The enemy advanced in two strong columns; one by the great road

attacked the posts of the 5th division, and drove them back upon their

support on the Plateau of Barouillet. The other, coming forward by

the Plateau of Bassussarry, threw out a strong line of _tirailleurs_,

supported by battalions, against the light division at Arcangues; but

the main body pushed on a little way beyond the left flank of the

light division, and sent forward columns to attack the right of the

5th, denoting thus an intention of penetrating between, and in rear

of the two divisions. Soult knew not at how great advantage he had

taken the allies: the 5th division had been separated during the last

night’s dismal march, the ammunition mules were not forthcoming, and

when the piquets were driven in, there was hardly a round left. There

was nothing to be done but to hold their ground as well as they could

till more troops and ammunition should arrive. Not more than eight or

ten guns could be brought into action, because of the nature of the

ground, ... there being a low thick wood to the right, and close to

the road; and on the left a rugged heath, intersected with gullies and

ravines. The French brought more pieces into play, and served them with

more than usual vivacity; for they knew their own great superiority

of numbers, and were elated with the hope of getting to S. Jean de

Luz, which was the great depôt of the allies. Sir John Hope, who was,

with his staff, in the thickest of the fight, encouraging the troops

by his example, received a severe contusion on his shoulder, and a

hurt on his leg; and a ball went through his hat: ... it was believed

that, at one moment, nothing but his extreme gallantry saved the

troops from utter confusion. Major-General Robinson, who commanded the

second brigade of this division, was severely wounded, and carried

off the field. The contest still continued, ebbing and flowing, till

the enemy pushed through the wood in front of Barouillet, and through

a large field and orchard on its right, in such force as to drive

back Campbell’s Portugueze brigade, and Robinson’s, which supported

it; and, penetrating thus beyond the front of the position, they were

rapidly following up their success, when a Portugueze battalion on

the left flank boldly moved forward on the road, and wheeled into the

rear of the wood; at the same time the 9th British regiment, under

Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron, which was on the extreme right, faced

about, and, uniting with the Portugueze, charged the French columns in

their rear, ... a movement as unexpected as it was bold and well-timed.

It gave the enemy a severe check at this point, and some hundred

prisoners were taken. This was between two and three in the afternoon.

By this time a considerable number of troops had arrived in detail; the

brigade of guards, who had been ordered from St. Jean de Luz to support

the 5th division, arrived just after the enemy had been thus checked;

and Lord Wellington, hastening from the right wing where all was quiet,

came to the scene of action. He was very much exposed this day, and

unavoidably so, for there was no eminence from whence the whole field

could be seen; the wood intercepted the sight, and it was necessary

for him to ride from point to point. The enemy, checked though they

had been, persisted in the action, and it continued till nightfall;

the firing gradually ceasing as the evening closed, and the troops,

after very severe loss on both sides, remaining on the ground which

they had occupied in the morning. The remainder of the left wing having

been brought up from its cantonments, the first division relieved the

fatigued troops; and the 7th took post in rear of the position, to

support either of the defensive corps.

Meantime the attack upon the light division at Arcangues had been

maintained with great animation and perseverance. The enemy were

repulsed in all their efforts to dislodge these troops from their

defences of the churchyard and the chateau; but they retained at night

the Plateau of Bassussarry, in the immediate front of Arcangues, which

joins that of Barouillet, before the mayor’s house. The issue of the

day had greatly disappointed Marshal Soult, whose utmost efforts had

been completely defeated by a comparatively small part of the ♦TWO

GERMAN REGIMENTS ESCAPE FROM THE FRENCH ARMY.♦ allied forces, and with

great loss. He suffered a further loss during the night. There were

with him the two German regiments of Frankfort and Nassau Usingen:

every possible means had been taken for concealing from their officers

the state of affairs in Germany; nevertheless, they discovered that

Germany had thrown off the yoke. The French government had been

apprehensive of this, and, in consequence, had recently altered its

conduct towards them; instead of being treated with disrespect, as

men who had no government which could protect them, they now found

themselves the objects of marked attention; and were newly clothed, and

received pay up to the last six months, when a year and half’s was due

to the greater part of the French army. Marshal Soult, however, under

various pretences, had long kept them in the rear. But in the action

of this day they were in advance, in Villatte’s division; and that

General being severely wounded, the division was for a while without

any special commander. The officer in command of the Nassau regiment

was a Bavarian, but had been educated in Hanover, and for some years

in the Hanoverian guards. Not only had the news from Germany reached

him, but means had also been found for conveying to him the orders of

his sovereign; he now took advantage of the first opportunity which

had offered, and proposed to the Colonel of a French regiment, that

his corps, with the two Nassau battalions, and one of the Frankfort,

should occupy a height a little in advance of where they then were.

The advice, though proposed with a view of going over to the allies,

offered some feasible advantage, and was agreed to without suspicion.

As it was growing dark, and the roads were intricate, it was further

proposed, that the battalions should file to their ground by different

routes. The German officers were apprized of the intention, except

those of the second Frankfort battalion, to which no communication

could be made, its commander being badly wounded in the action. A

Frankfort officer now made his way to the outposts of our 4th division,

in the centre of the allies, and announced the intended defection,

requiring a General officer’s word of honour that they should be well

received, and sent to Germany: no General being on the spot, Colonel

Bradford gave his word: means were immediately taken to apprize the

three battalions, and they came over in a body, 1300 men; the French

not discovering their intention till just when it was too late to

frustrate it. On the morrow the Colonel wrote to General Villatte,

thanking him for the attentions which he had received whilst under his

command; but stating that in obedience to their King’s orders, his

troops had quitted the service of France to return to that of their own

country. Their women and their sick, who were left behind, he commended

to the General’s humanity; and said that his brother officers and

himself freely gave up their personal baggage in performing an act

prescribed by their duty. This officer seems to have united a just

moral feeling to a proper sense of military honour; and he rejoiced

that he had been able to bring off those battalions, without being

compelled to fire on the French, in company with whom they had served

so long.

♦DEC. 11.♦

In the morning the 5th division was brought a little forward, beyond

the wood, and the advanced skirmishers were soon within forty or fifty

yards of each other: the light troops drove in the enemy’s piquets,

and the most advanced sentries were again pushed forward to their own

line. On this side, and also at Arcangues, there was some skirmishing

during the forenoon, but with little advantage on either side: about

noon the firing was suspended, the weather brightened, unarmed parties

were sent out to cut wood for cooking, and the men received their

rations. But about two there was a stir in the enemy’s lines; they

were seen cutting gaps in the fences for the passage of artillery;

presently they attacked in great force, along the Bayonne road, driving

in the piquets, and the hill in front of Barouillet again became the

scene of contest. The soldiers who had gone in front to cut fuel ran

hastily back when they heard the cry of “to arms,” that they might get

themselves armed and accoutred; and the French, seeing them run toward

the rear, thought they had taken panic, and set up loud cheers, as if

they had now only to pursue their favourable fortune. But their whole

left wing was promptly formed in perfect order. A feint attack was made

upon Arcangues, to cover a serious one upon the Plateau Bassussarry.

Lord Wellington’s orders were, that the piquets, in case of any serious

effort, should be withdrawn from the hill in front, but that the

position in front of Barouillet should be maintained: great efforts

were made, and the enemy every where were repulsed, Sir John Hope, as

on the yesterday, encouraging his men wherever there was most danger.

During these two days he was struck three times; and all his staff had

either themselves or their horses wounded. Lord Wellington is said to

have requested that he would consider of what consequence he was to

the army, and not expose himself so much. When darkness closed, the

two armies were in the same position which they had occupied on the

preceding night.

The fifth division, which, after one day’s severe exertion in the

worst weather, had borne the heat of the action in the two following

ones, was relieved by the first, as soon as it became so dark that the

enemy could not perceive and take advantage of any change in their

disposition. The night was again rainy, and in posting the sentries

at some parts, it was not easy, because of the darkness, to avoid

interfering with the French piquets. ♦DEC. 12.♦ The weather cleared

toward morning; drums and trumpets were heard at intervals along the

enemy’s line; and at sunrise their staff officers were seen riding

in all directions. Soult showed three or four divisions; and at ten

some severe skirmishing began, which continued till three, being

chiefly confined to the wood and the immediate ground about the house

of Barouillet. The loss was not great, but it fell chiefly on the

guards: Captain Watson, the adjutant of the 3rd guards, observed in

the morning that “plenty of laurel grew round that house to deck the

graves of those who should fall,” ... and he was one of the first.

Lord Wellington, foreseeing Soult’s intention, moved the 4th and 7th

divisions to the rear of the light division and of the first, where

they might afford support to either. But Marshal Soult, when he found

how fully the allies were prepared, did not deem it prudent to make

any further effort on this side, where he had tried his fortune

skilfully, bravely, and perseveringly, but without success. The

skirmishing therefore ceased in the afternoon, and the enemy retired

entirely within their entrenched camp that night.

The last four days had been most harassing to the troops, exposed as

they had been, and continually under arms; but the fifth day of these

multiplied actions proved more murderous than any of the foregoing.

