1799

BEGINNING OF THE CONSULATE

839

Russia. The French armies in Germany had been driven across the Rhine, and those in Italy had been beaten in two great battles, one on the Trebbia and the other at Novi, and had been driven across the Alps. When Bonaparte landed in France, he was prepared to turn the disasters of his country to his own advantage. Though a French General, Massena, had defeated the Austrians

Head-dress of a lady (Mrs. Abington), about 1778: from the European Magazine. at Zürich in September, Bonaparte represented the policy of the Directory in the worst colours, accused them of ruining France, and in November made himself master of the country by military violence, on the plea that it was necessary to revise the Constitution. In 1800 he was named First Consul, under which title he exercised absolute authority, though he was still nominally only the first magistrate of the Republic.

16. An Overture for Peace. 1799.-One of Bonaparte's first acts after thrusting the Directory from power was to offer peace to England, but his offer was repelled with scorn. the Foreign Secretary, in his reply, even went so far as to suggest Lord Grenville, that the best security which the French could give for peace was the recalling of the Bourbons to the throne. Yet, whatever the Government might say, the country longed for peace. had added to its burdens an income-tax of 10 per cent., and if the war was to go on till the Bourbons were recalled, the prospect In 1798 Pitt before the nation was indeed dreary.

17. The Campaign of Marengo and the Peace of Lunéville. 1800-1801.-At the end of 1799 Pitt cherished the hope that the recent successes of the coalition against France would be continued. In 1800 this hope was dashed to the ground. The Coalition itself broke up. The Tzar Paul, who was half mad, was an enthusiastic admirer of Bonaparte, and when he learnt that Bonaparte was in power withdrew from his alliance with Austria. Bonaparte crossed the Alps, crushed an Austrian army at Marengo in Piedmont, and later in the same year another French General, Moreau, crushed another Austrian army at Hohenlinden in Bavaria. On February 9, 1801, a peace in which the Rhine was formally acknowledged to be the boundary of France was signed at Lunéville. The cry for peace increased in England. The harvest of 1800 was a bad one, and in that year and in the following spring the price of corn rose till it reached 156s. a quarter. If peace was to be had, Pitt was hardly the man to negotiate it, as he was regarded in France as the most violent enemy of that country, where every evil from which it suffered was popularly attributed to 'the gold of Pitt.' It happened, however, that before any fresh negotiation was opened, Pitt resigned office from causes entirely disconnected with the affairs of the Continent.

18. The Irish Rebellion. 1798.-Hoche's failure in 1797 (see p. 834) had not been followed by any abatement of violence in Ireland. The so-called Protestant militia and yeomanry, under pretence of repressing insurrection and outrage, themselves committed outrages with impunity, and the regular soldiers even learnt to follow their evil example. concealed arms, suspected persons were flogged and their houses In order to procure the delivery of burnt to the ground. Amongst those who were concerned in these savage actions, Fitzgerald, the Sheriff of Tipperary-'Flogging Fitzgerald,' as he was usually called-obtained an unenviable notoriety. He indeed suppressed by his energy the organisation of

1798-1799

LORD CORNWALLIS IN IRELAND

841

those who were preparing to welcome a fresh invasion by the French, but his energy often showed itself in the form of brutal outrage. On one occasion, for instance, he almost flogged to death a teacher of languages because he found in his possession a note in the French language which he was himself unable to read, but which he took as evidence of complicity with the French Government. Sir Ralph Abercromby, the commander-in-chief in Ireland, was in 1798 driven by the clamour of the officials to resign his office because he remonstrated against this rule of license as injurious to the discipline of the army. The Catholics subject to outrage joined the society of United Irishmen in thousands, and the United Irishmen at once made preparations for an insurrection. The secret was betrayed to the Government and the leaders arrested. Nevertheless on May 21 bands of peasants armed with pikes rose in insurrection, principally in Wexford, and in many places committed horrible atrocities. These atrocities, being usually committed against Protestants, alienated the Presbyterians of the North, who from that time began to take part with the Government. At one time it was feared that even Dublin would fall into the hands of the insurgents, but they were defeated at Vinegar Hill near Wexford by the regular troops under General Lake. In August, a French force of 1100 landed in Killala Bay. The first troops sent against them met them at Castlebar, but ran away so fast that the affair is known as the race of Castlebar. The French were, however, too few to make a long resistance, and on September 9 they surrendered, thus bringing to an end all chance of successful resistance to English authority in Ireland.

