Part 52

Cornwallis' experience, although it did not diminish his self-confidence, seemed to force on him one fact, the necessity of the Union. He detested the Castle party by whom he was surrounded, he believed in the thorough bloodthirstiness of the Orangemen, he had learnt that conciliation, unless very complete, could have no effect upon the Catholics. He thus arrived at the fact of which Pitt had always been conscious, that under the existing system justice to the Catholics was absolutely impossible; it was impossible to make the Protestant Parliament agree to admit Catholic representatives; and even supposing this to be possible, Catholic representation meant confiscation of Protestant property, and the predominance of the Catholic religion, and rather than submit to that the Protestants would fight. To attempt to make such alterations was wilfully to plunge Ireland into a civil war of extermination. The only way to overcome this difficulty was to establish some paramount authority which should overrule the local and provincial interests of the island, and by a superior power keep the factions from flying at each other's throats. Cornwallis therefore threw himself heart and soul into the Union, supported by Fitzgibbon, now Lord Clare. But it was not carried out without extreme difficulties. Pitt's intention was notified to the Irish Parliament. Here it at once excited a violent agitation, and a thing unheard of in that venal House of Commons, an amendment on the Address, was carried against the Government by a majority of four. Nearly all the great names in Ireland, from Mr. Foster the Speaker, to Ponsonby, Grattan, and Curran, were strongly opposed to the Bill. As there was no constitutional way of destroying the Parliament except with its own consent, and as left to itself it seemed plain that Parliament would oppose the Union, means had to be devised to change this state of things. The English supremacy had been systematically upheld by indirect bribery; and when application was made to the same class of people as had hitherto managed that influence, their answers showed that it would not be impossible to carry the same system further. The management of the greater people was left in the hands of Lord Cornwallis, who had a profound contempt for nearly all the Irish except the better part of the Roman Catholics. The whole mass of smaller men was handed over to the management of Lord Castlereagh, a young Irishman of much ready ability, at that time Secretary. To him too was intrusted the duty of arranging a scheme which might be passed through Parliament. By this scheme a million and a half of money was to be spent in compensation to borough-holders, lawyers who had hoped to improve their prospects by entering the House, and the tradesmen of Dublin. Pitt had in one of his old reform Bills accepted the theory that boroughs were property; this part of the scheme was therefore passed, the indirect claims were not allowed. The bulk of the Catholic party, to whom hopes were held out, were not disinclined to the Union. In the English Parliament resolutions in favour of the Union were carried without much difficulty. The full force of Pitt's arguments was there felt. It was understood in fact to be a case of necessity. An independent dual Government could not be worked, nor justice be secured for Ireland, while party and religious differences ran so high, except by the intervention of the calmer and broader spirit of an Imperial Parliament. In the Irish Parliament the opposition was much stronger. But that none may feel much regret at the threatened destruction of that body, it may be mentioned that even now, in its last struggle, it extended the Act of Indemnity so as to throw a shield over the most outrageous cruelty and wickedness on the part of the Protestant suppressors of the rebellion. Fitzgerald, who boasted of having flogged many perfectly innocent people, and of having driven one at least to suicide, was not only acquitted when charges of this description were brought against him, but succeeded in turning the tables and recovering damages from his victims.[14] The interval between the Parliament of 1799 and the Session opening in 1800, which the Government had determined should be the last, was employed in continuing the trade in votes and boroughs. The Marquis of Downshire, who had seven seats of his own, was the only great borough proprietor who held out. And when the new Parliament met the Government was pretty secure of its victory. Nevertheless, there was a tremendous contest on the first night, when an amendment was moved to the Address, pledging the House to uphold the National Parliament. For fifteen hours the struggle had lasted, when, at seven in the morning, Grattan, who had not sat in the House for some years, was suddenly introduced, just dragged from his bed and very ill, clothed in the old patriotic dress of the volunteers of 1782, and walked up to the table to take the oaths. He had been hurriedly elected immediately after midnight for the town of Wicklow for the express purpose of producing this _coup de théâtre_. His speech against the Union was a very fine one, but it did not save the amendment, which was defeated by a majority of forty-two. The Opposition was now bidding high for votes. £4000 was declared by Lord Cornwallis to have been offered for one vote. It is uncertain to what extent indirect bribery had been carried; it was probably much exaggerated; but at all events, when on the 18th of February the resolutions for the Union were brought in, they were passed by a majority of forty-six. These resolutions were transmitted to England, and the royal assent was given to the Bill founded on them on the 2nd of August. By this Bill four spiritual and twenty-eight temporal peers represented Ireland in the Upper House, and one hundred commoners, elected still by the old system, sat in the House of Commons. Free trade between the two countries was established. Ireland was to contribute in the proportion of two to fifteen to the Imperial revenue, and the debts of the two countries were to be kept distinct. Having gained its object, the Government had to pay the Bill. £1,260,000 was contributed at the rate of £7000 a seat. In addition to this, twenty-two peerages were created, five Irish peers were called to the House of Lords, twenty advanced a step in the Peerage.

