{GEORGE III. 1795–1796}
Bill for the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act
(continued)..... Subsidy to Austria..... Supplies, &c.
Pitt’s Plan to man the Navy, &c. The Slave-Trade
Question..... Termination of the Trial of Warren
Hastings..... Motion for Inquiry into the State of the
Nation rejected..... Marriage of the Prince of Wales.....
Parliament Prorogued..... The Affairs of Ireland..... Naval
Affairs in the Mediterranean, &c. French Operations in
Holland, &c. Treaties between France and Prussia,
&c. Treaty between England and Russia, &c. The
Campaign of the Alps..... Affairs of La Vendee..... Armies
on the Rhine..... Affairs at Paris..... Meeting of
Parliament..... Bill to prevent Seditious Meetings, &c.
{A.D. 1795}
BILL FOR THE SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT (CONTINUED.)
On the 5th of January, Sheridan rose to move for leave to bring in a
bill for the repeal of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act. This
motion was unsuccessful; and on the 15th the attorney-general moved for,
and obtained leave to bring in a bill for continuing the suspension for
a limited time. The second reading of this bill was carried on the
23rd, after a long debate, by a majority of two hundred and thirty-nine
against fifty-three, when it was transmitted to the lords. It passed the
house of peers without a division; but the Dukes of Norfolk and Bedford,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earls of Lauderdale and Guildford
entered a spirited protest against the measure. It was argued by the
opposition that the preamble of the suspension act, which stated that
a dangerous conspiracy existed in the country, was not true; that
a verdict in court—on the trial of Walker, Hardy, Home Tooke, and
others—had shown this conspiracy to be a fabrication; and that, as
no treason had been brought to light, and the alleged ground of the
suspension act did not exist, if was unnecessary. On the other hand
it was argued, that the determination of the jury was no proof of the
existence of a conspiracy; that the guilty were often acquitted in
courts of justice, not because they were innocent, or considered
innocent, but merely because there was no strictly legal evidence to
confirm the truth; and that, therefore, a verdict in their favour could
not operate as a motive for repealing the act, even if it were admitted
that their indictment for high treason had not been supported by legal
proof.
SUBSIDY TO AUSTRIA.
Early in this year it became evident that, besides the United Provinces,
both Prussia and Spain were on the point of breaking with the coalition,
and concluding separate treaties with France: Prussia, from the mutual
distrust which existed between her and Austria, and from her exhausted
finances; and Spain from the recent defeats in Biscay and Catalonia.
Austria remained our steadfast ally; but Austria too wanted money, and
thought herself entitled to call upon England for a subsidy. On the 4th
of February Pitt delivered a message from the king, intimating that
a loan of nearly five millions sterling would be wanted to aid the
exertions of his imperial majesty in the ensuing campaign, on the credit
of the revenues arising from his hereditary dominions. Much discussion
arose upon this subject. Fox said, that the recent defalcation of the
King of Prussia, after he had obtained our gold, ought to operate as a
caution against all advances to German princes. This was just; for the
subsidy granted to the King of Prussia had been most foully applied; it
had not been employed on the Rhine, or the Moselle, but on the Vistula;
not against republican France, but against the Poles. Even Pitt and his
supporters were forced to admit that the conduct of Prussia was bad; but
they insisted that there was a wide difference in the case and conduct
of Austria, whose own vital interests were dependent on the issue of
this war. Austria also had shown herself sincere in the cause; her
generals might have made mistakes, but she had made great and costly
exertions in the common cause, and, notwithstanding failures, still
remained firm. The motion for complying with the emperor’s demands was
agreed to by large majorities.
SUPPLIES, ETC.
After previous discussions on the navy and army estimates, on the 23rd
of February Pitt submitted his annual statement on the supplies to the
consideration of the house. The force required for the service of the
year was 85,000 seamen, and 15,000 marines; 120,000 regulars for guards
and garrisons; 56,000 militia; 40,000 regulars for Ireland, and the West
Indies, and other colonies; besides fencibles and volunteers, foreign
troops in British pay, and embodied French emigrants. The supplies
demanded for the support of these forces were £16,027,000, to which sum
was to be added £200,000, annual subsidy to the King of Sardinia. The
whole expenditure amounted to £27,540.000, and the loan proposed was
£18,000,000, the largest, up to this period, ever voted by parliament.
In order to make up the remainder, new duties were imposed upon tea,
coffee, raisins, foreign grocery and fruits, foreign timber, insurances,
writs, and affidavits, hair-powder, licenses, &c.; and to increase
the receipts of the post-office, the privilege of franking letters was
somewhat abridged. As a counterpoise for these additional burdens,
Pitt mentioned the extraordinary increase of commerce, which, in the
preceding year, had exceeded that of the most flourishing period of
peace. The ways and means were voted as Pitt desired; but some of
his adherents were not very favourable to some of the new duties, and
especially to the powder-tax.
PITT’S PLAN TO MAN THE NAVY, ETC.
As it became expedient to devise some method for the levying of soldiers
and sailors, Pitt brought forward a new plan for manning the navy
without throwing the burden so heavily on a particular class of persons
by press warrants. He proposed that the proprietors of merchantmen, who
were deeply interested in our naval superiority, should, on clearing out
their ships, furnish a certain number of men according to the tonnage of
each ship; and that every parish in the kingdom should furnish one
man. This proposition, with a few modifications, passed into a law, and
officers were appointed to superintend the levies. Subsequently,
Mr. Windham, as secretary at war, proposed the improvement of the
discipline, and the augmentation of the numbers of the militia, as a
means of internal defence. This was objected to by Fox and Sheridan, as
tending to increase the influence of ministers, and as preparatory to
the establishment of arbitrary power; but it was carried with the usual
ministerial majority. At this time provisions were so expensive, arising
from the war and from scarcity, that the pay of the military was wholly
insufficient for their support; and government, without applying to
parliament, granted them an extraordinary allowance. This was properly
objected to by the opposition, as tending to impress the recipients with
the false idea that the bounty proceeded from the crown, and not
from the pockets of the people, and as being an insult offered to the
legislature, which was sitting at the time. General Macleod moved that a
committee should be appointed to take the matter into consideration; and
so strong were the feelings of the house upon the subject, that, though
Pitt endeavoured to exculpate the ministry by representing the relief as
temporary and arising out of the circumstances of the moment, &c.; this
motion was only got rid of by the previous question, which was carried
by a majority of sixty-seven against twenty-three.
THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.
