BOOK IV. of ministers to peace, and which suspicion produced these petitions, be effectually removed. CHAP.VIII. 1808 On a division of the house the first resolution was negatived by a majority of 210 to 70 voices, and the two succeeding resolutions by still larger majorities. Few internal events have created so strong a sensation of disappointment and alarm as the rejection in the house of lords of the bill introduced into parliament by Mr. Bankes, as the chairman of the committee of finance, for preventing reversionary grants. The fate of this bill was singular, and of a nature to awaken the jealousy, not only of the friends to economical reform, but also of those who suspected a secret and powerful influence behind the throne. On the 21st of January, Mr. Bankes reminded the house of commons, that a bill for preventing the grant of places in reversion had passed through that house during the last session, and was only prevented from going to the lords by the prorogation of parliament. The house then thought the bill which he now should move for, to be of so important a nature, that they judged it necessary to present a petition to the crown, to which his majesty had been pleased to return a most gracious answer; and he now moved, that leave be given to bring in a bill to prevent the grant of offices and reversions during life, or with benefit of survivorship. This notice gave rise to some discussion, but the bill passed through all its stages in the commons this year, as it had done in the preceding session, almost without opposition. When the bill reached the house of lords, it was supported by several of his majesty's ministers, and the friends to the measure in the country augured a favourable issue; but on the second reading, on the 1st of March, a strenuous opposition to its further progress was commenced by Lord Arden, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Redesdale, and the Duke of Montrose; and in a more advanced stage of the proceedings the bill was thrown out by a majority of eighty voices. The objection to this measure was almost single, and it was urged with a pertinacity and frequency of repetition that gave a weight to the argument which it would never have derived from its intrinsic strength. The limitation of reversionary grants was held up as an infringement upon the royal prerogative. It is certainly most consonant to the true and genuine spirit of the British constitution to maintain that the king can possess no prerogative, which, in its own nature and exercise, has not for its sole object the interest and happiness of his people. To suppose that the king of England can have any interest repugnant to, or separate from the interest, of the people over whom he reigns, and that he possesses a pre rogative which secures such an interest, is to disparage that constitution which is so justly the boast of Britons. The king no doubt has prerogatives, but they are possessed by him solely because he can thus better guard the sacred deposit of liberty and happiness which is lodged in his hands. The king's prerogatives may also be attacked or weakened; but the proof that they are so must be derived from a clear and express fact, shewing that the means he possesses through them of guarding the liberties, and securing the interests of his people, are attacked or weakened. Conceiving that it was incumbent upon the house of commons, as the guardians of the national purse, not to abandon a measure so clearly connected with their public duty, Mr. Bankes, on the 7th of April, introduced another reversionary bill, similar in its object, but limited as to duration. By this modified measure it was proposed, that the crown should be restricted from granting offices in reversion for one year after the passing of the act, and from the close of that period to the end of six weeks from the commencement of the subsequent session of parliament. This limitation was proposed for the sake of harmony between the two branches of the legislature, and with an understanding, that the friends to economical reform gave up no part of the principle of the bill, but looked forward to the further object of rendering the measure permanent. A long conversation ensued, in which the most distinguished members in the house concurred in opinion with Mr. Bankes; and the bill thus modified was ultimately passed in the upper house of parliament. The appropriation of the droits of admiralty, a fund arising from the sale of vessels taken at sea, or seized in the ports of this country previous to a declaration of war, was this session brought under discussion in the house of commons by Sir Francis Burdett. On the 9th of February the honourable baronet observed, that it was stated in some of the newspapers that certain large sums, arising from the droits of admiralty, had been granted by his majesty to several princes of the blood, and particularly that £20,000 arising in this way had lately been granted to the Duke of York. this were really the case, he wished to ask, on what colour or pretext it was that the king came to seize on that property, and to dispose of it in such a manner? If Mr. Perceval had no difficulty in admitting that the sum of £20,000 had been granted to the Duke of York, being only equal to the sums formerly granted to the other younger male branches of the royal family from the same fund. The condemnation of the property alluded to was, he said, a judicial act of the court before which it came to be tried, and the right of his majesty to these droits resolved itself into two distinct parts: the right of the crown, and his right