in the Cabinet. An office then so rich-richer probably than any other during the war - might be a strong temptation to a narrow or embarrassed fortune; and something may also be allowed for the different state of public feeling in that age. Yet, undoubtedly, at the present day it would be deemed the very extremity of political degradation, that a statesman who had led the House of Commons as Minister of the Crown, and who had been entrusted by his Sovereign with the formation of a Ministry, should consent to forego even a seat in the Cabinet, and accept a subordinate place, at the bidding and under the control of his triumphant rival. Thus, then, after such long gestation, and so many throes and struggles, came to light the first administration of Chatham, the greatest and most glorious, perhaps, that England had ever yet known—an administration not always, indeed, free from haste or error in its schemes, and no doubt owing their success in part to the favour of Fortune and to the genius of Generals; but still, after every allowance that can be justly required, an administration pre-eminently strong at home and victorious abroad an administration which even now is pointed at with equal applause by contending and opposite parties, eager to claim its principles as their own. How strange that at its outset nothing but ruin and disaster were foreseen or foretold! No one trusted to the national spirit, or dreamed what it might effect if vigorously roused and skilfully directed. Of all political observers then in England there were certainly none shrewder than Horace Walpole and Lord Chesterfield, and the language of both at this period is fraught with the deepest despondency. According to the former: "It is "time for England to slip her cables and float away into 66 some unknown ocean!"* "Whoever is in, or whoever "is out," writes Chesterfield, "I am sure we are undone "both at home and abroad; at home by our increasing debt "and expenses; abroad by our ill-luck and incapacity... *To Sir Horace Mann, September 3. 1757. ...... 1757. EXPEDITION AGAINST ROCHEFORT. 113 "We are no longer a nation. I never yet saw so dreadful a prospect."* 66 - It was now the beginning of July, and the season too far advanced for Pitt to exert much influence on that year's campaign. He applied himself, however, with characteristic energy, to the fitting out of a secret expedition. Early in September there sailed from Spithead sixteen ships of the line, with frigates and transports, having on board ten regiments of foot; the Admiral, Sir Edward Hawke, the General, Sir John Mordaunt. It was not till the fleet had reached the open sea that officers and men were informed of the design on which they were embarked, a descent on the coast of France, and the capture of Rochefort, one of its chief naval magazines. Some years before, during the peace, an English officer, named Clarke, had, as it chanced, visited Rochefort, and surveyed its defences, which he found to be feeble, neglected, and ruinous; and having now reported his observations to Pitt, the Minister was fired with the thought of a powerful diversion to the armies of the Duke of Cumberland and the King of Prussia, then both hard pressed by the enemy. The conjuncture, moreover, was favourable to such an enterprise, since above 100,000 French troops had marched to Germany, and scarcely 10,000 had remained to protect their own coast from St. Valery to Bordeaux. On the other hand, the information respecting Rochefort, though confirmed by Thierry, a French pilot of the Protestant faith, and the best that could then be obtained, was neither so circumstantial nor so recent as might have been desired. Such being the scheme, the fleet, in the first place, arrived at Aix, a small fortified island off the mouth of the river Charente; and the troops on landing gained the works after some slight resistance. Strict orders had been issued by Mordaunt and Hawke against any irregularity; yet both the sailors and soldiers who landed found means to become furiously drunk, and (as their own countrymen admit) treated the miserable islanders with *To Mr. Dayrolles, July 4. 1757. Mahon, History. IV. 8 great inhumanity.* It can scarcely be doubted that the news of such excesses must have roused the French on the mainland to a still more determined spirit of resistance. The next point was to attack Rochefort itself. The pilot, Thierry, undertook to land the troops within five miles of the city, and the Admiral, in aid of the descent, proposed to batter down the small fort of Fouras with one of his sixty-gun ships. But a fatal dissension, too common in such cases, had already sprung up between the land and sea officers, between Mordaunt and Hawke. The former, especially, pressed the latter for an assurance of his being able at any moment required to re-embark the troops, while Hawke explained that this, like all other naval operations, must depend in some degree on wind and weather. Under these circumstances, Sir John Mordaunt, a general of former reputation, but who had recently fallen into a nervous disorder, could not make up his mind to advance. One of his officers, Colonel Wolfe, chafed at his wavering, offered to make himself master of Rochefort if only 500 men and three ships of war were placed at his disposal. This spirited offer was rejected at the time, but it