{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 L10,000 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 Penthievre, 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 Vendee. 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 Penthievre. 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 Penthievre. 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 Dol, 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, re-crossed 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 Doree, 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 re-action, it ventured on the impeachment of Billaud de Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Barrere, 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 Doree 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 reelected, 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 L 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.



CHAPTER XXIII.

{GEORGE III. 1796-1798}

Grey's Motion for Peace, &c...... Pitt's Financial Measures..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Negociations of Peace..... Military Affairs on the Continent..... Surrender of Corsica and the Isle of Elba..... Dutch Attempt to retake the Cape of Good Hope..... French Expedition to Ireland..... . Disputes between France and America..... Meeting of Parliament..... Pitt's Financial Statement..... Mission of Lord Malmesbury to Paris..... Stoppage of Cash- payments at the Bank..... Meeting in the Fleets..... . Grey's Motion for Reform, &c...... French Descent on Wales..... Battle of Cape St. Vincent..... Battle of Camperdown..... The Blockade of Cadiz, &c...... War on the Continent..... Internal History of France..... Meeting of Parliament

{A.D. 1796}



GREY'S MOTION FOR PEACE, ETC.

After the Christmas recess, on the 15th of February, Mr. Grey moved an address to the king, praying him to communicate to the executive government of France his readiness to meet any disposition to negociate a general peace. Pitt in reply said that there was a sincere desire for peace, if it could be obtained on honourable terms; but that the country could not break her faith with her allies that remained true to her, or consent to any arrangement which should leave the French in possession of Belgium, Holland, Savoy, Nice, &c. The motion was negatived by one hundred and ninety against fifty. On the 10th of March the same honourable gentleman moved that the house should resolve itself into a committee, to inquire into the state of the nation; in his speech on which he dwelt upon the enormous expenses and hopeless prospects of the war, and represented our commerce as declining, and the country as reduced to a state in which it could not bear any more taxes. Pitt and his friends insisted, however, that the commerce of the country had increased, and was increasing, and justified the lavish expenditure, though much of it was unjustifiable. This motion was also negatived; but a few weeks later Mr. Grey moved a long series of resolutions, charging ministers with numerous acts of misappropriation of the public money, in flagrant violation of various acts of parliament, and of presenting false accounts, calculated to mislead the judgment of the house. The order of the day was likewise carried against this motion, by a majority of two hundred and nine to thirty-eight. On the 10th of May an address to the king was moved in the upper house by the Earl of Guildford, and in the lower house by Mr. Fox, declaring that the duty incumbent on parliament no longer permitted them to dissemble their deliberate opinion, that the distress, difficulty, and peril, to which this country was then subjected, had arisen from the misconduct of the king's ministers aud was likely to increase as long as the same principles which had hitherto guided these ministers should continue to prevail in the councils of Great Britain. Fox enlarged much on "that most fatal of all the innumerable errors of ministers," their rushing into a ruinous and unnecessary war, instead of mediating between France and the allied powers. He contended that his majesty, by undertaking the office of mediator, would have added lustre to the national character, and have placed Britain in the exalted situation of arbitress of the world. On the other hand, Pitt insisted that the king could not have interposed his mediation without incurring the hazard of involving himself in a war with that power which should have refused his terms. Pitt enlarged on the danger arising to all Europe from the revolutionary decree of the 19th of November, and the insult offered to this country in particular, in the encouragement given to the seditious and treasonable addresses presented to the convention. He contended, that while negociations were pending, war was actually declared by France, and that France, and not England, was therefore the aggressor. This nation, he said, had no alternative; and he asked if the house, after a war of three years, which they had sanctioned by repeated votes and declarations, would now acknowledge themselves in a delusion? whether they would submit to the humiliation and degradation of falsely arraigning themselves, and of passing on their own acts a sentence of condemnation? Pitt said that it was a war of which the necessity and policy were manifest; and that if the country should at any time suffer a reverse of fortune, he should still exhort them to surmount all difficulties by perseverance, until they could obtain safe and honourable conditions of peace. On the other hand, he added, if success should attend our arms, the prospect of obtaining further advantages should not be relinquished by a premature readiness to make peace. These arguments were deemed conclusive: the motions both of Fox and Lord Guildford were lost by immense majorities.



PITT'S FINANCIAL MEASURES.

In the course of this session two budgets were produced, and two loans contracted, amounting in the whole to L25,000,000. The total supplies granted for the year were L13,821,430. In order to meet the expenditure many taxes were augmented, as those on wine, spirits, tea, coffee, silk, fruit, tobacco, salt, horses, dogs, hats, and legacies to collateral relatives; the assessed taxes were also increased by ten per cent.



PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

This session, in which little appears to have been done, terminated on the 19th of May. In his speech from the throne his majesty expressed the happy effects experienced from the provisions adopted for suppressing sedition, and restraining the progress of principles subversive of all established government; and the highest approbation of the uniform wisdom, temper, and firmness which had appeared in all then-proceedings since their first meeting. A few days afterwards parliament was dissolved.



NEGOCIATIONS FOR PEACE.