as lord high admiral. As to the appropriation of the fund, a considerable proportion of it had been granted to captors under various circumstances; many grants had been made for the public service; relief had in some cases been afforded to the sufferers by the sudden breaking out of war; and the fund being completely under his majesty's controul, grants had been occasionally made to the younger branches of the royal family. Sir Francis Burdett, after observing that the proceeds alluded to amounted to such a considerable sum, that he was convinced parliament could never endure that it should be left as the private property of the king, moved, with a view to an ulterior inquiry, "That there be laid before the house an account of the net proceeds paid out of the court of admiralty to the receivergeneral of droits, of all property condemned to his majesty in right of the crown, or in right of the office of lord high admiral, since the 1st of January, 1793, with the balances now remaining," which motion, after a conversation between a number of members, was carried by a majority of twenty-five voices. On The vacillation in the military system of the country still continued to prevail, and every new administration produced some important change in the organization of the army. the 8th of March, when the mutiny bill came under consideration in the house of commons, Lord Castlereagh, referring to Mr. Windham's system, said, he had no objection to limited service under certain modifications; but he thought that it ought not to be enforced to the exclusion of unlimited service, where men were perfectly CHAP. VIII. 1808 satisfied, and desirous to enter without limita- BOOK IV. tion. With these views, the honourable gentleman moved, that a clause should be introduced into the mutiny bill, allowing such men as were inclined to enter the service, a fair option of enlisting for life; and after an animated debate, the proposition of the noble secretary was carried by a majority of one hundred and sixtynine, to one hundred voices. Another and a more important measure relating to the army and the internal defence of the country, was submitted to the house by Lord Castlereagh on the 12th of April. His object was to create a force subsidiary to the regular militia, amounting to sixty thousand men. This body he proposed should form a local militia, and should be balloted for in their different counties, in proportion to the deficiency of volunteers of each, from among persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Volunteer corps might, if they chose, transfer themselves, with the approbation of his majesty, into this local militia. The period of service during the year to be eight and twenty days, for which pay was to be allowed. This measure encountered strenuous opposition in its progress through parliament, but the bill, without any essential alterations, was ultimately passed into a law. Since the advance of the property tax to ten per cent. the finances of the country had assumed a more flourishing aspect than usual, and the different taxes had become so productive, that the chancellor of the exchequer did not this year find himself under the necessity of increasing the public burden, except in a very trifling degree. By an arrangement with the Bank of England, half a million of the unclaimed dividends were obtained for immediate use; a reduction in the charges of the bank for super Whitehall, Treasury Chambers, 25th of March, 1808. £75,446,626 11 64 Deductions for Sums forming no part of the 75,670,641 8 2 Grand Total. 3,681,251 3 4 £71,989,390 4 10 W. HUSKISSON. 24th of March, 1808. (Signed) W. HUSKISSON. BOOK IV intending the pecuniary concerns of the public which now exist in part of Spain should spread over the whole of that country, I am convinced, that since the first burst of the French revolution, there never existed so happy an opportunity for Great Britain to strike a bold stroke for the rescue of the world. Hitherto, the administration of this country, instead of striking at the sore of the evil, have contented themselves with nibbling at the rind; I wish, therefore, Sir, to let Spain know, that the conduct we have so long pursued we will not persevere in, but that we are resolved fairly and fully to stand up for the salvation of Europe. Bonaparte has hitherto run a most victorious race. Hitherto he has had to contend against princes without dignity, and ministers without wisdom. He has fought against countries in which the people have been indifferent as to his success: he has yet to learn what it is to fight against a country in which the people are animated with one spirit to resist him. Sir, I think this a most important crisis. Never was any thing so brave, so generous, so noble, as the conduct of the Asturians. They have magnanimously avowed their hostility to France; they have declared war against Bonaparte; they have no retreat; they are resolved to conquer, or to perish in the grave of the honour and the independence of their country. In pursuing their country. It is that the British government may advance to their assistance with a firmer step, and with a bolder mien, that I have been anxious to afford this opportunity to the British parliament, of expressing the feelings which they entertain on the occasion." Sheridan concluded with moving for copies of documents illustrative of the present situation of Spain. The great blemish in the criminal code of England consists in the numerous crimes for which the punishment of death is ordained; and the most pernicious consequences arise from the punishment appointed by law, and the punishment actually inflicted, being so frequently at variance. It is a sound maxim in criminal jurisprudence, that the proper end of punishment is much more effectually secured by its certainty, than by its severity.