XXXII. 1840. 62. of attack, on opposite English squadron, consisting of nine line-of-battle ships, CHAP. two frigates, and other vessels, under Admirals Stopford and Napier,* received orders to leave its anchorage in the bay of Besika, where it was lying beside the French Allied plan fleet, at the mouth of the Dardanelles, and make sail for and forces the coast of Syria and Egypt. It was to be joined by side. two frigates and two sloops of the Austrians; not that their aid was either required by, or could add anything of consequence to the English armament, but that the sight of the Imperial flag beside the British would convince the world that the movement was a joint one on the part of the whole Allies, not a separate one on that of Great Britain. The French, however, had fifteen sail of the line in the Mediterranean, of much heavier weight of metal than the English, and the superiority in the number of the crews was still more decided. The Russian fleet had not yet left Sebastopol; the Austrian consisted only of a few frigates; the Turkish was ranged in the harbour of Alexandria beside the Egyptian. In all, twenty sail of the line were collected on the side of the French and the Pacha, against nine on that of the British and one of the Turks an immense disproportion, adequate to have deprived the British of the command of the Mediterranean, 1 Ann. Reg. but not sufficient to intimidate the successors of Nelson 1840, 274, 276; Cap. and Collingwood, to whom the honour of the national x. 238, 240. flag was then intrusted.1 To understand the brief but decisive naval campaign XXXII. 1840. 63. Syria in a military point of view. CHAP. which followed, and comprehend how it came to pass that a naval force succeeded in gaining important land victories, and the successful bombardment of a few towns on Nature of the coast of Syria led to the abandonment of all his important conquests by Ibrahim Pacha, it is necessary to reflect upon the physical circumstances of that country, and the effect the loss of the chain of communication between Asia Minor and Egypt by the coast, must have upon any belligerent carrying on war between these two countries. Nature has rendered that the sole line of communication by land between Asia and Africa. Syria is composed of a huge mass of rocky and precipitous mountains, which, under various names, of which the Taurus, Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, and Mount Sinai, are the most remarkable, projects into the sea between the Euxine and the Levant, and severs the two continents from each other. They are disunited, save by the coast road which runs between the foot of the mountains and the waves of the Mediterranean. So narrow is the strip of land through which it runs, that Tyre, Acre, Jaffa, and all the maritime towns of Syria, are in a manner overhung by the mountains, and to the mariners who approach the Holy Land from the westward, the Lebanon appears to rise like the Andes, as seen from the Pacific, from the level of the ocean. 64. this pecu mation on waged. It results from this peculiar physical conformation, Effect of that possession of the coast line is indispensable for any liar physi- military operations, either of Egypt against Asia, or of cal confor- Asia against Egypt. All conquerors on either side, from the war then the earliest times, have gone by this route. By it, on the one hand, Sesostris led his invincible hosts to the conquest of Persia, and Saladin brought his fiery squadrons to combat the Crusaders, and Napoleon advanced from the banks of the Nile to revolutionise Asia. By it, on the other, Cambyses passed when on his march to Thebes, and Darius led the Persians to avenge the victories of XXXII. 1840. 65. ment of 1840. the conquering queen, and Alexander marched from CHAP. vanquished Thebes to the shrine of Jupiter Ammon. An army advancing from Egypt to Syria must bring up all its supplies by this line; its whole communications lie through the seaport towns. Thence their vital importance in war. An enemy who, from the sea, succeeds in interrupting the possession of the line, has achieved the greatest feat in strategy; he has thrown himself on his adversaries' communications without compromising his own. A blow at Acre or Jaffa is like a severe stroke on the spinal marrow; it paralyses all below the wound. Nothing daunted by the formidable forces arrayed against him, Admiral Stopford proceeded to execute the Bombardimportant mission with which he was intrusted. On the Beyrout. 