408 PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE WITH FRANCE. [1801. armistice" between the French Republic and Great Britain. The papers which related to this negotiation, which had reference also to a negotiation for peace, were laid before Parliament. The negotiation was broken off; and M. Otto had little reason to think that his peace-making services would be again required, when France had compelled the peace of Luneville, and Bonaparte was proclaiming his intention immediately to invade England. Mr. Pitt, had he remained in power, would probably have rejected any pacific overtures made to Great Britain, when she stood alone in her resistance to the government whose territory was now only bounded by the Rhine; which dominated over Italy; to which Holland and Spain were vassals. Having prepared for one great effort in the Baltic and in Egypt, Pitt would have waited the result in the attitude of majestic pride. Could he have made the Union with Ireland a real Union, he would still have defied France, and even Europe prostrate before her. To the weak government of Addington, M. Otto could apply with more hope of success. He was in indirect communication with the first minister in May; his visits to lord Hawkesbury were frequent during the summer. In August, Bonaparte, either in bravado, or with a real purpose, was threatening invasion. The French armies were, for the most part, at home, eager for employment. It was determined to invade England, not with a hundred thousand men carried over in transports, convoyed by a powerful fleet. That dream was at an end. The hundred thousand men were to come over in a flotilla of gun-brigs, or rafts-flat vessels of about 200 tons, armed each with four or eight heavy guns. Such a flotilla was collected at Boulogne. Nelson was sent in August to attack this flotilla-to cut it out of the barbour. He failed. In the middle of September the best informed men did not think that there would be any suspension of hostilities. "I confess," wrote Cornwallis, who commanded the forces on the Eastern coast, "that I see no prospect of peace, or of anything good." At this moment Bonaparte was pressing on the negotiations for peace. "The First Consul," says Thiers, "in seeing what were the first acts of Menou, had judged the campaign lost, and he was desirous, before the dénouement that he foretold, to have a treaty signed at London. The English minister," Thiers adds, "incapable of seeing beforehand, as Bonaparte had seer, the result of events, feared some vigorous blow from the French army in Egypt, so renowned for its valour." * The Preliminary Articles of Peace between the United Kingdom and the French Republic were signed at London, on the first of October, by Lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto. tilities were to cease as soon as the preliminaries should be signed and ratified, which ratification was to take place within fifteen days. Immediately after their ratification plenipotentiaries were to be named on each side, who should repair to Amiens, for the purpose of concluding a Definitive Treaty of Peace, in concert with the allies of the contracting parties. Hos The burst of popular enthusiasm at the news of Peace was, naturally, somewhat extravagant. General Lauriston arrived in London with the ratification on the 10th of October. When he was proceeding with M. Otto to Whitehall, the populace took the horses from the carriage, dragged it to Downing Street, and into the Park to the garden entrance to the Admiralty. There "Le Corsulat et l'Empire," livre xi. 1801.] NEGOTIATIONS OF LORD CORNWALLIS AT AMIENS. 409 stood lord St. Vincent, who thus addressed the mob:-" Gentlemen! gentlemen! (three huzzas) let me request you to be as orderly as possible, and if you are determined to drag the gentleman, accompanied by M. Otto, I request you to be careful, and not overturn the carriage." * The mob cheered, and dragged the Frenchmen home. There were illuminations in London for two nights. The rejoicings throughout the country were equally demonstrative of natural gladness that the war was at an end, no matter how. Wilberforce was at Bath, and writes in his Diary, "The people intoxicated with joy here, and everywhere." The king was not pleased with the peace. He wrote to lord Eldon on the 28th of October, approving of the election of an alderman of London, for he was a loyal subject and diligent magistrate. "Such men are peculiarly suited for the present year, when, by the embarrassed situation from the trial of peace with a turbulent and revolutionary republic, every attention of the police must be exerted to avoid the dangers and difficulties that may otherwise ensue." The king talked more wisely to lord Malmesbury in November. "Do you know what I call the Peace ?