FOOTNOTES:

[1] See, for instance, his letter to Lady Hamilton, Oct. 3, 1798 (Disp., vol. iii. p. 140), which is but one of many similar expressions in his correspondence.

[2] Nels. Disp., vol. iii. p. 177.

[3] In an entirely open country, without natural obstacles, there are few or none of those strategic points, by occupying which in a central position an inferior force is able to multiply its action against the divided masses of the enemy. On the other hand, in a very broken country, such as Switzerland, the number of important strategic points, passes, heads of valleys, bridges, etc., are so multiplied, that either some must be left unoccupied, or the defenders lose, by dissemination, the advantage which concentration upon one or two controlling centres usually confers.

[4] See ante, vol. i. p. [313].

[5] It is said that the old marshal on receiving these orders cried: "This is the way armies are ruined."

[6] Jomini, Guerres de la Rév. Fran., livre xv. p. 124. Martin, Hist. de France depuis 1789, vol. iii. p. 50. It was just at this moment that Nelson sent a division to the Gulf of Genoa to co-operate with Suwarrow. (Nels. Disp., vol. iii. p. 431.)

[7] The phrase is that of Thiers. Hist. de la Rév., vol. x. p. 353.

[8] A curious evidence of the insecurity of the highways is afforded by an ordinance issued by Bonaparte a year after he became First Consul (Jan. 7, 1801), that no regular diligence should travel without carrying a corporal and four privates, with muskets and twenty rounds, and in addition, at night, two mounted gendarmes. If specie to the value of over 50,000 francs were carried, there must be four gendarmes by day and night. (Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 697.)

[9] See post, Chapter XVII.

[10] Speech of February 18, 1801.

[11] Thiers, Cons. et Empire, vol. i., p. 332.

[12] See ante, p, 251.

[13] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 410.

[14] Ibid., vol. vi. p. 497.

[15] "Voyant bien," says M. Thiers, Bonaparte's panegyrist, "que Malta ne pouvait pas tenir longtemps." (Cons. et Emp., vol. ii. p. 92.)

[16] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 498.

[17] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 520.

[18] See vol. i. pp. 249, 256.

[19] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 738, Jan. 21, 1801.

[20] Contrast Bonaparte's reliance upon the aggregate numbers of Baltic navies with Nelson's professional opinion when about to fight them. "During the Council of War (March 31, 1801) certain difficulties were started by some of the members relative to each of the three Powers we should have to engage, either in succession or united, in those seas. The number of the Russians was in particular represented as formidable. Lord Nelson kept pacing the cabin, mortified at everything which savored either of alarm or irresolution. When the above remark was applied to the Swedes, he sharply observed, 'The more numerous the better;' and when to the Russians, he repeatedly said, 'So much the better; I wish they were twice as many,—the easier the victory, depend on it.' He alluded, as he afterwards explained in private, to the total want of tactique among the Northern fleets." (Col. Stewart's Narrative; Nelson's Dispatches, vol. iv. p. 301.)

James, who was a careful investigator, estimates the allied Russian, Swedish, and Danish navies in the Baltic at fifty-two sail, of which not over forty-one were in condition for service, instead of eighty-eight as represented by some writers. "It must have been a very happy combination of circumstances," he adds, "that could have assembled in one spot twenty-five of those forty-one; and against that twenty-five of three different nations, all mere novices in naval tactics, eighteen, or, with Nelson to command, fifteen British sail were more than a match." (Nav. Hist., vol. iii. p. 43; ed. 1878.)

[21] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. p. 747. To Talleyrand, Jan. 27, 1801.

[22] Nelson's Letters and Dispatches, vol. iv. p. 295.

[23] While this work was going through the press, the author was gratified to find in the life of the late distinguished admiral Sir William Parker an anecdote of Nelson, which, as showing the military ideas of that great sea-officer, is worth a dozen of the "go straight at them" stories which pass current as embodying his precepts. "Throughout the month of October, 1804, Toulon was frequently reconnoitred, and the frigates 'Phoebe' and 'Amazon' were ordered to cruise together. Previous to their going away Lord Nelson gave to Captains Capel and Parker several injunctions, in case they should get an opportunity of attacking two of the French frigates, which now got under weigh more frequently. The principal one was that they should not each single out and attack an opponent, but 'that both should endeavor together to take one frigate; if successful, chase the other; but, if you do not take the second, still you have won a victory and your country will gain a frigate.' Then half laughing, and half snappishly, he said kindly to them as he wished them good-by, 'I daresay you consider yourselves a couple of fine fellows, and when you get away from me will do nothing of the sort, but think yourselves wiser than I am!'" ("The Last of Nelson's Captains," by Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore, K. C. B., London, 1891, p. 122.)

[24] Nels. Disp., vol. iv. p. 355. See also a very emphatic statement of his views on the campaign, in a letter to Mr. Vansittart, p. 367.

[25] Nelson's Disp., April 9, 1801, vol. iv. pp. 339 and 341.

[26] The Danes were moored with their heads to the southward.

[27] If Nelson had an arrière pensée in sending the flag, he never admitted it, before or after, to friend or foe. "Many of my friends," he wrote a month after the battle, "thought it a ruse de guerre and not quite justifiable. Very few attribute it to the cause that I felt, and which I trust in God I shall retain to the last moment,—humanity." He then enlarges upon the situation, and says that the wounded Danes in the prizes were receiving half the shot fired by the shore batteries. (Nels. Disp., vol. iv., p. 360.)

[28] April 20, 1801. Nels. Disp., vol. iv. p. 355, note.

[29] Jurien de la Gravière, Guerres Maritimes, vol. ii. p. 43, 1st edition.

[30] Having destroyed Copenhagen, we had done our worst, and not much nearer being friends.—Nels. Disp., vol. iv. p. 361.

[31] The second embargo was laid on Nov. 7, 1800, for the sole purpose of enforcing the surrender of Malta to Russia. (Annual Register, 1800; State Papers, p. 253.) It antedated by six weeks the declaration of Armed Neutrality, by which the other powers, on the plea of neutral rights, agreed to arm. (Ibid., p. 260.) In fact, the other powers urged upon Great Britain that the Russian sequestration being on account of Malta, they had no share in it, and so were not subjects for retaliation; ignoring that they had chosen that moment to come to Russia's support.

[32] Annual Register, 1801; State Papers, p. 246.

[33] Nels. Disp., vol. iv., pp. 349, 352.

[34] Ibid., p. 349; also see p. 379.

[35] Ibid., vol. iv. p. 416.

[36] Nels. Disp., vol. iv. p. 373.

[37] For the important bearings of this stipulation, which was made as an additional and explanatory declaration to the main convention (Annual Register, 1801; State Papers, p. 217), see post, Chapter XVI. It was a matter in which Russia, not being a carrier, had no interest.

[38] For instance, Thiers, H. Martin, and Lanfrey.

[39] Corr. de Nap. vol. vii. p. 25.

[40] Corr. de Nap. vol. vii. p. 47.

[41] For full particulars of Bonaparte's views for the ships in Brest, which then contained the large body of Spaniards brought back by Bruix the previous August, see Corr. de Nap. vol. vi. pp. 181, 186. It must be remembered that there was then practically no French line-of-battle force in the Mediterranean.

[42] Corr. de Nap., vol. vi. pp. 262, 263.

