Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 7 | Page 5

Petersburg
were to guarantee the execution of the treaty of Amiens. The English
Ambassador, to excuse the evasions of his Government, pretended that
the Russian Cabinet concurred with England in the delayed fulfilment
of the conditions of the treaty; but at the very moment he was making
that excuse a courier arrived from the Cabinet of St. Petersburg bearing
despatches completely, at variance with the assertion of Lord
Whitworth. His lordship left Paris on the night of the 12th May 1803,
and the English Government, unsolicited, sent passports to the French
embassy in London. The news of this sudden rupture made the English
console fall four per cent., but did not immediately produce such a
retrograde effect on the French funds, which were then quoted at
fifty-five francs;--a very high point, when it is recollected that they
were at seven or eight francs on the eve of the 18th Brumaire.
In this state of things France proposed to the English Government to
admit of the mediation of Russia; but as England had declared war in
order to repair the error she committed in concluding peace, the
proposition was of course rejected. Thus the public gave the First
Consul credit for great moderation and a sincere wish for peace. Thus
arose between England and France a contest resembling those furious
wars which marked the reigns of King John and Charles VII. Our beaux
esprits drew splendid comparisons between the existing state of things
and the ancient rivalry of Carthage and Rome, and sapiently concluded
that, as Carthage fell, England must do so likewise.
Bonaparte was at St. Cloud when Lord Whitworth left Paris. A
fortnight was spent in useless attempts to renew negotiations. War,

therefore, was the only alternative. Before he made his final
preparations the First Consul addressed a message to the Senate, the
Legislative Body, and the Tribunate. In this message he mentioned the
recall of the English Ambassador, the breaking out of hostilities, the
unexpected message of the King of England to his Parliament, and the
armaments which immediately ensued in the British ports. "In vain," he
said, "had France tried every means to induce England to abide by the
treaty. She had repelled every overture, and increased the insolence of
her demands. France," he added, "will not submit to menaces, but will
combat for the faith of treaties, and the honour of the French name,
confidently trusting that the result of the contest will be such as she has
a right to expect from the justice of her cause and the courage of her
people."
This message was dignified, and free from that vein of boasting in
which Bonaparte so frequently indulged. The reply of the Senate was
accompanied by a vote of a ship of the line, to be paid for out of the
Senatorial salaries. With his usual address Bonaparte, in acting for
himself, spoke in the name of the people, just as he did in the question
of the Consulate for life. But what he then did for his own interests
turned to the future interests of the Bourbons. The very treaty which
had just been broken off gave rise to a curious observation. Bonaparte,
though not yet a sovereign, peremptorily required the King of England
to renounce the empty title of King of France, which was kept up as if
to imply that old pretensions were not yet renounced. The proposition
was acceded to, and to this circumstance was owing the disappearance
of the title of King of France from among the titles of the King of
England, when the treaty of Paris was concluded on the return of the
Bourbons.
The first grievance complained of by England was the prohibition of
English merchandise, which had been more rigid since the peace than
during the war. The avowal of Great Britain on this point might well
have enabled her to dispense with any other subject of complaint; for
the truth is, she was alarmed at the aspect of our internal prosperity, and
at the impulse given to our manufactures. The English Government had
hoped to obtain from the First Consul such a commercial treaty as

would have proved a death-blow to our rising trade; but Bonaparte
opposed this, and from the very circumstance of his refusal he might
easily have foreseen the rupture at which he affected to be surprised.
What I state I felt at the time, when I read with great interest all the
documents relative to this great dispute between the two rival nations,
which eleven years afterwards was decided before the walls of Paris.
It was evidently disappointment in regard to a commercial treaty which
created the animosity of the English Government, as that circumstance
was alluded to, by way of reproach, in the King of England's
declaration. In that document