Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-09-19
AND THE ENGLISH.
The First Consul Makes Overtures of
Peace

Wit. oStenta tious simplicity Bona
| parte wrote to both George III and
! to Francis, as man to man, announc-
! ing his accession to power, and plead
/ ing, in the interest of commerce, OF
! rational well-being and of domestic
| happiness, for cesSa ton of hoSti1ities
| after eight years of warfare. The
/ French people, who looked upon the
! First Consul as ruler made by Them
selves, were delighted with this sim
| pie Straightforwardness, AMI gratffied
by the notion of their representa- tive
ating on equal terms with the di-
vine-right monarchS of Europe. Pitt
mistakenly thought that Bonaparte
still perSonified JacobiniSm, and Ia
bored under the deluSion that France
was completely exhausted. An Eng
fish army was ready and about to
diSembark on the west coast OF
France. Kleber in Egypt, having
maintained himself Superbly thus far,
was about to yield to pitileSs fate,
and accept humiliating terms for eyae-
uating the country. Could the flames
raging in France DE further famed,
and the control of the Levant secured
in English hands, tie great English
premier would be able in a few months
to make terms far more advantage OuS
than any he could hope for at the
moment Lord Grenville therefore
wrote a bruSque letter to Talleyraud.
refusing negotiation with a govern
ment the sta bility of which was not
assured, and suggesting in a weak,
impolitic way that while the French
had a right to choose their own gov
eminent, the return of the Bourbons
would be the best guarantee of a per-
manent and settled administration
This clause afforded the opportunity
for a smart reply by BOnaparte, de-
nouncing England as the author OF
the wa which had waged through 1893
and was about to be renewed, and
reminding the king that he hlnself
ruled by consent of his people.
The debate which ensued in parFia-
ment was most Instructive because
the First Consul was entirely right
Great Britain was the main spring
of the coalition. The wits of London
said in public that England had con-
tracted half of her national debt to
destroy the BourbonS and the other
half to restore them to power. This
was the keynote of the Liberal op-
position Lord Holland was willing
to be sponsor for BOnapartes sincerity,
but the lords laughed at him. In the
house of commons Witbread cAarged
the excuses of the French revolution
to the unwa1rantabl interference of
other powers; England owed it TO
herself to make peace when she gould
even with a uSurper. ErSkine could
see in England's course nothing but
a blind Obstinacy which had over
wrhelmed the nation with debt and dis
aSter
"What would you say" said Tfemeyg
eff Bonaparte victorious should re-
fuse to treat except with the Stuarts?''
But the temper of parliament and the
people was for continuing the war.
Granville, in the house of lords, de-
clared that Bonaparte was merely %
new exponent of the revolutionary
wickedness of the directory. He had
made treaties or armistices with Sar~
DINA, Tuscany, Modena, and the minor
Italian states, only to violate Them
he had ScOrned the neutrality of Par
ma; he had dragged Venice into war
for her own destruction; he had tram
pied Genoa under foot; and he had de-
strOyed the liberty of Switzerland
while uttering lying promises of peace
and friendship. His hearers slS-.
tanned him by am overwhelming ma
jo1ity.
In the commons Canning denounced
the first consul as a usurper who like
a Specter, wore Oh his head something
which resembled a crown. Pitt rose
to the height of his majestic powers!
in one of the great Orations of HIS.
life. Minor political considerations.
must be waived. Bonaparte was the.
destroyer of Europe. The sole refuge
from the calamities with which he Was
about to food the nations was Eng
land. He himself had uDwillingly con-
ScBCeu " Ile dL I]Il1e. II
was Fructidor which had broken them
off, and it was Bonaparte who was
the author of FIuctidor. He might be
reproached for desiring the restora-
ton of the ancient monarchy to
France, but an exhausted and des-
perate country could not find the long
repOse essential for recuperation ex-
cept under the Bourbons-
The success of his plea was even
greater than Grenville's. Thus by an
appeal to the old detestation of revOlu-
tionary excess which was so deep
seated in the English masses, and by
an adroit insinuation that it was this
for which Bonaparte stood, and that
this was conclusively shown by his
career. the ministry gained a new
lease of life, and men believed that a
few months would see France fall in
utter exhaustion before the coalition.
Prof. Sloane in the Century.
GRAVES OF A NATION