Sublingen, that the Hanoverian army should retire behind the Elbe, and engage not to serve against France, or her allies, during the war, or until regularly exchanged. On the 5th of June, the French advanced without further molestation, and took possession of the city of Hanover, where they found a prodigious quantity of artillery and ammunition. Besides the absolute value of the electorate as a conquest, which enabled the enemy to remount their cavalry and recruit their drooping finances, they were now masters of the navigation of the Elbe and the Weser, and as had been foreseen, they hastened to improve this circumstance to their own advantage, and to the annoyance of their adversary. Being now in the immediate neighbourhood of the commercial Hanse towns of Hamburgh and Bremen, the French generals were enabled to levy considerable sums of money on those opulent cities, under the shape of loans; and while the continental powers patiently submitted to this outrageous violation of the German empire, no prospect presented itself of limiting their future exactions. Bonaparte, anxious to push the advantages he possessed to the utmost possible extent, issued a decree, prohibiting the navigation of the rivers Elbe and Weser by the vessels of British merchants, asserting, that as the fortune of war had given him the possession of the King of England's dominions in Hanover, it was not to be expected that an enemy's ships would be allowed to pass within reach of a French battery. The British government in answer to this reasoning, replied, that the conduct of France, in the invasion of the electorate, was an unauthorized and outrageous violation of the independence of the German empire; that it would be an act of hostility in Germany, to permit British vessels to be fired at, or captured, when navigating in the ports and rivers of Germany; and therefore (retaliating in some degree, on the empire, for not having defended Hanover) measures were taken to enforce a rigorous blockade upon the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, and to prevent the navigation of those rivers so long as British vessels were excluded. The Hanse towns were thus placed in a most deplorable situation. By the blockade of their harbours, all foreign trade was cut off, while the neighbourhood of the French armies placed them in perpetual danger of military violence and exaction. In this situation, they addressed themselves to the King of Prussia, as guarantee and protector of the neutrality of the north of Germany; but Frederick William, either entering into the views of France, or influenced by the consideration of its vast and resistless power, refused his interference, and thus abandoned all the smaller states of Germany to the mercy and discretion of the republic. On the arrival of intelligence at the headquarters of the French army, that his Britannic majesty, as elector of Hanover, had refused to ratify the convention of Sublingen, General Mortier addressed a letter to Marshal Count Walmoden, the Hanoverian general, apprizing him of this refusal, and of his consequent determination to recommence the campaign, unless the marshal would consent to surrender his army, and allow them to be marched into France as prisoners of war. To this Count Walmoden replied, that his army preferred perishing with arms in their hands, rather than to submit to this humiliating proposal; that they had already made sufficient sacrifices for their country; and that they must now defend their own honour; the officer by whom this spirited answer was conveyed, was, however, empowered to state, that if any acceptable terms were offered, they would probably not be rejected. This intimation led to a negotiation, which terminated in a convention, signed on the 5th of July, by which it was stipulated, that the Hanoverian army should be totally disbanded, and return to their homes, upon their parole not to serve against France or her allies, until regularly exchanged; and its artillery and military stores were all to be given up to the enemy. General Mortier, in his letter to the first consul, announcing the successful termination of the campaign, says, "It was only from generosity to an enemy imploring clemency, that we granted these terms; General Walmoden signed the capitulation with an afflicted heart; and it is difficult to paint the situation of the fine regiment of the King of England's guards at dismounting.' The moment had now arrived, when the avowed system of France in her war with England must be developed and put in execution; her first care was to increase her strength, and replenish her treasury at the expense of weaker states, and finally to apply her whole collected strength and resources to the invasion and conquest of Great Britain. From the very commencement of the war, every preparation was made to carry into effect the menaced invasion of England. Independent of the grand fleet at Brest, which, it was presumed, was destined for the invasion of Ireland, an immense number of transports was ordered to be built and collected, with