[43] The advantage of the close watch is also shown by the perplexity arising when an enemy's squadron did escape. In this case, seven ships-of-the-line were detached from the Channel fleet in chase of Ganteaume, but "owing to lack of information" they were sent to the West Indies instead of the Mediterranean. (James, vol. iii. p. 73.) The latter was sufficiently controlled by Keith with seven sail-of-the-line in the Levant, and Warren with five before Cadiz, to which he joined two more at Minorca.

[44] See ante, vol. i. p. 68, for particulars.

[45] In the above the attempt has been merely to summarize the rapid succession of events, and the orders issuing from Bonaparte's intensely active mind to meet the varying situations. Reference may be made by the student to his correspondence, vol. vi. pp. 719, 729, 745; vol. vii. pp. 4, 24-26, 69-73, 125, 144, 164, 197, 198.

[46] This ship, the "St. Antoine," was one of those ceded to France by Spain.

[47] Ross's Life of Saumarez, vol. ii. p. 21.

[48] March 2, 1801. Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 72.

[49] The treaty was signed June 6, and ratified June 16. (Ann. Reg. 1801; State Papers, p. 351.) Bonaparte received his copy June 15. (Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 215.)

[50] Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 256.

[51] Ibid., p. 266.

[52] See ante, p. [60].

[53] Ann. Reg. 1801; State Papers, p. 257.

[54] Paul I. had particularly held to the preservation of Naples and the restitution of Piedmont to the king of Sardinia. On April 12 the first consul heard of Paul's death, and the same day issued an order making Piedmont a military division of France. This was purposely antedated to April 2. (Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 147.) Talleyrand was notified that this was a first, though tentative, step to incorporation. If the Prussian minister remonstrated, he was to reply that France had not discussed the affairs of Italy with the king of Prussia. (Ibid., p. 153.) Alexander was civilly told that Paul's interest in the Italian princes was considered to be personal, not political. (Ibid., p. 169.) The Russian ambassador, however, a month later haughtily reminded Talleyrand that his mission depended upon the "kings of Sardinia and the Two Sicilies being again put in possession of the states which they possessed before the irruption of the French troops into Italy." (Ann. Reg., 1801; State Papers, pp. 340-342) Liguria (Genoa) was also made a military division of France by order dated April 18. (Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 162.)

[55] While refusing this in his instructions to the French negotiator, the latter was informed he might yield it, if necessary. (Corr. de Nap., vol. vii., pp. 255-258.)

[56] Corr. de Nap., vol. vii. p. 323.

[57] Parliamentary History, vol. xxxvi. p. 47.

[58] Commentaires de Napoléon, vol. iii. p. 377.

[59] Hist. de France depuis 1789, vol. i. p. 396.

[60] Speech of Nov. 3, 1801.

[61] Annual Register 1801, p. 280.

[62] See ante, p. [70].

[63] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 509, 511.

[64] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 511.

[65] The slightest delay under these circumstances is very prejudicial, and may be of great consequence to our squadrons and naval expeditions.—Corr. de Nap., March 11, 1802.

[66] Corr. de Nap., March 12, 1802, vol. vii. p. 522.

[67] Ibid., April 3, 1802, vol. vii. p. 543.

[68] Corr. de Nap., July 1, 1802, vol. vii. p. 641.

[69] Ibid., April 13, 1801, vol. vii. p. 153.

[70] Ibid., April 18, 1801, vol. vii. p. 162.

[71] Corr. de Nap., August 2, 1802, vol. vii. p. 696.

[72] Ibid., vol. vii. pp. 528, 544.

[73] Ibid., vol. vii. p. 578.

[74] Decree of Nov. 19, 1792.

[75] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., livre xv. p. 38.

[76] Ibid., livre xv. pp. 50, 51.

[77] Ibid., xvi. p. 234.

[78] Note Verbale. Remonstrance addressed to the French government. (Ann. Reg. 1802; State Papers, p. 675.)

[79] Lord Hawkesbury's speech; Parl. Hist., vol. xxxvi. p. 971.

[80] Parl. Hist., vol. xxxvi. p. 1380.

[81] Annual Register, 1803, p. 681.

[82] Secret Instructions to Lord Whitworth; Yonge's Life of Lord Liverpool, vol. i. p. 93.

[83] Adams, Hist. of the United States, 1801-1817, vol. ii. pp. 13-21.

[84] The San Domingo expedition cost the lives of over twenty-five thousand French soldiers.

[85] The British ambassador in Paris reached the same conclusion from the instructions sent by Talleyrand to the French envoy in London. "It appears from this note that this government is not desirous to proceed to extremities; that is to say, it is not prepared to do so." (March 18; Parl. Hist., vol. xxxvi. p. 1315.) The United States minister in Paris also wrote, March 24, "Here there is an earnest and sincere desire to avoid war, as well in the government as the people." (Am. State Papers, ii. 549.)

[86] Instructions to Duroc, March 12, 1803, Corr. de Nap., vol. viii. pp. 307-311. It is noteworthy that these instructions were issued the same day that was received in Paris information of the king's message to Parliament of March 8, that "in consequence of military preparations in the ports of France and Holland he had adopted additional measures of precaution." Two days later the militia was called out.

[87] Corr. de Nap., vol. viii. p. 308.

[88] Parl. Hist., vol. xxxvi. p. 1293.

[89] Speech of May 23, 1803.

[90] Naval Chronicle, vol. ix. pp. 243, 247, 329, 330, 332, 491.

[91] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 553.

[92] Ibid.

[93] In case of war, it was the purpose of the British government to send an expedition to occupy New Orleans, as it did afterwards in 1814. (Am. State papers, vol. ii. pp. 551, 557.)

[94] Napoleon to Talleyrand; Corr. de Nap., May 13, 1803.

[95] Thiers, Consulat et Empire, livre xx. p. 182.

[96] The French republic had devoured under the form of assignats an immense amount of national property.—Thiers: Cons. et Emp., livre xvii. p. 377.

[97] "Holland," says Thiers, "would have wished to remain neutral; but the first consul had taken a resolution, whose justice cannot be denied, to make every maritime nation aid in our strife against Great Britain." (Cons. et Emp., livre xvii. p. 383.)

[98] Metternich's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 48, note.

[99] Chénier's Vie du Maréchal Davout, Paris, 1866.

[100] See Naval Chronicle, vol. x. pp. 508, 510; vol. xi. p. 81. Nelson's Dispatches, vol. v. p. 438.

[101] Pellew's Life of Lord Sidmouth, vol. ii. p. 237.

[102] Nelson's Dispatches, vol. iv. p. 452.

[103] Parl. Debates, March 15, 1804.

[104] Mémoires du Duc de Raguse, vol. ii. p. 212.

[105] Nelson's Disp. and Letters, vol. iv pp. 444-447.

[106] Nelson's Disp., vol. iv. p 500.

[107] James, Nav. Hist., vol. iii. p. 212 (ed. 1878).

[108] See Cobbett's Reg., vol. v. pp. 442, 443, for some very sensible remarks on Pitt's attack, written by Cobbett himself.

[109] Stanhope's Pitt, vol. iv. p. 94.

[110] Parl. Debates, 1804, p. 892.

[111] Nels. Disp., vol. v. p. 283.