-an experimental Peace, for it is nothing else. But it was unavoidable." "During October," says Malmesbury, "I observed that the people's joy, which was immoderate at first, abated; and that the more thinking and wiser part of the community began to demur as to all the certain advantages that must follow peace.' The veteran negotiator did not much care whether the terms were better or worse than those which he had proposed at Lisle. Had peace, he thought, been made at Lisle, France would have been under a moderate government, desirous to consolidate the power she had attained. "The government of France, whilst Bonaparte remains as First Consul, is like that of Persia under Kouli Khan; it knows no bounds, either moral or civil-is ruled by no principles; and to pretend to say that Bonaparte's ambition is circumscribed, or that, with the means of doing everything, he will do nothing, is talking criminal nonsense." § It was not very long before all England came to lord Malmesbury's opinion. The terms of the Preliminaries were discussed in Parliament. We shall briefly notice the final terms of the Definitive Treaty. In the debates in November, Sheridan best expressed the common feeling of the nation: "This is a peace which all men are glad of, but no man can be proud of." Fox did not express the common feeling of the nation when he wrote: "Bonaparte's triumph is now complete indeed, and since there is to be no political liberty in the world, I really believe he is the fittest person to be master." || The marquis Cornwallis was appointed as plenipotentiary to conduct the negotiations at Amiens. A more subtle diplomatist might have been chosen, but it would have been difficult to have found one more honest. He arrived in Paris on the 7th of November. On the 10th he had an audience of Bonaparte. The First Consul was gracious; inquired after the health of the king; and "spoke of the British nation in terms of great respect, intimating * "Annual Register," 1801, p. 33. Correspondence of Fox, vol. iii. p. 345. VOL. VIL. EE 410 DIPLOMATIC DISPUTES AND DIFFICULTIES. [1802. that as long as we remained friends there would be no interruption to the peace of Europe." Bonaparte might have thought the millennium was at hand when Cornwallis thus addressed him: “I told him that the horrors which succeeded the Revolution had created a general alarm; that all the neighbouring nations dreaded the contagion; that when, for the happiness of mankind, and of France in particular, he was called to fill his present station, we knew him only as a hero and a conqueror; but the good order and tranquillity which the country now enjoyed, made us respect him as a statesman and a legislator, and had removed our apprehensions of having connection and intercourse with France."* Cornwallis fancied that he might have had frequent interviews with the First Consul, and that they could have got through the business without diplomatic delays. He soon found that he was not likely to have any such confidential communications. They had another interview; and then Cornwallis went to Amiens, to negotiate with Joseph Bonaparte, who was described by his brother as "a just and fair man." Our ambassador felt that in his two conversations with the First Consul, he spoke in the tone of a king-("Il parle en roi")-"I would rather give up; it is hard upon me; I will take care of the Stadtholder."+ Bonaparte was indeed as absolute as any king. Lord Broome, (the son of Cornwallis,) who accompanied him, writes: "I believe Windham would find it difficult to discover any Jacobin principle in the constitution, which is certainly the most despotic that ever existed in any country." It would be idle for us to attempt to unravel the tangled web of the four months' diplomacy at Amiens. New demands were set up by the French, although they had originally professed to adhere to the preliminary treaty. At the end of January, Cornwallis has lost confidence in the negotiations terminating happily. "What can be expected from a nation naturally overbearing and insolent, when all the powers of Europe are prostrating themselves at its feet, and supplicating for forgiveness and future favour, except one little island, which, by land, at least, is reduced to a strict and at best a very inconvenient defensive?" § In January, Bonaparte had gone to Lyons, and had there accepted, from the deputies of the Cisalpine Republic, the Presidency of those States-in