t .^e Robert E. Gross Collection A Memorial to the Founder of the Business Administration Library f'/i/iterit/u o/^ya/i/or^tud Los Angeles waiN INQUIRY INTO THB STATE OF THE NATION, C. Slower, Pdntcr, Patcrnostfer-row, :i AN iNQumr INTO THE STATE OF THE NATION, COMMENCEMENT OF TBE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION. " In hujus modi re tantoque bello, maxlmae curae est, ut quae copus et opibus tenere vix possumus, ea mansuetudine et continentii nostra, socioruni fidelitate ceneamus." Cic. EptsT. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REFS AND ORMF;, PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND J. RIDGEWAY, PICCADILLY. 1806. [Price Five Shillings} AN INQUIRY, INTRODUCTION. Since the constitution of this country acquired its present form, and public bu- siness came to be transacted regularly in the great council of the nation, it has been customary in all important junc- tures, for our representatives to undertake a general investigation of the state of our affairs. The method of conducting this examination has varied at different periods. Sometimes a motion for inquiry has been B 2 AN INQUIRY INTO THE agreed to by the ministry, and their adver- saries have been permitted to bring for- ward their propositions upon the situation of the commonweaUh. Sometimes the motion for inquiry has been opposed, while a view of the pubhc misfortunes was given as the ground of claiming a solemn investigation. But in every case the inquiry has substantially been entered into, and has consisted always in the free and comprehensive discussion to which such motions gave rise. Those who have attended to the tactics of parliamentary debate, and remarked how greatly the separation of diiFerent articles of charge assists the party accused in shifting off the attack from any one point, will easily admit the superior ad- vantages of such a comprehensive view of tlie actual posture of affairs, as we commonly denominate " a state of the nation'' It happens, however, that se- veral years have now elapsed, preg- nant beyond all former experience in dis- ■ strous changes, without any discussion of STATE OF THE NATION. this wholesome and constitutional nature. In consequence, too, of certain recent oc- cvirrences, it has been found impossible to investigate at all, even in their distinct cha- racter, those measures which occupied the government during the last vacation. And thus a new ministry is formed, and a new system about to commence, before the account has been settled with the old ; before the causes of our present calami- ties have been ascertained ; before the na- tion has been able to determine, either the extent or the origin of its dangers. Greatly as this change of men and of mea- sures is to be rejoiced at, we may ven- ture to question, whether it would not have secured more solid benefit to the country, had it been delayed until the wis- dom of parliament had been applied, to such a full discussion of the late calami- tous interference with continental affairs ; and such a comprehensive review of our present situation in every particular, as can alone furnish the ground-work of that radical change of system, in which our B 2 4 AN INQUIRY INTO THE only remaining chance of salvation must be sought. It is to be feared, however, that the change of ministry has deprived us alto- gether of the benefits which would have resulted from a parliamentary investigation of these grave and difficult subjects : and it becomes the more necessary to attempt such a compilation xof particulars, as may assist the public in examinmg the question out of doors. — With this view the follow- ing statement is drawn up. It is a very humble attempt at providing a substitute for the information respecting the state of their affiiirs, which the people would have received from the deliberations of their representatives, had the formation of the new ministry been so long delayed as to have given time for an inquiry into the state of the nation. This disquisition may conveniently be arranged under three heads — as it relates to the state of our foreign relations, our domestic oecononiy and our colonial affairs. It is of the last importance that STATE OF THE NATION. O the country should be able to estimate the nature and extent of its resources in each of these departments ; and to appreciate the system of management in all of them, which has given rise to the unparalleled dangers that at present surround us on every side. After examining under each head the causes of our calamities, and fairly stating their real extent, we shall shortly inquire if there are any changes of system by which the fate of the empire may yet be stayed. / AN IN-QmRY INTO TH2 rOREIGN RELATIONS. In discussing this primary and import- ant branch of the subject, it is necessary to dwell at greater length on points which have never been brought before the Houses' of Parliament. Of these the most material, is the late continental policy of the British government. We shall accordingly begin with an examination of the various particu- lars presented by the history of the *' Third grand Coalition." We shall then take a view of the situation in which it has left our external relations. Our attention will be directed in the next place toward the re- maining objects of foreign policy in the present crisis ; more particularly the state of the neutral questions ; and we shall con- clude with suggesting the change of sys- , tem which the previous deductions appear to prescribe. 1. THE LATE CONTINENTAL ALLIANCE. 1 . Tlie first circumstance which strikes us in contemplating the system of nego- STATE OF THE NATION. 7 tiation lately pursued by the British cabi- net is, that the documents laid before par- liament furnish no evidence of any at- tempts having been made to procure the mediation of our allies for an amicable ad- justment of our differences with France. As, far back as May 1803, a direct assure- ance was given by ministers, that they would solicit the mediation of Russia, and in recommending this salutary measure, all parties cordially united. A communi- cation of a pacific nature was received from the French government at the begin- ning of 1805. His Majesty declined en- tering into any negotiations until he should consult his allies, and especially the Em- peror of Russia ; but he expressed himself, at the same time, desirous of seeing such a peace established as might be consistent with security and honour. It is well known that the dispositions of Russia towards this country were never more favourable, nor her sense of duty towards the rest of Europe more strong, than at the time when the king returned this answer. — Our cabinet then, with the 8 AN INQUIRY INTO THE concurrence of all parties, stood pledged to procure, if possible, the .mediation of Russia : The dispositions of France were officially announced, at least, to be pacific. Russia was engaged in the most confiden- tial intercourse with us : His ^Majesty was advised only to delay entering upon an amicable discussion with France, in con- sequenceof that intercourse with Russia. — Might it not have been expected that our cabinet would seize this happy juncture, to press for the mediation of our august ally, and thus to redeem its pledge, at least, if not secure an honourable termina- tion of the dispute ? Yet it is not a little remarkable, that in the whole mass of papers laid before parliament with a view of detailing the history of the late negoti- ation, no traces whatever are to be found of any steps towards obtaining the medi- atory interference of Russia. On the contrary, our communica- tions with that power have been from the beginning of a war-like nature. — The treaty of' Concert, nth April, 1805, the first result of our negotiations, STATE OF THE NATION. Q is framed for tlie purpose of marching half a million of men against France, in the pay ofEngland, (Art. in*.) That a mediator of 'differences should be in a respectable state of strength, in order to interpose with effect, is not denied ; but no power can assume the functions of an umpire after forming such a concert with one of the con- tending parties. It deserves further to be remarked, that the pacific inclina- tions expressed in his Majesty's answer to the French message, appear never to have produced any effect on our negotia- tions. The Cabinets of Vienna and St. Petersburgh wem engaged in the cor- respondence which gave rise to the war, as far back as November, 1804. The British government vras a party to this intercourse at the same time. The French message was communicated during these negotiations, and no circumstance appears either in the official documents, or in the conduct of the parties, tending to shew that this pacific proposal produced any effect * Treaties, p. 9. f Sapplementarv Papers, p. I, 10 AN IXQUIRY INTO THE upon tlic progress of an interoourse avow- ed] v hostile to France. But it may be said that the seizure of Genoa rendered it impossible for Russia ta mediate, or hold any amicable corre- spondence with France. To this various answers are obvious. The Russian medi- ation was first thought of long after the invasion of Sv»itzerland^-a violation of the treaty of Luneville infinitely more im- portant to the interest of all parties, than the annexation of Genoa. The incorpora- tion of Piedmont, without any indemnity to the king of Sardinia, was made in ex- press violation of the same treaty, and in contempt of specific engagements with Russia herself: yet this neither prevented Russia from offering her mediation, nor our government from })lcdging themselves to accept it. But, in truth, it is absurd to lay any stress upon the seizure of Genoa, when the first article of the treaty of Concert, concluded two months before that event, bound Russia and England to league against France in measures of hostility, " without waiting for further encroach- STATE OF THE NATION. 1 1 ments on the part of the French goYcrn- ment*." Long before the seizure of Genoa, then, we had given up every chance of Russian mediation, by our hostile league with the court of St. Petersburgh ; and that event was view ed with exultation by the friends of the new war, as an additional means of rousing Austria and Russia to join us — not w^th regret as an obstacle to the work of pacification, which w^e had pledged our- selves to undertake. Even after our allies had placed themselves in a commanding posture of military preparation, and were fully disposed to embrace whatever plan might be most effectual for restraining the encroachments of France, no attempt was made to avail ourselves of so favourable a juncture, for effecting that object in the manner pointed out in 1803, by the united voice of parliament. Our government seems only to have been anxious that there should be a battle, and impatient but to see the fighting begin. This leads us to Treaties, p. 8. 12 AN INQUIRY INTO THE the next remark suggested by the history of tlie Jate coalition. 2. The league appears to have had no precise or definite object in view. To at- tack France, and try the issue, is the only fixed point of concert. How far the alUes "were prepared, in the event of their suc- cess, to propose such an arrangement as might secure the future independence of Europe, may be determined by a conside- ration of the purposes for which they avow that the league was formed. These are stated in Art. it. of the treaty of Concert*. We shall begin with the independence of Holland. By the treaty of Luneville, the inde- pendence of Holland was guaranteed, and at the peace of Amiens France pledged herself to withdraw all her troops from the Dutch territories. It is of little mo- ment to inquire by what circumstances the fulfilment of these stipulations was retarded. The war between France and England finally prevented them from taking effect ; but France has repeatedly * Treaties, p. 9. STATE OF THE NATIOX. 13 declared her readiness to evacuate Holland as soon as the other points in dispute should be settled. Suppose the new con- federates \^ ere successful in the war, and demanded a renewal of the stipulations respecting Holland. France withdraws her troops from that country during the peace which ensues — during the period when it is not her interest to keep troops there. But as soon as a new war breaks out — as soon as the occupation of Holland is of the smallest importance to France, or detriment to us, has she not the means of again overrunning the Dutch territories in a week ? The whole of Flanders, from Ostend to Antwerp, from Antwerp to Wesel, is hers. No barrier remains be- tween the enormous mass of the French dominions, and the little, insulated, de- fenceless province of Holland. The strongest part of her frontier, the triple line of fortresses which surround France on the north, is opposed to the weakest side of the Dutch territories. Long before the guaranties of Batavian independence could possibly send a man to the Rhine, the 1 4 A\ INQUIRY INTO THE French would take Amsterdam, and keep the country as easily as they can defend the rest of their provmces. The Hollanders of this age are no longer the men who in- undated their fields to defend their hberty. France has a party in the councils, and in the nation of the republic, and nothing could be more chimerical than to hope that she would meet with any resistance from the unaided patriotismi and resources of this state. When, therefore, the new alliance professes to have in view the establish- ment of the Dutch independence, one of two things must be meant : either that nominal independence which consists in the removal of French troops, and which was guaranteed in the treaty of Luneville — or that real independence which consists in security from French influence during peace, and invasion during war; which was obtained for the Dutch by their own spirit, and the assistance of their allies at the be- ginning of the eighteenth century ; which they only lost by the conquest of Bel- gium. To make war for the first of these STATE OF THE NATION. 15 objects was evidently most unwise : it was attained by the treaties of Luneville and Amiens, and, when attained, was perfectly useless. To make war for the second object was quite absurd, unless those other measures were in contemplation, which alone could secure it ; and the treaty of Concert gives us no hint v/hatever of any such measures. We are, therefore, left to conclude that the allied powers wished to see Holland once more independent, but did not know how to gratify this desire ; that they had a general design of, freeing the Dutch from French influence, but could discover no means of doing so ; that, therefore, they resolved to attack France, but, if successful, they were not prepared with any specific demands in fa- vour of Holland. In so far then as the interests of Holland were concerned, the purpose of the allies was perfectly vague and indefinite ; it was merely the pur- pose of beginning to fight, trying their fortune, and afterwards finding out what they wanted. Nearly the same obseiTations apply to I 5 AN* INQUIRY fNTO THE the independence of Switzerland, which is stated as another object of the coahtion. At the peace of Limeville, France wasjleft in possession of the bishopric of Bale, the Frickthal, Savoy, and the territory of Geneva. The two first of these possessions give her a complete command of the passes of Havenstein, and consequently of the entrance into the plain of Switzerland from the north ; w^liile the acquisition of Savoy and Geneva throws open a passage on the south. With such advantages, it might be difficult for the Swiss themselves to prevent the return of the French troops at any time. But all plans for the inde- pendence of that country must evidently be futile, which do not originate in a firm union with the inhabitants, and no such union could well be hoped for under the constitution established by the inter- ference of France. The league for making Switzerland independent, however, spe- cifies no plan by which such an object is to be accomplished. The allies seem to have thought, that after France should be ^conquered, they would have time to. dis- STATE OF THE NATION. J 7 cover how Switzerland might be made free, imd to settle whether Savoy was to be se- parated from France, or the Frickthal given back to Austria, or Geneva restored to independence. The re-estabUshment of the King of Sardinia, in Piedmont, is another object of the coalition. This must strike every one as a strange proposition to come from the court of St. Petersburgh ; the court, which after pledging itself to obtain an indemnity for his Sardinian Majesty, carried through the whole business of the German indemnities in active con- cert with France, and suffered the scene to be closed without any mention of that Prince's name ; the court which began in. league with France, to parcel out Germany among its dependants, immediately after Piedmont had been seized by France, in violation of her pledge to Russia. No less singular is it to observe, that the prime mover of this claim in the King of Sardi- Tiia's favour is England, which gave him up without a struggle at the peace of Amiens ; Q 18 AN INQUIRY INTO THE and then witnessed unmoved, the parti- tion of Germany. But the singularity of the interest displayed for Piedmont is com- plete, when we find that the third party in the league is Austria, -who now comes forward in concert with the cabinets of St. Petersburgh and London, to avenge the King of Sardinia's cause against France, when a few months before slie had been dragooned into the spoliation of Germany, by that very France, with the assistance of one of those cabinets and the connivance of the other. It is easy to perceive how little credit all those parties are likely to get with the rest of the world, either for their honesty or their wisdom — for their disinterested zeal in behalf of Piedmont, or their systematic views of the general policy of Europe. Moreover, it would be difficult to ima- gine any less determinate or specific scheme than that of a war, for the re- establishment of the Sardinian family on the continent, " with as large an augmen- . ** tationof territory as circumstances wil/ STATE OF THE NATIOf?. IQ permit *." While Savoy belongs to France, while the Italian rcpublic is subject to her sovereign, and the Ligurian territory is at least controuled by her influence ; the mere restoration of dominion provides no security against the sudden resumption of that province as soon as France may find it convenient. This object, therefore, is "as vague and indefinite as the general plan of rendering Holland independent, while Belgium and the left Bank of the Rhine belong to France. The bare statement of the next proposed object is sufficient to shew that it belongs to the same class — "the future security of the kingdom of Naples. " There is apparently something less vague in '* the evacuation of Italy by the French forces." But if by Italy is meant Naples and the states of the church, "^hc treaty of Amiens bound France to withdraw her troops from thence ; she had entered into the same engagement with his Sicilian Majesty, and had stipu- lated with Russia, in general, to respect * Treat, p. 9. Art. II. Letter C. C 2 20 AN INQpiRY INTO THE the independence of Naples. These obli* gations were fulfilled by France immedi- atelj after the peace of Amiens, and until the commencement of the present war she had no troops in the Sicilian territory. When, however, she found it convenient to occupy it again, no obstacle was thrown in her way : So slender is the " security'* which Naples can derive, from France complying with ^ch demands as the allies had proposed to make after a successful war ! But, if by the evacuation of Italy, the allies meant the recal of French troops from the Italian republic, we may observe, that this was a most futile object of war. The Whole Cisalpine territory i& substan- tially a province of France; whether she rules it by French or by Italian troops. Sub- ject to her sovereign ; governed by the constitution which she has imposed ; ad- ministered either by her emissaries or her creatures — that province, even if entirely freed from French armies, would continue under the influence of France, acknow- ledge her alliance, and receive her troops as soon as hostilities were renewed. So 4»TAT£ «F THE JJ ATIOH. 2 1 nugatory Is it to propose, as tbe object of an offensive league, the single, unsupported, incfieotual measure of recalling the French army from the Cisalpine. • The last object of the allies, is only in appearance, more vague than those already considered. " The establishment of an ^* order of things in Europe which may ^* effectually guarantee its security and ^' independence," Here, as in the former cases, we are lefi to guess at the particu- lars, and have no means of discovering flow the general end in view is to be at- tained by the concerted plan of hostilities. This is the character of all the branches of the scheme, except only one, " the eva- cuation of Hanover,*' — an object in itself «o trifling, as not to merit consideration, ■among projects for the liberation of the :world ; and placed, it should seem, at the head of these plans, rather in compliment to one of the contracting parties, than from its value in the eves of the rest. A league, then, of unparalleled expense >and vast risk is concerted, without any precise object but that of beginning a war \ 32 AN INQUIRY INTO THE ' without any view more specific than a vague desire of curbing the power of France ; without a plan more comprehen- sive than that of freeing from momentary oppression, a few detached parts of the French dependencies ; with no preconcerted scheme for securing their independence, or for carrying into effect the general wish that has been formed to check French usurpation. ^But, it maybe asked, is the situation of Europe so hopeless that no means can be devised for accomplishing the grand objects which we have been rapidly surveying ? Must Holland be unir ted in fate with Belgium, and the Cisal- pine decide the destinies of the south ?-^ The consideration of these matters belongs to a future stage of this inquiry. At pre- sent, it is enough to have shewn that those objects bear no relation to the mere act of commencing a hostile coalition ;' that the fortune of v\'ar might drive the French troops out of Holland and Naples, without rendering those states less dependent on France; that the emancipation of Europe could only be obtained from a war of this STATE OF THE NATION. 23 description, in the most improbable event of its leading to the entire conquest of France ; and that the choice of instant hos- tilities, without giving any reasonable pros- pect of success, in prosecuting the generai scheme, prechided all chance of paving the way to better times, b} a gradual and peace- able arrangement. The only specific ob- ject of the coalition, then, was to make war upon France, and try the event. Let us next inquire, whether this object was prosecuted with such a degree of wisdom, as bestowed any title to expect that the event would be prosperous. 3. In order to attack France with a fair prospect of success, it was indispensably necessary, that the different states of the continent should feel how much their real interests depended upon a diminution of the French power. By our inteferrence, indeed, it was possible that the moment of their recal to a true sense of policy and duty, might be somewhat accelerated. But no salutary or lasting conversion could reasonably be expected from such a sudden lehange as our in treaties or subsidies might 24 AN INQUIRY INTO THE work, before the natural course of events had prepared them for adopting a new line of conduct. During the whole of 1802, Russia was not only blind to the encroach- ments of France, she was actively assisting '/ them ; she was leagued with that power in the new partition of Germany, which has been called the "Settlement of Indem" ** nities" — in other words : France having despoiled several powerful princes of their dominions, was now pacifying them with the territories of several weaker states ; and Russia, by a cordial support, enabled her to accomplish what the Germanic body in general viewed as an unparalleled vio- lation of justice. In the same operation, Prussia, who had lost nothing, w^as an active coadjutor ; and these three great powers were thus, so late as the middle of 1803, leagued together, for the- purpose of aggrandizingthemselves or their dependants at the expense, partly of Austria and her allies— partly of other powders, w^ho had been spectators of a contest, in which their weakness prevented them from engaging. This most unpromising state of things conti- STATE OF THE NATION. ^fl nued during almost the whole of 1803, and until a coolness began to arise bet ween Rus- sia and France ; not on any solid grounds ; not because France had made new en- croachments — but rather from certain tri- fling and personal motives. Our clear policy was to have improved this change ; confirmed the alienation of Russia ; and attempted slowly to heal the wounds which her late conduct had an evi- dent tendency to inflict on Austria. But to push hastily at any active measures - — to hurry on an intimate union of two powers, lately in a state almost hostile; or even to engage Russia suddenly to ex- change her alliance with France, for an open rupture, was in every view the height of rashness and impolicy. Far from pres- sing Russia towards so premature a con- duct, it was our interest to have restrained her until both her own time and the time of Austria was come ; and, instead of re- joicing, that the seizure of Genoa gave both those powers a new desire to rasist the French encroachments, it was our bu- siness to curb their sudden resentment. 25 ' AN INQUIRY INTO THE until it could be displayed with effect ; and to retard the moment of their attack upon France, until their mutual relations were cemented and their resources were ripe for so drcadful a contest. Let us consider whether this has been our policy. The documents laid before parliament, defective as they are in vari- ous particulars, furnish a most imper- fect history of the late alliance ; but they contain evidence quite sufficient to convict us of having adopted and persisted in a line of conduct, the very reverse of that which has just now been sketched. In T^ovembcr 1804 * the negotiations between Austria and Russia were going on with a view to an offensive alliance. England must therefore have begun her operations at St. Petersburgh long before that period, probably before the end of 1803, or immediately after the union be- tween France and Russia was relaxed. At any rate, it is certain that an alliance be- tween this countiy and Russia existed a? * Sir Arthur Paget's Dispatch, Sup. Pap. p. 4. STATE OF THE NATION. 27 early as July 1 804, and was the subject of common conversation during the course of that month. The British cabinet, there- fore, took advantage of the very first cool- ness that appeared between France and Russia, (chiefly on account of the Due d'Enghien's death) to offer subsidies and precipitate Russia towards a war. A sub- sidiary treaty was concluded with Sweden also, at the beginning of December 1804. But, without the assistance of either Prussia or Austria, it w^as obviously in vain to think of a continental war. Per- haps it was foolish to think of succeeding in such a scheme, without the co-opera- tion of both those great powers. Was it wise, then, to begin by engaging Russia and Sweden as principals, and trusting to chance for obtaining as accessories, those who ought to have been the principals ? It was for Austria that the struggle was to be made, and by her exertions alone that it could succeed. Her resources were to bear the shock of the war, or her exist- ence was staked upon its issue ; yet we do Tfiot apply to Austria, but to Russia, or rather 28 AN INQUIRY INTO THE we first apply to Austria — we find she is not ready, or not willing to begin the war for her own interests ; and therefore we go to Sweden and Russia, who happen at the time to be in ill-humour with France, This was surely not the best way of secur- ing the cordial union of Austria. We have already noticed the terms upon which Austria and Russia were at the beginning of the Year 1803 ; but the jea- lousy which had subsisted from the afixiirs of Switzerland in the? last war, and which the business of the indemnities inflamed, received its last aggravation in May, 1804, from the promulgation of the secret con- vention, Oct. 1801, between France and Russia. Austria now saw a neighbour whose ambition she suspected, and whose power she dreaded, acting in conjunc- tion with her natural enemy, as the sole arbiter of the south of Europe ; taking upon herself the guarantee of Naples, Sar- dinia, and Rome ; and stipulating for the general arrangement of the balance of Italy. Excluded by the successes of her enemy from all territorial power beyond STATE OF THE NATION. 2(3? the Adige, she now saw herself cut out from all concern in Italian affairs, by the interference of her former ally. In the temper of mind which such a discovery was calculated to produce, she found that Russia and France were involved in a sud- den quarrel. She plainly evinced her good dispositions towards the latter, by immedi- ately acknowledging the Chief Consul's new title, which Russia and Sweden pe- remptorily refused ; and she took this oc- casion of assuming a similar dignity to her- self, against which Russia and Sweden pro- tested* — And this w^as the moment chosen by the British cabinet for applying to Rus- sia as the arbiter, the saviour of Europe ; and to Sweden as the other great cham- pion of the same cause ! Surely, if any principle in practical policy ever deserved the name of self-evident, it is this, that our interest was by all means to avoid * See Talleyrand's and D'Oubril's notes of May 16, July 21, and August 28, I8O4. — Imperial iind Swedish uotes to the Diet, August 24—26, 1804^ S0 AN INQUIRY INTO THE whatever might give umbrage to Austria ; to court her most, who must always be our best ally ; and if we could not effect a cordial reconciliation between her and Russia, at least to beware of taking such apart with the latter, as must involve us in the consequences of the disunion*. Having, however, made common cause with Russia, our next object was to ob- tain, at any rate, the accession of Austria. Nor can there be a doubt, that we availed ourselves partly of the formidable influ- ence of Russia — partly of our subsidies — partly of fallacious representations of our own strength, and the dispositions of Russia ; to force the cabinet of Vienna prematurely into a rupture with France. In order to demonstrate this, we have only to consult the Treaties and Supplementary Papers. By the first separate article of * In the forceolngr argument, it is not intended so much to state ah'uluteiy the sentiments of England, with regard to Russia, whose late conduct has been so pure and magnanimous, as to describe the feelings of Austria, aaid the deference which those feelings might have been expected to meet with from England. STATE OF THE NATION. 5 1 the Treaty of Concert, England agrees with Russia to subsidize Austria, provided she shall take the field against France in four months *. This is a public article, and intended for the inspection of Au- stria. But there is a secret article f added, by which England engages not to refuse the benefits of the treaty to Austria, if she shall take the field during any part of 1805. This article was intended only to be used, if the threat contained in the former one should fail in bringing Austria for\\'ard. The two articles are of the same date. — Further, Lord G.L. Gower, in a dispatch dated Sept. 3, expresses his hopes that the Austrian cabinet " may he induced not to wait the issue of the pro- posed negotiations with France J," but to commence hostilities immediately. His hopes are founded on '^ the last dispatch from the Russian minister at Vienna;" where it appears, therefore, that ^^ ar had not been resolved upon in the last week of * Treaties, p. 1 1 . f Treaties, p. 20, X Supp. Pap. p. 16. Zi AN INQUIRY INTO THl August. Yet, at the very same time, the march of the Russian armies towards the frontiers of Austria and Prussia, was for- mally announced to the Austrian cabi- net*; and as far back as July lOth, offi- cial notice was given that Russia intended to put her forces in motion by the middle of August f. It is clear, therefore, that Russia was determined to act offensively, whatever Austria might resolve upon ; and that this determination was used to quicken the cabinet of Vienna. According- ly we find, in the very able Paper of Aus- tria, entitled, " Plan of Operations J,'' the most decisive proofs of her unwilling- ness to come forward. A general view is taken of the relative situations of France and Austria, and the inference is drawn, " that the maifltenance of peace till a mo7'e fa^ curable Juncture shall arise, seems to be infinitely desirable.'* The answer of Russia, which is indeed a paper * Supp. Pap. p. 6, 16. t Supp. Pap. p. 40. X Su^^p. Pap. p. 21. STATE OF THE NATION. ^3 ot very inferior ability, combats ^ those^ positions ; affects to view the situation of Austria as much more prosperous ; denies that any more favourable juncture can arise ; and concludes that Austria, " as- sured of the assistance of Russia and Eng- land, should not hesitate to renew the war as speedily as possible *." In enume- rating the inducements held out to Au- stria, the cabinetof St. Petersburgh does not fail to notice " the immense sums of mo- ney w hich England is ready to sacrifice/' and the '' powerful diversions which she will operate in Holland, Flanders, and Germany, perhaps even the regular inva- sion of France by her troops f ." And that Austria did listen to such hopes, we learn from her own minister at London, who mentions the delay of England to attack France in the North, as the first cause of the subsequent disasters J. Such then was the unwillingness of Au- * Supp. Pap. p. 30. t Ibid. p. 29 & 30. r Ibid. p. 51 8c 52. 