Addington is in a curious state of mind, between bluster and fear, calling out, ‘Who’s afraid? damme?—O Lord, O Lord,—what a Fiery Fellow he is!—Who’s afraid? damme?—O dear! what will become of ye Roast Beef? Damme! who’s afraid?—O dear!—O dear!’
The medicine bottles peeping out of his pockets are a delicate allusion to Addington’s parentage, his father having been a physician.
The caricatures which follow are simply dated May; but, from their internal evidence, they precede the declaration of war. Bonaparte is represented as being excessively frightened at the prospect of a rupture with England, and, in May 1803, an etching (artist unknown) was produced, shewing ‘A Little Man Alarmed at his own Shadow.’ He is cowering, and trembling, and looking back at his lengthened shadow on a wall, saying ‘Mercy on us—what tall figure is that. It surely can’t be Johnny Bull? No, no, that cannot be, it is not lusty enough for him.’
A very graphic caricature is ‘Maniac Ravings, or Little Boney in a strong Fit. Vide Lord W——’s[74] account of a visit to the Thuilleries.’ Here he is depicted in a fearful state of frenzy; he has kicked over the consular chair, a globe (with all Europe expunged, except the British Isles), dashed his hat to the ground, upset a table, with all his writings on it, broken his sword and scabbard; and, whilst tearing his hair, stamps frantically on such papers as ‘Wyndham’s Speeches,’ ‘Cobbett’s Weekly Journal,’ Anti-Jacobin Review,’ ‘Wilson’s Egypt,’ &c. His ‘Maniac Ravings’ are veritably so. ‘Oh Egypt, Egypt, Egypt! Oh, St. Domingo, Oh! Oh, the liberty of the English Press! English Bloodhounds! Wyndham! Grenville! Pitt! Oh I’m murdered! I’m assassinated!! London Newspapers! Oh! Oh! Oh! Revenge! Revenge! come Fire! Sword! Famine! Invasion! Invasion! Four Hundred and Eighty Frenchmen! British Slavery and everlasting Chains! everlasting Chains! O Diable! the Riches! Freedom! and Happiness of the British Nation! Ah! Diable, Diable, Diable! Malta! Malta! Malta! Oh, cursed Liberty of the British Press! Insolence of British Parliament! Treaty of Amiens! Damnation! British trade and commerce! Oh! Oh! Oh! English calumniating Newspapers! Oh, Sebastiani! Sebastiani! Oh, Georges! Arras! de Rolle! Dutheil! O Assassins! Treason! Treason! Treason! Hated and Betray’d by the French! Despised by the English! and laughed at by the whole world!!! Oh, English Newspapers!!! English Newspapers!!!! English Newspapers!!!!!’
Woodward drew a picture (May 1803) of ‘A great Man Intoxicated with Success,’ and depicted Boney with a very ‘how came you so?’ expression of countenance, reeling along, and saying, ‘Ah Johnny Bull, how are you my Boy—I am going to re-establish slavery—I am grown very Pious. I—I—I’ll double my guards. I—I—I don’t know what I’ll do.’ John Bull is utterly astonished at such conduct. ‘Why, bless your heart, my fine fellow, you be Muzzy—I dare say you find it difficult to stand. Now, let me advise you—take a little Nap—if it’s only for a quarter of an hour, you can’t think how much it will refresh you.’
Another caricature, apparently by Woodward, was published in May 1803, ‘Bonaparte and the Quaker.’ Bonaparte’s attitude is decidedly aggressive and bullying: ‘So they are all Great Men in your Country, eh!—but I suppose they are like you—not very fond of fighting—is not that the case Master Quaker?’ Brother Broadbrim replies, ‘Little Man, it is not the case. I myself encourage not fighting. But if thou, or any of thy Comrades, darest to cross the great waters, my Countrymen shall make Quakers of you all.’
