CHAP. III. 1807. 16. plans in re gard to South The Whigs having been displaced from the helm in the spring of 1807, and Lord Castlereagh intrusted again with the duties of War Minister, he entered warmly into the Lord Castle- plan of detaching South America from Old Spain. Sir reagh's Arthur Wellesley had reported that there were in Venezuela, Guiana, and the adjacent territories, 13,000 Spanish America. troops; so that the attack on them should not be made by less than 10,000 men, including 6000 British infantry and 1400 British cavalry. He added, that these colonies would be the most valuable that Great Britain or any other country ever possessed; but that, as the slave-trade would be abolished, they would be attended with little present advantage.* Being convinced that these colonies would gladly throw off their connection with Old Spain, Lord Castlereagh determined to undertake operations on a great scale, with a view to their entire severance from the mother country. With this view he resolved, in spring 1808, after part of the troops employed in the Copenhagen expedition had returned, to send 8000 men from Cork to join General Spencer's corps, 5000 strong, just come from the Baltic, and lying on the coast of Old Spain. If circumstances did not afford an opening then, the whole force was to proceed to the West Indies, and commence, with a force increased to 15,000 or 16,000 men by reinforcements there and from Halifax, operations against Mexico and the Rio de la Plata. The breaking out of the Spanish war, which occurred at this very time, gave an June 1, 1898. "There is no doubt that the territories under the Captain-General of the Caraccas are the most fertile in the world, and might turn out to be the most valuable colony that Great Britain or any other nation ever possessed; but Great Britain would not derive any additional benefit from them at present as a market for her manufactures and produce, as the number of inhabitants is not very large. There is no very easy communication between that country and other parts of South America; and there is reason to believe that large quantities of British produce are already conveyed into the kingdom of Terra Firma, by the means of neutrals and the contraband trade. The benefit to be derived from the possession of these countries would be gained by the extension and improvement of their cultivation, of which, as the slave-trade will be abolished, there are no hopes. On this ground, therefore, the possession of the colony would be of little positive advantage to Great Britain.”—SIR ARThur WelLESLEY'S Memorandum, Feb. 15, 1807; Supplementary Despatches, vi. 59, 60. III. 1808. entirely different direction to this force, and it was the CHAP. expedition thus assembled which landed shortly after in Portugal, and fought the battle of Vimeira. But the papers in the Secretary of State's office prove that the plan of detaching the American colonies from Old Spain had been fully matured by Lord Castlereagh before the Peninsular broke out, and that what was afterwards done by a subsequent Government, in 1823, was only the execution of what he had then projected. The revolutionising of South America has proved so frightful an evil for those beautiful regions and the cause of freedom throughout the world, that no one is now desirous of undertaking the responsibility of occasioning it; and if Mr Canning had lived to this day, it is probable he would have suppressed his boast of "calling a new world into existence." But there can be no doubt that the merit of the project, if merit it be, belongs to Lord Castlereagh, rather than to his brilliant rival, although there is one difference most important with reference to the morality of the proceeding between the circumstances in which they respectively acted -Lord Castlereagh proposed to effect his object during a period of war with Spain by open hostility, and with the King's troops-Mr Canning set about the same design when in perfect amity with the Spanish Government, by means of enlistment of British veterans, connived at by the British authorities, and arms secretly furnished from the royal stores of England. * According to the plan proposed by Lord Castlereagh, provision must be made for the operations, as stated underneath, to be performed by the corps now about to sail from Cork; by the troops under General Spencer, now off Cadiz; and by the troops under General Prevost, now at Halifax. If a detachment of the troops should go to the La Plata, it will be necessary to provide the naval means to assist in the operations to be performed at Monte Video. If the expedition should not go to the La Plata, and the result of the affairs in Spain should be a great undertaking against the Spanish territories in the Gulf, it will be necessary to provide naval means as stated in the 1st, 3d, and 4th articles. If Government should determine to attack New Spain, a force of from 16,000 to 17,000 men ought to be provided, including 2000 cavalry. My opinion is, that it is expedient to commence the operations against the Spanish colonies at Caraccas. First, The military difficulties are not so great in these territories as they are in the territories in the Gulf; secondly, We have the means of com СНАР. III. 1808. 