the greatest expedition, in the French ports. The idea that some thousands of gun-boats might force their way across the channel, in spite of the British navy, was universally re ceived in France; and in the course of the year, so astonishing were the exertions of the republicans in this department of their naval preparations, that a sufficient flotilla was assembled at Boulogne, to carry over any army that France might see proper to employ in this desperate enterprise. This menacing disposition, and the mighty preparations for carrying it into effect, were perhaps ultimately advantageous to Great Britain. The evident necessity of defending the country against invasion, obtained a ready consent to every plan that could be proposed for its defence; and the vast reinforcements to its military strength, collected under this patriotic impulse, placed the nation on so proud a footing of security, that people no longer feared the visit of their invaders, but felt so conscious of their strength, as to wish the enemy to try an experiment, which would probably at one blow destroy the reputation, and annihilate the dominion and power of Bonaparte. In this contest, Great Britain fairly accepted the challenge thrown out by France when her government vain-gloriously asserted, "with conscious pride, that England alone could not maintain a struggle against France."* The challenger soon found it necessary to call in the aid of auxiliary states, and to force the weaker powers by which she was surrounded to engage in her quarrel. Holland, contrary to her wishes, and in evident violation of her interests, as Iwell as the Italian republic, was compelled to become a party with France, and, while the commercial interests of the latter were severely injured, the former, as we have seen, had, in the course of the year, to deplore the loss of all her West Indian colonies. Spain and Portugal were likewise compelled to furnish pecuniary assistance to France, in so open and extensive a manner, that it rested entirely with the policy or magnanimity of Great Britain, whether those kingdoms should not be considered as involved in direct acts of hostility. Independently of these measures, which the French government pursued as part of its war system; a step was taken at the commencement of the contest, which had never before been resorted to among civilized nations, and which has always been protested against as an act of barbarity and injustice. It appeared from an article published in the Moniteur, the official organ of the French government, "that two English frigates had captured two merchant vessels in the bay of Audierne, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest violation *View of the State of the French Republic, laid before the Legislative Body, Feb. 22, 1803. of the law of nations." In consequence of which, a decree, signed by the first consul, was issued, directing that "all the English from the age of eighteen to sixty, or persons holding commissions from his Britannic majesty, who are at present in France, shall immediately be considered prisoners of war, to answer for those citizens of the republic who may have been arrested, and made prisoners, by the vessels or subjects of his Britannic majesty, previous to any declaration of war.' In virtue of this decree, all the nobility, commercial travellers, and others, subjects of his majesty the King of England, who had incautiously put themselves within the reach of Bonaparte in France, and who were engaged in travelling through any of those countries occupied by the French armies, were either shut up in prisons, or confined to particular places, as prisoners of war upon their parole, and not allowed to exceed the limits prescribed to them; and this flagitious violation of the law of nations, and of natural hospitality, was further aggravated by a perfidious promise previously made to the English subjects, that they should enjoy the protection of the govern ment after the departure of the British ambassador, as extensively as during his residence at Paris. In Europe, the naval campaign of the present year was not distinguished by any very brilliant exploits. On the 14th of September, however, the port and town of Graville were successively attacked by Sir James Saumarez; on which occasion, the pier was demolished, and a number of vessels intended for the invasion of England, destroyed. On the same day, the town and fort of Dieppe were bombarded by Captain Owen, in the Immortalite frigate, with the Theseus and Sulphur bombs, under his command. The Dutch ports, from the Zandvoort, in the vicinity of Haarlem, to Scheveningen, were also severely bombarded on the 28th of September, and many vessels destroyed. These attacks, though not productive of any important consequences, were very properly made at this period; and while England was threatened with invasion by a pigmy flotilla, it was politic to keep up the dread which her navy had inspired, and prove to the invaders that we were active and vigilant at every point. In closing the history of one of the most