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[Sidenote: Desire of France to invade England.]

By the treaty of Campo Formio the French were relieved from their war with Austria, and it was probably the belief that singlehanded they were more than a match for England, the object of their particular hatred, which induced the Directory to break off the negotiations at Lisle. The victorious army of Italy was transformed into the army of England. The prospect of wealth to be gained there was held out to the troops, instead of the promised donation which the finances were in no position to bear. The command of the army was entrusted to Bonaparte, who assumed an appearance of great interest in the expedition, and visited the sea-coasts under pretense of arranging for the embarkation of the troops; but he was not likely to risk his fortunes in England while the sea was commanded by his enemies. He persuaded the Directory that a more severe blow could be dealt upon England by a descent upon Egypt, the highroad to India, whence succor could be sent to Tippoo Sahib, the Sultan of Mysore, who, after he had been crushed by Lord Cornwallis, was again, relying for success upon French arms, thinking of renewing war. To Bonaparte private ambition was no doubt a main reason for this resolution. The state of Europe was very threatening. A second coalition was getting itself formed. In none of the new republics, neither Holland, nor Switzerland, nor Rome, in all of which constitutions had been forced on the people against their will, was there a cordial love for France. But Bonaparte, who, as he said, did not consider "the pear ripe," was willing that the bad management and failures of the Directory should ripen it before he raised his hands to pluck it. His imagination too, which always played a powerful part in his resolutions, was fired with the notion of an Eastern empire, whence, as he said, he should return and take Europe _en revers_.

[Sidenote: Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt.]

On the 19th of May 1798, the army of France, 36,000 strong, sailed from Toulon harbour, escorted by 30 vessels of war, 72 smaller vessels, and carried in 400 transports. The expedition was a strange one; not only was Egypt to be conquered, it was to be scientifically explored, and a number of learned and scientific men were mixed with the generals that surrounded their commander. Before reaching Egypt a strong point was secured to give the French the command of the Mediterranean. The Order of St. John of Malta, by treason and for money, gave up the island to Bonaparte. Thence he sailed on the 2nd of July, and ten days afterwards reached Alexandria.

[Sidenote: Battle of the Pyramids.]

Thence he marched towards Cairo, which he conquered, after winning on the road the battle of the Pyramids over the Mamelukes, a warrior caste sprung originally from Circassian slaves, who had made themselves masters of Egypt. It was the old story of undisciplined valour breaking itself against the firm squares of a disciplined Western army. Murad Bey, the Mameluk commander, withdrew to Upper Egypt, and the French entered Cairo. Bonaparte at once set to work to organize the country, and in his eagerness to conciliate the people, hinted that he too believed in Mahomet. The absolute atheism, however, of the French troops, and this cynical readiness to change his creed, only exasperated the Turks against him.