[112] Ibid., p. 306.

[113] Ibid., p. 174. The following references also show conditions of Nelson's ships: vol. v. pp. 179, 211, 306, 307, 319, 334; vol. vi. pp. 38, 84, 99, 100, 103, 134, 158.

[114] Corr. de Nap., vol. viii. p. 657.

[115] Corr. de Nap., vol. ix. p. 168.

[116] Nels. Disp., vol. v. pp. 115, 136.

[117] "It is at best but a guess," to use his own words, "and the world attaches wisdom to him that guesses right." (Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 193.)

[118] See Nels. Disp., vol. v. pp. 179, 185, 247, 309, 374.

[119] Nels. Disp., vol. v. p. 309.

[120] Ibid., p. 374.

[121] Ibid., p. 388.

[122] Ibid., pp. 405, 411.

[123] Ibid., p. 498.

[124] Ibid., p. 411.

[125] Ibid., p. 300.

[126] Nels. Disp., vol. v. p. 306.

[127] Ibid., pp. 253, 254.

[128] Ibid., p. 438.

[129] Ibid., p. 388.

[130] Ibid., p. 395.

[131] See Nels. Disp., vol. v. pp. 145, 162, 413; vol. vi. pp. 84, 328, 329.

[132] Corr. de. Nap., vol. ix. p. 226.

[133] Corr. de Nap., vol. ix. p. 475.

[134] Ibid., p 513.

[135] Ibid., Sept. 12, 1804.

[136] Corr. de Nap., vol. ix. p. 700, Sept. 29, 1804.

[137] The former Spanish part of the island was still in the hands of France.

[138] Corr. de Nap., Sept. 27 and 29, 1804.

[139] For Bonaparte's attitude toward Spain, see two letters to Talleyrand, Aug. 14 and 16, 1803; Corr. de Nap. vol. viii. pp. 580-585.

[140] Signed Oct. 19, 1803. (Combate Naval de Trafalgar, by D. José? de Couto, p. 79.)

[141] Parl. Debates, 1805, vol. iii. p. 70.

[142] Parl. Debates, 1805, vol. iii. p. 72.

[143] Ibid., p. 372.

[144] Ibid., p. 81.

[145] Jan. 24, 1804. Ibid., p. 85.

[146] Ibid., p. 89.

[147] Ibid.

[148] Ibid., pp. 85, 89.

[149] For some account of the advantages to French privateers arising from this use of Spanish ports, with interesting particulars, see Naval Chronicle, vol. xiii. p. 76. In March, 1804, Spain prohibited the sale of prizes in her ports.

[150] Parl. Debates, 1805, vol. iii. p. 86.

[151] Corr. de Nap. vol. ix. p. 482.

[152] Parl. Debates, 1805, vol. iii. p. 93.

[153] Ibid., p. 122.

[154] Ibid., pp. 95, 122.

[155] Thiers, Cons. et Emp. livre xvii. pp. 383, 384.

[156] Pitt's Speech of February 11, 1805.

[157] D. José de Couto, Combate Naval de Trafalgar (Madrid, 1851), pp. 83, 89.

[158] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 240. This letter was not sent, Nelson soon after receiving the Admiralty's order.

[159] Jurien de la Gravière, Revue des Deux Mondes, Oct. 1887, p. 611.

[160] Correspondance de Napoléon, vol. x. pp. 79-97.

[161] Nelson's Dispatches, vol. vi. p. 333.

[162] After writing these words the author noted Nelson's opinion to the same effect: "Had they not been crippled, nothing could have hindered our meeting them on January 21, off the south end of Sardinia." (Dispatches, vol. vi. p. 354.)

[163] For Villeneuve's opinion see Chevalier's Hist. de la Mar. Fran. sous l'Empire, p. 134; for Nelson's, Disp. vol. vi. pp. 334, 339.

[164] Corr. de Nap., vol. ix. p. 701.

[165] Ibid., Jan. 16, 1805.

[166] Compare with Nelson's views on attacking Russian fleet, ante, p. 46.

[167] Corr. de Nap., April 29, 1805, vol. x. p. 443.

[168] Letter to Pitt by Robert Francis; Castlereagh's Memoirs, vol. v. p. 444. The whole letter is most suggestive, not to say prophetic. From internal indications it is extremely probable that the writer of these letters, signed Robert Francis, was Robert Fulton, though the fact is not mentioned in any of his biographies.

[169] Mémoires du Duc de Raguse, vol. ii. p. 261.

[170] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., vol. v. p. 413.

[171] Barrow's Autobiography, p. 263.

[172] Ibid. Nav. Chron., vol. xiii. p. 328.

[173] The above account depends mainly upon the "Naval Chronicle" for April 15, 1805; vol. xiii. pp. 365-367,—checked by James and other sources.

[174] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 227.

[175] So in the orders, Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 232. At a later date this rendezvous is spoken of by Napoleon as in the Cape de Verde. (Corr. de Nap., vol. xi. p. 50.) A singular confusion in such important orders.

[176] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 447.

[177] Ibid., 324.

[178] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. pp. 338-341.

[179] Nelson's Dispatches, vol. vi. p. 397.

[180] Chevalier, Mar. Fran. sous l'Empire, p. 142.

[181] Nelson's Dispatches, vol. vi. pp. 410, 411, 415.

[182] See ante, p. [142]. Missiessy sailed from the West Indies in the same week that Villeneuve sailed for them.

[183] Corr. de Nap., April 13, 1805, vol. x. p. 390.

[184] Ibid., April 20 and 23.

[185] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 394.

[186] Ibid., p. 490.

[187] Ibid., p. 571.

[188] Ibid., p. 616.

[189] Ibid., p. 624.

[190] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 708.

[191] For example, Thiers, Cons. et Emp., liv. xx. p. 178; Jurien de la Gravière, Guerres Maritimes, vol. ii. p. 224 (first edition).

[192] Corr. de Nap., vol. xi. p. 162.

[193] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 401. In a former work ("The Influence of Sea Power upon History," p. 23), the author casually spoke of this as a false step, into which Nelson had been misled. A closer study has convinced him that the British admiral did quite right.

[194] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 624. Compare this with Nelson's remark, just quoted.

[195] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 624.

[196] Ibid., June 22, 1805, p. 686.

[197] Nap. to Decrès, May 10, 1805.

[198] Corr. de Nap., June 9, p. 624.

[199] Annual Register, 1805, p. 225; Naval Chronicle, vol. xiii. p. 399.

[200] Naval Chronicle, vol. xiii. p. 484. The expression "balayer la Manche"—sweep the Channel—is far stronger than the Chronicle's translation, which is preserved in the quotation.

[201] Apparently a prize. (Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 410.)

[202] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 411.

[203] Ibid., Sept. 6, 1804.

[204] Corr. de Nap., June 28, 1805, vol. x. p. 708.

[205] Ibid., p. 705.

[206] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 457.

[207] Ibid., p. 45.

[208] Nels. Disp., vol. vi. p. 459.

[209] On this date is the first intimation of Nelson's sailing as known to Napoleon. June 27, he writes, "I do not clearly see where Nelson has been." (Corr. de Nap., vol. x. p. 701.)

[210] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. April 23 and May 4, 1805, pp. 420, 465.

[211] Ibid., May 24, p. 544.

