^fa- /*C § | ^. <* ~ ^ I 2 H s— f < M 3C 3 I 3 4* HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION BY F* W. BLJIGBOM) ESQ. On presenting the public with a Graphic Memento of the late Grand National Jubilee, in honour of a most glorious, and (as we trust it will prove) a durable peace, — a few brief observations on the leading events which have effected this happy occurrence may not be deemed inappropriate. It is far from our intention to enter into an historical detail of the scarcely numerable af- fairs, by sea and land, in which this immortalized country has partaken, only to conquer, — and has thereby raised her national character to the highest and most enviable eminence of human greatness ; for neither our time, space, or ability, is equal to prosecute with justice so arduous a task. But now that the dreaded sword is sheathed throughout Europe, and our warriors are returning to their homes with exultation and tranquillity, a cursory record of their gallant deeds, while it consecrates to posterity such atchievements as are without a parallel in history, may, however feebly, contribute to cherish our gratitude towards the British heroes, and prove to future ages the consequences which must ever attend a combination of firmness, virtue, and valour. We have at length obtained that happy end, which all men of penetration and sound judgment predicted we should acquire, by an unshaken perseverance in those just principles, which first impelled us to resort to arms. Our national cha- racter insulted; our national prosperity threatened with annihilation ; our govern- ment outraged ; our sovereign libelled and traduced — we were forced to resist the infuriate aggressions of a nation of sanguinary fanatics, who, misled by the ignis fatuus of political liberty, waded through oceans of blood in pursuit of the ima- gined shadow ; and, after enduring years of havoc and desolation, finally suc- B 6 oumbed to a more horrible system of despotism than any which had previously cursed the earth since its creation. But, through our perseverance, the Revolution of France lias been completed : we have prosecuted the war till a peace has been obtained, which has comprised the sole and only object for which we have so long contended, namely, " indemnity for the past, and security for the future!" If war, in any case, can be justified on the plea of necessity, (and it is not possible to negative so plain a proposition,) it must be admitted, that never did such a necessity exist for hostilities with France, as at the period when we were compelled to commence them. Volumes innumerable have been written, by graceless demagogues, to prove that the war was entered into, on our part, for the purpose of oppressing a people who wished to shake off the iron yoke of despot- ism, under which they had been bent to the earth for centuries; that it was a war against the liberty of expressing political sentiments, and that it was equally absurd as impious to attempt the extirpation of opinions by fire and sword. But these perverse and seditious writers continued incessantly the propagation of such false and futile sentiments, even till the hour when their idol was overthrown, and universal scorn, contempt, and infamy, became the final recompense of their ignoble efforts. The cause of justice and loyalty having at length completely triumphed, the time is come for good men to exult, and for the too numerous dis- affected to retire in dismay, at the total destruction of those hopes and views, which they had basely cherished for the long period of twenty-one years. Advocates, as we have ever been, during the whole of that awful period, for a vigorous and unremitting prosecution of the war, till the purposes which we had anticipated should be attained, we can proudly justify ourselves, if any justifica- tion were requisite, for the inculcation of those principles, to the extent of our limited, though various means.* The object of our late infuriate enemy was of too comprehensive a nature not to create the utmost alarm in the minds of all honest * In the course of the war, the editor of this work, Mr. Edward Orme, of Bond Street, has not been inactive in the good cause ; he has omitted no opportunity of bringing forward to public admiration, by the graphic art, the principal events in which our arms have triumphed both by sea and land ; publishing, at various periods, engravings of those great exploits most calculated to impress the mind with correct ideas of the arduous struggles which has immortalized the British name ; as also correct portraits of our gallant officers, the glory and honour of their country. Englishmen, who wished to leave their posterity in the possession of those bless- ings which they had themselves enjoyed ; and which, under the reign of the great family of the House of Brunswick, have been the peculiar attributes of this most favoured land. Was it not incumbent on the British government to resist the views of a maddened nation, which openly aimed at, and too fatally succeeded in, the subversion of all legal order and authority, the violation of the most solemn compacts and treaties, the profanation of every thing sacred, venerable, and august ? Was it not a moral duty on our part to check the desperate schemes of a people, who, under their revolutionary mania, had perpetrated the most diabo- lical crimes ; who had deliberately murdered thousands of innocent victims, whose only offence was their loyal attachment to the government of their forefathers ; and Mho, at the outset of their career, entailed eternal disgrace upon the French name by the assassination of an amiable sovereign and his consort? To the perpetual shame of their age, these are facts which cannot be controverted, and which the faithful pen of History will transmit to future times as matters of wonder and asto- nishment. When, therefore, it was evident, that, far from retracting and ac- knowledging their errors and their crimes, these infatuated people laboured only to propagate them throughout the world, and to spread desolation and carnage in every country, as they had done in their own, it was the glory of Britain to stand forward in the labour of restoring a real age of reason, and to make those efforts which the world could expect from her alone, for re-establishing religion on her seat, and legitimate monarchy on her throne. It was not to consolidate an interest in a newly-discovered countiy; it was not to substantiate the advantages of a newly- acquired commerce ; it was not to revenge a national insult, to guarantee a treaty, or to subdue a misguided and .rebellious colony : all these, indeed, were occasions in which our fleets had already traversed the ocean, and our cannon thundered in the field : and such were cases, on the expediency of which politicians have been divided in opinion, without any imputation on their understanding, or their in- tegrity. But the cause which we have lived to see triumphant, was one which in- volved a far more extensive object : it was the cause of human nature — of the noblest principles of the human breast ; it was the cause of justice, rectitude, and innocence ; it was a contest for the most invaluable of our blessings, the dearest 8 privileges which we could possess — our liberty, our property, our independence — the cause of all that peace, happiness, and gratification, which we enjoy in the circles of domestic society — the cause of our churches, our altars, our laws, our present faith, and future hope ! And this great and important cause has Pro- vidence, in the year of the Centenary of the House of Brunswick, rendered com- pletely successful ! Since the commencement of that war, the progress and close of which it is our object to record, a new generation of mankind has arisen, and arrived at maturity. Few of these can be supposed to know, with accuracy, the circumstances which led to the long and horrible .conflict. Verbal information, communications made in the periods of adolescence, leave but a transient impression on the mind ; and even the efforts of adult reminiscence arc seldom adequate to convey correct outlines of great historical facts, that occur in rapid succession through a series of years. We shall therefore endeavour, as concisely as possible, to state the incidents which produced the war, and afterwards to record the principal of those glorious suc- cesses of our arms, by sea and land, which have led to its happy termination. It is not necessai\y to enter into the particulars of the horrid French Revolution ; for, had the people of France confined themselves to the new-modelling of their government, according to their ideas of the change being a national benefit, how- ever absurd and irrational they might have been, the wise administration of this country would never have interposed to stop their progress. But when, after destroying their own legitimate government, they, in an official decree of the l^th of November, 1792, declared " tear to palaces," and openly avowed their deter- mination to assist an} r other people who would imitate their example, it became high time for this country to set aside* that system of neutrality which it had so f The following is the particular passage in the memorable decree to which we have alluded: — " The National Convention declares, in the name of the French nation, that they will grant fraternity and assistance to all people who wish to recover their liberty; and they charge the executive power to send the necessary orders to the generals — to give assistance to such people, and to defend those citizens, who have suf- fered, or may suffer, in the cause of liberty. " It was farther resolved, that this decree should be translated into, and printed in all languages ! — In another decree, issued on the loth of December, in the same year, the Convention declared, that their principles vould not permit them to acknowledge any of the institutions militating against the sovereignty of the people! 