THE YEARS OF STRAIN (1796-7)
Torn as we are by faction, without an army, without money,
trusting entirely to a navy whom we may not be able to pay, and
on whose loyalty, even if we can, no firm reliance is to be
placed, how are we to get out of this cursed war without a
Revolution?--CORNWALLIS TO ROSS, _15th December 1797_.
The year 1797, which opened with events portending the overthrow of
Austria and the financial collapse of England, brought a passing gleam
of sunshine into the gray life of Pitt. For some time he had been a
frequent visitor at Eden Farm, Beckenham, the seat of Lord Auckland. It
was on the way to Holwood, and the cheerful society of that large family
afforded a relief from cares of state not to be found in his bachelor
household. His circle of friends, never large, had somewhat diminished
with the wear and tear of politics. His affection for Wilberforce,
perhaps, had not quite regained its former fervour. As for the vinous
society of Dundas, a valuable colleague but a far from ideal companion,
Pitt must in his better moments have held it cheap. He rarely saw his
mother, far away in Somerset; and probably his relations to his brother
had cooled since he removed him from the Admiralty. In truth, despite
his loving disposition, Pitt was a lonely man.
The voice of rumour, in his case always unfair, charged him with utter
indifference to feminine charms. His niece, Lady Hester Stanhope, who
later on had opportunities of observing him closely, vehemently denied
the charge, declaring that he was much impressed by beauty in women, and
noted the least defect, whether of feature, demeanour, or dress. She
declared that, on one occasion, while commending her preparations for
the ball-room, he suggested the looping up of one particular fold. At
once she recognized the voice of the expert and hailed the experiment
as an artistic triumph. Hester's recollections, it is true, belong to
the lonely years spent in the Lebanon, when she indulged in ecstatic or
spiteful outbursts; and we therefore question her statement that Pitt
was once so enamoured of a certain Miss W----, who became Mrs. B----s of
Devonshire, as to drink wine out of her shoe. But Hester's remarks are
detailed enough to refute the reports of his unnatural insensibility,
which elicited coarse jests from opponents; and we may fully trust that
severe critic of all Pitt's friends, when, recalling a special visit to
Beckenham Church, she pronounced the Honourable Eleanor Eden gloriously
beautiful.[436]
[Illustration: THE HON. ELEANOR EDEN. (From a miniature)]
To this bright vivacious girl of twenty years Pitt's affections went
forth in the winter of 1796-7;[437] and she reciprocated them. Every one
agrees that Eleanor combined beauty with good sense, sprightliness with
tact. Having had varied experiences during Auckland's missions to Paris,
Madrid, and The Hague, she had matured far beyond her years. In mental
endowments she would have been a fit companion even to Pitt; and she
possessed a rich store of the social graces in which he was somewhat
deficient. In fact, here was his weak point as a political leader. He
and his colleagues had no _salon_ which could vie with those of the Whig
grandees. The accession of Portland had been a social boon; but Pitt and
his intimate followers exerted little influence on London Society. He
and Grenville were too stiff. Neither Dundas nor Wilberforce moved in
the highest circles. Portland, Spencer, and Windham held somewhat aloof,
and Leeds, Sydney, and others had been alienated. Accordingly, the news
that Pitt was paying marked attentions to Auckland's eldest daughter
caused a flutter of excitement. Her charm and tact warranted the belief
that in the near future the Prime Minister would dominate the social
sphere hardly less than the political.
Among his friends who knew how warm a heart beat under that cold
exterior, the news inspired the hope that here was the talisman which
would reveal the hidden treasures of his nature. The stiff form would
now unbend; the political leader would figure as a genial host; the
martinet would become a man. Assuredly their estimate was correct.
Pitt's nature needed more glow, wider sympathies, a freer expression. A
happy marriage would in any case have widened his outlook and matured
his character. But a union with Eleanor Eden would have supplied to him
the amenities of life. We picture her exerting upon him an influence not
unlike that which Wordsworth believed that his sister had exerted upon
his being:
thou didst plant its crevices with flowers,
Hang it with shrubs that twinkle in the breeze,
And teach the little birds to build their nests
And warble in its chambers.[438]
It was not to be. After toying with this day-dream, Pitt suddenly broke
away to Downing Street. His letter to Auckland, written there on 20th
January 1797, announced the decision of the Minister in chillingly
correct terms. In pathetically halting and laboured phraseology he
implied that he had throughout observed a correct aloofness. After five
long sentences of apology to the father he proceeded thus:
Whoever may have the good fortune ever to be united to her is
destined to more than his share of human happiness. Whether, at
any rate, I could have had any ground to hope that such would
have been my lot, I am in no degree entitled to guess. I have to
reproach myself for ever having indulged the idea on my own part
as far as I have done, without asking myself carefully and early
enough what were the difficulties in the way of its being
realised. I have suffered myself to overlook them too long, but
having now at length reflected as fully and as calmly as I am
able on every circumstance that ought to come under my
consideration (at least as much for her sake as for my own) I am
compelled to say that I find the obstacles to it decisive and
insurmountable.[439]
Auckland had a right to feel the deepest pain at this official missive.
