The first consul viewed with astonishment | energy of our military operations; and this extraordinary display of national ener- when we had to contend against the first gy and patriotic feeling, and though his general of the age. Other leading officers preparations for invasion were continued, of the state had boards or councils to asthe intention of carrying them into effect sist their deliberations, and there was no was no doubt secretly abandoned. department in the state, in which a false In the midst of these important delibera-step would be attended with so much danger. tions, parliament found time to pass several bills, the object of which was to consolidate the duties and regulate the collection and management of the several branches of the revenue. An act was also passed to relieve the Roman Catholics from certain penalties and disabilities to which they were before subject, on subscribing the declaration and oath contained in the act of the 31st of the reign of his present majesty. An important addition was this session of parliament made to the criminal law of the country. By an act introduced into the house of lords by Lord Ellenborough, and on that account called the Ellenborough Act, any person guilty of malicious shooting, cutting, or stabbing, with an intent to commit murder, although death should not ensue, was declared guilty of a capital felony, and made subject to the punishment of death. The same penalty was also attached to all attempts to discharge loaded fire-arms, with an intent to kill or wound. During the present session of parliament, a grant of 60,000l. a year, for three years, to be computed from the 5th of January, 1803, was made to the Prince of Wales, towards providing for the better support and dignity of his royal highness. In moving for this grant, the chancellor of the exchequer took occasion to observe, that in the year 1795, the income of the prince was augmented to the sum of one hundred and thirty-eight thousand pounds annually, exclusive of thirteen thousand a year from the revenue of the dutchy of Cornwall. At this time, seventy-three thousand a year had, he said, been set apart to be appropriated to the liquidation of the debts of his royal highness, which, at the period in question, amounted to six hundred and fifty thousand pounds, but which, by the operation of the sinking fund created for their liquidation, were now reduced to below the sum of one hundred thousand pounds. On the 8th of August, the Duke of Sussex made a motion in the house of peers, for the appointment of a military council. In support of this motion, his royal highness contended that such a council was rendered necessary by the very arduous situation in which the country was placed, when the safety and independence of the nation might depend on the prudence and It was objected on the part of ministers, that such a council would embarrass the commander-in-chief in the discharge of his professional duties, and that the present arrangement of the staff of the commander-in-chief, and the regular communications maintained with district generals, were such as to render a council of this nature perfectly unnecessary. On these grounds, the motion was negatived without a division. In the course of the discussions in the house of commons on the general defence of the country, Mr. Windham had taken occasion to express himself in terms of great asperity and contempt towards the volunteer corps of the country, whom, on one occasion, the honourable gentleman termed the depositories of panic. To obviate any supposition that the house concurred in these reproachful and calumnious sentiments towards those brave and loyal defenders of the state, Mr. Sheridan, on the 10th of August, moved the thanks of the house" to the volunteer and yeomanry corps of Great Britain, for the zeal and promptitude with which they had associated for the defence of the country." He also moved, "that a return of the different volunteer corps be laid before the house, in order that they may be handed down to posterity, by being entered on the journals." After an animated debate, continued for many hours, both these motions were adopted unanimously. The last business of importance in this session, was a motion on the state of Ireland, by Mr. Hutchinson, who moved, that an address be presented to his majesty, praying him to give such information to the house as had been received respecting the late rebellious outrages in Ireland, and the present state of that kingdom. This motion was opposed by administration, principally on the ground of the lateness of the session, and the danger of making a premature disclosure of circumstances, which it might be important to conceal. Mr. Hutchinson, in the conclusion of his reply, said, if the house would not redress the grievances of Ireland, and conciliate its inhabitants, it would be humanity to annihilate it. The motion, after a long debate, was negatived without a division. On the following day, the 12th of August, this long and momentous session of parliament was closed by a speech from the throne; on which occasion his majesty | deeply involves my honour and character. The expressed his satisfaction at the energy answer which I have received from that gentle man, and the communication which he has made and promptitude which had been displayed to the house of commons, leave me no hope but in in providing for the defence of the country, an appeal to the justice of your majesty. I make and for the vigorous prosecution of the that appeal with confidence, because I feel that war; assuring the house, at the same time, you are my natural