will' long and sincerely regret a man who so deservedly possessed their unbounded confidence. As a patriot, a statesman, a warrior, and a man, the character of the marquis Cornwallis shines with distinguished lustre. Peace was signed with Holkar on the 24th of December; and thus a temporary calm was restored to that part of

India.

Since the return of Mr. Pitt to office nothing, the great victory of Trafalgar excepted, had relieved the general disaster and disappointment that attended the measures of the cabinet. At the close of the former session of parliament this distinguished statesman had been compelled, by the visible decline of his health, to relinquish all active share in public business, and retire to Bath. It has been supposed, that the fatal intelligence of the battle of Austerlitz produced an agitation of spirits which powerfully increased his disorder; for on returning to his villa at Putney, near London, he breathed his last on the 23rd of January 1806, in the fortyseventh year of his age, having directed the affairs of his country for a longer period than any other minister. Under his auspices the maritime supremacy of England was confirmed by a series of most splendid victories; her colonial acquisititions were greatly extended; but her public burdens were also enormously augmented. He labored successfully to preserve his country from the contagion of the revolutionary principles that desolated France; and exerted himself with equal zeal, but with less success, in resisting the military despotism by which that power threatened to subjugate the continent. As a financier, he displayed great ability in the accumulation of public resources; but it may be fairly questioned, whether he displayed equal political wisdom in the distribution of them. In forming continental alliances, he relied too implicitly on the influence of money. Those who considered the revolutionary war as unnecessary regarded him as one of the principal authors of the tremendous evils which that contest brought upon Europe. While others, reflecting on the extensive spread and dangerous tendency of the principles of the French revolution, and on the extreme hazard to which Great Britain was exposed, by standing an indifferent spectator till France had subdued the continent, and increased her marine in proportion to her military strength, regard him as the saviour of his country. Every impartial person, indeed, must confess, that he long stood in a situation wholly unprecedented, and difficult beyond example; and the unprejudiced historian will not deny to Mr. Pitt the praise of being a man of firm purpose, honorable pride, and most disinterested principle. If ambition must be allowed to have been a prominent trait in his character, it was the ambition of a great mind. His political views were grand and comprehensive; and, if some of his most favorite plans proved unsuccessful during his life, his successors at last acted upon them perseveringly and won the victory of liberty and civilisation for a prostrate

world.

Parliament was opened by commission on the 21st of January 1806. In the speech from the throne the recent victory of Trafalgar was

described as an exploit beyond all precedent;' and the king, while he deplored the necessity which the emperor of Germany had felt of withdrawing from the contest, was consoled in the prospect of the unshaken adherence of the emperor of Russia, and expressed his full confidence in the inexhausted resources of his dominions. In the debate which ensued, upon this address, lord Grenville remarked, that the state of the country imperiously called for investigation; but that circumstances painful to his feelings induced him to postpone the discussion. In the commons, lord Henry Petty acknowledged his intention of moving an amendment to the address; but, as the attendance of the individual most interested to defend the measures of government was impossible, he should make it the subject of a future motion. The addresses were presented on the 23rd, the day of Mr. Pitt's decease.

Mr. Lascelles now moved, that the late minister be interred at the public expense, and a monument, with a suitable inscription, erected to the memory of that excellent statesman. Objections were instantly started to the motion thus worded, and it was opposed by many distinguished members, who avowed their conviction of his integrity and their admiration of his talents. Among these was Mr. Windham, who declared, that he could not concur in styling Mr. Pitt an excellent statesman, and that the motion did not rest on the basis of historical truth. Mr. Fox said that no one was more ready to acknowledge the private, and even in many respects the public, virtues of Mr. Pitt. His great eloquence, and splendid talents, cast a veil over the system upon which he acted, and concealed its deformity. And, however desirous he might be to bury in oblivion former contests, he could not consent to confer public honors on his memory, upon the ground of his being an excellent states

man.

Lord Castlereagh pronounced this to be a question of feeling rather than of argument; and he urged that the house would act inconsistently with its own opinion, repeatedly expressed, if it hesitated to recognise the merits of Mr. Pitt. He at the same time confessed, that, had he framed the motion, it would have been couched in much stronger terms. On a division of the house the numbers were 258 to eighty-nine. The sum of f40,000 was subsequently voted for the payment of Mr. Pitt's debts.

