paper issues for small sums were in general circulation. A large portion of the metallic currency was of brass, issued at nearly double its intrinsic value. In 1789, the public debt of Austria was two hundred millions of florins; but in 1801, it had increased to six hundred millions. The treasury had been reduced to the necessity of paying its annual interest in paper money, and even of making forced loans from the inhabitants. The population of Austria, in 1801, was twenty-seven and a half millions. Jealousy of Prussia was, during the years that followed the treaty of Luneville, the leading principle of the Austrian cabinet; a feeling which originated in the aggression and conquest of the Great Frederic, and had been much increased by the impolitic and ungenerous advantage which the court of Berlin took of the dangers and distress of the Austrian monarchy, to extend its possessions and influence in the north of Germany. But though compelled, at intervals, to withdraw from her alliance with England, Austria never ceased to look to that nation as the main pillar of the confederacy for the independence of Europe. The more prominent members of the administration of Austria at this period were the Count Cobentzell, vice-chancellor of state, and Count Colloredo, a cabinet minister, and intimate friend of the Emperor. The Archduke Charles was at the head of the war department, though he was restrained by the jealousy of his colleagues from following out his own views in the management of the army.

By withdrawing from the alliance against France, in 1794, Prussia had succeeded in appropriating to herself a large portion of the spoils of Poland; and during the long period of peace that she enjoyed, her population had rapidly increased, the commerce of Germany had fallen into her hands, and the turmoil and expenditure of war, so desolating to the neighboring states, was felt in Prussia only by the increasing demand for agricultural produce and the augmenting profits of neutral navigation. In 1804, the population of Prussia amounted to nine and a half millions; her revenue, to thirty-eight and a half millions of thalers, or nearly thirty millions of dollars; and her army consisted of two hundred thousand men, strong, brave, and highly disciplined; but not to be compared to the French, either in the experience and skill of the officers, or in the moral energy of the men as developed by the events of the Revolution.

The Prussian capital was one of the most agreeable and least expensive in Europe. No rigid etiquette, no impassable line of demarcation, separated the court from the people: the royal family lived on terms of friendly equality, not only with the nobility, but with the other prominent inhabitants of Berlin. Many ladies of rank, both at Paris and London, expended larger sums on their dress than the Queen of Prussia; but few women equalled her in dignity, grace, and elevation of sentiment. A spirit of economy, order and wisdom pervaded the internal arrangements of the state. The cabinet, comprising, among other members, Hardenberg and Stein, was one of the ablest of the day; and the Prussian diplomatists had long given their country an influence at foreign courts beyond what could have been expected from her resources and power.

Russia, under the benignant rule of Alexander, was daily advancing in wealth, power and prosperity. From the commencement of his reign, his acts denoted a large spirit of benevolence. He abolished the knout and the use of the torture, gave valuable rights to several classes of citizens, introduced improvements in the civil and criminal codes, ban

ished slavery from the royal domains, and decreed the beginning of representative institutions, by permitting the Senate to remonstrate against the enactment of proposed laws. The population of Russia, in 1804, was thirty-six millions; her revenue, fifty millions of silver rubles, or about fifty-seven millions of dollars; and her army contained, nominally, three hundred thousand men; though at this period, and for some years after, she was unable to bring more than seventy thousand men into any one field of battle. The greater part of the revenue of Russia was derived from a capitation-tax; a species of impost common to all nations in a certain stage of civilization, where slavery is general, and the wealth of each proprietor is nearly in proportion to the number of agricultural laborers on his estate. The tax amounted to five rubles for each freeman, and two for each serf, and was paid by every subject of the Empire, whether free or enslaved.

The principal powers of Europe were in these several conditions, when the murder of the Duke d'Enghien took place; and the startling intelligence of that bloody deed, which excited both terror and indignation in every court of Europe, was followed by the news of the assassination of Pichegru and Wright, and the occupation by Napoleon, of Hanover and Tarentum. This rapid succession of atrocious crime, and ambitious encroachment on neutral rights, at once dissolved all true confidence and regard between the several European cabinets and France; and from that day, each independent sovereign began to look on a renewal of general hostilities as inevitable, though the majority confined their immediate acts to remonstrances of a more or less emphatic character.

