortest road to peace is
by effecting the restoration of Royalty, and thereby to increase the
chance of that most desirable of all issues to the war." As Grenville
and Dundas concurred in this view, the Foreign Office sent off a reply
stating that the usual diplomatic forms would be observed; that His
Majesty sought only to maintain the rights of his subjects against a war
of aggression; and that the present time was unsuitable for negotiations
with persons recently placed in power by a Revolution, until they should
disclaim the restless and subversive schemes which threatened the
framework of society. His Majesty, however, would welcome peace when it
could be attained with security, the best pledge of which would be the
restoration of Royalty.
This reply ranks among the greatest mistakes of the time. It made the
name of the Bourbons odious and that of Bonaparte popular throughout
France; and the scornful references to the First Consul's insecurity
must have re-doubled the zeal of Frenchmen for the erection of a truly
national and monarchical system under his auspices. In truth, it is
difficult to see why Pitt, who held out the olive-branch to the
newly-established Directory in the autumn of 1795, should have repelled
the proffered hand of Bonaparte. The probable explanation is that he
thought more of the effect of the reply at Vienna than at Paris. On 6th
January Grenville forwarded a copy to Minto, expressing also the hope
that it would be regarded as a sign of the fidelity of England to the
Emperor. Further, Pitt's oration on 3rd February 1800 on this topic was
marked by extreme acerbity against Bonaparte. He descanted on his
perfidy and rapacity at the expense of Venice and the Sultan's
dominions, and deprecated a compact with "this last adventurer in the
lottery of Revolutions.... As a sincere lover of peace," he added, "I
will not sacrifice it by grasping at the shadow, when the reality is not
substantially within my reach. _Cur igitur pacem nolo? Quia infida est,
quia periculosa, quia esse non potest._"[526] In reply to a verbal
challenge from Tierney a fortnight later, he fired off an harangue which
ranks among the ablest and most fervid of improvisations. The Whig
leader having defied him to state in one sentence without _ifs_ and
_buts_ the object of the war, Pitt flung back the retort:
... I know not whether I can do it in one sentence, but in one
word I can tell him that it is security; security against a
danger the greatest that ever threatened the world; ... against
a danger which has been resisted by all the nations of Europe,
and resisted by none with so much success as by this nation,
because by none has it been resisted so uniformly and with so
much energy.... How or where did the honourable gentleman
discover that the Jacobinism of Robespierre, of Barère, of the
Triumvirate, of the Five Directors, which he acknowledged to be
real, has vanished and disappeared because it has all been
centred and condensed into one man, who was reared and nursed in
its bosom, whose celebrity was gained under its auspices, who
was at once the child and champion of all its atrocities and
horrors? Our security in negotiation is to be this Buonaparte,
who is now the sole organ of all that was formerly dangerous and
pestiferous in the Revolution.... _If_ peace afford no prospect
of security; _if_ it threaten all the evils which we have been
struggling to avert; _if_ the prosecution of the war afford the
prospect of attaining complete security; and _if_ it may be
prosecuted with increasing commerce, with increasing means, and
with increasing prosperity, except what may result from the
visitations of the seasons; then I say it is prudent in us not
to negotiate at the present moment. These are my _buts_ and my
_ifs_. This is my plea, and on no other do I wish to be tried by
God and my country.
One who heard that spirited retort left on record the profound
impression which it produced on the House.[527]
Seeing that Bonaparte was then known merely as an able _condottiere_,
not as the re-organizer of French society, Pitt's haughty attitude,
though deplorable, is intelligible. The prospects of the war were not
unfavourable. He hoped that Austria, now about to invade Nice and Savoy,
would be able by her own efforts to reduce France within her old limits,
England's duty being to offer help on the Riviera, to make a dash at
Brest, and to seize Belleisle as a base of supplies for the Breton
royalists, now once more in revolt. It is significant that Dundas wrote
to Pitt on 4th January expressing his belief that Bonaparte must be
serious in his desire for peace because he had no other game to
play.[528]
Many influences conspired to mar these hopes. The enterprises against
Brest and Belleisle proved to be impracticable, and a landing at
Quiberon failed because the Breton rising occurred too soon. The
royalists of Provence did not rise at all. An attempt by Sir James
Pulteney and a small force upon Ferrol was an utter failure. All the
operations were paralysed by uncertainty as to the future conduct of
Russia. The indignation of the Czar against Austria extended to England
after the failure of the joint expedition to Holland; and his testiness
increased owing to maritime disputes and the friction caused by the
outrages of his troops in the Channel Islands. In the Riviera the
Austrians continued their successes, and finally shut up Masséna in
Genoa, where the British fleet rendered valuable service. But it is not
surprising to find Grenville writing on 10th April to Dundas: "For God's
sake, for your own honour, and for the cause in which we are engaged, do
not let us, after having by immense exertions collected a fine army,
leave it unemployed, gaping after messengers from Genoa, Augsburg, and
Vienna till the moment for acting is irrecoverably passed by."