The death of this distinguished statesman caused a total change in the ministry. Lord Eldon resigned the seals, and the honorable Thomas Erskine was appointed lord chancellor, and constituted a peer of the realm by the title of lord Erskine. Lord Grenville, whom the king had sent for and empowered to form a new administration, including Mr. Fox, who had now been estranged from the royal councils more than twenty years, was appointed first lord of the treasury; and lord Henry Petty chancellor of the exchequer. Earl Fitzwilliam president of the council; Viscount Sidmouth lord privy seal. Mr. Fox was made secretary of state for foreign affairs; lord Spencer secretary for the home department; and Mr. Windham secretary at war

Mr. Grey first lord of the admiralty, and Mr. Sheridan treasurer of the navy. Earl Moira master-general of the ordnance, and general Fitzpatrick secretary for the colonies. His grace the duke of Bedford was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and Mr. Elliott principal secretary. Lord Ellenborough, lord chief justice of the court of king's bench, was also appointed to a seat in the cabinet. Sir Arthur Pigot and Sir Samuel Romilly were nominated attorney and solicitorgenerals.

On the 28th of March the new chancellor of the exchequer brought forward the budget for the year. The amount of the ways and means was £43,618,472, and of the supplies £43,630,000. The war taxes, amounting to £14,500,000, were to be increased to £19,500,000, and a new loan of £18,000,000 was proposed. Mr. Windham brought in a bill for enlisting the regular army for a term of years instead of for life, as heretofore. This regulation, which forms an epoch in the military history of England, met with general approbation. The infantry were to be enlisted for seven years, and the cavalry for ten. The plan, however, did not pass without much debate, in the course of which lord Castlereagh affirmed the state of the country to be prosperous and flourishing, and that the present ministers reposed on a bed of

roses.'

Certainly, however, the country did not. On the 30th of January his Prussian majesty signified his intention of taking possession of Hanover, agreeably to the late convention with the emperor of France. This was followed by a second proclamation, dated the 28th of March, ordering the Prussian ports to be shut against the vessels of Great Britain. In consequence of these hostile proceedings, Mr. Fox, on the 21st of April, brought down a message from his majesty, informing the house of commons that he had thought it proper to adopt measures of retaliation, by issuing orders for the blockade of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Ems, and for the caps ture of Prussian vessels. We have seen that, from the year 1788 to the death of Mr. Pitt, the subject of the abolition of the slave trade was never lost sight of by Mr. Wilberforce. It was brought from time to time under the notice of parliament, with various degrees of success; and gradually gained ground: on the 28th of February, 1805, the bill for the abolition was lost in the house of commons, by a majority of only seven voices.

The honor of accomplishing this great object was reserved for Mr. Fox and his colleagues. On the 11th of June, 1806, Mr Fox carried a resolution in the house of commons, That this house, conceiving the African slave trade to be contrary to the principles of justice, humanity, and sound policy, will, with all practicable expedition, take effectual measures for abolishing the said trade, in such manner and at such period as may be deemed most desirable.'

The bill met with only a feeble opposition. It was strenuously supported by Mr. Wilberforce and all the members of administration, and carried by a majority of 115 against fifteen. In the course of the debate the solicitor-general VOL. X

stated, from documents before the house, that since the year 1796, that is during the last ten years, upwards of 360,000 of the natives of Africa, torn from their country by Europeans, had either been sold into slavery, or had miserably perished in their passage to the West Indies. The crimes perpetrated in this traffic had equalled, if they had not exceeded, in horror and enormity, those of the French revolution, and had been constantly repeated during the space of three centuries.

