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BOOK II. lour, and a variety of fortunate incidents, at length acquired her former ascendency.

CHAP. XVII.

1800

The military history of France during the present year has already been recorded, but the conduct of the consular government in the early stages of its authority yet remains to be narrated. It was undoubtedly the grand and primary object of those who were concerned in framing the new constitution of France, to establish an executive power in the nation which should possess sufficient energy to pervade every part of the state, and to rule with a firm and steady hand that discordant mass comprehended under the general appellation of the French republic. But notwithstanding the acceptance of the new constitution by an immense majority of the French citizens, the government of Bonaparte was exposed to the attacks of very formidable enemies; from the fatal effects of which, nothing less than the magnitude of the power which he possessed could have protected him.

At this time, a self appointed committee of royalists existed in Paris, styling themselves a committee of counter-revolution (the Chevalier de Coigny being the chief;) this assembly maintained a regular correspondence with a similar committee in London, over which the Count d'Artois presided in person; and so confident had they become of success, that an overture was made by the Parisian committee to Talleyrand, the first minister of the consular government, and through him to Bonaparte himself, for the restoration of the Bourbons. This imprudent and dangerous communication led to the arrest of the chevalier and his colleagues, and to the seizure of all their papers. The lives of the conspirators were however spared, in consideration of the ample avowals made by them of their plans, and the unreserved denunciation of their associates, of whom General Pichegru was one of the chief.

On the other hand, the factions of the jacobins, although less openly hostile, were regarded as still more dangerous adversaries than the loyalists to the existing government; because more profound in their designs, and more daring and desperate in the means of accomplishing them. It seemed, indeed, extraordinary that a systematic concert should prevail between the two opposite factions, but they had both one object, and that was the subversion of the existing government. The first consul, apparently little affected by these intrigues and combinations, continued to afford every facility to the return of the emigrants to France, and during the first year of the consulate these unfortunate refugees repaired in vast crowds to their native country. But towards the close of the year an event

occurred which gave a new and unfavourable bias to the political system.

On the evening of the 24th of December, as the first consul was going in his carriage from the Thuilleries to the opera, he passed through the Rue Vicaise, a narrow street, in which stood a car of uncommon construction, containing a barrel filled with combustibles, and placed in such a situation as almost to obstruct the way. The coachman drove with rapidity; but scarcely had he passed the car a minute, when it blew up with a dreadful explosion; killed some, wounded others, and shattered the adjoining buildings to their foundation. The velocity with which the carriage moved, and the address displayed by the coachman in passing this vehicle, saved the first consul, against whose life this infernal machine was no doubt solely directed. Through the indefatigable exertions of M. Fouché, the minister of police, divers of the assassins concerned in this murderous plot, framed, as it appeared, by a combination of royalists and jacobins, were discovered and brought to public execution. But the attempt made a deep and indelible impression upon the mind of Bonaparte, whose character from this moment acquired an adventitious tincture of suspicion and severity.

The state of the important island of St. Domingo excited, at this crisis, considerable anxiety in the mind of the first consul. That great colony had been for some time past entirely under the power of the celebrated negro chief Toussaint Louverture, who had displayed extraordinary ability in conducting the affairs. of government. Domestic slavery, so repugnant to every principle of nature, was wholly abolished, and it appeared, by practical demonstration, that even in the West Indies, the absolute dominion of the few over the many was not necessary to the existence of civil society.

Among the miscellaneous events of the present year the election of a successor to Pope Pius VI. must be recorded. The conclave sat till the month of March, 1800, when the choice of the sacred college fell upon Cardinal Chairemonte, Bishop of Tivoli, who took the name of Pius VII. The new pope, who was accounted a man of good sense, moderation, and, discretion, was of the order of the Benedictines, and had been raised successively to the dignity of abbot, bishop, and cardinal. In a few weeks after his elevation, preparation having been made for his reception, he set out for his own dominions, and on his arrival at Rome, on the 9th of July, the city was illuminated, and his holiness was received with every demonstration of joy.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Posture of Public Affairs at the Commencement of 1801-Public Distress-Measures resorted to for
its Alleviation-Population-Meeting of the First Imperial Parliament-The Right of Search
(note)-Debates on the Address-Embargo on the Vessels of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark—
Change of Ministry—Its ostensible Cause-Coronation Oath (note)—Suspension of the Royal
Functions Completion of the Ministerial Arrangements-Hostile Conduct of Denmark and
Prussia-British Fleet sails for the Baltic-Passes the Sound-Battle of Copenhagen-
Departure of the British Fleet for Carlscrona-Death and Character of the Emperor
Paul-Ascession of Alexander I.-Dissolution of the Northern Confederacy—Invasion of
Portugal by Spain-By France-Humiliating Treaty made with France by the King of the Two
Sicilies.

