St. James's Square, Dec. 12th, 1793.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,
At your request, I certainly will do a thing extremely disagreeable
to myself, by putting into Mr. Pitt's hands the letter you desire
me to show him. In any case where _you_ or _yours_ could have the
smallest interest, I should never consider whether a compliance
with your wishes is or is not pleasant to me; but I freely own,
that I hardly think you would be repaid, by Mr. Pigott's getting
his company, for the uneasiness I feel in being made (unprofitably,
too, as I think, even to the object) the channel of such a
communication between two persons whom I have so much reason to
love and value.
The accounts of the Duke of Brunswick's victory, though they have
not come to us from any channel that we can consider as strictly
official, are such as to leave no doubt of the fact. There appears
to have been different actions for three days, from the 29th of
November to the 1st of December; and on the last of these days the
victory was obtained, which persons, pretty well informed, seem to
consider as decisive of the fate of Landan. The great object of the
French was to relieve that place, and surround Wurmser; and in both
they have failed, having been repulsed in a last attack they made
on the latter the 1st instant. It appears likely now that little
more will be done on that frontier till Landan is obliged to
surrender; nor anything after that.
All our expectations are turned towards Brittany; but the news from
that quarter is by no means favourable, as far as it goes. The
Royalist army appears unable to make any siege, or even to continue
twenty-four hours in the same place; and this for want of
provisions. There is, besides, among them much disunion, and a
total want of discipline; and they seemed to have formed the
resolution of retiring inwards into France. Whether they will be
deterred from this by the communications since made to them, and by
the knowledge of our force being actually at their doors, remains
to be seen.
I did not send you the account of the failure of all our hopes,
from Lord Howe. I was not in town; and if I had been, I do not know
whether I was not too much vexed to write. He is still off Ushant;
so that the idea of sending out the second fleet is, for the
moment, at least, out of the question. Some of those ships are, as
you know, destined for other services; and the whole, without Lord
Howe, would not be strong enough to meet the Brest fleet; and with
him, would be much too strong.
The business of St. Domingo is highly important. The possession of
the Mole, though not beyond what we had looked to, is much beyond
my hopes. Dansey's letter to Williamson expresses much confidence
of maintaining himself there, with such a force, as I trust, by
this time, and long before, he actually has there.
Ever most affectionately yours,
G.
At the close of the year France was stronger than at the commencement.
The destruction of her navy at Toulon was the principal reverse she
suffered. On the other side the allies had encountered defeat at almost
every point; the Prussians compelled to retreat to Mentz, the
Imperialists driven beyond the Rhine, and the English forced to raise
the siege of Dunkirk. The enthusiasm of the masses, sustained by these
successes, and acted upon by the popular appeals of the Jacobins, placed
at the disposal of the Republic an enormous physical force, which the
whole winter was occupied in augmenting and organizing for the campaigns
of the ensuing year.
1794.
PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR--INACTIVITY OF
THE AUSTRIANS--LORD SPENCER AND MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE SENT ON A MISSION
TO VIENNA--HOSTILE RESOLUTIONS OF THE OPPOSITION--SEVERAL OF THE LEADING
WHIGS JOIN THE ADMINISTRATION--LORD CORNWALLIS APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND
ON THE CONTINENT--PROGRESS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS--LORD FITZWILLIAM
NOMINATED TO THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY OF IRELAND--HIS CONDUCT ON THAT
OCCASION.
Parliament was convened on the 21st of January, 1794; and the Speech
from the Throne expressed a sanguine hope on the part of His Majesty
that the resources of France would be speedily exhausted. There was
certainly little in the operations of the last year upon which the
country could be congratulated; and the only remaining encouragement
that could be held out was in reference to the future. The prodigious
exertions of the Republic undoubtedly justified the expectation, that
she could not long continue to meet the increasing demands which the
extension of the war was making upon her means and energies; but it was
difficult, in the heat and excitement of the conflict, to form an
adequate estimate of the devotion with which the French were prepared
to follow up their successes. A series of fortunate incidents and some
brilliant achievements had inflamed the national vanity to such a height
of exultation as to produce a perfect military mania in all parts of the
country; and when Mr. Pitt, in the course of the opening debate,
declared that "France had been converted into an armed nation,"--an
expression that elicited much criticism at the time--he described
accurately the exact state of the people, and the lengths they were
prepared to go in the assertion of the principles they had baptized in
the blood of the Sovereign.
There were not wanting persons in England who sympathized with the
republicans of France, and regarded their martial spirit with something
of the admiration which the impassioned and the thoughtless bestow upon
gallantry and heroism. But the bulk of the nation entertained a
different opinion, and viewed with alarm and detestation the sanguinary
excesses by which the war was initiated and sustained. While the former
class, few in number, and confined chiefly to the lowest dregs of the
population, continued to give occupation to the Government at home, the
latter were ready to make any sacrifices the exigency of circumstances
required to support the policy of the Government abroad.
Parliament unanimously voted an augmentation of eighty-five thousand men
to the navy, and sixty thousand to the army. Ample preparations in other
respects were made for the approaching operations; and, amongst the
extraordinary measures resorted to, arrangements were made for
augmenting the Militia, and raising voluntary subscriptions for the
maintenance of the war. The spirit of the country was awakened to the
defence of those constitutional principles which presented the surest
safeguard for the public liberties; and the delusions which at first had
seized upon the factious and discontented rapidly vanished as the war
advanced. Success alone was wanted to confirm the confidence of the
people; but as yet the genius and headlong valour of France was in the
ascendant, and the solid endurance of England was doomed to a long and
harassing term of fluctuating fortunes.
The Correspondence traces some of the principal events of the year; and
maps out in advance the plans and difficulties of Ministers, by which we
are admitted, so to speak, to the deliberations of the Cabinet upon
nearly every fresh exigency that arose in the course of the campaigns.