The trial of lord Melville, on his impeachment by the commons, was a circumstance of consider able interest in the transactions of the year. It commenced in Westminster Hall on the 29th of April, before the lords, the members of the house of commons being present in a committee of the whole house. The articles of the charge were ten in number, but in substance were reducible to three. 1. That, as treasurer of the navy, he had applied divers sums of public money to his private use and profit. 2. That he had permitted his paymaster, Trotter, to take large sums of money from the bank of England, issued to it on account of the treasurer of the navy, and place it in his own name with his private banker. 3. That he had permitted Trotter to apply the money so abstracted to purposes of private emolument, and had himself derived profit therefrom The trial was conducted with unusual despatch for a proceeding of that nature, the evidence and arguments on both sides being closed on the 17th of May, and sentence pronounced June 12th. The result was, that, by a majority, his lordship was pronounced not guilty upon each of the ten articles; but on four of them the majority for his acquittal was considerably less than double the number of those who gave a contrary judgment. The whole number of peers who voted was 135.

An important commercial law was passed during this session of parliament, namely, for permitting the free interchange of grain of every kind between Great Britain and Ireland without either bounty or duty: the good effects of which, to both countries, have since been amply experienced. An act also passed under the title of the American intercourse bill, though not without violent opposition, for legalising the trade for lumber and provisions carried on by neutrals to the West India Islands, which in time of war had generally been found indispensably necessary, though violating the navigation laws. It empowered the king in council, when such necessity should arise during the present war, to authorise his governors, under such restrictions as should seem fit, to permit this traffic, with the proviso, that neutrals should not import any commodities, staves and lumber excepted, which were not the produce of their own countries, and should not export sugar and other products of the islands.

An

On the 30th of March Joseph Buonaparte was proclaimed king of Naples, and the king and queen of that country retired to Palermo. ineffectual attempt on Calabria was made by Sir Sydney Smith in April; and in July, at the urgent request of the court of Palermo, Sir John Stuart, who commanded the British troops in Sicily, em2 N

barked a body of about 4800 effective men, in the gulph of Euphemia. General Regnier with his troops being encamped some miles' distance at Maida, Sir John determined upon attacking him before he should be joined by his expected reinforcements.

The junction, however, had been made on the night before, and the enemy, to the number of about 7000, descended from the heights, and marched into the plain to meet the assailants. After firing for some time both armies rushed on with the bayonet, when the superior firmness of the British soldiers soon decided the contest. As soon as the weapons crossed, the French gave way, and were pursued with a dreadful slaughter. The consequence of this brilliant action was a general insurrection of the Calabrian peasantry, and the expulsion of the French from the pro

vince.

Efforts of this kind, however, were inadequate to the promoting of any permanent change; and Sir John Stuart, sensible that he could not long maintain his ground in Calabria, prepared for returning to Sicily. The French, soon after the battle, reduced the fortress of Gaeta; and general Fox, who took the command of the British troops in Sicily, refusing to concur in the hopeless plans of the court of Palermo for recovering Naples, the new government in that kingdom remained undisturbed, except by intestine disor

ders.

About this time an important present acquisition was made by the British arms in South America. After the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, Sir Home Popham and general Beresford, who had been sent out in the autumn of 1805 with a force of about 5000 men, judging it expedient to make an attack on some. of the Spanish settlements in South America, embarked a part of the land forces; and after a tedious passage arrived on the 6th of June at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The squadron, after having occupied nine days in proceeding about eighty miles, came to anchor off the point of Quilmay, about twelve miles from Buenos Ayres, which the British commanders had resolved to attack in preference to Monte Video. On the 25th, in the course of the afternoon and night, a landing was effected without opposition; though a body of the enemy, consisting, of about 2000 men, chiefly cavalry, with eight field-pieces, was posted at the village of Redaction, on a height about two miles distant from the place where the troops disembarked, and directly in their front. The whole intermediate space, as well as to the right and left, was a swampy flat, where the artillery was of little service. On the British crossing the swamp, the Spaniards opened a fire from their field-pieces, which at first was well directed; but, part of the English troops having gained the heights, the enemy retired, leaving behind them four fieldpieces and a tumbril. Here the army halted for the night; and in the morning, finding the bridge over the Chuelo destroyed, general Beresford determined on forcing the passage of that river. He was now about three miles from Buenos Ayres, and the enemy opened an ill-directed fire of cannon and musketry; the former of which

was soon silenced, though the latter was kept up more than half an hour, but so as to do very little injury to the British.

