PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. CONFERENCE AT ERFURTH.
PROPOSAL FOR PEACE. BUONAPARTE ENTERS SPAIN.
♦1808.♦
♦BUONAPARTE IS DEEPLY AFFECTED BY THE REVERSES IN SPAIN.♦
It had always been Buonaparte’s system, and therein it was that the
strength and wisdom of his policy consisted, to ensure success, as
far as the end can be rendered certain by the employment of adequate
means. Having stripped Spain of its best troops, introduced his armies
into the heart of the country, seized the most important fortresses,
inveigled into captivity the whole Royal Family, and extorted from
them a formal renunciation of the crown in his favour; the people,
he thought, if they dared attempt any partial opposition, would be
effectually intimidated by the first slaughter, and the military
executions which should follow it. His calculation was erroneous,
because the Spanish character, and the strength of good principles,
had not been taken into the account. He had never dreamt of a national
resistance; and the defeat of armies, till that time irresistible,
affected him the more deeply, because he felt that the measures
♦MARSHAL GOUVION ST. CYR, 18.♦ which had drawn on these disasters were
as infamous as he now perceived that they were impolitic. The reverses
which befell him in the latter part of his bloody career he bore with
the coldest insensibility; but he was distressed by these, and all but
cast down.
♦HE CONCEALS THEM FROM THE FRENCH PEOPLE.♦
But it was too late to recede; the infamy was indelible, it remained
only to secure the prize, and this he believed there would be no
difficulty in effecting. His first care was to conceal from the French
all knowledge of the mortifying failure his arms had experienced,
till he should have secured the subserviency of the other continental
powers, and collected fresh armies to pour into the peninsula. His
system of government was founded upon falsehood as well as force. While
all Spain was in arms, the French papers represented it as joyfully
welcoming its new sovereign. “The disturbances,” they said, “which
broke out in a few provinces were completely quelled: they had been
occasioned only by the common people, who wished to pillage the rich:
the disaffected had got together some bands of smugglers, opened the
prisons, and put arms into the hands of the felons: these wretches
had committed great excesses upon their peaceful countrymen, but
every thing was now quiet. The captains-general, the magistrates, and
the polished part of the nation, displayed the best sentiments, and
the greatest repose and best state of mind prevailed. At Cadiz the
public tranquillity did not experience a moment’s interruption; the
inhabitants of that interesting city had resisted all the insidious
offers of the English. Throughout the peninsula, indeed, only a few
insignificant individuals had been led astray by the spies of England.
But the Council of Castille, and the most respectable persons, had
exerted their influence with all ranks, to crush the seeds of sedition
before they should shoot forth; and their efforts had been completely
successful.” Over great part of France and of the continent these
accounts would be believed; wherever, indeed, a vigilant tyranny could
keep out all information except its own. But at Bayonne it was not
possible that the truth could be concealed; and by the falsehood which
was officially circulated in that part of the country, it seems that
the general opinion there was strongly against a war, provoked solely
for the aggrandizement ♦JUNE 8.♦ of the Buonaparte family. M. Champagny
addressed a note to the prefect of the Gironde, informing him, that
the Emperor had just received advices from his brother the King of
Holland, saying the King of England was dead, and that the first act
of George IV. had been to make a total change of ministers. This
was not given as a report, but as an authenticated fact, officially
communicated: “and may this event,” it was added, “be the presage of a
general peace, ... the object of the Emperor’s wishes, to the want of
which Europe is so sensible, and which would be so advantageous to the
commerce of Bourdeaux in particular!” The same falsehood was repeated
in that number of the Madrid[37] Gazette which contained Buonaparte’s
proclamation of Joseph as King of Spain and the Indies. Buonaparte
endeavoured also to keep his allies as well as his subjects ignorant of
the real state of things. The Russian Ambassador at Madrid could find
no means of communicating to his court an account of what was passing
in Spain, all his letters being intercepted in France, till at the end
of August, when some British officers were in Madrid, an opportunity
was afforded him of sending his dispatches through England; he then
confided to the honour of a hostile power what could no longer be
trusted to an unprincipled ally.
