XII. 1823. it rested with him to unlock the doors and let the CHAP. winds sweep round the globe. But though abundantly impelled (as his private conversations and correspondence at this period demonstrate) by his ardent disposition to step forward as the foremost in this great conflict, yet his experience and wisdom as a statesman, joined to the influence of Mr Peel, who threatened to resign if an active intervention was attempted, restrained him from taking the irrecoverable step, and preserved the peace of the world when it appeared to be most seriously menaced.* Resolutely determined to abstain from all intervention in the affairs of Spain, and to do his utmost to prevent France from taking that step, he Politique 1 Marcellus, was not the less resolved to abstain from actual hos- de la Restauration, tilities, and to keep aloof from the conflict so long as it 151, 152; was confined to continental Europe.1 He had too vivid Life, 334; a recollection of what the last Peninsular war had been, i. 296. to engage without absolute necessity in a second; and "Leave the Spanish revolution to burn itself out within its own crater. You have nothing to apprehend from the eruption, if you do not open a channel for the lava through the Pyrenees. It is not too late to save the world from a flood of calamities. The key to the flood-gate is yet in your hands; unlock it, and who shall answer for the extent of devastation? The beginning of strife is as the letting out of waters.' So says inspired wisdom. Genius is akin to inspiration; and I pray that it may be able on this occasion to profit by the warning of the parable, and pause."-Mr CANNING to M. de CHATEAUBRIAND (confidential), 27th January 1823; Congrès de Vérone, i. 475. "Well, then, to begin at once with what is most unpleasant to utter: You have united the opinions of this whole nation as one man against France. You have excited against the present sovereign of that kingdom the feelings which were united against the usurper of France and Spain in 1808. Nay, the consent, I grieve to say, is more perfect now than on that occasion; for then the Jacobins were loth to inculpate their idol: now they and the Whigs and Tories, from one end of the country to the other, are all one way. Surely such a spontaneous and universal burst of national sentiment must lead any man, or any set of men, who are acting in opposition to it, to reflect whether they are acting quite right. The Government has not on this occasion led the public-quite otherwise. The language of the Government has been peculiarly measured and temperate; so much so, that the mass of the nation was in suspense as to the opinion of Government till it was actually declared; and that portion of the press usually devoted to them was (for reasons perhaps better known on your side of the water than on ours) turned in a directly opposite course."-Mr CANNING to Viscount CHATEAUBRIAND, 7th February 1823; Congrès de Vérone, i. 475. Canning's Martineau, CHAP. if he had been otherwise inclined, the majority of the Cabinet would not have supported him.* XII. 1823. 65. The peculiar position of Mr Canning at this period Portrait of has never been so well described as by one who knew Mr Can Marcellus. ning, by M. him intimately, and had become, as it were, the depositary of his inmost thoughts. Let us not deceive ourselves," said M. Marcellus, "in regard to Mr Canning. Still undecided, he as yet is in suspense between the monarchical opinions which have made his former renown, and the popular favour which has recently borne him forward to power; but as he attends, above all, to the echo of public opinion, and spreads his sails before the wind which blows, it is easy to foresee to which side he will incline. An élève of Pitt, Tory down to this time, he will become half a Whig, and will adopt cellus to M. the democratic principles if they appear to be in the briand, Len- ascendant. His secret inclinations lead him to the aristodon, Jan. cracy, and even the high opposition society; he is feared rather than beloved by the king; but the people are with him. The people, dazzled by his talents, have put 1 M. Mar de Chateau 20, 1823; Marcellus, 120. * “J'apprends à l'instant, et de très-bonne source, qu'avant-hier, dans un conseil secret des Ministres, M. Canning a prétendu qu'on ne pouvait lutter contre l'opinion générale, et que cette opinion demandait impérieusement de secourir l'Espagne. M. Peel a déclaré, alors, que l'honneur de l'Angleterre, l'intérêt de ses institutions et de son commerce, étaient de maintenir une stricte neutralité; et il a terminé en disant que si une conduite opposée à celle que l'Angleterre avait toujours suivie envers la Révolution, venait à être adoptée, il devait à sa conscience, de se retirer du ministère aussitôt., Ce jeune ministre l'a emporté. La grande majorité du conseil s'est réunie à lui, et M. Canning a décidé au nombre.”