9 sincerely professed and endeavoured to maintain. The French revolutionary go- vernment wished to enforce this neutrality upon Great Britain, only that it might be enabled to accomplish the dangerous schemes which it had formed of conti- nental usurpation ; and the correspondence at that time between our minister, Lord Grenville, and the French ambassador, M. Chauvelin, clearly proved that the French republican government would not purchase the continuance of peace with us at the expense of her projects of ambition, which were levelled at the independence of every other state in Europe. The language of Lord Gren- ville was as explicit and unequivocal as it Avas honourable to our country. He stated, as the condition of a continued friendship with France, that she must shew a disposition " to renounce her views of aggrandisement, and to confine herself within her own territories, without insulting other governments — without disturbing their tranquillity — without violating their rights." To these propositions the French government replied only by evasions, which contained a reservation of the dan- gerous claim of a right to annul treaties, whenever, in their opinion, their newly- invented rights of nature, or, in other words, their own interests, called for the exercise of such an effort, and also to violate at their pleasure the rights of in- dependent nations in alliance with us. Our refusal to be satisfied with such dis- organizing and preposterous explanations, which tended rather to justify than repair the injuries complained of, was considered, by the French government of that time, as a sufficient basis for a declaration of war. To the honour, and, in proof of the pacific disposition of this country, it should be recorded, that, had the French been disposed to effect an accommodation, the crimes which they had committed in their revolutionary rage, would not have been an obstacle which we should have thrown in the way of an amicable intercourse : on the contrary, our government afforded them every facility for accommodation. This fact is not only fully proved by the correspondence between Lord Grenville and M. Chauve- lin, but is confirmed by the instructions sent, at that time, to the late Lord Auckland, at the Hague, to propose a conference with Dumourier on the frontiers of Holland. But peace was not the wish of the French government ; and, though they knew of the orders of the British cabinet to their minister, for opening a pacific negotiation, they caused war to be declared before the da} r of c 10 meeting: and Brissot, a notorious and leading character in the French assem- bly, publicly declared, that " it was the determination of France to brave all Eu- rope !" Thus, it was not till a systematic plan was formally resolved upon by the French assembly of usurpers, for dissolving all lawful governments, that Great Britain reluctantly determined to unsheath the sword in defence of her religion, liberty, independence, and every privilege that can be dear to man. Such were the circumstances which led to the war between Great Britain and France — a Avar, which soon involved in its consequences almost every state in Eu- rope, and has spread horror and desolation, in nearly every direction, from the interior of Asia to the North Pole. — We shall now briefly trace, or rather enu- merate, the leading events which have arisen out of it, till we bring down our record to its glorious consummation. The events of the first campaign, in 1793, were highly important. Previous to its opening, the French, in one quarter, were in possession of Austrian Flan- ders, Brabant, the Bishopric of Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, Ruremonde, and Breda, with several other towns in Dutch Brabant : the Roer and the Maese only were the boundaries of their conquests, to which the strength of Maestricht, and the gallant defence of the garrison of Williamstadt, had given a momentary check. Dumourier was on the point of crossing the Moerdyke, into Holland; while Mi- randa was about to penetrate into the United Provinces, by way of Nimeguen. The divisions amongst the Dutch had marked them for an easy prey ; and the riches of Amsterdam offered an immense resource for carrying on the projects of the Convention. On the Rhine, the French were in possession of Deux Ponts, Saarbruck, a part of the Palatinate, and the strong and populous city of Mentz ; by which they were enabled to carry their arms into the heart of Germany at discretion. They were masters of Savoy, and had completely overawed the court of Naples ; their fleet swept the Mediterranean, and all its shores dreaded a visit (too soon performed) of confraternity. On the borders of Spain they had assembled a con- siderable army, commissioned to bring her monarch to the bar of the National Convention. 11 In this critical state of affairs, Great Britain, as an earnest of her future glo- rious exertions, assisted Holland with uncommon celerity. She sent her guards, and other troops, who inspired confidence in the Dutch government, and soon covered themselves with the laurels of victory. Austria and Prussia having joined to preserve their national existence, and being liberally seconded by the immense resources of this country, the French were rapidly expelled from Flanders ; and, in less than a month, the baleful tree of liberty was rooted up throughout the Dutch and Austrian Provinces. Throughout the whole of the spring of 1793, the Allies almost uniformly had the advantage in various engagements, and they gained many important posts on the Rhine. On the 8th of May the whole French army was attacked and repulsed near Valenciennes ; and the British troops, for the first time in action, had their full share in the glories of the day- On the 23d, their strong camp at Famars was forced; on which occasion the left wi ng of the allied army, commanded by the Duke of York, eminently distinguished itself. In the following month the va- luable Island of Tobago, with those of St. Pierre and Miquelon, surrendered to our arms. In July, Conde, Cotsheim, Valenciennes, and Mcntz, surrendered ; and, in August, the Duke of York proceeded towards Dunkirk. Menin, from which the Dutch troops had been repulsed, Avas also retaken in the most spirited manner, by the British guards under General Lake; and the strong posts of the French at Ghiveld, Turcoing, and Menin, Avere also carried. Quesnoy surren- dered on the 11th of September to General Clairfayt; and a body of 10,000 men, sent to its relief, Avas defeated by the Prince of Cobourg : the Duke of Brunsavick, on the 14th, also obtained a considerable victory over the French at Pirmasens. On the frontiers of Spain, Don Ricardos defeated the French army off the Pyrennees, near Perpignan, with the loss of 5000 killed and Avounded, ten pieces of cannon, and 1500 prisoners. On the 1st of October, a severe conflict took place on the heights of Pharon, above Toulon, in Avhich the French Avere beaten. Several advantages were likeAvise gained bv the Allies in Flanders : — in November, Fort Louis, on the Rhine, surrendered to General Wurmser, Avith 4000 men, and 112 pieces of ordnance. In December, St. Domingo surrendered to our arms ; and, at Cape Nichola Mole alone, were found 136 pieces of cannon, twenty- 12 three mortars, immense quantities of stores and ammunition, and eleven mer- chant ships. From the 18th to the 26th of December, the French made a series of attacks on the Allies with no less than 180,000 men, which they had collected ; and the gallant combined arm}-, being thus completely overpowered by numbers, were compelled to relinquish many of those advantages, which they had previously gained. At sea, during the above period, the French lost no less than twelve frigates and sloops ; while, on our side, the Thames and Hyena were the only ships captured by then), and these were obliged to strike to a superior force. The French succeeded in repelling as from Dunkirk, by throwing into it no less than 30,000 men ; and they were indebted for the turn of the tide of fortune in their favour entirely to pouring into the field a constant stream of fresh troops, con- sisting of the flower of the infuriated republican army. But the most important event of the war, at this period, was the evacuation of the strong fort and fortress of Toulon ; where no loss than fifteen ships of the line were burnt by Sir Sidney Smith, and the intrepid naval officers under his command; besides several fri- gates, on board two of which was the powder of the French magazines. We also brought off one ship of 120 guns, and two of 74 : adding to these the frigates, &c. burnt at Leghorn, and those abovementioned as having been captured, we shall find, that, in only the first year of the war, the French navy sustained a loss of no less than forty-five ships of war, nineteen of which were of the line. It was certainly beyond all human foresight and calculation to imagine, that a war, so justly and gloriously begun, should be protracted through so long a series of years, and be attended with results that threatened, and had nearly at- tained the subjugation of all Europe, under the despotic rule of France. It was naturally anticipated, that the effects of the contest would speedily fall on the heads of some one of the successive governments of that country, whose proceed- ings were altosether a disgrace to the annals of mankind : but Providence, for in- scrutable reasons, had ordained a long and tremendous reign of calamity to visit the earth. The year 1794 was principally remarkable for the dreadful proceedings of the revolutionists in France, and the death of Robespierre and his associates under 13 the guillotine ; notwithstanding which, their military efforts were prodigious. The King of Prussia receded from the confederacy ; and the Duke of Brunswick, foreseeing the evils that would result from a want of unanimity amongst the con- federates, resigned