♦STATEMENT OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT.♦
It was not till two months after the capture of the ships at Cadiz,
and five weeks after the flight of the Intruder from Madrid, that any
account of the affairs of Spain appeared in the French ♦SEPT. 6.♦
papers, except assurances that all was well. A long narrative was then
published, written with the usual falsehood of the French government,
but not with its usual skill. The insurrection was ascribed entirely
to the artifices and bribes of England, assisted by the monks and the
Inquisition, ... the Inquisition, which had lent its whole authority
to the usurpation! Great stress was laid upon the excesses which the
patriots had committed; whereas the list of persons who were here
claimed as martyrs in the Intruder’s cause did not equal in number
the victims of one _noyade_ in the Loire, scarcely exceeded that of
one day’s allowance for the guillotine in Paris. The military detail,
which was called a correct abstract of the events of the campaign,
was composed with studied and inextricable confusion; all order of
time and place was inverted and involved, and facts, exhibited thus
piecemeal, were still farther disguised by suppression, exaggeration,
and falsehood. At Valencia, it was said, French intrepidity overcame
every obstacle: twenty pieces of artillery were taken; the suburbs
were carried, and the streets strewed with dead bodies: ... this
indeed was true; but they were the bodies of the French. At Zaragoza,
fourteen cloisters, which had been fortified, three-fourths of the
city, the arsenal, and all the magazines were in their possession. That
unfortunate city was almost ruined by fire, the bombardment, and the
explosion of mines. Not a hint was given of the event of that memorable
siege. The loss of the fleet was not mentioned. Dupont was so spoken
of, as to make it evident, that, if he returned to France, his life
would atone for his failure. After a series of events which could not
be described, because they ought to be a subject of judicial inquiry,
he had committed the triple fault of suffering his communication with
Madrid to be cut off, of letting himself be separated from two-thirds
of his army, and then giving battle in a disadvantageous position,
after a forced night-march; and, manifesting an equal deficiency of
political as of military talent, he had allowed himself to be deceived
in negotiations. This unexpected event, the numerous descents of the
English upon the coast of Galicia, (where no English had landed, except
a few officers,) and the excessive heat of the season, had induced
the King to assemble his troops, and place them in a cooler climate
than that of New Castille, and in a situation possessing a milder
atmosphere, and better water: therefore, he left Madrid, and the
army went into cooler cantonments. The bodies of insurgents scarcely
deserved to be mentioned: they defended themselves behind a wall or a
house; but a single squadron of cavalry, or a battalion of infantry,
was sufficient to put many thousands of them to the rout. “All that
the English papers have published,” said Buonaparte’s gazetteer, “is
unfounded and false. England knows well the part that she is acting;
she also knows well what she is to expect from all her efforts. Her
only object is to involve Spain in confusion, that she may thereby make
herself mistress of such of its possessions as best suit her purposes.”
♦REPORT OF M. CHAMPAGNY.♦
At the same time, two reports from the minister of foreign affairs
were laid before the French senate. The first of these bore date
from Bayonne, so far back as the 24th of April. Hitherto the modern
powers of Europe had always thought it necessary to hold forth some
decent pretext for engaging in hostilities, however iniquitous might
be the latent motives ... but the semblance of moral decorum was now
contemptuously laid aside; and in this state-paper Buonaparte was
advised to seize upon Spain, for the purpose of carrying on the war
against England more effectually, every thing being legitimate which
led to that end. No state in Europe was more necessarily connected with
France than Spain: she must be either a useful friend, or a dangerous
enemy; ... an intimate alliance must unite the two nations, or an
implacable enmity separate them. Such an enmity had in old times become
habitual: ... the wars of the 16th century proceeded as much from the
rivalry of the nations as of the sovereigns: the troubles of the League
and the Fronde had been excited and fomented by Spain; and the power
of Louis XIV. did not begin to rise, till, having conquered Spain, he
had formed that alliance with the royal family which ultimately placed
his grandson on the throne. That act of provident policy gave to the
two countries an age of peace, after three ages of war: but the French
revolution broke this bond of union; and the Spanish Bourbons must
always, through their affection, their recollections, and their fear,
be the secret and perfidious enemies of France. It was for the interest
of Spain, as well as of France, that a firm hand should re-establish
order in her affairs, now when a feeble administration had led her to
the brink of ruin. A king, the friend of France, having nothing to fear
from her, and not being an object of distrust to her, would appropriate
all the resources of Spain to her interest, and to the success of that
common cause which united Spain to France and to the continent. Thus
would the work of Louis XIV. be re-established. What policy suggests,
said the report, justice authorises. The increase of the Spanish army
before the battle of Jena was really a declaration of war: the laws of
the customs were directed against French commerce: French merchants
were aggrieved, while the ports were open to the contraband trade of
England, and English merchandize was spread through Spain into the rest
of Europe: Spain, therefore, was actually in a state of war with the
Emperor.
Even M. Champagny, however, had not the effrontery to press this
conclusion. Exclusive of this, he said, existing circumstances did
not permit the Emperor to refrain from interfering in the affairs of
Spain. He was called upon to judge between the father and the son.