The matter had been discussed in newspapers. Indeed, a caricaturist
ventured to publish a sketch showing Pitt as Adam conducting Eve to the
nuptial bower in the garden of Eden, while behind it squatted Satan as a
toad, leering hatred through the features of Fox. It is to be hoped that
Auckland did not know of this indelicate cartoon when he replied to
Pitt. That letter has very properly been destroyed. But we have Pitt's
second letter to Auckland, in which he again assures him how deeply he
is affected by hearing of "the sentiments of another person, unhappily
too nearly interested in the subject in question." He adds these moving
words: "Believe me, I have not lightly or easily sacrificed my best
hopes and earnest wishes to my conviction and judgment." Auckland's
reply of 23rd January reveals the grief of his wife and daughter. For
two or three days they remained in absolute solitude, and that, too, in
a household remarkable for domestic affection. To Pitt also the decision
was a matter of deep pain and life-long regret. Thenceforth he trod the
path of duty alone. On 7th February the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote
to Auckland (his brother-in-law) that Pitt lived in seclusion and seemed
dreamy. At a recent Council meeting his face was swollen and unhealthy
looking. Probably this was the time at which Pitt informed Addington
that he must take the helm of State.[440]
We can only conjecture as to the insuperable obstacles to the union; but
it seems highly probable that they were of a financial kind. In the Pitt
MSS. (No. 196) there is a brief Memorandum in Pitt's writing, of the
year 1797, which must refer to his yearly expenses, either at Downing
Street or at Holwood. It gives the liquor account of the steward's room
as "£300 and upwards," and states that the other expenses of that room
might be reduced from £600 to £300, those of his own wardrobe from £600
to £400, and those of the stable from £400 to £300. These figures do not
tally with those of the Downing Street or Holwood accounts for the
latter half of 1797, which will be stated later; and the loose way in
which Pitt estimates his expenses is highly suggestive. We now know that
he was heading straight for bankruptcy throughout this period; and
probably on looking into his affairs he discovered the fact. It is also
certain that he lent money to his mother. She seems to have lost on
farming experiments at Burton Pynsent; for she charged her sons to
defray her just debts incurred in this manner, and the Bishop of Lincoln
in July 1801 stated that she owed to Pitt the sum of £5,800 on which she
ought to pay interest but did not. Chatham also borrowed £1,000 from
Pitt in August 1791, and the fact that he paid not a penny to help to
discharge the debts of his brother in the year 1801 seems to show that
he himself was still in low water.[441]
Piecing together these fragments of evidence, we may infer that Pitt's
near relations were a source of considerable expense, and that his own
heedlessness had by this time further served to embarrass him.
Therefore, his conduct towards Miss Eden, which at first sight seems
heartless, was probably dictated by sheer financial need. We may also
reject the spiteful statement in which Lady Hester Stanhope represented
Pitt as saying: "Oh, there was her mother [Lady Auckland],--such a
chatterer! and then the family intrigues! I can't keep them out of my
house; and for my King's and my country's sake I must remain a single
man." This is mere romancing. Pitt went to the Aucklands' house, not
they to his. As for the remark about Auckland's intrigues, it clearly
refers to the painful days after 1801, when Pitt broke with the
household at Beckenham.
There was only one method whereby Pitt could have assured his marriage
with Eleanor Eden, namely, by condescending to political jobbery. It was
beyond the power of Auckland, a comparatively poor man, burdened with a
large family, to grant a dowry with her unless Pitt awarded to him a
lucrative post and sinecures. Of course any such step was wholly out of
the question for either of them. In fact, Pitt opposed Auckland's
promotion, opened up by the death of Lord Mansfield, President of the
Council, though the public voice acclaimed Auckland as the
successor.[442] Equally noteworthy is the fact that, early in the year
1798, Pitt appointed Auckland Postmaster-General, with an annual stipend
of £2,500, but required him to give up his pension of £2,000 for
diplomatic services.[443] It is pleasing to record that their friendship
was not overclouded, except for a brief period.
There, then, we must leave this painful incident, but with heightened
admiration for Pitt. Outwardly his conduct appears frigid in the
extreme. Those, however, who probe the secrets of that reserved soul see
that his renunciation of conjugal bliss resulted from a scrupulous sense
of honour. As to the tenderness of his feelings at this time,
Addington, who knew him well, gives striking testimony, averring that in
his disposition there was "very much of the softness and milkiness of
human nature." That was the real Pitt.
* * * * *
Finance was the all-absorbing question in that gloomy winter of 1796-7.
The triumphs of Bonaparte in Italy and Hoche's attempt to invade Ireland
sank into insignificance in comparison with the oncoming shadow of
bankruptcy. The causes of this phenomenon are too technical to receive
adequate treatment here. Certainly the Bank Crisis of February of 1797
was not due to the exhaustion of the nation; for the revenue testified
to its abounding vitality. The Permanent Taxes maintained nearly the
high level reached in the prosperous year of peace, 1792, and the
figures for British Imports and Exports told the same tale, but the sums
of money borrowed in the years 1796, 1797 undoubtedly strained the
national credit.[444] Austria also applied to England for loans to
enable her to continue the war; and Pitt helped her to borrow in London
the sum of £4,600,000 in 1795, and £4,620,000 in 1796.
