CHAP. tical with the interests of England than with those II. By Russia. of any other Power. Moreover, the indignation of Austria was whetted by seeing Bonaparte crowning himself at Milan and seizing Genoa. Therefore when Pitt turned to the Court of Vienna, he did not turn in vain. Supported by Russia and Sweden, Austria came forward in arms, and though she was for the time broken down by the disaster of Ulm, and the defeat of the Russian army at Austerlitz, her old ally was safe: nothing more was heard in those days of the invasion of England; and the islanders, relieved from the duty of mere literal selfdefence, were set free to enter upon a larger scheme of action. Thenceforth they defended England by toiling for the deliverance of Europe. The coalition of 1805 was shattered, but before it perished it had helped to secure the precious life of the nation which was destined to be the first to carry war into the territory of the disturber. * Again, in the same year it was perilous to Central Europe that Bonaparte should be having dominion. in Germany; but also it was against the interest of Russia that this should be, and the defection of Prussia threw upon the Czar the burthen of having to be foremost in the defence of Austria. Therefore, in 1805, the Emperor Alexander came forward with his army to the rescue, and in the following year he * Of course it was the destruction of the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar which prevented Bonaparte from resuming the idea of invading England, but that which caused him to abandon the enterprise which he had been planning for two years was the coalition. He broke up from the camp of Boulogne several weeks before the battle of Trafalgar. refused to stand idle when Prussia was the victim, CHAP. II. and again moved forward his armies; and although he was worsted at Austerlitz in striving to defend Austria, and although, after heroic struggles in defence of Prussia, he at last was vanquished at Friedland and was obliged to make peace, still his faithful and valorous efforts gained him so much of the respect of Europe, and even of his victorious adversary, that, beaten as he was, he was able to go to Tilsit and to negotiate with the great Conqueror of the day upon a footing which resembled equality. land. It has fallen to the lot of England also to have By Engsome share of the honour which Europe bestows upon resolute defenders of right; for when Bonaparte wished to make himself master of Spain and Portugal, it was the interest of England to prevent this result if she could, and to endeavour to thwart and humble the French Emperor in the midst of his triumphs but it was also for the interest of Europe that England should be able to do this. Nay, so crushing had been the disasters suffered by the Continental States, that the glorious duty of standing foremost and alone in defence of the liberties of mankind was cast for a time upon England. The task might well seem a hard one, for all that the islanders could do was to send out in ships scanty bodies of troops, in order that the men, when they landed, might encounter the armies of the hitherto victorious. Emperor. But England did not shrink from the undertaking. For more than six years she carried on the struggle, and during some three years of that II. CHAP. time she stood alone against Napoleon, for he had put down all the other nations which had sought to resist him, and during that evil time it seemed that the vanquished people of the Continent had no hope left except when they were telling one another in whispers that England remained mistress of the seas, and in the Peninsula was still fighting hard. Times grew better, and although Bonaparte still held the language of a great potentate, he had so mismanaged the resources of the heroic and warlike country which he ruled, that an English army with its Portuguese auxiliaries was able to invade and hold his territory; and whilst he still pretended to the Germans that he was a proud and powerful sovereign, Wellington unmasked the whole imposture of the French Empire' by establishing his army and his foxhounds in the south of France, and quietly hunting the country in the livery of the Salisbury hunt.* The effort had begun when Sir Arthur Wellesley landed upon the coast of Portugal in the year 1808, and it ended in 1814. In the spring of that last year, men of several nations were gathered together at the English headquarters in Toulouse; and it was put into the heart of a man whose name is unknown, but who spoke in the French tongue, to confer the loftiest title that ever was truthfully given to man. In a moment his words were seized as though they *Larpent's 'Private Journal at Head - Quarters,' vol. ii. p. 105. Wellington established himself in France in November 1813. He sent back into the Peninsula his whole Spanish army because it plundered. The invasion of France by the Continental Powers took place in the beginning of the following year. were words from on High, and the whole assembly CHAP. with one voice saluted Wellington the Liberator ' of Europe.'* The loyal soldier shrank from the sound of a title not taken exact from the Gazette,t but the voice which had spoken was nothing less than the voice of grateful nations. If the fame of England had grown to this proportion, it was because she had faithfully obeyed the great Usage, and had come to be the main prop of the rights of others by firmly defending her own. II. tical work ing of the Usage. The obligation imposed upon a great State by The practhis Usage is not a heavy yoke, for after all it does no more than impel a Sovereign, by fresh motives and by larger sanctions, to be watchful in the protection of his own interests. It quickens his sense of honour. It warns him that if he tamely stands witnessing a wrong which it is his interest and his duty to redress, he will not escape with the reckoning which awaits him in his own dishonoured country, but that he will also be held guilty of a great European defection, and that his delinquency will be punished by the reproach of nations, by their scorn and mistrust, and at last, perhaps, by their desertion of him in his hour of trial. But, on the other hand, the Usage assures a Prince that if he will but be firm in coming forward to redress a public wrong which chances to be collaterally hurtful to his own State, his cause will be singularly ennobled and strengthened by the *Larpent's Private Journal,' vol. ii. p. 267. + Sir George Larpent (who was present) says that Wellington 'bowed confused,' and abruptly put an end to the scene. CHAP. acknowledgment of the principle that, although he II. is fighting for his own people, he is fighting also for every nation in the world which is interested in putting down the wrong-doer. Of course neither this nor any other human law or usage can have any real worth except in proportion to the respect and obedience with which it is regarded; but since the Usage exacts nothing from any State except what is really for its own good as well as for the general weal, it is very much obeyed, and is always respected in Europe. Indeed, a virtual compliance with the Usage is much more general than it might seem to be at first sight, for the known or foreseen determination of a great State to resist the perpetration of a wrong is constantly tending with great force to the maintenance of peace, and peace being much less remarkable than war, the very success with which the principle works prevents it from being conspicuous. And, certainly, when the Usage is faithfully obeyed, it is a strong safeguard, for the interests of different States being much intertwined, it commonly happens that a wrong done to a lesser State is in some way hurtful or dishonouring to one or other of the great Powers; and if the great Power which is thus aggrieved takes fire, as it ought to do, and determines to resist or avenge, it is generally able to embroil other States; and the result is that the Prince who is the wrongdoer finds himself involved in a war which-having a tendency to become greater and greater-can hardly be otherwise than formidable to him. It is |