Which part would he take? Would he sacrifice the cause of sovereigns,
and sanction an outrage against the majesty of the throne? Would he
leave on the throne a prince who could not withdraw himself from the
yoke of England? In that case, France must constantly keep a powerful
army on foot in Spain. Would he reinstate Charles IV.? This could
not be effected without overcoming a great resistance, and shedding
French blood. And should that blood, of which France was prodigal for
her own interests, be shed for a foreign king, whose fate was of no
consequence to her? Lastly, would he abandon the Spanish nation to
themselves, and while England was sowing the seeds of trouble and of
anarchy, leave this new prey for England to devour? This was not to
be thought of. The Emperor, therefore, occupied, of necessity, with
the regeneration of Spain, in a manner useful to that kingdom and to
France, ought neither to re-establish the dethroned king, nor to leave
his son upon the throne; for in either case it would be delivering her
to the English. Policy advised, and justice authorized him to provide
for the security of the empire, and to save Spain from the influence of
England.
♦SECOND REPORT.♦
Thus was the principle, that whatever is profitable is right, openly
proclaimed by the French government, ... a principle which the very
thief, on his career to the gallows, dares not avow to himself. The
other report from the same minister ♦SEPT. 1.♦ was of four months
later date, though the former had plainly not been written till it
was thought expedient to publish it: for the Tyrant needed no adviser
in his conduct at Bayonne; and if his usurpation had been passively
submitted to by the Spaniards, Spain would have been represented as
the brave and faithful ally of France, and the new dynasty exhibited
as the reward of her loyalty, which was now to be the means of curbing
her hostile disposition. This second report began by proposing to the
Emperor that he should communicate to the Senate the treaties which
had placed the crown of Spain in his hands, and the constitution,
which, under his auspices, and enlightened by his advice, the Junta
at Bayonne, after free and mature deliberation, had adopted, for
the glory of the Spanish name, and the prosperity of Spain and its
colonies. He had interfered with Spain, it said, as a mediator; but
his persuasive means, and his measures of wise and humane policy, had
not been successful. Individual interests, foreign intrigues, and
the influence of foreign corruption had prevailed. The disturbances
in Spain were occasioned by English gold. Would, then, his Majesty
permit England to say, “Spain is one of my provinces! My flag, driven
from the Baltic, the North sea, the Levant, and even from the shores
of Persia, rules in the ports of France?” No, never! To prevent so
much disgrace and misfortune, two millions of brave men were ready to
scale the Pyrenees, and chase the English from the peninsula. If the
French fought for the liberty of the seas, they must begin by wresting
Spain from the influence of the tyrant of the ocean. If they fought
for peace, they could not obtain it till they had driven the enemies
of peace from Spain. If they fought for honour, they must promptly
inflict vengeance for the outrages committed against the French name
in Spain. The probability of meeting the English at last, of fighting
them man to man, of making them feel the evils of war themselves, ...
evils of which they were ignorant, having only caused them by their
gold, was represented as no small advantage. They will be beaten, said
M. Champagny, destroyed, dispersed, or, at least, they will make haste
to fly, as they did at Toulon, at the Helder, at Dunkirk, in Sweden,
... wherever the French armies have been able to find them! But their
expulsion from Spain would be the ruin of their cause; it would exhaust
their means, and annihilate their last hope. In this contest the wishes
of all Europe would be with France!
♦REPORT OF THE WAR-MINISTER.♦
These reports, with the two mock treaties of Bayonne, were laid before
the Senate, and, at the same time, a report of the war-minister was
presented. France, it was said, had never possessed more numerous or
better appointed armies, neither were they ever better kept up, or
better provisioned. Nevertheless, the events which had taken place in
Spain had occasioned a pretty considerable loss, in consequence of an
operation, not less inconceivable than painful, of the division under
General Dupont. His Majesty had notified his resolution of assembling
more than 200,000 men beyond the Pyrenees, without weakening either the
armies in Germany or that in Dalmatia. A levy of 80,000 was therefore
indispensable, and these could only be taken from the four classes of
the conscription of the years 1806, 7, 8, and 9, which, exclusive of
the men who had married within those years, might furnish 600,000. In
levying 80,000, only one conscript out of seven would be called out,
and the vacancies in the armies would thus be filled up with soldiers
of 21, 22, and 23 years of age, that is, with men fit to undergo the
fatigues of war. “It is true, Sire,” said the war-minister, “that the
custom observed of late years might, to a certain degree, induce a part
of your subjects to consider themselves released from the duty of the
conscription, as soon as they had furnished the contingent required
for the year; and, under this point of view, what I propose might
appear to require from your people a sacrifice. But, Sire, there is
no one but knows, that, by the words of the law, your Majesty would
be authorised to call to your standard the whole of the conscription,
not only of the last four years, but even of the antecedent years: and
even were there question of a real sacrifice, what sacrifice is it that
your Majesty has not a right to expect from the love of your subjects?