* The English law, in inany instances, seems to proceed on the converse of this proposition: it enacts severe punishment, but the execution seldom following the enactment, this object and end is not answered.† Sir Samuel Romilly, in common with many other enlightened men, had long lamented, that in the criminal law of the country, capital punishments were appointed to be inflicted for so many crimes; and on the 18th of May he obtained permission to introduce a bill into parliament, which subsequently passed into a law, to repeal so much of the act of the 8th Elizabeth, cap. 4, as made private stealing a capital crime, without benefit of clergy. In pursuing the course which he had commenced for the purpose of rendering our criminal jurisprudence more consonant to the present state of society, and more conducive to the true ends of justice, Sir Samuel further proposed to grant a compensation to persons unjustly accused, and who were acquitted of crimes; but this object was not effected. It certainly is extremely desirable, in many instances, that persons in such a situation should be compensated for their sufferings and loss of liberty; but the difficulty of drawing the line, and the extreme liability to the abuse of such a principle, form objections and obstacles to the proposed measure hardly to be overcome. The cause of the Spanish patriots had awakened the zeal and animated the enthusiasm of the people of this country to a degree almost unexampled; and Mr. Sheridan seemed only to be the organ of the public voice, when he rose in the house of commons, on the 15th of June, to direct the attention of the legislature to the affairs of Spain, and to demand their utmost exertions in favour of the Spaniards. "I am far, Sir," said Mr. Sheridan, "from wishing ministers to embark in any rash or romantic enterprise; but if the enthusiasm and animation Mr. Mr. Canning declared that his majesty's ministers saw with a deep and lively interest the noble struggle which a part of the Spanish nation was now making to resist the unexampled atrocity of France, and to preserve the independence of their country; and assured the house, that there existed the strongest disposition on the part of the British government to afford every practicable aid in a contest so magnanimous. His majesty's ministers, regardless of the war existing between Spain and Great Britain, would have three objects in view; first, to direct the united efforts of the country against the common foe; second, to direct those efforts in a way that should be most beneficial to the new ally; and third, to give them a direction peculiarly conducive to British interests; though the last of these objects would be left entirely out of the question when compared with the * Marquis Beccaria. In 1805, three hundred persons were capitally convicted in England and Wales, of whom only sixty-five were executed; and in 1805, three hundred and twenty-five were capitally convicted, of whom fifty-seven only suffered. other two. In this contest in which Spain was embarked, no interest could be so purely British as Spanish success ; no conquest so advantageous to Britain as conquering from France. In the prosecution of all wars, the employment and prosperity of the manufacturers are subject to fluctuations and failure; but in the war by which the world was now agitated, when the belligerent powers of Europe were engaged in a contest of commercial proscription, and when America, to escape the evils of actual hostility, had proclaimed an embargo in all her ports, the interests of the merchants and manufacturers of England were sacrificed to a degree hitherto unexampled. In Yorkshire, this state of depression and suffering began to give way to better hopes and brighter prospects. The Brazils afforded an advantageous market for British woollens, and the manufacturers found their accumulated stocks diminish, and their capitals obtain a more beneficial channel of circulation; but unfortunately, the other manufactures of Britain did not equally partake of the renovation of commerce. The cotton trade of Lancashire still continued to labour under severe depression, and the wages of the weaver were insufficient to procure for his family the common necessaries of life; while the habits contracted in more prosperous times, unfitted them for that patient endurance to which they were exposed by the pressure of the present crisis. To alleviate the sufferings of the operative workmen engaged in the cotton business, an attempt was made in the house of commons to fix the minimum wages of the weaver; but the bill introduced for that purpose was rejected, and soon afterwards, disturbances, rather distressing from their cause, than alarming for their nature and extent, broke out at Stockport, Manchester, and other manufacturing towns in that district. Several expedients and arrangements between the delegates of the weavers and the merchants and master manufacturers took place, but it was soon discovered, that an increased demand for Manchester goods afforded the only means of bringing the differences to an amicable and permanent arrangement; and this event, happily, soon afterwards took place. Many of the persons who had most distinguished themselves in the riots were apprehended, and brought to trial at the summer assizes for the county of Lancaster, but as the extreme distress by which they