In one particular Pitt's action was unprecedented. In July 1796, during
the interval between the seventeenth and eighteenth Parliaments of Great
Britain, Austria sent urgent requests for pecuniary help so as to stay
the triumphs of the French in Italy and Swabia. Pitt yielded and
secretly remitted the sum of £1,200,000 as a loan. Undoubtedly this
opportune help enabled Austria to make the surprising efforts which
flung back the French to the Rhine, and checked the triumphal progress
of Bonaparte. Nevertheless, Fox threatened his rival with impeachment
for this unconstitutional action. Pitt replied with irresistible cogency
that the crisis called for bold handling, and that England helped her
ally to save the Empire and to maintain the contest in Italy. The House
condoned his action by 285 votes to 81, a proof that he dominated the
new Parliament as completely as its predecessor. He has been accused of
lavishing money on the Allies; but, except in this instance, he did not
by any means satisfy their claims. Moreover, they were justified in
expecting England to provide money in lieu of the troops which her War
Office failed to raise. Austria also solemnly covenanted to repay the
loans; and her neglect to do so occasioned a bitter dispute which long
held the two Powers apart. Pitt also refused her request for a loan in
the year 1797. As far as possible, he discouraged the raising of war
loans in London. Early in 1796 he did so in the case of Portugal from a
fear that the export of bullion would impair credit.[445]
At that time a novel expedient was shaping itself in his mind. On New
Year's Day he drove Sir John Sinclair from Dundas's house at Wimbledon
up to town; and on the way the baronet suggested the raising a great
loan on easy terms by an appeal to the loyalty of Britons.[446] The need
of some such device became increasingly apparent; for sinister symptoms
began to appear amidst the alarms of the autumn of 1796. The threats of
invasion led the Ministry to propose a special levy of 15,000 men to
reinforce the army, of 20,000 irregular cavalry, and of 60,000
supplemental Militia (18th October). These expenses, in addition to the
ever growing demands for the public services, involved a deficit of
£18,000,000. It was most important to raise this sum promptly in order
to uphold the credit and display the loyalty of the nation; for, as we
shall see, Pitt had recently opened negotiations for peace at Paris in
the hope that the late successes of the Austrians both in Italy and the
Rhineland (which proved to be only temporary), would induce the
Directory to accord fair terms to enemies who thus evinced their energy
and vitality. After consultation with the officials of the Bank of
England, he decided to raise the required sums, not by means of
"contractors," but by appealing direct to the public. Accordingly, on
1st December, he adopted the unusual course of appealing to the Lord
Mayor and the Directors of the Bank of England to encourage in every
possible way the raising of an extraordinary loan of £18,000,000. The
rate of interest, 5 5/8 per cent., seems somewhat high in the case of a
"Loyalty Loan," especially as Consols rose from 53 3/4 in September to
57 in November; but competent authorities agree that it was not too
high.[447]
The response was most gratifying. The Bank subscribed £1,000,000, the
Directors in their private capacity further contributing £400,000.
Similar feelings were displayed in the City and in the provinces.
Before the hour of 10 a.m. on 5th December, when the subscription list
was opened at the Bank, the lobby of the hall and even the approaches
were crowded with eager patriots, who fought their way towards the
books. Those in the rear called to more fortunate friends in the front
to inscribe their names. Within an hour and twenty minutes the amount
which could then be allotted was made good, and hundreds retired
disappointed. Similar scenes ensued on the two following days, the whole
sum of £18,000,000 being subscribed in less than fifteen and a half
hours.[448]
It was under these encouraging conditions that on 7th December 1796 Pitt
made his Budget Statement, which included the proposal of further
advances of £3,000,000 to our Allies. As a set-off to this, he pointed
to the yield of the taxes and the Imports and Exports for the quarter as
affording gratifying proof of the strength of the country. But, he
added, "this flourishing state of our affairs ought not to lessen our
moderation or abate our desire for peace." Those who blame him for
continuing to pay £200,000 into the Sinking Fund, while he had to borrow
large sums at a ruinous rate of interest, should remember that he
believed this costly device to be only temporary in view of his efforts
for peace.
The usually dull details of finance are at this point enlivened by the
ingenious suggestions poured in upon Pitt for opening up new sources of
revenue. The aim of financiers then being to press on the taxpayer at
all points with the imperceptible impartiality of air, the hints as to
the taxation of neighbours and rivals are of refreshing variety. Among
the less obvious are duties on barges, pawnbrokers' takings, toys,
theatre and concert tickets, buttons, corks, glass bottles, umbrellas,
sheriffs and under-sheriffs, county commissioners and attorneys who keep
clerks. On behalf of the last suggestion an anonymous writer points out
that it would enhance the dignity of the legal profession. Another
correspondent suggests a similar impost on physicians, surgeons, and
chemists, ranging from ten guineas in London to three guineas in the
provinces, in order to discourage the entry of illiterates. He also
urges the need of stopping the increase of luxury and amusements by
taxing hot-houses, horses and carriages let out on Sundays, organs,
pianos, and all musical instruments, as well as the owners thereof, on
the ground that this step will lessen the alarming growth of
bankruptcies and divorces. A tax on armorial bearings is suggested as
one which will not be resented by the rich. A fourth correspondent
advocates a graduated Income Tax, ranging from 6_d._ in the pound on
incomes under £400, up to 5_s._ in the pound on incomes of more than,
£30,000 a year, and estimates the total yield at £62,625,000. The same
writer urges the need of a tax on sinecures and pensions, and finally
begs Pitt for a place for life, devolving on his son.[449]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer therefore had the choice of the direct
attack on the purse or the increase of atmospheric pressure. For the
present he chose the latter method, enhancing the duties on tea, wines,
sugar, spirits, game licences, glass, tobacco, and snuff, besides
raising the "Assessed Taxes" by ten per cent. The produce of some of
these imposts is curious. Hair-powder yielded £197,000; the extra tea
and wine duties £186,000 and £923,000, severally; those on tobacco and
snuff only £40,000. Pitt's procedure in December 1796 was very cautious.
He carefully watched the yield of the new taxes, in order to see whether
the increase of price checked consumption. Finding that this did not
happen in the case of tea and spirits, he further raised the duties on
those commodities; but, on behalf of the poor, he exempted the cheaper
kinds of tea. On the other hand he proposed to check the consumption of
spirits by imposing an extra duty of five pence a gallon along with a
surcharge on distillery licences. Further, as the duties on bricks,
auction sales, sugar, bar iron, oil, wines, and coal had not lessened
consumption, he again increased them. A questionable experiment was an
increase in the postage of letters and parcels, and in the duties on
newspapers, stage coaches, and canal tolls. A new House Duty, levied in
proportion to the number of servants, is open to less objection. On the
whole he expected the new taxes to yield £2,138,000. The total supply
asked for was £27,640,000.
The financial outlook grew darker in the year 1797. At the close of
January came the news of Hoche's expedition to Bantry Bay, which
revealed the possibility of revolutionizing Ireland. On 4th February
Pitt heard of the triumph of Bonaparte at Rivoli. The tidings told
disastrously on markets already in a nervous state. A correspondent of
Pitt attributed the decline to the action of the Bank of England at the
close of 1795, in reducing their discounts. Fox and his friends ascribed
it to the export of specie to Vienna; while Ministers and their friends
gave out that it resulted from the fears of invasion, and the desire of
depositors everywhere to withdraw their money and place it in hiding.