[Sidenote: Battle of the Nile. Aug. 2, 1798.]

Nelson had been watching the port of Toulon, but the French fleet gave him the slip. From the 19th of May till the 1st of August he was in vain pursuit, not knowing where the expedition had gone. On that day he came in sight of the French fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, one of which was the 'Orient,' with 120 guns, and four frigates. Nelson's own fleet consisted also of thirteen ships, but none of them were larger than seventy-fours, and he had but one frigate and a brig. The enemy were very advantageously placed at anchor along the shore of the Bay of Aboukir. In front of them lay an island with a fort, their flanks were covered by gunboats. They believed their position unassailable. But Nelson quickly determined, from the appearance of the anchored fleet, that there must be sufficient water for his ships between the French and the shore. He boldly ordered some of his vessels to sail inside. The left of the French line was thus enveloped and placed between two fires. Nelson began the fight at once, although it was six in the evening. It raged the whole night. In less than two hours, however, five of the French ships had struck, and at nine o'clock the 'Orient' caught fire and blew up. When the battle closed about six the following morning, nine of the French ships had been taken and two had been burnt. Want of frigates, and the damages sustained by his own fleet, prevented Nelson from pursuing the two remaining French ships, which sailed away almost unhurt. The same causes prevented him from destroying completely the French transports. This victory shut up the best French army with its great commander useless in Egypt, and excited the enthusiasm and hopes of all the conquered countries in Europe.

[Sidenote: Pitt forms a second coalition.]

But meanwhile Pitt had been able to set on foot a second great coalition. Austria, humiliated by the Treaty of Campo Formio, far from discharging her army, had raised its numbers, and demanded some sort of indemnity for the successes of France in Italy and Switzerland. Napoleon by his advance upon Egypt had himself forced the Ottoman Empire into war with France. The princes of Germany, though not desiring war, and even now treating with the Directory at Rastadt, could not forget the loss of the empire beyond the Rhine. Russia was also induced to join the coalition; for changes had taken place both in the internal and external condition of the country; since 1796, Paul I., a prince of scarcely sound mind, had succeeded Catherine in that country, and Poland having been destroyed, a road was open for him to introduce himself, as had been the constant desire of the Russian monarchs, into the politics of Europe. Prussia, where Frederick William had died, still held aloof in neutrality. The cement of this coalition was as usual English money. Naples, in the winter of 1798, had raised an army under the Austrian General Mack, and attempted to restore liberty to Italy; but, hated by its own subjects, the weak and tyrannical government was able to effect nothing. The King had to fly in the English fleet, Naples was changed into the Parthenopæan Republic, and the whole of Italy was thus brought under French dominion. The frontier line, then, against which the coalition was preparing to act, extended from the Zuyder Zee to the Mediterranean. Its centre was the mountain mass of Switzerland. Both parties regarded this as the key of the position. But the French spread their troops weakly along the whole length, so that Massena in Switzerland seemed to form the centre of one large army; and to him was intrusted the duty of separating, by capturing the salient angle formed by Switzerland and the Tyrol, the armies of the coalition. The plan was not a wise one. The opening successes of Massena and his lieutenants, which brought the French into the valley of the Inn, did not prevent the Archduke Charles from defeating Jourdan and the army of the Rhine at Stockach, nor Kray, the Austrian general, from beating Schérer at Magnano, on the Adige, and driving him behind the Adda. Massena, with his flanks thus exposed, found himself compelled to retreat also.

[Sidenote: Italy regained by the coalition.]