About eleven o'clock in the forenoon the greatest part of the English troops, with some of their guns, had got over the river; and general Beresford, having learned that most of the troops had abandoned the city, sent a summons to the governor, who agreed to a capitulation, of which the principal articles were, security to their religious worship to the persons of the inhabitants, and to all private property. The amount of the public treasure taken at Buenos Ayres amounted to 1,291,323 dollars; of which 1,086,203 dollars were embarked on board the Narcissus, and the remaining, viz. 205,115 were left in the treasury.

Sir Home Popham, in the triumph of the moment, transmitted a circular letter to the chief commercial towns of Great Britain, informing them that a whole continent was laid open to the British trade;' and the most extravagant speculations were accordingly directed to this quarter: but, though so small a force had sufficed to acquire, it was wholly inadequate to retain this unwieldly conquest; and in a short time Buenos Ayres was recovered by the Spaniards, under the conduct of colonel Linieres, a French officer in the South American service; and our troops, with general Beresford their commander, were made prisoners of war. Sir Home Popham, nevertheless, continued to blockade the entrance of the river; and, on the arrival of reinforcements from the Cape, made an unsuccessful attempt on Monte Video.

The naval operations of the year were few, but uniformly successful. A French squadron of five sail of the line was encountered, in the month of February, off the coast of St. Domingo, by a superior force under admiral Duckworth. After a furious action three of them struck their flags, and the other two were driven on shore, and burnt. In the east, the French admiral Linois was captured by Sir John Borlase Warren, on board the Marengo of eighty guns, with the Belle Poule of forty guns, on his passage back to France, enriched with various plunder. A large convoy from Rochefort was intercepted by Sir Samuel Hood, and four out or five large frigates were taken, with troops on board destined for the West Indies. A remarkably gallant exploit was also achieved by lord Cochrane, who commanded the Pallas, in cutting out three Spanish vessels under a heavy fire from the protecting batteries of Avillos.

Negociations in the interim were carrying on between the courts of France and England, which for a time afforded a prospect of peace. They originated in Mr. Fox having disclosed to M. Talleyrand a plot for the assassination of the French emperor. In reply an extract was enclosed to the British minister from a speech of the emperor to the legislative body, March 2: 'I desire,' it is said, 'peace with England. On my part I shall never delay it for a moment: I shall always be ready to conclude it, taking for its basis the treaty of Amiens.'

As this intimation was understood to be intended as an opening to negociation, Mr. Fox,

after a short interval, returned an answer expressive of the cordial disposition of the English government to treat on the general basis of a peace honorable to both countries, and to their allies; adding, "that the existing ties between England and Russia were such, that England could not treat, much less conclude, but in concert with the emperor Alexander.' M. Talleyrand replied, that the emperor Napoleon adopted the general principle laid down by Mr. Fox; but thought there was no necessity for the intervention of a foreign and distant power.'

It happened that among the English detained in France was a young nobleman, the earl of Yarmouth, in whose discretion and ability Mr. Fox could confide. Being invested with the requisite powers, this nobleman repaired to Paris, in order to open the negociation; but the difficulty respecting Russia retarded his progress. Other subjects of difference were Hanover and Sicily. No exchange or indemnity for the first could be hearkened to; and, in his despatch of June 13th, lord Yarmouth informed the English minister of the declaration which M. Talleyrand had at length made, that, considering the extreme stress which was laid on this point, Hanover should make no difficulty. And, with regard to Sicily, M. Talleyrand after a time replied: You have it: we do not ask it. Had we the possession, difficulties would be much augmented.' In another conversation, however, M. Talleyrand insinuated, that Russia was inclined to treat separately; and also mentioned, that the emperor of France had received despatches from his brother and the general officers under his orders, stating, that Naples could not be held without Sicily, and the probability which they saw of gaining possession of that island.