Who among us is ignorant that your Majesty wholly sacrifices yourself
for the happiness of France, and that upon the speedy accomplishment
of your high designs depend the repose of the world, the future
safety, and the re-establishment of a maritime peace, without which
France can never enjoy tranquillity? In proposing to your Majesty to
declare, that henceforth no retrospective call shall take an antecedent
conscription, I only participate, Sire, in your paternal wishes. I
think it expedient, at the same time, to propose to your Majesty to
order out the conscription of the year 1810, determining the amount of
it, from the present instant, at 80,000 men ... to furnish the means,
as occasion may require, of forming camps of reserve, and of protecting
the coast in the spring time. This conscription would be raised only
under the apprehension of a war with other powers, nor would it be
called out before the month of January next.”
Thus, then, it appeared that those persons who had escaped from the
conscriptions of four years were again to stand the hazard of this
dreadful lottery, and that of the unmarried men, between the ages of
21 and 23, one in seven was to be sent to the armies! ... and this
draught upon the morality, the happiness, the vital strength, the
flesh and blood of the French people ... was required, because their
Corsican master had thought proper to appoint his brother to be king
of Spain! The promise that no retrospective conscription should again
be called for, shows plainly what the feelings of the nation were at
such a measure, when Buonaparte thought it necessary to soothe them,
by declaring, that it was not to be repeated. This was not all: one
year’s conscription had already been anticipated, another year was
to be levied in advance, and 80,000 men, whose services, by these
baleful laws, were not due till 1810, were now to be ♦SUSPICION OF THE
VIEWS OF AUSTRIA.♦ called forth. This was necessary, the report said,
because England and Austria were increasing their armies; and it was
an evil inseparable from the present state of Europe, that France must
increase hers in the same proportion. A suspicion of the intentions of
Austria was now intimated. Its armaments, the war-minister declared,
had often excited his solicitude. He had been told by the minister for
foreign affairs, that the best understanding prevailed with the court
of Vienna; but though it did not belong to his department to dive into
the views and interests of states, and explore the tortuous labyrinths
of politics, it was his duty to neglect nothing for preserving to the
French armies, at all points, that just superiority which they ought to
possess. The plan which he had proposed would give the army of Spain
200,000 men, without weakening the other armies; and the conscription
of 1810 would increase the armies of Germany, of the North, and of
Italy, by more than 80,000. From such a force what could be expected
but the speedy re-establishment of tranquillity in Spain, of a maritime
peace, and of that general tranquillity which was the object of the
Emperor’s wishes? Much blood would be spared, because so great a number
of men would be ready to shed it.... Here the tyrant’s principle is
right: and grievously was that parsimony of strength on the part of
his mightiest enemy to be lamented, which, by never sending a force
sufficient to insure its object, so often wasted what it sent.
♦MESSAGE FROM BUONAPARTE TO THE SENATE.
SEPT. 4.♦
A message from Buonaparte accompanied these reports, when they were
laid before the Senate. He mentioned his firm alliance with Russia,
and said, that he had no doubts of the peace of the continent, but
that he ought not to rely upon the false calculations and errors of
other courts; and since his neighbours increased their armies, it was
a duty incumbent upon him to increase his: he therefore imposed fresh
sacrifices upon his people, which were necessary to secure them from
heavier, and to lead them to the grand result of a general peace. “I am
determined,” said he, “to carry on the war with Spain with the utmost
activity, and to destroy the armies which England has disembarked in
that country. The future security of my subjects, a maritime peace,
and the security of commerce, equally depend upon these important
operations. Frenchmen, my projects have but one object in view ... your
happiness, and the permanent well-being of your children; and if I
know you right, you will hasten to comply with this new call, which is
rendered necessary by the interests of the country.”
♦THE SENATE APPROVE HIS MEASURES.♦
In the first of Buonaparte’s three constitutions for France, the
affectation of Roman titles, and the false taste with which they were
applied to offices essentially different, were equally to be remarked.
The name of Senate, however, was well retained under his imperial
government, just such a Senate having existed during those disgraceful
ages of the Roman empire, when a despotism, similar to that which he
had established in France, was degrading their country, and preparing
the way for the universal barbarism and misery which ensued. The
baseness of those wretches who sanctioned the iniquities and cruelties
of Tiberius and Caligula was equalled by the obsequious senators of
Buonaparte. On the day after his message had been presented, they
voted an address, echoing the gross and palpable falsehoods of his
assertions, applauding his measures, and appropriating to themselves,
and, as far as the crimes of a government can be imputed to the people,
to the French nation also, the guilt of his conduct towards Spain.