34 AN INQiriRY INTO THE stria, and such the means employed to bring her into the late ruinous contest. — And truly when we reflect on the ex- hausted state in which the last war had left her ; when we consider the loss of her ancient provinces, best situated for offen- sive operations, and the various difficulties which opposed themselves to any attempt at calling forth the resources of her new acquisitions ; when we survey her finances, involved in unexampled embarrassment, and her cumbrous administration, check- ing in every quarter the development of her natural strength; when, above all, we think of the universal dread of a new war, which prevailed through e^^ery rank of her people, dispirited by a recollec- tion of the last, and impressed with a firm belief in the ascendant of France ; when, to all this, we oppose the signal advantages of her enemy in every particu- lar ; — a compact and powerful territory, impregnable to attack, and commanding its neighbours from the excellence of its ojfensive positions ; an army inured to S^'ATE OF THE NATION. 35 war, and to constant victory ; an armed people intoxicated with natural vanity, and the recollection of unparalleled tri- umphs ; a government, uniting the vigour of military despotism with the energies of a new dynasty ; an administration, com- manding in its service all the talents of the state ; finances, unburthened by the debts of old monarchies, and unfettered by the good faith of wiser rulers ; finall}', a military expedition of vast magnitude, at the very moment prepared, and appli^ cable to any destination ^which the change of circumstances might require — when we contrast these mighty resources with the remnant of her strength which Austria had to meet them, we shall marvel but little at her backwardness to seize the pre- sent juncture for beginning a war, which, if unprosperous, must be her last. In a prudent delay she saw that every advan- tage might be expected; — an improvement of her domestic oeconomy ; a gradual ame- lioration of her political constitution ; the correction of those evils in her military D 2 3 J AN INQUIRY INTO THE system, \\hich had formerly proved fatal ; the change of conduct towards her fron- tier provinces, which the experience of last war prescribed ; the progress of her rich dominions, and numerous and vari- ous population in civility and wealth ; the confirmation and extension of her foreign aUiances. On the other hand, most of the enemy's advantages were likely to be im- paired by delay ; many of them were pe- culiar to the present crisis ; almost all of them were of a temporary nature. The pursuits of commerce might temper his warlike and turbulent spirit ; the formid- able energy of a new government might yield to the corruption which time never fails to engender ; and though kept quite pure, could not but relax during the in- terval of quiet ; the constitution was likely to become either more despotic and weaker for offensive measures, or more popular and less inclined to adopt them ; for a na- tion always becomes a w^iser and better neighbour in proportion as its affairs are influenced by the voice of the commu- STATE OF THE NATION. 3/ nity : The arts of peace must modify that system of military conscription which made every Frenchman a warrior : The remembrance of recent victories would gradually wear away, both in the army and the nation : Allies might desert from better views of their interest ; dependant states might throw off the yoke, when they recovered from the panic that made them bend to it ; neutral powers might be roused to a just sense of their duty, when a successful resistance seemed prac- ticable, and the re-establishment of the Austrian affairs furnished a center round which to rally : The army destined to in- vade England would probably fail in the attempt, or at any rate might be occupied in making it: Factions were more likely to disturb the vigour of the government when the continent was at peace ; nay, the chance was worth considering, which every delay gave, of some sinister accident befalling the chief, whose destinies in- volved those of France herself, and whose power had not yet received its last conso- 2 38 AN INQUIRY INTO THE lidation. — Every thing then rendered a delay as hurtful to the enemy as it was desirable to Austria, and her allies. If France had been called upon to chuse the juncture of her affairs, at which a nfew continental league should be formed against her, not only with safetv, but with emi- nent advantage to her interests, she would have chosen the year 1 804 ; that the ope^ rations of this league, after it had once been formed, should be delayed till the latter part of the year, she could scarcely have dared to hope. If Austria had been desired to name the crisis at which her present necessities, as well as the prospects of bettering her condition, most clearly enjoined an adherence to peace, she must have been blind, indeed, not to fix upon the same period ; and, if she had shut her eyes to her most obvious interests, it would have been the best policy of her allies to undeceive her, and chiefly of Eng- land, who had no stay on the continent but Austria. But the blindness was ours; Austria was alive to her true interests, as STATE OF THE NATION. 39 she knew her real situation ; and we un- happily prevailed upon her to seek certain ruin, by partaking of our infatuation. 4. We now come to examine with ^^hai prospects of assistance from Prussia the late attempt to deliver the continent was undertaken. Upon this part of the sub- ject several principles are self-evident. It is manifest that every effort should have been made, and even any reasonable sa- crifice offered, for the prospect of so in- estimable an advantage, as the accession of Prussia to the league. Without her co-operation, every chance of ultimate success was against the allies; with her aid it was scarcely possible their scheme could altogether fail. If she persisted in adhering to her neutrality, this was at least an additional reason for the delay which so many other circumstances con- curred to recommend. But, at any rate, it was the consummation of headlong im- patience to hurry on the execution of the enterprize, before time was given to obtain a definitive answer from Prussia, whe- 40 AN INQUIRY INTO THE ther favourable or adverse to the -s lews of the league. What shall we say, then, if it appears, that, far from waiting until Prussia had become favourably disposed, the allies did not even suspend their measures until she had given a positive ansv^^er ; that far from waiting to ascertain whether Prussia meant to join them, or remain neutral, they laished into the war before they knev/ whether she was to remain neutral, or to take part with France ! — The documents laid before parliament, defective in every branch of the details, are peculiarly so upon this important subject ; but they contain, nevertheless, sufficient evidence of the foregoing propositions, especially when coupled with the official communi- cations of the continental powers, In September, 1804, Prussia declared to Sweden her resolution to remain neutral, and in December she heard of the subsi- diary treaty between Sweden and England. A notice was immediately given by the court of Berlin, that the king of Prussia was determined to protect the neutrality STATE OF THE NATION. 4 1 of the north, and his Swedish majesty was warned against adopting offensive opera- tions against France*. At the beginning of 1805, therefore, the alhes had no reason to expect much from the side of Prussia ; but this transaction neither prevented England from indulging in hopes of suc- cess at Berlin, nor from hurrying on mea- sures at St. Petersburgh and Vienna, as if there was no chance of faihire. In the " Plan of Operations" proposed by Austria, we find mention made of '* a great and important step which the Em- peror of Russia has taken at the court of Berlin,' from the result of which " the allies are to learn how far they may reckon upon the co-operation or nevitrality of Prussia^." Neither the nature nor the success of this step is disclosed ; but that the allies, while combining their military plans, were ignorant of Russia's determi- nation, is proved both by the foregoing passage, and by the following particulars — * See Count Hardenberg's nole, Dec. 24, 1804. t Sup. Papers, p. C'5. 42 AN INQUIRY INTO THE Tn the Russian answer to the paper just now cited, it is stated that Austria, being assured of Russia, " will not be under any great necessity of maintaining a force to observe Prussia'^.'* Here then is a con- fiiderable doubt expressed as to the inten- tions of Prussia, and all hopes of her co-operation seem to have vanished. But soon after, tlie uncertainty increases, and a hope of assistance is changed, first into fear, least slie should oppose — and next into an expectation of her hostility. In tlie protocol of the conferences held between the Austrian and Russian generals, July lO, ] 805, for the purpose of arrang- ing the military operations of the allies, we find an express agreement, that the second and third Russian armies shall be " employed on the frontiers of Prussia, for the purpose of making demonstrations against her |"." And in the treaty of Concert between Russia and England, there is an article (viii. Separate Art.]:) * Sup. Papers, p. 30. f Sup. Papers, p. 42. t Ticaties, p. 17. STATE OF THE NATION. 43 binding the parties to make common cause against any state (meaning Prussia) " which, may, eitlier by employing its forces, or by too intimate a union with France, pretend to raise obstacles to the measures of the league." Thus we find that the scheme was en- tered upon with the prospect of resistance from Prussia ; that this was, however, not ascertained, but that the measures w^ere nevertheless pushed forward ; and that, when the details of the plan came to be settled before taking the field, the first service required of the allied powers was found to be " making demonstrations against Prussia ;" either to induce her to join the league, or to prevent her from opposing it. Nor were these calculations, however indefinite, altogether unfounded; for it appears that, when the combined armies took the field, they were kept in check by Prussia a whole month. Count Stahremberg, the Austrian mi- nister, in a note upon the causes of the de- feats in Swabia, and the capture of Vienna, AN INQITIRY INTO TIJE ascribes these melancholy events in a great measure to *' the advance of the second Russian army being retarded more than a month, by the first armaments which the cabinet of Berlin threatened to oppose to those of the court of St. Petersburgh*.'* It v^as not then till the second week in October, and after the disasters of the allies had begun, that they knew any thing certain respecting the dispositions of Prussia. The accidental circumstance of the vio- lation of Anspach, which no one could have foreseen, first determined Pnissia not to attack the members of the league. Before that moment, they had reason to fear that she would noc even be neutral, and they planned their defensive measures accordingly. But through the whole of their negotiations and arrangements they pressed forward in the dark. Far fromde- laying their attack till they had disposed Prussia to join them, they began it with * Sup. Papers, p. 52. STATE OF THE NATION. 45 the prospect of her hostility, though, even of that prospect, they did not take time to be fully ascertained. The conduct of Prussia suggests two important observations upon the proceed- ings of the allies. In the first place it appears that her warlike preparations kept the Russian armies in check for more than a month. Before the beginning of Sep- tember, therefore, the allies were convinced that, instead of her assistance, they had rather to reckon upon her hostility. Ad- mitting that this important point was not ascertained before the Russian army began their march, it was at least established before the first movements of Austria, and before her rupture with France was irrevocably de- clared ; for the court of Vienna continued to hold a pacific language to the French government in its declaration of the third of September, audits armies did not cross the Inn till the seventh*. It is manifest, * See Second declaration of the court of Vienna— *' The court of Vienna has no other motive than that 40 AN INQUIRY IN^TO THE therefore, that war was not inevitable for some time after the hostile views of the cabinet of Berlin were apparent, and that even the hasty steps which had been taken by the allies might still have led to no fatal consequences, if they had paused as soon as the unfavourable dispositions of Prussia were displayed. To all the measures of rashness and imprudence, however, which marked this unhappy confederacy from the beginning, the fatal error was now^ added, of throw^ing away the last chance of accommodation, when new obstacles to the success of the war daily arose ; of finally breaking the peace, at the very crisis when the hos- tility of Prussia rendered the war utterly hopeless. But, in the next place, when the senti- ments of the court of Berlin received a sudden change, from the violation of of maintaining peace and friendship with France, and securing the general tranquillity of the Continent." — Also Proclamation, Sept; 21, 'iSO'), of the Archduke Charles to the army in Italy. STATE OF THE NATION. 47 Anspach, and when they became, upon the whole, unfavourable to France, if not favourable to the coalition, it seems won- derful that no attempt should have been made by England to avail herself of this happy revolution ; — not indeed for the vain purpose of inducing Prussia to join the league, which the very day before she had been prepared to oppose — but in order to use her nev^' enmity towards France as a means of regaining the ground which the allies had lost by their rashness, and of submitting the whole dispute to Prussian mediation, before it went further, at a time when France would have listened to what- ever came from Berlin ; while the forces of Austria were not irreparably injured, and the armies of Russia were still unim- paired. It never could be expected that Prussia would at once take the field, how much soever her dispositions might have been suddenly improved. Before she could prepare either her resolution or her forces, the French were sure to push their suc- cesses against the Austrians the more 48 AN INQL^IRY INTO THE strenuously that they had a prospect of opposition from a new quarter. Nothing, therefore, ^^'as more obvious than the pohcy of obtaining some delay at least, if not a safe retreat from our dangerous po- sition, through the sudden good wishes of Prussia. But the same blind zeal for mere fighting prevailed, which had led to the occupation of Bavaria. The allies con- tinued in the field without any attempt to attain what alone could save them ; and England intoxicated with the chime- rical hope, that the events of one day would root out the poHcy which had been growing up at Berlin for twelve long years of various fortune, anxiously urged on the work she had begim, and counted upon Prussia as a sure resource. It is indeed highly probable that the an- cient jealousies of Austria and Prussia, awa- kened by the late transaction of the indemni- ties, opposed obstacles to any cordial union, even at this crisis of affairs, and might have prevented the measure of attempting an ac- commodation with France through Prussia, STATE OF THE NATION. 4Q which circumstances now suggested. But this rivalry formed no part of our estimate when we entered upon the war. No steps had been taken, indeed no time had been allowed, for any attempt to overcome it ; and we have ourselves only to blame, if untoward circumstances, overlooked by bur blind impatience to see the continent in arms, have eventually frustrated the cal- culations into which they did notenter : We have ourselves only to blame, if we formed a league which could not succeed without the cordial union of powers divided by long hatred and recent quarrels ; hur- ried the allies into critical situations, where perfect unanimity alone could save them ; and gave no time for those measures of conciliation, without which it was vain to expect even the semblance of cordiality*. * It is inconsistent with the plan of this inquiry to cite any authoritle^ which are not official 5 but a very ex- traordinary tra tha> lately been publi hed by Mr. Gentz, which, from particular circum;.tances, deserves to be noticed. Its inferiority to all this gentlerpan's other writings is .-o striking, that nothing but the uncontra- dicted avowal of his name on the title page. could have induced any one to tliiiik it the production of his pea. £ 50 AN INQUIRY INTO THE 5. Having now traced the fatal impolicy which gave rise to the late alliance, and precipitated the confederates into the war^ we shall direct our attention to the parti- •ular errors that accompanied the opera- tions of the league. Of these the most remarkable, and the most extensive in its effects, is a strange want of concert which appears from the commencement between the two principal parties — England and Austria: England the prime mover and soul of the -union, and Austria its main support. Among other singular assertions, it contains one which requires either a contradiction or acknow- ledgment by the members of the late cabinet — that a treaty was concluded between Russia and Prussia before last December. No such treaty has been m.en- tioned in the papers laid before parliament ; yet surely a full statement of its contents would have been much inore decorous, than such an allusion to it as Mr. Gent2 here makes. He adds, that he is placed in situa- tions which cnab'e him to " see into the secret move- ments of the different political springs, of which the events we. now witness are the visible results" — p. 28. Now as his place oi counsellor at war is merely nominal, (however creditable the title may be,) and as he is not in the confidence of t!ie Austrian court, it is difficult to jmagii e what situation he can fill, except he may have enjoyed the confidence of the I'ngli h cabinet. If he did— if a foieigner was admitted to this confidence, there is room for inquiry ; and if a confidential agent has told the secret of a Prussian treaty, why is that still withheld from parliament ? STATE OF THE NATIOff. 5 1 It cannot fail to strike any one who peruses the documents laid before parlia- ment, that throughout the whole of the late negotiations, Austria has kept herself studiously aloof from any direct intercourse with this country ; until the moment that a subsidy is to be given, no communica- tion exists between the two powers. We have treaties with Russia and with Sweden, but not one with Austria. Whatever comes from Vienna, comes through St. Petersburgh. Our correspondence with Austria is carried on by means of our Russian alliance ; our relations with the emperor, the ancient ally of England, and the main-stay of her continental influence> shrunk into a sort of appendage to our concert with the Northern Powers — the inventors of the armed neutrality, the executors of the German indemnities, and the recent confederates of France. In order to be satisfied of the extent to which our alienation from Austria has proceeded, it is necessary to examine the whole of the treaties and dispatches that have been £ 2 S2 AN INQUIRY INTO THE made public. But we shall mention a few of the most remarkable proofs, as a clue to the more ample investigation of this alarming topic. The uniform anxiety of Austria to ap- pear wholly unconnected with England, is one of the most singular features in the conduct of the late continental alli- ance. By an article * added to the Treaty of Concert it is stipulated by Russia on the part of Austria, that in case those two powers should, at the opening of the campaign, disavow their connexion with England, yet as soon as the war is fairly "begun, they shall acknowledge the con- nexion. Thus the appearance of a con- cert with England, was so odious on the Continent at the time which we chose for stirring up the new coalition, that our confederates stipulate for permission to begin their operations by asserting a di- rect falsehood in order to conceal it. Fur- tlicr, when England agrees to subsidize * July 24, 1805. Treat, p. 24. STATE OF THE NATION. 5 3 Austria, in case she shall come forward within a certain time, the stipulation is niade, not with the- court of Vienna — not in consequence of the relations subsist- ing between that court and the cabinet of St James's-— but with the court of St. Petersburgh, and " in consequence of engagements subsisting between Austria and Russia*." In the same spirit is the settlement of the plan of operations be- tween Austria and Russia^ by diplomatic correspondence, and conferepces of rrii- litary counsellors ; from all which Eng- land is carefully excluded ; nor, indeed, is she once mentioned in the course of them, expept at the moment when subsidies ^re to be considered, and then some notice is taken of her f. This anxiety to appear unconnected with England, is so remark- able in the whole conduct of Austria, that even in the proclamation after the capture of Vienna, when the emperor is * Treaty of Concert. Sep. Art. Treat, p. il. t Treat, p. 32. Sup. Pap.' p. 39, et seq. S4 AN INQUIRY INTO THE encouraging his people with a view of the hopes which still remain, he enumerates *' the great and unexhausted resources which he finds in the forces of his high allies and friends, the emperor of Russia^ and the king of Prussia," and makes no illusion whatever to England, the main spring of the war *. But the anxiety to avoid the reality of such a concert as well as the appear- ance of it, until the moment thai sub- sidies were required, is strikingly illus- trated by the total exclusion of the J^nglish minister at Vienna, from all share in the negotiations carried on with the Russian minister at the same court : and so wonderfully well were the Cobiij< t of . on- don gained over to second this plan, that they seem to have kept their envoy ir^ utter ignorance of what was going on both at St. Petersburgh and Vienna, un- iil every Gazette writer in Europe was acquainted with' the whole business. This forms so singular and so mstr active * Declaration of Brunn, Nov. 13, iS05. STATE OF THE NATION. 55 Z feature in the late negotiations, that we must I'efer more particularly to the parts of the papers which illustrate, it. It appears from the dispatches of Sir A. Paget, (June 5, June 22, July,0, and August 3, 1805*) that he was endea- vouring all along to discover the views of the Austrian cabinet, as well as he could by his own observation, and his conferences with Count Cobenzel. In his dispatch of August 29 f, he informs our government that he has at length been put in possession by Count Coben- zel, of the negotiations carried on be- tween Russia and Austria during the last ten months ; and that about the same time, the same secret was communicated to him by Lord. G. L. Gower. The rea- son of his being at length intrusted with the transaction speedily appears : the court of Vienna conceive that it will be more convenient to treat directly through him about the amount of the * Sup. Pap. p. 1 , 2, & 3. t Ibid. p. 4. 50 AN INQUIRY IJs^TO THE subsidies*. In his dispatch of Septerrit ber 5, the same envoy states^ tViat he has • learnt Jrow Count Cobenzely'^hcit he may- soon expect a communication relative to the British plans respecting ^Naples \, From the declaration of the Russian cabinet, August 7, it also appears, that the terms upon v^^hich England and Austria were to treat had been discussed at Vienna, on the 7 th of July, by the ministers of the emperor and the Russian envoy, ^\hile the British envoy, though upon the spot, v^^as not even aware that any such intercourse was carrying on J. But the most singular of all the proofs which these documents afford of this point, is contained in Sir A. Paget's ex- cellent dispatch of October 24, in which be enumerates with distinguished ability, the causes of the failure in bwabia. " Ii^ settling the plan of the campaign," says he, *' it must have been calculated that previous to the opening of it the Russians * Sup. Pap. p. H. t Id. p. 7. J Treat, p. 31 & 32. STA-TE of the NATlONi 5^ would have joined. Tliis, in truth, how-, ever false and extraordinary, v^as the cal- culation which was made. Upon what it was founded I cannot exactly say *." Now it happens that this calculation never was made ; on the contrary, both in the Austrian plan of operations and the Rus- sian answer to itf, the impossibility of the Russians arriving before the cam- paign should begin, and the necessity of the Austrians sustaining the first attack alone, is explicitly stated. The same ad- mission is made in the calculations of the military conference, held July 1 0, to dis- cuss the plan of the campaign J. There- fore, it is clear, that as late as the 24th of October, our minister at Vienna was utterly ignorant of the military confer- ences carried on in that capital, upon the measures of the coalition, as far back as the 1 6th of July, and of the diploma- tic correspondence upon the same subject, * Sup. Pap, p. 12. t Id. p. 30. J Id. p. 40. • ^8 AN IXQUTRY INTO TI^ which had passed between the two im- perial courts at a still earlier period. This is a very serious charge either against the British cabinet, or their en- voy, or both. When the affairs of the league were discussed at Vienna, the pro- per person to attend the conference on our part was our envoy, and not the ambas- sador of Russia. Austria seems, indeed, always disposed to prefer treating with Russia ; but our envoy ought at least to have been fully informed of the intercourse that subsisted, especially after Austria consented to hold a direct communication with him. If he was unworthy of such confidence, he was unworthy of his post, and the blame of the cabinet, which kept him on so important a station during so critical a juncture, is aggravated tenfold. If he had from any cause become disa- greeable to the court where he was sent to reside, he was not the person to represent the mover of the new league in the coun- cils of the chief confederate ; and the English cabinet instead of retaining him STATE OF THE NATION. 50 at such a post, to the extreme detriment of the common cause, should have re- placed him by a person against whom similar objections did not exist. But we are far from suspecting that this was the case : It remains then, for the ca- binet who superintended this strange ne- gotiation, to explain the reason of their unwillingness to confide in. their own agent, and the aversion of the Austrian ca- binet to communicate with him. When we survey the whole machinery then, by which the grand coalition was to be moved and regulated, w^e discover nothing but weakness and confusion — 3. total want of strength in the materials; of skill in the arrangement of the parts ; pf harmony in their movements. England, the main-spring of the union, is not suf- fered to communicate directly with Aus- tria the great moving power; while the intercourse with such a petty member of the system as Sweden, is constant and intimate. Russia, calculated by nature to gperate as a grand auxiliary to Austria, OO AN INQUIRY INTO TH« is iirst made the centre of the movement, and then the balance and director. The instruments of communication employed by England, are either distrusted by her- self or by her allies, with whom they are nevertheless stationed to the exclusion of fitter instruments, and the increased de- rangement of the machine. But above all, though England furnishes the sinews of the war, and originates the whole opera- tion, she is not allowed a sinji^le voice in directing or controuling it ; she is excluded from all influence over the operation after it is once resolved upon ; studiously re- pressed at all times, except v/hen the wheels cannot move without her assistance, and even then only permitted to interfere with her services, and compelled to ab- stain from advice. Kow it may probably be stated that the powers of the continent would not coa- lesce with us on any other terms; that from dislike of our active interference in continental affairs, they refused to involve themselves in a more close connection with STATE OF THE NATION. 6 1 tis than the necessitous state of then* fi- nances required ; that from dread of of- fending France before the scheme was ma- tured, thej would not acknowledge the extent of their intercourse with us ; that from these motives they refused to give us any share of influence in arranging the measures of the league, and even declined admitting us to an intimate knowledge of their concerted scheme. — ^We beheve there may be much truth in this statement, and that it will contain a just account of the matter, if to these motives of repug- nance, we add a great distrust of our politi- cal wisdom in continental affairs; and per- haps some doubts of our good faith, arising from our conduct in former wars. But the existence of these prepossessions against us, is the very reason why this juncture should not have been chosen for a new coalition ; and whatever may have been the motives, the repugnance of Austria and Russia to ally themselves with us, v/as a sufficient argument against pressing the formation of a league, Austria would not give us bet- Q2 AN INQUIRTT into TH8 ter terms, you say— That is no reason for making a confederacy upon bad terms, but a perfectly good reason for waiting till better can be obtained. There was no ab- solute necessity for making war on France in the summer of 1805. It is to be hoped we were not in such fear of invasion, as to buy the short respite of a diversion at any price : There was no pressing occasion, so far at least as the country was concerned, for having a continental campaign finished before the session of parliament began : It is to be hoped that our representatives would have granted supplies without the stimulus of a war in the circle of Austria ; and a confidence in the wisdom of govern- ment might have kept them in good hu- mour, without the fearful amusement of battles between French and German armies. After we had unwarily begun a new coalition, we might have paused when w^e found the obstacles to its success so insurmountable. There was no fatality to make us persist in arming the continent, when we perceived that the powers of Germany would neither unite together nor I STiATE OF THE NATION. 65 confide in us. We should have sacrificed nothing but our temerity, and lost nothing but our too sanguine hopes, had we put oiF the execution of our rash design, when we discovered that Austria w^ould not treat directly with us ; that she durst not avow our friendship, until Russia came up to pro- tect her from the consequences of such an admission ; that the cabinets of Vienna and Berlin, could not be brought to forget Silesia and the Indemnities. It was an ample ground for refusing to complete the league, that the allies would give us no voice in forming the plans of the cam- paign, or even in arranging the system of the war ; that they for the first time re- cognised the enemy's favourite policy of excluding us from the continent, and would not hear a whisper from us until the moment when our money was wanted. But every part of our conduct is marked with the same deplorable impatience w^hich prompted the first step. Having in our rashness resolved to make a league, not- withstanding the unfitness of the times. C4 AN INQUIRY Into the the same temerity made us persist in biii:^ echeme, in spite of the backwardness and distrust of our allies. We hurried on matters to V nev^ coalition, at a moment when the enemy aloUe could lose by a delay ; and pressed forward the coalition to a new war, when our allies, spiritless and ineffi- cient in themselves, would neither suffer us to participate in the formation, nor in the knowledge of the common schemes. *^ Make war'* — was our cry — ** successful- ly if you can, but make war. — League against France — wisely and cordially if pos- sible, with such a union among yourselves and such solid help from us, as may give some small chance of safety, if not of ad- vantage — but at all events league against France." Thus a coalition and a campaign Were the only objects in the contemplation of our government, and they fatally attain- ed their wish ; they got up the concert of St.Petcrsburgh, and the invasion of Bavaria. There was a convention and a war, how- ever, which they did not bargain for ; the enemy was as rapid in completing the pic- STATE OF THE NATION. 65 ture as they had been in preparing the canvas ; the finishing, too, for so hasty a performance, was wonderfully harmoni- ous with the original design — he gave thera in a few weeks the conquest of Austria. and the treaty of Presburg. 0. We now proceed to follow the na tural development of the errors which presided over the formation of the league, and mingled themselves in its composition. To the total exclusion of England from her just and natural influence in the ar- rangement of the war, the disasters which followed may in a very great degree be ascribed. We shall enumerate a few of the faults committed by the allies, which our interposition might effectually have prevented, and of which we must share the blame if we could have interfered and did not. (i.) To some it may perhaps appear ex- travagant to maintain, that England should have interposed her voice in the nomina- tion of the Austrian generals. Yet it is certain that upon former occasions she 66 AN INQUIRY INTO TflK used this privilege, and that she has fre- quently named the commander of an en- terprize to which, besides her subsidies, she contributed in a very limited proportion. How attentively Russia was listened to on this point, we have clear evidence in the *' Protocol of conferences." The Russian court expressly refuses to place her troops under the command of any one but an archduke *. There was no risk of England making such a stipulation : on the con- trary, had she been allowed to concert upon this important matter, it would have been her duty to pn force the sacrifice of so absurd a condition. AV^ere France to have such a connection with any of her allies as we attempted to form with Austria and Russia; were her interests closely involved with the success of the common opera- tions ; were she engaged to give for the troops employed, at the rate of twelve * Sup. Pap. p. 41. Not meaning- the ArclKluke Charles — but in the case of his being indisposed, providing that none hue an Archduke shull succeed hiiu TATE OF THE NATION. 