On the 26th of February, Mr. Wilberforce brought the question of the
slave-trade before the house of commons again, by moving for its total
abolition. But this was opposed as before by the West Indian, or rather
self-interest; and on a division, the motion was postponed for six
months, by a majority of seventeen.
TERMINATION OF THE TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS.
The trial of Warren Hastings terminated on the 23rd of April. The public
interest in this trial had been much diminished by its prolongation;
and at this time it seems to have been superseded by other matters of
overwhelming importance. Only twenty-nine peers assembled at the final
judgment; to each of whom every one of the sixteen articles was put
separately, with the question of guilty or not guilty. On two charges
he was unanimously acquitted; and with respect to the others the votes
varied from three to six “guilty,” against the remainder “not guilty.”
The lord chancellor then pronounced Warren Hastings acquitted of all the
charges, and the ex-governor bowing to the court retired in silence.
The propriety of his sentence was chiefly disputed by the advocates of
strict justice; the public in general seemed satisfied with the result
of the trial. The East India Company paid him the cost of his trial,
amounting to more than seventy thousand pounds sterling, and conferred
upon him a pecuniary donation. This was nothing but just; for Hastings
had attended more to their interests in his government than his own: if
he was cruel, it was for them; and if he exacted money from tributaries
beyond that which was due, it was for them likewise. It must be
confessed that the conduct of Hastings was, in some instances,
inconsistent with the rules or British justice and the sentiments of
humanity; but, at the same time, it must be confessed that his abilities
secured the authority and established the dominion of this country over
the east.
MOTION FOR INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF THE NATION REJECTED.
On the 24th of March Fox moved that a committee of the whole house
should inquire into the state of the nation. His speech on this occasion
is characterized by Burke as one of the most eloquent ever delivered in
the house of commons. In it he showed the necessity for inquiry, from
the rapid progress of the enemy and their acquired superiority; from
the losses sustained by our armies, and from the vast expenditure and
increased taxation. Fox then adverted to the affairs of Ireland; the
recall of its lord-lieutenant, which had recently taken place; and
to the general irritation of its inhabitants. He then alluded to the
dissatisfaction which prevailed in England, asserting that an opinion
was gaining ground among the people, that, since the commons complied
with every measure proposed by ministers, they could not fairly
represent the nation. He asked what were the grounds for confidence in
men whose schemes continually miscarried? And, supposing the war to
be just, did the succession of plans and events afford any reason for
reposing unlimited confidence in his majesty’s present counsellors, as
wise, energetic, and effective war ministers? In conclusion, he said,
that if ministers really deserved confidence, they would not resist
inquiry, as no man, conscious of an able and upright discharge of his
duty, would shrink from an investigation into his actions. Pitt
allowed that some of the subjects proposed by Fox were of the highest
importance; but he objected to inquiry as being incompatible with other
parliamentary business. Part of the proposer’s objects, also, he said,
were inexpedient and unreasonable; he had exaggerated our losses,
detracted from our advantages, and on the whole exhibited an unfair
statement of our situation. Mr. Canning followed on the same side as
Pitt, and argued with reference to Ireland, that its turbulent situation
was a sufficient excuse for declining all such discussions at present.
Fox and Sheridan replied, that the minister, instead of meeting, had
only shifted the question; that if the state of the country had been
misrepresented, the means of refuting this misrepresentation lay in a
fair investigation of conduct. The motion was rejected by two hundred
and nineteen against sixty-three; and a similar motion made six days
after in the lords, by the Earl of Guildford, was negatived likewise by
a large majority. Motions were subsequently made in both houses for an
inquiry respecting Irish affairs, but with the same ill-success.
MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
The marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess Caroline of
Brunswick took place on the 8th of April. At the time it was generally
supposed that his royal highness was influenced in forming this
connexion by the promise of an ample provision to pay his debts, now
amounting to the enormous sum of £600,000. Be that as it may, on the
27th of April, his majesty sent a message to the house announcing the
marriage; and at the same time expressing deep regret in being obliged
to declare, that the benefit of any settlement which might then be made
could not be effectually secured to his royal highness, except he
were provided with the means of liberating himself from the large
encumbrances to which he was liable. At the same time his majesty
disclaimed all idea of proposing that parliament should make any
specific provision for that object: rather, he requested the house to
consider the propriety of providing for the gradual discharge of those
encumbrances by the reservation for a time of the revenues of the Duchy
of Cornwall, as well as of a proportion of his royal highness’s annual
income. After some discussion, the house, on the suggestion of Pitt,
determined that £125,000, together with the rents of the Duchy of
Cornwall, estimated at £13,000, should be settled upon the prince, and
that £78,000 should be applied annually out of his total income for
the liquidation of his debts. A law was also passed to prevent the
heir-apparent in future from being involved in similar difficulties; and
a jointure of £50,000 per annum was settled on the Princess of Wales,
in case she survived her royal consort. All this was carried by large
majorities, but there were few who imagined that this settlement was a
final one.
PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.
The king prorogued parliament in person on the 27th of June. In his
speech his majesty expressed a hope “that the present circumstances of
France might, in their effects, hasten the return of such a state of
order and regular government, as might be capable of maintaining the
accustomed relations of peace and amity with other powers.” He also
remarked that our main reliance for success must be on our naval and
military forces: thereby indicating the continuance of the war.
THE AFFAIRS OF IRELAND.
Allusion has been made to the agitated state of Ireland. That country
was, indeed, at this period, every day approaching nearer to the verge
of open rebellion.
The progress of the United Irishmen had not been stopped by the
conciliatory measures of 1793; for early in the following year they
published a plan of equal representation on the principle of universal
suffrage. Before the close of that year their association in truth
became so manifestly revolutionary that it demanded the interposition
of government. A charge of treasonable correspondence with the French
rulers was brought against Archibald Hamilton Rowan; but he with others
of the association fled to the continent. In the following year the Rev.
William Jackson, a Protestant clergyman, was tried and found guilty, and
in order to avoid the shame of a public execution he swallowed a dose of
poison at the bar of the court. All this tended to prove that Catholic
emancipation, however extensive it might be in its principles, would
never satisfy the people of Ireland. Nevertheless, Earl Fitzwilliam, the
then lord-lieutenant, resolved to try the efficacy of that measure.