17. The success penhagen hastens Junot's march to Lisbon. The success of the Copenhagen expedition was prolific of events in the south of Europe, even more important in their ultimate consequences than the paralysis of the right wing of the French naval armament in the north. of the Co- Enraged at finding the Danish fleet extricated from his expedition grasp, and his whole designs in the Baltic in consequence disconcerted, and aware, from the rapidity and weight of that stroke, of the quality of the antagonist with whom he had to deal, Napoleon resolved to be, if possible, beforehand with the fleets of the Spanish Peninsula. He had already resolved upon this seizure, and bought the consent of Russia to the dethronement of the Peninsular princes by agreeing to the Czar's seizing Finland, Wallachia, and Moldavia; but he dreaded the despatch of a British fleet to the Tagus, and the seizure of the Portuguese fleet, before his land troops, setting out from Bayonne, could reach Lisbon. It was of the utmost moment for him to secure the Portuguese squadron, because Lisbon was the rendezvous assigned for the Russian fleet of twelve sail of the line, under Admiral Siniavin, which was proceeding thither from the Black Sea to co-operate in the general design. Early in November Clarke, War Minister, by Napoleon's desire, wrote a letter to Junot, enjoining him to use the utmost expedition in his march, to press on with ceaseless activity, wholly regardless of the want of provisions, loss of life, or any other difficulties, and whether Portugal had or had not declared war against England, but at all hazards to arrive at Lisbon so as to seize the fleet there before the English squadron could arrive. Nov. 3. CHAP. 18. Portugal sail for sent out to Lord Strangford, the British ambassador at Lisbon, were to urge the Prince Regent's Government to emigrate to Brazil rather than submit to the exactions of 1808. the French Government; and the recommendation was The Prince attended to with heroic resolution. In the first instance, Regent of indeed, under the pressure of immediate and irresistible and fleet danger, the Portuguese Government, on the approach of Brazil. Junot, yielded to all the demands of the French Govern- Nov. 5. ment, insomuch that the British ambassador, Lord Strangford, was directed to demand his passports and leave the city, which he did amidst the tears of the inhabitants. But the continued advance of Junot, who was now rapidly approaching from Abrantes, the entry of a large body of Spanish troops into the Alentejo, and, above all, the ominous announcement in the Moniteur that the "house of Braganza had ceased to reign," soon convinced them that even the most abject submission could not avert the stroke which threatened them, and that their only safety was in flight. Lord Strangford at the same time having relanded, and assured the Prince and his Council that the English Government regarded his former hostile acts as the result only of necessity, and that every facility would be rendered by the English fleet off the mouth of the river to aid their escape, the bolder counsels prevailed, and it was resolved to set sail for the Brazils. The fleet, so anxiously coveted by Napoleon, was little in a state to undertake such a voyage; but by the strenuous exertions of Sir Sidney Smith, who brought his squadron to the mouth of the harbour, aided by the vigour of the British sailors, eight sail of the line, three frigates, five sloops, and a number of smaller vessels, were fitted out in a few days; and on the 27th November the melancholy cortege embarked and set sail for South America. Hardly had they weighed anchor when the French advanced guards came in sight, and, meeting with no opposition, mounted the ramparts just in time to see the last sail vanishing in the offing. With such energy had Junot obeyed the orders of Napoleon to III 1808. 1 Foy, ii. 350-383; CHAP. hurry on with all possible expedition, that when he entered Lisbon the troops he had amounted only to 1400 foot soldiers and a few horsemen, the poor remains of 25,000 men who had set out from Bayonne six weeks before. Nevis, 177: There were 14,000 regular troops in Lisbon, but the deteur, Nov. parture of the Court had banished all thoughts of resistance; and Junot, with his handful of soldiers, more like spectres than men, quietly took possession of his important conquest.1 179; Moni 13, 1807; Ann. Reg. 1807, 280281. 19. force at the Napoleon. By this means a blow was struck at the naval confeGreat naval deracy against Britain, second only to that delivered at disposal of Copenhagen in magnitude and importance, and the naval resources of an entire kingdom were extricated from the grasp of France. But even after this second advantage had been gained, the situation of Great Britain, both as to naval and military defence, was very alarming. The resolution of the French Emperor to combine the whole naval force of the Continent against this country, after the disasters he had sustained at sea, and the loss of the Danish and Portuguese fleets, still brought a force to threaten Great Britain, considerably superior at the point of attack to any which could be ranged in defence, dispersed as the British navy of necessity was over the whole world in defence of its numerous colonies. From a return laid before the Cabinet at this time, at Lord Castlereagh's request, by the Privy Seal, it appeared that the European confederacy at the command of Napoleon had 121 sail of the line, of which 88 were ready for sea, exclusive of 23 in ordinary and 40 building. On the other hand, although the British had 206 sail of the line in all, yet there was only 107 in commission or manned, and even the crews of this number were got together with extreme difficulty, and many of the ships were very imperfectly manned. So scattered was this force, that not more than 40 sail of the line could by possibility have been collected in the Channel and the North Sea to combat nearly double that number of enemies, who might with ease be concentrated. Those who are led away by the |