memorable years in the annals of Europe, it may be proper shortly to advert to a singular negotiation which took place at Warsaw, arising out of an overture made by the first consul to Louis XVIII. for the resignation of that monarch's right to the throne of France, and the particulars of which are thus related by Monsieur, brother to the king : princes, who with equal alacrity and unanimity signed an adhesion to the answer of the king, of the 28th of February." The emissary employed on this singular De Meyer, an officer in the Prussian service, and engaged in this negotiation by his Prussian majesty, at the instance of the first consul. The overture left no doubt on the mind of persons of discernment, that Bonaparte, having determined to extinguish even the name of republic in France, aspired to the imperial purple; and the events of the following year gave to those conjectures the stamp of historical confirmation. “On the 26th of February, of the current year (1803), a personage of prominent distinction, employ-mission was said to be the commandant ed by high authority, waited on the King of France at Warsaw, and verbally made to his majesty, in terms the most respectful, but at the same time the most urgent, and, in the opinion of him who urged them, the most persuasive, the astonishing proposal to renounce the throne of France, and to require the same renunciation on the part of all the members of the house of Bourbon; the envoy moreover observed, that, as a price of this sacrifice, Bonaparte would secure indemnities to his majesty, and even a splendid establishment. His majesty, strongly animated by that sentiment which the hand of adversity is never able to obliterate from elevated souls, and which makes him cling as tenaciously to his rights as he does to the happiness of France, immediately wrote the following answer, which he delivered, on the 28th of February, to the person who was deputed to him : Answer of the King. "I am far from being inclined to confound M. Bonaparte with those who have preceded him. I think highly of his valour, and of his military talents. Neither do I feel ungrateful for many acts of his administration; for whatever is done for the benefit of my people, shall always be dear to my heart. He is deceived, however, if he imagines that he can induce me to forego my claims, for otherwise he himself would confirm and establish them, could they be called in question, by the very step he has now taken. "I cannot pretend to know what may be the intention of the Almighty respecting my race and myself, but I am well aware of the obligations imposed upon me by the rank to which he was pleased I should be born. As a Christian, I shall continue to fulfil these obligations to my last breath. As a descendant of St. Louis, I shall endeavour to imitate his example by respecting my self-even in captivity and chains. As successor of Francis I., I shall at least aspire to say with him-We have lost every thing but our honour. In reviewing the principal occurrences of the war developed within the present year, it will be admitted, that while Great Britain was prosecuting the contest, in the true spirit of open and legitimate hostility, the first belligerent proceedings of the enemy violated the acknowledged rights, and the long established laws of nations. Contrary to the liberal principles upon which former wars had been conducted, and which were respected even by the revolutionary governments of France, the electorate of Hanover was immediately overrun by the devastating armies of the enemy. The neutrality of Germany was thus infringed, in direct opposition to existing engagements, and in defiance of those powers by which the execution of the treaty of Luneville was guaranteed. The faith of nations and the laws of hospitality were also most flagrantly violated in the detention of our unsuspecting countrymen in France; and the measures taken by that government to involve other countries in their quarrel, and to subject neutral states to the ruinous effects of war, form an aggregate of violence and injustice, ill according with those lofty professions of " moderation," and scrupulous regard to "the maintenance of the faith of treaties," by which the French government, in their declaration of the 20th of May, professed to be actuated. CHAPTER II. BRITISH HISTORY: State of Parties-Meeting of Parliament-Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act and the Re-enactment of Military Law in Ireland-National Force-Indisposition of his MajestySir John Wrottesley's Motion-Message from his Majesty, announcing the voluntary Offer of the Irish Militia to serve in Great Britain-Volunteer Consolidation Bill-Motion of Mr. Pitt, on the Naval Defence of the Country-Mr. Fox's Motion for an Inquiry into the National Defence-The Budget-Change of Ministers-Motion for the Abolition of the Slave-trade, carried in the House of Commons-Rejected in the Lords-Permanent Military Force Bill-Corn Laws-Augmentation of the Civil List, and Discharge of the Incumbrances-Prorogation of Parliament. GREAT BRITAIN, menaced