CHAPTER XLIL

1805.

Napoleon crowned King of Italy-Annexation of Genoa to FranceGrant of Lucca to the Princess Elisa-Third Coalition - Villeneuve pursued by Nelson-Action between Villeneuve and Calder - Villeneuve proceeds to Cadiz - Resentment of Napoleon - War waged by him against the Austrians — Nelson at Merton — Appointed to command the Fleet destined for Cadiz - Takes leave of Pitt - Arrival of Sir Arthur Wellesley from India — Pitt's fruitless representations to the King - His last interview with Lord Sidmouth -Projected expedition to the north of Germany-Surrender of Mack at Ulm Its effect upon Pitt-Battle of Trafalgar, and death of, Nelson-Pitt's last speech in public - The Duke of Wellington's description of him at this period-Notes of Lords Fitzharris and Eldon.

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We must now revert to the proceedings of our indefatigable and Imperial adversary. He had gone to be crowned as King in the Cathedral of Milan; and the ceremony took place in solemn state on the 26th of May. Cisalpine" and "Cispadane" were names no longer used; the title which he assumed was that of "King of Italy." The very title gave great offence and alarm to Austria, since it seemed to involve a claim to her recently acquired Venetian provinces. But greater still was the offence, greater still the alarm, which two other acts of Napoleon at nearly the same time produced. The one was the annexation of the Republic of Genoa to France. The other was the grant of Lucca as a fief, or dependent principality, to one of his sisters, the Princess Elisa Baciocchi. Both these acts were thought

to prove the aspiring character of his ambition, and the continued progress of the aggrandizements which he desired for his empire.

So great indeed was the significance ascribed to these acts, that they appear to have decided the result of the negotiations. The Emperor Alexander sent orders to M. Novosiltzoff, already at Berlin, not to proceed to Paris, but on the contrary to return to Petersburg. The Emperor Francis signified his accession to the treaty of the 11th of April. This he did on the 9th of August, through Count Stadion, his Minister at Petersburg, claiming, however, at the same time, a subsidy of 3,000,000l. from England. In the same month of August Sweden acceded also, and concluded another Convention of Subsidy with the English Government. And thus was formed, under the guidance of Mr. Pitt, the third Coalition against France in its Revolutionary period.

It would not be difficult, from the despatches which remain, to relate step by step, and through all their phases, the negotiations with the several Courts which Mr. Pitt superintended. But it may suffice to give their general scope in the opinion of Lord Malmesbury— qualified beyond all Englishmen at that period to form an opinion on such a subject. That opinion, be it observed, was not expressed with any view of pleasing or paying court to Mr. Pitt, since it was merely put down in the private note-book of the veteran diplomatist: "During the whole of the year Pitt was negotiating his great alliance with Russia and Austria. Never was any measure, so far as human foresight can go, better

combined or better negotiated. . . . . Pitt, whom I saw in Downing Street on the 26th of September, gave me a most minute and clear account of this whole measure, and was very justly sanguine as to its result."1

Critics, however, are not wanting. Some partisans of Addington's Ministry consider its system of isolation as preferable, under all the circumstances, to the system of alliances in Pitt's. It is argued that Austria was exhausted by her recent conflicts, and would have waged war with much more vigour if recruited by a longer rest. But in this argument it seems to be forgotten that this period of rest would have profited to France in at least the same proportion. If a confederacy against the immense power of France was wise at alland there are but few who dispute it-there seems no reason to believe that its chances of success would have been increased by postponing it from 1805 to 1808 or 1810.

But in truth the case is stronger still. The policy of Napoleon at that time was one of rapid aggression. Thus in one year he had annexed Piedmont, and in another Genoa. Thus on one side he over-rode Switzerland, and on another side he dictated to Spain. If then this policy were to continue unchecked, it would follow that the chances would become less and less in favour of the Allies the longer the conflict was delayed.

These arguments, it will be observed, stand on wide and European, and by no means merely English grounds. They are wholly independent of the wish which we

'Diaries of Lord Malmesbury, vol. iv. p. 339.

might be supposed to feel to turn aside from us as soon as possible the threatened torrent of invasion.

His objects beyond the Alps having been accomplished, Napoleon, with his customary spirit, darted back from Italy. Leaving Turin on the evening of the 8th, he reached Fontainebleau on the morning of the 11th of July. On the 3rd of August he was once more in his camp at Boulogne, intent as ever on invading the opposite shores. The very day after his arrival he wrote to Decrès, his Minister of the Marine, in nearly the same phrase as he had used the year before: "The English do not know what is hanging over their ears. If we can but be masters of the passage for twelve hours, l'Angleterre a vécu-England will have ceased to be." 2

To obtain the command of the Channel for a few days or hours, Napoleon had in some degree modified his plan of the preceding year. He still desired that Villeneuve at Toulon, and Missiessy at Rochefort, should put to sea at the first favourable opportunity. But his present idea was that they should sail straight to the West Indies. There he hoped that they might attract a large proportion of the English fleet, and from thence they might suddenly return, forming one armada, and riding superior in the sea opposite Boulogne. Spain being still under the absolute sway of France, and now at open war with England, the co-operation of her squadrons at Cadiz and Ferrol might henceforth be obtained. But the supreme command was vested in

2 Letter of the 16 Thermidor, an | in the French archives, and cited xiii. (August 4, 1805), preserved by M. Thiers.

Villeneuve, an officer of courage, fidelity, and skill, but a little shrinking from such vast responsibilities, and of that ill-omened mood of mind which does not merely forebode calamities, but produces them.

In pursuance of his instructions, Villeneuve seized his opportunity and sailed from Toulon on the 30th of March, with eleven ships of the line. Off Cadiz he drew to himself the Spanish Admiral Gravina, with part of the Spanish squadron, and he cast anchor at Martinique on the 14th of May. Missiessy, by favour of a storm in leaving Rochefort, had already arrived in the West Indies, but Ganteaume had been unable to break the blockade of Brest. Still, however, Villeneuve had now united, and under his orders, twenty line of battle ships; a number which seemed adequate to the object which he had in view.

Nelson was at this time commanding in the Mediterranean. He had been a warm friend to the Addington administration, but was no enemy to that which succeeded. "I am free and independent," so he writes in one of his most familiar letters; 3 "I like both Pitt and Lord Melville, and why should I oppose them?"

Under all changes of Ministers Nelson continued to serve his country with the same ardent spirit and unconquerable zeal. Finding that the fleet of Villeneuve had passed the Straits of Gibraltar, he followed at once with his own ten ships. The magic of his name sufficed to protect our West India islands. Villeneuve, who was planning an attack upon Barbadoes, relinquished it as

3 To Lady Hamilton, August 22, 1804.