During the night Soult passed a large force through Bayonne, with

the intention of making a most formidable attack upon the right wing

of the allies. Sir Rowland was aware of his movements, and prepared

accordingly. His position was about a league from Bayonne, in the

form of a crescent, extending about four miles from the Adour to the

Nive. Major-General Pringle’s brigade, consisting of the 28th, 34th,

and 39th regiments, formed the left, stationed on a ridge of hilly

ground extending from Ville-Franche toward Bayonne, and bounded on

one side by the Nive, and on the other by large mill-dams in a deep

hollow, which separates it from the heights of Monguerre. Major-General

Byng’s brigade, consisting of the 31st, 57th, and 68th, formed the

right, posted also on a long ridge, in front of the village of Vieux

Monguerre, which had the Adour on its right, and mill-dams in like

manner on its left, separating it from the heights in the centre.

Brigadier-General Ashworth’s Portugueze brigade occupied the centre

ridge opposite the village of St. Pierre. The ground was favourable,

because it admitted of only one or two points of attack, one of which

was by the main road.

It was a clear frosty morning, but the ground so wet, and the road so

heavy in that deep and rich soil, that the horses were knee-deep in

stiff mud and clay. Soon after eight o’clock, the allied outposts on

the great road were attacked by _tirailleurs_ in great numbers, and

the French columns advanced close in the rear. Soult showed that day

about four divisions; and these, drawn up in two lines and supporting

columns, appeared, from the confined ground on which they acted, more

numerous than they were. They advanced up the long slope in front of

the centre position, their column extending a good way on either side

of the road; at the same time a large body moved against the left of

the centre, up the hollow way, its right resting upon the mill-dams.

Sir Rowland, as soon as the enemy’s intention of piercing the centre

was manifest, brought Major-General Barnes’s brigade forward from the

heights of Petit Monguerre, and stationed it on the right of Ashworth’s

Portugueze. He moved also the whole of Byng’s brigade, except one

regiment, and the light companies of the others, to support the right

of the centre, and Brigadier-General Buchan’s Portugueze brigade from

behind Ville-Franche, to support its left. These troops arrived just at

the time when they were most needed; four guns of Lieutenant-Colonel

Ross’s troop, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch’s brigade of Portugueze

artillery, were also moved up in aid of the centre, and kept up a

steady but cautious fire, all possible exertions being used meantime

for bringing them a supply of ammunition. The light companies which had

gone forward in support of the piquets were borne back by weight of

numbers upon the main line, and the French established themselves upon

a height close to the position; and here the heat of the contest lay,

this post being repeatedly won and lost, till Barnes’s brigade, with

the 92nd Highlanders, and Ashworth’s Portugueze, made a final charge,

and drove the enemy down. The artillery fired this day with dreadful

effect, and the main road was in many places literally running with

blood.

On the right a feint only was made, before which the battalion that

had been left there retired from Vieux Monguerre to the heights in its

rear; but, ascertaining from thence that the enemy on this side were

not in force, they re-entered the village, and made some prisoners

there. But on the left centre the columns which had advanced up the

hollow way made a powerful attack; and though the 71st and part of

the 92nd were sent to aid the Portugueze there, the enemy, by dint

of superior force, won an important part of the position in front

of Ville-Franche. Two Portugueze regiments opportunely arrived. Sir

William Stewart directed the one to turn the right flank of the

attacking columns, while the other attacked the enemy in front,

charging them with the bayonet; and this was decisive in that quarter.

A hot fire of _tirailleurs_ was kept up meantime upon Major-General

Pringle’s brigade, with a view of preventing it from aiding the centre;

but that General, occupying a line at right angles to theirs, caused

them considerable loss by a well-directed flanking fire.

Foreseeing such an attack on Sir Rowland, Lord Wellington had provided

against it by requesting Marshal Beresford to reinforce him with the

6th division, which had crossed the Nive accordingly at daylight that

morning; and he sent also for the fourth and two brigades of the third,

and formed them in reserve. The expected coming of the 6th division

gave Sir Rowland great facility in making his movements; but before

its arrival he had completely repulsed the enemy, the troops under his

immediate command being about 13,000 men, and the force by which they

were attacked little, if at all, short of twice that number. The allies

kept their ground; ... their purpose, therefore, was effected. Soult’s

troops, when beaten back, had the city and the intrenched camp in

their immediate rear, and retired under cover of their guns placed in

position. They remained in great force in front of that camp, and kept

up a warm cannonade upon the centre; but the officers could not induce

their men again to renew attacks which they had found so destructive.

Sir William Stewart then directed Major-General Byng to unite his

brigade and attack the enemy upon the opposite bank of the mill-stream,

in front of the height of Vieux Monguerre. Byng did this in the most

gallant style, carrying the colours of the 66th himself, and planting

them, under a hot fire of musketry and artillery, in their position.

The third regiment crossed the mill-stream to co-operate in the attack;

the brigade then drove the enemy down, and Buchan’s Portugueze arrived

to aid in finally repulsing them. About four o’clock the action

terminated in a continued skirmishing: at night the enemy retired

within their camp.

The loss of the allies during these five days, in killed, wounded, and

missing, amounted to 5029, of whom 302 were officers: nearly half the

loss fell upon the Portugueze, upon whom, indeed, as much reliance was

now placed as upon the British themselves. The last day was the most

destructive: Generals Barnes, Le Cor, and Ashworth, and nearly the

whole of the staff and aides-de-camp of Sir William Stewart, and of

Generals Barnes and Byng, were wounded. The French return made their

loss 1314 killed and 4600 wounded. They fought well in this long series

of actions, far better than they had done in defending their position

upon the Nivelle; and this can only be explained by the different

feeling with which men, and especially men of the French temperament,

are animated when standing on their defence, from that which excites

them when they are themselves the assailants. Marshal Soult, who was

never wanting in ability, never displayed more than on this occasion.

The often repeated effort cost him his best troops, and forced upon

him the mortifying conviction that, brave as they were, and admirably

disciplined, they were nevertheless inferior to their opponents: for

all circumstances here had been in his favour; the points of attack

were at his own choice, and wherever he attacked he brought into the

field a greatly superior force; yet every where he had been defeated.

Not ♦SOULT TAKES A DEFENSIVE POSITION.♦ venturing, therefore, again

to repeat a trial in which he had so often failed, though he had at

this time 50,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, he cantoned his army in a

defensive position, having its right on the camp round Bayonne, its

centre spread along the right of the Adour, to Port de Lanne, and its

left along the right of the Bidouse, from its confluence to St. Palais,

posting two divisions of cavalry on the left of that place, and a weak

division, under Harispe, at St. Jean de Pied-de-Port. That General had

been withdrawn from Suchet’s army for this service, because, being a

native of the valley of Baigorry, and having distinguished himself

as a partizan in the Pyrenees, in the years 1794 and 1795, it was

supposed that he might raise some irregular corps of his countrymen,

and turn against the allies that system of guerrilla warfare which

had proved so destructive to the invaders in Spain. Marshal Soult

apprehended that Bayonne would be invested; and therefore he made

Port de Lanne, which is on the Adour, eighteen miles above that city,

his principal depôt, laying down a bridge there, and protecting it by

strong works; and he lined the right of the river with redoubts armed

with heavy cannon. He intrenched Hastingues, and covered Peyrehorade

with a _tête-de-pont_, for the defence of the Gave de Pau; and in

like manner secured the passages over the Bidouse at Guiche, Bedache,

and Came. He also strengthened the fortifications of St. Jean de

Pied-de-Port and Navarreins, and intrenched Dax as an entrepôt for

stores and reinforcements from the interior; thus omitting no measure

of precaution which a just estimate of his enemy’s strength seemed to

require.

♦THE ALLIES WAIT IN THEIR CANTONMENTS FOR BETTER WEATHER.♦

The weather, by impeding for a while any advance on the part of the

allies, allowed him time for this. Lord Wellington waited till it

should become more favourable, having obtained possession of a large

tract of country, and being in a situation from whence to resume his

operations with advantage, as soon as the season might permit. Upon

first entering France he had circulated among the inhabitants those

general orders in which he enjoined his troops to respect their persons

and property, accompanying them with a brief proclamation to the

people. He had given, he said, and would enforce these positive orders

for preventing those evils that might otherwise be looked for as the

ordinary consequences of an invasion, which they knew was the result

of their own government’s invasion of Spain, and of the victories of

the allied armies. He requested them to apprehend and bring before him

any person who, disobeying these instructions, might offer them any

injury; and, on their side, he required them to remain in their houses,

and take no part in the war of which their country was now to be the

scene. Great injury must inevitably be endured by the inhabitants of

any country upon which that visitation falls; but none was suffered

now which could be prevented by vigilant discipline, founded upon just

views of policy and a strict sense of justice. On the morning after

the line of the Nivelle had been forced, a peasant was brought before

Lord Wellington, having been taken near the British outposts: the man’s

simple account of himself was, that he was going to drive his sheep to

Bayonne; upon which he was told that he might go where he pleased,

and take his sheep where he pleased too. When the French saw that the

peasantry were thus treated, ... that the very few who were taken in

arms were shipped off, like other prisoners, for England, ... and that

marauders were brought to summary punishment, they perceived that their

invaders were as equitable as they were brave, and that the word of a

British general was sacred.