with invasion about the beginning of April, in the year from without, and agitated by the intrigues 1803, and upon the eve of the war, Mr. of powerful and adverse parties within, Addington made a proposal to Mr. Pitt, presented, at this period, a singular and the object of which was the return of the interesting object of contemplation. The ex-minister to the official situation formerorganization of the various descriptions of ly held by him in the administration. This military force, collected for the general negotiation had proceeded nearly towards defence and security of the empire, did not its close, when Mr. Pitt intimated, that in by any means occupy the exclusive atten- the general arrangement for a new administion of government. A system of blockade tration, which he should feel it his duty to was promptly carried into execution, and submit to his majesty, he should include the enemy, who had vain-gloriously held the Lords Grenville and Spencer, with the language of menace, saw forces, col- other noblemen and honourable personages, lected for the purpose of intimidation or who had disapproved of every measure of chastisement, confined to their own coasts, Mr. Addington's government, and who and the vessels by which the invaders were in effect adverse to the whole spirit were to be conveyed to England, compelled and principle of his administration. With to navigate the shores of France, under the this proposal, it was impossible that minisprotection of land batteries and flying artil-ters could comply the negotiation was lery. But notwithstanding these exertions, at an end, and with it every prospect of which enabled the country, at an early future support to the cause of government, period of the war, to hurl defiance in the constituted as it at present was, from Mr. face of her enemy, and even to assail the Pitt and his adherents. assailants, the proceedings of ministers were exposed to much severity of censure, and a design was formed to remove them from their stations, and to place in their stead a new administration, composed of statesmen, more distinguished for the brilliancy of their talents than for the harmony of their views, or the uniformity of their political principles. The party in the senate most decidedly hostile to the existing administration, was the new opposition, led by Lord Grenville in the upper house of parliament, and by Mr. Windham in the house of commons. The whigs, or old opposition, though they had supported the treaty of Amiens, felt no cordiality towards a ministry, who had, as they conceived, again involved the country in an unnecessary war; and the adherents of Mr. Pitt, relaxing that "constant, active, and zealous support," which had been promised to Mr. Addington, were no longer to be classed among the supporters of the measures of his government. Against so formidable a phalanx, no minister, however pure his intentions, or commanding his talents, could hope to oppose a successful resistance; and therefore, In this state of parties, parliament assembled on the 22d of November, 1803. In the speech from the throne, his majesty, addressing himself to the two houses of parliament, said: "Since I last met you in parliament, it has been my chief object to carry into effect those measures, which your wisdom had adopted for the defence of the united kingdom, and for the vigorous prosecution of the war. In these preparations, I have been seconded by the voluntary exertions of all ble, strengthened their claims to my confidence ranks of my people, in a manner that has, if possi and affection: they have shown that the menaces of the enemy have only served to rouse their na tive hereditary spirit; and that all other considerthose efforts and sacrifices which the honour and ations are lost in a general disposition to make safety of the kingdom demand, at this important and critical juncture." After congratulating parliament on the accession made to the colonial pos sessions of this country in the West Indies; and on the happy suppression of the rebellion in Ireland; and informing them that a convention had been concluded with the King of Sweden, for the purpose of adjusting the differences which had arisen with that power, his majesty proceeded thus:-" In the prosecution of the contest in which we are engaged, it shall be, as it has ever been, my first object to execute as becomes me the great trust committed to my charge. Embarked with my brave and loyal people in one common cause it is my fixed determination, if the occasion should arise, to share their exertions and their dangers in the defence of our constitution, our religion, our laws, and our independence. To the activity and valour of my fleets and armies, to the zeal and unconquerable spirit of my faithful subjects, I confide the honour of my crown, and all those valuable interests which are involved in this momentous contest. Actuated by these sentiments, and humbly imploring the blessing of Divine Providence, I look forward with a firm conviction, that if, contrary to all just expectation, the enemy