67 pounds ten shillings per man yearly, that xnore than treble the amount of their pay — can we doubt that she would insist upon a voice, in the great question of chusing to whose talents and fortunes, the fate of the enterprise should be committed ? The choice of general Mack was in every respect singularly injudicious ; from the authority of Sir A. Paget, we learn that he was ex tremely disagreeable to the archduke. He prabably owed his appointment to court intrigue ; but the archduke's strong pre- judice against him, whether founded upon experience of his character, or upon mere personal dislike, if that illustrious prince can be suspected of such a motive, was an^ insurmountable objection to his employ ment. He had formerly been eminently unsuccessful in Italy. Those who served with him in Flanders thought meanly of his talents. That he was a man of mili- tary detail, an excellent quarter-master-ge- neral they admitted : that he understood his art in theory too, and could combine a good military plan, was not denied. But the F 2 (58 AxV INQUIRY INTO THE best judges in our own army, believed him to be devoid of that versatihty of genius, which enables a commander to vary his preconcerted schemes with the s den change of circumstances ; they even knew him to be deficient in that presence of mind, which gives a leader the command of his personal recourses, under an unexpected turn of affairs ; in other words, he was understood to have precisely those defects which most completely disqualified him for opposing the captains of France. This opinion of general INIack was stated by of- ficers of high rank and great respecta- bility in the British army, long before the surrender of Ulm. If our cabinet knew it and negkcted it, their culpability was great : but still more have they to answer for, if they were ignorant of what might so easily have been ascertained. (2.) A grand error was committed by the Austrians in passing the Inn, and carrying the war at once into Bavaria, before the Russians were near to support them. This has been fully exposed in STATE OP THE NATION. OQ Sir A. Paget's dispatch of October 24*; and had he been admitted, Uke the Russian envoy to the conferences at Vienna, we are entitled to presume, that the influence ' of England would have been exerted to recommend a wiser plan. But it is not merely in this point of view that England should have interfered to modify the plan of the campaign. The violation of the Bavarian neutrality, with the circum- stances of injustice affirmed to have at- tended it, would have called imperiously for the interposition of an ally, who, from her disinterested views, was t?ie proper um- pire between those neighbouring powers, and whos^ pure principles of continental policy were committed by the oppressive measures of her confederates. The suppression of evidence prevents us from ascertaining the precise extent of the injustice done to Bavaria. The ac- count given by the elector, is in a material degree at variance with that of the Aus- trian government. The fcrmer states his desire to remain neutral, £nd asserts that * Sup. Pap. p, 11. 70 AN INQUIRY INTO THE Austria rendered this impossible, by sud- denlj demanding an incorporation of the Bavarian with the imperial troops ; refus- ing to hear of any alternative but the im- mediate dismission of the v^hole Bavarian army ; and instantly following up these violent demands with seizing the electoral dominions *. The emperor, on the other hand, af- firms, that his Serene Highness had re- solved tojoin France ; that prompt measures were requisite to prevent this step — and that the Elector behaved with great dupli- city while he was maturing his planf. But it is distinctly admitted by the emperor, that without previously preparing the Elector, or attempting by negotiation to engage him in the league, a requisition was suddenly made of his assistance, and of the junction of his army with the allies. It is proved by a dispatch of Sir A. Paget J, that the * Historical representation of the Elector Palatine, Sept. 29, 1.S05. f Answer of Austria, Oct. 16. X Sup. Pap. p.T. The dispatch is dated Sept. 5, before it could possibly be known at Vienna what answer was to be given to the proposals of the Prince. STATE OF THE NATION. 7 1 Emperor sent Prince Swazemberg, Sep- tember 3, to intimate the march of his army through Bavaria. The Emperor ac- knowledges* that this prince was the bearer of his first proposal to the court of Munich, w^here he arrived on the 0th— that the Elector's answer was not given till the 8 th, before which time all the arrangements for seizing Bavaria had finally been made. Now it is manifest that, if the plans of the electoral court were doubtful, or if they leant towards neutrality, as the Elector states, this conduct of Austria wsrs at once impolitic and unjust. But if the politics of that court were so decidedly French, as the Emperor asserts, then the sudden attack of Bavaria w^as the very worst expedient which could be devised for gaining her over to the alliance, and counteracting the influence acquired by France in the court of Munich, from the affair of the indemnities. In rearing up * Austria Answer of 0 miles in four days at. an average, or some- what more than ten English miles a day; and upon the supposition also that a French army will march at the very same rate. It was imagined, then, by those generals, who had so often been opposed to the French, and so constantly been beaten by their rapid movements, that they could march no more than ten English miles a day ! — It was conceived that a French army, unincumbered by baggage and heavy artillery, would march through their own territory — through Flanders — the country in the world best adapted to the movement of troops, as slowly as the cumberous armies of Russia could drag their way through strange and difficult countries — through the forests of Poland, and the mountains of Silesia ! The event proved how grievously those planners of the campaign had erred. From Bou- logne to the right bank of the Rhine, the French army spent only three weeks instead of five, the computed time; in a fortnight more the fate of the cam*- 74 AN INaUTRY INTO THE paign in Swabia was decided. It had been agreed that the Russians and Aiis- trians should join on the Inn, and there wait for the French, who, it was calcu- lated, would take sixty-four days to march thither from Boulogne, besides six days to put themselves in motion, and ten which were allowed for the priority of informa- tion. How long the French took to give their orders for beginning the march, we know not precisely — six days they certain- ly did not consume in this way. But one thing is too surely proved, that they ar- rived at the Inn, after completely destroy- ing theAustrian armies, a fortnight sooner than the estimate supposed they could arrive in order to begin the campaign. Nor is this reasoning from the event un- fair in the present question; that event is by no means unparalleled in the history of the French tactics. Had the Russian and Austrian counsellors any right to make such calculations of the French move- ments ? Could England have failed to oppose blunders on the face of the matter STATE OF THE NATION. 75 SO enormous, if she had been permitted to partake in the consultations, upon the common cause, at Vienna ? (4.) But although such errors as we have been contemplating had not entered into the details of the campaign, there was a fun- demental omission in the concerted plan, which must have proved fatal to the suc- cess of any attempt against France. No measures were taken beforehand for the occupation of Switzerland, or the encou- ragement of the Austrian interest in that country ; and one of the first acts of the court of Vienna, when the war com- menced, was an acknowledgment of its neutrality *. It is manifest, that, if the war was not offensive against France, it had no object : and few points seem now to be more clearly ascertained, than the impossi- bility of making any successful attempt to penetrate into that country on the north of the Alps. The vulnerable part of the French territory, is that which can only * Sup. Papers, p. 9 and 10. 76 AN i>;quiry into the be commanded by the possession of Swit- zerland, Franche Cornpte — an open coun- try, naturally weak, entirely improvided with strong places or works of art, leading by a short march into the very heart of the empire, surrounded by several of the provinces best affected towards the cause of royalty and the league. If France wished at any time to commence offensive operations against Austria, the occupation of Switzer- land might be necessary for their success; not onlyfrom the command which that country has of the communication between Ger- many, as well as France and Italy, an4 from its commanding posture towards the Austrian possessions , but also because^ if not occupied by France, it must either be seized by Austria, to the incalculable danger of Yranche Cornpte^ or remain neutral, to the great and hazardous diminution of the French line of attack. But if France changes her usual mode of invading Aus- tria, and pushes on with her main army, not in Italy but Swabia, while the posses- sion of Lombardy and the Genoese, an4 STATE OF THE NATION. 7 7 the command of Lower Italy allows her to support that operation by an army on the Adriatic ; it is certainly of less conse- quence that the neutrality of Switzerland should narrow her line of attack ; and she gains more by the certainty of avoiding any danger from that quarter, than she loses by the sacrifice of one additional point of invasion. On the other hand, if France is to act only on the defensive, the neutrality of Switzerland is absolutely ne- cessary for her safety. If that country is rendered impassable, all fears for the only valuable part of France are removed. If it is left open to Austria, while her armies are making advances from Lombardy, through Piedmont and the Genoese, and by threat- ening an attack upon the southern depart- ments of France, are drawing the French troops towards the Mediterranean, and forcing them to fall back upon France, not by the side of Switzerland, but by the Col di Tende and the Var ; and while the armies on the Rhine are supporting the southern operations by defending Germany, or even 78 AN INQUIRY INTO THE threatening Alsace, the occupation of Swit- zerland by the allies, must give the enemy a line of weak country to defend, from Hunningen to Lyons, in an arch of which the allies have possession of the cord. The grand fault of the directory in 17QQ, was their first neglecting to secure, and then themselves violating the neutrality of Switzerland : they occupied it, and when their inadequate means of attack compelled tliem to resume the defensive, France was exposed in consequence of Switzerland not being neutral, to such imminent danger of a formidable inva- sion, that nothing saved her but the vio- lent remedy of calling out the second and third conscriptions. The neutrality of Switzerland, then, is of all points the most important to France, whether she wishes to carry on a defen- sive war, or to attack in a single point on the North of the Alps. So sensible of this were the French government, and so well aware of the error which had almost proved fatal in 1 799, that their first anxiety STATE OF THE NATION. J7g on a near prospect of war, was to estab- lish the Swiss neutrality. To this the ca- binet of Vienna unhappily consented ; forgetful of the evils which must result from such a step in all offensive opera- tions against France, and of the impossi- bility of securing that neutrality against the French one moment longer than they might find it beneficial to their own cause. Although, therefore, the begin- ning of the campaign had not proved fatal in consequence of other errors ; although France had then been foiled, and the Austrians had been required to follow up their first successes in Germany or Italy, by carrying the war into France ; the neutrality of Switzerland would have destroyed every chance of pursuing the offensive with success, by reducing the French frontier to the strong country be« tween the Lake of Geneva and the mouth of the Var, the impregnable bastion of Holland, and the iron wall of the Ne- therlands and Rhine. When we find such a grand omission as this in the com- 80 -AN INQUIRY INTO THE binations of the allies, we are intitled to maintain that the addition of one other counsellor would have supplied it ; and that counsellor ought to have been Eng- land, the soul and support of the con- federacj. But the conduct of England relative to Swiss affairs, was indeed unfortunate in other respects, the seems to have joined with the allies in misconceiving at all times the importance of the Alpine terri- tory. Her treatment of the cantons when France invaded them in 1802, and the misfortunes which befel her alhes in those countries, through the unskilful- ness of the English agents, during the. whole of the last war, will not soon be forgotten by the Swiss. But a more re- cent impolicy on our part, has thrown away all the advantages which the coali- tion might still have expected from the ti'ied valour of that people, and their un- conquerable hatred of France. We granted pensions to m mv of the Swiss oificers who had entered our service dur- STATE OF THE NATtON. I ing the last war, and always on the ex- press condition that they shouM not reside in Switzerland*. These brave men, whose influence with their countrymen was powerful ; whose fidelity to our cause had never been suspected ; who only panted a*fter the moment w4ien their rage against France might once more shew it- self at the head of their peasantry, were thus deprived of the only, means by which they could maintain their personal autho- rity, and support the good cause in their own country. Had they been allowed to receive at home a pension, earned by the utter ruin of their fortunes in our service, and not forced to earn it over again by submitting to banishment'; and had a si- milar bounty been extended to the other reduced officers, who were left at the peace without means of subsistence, un-' less they entered the French or Helvetian service ; the means would have been pre- * This fact will not be denied by any ag:nt of the English government. G $"i$ AN INaUIRY 1X70 THE pared — in generosity and prudence pre- pared — of rousing the whole Alps from Constance to the Rhone, in hostility to France, as soon as the war should break out ; and the allies would then have had some prospect of invading that powerful empire, on the side where alone it can be attacked. It must, however, be admitted, that such a conduct on the part of Eng- land would have been anomalous, and sufficiently inconsistent with the rest of her foreign policy. To have looked for- ward beyond the next year ; to have taken measures in silence for the. slow prepara- tions of distant events ; to have gradually disposed the minds of a people in our fa- vour by kind treatment, for which no immediate return was expected, or won them by any other means than a mani- festo from a commander at the head of a paultry force ; to have laid plans of war beforehand which should not for some time burst into view, \\-ith glare and noise ; out of our millions to have given a few pounds for the support of our firmest STATE OF THE NATION. * 83 friends, ruined in our cause; to have spent what we did give, in a manner grateful to them, or really beneficial to our interests ; in our countless subsidies, to have had a single guinea bestowed, which should not be repaid by the defeat of the receiver immediately, and his ut- ter ruin, at six months credit — all this would have indicated a strange, unac- countable deviation from the system which has been unremittingly at work, since the treaty of Pilnitz, by day and by night, during war and during truce, in aggrandizing the proud, and crushing the humble ; and which has at length, by the. most persevering constancy of opera- tion, happily compleated the ruin of our allies, and triumphing, it must be confess- ed, over various and mighty obstacles, established our enemy in universal em pire. These four capital errors in the ar- rangement of the late war, are, we think, either to be ascribed to England not having been consulted^ or else to her having par- G 2 S4 AN INQUIRY INTO THE taken in the infatuation of the allies. But it will be said that those allies would give her no voice in such matters as the choice of a general, the march of troops, and the plan of a campaign ; and that they would have persisted in adhering to their own errors, even after England should have pointed them out. This is not im- probable ; but it only shews for the hun- dredth time, that things were not ripe for a new war. If Austria persisted in pre- ferring a general, from court favour, to the great prince who had twice saved the monarchy; if she insisted on calculating her plans upon the supposition that French armies can only move ten miles a -day through Flanders ; if she shut her eyes to the value of Bavaria, and refused to learn the paramount importance of Switzerland in any war against France — then it was manifest that nothing: could be hoped for, and that Austria had not been subdued to a sense of her interest, nor felt her real situation. It was the province of England to prevent her from STATE OF IHi': NATION. 85 beginning a league for which she was so ill prepared. It was madness in England to hurry on the continent to a war, which, if unsuccessful, must be its last struggle for independence, in circumstances tliat made it madness to hope for success. 7. It remains to inquire what direct assistance Great Britain afforded to tlie coalition which she had formed — how far her co-operation with the measures of hostility, was either well-planned or well- timed. An expedition was prepared for the north of Germany, at a time when the cause of the allies might have been ma e- fially aided by a diversion either in Holland, or the north of France, and the country of Hanover was chosen as the scene of our operations. It is needless to remark, how very trilling the benefit of such a scheme was to the advantage of making a pow- erful diversion at the beginning of the campaign. Admitting that Hanover should be occupied aftera short defence — the most critical moment for distracting the French 86 AN INQUIRY INTO THE force was thrown away, and our allies had a right to complain that our co-opera^ tion was limited to an object purely British, while they were risking their ex- istence for the independence of the con- tinent. When the army of invasion left Bour logne almost defenceless, surely we might have made an attempt upon its works, by landing a force ; and had some chance of destroying the flotilla which has given so muSh uneasiness to this country, but which is chiefly to be dreaded as it will always form a popular ground of objection tofa peace with France. The enemy had withdrawn his army suddenly, and the first step which he was likely to take was to supply its place by marching from the interior new troops, better fitted for gar- rison duty than for the service of the field. The opportunity, therefore, of attacking Boulogne was transient, and must be seized at once. Our government, engaged in projects of new arms, and fireworks, and arrows, and the other resources of the 1 STATE OF THE NATION*. 87 cbymical method of war, allowed an op- portunity to pass by which assuredly will hot soon return. But, when an expedition was resolved on to Germany, means were taken to defeat its utility and narrow its chance of success as far as possible. The de- parture of the army from Boulogne took place in the beginning of September, and our troops did not arrive in Hanover be- fore the middle of November. This delay is most unaccountable. The moment that the invasion was put off, our forces should have been ready to set sail : the prepara- tions should have been made before that time, because we knew perfectly wel!, that, as soon as the war broke out. the Boulogne army must leave the coast. But, besides forcing the continent to begin the attack unprepared, it appears that the war, of which we were the planners and insti- gators, found us after all our negotiations still less prepared than our allies. Accord- ingly the armament lost the fine season, and sailed, as British expeditions generally do, in a month when storms must be 88 AX IKC>lirvY INTO THE expected. Some of our best troops were lost ; the rest arrived in time to make a slievv of retaking Hanover, after every chance of doin«/; any thing more than de- fending that electorate v/as gone*. The aihes saw that nothing could be gained to the common cause by such an operation ; and Austria has since ascribed part of the general disasters f to our delay in making any diversion. Bat still worse contrived was our co- operation in Italy. Had the English and Russian army in the INTediterranean landed in Lombardy, or the Venetian territory, so as either to join the Archduke (a benefit in- calculable to troops commanded by in-, ferior generals J) or to hang upon Mas- * See General D )n's Proclamation, Nov, 20,IS05. •f- Count Sathreinberg's note, Sup. Pap. p. .52. X U cannot he reckoned any disrespect to tiie mcii- torious orticcr at the head of the allied army, to presume that great advantage would have atiscn from liis not op|)OsinL; theahlest general of France, without the assistance of P.-incc Charles, (icneral Craig's services in the East are certainly very eminc-nt ; bnt t!ie Mahrattas, with all the improvements which they have rcjipc'd from our East Indian policy, arc still a very diffeieiit enemy from the French, and General STATE OF THE NATION. 8(i Sena's rear ; the best effects might have followed. The inferiority of the Austrians in point of force was clearly the cause of their not making head against the enemy in that quarter : still greater was the dis- parity of numbers after the defeats in Ger- many caused the Archduke to detach a large body of his army to reinforce General Mack*. That was the moment when the assistance of twenty thousand English and Russians was likely to be of eminent ser- vice : but, instead of adopting this plan, we landed an army in Naples, than which no measure could be more injudicious. We affected to defend the King of Naples, yet we forced him to give our troops ad- mittance immediately after he had solemn- ly engaged himself not to admit any English or Russian forces into his territo- ries, or any ships of war into his portsf. In return for this strict neutrality which Craig would unqnestionubly have found the Itah'an campaign a new scene. " l.ongc alius. Jtulite guanilndi^, per cjiiam temulento agmiiie conninssa- biindiis incc.ssit^ visiis illi habitus essef, saltus Apu- lia et monies Luconos cernenti.'''' — Tit. Liv. jx. 17. * Sir A. Pdget's dispatch, Sup. Pup. p. 21, t Treaty of Portici, Oct, 8, 1S05. go AN INSUIRY INTO THE he promised to obsen^e, France withdrew her troops from his dominions. As soon as they were gone, England compelled him to break his engagements, and to receive her army. But ad mi tting that the measures were not compulsory on our part, we ought to have respected his neutrality, it' he himseli' did not ; and, knowing his engagements with France, we ought to have taken no advantage of any disposition which he might betray to break them. Indeed w^e gained nothing by this rash and unjust conduct. The French army was gone at any rate, and Kaples freed for the present. We did not venture to land an army until every thing had been done which could be gained by a victorious campaign. The French troops were sure to return as soon as the affairs in the north should be settled, and then we must fly as speedily as possible. A landing in the Adriatic, and a junction with the Arch- duke, would have had the effect of freeing Naples irom the French, had they been willing to remain there, just as cer- tainly as landing in the bay of Naples* STATE OF THE NATfOl^. 01 By pursuing the former plan, effectual service would have been performed in the north, besides the liberation of the south. The latter plan, v^hich unhappily we adopted, without doing any good to the Archduke, only protected Naples so long as it was the interest of France to with- draw her troops, and kept a large army unemployed, so long as it was the interest of the allies to have every soldier in their service brought into the field against the enemy. The occupation of Naples, then, after the French had left it, could never assist the campaign in the north. If the allies were successful in that quarter ; Naples was freed at any rate. If they were ' unsuccessful, our army could not long defend it. We managed with our usual skill to unite all disadvantages in one plan : we hurried on one ally to the ruin which has since befldlen him, for the pur- pose of rendering our army useless at a time when another ally might have been saved by its co-operation. So uniforfn, fio harmonious in every quarter iiave been g2 AN ixauiRY into the the schemes of England throughout Iht late coahtion ! — And can we wonder that our affairs have been ruined amidst the waste of our resourses, and the squander of our opportunities, when we have been consistent only in impohcj, lavish of every thing but vigour, and strenuous in pursu- ing all varieties of plan, all sorts of system, except those which border upon pru- dence and wisdom ? It remains before .closing the melan- choly history of our misconduct, that some notice should be taken of the strange pro- ceeding adopted by his majesty's late mi- nisters, in publishing dispatches relating to some of the most delicate subjects imagin- able. The treaties laid before parliament arc not given entire : several articles are sup- pressed ; but one is inserted for the avowed purpose of binding the contracting parties to act in a certain event contrary to their public declarations *. Why a stipulation, which convicts the parties of deliberately * Additional Art. July 21— Treat, p. 21. I State of the nation. Q3 lajing the grounds of a positive falsehood, should not have been kept concealed, as well as other separate articles*, it would be difficult to determine. How far Russia and Austria will approve of the disclosure, it is easy to conjecture. There is the same indiscretion in publishing a secret article, binding England to subsidize Aus- tria and Sweden, if they came forward within ten months — when the treaty itself threatens to withhold all subsidy, unless those powers take the field within four months t. It is obvious, that, for the fu- ture, all such threats from Russia and England will be of no avail ; their precise meaning is now ascertained. It is proba- ble, too, that the Austrian cabinet will not be much pleased with the publication of Sir A. Paget's dispatch of 2Qth August, in which he states, that Count Cobentzel had insinuated to him, that the language of the * Articles 3, 1, 9, and 10, are suppressed, possibly more. t Compare first Separate Art. (public) with second ditto (secret) Treat, p. II, 20. q4 an INaUIRY INTO THE Emperor would be heightened or lowered in proportion as he should be subsidized bj England *. We may also form some conjecture of the Archduke Charles's feelings, when he finds himself held up to the world, by the official papers of the English cabinet, as the slave of ill-temper and jealousy ; fearful of reinforcing the army of his rival ; taking umbrage at such reinforce- ments being given, when the fate of the monarchy depended on it: and this ri- val too — the object of all this jealousy and umbrage in the mind of Prince Charles of Austria — General Mack! — When Sir A. Paget gave such informa- tion 1 to his court, he only repeated lightly what he had been told falsely ; but surely he never expected that his communication would be laid before Parliament as a public document. Count Rasumofski, too, when he transmitted his free strictures on the cabinet of Vienna to his court, did not probably conceive that our government, * Sup. Pap. p. 4. f Ibid. p. U and 1?. STATE OF THE NATION. Q5 getting notice of them through their mi-^ nister at St. Petersburgh, would publish them to all the world. It is possible, that he may feel it rather unpleasant to com- municate with a ministry who are now aware of his contempt for their character*. The same ambassador is convicted of hav- ing deceived our minister at Vienna, as to his knowledge of the Russian army's des- tination. Sir A. Paget' s dispatch of Sep- tember 5, states that Count Rasumofski knew nothing about itf , but the Protocol of Conferences proves that in July he knew the whole matterj. The publication of the Protocol, too, clearly proves that the allies had reason to reckon upon the co- operation of the Neapolitans, as soon as their army should land from Corfu || ; and this information, thus communicated to the French government, would have ensured the total ruin of the Sicilian court, if the more active efforts of our friendship had * Sup. pap. p. 16, t lijid. p. 7. X Ibid. p. 42. {| Ibid. p. 43 & 44- qQ an INQITIRY INTO Tilt \iot already effected that object in a more direct way. It was not enough, then, that our fatal activity accomphscd at last the subjuga- tion of the continent ; that our allies were by our exertions brought to utter discom- fiture ; we must hold them up to contempt after the struggle is over, by divulging se- crets which the most limited discretion would have respected. Not content with sacrificing the foreign interest of England, by the compendious events of one short campaign, we must cut it up by the roots, and prevent its ever growing again, by taking such steps as may naturally beget distiiist and alienation ; by ruining in the eyes of Europe, our character for discretion and good faith, which had survived the wreck of so many continental leagues. And to what purpose have those disclosures been made ? Whose cause have they sen'ed ? Which of the measures that produced the downfal of Austria have they elucidated ? Which of the British statesmen who planned those measures STATE OF THE NATION. 97 have they exculpated ? To thoughtless- ness alone can this conduct be imputed, or to the fatuity of despair ; to the un- heeding temerity, the impatience of rest, which devised and directed the third co- alition ; and the despair which those always feel most under disappointment, whose hopes are the mosti^ extravagant, and whose resources are the most paltry. From contemplating the progress of our late fatal misconduct, it is difficult to avoid casting behind us a look at the better times of English history ; when the affairs of this country were administered by the vigour of Cromwell, or her fortunes and the liberties of Europe entrusted to the sagacity of William ; when the name of England was dreaded on every sea, her alliance courted as the badge of honour, and the pledge of safety in the remotest parts of the continent, and her protecting wisdom revered by all the nations, as their common shelter from oppression. How mightily have things been since changed ! How httle is that England now to be re- H 58 AN INQUIRY INTO TUt cognlztxl ! How plainly may the revolution in her destiny be traced to the alteration of her conduct ! It is indeed highly instruc- tive to pause for a moment, and contrast the policy which gave birth to the con- quest of Ge many, with that which, after preparing the grand alliance, was deve- loped in the victories of Marlborough, and ended in the subjugation of France. From such a comparison we may learn why the event was so diiTerent. The overgrown power of Louis XIV, was ably but unsuccessfully resisted by the allies, during the war which ended so favourably to France in the peace of Nimeguen. After that treaty, his inso- lence knew no bounds, and scarcely a month passed without some aggression, which would have amply justified a renewal of the war. But William, then the soul of the alliance, exerted all his influence in repressing any premature op- position; wisely judging that thejustice of a, war — the extentol the provocation — isonly half the question ; and must always be sub- ordinate to the prospect of succeeding by STATE OF THE NATION. 99 an appeal to arms. In a few years, Spain rashly began hostilities, which Wilham having in vain tried to prevent, endea- voured by all prudent means to assist. He applied to every court in order to com- bine a new alhance : but finding that the time was not come, he continued to pre- pare measures, which he knew must lead to a happy result at a future period. As he foresa■\^^, the usurpations of the French king, and his religious persecuti- ons, in a few years excited a universal dis- position to oppose him, and waiting until this spirit had reached its highest pitch, he availed himself of it, to form the league of Augsburg, which united the catholic as well as protestant interests of the empire^ in one common cause against France. In 1681, he might have gained one of the rival parties, but he knew how inadequate such support would prove to the exigences of the occasion. He waited until the course of events had prepared both the contending interests, the Austrian and Prussian factions of those days, and he H 2 too AN ENQUIRY INTO THB succeeded in uniting them all under Ills standard. Tlie whole Empire was now combined against France ; Spain and Hol- land acceded to the league ; Savoy soon after joined it ; S^\'edcn 'and Denmark warmly favoured the cause ; and the court of Rome itself, was by the able negotiations of William, induced to support a contest most essential to the Protestant Church. This great confederacy was animated with one spirit of resistance to France, and sub- mission to the counsels of their leader. All Europe was cordially united in the- league, with the exception of England : and yet, on this single account, William delayed putting the allies in motion, not- withstanding the continued insults and increasing aggressions of France : he waited until he had undertaken that enterprise which secured the liberties of this country, and which enabled him to complete the alliance for restoring those of Europe. It was not till after he had effected the Revo* lutiov, and could add England to the cague, that he allowed the confederates STATE OF THE NATION. IQ.I to take the field ; and then» he contmued to be the mover of the wliole operations, not by manifestoes or subsidies, but by active assistance, and by superintending in person at repeated conferences of the com- bined powers, the w^hole arrangement of tlieir plans for the war. By the success of this system the tide was at length turned against France ; and though the peace of Ryswick still left her a formidable neigh- bour, it succeeded in repressing lier en- croachments and securing the independ- ence of other states, which, since the peace of Nimeguen, slie had been constantly attacking. ** There was not one of the allies, (says Bishop Burnell),who complain- ed that he had been forgot by him, or wronged in the treaty : Nor had the desire of having his title universally acknowledg- ed, raised any impatience in him, or made him run into this peace with any indecent haste."