Privately, however, Pitt confessed to Auckland that the export of gold
brought matters to a climax.
The amount of specie in the Bank of England, which was nearly £8,000,000
in 1795, fell to £1,272,000 in February 1797. In reality the Bank was
solvent, but it could not have realized its securities; and on several
occasions the Directors warned Pitt that any further withdrawals of
specie would bring on a crisis.[450] The final cause of alarm was a loan
of £1,500,000 to the Irish Government, the first occasion on which any
large sum was raised for that Administration.[451] On 25th and 26th
February, then, crowds rushed to withdraw money from the Bank into which
eleven weeks before they thronged in order to procure shares in the
Loyalty Loan. So serious was the crisis that Ministers decided to
intervene. On Sunday the 26th a meeting was held of the Privy Council,
which issued an Order in Council empowering the Directors to refuse
payments in cash until Parliament gave further orders on the
subject.[452]
For a few hours there was the prospect of a general collapse; and as
the Bank issued no notes for less than £5, though Sinclair and others
had advised the issue of £3 and £2 notes, small traders were threatened
with a recurrence to barter. Fortunately on 27th February the Directors
published a reassuring statement, and the Lord Mayor presided at an
influential meeting on the same day, which decided to accept banknotes
as legal tender for any amount. Thus a crash was averted. But Fox,
Sheridan, and the Opposition ably accused Pitt of leading his own
country to the brink of bankruptcy, even while he proclaimed the
imminent insolvency of France. They thundered against the export of gold
to the Emperor, and demanded a searching inquiry into the high-handed
dealings of the Minister with the Bank and with national finance. "We
have too long had a confiding House of Commons," exclaimed Fox; "I want
now an inquiring House of Commons." Despite Pitt's poor defence of his
loans to the Emperor, the Government carried the day by 244 votes to 86
(28th February); but the unwonted size of the minority was a sharp
warning to curtail loans and subsidies. Apart from a small loan to
Portugal in 1798, nothing of note was done to help Continental States
until Russia demanded pecuniary aid for the War of the Second Coalition.
In order to provide a circulating medium, the Bank was empowered to
issue notes for £2 and £1, and to refuse cash payments for sums
exceeding £1 (March to May 1797).
Meanwhile, shortly after the Bank crisis, came news of the failure of an
American, Colonel Tate, with some 1,400 French gaol-birds, to make a
raid at Fishguard in Pembrokeshire. A later legend sought to embellish
this very tame affair by ascribing his failure to the apparition on the
hills of Welsh women in high hats and scarlet cloaks, whom the invaders
took for regulars. Unfortunately for lovers of the picturesque, the
apparition occurs only in much later accounts.[453] Far more important
were the tidings from Cape St. Vincent. There Jervis, with only fifteen
ships, boldly attacked twenty-seven Spaniards while still in confusion
after a foggy night. As is well known, the boldness of Nelson, in
wearing out of the line so as to prevent the reunion of the enemy's
ships, crowned the day with glory (14th February). The weakness of the
Spanish navy stood glaringly revealed, and the fear of invasion, which
turned mainly on a junction of their fleet to that of France,
thenceforth subsided.
Jervis remarked before the fight that England never stood in more need
of a victory. The news reached London most opportunely on 3rd March;
for, along with the Bank crisis, came rumours of serious discontent
among our seamen. Even Jervis could scarcely stamp out disaffection in
the fleet that rode triumphantly before Cadiz; and in home waters mutiny
soon ran riot. Is it surprising that sailors mutinied? In large part
they were pressed men. Violence swept the crews together, and terror
alone kept them together. The rules of the service prescribed flogging
for minor offences, hanging for refusal to work. How men existed in the
over-crowded decks is a mystery. On paper the rations seem adequate, a
pound of meat per day, a proportionate amount of biscuit, and half a
pint of rum. But these provisions were issued by pursers who often eked
out their scanty pay by defrauding the crew. Weevilly biscuits and meat
of briny antiquity were therefore the rule, excess of salt and close
packing being deemed adequate safeguards against decay. Finally the
indurated mass became so susceptible of polish as in the last resort to
provide the purser with a supply of snuff-boxes. One little comfort was
allowed, namely, cocoa for breakfast. But the chief solace was rum,
cheap, new, and fiery, from the West Indies. This and the rope-end
formed the _nexus_ of the crew. As for the pay, from which alone the
sailor could make his lot bearable, it had not been increased since the
reign of Charles II. Thanks to the Duke of York, that of the army had
been raised from 8 1/4_d._ to 1_s._ a day, though not in proportion to
the cost of living, the net gain being only 2_d._ a day. The sailor
alone was forgotten, and, lest he should come into touch with Radical
clubs, leave of absence was rarely if ever accorded.
The men of the Channel Fleet were the first to resolve to end their
chief grievances, namely, insufficient pay, withdrawal of leave of
absence, and the unfair distribution of prize money. On putting back to
Spithead in March 1797, they sent to Admiral Howe several round-robins
demanding an increase of pay. He was then ill at Bath, and, deeming them
the outcome of a single knot of malcontents, ignored them. This angered
the men. His successor in command, Lord Bridport (brother of Sir
Alexander Hood), was less popular; and when it transpired that the fleet
would soon set sail, the men resolved to show their power. Accordingly,
on 15th April, on the hoisting of the signal to weigh anchor, the crew
of the flag-ship, the "Queen Charlotte," manned her shrouds and gave
three cheers. The others followed her example, and not an anchor was
weighed. On the next day (Easter Sunday) the men formed a central
committee, sent ashore some hated officers, and formulated the demands
outlined above, promising to fight the French if they put to sea, and
afterwards to renew the same demands.
