2d ' ;' wait. haehJy Q-. Qpxw£e/ ?&\ ANNALS GREAT BRITAIN, The ASCENSION of GEORGE III, to the PEACE of AMIENS. IN THREE VOLUMES. Volume II. T, C a.*** T be-ll EDINBURGH : PRINTED FOR MUtJDELL, DOIG, Sf STEVENSON ; ARCH. CONSTABIE # CO. AND J. FalRBAIRN, EDINBURGH: J Sf A. DUNCAN, GLASGOW J AND T. OSTELL, LONDON. 1807. YALe Mmdill, Derg,and Stevensen, printers, Edinburgh. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. CHAP. XV. American campaign in the spring of 1779- • • Capture of Bf> tish West-India islands. . . . Ineffectual attempt of the allied armies on Savannah, . . . Successes of the British on the coast of Jersey. . . . Efforts of the French on the isle of Jersey. . . . Dangerous junction of the French and Spanish fleets. . . . Alarm of the country. . . . Emboaying of the volun* teers of Ireland, for the defence of their country and redress of grievances. . , . Riots of the lower orders in Scotland. . » . Meeting and delates of parliament. . . . Mr. Burke's econo mical reform bill. . . . Ascendancy of the opposition in the house of commons. . » . Resolution on the power of the crown . . . . Revoked by a subsequent vote. . . . Riots in the metro polis. . . . Lord George Gordon committed to the Tower. . . . Meeting of parliament. ... Adjournment, prorogation, and dissolution. . . . Supplies, and ways and means 1 CHAP. XVI. Siege of Ch'artestown by Sir Henry Clinton. . . . Defence and capitulation of the garrison. . . . Capture of Fort Mobille by - the Spaniards. . . . Pursuit of the continentals through South Carolina by the detachment of Tarleton. . . . Cornwallis pre pares for penetrating to the northern provinces of Carolina. . .. Premature attempts of the loyalists in that quarter. . . . Move ment of American force from the south to Support thpn a 1 IV CONTENTS. .... Situation of Cornwalks's army. . . . General Gates ad vances to meet the British commander. . . . Battle of Cam den. . . • Preparations of Cornwallis for a southern cam paign after his victory. . ¦ . Defeat of Major Ferguson. . . . Retrograde movements of the British troops. . . . View of hos tilities in the north. . . . Arrival of Rochambeau's auxiliary forces. . . . Apostacy of Arnold from the American cause. . . . His conference with Major Andre. . . . Unfortunate arresta- tion and execution of that officer. . . . Partial action of Ad miral Rodney with the Spaniards. . . . Rupture with the Dutch. . . . Armed neutrality. . . . Disclosure of the Dutch and American treaty. . . . Important capture by the Spani ards. . . . Movements of the hostile fleets in the West Indies .... Partial encounten. . . . Junction of the French and Spanish fleets. . . . Tremendous hurricane in the West Indies 32 CHAP. XVII. Meetings and proceedings of the new parliament. . . . Debates on the ch.oh e of a speaker. . . . rn the address. . . . on the war with Holland. . . ..on the conduct of Lord Sandwich. . . . on the proposed plans of reform. . . . on Indian affairs. . . . on . the terms of the loan. . . . on the neglected state of the po lice, and military interference in the late riots. . . . on Mr. Fox's motion for peace with America. . . . Outline of the war in India. . . Attempt of the French on the island of Jer sey. . . . Blockade and sally of the garrison at Gibraltar. . . . Junction of the Grand fleets of France and Spain in the Bri tish. Channel. . . Expedition of Kempevfeldt. . . . Action off the Dogger-bank. . . . Naval expedition of Commodore John son. , . Capture of St. Eustalia, and other Dutch settle ments. . . . Indecisive hostilities of the French and English fleets in the We<:t Indies attempt of the French on St. Lucia Tobago captured by the marquis de Bouille. . . . State of affairs in America. . . . Mutiny in the American army Ravages of Arnold in Virginia. . . . War in Caro lina. . . . Battle of Guildford. . . . Retreat of' Cornwallis to Wilmington, and afterwards into Virginia, . . . Action vf CONTENTS. V Lord Rawdon with the provincials at Hobkirk's-hill. . . . Pro gress of General Greene. . , . Retreat of Lord Rawdon to Charlestown. . . . Battle of Eutaw Springs. . . . Views of Wash ington and the count de Rochambeau on New-York. . . . Stra tagem of the allies to delude Clinton. . . . Washington's march into Virginia. . . . Junction with La Fayette. . . . Retreat of Cornwallis within the works of Yorktown. . . . Siege of York- town, and surrender of the British army. . . . Capture of Sf. Christophers, and other settlements, by the French '. 