These successes on the part of the allies, and the murder of the French envoys to the Congress of Rastadt, excited the French to fresh energy. Schérer was replaced by Moreau. Macdonald, who was holding Naples, hastened to his assistance, and all the armies in the centre were placed in Massena's hands. But Suwarrow, a semi-barbarian, who had never yet been conquered, had arrived to take the command in Italy. He pressed on with great rapidity and success. Moreau was beaten at Cassano (April 27), and fell back behind the Po. He again retired in the direction of Genoa in order to form a junction with Macdonald coming from Naples. Suwarrow was thus able to leave him behind him and threaten the French frontier; the advance of Macdonald however across the Apennines obliged him to turn. He fell upon that general, and after a three days' battle upon the Trebia, beat him, and turned rapidly upon Moreau, who had advanced to Novi, and had there formed a junction with the broken army of Naples. But both Macdonald and Moreau, as unsuccessful generals, were removed, and Joubert was given the command. On the 18th of August, Suwarrow attacked the French at Novi, Joubert was killed, and his troops completely routed. Italy was thus lost to the French; for in Naples Cardinal Ruffo had raised the Calabrians, and with the assistance of the English fleet both Naples and Rome were regained to the coalition. It was on this occasion that Nelson committed that act which is the great blot upon his name. He had become infatuated with Lady Hamilton, wife of the English minister, through whose influence his fleet had been provisioned before the battle of the Nile, and who was devoted heart and soul to the execrable Government of the Bourbons, exercised practically by the Queen, a sister of Marie Antoinette. To please the Court, Nelson, who arrived at Naples just as the French and Republicans had completed a capitulation with Cardinal Ruffo, broke off the completed negotiation, and insisted upon the Republicans capitulating without terms. They were thus handed over to the cruel vengeance of the Court. 30,000 patriots were thrown into prison, and for six months all those who had taken the least part in establishing the Republic were continually exposed to the danger of execution.

[Sidenote: The coalition captures the Dutch fleet.]

The disasters of the French were to have been completed by a combined attack of English and Russians upon the other extremity of their line. On the 22nd of August, a few days after the battle of Novi, the Duke of York, with 30,000 men, disembarked at the Helder, to advance upon Amsterdam. The defence of the country was intrusted to Brune, but the allies succeeded in landing, and captured the whole Dutch fleet in the Texel. At this moment the hopes of the allies were very high, and the French, worsted abroad and full of discontent at home, seemed on the verge of destruction.

[Sidenote: Napoleon defeated at Acre. May 21, 1799.]

The news that Bonaparte had been defeated at Acre added still further to their depression. To complete his dreams of Eastern conquest, and to forestall the attacks of an army gathering on that side, Bonaparte had marched into Syria. He won the battle of El Arish, took Joppa, where he massacred his prisoners, and advanced as far as Acre at the foot of Mount Carmel. The fortress, which was held by Djezzar, lately a robber, now a Pacha, was not in itself strong, but the French operations were rendered slow by the fortunate capture of their battering train by Sir Sidney Smith, the English commodore. After fifty days a breach was made, but the brilliant example of Sir Sidney Smith and his sailors, who entered the town, encouraged the Turkish garrison to a desperate resistance, which rendered all efforts at assault vain; Bonaparte had to retreat disappointed. "Had it not been for Djezzar," he said, "I might have been Emperor of the East." His retreat was marked by another act of cruelty; he ordered his sick at Joppa to be poisoned. With a broken army he regained Egypt, but he was still in a condition to beat the Turks near Alexandria, at what the French call the battle of Aboukir; but while thus victorious, he heard news of affairs in Europe which led him to think that the pear was at length ripened. He slipped secretly from his army, accompanied by his four friends, Berthier, Lannes, Murat, and Marmont, and set sail for France, leaving the army under the command of Kleber.

[Sidenote: Jealousies and disasters of the coalition.]