That Easter was a time of dismay in London. Ministers at once met in
Cabinet Council and agreed to despatch to Portsmouth Spencer, first Lord
of the Admiralty, along with Admiral Young, and others. Spencer's
reputation for sincerity, love of justice, and regard for the seamen
inspired general confidence; and when the Commissioners were joined by
Bridport, Parker, Colpoys, and Gardner, there was hope of a compromise.
The men allowed Bridport to retain his command, provided that he did not
issue orders for sea; they enforced respect to officers; they flogged
one man who became drunk, and ducked more venial offenders three times
from a rope tied at the main-yard. Their committee of thirty-two (two
from each ship), met every day on the "Queen Charlotte"; it demanded an
increase of pay from 9 3/4_d._ to 1_s._ a day. But when Spencer promised
to lay this request before the King, on condition of immediate
restoration of discipline, the men demurred. Conscious of their power,
they now claimed that rations must be served out, not 12 ounces, but 16
ounces to the pound; that the power of awarding heavy punishments for
petty offences should be curtailed, extended opportunities being also
granted for going ashore. In vain did Spencer and his colleagues protest
against this dictation of terms. A personal appeal to the crew of the
"Royal George" had no effect; and when Gardner vehemently reproached the
men for skulking from the French, they ran at him; and he would have
fared badly had he not placed his neck in a noose of a yard-rope and
called on the men to hang him provided they returned to duty. The men
thereupon cheered him and retired.
On 18th April the men's committee formulated their demands in two
manifestoes. Further conferences took place, in one of which Gardner
shook a delegate by the collar and was himself nearly murdered. The
whole fleet then defiantly flew the red flag. Spencer and his colleagues
returned to London for an interview with Pitt; and along with him and
the Lord Chancellor they posted to Windsor to urge the need of
compliance with the men's demands. Grenville, journeying from Dropmore,
joined them, and a Privy Council was held. Pitt's and Spencer's views
prevailed, and a Royal Proclamation was drawn up on 22nd April,
pardoning the crews if they would return to duty. A horseman riding at
full speed bore the document to Portsmouth in seven hours, and the
fleet, with the exception of the "Marlborough," re-hoisted the white
ensign and prepared for sea. The discontent rife at Plymouth also
subsided. On 26th April, during a Budget debate, Pitt promised to
provide for the extra pay to seamen and marines.
But on 3rd May an indiscreet opening of the whole question in the House
of Lords by the Duke of Bedford led to a revival of discontent at
Spithead. He upbraided Pitt with delay in introducing a Bill to give
effect to the Royal Proclamation. Howe thereupon proceeded to justify
his former conduct; and Spencer remarked that he did not expect to
receive the King's commands to bring down any communication on the
affair to the House of Lords. By an unscrupulous use of these remarks
agitators inflamed the crews with the suspicion of ministerial trickery;
and on 7th May, every ship refused to obey Bridport's orders to weigh
anchor. The men arrested Colpoys and sent fifteen officers on shore.
Pitt thereupon, on 8th May, moved a resolution in the terms of the
decision framed at Windsor on 22nd April. He begged the House for a
silent vote on this question; but Fox and Sheridan could not resist the
temptation to accuse him of being the cause of this second mutiny.
Clearly it resulted from the remarks in the House of Lords on 3rd May,
which led the seamen to believe that Pitt was about to play them false.
The Commons passed the resolution; but Whitbread, on the morrow, moved a
vote of censure on Pitt for delay in dealing with this important
question. Again Pitt pointed out that the promise given during the
Budget debate sufficed for the time, but he admitted that preliminary
forms and inquiries had absorbed an undue amount of time. Fox and
Sheridan pounced down on this admission, the latter inveighing against
the "criminal and murderous delay" of Ministers, whose incapacity
earned the contempt of the House. Spying a party advantage in
protracting these debates, Whitbread renewed his attack on the next day
(10th May). Pitt replied with admirable temper, and showed that the
delay in presenting a Bill arose partly from the action of the
Opposition itself. Will it be believed that Parliament wasted two days,
while the navy was in mutiny, in discussing whether Pitt had or had not
been guilty of delay? The results were deplorable. An anonymous
chronicler, hostile to Pitt, confessed that the men at Spithead were
"better pleased with reading Fox and Sheridan's speeches than with the
long-expected settlement of their claims."[454]
In this state of things Pitt despatched Howe ("Black Dick"), the most
popular of the admirals, in order to convince the seamen of the
sincerity of Government. The following is the letter in which he
apprised Bridport of Howe's mission:
Downing Street, _May 10, 1797_.[455]
The account we have received this morning led to a great degree
of hope that the distressful embarrassments which you have
experienced may already in a great degree have subsided. You
will, however, have learnt that in the suspense in which we
remained yesterday, it had been determined to send Lord Howe
with such instructions under the sign manual as seemed to us
best adapted to the very difficult emergency. His presenting
this commission seems still [more] likely to confirm the good
disposition which had begun to show itself, and his not coming
after the intention had once been announced might lead to
unpleasant consequence [_sic_]. It was thought best to make this
a civil commission in order not to interfere with the military
command of the fleet, and at the same time to give the
commission to a distinguished naval character, though not with
any naval authority or functions. It was also thought that
making a communication of this nature after all that had passed
through some other channel than the commander of the fleet was
for other reasons preferable and likely to be thought so by you.
I earnestly hope this measure will produce good effects and will
both in itself and in its consequences be satisfactory to you.
At all events I am sure you will continue to contribute your
exertions with the same zeal and public spirit which you have
shewn under such trying difficulties to bring this arduous work,
if possible, to a happy termination. I hope I need not say how
sincerely and deeply, in addition to the public difficulties, I
have felt for the situation in which you have been placed. If
the favourable turn which has been given to affairs should be
happily confirmed, I look forward to the hope that your command
may still be attended with circumstances which may repay you for
the labour and anxiety with which you have had to struggle.