That nobleman, indeed, imagined that he was authorised to carry such a
measure into effect when he accepted the office of viceroy. Acting under
this supposition, his first step was to remove from their places
such servants of the government as he knew would be hostile to his
proceedings. Among those he removed was the right lion. John Beresford,
first commissioner of the revenue, whose family had always been ardent
supporters of ministerial measures. But this act gave great offence
to the English cabinet; and as Earl Fitzwilliam refused to alter his
arrangements, it was resolved to recall him. In the meantime Mr. Henry
Grattan brought in a bill into the Irish house of commons for the repeal
of all the remaining disqualifications of the Roman Catholics. This bill
was received so favourably that only three dissentient voices were heard
against it: and, encouraged by it, the Catholics sent a deputation
to the king deprecating the removal of a viceroy who had gained the
confidence of the people. These deputies were graciously received; but
the burden of their petition was not granted: Earl Fitzwilliam resigned,
and Lord Camden was appointed his successor. Lord Camden commenced his
administration under ominous circumstances; for on the 31st of
March, when he was sworn into office, the primate and Lord Chancellor
Fitzgibbon were attacked by a mob on their return from the Castle, and
narrowly escaped with their lives. His unpopularity increased, chiefly
because he as strenuously opposed Catholic emancipation as Lord
Fitzwilliam had supported it. On the 4th of May a bill was brought in
for that purpose, but after a violent debate it was rejected by a large
majority. In order, however, to soothe the chafed minds of the people,
a motion was carried this session for the establishment of a college
at Maynooth for the education of young Irishmen destined for the
priesthood, and who were at this time deprived of the advantages of
foreign universities from the disordered state of the continent; and the
Catholics also obtained permission to study at the university of Dublin.
But these indulgences were not duly appreciated. From this time the
society of United Irishmen rapidly extended itself over the whole
kingdom. They formed, indeed, a new system, combining malcontents of
every class and of all religious persuasions against the government. The
leaders of the society began, in fact, to entertain dangerous designs,
and to form illegal and treasonable connexions with the government of
France. Towards the close of the year, disaffection became so general
that the existing laws were deemed insufficient to repress popular
violences, and the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, by which the agents
of government were enabled to imprison obnoxious or suspected persons
without any cause assigned, or any time of trial appointed. In the
western counties, government resorted to a measure which nothing but
stern necessity could justify. By an act which passed in January, the
lord-lieutenant and council were authorised, on a petition from seven
magistrates of a county assembled at a session of the peace, to proclaim
that county, or any section of it, to be in a state of disturbance, and
to empower the magistrates to treat all suspected persons as culprits,
and in default of bail to send them on board the fleet. This act also,
which was called the Insurrection Act, enacted that the administering
of treasonable oaths, which was a practice in the society of United
Irishmen, was a capital offence; and that in case a witness was
murdered, which frequently happened, before a trial, his written
testimony should be considered sufficient evidence. While government
was thus grappling with the disaffection which prevailed, a body of men
united under the name of Orangemen, for the purposes of security.
This was natural; but, unfortunately, it only increased the religious
animosities which already existed between the two parties. Government,
moreover, began to embody an armed yeomanry to assist the regular troops
and the militia. In the course of six months this force amounted to
37,000 men, and it was still increasing. But nothing could allay the
fury of the storm that was gathering over the country. The leaders of
the United Irishmen were as active as government; and in a short time
the plan of an invasion was settled between them and the French rulers.
This invasion was the subject of familiar conversation both in England
and Ireland; yet the British government, either doubting or disregarding
the intelligence, neglected to take suitable measures for defence. In
the meantime mutual injuries between the society of United Irishmen and
the Orangemen, many of whom on both sides were desperate and abandoned
characters, engendered a fixed hatred between them; and these
dissensions rapidly increased, till the whole country exhibited a scene
of terror, consternation, and blood. In their encounters the Orangemen
were generally victorious; and in the end, in the county of Armagh,
where the Association was first formed, they succeeded in expelling
several thousands of Catholics from the county. During the latter part
of this year and the commencement of the next, the roads leading from
the city of Armagh presented the most heart-rending scenes: groups
of miserable families were seen endeavouring to escape from their
persecutors into the south and western districts of the country. So
strife and tumult prevailed among brethren.
NAVAL AFFAIRS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, ETC.
The French government made great exertions to put their navy on a
respectable footing; but all their efforts on the ocean led only to
disaster. On the 28th of February their commander, Rear-Admiral Pierre
Martin, sailed out of the harbour of Toulon with fifteen sail of the
line, six frigates, and three corvettes, having positive orders to
engage the English fleet under Vice-Admiral Hotham, if he met it, and to
drive the English out of Corsica. At that time the Mediterranean
fleet under Hotham, which consisted of thirteen sail of the line, four
frigates, and two sloops, with two or three Neapolitan ships, was
at Leghorn; and the enemy succeeded in capturing the Berwick, of
seventy-four guns, which found itself suddenly surrounded by the enemy.
On discovering the intentions of the enemy, Admiral Hotham instantly
unmoored and went in search of them. The two fleets came in sight
of each other on the 12th of March, between Corsica and Genoa, and a
partial engagement ensued, in which two French ships of the line, the
Ca Ira and the Censeur, fell into the hands of the British, principally
through the skill and courage of Nelson, who commanded the Agamemnon.
This action saved Corsica for the time; but the victory was incomplete;
and soon after, the arrival of six ships of the line at Toulon from
Brest gave the French a decided superiority as regards numbers of ships.
Had they known how to have used it, they might have made themselves
masters of the Mediterranean; for the British navy, though manned by
brave sailors, was not in a condition to withstand a superior force.
On this subject, Southey remarks:—“The British navy had been much
neglected during Lord Chatham’s administration at the admiralty; and it
did not for some time feel the beneficial effects of his removal. Lord
Hood had gone home to represent the real state of affairs, and solicit
reinforcements adequate to the exigencies of the times, and
the importance of the scene of action; but that fatal error of
under-proportioning the force to the service, that ruinous economy
which, by sparing a little, renders all that is spent useless, infected
the British councils; and Lord Hood, not being able to obtain such
reinforcements as he knew were necessary, resigned.” For three long
months the Mediterranean fleet was left in its state of inferiority; but
at length, on the 13th of June, it was joined by eleven sail of the line
and several frigates. Since the recent battle the French admiral had
avoided an encounter, although superior in force; but he now shunned
it more cautiously than ever. Hotham, however, got sight of the French
fleet near Cape Roux; and in a chase which he gave it, succeeded in
capturing the Alcide; the rest of the ships got safely into Frejas Bay.