advocate, and with the santhat as strict a regard would be paid to guine hope that the ears of an affectionate father may still be opened to the supplications of a dutieconomy in the public expenditure as was ful son. consistent with the exertions necessary to I ask to be allowed to display the best enerfrustrate the designs, and weaken the pow-gies of my character; to shed the last drop of my er of the enemy. "Justly sensible," said blood in support of your majesty's person, crown, his majesty," of the state of pre-eminence and dignity; for this is not a war for empire, glory, or dominion, but for existence. In this contest, in which it has pleased the Almighty to the lowest and humblest of your majesty's subsupport us, for so many ages, among the jects have been called on; it would, therefore, nations of Europe, I rely with confidence, little become me, who am the first, and who stand that under the continuance of his divine at the very footstool of the throne, to remain a protection, the exertions of my brave and tame, an idle, and lifeless spectator of the mischiefs which threaten us, unconscious of the danloyal subjects will prove to the enemy gers which surround us, and indifferent to the and to the world, that an attempt to sub- consequences which may follow. Hanover is lost vert the independence, or impair the power-England is menaced with invasion-Ireland is of this united kingdom, will terminate in the disgrace and ruin of those by whom it may be made, and that my people will find an ample reward for all their sacrifices, in an undisturbed enjoyment of that freedom and security, which, by their patriotism and their valour, they will have preserved to themselves and their posterity." At a crisis when every class of his majesty's subjects was animated to the highest degree by a spirit of military ardour; when the possessions of the crown, and the rights and privileges of the people, were threatened by a formidable and enterprising invader; and when the very existence of the country was thought to be in danger, it could not be imagined that the heir-apparent to the throne could remain in a state of inactivity, insensible alike to the calls of patriotism and of glory. Feeling such a situation to be derogatory to his character and repugnant to his duty, as the first subject of the realm, his royal highness addressed a letter to the prime minister, urging upon him the propriety of investing him with an efficient military rank, and of placing him in a situation where his example might contribute to excite the loyal energies of the nation, and where his participation in the honours and dangers which awaited the brave defenders of the country, might keep those energies in vigorous activity. In reply to this application, he was informed, "that the king's opinion being fixed, he desired that no further mention should be made to him on the subject.' This answer, however, was considered so unsatisfactory by the prince, that he addressed to his royal parent the following letter: "SIR, To the King. A correspondence has taken place between Mr. Addington and myself, on a subject which in rebellion-Europe is at the foot of France. At such a moment, the Prince of Wales, yielding to none of your servants in zeal and devotion-to none of your subjects in duty-to none of your children in tenderness and affection, presumes to approach you, and again to repeat those offers which he has already made through your majesty's ministers. A feeling of honest ambition; sense of what I owe to myself and to my family; and, above all, the fear of sinking in the estimation of that gallant army, which may be the support of your majesty's crown, and my best hope hereafter, command me to persevere, and to assure your majesty, with all humility and respect, that, conscious of the justice of my claim, no human power can ever induce me to relinquish it. 66 Allow me to say, sir, that I am bound to adopt this line of conduct by every motive dear to me as a man, and sacred to me as a prince. Ought I not to come forward in a moment of unexampled difficulty and danger. Ought I not to share in the glory of victory, when I have every thing to lose by defeat? The highest places in your majesty's service are filled by the younger branches of the royal family; to me alone no place is assigned. I major-general of your army. If I could submit in am not thought worthy to be even the junior silence to such indignities, I should, indeed, deserve such treatment, and prove, to the satisfaction of your enemies, and my own, that I am entirely incapable of those exertions, which my birth and the circumstances of the times peculiarly call for. Standing so near the throne, when I am debased, the cause of royalty is wounded; I cannot sink in public opinion, without the participation of your majesty in my degradation. Therefore, every motive of private feeling, and of public duty, induce me to implore your majesty to review your decision, and to place me in that situation which my birth, the duties of my station, the the example of my predecessors, and the expectations of the people of England, entitle me to claim. formed, should this last appeal to the justice of my "Should I be disappointed in the hope I have sovereign, and the affections of my father, fail of success, I shall lament in silent submission his determination; but Europe, the world, and posterity must judge between us. "I have done my duty; my conscience acquits me; my reason tells me that I was perfectly justified in the request which I have made, because no reasonable arguments have ever been adduced in answer to my pretensions. The