* His moderation and good sense in making the best peace he could, notwithstanding * History of bis own Times, ii. 1 17. 102 ■ AN INQUIRY INTO Tl» his rooted antipathy to France was equally eminent. *' Tiic terms of it," says Bur- net, ** were still too much to the advan- " tage of France ; but the length and ** charge of the war had so exhausted the ** allies, that the king saw the necessity of ** accepting the best conditions that could be ^* got*." He well knew that the next war must complete the victories which his policy and prudence had begun to atchieve. His measures were accordingly planned with a view to new resistance ; and after his re- sources, and those of his iillies had been recruited by an interval of quiet, they revived tiie league, under the well known name of that Grand Alliance, which led through a series of brilliant exploits to the utter humiliation of the common enemy. To complete the contrast between the character of this great Prince's policy, and that which produced the late continental v/ar, it would be necessary to detail the whole particulars of his public life. It may be sufficient to finish the parallel at * History of his own Times, ii. 117. I STATI OF THE 'NATION. 103 present attempted, if we add, that he was eminently distinguished by a certain slow- ness to passion in his closet, as well as by uncommon ardour in action ; that his judg- ment was prompt and alert, in proportion as his temper was cold. His schemes con- ceived in sobriety of mind, were calculated to attain some great and solid end, and not to strike the vulgar by tl:eir gaudiness. Their execution was delayed until the mo- ment when success was most likely — not adjusted to the time when popular applause might be grateful, or convenient for other purposes. In planning them he was close and reserved ; but when he had matured them, and when his time came, there was no wavering, no procrastination, no vapour- ing of hopes ; finally, after the threat was made, not one moments' delay of which the er/emy could avail himself; the noise never went before the stroke. It is remarlvable how universal the contrast to which we are alluding, is observable even in minute particulars. " Me was," says the Historian, " an exact observer of men 104 AN INQUIRY INTO THE and thing?, but he did not descend even to the humours of his people, to make himself and his notions more acceptable to them. He knew all foreign affairs well, and understood the state of every court in Europe very particularly — he instructed his own ministers himself^— his only two fa^ vourites, Portland and Albemarle, were men in all respects, of opposite characters, agree-^ ing only in secrecy and fidelity y* It was by such a system, and so eminent a capa- city for affairs, that this illustrious person laid the foundation in Europe, of that in- dependence from French dominion, which his successors reared up, The fabric was indeed strong, and has withstood many shocks : but, like all the works of man, it is made of perishable materials ; and new systems having gained ground under states? men of opposite characters, it may now justly be questioned, vyhether there yet exists a wreck of what king William bcr .(^ueathcd, * Burnetii, ne and n7. $TAT5 OF THE NATION. 105 We have now completed the examina- tion of the late continental policy of Eng- land, and have been enabled, from a re- view of the facts presented by the official documents, to estimate the merits of those who conceived and prosecuted that i\ital system. Many of the errors which we have noticed, are only extravagant forms of mistakes not unknown in the past history of the country; and the fruhs of a policy radically defective as to external relations, which has long been growing up to matu- rity. The details of such misconduct are not uninstructive. They expose, by exhibit- ing an extreme case, the evils of the gene* ral principles; demonstrate the necessity of administring a remedy; and lead us to- wards the quarter from whence it may be obtained. This inquiry, too,^has occasion- ally opened to us such views of the situation of the Continent, as may suggest the absur- dity of expecting any improvement in its fortunes for a long course of years. The arguments which have been urged to shew ,tlic folly of pressing forward towards 106 AN INQUIRY INTO THE anew league in 1805, operate with mani- fold foree after the fatal changes which have ushered in the present year, and have flowed from the errors of the last. We are thus prepared for the remaining part of the discussion — the present state of continental afFaira, and the new, and necessarily mo- derate and pacific system which it pre- scribes to this country. Having, therefore, fully explained to what causes England and Europe ow^ the misfortunes which have lately happened, we now proceed to take a view of the ex- tent of those misfortunes. II, Consequences of our late Foreign Policy. 1. The actual changes of dominion which the third Coalition has already pro- duced, are in the highest degree alarm- ing — whether we consider them as losses to Austria or gains to France. At the last peace, the Venetian territory had even hcen imagined by some to be a STATE OF THE NATION. 107 fair compensation for the loss of the Ne- therlands. In several points of view, its importance was certainly of the very first rank. Besides a large extent of the most fruitful country, a population of nearly two millions, and a revenue of a million ster- ling ; it gave Austria a line of sea coast, studded with excellent harbours, in the immediate neighbourhood of those rich provinces, which had long been checked in their progress, by their scanty means of foreign commerce. The acquisition of V^enice easily rendered the power which also possessed the extensive dominions on the north of the Adriatic, mistress of that sea. The country to the East of the Gulf, was valuable in case any views might here- after be formed respecting Turkey; — or might become necessary from the policy of other states in relation to that defence- kss neighbour. The footing which the Venetian territory gave Austria in Lom- bardy, added to her dominions in the Alpine Country, served to retain somewhat at lemt of her former s\^ay in the affairs 108 AN INQUIRY INTO THE of Italy; gave her a certain security against any further changes being attempted by France in tliat quarter; and secured, when an opportunity might offer, the means of regaining the ascendant she had once pos- sessed in those fine countries. All these va- luable possessions are now lost ; and all the prospects of which they were the founda- tion — the hopes of external influence, and the more solid expectation of domestic im- provement, are vanished for ever. France, or her dependency, the Italian Republic, has completed the conquest of Fombardy. From the Gulf of Genoa to the Gulph of Istria, all is French. To estimate how niuch France has gain- ed by the acquisition of the Venetian pro- vinces, it is only necessary that we should reflect on the importance of those terri- tories to the Italian Republic, from their position, and the fiicilities which they af- ford of increasing the naval power of the enemy. The commerce of Venice, now very considerable, and only checked since |he revolution by the impolitic preference STATE OF THE NATION. 109 given to Trieste, will increase rapidly, when at least equal exertions are made to encourage it. At present it does not occupy less than 400 vessels belonging to the port pf Venice alone. In its better days the number of these was tenfold. The naval arsenal of that city is famous, and the neighs bouring harbours perfectly well adapted ta the purposes of trade. The coast of Dalma* tia, with the islands, possesses perhaps more fine ports, with strong fortifications, thaa any in the world. Nona, Zara, Sebenico, Trau, Spalatro, Castel Nuovo, Matero, Lesina, Corcyra — are but a few of the har- bours impregnable to attack, and command- ing every commercial advantage, which have now fallen into the hands of the Cis- alpine and its masters. It is unnecessary to state how prodigious an accession of trade and force this must, in a short time, secure to France; and how paramount it must render her superiority in the Medi- terranean. Whether we now attempt to defend Sicily, or avert the downfall of Turkey and the seizure of Egypt, we 1 10 AN INQUIRY INTO THE shall feci the consequences of the treaty of Presburg m every operation of the war. The loss of the Tyrol, and Its annexation to the new kingdom of Bavaria, is, though not from the superior territorial value of that pro^qnce, yet certainly from its rela- tive situation, of still greater detriment to Austria than her sacrifices in Italy. The natural strength of the country, the loy- alty and valour of its inhabitants, and the skill which their mode of life gave them in the warfare adapted to mountainous coun- tries, made the Tyrol altogether invaluable as a barrier against the invasion of the he- reditary states; had the house of Austria but learnt the right use of those resources. Unhappily, there prevailed a constant jea- lousy of the Tyrolese, and an inclination to check them in those pursuits which were their most favourite occupation, and which formed the habits, of all others most necessary for the successful defence of their country. Even in a war which threatened the throne » of the monarchy, the same STATE OF THE NATION. Ill evil policy continued to curb the exer- tions of this high spirited people; and, after weakening, during peace, by ab- surd restraints, the force which they could have opposed to the enemy, the court of V^ienna, now, at the moment of invasion, persisted in refusing to avail itself of their services. In several places, the peasantry were deprived of arms, and checked by the army, least they should defend their mountains hregularly, while the Old tac- ticians were retreating from the strongest holds, accQiding to rule. Frequently, in spite of ail resistance from tlicir own mas- ter, tliese brave and skilful mountaineers made out the point of being allowed to light ; they generally made a successful stand, sometimes gained signal advan- tages over the French troops, while all their exertions were systematically thwarted by the Austrian commanders. But it is manifest, that while die province remained under the dominion of Austria, she might at any time have turned it to full account, by reforming so obviously pernicious a 112 AN INQUIRY INTO THE system of management. During a short interval of peace, she might organise its natural force so as to render it quite im- pregnable ; and then, whatever successes the enemy might, on any future occasion, gain in Lombardy and the Frioul, or on the Danube, his progress was effectually check- ed by the natural garrison which he left behind him; which must be taken, not turne(J, which preserved unbroken the communication with Italy and with Swit- zerland ; which must always, if properly managed, have been the main theatre of any war, where Austria acted on the de- fensive. Such were the incalculable ad- vantages, in a defensive point of view, which Austria lost by the cession of the Tyrol. If we keep in mind die remarks formerly made upon the importance of Switzerland, we shall be enabled to perceive still further advantages for defence, which Austria has lost in the Tyrol, and to estimate the ex- tent of this loss in an offensive point of view. The complete establishment of France STATE OF THE NATION. 113 in Lombardy and the Genoese, would of itself have augmented the dependence of Switzerland upon her power. But though the passes qn the West and South would have been open to her, while the Tyrol and the Voralberg remained in the hands of Austria, the Swiss might always reckon up- on her powerful support; their country might be defended by its native forces against the inroads of the enemy from the other sides*, until assistance was poui;ed in from the East; even if overpowered, thcjr natural allies might still hope to effect their liberation, by attacking from that quarter the French who should have established themselves in the Alpine^ territory, as was done successfully by the Rhinthal and Engadine in 1799: and at all events, the subj ugation of Switzerland would not have proved altogether fatal to Austria, when sh^ had the strong outwork of the Tyrol on * There arc only four passes into Switzerland, from the French side, and seven from the Italian. The Swiss could easily defend thejt for a month oc six weeks. I 114 AN INQUIRY INTO THE that side, both to oppose the new position of the enemy, and to interrupt the commu- nication between his Italian dominions and the new acquisitions in the North, which the occupation of the Alps might give him. But still more important, forotlensive pur- poses, was the communication wliich tlie Tvrol aftbrded between Austria and Swit- zerland. The Swiss were beyond any other people hostile to France. Of this hatred they had given undoubted proofs in the last war; their skill in defending their own passes was truly wonderful; and no instance is on record of successes equal to theirs, won by individual dexterity and courage over numbers and discipline. While this cha- racter continued to adorn that virtuous and unconquerable peasantry, tbere was always a prospect of their making such a resistance to France, in the event of a wisely arranged scheme of invasion, as might enable Austria to come up, and thus attack the enemy upon his most vulnerable side. Even if she unfortunately preferred the plan of in- vading France by the Riiine or the Var. STATE OF THE NAflOKi ll^ and for that purpose wished to secure the neutraHty of Switzerland; the possession of the Tyrol enabled her to do so; because it gave France some inducement to acquiesce in that arrangement. All the advantages, then, which were most important to Au- stria, whether she intended to attack France, or to defend herself by means of Switzer- land, depended entirely on her possessing the Tyrol. — With the Tyrol she has now lost them for ever. Switzerland is com- pletely surrounded by France and the French dependencies; cut off from the only power which could enable her to stand out for a moment against her enemy; delivered' up without the possibility of resisting; pre^ vented from ever being employed in the invasion of France; but ready at any time to be used as the means of finally reducing Austria. In this employment of Switzer- land, the Tyrol will not only be no hin- drance; it will be made to assist. The pea- santry of that country will be organised according to their aptitudes, pki/sical and moral; their privileges will be extended I 'it. 116 AN INQUIRY INTO THE for tlie purpose of gaining tliclr assistance against their former oppressors, and of ren- dering their exertions more powerful; and Austria will at length discover the value of the Tyrol, by the services which it may render to her invaders. The loss of the Venetian and Tyrolese territory, with the confirmation of the French power over Switzerland, lias now completed the dominion of France over the whole of Italy. Every avenue to that country is finally closed against Austria and commanded by her enemy with undivided authority. From Dalmatia and the confines of Turkey, round to Stras- burg, France has drawn a line of strong possessions, by which she completely hems in Italy; cuts her off from every commu- nication with the rest of the world ; and opens to her the closest intercourse with herself. Her sway being so absolute, here, it is natural that she should lose no time in exercising all the rights of sovereignty. Accordingly, she models at pleasure the kingdom of Etruria; augu\cnU the Cisal- STATE OF THE NATION. 11.7 pine ; disposes at will of the court of Rome; and dethrones, by a common regimental order, the royal family of Naples ; for which last proceeding England, be it remembered, took care to furnish also the pretext, after having given the power of accomplishing it. Thus has the grand strife between France and Austria at length been settled, by the sur- render of Italy, more absolute and uncondi- tional, and in a far greater extent, than the courtiers of Charles, of Francis, or of Lewis, fever dared flatter their masters to expect. France has now become sole mistress of that splendid country, from the Alps to the streights of Messina — its position, which do- mineers over the Mediterranean; its mighty resources; the fruitful ness of the garden of Europe; the bays, and rivers, and harbours' which open to its produce the uttermo?;t ends of the earth; the forests which varie- gate its surface, and only break the conti^ nuity of culture to augment its jx)wers, by preparing for this favoured land the domi- nion of the sea; the genius and fire of its numerous people; the monuments of art; lis AN INQUIRY INTO THE the remains gf antiquity ; the ground on which the glories of their Roman ancestors were atchieved; — all are now in the hands of the nation in the world best able to im- prove them — to combine them — to make them aid one another; and, after calling them forth, to the incalculable augmenta-* tion of her former resources, ready to turn them against those, if any such shall remain, who still dare to be her enemies. The other changes of dominion effected by the treaty of Presburg — the emperor's ces- sion of his possessions in Suabia*, and his sub- mission to the further spoliation of the Ger- man empire-f ; — though important in them- selves, and sufficient, in any former period, to alarm all Europe for their consequences; sink into insignificance after the entire sur-? render of Italy, which we have been con^ * These are chiefly the Burgaw, the Brisgaw, and Contance. The whole loss of Austria has been estimated at 129T square geographical miles ; 2,716,000 subjects, and 1,600,000/. sterling of yearly revenue ; of which three fourths have been given to the Cisalpine. t The seizure of Augsburg and BorndorfF. STATE OF THE NATION. 119 tcmpUitlng. All those changes have one simple view — the diminution of the Austrian monarchy ; its separation from France by a number of petty kingdoms dependent on the French power; the transference of the Emperor's influence in Germany to his enemies; and his confinement to the poli- tics of the East of Europe; where, also, he is closely watched by France and her crea- tures. Nor does it make any difference upon the relative situation of the powers, that the sacrifices of Austria have been made to aggrandize the dependants of France, and not France herself. That overgrown empire could not expect to keep together more nations and countries than it already counted within its limits*. The only feat which the French power has not attempted, is the conciliation of those peoples whom it has conquered; the only * — " Quibus noh lex, Tion mos, non lingua com- munis I alius habitus i alia vest is, alia arma, alii ritiis, aliasaera, alii prope Dei essent : ita quodam uno vin- culo copulaverit eos, ut nulla nee inte ipsos, nee adver' susducem seditio extiterit.'' — Tit. liv. xxviii. 12. 120 AN INQUIRY INTO THE difficulties which it has not mastered, are those that natural boundaries present. France^ tlicrefore, finds it more easy to complete the incorporation of Europe by some inter- mediate process, which may assimilate its heterogeneous parts, and prepare them for a lasting, as well as an intimate union. In the mean time, her sway over the princi- palities and powers, whom she calls into existence, is absolute and certain ; her in- fluence is hourly gaining ground. Should the course of events maintain the nominal separation of those dependent kingdoms, they may, at some future period, revolt from her federal empire ; but, for years to come, they are as subservient to her pur- poses, as if they had no separate names. Had she not acted upon such principles; had she taken more to herself at Presburg; she would have resembled the allies whose impolicy has laid Europe at her feet: she would have seemed to gain more, but she would not have been the formidable neigh- * hour which a deeper policy has made her. STATE OF THE NATION. 1^1 2. But the calamities of Austria are not to be measured by the cessions that have been wrung from her. The unhappy events of the CoaUtlon War have had a more extensive and deep rooted influence, than can appear in the articles of any treaty which may have been made to ter- minate actual hostilities. There are certain effects of conquest, certain symptoms of subjugation, which escape the art of the diplomatist, and cannot be expressed in public instruments. In a little month, the l;nest army in the imperial service was an- nihilated without striking a blow. From the Rhine to the heart of the hereditary states, the French marched on with one uniform syccess, and had not even to fight their uay. The progress of their forces through the best defended countries of the Emperor, resembled a regular movement through a subject and peaceable state. Every thing gave way before them, as if both ar- mies were governed by the same word of ^'Oiiiraand; and the Austrian cabinet can 122 AN INQUIRY INTO THE only account for the defeat of its troops by stating, that two grievous errors were com- mitted; one, in expecting the enemy would respect the Prussian neutrality, when it stood in the way of a decisive victory; the other, in being deceived by his bare asser- tion, and allowing him to enter the metro- polis*. The fruit of these rapid and easy conquests was tiie possession of Vienna. Nor did the progress of the French arms stop there. Prussia, unmoved, saw France surrounding her on every side, by the com- plete reduction of Germany; she allowed the conquerors to march on in all directions, to drive the Emperor from his capital, and pursue him out of the Empire. At last, on the verge of his hereditary dominions, a general engagement takes place, the first and the last of this eventful campaign, in which the battle has indeed been to the skilful, not the strong; which, from the * See Count Stahrcmbcrg's Note, where lie states these two mistakes of General Mack and Prince Aversbcrg, as fundamental causes of the defeats.— Sup. pap, p. 52. STATE OF THE NATION. V23 beginning to the end, has heen one con- stant ilhistration of the weakness of mere physical force, and the omnipotence of talents. Is it possible that such things should speedily be forgotten? Where is the nation so stout hearted as not to feel disasters hke these ? The very sights of un- exampled humiliation to which the people have been witness; the strange events which within a few weeks have brought the Austrian monarchy so low; must leave an indelible im- pression on t^:eir minds; and prepare them for new defeats, while they etface the me- mory of past victories. *' Nee quisqiiam adeo rerum hmnananun immemor, qneni no?i convnovcret ilia fades, Romaniun prineipe7n et generis hmnani paiillo ante doininum, relictd fortuna sua sede, per populiwiy per iirbem, aire de Imperio — nilul tale viderant — nihil audierant*:' If to the state in which their defeats have left the spirit of the Austrians, we oppose the natural effects of their new victories upon the minds of the French, * Tacit. Hist. lib. iii. cap. 68. 124- AN INQUIRY INTO THE weshall be able to estimate how far the recoJIection of this memorable war leaves the balance in favour of the conquerors, beyond the mere changes of territory which it may have occasioned. There is, indeed, no closing our eyes to the extent of the misfortunes entailed upon Europe by the projectors of the late coalition. We must not deceive ourselves. The house of Austria is completely humbled ; she must receive the law, not from Vienna, but from Paris ; she has sacrificed much ; but more she must be prepared to surren- der if required, rather than run the last of risks, that of a new war. Whatever the sacrifice demanded may be, she must liiake it — whether treasure, or alliances, or dignities or territory, or what is worst of t^]\, principles. If the enemy require iicr to join him in attacking Prussia, or turning against Russia, or sharing the plimder of Germany, or dividing and pillaging the Turk; she cannot now balance. Agitur de imperio, France has Italy and the Tyrol ; the people of Austria are crushed ; the STATE OF THE NATION. 125 French are exalted and exulting. What though the treaty of Presburgh lias bound them together by no secret articles, and that its public stipulations still leave to Austria the semblance of a great monarchy ? Italy and the Tyrol are French, and the campaign of 1805, lives in the recollection of both French and Germans — Do we not know that the only extensive or durable conquests have been made gradually ; that in treating with a humbled enemy, you raise him by exacting too harsh conditions ; that the wisest policy is to take something, and by the present, to pave the v^ ay for future gains. One only chance of retaining even the name of independence, now re- mains to our unfortunate ally ; she must listen no more to such counsellors as hurried her into the late alliance in spite of her better reason. By skill and strength she may possibly preserve some part of what is left, and improve it in peace. If she once more forsakes moderate counsels, she is undone. Npr is it Austria alone that has suffered 126 AN INQUIRY INTO THK by this unhappy coaHtion. The new vic- tories of France; the actual aggrandisement of her empire ; the suhjection of her rival; and the dread of her invincihle arms ; have now rivetted the chains of tiie continent. Ko one ever supposed that tlie state of tilings as settled at the peace of Luneville, was to last longer than the necessities which made the different powers submit to the conditions then imposed. As soon as their strength should be recruited, and their sen- timents united against the French yoke, we had a riglit to expect that attempts would be made to throw itoff. Time, only — a prudent delay, and a judicious choice of the proper moment, was required to render such a resistance effectual. But all this prospect is now vanished ; the chance is thrown away, and the only hope is gone which Holland, and Switzerland, and Italy had of once more knowing independence. Henceforth the object of these unhappy states must be not to oppose France, but to moderate, if possible, the violence of her oppressions. They have England to thank STATE OF THE NATION. 127 for this reverse of prospects, and it is pro- bably the last favour they will receive at her han.ds. 3, If from these effects of the late vi^ar upon the state of the continent, we turn to a view of its effects upon our own indi- vidual interests, we shall find, that we Lave suffered, as is most just, a great share of the common loss. Besides the injury which England ultimately receives from the disasters of the rest of Europe, she is more immediately affected by the ag- grandizement of her enemy, from the increased danger of invasion to which it exposes her. The fate of the third coalition has in several ways augmented this danger; multiplying both the chances of the attempt being made, and increas-. ing the probability of its success. Nothing is more common than to hear thoughtless persons talk lightly of such dangers. They trust that the loyalty and courage of the country would carry it through greater perils than France has in store for us. The French have never yet 12S AN INQUIRY INTO THS been engaged with a nation of Freemen, They would find us made of different ma- terials from the Germans. They might over-run the country and take London 5 but London is not England, and they w^ould soon be extirpated. Such well meaning- p-rsons seem even to be afraid least no attempt should be made ; least they should not have an opportunity of conquer- ing upon British ground. " Let the ene- my come, say they, we desire nothing more, and not a man of his force shall escape." — But it is much to be feared that this zeal, so laudable in itself, '* is without know- ledge." With every disposition to exalt the valour of Britons, and to augur well of their efforts in defence of the greatest bless- ing which any people enjoy; we may be permitted to dread the event of a contest between courage and skill. Nor was the difference between the two ever so strongly marked as since the experience of the late campaign. It so n i disrespect to our troops, and their commanders, to question whether their native talents are sufiicicnt to supply STATE OF THE NATIOKi 129 their want of experienccj and to wish that^ until measures are taken to improve them in their art» there may be no trial of gene- ralship between them and the conductors of the late Gferman campaign. That the country could be ultimately conquered, we cannot indeed for a moment allow our- selves to believe; but there are other evils attending an invasion, besides the greatest of all evils ; there are injuries short of utter ruin which a nation may receive from it. We know nothing practically of war ia this happy land : we have heard of its effects, and read of battles at a great dis- tance ; but we know it not from experi« ence, and it is well we do not. Never was a country worse calculated for being the scene of military operations, for having the hazardous issue of war tried within its bounds. With its wealth, its crowded population, its multitude of artizans and traders, its paper circulation^ its public debts, its commercial credit ; with the vari- ous factitious qualities of a nice and com- plicated system of most artificial society ; K ISO AN INQUIRY INTO THE and above all, without any experience whatever of a campaign on Its own ground — how frightful to contemplate the mischiefs wliich so unusual a convulsion must occa- sioUj admitting it should end in the total defeat of the invader ! It is clear, that no wise man will desire to see such an experi- ment tried, and that however it may end, the attempt would of itself be an enormous evil . Now the risk of this pernicious attempt t)eing made, is greatly augmented by the late defeats of our allies. Before the new coalition, the enemy, at whatever time he might attempt to execute his favourite pro- ject, had always to apprehend great dan- ger, from his continental neighbours seizing the opportunity of his forces being occupied in England, and attacking liim at a prodi- gious advantage. Every year that the at- tempt was. delayed increased the magnitude of this risk ; and had he deferred it a few years longer, the certainty of the continent being recruited and ready to attack him, should he give them so tair an occasion. STATE OF THE NATION. tSt would probably have made him finally abandon the scheme. But we have taken care to relieve him from all such embar- rassment. He has now nothing to appre- hend from continental wars. AVe have purchased a miserable respite from our alarms, (for in spite of our boasting we were the dupes of our fears) at the expence of whatever solid benefit we might have found in a coalition able to assist us at the moment of real danger. Another check upon the French government was, the fear of tlie odium which would have attended a failure in the threatened project. So great a source of hope was this consideration with some, that they believed it would for ever prevent the attempt. But this too is entirely at an end. The ^Swabian and Moravian campaigns have raised the French Chief so high in the eyes of his subjects — have given him such an unexpected accession of popu* larity, and so signally increased the fame of his arms, that he may now with perfect safety try whatsoever his ambition or his caprices shall dictate. He may bury ano* K 2 \S'2 Ak INQUIRY INTO THE tlier army in St. Domingo, or squander it hundred thousand lives in Ireland, or even risk their entire loss at sea for the cliance of some part of the armament landing; all will he forgotten by a people so elated with recent triumph, or if remembered will be chearfuUy forgiven to the conqueror of Austerlitz. Formerly, he dared not think of failing in the projected invasion ; he could only contemplate its success. Now he may be content with taking his chance of conquering, and ensuring the certainty of injuring us. That he should naake thisattempt then, in every way so hurt- ful to our interests, is become infinitely more Idvcly, since the wretched policy of Eng- land, by ejecting the subjugation of her continental allies, and compleating the achievements of her enemy, removed the two great impediments which stood in his way. It is equally manifest that the danger of this attempt proving successful, or at least the probable amount of the injury which we may receive from it, has been greatly STATE OF THE NATION. 