1801.

PEACE WITH RUSSIA.

359

reached St. Petersburg; and it is probable, that the rash and servile policy of the Confederation would bave been abandoned if the British fleet had never passed the Sound. However this may be, the Court of St. Petersburg, after a decent protest against the violence which England had employed to detach Denmark from the triple alliance, proceeded to use its authority with the Court of Berlin, to procure the withdrawal of the Prussian troops from Hanover, from Hamburg, and from Bremen, as well as to reopen the navigation of the Elbe. Negotiations commenced in this spirit were not likely to be protracted. On the 17th of June a treaty of peace, on terms which comprised a renunciation of the principles of the Armed Neutrality, was signed at St. Petersburg, by the ministers of Russia and of Great Britain. The immunity from visit of neutral ships under convoy -the new term which had been introduced into the recent revival of the Northern version of maritime law, was no longer insisted on. The cardinal maxim of neutrals, that the flag covers the cargo, was formally abandoned. On the other hand, some concessions were made to neutrals. Contraband of war, which, according to some expositors of the law of nations, might include almost anything the belligerent thought fit to claim, was strictly defined. The right of search was confined to ships with a regular commission, and denied to privateers.* Paper blockades were abolished, and no blockade was to be respected unless it was actual and efficient. To this treaty, Denmark and Sweden afterwards acceded.

* Respecting privateers,' said Nelson, I am decidedly of opinion that, with very few exceptions, they are a disgrace to our country; and it would be truly honourable never to permit one after this war.'-Correspondence,

vol. iv. p. 395. All the civilised nations of the world, with the exception of the United States of America, have by treaty at length abandoned the use of this infamous arm.

360

Dissolution of the Northern

League.

RUMOURED INVASION OF ENGLAND.

CE

LI.

The dissolution of the Northern League put an end to Bonaparte's hope of resisting the naval ascendency of England. He sought, by compelling Naples and Portugal to accept terms of peace unfavourable to this country, to deprive England of her only remaining allies; but, in fact, he only relieved her of burdens from which she could not with honour disengage herself. The standing menace of invasion was then revived; and formidable demonstrations were made in the French ports. But preparations for defence, far more efficient than those for attack, were rapidly completed. Though no serious apprehensions could be entertained of an invading army, which was to be conveyed across the channel on rafts and in gun-boats, the genius and resources of Bonaparte rendered it hazardous to calculate on the impracticability of any enterprise which he might think fit to undertake. It was determined, therefore, that in addition to the Channel fleet, a flying squadron should be placed under the orders of Nelson. Boulogne was the point from which it was supposed the invasion might be attempted; but a glance at Boulogne satisfied Nelson that a flotilla would not venture to leave that port. He approached near enough in a frigate to destroy two floating batteries and some gun-boats. He proposed that the squadron should be sent to take possession of Flushing, from which quarter, if from any, he thought danger might be apprehended. But the Government, yielding to public opinion in England, urged him to make an attack on Boulogne. This was an affair of boats, a service not quite worthy an officer of Nelson's rank and reputation. Nelson, however, though seeking the repose which his shattered health required, readily undertook the duty. It was enough for him that the country required his services. An attempt was made to board the flotilla by night; but the enemy were prepared. The

1801

FAILURE IN ATTACK ON BOULOGNE.

361

els were protected by iron spikes; their decks were covered with soldiers, and the batteries on shore were fully manned. Some of the vessels were, nevertheless, taken possession of; but the attack generally was a failure; and the boats ultimately withdrew after losing nearly two hundred men. Nelson himself was not, of course, present at this affair; while the French, unaccustomed to the advantage in naval encounters, magnified the repulse of the attempt on Boulogne into a victory which balanced their defeat at Aboukir.

