The History of Nations

1802-1803

that France was strong enough to retain her conquests in Europe; and that the enthusiasm which would alone enable those who had suffered from her aggression to wrest her gains from her was entirely lacking both in England and on the Continent. Pitt may have been right in holding that England ought not to allow France to possess herself of the Netherlands; but he had totally failed in preventing her from doing it, and in 1802 there did not appear to be the remotest chance that he or any other minister would succeed better in the future. In Parliament and out of Parliament the peace was welcomed with joy. George III., when the preliminaries of peace were signed in 1801, had taken the opportunity to abandon the empty title of king of France, which had been borne by his predecessors since the time of Edward III., and to omit the French lilies from the royal arms.

The Treaty of Amiens had scarcely been signed before the English Ministers began to fear that Bonaparte was about to employ the time of peace merely to strengthen himself for further attacks upon their own and other countries. He annexed Piedmont and occupied Switzerland. It is probable, however, that these things would have been passed over in England, if the Ministry had not conceived suspicions that he intended to reoccupy Egypt. They therefore refused to give up Malta to the Knights as they were bound by the treaty to do, first on the ground that no guarantee of its independence could be obtained from the great Powers, and then on the ground that, whatever they might be bound to by treaty, they needed Malta as a security against the danger of a French conquest of Egypt. Bonaparte claimed the execution of the treaty, and on one occasion used most violent language to Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador. He was himself irritated, not merely on the subject of Malta, but because the English Ministers refused to suppress without trial the virulent attacks on himself which were published by the French refugees in England. One of these, named Peltier, was indeed convicted of libel by a jury, but he escaped punishment because France and England were again at war before judgment was pronounced against him. As no compromise about Malta acceptable to both sides could be found, war was recommenced before the end of May, 1803.

On the outbreak of hostilities Bonaparte gave reasonable offense to the British nation by throwing into prison about 10,000 British travelers, though it had always been the custom to give

1804

time to such persons to leave the country after a declaration of war. As he had no other war on his hands than that with Great Britain, he seized Hanover and assembled a large army at Boulogne to invade England. At once a volunteer army stepped forward to aid the regular army in the defense of the country. From one end of the country to the other some 300,000 volunteers of all classes were busily drilling. Public opinion soon demanded a stronger ministry than the existing one. On May 10, 1804, Addington resigned. General opinion called for Pitt as Prime Minister at the head of a ministry taken from both parties, so that all disposable talent might be employed in the defense of the nation. The king insisted that Pitt should promise never to support Catholic Emancipation, and should exclude Fox from the new ministry. Fox at once consented to be passed over, but Lord Grenville refused to join if Fox was excluded. "I will teach that proud man," said Pitt, " that I can do without him," and on May 18 Pitt again became Prime Minister, though with but a poor staff of ministers to support him.

Chapter LIII

THE ASCENDENCY OF NAPOLEON. 1804-1807

REIGN

LEADING DATES

OF GEORGE III., A.D. 1760-1820-PITT'S SECOND PRIME MINISTERSHIP; NAPOLEON DECLARED Emperor of the FRENCH, MAY 18, 1804-BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, OCT. 21, 1805-BATTLE OF Austerlitz, DEC. 2, 1805-Death of Pitt, JAN. 23, 1806-DEATH OF Fox, Sept. 13, 1806-THE BERLIN DECREE, Nov. 21, 1806-TREATY OF TILSIT, JULY 7, 1807-ORDERS IN COUNCIL, Nov. 11, 1807-THE MILAN DECREE, DEC. 17, 1807

HERE was scarcely an Englishman living in 1804 who did not regard Napoleon as a wicked and unprincipled villain whom it was the duty of every honest man to resist to the death. This conception of his character was certainly not without foundation, yet he gave to France an excellent administration, and also gave his sanction to the code of law drawn up by the jurists of the Republic, which was now to be known as the Code Napoleon. He also took care that there should be good justice in his courts between man and man. Hence, exasperating as his annexations were to the great sovereigns of Europe, they were not popular grievances. A country annexed to France, or even merely brought, as most of the German states now were, under the influence of France, found its gain in being better governed. On May 18 Napoleon was declared hereditary Emperor of the French. His power was neither more nor less absolute than it had been before.

Neither the French Revolution nor the French Empire was to be resisted by governments acting without a popular force behind them; and in 1804 it was only in England that the government had a popular force behind it, and could therefore oppose to Napoleon a national resistance. Every day that saw a French army encamped at Boulogne strengthened that resistance. Napoleon was, indeed, so certain of success that he ordered the preparation of a medal falsely stating itself to have been struck in London, as if the conquest of England had been already effected. Strong as Pitt became in the country, he was weak in Parliament. Before the end of