In the course of the debate on Fox's motion, for an address to the crown, it was stated by ministers that Mr. Wickham, our envoy to the Swiss cantons, had already had some communication with Barthelemy, the French negociator in chief, and they urged that these communications were quite sufficient to induce the republic to treat, if it really had any pacific intention. Opposition, however, urged that Mr. Wickham had not done enough to conciliate the French; and thus urged on, Pitt considered himself obliged to continue the overtures which had been made. Mr. Wickham asked Barthelemy whether the directory were desirous to negociate with Great Britain and her allies on moderate and honourable conditions, and would agree to a meeting of a congress for this purpose. Barthelemy replied, that the directory sincerely desired peace, but that they would insist on keeping Belgium, or all the Austrian dominions in the Low Countries, as they had been annexed to the French republic by a constitutional decree that could not be revoked. It was, however, as clear as the sun at noonday that the directory did not desire peace at all; or that, if they did, it would be on terms that could not be accepted. At this very time they were not only meditating a blow at the commerce of England, by preventing the admission of English goods into any port of France and Belgium, and into any of the French dependencies, but they were fostering and entertaining a number of Irish revolutionists at Paris, and were contemplating a grand expedition to Ireland, in order to co-operate with the rebellious there, and to convert that country, as they had done Holland, Belgium, &c, into a French dependency. Yet, though it was manifest that the French directory had no desire for peace, in the autumn of this year, Pitt was induced to renew his overtures. Government applied for passports for an ambassador to go to Paris; and Lord Malmesbury arrived there on the 22nd of October. But all negociation for peace was vain. It-lasted for several weeks; and then, the directors having required Lord Malinesbury to define what compensation would be demanded for the restoration of the French colonies, and to state all his demands within four and twenty hours, his lordship replied that their requisition precluded all further negociation; and on the next day his lordship was told that he must quit Paris within forty-eight hours.

In the meantime Pitt had prepared for a vigorous prosecution of the war. In order to confirm the cabinet in the warlike disposition displayed, to rouse the national spirit for renewed exertions, and to point out the dishonour of forming treaties with men notorious for their bad faith, in the course of this summer Mr. Burke published his celebrated "Letters on a Regicide Peace." These letters, and the two others that were published after his death, are among the most splendid efforts of his mind. In them he took a different view of the war from Pitt; he thought that it would be both violent and protracted. At the same time he did not despair of the final result, provided only a check could be given to that despondence which had seized upon many minds, and which the opposition were inculcating and promoting. It was his opinion that it was essential to success to disclaim all partition of the soil of France, to distinguish between the government and the nation, and to declare against the Jacobins, as distinct from the people; that France ought to be attacked in her own territory, and, in the first instance, by a British army sent into the Vendee; that it was impolitic to employ troops and fleets in reducing West Indian islands while the French armies were overrunning the Continent; and that England, with a force of nearly 300,000 men, with a navy of 500 ships of war, might make an irresistible impression on any part of the French territory. This was the last effort which Burke made to stem the onward torrent of the progress of the French revolutionists. He had recently endured a severe calamity in the death of his only son, of whose talents he had formed the highest expectations, and for whose advancement he had vacated his seat in parliament; and in the next year he himself was brought to the grave. He was one of the greatest men of his age; and his views of political philosophy will go down to posterity as the most enlightened that ever flowed from a human mind.



MILITARY AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT.

During this year France had three objects in contemplation: an invasion of Germany, another of Italy, and the subjugation of La Vendee.

In Germany the Austrian army was headed by the Archduke Charles of Austria, with whom was joined the veteran Wurmser. Under them were 175,000 troops, of which 40,000 were the finest cavalry in Europe. They defended the entrance of Germany on the side of the Rhine; and Jourdan and Moreau were despatched with 150,000 men against them; the former approaching the empire by the Upper Rhine, and the latter directing his course through Suabia. At first the French were eminently successful. They drove all the Austrian corps back from the frontiers; deprived them of their magazines, cannon, and arms; and threatened the hereditary states. Within six weeks the Austrians were reduced by a third of their original force—partly by loss and partly by drafts out of it for the service in Italy; and the French armies covered the country from Stutgard to the Lake of Constance, a line of one hundred and fifty miles. But at this point their successes ended. Perceiving their error in thus extending their front, the Archduke Charles narrowed his own, and gradually bringing nearer to a converging point the separate forces of Wartensleben and Wurmser, he slowly retreated; watching his opportunity for striking a blow. At length, when Moreau had captured Ulm and Donawert, on the Danube, and was preparing to cross the river Leek into Bavaria, and thence to move onward to the defiles of the Tyrol, the Archduke Charles fell upon Jourdan at Amberg, and completely defeated him. This occurred on the 24th of August; and on the 3rd of September the archduke overtook the republicans again at Maine, where he once more thinned their ranks. Still pressing on their rear, the republicans fell into a miserably disorganized state; and on the 16th of September the archduke came up with them at Aschaffenburg, and drove them with terrible loss to the opposite side of the Rhine. In the whole, Jourdan lost 20,000 men, and nearly all his artillery and baggage. Moreau was too far off to render him any assistance; and he could neither advance nor maintain himself where he was without him. Under these circumstances he commenced his retreat with 70,000 men, followed by the imperial general, Latour, who had not above 24,000 men. Latour, pressing on Moreau's rear too closely, suffered a defeat; and the French reached the banks of the Rhine in safety. Here, however, the Archduke Charles was ready to meet them with a force equal, or, perhaps, superior to their own. Moreau was compelled to fight two battles, in both of which he was defeated; and nothing but a violent storm saved the wreck of his army. This, and the pitchy darkness of the night, prevented the Austrian cavalry from acting, and enabled him to get his broken columns on the safe side of the Rhine. The archduke Charles had therefore saved Germany.