133 augmented by the unhappy fate of the Continent. Not only has the discomfiture of the coalition enabled France to embark a much larger proportion of herdisposeable force in the enterprise ; the recent suc- cesses of her arms must produce a very sensible effect on every man in her service. The confidence in their superiority which always animated French soldiers, is now greatly augmented ; and they have to op^ pose men who know litde of war, but what they have heard of in the history of the French conquests. The service of the late campaign too, was peculiarly well adapted to discipline new troops, and to increase the proportion of good soldiers in the whole army. But while the result of our impolitic measures has thus strengthened in every respect the hands of the enemy, it is strange that we have ourselves entirely Deglected the short interval of quiet which the continental war gave us. At its com* inencement, upwards of two years had elapsed since the British government were |j)led with the constaixt expectation of Ji 134 AN INQUIRY INTO THE descent upon our coasts. Our military system was extremely imperfect, and the fear of all men was least the invasion should be attempled, before any material improve- ments could take place. We were indeed, «* counting hours, and minutes," till thje enemy should land ; and at this critical juncture, a respite is suddenly obtained by means of the campaign in Germany. The invasion is now necessarily delayed for half a year at least. Would not any one have conceived that such an interval was valuable beyond all price ; that it gave us the very time so much wanted for the completion of our defensive preparations ; that it might be the turn of the balance in our favour, when the attempt should at last be made. Yet strange to tell, this oppor- tunity was utterly thrown away; our cabinet, as soon as the army left Boulogne, seem to have thought the whole project of invasion at an end ; and never contemplating the pos- sibility of the allies being once more beaten, they chose rather to remain spectators of fhe continental war, than to prepare for ouf STATE OF THE NATION. 135 own battles, should it prove unfortunate. Their military system had been tried above a year, and might be said to have failed more egregiously than any plan that ever was devised. It had not during the whole of that period produced 1500 men in .the whole island, and not five hundred of these for general service. The volunteer army, as it has been called, had relaxed in its most valuable quality of ardour and alacrity; and had been losing the only advantage which such a force can possess over regular troops, without making any sensible progress in discipline. The recruiting for the army was at a stand, and nothing whatever had been done to improve its constitution. Yet did the government allow the whole inter- val between the departure of the Boulogne army, and the dissolution of the late cabinet, to pass over without taking a single step for the general reform of our defensive measures, or even for the new modelling of that plan, which a fair trial had shewn to be nugatory in its original shape. They 4id not even asseniblethe parliament, with- 1S6 AN INQUIRY INTO THE out whose interference no such im< provements could be made. They avoid- ed every thing which could have turn- ed their impolicy in making the coali- tion, to the smallest account ; and persisted in rejecting the one solitary benefit which their new war might have produced, in compensation of so many calamities. Thus, after ihe best possible opportunity of aug- menting the strength of the country, they have left it to the;r successors, feeble and confused, at the very crisis when the ne- cessary consequences of their other mea- sures ajc hurrying on its fate. With such an army, with our volunteers and our de- fence bill, with our regular forces weaken- ed by the conflicting tendencies of the militia and reserve, with our volunteer system counteracting all the other branches, we are now left to contend alone against the undivided force of our enemy, and his allies. ** Is aiitem valet exacilu, tenet viut- tos spe et promissisy omnia omnium conciipivit. Hide trddita wk est, nuda presidiiSf referta STATE OF THE NATION* 1?T copiis, §luid est quod ab ea nan rnetuas, qui ilia templa et tecta, nan patriam s^d pra^dam putet P Commissum quidem a nobis certe est, sive a nostra duce, ut, c portii sine gubcrna-. culo egressi, tempest ati 7ios tradercmusy* Such are. In a general view, thelamenta' ble effects of that foreign policy vyhich we have minutely traced through its different errors, in the former part of this inquiry. We might have enumerated other evils, which have flowed from it both to Europe, and to our own individual interests. We might, for example, have stated the loss of character and influence which has attended so plain an exposure of our incapacity for continental affairs ; the contempt into which our assistance has fallen with every ally, reduced as it now has been to the mere payment of money ; the pains we have taken to make them underrate even those supplies which they were willing to receive, by pressing our gold upon all the * Cic. Epist. Lib. vii. 138 AN INQUIRY INTO THE world, and running from door to door, to beg it might be accepted ; and above all, the odium which we have incurred with the less enlightened part of the continent, with the people in every foreign state, in whose eyes we have appeared only as in- stigators of war, and as corruptors of their rulers for their destruction. From the effects of these imprtssions our name will not soon recover, and we may rest assured that the Continent is at last heartily sick of our interference, and prepared to join with the en^my in his plan of excludi-ng us from any voice in its affairs. But it was the less necessary to enter upon such topics, that they are naturally suggested by the previous discussions, and that they tend in no way to modify the picture formerly drawn of our affairs: for it is our misfortune that we look around in vain for any cir- cumstances which may soften its features, while It is- impossible to imagine any addition which can aggravate them. STATE OF THE NATION. 139 III. State of Fobeign Affairs, in- dependent of THE LATE Coalition AND ITS Consequences. Althoufrh the effects of our last cxcrlions on the Continent have ahiiost entirely new modelled it, yet there are several particulars in its present state, which have not been directly influenced by the fate of the war, partly because they lay beyond the sphere of its operation, but chiefly because our former impolicy and mismanagement had done as much detriment as was possible, to our interests in those quarters. An in- quiry into the state of our foreign affairs would be imperfect without some notice of jthese points. 1. The unfortunate circumstance of having Spain against us, and given up en- tirely to the alliance, or rather the service of our enemies, during the present war, is a consequence of the impolicy of the Bri- tish cabinet, previous to the commence- ment of the late coalition. After our rup- 140 AN INQUIRY INTO THE ture with France, and clown to the forma* tion of the late ministry, in May 1804', '\Y clearly apj)ears, that the dispositions of Spain towards this country, and against our enemy, were as favourable as could have been desired*. Our popularity was never so great, either v/ith the Court of Madrid, with the confidential mi.: liters of the crown, or with the nation at large. France, always disliked by the Spaniards^, had be* come still more odious from her insolent and rapacious demands; and from the in- temperate conduct of her representatives. The wishes of the Spanish cabinet accord- ed with those of the people, in lean- ing plainly towards an oU'ensive alliance with England against France. But the state of our continental relations, and our inability to give Spain any effectual support In the dangers to which such a conduct must expose her, rendered it necessary for her to delay all measures leading to a rup- ture ; and she submitted to a convention of * Additional Spanish Papers, presented 2d. Fe« Vmary, 1805.— No. Il.toXX. STATE OF THE NATION. 141 neutrality, by which she became bound to pay a considerable subsidy to the French government. To this the English cabinet consented as a temporary measure, ** in- tended to give time till the disposition of the great powers of Europe should be moreT decidedly known.*'* That the subsidy was extorted from Spain, by the imminent fear of seeing a French army in Madrid ; that the dispositions of Spain in our fa- vour, and her enmity to France were in- creased by this compulsory submission, is clearly demonstrated by the dispatches of the British Envoy -j-. Of these dispositions we ought doubtless to have availed our- selves. We were engaged in planning the new coalition, nothing could be more important thtm to include Spain in such a league. Her position with respect to France, must always render her hostility extremely hurtful to that power. Her frontier on the Pyrennees is strong, and well * Additional Spanish Papers, presented 2d, Fe- bruary, 1805— No. VII. t Ibid. No. VIII. 142 AN INQUIRY INTO THE cletViidcd by fortified places. The French frontier is only protected by Pcrpignan, and France Iras no way of removing the danger of an attack from Spain, but by attacking her in the first instance, and forcing her to conclude a separate peace. This would have been rendered imprac- , ticable by the preparations of the allies on the East side of the French territories; and a most important accession would thus have been gained to the measures of the offensive league. By the hostility of Spain^ too, France would have lost the benefit of her subsidies, and the still greater ad- vantage of that controul over her coun- cils, which enabled her at any time to involve every branch of the Spanish monarchy in a war with her enemies. The allies would have secured the in- dependence of Spain, while they pro- fited by her assistance; and prevented the subjection of the whole of her re- sources to France, while they converted a just and moderate proportion of them to their own use. By going to war with Spain, they necessarily threw her into tlic STATE OF THE NATION. 143 arms of France ; armed her whole force against themselves ; sacrificed the benefits of a commercial intercourse, the most lu- crative and even necessary to their prospe- rity ; extended the sea-coast of the enemy from Bourdeaux round to Toulon ; in- creased his predominating influence in the Mediterranean; and laid Portugal entirely at his mercy. Yet this was the very line of con- duct which the allies ; or rather which England, in the infancy of the alli- ance, chose to pursue. She delayed ob- jecting to the Spanish subsidy until she should sound the dispositions of the other Powers. Those she found to be favoura- ble, or at least she conceived that they warranted her in expecting a new coali- tion against France. Instead of delaying her objections to the subsidy a few weeks longer, and then offering Spain a place in the league, when she might declare her- self with impunity, England demanded that she should produce the subsidiary convention, which every one knew she was bound to conceal, at the peril of an immojs^ 144 AN INQUIRY INTO THE diate war with France ; and she made this bootless demand at a time when matters were not ripe for assisting her in such a war*. The pretext of armaments at Fer- rol was mere trifling; they lasted exactly nine days, and were intended for quelling an insurrection in Biscay. But this pretence, \^ ith the refusal of Spain to produce the convention, were made th^ grounds of that unprecedented violation of justice, the capture of the frigates without any declaration of war; accompanied with circumstances of Individual calamity, which have not failed to injure the English cause irreparably among the Spanish people. — Thus did our government sacrifice to the paltry object of a few cargoes of silver, its character; its prospects of assistance from Spain, at the moment when that assistance would have been most valuable; its hopes of weaning her entirely from French connexions; its expectations of the security derived from lessening our * The point here at issue, was a mere matter of form ; the tenor of the convention was publicly known. STATE OF THE NATIOK. 145 L^neri^y's sea coast, and the advantages con- nected with the Spanish commerce; above all, its chance of continuing the high fa- vour enjoyed by England in Spain, and the influence in her councils to which it must have led. One of two -j:)lans were clearly pointed out by the state of our relations with Spain ; either wc should have connived at her compulsory submis- sion to France until we could protect her in resisting the French dominion, and added lier to the new league; or, if unfortu- nately we preferred hostilities, we should Irave taken care to make the war as ad- vantageous as possible, by liberating the Spanish colonies from the galling mono- poly of the Mother Country, and opening a most profitable inlet for our commercial, speculations. Neither of those schemes was adopted. With our accustomed in- genuity, we contrived to find a line of policy which should avoid the benefits, and combine the disadvantages of all. the others. We managed to lose the alliance of Spain at prc«cnt> and her friendship fgr 146* AN INQUIRY INTO THE ever ; and at the same time gave u\f all chance of turning her hostility to our advantage. Her trade so beneficial to all the branches of our domestic industry, so essential to some of them, we aban- doned for a few barrels of dollars. To prevent her from paying a subsidy to France, we incorporated her whole re- sources with those of our enemy ; and rather than allow a neutrality, which might give a trifling aid to him, we rushed into a kind of hostility which could procure no assistance for ourselves. The total alienation of Spain from our interests ; the ruin of. our ancient popu- larity in that country j the absolute sub- jection of her power to that of France ; has been the price paid for our acquisi- tions of silver bullion ; and next to the evils produced by the new coalition, this is the most serious misfortune which her fatal impolicy has brought upon the conti- nental affairs of England. 2. If we cast our eyes on the other states, who are confederates, or rather depen- STATE OF THE NATION. l47 dants of France, we shall find that the hopes of their deserting her, or attempt- ing to throw off the yoke, with the assist- ance of England and her allies, are slen- der indeed. Partly from circumstances never within our controul, and partly, no doubt, from our former impolicy, those countries are as firmly united in fate with our enemy, as if they formed integral parts of his extensive dominions. Holland has always been regarded as the natural ally of this country. Her proximity to France, and consequent ex- posure to the power of that formidable neighbour ; her commercial relations, the nature of her civil and reJioious establish- nients, and the character of her people.^ have been esteemed, in the better time', of European affairs, a sufficient pledge of her inclination to connect her interest*) with the cause of Great Britain. Accord* ingly, except during the impolitic alli- ance of Charles II. with France, and the no less unwise enmity of the Dutch towards us in the American war, Holland has uni- formly been our firm ally in all our dis- L 2 H-8 AN INQUIRY INTO THE putcs witli France, and our cause has never failed to gain by the connexion. But since the Dutch Revohitlon, this alhance has been entirely dissolved. Ihe arms ol" France having over-run ilie Netherlands, soon established the Frencli power in Holland. The govern- ment, tlie armies and ilects, the trade and the revenues of that rich and populous country, have been delivered over to our enemy, not by an offensive and defensive alliance, but by an entire conquest and subsequent acknowledgment of the yoke. From this important increase of the French power, have arisen many serious accessions to the dangers to which it exposes us. A great extent of sea-coast; a numerous body of men accustomed to maritime aifairs, and eminently skilled in the navigation oi' the North Sea ; a commercial navy, next to our own, the greatest in the vvorkl — these arc but a few of the advantages which France has derived from Holland, and may turn against us in her projected attack upon our European dominions. STATE OF THE NATION. 1 4-9 But many well-informed persons have imagined that the Dutch arc discontented with their yoke; that they earnestly desire an o})portunity of regaining their indepen- dence; and that these dispositions would both insure the success of any attcm])ts to assist them, in freeing themselves from French influence, and deprive France of any material benefit from their services in her attempts upon England. It cannot be doubted that such hopes as these are altogether vain — that they are founded upon a mistake of the Dutch character, and upon gross exaggerations of the French policy towards Holland. A country, in the circumstances of Holland, depending entirely upon commerce for its wealth, and for its support; crowded beyond all others with a population of industrious and skilful inhabitants ; covered with warehouses, manufactories, canals, docks, wharfs, and all tlie other acquisitions of ingenuity and laboiu'; its very land saved from the sea by monuments of their per- severance, through a long course of ages ; 150 AN INQUIRY INTO THE its vast accumulation of riches depending entirely upon the preservation of order, and the safety of commercial credit among its citizens — such a country must always dread a change as the greatest of evils ; must prefer the certainty of being indif- ferently well, to the chance of being bet- ter, coupled with the risk of being worse ; and of all revolutions must fear those the most which may Involve it in the cala- mities and the uncertainties of domestic warfare. An invasion, or a civil war in England, would indeed be dreadful, whatever event it might have ; but Hol- land is in all respects less fitted for sustain- ing such a shock ; and the Dutch are not so dull to their interests or their dangers 4s some persons formerly alluded to in this country ; for no man in the United Provinces will be found hardy enough to contemplate an invasion as matter of exult- ation, or even of indift'erence, however sure he may be of its leading to the emancipation of his country, and however iealous to see her once more independent, STATE OF THE NATION. 151 Much will be borne of real loss, and much more of degradation and insult, by every Dutch patriot, before he will rashly con- sent to hazard the existence of Holland in the most promising schemes for her liberation. Whatever may be the pros- pect of succeeding in such attempts, he will judge, and wisely judge, that the maintenance of things in their present «tate, is preferable to the certainty of their being improved, when that certainty must be purchased by the complicated evils of a war in the heart of the Re- public. It is the nature of commerce to dread revolution and war as the last of dangers ; and the Dutch depend too much upon their trade, to put honour or glory in competition with it. Tliese considera- tions may, in part, account for the cold reception which our attempts to free Hol- land from the French yoke have hitherto met with ; and may explain the reason of our being unpopular in a country formerly so much attached to us, merely because w€ have endeavoured to save it from op« 152 AN INQUIRY INTO THE pression. In truth, however little the D\uch may like their French masters, and however much they may regret the changes of dominion which have altered their alli» ances, there is one thing which they must always dislike still more strongly than the yoke of France itself, and tliat is the struggle which is necessary to shake it off. AVe, who have forced them to undertake this struggle, by carrying the war, unin* vited, into their territories, and who are always suspected of still retaining the same intentions, are not treated as real friends to their interests ; and though they would not hesitate for one moment in preferring our dominion to an alliance on equal terms with France, were the original choice in their power, yet now that the French have sub- dued them, they have as little hesitation in preferring their present masters to those \\'ho would annoy them with attempting their emancipation. But, in truth, the accounts of the Dutch oppressions are greatly exaggerated. Many capitalists have been ruined and forced tQ STATE OF THE NATION. 153 emigrate. Many persons have had then* wealth dimuiished, and the whole riches of the state are greatly impaired ; hut the pro- fits which are still drawn upon the remain- ing stock are necessarily liigher, and this of itself tends to alleviate the burthens of the capitalists who are left behind. The French Jiave wisely confined their plunder of the stalf; to ].'iblic exactions ; they have not, as in Italy, (where the Directory never intend- ed to establish a permanent dominion^, al- lowed the individuals of their armies to pil- lage the country at large. Contributions have been levied, but not by the conqueror from the people. The government have been required to furnish so much money, or support so many troops, and have been left to devise the means of raising those supplies, and to enforce their mea- sures in their own way. It need hardly be remarked, how much lighter it is for a people to pay a very large tribute in this regular manner, tiian to be robbed in a disorderly way, of the smallest sum, by the licence of individuals. Jf any proot* 164 AN INQUIRY INTO THE were required, we might notice the violence of the hatred borne towards the French all over Italy, contrasted with the moderate dislike in which they are held by the Hol- landers ; though no one can believe that the Italians lost nearly so much by the in- vasion of their countrv, or that the Dutch have less regard for their property. It deserves further to be remarked, that the wars with England, in which the revo- lution has engaged the Dutch, however in- jurious to their commerce, have greatly en- riched their colonics by the prodigious in- flux of British capital, which has uniformly attended their falling into our hands ; and among the branches of the community most likely to feel the weight of their sub- jection to France, the most important is Amsterdam, which, from ancient antipathy to the Stadtholder's party, would at all times have embraced any alternative for the certainty of ruining his power. If to all these considerations, wc add the utter despair with which the Dutch are filled, of ever seeing their country re-established STATE OF THE NATION. 155 in its independence, wliatever attempts they may make for it, so long as Belgium is in the hands of France, and their conviction that the time is yet far off when any change of affairs may reduce the French power ; we shall be satisfied that they are indeed lamentably deceived, who cherish the hope of assistance from the Dutch, in driving the French out of Holland, or even of maintaining tlie popu- larity and influence of the English name, among a people who reflect on our exer- tions in their aftairs, as on so many in- juries to their prosperity. AV'e must, therefore, make up our minds to the un- comfortable prospect of Holland remain- ing intirely and inactively subject to our enemy and averse to us, until changes shall have been WTought in the face of affairs, which it would be idle to guess at, and pernicious to reckon upon. The fate of Switzerland was by no means so unpromising as that of Holland, before the last campaign. How completely the changes produced by that dreadful 15^ AN INQUPRY INTO THE contest have given up the Swiss to the do- minion of France, has been ahead y de- monstrated. The most short-sighted of all policy in England, or her allies, M'ould now be to think of agitating that unhappy country with any further hopes of regain- ing its liberties, by new struggles against France. Were the Swiss thoroughly united together as one man, and resolved to re- sist the power of the masters who now sur- round them on every side, nothing could be expected from their efforts, but new scenes of bloodshed, and an intolerable augmentation of their burthens. AVhile France possesses Savoy and Piedmont, and while Swabia and the Tyrol belong to her dependants who exist during her plea- sure, as by her pleasure they were created; all the exertions which the Swiss can make, is inadequate to prevent them from being overwhelmed, long before any allies could break through the strong French provinces that surround them, and come to their assistance. The Cisalpine, and the petty states in Germany, are,, if pos- STATE OF THE NATION. 157 siblc, still more dependent on France. Their disposition to revolt unhappily sig- nifies nothing. For a long course of years they must submit in silence, however well inclined to rebel ; and the worst service that the well-wishers of European inde- pendence could render them, would be to stir up any premature attempt at ejecting their deliverance. AVe may rest assured then, that the petty states by whom France has surrounded herself, as well as the more powerful dominions which she has suc- ceeded in subduing, are firmly united to her fortunes, fome by their weakness, others by their disinclination to exert their strength in a way which they deem hurtful to their interests ; that from Holland to Switzerland, *and «from Switzerland to Tur- key, she has covered a frontier almost every where strong by nature, with dependent nations, whom there is no chance of our seeing revolt, and who will always bear the lirst shock of a war waged against her, if they do not actively assist in her of- fensive operations. What rernains for the 7 158 AX INQUIRY INTO THE rest of Europe to undertake, in its own be* liaif, may not be very easily discovered : but nothing can be more plain than the course of policy which should, at the pre- sent juncture, be avoided — the vain at* tempt to force those subject nations into new and ruinous eiTorts at regaining their independence. 3. If from a view of the depcndencip^ of France, we turn to the contemplation of that prodigious empire itself, we shair find as little to cheer our prospects of the future fates of the European common- wealth. The resources which she draws from Spain, Italy, Germany, and Holland, are trivial when compared with the mass of real and rapidly increasing power by which she has added those stafes to her do- minions. A population of above thirty- two millions; a revenue of twcnty-tive millions sterling, in spite of the ruin of her commerce, with a diminution of only three millions and a half for the interest of debt, notwithstanding the wars she has been en- gaged in ; a regular army of five hundred STATE OF THE NATION. 159 and fifty thousand men, known in almost €very corner of Europe by the rapidity of their conquests, and commanded by the first generals in the world ; a force not less formidable, of men whose skill in ne- gociation has completed the victories of her troops ; a spirit, the most turbulent and restless, the most impatient of peace, and fearless of war, animating all ranks of her people, and produced, in a great de- gree, by the long continued hostility of all her neighbours — these form together a foundation of military superiority, suffici- ent to alarm more powerful states than any that yet remain in her neighbourhood. But a change has within these iQw years taken place, in the constitution of the French nation, still more formidable in its natural consequences to the tranquillity and prosperity of Europe, than any of those well known particulars which we have just now enumerated. We allude to the system of military conscription, by which their forces are now recruited, which has slowly grown up with the revolutionary govern- 100 AN INQUIRY INTO THE ment, which lias of late been carried into complete etVect all over the coun- try, and now forms a part of the esta- blishment, likely to mingle itself in a short time with all the views and habits of the people, and scarcely to occasion more inconvenience or discontent, than the milder expedients of the militia law do in this island. This conscription af- fects all ranks of the community ; every man in France, with a very few excep- tions in favour of certain public functiona- ries, is a soldier from the age of twenty to twenty-five, not merely by inrolment as in Austria and Prussia, but in actual service ; whatever be his rank or his for- tune, or his pursuits in life, he must give up every other view as soon ^s he reaches his twentieth year, and devote his life for' five ycais to the profession of arms alone. As there are no exemptions, unless in cases of former service, a substitute cannot be procured under an enormous sum, fre- quently so high as 700l. sterling, never low,cr than 4001. and if more than a vefy STATE OF THE NATION. I6l small number required substitutes, it would be altogether impossible to procure them : so that in fact there arc scarce any excep- tions to the rule o£ strict personal ser- vice. The rigour of the police established- all over France renders it quite impossible for any one within the specified years ta escape. In every quarter the gendanneric have authority to arrest all the young men whom they can find, and detain them until they can prove themselves to be exempt from the conscription. The "peo- ple are now learning to submit quietly to their fate, and with the happy levity of their national character, try to make the military life agreeable. The pay is ex- tremely small ; but the rich and poor all live together, and the former contribute to improve the common fare. Every one en* deavours in the first place to make him- self master of the military art, in order to qualify him for being promoted ; officers are chosen from the ranks without any regard to birth or fortune ; the emula- tion and interest of the common soldiers M 162 AN INQUIRY INTO THE are kept up by their chance of promotion, and by the voice wliich they are allowed, to a certain degree, in the choice of their officers. The Imperial guard, which has many privileges, and is composed of per- sons possessing a certain fortune, consti- tutes a species of aristocracy of extensive influence in this system. The military schools, the only branch of public instruc- tion which is much attended to, secure the constant supply of the higher branches of the science ; and the excellent organiza- tion of the Etat-Mojor General, to which the victories of the French arms are per- haps more owing than to any other im- provement in their military affairs, keeps alive during peace the practice of their scientific acquirements, while it prepares the most valuable collection of practical information, so essential to the success of warlike operations. Add to this that the great offices of the state are all in the hands of military men ; that honours as well as power and wealth are almost confined to this favoured order ; and that all places of trust, from the command of armies to the STATE OF THE NATIONi 16$ hianagement of negociations, are their pa- trimony. Thus, we find, that it is no exaggera- geration, no metaphorical language to de- nominate France a great military empire ; to say that the government now calls forth the whole resources of the state, and that every Frenchman is literally a soldier* Nothing like this has ever appeared since the early days of the Roman people. The feudal militia had not the same regularity, the same science and discipline. The in- surrection of Hungary, the rising en masse of Switzerland and America, were all con- fined to particular emergencies. The nati- onal guards and first conscriptions of France herself, which approach nearer to the new order of things, were still far inferior to it in systematic arrangement and extent of ope- ration ; yet by their aid, imperfect as they were in the comparison j she gained all that she had conquered previous to the last campaign. But her present system is in truth, a terrible spectacle. The most nu« merous and ingenious people in the world have abandoned the arts of peace, not for M 2 1^4 AN INQUIRY IXTO THE their defence, but after having conquered all the nations around them. They liave betaken themselves to the military life as their main pursuit, almost their exclusive occupation, not from impatience of a long continued quiet, but at the end of various revolutions and a series of the most destructive wars. With a government purely military, a stock of science pecu- liarly adapted to the same pursuits, and a species of wealth not likely to be imme- diately ruined by such a change, they have established a regular system of discipline, which draws every arm into the service of the country, and renders the whole sur- face of the most compact, extensive, and best situated country in Europe, one vast camp, swarming with the finest soldiers — " Ubi fas versum atque nefas : tot bella per orbem ; *' Tarn multse scelerum facies: non ullus aratro ** Dignus honos. Squalent abductis arva colonis, ** Et curvae rigidum falces conflantur in ensem. " Hinc movet Euphrates, illinc Germania, bdlum: *' ViciniB ruptis inter se legibus urbes " Arma ferunt : saevit toto Mars impius orbe. ViRG. Georg. i STATE OF THE ^'ATIO^^ 1^5 4. So formidable being the aspect of France, both from her federal relations and from her own internal resources, let us turn our attention towards the situation of the powers yet unsubdued by her arms ; td Austria, Russia, and Prussia, who, though by no means beyond her controul, are, however, still in appearance indepen- dent. That the resources of Austria are naturally most splendid, cannot be denied. If her external commerce were more ex- tensive, or even the general policy towards her provinces more enlightened, she might still view the strength of France without dismay. The extent and natural fertility of the countries already subject to her, renders any acquisition of new territory on the side of Turkey a vain and unprofitable injustice. While she possesses Bohemia, Gallicia, and above all Hungary ; while those noble kingdoms remain almost in a state of nature, and so neglected, made her before her late disasters one of the first powers in Europe — what folly could be so great as to seek for new countries, and 166 AN INQUIRY INTO THE persist in neglecting her ancient posses- sions? To explain the various measures by which she has already, not merely neg^ lected, but stunted the growth of her he- reditary provinces, would form a volume, by no means unlnstructivc to the political economist, who wishes to contemplate the errors of statesmen ; or the practical politician, who would be warned by the example of his predecessors. We shall confine ourselves to the statement of a few particulars, which may serve to shew in how lamentable a situation the resources of the Monarchy are, and how vain all new exertions against France must prove, until time shall have been given for their gradual improvement by the adoptioa of a wiser system. In some parts of the Monarchy the pea- sants are a great deal too much oppressed by their landlords; in others they pay too small a rent, and the land is in conse- quence neglected. Thus in Austria and part of Styria, the feudal services were (commuted for a certain fixed sum yearly. STATE OF THE NATION". l67 above thirtv vears as^o: it was reckoned too small a compensation then, and now it Is almost a nominal rent. In Hungary, on the other liand, the abolition of villenajre lias been legally effected by the famous Urbariiwi of Maria Teresa; but the lords retain in practice, especially in the re- moter parts, a most exorbitant power over their vassals. — All over the monarchy, ex- cept in Hungary, the system of military enrolment presses very severely upon the people ; every person, not noble, or ex- empted by his office, is liable to serve; if a person leaves the country and returns at any distance of time, he is stopped iii his passage through it, and sent to the army because he liJtd missed his turn of service during his absence. When Joseph II, wished to encourage settlers in Poland from other parts of Europe, he thought he gave them a great exemption by promising the fathers of families and their eldest sons a freedom from military service. — The Crown not only carries on, upon its own account, a great variety of extensive, (it \6S AN INQUIRY INTO THE is needless to add) ruinous speculations in trade and manufactures ; it has also some of the most oppressive monopolies, of use- ful or necessary articles. In the towns a licence must be bouglit to sell almost every article of commerce ; and for enter- ing a new line of business a high price must be paid. — Except in Styria and Gal- licia, salt is every where a Royal mono- poly ; and except in Hungary, tobacco is strictly subjected to the same oppressive restriction. The effect of these mono- polies on the prosperity of the state, and their trifling utility to the reve- nue, may be estimated from the price to which they raise the articles in question, and the amount of net income which they yield the crown. The fossil salt, which forms nine tenths of the con- sumption in Hungary, and is yielded in such abundance, that in the neighbour- hood of tlie mines, it costs but twopence a hundred weight to the crown, costs in the j-Q^rkct nearly forty times as much, or aboiit six shillings and sixpence. The i STATE OF THE NATION. 