Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Rhine, Bonaparte left his army and hastened to Paris, leaving direction that all the strong places on that river and on the frontiers should be garrisoned.

On his arrival at Paris the senate was immediately convened, when it was resolved to place, 300,000 men at the disposal of the minister of war. This measure was declared to be necessary in consequence of the unparalleled treachery of his allies at the battle of Leipsic; and the people of France were reminded of the partition of Poland; and asked, what would be the situation of their country, should the enemy, who were on its frontiers, penetrate into her territory. After appeal ing to the honour of Frenchmen, Bonaparte declared, that surrounded as he was by the whole power of the nation, he would be as moderate as when he granted Austria the peace of Leoben and Campo Formio, in the hope of signing that of Europe. But though a tone of confidence was thus kept up, there were propositions laid before the senate which most unequivocally indicated the alarm and apprehension of Bonaparte; for although the period had arrived at which the powers of the deputies to the legislative body of the 4th series were to expire, it was proposed that these powers should be continued, and that the emperor should appoint to the presidentship of the legislative body, in place of choosing as heretofore from among five candidates presented to him by that body. With respect to the mode of raising and arranging his conscripts, it was decreed that they should be taken from the classes of 1806, 1807, and the following years; while those of 1811, 1812, 1813, to and including those of 1814, were placed at the disposal of the minister of war.

By the second article of the same decree it was declared that 50,000 men should be immediately levied for actual service; and 50,000 more held in readiness, should the eastern provinces be invaded.

By another decree 38,425,348 franks 34 cents were placed at the disposal of the minister of war.

Had France not been exhausted; had she, besides the requisite population to supply this new and great demand, still retained, either that enthusiasm with which she was maddened at the beginning of the revolution, or that stimulating and ambitious fondness for military glory, and that firm belief that Bonaparte wasdestined to render her the mistress of Europe, with which she had been so fully possessed not two years before; he might have succeeded in raising a numerous and powerful army: but the campaigns of Russia and of Germany had stript her almost entirely of her efficient military population; the fondness for glory had passed away, and not all the arts or misrepresentations of Bonaparte could restore it, or re place it with that enthusiasm which had distinguished Frenchmen when their country was invaded 20 years before.

In the mean time, the mighty edifice which Bonaparte had erected out of the ruins of the independence and liberties of the continent, and which had been cemented by the blood of hundreds of thousands, was falling to pieces: the victory of Leipsic, by freeing the minds of the princes of Germany from all apprehensions of his power, proved how eager they were to resume their legitimate character and au thority. Wurtemburgh deserted him, and made her peace with the allies; and the confederation of the Rhine was dissolved; so that, to

use

use his own words, no sovereigns remained attached to him except the king of Denmark and the king of Naples. The attachment of the former to him in the day of his abasement and disasters is very extraordinary; and by no act was it more decidedly marked than by the impolitic but impotent declaration of war against Austria, which the king of Denmark issued almost at the very moment when Bonaparte was in the extremest crisis of his fate. The attachment of Murat was of a more questionable character: after the battle of Leipsic, instead of remaining to assist Bonaparte in his retreat, he hurried as rapidly as possible back to his own territories, and, it is said, lost no time in attempting to negotiate with the allies.

Although the remains of the French army were incessantly pursued to the banks of the Rhine by the light troops of the allies, yet the main body, under the command of prince Schwartzenberg, was obliged to move more slowly, in consequence of the bad state of the roads, and the artillery which they brought with them. But it was not necessary that the troops of the allies should make their appearance in those countries, which had so long endured the miseries of French subjugation, to free them from their invaders the defence of France called for all the troops which still remained beyond the old frontiers; and the sentiments and feelings of the conquered countries, which had so long been kept down by their presence, being now unchecked, spontaneously burst forth in favour of their legitimate governments.

Holland, which had so long groaned under French tyranny; which, from the peculiar nature of

the country, and the dispositions and habits of its people, had suffered more from the continental system than any other part of Europe, set the example of liberating itself from its oppressors. All at once, and, there is reason to believe, most unexpectedly both to the govern ments of Great Britain and France, on the 15th of November an insurrection broke out in Amsterdam, where the people rose in a body, proclaiming the house of Orange, with the old cry of Orange boven, and universally putting up the orange cockade. The example of the inhabitants of Amsterdam was immediately followed by those of the other towns in the provinces of Holland and Utrecht; the French authorities were dismissed; a provisional government formed, from which two deputies were sent to the prince of Orange in this country; and the following laconic and emphatic address to the Dutch was circulated :

ORANGE BOVEN!

