Chapter III: Introduction: To Book the First

The second volume of Lord Holland’s Memoirs, published in 1854, brings his account of the fortunes of the Whig party down to the autumn of 1807. That year had witnessed the resignation of the Ministry “of all the talents,” after barely a year in office. George III.’s hostility to his Ministers throughout the period was patent to all observers; and he was nothing loth to accelerate their downfall on the question of Roman Catholic relief—a rock which had caused the wreck of other combinations in past years. Lord Holland, who took the office of Lord Privy Seal after Mr. Fox’s death, fully relates the circumstances of their dismissal and the consequent General Election. The Tory party was re-established in office under the leadership of the Duke of Portland; but his colleagues were for the most part men of moderate and slender abilities, and their views on many of the burning questions of the day showed a lack of unanimity which foreboded ill for the success of the Administration. Yet such is the uncertainty of political forecasts that the chief figures in this Cabinet were able to hold their own for the next twenty years, notwithstanding the strenuous and repeated efforts of the Whigs to supersede them. Lord Holland goes on to mention the election of Mr. George Ponsonby to the leadership of the Opposition in the House of Commons, and gives a short account of the chief incidents of the ensuing Session of Parliament.

On the Continent Napoleon was rapidly rising to the zenith of his power. The campaign of 1806 had crushed the Prussian armies, and that country lay at the mercy of the conqueror. The Berlin Decree had struck what he hoped was a death-blow to the commerce of England. Austria was neutral; and the French victories at Eylau and Friedland had indisposed Russia to continue the struggle single-handed. It is true that the King of Prussia and the Czar had only that year concluded a treaty pledging themselves to carry on the war, but the latter was secretly wavering, and was, besides, greatly incensed at the attitude of the English Government. On the accession of the Whigs to power, the recognised Tory policy of subsidies to the Allied Powers and the loan of troops was discontinued, and a system of small expeditions, such as those to the Dardanelles and Buenos Ayres, resorted to. Alexander, unable to comprehend the change of front occasioned by the system of party politics in England, looked on this reversal of pledges given to him as a personal slight, and was not to be reconciled by renewed promises of assistance in 1807. A meeting was arranged between him and Napoleon at Tilsit, which resulted in the conclusion of a treaty of peace between France, Russia, and Prussia, and the formation of a secret alliance against Great Britain.

Early intelligence of the secret clauses of the treaty and the storm which was likely to break over Great Britain reached Canning, the Foreign Secretary, and drastic measures were at once resolved upon to meet the crisis. Napoleon had excluded English commerce from every Continental port, and it seemed probable that he would also make use of every vessel of war in them to further his schemes. Under these circumstances the English Cabinet resolved to obtain possession of any foreign fleets which it was possible to lay hands on, and thus diminish the number of ships which might be added to the fleets of France. In accordance with this policy an expedition was despatched against Copenhagen; the town was bombarded, the Danish fleet taken into English custody, and the Russian fleet denied access to the open sea by an English force stationed at the mouth of the Baltic. The same considerations gave rise to the expedition to Cadiz, where lay the remains of the Spanish and French fleet defeated at Trafalgar; and that to Lisbon. Portugal had nominally declared war against Great Britain in 1807 at the bidding of Napoleon; but the latter soon threw off the mask of friendship, and ordered Junot to invade and subjugate the country. The House of Braganza thereupon decided to embark in their fleet for Brazil, and carried out this determination, leaving Lisbon in the hands of the French.

The covetous eye of the Emperor had been cast on Spain, and that country, not Portugal, was the real object of his machinations. By a trick he obtained possession of the persons of Charles IV. and Ferdinand his son, who had become King by the abdication of his father in March, 1808. They were forced to resign their right to the throne of Spain, and in June of the same year Joseph Bonaparte was proclaimed King. In the meanwhile the Spanish people rose in arms against the French, and the whole country was in a seething state of uproar. Delegates were sent from the various provinces to England, asking for assistance against the invader. This request was granted, and an expedition was despatched to the coast of Portugal. Junot was forced to evacuate that country by the terms of the Convention of Cintra; but the British operations in Spain were not attended with the same success. Sir John Moore, misled by false information, attempted to advance on Madrid, but found himself confronted by Napoleon himself, who had recently met and defeated the Spanish armies in detail. Immediate retreat became a necessity, and the campaign closed with Moore’s death at Coruña and the successful re-embarkation of his troops.