other words, the sovereignty. Hawkesbury wrote to complain to Cornwallis of "the inordinate ambition, the gross breach of faith, and the inclination to insult Europe, manifested by the First Consul on this occasion." Nevertheless, said our Foreign Secretary, "the Government here are desirous of avoiding to take notice of these proceedings, and are sincerely desirous to conclude the peace, if it can be obtained on terms consistent with our honour." || The Definitive Treaty was signed on the 27th of March, without any material variation from the Preliminaries. The question of Malta, upon which the war was ostensibly renewed, was left in a very ambiguous position. By the Preliminary Treaty, it was stipulated that Malta should be evacuated by the troops of his Britannic majesty, and restored to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. "For the purpose of rendering this island completely independent of either of the two contracting parties, it shall be placed under the guarantee and protection of a Cornwallis-"Correspondence," vol. iii. p. 390. +Ibid., p. 406. Ibid., p. 410. || Ibid., p. 457. § Ibid., p. 489. 1802.] THE PEACE OF AMIENS CONCLUDED. 411 third power, to be agreed upon in the Definitive Treaty." This was a constant subject of contention at Amiens. The knights of Malta were in truth a nullity. The guarantee was to be given for a scattered and bankrupt body, with a traitor as their nominal head, who had betrayed the island to the French. The end was a compromise, sure to produce a quarrel. There was no ambiguity about Great Britain surrendering all the conquests she had made in the war, except Ceylon, taken from the Dutch, and Trinidad, taken from the Spaniards. The French were to evacuate Naples and the Papal States. Egypt was to be restored to the Sultan. The Republic of the Seven Ionian Islands was to be recognized. The integrity of Portugal was guaranteed. The French retained all that they had acquired in Europe by the war. The Balance of Power, the orthodox creed of a century, had received many rude assaults; it had now become "a creed outworn." CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF TREATIES. (Continued from volume vi. page 468.) 1787 August 18 the Turks declare war against Russia. 1788 February 10: the Emperor of Germany joined Russia against Turkey. 1788 September 25: the King of France convened the States-General to assemble in January, 1789. 1790 September 27: the preliminary treaty ratified with Spain, relative to Nootka Sound; definitive treaty signed on the 28th October. 1791 July 20: convention of Pilnitz, between the Emperor Leopold and the King of Prussia. 1792 April 20: the French National Assembly declared war against the Emperor of Germany. 1792 June 26: the first coalition against France took place, and the King of Prussia issued his manifesto. 1792 September 16 war declared against Sardinia by the French National Assembly. 1793 February 1: France declared war against Great Britain and Holland. 1793 February 9: The Duke of Tuscany acknowledged the French Republic. 1793 May 25 Spain engaged to assist Great Britain. 1793 September 3: the King of Naples declared war against the French Republic. 1793 Great Britain concluded treaties, July 14, with Prussia; August 30, with Austria; and September 26, with Portugal. 1795 February 15: the first pacification between the National Assembly of France and the Vendeans, concluded. 1795 February 18: a defensive alliance entered into with Russia, by Great Britain. 1795 April 5: peace of Basle, between the King of Prussia and the French Republic. 1795 May 16 treaty of alliance signed at Paris, between France and the United Provinces, against England. Dutch Flanders ceded to France. 1795 July 22: peace ratified at Basle between France and Spain. Spanish St. Domingo ceded to France. 1795 November 25: the partition of Poland took place between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. 1796 May 15 treaty of Paris, between the French Republic and the King of Sardinia, the latter ceding Savoy, Nice, the territory of Tende, and Beuil, and granting a free passage for troops through his states. 1796 August 5: the treaty of Berlin ratified between Prussia and France, whereby the neutrality of the north of Germany was guaranteed. 1796 August 19: an alliance offensive and defensive concluded at St. Ildefonso, between France and Spain. 1796 October 6: war declared by Spain against Great Britain. 1797 February 19: treaty of Tolentino, between the French Republic and the Pope. 1797 April 18: preliminaries of the peace of Leoben signed between Austria and France. |