Howe found it no easy task to vindicate the good faith of Ministers; but
by visiting each ship in turn, he prevailed on the men to submit to
discipline. The 14th of May was a day of great rejoicing at Spithead;
the men's delegates landed and carried the venerable admiral in triumph
to Government House, where he and his lady entertained them at dinner.
Three days later the whole fleet put to sea.
But already there had fallen on Pitt a still severer blow. On 10th May
appeared the first signs of discontent in the ships anchored off
Sheerness. In all probability they may be ascribed to the factious
wrangling at Westminster and the revival of the mutiny at Spithead on
7th May. Seeing that the demands of the sailors had been conceded before
this outbreak occurred at the Nore, nothing can be said on behalf of the
ringleaders, except that amidst their worst excesses they professed
unswerving loyalty, firing salutes on 29th May in honour of the
restoration of Charles II and on 4th June for King George's birthday.
Apart from this their conduct was grossly unpatriotic. On 12th May the
crew of H.M.S. "Sandwich," headed by a supernumerary named Parker,
captured the ship, persuaded eleven other crews to mutiny, and sent
delegates to Portsmouth to concert action with Bridport's fleet.
In this they failed; and, had Vice-Admiral Buckner, in command at the
Nore, acted with vigour, he might have profited by the discouragement
which this news produced. He acted weakly; and the men paid no heed to
the Royal Proclamation issued on 23rd May, offering the same terms as
those granted at Portsmouth and pardon to all who at once returned to
duty. Spencer and his colleagues came from London in the hope of
persuading the men, but in vain. The men sought to tempt the one loyal
ship, the "Clyde," from its duty. Fortunately this Abdiel of a false
company was able to slip off by night and guard the entrance to
Sheerness harbour. Government then hurried up troops and had new
batteries constructed to overawe the fleet. Unfortunately, at the end of
May, thirteen more ships, deserters from the fleets of Duncan and
Onslow, joined the mutineers at the Nore. This event might have led to a
double disaster. Stout old Duncan with only two ships sailed on
undaunted to the Texel, where lay a Dutch fleet of fifteen sail
preparing for sea. In order to impose on them he kept flying signals as
if to consorts in the offing, a stratagem which entirely succeeded. The
danger was, however, acute until, acting on Spencer's suggestion,
Vorontzoff ordered a Russian squadron, then in British waters, to sail
to Duncan's help.
Equally serious was the situation at the Nore. The mutineers, strong in
numbers but lacking beef and beer, stopped the navigation of the Thames
and captured provisions from merchantmen, thus causing a panic in
London. On 5th June, after firing the royal salute, the crews seized
some unpopular officers and boatswains, tarred and feathered them, and
landed them at Gravesend, a spectacle for gods and men. In these and
other reckless acts the fever expended its force. Food and water ran
short; for the banks were strictly guarded, and ships ceased to arrive.
The desperate suggestion of handing the ships over to the Dutch was
frustrated, if it were ever seriously considered, by the removal of the
outer buoys. One by one ships fell away and replaced the red flag by the
white ensign. Enough force was now at hand to quell the desperate
minority; and on 15th June the "Sandwich," renouncing the authority of
Parker, sailed under the guns of Sheerness. A fortnight later Parker
swung from the yardarm of that ship. His had been a strange career. The
son of a tradesman of Exeter, he is said to have entered the navy as a
midshipman, but to have been thrice dismissed from his ship for bad
conduct. Settling down at Perth, he was imprisoned for debt, but gained
his freedom and also a bounty for enrolling in the navy as a volunteer.
His daring spirit and sturdy frame brought him to the front in the way
that we have seen, the moral perversity of his nature largely
determining the course of the mutiny at the Nore. After him twenty-two
other mutineers were hanged.
Few men have done more harm to England than Parker. So heavy a blow did
the Nore mutiny deal to credit that 3 per cent. Consols, which did not
fall below 50 at the Bank crisis, sank to 48 in June, the lowest level
ever touched in our history. After the collapse of the mutiny they rose
to 55 1/2. The serenity of Pitt never failed during this terrible time.
A remarkable proof of his self-possession was given by Spencer. Having
to consult him hastily one night, he repaired to Downing Street and
found that he was asleep. When awakened, he sat up in bed, heard the
case, and gave his instructions, whereupon Spencer withdrew.
Remembering, however, one topic which he had omitted, he returned, and
found him buried in slumber as profound as if he had not been disturbed.
Fox and his friends were far from showing the same equanimity. Because
the House by 256 votes to 91 opposed a motion for Reform which Grey most
inopportunely brought forward in the midst of the mutiny, they decided
to leave Parliament. But the effect of this "secession" was marred by
the occasional reappearance of Sheridan, Tierney, and others who had
loudly advocated it.[456] Unpatriotic in conception, it speedily became
ludicrous from its half-hearted execution.
The question has often been raised whether the mutineers were egged on
by malcontent clubs. There are some suspicious signs. A mutineer on
board H.M.S. "Champion" told his captain that they had received money
from a man in a black coat. This alone is not very convincing. But the
malcontents at the Nore certainly received money, though from what
source is uncertain. The evidence brought before the Committee of
Secrecy as to the connection of the United Irishmen with the mutineers,
seems rather thin. As to French bribery, the loyal sailors at Spithead
in their address to the Nore mutineers bade them not to be any longer
misled by "French principles and their agents, under whatsoever mask."