precedents in our history are in my favour; but if they were not, the times in which we live, and especially the exigencies of the present moment, require us to become an example to our posterity. "No other cause of refusal has or can be assigned except that it was the will of your majesty. To that will and pleasure, I bow with every degree of humility and resignation; but I can never cease to complain of the severity which has been exercised against me, and the injustice which I have suffered, till I cease to exist. I have the honour to subscribe myself, with all possible devotion, your majesty's most dutiful and affectionate son and subject, (Signed) "Brighthelmstone, Aug. 5th, 1803.” Answer, from the King. "G. P." Windsor, 7th August. MY DEAR SON, Though I applaud your zeal and spirit, of which, I trust, no one can suppose any of my family wanting, yet, considering the repeated declarations I have made of my determination on your former applications to the same purpose, had flattered myself to have heard no farther on the subject. Should the implacable enemy so far succeed as to land, you will have an opportunity of showing your zeal at the head of your regiment. It will be the duty of every man to stand forward on such an occasion: and I shall certainly think it mine to set an example in defence of every thing that is dear to me and my people. I ever remain, my dear son, "Your most affectionate father, (Signed) "G. R." The prince, in an animated, but dutiful reply to his royal parent, said "Allow me, sir, to recall to your recollection, the expressions you were graciously pleased to use, when I solicited a foreign service upon my first coming into the army. They were BOOK III. CHAPTER I. Situation of the principal States of Europe at the breaking out of the War-His Majesty's Declaration -War in St. Domingo-Cruelties practised in that Island by the French-Critical Situation of the republican Army-Death of General Leclerc-Rochambeau appointed Commander-in-chief-Shut up in Cape François-Arrival of the Intelligence of the Renewal of Hostilities between Great Britain and France-Surrender of Rochambeau's Army to Commodore Loving-Final Expulsion of the French Forces from St. Domingo-Proclamation of the Republic of Hayti-Dessalines appointed Governor-general for Life-Surrender of the French and Dutch West India Colonies to the English -French Armament despatched to the East Indies-French Manifesto-Invasion of Hanover-Conquest of the Electorate by the Arms of France-Preparations for the Invasion of England-Arrest of English Travellers in France-Naval Events-Overture to Louis XVIII. to resign his Claim to the Throne of his Ancestors--Rejected. Early in the month of May, his Britannic majesty published a declaration, in which he states, "that his earnest endeavours for the preservation of peace having failed of success, he entertains the fullest confidence that he shall receive the same support from his parliament, and that the same zeal and spirit will be manifested by his people, which he has experienced on every occasion when the honour of his crown has been attacked, or the essential interests of his dominions endangered." AFTER the enjoyment of a year of nomi- | tween military France and universal emnal peace, two of the first states of Europe pire. once more determined to appeal to the decision of the sword. During the interval of this state of feverish tranquillity, France had extended her power and influence in every direction. The independence and freedom of Switzerland, of Holland, and of Italy, although guaranteed by the stipulations of the treaty of Luneville, were disregarded and violated, and republican France, though so lately contending for her own independence, did not hesitate to exercise an uncontrolled dominion over those countries. Spain, debased by superstition," During the whole course of the negotiaand enervated by the mines of Mexico and tions which led to the preliminary and dePeru, had sunk into a state of absolute vas- finitive treaties of peace between his masalage. Germany, weakened by the defec- jesty and the French republic, it was his tion of some of her principal states, was majesty's sincere desire," says the declarano longer able to oppose the aggrandize- tion, "not only to put an end to the hostiliment of her too powerful neighbour. Prus- ties which subsisted between the two counsia, ever grasping at extension of dominion, tries, but to adopt such measures, and to was willing to gratify her territorial cupi concur in such propositions, as might effectdity at the expense of her rank among the ually contribute to consolidate the general states of Europe, and though constantly tranquillity of Europe; and the same moincreasing in strength, she was evidently tives by which he was actuated during the declining in importance. Sweden and negotiations for peace, have since invariaDenmark, who had preserved their neutral- bly governed his conduct." His majesty ity, with some slight intermission, while then proceeds to an elaborate enumeration the rest of Europe was involved in war, of the acts of aggression and aggrandizehad no disposition to relinquish the advan- ment practised by the French government tages of this wise and pacific policy: while during the interval of peace; and in conRussia, governed by a monarch distinguish-clusion remarks, that "it is impossible to ed for the mildness of his rule, and the wisdom of his councils, chose rather to arbitrate the differences of others, than to become a party in their quarrels. It remain ed, therefore, for Great Britain, singlehanded" and unallied, to bear the first shock of that war