♦NOV. 28.♦

The guerrilla troops, whom it would have been more difficult to

restrain, were kept upon their own frontier. The discipline of the

Portugueze was as good as that of the English. Marshal Beresford, when

he commended them in one of his orders for their excellent conduct

at the line of the Nivelle, expressed his particular satisfaction

with their behaviour in their quarters and towards the inhabitants in

general. They had proved, he said, their superiority over the French

troops in the field of battle; and they had shown, also, to the French

people that they were not less superior to those troops in humanity and

in their whole deportment, whereby, as well as by their discipline and

courage, they did honour to their country. The Portugueze were not less

gratified by another order which Marshal Beresford issued after the

passage of the Nive. He had deemed it necessary, in the spring of the

preceding year, to deprive certain militia regiments of their colours,

till ♦MARSHAL BERESFORD RESTORES THE COLOURS OF CERTAIN PORTUGUEZE

REGIMENTS. DEC. 29.♦ they should have redeemed their character in

the presence of the enemy; this, he said, they had had no opportunity

of doing, the war having happily been removed far from their own

country: but regiments raised in the same parts of Portugal, composed

of their brethren and other near kinsmen, and in which, in fact, many

of the very men who, in the said militias, had incurred this disgrace,

were now serving, had, in the late series of victories, demeaned

themselves so gallantly, that they had re-established the character

of their respective provinces; wherefore in justice he ordered that

their colours should be restored. Their misconduct, he added, had

proceeded not from want of courage, but from insubordination, ... and

that, too, not the effect of wilful disobedience, but arising from

habits of undue familiarity between the officers and the men, owing

to which, the latter were not prepared to render prompt obedience

when it was indispensable. He reminded the officers, therefore, how

necessary it was that they should obtain the respect of their soldiers

by treatment at the same time just, impartial, gentle, and firm;

and observed that the provincial governors would see the necessity

henceforth of recommending, for commissions in the militia, persons

who were qualified by their means and by their ♦CORREIO BRAZILIENSE,

T. 12, P. 306.♦ local respectability. Marshal Beresford understood the

national character. The Portugueze were in no slight degree gratified

by this: they were proud of the military reputation which they had now

established, and not less deservedly of that national feeling which

they had manifested under every circumstance ♦CONDUCT OF SPANISH AND

PORTUGUEZE SOLDIERS AT DANTZIC.♦ of good or evil fortune. A signal

example of this feeling was given shortly afterwards by a battalion

of Portugueze and Spaniards, composed of men who had been entrapped

into the enemy’s service before the commencement of the struggle

in their own country. They formed part of the garrison of Dantzic

when the allies besieged it; and, knowing that the besiegers were in

alliance with Spain and Portugal, no threats or inducements could

prevail upon them to bear arms in defence of the city: in consequence

of this firm refusal, the French commander compelled them to work

upon the fortifications; but they had their reward; and when the

place surrendered, they were maintained at the expense of the Russian

government till they could be transported to England on their way home.

♦ILL CONDUCT OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT TOWARD LORD WELLINGTON.♦

The Spanish government had shown no want of gratitude to Lord

Wellington in conferring upon him honours and rewards; but while in

such things they conformed to the national sentiment, their conduct

sometimes manifested a want of that frank and generous confidence

which ought to have been given in as full measure as it was deserved.

In direct breach of the engagement made with him when he accepted

the command of the Spanish armies, they had superseded Castaños, and

made other changes, not only without his advice and concurrence, but

contrary to his wishes, and in disregard of his remonstrances: and

this might have produced the most injurious effect, if the war had

not speedily been transferred to the enemy’s country. Libels were

circulated imputing sinister views to England, because some of its

troops still remained at Cadiz and at Carthagena; and the government

allowed these libels to circulate without taking any means for

counteracting the impression which the calumny was intended to produce.

Lord Wellington withdrew the troops as soon (after their presence had

ceased to be necessary there) as he could obtain the Prince Regent’s

orders; and, in notifying this to the British ambassador, he stated

the circumstances under which those fortresses had been garrisoned

at the request ♦NOVEMBER. CHANGE OF THE REGENCY.♦ of the Spanish

government itself; expressed his surprise that the existing government,

knowing these facts, should yet have allowed such calumnies to pass

uncontradicted, and requested that his letter might be published. The

Regency was, indeed, at this time the mere instrument of the Cortes,

which had displaced the late regents by a summary vote, for demurring

to enforce an impolitic decree that the clergy scrupled to obey.

Cardinal Bourbon, Don Pedro Agar, and Don Gabriel Ciscar were appointed

in their stead to a station which possessed only a nominal authority,

the Cortes, under the dictation of a party more ardent than wise,

having now arrogated to itself the whole actual power.

A whimsical proof had recently occurred of the readiness with which

certain Spaniards accredited any imputation, however absurd, upon the

intentions of the British government. A foolish paragraph had appeared

in some Irish newspaper, saying, that Lord Wellington deserved to be

made King of Spain; and that some of the grandees had offered to raise

him to the throne! This found its way to Spain; and the Duques of

Ossuna and Frias, the Visconde de Gante, and the Marques de Villena,

published forthwith a letter to inform the world, that they neither

did, nor would, acknowledge any other King than Ferdinand VII.; ...

that they detested and abhorred the very idea of any usurper ruling

over the Spaniards; ... and that they were persuaded that the other

grandees, as soon as this statement should come to their knowledge,

would hasten, in like manner, to give a public testimony of their

principles and their fidelity.

♦PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.♦

Parliament met early in November, under more auspicious circumstances

than at any time since the baneful commencement of the French

revolution. England, which had stood alone in the contest against the

most formidable military power that had ever existed in the civilized

world, was now in alliance, not with the Spaniards and Portugueze

alone, but with Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Bavaria, and Holland.

Buonaparte had been driven back over the Rhine; and a British army,

after beating the French from the lines of Torres Vedras to the

Pyrenees, had passed that boundary and entered France. Upon this

occasion some of those statesmen who had been most decided in their

opposition to government acknowledged the wisdom, and rejoiced in

the success of that policy which they had formerly condemned. ♦LORD

GRENVILLE. NOV. 4.♦ “Upon this grand question,” said Lord Grenville,

“all party conflicts must be swallowed up and lost; it is the cause

of no party, of no set of individuals, but of the whole nation joined

in sentiment and in action to effect a great and glorious purpose.

Internal tranquillity,” he said, “might be considered as the first,

and external peace as the second, blessing that any power under

Heaven could confer upon a people; but what we desired and expected

was the real blessing of peace, not the empty name; not the shadow,

but the substance. Too long did deluded Europe, by temporary and

partial truces, by concession following concession, purchase from the

insatiable enemy a precarious quiet, a troubled sleep, furnishing to

her foe the very means of his aggression, and of her own subjugation.

The time, my lords, is now arrived (and I rejoice that I have lived to

see the hour) when the walls of a British parliament may again re-echo

a sound formerly held sacred in this country, and upon the observance

of which, I will venture to assert, depends the hope of the restoration

of peace to Europe; ... I allude to the old-fashioned tenet, now

almost forgotten, of a balance of power in Europe; and I offer up my

thanks, with humble gratitude, to the Supreme Disposer of events, that

after so long a period he has permitted me to behold my native land in

such a commanding situation, as to be able again to pursue that which

ought to be the only legitimate object of foreign policy, I mean, the

establishment and preservation of a balance of power in Europe. Now,

then, let Great Britain resume her ancient policy: let her once more

perceive that the only mode by which the independence of the great

commonwealth of Europe can be secured, is not by perpetual peace (for

that is the visionary dream of visionary men), but by the maintenance

of this balance, by which, even in war itself, the weak will find

refuge from oppression. Whatever plans may be suggested, having this

in view, I shall meet with the most earnest wish to find that they are

compatible with the interests of the country. I cannot be ignorant of

the difficulties that may be opposed: I do, however, fervently hope,

nay, I believe, that they may be surmounted. Do me not the injustice of

believing that these opinions are the result merely of the exultation

felt in consequence of recent and unexpected events. Undoubtedly such

events are calculated to warm the heart of every individual who feels

not only for the natural rights of man, but for the independence of

nations; but those with whom I have been in the habit of confidential

communication know my deliberate opinion, that the existence of such a

confederation as has now been formed, of itself irresistibly calls upon

Great Britain to employ all her energies, and devote all her exertions

to the success of a common and a glorious cause. I was prepared to

add an exhortation, that as the chances of war must necessarily be

precarious, you would prepare yourselves to meet with firmness those

disasters which human foresight could not predict, and which human

wisdom could not prevent. Even now, under circumstances that might

seem almost to justify the confidence of certainty, I offer that

exhortation. If in the course of human events (although I see little

cause to fear) any unforeseen calamity should unfortunately occur,

remember the glorious cause in which you are engaged; it may for an

instant damp your hopes, but let it not damp your ardour or shake your

resolution. Be assured, my lords, of this, ... (I hope you are already

assured of it,) that there is for this country no separate safety, no

separate peace! There is neither safety nor peace for England, but

with the safety and peace of Europe; ... as for continental Europe,

it is equally true, that an indissoluble union, a firm confederation

with this country can alone secure for all liberty, tranquillity, and

happiness, ... can alone obtain peace, now almost beyond the memory

of living man. The plain duty of this country, placing its trust

in Providence, is to improve by every possible exertion the bright

prospect that lies before us. With the energies of Great Britain duly

applied, ultimate success may be confidently anticipated; we may now

look forward to the speedy accomplishment of that great purpose for

which we have already sacrificed, performed, and endured so much, ...

and for which we are still ready to sacrifice, perform, and endure.”