[212] Ibid., May 29, pp. 563, 624.

[213] Corr. de Nap., vol. x. June 22, p. 686.

[214] Ibid., p. 545.

[215] See, for his reasoning, letter of June 16, three days after leaving Antigua; and also, for his uncertainty after reaching Europe, July 18. (Nels. Disp., vol. vi. pp. 457, 473.)

[216] Naval Chronicle, vol. xiv. p. 64.

[217] Napoleon to Decrès, July 18, 1805.

[218] Naval Chronicle, vol. xiv. p. 64.

[219] Barrow's Autobiography, pp. 276-290.

[220] See ante, p. [162].

[221] Napoleon to Berthier, Decrès, and Ganteaume, July 20, 1805.

[222] Napoleon to Decrès, July 27, 1805.

[223] Calder's Defence, Naval Chronicle, vol. xv. p. 167. The words quoted, frequently repeated in different terms, embody the spirit of the whole paper.

[224] Chevalier, Mar. Fran. sous l'Emp., p. 171. Couto (Combate de Trafalgar, p. 107) gives a very serious account of the injuries suffered by the four remaining Spanish ships.

[225] Nelson's Disp., vol. vi. p. 457.

[226] Nelson's Disp., vol. vii. p. 16.

[227] Corr. de Napoléon, July 16, 1805.

[228] The harbors of Ferrol, Coruña, and a third called Betanzos, are inlets having a common entrance from the sea.

[229] See Napoleon's letters to Decrès, Allemand, and others, July 26, 1805.

[230] Napoleon to Decrès, August 29.

[231] Napoleon to Talleyrand, Dec. 18, 1799. "Frame your reply to Genoa in such terms as to leave us free to incorporate the Ligurian Republic with France, within a few months."

[232] Stanhope's Pitt, vol. iv. p. 318.

[233] Napoleon to Talleyrand, July 31, 1805.

[234] Ibid., August 13.

[235] Napoleon to Villeneuve, August 13.

[236] Napoleon to Decrès, August 14.

[237] Twenty-nine only of the line.

[238] Chevalier, Marine Française sous l'Empire, p. 180.

[239] Collingwood's Correspondence, August 21, 1805.

[240] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., livre xxii. pp. 125, 128.

[241] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., livre xxviii. p. 233.

[242] Napoleon to St. Cyr, Sept. 2, 1805.

[243] Napoleon to Decrès, Sept. 15.

[244] Ibid., Sept. 4.

[245] Nels. Disp., vol. vii. p. 80.

[246] Fyffe's History of Modern Europe, vol. i. p. 281.

[247] To the King of Wurtemburg, April 2, 1811; Corr., vol. xxii. p. 19.

[248] Life of Sir Wm. Parker, vol. i. p. 39. Ross's Life of Lord de Saumarez, vol. ii. p. 214. Naval Chronicle, Plymouth Report, Dec. 10, 1800.

[249] Message of Directory to Council of Five Hundred, Jan., 1799; Moniteur, An 7, p. 482.

[250] McArthur, Financial and Political Facts of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1801, p. 308. Norman (Corsairs of France, London, 1887, App.) gives the number of French privateers taken in the same period as 556.

[251] Sir J. Barrow, then a Secretary to the Admiralty, mentions in a letter to J. W. Croker, July 18, 1810, that two colliers had been captured in sight of Ramsgate, close under the North Foreland; and on July 27 an ordnance hoy taken close under Galloper Light, in the face of the whole squadron in the Downs, not one of which moved. (Croker's Diary, vol. i. p. 33)

[252] Naval Chronicle, vol. xxiv. p. 327. For further curious particulars concerning French privateering in the narrow seas, see Nav. Chron., vol. xxii. p. 279; vol. xxiv. pp. 327, 448, 460-462, 490; vol. xxv. pp. 32-34, 44, 203, 293; vol. xxvii. pp. 102, 237.

[253] See, for example, the account of the privateer captain, Jean Blackeman Nav. Chron., vol. xii. p. 454.

[254] Naval Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 535; vol. iii. p. 151.

[255] In 1806, on the Jamaica station alone, were captured by the British forty-eight public or private armed vessels, two of which were frigates, the rest small. (Nav. Chron., vol. xvii. pp. 255, 337.)

[256] American State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 670, 771.

[257] James (Naval Hist., ed. 1878, vol. iii. p. 249) says that though denominated 1,200-ton ships, the registered tonnage of most exceeds 1,300, and in some cases amounts to 1,500 tons.

[258] Nav. Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 251.

[259] Brenton's Naval Hist. (first ed.) vol. i. p. 346. Low's Indian Navy, vol. i. 204.

[260] Low's Indian Navy, vol. i. 205. Milburn's Oriental Commerce, vol. i. 405.

[261] The premium of insurance, which had in 1782 been fifteen guineas per cent on ships engaged in the trade with China and India, did not exceed half that rate at any period between the spring of 1793 and the end of the struggle. (Lindsay's Merchant Shipping, vol. ii. 265. See also Chalmer's Historical View, pp. 308-310.)

[262] Letter of Bombay merchants to Sir Edward Pellew; Nav. Chron., vol. xxiii. 107.

[263] Robert Surcouf, by J. K. Laughton; Colburn's United Service Magazine, 1883, part i. pp. 331, 332.

[264] Milburn's Oriental Commerce, vol. i. p. xci.

[265] Naval Chronicle, vol. vii. 276.

[266] Naval Chronicle, vol. iv. pp. 150, 151, 326.

[267] Registration of vessels made in all ports of France (except the newly acquired departments) from September 1793, to September 1796:—

Under 30 tons3,351(undecked)
Between 30 and 100 tons1,897
" 100 and 200 tons532
" 200 and 400 tons193
Above 400 tons55
——
6,028

It should be explained that as all ships, old as well as new, had to register, this gives the total of French shipping without deduction for losses.

[268] Moniteur, 26 Floréal, An 9 (May 16, 1801).

[269] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. 359.

[270] Cobbett's Parl. Debates, March 15, 1804, p. 921.

[271] Naval Chronicle, vol. xvii. p. 369.

[272] Norman gives the total number of captures, 1793-1800, as 5,158 against Lloyd's 3,639. Through the kindness of Captain H. M. Hozier, Secretary of Lloyd's, the author has received a list of British ships taken, annually, 1793-1814. This list makes the numbers considerably less than the earlier one used in the text. By it, between 1793 and 1800, both inclusive, only 3,466 British ships were captured.

[273] Moniteur, 16 Pluviôse, An 7 (Feb. 5, 1799), pp. 582, 583.

[274] Guérin gives the total number of captures by France from Great Britain, from 1793 to the Peace of Amiens, March 25, 1802, including both ships of war and merchant vessels, as 2,172; while the French lost in all, from ships-of-the-line to fishing-boats, between 1,520 and 1,550. Of this total, 27 were ships-of-the-line and 70 frigates,—a number considerably below that given by James, the painstaking English naval historian. Allowing 150 as the number of smaller naval vessels taken, there would remain, by Guérin's estimate, about 1,300 French trading vessels which fell into British hands. Of these a large proportion must have been the chasse-marées that carried on the coasting trade (as their expressive name implies); attacks on which formed so frequent and lucrative a diversion from the monotony of blockade service. (Hist. Mar de la France, vol. iii. p. 674.)