the command of the army. At the battle of Fleurus the Allies were totally defeated with great loss : Moreau also gained a great victory over Claire a vt, and took Yypres. Many other strong places successively surrendered to the French, under Moeeau: they afterwards besieged and took Maestricht, and Pichegru invaded Holland. The most dreadful disasters also befel the roy- alist armies in La Vendee, who were cut to pieces by the troops of the Conven- tion. On the western borders of Spain, also, the French were equally successful; and the Austrian Netherlands were subsequently incorporated with the French na- tion; under the dominion of which they remained, till the glorious peace of the present year restored the balance of power. By sea, the year 1794 was signalized by the decisive victory over the French fleet b}' Earl Howe. The action took place in the Channel, on the 1st of June. The French force consisted of twenty-six ships of the line, opposed to His Ma- jesty's fleet of twenty-five. After a desperate action, seven of the enemy remained in our possession, one of which soon afterwards sunk. Another ship, the Revolu- tionnaire, of 120 guns, had been captured on the 28th of May. On the continent the French arms were eminently successful ; and the Allies, after many a brave resistance, were overpowered by numbers, and finally discom- fited. AVe are compelled, for want of room, to pass over a series of events, which proved but too disastrous to the allied arms, and broke up the coalition— the Dutch becoming allies of France; and shall revert merely to a chronological record of those glorious occurrences by sea, which gave a blow to the French navy, that a whole century will not enable it to recover. In 1795 the French fleet was de- feated by Lord Beidport; but the victory was of inferior importance to those v, hich afterwards took place, although his lordship made such masterly manoeuvres as raised him to the highest rank of eminence in his profession. On the 14th of February, 1797, the Spanish fleet was defeated by the Earl of St. Vincent. On this occasion the British fleet was far inferior to the enemy in number ; but the superior discipline, skill, and bravery of the officers and crews D 14 under his lordship, (then Sir John Jervis,) were considered by him as a coun- terpoise to this disparity. The signal being made for battle, Commodore Nelson led the van, and opposed the Spanish admiral in the Santissima Trinidada, a ship of four decks and 136 guns : — it is said to have been the largest ship in the world ; and, though Nelson's was but a seventy-four, he not only engaged his colossal opponent, but had, for a considerable time, to contend also with her seconds, ahead and astern, each of three decks. The brilliant achievement ended in the defeat of the Spanish fleet; taking from them five sail of the line, and compelling the admiral's ship to strike, though she afterwards escaped — the enemy having twenty-five sail of the line opposed to our fifteen sail. Commodore Nelson boarded and captured two of the enemy's line ; one of eighty, and the other of 112 guns — a circumstance of unparalleled bravery ! In October of the same year, Admiral Duncan gained a decisive victory over the Dutch fleet off Camperdown : he completely destroyed the enemy's fleet, captured nine ships, and made the brave admiral, De Winter, prisoner. For his meritorious conduct, on this occasion, he was raised to the dignity of a Vis- count. The year 1798 was the most remarkable of any in the war. That extraordinary and unparalleled character, Napoleon Buonaparte, brought from an ob- scurity, in which he might have lingered out an unnoticed and miserable exist- ence, but for the influence of powerful patronage, had already made a conspi- cuous figure in the plains of Italy, where he had defeated the brave legions of Austria in a manner almost miraculous. Many of the continental states had been subdued more by their own defects than by the resources of the enemy, potent and formidable as these undoubtedly were, — and the ambition of the French rulers of the day seemed to aspire to nothing less than universal conquest. At this im- portant period, the tri-coloured standard of social rebellion was seen floating from the Seine to the Tiber — from the Texel to the Garonne ; and the few remaining monarchies of Europe were tottering on their bases; while Great Britain appeared on the eve of being left to struggle, single-handed, against a world in arms! For- tunateby, the mad expedition to Egypt gave her an opportunity of shewing her invincible valour by sea and land, and overwhelming the common enemy of peace 15 with defeat, confusion, and dismay. The defeat of Buonaparte, at Acre, (of which we shall more particularly speak in the following pages,) elevated the military character of this nation to a point of unequalled eminence ; and the previous dreadful battle of the Nile, on the 1st of August, 1798, struck a panic into the hearts of the French naval warriors, from which they never re- covered. The French armament destined for Egypt had given rise to painful alarm; for it w-as generally supposed to be intended for the invasion of Great Britain. In the month of May, General Buonaparte and Admiral Brueys, having eluded the vigilance of the British fleet, sailed from Toulon ; and, on the 9th of June, appeared before Malta. The grand master, ill-prepared for such an enemy, was unable to make effective resistance ; and, in a few days, the island, with all its dependencies, capitulated. Having left 4000 in the garrison, Buona- parte pursued his course to Egypt; probably with a view of establishing there a French settlement, and of opening a communication with India, by the Persian Gulph or the Red Sea. Sir Horatio Nelson was no sooner apprised of the movements of the French fleet, than he crouded all sail for the Egyptian coast ; and, the French squadron not being arrived, he cruised off Canada. At length, in the month of August, returning to Alexandria, he discovered the French fleet in the Bay of Aboukir, in a compact line of battle, and protected by the batteries of Alexandria. Without regarding this advantageous position, he commenced the attack with his usual intrepidity ; and, after an action of the most desperate na- ture for some hours, the whole squadron, with the exception of two sail of the line and two frigates, surrendered. The immediate result of the victory, therefore, was the addition of nine sail of the line to the British navy, and the diminution of eleven sail from that of France; to which it was, in every respect, a most fatal blow. More than twelve months had been employed in equipping the fleet for this expedition ; and, for this purpose, the arsenal of Venice was ex- hausted : besides which, all the best officers and seamen had been selected to command and man the fleet. The loss of the French amounted to 5,225 men, without including the wounded and prisoners ; and, excepting the subsequent battle of Trafalgar, the annals of the British navy do not present another instance of a victory so glorious and decisive. Its effects upon the general affairs of Europe 16 were instant and important, beyond all calculation. The inhabitants of Malta rose upon the French as soon as they heard it, and surrendered their island to the British. In another quarter, our naval forces obtained a signal advantage, by the capture of five frigates out of eight, which were sent for the invasion of Ireland. This victory of the Nile, also, infused a new spirit into the continental powers, particularly Austria and Naples. The Austrian troops took possession of the important passes in the country of the Grisons, to prevent the French from pene- trating thence into Germany and the Tyrol ; and they would have been, in all pro- bability, completely checked in their career, if their favourite of fortune had not, by deserting his army, opportunely escaped, and arrived to give a new and un- paralleled impulse to their military exertions. ■ In the mean time, the Directory had declared war against the Emperor of Germany and the Grand Duke of Tuscany ; reproaching the Emperor with a violation of the treaty. At this critical time, the Emperor Paul, of Russia, re- solved to employ the whole force of his empire to rescue Europe from its sanguin- ary tyrants. The first detachment of his army, destined to co-operate with the Austrians in Italy, amounted to 24,000 men ; and these were placed under the command of the eminent Suwarrow. The French, however, with their usual activity and treachery, penetrated Germany and Italy, during the prevalence of the armistice ; and, after a desperate resistance, captured the Austrian general, Auffen burgh, and a large body of troops, under the walls of Coire: the re- duction of the Grisons was the consequence of this victory. The plan of the French was to effect a junction between the armies of Massena, in Switzerland, and Jourdan, in Germany: in this, after many desperate repulses and horrible losses of human life, they succeeded, and soon made a conquest of Switzerland ; where their first effort was to form a Directory of their own creatures, who passed a law, inflicting the punishment of death on any Swiss who should refuse to join the French, and march against the Austrians. But it was not in Switzerland alone that this unprincipled outrage upon the laws of nations was exercised : similar de- crees were issued at Naples, and every other part in which their horrible influence had gained an ascendancy. By this time, they had possessed themselves of those southern territories, to which they gave the name of the Transalpine, Cisalpine, 17 Ligurian, and Cisrhenane Republics, and had too fatally succeeded in exciting a spirit of insurrection amongst the people against their pre-existing establishments. In the spring of 1799, Suwaerow, at the head of his invincible Russians, had advanced by forced marches into Italy, and had joined the Austrians ; but, before this junction, the latter, under General Kray, had, after a series of attacks, con- ducted with a degree of skill, vigour, and perseverance that had never been exceed- ed, expelled the French from the neighbourhood of Mantua; forcing them to relin- quish their strong holds on the Mincia and the Adige, and retire to the Adda. On the banks of this river, rendered remarkable for the dear-bought victories, which the great plunderer of Italy, Buonaparte, obtained at the bridge of Lodi, Suwaerow, on the 27th of April, attacked More au at different points; and, after a most desperate action, gained a complete victory — killing 6000 men, and taking 5000 prisoners, including four generals, and eighty pieces of cannon. The consequence of this action was the total expulsion of the French from the Mi- lanese. Marshal Bellegarde was equally successful in expelling the French from the Engadine; on which, the oppressed inhabitants of the smaller Swiss cantons rose upon their tyrants, and put hundreds of them to the sword. At this time, but for the unaccountable and discreditable neutrality of the King of Prussia, there was full reason to believe, that the fetters of French liberty would have been completely shaken off all over the continent. On the 14th of June, 1799, the dreadful battle of Marengo being gained by the French, the Emperor of Germany was compelled to consent to an armistice : unavailing negociations were opened at Luneville, and thus the theatre of war was materially contracted. Meanwhile, the invasion of the French in Italy com- pelled the Kings of Naples and Sardinia to quit their territories; the former, with his family, being conveyed, under the British flag, to Sicily; after which; the French banditti found no difficulty in entering Naples : they signalized their usurpation by the atrocious murder of the loyal peasantry and lazzaroni, who vainly endeavoured to oppose their entrance. As the summer advanced, Suwaerow, aware of the importance of celerity in his movements,surmounted every obstacle, and took possession of most of the strong fortresses in Piedmont, and even of the capital itself. He next, by a sudden and E 18 rapid march of seventeen leagues in forty-eight hours, attacked Moreau, before he received the reinforcements which the Director}' had dispatched to him; and, after obstinate battles for three successive days, defeated him with the loss of 17,000 men. This brilliant atchicvement led to the surrender of Turin, Alessan- dria, and Mantua; while the castles of Ovo, Nuovo, and St. Elmo, on the Nca~ politian territory, were surrendered to the English, sent by Lord Nelson to re? {luce them. Leaving the situation of the continent in this favourable aspect, let us turn our e} r es for a moment to a different quarter, and contemplate the effects of British valour on the shores of Palestine, where we shall find grounds for exultation that have seldom been equalled. There we shall see the hero of France, the conqueror of Italy, the boasted legislator of Europe, accustomed to dictate laws to subjugated nations, leading a band of chosen followers, exceeding 12,000 in number; and, with a staff eminent for skill and experience, laying siege to a small town in Asia, wretchedly fortified, and defended only by 2000 English and Mussulmans, under the command of a naval officer — detained before it si>\ty-ninc days — foiled in eleven different attempts to carry it by storm — and ultimately obliged to retreat, defeated and disgraced; leaving behind him eight of his generals, eighty-five of his best officers, all his heavy artillery, and one half of his army ! Posterity will not cease to remember, that the vanquished general was Buonaparte ; the victor, Sir Sidney Smith. Here Napoleon betrayed his real character ; haught}-, inso- lent, rapacious, and cruel in prosperity ; abusive, vulgar, malignant, and false in adversity, he united with the courage of a partizan the sentiments of a pirate. His scandalous rapacity in Italy sank before his wanton cruelty in Egvpt, Avhere he massacred the inhabitants of Alexandria in cold blood, and ordered his own sick and wounded troops to be poisoned. His defeat at Acre was an event productive of such important results, that, brief as our sketch must necessarily be, we are compelled to notice them. This defeat saved Constantinople and the Turkish empire from approaching subjugation ; for it has been since clearly proved, that, having" by threats and intrigue prevailed on the numerous tribe of Druses, with 60,000 men, to join his standard, (which they could not do till Acre should be ^educed,) he had declared to them his determination to plunder the Turkish capital, 19 and lay it in ashes. The dreadful consequences to all Europe of such an event, had it succeeded, are scarcely to be calculated; but its frustration was followed by nothing but disgrace, disappointment, and misery to him who had plundered it. These misfortunes produced the utmost consternation in France, and caused the most furious divisions amongst the leading members of the Directory. A dis- position to rise against their oppressors was evinced in many parts of France, par- ticularly in Normandy; and, in the city of Rouen, large bills were secretly posted, with this inscription: A bas la Republique. Vive le Roi dc France, Louis XVIII f Malheur <) ccux qui oseront arracher cet qffiche ! — -and a republican agent having been detected in pulling down one of these placards, was found the next morning mur- dered in his bed ! At this most interesting time, we once more find the British govern- ment eminently conspicuous in aiding the great cause. Holland had been com- pelled to submit to French protection, chiefly through the disaffection of the peo- ple, who had imbibed the revolutionary principles to their fullest extent— little aware how deeply they would soon be compelled to drink the cup of calamity, which they had so eagerly sought after. An expedition was sent to Holland, where it was joined by a large body of Russian auxiliaries and Dutch loyalists ; and, no sooner had it appeared, than the Dutch fleet in the Texel surrendered, and the most sanguine expectations were again entertained; when, from a variety of causes, which could neither be anticipated nor provided against, they were most calamitously disappointed. About this period we had accounts of the successful termination of the war in India, by which the French influence was totally destroyed, and has never since revived in that important quarter. The most serious reverses now befel the Austrian arms in Germany, owing to the narrow-mindedness and bigotry of the Aulic Council, who controlled the conduct of that supereminent general and real hero, the Archduke Charles j thus pre- venting him from attacking the French under the most favourable circum- stances, even when the expected junction of the Russians would have enabled him to keep Massena at bay till the arrival of his forces from Italy ; but the lat- ter, .apprised of his intention to repair to Switzerland, made his grand attack be- 20 fore he could come up ; and, defeating the Austrians under General Hot ze, en- tered Zurich. Suwaerow was, in consequence, obliged to retire into the country of the Grisons. The French Directory, magnifying this event with their usual effrontery, proclaimed the total defeat of the allied army in Switzerland, with the loss of 30,000 men ; and thus succeeded in raising new myriads for slaughter ! The grand object of the expedition to Holland, which was the restoration of the government of the Stadtholder, was now totally abandoned : a convention was signed for the return of our troops, and the prisoners Ave had taken (8000 in num- ber) were unconditionally restored. In short, the year 1799> which had opened with the most animating prospects, terminated with general disappointment to the advocates of the good cause; and, though Barras, the original patron of Buo- naparte, had formed a plan for the restoration of monarchy, this daring usurper, having deserted his army in Egypt, and secretly returned to Paris, over- threw the Directory, and established the Consular Government, with himself at its head. Thus, not only the revolution of the 18th Fructidor, but the chequered events of the year, rendered it one of the most remarkable of the whole period of the war. The first scheme of the great Consul, and one to which he ever afterwards ad- hered, was founded on the Machiavelian policy : Divide et impera. In his separate overtures to the allied powers, he studied to sow dissensions and mistrust amongst them all ; but, his character now being Avell understood, all confidence in him was abolished. Fortunately for Europe, the shallow artifices of this usurper were de- spised by the British government. True to the principles which they had invari- abl} r professed, they called upon France, if she sincerely wished for peace, " to renounce her views of agg?