—M. MARCELLUS, Chargé d'Affaires à Londres, à M. de CHATEAUBRIAND, 28 Février 1823; Marcellus, 152. Notwithstanding the divergence on political subjects of their opinions, which the opposite sides they espoused on the Spanish question much augmented, Mr Canning and M. de Chateaubriand had the highest admiration for each other, and mutually lamented the circumstances which had drawn them out of the peaceful domain of literature to the stormy and fleeting arena of politics. The inmost thoughts of the former were revealed in the following conversation at this period with M. Marcellus, for whom he had a very high regard. "C'est donc à cette petite poussière de la tombe que vont aboutir inévitablement nos inutiles efforts. Qu'ai-je gagné à tant de combats? De nombreux ennemis, et mille calomnies. Tantôt retenu par le défaut d'intelligence de mes partisans, toujours gêné par le déplaisir du Roi, je ne puis rien exécuter, rien essayer même de ce qu'une voix interne et solennelle semble me dicter. Je le disais récemment dans ma tristesse; je me him where he is; and the people will support him there CHAP. as long as he obeys their wishes." XII. 1823. as to the duration of Mr Canning at this period was decidedly of opinion 66. that the Peninsular war, if once commenced, would be of His opinion very long duration--as long, possibly, as that with revo- probable lutionary France. "When I speak," said he, "of the the war. dangers of war to France, do not suppose I undervalue her resources or power. She is as brave and strong as she ever was before; she is now the richest, the most abounding in resources, of all the states in Europe. Hers are all the sinews of war, if there be the disposition to employ them. You have a million of soldiers, you say, at your call: I doubt it not; and it is double the number, or thereabouts, that Buonaparte buried in Spain. You consider un premier succès au moins comme certain.' I dispute it not. I grant you a French army at Madrid; but I venture to ask, What then, if the King of Spain and the Cortes are by that time where they infallibly will be in the Isle of Leon ? I see plenty of war, if you once get into it; but I do not see a legitimate begin prends quelquefois pour un oiseau des hauteurs qui, loin de voler sur les hauteurs et sur les précipices des montagnes, ne vole que sur des marais, et rase à peine le sol. Je me consume sans fruit dans des discussions intestines, et je mourrai dans un accès de découragement, comme mon prédécesseur et mon malheureux ennemi Lord Castlereagh. Combien de fois n'ai-je pas été tenté de fuir loin des hommes, l'ombre même du pouvoir, et de me réfugier dans le sein des lettres, qui ont nourri mon enfance, seul abri véritablement inaccessible aux mensonges de la destinée. La littérature est pour moi plus qu'une consolation, c'est une espérance et un asile. Je l'ai en outre toujours considérée comme la franc-maçonnerie des gens bien élevés. C'est à ce signe qu'en tout pays la bonne compagnie se distingue et se reconnaît. Ne vaudrait-il pas mieux pour M. de Châteaubriand et pour moi, que nous n'eussions jamais, ni l'un ni l'autre, approché de nos lèvres la coupe empoisonnée de ce pouvoir qui nous enivre, et nous donne des vertiges? La littérature nous eût rapprochés encore, mais cette fois sans arrière-pensée, et sans amertume, car il est comme moi l'amant des lettres, et bien mieux que moi il protége de ses préceptes. Combien de fois n'ai-je pas voulu abandonner le monde politique si turbulent, la société des hommes si méchants, pour me vouer tout entier à la retraite et à mes livres, seuls amis qui ne se trompent jamais. 'Oh God! oh God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable -MARCELLUS, Politique de la Restauration, 25, 26. CHAP. ning to it, nor an intelligible object. You would disdain XII. to get into such a war through the side door of an accidental military incursion. 