CHAPTER XXXIII.

GEORGE III. CONTINUED. FROM THE PEACE OF AMIENS TO THE DEATH OF THE KING. A.D. 1802-1820.

§ 1. Hostile Feelings between France and England. Declaration of War. Hanover seized. § 2. Change of Ministry. Pitt Premier. War with Spain. Violent Measures of Bonaparte. § 3. Impeachment of Lord Melville. League between England, Russia, and Sweden. Bonaparte enters Vienna. § 4. Nelson chases the French Fleet to the West Indies. Sir Robert Calder's Action. Battle of Trafalgar, and Death of Nelson. § 5. Death of Pitt. The "Talents" Ministry. Fox vainly attempts a Peace. § 6. Battle of Maida. War between France and Prussia. Berlin Decree. § 7. Death of Fox. Duke of Portland Prime Minister. Abolition of the Slave-trade. § 8. Expedition to Rio de la Plata, to Constantinople, and Egypt. § 9. Peace of Tilsit. Expedition to Copenhagen and Capture of the Danish Fleet. § 10. Bonaparte seizes Lisbon. Milan Decree. The Throne of Spain seized for Joseph Bonaparte. Sir Arthur Wellesley proceeds to Portugal. § 11. Battle of Vimiera. Advance and Retreat of Sir John Moore. Battle of Corunna, and Death of Moore. § 12. Colonel Wardle's Charges against the Duke of York. Sir A. Wellesley Commander-in-chief in Portugal. Battle of Talavera. § 13. Napoleon conquers the Austrians. Expedition to Walcheren. Expedition to Calabria. Ionian Islands captured. § 14. Change in the Ministry. Mr. Perceval Premier. Burdett Riots. Massena advances into Portugal. Battle of Busaco. Wellington occupies the Lines of Torres Vedras. § 15. George III.'s Illness. The Regency. Retreat of Massena. Battles of Barrosa, of Fuentes de Onoro, and of Albuera. § 16. Perceval shot. Lord Liverpool Prime Minister. Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz taken. Battle of Salamanca. Wellington enters Madrid. § 17. War with the Americans. Napoleon's Russian Expedition. Treaties with Sweden and Russia. § 18. Wellington advances into Spain.

Rev. ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY. English and French fleets engaged. Below, TRAFALGAR OCT. 21. 1805.

Battle of Vittoria. Retreat of the French, and Battles of the Pyrenees. Wellington enters France. § 19. Coalition against Napoleon. Battles of Orthez and Toulouse. Abdication of Napoleon. § 20. Congress of Châtillon. The Allies enter Paris. Restoration of Louis XVIII., and Peace of Paris. § 21. Progress of the American War. Peace of Ghent. § 22. Congress of Vienna. Escape of Napoleon. Battle of Waterloo. § 23. The Allies enter Paris. Napoleon carried to St. Helena. Peace of Paris. § 24. Distress and Discontent in England. Hampden Clubs. Spa-fields Riot. Algiers reduced. § 25. Hone's Trial. Death of the Princess Charlotte. Royal Marriages. Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. § 26. Peel's Act to repeal the Bank Restriction. Manchester Riots. Repressive Measures. Death and Character of George III.

§ 1. It was soon felt that the peace could not last. Bonaparte evidently designed to exclude England from all Continental influence or even commerce. Libels and invectives appeared both in the French and English newspapers. The harboring of French emigrants in England, and the allowing them to wear orders which had been abolished, were prominent topics of complaint. In order to remove one cause of dissatisfaction, Peltier, the editor of a French paper published in London, called the Ambigu, was prosecuted and convicted of a libel on Bonaparte; but he escaped punishment from the altered state of the relations between the two countries before his sentence.

It was known that extensive preparations were making in the ports of France and Holland, which it was pretended were designed for the French colonies; but George III., in a message to Parliament, March 8, 1803, adverted to the necessity of being prepared, and it was resolved to call out the militia and augment

A.D. 1802-1804.

IMPENDING HOSTILITIES.

693

the naval force. This message excited the high indignation of the first consul. In a crowded court at the Tuileries he addressed our embassador Lord Whitworth, on the subject, in an angry and indecent tone; he even lifted his cane in a threatening manner; when Lord Whitworth laid his hand on his sword, and afterward expressed his determination to have used it, had he been struck. Satisfaction for this insult having been demanded and refused, after some farther negotiations and an ultimatum to which no satisfactory answer was returned, Lord Whitworth quitted Paris, May 12th, and at the same time General Andréossy, the French embassador, was directed to leave London. Thus, after a short and anxious peace, or rather suspension of hostilities, the two nations were again plunged into war.

Lord Whitworth's departure was protracted as long as possible by Talleyrand; nevertheless, there was time to seize about 200 Dutch and French vessels, valued at nearly three millions sterling. Bonaparte, in retaliation, ordered all English residents or travelers in France, and in all places subject to the French, to be seized and detained. About 10,000 of every class and condition, and of all ages and sexes, were apprehended and conveyed to prison. Subsequently a considerable portion of them was cantoned at Verdun and in other French towns. Immediately after the declaration of war, a French army, under Marshal Mortier, marched to Hanover; the Duke of Cambridge, the viceroy, capitulated, and retired beyond the Elbe, and the French entered the capital June 5th. On the other hand, the French and Dutch colonies in the West Indies soon fell into our possession. The most enthusiastic patriotism was exhibited in England. No fewer than 300,000 men enrolled themselves in different volunteer corps and associations. The French camp at Boulogne still held out an empty menace of invasion, and in July the "Army of England" was reviewed by Bonaparte; but our cruisers swept the Channel, and occasionally bombarded some of the French towns.