which had now become inevitable, and to interpose a rampart be 446 66 reflect on these different proceedings, and the course which the French government have thought proper to adopt respecting them, without the thorough conviction that they are not the effect of accident, but that they form a part of a system which has been adopted for the purpose of degrading, vilifying, and insulting his majesty and his ! In St. Domingo, an island which had government. Under these insults and pro- | pursuance of the different systems of warVocations, his majesty, not without a due fare which each nation had adopted, the sense of his dignity, has proceeded, with British government despatched expeditions every degree of temper and moderation, to against the Dutch settlements of Demeraobtain satisfaction and redress, while he ra, and Issequibo, and the French islands has neglected no means consistent with of St. Lucia, and Tobago. St. Domingo, his honour, and the safety of his dominions, the most valuable colony that France ever to induce the government of France to con- possessed, was, in the mean time, wrested cede to him, what is, in his judgment, ab- from her by the black population, assisted solutely necessary for the future tranquil- by a British squadron; and in the East lity of Europe. But though the provoca- Indies, our successes over the native princes tions which his majesty has received might were brilliant, glorious, and decisive. entitle him to larger claims than those which he has advanced, yet anxious to pre-shared more largely in the calamities of the vent calamities which might thus be extended to every part of Europe, he is still willing, as far as is consistent with his own honour, and the interests of his people, to afford every facility to any just and honourable arrangement, by which such evils may be averted. He has, therefore, no difficulty in declaring to all Europe, that notwithstanding the changes which have taken place since the treaty of peace, notwithstanding the extension of the power of France, in repugnance to that treaty, and to the spirit of peace itself, his majesty will not avail himself of these circumstances to demand in compensation all that he is entitled to require, but will be ready to concur, even now, in an arrangement, by which satisfaction shall be given to him, for the indignities which have been offered to his crown, and to his people, and substantial security afforded against further encroachments on the part of France. His majesty has thus distinctly and unreservedly stated the reasons of those proceedings to which he has found himself compelled to resort. He is actuated by no disposition to interfere in the internal concerns of any other state; by no projects of conquest and aggrandizement; but solely by a sense of what is due to the honour of his crown and the interests of his people, and by an anxious desire to obstruct the further progress of a system, which, if not resisted, may prove fatal to every part of the civilized world." French revolution than any other spot on the habitable globe, the want of good faith manifested by the French general towards the negro chief, Toussaint Louverture, excited general distrust in the black population; and the decree in the French legislative body, for the re-establishment of slavery in all the French colonies,* determined that much injured people to declare an interminable war against their oppressors. In pursuance of this resolution, Dessalines and Christophe hastened to as sume the command of those negro bands, who, notwithstanding their repeated defeats, still continued in a state of hostility against the French government; and at the moment when the captain-general of the French army was felicitating himself on having restored the colony to a state of subjection, the flame of insurrection again burst forth, and spread over this island with inconceivable rapidity. The French troops, no longer animated by the hopes of ultimate success, and unaccustomed to a tropical region, soon began to lose their accustomed vivacity, and at several of their smaller posts, such was the number of sick, that the healthy survivors were scarcely sufficient to attend the hospitals, and bury their dead. The commander-inchief, himself scarcely convalescent, had lost the best officers of his staff by the ravages of the yellow fever, and the troops who had recently arrived from the mother country, finding themselves unequal to the service to which they were condemned, sunk into despondency, and soon followed their predecessors to the grave. The line of hostilities which each nation would pursue, was prescribed by their relative situation; Great Britain, being mistress of the seas, would naturally di- Early in the month of October, 1802, rect her principal attack against the colo- General Leclerc, finding his situation critinies, and the maritime possessions of her cal in the extreme, despatched an aid-deenemy; while France, being equally pow- camp to Paris for instructions and advice erful at land, was resolved to obstruct and from the first consul, but in the mean time attack the commerce of Great Britain, in he continued to pursue his sanguinary sysItaly, in Germany, and in every other part tem with undiminished rigour, and excited of the continent where her armies could in the minds of the black population an penetrate, and at the same time, to wrest inextinguishable hatred against the French from her weaker neighbours, a full equiva- name. Among the new chiefs which arose lent for any colonial loss she might expe rience in the approaching contest. In * See Book II. Chap. XXII. page 411. |