This, however, was the outcome of events. The French, acting on interior
lines, and propelled by the will of Bonaparte, utterly crushed these
sporadic efforts. The Royalists were quelled or pacified, the coasts
were well guarded, while the First Consul, crossing the Great St.
Bernard, overthrew the Austrians at Marengo (14th June). Before long
Naples made peace with the conqueror. Meanwhile the Sea Power, operating
on diverse coasts, delayed, but did not reverse, the progress of the
French arms. British forces for a time defended Portugal and held
Minorca and the citadel of Messina, but without any appreciable effect
on Spain or Italy. The fleet played an important part in starving out
the French garrisons of Genoa and Valetta. But elsewhere the action, or
inaction, of the British forces was discreditable. True, the conditions
were adverse, but an army numbering more than 80,000 men, and costing
nearly £10,000,000 sterling, should have accomplished something in
Europe.
Only at one point did the British arms win a decisive success. The
French occupation of Egypt had aroused the apprehensions of Dundas for
India; and throughout the year 1800 he continued to urge an expedition
to Egypt, though other Ministers inclined to put it off. Finally, when
Bonaparte's triumph at Marengo shattered all hopes of an Austrian
invasion of Provence, and the surrender of Valetta, early in September,
set free the British squadron long blockading that port, Dundas pressed
the Egyptian project in a letter to Pitt, dated Wimbledon, 19th
September 1800. The gist of it is as follows:[529]
On reconsidering the discussion on Egypt at the Cabinet meeting
of yesterday, I am impressed by the danger of delaying action.
The importance of expelling the French from Egypt is obvious;
for it is clear that Bonaparte will subordinate every object to
the retention of that colony. The danger to India may not be
immediate, but it must be faced. Besides, our sacrifice of
Turkish interests to those of Austria [that is, by refusing to
ratify the Franco-Turkish Convention of El Arish] may induce the
Sultan to bargain with France on terms very unfavourable to us.
Or, again, France and Russia may plan a partition of the Ottoman
Empire. The objections, that we are pledged to do what we can
for Portugal and Austria, are not vital. For Portugal is safe
while the Viennese Court opposes France; and by our subsidies
and naval help we have borne our fair share in the Coalition.
Further efforts in that direction will be fruitless. We must now
see to our own interests. By occupying all the posts of Egypt,
we can coop up the French and force them to capitulate. Action
must not be postponed for any consideration whatever.
The opinion of Dundas soon prevailed; for, on 6th October, Grenville
wrote that the Egyptian Expedition was decided on. As is well known, the
joint efforts of forces from England, India, and the Cape of Good Hope
brought about the surrender of the French garrisons, and the acquisition
for the British Museum of the treasures designed for the Louvre. This
brilliant result was in the last instance due to Abercromby, Hutchinson,
Popham, and their coadjutors. But the enterprise resulted from the
untiring championship of the interests of India by Dundas. Long
afterwards at Perthshire dinner-tables he used to tell with pride how
George III once proposed a toast to the Minister who planned the
expedition to Egypt and in doing so had the courage to oppose not only
his colleagues but his King.