♦MARQUIS WELLESLEY.♦

In the same spirit, Marquis Wellesley declared, that the satisfaction

he felt in the events which had now changed the destinies of Europe

was with him a principle and not a sentiment. “It was not so much,” he

said, “because those events had raised the military reputation of this

country and of our allies, that they had the highest value in his eyes,

but because they were the natural result of wise and cautious measures,

executed with the greatest degree of vigour; and displaying a wisdom

of combination and prudence of plan which could not fail ultimately

to be rewarded with the success by which they were attended. He would

not dwell on former errors; but he would not hesitate to say that the

glorious successes which had lately crowned our arms in Spain, and

the arms of our allies in the north of Europe, were to be traced to

the long train of persevering councils persisted in by the government

of this country. Though those councils had not always immediately

produced the results that were expected, they were not the less the

cause of what had ultimately taken place. While we were exerting

ourselves in a struggle apparently hopeless, at that moment the public

councils of this country were of the utmost importance to European

liberty; for opportunity was thus given to the rest of Europe to

re-consider their former errors, and to learn that great lesson which

the example of Britain afforded them. Nothing could be more true than

the last words which that great statesman, Mr. Pitt, ever delivered

in public, that England had saved herself by her firmness, and other

nations by her example. What a satisfactory and consoling reflection

was it for us, that from this fountain the sacred waters of gladness

and glory had flowed; ... that to the persevering spirit of this

country it was owing that other nations were at last animated to deeds

worthy of the cause in which they were engaged, and of the example

which was set them!”

♦LORD LIVERPOOL.♦

Lord Liverpool rejoiced that on this great occasion a spirit of

unanimity prevailed in the British parliament. “We had seen,” he said,

“during the preceding twenty years, coalitions whose size promised

strength, crushed by the power of the enemy: what was it then which had

given this irresistible impulse to the present? The feeling of national

independence, that feeling which first arose in the Peninsula, gave

the war a new character, and afforded grounds to hope not only for

the deliverance of that country, but of the rest of Europe. There had

before been wars of governments, but none like this between nations;

and all our principles of policy and prudence must have been belied

if the issue of the present confederacy had not been very different

from that of any of the former ones. They had before them examples of

perseverance unexampled in any other cause than that of liberty; they

had seen the least military nations of Europe become formidable, and

successfully resist the best disciplined troops of France. Small as

Portugal was, the establishment of the Portugueze army had been of the

greatest consequence, as the foundation of the success of the allied

armies in the Peninsula; and as it gave, in addition to the general

national feeling, a military tone, under the influence of which the

Portugueze troops have been raised to an equality with the British. He

was advancing no paradox, but a truth which was felt and admitted on

the continent, when he said that the success of the peninsular cause

gave new life to the suffering nations of Europe.”

♦MR. C. GRANT.♦

This theme was pursued in the House of Commons with great eloquence

by Mr. Charles Grant. “If,” said he, “we had shown a dastardly spirit

at the commencement of these troubles, where now would have been the

deliverance of Europe? There will be no prouder page in history than

that which tells of this struggle and its victorious result, ... which

tells that at a time when the foundations of the world seemed to be

shaken, when all former constitutions were swept away, rather as if by

a sudden whirlwind than by any of the ordinary means of destruction,

... there was yet one nation, which, reposing under the shade of a

happy constitution, proud of its ancient liberties and worthy to defend

them, dared to measure its strength at one time against the unnatural

energies of a frantic democracy, at another time against the gigantic

resources of the most tremendous despotism that ever scourged the

world. If, after this narration, history were obliged to add that in

this struggle at last we fell, but that we fell gloriously, with our

arms in our hands and our faces to the foe, even this would have been

no mean praise: but, thank God, history will be called, not to lament

the fall of British greatness, but to celebrate its renewed exploits

and its living triumphs.... It is to the theatre of these triumphs,

it is to that soil which but lately seemed incapable of producing a

single effort, that the moralist of after-ages will resort for examples

when he denounces the fall of unhallowed greatness. There too will

the patriot look for lessons of enthusiasm and disinterested virtue;

and this is the glorious feature of the present war. I have heard it

observed of America, that her conduct has dispelled those classical

associations which we have been accustomed to indulge of republican

virtue and republican excellence. The remark was not more eloquently

than justly made. But if we are obliged to give up that class of

associations, I perceive with exultation that there is another which we

may now cherish with additional fondness; I mean, those associations

which enforce the belief of instinctive patriotism, of unbidden

enthusiasm in the cause of virtue, of the grandeur of self-devotion,

of the magnanimity of great sacrifices for great objects, for honour,

for independence. We must all recollect with what delight we imbibed

these sentiments at the fountains of classical learning, and followed

them out into action in the history of great men and illustrious

states. But of late there seems to have crept into this nation a sort

of spurious and barren philosophy, of which it was the object to decry

these associations, to represent them as the illusions of ignorance, or

frenzy, or falsehood, to curb the original play of nature, to inculcate

coldness and selfishness upon system, and to substitute in the place of

all that formed the delight of a higher philosophy, a spirit of lazy

deliberation, conducted by apathy, and ending therefore in meanness

and dishonour. It was this philosophy which taught that it is not only

more prudent, but more conformable to the laws of our being, for every

man in time of danger to reason before he followed the promptings of

true courage; to make it a matter of calculation whether his country

be worth saving before he draws the sword in her defence; to reduce

it to a question of algebra, or a problem in geometry, whether he

should resist the efforts of tyranny, or bow before the yoke! The sleep

which seemed to have spread over Europe gave too much countenance to

these pernicious maxims; but the hour has at length come which has

exposed their fallacy, and rescued human nature from such calumnies.

The experience of the few last years has confuted that heartless and

bloodless system, the miserable abortion of a cold head and depraved

imagination, which never wakened one noble thought, nor inspired one

generous action. The experience of the few last years has proved that

those high sentiments which we were taught to respect are not false

and visionary; but that they are founded upon whatever is deepest

and purest in the human character. It has proved that true reason is

never at war with just feeling; that man is now what he was in those

distant ages, ... a creature born indeed to act upon principle, but

born also to act upon strong passions; and that he never acts more

nobly, more wisely, more worthily of himself, than when he acts upon

the prompt persuasion of grand passions, sublimed and directed by lofty

principles.”

♦MR. WHITBREAD.♦

Even Mr. Whitbread felt it necessary to say, that the proud exultation

which then was manifested throughout the nation was hailed by no one,

in the House or in the country, with more enthusiastic feelings than by

himself; and that he gave credit to the ministry, and to him who was

at the head of it, till cut off by the dreadful deed which every one

deplored, “for the great and steady confidence which they had placed

in the talents and genius of our great commander,” ... that confidence

for which Mr. Whitbread and the party with whom he acted had so often,

so confidently, and so contemptuously reproached them! He insisted,

however, that the deliverance of Europe had not been brought about by

following Mr. Pitt’s policy; and that if the counsels of Mr. Fox had

been listened to, the carnage of the present campaign would not have

been necessary. “And,” said he, “I am particularly glad to observe the

explicit terms of the Prince Regent’s speech, in which it is distinctly

avowed that no disposition is entertained to require from France

sacrifices of any description inconsistent with her honour or just

pretensions as a nation. I sincerely hope this feeling pervades the

whole alliance; an alliance with which I am not inclined to quarrel,

as I have been with former ones, for it is promoted and cemented by a

feeling of common danger and necessity, and not purchased and raised up

to oppress France. It has arisen from the keen and indignant sentiment

which the grinding oppression of France herself has excited; and it

holds out a memorable lesson to the governments of Europe. France,

in the course of her career since the revolution, disturbed and

overthrew the ancient monarchies, upon the pretext of their tyranny and

despotism; but when those states passed under the power of France, who

was to liberate them, they found themselves subjected to a despotism

still more odious, to a thraldom still more insupportable. The Emperor

of that country is now in a condition to which, I firmly believe,

nothing but his own restless and gigantic ambition could have reduced

him: I hope the alliance will profit from this. I do not pretend to

know what were the terms proposed to France before the termination of

the armistice; but I sincerely hope that now, in the moment of success,

the same terms will still be offered.” ... At this there was a general

murmur through the House.... “I am not surprised,” he continued, “at

hearing this murmur: perhaps I am misunderstood. What I mean to say is,

and that I will maintain, that whatever terms may have been proposed to

France at that time, as a basis upon which negotiations for peace might

take place, I hope the same basis will now be offered, ... or else I

see no conclusion to which the war can come.”