In Italy the republicans were more successful. The command of the army there was given to Napoleon Buonaparte; and he arrived at his head-quarters at Nice on the 26th of March. His army, which was in a wretched state of discipline, amounted to about 50,000 men, while that of the Austrians and Piedmontese amounted to about 60,000 men. The imperial army was under the command of Beaulieu, and was stretched along the ridge of the Apennines, at the foot of which the French were advancing. On leading his troops to the Alpine frontier, Napoleon made the first of his remarkable appeals to his troops:—"Soldiers" said he, "you are almost naked and half-starved; the government owes you much, and can give you nothing. Your patience and courage in the midst of these rocks are admirable; but they reflect no honour on your arms. I am about to conduct you into the finest plains on earth; fertile provinces, opulent cities, will soon be in your power; there you will find rich harvests, honour, and glory. Soldiers of Italy, will you fail in courage?" Without waiting to be attacked Beaulieu descended from the heights, and met the advanced guard of the French at Voltri, near Genoa, which he repulsed. D'Argenteau, who commanded Beaulieu's centre, at the same time traversed the mountains of Montenotte, in the hope of descending upon Savona, and thus take the French in flank; but, when more than half of his march was completed, he met a French division of 1500 men, who threw themselves into the redoubt of Montelegino, and thus shut up the road of Montenotte. D'Argenteau attacked this post, but he was unable to take it; and in the meantime Buonaparte marched round by an unguarded road to his rear, and attacked and defeated him. This was the first of a series of victories on the part of the French. Before the end of April, besides this battle of Montenotte, Buonaparte had gained those of Millesimo, Dego, and Mondovi, by which he effected a separation of the Austrian and Piedmontese armies. The King of Sardinia was so discouraged by his losses, that to procure a cessation of hostilities he delivered up some of his principal fortresses to the French; and a peace was shortly concluded, by which he ceded the Duchy of Savoy and the county of Nice to the conquerors for ever. The reply of Buonaparte to his negociators was characteristic. He remarked:—"It is for me to impose conditions: unless you obey, my batteries are erected by to-morrow, and Turin is in flames." Having imposed his conditions on the king of Sardinia, Buonaparte, on the 10th of May, advanced to Lodi, where he encountered and, after a fierce conflict, defeated Beaulieu. It was after gaining this victory, as he himself said many years afterwards, that the idea first flashed across his mind that he might become a great actor in the world's drama. In order to obtain the ends of his ambition, Buonaparte now stretched every nerve. In five days after the action at Lodi he made his triumphant entry into Milan; and all Lombardy was at the feet of the conqueror, except Mantua. At Milan the French had many converts and partisans, and Napoleon received an enthusiastic welcome; but, notwithstanding all this, he levied immense contributions, not only on the Milanese, but on Parma and Modena, as the price of an armistice. Thus the Milanese were compelled to contribute 20,000,000 francs; the Duke of Parma was made to pay 1,500,000 francs; and the Duke of Modena 6,000,000 francs in cash, 2,000,000 more in provisions, cattle, horses, etc., and to deliver up some of his choicest paintings. This regular plunder was called for by the five directors at the Luxembourg, who were perpetually demanding of Napoleon, money, more money. How effectually he responded to their demand is shown by his own statements; for he says, that besides clothing, feeding, and paying the army during the first Italian campaign, he remitted 50,000,000 of francs to the Luxembourg. But these harsh terms of the French fraternisation produced their fruits in an extensive revolt in Lombardy; and at Pavia, whither Napoleon was compelled to return, it could only be quelled by energetic measures. With the artillery he battered down the gates and cleared the streets; after which he gave up the city to plunder, debauchery, and every species of violence and crime which his republican army were capable of committing.

