[247] On the 18th January, 1798, the French Directory issued a decree declaring: “that all ships having for their cargoes, in whole or in part, any English merchandise shall be held good prize, whoever is the proprietor of such merchandise, which should be held contraband from the single circumstance of its coming from England, or any of its foreign settlements; that the harbours of France shall be shut against all ships having touched at England except in cases of distress; and that neutral sailors found on board English vessels should be put to death”!—Ann. Reg. 1800, 54, 55. [248] The fleets of the Confederacy were as follows: Spain and Holland united possessed eighty ships fully equipped. Sweden had twenty-eight, Russia thirty-five, Denmark twenty-three, making a total of one hundred and sixty-six ships of the line: a force that would have been infinitely superior to the British navy, but that the efficiency of her vessels and armaments far surpassed those of the Confederacy. Austria alone was then in amity with Great Britain. [249] Alison, iv. p. 529. [250] M. Thiers, in his ‘Consulate and the Empire,’ book xi. vol. iii., relates this remarkable anecdote, and adds that “Cambacérès, with his usual sagacity, had touched upon the difficulty which at a subsequent period was again to embroil the two nations.” And see _ante_, p. 294. [251] The preliminaries of peace were signed at Amiens October 1, 1801, and the definite Treaty March 27, 1802. See also Alison, iv., pp. 604-624. [252] See excellent remarks on the ‘Rights of war as against Enemies’ in Wheaton, vol. ii. ch. ii. pp. 75-131. [253] It is said that of thirty-five thousand men (including reinforcements) scarcely seven thousand reached France again (Alison, v. p. 43). [254] The most striking instance was the prosecution of M. Peltier for an alleged libel on the First Consul. In this Peltier was condemned, though defended with extraordinary power and eloquence by Sir James Mackintosh (see ‘Trial of Peltier,’ etc., Lond. 1801). [255] Perhaps the most graphic description of this remarkable scene is that by M. Thiers, in his ‘History of the Consulate and the Empire.’ [256] “_Effroyable parole!_” (“Frightful expression!”) ejaculates M. Thiers, “which was afterwards but too truly realised for the misfortune of our country” (France). [257] M. Thiers dwells on all these aggressive schemes with a certain national pride. The lives of millions were to be sacrificed to carry out these mad freaks of ambition! [258] The English Legislature was nearly unanimous in supporting the Declaration of War; the numbers in the House of Commons being three hundred and ninety-eight for, sixty-seven against; and in the House of Lords, one hundred and forty-two to ten (Alison, v. p. 126). [259] Speech of M. de Fontanes in his reply to the _Corps d’ l’Etat_, when war was announced by Bonaparte.