eror Alexander of Russia to deal with. He offered to act as
intermediary between Great Britain and France in order to bring about
an honourable peace. The British Government refused, and it is stated
on incontrovertible authority that Alexander was furious, and
upbraided the British with having used troops, which should have been
sent to Russia's aid, to crush Denmark. The outrage of attacking a
small State which was at peace and with which she had no quarrel was
powerfully denounced by Alexander. He accused the British Government
"of a monstrous violation of straight dealing, by ruining Denmark in
the Baltic, which it knew was closed to foreign hostilities under a
Russian guarantee."

This caused Alexander to break off relations with Great Britain and
annul all treaties he had with her. Canning feebly replied to the
Russian Emperor's taunts, and, amongst other things, accused him of
throwing over the King of the Huns. No wonder that Russia and some of
the other Powers resented the perfidious conduct of British statesmen,
employing British military and naval forces to overthrow and destroy
not only a friendly Power, but one of the smallest and most strictly
neutral States in Europe! Alexander jibed at them for using their
resources for this unjust purpose, instead of sending them to help him
when he was being so desperately driven to defeat by Napoleon. What a
loutish trick it was to imagine that any real political or practical
benefit could be derived from it! The seizure of the Danish fleet was
a low-down act, for which those who were responsible should have been
pilloried. The reasons given could not be sustained at the time, and
still remain entirely unsupported by fact. There is no more
disgraceful proceeding to be found in the pages of history than our
raid on this small and highly honourable, inoffensive, and brave
people.

This bad statesmanship was deplorable. It set the spirit of butchery
raging. It made a new enemy for ourselves, and in an economic sense
added hundreds of thousands to our national debt, without deriving a
vestige of benefit from either a military or political point of view.
It undoubtedly prolonged the war, as all those squint-eyed enterprises
are certain to do. It made us unpopular and mistrusted, and had no
effect in damaging Napoleon's activities, nor of taking a single ally
from him. There are occasions when nations have forced upon them cruel
stratagems and alternatives, revolting in t