Napoleon advancing southward now overran Tuscany, where he showed how the French directory respected neutrality by taking possession of Leghorn, and seizing all the goods belonging to the English, Portuguese, and others, in the warehouses of that great free port. Subsequently he plundered the states and possessions of the pope; and when Pius VI. dispatched envoys to sue for terms, he granted an armistice only at the following price:—15,000,000 francs in cash, and 6,000,000 in provisions, horses, &c.; a number of paintings, ancient statues and vases, and five hundred manuscripts from the Vatican; the cession of the provinces of Bologna and Ferrara; the cession of the port and citadel of Ancona; and the closing of all the papal ports to the English and their allies. The spoiler was recalled from this work by intelligence that old Wurmser was marching against him from the Valley of Trento, with an army consisting of nearly 60,000 men. Napoleon was besieging Mantua when he heard of the approach of the German veteran; and drawing his army from thence, he hastened to meet his enemy. Unhappily for Wurmser's success, he had divided his forces; while he himself moved with the larger portion along the eastern shore of the lake of Guarda, he sent Quosnadowich with the other division along the western bank. This was a fatal error. Buonaparte instantly threw the entire weight of his concentrated forces upon Quosnadowich and crushed him at Lonato; and then sought Wurmser with a force nearly double to that of the Austrians; and in two battles, fought on the 3rd and 5th of August, near Castiglione, defeated him, and drove him back into the Tyrol, with the loss of his artillery and several thousand men. But though defeated, the Austrian general was not subdued. Striking across the mountains to the east of Trento, and descending the valley of the Brente, the old general again entered Italy, and advanced to Bassano. Here he was joined by some reinforcements from Carinthia; but Napoleon followed hard after him, and he was compelled to throw himself into the fortress of Mantua. It was on the 14th of September that Wurmser shut himself up in Mantua; and shortly after two fresh Austrian armies, raised chiefly through another subsidy from England, descended into Italy; one of which, under Marshal Alvinzi, descended from Carinthia upon Belluno, and the other, under Davidowich, moved down from the Tyrol. Had these forces been united they would scarcely have been a match for Buonaparte, whence there cannot be any wonder that the result was disastrous to the Austrian arms. Taking advantage of this error, Napoleon, with the mass of his forces, rushed to meet Alvinzi; and after a series of battles, in which the French suffered great loss, he finally succeeded in defeating the Austrian general at Areola. Alvinzi made his retreat upon Vicenza and Bassano; and on the same day that he commenced this retreat on the left side of the Adige, Davidowich came down on the right side of that river, and entered the plains between Pescheira and Verona. His defeat was inevitable: Napoleon turned against him with forces flushed with victory; and he was driven back to Ala, Reverodo, and the steep hills that hang over the pass of the Tyrol. This action concluded what has been aptly called "the third Italian campaign of the year 1796."



SURRENDER OF CORSICA AND THE ISLE OF ELBA.

At this time Napoleon felt that the conquest of all Italy was within his reach. Treaties and the rights of foreign powers, whether neutral or friendly, were little regarded by him. Thus, in open contempt of both, he had invaded Tuscany, and had taken possession of Leghorn, his excuse being the dislodgement of the English. In consequence of this movement Nelson blockaded that port, and landed a force in the isle of Elba, in order to secure Porto Ferrajo. Moreover, as Genoa, taking the part of France, had excluded the English from its ports, Nelson seized on the island of Capraia, which had formerly belonged to Corsica. But the British admiral's vigour was not seconded by the British government; orders were given for even the evacuation of Corsica itself; and soon after the British fleet, in consequence of peace being made between Naples and France, left the Mediterranean station, and proceeded to the support of Portugal.



DUTCH ATTEMPT TO RETAKE THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

The Dutch government having determined not to suffer the loss of the Cape of Good Hope without a struggle to regain it, fitted out an expedition for that purpose. This expedition anchored on the 2nd of August in the bay of Saldanha; and at the moment when General Craig was marching down the coast to meet the invaders, a British fleet was seen advancing, with a fair wind, to the mouth of the harbour. The English admiral, Elphinstone, anchored within gunshot of the enemy, and sent a summons to the Dutch admiral; and seeing that resistance was useless, he delivered up his squadron without having fired a gun. The prizes were two sail of the line, three smaller ships of war, and three armed vessels.



FRENCH EXPEDITION TO IRELAND.

In Ireland the Papists had long sought to overthrow the Protestant supremacy, while the liberals were anxiously seeking the triumph of their principles. The disposition which prevailed among these two powerful parties was known to the French directory; and they were encouraged thereby to attempt the striking of a blow of no common magnitude in that quarter. On the 20th of December General Hoche embarked at Brest with 15,000 troops, to co-operate with the Irish insurgents; but the fleet, which was under the command of Vice-admiral Morard de Galles, had scarcely left the harbour when it was dispersed by a storm. Only eight sail out of eighteen ships of the line reached the Irish coast, and the weather was so stormy that the French could not land; and the whole expedition, after having suffered great loss, was obliged to return to France. One of the line-of-battle ships was attacked, before she could reach a port, by two English frigates, and was finally driven on shore, where she went to pieces, and many of the crew perished in the sea. In the whole, the French lost three ships of the line and three frigates from the adverse elements; and they narrowly escaped the attack of a British fleet, under Lord Bridport, who arrived off the Irish coast immediately after their departure. During the whole of this year, indeed, the maritime power of France suffered greatly; and her remaining commerce was much diminished by the exertions of the British cruisers. Upwards of seventy sail of armed vessels belonging to the enemy were captured; among which were five ships of the line and twelve frigates. On the other hand, the French made a successful expedition to Newfoundland, where shipping and merchandise to a large amount were captured or destroyed.



DISPUTES BETWEEN FRANCE AND AMERICA.

