Thus stood matters on the 13th of March, when Lord Whitworth made his appearance at the levee of the Chief Consul, in company with all the rest of the diplomatic body.  Napoleon no sooner entered, than, fixing his eye on the English Ambassador, he exclaimed aloud and fiercely, in presence of the circle, “You are then determined on war!” Lord Whitworth denied the charge, but the Consul drowned his voice, and pursued thus:—­“We have been at war for fifteen years—­you are resolved to have fifteen years more of it—­you force me to it.”  He then turned to the other ministers, and said, in the same violent tone:  “The English wish for war; but if they draw the sword first, I will be the last to sheath it again.  They do not respect treaties—­henceforth we must cover them with black crape.”  Then, turning again to Whitworth, “To what purpose,” he cried, “are these armaments?  If you arm, I will arm too; if you fight, I can fight also.  You may destroy France, but you cannot intimidate her.”  “We desire neither to injure nor to alarm her, but to live on terms of good intelligence,” said Lord Whitworth.  “Respect treaties, then,” said Napoleon; “woe to those by whom they are not respected!—­they shall be responsible to Europe for the result.”  He repeated these last words sternly, and immediately quitted the apartment, leaving the assembled ministers utterly confounded by this indecent display of violence.

Some persons, who knew Buonaparte well, have always asserted that this undignified scene was got up with calm premeditation, and that the ferocity of passion on the occasion was a mere piece of acting.  Lord Whitworth, however, was an excellent judge of men and manners, and he never doubted that the haughty soldier yielded to the uncontrollable vehemence of wrath.  The cautious Talleyrand made various efforts to explain away the intemperate words of his master; but they, and the tone in which they had been uttered, went far to increase the jealousy and animosity of the English government and nation, and to revive or confirm the suspicion with which the other powers of Europe had had but too much reason to regard the career of revolutionary France.

On the 18th of May Great Britain declared war.  Orders had previously been given for seizing French shipping wherever it could be found, and it is said that 200 vessels, containing property to the amount of three millions sterling, had been laid hold of accordingly, ere the proclamation of hostilities reached Paris.  Whether the practice of thus unceremoniously seizing private property, under such circumstances, be right on abstract principle, or wrong, there can be no doubt that the custom had been long established, acted upon by England on all similar occasions, and of course considered, after the lapse of ages, and the acquiescence of innumerable treaties, as part and parcel of the European system of warfare.  This was not denied by Napoleon; but he saw the opportunity, and determined to profit by it, of exciting the jealousy