-ession and aggrandizement, and to confine herself within her own territories, without insulting other governments — without disturbing their tran- quillity — without violating their rights !" Happy would it have been for France, and the rest of the world, if such wise advice had been listened to ! The year 1800 passed without any material military or naval occurrence on the part of Great Britain ; but it had scarcely commenced before a new coalition was formed between this country, Austria, and Russia, to repress the ambitious views of France — Austria having peremptorily rejected a proposition from the First 21 Consul for a separate peace. The battle of Marengo, (previously alluded to) at which Buonaparte commanded in person, had decided the fate of Italy ; though it was to the provident conduct of the French general, Dessaix, that the victory, after nine hours desperate fighting, was mainly attributable. Swit- zerland was, in consequence of this victory, again placed under the foot of France. Obedient to the mandate of his tyrant, the fallen monarch of Spain embraced the murderers of his family, and proclaimed war against his neighbours and Allies, the Portuguese, who had incurred the enmity of the French Republic for adhering faithfully to their treaties Avith the Spanish throne. But, while France was tri- umphing over the whole of the south of Europe, Great Britain was preparing a blow for her power in the north and the east, which astonished the universe. France had succeeded in gaining, by intrigue, a new and powerful ally in the person of the Emperor Paul ; but his intentions were frustrated by his sudden death, the causes and manner of which are too well known to require expatiation. To counteract the views of Denmark, and shake this new northern confederacy, a British fleet was dispatched to the North Sea, where it obtained a victory over the Danes, which reflected immortal honour on the hero of the Nile ; who, though only second in command, thought proper to make an attempt, which produced the most decisive results, and struck a panic amongst all the subordinate powers of the north. The exultation of the British was heightened by the valiant defence of the Danes : the action took place on the 2d of April, 1801 ; and the result was the capture or destruction of seventeen sail of the enemy. This disaster induced Buonaparte to make those propositions, which led to a negociation for peace, and produced the Preliminary Treaty of October. In the interval, intelligence arrived of the glorious battles of Aboukir and Alexandria — battles, which placed our military on a level with our naval character. The con- duct of the lamented Commander-in-Chief, Sir Ralph Abercrombie, was beyond all eulogium : he concealed for two hours the bitter anguish of a mortal wound, and sank to a hero's tomb, amidst the blessings of his army, and the ad- miration of mankind. The legion on which Buonaparte had arrogantly bestowed the title of invincible, was conquered and destroyed by a regiment of Highlanders; p 22 and this victory fully confirmed the Turks in the high ideas they had entertained of our prowess. The treaty of peace, concluded under a belief that Buonaparte and his minions were heartily tired of hostilities, and inclined to maintain good faith with this country, was hailed by the populace, who set no bounds to their joy ; but it was too soon found, that no reliance was to be placed in his professions, even when sanctioned by the most sacred obligations. Fifteen months sufficed to shew, that the peace was a misnomer : it was only a " hollow-armed truce," which placed this country in infinitely more danger than she had been at any time during the late hostilities. The first act of Buonaparte after the treaty, was, to set the seal to his power, by causing himself to be proclaimed Consul for life, with the strange authority of nominating his successor, and keeping the nomination secret as long as he might please; or, finally to bequeath the Gallic empire to his heirs, though pretending to consult the will of about one-eighth part of the population. Although it is not compatible with our limits to give the particulars of the treaties by which this peace was established, we must observe, that the absolute independence of the Helvetic Republic was not only formally recognized by France, but this recognition was peremptorily prescribed by the First Consul, as an indispensible article in all the treaties which he signed with the foreign powers. Yet, on the 30th of September, 1802, he issued a proclamation to the Swiss, tell- ing them, that, on account of the miseries to which their intestine commotions subjected them, he would take upon himself to be their mediator ; and that they must consider his interference as a benefit from Providence : and commanding them to send deputies from each canton to Paris. This attempt was of itself a violation of the last treaties with all the European powers. Great Britain was impelled to dispute this right assumed by the Consul, to dispose of independent nations ac- cording to his pleasure; and, as it was ascertained that he was fitting out a large naval armament in the Dutch ports; while the Emperor of Russia had, by some strange infatuation of the moment, been induced to form an alliance with him ; and Prussia, urged by selfish policy and her inveterate hatred to Austria, was taking means to aggrandize herself at the expense of the head of the German empire, it was impossible for this country any longer to remain indecisive. A new declara- 28 tion of war was accordingly promulgated on the 16th of May, 1803, which set out with statmg, that, "in consequence of the repeated insults and provocations winch His Majesty had experienced from the government of France, he was com- pelled to take such measures as were necessary for vindicating the honour of Ins crown, and the just rights of his subjects," & c . Never was a measure more popular than this resolution of the British cabinet ': there seemed to be no difference of opinion on the subject amongst those statesmen, whose characters and principles were entitled to respect, (with one solitary ex- ception in Mr. Fox) ; and, to the honour of our Royal Dukes, their speeches on the subject, in the House of Peers, made every heart beat responsive to the truly British sentiments which flowed from their lips. The enthusiasm of the whole empire was wonderful and unparalleled ; and all party differences seemed sus- pended, to promote that object, which every true Englishman and loyal subject had nearest to his heart. The Consul beeame furious at the frustration of his se- cret objects ; and, calling forth every resource from his own slaves and vassals, threatened our country with invasion and destruction. The vain-boasting threat was met with defiance ; and, operating with electric effect amongst her population, Great Britain saw with pride, in a few months, 500,000 of her sons in arms, vo- luntarily standing forth as the champions of her soil, and enduring all the fatigues of military practice, to qualify themselves for repelling the veteran legions of the enemy, should they ever dare to contaminate with their presence this highly- iavoured land. Some persons pretend to doubt whether it was ever the serious intention of France to attempt an invasion of this country, (for ourselves, we have no doubt that it was) ;-but it is certain, that this enthusiasm alone convinced the tyrant of the futility of the enterprise, and he never dared to put it in execu- tion. The inveteracy of the Corsican towards this country, certainly, gave a sti- mulus to our exertions, by convincing us what we had to expect in case of con- quest: for, in one of his official declarations, he had the audacity to hold out Great Britain as an object for plunder. « In order to make the booty the richer," said this desperate chief, « no quarter shall be given to the base English, who fight for their perfidious government; they are to be put to the sword, and their property to be distributed amongst the soldiers of the victorious armv!" 24 The first measure of Buonaparte, on the renewal of the war, was to dis- patch his legions to quarter themselves in those countries, which he had deprived of their independence. The King of Prussia, to the astonishment of all Europe, at this time stood neutral, and suffered the French hordes to traverse his territory — to violate the independence of the Hans Towns, and desolate countries, which he was bound to protect : it was, however, urged, and we believe on good foun- dation, that the Prussian army was at this time so complete^ jacobinised, that to- have called it to the field might have endangered the monarchy, and caused the { desertion of the troops to France. The seeds of jealousy were also sown, by French emissaries, between the Emperor of Germany and his subordinate princes, the Electors ; and, as inducements to shake off their allegiance to the head of the empire, they were promised, by Buonaparte, indemnities out of the dominions of certain ecclesiastical princes of Germany. But, while he was thus inciting some of the petty princes to acts of rebellion, in other states he was carrying on the work of plunder and devastation without resistance. Hanover r though allowed to remain at peace during the late war, and whose neutrality was respected even by Robespierre, was invaded, desolated, and ruined, because its Elector was Sovereign of England. The Neapolitan and Papal dominions did not escape the general pillage : their independence was violated, and the for- tresses of both were seized and garrisoned by French troops — while the lawful heir of the Dutchy of Parma and Placentia was deprived of his inheritance : — in short, so numerous and flagrant were Buonaparte's violations of the laws of nations, and his public robberies, that our limits will not enable us to recount them. But we must not omit the mention of one horrible and most atrocious act of the usurper, soon after he caused himself to be declared Emperor of the French, which alone was sufficient to eternally stigmatize his name. A prince of the House of Bourbon, the virtuous and gallant Duke D'Enghien, who had nobly distin- guished himself during the late Mar against the murderers of his family and de- spoilers of his property, had retired to a small estate in the dominions of the Elector, of Baden; where he was passing his life in retirement, when the usurper re- solved to sacrifice him to his vengeance. The neutral territory was accordingly violated ; and the prince, being seized and hurried to Paris, was consigned to a. 25 band of military assassins, who, after a mock trial, sentenced him to be shot : the sentence was executed in the wood of Vincennes, by an Italian banditti, at the dark hour of midnight. This atrocious action aroused the Emperors of Russia and Germany from their apparent lethargy : they prepared for Avar, and Prussia even made dispositions to follow the general impulse. While the last-mentioned