“Your Majesty,” said they, “desires to defend solemn and voluntarily
concluded treaties; to maintain a constitution freely discussed,
adopted, and sworn to by a national junta; to suppress a barbarous
anarchy, which now covers Spain with blood and mourning, and threatens
our frontier; to rescue the true Spaniards from a shameful yoke, by
which they are oppressed; to assure to them the happiness of being
governed by a brother of your Majesty; to annihilate the English
troops, who unite their arms with the daggers of the banditti; to
avenge the French blood, so basely shed; to put out of all doubt the
security of France, and the peace of our posterity; to restore and
complete the work of Louis XIV.; to accomplish the wish of the most
illustrious of your predecessors, and particularly of him who was by
France most beloved; to extend your great power, in order to diminish
the miseries of war, and to compel the enemy of the continent to a
general peace, which is the sole object of all your measures, and the
only means for the repose and prosperity of our country. The will
of the French people is, therefore, Sire, the same as that of your
Majesty. The war with Spain is politic, just, and necessary.”... If the
transactions which are the subject of this history had passed in remote
ages, and such a narrative as is here presented had been preserved to
us, it would scarcely be possible, when we found the Senate of a great
nation, like France, thus solemnly approving and ratifying the conduct
of its Emperor, not to suspect that the history had been handed down
in an imperfect state; that some facts had been suppressed, and others
distorted; for, however credible the usurpation itself might appear,
as the act of an individual tyrant, that it should, with its attendant
circumstances of perfidy and cruelty, be thus represented as a just
and necessary act, by a legislative assembly, and made the ground of
a national war, is something so monstrous, that it would startle our
belief; and, for the honour of human nature, we should hesitate before
we trusted human testimony.
♦MARCH OF THE TROOPS TOWARD SPAIN.♦
The conscription for which the tyrant called was decreed without one
dissentient voice, by an assembly constituted for no other purpose than
that of executing his will and pleasure. His other measures had already
been taken. About the middle of August he had ordered General Gouvion
Saint Cyr from Boulogne, to repair to Perpignan, and there collect an
army, with which to enter Catalonia, as soon as Buonaparte himself
should enter Spain on the other side. He gave him no other instructions
than that he should use all efforts to preserve Barcelona: “if that
place be lost,” said he, “to recover it will cost me eighty thousand
men.” The troops from Prussia and Poland were recalled; they consisted
not of Frenchmen alone, but of Germans and Italians, Poles, Swiss,
and Dutch, Irish, and Mamalukes, men of all countries and languages,
of all religions and of none, united into one efficient body by the
bond of discipline. They cared not whither they were ordered, so it
were only to a land which produced the grape, ... upon what service,
or in what cause, was to them a matter of indifference; war was their
element, and where-ever they went they expected to find free quarters,
and no enemy who could resist them. Not a few of them when they heard,
as they had so often heard before, that they were now to give the last
blow to the tottering power of England, believed they were about to
march to England by land through Spain; the desert, they said, had
separated them from that country when they were in Egypt, and when they
were at Boulogne there was the sea; but they should get there now. As
soon as these troops had crossed the Rhine, they were received with
public honours in every town along the line of their march. Deputations
came out to welcome them, they were feasted at the expense of the
municipality, and thanked at their departure for the honour they had
conferred upon the place. This was Buonaparte’s policy. But the conduct
of the soldiers showed what an enemy might expect from them, when
their own countrymen, upon whom they were quartered, did not escape ill
usage. They treated them as they had done the Germans; and the allied
troops took the same licence which they had seen the French exercise
among an ♦ROCCA, 9, 12.♦ allied and friendly people. Under the imperial
government every thing was subject to the sword.
♦SPEECH OF BUONAPARTE TO THE TROOPS.♦
Buonaparte reviewed them at Paris. “Soldiers,” said he, “after having
triumphed on the banks of the Danube and the Vistula, you have passed
through Germany by forced marches. I shall now order you to march
through France, without allowing you a moment’s rest. Soldiers, I have
occasion for you! The hideous presence of the leopard contaminates the
continent of Spain and Portugal. Let your aspect terrify and drive him
from thence! Let us carry our conquering eagles even to the pillars of
Hercules: there also we have an injury to avenge!” The capture of the
French squadron at Cadiz had never been published in France, and this
hint is the only notice that ever was publicly taken of it. “Soldiers,”
he pursued, “you have exceeded the fame of all modern warriors. You
have placed yourselves upon a level with the Roman legions, who, in one
campaign, were conquerors on the Rhine, on the Euphrates, in Illyria,
and on the Tagus. A durable peace and permanent prosperity shall be the
fruits of your exertions. A true Frenchman can never enjoy any rest
till the sea is open and free. Soldiers, all that you have already
achieved, and that which remains to be done, will be for the happiness
of the French people, and for my glory, and shall be for ever imprinted
on my heart.”