It was also reported in August 1798 that the French Government paid an
Irishman, Duckett, to go and _renew_ the mutiny. The officials of the
Home Office believed the London Corresponding Society to be guilty; and
on 16th June one of them, J. K[ing], issued a secret order to two of his
agents at Sheerness to discover whether two members of that society,
named Beck and Galloway, had had dealings with the rebel crews. The
agents, A. Graham and D. Williams, on 24th June sent to the Duke of
Portland the following report, which merits quotation almost in
full:[457]
... Mr. Graham and Mr. Williams beg leave to assure his Grace
that they have unremittingly endeavoured to trace if there was
any connexion or correspondence carried on between the mutineers
and any private person or any society on shore, and they think
they may with the greatest safety pronounce that no such
connexion or correspondence ever did exist. They do not however
mean to say that wicked and designing men have not been among
the mutineers; on the contrary they have proof sufficient to
found a belief upon that several whose mischievous dispositions
would lead them to the farthest corner of the kingdom in hopes
of continuing a disturbance once begun have been in company with
the delegates on shore, and have also (some of them) visited the
ships at the Nore, and by using inflammatory language
endeavoured to spirit on the sailors to a continuance of the
mutiny, without however daring to offer anything like a plan for
the disposal of the fleet or to do more than insinuate that they
were belonging to clubs or societies whose members wished well
to the cause, but from which societies Mr. Graham and Mr.
Williams are persuaded no such persons were ever regularly
deputed. Neither do they believe that any club or society in the
kingdom or any of those persons who may have found means of
introducing themselves to the delegates have in the smallest
degree been able to influence the proceedings of the mutineers,
whose conduct from the beginning seems to have been of a wild
and extravagant nature not reducible to any sort of form or
order and therefore capable of no other mischief than was to be
apprehended from a want of the fleet to serve against the enemy.
In this state however they were unfortunately suffered to go on
without interruption until they began to think themselves
justifiable in what they were doing, and by stopping up the
mouth of the Thames they were suspected of designs for which Mr.
Graham and Mr. Williams can by no means give them credit. The
want of beer and fresh beef prompted them to revenge, and that
and nothing else induced them to interrupt the trade of the
river. It was done on the spur of the occasion, and with a view
of obtaining a supply of fresh provisions. Another thing, namely
the systematic appearance with which the delegates and the
sub-committees on board the different ships conducted the
business of the mutiny may be supposed a good ground of
suspecting that better informed men than sailors in general are
must have been employed in regulating it for them. This Mr.
Graham and Mr. Williams at first were inclined to believe too;
but in the course of their examinations of people belonging to
the fleet they were perfectly convinced that without such a
combination and with the assistance of the newspapers only
(independent of the many cheap publications to be had upon
subjects relating to clubs and societies of all descriptions)
and the advantage of so many good writers as must have been
found among the quota-men, they were capable of conducting it
themselves.
Graham and Williams arrested at Sheerness three strangers, Hulm,
McLaurin, and McCan, who were making mischief. Nothing seems to have
come of these arrests; and, despite the opinion of Pitt, expressed in
his speech of 2nd June, we may dismiss the charge against the London
Corresponding Society. It is clear, however, that busybodies circulated
newspapers and pamphlets at Sheerness, Chatham, and Maidstone. The
reports of the parliamentary debates of 3rd, 8th, 9th, and 10th May
would alone have encouraged the mutineers; and the chiefs of the
Opposition must bear no small share of responsibility for the disastrous
events at Spithead and the Nore. They were warned that their nagging
tactics would cause trouble in the navy. They persisted, in the hope of
discrediting the Ministry. They succeeded in paralysing the navy; and
the only excuse for their conduct is that their hatred of Pitt blinded
them to the obvious consequences. From this censure I must except
Sheridan, whose speech of 2nd June was patriotic; and he further is said
to have suggested the plan of removing the buoys beyond the mutinous
fleet.
For a brief space disquieting symptoms appeared in the army. An
inflammatory appeal to the troops was distributed at Maidstone by Henry
Fellows; and the same man addressed a letter to some person unnamed,
asking him to send on 100 copies of the Ulster Address, 50 of
"Boniparte's [_sic_] Address," 50 of "the Duke of Richmond's Letter,"
and 50 of Payne's "Agrarian Justice." The last named was found among the
papers of John Bone, a member of the London Corresponding Society.[458]
It is not unlikely that this propaganda was connected with that at
Chatham barracks, where a seditious handbill was left on 21st May 1797,
urging the men to cast off the tyranny misnamed discipline, to demand
better food, better clothing, and freedom from restraint in barracks.
"The power is all our own," it concludes. "The regiments which send you
this are willing to do their part. They will show their countrymen they
can be soldiers without being slaves ... Be sober, be ready."[459] The
paper was probably connected with the mutiny at the Nore. There were
also some suspicious doings in London barracks. One of the incendiaries
there was, "wicked Williams," who certainly had run through the whole
gamut of evil. First as a clergyman, he ruined himself by his excesses;
then as a penitent he applied to Wilberforce for relief, and, after
disgusting even that saintly man, he in revenge carried round to certain
barracks the signature of his would-be benefactor appended to a
seditious appeal. Busybodies lacking all sense of humour therefore
buzzed it about that the abolitionist leader sought to stir up a mutiny.
On 13th May Pitt sent to him to sift any grains of truth that there
might be in this peck of lies. The following unpublished letter from
Wilberforce to Pitt shows that he advised him to use Williams so as to
get at the grains:
2.20 Saty mng. [_May 1797_?][460]
Williams has been with Windham and is to wait on him again. The
latter has been with me, and I have been guarding him about
Wms's character, telling him that we wish to enable some proper
person to watch Wms's motions by becoming acquainted with his
person. Now, if this watch should be at or near Windham's, this
point could be obtained. My other means of making the discovery
have failed, and I can devise no other. Williams avowed to
Windham that he had been employed in endeavouring to inflame the
soldiery, but that his mind was not prepared to go the lengths
he found it would be required to go. I am pretty sure the best
way would be to give Williams money, a little, to infuse a
principle of hope. I dare say he is hungry. You must place no
dependence whatever on him, but if he would act for you, he
would be a useful agent, and I think a little money in his case
indispensable. I intreat you not to neglect this. I suppose
there will now be no use in my seeing Ford.