sovereign, however, remained in a state of indecision, another atrocious outrage was performed by the minions of the Corsican ; who seized Sir George Rumeold, the British minister at Hamburgh; and, carrying him into France, no doubt put him to death, as they did the gallant Captain Wright in the temple — for he was never afterwards heard of. The spirited conduct of our ministry, in demanding a direct answer from Spain respecting her intentions, and the detaining of some Spanish ships, laden with mo- ney, intended for the support of France, brought on a new war between Spain and England ; and iVustria also found it necessary to declare once more against France. The usurper, always beforehand with his adversaries, soon marched his hordes through Westphalia, to attack the strong fortresses of the empire; and Prussia, with a large army in the field, stood a quiet spectator of this invasion of her territory — although she had it in her power to contest the passage of the French troops through Westphalia, and thus give time to the Austrians to join her. The successes of the French were astonishing. Owing to the stupidity or treachery of the superannuated General Mack, the impregnable fortress of Ulm was surren- dered to them without a siege ; and, at the dreadful battle of Austerlitz, the Austrians, after displaying consummate bravery, were obliged to retreat through Vienna, which the French triumphantly entered. The 21st of October, 1805, (the very day on which Ulm surrendered) Avas sig- nalized by the most brilliant atchievement, which has ever dignified the naval annals of Britain : on that day occurred the ever-memorable battle of Trafalgar. The immortal Nelson had been engaged for almost two years and a half in block- ading the harbour of Toulon ; but a squadron, having escaped in March, 1805, formed a junction with the Spanish fleet at Cadiz, whence they again sailed, and nothing but conjecture prevailed as to their destination. But as soon as the intel- ligence reached Lord Nelson, his penetrating mind immediately conceived they G 26 must have gone to the West Indies; and thither he followed them. The enemv, though confident in superior force, were appalled with terror at his lordship's name; and, after capturing part of a convoy from Antigua, returned from Mar- tinique, without having effected any one object for which they had sailed. Mean- while, the servile Moniteur was boasting of the grand end in view ; and asserting, that the great object of the expedition would be first known by the blow that would be struck. The first blow, however, was given by Sir R. Caldee, who fell in with the enemy on the 22d of July, and captured two Spanish ships of the line; but the fleet afterwards eluded his pursuit, and got into Cadiz. In the mean time, Lord Nelsox, confident that the enemy were flying before him, returned to England ; but, soon afterwards, sailed with unlimited powers to take the command of the fleet, which was blockading them in their own harbour. His force was now so nearly equivalent to their's, that the result of a contest was placed beyond all doubt ; and, by dint of artifice, his lordship succeeded in drawing them from their lurking-place — an event, which caused the sacrifice of his invaluable life, but by which he has raised to himself so astonishing a monument of immortality, that succeeding heroes must saze at it with awe and admiration. On the 21st of October, at daylight, the enemy was discovered six or seven miles to the eastward of Cape Trafalgar : the commander-in-chief immediately made the signal for the fleet to bear up in two columns — a mode of attack his lord- ship had previously directed. The enemy's line consisted of thirty-three ships; of which eighteen were French, and fifteen Spanish, commanded in chief by Admiral Villeneuve. The Spaniards, under the direction of Admiral Gravina, Avore with their heads to the northward, and formed their line of battle with great close- ness and correctness ; but as the mode of attack was unusual, so the structure of their line was new. It formed a crescent, converging to leeward ; so that, in leading down to their centre, the British had both their van and rear abaft the beam. Before the fire opened, every alternate ship was about a cable's length to windward of her second, ahead and astern — forming a kind of double line, and appeared, when on their beams, to leave a very little interval between them. Admiral Vil- leneuve was in the Bucentaur, in the centre ; and the Prince of Austria's bore Gravina's flag in the rear: but the French and Spanish ships were mixed, with- out any regard to order of national squadron. 27 Lord Nelson, in the Victory, led the weather column ; and the Royal Sovereign! ■with Admiral Collingwood's flag, the lee. The action began at noon, by the leading ships of the columns breaking through the enemy's line, in all parts, and engaging them at the muzzles of their guns. The conflict was dreadful: the ene- my's ships were fought with admirable gallantry ; but nothing could withstand British intrepidity, and our fleet gained a complete and glorious victory — having captured nineteen ships of the line, with three flag-oflicers. A circumstance occurred during the action, which is, perhaps, unequalled. The Temeraire was boarded by a French ship on one side, and a Spaniard on the other : the contest was vigorous ; but it ended in our brave tars tearing the ensigns from both ships, and hoisting the British in their places. About the middle of the action, the immortal Nelson received a musket- ball in his left breast ; and, having sent an officer to Admiral Collingwood with his last farewell, soon afterwards expired. The last telegraphic order, which his lordship gave before the action, was short, but comprehensive : — " England expects every man to do his duty !" Most bravely, by sea and land, have our na- tion's hope, in the army and navy, fulfilled this patriotic expectation. A new confederacy was now formed against the tyrant of France. Scarcely had the unparalleled victory of Nelson been celebrated, when a rival hero, in all the ardour of youth and pride of honour, stood forth, the avenger of degraded Europe. The Emperor Alexander, after fully disclaiming all views of ambi- tion and projects of aggrandizement, devoted not onby his legions, but his own sacred person, to the great cause ; and the desperate actions fought in the begin- ning of December, 1805, between Brunn and Olmutz, taught the French, by dear-bought experience, that the Russian soldiers were far different from what their unprincipled marauder had led them to believe. A body of Russian hussars, dismounted, opposed, hand to hand, the Corsican's body-guard of boasted invin- cibles, and totally defeated them, cutting nearly the whole corps to pieces ; while that consummate general, the Archduke Charles, fought his way from Italy, and was about to join the main army behind Vienna. Yet, at this critical mo- ment, when the highest expectations Avere entertained of the success of the Allies, the Emperor Francis, by an unaccountable pusillanimity, consented to a truce, 28 which led to the Peace of Presburgh, and placed his dignity, his territory, and even his political existence, at the feet of Buonaparte! Thus, at the com- mencement of the year 1806, England saw the whole continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, either conquered by, or acquiescent to, the will of France; and, to make up the climax of misfortune, the world was, at this precise period; deprived of the greatest statesman who ever benefitted a nation, by a long and disinterested exercise of unequalled talents. On the 23d of January died the immortal William Pitt! The reward bestowed by Buonaparte on the King of Prussia, for his in- fatuated neutrality during the late battles with Austria, was the surrender to him of Hanover, under the pretext of ensuring peace to the north of Germany ; a peace, however, which existed only a few short months. The Emperor of Aus- tria, as the result of the peace which he concluded, was compelled to resign his title of Emperor of Germany ; and the rest of the year passed without any event on the continent, that demands our notice. The Emperor of Russia, foreseeing, with a sort of prophetic spirit, how soon he must again interfere, made extra- ordinary levies throughout his immense empire, and declared his resolution to increase his army, if necessary, to a million of men. Another less fortunate hero, Gustavus, King of Sweden, also made every effort within his limited means, to stop the approaching system of desolation ; and it ought to be recorded, that his character and conduct, throughout the contest, entitled him to a better fate than that which ultimately befel him. A negociation for peace between this country and France was set on foot by the new ministry ; but it ended in the dismission of Lord Lauderdale by the usurper : and the autumn again beheld Prussia and Saxony in arms against France, with a force of not less than 220,000 men ; while Austria appeared as a spectator, completely armed at every point — and the Russians and Swedes were already in the field. It was estimated that, in this new contest, the Allies, ex- clusive of Austria and Britain, could bring 450,000 men into the field ; and, with the former, no less than 700,000. The capture of the Cape, the reduction of Buenos Ay res, and the defeat of a French squadron by Admiral Duckworth, were the advantages gained by England in this year : but these were the works of 29 the late ministry of Mr. Pitt. To the crimes of Buonaparte was added the atrocious murder of the unfortunate bookseller, Palm, for selling books reflecting on his government. At the commencement of 1807, every eye was fixed on the coasts of the Baltic : it was here that the immediate fate of Europe was to be decided. A mighty con. test was inevitable between the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, on the one part; and Buonaparte, now