The new government of France had scarcely commenced operations when it became involved in a quarrel with America. This dispute arose from the treaty recently executed between America and Great Britain; which treaty the directory supposed was inimical to France, and incompatible with the idea of neutrality. By the treaty of 1778, which was still in force, the Americans had guaranteed to France their West Indian colonies; but by the treaty of 1795 they consented that even supplies of provisions sent to those islands should be treated as illegal commerce. In consequence of this, the directory affected to regard the Americans as enemies, and made such depredations on their commerce as amounted to almost open war. An arret also was issued, on the third of July, ordering French ships of war to observe such conduct towards the vessels of neutral nations as they had hitherto suffered from the English. Thus began that oppressive system by which neutral powers were doomed to be persecuted in the future progress of the war. Towards the close of this summer, Mr. Monroe, the American ambassador at Paris, was recalled; and the directory not only refused to receive a successor, but suspended M. Adet, French resident at Philadelphia, from his functions. Such was the situation of the foreign relations of the United States in the year when Washington finally retired from the cares of government, to enjoy repose in the shades of Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potowmac.



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

The British parliament had been dissolved by proclamation soon after the close of the last session; and ministers had, in consequence, been chiefly occupied by the elections. The new parliament was opened by the king in person on the 6th of October. In his speech, his majesty repeated his anxious wish for an honourable peace; announced the intended mission of Lord Malmesbury to Paris for that purpose; and made allusion to the success of our arms in the East and West Indies, and to the brilliant campaign of Archduke Charles. Some difference of opinion existed between ministers and their supporters, on the propriety of entering upon a negociation with republican France; but, nevertheless, the usual addresses passed without a division. A clause in his majesty's speech declared apprehension of an invasion; and therefore Pitt recommended the adoption of measures to repel the attempt. He proposed a plan for augmenting the national force by a levy of 15,000 men from the parishes, to be divided between the sea and land service; and by a supplementary levy of 60,000 men for the militia, and 20,000 men for irregular service, not to be called out immediately, but enrolled and gradually trained. This plan, after some bitter remarks made by the habitual opponents of government, and after the alteration of a clause which proposed to convert gamekeepers into soldiers, passed without a division. A bill was also brought in and carried by Mr. Dundas, to raise a militia in Scotland. The total number of land-forces voted for the year 1797 was 195,694; that of seamen, 120,000.



PITT'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Pitt opened the budget on the 7th of November. The money he required was L27,945,000; and among the ways and means which he proposed was a loan of L18,000,000. There seems to have been a universal spirit of loyalty in the house, for all that was said by Pitt as to the courage and resources of the nation, and our capability of withstanding the power of France and our various enemies, was loudly cheered, while Fox, who opposed him, was heard in dead silence. The propositions were agreed to, and this loan was soon followed by a second of equal amount, and including a vote of three millions for the Emperor of Austria. On opening the budget, Pitt stated that ministers had made an advance of L1,200,000 to the emperor; and on the 13th of November, Fox moved "That his Majesty's ministers, having authorised and directed at different times, and without the consent and during the sitting of parliament, the issue of various sums for the services of his Imperial Majesty, and also for the service of the army under the Prince of Conde, have acted contrary to their duty, and to the trust reposed in them, and have thereby violated the constitutional privileges of this house." At first Pitt admitted that it was an irregular act, but afterwards he attempted to bring what he had done within the authority of the ordinary vote of credit, and endeavoured to find a principle in other discretionary and indefinite expenditures. Pitt was manifestly in a dilemma; but he was rescued by the Hon. Charles Bathurst Bragge, who moved as an amendment to Fox's resolution, to the effect that the advance made to the Emperor, "Though not to be drawn into precedent but upon occasions of special necessity, was, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, a justifiable and proper exercise of the discretion vested in his Majesty's ministers by the vote of credit, and calculated to produce consequences which have proved highly advantageous to the common cause, and to the general interests of Europe." This amendment was carried by a majority of two hundred and eighty-five to eighty-one.



MISSION OF LORD MALMESBURY TO PARIS.

As intimated by the King in his speech on opening the new parliament, during the course of the autumn. Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to treat for peace. At this time, however, peace was not easily obtained; the republicans were too much elated by their success in Italy and their hopes from Ireland to listen to any pacific overtures with complacency; and moreover an envoy, despatched about the same time to the court of Berlin, with an intent, as was supposed, of drawing Prussia again into a coalition, excited considerable jealousy in the minds of the directors. Lord Malmesbury's mission was in fact a complete failure. On his return his Majesty sent a message to parliament, declaring that the rupture of the negociation did not proceed from the want of a sincere desire on his part for the restoration of peace, but from the excessive pretensions of the enemy—pretensions which were incompatible with the permanent interests of this country and the general security of Europe. On the next day the British ministry also published a manifesto, enlarging on their own pacific dispositions, and setting forth the malignant hostility of the French republicans. Copies of all the memorials and other papers relating to the negociation were likewise laid before parliament, and on the 30th of December the King's massage was taken into consideration in both houses. In the commons, Pitt asserted that the rupture of the negociations was wholly due to the directory, who demanded, not as an ultimatum, but as a preliminary, to retain all territories of which the war had given them possession; and respecting which they had thought proper to pass a decree, annexing them unalienably to the republic. He continued, "And not content with thus abrogating the law of nations, as well as previous treaties, they have offered a studied insult to his majesty by ordering his ambassador to quit Paris, and proposing to carry on the negociation by reciprocal couriers. The question then is, not how imich you will give for peace, but how much disgrace you will suffer at the outset; how much degradation you will submit to as a preliminary? Shall we then persevere in the war with a spirit and energy worthy of the British name and character; or shall we, by sending couriers to Paris, prostrate ourselves at the feet of a stubborn, supercilious government? I hope there is not a hand in his majesty's council that would sign the proposal; that there is not a heart in this house which would sanction the measure; and that there is not an individual in this realm that would act as courier." In private, Fox confessed that this would be the very worst moment for making a peace with France; but, nevertheless, he moved an amendment to the address to be returned to the king's message, replete with inculpations of ministers for not having concluded a treaty with the French republic. His friend, Lord Guildford, moved a similar amendment in the Lords; but both were negatived by large majorities.