On the 26th of June Mr. Fox, though at this time rapidly declining in health, addressed an excellent despatch to lord Yarmouth, expressing his astonishment at the tergiversation of M. Talleyrand. The recognition of the French emperor, and the other new potentates, he regarded as a full compensation for the restoration of Hanover. He transmitted to lord Yarmouth the full powers upon which the French minister had laid so much stress; but with orders fairly to state to M. Talleyrand, that he had no authority to make use of them until that minister returned to his former ground respecting Sicily. He remarked, that if D'Oubril, the Russian ambassador, had offered to treat separately, it was only in the way that lord Yarmouth himself treated; that is, in form, but substantially in concert. Naples and Istria, Mr. Fox admitted, were not to be conclusive against agreeing to provisional articles, subject to the approval of Russia; or, as he explained himself, that those articles should not have effect till a peace should be concluded between France and Russia.' On the 1st of July lord Yarmouth acknowledged his receipt of the full powers with which he was now vested by the British government; and mentioned his communication of the same to M. Talley rand, who merely said, 'that change of circumstances during a negociation, were always valid reasons for a change of terms: that had any confidential overture been made three months

ago, France would have been ready to settle the question of Naples in the manner most satisfactory to Great Britain: the same a month later with regard to Holland.' At the close of the conference, lord Yarmouth repeated, 'that it was impossible to proceed with the negociation till every mode of seeking to obtain possession of Sicily was entirely relinquished.' On, subsequently demanding his passports, M. Talleyrand took the opportunity of offering the Hanse towns as an establishment for the king of Naples. But on the 5th of July, being the very next day after the receipt of lord Yarmouth's letter, Mr. Fox peremptorily replied, that the abandonment of Sicily was a point which it was impossible for his majesty to concede. The demand of France was inconsistent with the whole principle on which the negociation rests; and the proposal of M. Talleyrand is, of itself, quite inadmissible. To the original basis of the Legociation, therefore, lord Yarmouth was directed to advert; and, if this was not accepted, to state, in perfectly civil yet decided terms, that he was not at liberty to treat on any other ground, and therefore to desire his passports. The earl of Yarmouth_having strictly complied with his instructions, M. Talleyrand now offered a further proposition from the emperor, tendering Dalmatia, Albania, and Ragusa, as an indemnity for Sicily. This, he was assured, would not be accepted; however, the English negociator consented to wait the return of the messenger; M. Talleyrand adding, that, if peace was made, Germany should remain in its present state.' At this critical juncture, the indisposition of Mr. Fox had so alarmingly increased as to render him incapable of attending to business; and the succeeding despatches, transmitted under the sanction of his name, were fairly acknowledged, at a subsequent period, not to have proceeded from his pen. The elaborate answer of July 18th to lord Yarmouth's last despatch, most unhappily and unseasonably wavered upon the grand point of Sicily. An exchange,' says the writer of that despatch (generally ascribed to lord Grenville) is now offered for Sicily; and it is in that view, and not in that of an absolute and uncompensated cession, that the question is now to be considered; and to this the full and free consent of its sovereign is necessary, which is not likely to be obtained by the offer of Dalmatia.' The writer then suggests the addition of Istria, and of a large portion of the Venetian states, including, if possible, the city of Venice: and lord Yarmouth was directed to continue the conferences with M. Talleyrand, to ascertain whether any more practicable shape could be given to the exchange.

While matters were in this state a treaty for a separate peace was concluded between France and Russia: after which lord Lauderdale was united with lord Yarmouth in the negociation; but, after several formal attempts, found it impossible to proceed upon any reasonable basis. At this critical moment, on which peace or war seemed to be suspended, Mr. Fox who had been for some time afflicted with a dropsy, expired on the 13th of September 1806, in the fifty-ninth year of his age; and thus, in the midst of tumultuous wars and of uncertain negociations,

'Midst jarring conflicts, stemmed the tide of blood, And to the menaced world a sea-mark stood; Whose wisdom bade the broils of nations cease, And taught the world humanity and peace.

On the death of this lamented statesman some new arrangements became necessary among the members of administration. Lord Howick succeeded Mr. Fox in the office of secretary of state for foreign affairs, and Mr. Thomas Grenville succeeded him as first lord of the admiralty. Mr. Tierney became president of the board of control, to which the former gentleman had been appointed, on the nomination of lord Minto to the government of India. Lord Sidmouth was president of the council in the room of earl Fitzwilliam, who retired in ill health; and the vacant office of privy-seal was assigned to lord Holland. These changes were rather unexpectedly followed by a dissolution of parliament.