1()9 yearly consumption of Ibis article in Hun- gary exceeds a million of hundred weight; yet this oppressive monopoly yields the crown no more than 200,000/. a year. The effects of the monopoly of tobacco are nearly similar; but wc may judge more accurately of them by remarking, that in Hungary, where it does not exist, the best tobacco is sold ten times cheaper than the vile tobaccocs of Austria and Bohemia, are in those provinces * ; and that when the whole profit of the monopoly was farmed, * Tobacco, on the Hungarian frontier, is not seized ; but the person attempting to bring it into Austria is fined above two hundred times the price of it; and the search for tobacco is accordingly as strict as for diamonds at the mines of the East Indies. Foreign tobacco may be im- ported for use on paying 60 per cent, duty, but not for sale. All the manufacture and sale, without exception, is carried on upon Royal account. The degree in which Hungary is oppressed by these strange regulations, may be estimated from this, that she only exports annually 70,0001. worth of tobacco, all of which goes to the Emperor's ac- count. The Austrian* use much more of that herb than the French, and yet the total importation of tobacco into France, used, before the revolution, lo exceed ten times that sum. AN INQUIRY IXTO THE it yielded only 150,000/. — Hungary, In- deed, the finest of all the provinces, and sufficient, if well managed, to render Austria the richest country in Europe, is studiously oppressed, hecause its free con- stitution prevents the crown from laying on arbitrary imposts, and monopolizing all its produce. In revenge, its tobacco is prevented from being exported (except on royal account) under the severest penal- ties. Its excellent wines are oppressed with duties, amounting almost to prohi- bitions, in order to encourage the undrink- able produce of the Austrian vineyards; but those duties are exacted even in coun- tries where no Austrian wine ever reached, as in Croatia. Even the grains which can- not bear the cxpence ofcarrlage to Flume, if brought round through the other provinces, are loaded with the heaviest duties, and the merchant annoyed with regulations still more vexatious. To conclude this melan- choly picture of Impolitic conduct; the same jealousy of the people which deliver- ed up the Tyrol to the enemy last war. I STATE OF THE NATION". J7l prevails with respect to the peasantry of Carinthia and Styria, in spite of past ex- perience, in spite even of tl)e success which attended a just confidence in the people of the frontier towards Turkey, wlio, since the earlier times, have been freed from vassalage, and embodied as a feudal militia. ^— If, to these examples of the impolicy which has weakened Austria, we add her perseverance in an inadequate military system, always ill devised, but least of ali calculated to oppose the light troops and young officers of France; and the unfortu- nate confusion which prevails in her fi- nances, partly from bad management of the revenue, partly from an excessive issue of paper, and the want of any bank beyond the controul of government, and partly from the signal marks of bad faith which have at different times, so late even as 1805*, been given to the public creditor ; * The discount of the paper, which formed the only currency, was, during peace, from 28 to 32 per cent, and during war much fjreatcr. The credit of the Government euffered extremely froni the unfair tieatment of the subscri- Jjers to the Francktort Loan^ in January 1805. 172 AN TNCUIRY INTO THE we shall be prepared to judge, whether any hope can yet be placed in the speedy efforts of Austria against France — whether the wit of man can figure a season more calcuhited for repose, or worse adapted to the smallest movement of a warlike nature. Having proved beyond dispute that Austria, from the natural weakness of her resources, independently of her late mis- fortunes, is for the present quite incapaci- tated from going to war with France ; it is not necessary to stop long in order to consider the resources of her neighbours. Without her assistance, it is manifefi: that no project for the restraint of French en- croachments can be one moment enter- tained ; and were Russia as powerful as is vulgarly supposed, and Prussia as solid in her general strength as she appears to be strong from her excellent army; still it would be the extreme of infatua- tion to think of lenguing them in the common cause, alone. Yet it may not be useless to remark, that the resources of both these powers arc commonly over- STATE OF THE NATION. 173 rated. Russia possesses, indeed, an immense empire, if we only view its extent, and tiie absolute numbers of her inliabitants ; but that something in the situation of affairs prevents her from calling forth a large proportion of these, is sufficiently proved by the comparatively small armies which she has ever been able to send abroad. With the most noble and dis- interested inclinations to support the com- mon cause, his Imperial Majesty has not sent, by any means, such armies into the field as the Emperor of Germany, whom we are accustomed to think a much less powerful ally. There has been, too, a seri- ous defect of talents,and chiefly of prudence, the best of talents in a statesman, amo n he Russian counsellors. Prussia, it may also be remarked, has a scattered territory, feeble commercial resources, and in some parts a discontented population. Her Polish provinces, like those of Austria, are sources of constant anxiety. Russia alone, of the three partitioning powers, has a secure hold' of her share; and, without \74f A.V INQtriRT INTO THE funning any risk herself, may at any tiiiltf create a revolt in either of the other por- tions* If this gives lier some influence over her two neighhours, it also tends to alienate them from her friendship, by keeping their jealousy always awake. Nor can there be a doubt, that Prussia in par- ticular, is generally less inclined towards Russia than towards France herself* But^ in truth, the mutual dissensions of these three great powers, upon various grounds^ are of too long standing to leave us any hopes, that a cordial union of them all can be formed for the defence of Europe, be- fore time is given to adopt a conciliatory system, and to sink past differences in oblivion. At present their disunion forms the best security of the enemy. Were France, contrary to all present appear- ance, to shew symptoms of decline ; were her strength to fail suddenly^ and her ap- proaching dissolution to afford hopes to her enemies that the crisis of European subjection was arrived; still she might trust for safety in t'hose discords which the hand STATE OF THE NATION. 17^ of time liad not yet healed ; and looking at the three powers whose relations and resources we have just now been contem- plating, the favourite of fortune might justly exclaim with the Roman patriot in the decline of his country, " Majicat " quaso duretque gentibus, si Jioii amor " nostriy at ccrte ocliwii sui; quando ur- " gentibus imperii fatis, niJiil jam prastare *' fortuna majiis potest qiuim hostium dis^ " cordidm^',^* 5. Having taken a general survey of the present state of our enemy, of his allies, and of those powers which are upon the whole friendly to us ; it may be proper, before concluding this branch of the sub- ject, to consider the relations of England with thefew powers which have preserved a strict neutrality in the present unfortunate contest, more particularly with the United States of America — the chief, indeed the only considerable nation of this descrip- tion. * Tacit De INIor, Gern>. 176 AN INQUIRY INTO TIl£ It is the uniform consequence of a long continued war between the principal states of Europe, that the nations which take no. part in the dispute, are employed to cany on much of the commerce of the bellige- rent countries, with the permission of all parties, and that they also engage in branches of trade which those belligerents wish, if possible, to prohibit. When France and England, for example, are at war, the custom of privateering, or in ge- neral of permitting the vessels of the state to capture merchantmen, renders it dan- gerousfor the English and French traders to sail as often as during peace; and much of the business which they used to carry on must be transferred to the neutral merchants, the Danes or Americans. The mere in- terruption of direct intercourse between the belligerents, imposes the necessity of admitting neutrals to the trade which they used to carry on together, and to the tr:ide which each used to carry on between the other, and third parties. The admis- sion of neutrals to the former branch of commerce, STATE OF THE NATION. 177 commerce, has seldom been objected to, except during the heat of national animo- sity, and even then the objection was di- rected, not against the neutral, but against the other belligerent. The admission of neutrals to the latter branch of commerce, the carrying trade of the one belligerent be- tween the other and third parties, has been restricted by certain rules, tending to pre- vent the neutral from directly assisting the belligerent In his hostile operations. These rules have prohibited the neutral from dealing with the belligerent, In articles im- mediately subservient to military opera- tions, or as they have thence been denomi- nated contraband of war. In order to en- force this law, a right of searching neutral traders at sea has been claimed by belligerent powers, and on some remark- able occasions, submitted to by the go- vernment of the neutral nation. None of these points are at present an object of discussion. Neither the right of search nor the prohibition of contraband, nor the power of blockade, have for some time N 178 AN INQUIRY INTO THE past been called in question. But a branch of ordinary commerce has, during the course of the present war, passed into the liands of neutrals, so important from its extent and so unequally beneficial to the belligerents, from its being confined chiefly to the weaker party, that a disposition has appeared in the councils of the stronger party to dispute the neutral right. In no maritime war before the present has it happened, that the superiority of one party was so decisive as to deprive the other of every chance of keeping the sea. Eng- land may generally have had the better, her fleets may have gained signal advan- tages, and her cruizers or privateers have annoyed the enemy's trade. But still France was not so crippled as to lose all chance of protecting her commerce. She was not so completely beset as to view a voyage and a capture with the same appre- hensions. Accordingly her merchants ran ' the risk, which was not enormous; and continued to freight vessels for 'foreign ports, or to bring home their colonial pro- STATE OF THE NATION, 179 duce, with the chance, hut not the cer- tainty of their being taken. Some part of this commerce fell into the hands of neu- tral traders ; some part was carried on frau- dulently under the cover of the neutral flag: but the risk was not sufficient to make the merchant give up the profit of direct traffic on his own account, with vessels and crews, and flag of his own country. But the un- exampled increase of the English marine, and the almost total ruin of the French navy during the last and present wars, have augmented the risk of capture to the French trader so greatly, that he can no longer undergo it, and must be content to give up much of his traffic to neutrals, and endeavour to screen the rest by fraudulent devices. The unprecedented length of the last war, too, and the renewal of hostilities after so short an interval of peace, has in- creased still further the inducement, or rather the necessity of employing neutral nations, in the commerce formerly carried on by the belligerent alone. For a few years of war the privation of certain articles N 2 180 AH IKQUIRY INTO THE of necessity or luxury may be endured 5 but this becomes at length intolerable, and overcomes every restraint which either go- vernment or the opposing interests of traders can create. Those traders themselves, too, when a war has lasted long, gradually shift their capital into new channels, and with- draw more and more from the hazardous speculations, in which, during a short pe- riod of hostility, they might be contented or compelled to continue. The lines of employment which they thus leave, be- come, in consequence, open to neutrals, who now carry on the various branches of foreign trade, from which they were for- merly excluded. Thus it has happened from the combined effects of our astonishing naval superiority, and the unprecedented length of the war, that almost all the fo* reign commerce of France, and a larg€ proportion even of the coasting trade, have fallen into the hands of neutral nations, and particularly of the Americans, who have the greatest facilities of maritime car- riage, and the mOst rising commercial sys- STATE OF THE NATION. 181 tern. Among other branches of the Frcncli commerce now engrossed by American traders, with the permission of both go- vernments, is that of the colonies. As this trade, during peace, was subject to the strict rules of the Navigation Law, common to all the maritime powers of Europe, a peculiar objection has been taken to its being suddenly laid open by the enemy to neutrals during war, for the evi- dent purpose of screening it from our just hostility. And this interference of the Americans, in order to assist such a scheme, has been supposed inconsistent with the relations of neutrality which their nation professes to maintain. It is in vain, the supporters of the belli- gerent rights contend, that England con- quers the French marine, nay, reduces it almost to annihilation. Her ships of war may be captured, but the commerce of France is safe. She may declare war when she pleases ; and without a ship that can make head to our weakest cruizer, she has a sure method of at once protecting N 3 182 AX INQUmy INTO THE her whole trade, more certainly than if she had the entire CvOmmand of the seas. She has but to suspend her Navigation Law, to adn.it the Americans into her colonial and<:oasting trade, and to fit out no vessel for sea under French colours. The English cruizcrs may domineer over the seas, and yet they are unable to touch a ton of her trade. She has millions floating on the vessels of neutral nations, which no enemy can reach. She reaps the whole benefits of commerce and of colonies without the risks of capture or detention. She may fit out nothing but privateers or cruizcrs to at- tack our trade, and distress our colonies, while her own are beyond the efibrts of our armed vessels. She unites the whole bene- fits of Vvar with all the security of peace. The rule, it is contended, wliich should guide us in this question, as the fairest measure of justice to all parties, is, that neutrals can only take part during war, in such branches of commerce as the domestic regulations of the belligerent allowed them to partake in during peace. This doctrine 3 STATE OF THE NATION". 183 was recognised, we are told, in the war of 1755, and has never since been disputed, though England has frequently departed from its rigour by voluntary concessions. Its policy is as obvious as its justice, say the enemies of the neutral claims. ^Vere the present principle of unlimited neutral trade to be recognized, England might give over every pretension to naval power, aband"on the hope of curbing French com* merce, and despair at once of gaining any thing by a continuance even of the justcst war. Should the support of our maritime rights lead to a rupture with the neutrals, which, however, is said to be most im- probable, we can lose little by such an ad- dition to the number of our enemies, in comparison of the vast detriment which we now sustain, from those neutrals tying up our hands against all the enemies we have to contend with. Better, say they, have America as well as France hos- -tile, and exposed to our fair attacks, than France openly hostile, and America covert- ly protecting her from every effort of our N 4- 184 AK INQUIRY INTO THE enmity. This will give us a chance of speedily terminating the war, or at least secure the opportunity of rendering it both safe and lucrative. Such is the main body of the argu- ment, in favour of the justice as well as the policy of our reviving the rule of the war 1756. The chief point at issue is the application of that rule to the colo- nial trade of the enemy ; and, without at all entering into the question of right, we shall proceed to offer a few simple consi- derations, which may tend to shew that the view of the case, in point of policy, taken by the supporters of the above doc- trine, is by no means a correct one, and that the importance of the whole niatter at issue in the dispute has been enormously exaggerated. The following observations proceed upon the further admission, that the facts stated by the advocates of belli- gerent rights are accurately given, and also that wherever a neutral flag is as- sumed as a cover to the ship and cargo of a belligerent power, so evident a fraud is excepted from the argument. The points STATE OF THE NATION. 185 to be maintained are, that, whatever right Enghmd may have to prevent the interfe- rence of America in the French colonial trade during war, no material advantage could be gained from the enforcement of such a prohibition ; that the real diflerence between the former and the present method of carrying French colonial produce, and supplying the French colonies, is extreme- ly trifling in its ultimate consequences; and that other reasons of a very positive nature enjoin a departure from such claims in the present situation of affairs. To prevent a supply of colonial pro- duce from reaching France, if not direct- ly, at least by a roundabout importation, exceeds the power of the British navy, numerous and victorious as it is. Unless we can surround every port of the French coast with ships, and the land frontiers also with troops; and unless we are still further resolved to prohibit neutral na- tions from trading with France in their own merchandize, or in merchandize of our colonies, the French people must 4 186 AN INQUIRY INTO TH^ continue to be supplied witli sugar and coffee, whetlier we are at war with them or not. If we prevent those articles from being carried directly to France from her colonies, a small increase of the price will enable neutrals to import them into their own countries, and then re-export them to France. If we maintain that the mere importation and re-exportation, though accompanied with re-landing of cargoes and payment of duties, is still a collusive transaction, and must be prohibited, as a continuation of the original voyage; then a further increase of price enables the same produce to reach France in different vessels, while the vessels that imported it take other freights. We in fact only oblige the neutrals to have two sets of vessels, one employed between the French colonies and America, the other between America and France. The total gain of England upon these prohibitory opera- tions, is the causing Frenchmen to drink their coffee some sous a pound dearer, v.hich is a most pitiful advantage to us ; STATE OF THE yATlOX. 187 and creating inconvenience to America, wliich is no advantage at all. But suppose we go a step further, and prevent the Americans from exporting the French colony produce at all, upon the plea that this trade was not open to them during peace ; let us consider what con- sequences will follow. One of three things must happen if such a prohibition is rigorously enforced ; either the French will be compelled to carry their produce in their own ships — or the English will be allowed to purchase it, and then sell it to neutrals in Europe, who will carry it to France — or the produce will be con- demned to remain in the colonies. If the French venture at first to freight their own vessels with the produce, the British cruizers will infallibly take them, or at least the risk of capture, which made the French throw open this traffic to neutrals, will continue to be so enormous, that neither theplantcr nor the merchantcan af- ford it. This expedient will therefore speedi^ ly be abandoned. If the English traders arc 188 AN INQUIRY IXTO THE allowed to purchase and carry the pro- duce, it may be remarked, that such a proceeding, such an intercourse with the enemy, would be contrary to all the ge- neral rules of war, and would be a com- promise of our character for the gain of the trade. But, after all, what great na- tional end would be gained by such" a com- merce ? The French would pay somewhat higher for the produce than if neutrals carried it ; and a few English merchants would gain a certain commission upon the sale of it. The capital required to carry on this new and suddenly created branch of ^ trade, would leave other branches in "which it had formerly been employed ; and those branches would be filled by the capital of neutral nations. At a peace, a new change would be necessary, the ca- pital must partlyshift back again, and must in part be thrown out of employment al- together. Such changes are ratlicr upon the whole hurtful than beneficial in a general view. Lastly, if the produce of the French colonies is prevented from '?* STATE OF THE NATION. 189 being exported, it must rot there, and the colonies must be ruined ; the supplies of provisions must fail ; the work of the plantations be suspended ; the Negroes revolt, and the whole be involved in ruin. Besides the cruelty of such a plan, besides its total repugnance to the practice of civilized warfare, which never attacks pri- vate property except at sea ; the evils of this system would be shared by ourselves, not only from the loss of customers, which we should feel when so much wealth and industry was destroyed in the country of our nearest neighbours, but also from the incalculable dangers of having scenes of rebellion and confusion in the immediate vicinity of our finest colonies. The plan therefore of preventing all exportation of French colonial produce, though the only consistent one in those who attack neutral rights, and the point to which all their sup- port of the rule of the war 1756 neces- sarily leads them, is clearly objectionable on the most established principles, both of policy and justice. 190 AT>f IXdUIRY INTO THfc There is, moreover, a very essential dis- tinction to be made, between the ordinary- branches of trade and that commerce which is employed in transporting the produce of the colonics to the mother country ; which is rather the remittance of their rents to the great body of non-resident proprietors, than the exchange of colonial for European commodities. If Guadaloupe or Cuba were countries unconnected with France and Spain, except by the intercourse of traffic; if no further relation subsisted between them, than that the Weft Indian territories produced commodities, which the European nations required, and must either purchase directly, or procure by a roundabout com- merce — then it might be of some import- ance, according to the views with which maritime war is now carried on, for Eng- land to harass this branch of Spanish and French trade, and to profit by taking it into liecowp hands. The people of Cuba and Guadaloupe would then be paid for their produce by English merchants, and France and Spain would be obliged to buy them circuitously from England. But STATE OF THE NATION. 19^ t])Is is by no means the nature of the navi- gation between those islands and Europe. The proprietors of the colonies reside al- most entirely in the mother countries. The carriage of: West Indian produce, is not on account of merchants, who are to sell it again after having bought it in the colony, but on account of absent land- holders, who have no other way of re- ceiving their rents but by having the pro- duce of their estates brought over to them. They live not at their farm, but at the market ; and their income is transmitted in goods, which they there dispose of. Now by intercepting this communica- tion, what would England effect ? She can- not intend to stop it altogether, to prevent the colonial agents from sending any of their revenue to the proprietors, or to in- tercept it on the way. This would be a kind of warfare quite contrary to the spi- rit of modern customs ; it would be more hurtful to individuals than the entire cap- ture of the colonies where their estates lie, for in that case the conquerors never in- terfere with private property, and only 192 AN INQUIRY INTO THE carry the rents of the planter round for them by a channel somewhat more circuit- ous. England, then, by interfering in the remittance of those rents, without capturing the enemy's colonics, can only mean to trade with the planters, to purchase the produce, and bring it home, where it will be sold again, and reach at last the con- sumer in the enemy's country, while the agents of the proprietors remit their rents, not in kind, but in money or bills. The same ctfect will be produced, if, instead of buying the produce, we only cause it to be consigned to English merchants, who, for a certain commission, sell it, and ac- count to the planter or his agents. In either case, the colonial proprietor loses absolutely nothing. His produce is carried by English, instead of French or American merchants ; the freight cannot be much greater ; the commission will probably be less ; he is paid by bills upon London or Liverpool, instead of Bourdeaux or Nantes, or New York ; and a few mercantile houses in England gain a profit upon the consign- ment instead of the same number of French STATt OF THE NATiOJfi 193 or American houses. Surely it is neither for the ganis of these individuals, nor for the sake of effecting such a chahge as this upon the wealth of French colonial pro- prietors, that wc are to insist on the exclu- sion of neutrals from the colony trade of our enemies. We injure the enemy suf- ficiently by forcing those neutrals to carry the produce round by their own ports, in- stead of allowing it to be transported di- rectly from the colony to the mother coun- try, as during peace* This may raise the price of the goods to the consumer in the enemy's country; to the planter, who is most interested in the traffic, we can do no injury whatever, unless we can take the colonies where his estate lies, and then choose to violate the rights of indiyiduajl proprietors ^5 or until we discover a method of compelling people to ship cargoes in vessels which are absolutely certain of being captured. If we can only look calmly at the whole bearings of this question, we shall discover that the advantages which th,e enemy de- o 19^ AN IXQUIRY INTO THE rives iVom the assistance of neutrals in car- rying on his colonial remittances, and all the other branches of his distant commerce, are by no means unmixed with serious in- juries to his prosperity, and that the neu- tral flag can by no means cover him from the effects of our maritime superiority. In the Jirst place, the superiority of our navy, which forces him as soon as a war breaks out, to employ neutrals in almost every branch of his commerce, has the obvious effect of creating a great shock to his mercantile affairs. Nothing is more to be dreaded in a trading country, than such sudden and extensive changes as this. Scarcely a merchant in France but must feel the consequences of our instantly transferring all the navigation of the coun- try to the hands of neutrals, and compel- ling its foreign imports and exports to be entirely carried on circuitously, instead of directly. What should we not expect in this country, if, by the sudden occurrence .of any event, our whole foreign, and part of our coasting trade were thus new mo- delled, and, if by the occurrence of an- JT^ATE OF THE NATION. VJ5 other event a few years afterwards, it were as suddenly to be drawn back to its former state ? We should undoubtedly tremble for the whole mass of our commercial esta- blishment; and if France were as mercan- tile a country as England, she too would be nearly ruined by so violent a succession of chanoes. In the secojid place, the total suspension of the enemy's navigation is an injury of the greatest moment to his general povver. It is precisely the sort of injury most de* sirable to our own interests, and the natu* ral consequence of our naval superiority^ AVhile neutral ships and seamen alone are employed in carrying on the commerce of France, her only nursery of maritime power is destroyed ; she loses her whole chance of gaining a navy ; she can neither procure a stock of merchant vessels nor breed a race of seamen to man her ships of war. We are told indeed, that theexclu - sion of her seamen from trade, gives her a great command of recruits for her vessels of \\'ar ; but is this any thing more than a mere temporary supply ? When the Eng- o2 1<76 AS INQUIRY INTO THE llsh navy lias taken or destroyed the crews thus procured, or when, in a few years, they have died out, whence are their places to he supplied ? The trade of France must revive, it mu^t be re-established for some years, before her navy can be placed on the footing which it had when the neutrals began to lend her their assistance, by engrossing her foreign commerce. The ruin of all her hopes of ever acquiring ma- ritime strength is as effectually secured by our naval superiority drivingher trade into neutral hands, as it could be by our pre- venting her from trading at all. And let it be remembered that this is all the injury which it is our interest to make her feel from the war. The destruction of an enemy's trade is not to be desired, in order to annihilate his national wealth. By the individual prosperity of his subjects we ourselves gain ; by their progress in riches we improve our own; and though his pub- lic revenue may be augmented by the increase of his public wealth, we must ne- cessarily augment our own revenue by the increase which our wealth receives from STATE OF THE XATIOX. 197 Ills. It is tlie '* terra pofcns armis^* tlial we Iiave to diead, not the " ubcre glcbic'" It is his progress in arms, not in art<, that is formidable ; and there cannot be ii doubt that an expedient which renders him richer and \Aeakcr — which augments the opulence of his people, and makes them harmless to their neighbours — which preserves their trade, but stunts the growth of theii" navy — is of all otliers the contriv- ance be^l suited to our interests. The surrender of tlie Frencli commerce to the neutral nations, is this expedient. It ])re- serves whatever of that conniierce is bene- ficial to England, aiul destroys whatever might injure us; it gives us all the ad- vantages of a rich neighbour, and all the security of a weak one. This is the re- ward of our unexampletl naval superiority ; it !■> the glorious liuit of our numerous victories ; it r a hcnellt which provides of itself the means of retaining it ; it is a prize which v\'e shall a<:puredly lose, as soon as we surrender by our impolicy the commrrrial giratnci^ that make^ u^ igS AN INQUIRY INTO THE powerful at sea. We may prevent it from passing into the hands of France, indeed ; but some other nation must take it from us, if we sacrifice our real prosperity to a foolish jealousy of the good as well as the bad ; a shortsiglited desire of annihilat- ing the advantageous with the dangerous branches of our rival's commerce. But, liistly, the operation of our mari- time power upon the naval affairs of the enemy, besides destroying that part of his system which alone it is our interest to injure, confers important benefits npon those whom it is our interest to assist. Not only does the ruin of the French na\y, by the neutral interference, produce the greatest injury to the government of France, with which alone we ought to be at war, without ruining the unofiending and peaceable inhabitants, whom we should have no spite against ; but it transfers a large portion of commercial wealth, and a capacity of acquiring maritime power, to nations naturally allied to us, by blood, by the relations of political interest, and by STATE OF THE NATION", ICjQ the Intercourse of trade. The Americans, in particular, with wlioni our most ex- tensive and hicrative traffic is carried on, and whose friendship in a pohtical view we ought to court, as the only respectable state beyond the influence of our enemy, are gainers by the commerce in question, to an astonishing degree, both as a mercantile and military people. How much their commercial gains are our gains, need scarcely be pointed out ; neither need we shew how greatly it is for the advantage of England, and of the world in general, that what the French power loses should pass into the hands of a state where no undue bias, either to- wards schemes of ambition, or measures of submission to the common enemy, has ever been shewn — a state where so many circumstances concur to establish the in- fluence of English principles and con- nexions ; where the other powers of the continent, without having any ground for alarm, may always expect to find assist- ance, as soon as its means are commensu* rate with its inclinations. 