19. An Irish Reign of Terror. 1798-1799.—Before the defeat of the French, Lord Cornwallis arrived as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was a just man, and was deeply moved by the violence of those who styled themselves loyalists. Magistrates and soldiers vied with one another in acts of cruelty. The practice of torturing prisoners to extort confessions was common, and Lord Cornwallis, who did his best to stop these atrocious proceedings, was exasperated by the light way in which they were regarded in his own presence. "The conversation of the principal persons of the country," he wrote, "all tends to encourage this system of blood, and the conversation, even at my table, where you may suppose I do all I can to prevent it, always turns on hanging, shooting, burning, &c., and if a priest has been put to death, the greatest joy is expressed by the whole company." In 1799 the Irish Parliament passed an Act of indemnity securing against punishment all persons

III.

31

who had used illegal violence which could in any way be connected with the suppression of the rebellion.

20. The Irish Union. 1800. The Irish Parliament could hardly be left as it was. In 1795 it might have been possible to reform it; in 1799, when the country was torn asunder by bitter hatred, when Protestants had used Parliamentary forms to wreak vengeance on Catholics, and when Catholics, if they were allowed to form the majority in it, would use them to wreak vengeance on Protestants, it was no longer possible. The easy way of putting an end to the difficulty by uniting the British and Irish Parliaments more and more commended itself to Pitt. The majority in the Irish Parliament was venal, and Pitt, through the medium of a young Irish official, Lord Castlereagh, secured a majority in it, not indeed by paying money directly for votes, but by agreeing to compensate the owners of boroughs at the rate of 15,000l. a seat,' and by granting peerages and lavishly dispensing patronage as a reward for Parliamentary support. Grattan came forth from the retirement in which he had remained during the late times of trouble, and denounced the Union; but the Act of Union received the assent of the Parliament at Dublin as well as of the Parliament at Westminster, and after January 1, 1801, there was but

one Parliament for the two countries.

21. Pitt's Resignation. 1801.-Pitt no doubt had the most generous intentions. He imagined that the United Parliament would judge fairly and justly between the two hostile Irish parties, and he wished it to win over the sympathies of Irish Catholics, by offering a State maintenance to their priests, by improving the existing system of the payment of tithes, and, above all, by admitting Catholics to office and to seats in Parliament. Having little doubt that he would be able to accomplish this, he had allowed it to be understood in Ireland that he would support a measure of Catholic emancipation. He soon, however, found that the king would not hear of this proposal, and behind the king was the British nation. On this, he resigned office, and indeed he could hardly do less. Pitt, however, though he was himself out of office, offered his This was, however, paid whether the owner's nominee voted for the government or not.

1801

PITT AND ADDINGTON

843

assistance in the formation of a ministry hostile to the Catholic claims, over which his influence might be felt, and he probably expected at the time that this arrangement would be of long continuance.

22. The Addington Ministry. 1801.-At the head of the new ministry was Addington, who had been Speaker of the House of Commons, a well-meaning, inefficient man, strongly hostile to Catholic emancipation, and warmly attached to Pitt. Before Addington could settle himself in office, the king's mind, shaken

William Pitt: from the bust by Nollekens in the National Portrait Gallery.

by the excitement of recent events, once more gave way. This time, however, the attack was of short duration, and, as soon as recovery was complete, Pitt assured him that he would never again propose Catholic emancipation during his reign. There are reasons for supposing that Pitt would at this time willingly have returned to office, but the king had already engaged himself to the new Ministers, and Addington had to try his hand at governing the country.

23. Malta and Egypt. 1800.-As far as the war was concerned