♦1808. OCTOBER.
CONFERENCES AT ERFURTH.♦
The preparations for war were answerable to the arrogance of this
harangue. All the roads to Spain were thronged with troops, marching
from all parts of France and its dependencies toward the Pyrenees.
While they were on their march, Buonaparte set out for Germany, to
meet his dependent German princes, and the Emperor Alexander, at
Erfurth. Some of the performers of the _Theatre Française_ had orders
to precede him, that these potentates might be provided with amusement.
An opportunity was taken of giving Alexander a momentous hint of the
superiority of his new friend: ... Buonaparte took him to the field of
Jena: a temple, dedicated to Victory, was erected on the spot where
the French Emperor had past the night previous to the battle: tents
were pitched round it; and, after a sumptuous breakfast, he was led
over every part of the ground which the two armies had occupied, and
left to make his own reflections upon the spot where Prussia received
the reward of its long subserviency to France, and of its neutrality
when the fate of the continent was upon the hazard. The immediate
consequence of the meeting was a proposal for peace to Great Britain.
♦OVERTURES OF PEACE FROM ERFURTH.♦
These overtures were made in the customary diplomatic forms; but they
were accompanied by a joint letter from the Emperors of France and
Russia to the King of England. Having been brought together at Erfurth
by the circumstances of the continent, their first thought, they said,
had been to yield to the wishes and wants ♦OCT. 12.♦ of every people,
and to seek, in a speedy pacification, the remedy for the common
miseries of Europe. The long and bloody continental war was at an end,
and could not possibly be renewed. Many changes had taken place, many
states had been overthrown. The cause was to be found in the evils
arising from the stagnation of maritime commerce. Still greater changes
might yet occur, and all of them contrary to the policy of the English
nation. Peace was their interest, as well as the interest of the
continent. We unite, therefore, said they, in intreating your Majesty
to listen to the voice of humanity, silencing that of the passions; to
seek, with the intention of arriving at that object, how to conciliate
all interests, and by that means to preserve the powers which still
exist; and to insure the happiness of Europe, and of this generation,
at the head of which Providence has placed us. The official notes
stated, that Russian plenipotentiaries would be sent to Paris, there
to receive the answer of England; and that French plenipotentiaries
would repair to any city on the continent, to which the King of Great
Britain and his allies should send theirs. It was added, that the King
of England must, without doubt, feel the grandeur and sincerity of this
conduct on the part of the two Emperors; that their union was beyond
the reach of change; and that it was formed for peace as well as for
war.
♦REPLY TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTER.
OCT. 28.♦
In answer to the Russian minister, it was stated, that however desirous
his Majesty might be to reply directly to the Emperor Alexander, the
unusual manner in which his letter was drawn up deprived it entirely
of the character of a private and personal communication, and it was
impossible to adopt that mark of respect towards him, without, at the
same time, recognizing titles which the King of England never had
acknowledged. This was a needless demurral. We had sent ministers to
treat with Buonaparte since he had been Emperor of France, ... surely
this was, to all intents, an effectual recognition of his title. It was
weakening the moral strength of our cause, to rest, even for a moment,
upon a point of punctilio. In every other respect, the correspondence
on the part of England was worthy of the cause. An immediate assurance
that France acknowledged the government of Spain as party to any
negotiation, was declared to be absolutely necessary: that such was the
intention of the Emperor of Russia, it was added, his Majesty could
not doubt. He recollected the lively interest which that Emperor had
always manifested for the dignity and welfare of the Spanish monarchy,
and wanted no other assurance that he could not have been induced to
sanction, by his concurrence, or by his approbation, usurpations,
the principles of which were not less unjust than their example was
dangerous to all lawful sovereigns.
♦REPLY TO THE OVERTURES.♦
The letter of the two Emperors was fully and most ably answered in an
official note. The King’s readiness and desire to negotiate a peace on
terms consistent with his own honour, and with the permanent security
of Europe, were again declared. If the condition of the continent
were one of agitation and of wretchedness, if many states had been
overthrown, and many more were still menaced with subversion, it was a
consolation to the King to reflect, that no part of those convulsions
could be in any degree imputable to him. Most willing was he to
acknowledge that all such dreadful changes were indeed contrary to the
policy of Great Britain. And if the cause of so much misery was to be
found in the stagnation of commercial intercourse, although he could
not be expected to hear with unqualified regret that the system devised
for the destruction of the commerce of his subjects had recoiled upon
its authors or its instruments, yet it was neither in his disposition,
nor in the character of the people over whom he reigned, to rejoice in
the privations and unhappiness even of the nations which were combined
against him. He anxiously desired the termination of the sufferings of
the continent. The war in which he was engaged was entered into for
the immediate object of national safety; but, in its progress, new
obligations had been imposed upon him, in behalf of powers whom the
aggressions of a common enemy had compelled to make common cause with
him, or who had solicited his assistance and support in the vindication
of their national independence. The interests of Portugal and of Sicily
were confided to his friendship and protection; and he was connected
for peace, as well as for war, with the King of Sweden. To Spain he
was not yet bound by any formal instrument, but he had, in the face of
the world, contracted with that nation engagements not less sacred,
and not less binding upon his mind than the most solemn treaties. He
therefore assumed, that, in an overture made to him for entering into
negotiations for a general peace, his relations subsisting with the
Spanish monarchy had been distinctly taken into consideration, and that
the government acting in the name of his Catholic Majesty, Ferdinand
VII., was understood to be a party to any negotiation in which he was
invited to engage.