Emperor of France and King of Italy, on the other. The latter derived support from the nations he had subdued or intimi- dated ; the former depended on the aid of Sweden and the vigorous co-operation of Great Britain. This was the fourth coalition against the ruler of France; and this wily person did not view it without apprehension: for he laboured, though vainly, to detach the King of Sweden from the cause ; but he successfully roused the Turks to war against Russia, and entered into a negociation for an alliance with the Em- peror of Persia. In several of the early battles with the Russians, the French proved successful ; and eighty-four pieces of cannon, taken from them, were pomp- ously ranged before the palace at Warsaw : but all these successes were most grossly exaggerated in the French bulletins and papers. After the battle of Pul- tusk, the French retired into winter quarters on the Vistula ; the Russians fell back on the Niemen, and the King and Queen of Prussia retreated to Memel. The Russian army, according to some computations, was 160,000 strong; and the strength of the French army, 200,000. Buonaparte put himself at the head of his army on the 31st of January ; and the Russians retreated on the Lower Vistula, fighting all the way, and suffering severely from the capture of their magazines at Liebstatd and the vicinity. Several severe actions with divisions of each army terminated in favour of the French. The dreadful battle of Eylau, on the 8th of February, was maintained for twelve hours ; during the whole of which, nearly 300 pieces of cannon vomited death from opposite lines, so near each other, that the havoc Avas beyond description. Both parties claimed the victory; but the credibility of success rested with the Russians, whose general, Bennigsen, sent to the emperor twelve standards, taken from the French, and asserted, that the loss of the latter was 12,000, and his own 6,000. At all events, this was a drawn battle, and the severest check Napoleon had received since the commencement ii 30 of his career in Italy, which was in 1796'. This battle saved Konigsburgh from the French. The latter, after remaining seven days on the field of battle, renewed their operations, and gained many advantages over the Allies. During this in- terval, repeated and earnest applications were made to the administration of that time, by the Allies, for an English army ; and a subsidy of 500,000/. Avas at length granted ; but no troops were sent till it was too late. Meanwhile, the French had captured Dantzig, after a long siege. The change of ministry in Britain, on the 24th of March, inspired the Allies with new hopes ; but Buona- parte, with words of peace in his mouth, and a thirst for war in his heart, having drawn together immense reinforcements of every description, could not be with- stood. By the impetuosity of his troops, aided by the consummate skill of his marshals, he took the town of Friedland on the 14th of June, and the Russians repassed the Pregel. The French, at this time, had certainly 60,000 more troops in the field than the Allies. On the 10th of June, Buonaparte entered Tilsit; and, an armistice being agreed on, it terminated in the peace bearing the name of that town — the two emperors, Napoleon and Alexander, having met, for the first time, on a raft, on the River Niemen. The peace was signed on the 7th of July ; and the great sacrifice was, the kingdom of Prussia, which was reduced to a secondary province ; and thus all that had been effected for its aggrandizement, by the great Frederic, in twenty years, was undone in a single day. Buonaparte was now left at libert}' to contemplate the means of venting his inveterate hatred against England ; and he vainly thought, that, by striking a grand blow at our commercial prosperity, he should effect the ruin of this coun- try. He accordingly fulminated his absurd decrees for blockading all the ports of Great Britain, though not having a ship that dared to put to sea without the danger of being captured : but he so far executed his frantic design, as to exclude British goods from all the ports of the continent under his influence. This mea- sure was counteracted, by every possible means, by the administration of Mr. Perceval; but the unfortunate Treaty of Tilsit involved us in a new war with Russia; and the autumn of 1807 saw us in possession of the Danish fleet, which was captured, after the bombardment of Copenhagen, by Lords Gambier and Cathcart ; while Buonaparte attacked Portugal; and, on the 29th of No- 31 vembcr, the Prince Regent and his family were triumphantly carried, under Bri- tish protection, to his colonies in the Brazils. The invasion of Spain, that immortal field of British glory, was now under- taken by the French, after having infamously massacred the Portuguese in Lisbon, on the 12th of January, 1808. On the 15th of February they possessed them- selves of Pampeluna by treachery; and, on the 18th of March, disturbances broke out at Madrid. The next day, the old king, Charles IV. subdued by French intrigue, resigned his crown to Ferdinand VII. but he was compelled, by Buonaparte, to give it back again in April, who reinstated his father. This was preparatory to the excuse for kidnapping the Spanish royal family, and con- veying them to France; for, after a diabolical massacre of the Spaniards at Ma- drid, on the 2d of May, Charles resigned his kingdom to Buonaparte, who appointed his brother, Joseph, King of Spain and the Indies. A general insur- rection immediately followed against the French, and the mighty aid of Britain was no sooner invoked than granted. Peace was signed between Spain and Eng- land on the 6th of June; and, on the 14th, the French fleet in Cadiz harbour surrendered to the patriots. The efforts of this loyal body were astonishingly successful. On the 1st of July they defeated General Moncev, in Valentia, with great loss; and, on the 19th, the whole army of Dupont was compelled to surrender to the patriots under Castanos. In the following month, General Le- febvre was defeated a second time, with immense loss, by the patriots under Castanos. While these great events were going on, the temporal power of the Pope was annihilated; and Mu rat was made King of Naples, in the room of Joseph Buonaparte. On the 21st of August a great battle took place in Portugal; in which the French army, under Junot, were defeated by the British and Allies, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, at Vimiera, The battle was desperate. The French im- petuously attacked the British with fixed bayonets, but were driven back with the same weapon : three times they renewed the attack, and as often were repulsed by the superior intrepidity and strength of the British arm. At last, they fled ; leav- ing thirteen pieces of cannon, twenty-three ammunition-waggons, and 3000 killed and wounded : — our loss was about 1000. The result was a convention ; by 32 which the British and French generals agreed to evacuate Portugal. The Russian fleet in the Tagus was afterwards surrendered to the British. The advantages of this victory would have been greater, but for the superseding of Sir A. Welles- ley by Sir H. Dalrymple, at the moment of victory — the latter general not thinking fit to pursue the enemy. Sir John Moore, being afterwards appointed to the chief command, proceeded to Corunna; where a dreadful battle took place, after the British army had performed a harrassing march of 250 miles, from Be- tanzos, over a mountainous country, and so much straitened for supplies, that the most discreditable acts of insubordination prevailed amongst the officers and men. They arrived in sight of the French army, under Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, on the 11th of January; but in such a distressful condition, that, on the 16th, orders were issued for their embarkation. The French, aware of our situation, and being themselves in excellent condition, pressed upon us, to perform their threat of driving us into the sea, and a general action took place. On this occasion, not more than 15,000 of our fatigued and sickly troops were opposed to 20,000 of the French. We, nevertheless, remained masters of the field ; and, the next day, the whole of our troops were safely embarked, with the exception of about 5000 or 6000 men, out of 20,000, who fell victims to the peculiarity of their situation. The loss of all the magazines, ammunition, and 5000 horses, completed the only ca- lamity which happened to us in Spain. The withdrawing of the British force gave Buonaparte an opportunity to pursue his designs upon Spain. Joseph was crowned king of that country at Madrid. At this period, a new jealousy of Buonaparte, at the military pre- parations of Austria, induced him, as he said to his Senate, to retrace his steps, in order to plant his eagles on the ramparts of Vienna. Leaving, therefore, a consi- derable body of troops in Spain, under some of his most experienced marshals, they gained many important advantages over the brave but undisciplined pa- triots ; while he, with unparalleled alacrity, attacked the Austrian forces ; and, by gaining several successes of vast importance, entered Vienna on the 12th of May. At Aspern and Esslingen, however, on the 22d, he was defeated by the Archduke Charles, after two most dreadful battles, which were harder fought, and more destructive, than those of Prussian Eylau; and the 33 French were obliged to retire to the Island of Lobau, in the Danube. The loss on both sides was very great, each party being determined to conquer or die ; that of the French was ascertained to amount to 30,000 men. In June the French, under Eugene Beauharnois, defeated the Austrians on the Raab, and drove them into Hungary ; and, at length, after a lapse of six weeks, during which Buo- naparte had received great reinforcements, he re-crossed the Danube at mid- night, turned the Austrian camp, and, taking the Austrian army by