200 A?f INQUIRY INTO THE It Is ill vain, then, to represent tlic neutral trade as a complete security to our enemies, against the effects of our mari- time superiority, Tlie injuries which it is our intere.'^t to inflict upon France, are in no wise diminished by the interference of America in her commerce. The French navy is destroyed by ours, and the chance of restoring it may be considered as at an end, during the war. The revenue of France, in so far as it depends upon colonial pro- duce, we might wish to cut off, but we cannot ; for so long as the French people have a taste for that produce, and money to pay for it, they will buy it : it will enter France, and pay duties to the government. The commercial prosperity of France we have no interest to destroy* but if we had, we could not, and the transference of the, trade to neutral carriers, must always pro* tect it in one way or another, when a long war, and a total ruin of their naval force, compels the French to embrace this last alternative, as the only chance that is left of importing and exporting commodities, \ STATE OF THE NATION. 201 A further ground of objection to the Americans has been urged with consider- able popular effect. Tlieir merchantmen, it seems, are now manned, in a great de- gree, by deserters from the Britisii navy. While the emigration of seamen into their service prevents England from putting her ships of war in commission, the Americans are ready to establish a formidable marine upon the ruins of ours, for the maintenance of their disputed claims. — It happens, liow- ever, to be the necessary consequence of our situation, that such an emigration should take place. The similarity of lan- guage and manners, which determines the ordinary course of emigration towards Ame- rica from this country, has a similar eiTect upon the emigration of our seamen. The higher wages too, of the American service, and still more, the total freedom from pressgangs, which it enjoys, cannot fail to attract a great number of men from our merchant vessels during a war. But how can this possibly be prevented ? No re- gulation of the government can alter the -^ C02 AX INQUIUy INTO THE manners of America, nor make our mer- chants raise their wages, in order to retain subjects for the impress service. Nor do we seem willing to abolish tliat mode of supplying our navy, which would pro- bably, if coupled with a rise of v/ages, have the desired effect. It is said, however, that we may insist upon a right of searching all Ame- rican vessels at sea, and impressing the British seamen found in them. Do we mean, then, to deny to our sailors alone, of air classes of the people, a right to leave the country, and seek employment in the territories of friendly powers ? It is hurt- fulto the commerce of the country, that artisans should go to America and Russia, and we have various laws on our statute book, the fruits of a mistaken policy, framed with a view of preventing such an emigration. But no one can propose, nt the present day, to extend such pro- hibitions, and still less was it ever in contemplation to reclaim tlie artisans who had actually gone away and settled in foreign countries. A sailor working STATE OF THE NAT I OX. i203 hi an American ship, is only in the predicament of a farmer cuUivaling an American plantation ; and the search of the ship for the purpose of seizing tlie saiior, woukl be an act of as violent ag- gression, as the search of the country for the seizure of the farmer. Tiie only diffe- rence between the cases, is, that we haj)- pen to have the power in the former, and not in the latter. But by going to war wilh America, we may prevent the further emigra- tion of our seamen, and acquire a right to reclaim those who arc already gone. By turning all our vessels into armed cruizers too, and engaging in an imiversal piracy, we might still I'urther enrich our- selves. AVe have the first navy and bravest people in the world. Wc may take the sea, as France has seized upon the land ; and thus find our profit in ])referring war with the whole world, to peace with a single nation, which has rights and advan- tages repugnant to our supposed interests. — After all, however, laying justice out of the question, is it our real interest to 204f AN INQUIRY I,NTO THE quarrel with the only power which remains unhurt by Frencli ^fluence, to lose our intercourse with the nation best calculated for our commercial relations. At this mo- ment, France and America seem of them- selves disposed to a rupture; and possibly, before this time, war is declared bv the United States against Spain. Ought we not to think well both of the consequences of the contest, and of the value of the matter in dispute, before we abandon so fiiir an opportunity of adding America to the number of our allies, and of establish- ing our influence there, upon the only du- rable foundation of alliances, mutual sa- crifices, and mutual benefits: The trivial importance of all that could be gained by excludino; the neutral traders from the ene- my's commerce, has already been shewn. No words arc required to prove, that the blanks occasioned by some sailors leaving our service will speedily be filled up ; that the number of British ^camcn at the end of a given p(Mlod will be greater, in conse- quence of our breeding for the American navy, ju^t as the number of our people is STATE OF THE NATION. 205 on the whole augmented by the demand for men, which our colonies create. We may feel some inconvenience in the mean time, from the progress of the ene- my's commerce, and tlie desertion of our seamen to neutral powers. Tnit our gene- ral policy can never surely be modelled accordingtosuch temporary considerations. The evils or difficulties in question, are the necessary consequences of the long war in which ue have been engaged. They are part of that succession which the new ad- ministration have fallen heirs to — a suc- cession made up of all the dangers and dif- ficulties, which a long course of misma- nagement and misfortune has accumulated upon the coimtry. We have now taken a general survey of the relations of England with foreign powers, and have viewed in detail the hopelessness of her «;ituation, if she stili 3 2()5 AX IXQUIKY INTO THE persists in building upon the chance of an immediate resistance to the influence ot' France. Very few words are required, to deduce from the investigation v^hich has just been closed, tlie lessons of political conduct pointed out by the experience of the past, and by the actual state of affairs. That the high, unbending, unaccommo- dating tone, which we have been accus- tomed to hold ail over the world, and which the personal behaviour of our foreign ministers has generally rendered still more unpalatable, is in the extreme foolish at all times, and particularly unfit for the present aspect of things, needs not be proved by a single argument, or illustrated by one example. Nor is it less obvious, that the feelings and the language of con- ciliation, of moderate views, of calm and temperate dignity to our enemies, of friendly sincerity and frankness to our allies, are the feelings and the language most subservient at all times to our highest interests ; most consistent with our true honour; and most agreeable to the situation STATE OF THE NATION. 207 in which the affairs of Europe, as well as of England, arc placed in the present crisis. The whole' concerns of this great and invincible people are now committed to the care of an administration which unites the largest portion of talents, experience, rank, and integrity ; the most ample share of all the qualities, whether natural or acquired, intrinsic or accidental, which ever enabled a government to secure influ- ence with its subjects, and command respect among foreign nations. The ministers have taken upon themselves the management of public affairs, at a juncture of unprece- dented difficulty and peril. For all the errors of their predecessors, in peace and in war, at home and abroad, they have become in some sort responsible. The na- tural consequences of those errors must be warded off by their efforts. No compro- mise of principles, no paltry, half mea- sures, no incongruous mixture of big words and little doings, will bear thera out in redeeming their pledge to save the coun- 208 AS INQUIRY IN" 10 THE try. The world will judge fairly, how- ever, of their conduct, while it scrutinizes their measures strictly. Miracles will not be expected from them ; and in all the departments of our national concerns, the mairnitude of the losses which have al- ready been sustained— the extent of the dangers which at present surround us, from no fault of theirs, will be justly taken into the estimate of their attempts to bet- ter our condition. There are, it is true, some reforms in our practical policy which the inquiry now concluded, has plainly dictated, and which will peremptorily be expected from the new administration. Wc may expect that the Important branch of our intercourse with foreign nations will be entrusted to men of talents and acquirements, adapted to so weighty and ditTicult a department of alTaIrs ; that we shall now see extended to those situations of high trust upon which depend the alliances, nay, the questions of peace and war with our neigh- bours, the same enlightened principles of STATE OF THE NATION. 209 preference for real merit and tried inte- grity, that has presided over the formation of the new ministry in all its other branches. — A careful review of our colo- nial affairs forms another fair subject of expectation at the present crisis. Nothing can be more gratifying than the beginnings whicli have already been made, towards the attainment of security for our esta- blishments in the West Indies ; a security which can only be attained, by the utter destruction of the grand evil that hourly endangers our existence in those rich set- tlements, and the gradual relaxation of the prohibitory system, that has produced of late so many serious inconveniences.-^ The state of affairs in the East is no less delicate and urgent. By an unhappy de- parture from the only system of manage- ment which can give us a chance of secu- rity, amidst the rivals of our power, and the natural enemies of our enormous empire in those distant countries, we have arrived at a point where it is difficult to determine whether the pursuit of the path before us. 1210 AV INQUIRY INTO THE or the retracing of our steps, be attended with the greatest perils. Our measures, unfortunately successful at first, have now produced their natural effects ; and even the external circumstance of military triumph has begun to forsake us ; while the whole consequences of our impolicy, in the ruin of our Indian finances, the ex- tension of our untenable conquests, the union of our implacable enemies, hitherto happily for us divided among themselves, have been exhibited by symptoms too plain to be mistaken. The details of these questions belong to another branch of this Inquiry. The subject is only alluded to here, as an additional presumption in fa- vour of the moderate and pacific system, which every other view of our present situation concurs to recommend. — Neither is this the opportunity for discussing the various questions of domestic policy, which now press upon the attention of govern- ment. Yet, when by the most general survey of our situation in this<3epartment, we discover such radical defects in our STCATE OF THE NATION. Sil military system as were formerly liinted at, we may deduce a new argument in filvour of the reforms which the country has a right to expect; the improvement of our miHtary economy confessedly inade- quate to the emergency ; and the adop- tion of such moderate councils, as may give the requisite time for carrying that improvement into effect. — The state of our finances, the burthens to which the peo- ple have long been exposed, the accumu- lation of our debts, lead to the same con- clusion. — Moderate councils are still more strongly recommended by the situation of Ireland ; the difficulty of adopting at pre- sent the great measure so desirable for the prosperity of that valuable dominion ; and the propriety of taking all the steps short of complete emancipation, which may as- similate the catholics with the rest of the people. An interval of peace would, in- deed, be invaluable for that important branch of our empire ; nor can a doubt be entertained that it would be improved in the way best adapted to restore real con- p 2 212 AN INQUIRY INTO THE tentment and substantial obedience by the confidence and kind treatment which can alone establish solid authority — " Tn- " umpho multo clarius est, senatuvi judicare, *' potius mmsuetudme et innocentid impC' " i^atoris, pj'ovmciam, qiiani vl iniiitum aut " benlgnitate deonim releritam atqiie con- " servatain esse,""^ It is, indeed, abundantly clear, that the state of our affairs, domestic as well as fq*. reign, enjoins a strict regard to the conci- liatory system in general, and prepares us more especially to expect in such a peace as may be consistent with our real honour* the highest advantages both to our own in- terests and those of Europe at large. With regard to the continent it has already been demonstrated, that nothing but mischief can possibly accrue from a renewal of the late unhappy war. What then \s likely to result from things remaining in their pre- sent unsettled state ? Will the enemy, so long as we refuse to give him peace, so long as we prevent our allies from treat- * Catonis Epist. apud Cic. Ep. lib. xv. STATE OF THE NATION. ^13 ing, SO long as wc do not use our influence to bring about a negotiation — will he ab- stain from reaping the thousand advan*- tages of his present situation? Will he submit to all the evils of warfare and forego' all its gains? Will he unite in his plan all the losses of war and all the constraints of peace ? This would be too close an imi- tation of our own conduct with regard to Spain. Unhappily we cannot expect to be imitated in our European tactics. Our East Indian policy will suit him better. Pie will go on conquering such of our allies as continue hostile ; uniting with those whom he may intimidate, or allure to share in the plunder of the rest ; stretching his creations of kings over the North of Ger- many ; aggrandizing those whom he has made in the South ; extending his domi- nion in Italy over the islands, and from Italy striding onwards to the East. *' Jam tenet Italiam, tamen ultra pergere tendit f' Actum, inquit, nihil cst.^'* To all this prospect of loss, from a sense- Jess prolongation of a war which has un- * Juven. •214 AN INQUIRY INTO THE fortunately reached its natural conclusion, the enemies of peace can only oppose certain vague, indefinite fears, of the dan- gers with which they conceive a peace to be pregnant. First they imagine that good or even fair terms cannot be ex- pected ; then they think the enemy will not be sincere ; next, they dread his taking the opportunity of recruiting his resources, and especially of restoring his navy ; lastly, they expect that he will take us by surprize, and attack us when he is sure to succeed. In all these apprehensions, however, there is a great deal of misconception, and no small Incon- sistency. As to the terms, we must first see what he offers. It is indeed very evident, that we cannot expect such favourable conditions for the Continent, as if we had not plunged it into the late war, and occa- sioned the ruin of Austria, the conquest of Naples, and the aggrandisement of France and her dependencies. We cannot hope such terms as the present Administration would have gained, had it been formed two years ago. But it is equally clear. STATE OF THE ''\TI0N. 215 that if the enemy finds his advantage in peace (and if he does not, we need neither expect it nor desire it) and if he estimates, as he must, the high spirit and unconquerable valour of this country, he will make no proposals which can disho- nour us. He will even tempt us to over- come our repugnance towards him, and our contempt of his new authority, by some favourable concessions. — ^Then, with regard to his sincerity, we may safely con- clude that the same motive which leads him to think of making a peace, will in- duce him to keep it — the motive of inte- rest — for what can he gain by a transient peace, except the paltry cession of a few islands, which we shall always be able to retake, with the troops and shipping he may send thither, so long as our marine is supe- rior to his. — Next, as to his recruiting his resources, and particularly his navy, this he most undoubtedly will attempt to do. We must lay our account with it. We mean to recruit our own army, and he must lay his account with that. But does it follow. 216 ' I AX INQ\>^dY INtO THL that he will be abiC to acquire a navy equal to ours during the peace ? Where are his seamen ? Where are his officers and pilots ? Where are his Nelsons ? Should the peace last for ten years', which is unfortunately a high estimate, how much would England gain in her commerce, her hnances, her colonial and domestic economy, her mili- tary system, her foreign policy i And France, too, would gain somewhat in se- veral of these particulars. Her trade would increase, and she would acquire colonial establishments. Would not this make her much less warlike? Would it not be utterly incompatible with the military conscrip- tion, the most formidable feature in her present aspect ? Would it not render her less military in peace, and more averse to war, the greatest of evils to a mercantile and colonial nation ? But could her navy in ten, or even twenty years of peace possibly grow up so as to match our own ? Should we not at the end of such a happy period, enter upon the war with our com- merce augmented, our finances cleared STATE OF THE NATION. 217 from debt, our wealth more able to supply our necessities, our navy more numerous? And would not this be the very same thing with beginning a new scries of brilliant victories over the navy of our enemies ? Besides, with the restoration of our conti- nental relations and the improvement of our army, might we not fairly expect even success on shore, as well as at sea ? Why is not France averse to peace from her fears of our commerce increasing, and our army being established on a new system ? Why then should we, who are as courageous as herself, dread the progress of her trade and the re-establishment of her marine ? But to all such fears one answer may be given — they prove too much — they prove that peace can never be made, if they dissuade us from making it now ; they have no application to this particular time, they are apprehensions of all times, and they go to involve the world in one eternal war*. * Though no authority is requisite to prove that the po- sition is absurd which leads to such a conclusion, it may be Q ^18 AN INQUIRY INTO THE Let US hope that the wise men, who are now happily placed at the head of the state, will judge better, as they see more clearly than such desponding and narrow views permit the multitude to do ; that they will justly estimate the sum of af- fairs, nor timidly shut their eyes to the misfortunes in which they have found the country ; that with all their efforts to carry on a vigorous war, they will keep in mind how peculiarly the great end of all warfare is desirable at the present crisis, for our allies as well as for ourselves ; that, without abandoning one point which the honour of England requires them to main- tain, they will abjure all those false notions of honour, by which nothing but eteri^al hostility with all the world can ever be obtained ; and that, whether we arc to be blessed with peace, or compelled to pre- proper to i-emark that INIr. Burke, in the inidst of his ctle- bratcd arguments for war with the French Repubhc, quotes Vattel in order to shew that, if a belhgerent power fails repeatedly in obtaininf^ the object of the war, it must at length " give peace to its people^ nor wage-eternal hosU-r lilies." Burke, vii. 20D. Vattel, B. ii. cliap. xii. 7 STATE OF THE NATION. 219 pare for new battles, they will pursue those plans of moderate and salutary re- form in the various branches of our na- tional policy, without which no glory, no safety, not even the inheritance of a name will remain for England. APPENDIX. ^Treaty of Concert between his Majesty and the Emperor of all tfie Rusbias, iigned at St. Petersburgh, the nth of April 1803. (Usual Preamble.) Art. I. a S the state of suffering in which Europe is placed, de- l\. mands speedy remedy, their Majesties the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Emperor of all the Russias, have mutually agreed to consult upon the means of putting a stop thereto, •without waiting for fartlicr encroachments on the part of the French government. They have agreed In consequence, to employ the most speedy and most efficacious means to form a general league of the States of Europe, and to engage them to accede to the present concert : and to engage them, in order to accomplish the end proposed, to collect together a force, which, indepandently of the succours furnished by his Britannic Majesty, may amount to live hun- dred thousand effective men ; and to employ the same with energy, in order to induce or to compel tiie French government to agree to the re-establishment of peace and of the equilibrium of Europe. Ar r. 2. The object of this league will be to carry into effect what is proposed by the present concert, namely ; (aj The evacuation of the country of Hanover and of the north of Germany. fbj The establishment of the independence of the Republics of Holland and Switzerland. (c) The re-establishment of the King of Sardinia in Piedmont with as large an augmentation of territory as circum-tances will permit. (J) The future security of the kingdom of Naples, and the com- plete evacuation of Italy, the island of Elba included, by the French forces. (ej The establishment of an order of things in Europe, which may effectually guarantee the security and independence of the different States, and present a solid barrier against future usurpations. Art. 3. His Britannic Majesty, in order to concur efficaciously on his side to the happy effects of the present concert, engages to contri- bute to the common efforts, by employing his forccj both by sea and land, as well as his vessels adapted for transporting troop<, in such manner as shall be determined upon in the general plan of operations ; his Majesty will moreover assist the different powers who shall accede thereto by subsidies, the amount of which shall correspond to the respec- tive forces which sluU be employed ; and in order that the said pecu- A U APPENDIX. nlary succours may be proportioned in the manner most conducive to the general good, and to assist the power-; in proportion to the exer- tions they may make to contribute to the common luccess, it is agreed that these subsidies (barring parti ular arrnngements, shall be furnished in the proportion of ore million two htmdred aad fifty thousand pounds sterling, for each hundred thousand men of regular troops, and so in proportion for a greater or smaller number, payable according to the conditions herein after specified. Art. 4. The said subsidies shall be payable by instalments, from month to month, in proportion to the forces which each power ^hall employ in pursuance of its engagements, to combat the common enemy, and according to the official report of the armies employed at the opening of the campaign, and of the several reinforcements which may join them. An arrangement shall be made in conformity with the plan of operations, which shall be forthwith regulated as to the period when these subsidies shall begin to be paid, and the mode and place of payment shall be settled, so as to suit the convenience of each of the belligerent parties. I lis Britannic Majesty wih likewise be prepared to advance within the current year, a sum for putting the troops in motion. This sum shall be settled by particular a'rangements to be entered into by each pow#r, who shall take part in this concert ; but his said Ma- jesty understands that the whole of the sums to be furnished to any power within the current year, as well on account of the said advance as for the monthly subsidies, is in no case to exceed the proportion of one million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, for every hundred thousand men. Art. 5. The high contracting parties agree that the different mem- bers of the league shall respectively be permitted to retain accredited persons with the commanders in chief of the dliferent armies, to carry on the correspondence, and to attend to the military operations. Art. 6. Their Majesties agree, that in the event of a league being formed, such as is pointed out in the first article, they will not make peace with France but by the common consent of all the powers who shall become parties in the said league ; and also that the continental powers shall not recal their forces before the peace ; moreover, his Britannic Maje ty engages to continue the payment of the subsidies during the continuance of the war. Art. 7. I'he pre-ent concert which is mutually acknowledged by the high cr;.t.acting parties to be equi'ly valid and binding as the most solenui treaty, shall be ratified by his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and by his Majesty the Empe- ror of all the Russias, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at St. Petersburgh within the space ot ten weeks, or sooner, if possible. In testimony whereof, &c. &c. (L.S.) Granville Lf.veson Gowxr. (L.S.) Adam Prince CzARTORTSKi. (L.S.) Nicolas DE NovossiLzoEF. I APPENDIX, No. I. (A.) i'ir-.t separate Article of the Treaty of Concert between his Majesty and the Emperor of Prussia, signed at St. Pctersburgh, nth April — 30tb March, 1805. HIS Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, having made known to his Britannic Majesty his arrangements with their Majesties the Em- peror of Germany and the King; of Sweden, his Britannic Majesty engages to fulfil his stipulations of the present Treaty of Concert to- wards each of these Powers, if, in the space of four months, reckoning from tlie day of the signature of the present Instrument, both those Powers, or one of them, shall have caused their forces to act against Prince by virtue of the engagements they have taken with his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias. This separate Article shall have the same force and validity as if it wcrcinsertedwordfor word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and shall be ratified at the same time. In witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveson Gower. (L. S.) Adam Prince Czartoryski, (L. S.) NicoLAs DE NovossiLzorr. No. I. (B.j Fourth separate Article of the Treaty of Concert between his Majefty and the Emperor of Russia, signed at St. Petersburgh, nth April— aoth March, 1805. THE collecting of 500,000 men mentioned in Article I. of theTreaty *»f Concert signed this day, not being so easy as it is desirable, their Majesties have agreed that it should be carried into execution as soon as it should be possible to oppose to France an active force of 400,000 men composed in the following manner; Austria will supply 250,000 rtien, Russia not less than 117,000 men, independently of the levies made by her in Albania, in Greece, &c.; and the remainder of the 400,000 will be made up by the troops of Naples, Hanover, Sardinia, and others. This separate Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, ^nd shall be ratified at the same time. In witness whereof, &c. &c. (L, S.) Granville Leveson Gower, Adam Prince Czartortskx. Nicolas de NovossitzofF, (L. S.] (L. S.j A » 1? APPEN6IX. No. I. (C.) Fifth separate Article of the Treaty of Concert between his Majesty and the Emperor of Russia, signed at St. Pctersburgh, nth April— 30th March, i8oj. HIS Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias engages also to march aS soon as possible an army of not less than sixty thousand men to the frontiers of Austria, and also another of not less than eighty thousand men to the Prussian frontiers, to be ready to co-operate with the said courts in the proportion established by the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and to support them respectively in case they should be attacked by France, who might suppose them to be engaged in some negotiation tending towards an object contrary to her views; but it is understood, that independently of the one hundred and fifteen thousand men, which his Imperial Majesty of all the Russias will cause to act against the French, he will keep bodies of reserve and observation upon h'u frontiers. It is moreover agreed, that as the forces promised by his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, shall all, or in part, quit the frontiers of his empire, his Britannic Majesty will pay them the subsidies at the rate established by the present Treaty of Concert, until the return of the said forces to their homes ; and moreover, the equivalent of three months of subsidy as a Premiere mise en Campagiis. The Rus ian troops already stationed at the Seven Islands, or which may be intended to be transported thither, will not enjoy the advan- tage of the subsidies and of the Premiere mise en Ca?npagne, stipulated in the present Article, before the day of their leaving the Seven Islands ta commence their operations against the French. This separate Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and shall be ratified at the same time. In witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveson Govter. (L. S.) Ad.^m Prince CzARTORYSKi, (L. 5.) Nicolas DE NovossiLzofr. No. I (D.) :^ixth separate Article of the Treaty of Concert between his Majesty and the Emperor of Russia, signed at St. Peter^burgh, nth April— 30th March, 1805. HIS Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias being dispo'^^ed to form an energetic Concert, with the sole view of insuring to Europe a lasting and solid peace, founded upon the principles of justice, equity, and the law of nations by which they are constantly guided, are aware of the "necessity of a mutual understanding at this time upon several principles, which they will evince in pursuance of a previous Concert, as toon as the events of the war may render it necessary. APPENDIX. t These principles are, in no degree to controul tlie public opinion in France, or in any other countries, where the combined armies may carry on their ope.ations, with respect to the form of government which it may be proper to adopt ; nor to appropriate to themselves, till a peace should be concluded, any of the conquests made by one or the other of the belligerent parties ; and to take possession of the towns and the territories which may be wrested from the common enemy in the name of the country or states to which by acknowledged right they be'.onjr, and in all other cases, in the name of all the members of the league ; and finally, to assemble, at the termination of the war, a general congress, to discuss and fix the provisions of the law of nnticns, on a more determined basis than unfortunately has hitherto been practicable ; and to insure their observance by the establishment of a federative system calculated upon the situation of the different State* ©f Europe. 1 his separate Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were in-erted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and shall be ratified at the same time. Jn witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Le^eson Gower, (L. S.) Adam Prince Czartoryski. (L. S.) NlCOI-AI DE NOVOSSILZOFF. No. I. (E.) Eighth Separate Article. IT being possible that the bias which the French government tries tp give to the counsels of the different States of Europe, may determine one or other of those States to throw obstacles in the way of the attainment of the salutary effects which are the object of the present Concert, and even to have recourse to hostile measures against one of the high contracting; parties, in spite of their endeavours to establish an equitable and permanent order of things in Europe, his Britannic Majesty and his Majesiy the Emperor of all the Russias agree to make common cause against every power, which, by the employment of its forces, or by too intimate an union with France, may pretend to raise essential obstacles to the development of those measures which the high contracting parties may have to take, in order to attain the object proposed by the present Concert. This separate Article shall have the same force and validity, as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and shall be ratified at the same time. (n witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveson Gower. (L.S.I Adam Prince Czartoryski. (L.S.) Nicolas bk Novossilzoff. APPENDIT. No. I (t.) Eleventh Separate Article.- THE Hhh Contracting Parties, acknov.ledj^ing the necessity of supporting the propositions of peace, whivh it is their intention to make to Bonaparte by energetic demon-trations, have resolved to invite his Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty to put his armies in a state of readiness for action without delay, by completing their numbers, and by concentrating them in the neighbourhood of the borders of France. His Britannic Majesty, considering the extraordinary expences wbich this measure will render n-C ss-iry, promises and engages to furni>h to his Imperial and Royal Maje ty, immediately after his accession to the present Concert, the sum of one million of pounds -terling for Premiere tnise en Charrparne, which the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland will not reclaim, in ca^e the negoti.ttions for peace should be crowned with succe.