In a second letter, written an hour later, Wilberforce urges Pitt not to
neglect this note. Williams some years ago sought to make a mutiny; he
was skilled in intrigue, had "held Jacobinical language, and was going
on in the most profligate and abandoned way." This is all the
information that the Pitt MSS. yield upon this question. But in the
private diary of Wilberforce there is the significant entry: "Pitt
awaked by Woolwich artillery riot and went out to Cabinet." The cool
bearing of Lord Harrington, commander of the forces in London, helped to
restore confidence. On 3rd June Government introduced and speedily
passed a Bill for preventing seduction of the soldiery. There were
rumours of an intended mutiny in the Guards; but fortunately the troops
remained true to duty, and some of them helped to quell the mutiny at
the Nore.
A survey of Pitt's conduct during these critical months reveals the
limitations of his nature. He was wanting in foresight. He seems to have
been taken unawares both by the Bank crisis and the mutinies. He met the
financial crisis promptly when it became acute, though by means which
caused incalculable inconvenience at a later time. The mutinies also
ought to have been averted by timely concessions to the sailors, who
needed increase of pay fully as much as the soldiery. For this neglect,
however, the Admiralty Board, not Pitt, is chiefly to blame. When the
storm burst, Ministers did not display the necessary initiative and
resourcefulness; and the officials of the Admiralty must be censured for
the delay in bringing forward the proposals on which Parliament could
act. The Opposition, as usual, blamed Pitt alone; and it must be
confessed that he did not exert on officials the almost terrifying
influence whereby Chatham is said to have expedited the preparation of a
fleet of transports. The story to that effect is of doubtful
authenticity.[461] But there is no doubt that Chatham's personality and
behaviour surpassed those of his son in face of a national crisis. The
eagle eye of the father would have discerned the growth of discontent in
the navy, and his forceful will would have found means to allay or crush
it. Before the thunder of his eloquence the mewlings of faction must
have died away. The younger Pitt was too hopeful, too soft, for the
emergency. But it is only fair to remember the heartache and ill health
besetting him since the month of January, which doubtless dulled his
powers during the ensuing period of ceaseless strain and anxiety.
FOOTNOTES:
[436] "Mems. of Lady Hester Stanhope," i, 177-81. Tomline asserted that
a lady of the highest rank desired to marry Pitt. Various conjectures
have been made on this topic. Lord Rosebery suggests that the Duchess of
Gordon was hinted at.
[437] "Auckland Journals," iii, 356, 363, 369, 373-4.
[438] Wordsworth, "Prelude," bk. xiv.
[439] Pretyman MSS. Quoted in full, with Pitt's second letter and one of
Auckland, by Lord Ashbourne ("Pitt," 241-4).
[440] Pellew, i, 183.
[441] Ashbourne, 162, 179; G. Rose, "Diaries," i, 410, 429.
[442] "Auckland Journals," iii, 359. George III, who disliked Auckland,
ordered the appointment of Chatham.
[443] _Ibid._, iii, 387.
[444] See Appendix for the sums borrowed, expended on the army and navy,
and raised by the Permanent Taxes in 1792-1801.
[445] "Parl. Hist.," xxxii, 1297-1347; Pitt MSS., 102. Pitt to Boyd, 4th
January 1796.
[446] "Mems. of Sir John Sinclair," ii, 276.
[447] W. Newmarch, "Loans raised by Pitt (1793-1801)," pp. 16, 25-33.
[448] On 2nd December 1796, Thomas Coutts, Pitt's banker, wrote to him:
"Mr. Dent, Mr. Hoare, Mr. Snow, Mr. Gosling, Mr. Drummond, and myself
met today, and have each subscribed £50,000.... I shall leave town
tomorrow, having staid solely to do any service in my power in
forwarding this business, which I sincerely wish and hope may be the
means of procuring peace on fair and honourable terms. P.S.--We have
subscribed £10,000 in your name, and shall take care to make the
payments" (Pitt MSS., 126). Mr. Abbot ("Lord Colchester's Diary," 76)
states that fear of a compulsory contribution helped on the Loyalty
Loan.
[449] Pitt MSS., 272.
[450] Ann. Reg. (1797), 130-42.
[451] Sir J. Sinclair, "Hist. of the Public Revenue," ii, 143.
[452] Pitt MSS., 272; "Parl. Hist.," xxxii, 1517; Gilbart, "History ...
of Banking" (ed. by E. Sykes), i, 46. On 25th February 1797 Pitt wrote a
memorandum (Pitt MSS., 102), stating that the crisis was due to the too
great circulation of paper notes by banks having limited resources.
Their stoppage affected larger Houses and paralysed trade. He had wanted
to meet the City men, who met on the 22nd to discuss the situation, but
failed to agree on any remedy. Finally they agreed to meet at the
Mansion House to discuss the issue of Exchequer Bills. Coutts, on 19th
March 1797, informed Pitt that gambling in the Prince of Wales'
Debentures, which exceeded £432,000, ruined the market for ordinary
securities (Pitt MSS., 126). Sinclair had vainly urged Pitt to compel
bankers to find and exhibit securities for the paper notes which they
issued ("Corresp. of Sir J. Sinclair," i, 87).
[453] H. F. B. Wheeler and A. M. Broadley, "Napoleon and the Invasion of
England," ch. ii, have proved this.
[454] "Parl. Hist.," xxxiii, 473-516; "Hist. of the Mutiny at Spithead
and the Nore" (Lond. 1842), 61-2; "Dropmore P.," iii, 323.
[455] Pitt MSS., 102. Lord Mornington deemed the surrender to the seamen
destructive of all discipline in the future ("Buckingham P.," i, 373).
[456] Holland, i, 84-91.
[457] "H. O.," Geo. III (Domestic), 137.
[458] "Report of the Comm. of Secrecy" (1799), 23; App., v, vi.
[459] From Mr. Broadley's MSS.
[460] Pitt MSS., 189. See, too, "Life of Wilberforce," ii, 217; Windham
("Diary," 363) saw Williams on and after 13th May.
[461] J. Corbett, "England in the Seven Years' War," i, 191.