62 CHAP. XVIII. Meeting of parliament in November 178I. ... Debates on the address, and on the subject of the war. . . . Division of opi nion among the whigs, on the subject of American independ ence. . . . Impeachment of Lord Sandwich. . . . Resignation of the secretary of state for America, Lord George Germaine. . . Rising numbers of the opposition. . . . Ministers outvoted on the 27** of February. . . . Subsequent motions carried by the opposition. . . . Recovery of a ministerial majority on two oc casions. . . . Lord North at last announces the termination of his own administration. . . . New administration formed. . . . Discussion of Irish affairs. . . . Mr. Burke's economical bill is carried. . . . Mr, Pitt's motion for reform. . . . Rodney's naval campaign in the West Indies. . . . Capture of Dutch forts on the coast of Africa. . . . Capture of Minorca by the duke de Crillon. . . . Hostilities by sea and land in the East Indies. . . . Siege of Gibraltar ] 04 CHAP. XIX. Death of the marquis of Rockingham. . . . Division among the -surviving ministers of the cabinet. . . . Resignation of the duke of Portland and Mr. Fox, and appointment of Lord Shel- burne to the head of the ministry. . . . Every idea of a sefta- rate peace rejected by the Americans. . . . Ostensible mediation of Russia and the emperor of Germany. . . . Negociations for peace. . . . Meeting of parliament on the 5t& of December 1782, .... Debates on the terms of peace 145 Vi CONTENTS. CHAP. XX. Event of the elections. . . . Ascendency of the new ministry. . . . First session of the new parliament. . . . Commutation act. . . . East-India bills Seeond session. . . . Debates on the West minister election. . . .on the nabob of Arcot's debts. . . . Rejec tion of Mr. Pitt's bill of reform. . . . Budget of the year. . . . Commercial treaty with Ireland 180 CHAP. XXI. Third session of parliament. . . . duke of Richmond's fortifica* tion bill rejected. . . . Alteration of the mutiny bill. . . . Mr. Pitt's bill for the institution of the sinking fund. . . . Amend ment by Mr. Fox. . . . Impeachment of Warren Hastings. . . . Mr. Dundas's bill for enlarging the powers of the governor- general of India. . . . Supplies of the year. . . . Prorogation of parliament. . . . Attempt of Margaret Nicholson on the king's life 206 CHAP. XXII. Meeting of the fourth session of parliament. . . . Measures re commended to the attention of parliament. . . . Consideration of the commercial treaty with France. . . . Question concern ing the Scotch peerages. . . . Consolidation of the taxes. . . . Farming of the revenue on licences for post-horses. . . . Mo tion for repealing the test and corporation acts. . . . Prince of Wales's debts laid before parliament. . . . Petition of the debt ors in Newgate. . Impeachment of Hastings. . . . Session con cluded. . . . Interference of Britain in the disturbances of Hol land. . . . Parliamentary proceedings from the opening of the year 1788. . . . Declaratory act respecting the transporting of troops to India. . . . Discussion of the slave trade. . . . Resump tion of Hastings's trial. . . . Budget for the year 1788. . . . Wars in the east of Europe. . . . Illness of his majesty. . . . Delates on the regency bill , 220 CONTENTS. vU CHAP. XXIII. JUse of the French revolution. . . . Assembly of the notables. . . , Disputes between the king and the parliament of Paris. . . . Assembly of the states-general. . . . Assumption of power by the tiers-etat. . . . The king compelled to advise the union of orders. . . . New jealousies between the court and the popular party. . . . Assembling of troops near the capital. . . . Insur rection of the Parisians. . . . Capture of the Bastile. . . . Pro ceedings of the English parliament. . . . Dispute with Spain respecting the settlement of Nootka sound. . . . Armament for war. . . . Adjustment of the dispute. . . . View of affairs in France after the capture of the Bastile. . . . State of the rest of Europe in 17QO , 292 CHAP. XXIV. Russian armament. . . . Debates on the bill for the constitution of Canada. . . . Incidental