Holland is free-the allies advance upon Utrecht-the English are invited-the French fly on all sides

the sea is open-trade revivesparty spirit has ceased--what has been suffered is forgiven and forgotten-men of consequence and consideration are called to the government-the government invites the prince to the sovereignty-we join the allies, and force the enemy to sue for peace-the people are to have a day of rejoicing at the public expense, without being allowed to plunder or to commit any excess→→→ every one renders thanks to God-old times are returned—

ORANGE BOVEN!

[blocks in formation]

nobly seconded him in his purpose of completely liberating his country. The parliament had been summoned to meet at an earlier period than usual, partly in consequence of the very critical state in which the affairs of the continent were placed, and partly because the ministry were in need of money. During this short session there was more coincidence of opinion and feeling among all parties, (or, to speak more correctly, all appearance of party was lost,) than in any former parliament. Lord Grenville particularly distinguished himself by the frank and noble manner in which he gave his commendation to ministers for the line of conduct they had pursued, and especially for the pacific and moderate tone of the prince regent's speech at the opening of the session: and his lordship expressed his hope that every exertion would be made by Britain to restore Holland to her former rank and dignity among the nations of Europe. But Holland was sufficient for herself: she broke her own chains: what she had begun, however, Britain enabled her to go through with. A bill was passed to legalize the enlisting of the militia into the regiments of the line to any extent; and thus ministers were enabled to send a strong reinforcement under sir Thomas Graham to the assistance of the Dutch.

Nor was this the only measure by which ministers, during the short sit ting of parliament, assisted the cause of the allies; for a bill was passed authorising the issue of paper money, which was to be guarantied by Bri. tain, in conjunction with Russia and Austria, and to be employed on the continent for supplying the wants

of the armies.

Having thus shortly digressed to notice the transactions of the British parliament, we shall now revert to the movements and operations of the allies. While their grand army was directing its march towards the Rhine near Mentz, the crown prince with the army of the north moved towards Cassel: his object was to enter Holland in or der to liberate the Dutch; but this route he was induced to alter for several reasons. Davoust was still in considerable force on the right bank of the Elbe, where the army under Walmoden was not sufficiently powerful to oppose him. Before, therefore, the northern army could act with perfect safety and with full effect in Holland, it was expedient and desirable that its' rear should be entirely secure: be sides, by marching against Davoust, there was a probability of rescuing Hamburgh from his devastation, and of opening, through it, an immediate communication with England. The crown prince, in changing his plan of operations, had still another object in view, which was the liberation of his majesty's Hanoverian dominions. On the 1st of November the allied troops entered them :-" The enthusiasm, loyalty, and unbounded joy of the people are not to be described; and although ten years had separated this country from their legitimate sovereign, it is obvious (sir Charles Stewart remarks in his official dispatch) he lives in their hearts with the same deeprooted affection as ever!" "It is a remarkable and gratifying anec dote (he adds), that during the cle vation of new authority, and the destruction of every ancient me morial, the bust of our revered monarch (which, I believe, was a

present

present of her majesty's to the professors and students) has retained its place in this university, (Gottingen,) and no sacrilegious hand has ever offered to remove it!"

As soon as the crown prince had arranged a provisional government in Hanover, he marched against Davoust, who appeared at first disposed to await a general engagement behind the Stecknitz; but the Danes having separated from him, he retired into Hamburgh, which heemployed himself in provisioning and fortifying, with the determination of defending it to the last extremity. On this the crown prince marched against Lubeck, which was defended by a Danish garri son: after a short resistance, the inhabitants being well disposed towards the Swedes; the commandant capitulated. The crown prince next entered Danish Holstein, which he overran in a very short time: an attempt was made by the Danish government to raise the militia of this province; but they refused to arm against the allies, and actually fired against the French. The Danish army, after being driven out of Holstein, took up a position on the Eyder; but finding themselves unable to cope with their antagonists, the prince of Hesse, who commanded them, requested an armistice: this, how ever, not leading to the acceptance of the basis of negotiation proposed by the crown prince, hostilities were recommenced, and Gluckstadt was taken. At last, when the Swedish army had reached Colding, the frontier town of Jutland, the Danish government made its peace with Sweden and Great Britain; the conditions of which were, that Norway should be given up to Sweden, in return for which Den