had been driven to their improper and illegal con- BOOK IV One of the last objects to which the atten- Lord Hawkesbury, on the part of his majesty's ministers, declared, that the people of Spain had manifested a spirit and determination which would have done honour to the most glorious periods of their history; and that his majesty's ministers would feel it their duty to do every thing, in support of so glorious a cause, that the most generous heart could wish. On the 4th of July parliament was prorogued, and the commissioners, speaking in his majesty's name, declared that he would continue make every exertion in his power for the support of the Spanish cause; guided in the choice and in the direction of his exertions by the wishes of those in whose behalf they were employed. In contributing to the success of this just and magnanimous struggle, the object of his majesty would be to preserve unimpaired the independence and the integrity of the Spanish monarchy; and he trusted that the efforts which were directed to that great object, might, under the blessing of divine providence, lead to the restoration of the liberties and peace of Europe. CHAPTER IX. FOREIGN HISTORY: Military Preparations of the House of Austria-Rupture between France and Austria-Passage of the Inn by the Archduke Charles-Departure of Bonaparte from Paris to place himself at the Head of his Army in Germany-Battle of Ebensberg-Fall of Landshut into the Hands of the French-Napoleon and the Archduke meet for the first Time at Eckmuhl, where the Austrians sustain a signal Defeat-Fall of Ratisbon-Advance of the French Army to Vienna-Battle of Esling-Operations in Poland and the North of Germany-Campaign in Italy-Battle of Wagram-Retreat of the Austrian Army-Termination of the Fourth Punic War by an Armistice-Treaty of Peace-Gallant Resistance of the Tyrolese-Annexation of the Papal Territories to France-Excommunication of the Emperor Napoleon-Imperial Divorce-Revolution in Sweden. BOOK IV. AT the critical and gloomy moment in which the last hopes of Spain seemed to be extinCHAP. IX. guished, when her capital was occupied by the invaders, her armies defeated and dispersed, 1809 and the troops of her British ally obliged to seek safety on board vessels sent to convey them to their own shores; the important events which took place in Germany, brightened for a time the political horizon. Austria, whose strength had been broken by the disasters of Ulm and Austerlitz, and whose dominion and resources had been curtailed by the peace of Presburg, resolved to convert to her advantage the war in which France was engaged with Spain, and to make a grand effort to regain her ancient independence and power. From the period of the conferences at Erfurt, till Bonaparte crossed the Pyrenees for the purpose of putting himself at the head of his armies in Spain, Austria went on completing, her military preparations. These advances towards a state of hostility were not viewed by France with indifference, and the watchful jealousy of Bonaparte was expressed by his ministers in reproaches and threats. Austria was charged with having opened the harbour of Trieste to the English; her vessels, loaded with British manufactures or the produce of the English colonies, were protected in the passage from Malta to the Levant by ships of war; an official messenger from the Spanish patriots was permitted to land at Trieste; accident, it was asserted, had put the French government in possession of a formal promise made by the cabinet of Vienna to assist the Spanish Junta with one hundred thousand men ; and providence itself had interfered to unveil the hostile intentions of the Emperor Francis, by permitting the King of England to allude to them in no ambiguous language, in the official declaration published by that sovereign on the rupture of the negociations for peace. From Valladolid, Bonaparte sent his mandate to the princes of the confederation of the Rhine, to furnish their contingents, and to hold themselves in readiness for war; and soon afterwards he left Spain and returned to Paris. The In the month of March, 1809, the preparations for war were prosecuted by both parties with uncommon vigour and activity. The court of Vienna, as if sensible of the causes to which in a great measure its former misfortunes had been owing, adopted in almost every respect a different line of conduct from that which had been pursued in former wars with France : having placed the army, in point of numbers, on what was deemed an adequate establishment, continued and zealous efforts were next made towards the organization and discipline requisite to give efficacy to numerical strength. blind and ruinous policy which had hitherto made advancement or rank to depend upon antiquity of birth and illustrious descent, was in a great measure relaxed. Different officers, who had distinguished themselves in former campaigns by superior skill or courage, were advanced to a higher rank, and placed in a more extensive sphere of action. The Austrian army was divided into nine corps, each consisting of from thirty to forty thousand men. The Archduke Charles, freed from the interference of the aulic council, was appointed generalissimo; and six out of the nine corps were placed under his immediate command; the seventh corps was sent under the Archduke Ferdinand into Poland; and the eighth and ninth to Italy, under the Archduke John. There were also two corps of reserve, one of them consisting of twenty thousand men, commanded by Prince John of Lichtenstein, and the other of ten thousand men, under General Kinmayer; exclusive of |