♦REPLY OF THE RUSSIAN AND FRENCH MINISTERS. NOV. 8.♦
The answer of the Russian minister was, that the admission of the
sovereigns in alliance with England could not be a point of any
difficulty; but this principle by no means extended to the necessity
of admitting the plenipotentiaries of the Spanish insurgents, and the
Emperor Alexander could not admit them. He had already acknowledged
King Joseph Napoleon; he was united with the Emperor of the French;
and he was resolved not to separate his interests from those of that
monarch. But Count Romanzoff added, he saw, with pleasure, that,
in this difference of opinion respecting the Spaniards, there was
nothing which could either prevent or delay the opening of a congress;
because his Britannic Majesty had himself admitted, that he was bound
to no positive engagement with those who had taken up arms in Spain.
Count Romanzoff did not intend to insult a British King, by telling
him he might violate his word and honour, because he was not bound
to keep them by any formal instrument; ... but M. Champagny’s reply
was intentionally insulting. “How,” said he, “is it possible for the
French government to entertain the proposal which has been made to it,
of admitting the Spanish insurgents to the negotiation? What would
the English government have said, had it been proposed to them to
admit the Catholic insurgents of Ireland? France, without having any
treaties with them, has been in communication with them, has made them
promises, and has frequently sent them succours.” The writer did not
perceive what warning this utterly irrelevant argument held out to the
disaffected in Ireland, by thus plainly informing them, that however
Buonaparte might promise them support, he was at all times ready to
abandon them, whenever it might suit his views. Menacing language was
then introduced. England, we were told, would find herself under a
strange mistake, if, contrary to the experience of the past, she still
entertained the idea of contending successfully, upon the continent,
against the armies of France. What hope could she have, especially
when France was irrevocably united with Russia? France and Russia
could carry on the war till the court of London recurred to just and
equitable dispositions; they were resolved to do so; and the English
were admonished not to lose sight of the inevitable results of the
force of states.
♦DEC. 9.
FINAL ANSWER OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.♦
Mr. Canning’s replies were equally decided and dignified. To Count
Romanzoff he expressed the King’s astonishment and regret, that it
should be supposed he would consent to commence a negotiation by
the previous abandonment of the cause of the Spanish nation, and
of the legitimate monarchy of Spain, in deference to an usurpation
which had no parallel in the history of the world. He had hoped that
the participation of the Emperor Alexander in these overtures would
have afforded a security to him against the proposal of a condition
so unjust in its effect, and so fatal in its example. Nor could
he conceive by what obligation of duty or of interest, or by what
principle of Russian policy, his Imperial Majesty could have found
himself compelled to acknowledge the right assumed by France, of
deposing and imprisoning friendly Sovereigns, and forcibly transferring
to herself the allegiance of loyal and independent nations. If these
were indeed the principles to which the Emperor had inviolably attached
himself, to which he had pledged the character and resources of his
empire, and which he had united himself with France to establish by
war, and to maintain in peace ... deeply did the King of England lament
a determination by which the sufferings of Europe must be aggravated
and prolonged: but not to him was to be attributed the continuance
of the calamities of war, by the disappointment of all hope of such
a peace as would be compatible with justice and with honour. To the
French minister Mr. Canning said, he was especially commanded to
abstain from noticing any of those topics and expressions insulting
to his Majesty, to his allies, and to the Spanish nation, with which
the official note of M. Champagny abounded. The King of England was
desirous to have treated for a peace which might have arranged the
respective interests of all the belligerent powers on principles of
equal justice, but he was determined not to abandon the cause of the
Spanish nation, and of the legitimate monarchy of Spain; and the
pretension of France, to exclude from the negotiation the central
and supreme government, acting in the name of his Catholic Majesty,
Ferdinand VII., was one which he could not admit, without acquiescing
in an usurpation unparalleled in the history of the world.
♦BRITISH DECLARATION.