Meanwhile, Napoleon proceeded with his preparations for the descent upon England, and repaired to Boulogne to review the troops and inspect the condition of the flotilla. From Boulogne, he traversed the coast of the Channel as far as Ostend, everywhere examining the condition of the harbors, and the detachments of the grand army, and communicating to all classes the energy of his own ardent and indefatigable mind.

On his return to Paris, he commenced preparations for the solemnity of his coronation. Although the spirit of the age was essentially irreligious, and the establishment of the Roman Catholic worship had proved unpopular with many of the people, Napoleon well knew that a large portion of the provincial inhabitants regarded the consecrating of his authority by the ceremony of coronation as an important particular; and that to all, whatever might be their latitude of opinion, it was of great political consequence to show that his personal influence could compel even the very Head of the Church himself, to officiate on the occasion. The papal benediction appeared to be the link which would unite the revolutionary to the legitimate régime, and cause the faithful to forget, in the sacred authority with which he would thus be invested, the violence and bloodshed that had paved his way to the throne. For these reasons, Napoleon had long before determined to induce the pope, contrary to all precedent for the last ten centuries, to repair to Paris; and, for some months, negotiations to this effect had been on foot, which ended in the consent of the pope to undertake the journey. He accordingly arrived at Fontainebleau on the 25th of November, and reached Paris on the following day, where he was lodged in state, at the Tuileries. The ceremony of coronation took place at Nôtre Dame on the 2nd of December, with great pomp and magnificence. After taking the oath, and

receiving the papal benediction, Napoleon took the crown from the hands of the venerable pontiff and placed it on his own head, after which he transferred it to the head of Josephine, who knelt before him.

The next day, an animating military spectacle took place in the Champ de Mars. Napoleon laid aside his imperial robes in which he had been crowned, and appeared in the uniform of a colonel of the guard, to distribute to all the colonels of the army the Eagles, which were thenceforward to be the standards of France.

The close of this year was marked by an unfortunate rupture between Spain and Great Britain. The former government, through negotiations and treaties with France, had been in a measure compelled to purchase peace by the payment of a large subsidy, the amount of which was kept carefully concealed from the British cabinet. When the facts of the case transpired, the English minister remonstrated against the payment of such a sum of money, which was as directly furnishing France with the means of prosecuting her descent upon England, as if the vessels which it purchased were constructed in Spanish harbors, and moved thence to Boulogne. It was not long after discovered that a squadron of Spanish line-of-battle ships were equipped and ready to sail for Ferrol, where a French fleet awaited their junction, and that the Spanish vessels would put to sea, the moment that four Spanish frigates, with the subsidy on board in specie, should arrive from America. The British cabinet immediately issued orders to Lord Nelson in the Mediterranean, Lord Cornwallis on the Brest station, and Admiral Cochrane off Ferrol, to prevent the sailing of both the French and Spanish squadrons; they also directed each of the three naval commanders to detach two frigates to cruise off Cadiz, and intercept the homeward-bound treasure-ships of Spain; and, at the same time, they directed the admirals to stop any Spanish vessels laden with naval or military stores, and detain them until the pleasure of the British government was known; but to commit no further act of hostility, either on such vessels or on the treasureships. These orders were punctually executed. Four of the six British frigates soon fell in with the four Spanish ships off Cadiz, and the English officer in command, informed the Spanish commodore of his instructions, and entreated him to suffer the detention of his vessels without the effusion of blood. But the Spaniard declined to submit to an equal force, and, in consequence, an engagement took place, which ended in the blowing up of one of the Spanish ships, and the capture of the other three, with ten millions of dollars on board.

The capture of these frigates, before any formal announcement of hostilities, produced the result which might have been anticipated; namely, a declaration of war by Spain against Great Britain.

CHAPTER XXIII.

FROM THE OPENING OF THE SPANISH WAR, TO THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ.

WHILE Spain was making preparations to commence hostilities, in conformity to her late declaration of war, and the descent upon England occupied the attention of the respective governments on both sides of the Channel; Napoleon found leisure to pursue his ambitious projects in other quarters, by journeying through Italy, and, by the intervention of force and flattery, as occasion required, annexing several of the minor towns and states of that peninsula to the Empire of France. His rapid strides toward universal dominion did not escape the notice of other European powers, and negotiations were soon on foot for the arrest of his pro

gress.

A treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, was concluded between Great Britain and Russia, on the 11th of April, 1805. The preamble ran thus: "As the state of suffering in which Europe is placed demands a speedy remedy, their majesties have agreed to employ the most speedy and efficacious means to form a general league of the states of Europe, and to engage them to accede to the present concert, in order to remedy the existing evils, without waiting for further encroachments on the part of France.' The forces proposed to be employed were fixed at five hundred thousand men from the combined states of Europe; and the objects of the alliance were to be thus declared: "First, the evacuation of the country of Hanover and of the north of Germany. Secondly, the establishment of the independence of the Republics of Holland and Switzerland. Thirdly, the reëstablishment of the King of Sardinia in Piedmont. Fourthly, the future security of the kingdom of Naples, and the complete evacuation of Italy and the island of Elba by the French forces. Fifthly, the establishment of an order of things in Europe which may effectually guaranty the security and independence of the different states, and present a solid barrier against future usurpations. To enable the several powers which may accede to this coalition to bring forward the forces respectively required of them, England engages to furnish a subsidy, in the proportion of twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling for every one hundred thousand of regular troops brought into the field."

By separate articles signed between England and Russia, it was agreed that the movements contemplated by the alliance should be commenced as soon as four hundred thousand men were ready for active service; of which Austria was expected to furnish two hundred and fifty thousand, Russia one hundred and fifteen thousand, and Hanover, Sardinia and Naples, thirty-five thousand. After a protracted negotiation with Austria, that government at length joined the league, and Sweden followed the example; but Prussia, still under the baneful influence of France, and bribed to neutrality by a vague proposal of Napoleon to annex Hanover to her dominions, refused all connexion with the allied powers.

These threatening measures did not deter Napoleon from hastening his preparations for the invasion of Great Britain: they rather, on the con

trary, furnished an additional reason for prosecuting that great undertaking, for he was well aware that if England were destroyed, the Continental coalition would soon fall to pieces. The French troops now assembled at Boulogne and the harbors adjoining, amounted in all to one hundred and fifty-five thousand men, provided with four hundred and thirtytwo pieces of cannon, nearly fifteen thousand horses, and a prodigious quantity of military stores and ammunition. During its encampment on the shores of the Channel, this great army was organized in a manner different from anything that had yet been attempted in modern Europe. At the commencement of the war of the Revolution, the divisions of the army, generally fifteen or eighteen thousand strong, were hurried into the field under the first officer that could be found; but it soon appeared that few generals were capable of directing the movements of such considerable masses; while, on the other hand, if the divisions were too small, there was a want of that unity and precision in their joint operations which is ever necessary to success. Napoleon introduced a new system, dividing his army, in the first instance, into corps of from twenty to thirty thousand men, each of which was intrusted to a Marshal of the Empire; and again separating these corps into four or five divisions, under the command of generals who received their orders from the marshal. In this way, the generals became familiar with the qualities of their officers and the officers with the capacity and disposition of their men: an esprit de corps was formed, not only among the officers of the same regiment, but among those of the same division and corps; and the various grades of officers, from the sergeant of the company to the marshal himself, took an equal degree of pride in the precision with which their subordinates performed their several evolutions.

The organization of the flotilla at Boulogne was as perfect as that of the land-forces. It was divided into as many squadrons as there were sections in the army, and the stores, baggage and artillery were already on board, so that nothing remained but the embarkation of the men, when the proper time should arrive. From constant practice, every man in the army at length came to know in what particular vessel he was to sail, and where to station himself while on board; and it was found by actual experiment, that twenty-five thousand troops drawn up opposite the vessels allotted to them, could be embarked in the short space of ten minutes. The flotilla consisted of twenty-three hundred vessels, more than half of which were gun-boats of different sizes, mounting three thousand pieces of cannon; and the ostensible object of this number of small armed vessels was to force a passage across the Channel: in point of fact, however, Napoleon never intended to fire one of these guns, but only to attract attention to them as his sole dependence; and, while the British navy was dispatched in various quarters to protect her colonies, which the combined fleets of France and Spain were professedly attempting to subjugate, he proposed, as has already been related in the last chapter, to bring, by a sudden combination, an overwhelming naval force into the Channel, cover the passage of the flotilla, and land his formidable army on the English coast. The army and flotilla being now in perfect readiness, Napoleon waited only the arrival of the fleet to enable him to carry this project into execution. The entire naval force intended to sustain this manœuvre, was no less than sixty-eight ships of the line, of which, France was to furnish thirtyeight, and Spain thirty; and they were to be thus stationed: of the French,