LETTER OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
While parliament was sitting, and when the country was preparing for war, the Prince of Wales repeated a claim, which he had often made before, for military promotion, requiring to be placed in a situation where his example might contribute to excite the loyalty of the people. This was a natural request; for the Duke of York had for some years been captain-general and commander-in-chief of the forces, and the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, and Cambridge were lieutenant-generals, but the prince himself was simply a colonel of dragoons. No notice, however, was taken of this letter, and it was only by repeated applications that a reply was elicited. That reply was, that should the enemy succeed in landing, he, the prince, would have an opportunity of manifesting his zeal at the head of his regiment. Thus disappointed in his views, six days before the prorogation of parliament, he addressed a letter on the subject to the king himself; and from him likewise received a similar reply. The prince now exhibited a very unfriendly spirit both towards his majesty and Mr. Addington. In a letter to the Duke of York, he called “the opportunity of displaying his zeal at the head of his regiment,” which was intended to be consolatory to his feelings, “a degrading mockery.” The whole correspondence, in truth, brought great discredit, both on the heir-apparent and his advisers. It ended, however, in the prince joining his regiment at Brighton, in opposition to the expressed wish of Addington; he being bound to do so, he remarked, “by the king’s precise order, and by that honest zeal which was not allowed any fitter sphere for its action.”
MOVEMENTS OF THE FRENCH
A few days after the king’s message had been sent to parliament, the French admiral, Linois, was despatched with a strong squadron for the East Indies. The armies of the republic were increased to 480,000 men; that of Holland being destined to occupy Hanover; and that of Lombardy to invade Naples, garrison Tarentum, and other parts of the Adriatic. The first consul was resolved to occupy Hanover, as a pledge for the restitution of Malta. The electorate was summoned by Mortier on the 25th of May, and the Hanoverians being unable to resist, soon capitulated possession was taken of the country, and Mortier was enabled to control the navigation of the Elbe, and the Weser, as well as to levy contributions on the rich towns of Hamburg and Bremen. A British squadron, however, blockaded the mouths of those rivers, which measure caused such distress to Hamburg and Bremen, that they appealed to the King of Prussia for protection, as one of those sovereigns who guarded the neutrality of the empire. The King of Prussia, however, declined to interfere, and the French were left to continue their exactions with impunity. Napoleon, also, made severe exactions on the Batavian and Italian republics; drew pecuniary assistance from Spain and Portugal; and augmented the supplies of the French treasury, by the sale of Louisiana to the United States, for three millions of dollars. His grand objects, however, at this time, were the army and flotilla for the invasion of England. His army was swelled by contingents of allied states, and the command of it was given to Soult, Davoust, and Ney; the familiarity of his old generals having by this time offended his pride. It was for this invasion chiefly that he drew his contributions from the neighbouring countries. Rome and Naples were plundered on base pretexts, and the latter was obliged to let the French occupy a part of its territories and ports.
NAVAL CONQUESTS.
The naval campaign of this year in Europe, was of a comparatively trifling character. The port and town of Granville were attacked by Sir James Saumarez, on which occasion the pier was demolished, and a number of vessels destroyed; the town and fort of Dieppe were bombarded by Captain Owen; and the Dutch ports, from the Zandvoort, in the vicinity of Haarlem, to Scheveningen, were also severally bombarded, and many vessels destroyed.
In June, an expedition under General Grinfield and Commodore Hood, captured the islands of St. Lucie and Tobago; and in September, the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice surrendered to the British arms. The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, likewise, were captured, and the French were compelled to abandon the colony of St. Domingo.