should elude the vigilance of my numerous fleets and cruisers, and attempt to execute their presumptuous threat of invading our coasts, the consequence will be to their discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace; and that ours will not only be the glory of surmounting the present difficulties, and repelling immediate danger, but the solid and permanent advantage of fixing the safety and independence of the kingdom on the basis of acknowledged strength, the result of its own tried energy and resources.' ters, as not only ready to accept if offered, but, if not offered, directly to solicit. Believing the noble secretary to have been sincere, it was naturally expected, in a speech from the throne, at the opening of a new session, and after such an interval had taken place, that his majesty would have referred to the subject, and put the house in possession of the means of determining how far the negotiations were likely to lead to the result which was in view. In answer to these observations, the chancellor of the exchequer replied, that the offices of mediation had been offered by the court of Russia, and accepted with readiness and gratitude on the part of his majesty's servants; but although discussions of the greatest moment were in consequence commenced, yet in their progress they did not assume such a shape as to lead to any probability of an amicable arrangement with France. The Marquis of Sligo moved the address in the upper house of parliament, and was The first subject of high importance seconded by the Earl of Limerick. They which engaged the attention of parliament, insisted strongly on the importance of una- arose out of a proposition of Mr. Secretary nimity, at a moment when we were obliged Yorke, to bring in a bill to continue two to contend with an overbearing and vindic- acts, the one for suspending the Habeas tive enemy, avowing, as his object, our de- Corpus act in Ireland, and the other for the struction. On the present occasion, no re-enactment of martial law in that country. question was involved on the fitness or He declared his reluctance to introduce the unfitness of ministers for the councils of their measures now proposed, although he was sovereign; the topics before the house were of opinion that no man, acquainted with the not matters of party consideration; they state of Ireland, could entertain a doubt were, on the contrary, matters of a compre- of their necessity. He was sorry to be hensive, general, and important kind. One obliged to propose any measure that might passage in the king's speech was noticed trench upon the liberties of the subject, or as deserving peculiar consideration, nameon any of those blessings which this counly, his avowal to stand forward in defence try so justly valued at so high a rate; of the honour of his crown, and the liber-"But," said Mr. Yorke, "it is the misforties and independence of his faithful people. To a communication of this nature, there was no heart so cold, so deadened to every generous feeling, as not to beat responsive. Well might his majesty rely on the zeal and services of his people. Should such a contingency ever arise, the whole population of the island would rush forward, and interpose its myriads between his sacred person and danger; though an attack should be made by hosts gorged with the spoils and blood of Europe, the result would be, not only security, but triumph to our beloved sovereign, and those who had the happiness to live under his auspicious government. In these feelings, the house so entirely acquiesced, that the address was carried without opposition. tune of the times in which we are destined to live, that we are not permitted to enjoy our lives or liberties, or our possessions, without being daily called upon to sacrifice some part of our privileges in order to preserve the remainder-to sacrifice the best blood in the country in support of the contest in which we are engaged, and to abridge our liberties, in order to preserve the existence of liberty itself." The honourable secretary then proceeded to state a variety of grounds in order to demonstrate the necessity of adopting these measures. The insurrection in Dublin in the month of July; the manner in which it was conducted; the atrocities which accompanied it; the intelligence of which government was in possession, and which afforded In the house of commons, the address every reason to believe, notwithstanding was proposed by the Honourable Cropley the declaration of many of the rebels, and Ashley, seconded by Mr. Burland, and car-particularly of Emmett, their principal ried without any amendment being pro- leader, that there did exist a connexion beposed. Mr. Fox adverted to the mediation tween the conspirators in Ireland and the of Russia, which, in the last session of par- French government, through the medium liament, Lord Hawkesbury did, as strongly of Irish traitors resident in France; all as language could express, pledge minis- which circumstances supplied abundant 3 M VOL. 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