{A.D. 1797}



STOPPAGE OF CASH PAYMENTS AT THE BANK.

At the commencement of this year the aspect of public affairs wore a gloomy appearance. The directors of the Bank of England had recently, on several occasions, represented to the chancellor of the exchequer their inability of supplying his increasing demands; and the dread of an invasion had produced a run upon the bank for specie; so that when Pitt requested a further advance, early in this year, of L1,500,000 as a loan to Ireland, he was informed that a compliance with this request would most likely cause the directors to shut their doors. In this state of affairs the privy council, on the 26th* of February, sent an order, prohibiting the directors of the Bank from issuing any cash or specie in payment till the sense of parliament could be taken, and measures be adopted for supporting public credit.

*This was on a Sunday; and it was the first time, during the reign of the present monarch that business had been transacted on that day.

This decisive step was announced by a royal message to parliament on the next day; and the subject was immediately taken into consideration. It was thought by the opposition that this would crush Pitt; and Fox exultingly gave notice that he would move for an inquiry into all the past transactions between the Bank and the minister; and Sheridan, Whitbread, and others made motions all having one end in view—Pitt's overthrow. But Pitt was too firmly seated to be overthrown by his opponents, however ardently they might seek his downfall. The first step taken was to appoint two secret committees for ascertaining the assets of the Bank beyond its debts; and their reports stated that these amounted to the sum of L3,826.890, exclusive of a permanent debt of L11,666,800 in the three per cent, stock, due from government; and also that the demands which occasioned this drain of cash had of late increased, and that they were likely to go on increasing until the Bank would be deprived of its means of supplying that cash to government which it might require. The committees added, that it, was proper to continue the measures already taken for such time and under such limitations as should seem expedient to parliament. This report was taken into consideration by a committee of the whole house; and Pitt moved for leave to bring in a bill to continue and confirm for a limited time the restriction of the issue of specie by the Bank of England; and after various clauses, added by the ministers themselves, this bill passed. The Bank was authorized to issue specie to the amount of L100,000, for the accommodation of private bankers and traders; and bank-notes were to be a legal tender to all, except to the army and navy, who were to be paid in cash. From this time till 1819 the circulation of gold coin in a great measure ceased, and notes of one pound and upwards became the general medium of commercial intercourse. Pitt's bill was, indeed, limited in its operation to the 24th of June; but the restriction was afterwards continued from time to time by a succession of new acts, so that the return to cash payments did not take place till the above date, when Sir Robert Peel carried his well-known bill on that subject.

{GEORGE III. 1796-1798}



MUTINY IN THE FLEETS.