These were the chief events on the ocean during this year; except by
Nelson, who was detached on some coast service, scarcely another gun
was fired in the Mediterranean. Many encounters of detached ships took
place, generally to the advantage of the English; but the only other
action which occurred was between the Channel fleet, of fourteen sail
of the line, under Admiral Lord Bridport, and a part of the Brest
fleet, consisting of twelve ships of the line and eleven frigates, under
Vice-Admiral Villaret. In this action three French ships were taken; the
rest fled for protection to their own port and their own land batteries.
In the West Indies the English cruizers and squadrons were not so
successful; all their vigilance was not sufficient to foil the daring
projects of Victor Hugues. The French, indeed, recovered the whole of
Guadaloupe, attacked with success the fort of Tiburon, in St. Domingo;
and made themselves masters of St. Lucia; Grenada, Dominico, and St.
Vincent’s were with difficulty preserved. But in these victories the
French revolutionists were aided by the negro population. Victor Hugues
flew from island to island, preaching liberty and equality to the
negroes and all people of colour, and a crusade against the English and
French royalists; and it was chiefly by this means that, the French were
victorious. The African slave learned to adopt the tri-colour flag and
the red cap of liberty, and the British were either butchered, or forced
to flee from the recaptured islands. Under the same auspices, the
Maroons, of Jamaica, likewise commenced a sanguinary conflict with
the English, and did not lay down their arms till they were nearly
exterminated; those who escaped the slaughter consented to be removed to
Canada, where a portion of land was allotted to them.
FRENCH OPERATIONS IN HOLLAND, ETC.
It has been seen that when the Duke of York returned to London, he left
the command of the British troops to Count Walmoden, and that Walmoden
was attacked by the French army on the Waal, under Pichegru. It became
evident that nothing but a hasty retreat could save the British army
from destruction; and, after spiking their guns, and destroying all
the ammunition they could not carry away, on the 16th of January they
retired towards Leek. In his retreat Walmoden was pursued by Pichegru;
but Walmoden, after sustaining several assaults, and after a march of
nearly two months through countries inimical to the British, finally
reached the mouth of the Elbe, when the Duke of York’s army embarked at
Bremen for England. Throughout their whole route it was manifest that
the population of Holland were, in the main, revolutionists; in every
Dutch town and village through which they passed, the majority of the
inhabitants looked upon them as the original cause of the calamities
inflicted upon their country, and took every opportunity of insulting
them in their misery and adding to their sufferings. Now that the
British were departed the feelings of the Dutch were manifested in a
clearer light. Before this, our ally, the stadtholder, and his son, the
hereditary Prince of Orange, had fled for refuge to England, so that the
democrats, which everywhere abounded, had no check in a display of their
principles. Those of Amsterdam planted the tree of liberty in the chief
places of the city, mounted the French cockade, and gave an enthusiastic
reception to Pichegru. Utrecht, Rotterdam, Haerlam, Leyden, Flushing,
Middlebourg, and Bergen-op-Zoom, one of the strongest fortresses in the
world—these all fell into the hands of the French, either by conquest
or by treachery. The States-general, indeed, or as many of them as chose
to assemble at the Hague, issued proclamations, calling upon the people
to admit the friendly troops of the republic; so that scarcely one of
the many fortresses which studded the country, made more than a show of
resistance. Many of them had opened their gates to the republican troops
of France before the Duke of York left the country, and those which
remained in the occupation of the Dutch, or of German troops in the
pay of the stadtholder, for the most part now followed their example.
Holland fraternised with France. A requisition of clothes and provisions
for the use of the republican army, to the amount of one million and a
half sterling, cooled the ardour of the thrifty Dutchmen for a moment;
but it soon returned, on considering the blessings they were to
obtain for their money. They were flattered by a convocation of a
representative assembly, on the principles of equality and liberty: an
assembly which abolished the hereditary stadtholderate, with all the
forms of the preceding constitution, published the declaration of the
rights of man, reversed the sentences passed in a previous year
against democrats, and recalled all those who had been exiled for their
democratical principles. On discovering this movement in Holland, the
English government immediately laid an embargo upon all Dutch ships and
goods in the ports of Great Britain, Ireland, and our colonies; and the
ministry soon took into consideration the important subject of the
Dutch colonies. An expedition was sent out on the 14th of July, under
Vice-Admiral Sir G. Keith Elphinstone and Major-General Craig, who took
possession of the Cape of Good Hope. Instructions were also sent to our
naval and military commanders in the East Indies, to prepare for the
reduction and occupation of the Dutch settlements in that part of the
world; and about the close of the year all the places which the Dutch
held in Ceylon, with Malacca, Cochin, Chinsura, Amboyna, and Banda, fell
into the hands of the British. Other plans were also arranged for the
seizure of the Dutch colonies in the West Indies, and on the coast of
South America. Holland was, therefore, now reckoned among the enemies of
England.
{GEORGE III. 1795–1796}
TREATIES BETWEEN FRANCE AND PRUSSIA, ETC.
Although the King of Prussia had been the first of all the coalition to
assail republican France, yet, in the spring of this year, he concluded
a separate treaty with its democratic rulers. This treaty was settled at
Basle on the fifth of April; and by it the king ceded to France all the
Prussian territory on the left bank of the Rhine, and France restored to
Prussia the territories that her armies had overrun on the right bank of
that river. Both the contracting parties pledged themselves not to grant
a passage to the enemies of the other through their territories; and all
prisoners taken respectively since the war commenced were restored.
All the commercial communications and relations between France and the
Prussian states were re-established by this treaty on the same footing
upon which they stood before the war. At a later date, on the 17th of
May, a supplementary treaty was concluded at Basle, for the purpose of
establishing a line of demarcation and neutrality, in order to remove
the war from all the north of Germany. One link cf the chain being thus
broken, others soon snapped asunder. In the early part of this year
the French met with great success over the Spanish troops, and again
threatened to advance even to the gates of Madrid. Dismayed and
discouraged, and, moreover, urged on by a strong French party, Godoy,
the prime minister, humbly sued for peace. This was granted at the price
of that part of the island of Saint Domingo which the Spaniards had
possessed since the time of Columbus; and the proud monarchy of Spain
with its Bourbon monarch, recognised the French republic, and engaged
to a reciprocity of friendship and good understanding. As a testimony
of amity to his Catholic majesty, the French government agreed to accept
his mediation in favour of the King of Portugal, his relatives and
allies, the King of Naples, the Infanta Duke of Parma, the King of
Sardinia, and the other states of Italy; and to accept his good offices
in favour of other belligerent powers that should apply to him in order
to enter into negociations with the French government. This example
of the kings of Prussia and Spain was followed by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany; and even George III., in his quality of Elector of Hanover,
though he remained the most active member of the confederacy in his
capacity of King of Great Britain, ordered a treaty of peace to be
signed, as far as related to the electorate, as did also the Landgrave
of Hesse Cassel. Moreover, the court of Sweden, and the Protestant
cantons of Switzerland, recognised the French republic, as well as its
dependency the Batavian republic, that is, the United States of Holland.
TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND RUSSIA, ETC.
Ever since the commencement of the war, great exertions had been made
to bring the Empress of Russia into the coalition. That sovereign had
an instinctive dread of the French revolution and its principles; but
imagining that she had but little to gain by becoming a party to the war
in the west of Europe, she constantly declined joining the allies. At
length, however, on the 18th of February, she was induced to consent to
a treaty of defensive alliance with Great Britain; in which treaty,
the contracting parties guaranteed to each other all their dominions,
territories, &c., as well such as they actually possessed, or might
hereafter acquire, by treaty; and agreed, that in case of one of
them being attacked by sea or land, the other was immediately to send
succour: Russia was to send land troops to the aid of Great Britain, to
the number of 10,000 infantry and 2,000 horse, and Great Britain was
to send a squadron of twelve ships of the line to the aid of Russia.
A treaty of defensive alliance, upon the same principles, was also
concluded between the Emperor of Germany and England, the succours on
either side, in case of attack made, being 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse.
But these treaties meant little more than that Russia might, at some
time, require the assistance of an English fleet, and that Austria
would require an English subsidy. Equally unprofitable to England was a
treaty, or agreement, entered into at the close of this year, with the
infidel and piratic Dey of Algiers. This last treaty originated with Sir
Gilbert Elliot, the viceroy of George III. at Corsica. There had been
for a long time a mortal hatred existing between the Corsicans and the
Algerines; and Sir Gilbert Elliot wished to conciliate the latter. By
this treaty, the Algerines were to be permitted to carry their prizes
into the forts of Corsica, and to sell them there; whilst the Corsicans
were to be permitted to frequent the African coast for the coral
fishery, &c., on condition that the Viceroy of Corsica should pay to the
Dey of Algiers 179,000 piastres, and a further sum of 24,000 piastres
for a cargo of grain which had been taken by the English from the
Algerines.
THE CAMPAIGN OF THE ALPS.
During the severity of the winter, the French, who had taken possession
of the Alps, were in a state of miserable destitution from desertion
and sickness, and no measures were taken by the convention to reinforce
them. On the other hand, the courts of Vienna and Turin were making
vigorous efforts for prosecuting the war on the Piedmontese frontier.
All that the republicans aimed at, was to retain possession of the
posts they had gained on the Alps; but, after various actions, they were
obliged to evacuate every position on the maritime Alps, and the allied
armies threatened the country of Nice and the territory of the republic.
If the allies had pushed their advantages with vigour, the republicans
must have lost more; but they, as was their general rule, were sluggish
and irresolute. Nelson, who had been detached with a small squadron
to co-operate with the Austrian general, Devins, and who served on the
coast of Nice, was almost frantic at his sluggishness. A plan had
been formed for getting between the French divisions that occupied the
Nissard territory and a part of the Western Riviera, or coast of the
republic of Genoa, for taking the first of these divisions in the rear,
and for blockading the port and city of Nice. But planning and executing
were two different things. To carry out the plan proposed it was
necessary that the allies should occupy the town and bay of St. Remo;
but when Nelson suggested its capture, Devins, imagining that Nelson
wanted possession of St. Remo for its harbour, argued that the bay of
Valdo, which could be of no service in reducing Nice, was a much better
and safer anchorage. He finally agreed to send 10,000 men to St. Remo,
if Admiral Hotham would send him ten ships of war, and transports
sufficient to carry them; but Hotham declined sending any more ships,
and the plan therefore failed, the old German attributing its failure
to the British admiral. While these divisions paralysed the movements
of the allies, the Alpine legions of the republicans were re-enforced
by 7000 men from the Eastern Pyrenees, and 10,000 from the army on the
Rhine. Moreover, the neutral powers and states assisted France more
effectually than the allies assisted each other. Great as had been the
insults and wrongs which the Genoese republic had suffered from the
French republic in 1794, yet privateers carried abundant supplies of
provision from Genoa to the French armies. Moreover, while the Genoese
senate presumed to claim from the British fleet all the rights of a
neutral state, they allowed all their roadsteads, bays, harbours, and
even the well-defended port of the city of Genoa itself, to be crowded
with French privateers, and men were enlisted in the city for the
French army. Thus re-enforced and supported, Massena, who commanded
the republicans, at length made a general attack on the confederates,
assisted by Generals Scherer and Serrurier. The allies were so supine
that they were not aware of his movements till a cannon-ball, at sunrise
of the 23rd of November, aroused them from their lethargy. The French
general’s great object was to get between the Austrians and Piedmontese,
to cut them off from one another, and then to defeat them in detail: no
very difficult task, as both armies were indiscreetly scattered over a
wide extent of mountainous country. The battle took place among rocks
and precipices, and in the midst of a storm of hail and snow. The
republicans were everywhere successful: the centre and the right wing
were beaten from post to post, and at last put to flight; and the left
wing, though it withstood the shock of assault bravely, was compelled
to flee likewise. It is said that many thousands took to flight who
had never seen the enemy, and some of whom were thirty miles from the
advanced posts. The retreat, indeed, became a rout, and the republicans
captured 5000 prisoners, all the artillery of the allies, and an immense
store of ammunition. This terminated “the campaign of the Alps,” for the
Austrians and the Piedmontese were driven from all that coast, and the
French triumphantly wintered in Vado and Savone.
AFFAIRS OF LA VENDEE.