mention of the French revolution. . . . Bill for the relief of the protesting catholic dissenters. . . . Application of the Scottish church for the abolition of the test act, as it regarded Scotland. . . . Discussion of the slave- trade. . . . Finances of 1791- • • • Ferment in the public opi nion during this year. . . . Riots at Birmingham. . . . Meet ing of parliament in January 1792. ... Bill passed respect ing libels. . . . Reforming societies. . . . Police bill for the me tropolis. . . . Finances for \79'L. . . . Embassy to China. . . . East-Indian war .329 CHAP. XXV. Situation of affairs in France. . . . Parlies in the national as sembly. . . . Declaration of war with the king of Hungary and Bohemia. ...•Subjection of the king to republican ministers. . . . Insurrection of the 20'* of June. . . . Appearance of La Fa yette in Paris. . . . His vain efforts to rouse the Parisians in lehalf of the king. . . . Another insurrection, prepared by the Vlll CONTENTS. jacobins. . . . Events of the iQtb of August March of the Prussians into France Progressive influence of the ja cobins. . . . Events from the 2d to the Qtb of September in Pa ris. . . . Dumourier appointed to be generalissimo of the French armies. . . . Seizes on the passes of the Argonne. . . . Meets the duke of Brunswick. . . . Miserable situation and retreat of the Prussians. . . . Convention of Dumourier with Frederick William 362 CHAP. XXVI. Events and dispositions in England preparatory to the war. . . . Debates of parliament. . . . Dismission of Chauvelin. . . . Opening of the national convention in France. . . . Aspect of the two parties. . . Expedition of the French, under Mon tesquieu, into Savoy. . . . Annexation of his conquest to the departments of the republic. . . . Humane negotiation of Mon tesquieu with Geneva. . . . Successes of Custine. . . . New and successful campaign of Dumourier. . . . Conquest of Bel gium. . . . Execution of Louis XVI. , . 408 CHAP. XXVII. Continued ascendancy of the jacobins after the trial of Louis. . . . New efforts of the cabinet of Vienna for the recovery of the Netherlands. . . . Landing of the duke of York in Holland, and check of Dumourier at Williamstadt. . . . Defeat of Ge neral Miranda by the prince of Cobourg. . . .Defection of Dumourier. . . . Establishment of the revolutionary tribu nal. . . . Insurrection of the 2<* of June, in which the Gi rondists are proscribed- . . . Death of Marat, inflicted by Charlote Corday War of the convention with the con- federated cities. . . . and with the royalists of La Vendee. Campaign of the northern army of France against the al lies. . . . Sieges of Valenciennes and Dunkirk. , . . Operations in the West Indies 45g ANNALS OF 0REAT BRITAIN, FROM THE ASCENSION OF GEORGE III [TO THE PEACE OF AMIENS* CHAP. XV; 'American campaign in the spring of 1779 •"¦ • Capture of British West-India islands; . . . Ineffectual attempt of the aU lied armies on Savannah .... Successes of the British on the coast of Jersey . . * . Efforts of the French oil the isle qfJer* sey ... . Dangerous junction of the French and Spanish fleets . . i . Alarm of the country .... Embodying of the volun teers of Ireland, for the defence of their country and redress of grievances .... Riots of the lower orders in Scotland .... Meeting and debates of parliament .... Mr. Burke's econo mical reform bill .... Ascendancy of the opposition in the house of commons .... Resolution on the power of the crown ..... Revoked by a subsequent vote .... Riots in the metro- pdlis .... Lord George Gordon committed to the Tower .... Meeting of parliament . . . . Adjournment, prorogation, and dissolution .... Supplies, and ways and means. During the preceding campaign in Amerrca, chap. the provinces of Georgia and Carolina had XV- seemed to promise some support to the standard of I779. government, from the number of loyal settlers on Vol. II. A 2 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, the more remote plantations^. But it was sooisi xv" found, that co-adjutors so distant and dispersed,, 1779. could effect no important diversion. Seven hun dred of the unfortunate royalists, assembled on the extremities of Carolina, were cut to pieces by the continental militia, and the rest who had taken up arms, submitted, through