Guérin claims great carefulness, but the author owns to much distrust of his accuracy. It is evident, however, from all the quotations, that Fox's statement, May 24, 1795, that in the second year of the war France had taken 860 ships, was much exaggerated. (Speeches, vol. v. p. 419. Longman's, 1815.)

[275] In this period of twenty-two years there were eighteen months of maritime peace.

[276] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv.

[277] Thus it is told of one of the most active of French privateersmen, sailing out of Dunkirk, that "the trade from London to Berwick, in the smacks, was his favorite object; not only from the value of the cargoes, but because they required few hands to man them, and from their good sailing were almost sure to escape British cruisers and get safely into ports of France or Holland." Between 1793 and 1801 this one man had taken thirty-four prizes. (Nav. Chron., vol. xii. p. 454.)

[278] Returns of the coasting trade were not made until 1824. Porter's Progress of the Nation, section iii. p. 77.

[279] The merchant vessels of that day were generally small. From Macpherson's tables it appears that those trading between Great Britain and the United States, between 1792 and 1800, averaged from 200 to 230 tons; those to the West Indies and the Baltic about 250; to Germany, to Italy, and the Western Mediterranean, 150; to the Levant, 250 to 300, with some of 500 tons. The East India Company's ships, as has been said, were larger, averaging nearly 800 tons. The general average is reduced to that above given (125) by the large number of vessels in the Irish trade. In 1796 there were 13,558 entries and clearances from English and Scotch ports for Ireland, being more than half the entire number (not tonnage) of British ships employed in so-called foreign trade. The average size of these was only 80 tons. (Macpherson.) In 1806 there were 13,939 for Ireland to 5,211 for all other parts of the world, the average tonnage again being 80. (Porter's Progress of the Nation, part ii. pp. 85, 174.)

Sir William Parker, an active frigate captain, who commanded the same ship from 1801 to 1811, was in that period interested in 52 prizes. The average tonnage of these, excluding a ship-of-the-line and a frigate, was 126 tons. (Life, vol. i. p. 412.)

In 1798, 6,844 coasters entered or left London, their average size being 73 tons. The colliers were larger. Of the latter 3,289 entered or sailed, having a mean tonnage of 228. (Colquhoun's Commerce of the Thames, p. 13.)

[280] The returns for 1813 were destroyed by fire, and so an exact aggregate cannot be given. Two million tons are allowed for that year, which is probably too little.

[281] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. 368, 535.

[282] Porter's Progress of the Nation, part ii. p. 171.

[283] Chalmer's Historical View, p. 307.

[284] Porter, part ii. p. 173. The Naval Chronicle, vol. xxix. p. 453, gives an official tabular statement of prize-vessels admitted to registry between 1793 and 1812. In 1792 there were but 609, total tonnage 93,994.

[285] Chalmer's Historical View, p. 351.

[286] The amounts given are those known as the "official values," assigned arbitrarily to the specific articles a century before. The advantage attaching to this system is, that, no fluctuation of price entering as a factor, the values continue to represent from year to year the proportion of trade done. Official values are used throughout this chapter when not otherwise stated. The "real values," deduced from current prices, were generally much greater than the official. Thus, in 1800, the whole volume of trade, by official value £73,723,000, was by real value £111,231,000. The figures are taken from Macpherson's Annals of Commerce.

[287] The French will not suffer a Power which seeks to found its prosperity upon the misfortunes of other states, to raise its commerce upon the ruin of that of other states, and which, aspiring to the dominion of the seas, wishes to introduce everywhere the articles of its own manufacture and to receive nothing from foreign industry, any longer to enjoy the fruit of its guilty speculations.—Message of Directory to the Council of Five Hundred, Jan. 4, 1798.

[288] Message of Directory to Council of Five Hundred, Jan. 4, 1798.

[289] The act imposing these duties went into effect Aug. 15, 1789. Vessels built in the United States, and owned by her citizens, paid an entrance duty of six cents per ton; all other vessels fifty cents. A discount of ten per cent on the established duties was also allowed upon articles imported in vessels built and owned in the country. (Annals of Congress. First Congress, pp. 2131, 2132.)

[290] Am. State Papers, vol. x. 502.

[291] Ibid., p. 389.

[292] Ibid., p. 528.

[293] Ibid., p. 584.

[294] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. 535.

[295] Am. State Papers, vol. i. 243.

[296] Annual Register, 1793, p. 346*.

[297] Am. State Papers, i. 240. A complete series of the orders injuriously affecting United States commerce, issued by Great Britain and France, from 1791 to 1808, can be found in the Am. State Papers, vol. iii. p. 262.

[298] Am. State Papers, i. 240, 241. How probable this result was may be seen from the letters of Gouverneur Morris, Oct. 19, 1793, and March 6, 1794. State Papers, vol. i. pp. 375, 404.

[299] Am. State Papers, vol. i. p. 679.

[300] Wheaton's International Law, p. 753.

[301] Monroe to the British Minister of Foreign Affairs. Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 735.

[302] Reply to "War in Disguise, or Frauds of the Neutral Flag," by Gouverneur Morris, New York, 1806, p. 22.

[303] Russell's Life of Fox, vol. ii. p. 281.

[304] Letter to Danish Minister, March 17, 1807. Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. x. p. 406.

[305] A letter from an American consul in the West Indies, dated March 7, 1794, gives 220 as the number. This was, however, only a partial account, the orders having been recently received. (Am. State Papers, i. p. 429.)

[306] By the ordinance of Aug. 30, 1784. See Annals of Congress, Jan. 13, 1794, p. 192.

[307] The National Convention, immediately after the outbreak of war, on the 17th of February, 1793, gave a great extension to the existing permission of trade between the United States and the French colonies; but this could not affect the essential fact that the trade, under some conditions, had been allowed in peace.

[308] In fact Monroe, in another part of the same letter, avows: "The doctrine of Great Britain in every decision is the same.... Every departure from it is claimed as a relaxation of the principle, gratuitously conceded by Great Britain."

[309] Mr. Jay seems to have been under some misapprehension in this matter, for upon his return he wrote to the Secretary of State: "The treaty does prohibit re-exportation from the United States of West India commodities in neutral vessels; ... but we may carry them direct from French and other West India islands to Europe." (Am. State Papers, i. 520.) This the treaty certainly did not admit.

[310] See letter of Thos. Fitzsimmons, Am. State Papers, vol. ii. 347.

[311] The pretexts for these seizures seem usually to have been the alleged contraband character of the cargoes.

[312] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. 345.

[313] It will be remembered that the closing days of May witnessed the culmination of the death struggle between the Jacobins and Girondists, and that the latter finally fell on the second of June.

[314] Am. State Papers, vol. i. pp. 284, 286, 748.

[315] Ibid., p. 372.

[316] One of these complaints was that the United States now prohibited the sale, in her ports, of prizes taken from the British by French cruisers. This practice, not accorded by the treaty with France, and which had made an unfriendly distinction against Great Britain, was forbidden by Jay's treaty.

[317] Speech of M. Dentzel in the Conseil des Anciens. Moniteur, An 7, p. 555.

[318] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 28.

[319] Ibid., vol. ii. p. 163.

[320] Letter to Talleyrand, Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 178.

[321] Ibid., vol. i. pp. 740, 748.