1823. You would enter in front, with the cause of war on your banners: and what is that cause? It is vengeance for the past, and security for the future, a war for the modification of a political constitution, for two Chambers, for the extension of legal rights. That passes my comprehension. You are about ning to Cha- to enter, and you believe the war will be short: I believe teaubriand, otherwise, and I am bordering on old age. In 1793, 1823; Con- Mr Pitt, with the patriot's heart, the prophet's mind,' rone, i. 453; declared to me that the war then declared against a Marcellus, great people in a state of revolution would be short; and that war outlived Mr Pitt." 1 1 Mr Can Jan. 21, grès de Vé 17. 67. Views of George IV. and the Duke of Wellington on the sub ject. These anticipations were not peculiar to Mr Canning at that time; they were shared by probably nine-tenths of the educated classes, and probably ninety-nine hundredths of the entire inhabitants of Great Britain. Yet were there not awanting those in the most elevated rank who were not carried away by the general delusion, and anticipated very nearly, as it turned out, the real march of events. "Do not allow yourself," said George IV. to M. Marcellus, "to be dazzled by our representative system, which is represented as so perfect. If it has its advantages, it has also its inconveniences; and I have never forgot what a king and a man of talent said to me, Your English constitution is good only to encourage adventurers, and discourage honest men.' For the happiness of the world, we should not wish any other people to adopt our institutions. That which succeeds admirably with us would have very different success elsewhere. Every country does not bear the same fruits, or the same minerals beneath its surface. It is the same with nations, their temperament, and character. Reflect on this, my dear Marcellus: my conviction on the subject is unalterable; I wish you to know that you have the king on your side. It is my part to XII. 1823. be so; and when my Ministers become Radicals, I may CHAP. be excused if, on my side, I become an ultra-Royalist." The Duke of Wellington, at the same period, thus expressed himself at the Foreign Office, when the chance of a parliamentary majority on the question of war was under discussion with Lord Liverpool and Mr Canning: "I am not so au fait of parliamentary majorities as my colleagues, but I know Spain better than them. Advance without delay, without hesitation, and you will succeed. There is no majority, believe me, to be compared to cannon and a good army." With these words he took his hat and went out. "The words," said Lord Liverpool, "of a man of war, but not of a statesman." "The Duke of Wellington," rejoined Mr Canning, "thinks himself always on the field of battle; and yet he has himself put a period to the bloody era of conquest. He understands nothing of constitutional dominations, which are yet the only ones which now have any chance of dura- 33, 37, 41. tion."1* 1 Marcellus, of the The war which divided in this manner the opinions of 68. the most eminent men and the strongest heads of Europe, Difficulties at length began in good earnest. The Duke d'Angou- French at lême, as already noticed, left Paris for the army on of the cam15th March. At the very threshold, however, of his *At this juncture the following highly interesting conversation took place between Mr Canning and M. Marcellus:-"À quoi bon," disait M. Canning, "soutenir un principe qui prête tant à la discussion, et sur lequel vous voyez que nous sommes enfin, vous et moi, si peu d'accord? Un Bourbon va au secours d'un Bourbon ! Vous réveillez ainsi en nous mille souvenirs d'inimitié, l'invasion de Louis XIV. en Espagne, l'inabilité de nos efforts pour éloigner sa puissante dynastie du trône de Madrid. Jugez-en quand un roi donne au peuple les institutions dont le peuple a besoin, quel a été le procédé de l'Angleterre? Elle expulsa ce roi, et mit à sa place un roi d'une famille alliée sans doute, mais qui se trouve ainsi non plus; un fils de la royauté confiant dans les droits de ses ancêtres, mais le fils des institutions nationales, tirant tous ses droits de cette seule origine. Puisque Ferdinand, comme Jacques II., résiste aux volontés de sa nation, appliquons la méthode anglaise à l'Espagne. Qu'en résulte-t-il? L'expulsion de Ferdinand. Écoutez-moi; cet exemple peut s'étendre jusqu'à vous. Vous n'ignorez pas qu'un désordre du dogme de légitimité presque pareille à la notre se lere et coude en France en ce moment. Vous savez quel progrès elle fait dans le parti d'une opposition prétendue modérée. La tête à couronner est là.”—MARCELLUS, 19, 20. the entrance paign. |