During this year the pacification of the Vendee was effected. Charette
with a few thousand royalists had, in the winter of 1794, maintained the
contest there, and the princes of Europe looked up to him as the only
man capable of restoring the royal cause. After some slight reverses,
however, Charette listened to overtures made by secret agents of the
convention; and at the end of February, 1795, a treaty of peace was
concluded and signed. It seems probable that Charette was the more
induced to take this step from the moderation recently displayed by the
French government. It soon became evident, however, that neither party
was sincere, that each suspected the other, and that both were preparing
for another struggle. The seeds of inextinguishable discord prevailed
between them, and this promised a future outbreak. Charette, indeed,
seemed, after he had signed the treaty, to be living the life of
a country gentleman; but all the while he was carrying on a secret
correspondence with the Bourbon princes, and receiving supplies from
England to aid him in his future operations. It would have been well
for Charette if money had been all that he obtained from England; but,
unfortunately, a number of emigrants crossed the Channel, and led
him and the rest of the Vendean chiefs on to their ruin. The English
ministry, indeed, embarked 6000 of these exiles in our pay, and a
regiment of artillery from Toulon, as well as arms and accoutrements
for 80,000 men. These were separated into two divisions; and a third,
composed of British troops, was destined to support the whole when they
had landed on the coast of France. The chief command of the expedition
was given to the Count d’Artois, and great hopes were entertained of
success, as the Chouans and Vendeans had engaged, on his landing, to
place 80,000 men at his disposal. Subsequently, however, the Count
d’Artois gave up the command to Puissaye, together with some £10,000
in gold, and several millions of livres in assignats. In expectation
of being joined by numerous bands of royalists, Puissaye took with him
27,000 muskets, powder in abundance, and complete uniforms for more than
20,000 soldiers. All obstacles in the way of transporting his troops to
France were removed by the defeat of the French fleet, from Brest, by
the Channel fleet under Lord Bridport, in which the French lost three
ships of the line, and were obliged to seek shelter with those
that remained in the harbour of L’Orient. Under these auspicious
circumstances, the expedition set sail; and on the 27th of June appeared
in Quiberon Bay, where the troops immediately landed, and took Fort
Penthièvre, situated on a small peninsula, or promontory, which
encloses Quiberon Bay on one side, and which is joined to the main
land by a low sandy isthmus, called La Falaise. The news of the
disembarkation of these troops caused great sensation through all
France; the bravery of the Vendean peasants in their recent conflicts
had been deeply remembered. But by the time they had landed, the whole
of Brittany was enveloped by three or four armies under the command of
Hoche, while General Canclaux, who had collected a large force to watch
Charette, prevented the arrival of any succour from the Vendée. Hoche
took immediate measures to avert the danger. Having disposed a part of
his forces so as to overawe Brittany, he proceeded with 7000 men to the
peninsula of Quiberon, and drove back the royalists to their intrenched
camp near Fort Penthièvre. Here the royalist troops were shut up by the
forces of Hoche; and while in this situation an open rapture took place
between the emigrants and Chouans. Desertions became frequent, no new
royalist troops arrived, and nothing was heard of the forces that had
been promised from Jersey, the Elbe, and the English coast. But had all
these forces arrived simultaneously it would have been to no purpose,
as Hoche and Caudaux had collected such immense forces, and had cast, up
such strong intrenchments on the heights of St. Barbe, which commanded
the sandy isthmus of La Falaise, that no hope could be entertained of
dislodging them. On the 15th of July the English convoy arrived with
some royalist troops from the mouth of the Elbe, under the Count de
Sombreuill; but their total number did not exceed 1100 men, which did
not make up for the recent losses by desertion. Yet, encouraged by their
arrival, before they had well landed, Puissaye detached Vauban with
12,000 Chouans to make a diversion on the right of Hoche’s camp, to
effect a junction with some other insurgents, said to have been gathered
behind the heights of St. Barbe; while Puissaye himself marched from
the narrow promontory, crossed the sandy desert, and boldly attacked the
republicans in front. But all their efforts were fruitless: after some
desperate fighting the royalists once more were compelled to retreat to
their intrenched camp on the isthmus of La Falaise. There was treachery
in that camp. In Puissaye’s army there were Frenchmen who had enrolled
in it merely for the chance of escaping from England, and these now
settled with the republicans, to desert and put them in possession of
Fort Penthièvre. This dark deed was done on the dark and stormy night
of the 20th of July, when a detachment of republican grenadiers having
approached near to the spot, some of these sham royalists who were
on guard betrayed the fort, and assisted in slaughtering their own
comrades. All was lost; the storm prevented the British fleet from
approaching the coast; hundreds perished in the waves, and thousands by
the sword of their own countrymen. Early on the morning of the 21st, the
British frigates worked up to the south-east point of the peninsula, and
received on board, by means of boats, about 2500 men; the rest were made
prisoners or perished, and nearly all the arms and uniforms, with
the ammunition and stores, were left behind for the benefit of the
republicans. Those royalists who were taken prisoners were all marched
off to Vannes, where a sort of military tribunal condemned the Count de
Sombreuill, the Bishop of Dôl, and all the officers and gentlemen taken;
and these being-all shot, the common men enrolled themselves in the
republican army. The broken remains of this expedition were landed in
the isle of Plouat, where they were soon afterwards joined by 2500 men
from England, who gained possession of the Isle d’Yeu; but at the close
of this year the English troops were re-embarked, and both ships and men
returned to England.
In the meantime, as soon as Canclaux weakened his army to strengthen
that of Hoche, and crush the royalist expedition at Quiberon Bay,
Charette resumed the offensive, and had gained several advantages over
the republicans. He looked eagerly for the promised arrival of Count
d’Artois; and on the 10th of October the count disembarked at Isle
d’Yeu. While here a place of rendezvous was appointed, and Charette,
fully assured that the prince would land at the port of La Tranche,
united his forces, dispersed some republican detachments, and cut his
way to within a day’s march of the appointed place. But Charette was
doomed to be disappointed; the count’s aide-de-camp here met him, with
the intelligence that his highness had changed his mind, and would
choose a more opportune moment and a better place for landing. The Count
d’Artois returned to England; and from this time the affairs of the
royalists in the western provinces rapidly declined. The efforts of the
Chouans and Vendeans were, indeed, confined to a species of guerilla
warfare, which, as will be seen, was completely extinguished in the
following year, by the republicans under Hoche. On discovering the
determination of the Count d’Artois the brave Charette saw the extent of
his fate. “My friends,” he exclaimed to those around him, “we are lost;
this is my death sentence! To-day I have fifteen thousand troops around
me, to-morrow I shall not have three hundred.” Charette fell back
immediately from the coast; and he soon had the mortification of seeing
his troops dispersing, and his enemies gathering around him on all
sides. Such was his situation at the close of this year.
ARMIES ON THE RHINE.