As the year 1800 drew to its close, the opposition of the Baltic Powers
to the British maritime code became most threatening. The questions at
issue are too technical to be discussed here. Pitt and his colleagues
believed the maintenance of the rights of search and of the seizure of
an enemy's goods on neutral ships to be essential to the existence of
England. For this view of the case much was to be said. In every war
France used neutral ships in order to get supplies; and the neutrals
themselves sought to filch trade from British merchants. Now, to hinder
or destroy the commerce of the enemy, and to prevent neutrals from
bringing naval stores to his ports, were the only means of bringing
pressure from the sea upon the dominant Land Power. In a strife for life
or death Pitt and his colleagues perforce made use of every weapon, even
to the detriment of non-combatants. This stiff attitude, however,
contrasted with that of Bonaparte, who, in July 1800 flattered the Czar
by sending back Russian prisoners and by offering to cede Malta to him.
Paul, not knowing that the fall of Valetta was imminent, was duped by
this device; and, a few weeks later, occurred the rupture between Russia
and England.
Thus, within a year, the Second Coalition against France went to pieces,
and was succeeded by a league against England. Thanks to the victory of
Nelson at Copenhagen and the murder of the Czar Paul in the spring of
1801, that unnatural alliance speedily collapsed. These events, however,
belong to a time subsequent to Pitt's resignation of office, after the
completion of the union with Ireland, to which we must now return.
Enough has been said to show the statesmanlike nature of his plans for
the vindication of European independence. The intrigues of Thugut, the
selfish isolation of Prussia, and the mad oscillations of Paul marred
those plans and left the Continent a prey to the unbridled ambition of
Bonaparte, from which it was to be saved only after a decade of
exhausting wars.
FOOTNOTES:
[502] "F. O.," Austria, 51; "Dropmore P.," iv, 170. The French took
nearly 33,000,000 francs from the Swiss cantonal treasuries.
[503] Pitt MSS., 108.
[504] "Dropmore P.," iv, 166, 172; "F. O.," Austria, 51. Grenville to
Eden, 20th April.
[505] The Earl of Crawford's MSS.
[506] "F. O.," Russia, 40. Whitworth to Grenville, 6th August 1798.
[507] See my Introduction to "The History of Malta, 1798-1815," by the
late W. Hardman.
[508] "Dropmore P.," iv, 344, 355.
[509] See Rose, "Napoleonic Studies," 54-8, for this despatch of 16th
November 1798.
[510] For a fuller account see "Camb. Mod. Hist.," viii, ch. xxi, by the
present writer.
[511] "F. O.," Russia, 42. Despatches of 2nd, 8th and 25th January 1799.
[512] Huffer, "Quellen," i, 23-9.
[513] "Dropmore P.," iv, 297, 338, 505; "F. O.," Russia, 42.
[514] "F. O.," Russia, 42. Whitworth to Grenville, 29th March.
[515] "F. O.," Russia, 43. Grenville to Whitworth, 23rd June.
[516] G. Caudrillier, "L'Association royaliste ... et la Conspiration
anglaise en France" (Paris, 1908); Wickham, "Corresp.," ii, _passim_.
[517] B.M. Add. MSS., 37844.
[518] "Dropmore P.," v, 400. I propose to examine this campaign in "Pitt
and Napoleon Miscellanies."
[519] "F. O.," Russia, 43. Whitworth to Grenville, 23rd June 1799;
"Dropmore P.," v, 133, 259; Windham, "Diary," 411. On 22nd July Windham
urged Pitt to send a force to help the Bretons rather than to Holland.
"If we succeed in France, Holland falls of course, but not _vice versa_"
(Pitt MSS., 190).
[520] Pretyman MSS.
[521] That of Bruix, which after entering the Mediterranean, returned to
Brest on 13th August along with the Spanish fleet.
[522] The Earl of Crawford's MSS.
[523] Fortescue, iv, 662, 673-6; Bunbury, "Narrative of the War
(1799-1810)," 50. Hermann wrote to the Emperor blaming the British for
not supporting his advance ("Dropmore P.," v, 425); but on 10th October
Paul dismissed him from the Russian service ("F. O.," Russia, 44).
[524] "Dropmore P.," v, 446.
[525] See Rose, "Napoleon I," 240-2.
[526] Cicero, Seventh Philippic, ch. iii.
[527] The father of the present Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
See his work, "Ten Great and Good Men," 49.
[528] Pretyman MSS.
[529] Pretyman MSS.