Various minor engagements took place in the spring and summer of this year in the West Indies, and in the Atlantic, all adding to the reputation of the Britsh navy for skill and gallantry; but none of them attended with any important political result. In the Mediterranean, an attempt was made by the French and Spanish fleets to raise the blockade of Cadiz. Sir James Saumarez sailed from Gibraltar with five ships of the line to prevent this movement, but was compelled by adverse winds, after a severe engagement near Algesiras Bay, to retreat, leaving one of his ships, the 'Hannibal,' which took the ground, in the hands of the enemy. This reverse, however, was repaired in a few days. Saumarez, having refitted at Gibraltar, returned to Cadiz with five sail, and, in a partial engagement, defeated a French and Spanish squadron of six sail. Two Spanish ships of one hundred and twelve guns blew up, and one seventy-four was taken. The remainder of the squadron, some of them disabled, returned to the harbour of Cadiz. On the other hand, two British ships, the Success' frigate and the Swiftsure,' seventy-four, were taken off Malta by Admiral Gantheaume's squadron, which had escaped from Brest in the early part of the year.

But these were no more than the embers of the great war. For some months past, negotiations had

362

TERMS OF PEACE.

CH. XII.

been proceeding, though languidly, on both sides, towards a termination of hostilities. At length, after the expulsion of the French from Egypt, and the signal defeat of their northern policy, M. Otto, the French minister at London, was instructed to renew the correspondence which had been for some time suspended. These overtures were readily encouraged by the English Government; and, as both parties were now for the first time intent on peace, the terms were settled without much difficulty. England relinquished all the conquests of the war with the exceptions of Trinidad and Ceylon. The Cape of Good Hope was to become a free port. Malta was to be restored to the Knights of St. John, under the guarantee of one of the great powers. Porto Ferrajo was to be evacuated. On the other side, the Republic of the Seven Islands was to be acknowledged; the French were to withdraw from Naples and the Roman States. The integrity of Portugal was to be secured. Egypt was to be restored to the Porte. The Newfoundland fisheries were to be replaced on the same footing as before the The usual stipulations were added with regard to prisoners, as well as for the protection and indemnity of the inhabitants of ceded territories.

war.

The preliminaries were signed at London on the 1st of October, and in a few days afterwards at Paris. The peace was hailed with every demonstration of joy in both capitals. General Lauriston, the messenger who brought over the ratification of the preliminary treaty, was received in a manner which gave just offence to those who respected the honour and dignity of the country. The horses were taken from the Frenchman's carriage, which was dragged through the streets by the populace to the house of M. Otto, the French envoy. The revolutionary faction was supposed to have taken the leading part in this unseemly demonstration; but the people who had been

1801.

POPULAR DISLIKE TO THE WAR.

363

taught to attribute the suffering and privation they had long endured in a great measure to the taxation and high prices of the war, welcomed the messenger of peace as bearing the glad tidings of cheapness and plenty. The populace of London, however, though in a coarse and clamorous form, represented a feeling which was prevalent throughout the country. The people of England had been, from the beginning, consistent in their repugnance to this war. For the first time in the history of the nation, a war with France had not been a popular war. Every class, except a small class of fanatical haters of the French Revolution, inspired by the Sibylline eloquence of Burke, had been averse to the war. The English people, though their nature revolted from the wanton excesses of the French Revolution, were little inclined to join a league of despots in arms against liberty, and seeking to interfere in the domestic concerns of an independent nation. The Whigs, consistently with their principles, were opposed to such a policy. The Tories, though they would gladly have seen the Revolution suppressed, were not willing to pay the price of war. But the spirit of aggression against the rights of other nations which the Revolution assumed, and the decree of the 19th of November, 1792, which aimed at converting all the states of Europe into affiliated republics, made it apparent that war was no longer a choice, but a necessity. So late as the autumn of 1792, none but the devoted followers of Burke were for war; but at the beginning of 1793, none but the avowed Republicans contended that it was possible to maintain peace. During the nine weary years of its existence, the war had been generally regarded as a burden which must be endured. The want of military success disheartened the nation; and even the great achievements of the navy seemed to be welcome only as they revived the hope of making peace without national dishonour.