-s, provided that, in a contrary event, Austria would take the field immediately. This separate Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, aiid shall be ratified at the same time. In witness i^rhcreof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveson Gower. (L. S) Adam Prince Czartcryskj. (L. S) Nicolas Di NovossiLZOFF. No. I. (G.) Separate and Secret Article. ALTHOUGH the High Contracting Parties have agreed by the ftrst separate Article of the Trtr.ty of Concert eitabllsheu this day be- tween them, that Austria and Sweden shall not partake of the advan- tages of the said Concert but in the event of their bringing their forces into action against France, four months after its signature, by virtue of their efgagements with his Majesty the tmperor of all the Russias ; yet his Britannic Maje ty, considering the advantage to the future security of Europe, which re ult- from an union similar to that formed bv his Majes'y the Emperor of all the Russias with their Maje ties the Emperor of Germany and the Kins; of .Sweden, for the purpose of oppoing the further cncroathm.nt^ of Bonaparte, promises to fulfil the stipulations of the present Concert, in the same de«.rec towards either of those po\vers, if, in the course of the year 1805, both or one of them should bring their forces into action again, t France, in virtue of their cngtigcmcnti with his Majesty the tmperor i;f all the Rusias. This separate and 'ccret Article shall have the same force ar.d validity as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty of Concert signed this day, and shall be ratified at the same time. \a witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveso.n Gowfr. (L. S.) Adam Prince CzAR70RvsKi= (L. S.) Nicolas de NovossiLiOFf, APPENDIX. VU No. I. (H ) Additional Article. HIS Maje«:ty the Emperor of all the Rus-:ias having:, in pursuance of hissiiuere dcs're to i:isiire success to the enterprize concerted aoainst France, d-termined, in ca-e the circumstances should require it, to augniei!t the forces which he has' promised to bring into action, to au hundred and eighty thou and men, hU Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland promise5 and engages to pay, in that case, to his Imperial Majety of ail the Ru^sias, for the troops which he may thu- add to the 115,000 already agreed upon, a subsidy and a Premier,: mise en Champagne, at the same rate as is a'::reed by the fifth separate Article of the Treaty of Concert established between his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and hi- Majesty the Emperor of ail the Russias the 30th March — nth April 18:5. This additional Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were inserted word for word in the aforementioned Concert, and shall be ratified by the two High Contracting Powers ;. and the ratifications sliall be exchanged in the space of ten weeks, or sooner, if possible. In witness whereof, &c. &c. (L. S.) Granville Leveson GowER. (L. S.) Adam Prince Czar roRYSKi. (L. S.) Nicola* de Novossilzoff. No. I. (I.) Additional Article of the Treaty of Concert, signed at St. Petersburgh, the nth April, 1805. HIS Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, purposing to concert measures ^A'ith the Court of Vienna, by which con-iderable Russian armies may be approximated to the frontiers of France, by crossing; the Austrian and Pru^^ian territories, while it is declared that the object of these movements is to obtain securities for the continent, promises and enp,ages to his Britannic Majesty, in his own name and in that of his allies, that, should even circumstances require, that at the moment when the Rus>ian troops began their maj-ch, they should declare that this movement was in no way connected with an existing Concert with hi? . ritannic Majesty, but that the powers of the continent reclaim the fulfilment by France of her immediate engagements with them, yet as xoon as the war shall have broken out, they will no longer pursue a paiticular object, but that which has been determined by the Concert of the 30th March— nth April, with all the clauses incorporated with it : In return for this as urance, his Britannic Majesty promises and engages, in the fiist place, to fulfil towa.-Hs the Emperor of all the Russias, the stipulations of the abovementioned Concert, in all their parts, as soon as the war ti^all have broken out between Ruo&ia aiid WU ATPEKDIX. Frani-e, and especially to furnifh for the Russian troops the fmbsidies agreed upon, payable from rhe day on which they shall have quitted the frontiers of the empire, and moreover the three months stipulated sub-idy tinder the name of Premiere miie en Camfjgne : with this condition, nevertheless, that however long may be the term befwteir the epoch of the departure of the Russian troops from their frontier?, and that of the commencement of hostilities, his Britannic Majesty shall not be bound vo pay to Russia for that interval more than six months subsidy at the most, ths Premiere mise en Cumfa^ne being therein comprised. In the second place, to fu'fil, with regard to Austria, all the stipula- tions of the abovementioned Concert, and especially all that relates to the subsidies, as soon as the ambas.-.ador of his Imperial and Royal Majesty shall have signed the act of accession of his court ; and lastly, in the third place, to pay in the like manner to the other allies of Rus.iia, who shall assist in this enterprize (except in the case of special arrangements), the subsidies which have been allotted for them by the abovementiontd Concert, and on the conditions therein specified. This additional Article shall have the same force and validity, as if it were inserted word for word in the abovementioned Concert, and shall be ratified by the Two High Contracting Partie-', and the ratifications exchanged at St. Pctersburgh, in the space of six weeks, or sooner, if po--sible. In.faith of which, &c. &c. (L.S.) (L.S.J Granville Leveson Gower. Adam Pkince CzARTORysKi. (No. II.) Extract from a dispatch of Lord G. L. Gower,to Lord Mulgravc, dated St. Pctersburgh, 29th June, 1805. (No. a;.) Mt Lord, THE annexation of the Ligurian republic to the French empire, executed at the very moment \shen a Ru-sian plenipotentiary was expected in France, charged with proposition> of which the professed object had been the general arrangements of the affairs of Europe, is considered as so ^redt ?n insult to both sovereigns, whose sentiments that plenipotentiary was empowered to declare, that hi-; imperial ma- jc-ty has judged under these circumstances, he could not consistently, ■with what is due to his own dignity, or to that of his august ally, permit M. NovossilzofF to pioceed to fulfil the object of his mission. I have the honour to be, &c. &.c. GRANVILLE LEVESON GOWER. The right hon. Lord MiilgraTC, &c. AfPENDIX. IX Extract of a dispatch from I.ord G. L. Gowcr, to Lord Mulgrave, dated Petcrsburjjh, azd July, i8oj. (No. 30.J Mt Lord, T WAS on the point of dispatching yesterday th; ms-senger to England, when I received an invitation from Prince Czartoryski to a conference, in which he read to me some very important dispatches he had just received from Count Razoumof sky and General Winzingerodc. By these it appears that the emperor of Germany is at last awakened to a sense of his true dignity, and the real interests of his empire ; and that foreseeing the inevitability of war, he is determined not to leave to Bonaparte the choice of the moment to commence hostilities. The right hon. Lord Mulgrave, &c. &c. Extract of a dispatch from Lord G. L. Gowcr, to Lord Mulgrave, dated St. Petersburgh, 3d September, 1805. (No. 38.J My Lord, THE last dispatches from the Russian ambassador at Vienna speak in strong terms of the warlike temper of that cabinet ; certain commu- nications had been made from Paris, which indicated a yielding disposi- tion on the part of Bonaparte, but to the e indications Count Cobentzel seems to attach no credit, and Count Razoumofsky represents that the present character of the Austrian ministry is a direct contrast to its former timidity and indicision, and that a firm conviction seems now to prevail at Vienna, that it is through war alone that any security can be obtained against the ambition and power of France. There is jusf ground for expecting, that his imperial and royal majesty, being per- suaded that war is inevitable, may be induced not to wait the issue of the proposed negotiations with the French government, but that he will commence hostilities at the time when the superiority of the allied forces promi es the best prospect of success. Towad^ the beginning of October, the Austrian army upon the Venetian frontier will be com- pletely to its full establishment, and will without doubt be greatly superior in numbers to the French forces in Italy, and the Russian armies will be sufficiently advanced into the hereditai'y states to ensure their arrival upon the frontiers of Bavaria, before the French troops from the coast and the interior of France can reach the German empire; I have, therefore, in several conversations lately with Prince Czartorysfcy and Comte Stadion, urged the expediency of losinji no time in beginning the war. The prince informs me, that he has already instructed Comtc Razoumofsky to press this consideration upon the attention of the couit of Vienna, but that he will not fail to repeat the instructions to the Russian ambassador, I have great satisfaction in observing the encreased energy and vigour of this court. The Emperor, foreseeing the possibility of Bonaparte •fiecting a large augmentation to the French army in consccjoence of X APPENDIX. the menactd attack by the allied power , has resolved to be prepared f» meet such an effort, by a corrcsporjding exert:on on his part, and he has ordered a levy of four men out of every five hundred, vihicli will produce above jjo.coomen. A corps of above ten thousand men, under the command of his Imperial highne-s the Grand Duke Constantine, and composed chiefly of the garrison of St. Peteriburgh, began their march towards the Prus ian frontier on Thursday the 22d. The troops dcsii.-.ed for Ponierar.ia arc ready for embarkation, and will probably sail in about six or eight days; they amount to twenty thou^and men. No dispatches, however, have been received from M. Alopeus, who was charged to negotiate with the King of Sweden the ne^ cssary arrangements for thelanding of the Rus-ians at Stralsund, and the augmentation of the Swedish garrison at that port. I have the honour to be, &c. &c. GRANVILLE LEVESON GOWEFL No. in. (A.) (Translation.) Plan of Operations proposed by the Court of Vienna, FRANCE, upon the new organization of her army, has on foot, 112 regiments of the line, - - 404,828 men. 30 regiments of light infantry, - 107,540 85 cavalry, . . - _ 64,22,6 16 artillery, ... - 21,43° 598,024 This number, with the addition of the different corps in Corsica and the inlands, of 21 regiments of Dutch soldiers, 11 Swi^s regiments, 18 auxiliary troops from Italy, and the Imperial guard, which consists of 15,000 men, makes a total of 651,96.1, the whole military force now on foot in France. 1 hese troops are for the greater part already on the war c-tabli-hment. Any rrand descent from England, upon the coa t of I'rance, with the probability of derided -ucccss U scarcely to be expected. France may therefore venture to draw almost all her troops from her interior, and from her coasts. Besides, a well arranged national guard, in perfect discipline, would enable her to spare her troops of the line, even from where they had been employed in pra- serving domestic order and security. It follows, that France might e a ploy 500,000 men in Italy, Switzerland, and Gtrnl*dny. In opposition to that force, the 250,000 Austrians, and 115,000 Russians, tipulated is rhe last treaty, compose a total force, wh ch is, in comp^ri on, so much the less to he depended upon, because very little effcaive assistance is to be expected from the Swedes and the English. The following' are the necessary conclusions from th« statement. APPE>rDIX. XI ist. Considering tliis estimate, and the advantages which France enjoys in its geographical situation, whether for defence or for aggres- sion, the'rnaintenan.e of peace, til! a more favourable conjuncture shall arise, seems to be infinitely desirable. ad If, however, war should become inevitable, not only to ensure its success, but to avoid likewise evils more alarming than those of the present moment, it would become indispensibly necessary, that the allied courts should use their most vigorous efforts to oppose those of the enemy, and bring into efficiency means at least equal to theirs, if not superior. The military arrangements, the financial, and the general policy of die allies, mu-t concur in putting forth those energies, by which alone we can hope to give succe^^s to ov.r efforts. 1st. Military arrangements. This co-operation in these three branches could be of very little effect, if the Austrian armies should not come into the field more than 300,000 strong. The first of the papers sub- joined shews, whr;t would be the deficiencies to be supplied in the Im- perial and Uoyal army, in recruiting, in appointments, and in remount- in^^ the cavalry, belsdes other augmentations, necessary to raise it from its present weak state, upon apeiice establishment, to the number above- mentioned; and, at the same time, to leave the number of troops re- quisite for service in the interior of the Monarchy, and for the observ- ance of the movements of Prussia. The difficulties which strike upon a first view will appear still more considerable upon a due attention to the manner in winch the Austrian troops are now distributed. The line formed to prevent the introduc- tion of infectious disease, has indeed contributed to obviate, in part, that disadva:;tage, as it leaves the Venetian dominions of the empire no longer in danger of a surprise from the french. Biit, if it were neces- sary to take measures to oppose a great force to thai which the enemy might bring against us from the interior of his dominions, then would dispositions the most prompt and vigorous be requisite, to the season- able concentration of the Austrian troop< which art-, in great part, at a distance from the frontiers in danger, to put them upon the footing for war, and to bring them to act upon the points which are the most ex- posed. This first measure would require to be carried iino effect with the greater activity, because it ( ould not be expected that the t-oops of his Majesty the Emperor of Russia ehou'd, from such a distance, arrive on the scene of action, till after the Austrian troops should have sus- tained the first attacks of the tnemy. His ATajesty v M not be deterred by these great difficulties, if war should becotne unavoidable ; lie will, in that case, use his most strenuous endeavours to surmount every diffi- culty, and fulfil his ensdagements. But to give effect to this steady resolution, it isneces-ary; adly. That there shou'd he adequate financial resources, and that the difficulties which present themselves under that head should be re- moved ; the imperial couic of St. Fct.;-sburgh rias already been in- formed of the vast and necessary expenditure required ;o put the infan- try, he cavalry, the carriages and artillery, the objects of the commiffa- ries' 1 'cpartment, the magazines and stores in short, every thing be- longing to the army, upon the full war establishment. The sui^cour of fifteen millions of Florins, which has been asked from Enirland for this primary service, is not more than one-half of what is -v. '.ua'ly wanted, rht expense of each campaign of the last, war was from one hundivd Xll APPEN&IX, and ten to one hundred and twenty millions. The sntsequcnt ri»c af the price- i/f commodities would render the expense of the same objecis, now, considerably greater. But, sti]ipose it even not to crceeJ the former, yet the subsidy of thirty millions of Florirs, which is asked from England, added to the ordinary peace expenditure of the army, ■would leave still an enormous deficit, which the burrbened finances •£ Austria rould hardly make good. It follows that, unless Enj^land grant the subsidy which has beet) demanded, it mu^t be impossible for the Court of Vienna, notwithstanding its determined inclination, even t» make those preparations for war, which are not to be attempted without an assurance of being able to follow them up, and maintain them. These considerations being stated, it is next to be examined, what would be the detail of the operations of the armies iu Italy, the Tyrol, Switzerland, and the frontier-; of Germany, if they should make all theii movementjin perfect n.utual concert. It is this concert of opera- tions which mnst meet the first plan-; and marches of the enemy. It'? prompt or tardy success, its favourable or unfavourable result, will de- termine, in fact, the whole fortune of the war, and of course, the fate of Europe. Considering the geographical position of France ; its German fron- tier ; Switzerland, which is in sui)jiif;alii>n to it ; and the Italian repub- lic ; and observinsr, on the other hand, the position of the hereditary dominions of Austria ; it i^ impossible not to discern, that it would he imprudent to make any attempt from Germany, against France, in Al- sace, or on tile Rhine. Suc!i an attempt could be made, only, by passing the Rhine at Manhtini, or by laying sie-;e to Ivlentz. In the first of these enferprizes, there would be the va^t disadvantage of advancing, from the very first step, amidst fortified places of the greatest strength ; of being forced to c.irry on a war of si-ges, with an enormous consumption of men and money, and without a prospect of any happier issue of the campaign, even at the be"t, than by the re- duction of one of those strong places. To undertake the siege of Mentz, at least 50,000 men would be necessary to blockade the place, and to cover the operations of the siege. The extent and strength of Mentz are such, that we should be detained befo e that place alone for half the campaign ; and no operation sub-equent to its surrender, could lead to any but vei'y uncertain ajid insecure result?; because the places upom. the Meuse on th.e one side, and in Alsace on the other, would every where arresi the progres of our armies. Add t<- these another conside- ration of not less weight, that, since neither of those operation'; could be carrisd into effect but by great armies, there would be few troops left to cover the Upper Rhine. 1 he enemy might avail himself of that local \veakne.=s; might diect his attack there, while we should be occupied in the siege of Landau or Mentz; and might thus advance in a line of operation shorter than ours ; might possess him.self of our communications ; and mij.,ht get between us and all our supplies. To avoid bein.; cut off ftom these, we should, in that case, be obliged to abandon every thing without striking a blow. An attempt through Switzerland, against Franche Comre, would be, indisputably, the most formidable to the enemy. His frontiers arc there open. But, a.'; such a plan of operation could not be carried into effect but through Swabia, by the Voralherg, or below the Lake of Constance, on account of the impossibility of having supplies conveyed through the APPENDIX. Xlll Tyrol ; it would be necessary, before attempting it, to have made con- siderable progress in Swabia, and to have ar. army of observation op- posite btrasburg, to watch the enemy. It would even be necessary to nave obtained some advantage^ in Italy, before hazarding an attack in Switzerland. A retreat of the army in Italy towardb Klagenfurt, would prevent the army in the Tyrol from joining in the operations in Swit- zerland. The enemy would possess themselves of the Pustcr-Thal, (the Pustcr-Thal u the Tyrol between Brixcn and Licntz, and communi- cates wl:h the vale of the Adige), on the great road for our communi- cations and conveyance-; to and from the Tyrol. We should be com- pelled to detach troops from the army in Germany for the interior de- fence of Austria, and not only to relinquish all offensive operations, but even to confine ourselves within the line of the Lech, or, possibly, the Inn in Germany, and there to take a defensive position, in oider not to be at too great a distance from Austria, and to be ready to supply with due promptitude the a:sistance which might there be wanted. It fellows, from all these considerations, that the war should begin with vigorous offensive operations in Italy. It is there we should act with the superior force of our army. A victory gained there, would afford us the iame advantages for the prosecution of offensive operations against France, which France would acquire from our loss of a battle, in order to penetrate into the Austrian he;editary dominions. If the difficulties of our situation render it even impossible for us to arm and advance to aA upon the frontier as soon as the enemy, how much less is it to be expe^ed that the troops of the Emperor of Russia could arrive in time to atSl at the very commencement of the war ? It Would be the interest of France to use every means to anticipate their atrival, by an early and cleci^ive superiorit}'. Any concentration of our troops, or the march of the Ru sians, would not fail to afford Bonaparte a specious pretext to declare war. The force of this obser- vation is, to prove, that, in case of war with France, the plan of operations, f)r«t di-tribution and disposal of the troops, the com- mencement and the first progress of the mi'.itary movements, must be arranjced, on the supposition that wi^r will be begun by the Aus- trians alone. It wou'.d be requi ite, that the army in Italy should begin its move- ments with forciur' the passage of the Adige, dislodging the enemy from the Mincio, investing Mantua and Fe chitra, detaching a body of troops to the Po to observe the South of Italy, and open its way to the Adda, in order to cover the blockade or siege of these places. Only the re- -duction of these two fortresses, or some such great and fo tunate events, as arc not to be reckoned upon, could induce the commandant of this army to push his operation- farther* The army in Germany would commence its operations by pa-sing the Inn, would enter Bavaria, and would there await on the l.ech, the movements of the other armies, and in particular, the arrival of the troops from Ru sia. The army in the Tyrol would be determined la its movements by those of the armies in Italy and Germany. In the case of operations- against Switzerland, a part of the troops in the Tyrol would be employed in an attack on the Grisons and the other small cantons ; and the rest would, in the case of the success of the army in Italy, advance from its defensive positions, and join that army. This is all that, with our greatest efforts, and upon the sup- position of decided success, we con expect to accomplish, till the whole XIV APPEVDfX. «f the plans and po-^?rs of the coalition shall be in full actlylfy. if Italy be the grand pcint of operation at the commencement of hostilities, Switzerland must become such, as soon as we shall h-ve obtained ^uccesse^ in that quarter, and shall have advanced through Swabia. Switzerland ofFers to a conqueror the advantage of the "^hoitest commu- nication between Italy and Germany ; it gives the facility of sending supplies and reiaforcepients with promptitude to the one or the other of these countries ; and it is only through Switzerland that an entrance can be effected into France on the side of Franche Conitc. Jt would then be nece?sary to cover ourselves on the side of Alsace, by taking Befort aad Hunningen, and leaving, at the same time, a considerable body of troops in Swabia, to cover the right wing of the army in Switzerland from any of the attempts by tiie French from Strasburg, and to protect our communications, and ensure the conveyance of supplies. The reasonshave been explained, on account of which, in the general plan of operations, it is not indicated in what manr/er the troops of the two Imperial courts might co-operate, either in union under the same standards, or by a Concert in their movements. We must look for- xvard to the case of Austria being attacked by France before the arrival of the Russians in Germany. The ( ombination of the operations of the two Courts would then depend upon the resolution of Prus>ia. And, thanks to the wise measures of the Emperor Alexander ! we are soon to learn decisively how far we may or may not reckon upon Prussian co-operation, upon the neutrality of that power, or its rejection of our propositions. We shall then be enabled to present to the Imperial Court of Russia, upon the request which it has communicated, propo- sals for its co-operation towards the con-.mon and general object. We may here previously submit the consideration, that the line of operation in Italy is the most remote, and that it is there the campaign must be opened with the greatest vigour ; that the Court of Vienna will therefore send a great army into Italy, in order to act with rapidity upon that line ; and that therefore the march of the Russian troops, and their substitution for those of Austria, amidst the movements of the war in Italy, would be impossible. As soon as we shall certainly know the result of the great and im- portant step which his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias has taken at the Court of Berlin, we shall add, without delay, whatever remains to be communicated farther upon the subjecf of the friendly propositions here explained, and upon the plan of operations for the two Courts, in Germany, and sha:l forthwith submit it to the Court of Russia, TREATY OF PRESBURGH. (usual prea.mble.) Art. I. There shall be from the date of this day peace and friend- ship between his Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria, and hi> Majesty the Emperor of the French, Kinp: of Italy, their heirs and successors, their States and subjcdlsrcspcdHvely, forever. II. France s.hall continue to possess to property and sovereignty the Dwwhies, Piincipulitic*, Lordflilps, ajad territories bcj'ond the Alps, APPENDIX. XV which were before the present Treaty united and incorporated with the French Empire, or governed by th? Laws and Government of France. III. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria, for him- self, his heirs, and successors, recognise* the dispositions made by his Majesty the Emperor of France, King of Italy, relative to the Princi- palities of Lucca and Piombino. IV. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria renounces, as well for hini>clf, as for hi- heirs and successors, that part of the States of the Republic of Venice, ceded to him by the I'reaties of Campo Formio and Luneville, Ihad be united in perpetuity to the kingdom of Italy. V. His Maje-ty the Emperor of Germany and Austria acknow- ledges his Majesty the Emperor of the French King of Italy ; but it is agreed that, in conformity with the declaration made by his Majesty the Emperor of the French, at the moment when he took the Crown of Italy, that as soon as the parties named in that declaration fliall have fulfilled the conditions therein expressed, the Crowns of France and Italy shall be separated for ever, and cannot in any case be united on the same head. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany binds him- self to acknowledge, on the separatioa, the successor his Majesty the Emperor of the French fliall appoint to himself as King of Italy. VI. The present treaty of peace is declared to comprehend their most Serene Highnesses the Ele(5tors of Bavaria, Wirtemberi';, and Baden, and the Batavian Republic, allies of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, in the present war. VII. The Electors of Bavaria and Wirtemberg having taken the title of King, without ceasing nevertheless to belong to the Germanic confederation, his Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria ac- knowledges them in that character. VIII. His Maje ty the Emperor of Germany and Austria, as well as himself, his heirs and successors, as for the Princes of his House, their heirs and successors respedively, renounces the Principalities, Lordlhips, Domains, and Territories herein-after specified : — . Cedes and abandons to his Maje ty the King of Bavaria, the Mar- graviate of Burgau and its dependencies, the Principality of Eichstadt, the part of the territory of Passau belonging to the Eleftor of Salz- burg, and situated between Bohemia, Austria, the Danube and the Inn; the county of Tyrol, comprehending therein the Principalities of Brixen and Botzen, the seven Lordships of the Voralberg, with their detached dependencies ; the county of Hohenems, the county of Konigsegg, Rotrensels, the Lordships of Tetnany and Ar^en, and the town and territory of I..in«lan. To his Majesty the Kmg of Wirtemberg, the five cities of the Danube, to wit — Ehingen, Munderkengen, Rudlingen, Mengen, and Susgaw, with their dependencies, the city of Constance excepted, that part of the Brisgaw which extends in tlie possessions of Wirtem- berg, and situated to the East of a line, drawn from Schlegelberg to Molback, and the towns and territories of Willenj;en and Brentine;en.— To his most Serene Highness the Eledior of Baden, the Brisgaw (with the exception of the branch and separate portions above described), the Ortcnaw and other dependencies, the city of Constance, and the commanding of Mcinau. The Principalities, Lordfliij^s, Domains, and territories above-men- XVI APPr-NDIX. tioned, fiiall he possessed respcftively by their Majesties, the Kings of Bavaria and Wirtcmberg, and bj' his most Serene Highness the Eledor of Baden, as well in paramount as in full property and sovereignty, in the same manner, with which they were pos-essed by his Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria, or the Princes of his House, and not othcrwi<:e. IX. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria acknow* ledges the debts contra6ted by the House of Austria, for the benefit of private persons and public establishments of the country, making at P'^esent an integrant part of the French Empire, and it is agreed that his said Majesty sliall remain free from all obligation with respeiSl to any debts whatsoever which the House of Austria may have con-» traif'ted, on the ground of the posses-ion and of securities on the ioil of the countries which it renounce- by the present treaty. X. The county of Salzburgh and of Berchtolsgaden, belonging to bis Royal and hletfloral Highne-.s, Prince Ferdinand, shall be Incorpo- rated with the Empire of Austria, and his Majesty the Emperor of Germany and Austria sliall possess them in full property and sove- reignty, but by the title of a Duchy only. XI. His Majesty the Emperor of the French and King of Italy, engages himelf to obtain, in favour of the Archduke Ferdinand, Eletftor of Salzburgh, the cession of his Majcily the King of Bavaria, of the Principality of W'urtzburgh, such as it has been given to his said Maje'-ty by the recess of the Deputation of the Germanic Empire, of the 25 th Feb. 1803. The Ele(5loral title of his R. H. shall be transferred to this Principa- lity, which to his R. H. shall possess in full property and sovereignty, in the same manner and on the same conditions that he possessed the EleClorate of Saitzburgh. And with respedt to debts, it is agreed, that the new possessor shall stand charged only with tho-e debts resulting from loans formerly agreed to by the States of the country, or the expences incurred for the cfl'epo>al; and that the high con- tracting parties shall make an arrangement relative to all contributions of war whatsoever imposed on the different hereditary states occupied by the French, an arrangement in virtue of which, the rai ing of the s,iid contributions bhall entirely cease from the day of the exchange of the ratifications. The French ai my shall draw its provision, and its s',ii:tcnance from its own magazines, established on th« routes by which it is to proceed. XXIII. Lnmediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the J)resent treaty, commi.-,sarie8 shall be named on both sides to give up and rcLcivc in the naitnes of their respective sovereigns, all paits of the Vene- tian territory, not occupied by the troops of liis Majesty the Emperor of the French and King of Italy. The city of Veni;e, tlie Lagunes, and the possessions of Terra Firma, shall be given up in the space of fifteen days; Venetian Istria and Dalmatia, the mouths of the , attaro, the "Vcnetiau Isles in the Adriatic, and all the pbccs and forts which they contain, in the space of six weeks from the exchange of the ratifications. The re pectrve 'onmiis>arietvill take care that the separation of the artillery belonging to the Repubic of Venice from the Austrian artil- lery bi exactly made, the former being to remain entirely to the king- dom of Italy. They will determine by a mutual agreement the kind ind nature of the objects, which being the property of the Emperor of Germany and of Ai.stria, are consequently to remain at his disposal. They will agr-e either on the sale to the kingdom of Italy, of the ob- ject- above-mentioned, or their exchange for an equivalent qu.intity of artillery, or other objects of the same, or a different nature, which shall have been left by the French armies in the hereditary states. Every facility and every as istancc sha'l be given to the Austrian troops, and to the civil and military administrations, to return into the Austrian states by the most convenient and sure ways, as well as to the coi veyance of the inipeiial artillery, the naval and military niaLaziuos, and other objects which are not comprehended in the stipulations of sale or exchange which may be made. XXIV. The ratifications of the present treaty shall be exchanged ,tj within the space of eight days, or sooner, if possible. 13«ne and signed at Presburg, the a6th December, i8»J. 7H& END. II ■\-wy.'