The national feeling was well expressed in a caricature (May 1803)—Bonaparte is represented as a mighty mushroom, looking, with no very benign expression of countenance, on John Bull, who, embracing the British Oak, exclaims, ‘You may look as cross as you please, master Mushroom: but here stands the British Oak, and by St. George and the Dragon, not a leaf of it shall fall to the Ground.’
On May 28, George III., as Elector of Hanover, issued a proclamation, in which he said that, abiding by the treaty of Luneville, he would, as Elector of Hanover, take no part in the war. But, notwithstanding this, the Electorate of Hanover surrendered, by capitulation, to General Mortier on June 3. This prologue is necessary for us to understand the following halfpenny broadside:—
A PEEP INTO HANOVER,
OR
A faint Description of the Atrocities committed by the French in that City.
It will be remembered, that the Electorate surrendered without Resistance. This we do not mention, as increasing our Compassion for the Inhabitants, which it certainly does not; but as increasing our abhorrence of the Invaders, who, without Provocation, or Pretext of Resistance, have perpetrated the Atrocities, of which the following is a faint outline:
Ever since the Conquest, the whole Electorate has been a scene of Pillage and Butchery, which is said to yield only to the fate of Switzerland, in Spring 1798. The French Soldiers have the most unbounded Indulgence of their ruling passions of Rapacity, Cruelty and Lust;—In the City of Hanover, and even in the Public Street, Women of the Highest Rank have been violated by the lowest of that brutal Soldiery, in presence of their Husbands and Fathers, and subjected, at the same time, to such additional and undescribable Outrages, as the brutal Fury of the Violators, enflamed by Drunkenness, could contrive. We have seen the names of some of these unfortunate Ladies: but the Honour of their Families, and the Peace of their own future Lives (if they can have peace) forbid us to publish them. The Baron de K——, a well known partisan of French Philosophy and Politics, went to the Commandant of Hanover, and claimed his Protection, as an admirer of the French Revolution! but he found no more favour in the Sight of the Aga of Sultan Bonaparte’s Janisaries, than the most loyal Noblemen in Hanover. The French Officer told him, ‘All that Jacobinism is now out of Fashion—Go about your business!’ Nor have we heard that the Philosophers of Gottingen, the Enthusiasts of Equality and Perfectability, have been at all better treated.—
Such are the tender Mercies of the Wicked! Such are the Gangs of ferocious Banditti, whom the Murderer of Jaffa let loose on the civilized World! Such, and ten thousand times worse, is the Fate prepared for England, if the valour of her people do not avert it; for England will assuredly be more oppressed, in proportion as she is more dreaded, envied, and hated. To shew any symptom of Neutrality in such a Cause, not to support it with all our might, is the foulest Treason against the People of England; and the poorest honest Labourer, who has a Mother, or a Sister, a Wife, or a Daughter, has, in truth, as much reason as the highest Duke in the Land to detest the Traitor. Englishmen think of this and profit by Example.
These were the kind of handbills (of which there are hundreds in variety) which were circulated, to arouse and stimulate martial fire and patriotic ardour in the Britannic mind. Their name is Legion, and I have had to read them all, in order to pick out the examples given in this book. They are curious, and help us, more than any other history, to gauge the temper of the times. It was a veritable scare. Hardly having felt any of the benefits of peace, the English were once more involved in war, with the almost certainty, this time, of having their, hitherto almost inviolate, islands invaded by the French. We can hardly wonder, therefore, at the hearty hatred our forefathers felt for the ‘Corsican Ogre,’ to whom all this turmoil was due; and, to do them justice, they did hate him with a thoroughly genuine detestation—so much so, that they did not always scrupulously investigate the truth of some of the very questionable statements dished up for them (and they were highly spiced). There can be no manner of doubt but that these broadsides and handbills, together with the caricatures, had the desired effect in rousing the nation to a fervid patriotism, and, as they did so, it is perhaps hardly right to question the legality of their statements, but accept them according to the doctrine that ‘the end justifies the means.’