[322] The day after the news of Rivoli was received, Mr. Pinckney, who had remained in Paris, though unrecognized, was curtly directed to leave France.

[323] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 13.

[324] Ibid., p. 14.

[325] American State Papers, vol. ii. p. 14.

[326] Moniteur, An v. pp. 164, 167.

[327] March 1, and October 8, 1793. Ibid.

[328] Speech of Lecouteulx; Moniteur, An v. p. 176.

[329] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. 463.

[330] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. 413, note.

[331] Of the imports into Germany, three fifths were foreign merchandise re-exported from Great Britain.

[332] These figures are all taken from Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv.

[333] See Am. State Papers, vol. x. p. 487.

[334] The importance of the West India region to the commercial system of Great Britain in the last decade of the 18th century will be seen from the following table, showing the distribution per cent of British trade in 1792 and 1800:—

Imports from,Exports to,
1792.1800.1792.1800.
British West Indies20281110
United States571715
Russia9832
Germany and Prussia512931
France, Belgium, and Holland841512
Mediterranean7262
Spain and Portugal9563
Ireland13799
Asia (not Levant)1416107
Miscellaneous1011149
————————
100100100100

The significance of these figures lies not only in the amounts set down directly to the West Indies, but also in the great increase of exports to Germany, and the high rate maintained to France, Belgium, and Holland, with which war existed. Of these exports 25 per cent in 1792, and 43 per cent in 1800, were foreign merchandise, chiefly West Indian—re-exported.

[335] In 1800 the captured islands sent 9 per cent of the British imports.

[336] Moniteur, An vii. pp 478, 482.

[337] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 8.

[338] Moniteur, An vii. p. 502.

[339] Ibid., p. 716; Couzard's speech.

[340] Moniteur, An vii. p. 555; Dentzel's speech.

[341] Ibid.; Lenglet's speech.

[342] Ibid., pp. 582, 583. The figures are chiefly taken from the speech of M. Arnould. A person of the same name, who was Chef du Bureau du Commerce, published in 1797 a book called "Système Maritime et Politique des Européens," containing much detailed information about French maritime affairs, and displaying bitter hatred of England. If the deputy himself was not the author, he doubtless had access to the best official intelligence.

[343] In consequence of the law of Jan. 18, 1798, the British government appointed a ship-of-the-line and two frigates to convoy a fleet of American vessels to their own coast.—Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv. p. 440.

[344] Moniteur, An vii. p. 564; Cornet's speech.

[345] Annals of Congress, 1798, p. 3733.

[346] Ibid., p. 3754.

[347] Ibid.

[348] Speech of February 2, 1801.

[349] Speech of March 25, 1801.

[350] Annual Register, 1801; State Papers, p. 212.

[351] Ibid., p. 217.

[352] The principle of the Rule of 1756, it will be remembered, was that the neutral had no right to carry on, for a belligerent, a trade from which the latter excluded him in peace.

[353] By a report submitted to the National Convention, July 3, 1793, it appears that in the years 1787-1789 two tenths only of French commerce was done in French bottoms. In 1792, the last of maritime peace, three tenths was carried by French ships. (Moniteur, 1793, p. 804.)

[354] Moniteur, An vii. p. 582; Arnould's speech.

[355] Annual Register, 1804. State Papers, p. 286.

[356] The exports of the French West India islands in 1788 amounted to $52,000,000, of which $40,000,000 were from San Domingo alone. (Traité d'Économie Politique et de Commerce des Colonies, par P. F. Page. Paris, An 9 (1800) p. 15.) This being for the time almost wholly lost, the effect upon prices can be imagined.

[357] An American vessel arrived in Marblehead May 29, landed her cargo on the 30th and 31st, reloaded, and cleared June 3. (Robinson's Admiralty Reports, vol. v. p. 396.)

[358] In the case of the brig "Aurora," Mr. Madison, the Secretary of State, wrote: "The duties were paid or secured, according to law, in like manner as they are required to be secured on a like cargo meant for home consumption; when re-shipped, the duties were drawn back with a deduction of three and a half per cent (on them), as is permitted to imported articles in all cases." (Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 732.)

In the case of the American ship "William," captured and sent in, on duties to the amount of $1,239 the drawback was $1,211. (Robinson's Admiralty Reports, vol. v. p. 396.) In the celebrated case of the "Essex," with which began the seizures in 1804, on duties amounting to $5,278, the drawback was $5,080. (Ibid., 405.)

[359] The text of the Berlin decree can be found among the series beginning in American State Papers, vol. iii. p. 262.

[360] A curious indication of the dependence of the Continent upon British manufactures is afforded by the fact that the French army, during this awful winter, was clad and shod with British goods, imported by the French minister at Hamburg, in face of the Berlin decree. (Bourrienne's Memoirs, vol. vii. p. 292.)

[361] Am. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 805.

[362] Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xiii. Appendix, pp. xxxiv-xlv.

[363] Thiers, Consulat et Empire, vol. vii. pp. 666-669.

[364] Letter of Lord Howick to Mr. Monroe, Jan. 10, 1807; Am. State Papers, vol. iii. p. 5.

[365] President's Message to Congress, Oct. 27, 1807; Am. State Papers, vol. iii. p. 5.

[366] Correspondance de Napoléon.

[367] British Declaration of September 25, 1807,—a paper which ably and completely vindicates the action of Great Britain; Annual Register, 1807, p. 735.

[368] Annual Register, 1807. State Papers, p. 771.

[369] Ibid., p. 739.

[370] Lanfrey's Napoleon (French ed.), vol. iv. p. 153.

[371] Corr. de Nap., vol. xv. p. 659.

[372] Annual Register, 1807, p. 777.

[373] See, for example, Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. viii. pp. 636 and 641-644; vol. ix. p. 87, petition of West India planters; p. 100, speech of Mr. Hibbert, and p. 684, speech of Mr. George Rose.

[374] See ante, p. 273.

[375] Am. State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 245-247.

[376] Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xiii. Appendix, pp. xxxiv-xlv.

[377] Am. State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 23, 24.

[378] Annals of Congress, 1807, p. 2814.

[379] Annals of Congress, 1808-1809, p. 1824.

[380] There were three Orders in Council published on the 11th of November, all relating to the same general subject. They were followed by three others, issued November 25, further explaining or modifying the former three. The author, in his analysis, has omitted reference to particular ones; and has tried to present simply the essential features of the whole, suppressing details.

[381] The attention paid to sustaining the commerce of Great Britain was shown most clearly in the second Order of November 11, which overrode the Navigation Act by permitting any friendly vessel to import articles the produce of hostile countries; a permission extended later (by Act of Parliament, April 14, 1808) to any ship, "belonging to any country, whether in amity with his Majesty or not." Enemy's merchant ships were thus accepted as carriers for British trade with restricted ports. See Am. State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 270, 282.

[382] Gibraltar and Malta are especially named, they being natural depots for the Mediterranean, whence a large contraband trade was busied in evading Napoleon's measures. The governors of those places were authorized to license even enemy's vessels, if unarmed and not over one hundred tons burthen, to carry on British trade, contrary to the emperor's decrees.

[383] On March 28, 1808, an Act of Parliament was passed, fixing the duties on exportations from Great Britain in furtherance of the provisions of the Orders. This Act contained a clause excepting American ships, ordered into British ports, from the tonnage duties laid on those which entered voluntarily.