did not escape either the observation or the memory of the great Minister at home. Several ensuing days were wasted in various councils, resolutions, and counter-resolutions, all equally abortive, and leaving to the French full leisure to prepare for their defence. At length, the favourable opportunity having passed by, and another council being summoned, it was agreed that there was nothing left for them to do but to demolish the fortifications of Aix, and to steer back to England. Such was the abortive issue of an expedition which had raised such lofty hopes, and cost, as is alleged, nearly one million of money! -- Sir John Mordaunt had supposed, a little too hastily, that if the expedition failed the blame would recoil on the Minister who planned it. He found, on the contrary, when he returned, a loud and general outcry against his own mis* Hervey's Naval History, vol. v. p. 54. ed. 1779. 1757. OFFER TO RESTORE GIBRALTAR. 115 conduct. A Board of Inquiry was forthwith appointed by the King, composed of three field-officers, the Duke of Marlborough, Lord George Sackville, and General Waldegrave. Many witnesses were examined before them, and Mordaunt was heard in his own defence. Their report, when it appeared, was vague and undecisive, but seemed to imply some degree of censure. A Court Martial was then ordered, and by this last tribunal Sir John was unanimously and honourably acquitted. The public opinion against him remained, however, unaltered. The truth is, as I conceive, that it is easy to draw up in array a long list of insuperable difficulties against almost any great enterprise that can be proposed in war. How strong a case might not Nelson have made against attacking the French fleet at Aboukir or the Danish batteries at Copenhagen! But there will always be some spirits (like Lord Peterborough, and unlike his kinsman Mordaunt), that prefer the chance of a victory to the certainty of an acquittal. Another scheme of Pitt to effect a diversion against the common enemy was to yield Gibraltar to Spain, on condition of Spain assisting England in the recovery of Minorca, and taking part in the war against France. We learn, from a Minute of the Cabinet Council at this time, that the cession of Gibraltar on such terms had been unanimously approved by Pitt's colleagues. It may remind the reader of a similar overture made by Stanhope in 1718, and like that overture appears open to most serious objection. The English Minister conveyed his proposal in a secret despatch, dated 23rd August 1757, to Sir Benjamin Keene, who was still the English Envoy at Madrid. According to the information of one of his Under-Secretaries, Pitt had bestowed especial care on the style of this despatch, and employed three days in its composition. But happily for us, perhaps, as it proved, the opportunity for such a negotiation at Madrid was no longer favourable. When Sir Benjamin Keene first opened the important packet, and perused its contents, he flung his cap on the ground, and could not forbear exclaiming, "Are they "mad on the other side of the water? What can they mean! "It is now too late! But I must fulfil my orders, whatever "may be the consequence." He did accordingly fulfil his orders with his accustomed zeal, but found, as he expected, the Court of Madrid resolved to maintain its neutrality, and turning a deaf ear to his suggestion.** In North America the Earl of Loudoun, lately sent out as Commander in Chief, proved no match for the able and vigilant Marquis de Montcalm, the French General in Canada. An expedition against Louisburg had been planned; and by means of reinforcements from England Lord Loudoun had mustered 12,000 men for that object; but on receiving some exaggerated reports of the enemy's force he became dispirited, and gave orders to retreat. Indecision was the ruling fault of his, as of most weak characters. "He is like St. "George upon the signposts," said a Philadelphian to Dr. Franklin, "always on horseback, but never advances!"*** In like manner the English troops gave no disturbance to Montcalm in his siege of Fort William Henry, which had been built on the southern coast of Lake George with a view to cover the frontier of New York, and the fort was accordingly taken and demolished. In the same temper Admiral Holbourne, who commanded the squadron off Louisburg, declined to attack the French, because while he had seventeen ships of the line they had eighteen, and a greater WEIGHT OF METAL, "according to the new sea-phrase," says Chesterfield, indignantly, "which was unknown to Blake!"+ It is the peculiar glory of Pitt's administration to have deliver *These exclamations rest on the unimpeachable authority of Sir Benjamin's chaplain, who was present. See Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. iv. p. 197. **Sir Benjamin Keene to Mr. Pitt, September 26. 1757 (printed in the Chatham Papers). This was the last important business in which Sir Benjamin was engaged; that old and meritorious public servant died at Madrid in the December following. He was brother of Bishop Keene of Ely, who is far less favourably mentioned. *** Franklin's Memoirs, part ii. - Grahame's History of the United States, vol. iv. p. 4. Letter to his son, September 30. 1757. He adds, "I hear that letters "have been sent to both (Holbourne and Loudoun), with very severe "reprimands." |