During this campaign Moreau commanded the army of the north, encamped in
Holland; Jourdan that of the Sambre and Meuse, stationed near Cologne;
and Pichegru that of the Rhine, cantoned from Mayence to Strasburg. The
contending armies were separated by the Rhine, from the Alps to the sea,
at the commencement of the year; and nothing was done on either side
till the end of June. At that time the old Austrian general, Bender,
who, on the retreat and dissolution of the grand army of the coalition,
threw himself into Luxembourg, was reduced by the republicans to
capitulate; himself and numerous garrison being allowed to retire
to Germany, upon condition or not serving against the French till
exchanged. With the exception of Mayence, the republicans were now
masters of the whole left bank of the Rhine, and of the estuaries
through which the Rhine flows into the North Sea, from Holland to
Strasburg. After the conquest of Holland, as before related, Pichegru
undertook the reduction of Mayence, which was occupied by imperial
and Austrian troops; and, as preparatory steps, he crossed the Rhine,
captured Dusseldorf, and occupied Manheim. At this time Wurmser, one of
the most active and skilful Austrian generals, was advancing with a good
army to effect a junction with Clairfait, succour Mayence, and drive the
French from the left bank of the Rhine. Pichegru endeavoured to prevent
this junction by detaching a division against him; but Wurmser drove
this division back with great loss to Manheim. Soon after this Pichegru
was joined by Jourdan; crossing the Rhine he established himself on the
right bank, opposite the town, to cover the siege and assist in it. But
at this period the balance of fortune suddenly turned in favour of the
Austrians. Being reinforced by 15,000 Hungarians, General Clairfait made
a rapid and skilful advance, took Jourdan by surprise, obliged him
to decamp hastily, and leave part of his artillery behind him, and
harrassed him during the whole of his route to Dusseldorf, and there
compelled him to re-cross the Rhine. Clairfait now threw a considerable
part of his army across the Rhine into Mayence, in spite of the French
lines drawn around it; and on the 29th of October he took those lines,
which had cost the French a year’s labour to construct, by storm;
the republicans were driven from them with a terrible loss, and their
battering train, with most of their field-pieces, were captured.
About the same time Wurmser gained the bridge of the Necker, and drove
Pichegru within the walls of Manheim. Pichegru, having strengthened the
garrison, soon after quitted Manheim, recrossed the Rhine, and effected
a junction with jourdan. During the month of November, Manheim, with a
garrison of 9000 men, capitulated to Wurmser, who then formed a
junction with Clairfait, and the two quickly recovered the whole of the
Palatinate, and of the country between the Rhine and the Moselle.
The Austrian generals formed a project of penetrating once more into
Luxembourg; but their movements were slow, and Jourdan and Pichegru
advanced along the Rhine by forced marches, and kept them in check.
Several obstinate encounters took place; but the winter was fast
approaching, and as both imperialists and republicans were exhausted by
the campaign, it was deemed expedient to agree to an armistice, which
was not to be broken on either side without ten days’ notice, and
during which, each were to remain in the same position they then
occupied.
AFFAIRS AT PARIS.
This year witnessed the close of the empire of the Jacobins. When the
reign of terror was overthrown, there still remained two parties in
Paris to contend for superiority; that of the committees of Jacobins,
which endeavoured to retain the remnant of their power, and that of the
Thermidorians. The Jacobins were still formidable enemies: for four days
after the death of Robespierre they resumed the sittings of their club;
and as they possessed a strong hold on the feelings of the populace, the
Thermidorians saw that it was necessary to rouse themselves into action.
For a long time, however, they found themselves compelled to proceed
with great caution against their antagonists; and had they not been
supported by the _Jeunesse Dorée_, it is probable that the Jacobins
would have been more than a match for them. These young men, after
several encounters, attacked the club at one of its sittings and
dispersed them; and then the commissioners of the convention put a seal
on its papers, by which its existence, and with it the union of the
democratic party, was destroyed. It was immediately after this victory
over the club of Jacobins that the monster Carrier was executed; and the
convention was soon able to effect more humane designs, and to abridge
the power of the revolutionary tribunals. Gradually it proceeded to
abolish unconstitutional measures; and at length, strengthened by the
increasing force of public opinion, which appears to have undergone
considerable reaction, it ventured on the impeachment of Billaud de
Varennes, Collot d’Herbois, Barrère, and Vadier. These were arrested
on the 2nd of March; but their arrest alarmed the other leaders of the
Jacobins, and they prepared to avert the storm gathering over them.
Their plan was to rouse the populace; and their design was aided by
a famine which then prevailed, and by the extreme depreciation of
assignats, which threatened the whole population with ruin. The revolt
was organized in the fauxbourgs, and it broke out on the 1st of April.
The cry of the insurgents was “Bread;—the constitution of 1783, and
the freedom of the patriots.” Uttering this cry a crowd rushed into the
hall of the convention. Everything indicated the approach of a crisis,
and the Jacobins were recovering their former audacity, when, on a
sudden, a large body of the _Jeunesse Dorée_ entered the hall under
Pichegru, and the power of the insurgents was restrained. The convention
now proceeded to energetic measures; the accused leaders were condemned
to transportation, and seven of the Jacobin members were arrested, and
sent to the castle of Ham, in Picardy. But the malcontents were not yet
tranquillized; they organized, indeed, a more formidable insurrection.
This broke out on the 1st Prairial, or the 20th of May, when the
populace of the fauxbourgs, amounting to 30,000, again surrounded the
hall of the convention. This time they committed mischief; the hall was
broken open, the deputy Ferand killed, and his head put upon a pike.
Boissy d’Anglas, who was president, for a long time braved the violence
of the mob; but he was finally compelled to quit the chair. Vernier took
it when he retired, and several decrees, demanded by the populace,
were then passed, These decrees were the liberation and recall of the
deputies lately transported and arrested, the restoration of arms to
the fauxbourgs, the arrest of emigrants and Parisian journalists, the
re-establishment of the communes and sections, and the suspension of
the existing committees of government, which were to be superseded by a
sovereign commission. On obtaining these demands, many of the insurgents
retired; and soon after the hall of convention was surrounded by the
armed sections, who, after a brief struggle, obtained possession of it.
Those deputies who had fled now returned, and annulled the decrees so
recently passed by the minority, and ordered the arrest of some of their
colleagues. The storm lasted several days; but finally the convention
forced the fauxbourgs to submit; some leaders and six deputies of the
“Mountain” were put to death, and the dominion of the populace was
destroyed. Similar scenes were also witnessed in the provinces;
everywhere the Jacobins were hunted down, and those who had practised or
even favoured terrorism, were massacred. The mischief they had brought
upon others, by a righteous retribution, returned upon their own heads.