During the sitting of parliament mutinies broke out in the fleet, which gave far greater alarm than the suspension of cash payments by the Bank. For some time great dissatisfaction had prevailed among the seamen respecting their pay and provisions; and in the month of February Lord Howe received several anonymous letters, praying for his lordship's influence towards obtaining an increase of pay, and an improvement in the quality and quantity of food. At the same time a correspondence was established between the crews of the different ships, and a committee of delegates was appointed to obtain a redress of grievances. These proceedings were conducted with great secrecy; and it was not till Lord Bridport made a signal to prepare for sea, in April, that they became known. Then, instead of weighing anchor as the signal imported, the seamen of the admiral's ship ran up the shrouds, and saluted the surrounding ships' crews with three cheers, to which a long and loud response was given. It became manifest that the spirit of disobedience was general; and this was soon shown by action as well as by the voice. The next step of the delegates was to assemble in the cabin of the admiral's ship, and to place the officers in custody, in order to prevent them from going on shore. A petition to the admiral was drawn up, and presented on the spot; accompanied with a declaration that, till the prayer of the petition was granted, till their pay was increased and their provisions altered, they should not quit their present station, "unless the enemy was known to be at sea." On discovering this mutinous spirit, a committee of the admiralty, with Earl Spencer at their head, repaired to Portsmouth, with a view of inducing the seamen to return to their duty. This was on the 18th of April; and five days later the admiral returned to his ship, when, after hoisting his flag, he informed the crew that he had brought with him a redress of all their grievances, accompanied by his majesty's pardon for their offence. These offers were cheerfully accepted, and every man returned to his duty. There was reason for believing that all cause of dissatisfaction was removed; but there was still mischief lurking behind. On the 7th of May, when Lord Bridport again made the signal to put to sea, every ship at St. Helen's refused to obey, the seamen being under the impression that government would not fulfil its promises. A meeting of delegates was convened to be be held on board the "London;" but Vice-admiral Colpoys, having determined to prevent the illegal assembly from being held on board his ship, ordered the marines to fire upon the boats as they approached; and five seamen were killed. Irritated by this resistance on the part of the admiral, the crew of the "London" now turned their guns towards the stern, and threatened to blow all aft into the water, unless the commander submitted; and Admiral Colpoys and Captain Griffiths were both taken into custody by their crew, and confined for several hours in separate cabins. Such was the state of affairs on the 14th of May, when Lord Howe arrived from the admiralty with plenary powers to settle all differences; and as his lordship was the bearer of an act of parliament, which had passed on the 9th, granting an additional allowance of pay to the seamen, and also of his majesty's proclamation of pardon, the flag of insurrection was struck, and the fleet prepared to put out to sea. The dangerous spirit of disaffection, however, was not yet subdued. While these things were transacting at Portsmouth, a fresh mutiny broke out at Sheerness. This gave little alarm at first, it being supposed that the terms which had been offered Lord Bridport's ships, and which were to be extended to all ships and fleets whatsoever, would satisfy those fresh mutineers. It was not so. On the 20th of May, many of the ships lying at the Nore, and soon afterwards nearly all those belonging to the North Sea fleet, hoisted the red flag, chose two delegates from every ship, and elected a president, who styled himself "President of the floating republic." The demands made by these mutineers were a greater freedom of absence from ships in harbour; a more punctual discharge of arrears of pay; a more equal distribution of prize-money; and a general abatement of the rigours of discipline. Compliance to these concessions was demanded as the only condition upon which they would return to their duty. The admiralty, however, gave a decided negative to their demands; and, with a promise of pardon, insisted that they should return to their duty and proceed to sea in search of the enemy. The delegates now demanded that some of the board of admiralty should come down to Sheerness to negociate with them; and the mutineers of the "Sandwich," of ninety guns, Vice-admiral Buckner's ship, in which "President Parker" was serving, struck the admiral's flag, and hoisted the red flag in its stead; and then all the ships of war which lay near Sheerness dropped down to the great Nore. Pardon was again offered them and again rejected on the 24th; and on the 29th a committee of the admiralty went down to Sheerness, and sent for the delegates, and tried to conciliate them without yielding to any of their new demands. But all their endeavours were fruitless. The delegates behaved with great insolence to the commissioners; and as soon as they returned to the fleet, the mutineers moored their ships in a line across the river, and detained every merchant vessel bound up or down the Thames. This was in effect blockading the port of London; and two vessels, laden with stores and provisions, were seized and appropriated to the use of the mutineers. On the 4th of June the whole fleet celebrated the king's birthday by a royal salute; and on the 6th they were joined by four ships of the line from Admiral Duncan's squadron, making in the whole twenty-four sail, consisting of eleven ships of the line and thirteen frigates in a state of mutiny.

In the meantime government was not inattentive to the perilous state of the country. His majesty's pardon was offered to such of the mutineers as should immediatety return to their duty; two acts of parliament were passed for restraining the intercourse between the revolted crews and the shore, and for the punishment of any attempt to seduce seamen or soldiers into mutinous conduct; all the buoys at the mouth of the Thames were removed; and batteries were erected along shore for firing red-hot shot. Government was assisted in their efforts to quell the rebellion by the two divisions of the fleet lying at Portsmouth and Plymouth, each of which addressed an exhortation to the mutineers, urging them to be content with the indulgences granted, and to return to their duty. But their warnings were all ineffectual. The mutineers sent Lord Northesk, who had been confined on board his ship, the "Monmouth," with conditions to his majesty, on which alone, they said, they were willing to surrender the ships. The terms they demanded were submitted to the king in council, and were instantly rejected; and all hopes of accommodation being thus at an end, preparations were made to enforce obedience to the laws. The bold tone which government assumed, being seconded by the voice of the people, at length had its effect. Several of the ships deserted the rebels; in those that remained the well-disposed rose upon the refractory, and some lives were lost; and by the 13th of June every red flag had disappeared. President Parker and some of the delegates were executed, some were flogged through the fleet, and others left under sentence on board prison-ships, while the mass received his majesty's free pardon. This general pardon was proclaimed in October, after Admiral Duncan's victory off Camperdown, which will be noticed in a subsequent article.



GREY'S MOTION FOR REFORM, ETC.

While the country was agitated by the mutiny of the fleets, Mr. Grey rose in the house of commons to move "for a sweeping reform in parliament." This motion was seconded by Fox and others of his party; but it was lost by a majority of two hundred and fifty-eight against ninety-three. Not one of the Foxites could have expected that the motion would pass; but pretending to despair of succeeding in their plan of reform, Fox and most of his friends seceded from parliament, declaring that their attendance there was useless. Some of them returned subsequently to their seats, but none of them attended during Parker's mutiny; and from this time till the year 1800 Fox spoke only three or four times in the house. Sheridan refused to secede; and when the debate took place concerning the rebellion at the Nore, in defiance of his party he strengthened the hands of government. The Foxites asserted that he was acting under selfish motives, and that he was seeking a seat on the treasury bench with some well-paid place. They might be correct; for all history shows that the true and disinterested patriot, is of rare occurrence; all have their own self-interest at heart. No other business worthy of historical note occurred till the 20th of July, when his majesty prorogued parliament by a speech from the throne, in which he declared that he was again engaged in a negociation for peace, and that nothing should be wanting on his part to bring it to a successful termination.