The Emperor was unable to remain in Spain long enough to see the result of his handiwork; rumours of hostile preparations on the part of Austria caused him to return hurriedly to Paris. The truth was, that the checks experienced by the French at the hands of the Spanish troops had inspired fresh courage in the breasts of Austrian and Prussian statesmen, who began to perceive that the development of a national and patriotic spirit might be used with more success against the dreaded legions of France than intrigues and coalitions of Cabinets. Prussia made an abortive attempt to assert her independence, but it was rudely repressed, and Austria was left alone in her fight for freedom. War broke out in April, 1809; but though the Archduke Charles managed to defeat the French at Aspern, his immense losses minimised the result of his victory, and the hard-fought battle of Wagram two months later left the Austrian armies incapable of continuing the struggle. Reluctantly the Court of Vienna consented to a treaty of peace, which deprived the country of fifty thousand square miles of territory.

Two expeditions were despatched from England in 1809: one to Sicily under Sir John Stewart, which met with no permanent success; the other to Walcheren and the mouth of the Scheldt. The ulterior object of the latter enterprise was the destruction of the French fleet then building at Antwerp, and the conception that of Lord Castlereagh, the War Minister. Had the Cabinet sanctioned its despatch early in the year, when Napoleon’s fortunes were for the moment at a low ebb, it is probable that all would have been well. As it was, a bold and expeditious line of action would probably have accomplished all that was desired; but, on the contrary, sloth and inaction prevailed and doomed to complete failure the largest and most costly expedition which had ever, up to that period, left the shores of Great Britain.

The unpopularity of Lord Castlereagh with the public was increased by the ill-success of his scheme; and he discovered about the same time that his dismissal from office had been for some time determined on by his colleagues in the Cabinet headed by Canning. Believing that the latter was prompted by a desire for self-advancement, Castlereagh challenged him to a duel, and shot him through the thigh. Both Ministers resigned, and in the subsequent readjustment of places, Mr. Perceval became Prime Minister, with Lord Wellesley as Foreign Secretary and Lord Liverpool as Secretary for War.

Public opinion had been greatly excited early in the year by the accusations brought against the Duke of York of selling commissions in the Army through the instrumentality of his mistress, Mrs. Clarke. An investigation of the charge took place in the House of Commons, and it was proved that the Duke had no guilty knowledge of the proceedings. He thought right, however, to resign his office of Commander-in-Chief, which was given to Sir David Dundas.

Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had been appointed to the supreme command in Portugal, invaded Spain in June, and advanced on Madrid. He received no information of Soult’s presence on his flank; and though he signally defeated Marshal Victor at Talavera, was unable to maintain his position, and was forced to retreat on Portugal. During the winter he employed his time in forming the ring of fortifications round Lisbon known as the Lines of Torres Vedras, with the intention of retiring thither in case of necessity, after devastating the country and denying to the enemy any possibility of obtaining local supplies. Complete success attended his designs; and when Massena, who had arrived in Spain covered with glory won at the battles of Aspern and Wagram, followed the British into Portugal, he found it impossible to maintain his troops there, and retired from the country.

Napoleon found time after the Treaty of Vienna to turn his attention to more personal matters than the subjugation of nations. He divorced his wife, Josephine, and with the assistance of Metternich, the new Austrian Minister, prevailed on the Emperor Francis to give him his daughter, Marie Louise, in marriage. Austria was thus for some years bound to his cause; but Alexander, on the other hand, fell away and dissolved his connection with the Continental System. The Emperor continued his policy of the aggrandisement of France during 1810 by the annexation of the Papal States and Holland, and his dominion then reached its widest bounds.