[384] In a debate on the Orders, March 3, 1812, the words of Spencer Perceval, one among the ministers chiefly responsible for them, are thus reported: "With respect to the principle upon which the Orders in Council were founded, he begged to state that he had always considered them as strictly retaliatory; and as far as he could understand the matter they were most completely justified upon the principle of retaliation.... The object of the government was to protect and force the trade of this country, which had been assailed in such an unprecedented manner by the French decrees. If the Orders in Council had not been issued, France would have had free colonial trade by means of neutrals, and we should have been shut out from the Continent.... The object of the Orders in Council was, not to destroy the trade of the Continent, but to force the Continent to trade with us." (Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xxi. p. 1152.)

As regards the retaliatory effect upon France, Perceval stated that the revenue from customs in France fell from sixty million francs, in 1807, to eighteen and a half million in 1808, and eleven and a half in 1809. (Ibid. p. 1157.)

[385] Correspondance de Napoléon, vol. xvii. p. 19.

[386] Mr. Henry Adams (History of the United States, 1801-1817) gives 134 as the number of American ships seized between April, 1809, and April, 1810, and estimates the value of the vessels and cargoes at $10,000,000 (Vol. v. p. 242.) The author takes this opportunity of acknowledging his great indebtedness to Mr. Adams's able and exhaustive work, in threading the diplomatic intricacies of this time.

[387] December 26, 1805.

[388] Metternich's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 82.

[389] Metternich to Stadion, Jan. 11, 1809; Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 312.

[390] Letter of Napoleon to Louis, dated Trianon, Dec. 20, 1808; Mémoires de Bourrienne, vol. viii. p. 134. Garnier's Louis Bonaparte, p. 351. The date should be 1809. On Dec. 20, 1808, Napoleon was at Madrid, in 1809 at Trianon; not to speak of the allusion to the Austrian war of 1809.

[391] Napoleon issued orders to this effect in August, 1807. Cargoes of goods such as England might furnish were sequestrated; those that could not possibly be of British origin, as naval stores and French wines, were admitted. All vessels were to be prevented from leaving the Weser. No notification of this action was given to foreign agents. See Cobbett's Political Register, 1807, pp. 857-859.

[392] Thiers, Consulate and Empire (Forbes's translation), vol. xii. p. 21.

[393] Mémoires de Bourrienne, French Minister at Hamburg, vol. viii. pp. 193-198.

[394] Annual Register, 1809; State Papers, 747.

[395] April 1, 1808; Naval Chronicle, vol. xxi. p. 48. May 7, 1809; Annual Register, 1809, p. 698.

[396] Napoleon saw, in 1809, that his work at Tilsit was all to be done over, since the only war Russia could make against the English was by commerce, which was protected nearly as before. There was sold in Mayence sugar and coffee which came from Riga.—Mémoires de Savary, duc de Rovigo (Imperial Chief of Police), vol. iii. p. 135.

[397] D'Ivernois, Effects of the Continental blockade, London, Jan., 1810. Lord Grenville, one of the leaders of the Opposition, expressed a similar confidence when speaking in the House of Lords, Feb. 8, 1810. (Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xv. p. 347.) So also the King's speech at the opening of Parliament, Jan. 19, 1809: "The public revenues, notwithstanding we are shut out from almost all the continent of Europe and entirely from the United States, has increased to a degree never expected, even by those persons who were most sanguine." (Naval Chronicle, vol. xxi. p. 48.)

[398] Monthly Magazine, vol. xxi. p. 195.

[399] Ibid., vol. xxii. p. 514.

[400] Ibid., vol. xxi. p. 539.

[401] Monthly Magazine, vol. xxii. p. 618.

[402] Ibid., vol. xxiv. p. 611.

[403] Ibid., vol. xxvi. p. 11.

[404] Ibid., vol. xxvii. pp. 417, 641.

[405] Ibid., p. 135.

[406] Tooke's History of Prices, vol. i. pp. 300, 301.

[407] Salgues, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la France, vol. viii. pp. 350-355. Mémoires de Marmont, due de Raguse, vol. iii. p. 365. Mémoires de Savary, due de Rovigo, vol. v. p. 115.

[408] Quarterly Review, May, 1811, p. 465.

[409] For instance, a license was necessary for a British subject to ship any articles to an enemy's port, though in a neutral vessel. In principle, licenses are essential to trade with an enemy. In 1805 and 1807 Orders in Council dispensed with the necessity of a license in particular instances; but even then merchants preferred to take out a license, because it cut short any questions raised by British cruisers, and especially by privateers. See Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. x. p. 924.

[410] Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. x. p. 406.

[411] For an interesting account of the neutralizing trade, see Naval Chronicle, vol. xxxi. pp. 288-295, and vol. xxxii. p. 119. On the License System, the Parliamentary Debates (table of contents), and the Quarterly Review of May, 1811, may be consulted.

[412] Quarterly Review, May, 1811, p. 461. Lindsay's History of Merchant Shipping, vol. ii. p 316.

[413] Petition of Hull merchants, 1812; Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xxi. p. 979.

[414] Am. State Papers, vol. iii. p. 341.

[415] Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates, vol. xxi. p. 1113.

[416] Ross's Life of Admiral Saumarez, vol. ii. pp. 196, 241.

[417] In the years 1809 and 1810 one hundred and sixty American vessels alone were seized by Danish privateers. Only a part, however, were condemned. (Am. State Papers, vol. iii. p. 521.)

[418] Erskine's note to that effect was dated April 19, 1809.

[419] Annual Register, 1809, p. 726.

[420] Moniteur, Feb. 24, 1810.

[421] Mémoires, vol. ix. pp. 21-24.

[422] Cons. et Empire (Forbes's Trans.), xii. 15.

[423] Corr. de Nap., vol. xx. p. 235.

[424] Compare Metternich's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 188.

[425] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xxxviii. p. 182.

[426] Corr. de Nap., vol. xxi. p. 70: "Mon principe est, La France avant tout." (Letter to viceroy of Italy.)

[427] Parl. Debates, vol. xxi. p. 1050; xxiii. p. 540.

[428] Cobbett's Parl. Debates, vol. xxi. pp. 1056, 1117.

[429] The decree was also shrouded in secrecy, and its existence denied in the Moniteur (Cobbett's Pol. Register, xviii. p. 701). Napoleon wrote to the viceroy of Italy, Aug. 6, 1810: "You will receive a decree which I have just issued to regulate duties on colonial produce.... It is to be executed in Italy; it is secret and to be kept in your hands. You will therefore give orders in pursuance of this decree only by ministerial letters." (Corr., vol. xxi. p. 28.)

[430] Thiers, Cons. et Empire, Book xxxviii. pp. 181-189.

[431] Monthly Magazine, Feb. 1811, vol. xxxi. p. 67.

[432] Corr. de Nap., vol. xxi. p. 58.

[433] Corr. de Nap., vol. xxi. p. 224.

[434] Ibid., p. 268.

[435] Ibid., p. 77.

[436] Ibid., pp. 70, 71.

[437] Ibid., pp. 61, 62.

[438] Cobbett's Pol. Register, vol. xviii. pp. 704, 722.