§ 2. Early in 1804 the king had a slight return of his former malady. Upon his convalescence, Addington, whose decreasing majorities rendered it impossible for him to carry on the ministry, retired from office, and Pitt again became premier. The latter was very popular, especially in the city. After the peace of Amiens a deputation of London merchants had waited upon him and informed him that £100,000 had been subscribed for his use, and that the names of the contributors would never be known; but Pitt declined this magnificent offer. The state of the king's health, as well as the alarming crisis of the country, induced Pitt to waive for the present the question of the Catholic claims. The friendship of Spain was more than doubtful.

A large

armament was preparing in the port of Ferrol, and its destination could hardly be questionable. It was therefore determined to in- tercept four Spanish frigates on their return to Cadiz from Monte Video with treasure. Commodore Moore, with four English frigates, having in vain summoned them to surrender, an action ensued, in which three of the Spaniards were captured and the fourth blown up. The treasure taken on this occasion was valued at nearly a million sterling. The policy of the act, setting aside the question of justice, may, however, be questioned, as it alienated from us a large party in Spain that was hostile to the French. It was, of course, followed by a formal declaration of war on the part of Spain, December 12th.

This year (May 15) Bonaparte assumed the imperial crown with the title of Napoleon I. His conduct displayed an equal disregard of the laws of nations and those of humanity. In March he caused the unoffending Duke d'Enghien, a Bourbon prince who was residing at the castle of Ettenheim, in the neutral territory of Baden, to be seized by a secret expedition in the night, and to be conveyed to the castle of Vincennes, where he was shot. In October Sir G. Rumbold, the English minister at Hamburg, was in like manner seized in the night in his house at Grindel by a detachment of 250 soldiers of the army occupying Hanover. His papers were likewise seized, and he was conveyed to Paris and confined in the Temple. This case was too flagrant even for the time-serving King of Prussia; and Napoleon, who wished to keep that country neutral, consented to send Sir George to England. By means of an infamous spy named De la Touche, who was receiving money at once both from the French and English governments, Napoleon concocted a charge of encouraging assassination against Mr. Drake and Mr. Spencer Smith, our envoys at Munich and Stuttgardt, and procured their expulsion from the courts of Bavaria and Würtemberg. It is hardly necessary to observe that this charge, which was indignantly repelled by Pitt in the House of Commons, was utterly groundless. Yet the dependent states of Europe were instructed to address Napoleon on the subject, and the base and self-seeking court of Prussia congratulated him on his escape.

§ 3. Pitt's ministry was not strong. Grenville, having coalesced with Fox and the party called the "Talents," offered a formidable opposition. Toward the end of the year, at the suggestion of the king, a reconciliation was effected between Pitt and Addington: the latter was created Viscount Sidmouth, and became president of the council in place of the Duke of Portland. Soon afterward Lord Melville (Dundas), first lord of the admiralty, was compelled to resign, since Mr. Whitbread had carried a charge

A.D. 1804, 1805.

BONAPARTE ENTERS VIENNA.

695

(April 6th) against him of conniving at the misapplication of the public money, and even of deriving benefit from it himself. Pitt, with a bitter pang, was compelled to advise the king to erase the name of his old friend and companion from the list of the privy council. Lord Melville acknowledged at the bar of the House of Commons that his paymaster, Mr. Trotter, might have used the public money for his own advantage; and as there were some circumstances of suspicion against Melville himself, Mr. Whitbread, in the name of the Commons of England, impeached him of high crimes and misdemeanors at the bar of the Lords (June 26th). The impeachment was not heard till the following April, when he was acquitted after a trial of 16 days. His culpability appears to have been owing rather to negligence than dishonesty.

In April a treaty was concluded between England and Russia by which they bound themselves to resist the encroachments of France, and to secure the independence of Europe. The league was afterward joined by Sweden and Austria; but the King of Prussia kept aloof, intent on the Hanoverian dominions of his relative and ally.

The year 1805 was the period of Napoleon's most brilliant successes. In May he was crowned King of Italy in the Cathedral of Milan with the iron crown of the Lombard kings; and he appointed his adopted son, Eugene Beauharnais, to be viceroy of that kingdom. At the same time the republic of Genca was united to France. Napoleon introduced the conscription into Italy, and an army of 40,000 Italians proved of great service to him in his subsequent wars with Austria. On his return from Italy he again repaired to Boulogne; but when the hostile disposition of Austria was ascertained, the army of England, consisting of 150,000 men, was declared to be the army of Germany, and was rapidly marched toward the Rhine (August 28th). The Austrians, who had protracted hostilities too long, afterward precipitated them before the Russians could come to their support; and the power of Austria was completely broken by the disgraceful capitulation of General Mack at Ulm. The road was now open to Vienna, which was occupied without a struggle, Nov. 13th. Meanwhile Massena had driven the Archduke Charles out of Italy, and obtained possession of the Tyrol. Napoleon pushed on into Moravia, the emperor and the czar retreating before him. The court

of Berlin, guided by the detestable counsels of its wretched minister Haugwitz, was temporizing, and awaiting the result of another battle. That battle was Austerlitz (Dec. 2), in which the Russians and Austrians were completely defeated. The former retired into their own country; and Austria made a separate peace with France, by which she lost Trieste, her only port, and