After their fury had subsided, and their enemies were destroyed or
subdued, the Thermidorians, or the convention, proceeded to form a
new constitution, widely differing from the institutions of 1793. A
commission of eleven had previously been appointed to consider this
subject, and the decision they arrived at was, that two chambers were
necessary: one called the lower chamber, which was to consist of five
hundred members; and the other denominated the upper chamber, which was
to consist of half their number. Both of these were to be elected by the
people, and there were to be five directors, chosen by the two councils,
one of whom was to go out of office every year. The convention saw that
their fate was sealed, for all France had become weary of their sway;
and therefore this directorial constitution was forthwith voted. A
display of public opinion, however, was fatal to its establishment. At
this time the middle class, fearing the return of ochlocracy, and the
noblest patriots of 1739 and 1791, had become re-inclined to monarchy;
and finding themselves the majority of the sections of Paris, they
looked forward to the elections with exultation. This alarmed the
members of the convention; and in order to avert the danger which might
arise to themselves, they decreed that two two-thirds of the members
should be re-elected, and that the convention itself should make choice
of those members. But this dictatorial act met with stern opposition
from the sections; with one voice they declaimed against it, and
petitions and remonstrances were poured in from them to the convention.
The reply made to the sections by the convention was by bringing the
army to its aid; and thus supported, the new constitution and decrees
were declared law. Civil war was now inevitable. The sections rose in
arms to the number of 40,000 men, and prepared to resist the convention.
Thus menaced, the convention assembled several thousand regular troops,
and they also formed out of the republicans a battalion on whom they
could depend in the contest against the royalists. The command of
these forces was given to Napoleon Buonaparte, who, for his exploits at
Toulon, had been appointed brigadier-general of the army in Italy. The
decisive contest took place on the 5th of October, when Buonaparte, by
his artillery, swept the ranks of the armed sections at every point,
so that they were soon utterly routed. In one brief hour two thousand
perished; and some arrests and executions confirmed the victory. By it
the convention was enabled to form the two-thirds of the councils from
their own body, as proposed; and having effected this, on the 26th of
October, it declared its session terminated. It commenced and ended its
career in blood.
{GEORGE III. 1795–1796}
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
During this year the public mind was in such an agitated state, arising
chiefly from the dearness of bread and general scarcity of provision,
and from the successes of the French, which made the war to some extent
unpopular, that ministers convoked parliament for an unusually early
day. It met on the 29th of October; and as the king was going down to
the house of lords to open the session, he was surrounded by a numerous
mob, who with loud voices demanded peace, cheap bread, and Pitt’s
dismissal. Some voices assumed a menacing tone; and when the state-coach
came opposite to the ordnance-office, then in St. Margaret-street, a
bullet, supposed to have been discharged from an air-gun, passed through
the window. His majesty behaved on this occasion with all his natural
coolness and intrepidity; on arriving at the house of lords he merely
said to the chancellor, “My lord, I have been shot at.” A number of
persons were immediately arrested, and carried for examination into
the Duke of Portland’s office; and, waiting the result of these
examinations, no business was done for some hours. At length, having
previously moved that strangers should withdraw, Lord Westmoreland
related in a formal manner the insult and outrage with which the king
had been treated; adding that his majesty, and those who were with him,
were of opinion that the bullet had been discharged from an air-gun,
from a bow-window of a house adjoining the ordnance-office, with a view
to assassinate the king. The rage of the populace was not yet exhausted.
On his return his majesty was again assaulted and insulted; stones were
thrown at him, and there was a good deal of hooting and shouting, and
loud cries of “Bread,” “Peace,” and “No Pitt!” But while one part of
the mob thus assailed him, another part cheered and applauded him, and a
detachment of horse-guards, which arrived as he was passing through the
park, presently dispersed them all. So gross an outrage as this had not
been offered to any other monarch of Great Britain since the days
of Charles the First. A reward of £ 1,000 was offered, to be paid on
conviction of any person concerned in the assault; and one Kidd Wake,
a journeyman printer, was convicted, and sentenced to five years’
imprisonment in Gloucester goal. But his majesty received much
consolation from the assurances of loyalty to his person contained in
the numerous addresses which were presented to him from all parts of the
kingdom.
His majesty’s speech on this occasion made the most of the check
which the French had received from the Austrians on the Rhine. It said
likewise, that the ruin of their commerce, the diminution of their
maritime power, and the unparalleled embarrassments of the French,
induced them to exhibit some desire for peace, and gave assurance that
any disposition on their part to negociate for a general peace, on just
and suitable terms, would be met, on the part of his majesty, with
a full desire to give it speedy effect. At the same time the king
recommended energy, in order to meet the possible continuance of
the war, and the improvement of our naval superiority. An amendment,
proposed by Fox, to the address was negatived.
BILL TO PREVENT SEDITIOUS MEETINGS, ETC.
On the 6th of November Lord Grenville introduced a bill in the house
of lords “for the safety and preservation of his majesty’s person and
government against treasonable and seditious practices and attempts.”
On the same day a bill was introduced into the commons by Pitt “for the
prevention of seditious meetings.” These bills, which went to restrict
the right of the people to assemble for petitioning the crown and the
legislature, and for discussing political subjects, and which were
therefore almost sufficient to provoke and create the evils they were
intended to prevent, met with a warm opposition in all their stages and
in both houses; but they were carried by very large majorities. Many
members at this time connected a meeting which had taken place in June,
in Copenhagen-fields, with the outrages offered to his majesty; while
others were of opinion that the unchecked harangues of demagogues were
calculated to lead the people into excesses; and therefore ministers met
with more than usual support in these measures.
Beyond this, little was done in parliament before the recess, except the
voting of supplies and receiving information relative to the failure of
the last year’s crop. The number of seamen voted was 110,000, and the
number of land-forces 207,000; and a loan of twenty millions and a
half, including a vote of credit, was granted. On the 8th of December, a
message from the king was delivered to both houses, announcing, not only
the regular formation of a government in France, but a readiness to meet
any disposition for pacific negociations, and to give them full effect.
His majesty expressed a hope, that the spirit and determination of
parliament, added to the recent successes of the Austrian arms, and to
the continued and growing embarrassments of the enemy, might speedily
conduce to the attainment of this object. Motions were afterwards made
in both houses for addresses in reply to his majesty’s message; and,
in the debates, opposition argued that the recent changes in the French
government rendered that nation no more fit to be treated with now, than
it had been at any period of the revolution. The addresses, however,
were carried in both houses by large majorities; and thus a delusive
hope was held out to the people that the war was about to be terminated.
Yet, had they reflected upon the temper of parliament, they could
scarcely have entertained such a hope; for motions made by opposition
for addresses requesting the king to open negociations with the French
government, were sternly objected to by ministers, and negatived. It was
left for the French to make the first advances for peace, and they were
not sufficiently humbled to take such a step; so war continued.