[439] At Bordeaux licensed vessels were known to take on board wines and brandies for the British army in Portugal. (Mémoires du duc de Rovigo, vol. v. p. 60.)

[440] Bourrienne, Mémoires, vol. viii. p. 261.

[441] Mémoires du duc de Rovigo, vol. v. p. 66.

[442] Mémoires de Bourrienne, vol. ix. p. 60.

[443] Porter's Progress of the Nation, sect. iii. p. 205. In 1815, after Napoleon's overthrow, the price fell to £34.

[444] Tooke's Hist. of Prices, vol. i. p. 354.

[445] Souvenirs du duc de Vicence, vol. i. p. 88.

[446] Both Monroe and Pinkney, while ministers in London, informed the United States government that the extreme measures taken were popular. (Am. State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 188, 206.)

[447] Letter on the Genius and Disposition of the French Government; by an American lately returned from Europe, pp. 189-192. Baltimore, 1810. See also Metternich's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 476, for the unhappiness of France.

[448] Mémoires du due de Raguse, vol. iii. p. 423. Marmont adds: "This was a powerful help to French industry during that time of suffering and misery."

[449] Tooke's History of Prices, vol. i. p. 311.

[450] In like manner, vessels with British licenses frequently slipped into French ports, especially with naval stores from the Baltic.

[451] "There was not a Dutchman," says M. Thiers, "who had not lost fifty per cent by foreign loans." (Cons. et Empire (Forbes's trans.), xii. 47.)

[452] "The emperor does desire war, because he needs more or less virgin soil to explore, because he has need to occupy his armies and to entertain them at the expense of others.... M. Romanzow has repeated to me a long conversation he had had with the emperor. 'He wants money,' said he,—'he does not hide it; he wishes war against Austria to procure it.'" (Metternich to Stadion, Feb. 17, 1809; Memoirs, ii. 329.) The Austrian war of 1809 brought $34,000,000 into Napoleon's military chest. (Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xxxviii. p. 34.)

[453] Thus to Davout, commanding the Army of Germany: "I shall need much money, which should make you feel the importance of obtaining for me as much as you can, and asking of me as little as possible." (Corr., March 24, 1811.)

[454] This condition of the debt was partly factitious, Napoleon maintaining the public funds at eighty, by the secret intervention of the military chest. (Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xli. p. 18.)

[455] Mémoires du duc de Rovigo, vol. v. p. 116.

[456] Genius and Disposition of French Govt., p. 166. Baltimore, 1810.

[457] Genius and Disposition of French Govt., pp. 181-192.

[458] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xli. p. 22.

[459] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xli. p. 11.

[460] Arnold's History of Rome, opening of chap. xliii.

[461] It is interesting to observe in Metternich's letters, while ambassador at Paris, how he counts upon this exhausting of the capital of French soldiers as the ultimate solution of the subjection of Austria. "For some time Napoleon has lived on anticipations. The reserves are destroyed." (April 11, 1809.) Compare also his exclamation to the emperor in 1813: "Is not your present army anticipated by a generation? I have seen your soldiers; they are mere children." (Memoirs, vol. i. p. 189).

[462] See Metternich's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 477.

[463] Corr. de Nap., vol. xxi. p. 497 (Feb. 28, 1811).

[464] Ibid., p. 275.

[465] Ibid., p. 296.

[466] These contentions of Napoleon were for the most part perfectly correct. Some interesting facts, bearing upon the true character of the so-called neutral trade in the Baltic, may be gathered from Ross's Life of Saumarez, vol. ii. chaps. ix.-xiii. See also representations made by a number of American ship-captains, Am. State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 329-333. On the other hand, the scrupulously upright John Quincy Adams, U. S. minister to Russia, affirmed that he positively knew some of the American ships to be direct from the United States. The facts, however, only show the dependence of the world at that time upon the Sea Power of Great Britain, which made Napoleon's Continental System impossible; yet, on the other hand, it was his only means of reaching his enemy. If he advanced, he was ruined; if he receded, he failed.

[467] During one year, 1809, this fleet captured 430 vessels, averaging sixty tons each, of which 340 were Danes. Among these were between thirty and forty armed cutters and schooners, of which Denmark had to employ a great many to supply Norway with grain. The remaining ninety vessels were Russian. (Naval Chronicle, vol. xxii. p. 517.)

[468] "Once more I must tell you," wrote a Swedish statesman to Saumarez, "that you were the first cause that Russia dared to make war against France. Had you fired one shot when we declared war against England, all had been ended and Europe would have been enslaved." (Ross's Saumarez, vol. ii. p. 294.)

[469] Thiers, Cons. et Emp., Book xlii. p. 383.

[470] Compare Metternich's argument with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, October, 1807. (Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 161.)

[471] Annual Register, 1792; State Papers, p. 355.

[472] Moniteur, Dec. 25, 1792; Proposition of M. Barailon.

[473] Pitt's Speeches, vol. ii. pp. 46, 47.

[474] Lanfrey's Napoleon, vol. iv. p. 112 (Eng. trans., ed. 1886).

[475] Lanfrey's Napoleon, vol. ii. chap. iii. p. 122 (Eng. trans., 2d ed.).

[476] Jurien de la Gravière, Vie de l'Amiral Baudin, p. 9.

[477] That is, about 8 per cent annually. The increase during the four years of the elder Pitt in the Seven Years' War, 1757-1761, was 29 per cent, about 7 per cent annually.

[478] Système Maritime et Politique des Européens dans le 18me siècle, par Arnould. Paris, 1797.

[479] For Napoleon's own assertion of this fact, see "Note pour le Ministre des Relations Extérieures," Corr. de Nap., Oct. 7, 1810. See also ante, p. 320.

[480] Martin, Hist. de France depuis 1789, vol. i. p. 396.

[481] Annual Register, 1793, p. 163. For the correspondence on that occasion see A. R. 1792; State Papers, pp. 326, 327. See also letter of Le Brun, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Moniteur of Aug. 26, 1792.

[482] The Directory tended to impose upon the smaller states, neighboring to or allies of France, republican constitutions, "unitaires" (centralized) in form, analogous to our own, as Bonaparte had done for the Cisalpine Republic and for Genoa. It had just done so in Holland, where it had raised against the government of the United Provinces a kind of 18th of Fructidor (coup d'état). It now (1798) aimed at revolutionizing Switzerland. Bonaparte urged it on. He had already provoked a revolution in a republic near to and allied with the Swiss, that of the Grisons.—Martin: Hist. de France depuis 1789, vol. iii. p. 7.

[483] Napoleon's remark referred to the edicts of the Directory, confiscating British goods wherever found on land; but it applies equally to the decree of January, 1798, which extended the edict to the sea: "Le Directoire ébaucha le système du blocus continental; il ordonna la saisie de toutes les marchandises Anglaises qui pouvaient se trouver à Mayence et dans les autres pays cédés à la France." (Commentaires de Napoléon I., Paris, 1867, vol. iii. p. 413.)

[484] This correspondence, so far as published, is to be found in the Annual Register for 1797; State Papers, pp. 181-223.

[485] See Stanhope's Life of Pitt, vol. ii. p. 224 (ed. 1879).

[486] For a graphic description of the effects of the Berlin decree on the Continent, see Fyffe's History of Modern Europe, vol. i. p. 328.

[487] Metternich's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 65.

INDEX.