♦MR. CANNING.

NOV. 17.♦

Mr. Canning was not present during this debate, but he took the first

opportunity that presented itself for delivering his sentiments. “If,”

said he, “in the present state of this country and of the world, those

who, during the course of the tremendous and protracted struggle, on

various occasions, called upon Parliament to pause, to retard its too

rapid and too rash advance, and to draw back from the task it had

unwisely undertaken to perform, ... if those persons have manfully

and honourably stepped forward to join their congratulations to the

joyful acclamations of the nation, and to admit the present to be

the period favourable for a mighty and decided effort, how much more

grateful must it be to those who, at no time during the struggle,

have lifted up their voices in this place, excepting to recommend

and to urge new exertions, ... to those who, when the prospects were

most dreary and melancholy, insisted that there was but one course

becoming the character and honour of Great Britain, ... a persevering

and undaunted resistance to the overwhelming power of France! To an

individual who, under the most discouraging circumstances, still

maintained that the deliverance of Europe (often a derided term) was

an object not only worthy of our arms, but possible to be achieved, it

must be doubly welcome to come forward and vindicate his share in the

national exultation. If, too, on the other hand, there have been those

who, having recommended pacification when the opportunity was less

favourable, are now warranted, as undoubtedly they are, in uttering

the same sentiments, in the confidence that the country will sympathize

with them, it is natural for those who, under other circumstances,

have discouraged the expectation of peace, and have warned the nation

against precipitate overtures, now to be anxious to embrace this

occasion of stating their sincere conviction and their joy (as strongly

felt by them as by others) that, by the happy course of events during

the last year, and by the wise policy we shall now pursue, peace may

not, perhaps, be within our grasp, but is at least within our view. It

is impossible to look back upon those times when the enemy vaunted,

and we perhaps feared, that we should have been compelled to sue for

peace, without, amid all the ebullition of joy, returning thanks to

that Providence which gave us courage and heart still to bear up

against accumulating calamity. Peace is safe now, because it is not

dictated; peace is safe now, for it is the fruit of exertion, the child

of victory; peace is safe now, because it will not be purchased at the

expense of the interest and of the honour of the empire: it is not the

ransom to buy off danger, but the fruit of the mighty means which we

have employed to drive danger from our shores. I must, with heartfelt

delight, congratulate my country, that, groaning as she has done at

former periods under the heavy pressure of adverse war, still ‘peace

was despaired of, for who could think of submission?’ Her strength,

her endurance have been tried and proved by every mode of assault

that the most refined system of hostility could invent, not only by

open military attacks, but by low attempts to destroy her commercial

prosperity: the experiment has been made, the experiment has failed;

and we are now triumphantly, but not arrogantly, to consider what

measures of security should be adopted, or on what terms a peace should

be concluded.

“But has this country gained nothing by the glorious contest, even

supposing peace should be far distant? Is it nothing to Great Britain,

even purchased at so large a price, that her military character has

been exalted? Is it no satisfaction ... no compensation to her ... to

reflect that the splendid scenes displayed on the continent are owing

to her efforts? that the victories of Germany are to be attributed to

our victories in the Peninsula? That spark, often feeble, and sometimes

so nearly extinguished as to excite despair in all hearts that were not

above it, ... that spark which was lighted in Portugal, which was fed

and nourished there, has at length burst into a flame that has dazzled

and illuminated Europe. At the commencement of this war, our empire

rested upon one majestic column, our naval power. In the prosecution

of the war, a hero has raised another stupendous pillar of strength to

support our monarchy, ... our military pre-eminence. It is now that we

may boast not only of superiority at sea, but on shore; the same energy

and heroism exist in both the arms of Great Britain: they are rivals

in strength, but inseparable in glory. Out of the calamities of war

has arisen a principle of safety, that superior to all attacks, shall

survive through ages, and to which our posterity shall look forward.

Compare the situation of England with her condition at the renewal of

the war! Were we not then threatened by the aggressions of an enemy

even upon our own shores, ... were we not then trembling for the safety

and sanctity even of our homes? Now contemplate Wellington encamped

on the Bidassoa! I know that a sickly sensibility leads some to doubt

whether the advance of Lord Wellington was not rash and precipitate.

I cannot enter into that refinement which induces those who affect to

know much to hesitate upon this subject: I cannot look with regret

upon a British army encamped upon the fertile plains of France: I

cannot believe that any new grounds for apprehension are raised by an

additional excitement being afforded to the irritability of the French

people: I foresee no disadvantage from entering the territories of our

enemy not as the conquered but the conquerors! I cannot regret that the

Portugueze are now looking upon the walls of Bayonne ‘that circle in

those wolves’ which would have devastated their capital, ... that the

Portugueze now behold planted on the towers of Bayonne the standard

which their enemy would have made to float upon the walls of Lisbon!

I cannot think it a matter of regret, that the Spaniards are now

recovering from the grasp of an enemy on his own shores, that diadem

which was stripped from the brow of the Bourbons to be pocketed by a

usurper! I cannot think it a matter of regret that England formerly

threatened with invasion is now the invader, ... that France instead

of England is the scene of conflict! I cannot think all this matter of

regret; and of those who believe that the nation or myself are blinded

by our successes, I entreat that they will leave me to my delusion, and

keep their philosophy to themselves.

“Our enemy,” the accomplished orator pursued, “who enslaved the press

and made it contribute so importantly to his own purposes of ambition,

endeavoured to impress upon other nations a belief that Great Britain

fought only to secure her own interests, and that her views were

completely selfish. That illusion is now destroyed, and the designs of

this country are vindicated. We call on all the powers with whom we

have been or are at war to do us justice in this respect: above all

we claim it of America! I ask her to review her own and the policy of

this country. Now she can behold Buonaparte in his naked deformity,

stripped of the false glory which success cast around him; the spell of

his invincibility is now dissolved; she can now look at him without

that awe which an uninterrupted series of victories had created.

Were she now to survey him as he is, what would be the result? She

would trace him by the desolation of empires, and the dismemberment

of states. She would see him pursuing his course over the ruins of

men and of things: slavery to the people and destruction to commerce,

hostility to literature, to light, and life, were the principles

upon which he acted. His object was to extinguish patriotism, and to

confound allegiance; to darken as well as to enslave; to roll back the

tide of civilization; to barbarize as well as to desolate mankind.

Then let America turn from these scenes of bloodshed and horror, and

compare with them the effect of British interference! She will see

that wherever this country has exerted herself, it has been to raise

the fallen and to support the falling; to raise, not to degrade the

national character; to rouse the sentiments of patriotism which tyranny

had silenced; to enlighten, to reanimate, to liberate. Great Britain

has resuscitated Spain, and re-created Portugal; Germany is now a

nation as well as a name; and all these glorious effects have been

produced by the efforts and by the example of our country. If to be the

deliverers of Europe; if to have raised our own national character, not

upon the ruins of other kingdoms; if to meet dangers without shrinking,

and to possess courage rising with difficulties, be admirable, surely

we may not unreasonably hope for the applause of the world. If we have

founded our strength upon a rock, and possess the implicit confidence

of those allies whom we have succoured when they seemed beyond relief,

then I say that our exertions during the last year, and all our efforts

during the war, are cheaply purchased; if we have burdened ourselves,

we have relieved others; and we have the inward, the soul-felt, the

proud satisfaction of knowing that a selfish charge is that which,

with the faintest shadow of justice, cannot be brought against us.”

♦MR. WHITBREAD.♦

This speech was wormwood to Mr. Whitbread; he animadverted in reply

upon what he termed the overweening self-complacency with which Mr.

Canning talked of the share we had had in giving a decisive turn to the

aspect of affairs in the North; it was the conduct of this country, he

asserted, which had enabled Buonaparte to proceed as he had done in

his unprincipled career: Great Britain had made Buonaparte, and he had

undone himself. “If there were no broad and definite outline previously

laid down,” he said, “and firmly adhered to, as to the demands on the

part of the allies, or the concessions on that of France, which were

to form the groundwork of a general peace, he would venture to predict

that before long some one or other of the allies would make a separate

treaty founded on its own views or interests. And if we attempted

blindly to push our advantages too far, he feared we should rouse

the same irresistible power in France which in 1793 had repelled the

combined attacks of all Europe, which had since led on the Emperor of

the French to his conquests, and which might again turn the tide of

success against us.”