DEC. 15.♦
As soon as this correspondence was concluded, the rupture of the
negotiation was made known in England, by a declaration which, while
any sense of honour remains in the English nation, may always be
recollected with pride and satisfaction. The continued appearance of a
negotiation, it said, when peace was found to be utterly unattainable,
could be advantageous only to the enemy. It might enable France to
sow distrust and jealousy in the councils of those who were combined
to resist her oppression; and if, among the nations which were
groaning under the tyranny of French alliance, or among those which
maintained against France a doubtful and precarious independence,
there should be any who were balancing between the certain ruin of a
prolonged inactivity and the contingent dangers of an effort to save
themselves from that ruin ... to nations so situated, the delusive
prospect of a peace between Great Britain and France could not fail
to be peculiarly injurious. Their preparations might be relaxed, by
the vain hope of returning tranquillity, or their purpose shaken, by
the apprehension of being left to contend alone. That such was, in
fact, the main object of France in the proposals transmitted from
Erfurth, his Majesty entertained a strong persuasion. But at a moment
when results, so awful from their importance, and so tremendous from
their uncertainty, might be depending upon the decision of peace or
war, he felt it due to himself to ascertain, beyond the possibility
of doubt, the views and intentions of his enemies. It was difficult
for him to believe that the Emperor of Russia had devoted himself so
blindly and fatally to the violence and ambition of the power with
which his Imperial Majesty had unfortunately become allied, as to be
prepared openly to abet the usurpation of Spain. He therefore met the
seeming fairness and moderation of the proposal with fairness and
moderation on his part real and sincere, expressing his just confidence
that the Spanish government, acting in the name of Ferdinand VII., was
understood to be a party to this negotiation. The reply returned by
France to this proposition cast off at once the thin disguise, which
had been assumed for a momentary purpose, and displayed, with less than
ordinary reserve, the arrogance and injustice of that government. The
universal Spanish nation was described by the degrading appellation
of the Spanish insurgents, and the demand for the admission of its
government as a party to any negotiation was rejected, as inadmissible
and insulting. With astonishment, as well as grief, he had received
from the Emperor of Russia a reply similar in effect, although less
indecorous in tone and manner. The King would readily have embraced
an opportunity of negotiation which might have afforded any hope
or prospect of a peace compatible with justice and with honour. He
lamented an issue by which the sufferings of Europe were prolonged; but
neither his honour nor the generosity of the British nation would admit
of his consenting to commence a negotiation by the abandonment of a
brave and loyal people, who were contending for the preservation of all
that is dear to man, and whose exertions, in a cause so unquestionably
just, he had solemnly pledged himself to sustain.
Such an answer was consistent with the honour, the principles, and
the feelings of the British people. Buonaparte anticipated it: his
♦BUONAPARTE DEPARTS FOR SPAIN.♦ proposals might have that effect which
the English cabinet had foreseen, upon the powers which he oppressed,
and they might deceive the French people; at least they gave a popular
topic for his sycophants in the Senate, and those whose office it was
to mislead the public mind. He himself knew what the result must be,
and had not for a moment suspended or slackened his preparations. ♦OCT.
25.♦ Before a reply could be made to the first overture, he returned
to Paris, and, in his address to the legislative body, informed them
that he should depart in a few days, to put himself in person at the
head of his army, and, with God’s help (such was the expression of the
blasphemer), to crown the King of Spain in Madrid, and plant his eagles
on the forts of Spain. It was a distinguished favour of the providence,
he said, which had constantly protected his army, that passion had so
far blinded the English councils, as to have made them abandon the
defence of the seas, and at last produce their army on the continent.
His vaunts and his impieties were, of course, echoed by those whom he
addressed: but their flattery was far exceeded by the language of some
deputies from the new Italian departments, who had audience on the same
day. The destinies of the whole world, they told him, were confided by
the Almighty to his impenetrable views, to the supreme power of his
genius, to the miraculous exploits of his arms. Hence a new order
of things, already written in the books of the Eternal, was prepared
for their country. In the necessity in which he was to overthrow, to
destroy, to disperse all enemies, as the wind dissipates the dust,
he was not an exterminating Angel; but he was the Being that extends
his thoughts, and measures the face of the earth, to re-establish its
happiness upon a better and surer basis. He was destined before all
ages to be the Man of God’s right hand; the Sovereign Master of all
things. Language of more idolatrous adoration was never listened to
by the frantic Caligula, nor uttered by the infatuated followers of
Sabatai Sevi. It was not, however, too gross for the tyrant to whom it
was addressed; and he applauded it in his reply. Immediately after this
scene he left Paris, reached Bayonne on the 3d of November, and, five
days afterwards, put himself at the head of his army at Vitoria.