[ocr errors]

mark was to have Swedish Pomerania; that Stralsund should be a depôt for British goods; that Britain should restore to Denmark all that she had conquered from her, except Heligoland; that the Danes should join the allies with 10,000 men, on receiving a subsidy from this country of 400,0007.; that she should abolish the slave trade; and that Britain and Sweden should use their good offices to bring about a peace between Denmark and the rest of the allies.

After the battle of Leipsic, general St. Cyr with between 20,000 and 30,000 men threw himself into Dresden, where he was besieged by a division of the allied army. As soon as the French general found that there was no probability of his being reinforced or relieved, he proposed to capitulate, on condition that he and his troops should be sent back to France: to this condi tion the Russian general at first said he had no authority to accede; but St. Cyr pressing it at last obtained it. As soon, however, as the circumstance was known to prince Schwartzenberg, he expressed his displeasure at the terms which were granted, and refused to sanction them; at the same time directing that St. Cyr and his troops should be replaced in Dresden, as nearly as possible with the same advantages that they possessed when they ca pitulated; or that, if he refused to return into Dresden, that he and his troops should be regarded as prisoners of war, and marched into Russia. St. Cyr absolutely refused to return into Dresden, and was therefore compelled to embrace the other alternative.

By the end of November nearly all the strong places between the Elbe and the Rhine were in the possession

possession of the allies; and such as were not, were closely invested. On the 2d of December the allies, having completed their arrangements and preparations, crossed the Rhine for the purpose of invading France: as, however, the strong fortresses near Mentz rendered the passage in this place rather difficult, they preferred passing through part of Switzerland. Bonaparte, aware of the defenceless state of his frontiers on the side of Switzerland, had employed his partisans there to declare the neutrality of this country. As, however, this neutrality was evidently meant to benefit one belligerent party at the expense of the other, and therefore could not justly be regarded as an impartial neutrality; and as, besides, it was well known that the majority of the Swiss were extremely desirous of freeing themselves from the French and of regaining their old form of government; the allies did not hesitate to march through Switzerland into France. · But their conduct on this, as well as on other occasions, formed a marked and honourable contrast to that of the French under similar circumstances: they did indeed pass with their armies through Switzerland; but their troops were strictly enjoined, and were themselves strongly disposed, to consider and treat the Swiss as friends.

We have already mentioned the pacific and moderate tone of the prince regent's speech, at the opening of the session of parliament: the satisfaction to which this gave birth in the minds of all lovers of the tranquillity and repose of Eu rope, was considerably augmented by the declaration of the allies which they issued the day before they crossed the Rhine: it would

be difficult to point out any state paper so distinguished for nodera. tion, good sense, and sound policy, and which moreover expressed these views and sentiments in such per spicuous and satisfactory language. There is about it none of that obscurity or equivocation which seems to have been thought essential to state papers, especially when their professed object was to ex plain the designs of the party which issued them. On the contrary, this declaration leaves on the minds of all who peruse it, the conviction that the allies were perfectly sincere; that their object was what they declared it to be,-peace; and that they wished for such a peace as France might honourably accede to, and which, being fair and just for all parties, it might be hoped would be permanent. That these remarks are borne out by the declaration itself, will sufficiently ap pear by the perusal of it :

DECLARATION OF THE

POWERS.

ALLIED

The French government has or dered a new levy of 300,000 conscripts. The motives of the sena tus consultum to that effect contain an appeal to the allied powers.— They, therefore, find themselves called upon to promulgate anew, in the face of the world, the views which guide them in the present war; the principles which form the basis of their conduct, their wishes, and their determinations.

The allied powers do not make war upon France, but against that preponderance, haughtily announced,-against that preponderance which, to the misfortune of Europe and of France, the emperor Napoleon has too long exercised beyond the limits of his empire.

Victory

« ZurückWeiter »