♦MILITIA ALLOWED TO VOLUNTEER FOR FOREIGN SERVICE.♦

In pursuance of these opinions, Mr. Whitbread, when a bill was brought

in for allowing three-fourths of any militia regiment to volunteer for

foreign service, moved to insert in the preamble to the bill, that

this was for bringing the war to a speedy and happy termination, and

obtaining the blessings of peace upon terms of reciprocity, honour, and

security, to all the belligerent powers. What he meant by reciprocity

between some of those powers he would have found it difficult to

explain; ... but the proposed insertion was negatived as unnecessary,

and Mr. Whitbread neither opposed the bill, nor the supplies voted for

carrying into effect the engagements of this nation with its ♦LORD

HOLLAND. DEC. 20.♦ allies. Lord Holland approved of the confidence

which was thus placed in ministers. “Although,” he said, “great part of

the happy results of this war might be justly attributed to a powerful

popular impulse, and to that infatuation on the part of the enemy,

which, thank God, always attended the long abuse of power, ... yet it

must be felt that a great deal of the merit is to be attributed to

the conduct of the government of this country. If the sentiments of

an individual,” he pursued, “are of consequence enough to arrest your

attention, it must be in your Lordships’ recollection that I always

approved of the interposition and interference of ministers in the

cause of Spain. The merit of such policy appears, and ever has appeared

to my judgment, quite indisputable, and must now indeed be universally

admitted; for, aided by the uncommon genius of Lord Wellington, that

policy has produced the most important results. It has driven the enemy

from that country which he had so long and so unremittingly oppressed.

It has presented a most encouraging and impressive example to Europe

of what a people excited by oppression were capable of achieving. It

has changed the whole character of the war, by making it a war of the

people. But a still farther advantage has arisen out of this policy.

A most atrocious calumny had become current in Europe, that the

government of this country was always ready to distribute its subsidies

with a view to embroil the nations of the continent, while it kept its

own people aloof from the contest. No such impression can ever again

prevail in Europe. The calumny has been effectually refuted by the

policy we have pursued with respect to Spain; for there we have not

only given our money but our men; there we have given our money, not

to excite the people but to enable them to act, and we have seconded

their exertions by a powerful army.

“In declaring my approbation of ministers in consequence of their

moderate language and conduct, that approbation is, of course, founded

upon a hope and confidence, that the very different language which

appears in certain publications has in no degree their sanction or

countenance. Sounding a violent and barbarous war-whoop through

the country, abounding in coarse, vulgar, virulent epithets, these

publications complete their abominable character by excitements to

assassination. Although the French ruler has rendered himself so odious

by his conduct, yet it must be admitted that he is a great military

commander, still at the head of a great nation; and is it fitting

that the press of this country should become the means of advising

the assassination of such a man, ... nay, of exhorting to the deed?

and what else can be meant by the repeated declaration, that no peace

can be concluded while this individual lives? The French ruler is no

doubt ambitious, inordinately ambitious; but if it were resolved that

no peace should be made with France while it was under the government

of an ambitious man, when, I would ask, could peace be expected? The

meaning, however, of all the publications I have referred to, may be

to recommend the restoration of the Bourbon family; but the attempt

at such a measure would be totally inconsistent with the professed

moderation and policy of ministers. That restoration might be good;

but it would be preposterous to look for the success of such an

object through the intervention of foreign armies; and it would be

opposite to the policy and principle of ministers to engage in any such

undertaking.”

Alluding then to the just remark of Lord Grenville, that one great

advantage resulting from the recent changes on the continent was, that

it afforded an opportunity for restoring the balance of power, “I must

be allowed,” said Lord Holland, “to say, that the re-establishment and

maintenance of that balance can never consist in, nor depend upon,

particular divisions of territory, so much as upon the existence of a

general feeling among the European states, that it is the interest of

each to preserve the independence of each and all. Such is the feeling

which gave birth and cement to the present confederacy; and therefore I

wish that such a confederacy may continue to exist in peace as well as

in war. I esteem the principle of this confederacy, because it appears

solicitous to preserve the interest of all, without gratifying the

peculiar interest of any one; and upon that principle I would rather

leave France with such possessions as should make her feel an interest

in the common object of the confederacy, than transfer from her to any

other state any possessions which might be likely to withdraw that

state from the general feeling which it is the interest of peace and

Europe to improve and strengthen.”

♦TERMS OFFERED BY THE ALLIES TO BUONAPARTE.♦

It was well for Great Britain and for the continent that Buonaparte

was not contented with such terms of peace as the allies, with a

generosity which had neither the character of wisdom nor of justice,

would a little before this have granted him. Even when he had been

driven over the Rhine, they would, according to their own declaration,

have left France more powerful than she had ever been under her kings,

if he would have consented to give up Italy. Out of Germany and out of

the Peninsula he had been beaten; but they would have allowed France

to remain with the whole of the Netherlands, and with the Rhine for

her boundary, if vain-glory and a blind confidence in his fortune

had not still demented Buonaparte. But he declared that he would

not under any circumstances abandon Italy; and they who ought not,

under any circumstances, now to have negotiated with him, prepared to

enter France. On his part he collected the largest force that that

exhausted country could supply, to resist the impending invasion; and

as it thus became an object of great importance for him to bring to

his assistance Suchet’s army, and the troops who were shut up in the

remaining garrisons in Valencia and Catalonia, he thought this might be

effected by dictating a treaty to ♦BUONAPARTE TREATS WITH FERDINAND.♦

his prisoner, Ferdinand. Accordingly he sent the Comte de Laforest to

Valençay, to negotiate with that poor Prince, saying, that under the

existing circumstances of his empire and his policy, he wished at once

to settle the affairs of Spain; that England was encouraging Jacobinism

and anarchy there, for the purpose of destroying the nobility and the

monarchy, and erecting a republic; that he could not but grievously

feel the destruction of a neighbouring state, connected by so many

maritime and commercial interests with his own; that he desired to

remove every pretext for English interference, and to re-establish

those ties of friendship and good neighbourhood by which Spain and

France had been so long connected; and therefore he had sent the Comte

de Laforest under a feigned name, to whom his Royal Highness might give

entire credit in all that he should propose.

♦CONFERENCE BETWEEN COMTE DE LAFOREST AND FERDINAND.♦

The Comte accordingly presented himself under the name of M. Dubois,

in order that the negotiation might be kept secret, because, if the

English were to discover, they would use every means for frustrating

it. The Emperor, he represented, had done all he could in Bayonne to

accommodate the differences which then existed between father and son;

but the English had marred every thing; they had introduced Jacobinism

into Spain, where the land was laid waste, religion destroyed, the

clergy ruined, the nobility crushed, the marine existing only in name,

the colonies dismembered and in insurrection, and, in fine, everything

overthrown. Those islanders desired nothing but to change the monarchy

into a republic; and yet, to deceive the people, they put the name

of his Royal Highness at the head of all their public acts. Moved by

these calamities, and by the lamentations of all good Spaniards, the

Emperor had chosen him for this important mission, because of his long

experience, for he had been more than forty years in the diplomatic

career, and had resided in every court; but, as there were so many

persons who knew him, he requested that the Spanish princes on their

part would contribute to keep the affair secret. Ferdinand had at this

time none with whom to consult, except his brother and his uncle, who

were both as inexperienced in business as himself. He replied, that

so unexpected a proposition required much reflection; he must have

time for considering it, and would let him know the result. Laforest,

without waiting for this, obtained an audience on the following day,

and then said, that if his Majesty accepted the kingdom of Spain, which

the Emperor wished to restore to him, they must concert means for

getting the English out of that country. To this Ferdinand replied,

that he could make no treaty, considering the circumstances in which

he was placed at Valençay, and indeed could take no measures without

the consent of the nation, as represented by the Regency. The old

diplomatist made answer, it certainly was not the intention of the

Emperor that his Majesty should do the slightest thing which might be

contrary to the wish of Spain; but in this case it would be necessary

that he should find means of ascertaining it. Ferdinand then said

that, during five years and a half, for so long he had been absent from

his own country, he had known nothing more of the state of affairs than

what he read in the French newspapers. Those papers, Laforest affirmed,

exhibited the true state of things; and he made a speech of some length

to prove what Ferdinand was not so devoid of penetration as to believe.

He concluded in words to this effect: “He who is born to a kingdom

has no will of his own; he must be a king, and is not like a private

individual, free to choose for himself that way of life which he may

think most agreeable. And where is he who, when a kingdom is offered

him, would not instantly accept it? Yet, withal, if he who should be a

king were to say, ‘I renounce all dignity from this time, and, far from

seeking honours, desire only to lead a private life;’ in that case the

affair becomes of a different kind. If, therefore, your Royal Highness

is in this predicament, the Emperor must have recourse to other

means; but if, as I cannot but believe, your Royal Highness thinks of

receiving the sceptre, the indispensable preliminary must be to settle

the principal bases of the negotiation upon which afterwards to treat,

and for this purpose to appoint a Spaniard, one of those who are at

this time in France.” Ferdinand calmly replied that this required

consideration. Upon this Laforest observed, that when a kingdom was to

be received, there was not much to consider, reasons of state being

the sole rule of conduct. But Ferdinand made answer, that he was far

from agreeing with him in that maxim; it was his belief that nothing

required greater consideration, and he would take time to deliberate

upon it.