THE coinmencement of the year 1801 presented to Great Britain the most gloomy prospects. A scarcity, produced in the first instance by adverse seasons, and aggravated in a high degree by the waste of war, produced misery and discontent among the lower classes of the community; while the burthen of the taxes was felt by all, and one of them in particular, was considered as peculiarly inequitable in its principle and inquisitorial in its operation.* In addition to these inauspicious circumstances, the battle of Marengo, by intimidating Austria, as well as the courts attached to her interest, had left England without a single efficient ally; and she was now reduced to the necessity of counteracting those convulsive and concentrated efforts of the enemy which had hitherto proved less terrible by division. France, on the other hand, never appeared more formidable than at this moment; the treaty of Luneville had disarmed the resentment of the only state capable of coping with her in a military contest, and the northern confederacy, which had now pretty nearly attained to its maturity, seemed entirely directed against the naval ascendency and commercial prosperity of Great Britain.

Under these circumstances the British parliament assembled for the last time on the 11th of Nov. 1800. Before the meeting of parliament the increased price of provisions had been productive of a degree of public distress unequalled since the dreadful famine at the close of the seventeenth century. The crop of 1800, like that of the preceding year, had been generally deficient in every country in Europe. The scarcity, which was great and deplorable, bore every symptom of long continuance; and rumours of monopoly and forestalling, increased the feeling of the evil, by imparting to it the aspect of injustice, rather than of misfortune. But it may be fairly disputed whether monopoly had any part in aggravating the exist

1800

ing scarcity, and it became clear that no allevia- BOOK II.
tion to the evil was to be found in the legislative
and judicial invectives which were uttered against CHAP.XVIII.
these invisible agents. During this scarcity the
sober and industrious classes of the labouring
poor sustained their hardships with laudable
patience; and though there were some riots in
the metropolis and other parts of the country, no
general ebullition hurst forth that required to be
suppressed by bloodshed.

To alleviate the public distress, the dan-
gerous measure of a maximum was, on the 5th of
December, brought forward in parliament by the
Earl of Warwick, who proposed to fix the highest
value of wheat at ten shillings per bushel, al-
though the actual price was at that time more
than twenty. But the false and mischievous notion
of an artificial scarcity, upon which this proposal
proceeded, was exploded by the calm wisdom of
parliament, and the motion itself was rejected
with marked disapprobation. Instead of compul-
sory means, so inconsistent with the security of
property, and the free spirit of the British con-
stitution, the legislature confined its efforts to
suggesting expedients for diminishing the con-
sumption and encouraging the foreign supply.
High bounties were granted on importation; the
baking of mixed and inferior flour was enforced
by act of parliament, and the distillation of spirits
from grain was prohibited. These were in gene-
ral the enactments or exhortations of the legis-
lature at this crisis of general privation, during
which, to the eternal honour of the wealthier
part of the community, the hand of charity was
more liberally opened, than at any period which
the history of human suffering has to record.

Among other causes of dearth, the great increase of the national population was repeatedly mentioned; and in the course of the session, a bill was brought into parliament by Mr. Abbot, for ascertaining the population of Great Britain, *The Income Tax.

BOOK II. which passed into a law; and upon an actual enumeration of the people, it appeared, to the CHAP.XVIII. general surprise, that they amounted to nearly eleven millions-a result exceeding the highest 1801 previous conjecture; and it is probable that the aggregate population of Great Britain and Ireland amounted at this period to sixteen millions.*

The discussion of the late negociations, which occupied a part of this short, but integral session of parliament, produced no debates of importance; and the supplies being granted, parliament was prorogued on the last day of the year, by his majesty in person. His majesty, before he retired, ordered the chancellor to read a proclamation, declaring that the individuals who composed the expiring parliament should be members on the part of Great Britain of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

On the 1st of January, 1801, a royal declaration was issued concerning the style and titles appertaining to the imperial crown of Great Britain and Ireland; and also to the ensigns armorial, flags, and banners thereof. In the new heraldic arrangement the fleurs de lis were wisely and seasonably omitted, the title of King of France was expunged; and the royal dignity was in future to be expressed in the Latin tongue by these words: "GEORGIUS TERTIUS, Dei Gratia Britanniarum Rex, Fidei Defensor."—and in the vernacular language-" GEORGE the THIRD, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith." On the same day, the Great Seal of Britain was delivered up and defaced, and a new seal for the empire was given to the lord chancellor. A new standard also, combining the three crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, was hoisted, amidst the discharge of artillery, in each of the three capitals of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the new year, thus rendered peculiarly memorable, was ushered in with every demonstration of joy.

The imperial parliament of Great Britain and Ireland assembled on the 22d of January, and proceeded to elect a speaker, when Mr. Henry Addington, who had so long and so ably filled the chair of the lower house of parliament, was again placed, by the universal suffrage, in that elevated situation. On the 2d of February, the king repaired to the house of lords, and being seated on the throne, he congratulated the senate on the union which had been so happily effected. The other topics of the speech embrace ed only painful and portentous occurrences:

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"The unfortunate course of events on the continent," said the king," and the consequences which must be ex"pected to result from them, cannot fail to be matter of anxiety and concern to all who have a just feeling for the "security and independence of Europe. Your astonish"ment, as well as your regret, must be excited by the con. "duct of those powers, whose attention at such a period 66 appears to be more engaged in endeavours to weaken the "naval force of the British empire, which has hitherto op

* GENERAL ABSTRACT of the Returns made pursuant to an Act of Parliament, passed in the Forty-first Year of His Majesty King George III.

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