14th August he summoned the Egyptian generals in the 29, name of the allied Powers to evacuate Syria, and as no notice was taken of the requisition, he proceeded to active operations. He divided his squadron into two portions : the first, consisting of three sail of the line, a frigate, and two war-steamers, all English, and two frigates, Austrian, proceeded to the coast of Egypt, and cast anchor before Alexandria; while he himself, with six line-of-battle ships, took post in the roads of Beyrout. The first step taken was to summon the troops of the Pacha to evacuate the town; and this not having been done, the vessels stood in and commenced the bombardment, which was kept up with uncommon vigour for nine successive days. The Egyptians replied vigorously from all their batteries, and at first it was hard to say to which side victory would incline. By degrees, however, the superiority of the English fire became manifest; gun after gun in the for- Napier's tress was dismounted; bastion after bastion crumbled into Desp., Sep. 10, 1840; ruins, and presented yawning chasms in the scarp to the Ann. Reg. broadsides of the assailants. At length, after a gallant (Doc. Hist.); resistance, the defences were all ruined, the town reduced 241. to ashes, and evacuated by the Egyptians. It was im 1 Admiral 1840, 174 Cap. x. 240, CHAP. mediately taken possession of by the land troops on board XXXII. the allied fleet, and the Turkish flag hoisted on the 1840. 66. Immense sensation this event over Eu ruined battlements. Immense was the sensation produced in France and over Europe by this vigorous demonstration. The produced by French had never given credit to the declarations of the Allies; they thought that at the eleventh hour, if not rope. before, the English would recede from the Continental league, and that by simply holding out they would nullify the whole provisions of the treaty of July. Now, however, it was proved that the Allies were in earnest, and that the English, in particular, stood in the very front rank of the confederacy. The broadsides of the Queen Charlotte had defied France as completely as the guns of Marshal Gérard, directed against Antwerp, had thrown down the gauntlet to the Holy Alliance. Surprise at an event so entirely unexpected was the first impression, but that was soon succeeded by indignation. The cry was universal for war; the press, without exception, resounded with impassioned declamations; the public excitement rose to the very highest point, and Ann. Hist. nothing but a hostile demonstration on the part of Government was wanting to light up the flames of a general war over Europe.1 1 Cap. x. 241, 242; xxiii. 508, 514. 67. Louis Phil crisis. There can be no doubt that Louis Philippe keenly felt Views of the slight put upon the consequence of France by the ippe at this prompt execution of the treaty of July, and that, if he had been at liberty to follow out his inclinations, and he could have done so without danger, he would have put himself at the head of this national movement, and at once declared war against England. But he was advanced in years, and experienced in the vicissitudes of human affairs: the child of revolution, he was familiar with its passions and acquainted with its designs. The risk to the new dynasty in France, and the cause of order over Europe, was extreme if a general war were now to break out. It would soon lose its national and assume a XXXII. 1840. social character. The strife of opinion which Mr Can- CHAP. ning foresaw, and which had been so near breaking out in 1823 and 1831, was now imminent; and if it took place, all Europe would be on one side, and France alone on the other. The boasted alliance with England, which had been the main-stay of the Orleans dynasty, was at an end. Again, as in 1814 and 1815, France would have to confront the forces of banded Europe on the Rhine. There was enough here to cause the stoutest heart to quail; for the forces of the coalition, headed by Russia, could be encountered only by rousing the revolutionary spirit in France; and if it were once let loose, it was hard to say whether the Citizen King would have most to fear from the blows of his enemies or the success 247, 248. of his supporters.' 1 Cap. x. of Louis and M. d'Eu, and These considerations, which were so obvious as to force 68. themselves on every rational and unprejudiced mind, were Conference much strengthened by the steps taken by M. Thiers at Philippe this crisis to rouse the people in France, on the one side, Guizot at and the assurances given on the part of the allied the Chateau Cabinets, on the other. In Paris, nothing was to be its results. seen but the enthusiasm of 1793. The Marseillaise was constantly heard in the streets; clubs every day sprung up, which resounded with Jacobinical declamations; the public fêtes all wore a revolutionary aspect. Louis Philippe was startled at this effervescence: he admired the national spirit which was evolved, but he dreaded its alliance with democratic transports which obviously menaced his throne. Impressed with these ideas, and alarmed at the revolutionary tendency of the government of M. Thiers, the King summoned M. Guizot,* the am * M. Guizot's ideas on the state of affairs at this crisis were in the highest degree rational and pacific. In a despatch to the French consul at Alexandria, he said: "Le sentiment général, mon propre sentiment, est que le temps ne peut que tourner contre la Pacha et amener des complications nouvelles, dont l'effet pourrait l'atteindre au siège même de sa puissance. Quant à la France, elle ne veut pas, elle ne fera pas la guerre pour la Syrie: elle ne veut pas, elle ne fera pas la guerre pour permettre à Méhémet Ali de conserver cette contrée. Il peut encore demeurer possesseur héréditaire de l'Egypte; il a encore |