Ferdinand could not have acted with better judgment at this time, if

he had had the ablest statesmen to advise him. In fact, the straight

course was the sure one; for, though he had been kept in complete

ignorance of all recent events, the very circumstance of this proposal

was proof sufficient that Buonaparte’s fortune had failed, and that

his motive for giving up his pretensions to Spain was that he was no

longer able to support them. On the morrow, he said to the ambassador

that, having maturely reflected upon what had been proposed, he must

repeat that he could do nothing, and treat of nothing, in his present

situation, without consulting with the nation, and of course with the

Regency. “The Emperor,” said he, “has placed me here; and if he chooses

that I should return to Spain, he it is who must consult and treat with

the Regency, because he has means of doing this, and I have not; or he

must afford me means, and consent that a deputation from the Regency

should come hither, and inform me concerning the state of Spain, and

propose to me measures for rendering it happy: any thing which I may

then conclude here with his Imperial Majesty will be valid. And it is

the more necessary that such a deputation should come, because there

is no person in France whom I could fitly employ in this affair.”

Laforest replied at some length, endeavouring to persuade him that the

English and Portugueze governed Spain, and that their intention was to

place the house of Braganza upon the Spanish throne, beginning with his

sister, the Princess of Brazil. He also pressed Ferdinand to declare

whether, when he returned to Spain, he meant to be the friend or the

enemy of the Emperor? This was presuming upon the weakness of the

person whom he addressed; but Ferdinand was not wanting in presence of

mind on this occasion. “I esteem the Emperor highly,” he replied, “but

I never will do any thing that may be injurious to my people and their

welfare; and upon this point I now finally declare that nothing shall

make me alter my determination. If the Emperor chooses that I should

return to Spain, let him treat with the Regency, and when that is done,

and I am assured of it, I will sign the treaty; but for this it will

be necessary that a deputation should come here and inform me of every

thing. Report this to the Emperor, and tell him, also, that this is

what my conscience dictates to me.”

♦NOV. 21.♦

Ferdinand expressed himself to the same effect in a letter, which on

the morrow he delivered into Laforest’s hands. “I am still under the

protection of your Imperial Majesty,” he added, “and still profess

the same love and respect of which you have had so many proofs. If

your Majesty’s system of policy, and the actual circumstances of your

empire, will not allow of your conforming to this course, I shall then

remain quietly and willingly at Valençay, where I have now passed five

years and a half, and where I shall remain for the rest of my life, if

God has so appointed it. It is painful to me, Sire, to speak in this

manner to your Majesty, but conscience compels me to it. I have as much

interest for the English as for the French, but, nevertheless, I must

prefer the interest and happiness of my own nation to every thing. Your

Imperial and Royal Majesty will see, I hope, in this nothing more than

a new proof of my ingenuous sincerity, and of the affection which I

bear towards you. If I should promise any thing to your Majesty, and

afterwards be obliged to act in opposition to it, what would you think

of me? you would say that I am inconstant, and you would despise me,

and dishonour me with all Europe.”

When Laforest received this letter from Ferdinand, he observed, that

his Royal Highness desired nothing but what was very just; but he asked

whether he designed to treat with the Emperor before he had consulted

with the Regency, or after? if after, it would occasion much delay;

if before, when the business was once concluded with the Emperor,

the Regency would instantly do whatever he thought fit. But if his

intention in returning to Spain was to continue the war with France,

the Emperor would choose rather to keep him in his power, and carry on

the war upon its present footing. Ferdinand replied, that surely either

the ambassador had not understood him, or he himself must have failed

in expressing himself with sufficient clearness. “My declarations,”

he pursued, “amount to this, that I marry myself to neither power.

If the interest of Spain requires that I should be the friend of the

French, I will be so; but if it requires that I should be the friend

of the English, their friend I shall be; and, finally, if this should

not suit the Emperor, the Infantes and I will remain well pleased

where we are at Valençay. In acting thus I do no otherwise ♦ESCOIQUIZ,

IDEA SENCILLA, &C., PP. 83, 100.♦ than the Emperor himself would do

were he in my place[3].” From this resolution Ferdinand was not to be

dissuaded, and Laforest accordingly returned with this reply.

♦TREATY CONCLUDED AT VALENÇAY.

DEC. 11.♦

Upon his return, Buonaparte dispatched the Duque de S. Carlos to

Valençay to negotiate, on Ferdinand’s part, with Laforest; and a treaty

was easily concluded to this effect, that the Emperor of the French

recognized Ferdinand and his successors as Kings of Spain and of the

Indies, according to the order established by the fundamental laws of

Spain; and that he recognized the integrity of the Spanish territory

as it existed before the war, and would deliver up to the Spaniards

such provinces and fortified places as the French still occupied in

Spain: Ferdinand obliging himself, on his part, to maintain the same

integrity, and that also of the adjacent isles and fortified places,

and especially Minorca and Ceuta; and to make the English evacuate

those provinces and places, the evacuation by the French and English

being to be made simultaneously. The two contracting powers bound

themselves to maintain the independence of their maritime rights,

as had been stipulated in the treaty of Utrecht, and observed till

the year 1792. All Spaniards who had adhered to King Joseph were to

re-enter upon the honours, rights, and privileges which they had

enjoyed, and all the property of which they might have been deprived

should be restored to them; and to such as might choose to live out of

Spain, ten years should be allowed for disposing of their possessions.

Prisoners on both sides were to be sent home, and also the garrison

of Pamplona, and the prisoners at Cadiz, Coruña, the Mediterranean

islands, or any other depôt which might have been delivered to the

English, ... whether they were in Spain, or had been sent to America

or to England. Ferdinand bound himself to pay an annual sum of thirty

millions of reales to Charles IV., his father, and, in case of his

death, an annuity of two millions to the Queen, his widow. Finally, a

treaty of commerce was to be formed between the two nations, and till

this could be done, their commercial relations were to be placed upon

the same footing as before the war of 1792.

♦S. CARLOS SENT TO THE REGENCY. DEC. 8.♦

The next step was to notify this treaty to the actual government of

Spain. Accordingly Ferdinand addressed a letter to the Regency, being

the first communication which he had been permitted to hold with his

own country since his entrapment. “Divine Providence,” he said, “which

in its inscrutable wisdom had permitted him to pass from the palace

of Madrid to that of Valençay, had granted to him the blessings of

health and strength, and the consolation of never having been for a

moment separated from his beloved brother and uncle, the Infantes, Don

Carlos and Don Antonio. They had experienced in that palace a noble

hospitality; their way of life had been as agreeable as it could be

under such circumstances; and he had employed his time in the manner

most suitable to his new condition. The only intelligence which he had

heard of his beloved Spain was what the French gazettes supplied; these

had given him some knowledge of the sacrifices which the nation had

made for him; of the magnanimous and unalterable constancy manifested

by his faithful vassals, of the persevering assistance of England,

the admirable conduct of its general-in-chief, Lord Wellington, and

of the Spanish and allied generals who had distinguished themselves.

The English ministry had publicly declared their readiness to admit

propositions of peace, founded upon his restitution; nevertheless,

the miseries of his kingdom still continued. He was in this state

of passive but vigilant observation, when the Emperor of the French

spontaneously made proposals to him, founded upon his restitution, and

the integrity and independence of his dominions, without any clause

which would not be compatible with the honour and glory and interest

of the Spanish nation. Being persuaded that Spain could not, after the

most successful and protracted war, conclude a more advantageous peace,

he had authorized the Duque de S. Carlos to negotiate in his name with

the Comte de Laforest, whom the Emperor Napoleon had nominated as

plenipotentiary on the part of France; and he had now appointed the

Duque to carry this treaty to the Regency, in proof of the confidence

which he reposed in them, that they might ratify it in their usual

manner, and send it back to him after this necessary form without loss

of time. How satisfactory,” he concluded, “is it for me to stop the

effusion of blood, and to see the end of so many evils! and how do I

long to return and live among a people, who have given the universe

an example of the purest loyalty, and of the noblest and most generous

character!”

This letter seemed to leave the Regency no power of deliberation,

but simply to require that they should ratify the treaty. But in

fact, Ferdinand, if he had any such wish, had no such expectation;

and he had penetration enough to see that the course of events which

had compelled Buonaparte to treat with him upon such terms, must

in their consequences restore him to his kingdom; even though the

Regency should, as he supposed, refuse to ratify it, because of their

engagement with the allied powers. He gave the Duque, therefore,

♦SECRET INSTRUCTIONS FROM FERDINAND.♦ secret verbal instructions to

inquire into the spirit of the Regency and the Cortes; and if he

should find them loyal and well affected to his royal person, ...

not, as he suspected, tainted with infidelity and Jacobinism, ... he

was then to let the Regency know, but in the greatest confidence, his

royal intention that the treaty should be ratified, if it could be

done without injury to the good faith which Spain owed to the allied

powers, or to the public weal; but that he was far from requiring

this if it were otherwise. Should the Regency be of opinion, that

without compromising these points, the treaty might be ratified, upon

an understanding with England temporarily, and until his return to

Spain should in consequence be effected, upon the supposition that

he, without whose free approbation it could not be complete, would

not ratify it when at liberty, but would declare it to have been

constrained and null, and moreover as being injurious to the nation;

in that case he wished them so to ratify it, because the French could

not reasonably reproach him, if, having acquired information concerning

the state of Spain, which had been withheld from him in his captivity,

he should refuse to confirm it. But if the Duque should discover that

the spirit of Jacobinism prevailed in the Regency and the Cortes, he

was then simply to require that the treaty should be ratified; for this

would ♦ESCOIQUIZ, 108–10.♦ not prevent the King from continuing the war

after his return, if the interest and good faith of the nation should

so require. This intention, however, was to be kept profoundly secret,

lest, through any treachery, it should be made known to the French

government.

