When the old king, but lately insane, wrote these lines, he was on the point of becoming blind. At the end of the session of Parliament, July 12th, 1805, one of his eyes was already entirely useless, and the other was growing weaker and weaker. At the same time, to the profound grief of his friends and family, the health of Mr. Pitt was visibly declining; and notwithstanding the wonderful energy of his mind, it was no longer possible— according to the striking expression of Lord Harrowby—to appear before his adversaries "as a giant in repose."
The giant who governed France, and terrified Europe, however, seemed to have no need of repose. Crowned at Milan on the 26th of May, 1805, he had assumed there the title of King of Italy. This name grated harshly on Austrian ears. The new sovereign had annexed to France the republic of Genoa, and now began that system of aggrandizement of his own family by ceding the territory of Eliza Lucca, as an independent principality, to his eldest sister. These acts of insolent domination served the designs of Mr. Pitt, then ardently occupied in forming a new coalition against absolute and revolutionary France. Russia, Austria and Sweden, acceded to his propositions. Scarcely was the European alliance concluded against him, when Napoleon arrived at Boulogne, resolved to strike the coalition to the heart, by attacking England. He was confident of the success of his expedition. "The English do not know what is impending. Let France be mistress of the passage for twelve hours, and England has lived," said he. The plan of the emperor was to distract the attention of the British government and scatter its fleets by dispatching his own squadrons, some to the West Indies and others to Spanish ports, then suddenly to return, and with all his forces occupy the channel. Admiral Villeneuve, charged with the supreme command, was sagacious and brave; nevertheless, sad and discouraged in advance, by the weight of the responsibility. He had cleared the Straits of Gibraltar when Nelson followed him. From Spain to the Antilles, and from the Antilles to the Channel, the two squadrons followed.
Villeneuve was ordered to break the blockade at Brest, to rally the fleet of Admiral Gantheaume, and to open a passage towards England. He hesitated, doubted, and disobeyed; and returned towards Cadiz, where he expected to find the allies. Nelson, apprised of this plan, started in pursuit. When Napoleon heard of the disobedience of Villeneuve, he flew into a terrible passion. He was at Boulogne, watching the horizon at all hours, for a glimpse of the sails of his coming fleet. Daru entered his cabinet one morning, and found Napoleon intensely agitated, talking to himself, and unconscious of his approach. Daru stood before him, silently awaiting orders. The emperor, on recognizing him, addressed him as if he knew all. "Do you know where Villeneuve is now?" cried he, vehemently. "He is at Cadiz,—at Cadiz!" His fury burst forth, and he declared himself betrayed. Some hours later, he conceived the plan of his German campaign. At the end of September, he was upon the Rhine, at the head of his troops, repulsing and driving back General Mack and the Austrian army at Ulm. That place was strongly fortified, and commanded the Danube; but the approaches were cut off. Communication was impossible, and Mack, abandoned by certain divisions of his army, was compelled to surrender unconditionally. On the 20th of October, 1805, he evacuated the city, and 30,000 men laid down their arms.
When this news reached London, carried by one of those vague rumors which precede all couriers, Pitt refused to believe it. He was ill and suffering, and the weight of public perils overwhelmed, for the first time, that gigantic brain. He had made new attempts to enlarge the basis of his ministry. The king was at Weymouth; his minister went there to see him, and urge him to consent to the admission of Mr. Fox into the cabinet. George III. remained inflexible. The depression, which had seized Mr. Pitt, insensibly communicated itself to his friends. "He came to me, begging me to translate a Dutch newspaper which contained in full, the capitulation of Ulm," writes Lord Malmesbury in his Diaries. "I observed, but too clearly, the effect it had on him, though he did his utmost to conceal it. This was the last time I saw him. This visit left an indelible impression on my mind, as his manner and look were not his own, and gave me, in spite of myself, a foreboding of the loss with which we were threatened."
Death of Nelson.
The light of a great joy was once more to cross the obscure heaven of the last days of Mr. Pitt. The day following the surrender at Ulm, the 21st of October, 1805, the English and French fleets encountered each other before Trafalgar. Nelson and Collingwood commanded the two lines of English vessels. Villeneuve and Admiral Gravine had reunited thirty-three ships of the line and seven frigates. After prodigies of valor on the part of the French, the victory remained with the English. Standing upon the deck of the Victory,—his flagship, Nelson signalled to the entire fleet, those noble words, emblematic of austere Brittanic virtue:
"England Expects Every Man To Do His Duty."