surprise, completely defeated them. Another armistice was then agreed to, which ended in the Peace of Vienna, of the 14th of October; by which the unfortunate Emperor was compelled to cede all his sea coast to France, and to confine himself within the limits which Buonaparte had assigned to him. He was also obliged to submit to the degradation of giving his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Louisa, in marriage to Buonaparte, who had formally divorced his wife, Josephine, for the purpose; and the marriage took place, by proxy, at Vienna, on the 11th of March, 1810. By this peace the states of Bavaria and Saxony were greatly increased, and Russia obtained as much of the territories of Gallicia as contained 400,000 souls. On the part of Great Britain, the year 1809 was signalized by the glorious vic- tory of Talavera, which took place on the 28th of July. After a battle, obstinately contested for two successive days, and fought under circumstances, which brought both armies into close contact, the British, sustaining the whole weight of the con- test, had the glory of vanquishing a French force of double their numbers. Entire brigades of French infantry were destroyed, and their whole loss was estimated at 10,000 men. For this great victory, Sir Arthur Wellesley was created a Viscount. By sea our operations Mere equally prosperous. The French fleet in Basque Roads were attacked by Lord Cochrane ; and, out of nine or ten sail of the line, and some frigates, seven were driven ashore, and four of the line blown up at their anchorage. We also took the Ionian Islands, and restored their government ; and Martinique and the city of Domingo were added to our colonial captures. The unfortunate expedition to Walcheren was the only affair that threw a gloom over our successes. 34 Having now progressively led our readers to the year 1810, we must be more brief in our chronological record. In this year, Buonaparte annexed the king- dom of Holland to France, and caused Bernadotte to be elected Crown Prince of Sweden. In Spain, Marshal Ney captured Ciudad Rodrigo ; but the partial successes of the French in that country were destined soon to be at an end. Early in 1811, Lord Wellington pursued Massena from Santareni ; and, on the 5th of March, 3000 British, under General Graham, defeated Marshal Victor, who had 8000 French. On the 5th of May, Lord Wellington repulsed Mas- sexa's army before Almeida; and, on the 16th, Soult was triumphantly defeated by General Beresford and the Allies, in the battle of Albuera, though it was ad- mitted that " the enemy's overbearing cavalry crippled all our operations, and, with his artillery, saved his infantry after its route." In the south of Spain, where the patriots were deprived of British assistance, the French, under Suchet, defeated them, and took several strong places. In January, 1812, Lord Wellington took Cuidad Rodrigo by storm; and, on the 6th of April, Badajoz fell to his victorious arms in the same manner. On the 19th of May, General Hill defeated the French at Almarez. On the 22d of July the great battle of Salamanca took place; in which Lord Wellington totally defeated Marmont, taking eleven cannon, and 7000 prisoners : he then immediately marched upon, and captured Madrid. Soon afterwards, Soult's army were driven from their powerful works before Cadiz, and the Allies took possession of Seville. While the British army was thus covering itself in Spain with imperishable laurels, the flames of war burst out in the north of Europe, for the last time, with unparalleled violence. Buonaparte had long been making enormous pre- parations for an attack upon Russia, on the ground that the Emperor had not ad- hered to the Treaty of Tilsit ; by desisting from aiding France in the war of 1809, by admitting English goods into his ports, and by issuing the protest against 01- denburgh. In this new war, Buonaparte was aided by the Poles, by Prussia, and the different petty sovereigns of Germany, whom he had allured by promises, or dragged forward by threats. On the 9th of May this ambitious favourite of fickle fortune left the Palace of St. Cloud ; on the 13th he crossed the Rhine ; on 35 the 29th, the Elbe ; and, on the 6th' of June, the Vistula. The Emperor Alex- ander also left St. Petersburgh, on the 22d of April, to take the command of his army. Nothing ever equalled the bombastic proclamations which Buonaparte is- sued to his soldiers. In his second bulletin, speaking of Russia, " Her destinies (said he) must be accomplished. Let us carry the war into her territories ! But the peace which we shall conclude will be its own guarantee ; and will put an end to that proud and haughty influence, which Russia has, for fifty years, exercised in the affairs of Europe!" When the French Emperor put himself at the head of his armies, such a spec- tacle was, perhaps, never presented in the world. His troops could have amounted to no less than half a nnlhon of men— all in the finest state of equipment; with artillery innumerable, and supplies most abundant, of every description. All the countries through which he had passed were compelled to send, weekly, all manner of necessaries ; and new troops were daily arriving, to augment his im- posing force. Equal exertions were made by Russia; and the eyes of all Europe were fixed in awful observance of the occurrences on this new theatre of war. On the 24th of July, Buonaparte crossed the Niemen. Nothing but skir- mishing, on a large scale, took place ; and the Russian army retreated in the best order, progressively dragging on the enemy to the destruction which awaited him. On the 18th of August the French occupied Smolensko, after a battle in which, on both sides, 100,000 men were engaged. The city was set on fire by the Rus- sians, previous to its evacuation ; and the Russian bulletin asserted, that its cap- ture cost the enemy 20,000 men. The battle of Borodino was still more desperate : it took place on the 11th of September. This was a general action, in which both parties displayed prodigies of valour. Buonaparte's bulletin stated, that 60,000 cannot-shot were fired by the French alone, and that all the villages were filled Avith dead and wounded. The Rus- sian bulletin said, that the enemy were defeated on every side, and that eioht 4 eldest hoys were taken into that establishment to which he belonged, and fur- nished with permanent employment. Thus ended the most festive and happy day, which the existing generations of our metropolis have ever enjoyed, or are ever likely to witness. Whatever a few carping cynics may have asserted, (and sarcastic insinuations were abudantly thrown out during the preparations) to ridicule to motives for, and nature of the recreations, Ave can declare, and we have the general opinion of the public to bear us out, that the people of England never had greater cause for unqualified joy, nor were they ever more fully gratified by the varied amusements in which they partieipitated. The preparations, like the measures which led to them, were unjustly sneered at in their progress; but they terminated in extorting admiration from those, who were most disposed to condemn ; " And fools, who went to scoff, remain'd to praise !" The fair, in Hyde Park, continued throughout the week; till, at length, it degenerated into a scene of licentiousness ; and it was deemed necessary to put a stop to it by the interference of the magistrates, under an order from the Secre- tary of State. ERRATUM. Th f. following brief description of one of the most brilliant achievements of the war, in which British valour was pre-eminently conspicuous, was intended to be introduced as a note, after the word notice in the fifteenth line of page 28 : — 'I he memorable and unexpected battle of Muida is, indeed, a glorious exception, which we shall thus inci- dentally mention, to avoid breaking the chain of our narrative. The action took place on the plains of Calabria, on the 6th of July, 1806; where, in the words of Major-General Stuart, " the prowess of the rival nations seemed now fairly to be at tiial before the world, and the superiority was greatly and gloriously deckled to be our own." The French, under General R.EGN1ER, were encamped below the village of Maida, when they were attacked by an inconsiderable British force, which had landed from Sicily. The battle began at nine in the morning. " The two corps," says the Major-General, " at the distance of about 100 yards, tired' reciprocally a few rounds ; when, as if by mutual agreement, the tire was suspended ; and, in clcse compact, order, and awful silence, they advanced towards each other, until their bayonets began to cross. " At this momentous crisis, the enemy became appalled. They broke, and endeavoured to fly ; but it was too late : they were overtaken with the most dreadful slaughter. The enemy, being thus completely discomfited on the left, began to make a new effort with their right, in the hopes of recovering the day ; but they were resisted most gallantly. The cavalry, successively repelled from before the front, made an effort to turn the left; when Lieu- tenant-Colonel Ross, who had that morning lauded from Messina, with the 20th regiment, and was coming up to the army dining the action, having observed the movement, threw his regiment opportunely into a small cover upon their Hank, and, by a heavy and well-directed tire, entirely disconcerted the attempt. This was the last feeble struggle of the enemy ; who now, astonished and dismayed by the intrepidity with which they were assailed, began precipitately to retire, leaving the field covered with carnage. About 700 bodies of their dead have been buried upon the ground. The wounded and prisoners already in our hands amount to about 1000. In short, never has the pride ol our presumptuous enemy been more severely humbled, nor the superiority of the British troops nioie glouously pioved, than m the events of this memorable day." fcuo W I