FRENCH DESCENT ON WALES.

Early in this year the French sent an expedition of about 1500 men, mostly criminals and vagabonds, attired as French troops, who landed in Cardigan Bay. The Welsh peasantry, animated by the gentry, armed with scythes, sickles, and pitchforks, marched forth to meet the invaders; and Lord Cawdor assembled a mixed force of seven hundred militia, fencibles, and yeoman cavalry. This was sufficient. The French commander, after a short negociation, capitulated to Lord Cawdor; while the two frigates which accompanied the expedition, were captured on their return to Brest. Such was the result of this long-menaced invasion; but in other quarters preparations were made on a more formidable scale.



BATTLE OFF CAPE ST. VINCENT.

"The year of mutinies" was not altogether inglorious to the British navy. It was proposed by the republic that the fleets of Holland and Spain should join the French fleet at Brest, and that the whole armada should bear down for the coast of England. In order to frustrate this design, Sir John Jervis was directed to blockade the port of Cadiz, while Admiral Duncan was sent to watch the Dutch in the Texel. Sir John Jervis fell in with the great Spanish fleet, under the command of Don Jose de Cordova, off Cape St. Vincent, The Spanish fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line, and the English of only fifteen; but the greater part of the Spanish crews were inexperienced, and Nelson was with the English admiral, so that there was no hesitation in engaging. Four Spanish ships of the line were captured, and all the rest were driven into Cadiz, and there blockaded. Intelligence of this victory occasioned great joy throughout the nation; and while the fleet was honoured with the thanks of both houses of parliament, Sir John Jervis was created Earl St. Vincent; Nelson was invested with the order of the Bath; Captain Robert Calder was knighted; and gold medals and chains were presented to all the captains. The victory was due to the prompt and daring conduct of Nelson, whose watchword, as he went into the battle, was "Westminster Abbey or victory."



BATTLE OFF CAMPERDOWN.

The most complete naval action of this year happened off Camperdown. On the 11th of October Admiral Duncan, with sixteen sail of the line, attacked a Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral De Winter, of eleven sail of the line and four fifty-six gun ships. The Dutch fought in a very different style from the Spaniards, ardently contending for the victory. Admiral De Winter, whose ship was attacked by Admiral Duncan's, did not strike his flag before all his masts fell overboard, and half his crew were either killed or wounded; and when the battle terminated, almost every Dutch ship was found to be in a disabled state. Eight ships of the line, two fifty-six gun ships, and two frigates remained as trophies of victory to the English. This action excited great joy at home; and Duncan was elevated to the peerage, by the title of Viscount Duncan of Camperdown. In consideration of this and the other signal victories that had crowned our fleets, his majesty ordered a general thanksgiving throughout the kingdom, which took place on the 19th of December.



THE BLOCKADE OF CADIZ, ETC.

After the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Nelson was employed in the blockade of Cadiz, which he bombarded on the 23rd of June and 3rd of July. This bombardment, however, produced but little effect; and soon afterward, owing to an unfounded report that the viceroy of Mexico had arrived at Teneriffe with treasure ships, Nelson proceeded thither in search of them. He made an unfortunate attack on Santa Cruz in that island, which ended in the loss of his own right arm, and also of about two hundred men. Previous to this, the Spanish island of Trinidad capitulated to an expedition of six sail of the line, with troops on board, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral Harvey; but the same commanders were subsequently defeated in an attempt to take Porto Rico.



WAR ON THE CONTINENT.

At the commencement of this year, Alvinzi, the Austrian general, re-enforced with 50,000 troops, made great efforts to recover the fortune of the war. In this he was aided by the pope, who raised troops for his support. But again Alvinzi had the temerity to divide his forces; the principal division marching, under his own command, by the old route from the Tyrol, and the other taking a circuit down the Brenta, to relieve Mantua. In order to impede his progress Napoleon posted himself at Rivoli, on a lofty plain above the Adige, between that river and the Alpine Montebaldo. In this position he was attacked by Alvinzi; but the Austrian general was repulsed on all sides, and compelled to take refuge in flight. The other division of the Austrian army fought its way to the walls of Mantua, but Wurmser sought in vain to form a junction with it; and in February Mantua was captured by Napoleon. The conqueror's vengeance next fell upon his holiness the pope. Not tarrying even to receive the sword of Wurmser, Napoleon headed his legions and marched towards Rome. Within eight days one half of the states of the church were conquered, and the pope had no hope but in submission. The conqueror granted him political existence, on condition that he should cede to the republic Wignon, Venaissin, and the legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna: he was compelled to pay, also, a contribution of thirty millions, and to give up more works of art.