Before Napoleon arrived the danger of France from without had disappeared. Jealousy had arisen between the Austrians and the Russians, which was not likely to be soothed by the rough behaviour of Suwarrow or the palpable self-seeking of the Court of Vienna. It became necessary to rearrange the commands. The war in Switzerland was to be intrusted to Suwarrow, who was to march thither and effect a junction with his Lieutenant Korsakoff, who was already in the country. But before the junction could be effected Massena annihilated the army of Korsakoff at the battle of Zurich (Sept. 26), and when Suwarrow had forced his way over the St. Gotthard Pass, he found himself in the midst of hostile armies instead of meeting his friends. He turned suddenly to the right, and making an extraordinary march among the glaciers and peaks of the Alps, he succeeded in reaching Coire in safety. Believing himself betrayed by the Austrians, he refused to serve again, and retired to Russia, where he died in disgrace. Nor had the Duke of York been more successful in Holland. The character of the country rendered it very difficult to advance, while the want of discipline of the Russians on the right wing entailed a defeat before Bergen. The town was indeed afterwards taken, but loss in battle and by ill health, and the want of all signs of co-operation on the part of the inhabitants, induced the English to sign what must be considered a disgraceful convention at Erckmar, by which they agreed to withdraw from Holland, and give over 10,000 French prisoners without exchange; the English however kept possession of the Dutch fleet.

[Sidenote: Success in India against Tippoo Sahib and the French.]

In India the English arms had been more successful. The intrigues of Tippoo with the French having been clearly discovered, and efforts at friendly arrangement having proved vain, General Harris, with a considerable army, was ordered in February 1799 to march upon Seringapatam. The Governor-General at this time was Lord Mornington, brother of the Duke of Wellington, who himself, as Colonel Arthur Wellesley, was one of the leaders of the expedition. After two successful skirmishes, General Harris appeared before the capital, which was a strong city well prepared for a siege. In about a month the place was taken by assault and Tippoo himself killed. This success placed the whole kingdom of Mysore, with a large amount of treasure, in the hands of the conquerors.

[Sidenote: Napoleon returns, and is made First Consul. Nov. 11, 1799.]

On his return to Paris (Oct. 16), therefore, Bonaparte found himself in a position to carry out his plans for personal aggrandizement; and though the great danger from foreign enemies had disappeared, the interior of France offered him every opportunity for laying hands on the Government. It was not forgotten that during his absence the safety of the Republic had been risked, and its hard-won victories rendered useless; and as the incapacity of their present rulers had been even more obvious at home than abroad, all eyes turned to him as the natural saviour of the State. Moreover, now that the first fervour of revolutionary energy had worn itself out, the bulk of the nation desired order, even though earned at the expense of liberty. Of the two Councils that of the Ancients was decidedly inclined in favour of a more settled Government, and it was through it that Napoleon determined to work. The Council of Five Hundred was more difficult to deal with. For a moment Napoleon shrunk before their patriotic and republican cries, but, urged by the Abbé Sièyes, who pressed him to action, crying, "They have put you outside the law, do you put them outside their hall," he recovered courage, and his Grenadiers, entering the hall with beating drums, quietly extruded the representatives. Thus was accomplished the great _coup d'état_ of the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9). The Directory was destroyed; a new constitution, spoken of as the Constitution of the year 8, was established, by which the executive power was vested nominally in three consuls, but really in the First Consul, Bonaparte, who thus became practically Dictator. His measures were anti-revolutionary, his object being to restore confidence and to heal faction. With his thoughts thus turned to the reorganization of France, he desired to be free for the present from foreign wars, and one of his earliest steps was to make overtures with the continental powers. To England he made proposals of peace in a letter addressed immediately to the King (Dec. 25). This was of course a grave breach of the etiquette of courts, and the letter was answered by Grenville in anything but a conciliatory spirit, while the whole blame of the war was thrown upon the French, with whom the English minister declined to enter into negotiations so long as the Government was in the hands of those "whom the Revolution had so recently placed in the exercise of power." Some more correspondence ensued, but the English ministers positively refused to treat. It is certain that Napoleon's offer was merely to gain time; on the other hand, the dictatorial tone of Grenville's reply could not but be very irritating to the French.

[Sidenote: Napoleon regains the North of Italy.]

[Sidenote: Napoleon's victories.]