♦MACANAZ SENT TO VALENÇAY.♦

With these instructions the Duque departed, travelling under the

assumed name of Ducós, that his mission might not be suspected.

Laforest remained at Valençay, still under a false name, and keeping

out of sight, in the same part of the castle which Ferdinand and the

Infantes inhabited; and before the Duque’s departure, Don Pedro de

Macanaz was sent thither by Buonaparte to continue the conferences with

this diplomatist. However much the Regency, or rather the Cortes (for

the Regency was now the mere organ of its pleasure) might be surprised

when the treaty was communicated to them, they were not unprovided

♦JAN. 8.♦ for such an event. The Regency accordingly expressed in reply

their joy upon seeing the King’s signature, and being assured of his

good health, and of that of the Infantes, and of the noble sentiments

which he cherished for his dear Spain. “If,” they said, “they could

but ill express their own satisfaction, still less could they the joy

of that noble and magnanimous people who had sworn fidelity to him;

nor the sacrifices which they had made, were making, and still would

make, till they should see him placed upon the throne of love and

justice which they had prepared for him: they must content themselves

with declaring to his Majesty that he was the beloved and the desired

of the whole nation. It was their duty to put him in possession of a

decree passed by the Cortes on the 1st of January, 1811; so doing, they

were excused from making the slightest observation upon the treaty, in

which his Majesty had the most authentic proof that the sacrifices made

by the Spaniards for the recovery of his royal person had not been made

in vain. And they congratulated him upon seeing that the day was now

near when they should enjoy the inexpressible happiness of delivering

up to him the royal authority which they had preserved for him in

faithful deposit during his captivity.” The decree which accompanied

this letter was that by which the Cortes enacted that no treaty which

the King might conclude during his restraint and captivity should be

recognized by Spain.

♦ZAYAS AND PALAFOX RELEASED.♦

Some delay had taken place in the Duque de S. Carlos’s journey, owing

to the removal of the Cortes from Cadiz to Madrid just at that time. In

the interim, Buonaparte, who was now as desirous to withdraw his troops

from the Peninsula as, in evil hour for himself, he had once been of

introducing them there, sought to accelerate that object. He released

Zayas and Palafox, who had been kept close prisoners at Vincennes,

and sent them to Valençay. Escoiquiz soon followed them; and Laforest

proposed that orders should be given by the Regency, immediately after

the ratification, for a general suspension of hostilities, humanity

requiring that all useless expenditure of blood should be avoided.

The Emperor, he said, had appointed Marshal Suchet his commissioner

for executing that part of the treaty which related to evacuating the

fortresses; and it now depended upon the Spanish government alone

to expedite this business, and effect the release of prisoners; the

generals and officers should proceed by post to their own country, and

the soldiers be delivered upon the frontier as fast as they arrived

there. This being assented to by Macanaz and Escoiquiz, ♦PALAFOX SENT

TO THE REGENCY. DEC. 23.♦ on Ferdinand’s part, it was determined that

Palafox should be sent to communicate it to the Regency, bearing with

him a duplicate of the Duque’s commission, in case any accident might

have happened to him upon the way; and also a letter in which Ferdinand

expressed his persuasion that the Regency had by this time ratified

the treaty. But Palafox had secret instructions to see the English

ambassador at Madrid, express to him how grateful the King felt for

the exertions of the British government in his favour, and communicate

to him, in secrecy, the King’s real intention in thus negotiating with

Buonaparte, in order that that government, far from resenting such a

proceeding, should contribute to its fulfilment. The ♦REPLY OF THE

SPANISH GOVERNMENT. 1814. JAN. 28.♦ Regency replied to this second

communication by referring to their former reply; they added, that “an

ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary had now been named, on

his Majesty’s part, for a congress in which the allies were about to

give peace to Europe. In that congress, they said, the treaty would

be concluded; and it would be ratified not by the Regency, but by his

Majesty himself, in his own royal palace of Madrid, whither he would

be restored to occupy, in the most absolute liberty, a throne rendered

illustrious by the heroic sacrifices of the Spaniards, and by his own

sublime virtues. And they expressed their satisfaction in the thought

that they should soon deliver up to his Majesty the authority wherewith

they were intrusted, ... a charge of such weight that it could rest

only upon the robust shoulders of a monarch who, by re-establishing

the Cortes, had restored to freedom an enslaved people, and driven the

ferocious monster, Despotism, from the throne of Spain.”

♦MEASURES OF THE CORTES.♦

The Spanish government would have acted thus far prudently in its

communication with Ferdinand, if it had abstained from this empty

language: but the _Liberales_, as the ruling party called themselves,

were, some, vain of their talents, others confident in the uprightness

of their intentions, and all alike ignorant of their weakness. If the

abler leaders of this party had not proceeded so far as they desired

and perhaps designed, they were yet conscious that they had proceeded

farther than their functions warranted and than Ferdinand would

sanction. They held, therefore, a secret sitting of the Cortes, and

deliberated upon the measures to be taken in case the King should pass

the frontiers. It was proposed, by a commission appointed to report

upon this emergency, that he should not be considered as being free,

nor should obedience be rendered him, until he should have sworn to

the Constitution in the bosom of the Cortes; that the Generals on the

frontiers should send expresses to the government with all speed, as

soon as they obtained any tidings of his probable coming; that if he

were accompanied by any armed force, that force should be repulsed,

according to the laws of war; should it consist of Spaniards, they

were to lay down their arms, and those who had been carried prisoners

into France licensed to return each to his home; whatever General

might have the honour of receiving the King being to supply him with

a guard suitable to his royal dignity and person. No foreigner should

be allowed to accompany him, not even as a domestic or servant; no

Spaniard who had filled any office, received any pension, or accepted

any honour from Buonaparte or from the Intruder. The Regency should be

charged to fix the route by which the King should proceed to Madrid;

and the President of the Regency, as soon as he arrived in Spain,

should set out to meet and accompany him with a proper retinue, and

present him with a copy of the Constitution, that so his Majesty,

having made himself acquainted therewith, might, upon full deliberation

and with entire consent, take the oath which it prescribed. Having

reached the capital, he should proceed straight to the Cortes, there to

take the said oath, with all the ceremonies and solemnities enjoined:

this done, thirty Members of that assembly should attend him to the

palace, where the Regency should resign the government into his hands;

on the same day the Cortes should prepare a decree for making known to

the nation the solemn act by which, and in virtue of the oath which

he should then have sworn, the King had been constitutionally placed

upon the throne; and this decree should be presented to the King by a

deputation, that it might be published with all due formalities. The

opinion of the Council of State upon this proposition was required

within four-and-twenty hours.

♦FEB. 1.♦

The Council was of opinion that the King ought not to exercise any

authority till he should have taken the oath before the Cortes. They

thought that a deputation should be appointed to meet him, and inform

him concerning the state of affairs and of public opinion, both as to

the eternal and sworn hatred of Napoleon, and the observance of the

Constitution. One member of the Council advised that the deputation

should consist of members of the Cortes, two of whom in rotation should

accompany the King in his coach till he arrived at the palace; and

also that all the soldiers who had been prisoners in France should

be detained upon the frontier, and all the King’s attendants also,

till they should have taken the oath. “It must be believed,” said the

Council, “that if Napoleon sends Ferdinand to Spain, it can only be for

the purpose of laying a new snare for us, and making him the instrument

of his iniquitous schemes, and rendering him, perhaps, odious to a

nation which now longs for his presence, ... it must be with the design

of fomenting a civil war, in which he may be entrapped, seduced, and

compelled to take a part; that the attention of the allies may thus

be distracted, and the progress of their operations be delayed. Now,

therefore, more than ever Spain stands in need of that energy which

hitherto she has displayed against the common enemy; now it is that

she must manifest to the King how much she has done for his sake, and

how much she loves him; but at the same time how much she loves the

Constitution, and abhors the tyrannical disturber of the world. And,

therefore, it is now more than ever of importance that efforts should

be redoubled for maintaining our armies upon a good footing, and

co-operating more effectually for the destruction of that monster.”

In this transaction Buonaparte acted towards Ferdinand with good faith,

because he had no interest in acting otherwise; so he could extricate

his garrisons he cared not now what might become of Spain. Ferdinand

conducted himself with as much prudence and as little duplicity as

could be expected in his situation. The Liberales miscalculated their

strength; their measures implied a distrust of the King; and if he

inferred from their language, that, under all its professions of

respectful and affectionate loyalty, a defiance was couched there in

case he should hesitate to recognise the new order of things, he was

not mistaken in its purport and intent.