A History of England, Period III. Constitutional Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

Napoleon attempts to form a coalition.

With regard to foreign affairs Pitt's position did not at first seem hopeful. He wished to follow out the policy of the last war, and to form a third coalition. But Bonaparte was engaged in almost the same process in opposition to England, and the chances at first seemed all in favour of the success of the French in this vast competition. By the Treaty of Lunéville those German princes who had been dispossessed by the advance of the French to the Rhine, and by the withdrawal of Tuscany from the House of Austria, were to be indemnified at the expense of the ecclesiastical principalities of the Empire. This arrangement might have been carried out without much difficulty by the Germans themselves, but the avarice of the great powers Prussia and Austria, and the difficulty which the smaller princes found in obtaining their restitutions, rendered mediation necessary, and by a strange act of folly the arbitration of Bonaparte himself was sought. He had used this opportunity to flatter Russia by suggesting that the Emperor should be joined with himself in the duty of arbitration, to please Prussia by unduly favouring its claims, and to foment all the rivalries of the Germanic body. He had further, on the rupture of the Peace of Amiens, suggested that some of the points at issue should be decided by the arbitration of Russia, hoping thereby to silence for ever any complaints Alexander might have to urge against him, so that neither that power nor Prussia was disposed to be unfriendly to him, while Austria was exhausted under the late heavy blow which had been dealt her, and much occupied by the rivalry of the other German powers. But in spite of this appearance of friendship of both Russia and Prussia for France there were secret causes of hostility between them. Alexander had seen through the somewhat barefaced attempt to purchase his favour by the offer of the position of arbitrator, and while consenting to act as mediator, had continued to urge the injustice of the conduct of the French with regard both to Piedmont and to Germany. To such an extent had the angry correspondence been carried, that a scene had taken place (July 29, 1803) between Bonaparte and the Russian ambassador very similar to that with Lord Whitworth. With Prussia also the ambition of the first Consul had prevented him from completing his work of conciliation. He had displeased that Court by a persistent refusal to withdraw his troops from Hanover. On the whole, the feeling of Lord Harrowby, when he entered upon the plan of forming a coalition, was that his best hope lay in the direction of Russia; but that all Europe would remain quiet till the great invasion of England should either have destroyed that power or by its repulse offer a favourable opportunity for assaulting France.

Napoleon's conduct with regard to Georges' conspiracy.

Napoleon's own conduct went far to remove all expected difficulties. No one could have played more completely into the hands of his enemies. A conspiracy was set on foot against his Government by the royalists; it was principally in the hands of Georges, the Breton leader, and of General Pichegru. At the right moment the Count of Artois was to appear upon the scene, and the Bourbons to be re-established. The police and Bonaparte obtained early information of it. Bonaparte made use of his knowledge to foster the conspiracy, and to implicate General Moreau, whom he had always regarded as his rival since the battle of Hohenlinden, and who appears to have been guilty only of having consented to be reconciled to his old friend Pichegru, from whom political differences had separated him. Although there is not the slightest proof of the truth of the fact, it was asserted that the plan included the assassination of the First Consul; and, determined to make the most of his knowledge of the conspiracy, Bonaparte sent agents, who entrapped two of our ministers abroad, Messrs. Drake and Spencer Smith, into consenting to the conspiracy. Of the real plot they knew nothing, but were led to believe in the existence of some royalist scheme and to lend it their aid. Bonaparte then charged them publicly with having joined in a plan of assassination, demanded, and ultimately (April 1804) succeeded in procuring, their expulsion from Bavaria and Wurtemburg, and sent to all the Courts of Europe a coarse and virulent attack upon the English Government. The reply of Lord Hawkesbury (April 30)—for this took place during the Addington ministry—to the effect that England had the right, and would use the right, of taking advantage of the political situation of countries with which she was at war, justified the conduct of England in the eyes of all foreign powers, and excited a strong feeling against the conduct of the Consul. The conspiracy was followed by a still more startling act of violence. Unable to secure the person of the Count of Artois, who received timely warning of the plot, and burning to strike some blow against Murder of the Duc d'Enghien. March 21, 1804. the Bourbons, Bonaparte, regardless of the neutrality of the country, sent a body of troops into Baden, there captured an innocent and unoffending Bourbon prince, the Duc d'Enghien, son of the Prince of Condé, brought him into France, had him summarily tried by a military tribunal, and immediately shot. The effect of this great crime upon the crowned heads of Europe was instantaneous, and was not decreased when Bonaparte Napoleon Emperor. May 18, 1804. threw off all mask of moderation, and gave an outward form to the despotism he had long practised by declaring himself Emperor. But there were still many difficulties to be overcome before the Courts of Europe could be brought to see the absolute necessity of forming a coalition. It required a whole year of negotiation, and of further proofs of Napoleon's character, before Pitt's object was attained.

Lord Harrowby's retirement. Dec. 1804.

The loss of his able Foreign Minister added fresh difficulties to his negotiations. In December 1804 Lord Harrowby was disabled by an accidental fall, and had to resign the Foreign Office. His place was supplied by Lord Mulgrave; but Pitt was made conscious of the weakness of his ministry by the severe blow that the loss of one member of it was to him. Addington, since his retirement from office, had been in open opposition to the minister; but as their views were generally similar, and the division between them had been entirely owing to the soreness arising from the manner in which Addington had lost the Addington rejoins the ministry. premiership, there seemed no reason for a further separation. Addington therefore rejoined the ministry, taking the title of Lord Sidmouth and the office of President of the Council, which the Duke of Portland was compelled by ill health to resign. Pitt's majority was thus increased, although the strength gained by the adhesion of Addington himself to his ministry was not much.

Spain joins France.

While the negotiations for a coalition were continuing, England carried on the war singlehanded, and before long such power as Spain possessed was added to that of France. To support his vast expenditure Napoleon demanded subsidies from foreign countries under his influence, and a treaty had been made with Spain, now ruled entirely by Godoy, Prince of the Peace, by which a considerable sum was annually paid to the French exchequer. Although this was virtually an act of hostility to England, the English ministry, aware of the weakness of Spain, had passed it over in silence; but at the same time our minister, in February 1804, declared that the preparation of any naval armaments in Spanish ports would be regarded as a cause of war. In September the English admiral on the coast of Spain notified the existence of such an armament in Ferrol; a strong note was written to the Spanish minister, and ultimately the English ambassador retired from Madrid in November, and in December war was declared. But already in October, before the declaration of war, the English had seized four treasure-ships, well knowing that the money would sooner or later find its way into the hands of Napoleon. The justice of the action was questioned; but, considering the declaration of the preceding February, and the known fact that Spain paid subsidies to France, the seizure seems to have been thoroughly justified.

Failure of attempts to destroy Napoleon's fleet.

While our enemy was thus strengthened by the open adhesion of a country which could at least assist him with ships and convenient harbours, our efforts to weaken his preparations for invasion, which were continually being pushed on, were unavailing; descents were made upon the coast and a few outlying boats captured; but the great attempt which was made in October to destroy the flotilla produced no result. The expedition is known as the Catamaran expedition. It was proposed by means of vessels filled with combustibles to burn the flotilla in Boulogne harbour, but when the fire-ships were sent in, they either failed to reach the vessels, or a passage was made for them, and they drifted harmlessly through.