On the continent of Europe, at this crisis, the subversion and creation of kingdoms were become common operations. The territory of the Batavian republic being full of French troops, who garrisoned all the fortified towns, an edict of their emperor was all that was necessary to create a king, and furnish him with a kingdom. On the 9th of June this change in the constitution was notified to their high mightinesses the states-general, by M. Verneul, who, being just arrived from Paris, opened the special commission which he had received from prince Louis Buonaparte, as king of Holland. On the 24th the new king and queen made their public entrance into the Hague. The revolutions of Germany were equally remarkable. The fatal battle of Austerlitz had crippled the power of Austria, and virtually subverted the Germanic constitution, on the ruins of which was now formed the Confederation of the Rhine. See CONFEDERATION.

By this confederation the Germanic body was completely dissolved, and a very considerable part of its members ranged themselves under the banners of France. In consequence of this defection the emperor Francis II. resigned his high office of emperor of Germany. On the 7th of August a proclamation for that purpose was issued at Vienna, in which his imperial majesty the emperor of Austria declared, that, convinced as he was of the impossibility of being enabled any longer to fulfil the duties of his imperial functions as emperor of Germany, he owed it to his principles to renounce a dignity which was valuable in his eyes only whilst he was able to enjoy the confidence of the electors, princes, and other states of the empire; and that, considering the confederation of the Rhine as having dissolved the ties that united him to the Germanic

body, abolished the Germanic constitution, and annulled the office of emperor, he therefore resigned the imperial crown and government, and absolved the electors, princes, and states, the members of the supreme tribunal, the magistrates, and all others belonging to the empire, from their allegiance to him as chief. Thus was dissolved the German, or as it was styled in diplomatic language the Holy Roman Empire, 1000 years after Charlemagne had received the imperial title from the hands of the pope at Rome.

Prussia, however, still was determined on a struggle against the dominant genius of Buonaparte; and seemed at this time to glory in entering the lists alone with him. On the 9th of October appeared a declaration of Frederick William, filled with the most humiliating confessions of the lengths to which she had gone in subservience to France, and with expressions of resentment on being made its dupe and its victim. It nevertheless allows that the possession of Hanover, could it have been obtained under less unhappy circumstances, would have been of invaluable advantage to Prussia. The king therefore conceived, that he reconciled his wishes with his principles when he accepted of the proposed exchange orly under the condition of delaying the fulfilment of the same till a general peace, with the consent of his Britannic majesty."

Early in October the duke of Brunswick, to whom was committed the chief command of the army, fixed his head-quarters at Weimar, the armny extending along the banks of the Saale. The Saxons served as auxiliaries under prince Hohenloe on the left, and the whole collected force exceeded 100,000 men. The French advanced from Bamberg in three divisions; and after various partial encounters, in one of which prince Louis, brother to the king of Prussia, lost his life; the two armies, nearly of equal strength, but very unequally commanded, seemed to assume an attitude of mutual defiance.

The French emperor, by superior manœuvres, now succeeded in turning the left of the P-ussians, and in cutting off the communication with their magazines: on which he occupied in force the heights of Jena, which had been thought impracticable for artillery; and on the eve of the 13th of October the two armies encamped within cannon-shot of each other. The action commenced two hours after day-break, and quickly became general, exhibiting for some time reciprocal skill and bravery; but a fierce assault from the French cavalry and cuirassiers, under general Murat, at once decided the fortune of this memorable day. All attempts to restore order were in vain: universal consternation ensued. Nothing resembling even a regular retreat could be effected; and, in the flight of the Prussians towards Weimar and Naumburg, multitudes were slaughtered, and a still greater number made prisoners. The duke of Brunswick himself was mortally wounded, and the entire loss did not fall short of 40,000 men; while that of the French, if their own account may be credited, was below 5000. Further resistance seemed not to be thought of. Erfurt, Magdeburg, Stettin, Leipsic, and Spandau, sur