A history of England

by Charles Oman

Nature of the contest between England and France.

But, on the other hand, the aspect of the strife was greatly changed by the fact that England had no longer the principles of the Revolution to fight, but was engaged in a struggle against an ambitious despot, a world-conqueror who had no parallel save Cæsar or Alexander the Great. The France of Bonaparte only resembled the France of Robespierre in the unscrupulous vigour of her assaults on her enemies. She was no longer professing to fight for a principle—the deliverance of oppressed peoples from the yoke of monarchy and the proclamation of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all men. Though Bonaparte still made a parade of being a beneficent liberator, yet France was now fighting to make herself the tyrant-state of Europe, to win power and plunder, not to carry out the principles of the Revolution. In the long struggles that followed the declaration of war in 1803, Bonaparte at one time and another struck down every government in Europe that dared to stand against him, but England he could never subdue. From the moment when Sidney Smith turned him back from the walls of Acre, down to the moment when Wellington drove him a broken and defeated adventurer from the hillside of Waterloo, it was always England that stood between him and complete success. Hence it came that he honoured her with a venomous hatred such as he never bestowed on any other foe. It may be said with much truth that his whole career after 1803 was a crusade against England, and that all his actions were directed to secure her ruin, whether that ruin was to be brought about in the open strife of contending fleets, or in the slow but deadly working of laws aimed against English commerce and industries. When Bonaparte was meeting and beating the Austrian, the Prussian, or the Russian, he felt that he was fighting the hired soldiers of England; for every confederacy against him was cemented with English gold. The final object of all his continental wars was to crush us; his victories were all means to that end.

In a contest between a single despot and a free state, the former has in many ways the advantage. He has no Parliament to criticize his actions, no public opinion before which he is bound to justify his every deed. He can work out his schemes in his own brain, and give them the unity that a single master-mind inspires. He can secure the implicit obedience of his lieutenants, because he alone can make or mar their career. On the other hand, the policy dictated by an English cabinet of a dozen men was prone to lack consistency and singleness of aim, and their plans and projects were divulged to Parliament, criticized by opponents, and trumpeted out to all Europe by the Press, before they were well set in hand. It was no light responsibility that the Addington ministry took upon themselves when they declared war on the unscrupulous First Consul.

The long struggle which followed may be divided into four epochs. In the first—1803-1805—Bonaparte strove to settle the national duel by an actual invasion of England, and lamentably failed. In the second—1805-1808—England fought by subsidizing foreign allies, while Bonaparte struck at his enemy by the "Continental System," a plan for starving English trade. In the third period—1808-1814—a new aspect was given to the struggle by the interference of England on land. Instead of relying on subsidies, we poured troops into Spain, and met the French face to face. At the same time the intolerable oppression which Bonaparte exercised over all the states of the continent, led to national risings against him, which finally, in 1814, wrought his downfall. The fourth period comprises only the "Hundred Days" of March-June, 1815, in which the tyrant tried to seize once more his old place and power, and suffered his final defeat at Waterloo.

Bonaparte resolves to invade England.

In the first opening months of the war, Bonaparte set his mind on bringing the struggle to a rapid conclusion, by crossing the Channel and invading England. He despatched 120,000 veteran troops to the coast between Dunkirk and St. Valery, and fixed his own head-quarters at Boulogne, where the cliffs of Folkestone and Dover were actually in sight. "The Channel is but a ditch," he said, "and any one can cross it who has but the courage to try." A fog might enable his whole army to slip across unseen, or a fortunate gale might drive away the English fleet for the short twenty-four hours that he required. Hundreds, and afterwards thousands, of flat-bottomed boats were collected at Boulogne and the neighbouring ports, and fitted up, some as armed gunboats, some as transports. The troops were trained to embark with extraordinary speed, so that they might not lose a minute when the signal for sailing should be given. But from June, 1803, to September, 1805, they waited—and yet the signal was never given.

Defensive measures.—The Volunteer Movement.—Recall of Pitt.

England faced the trial with wonderful courage. The nation was so wrathful at the wanton renewal of the war by Bonaparte, and at his arrogant threat of invasion, that it made efforts such as had never been dreamed of before. While the Addington ministry were doubting how best to meet the projected attack, the nation itself solved the problem by the great Volunteer Movement. Almost every able-bodied man in England and Scotland offered himself for service. By the autumn of 1803 there were 347,000 volunteers under arms, besides 120,000 regular troops and 78,000 militia. This was a marvellous effort for a kingdom which then only counted 15,000,000 souls. [54] The volunteers, it is true, were imperfectly trained, often insufficiently officered, and unprovided with a proper proportion of cavalry and artillery. But when we consider their numbers and enthusiasm, it is only fair to conclude that even if Bonaparte had thrown across his 120,000 or 150,000 men into Kent or Sussex, he would have been able to do little against such a vast superiority of numbers. Not contented with enrolling men for land service, the government displayed great energy in strengthening our first line of defence, the fleet. The dockyards were worked with such zeal and speed that 166 new vessels were added to the navy before the year was over. Blockading squadrons were hastily sent out to face all the French and Dutch naval ports, as they had done in the old war. Not the least of the signs of national enthusiasm was that, in obedience to the public voice, Pitt—whose name was now bound up with a vigorous war-policy—was recalled to the helm of state with the king's consent, while the weak Addington retired into the background.

Attempted Irish rebellion.—English success in India.