fear or compulsion* to the authority of congress. Early in the spring, the American general Lincoln, arrived in South Caro lina to oppose our forces under Prevost. . The Bri tish troops, under Colonel Campbell, had pene trated as far as Augusta ; yet the dangerous vi cinity of the enemy in South Carolina determine ed General Prevost to recal this party. Of Lin coln's army, a division to the number of 2000 were posted in a strong situation at Briar creek, under the command of General Ashe, with a view to in tercept this retreat of Colonel1 Campbell. The sa gacity of Prevost anticipated this design,, and turn ed it to the enemy's disadvantage. By a sudden and stolen march, the Americans at Briar creek were surprized in a most unguarded state ; their baggage, ammunition, and arms were seized by the victors, and between 3 and 400 killed or drowned in the pursuit. Thus the delusive hopes of the royalists were again rekindled. Until April, Ge neral Lincoln kept his post, but marched towards Augusta about the beginning of May, leaving 1 500 men to guard the swamps and. passes of the river. On his departure, Prevost conceived it practicable to effect an inroad into Georgia. The enemy's militia, astonished to see our troops advancing over morasses which had been deemed impracticable, made scarcely the shew of resistance, but retired on all hands towards Charlestown* After con sultation with his officers, the British commander determined to continue the pursuit, and to attempt .the siege of the capital of the province. Whea Lincoln perceived that this blow was intended,, he GEORGE III. 3 hastened to the relief of Charlestown. By the 1 1th, chap.) of May, the British had crossed Ashley riverj and xv' took post near the city, which they summoned to. 1779, surrender ; but the strength of the enemy's works, the disadvantageous nature of the country, and the expected succour of Lincoln's superior army, con vinced the British general of his designs on Charles town being impracticable, and he judiciously de- . termined to decamp from a situation which might have left him in disaster, without the hope of re treat. After the retreat of Prevost to the islands of Sc. James and Se. John, in the southern vicinity of Charlestown, an effort was made by Lincoln to drive the British from their position on the narrow inlet which connects the latter island with the main land. Lincoln headed the assault in person, with a body of 5000 ; the strong posture- of the British enabled a force of 800 men, under Colonel Maitland, to repel the assailants with great loss. The season soon after suspended hostilities in this quarter. In the north, every motion of the war was de sultory and indecisive. Washington, on his high and commanding posts above Verplanks and Stoney Point, kept cautiously from engaging, while Clin- May. ton could only ravage the exposed country, or make attempts upon detached fortresses and maga zines. In this predatory warfare, the British ge neral detached Sir George Collier, commander of the marines, along with Major-general Matthews, to effect a descent by way of the Chesapeak on the Virginian shores. Sir George, after passing the capes of Virginia, proceeded up the river Eliza beth. The enemy retired from Fort Nelson, which guards the passage to the towns of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and left an ample spoil of stores and provisions for the fleet and army of the invad ers, who carried destruction wherever they ap- A2 •# ANNALS OF GIIEAT BRITAIN. preached. The loss of the Americans was fm* mense. Collier returned, after razing Fort Nel son to the ground7. Returning from this expedition, the same com mander effected a similar service in concert witfe General Vaughan^ on the eastern side of the North River, within three miles of Stoney point. The enemy retiring in eVery direction, scarce any shew of resistance was offered, except at the fort of La Fayette, where the garrison were some time of sur rendering. The details of this campaign of deso lation are numerous, but unimportant. Villages,- fortified works, and even considerable towns, fell a prey to the victors, but the position ©f Washington remained unassailable, till Clinton, seemingly tired with such desultory proceedings,* recalled his troops to head-quarters. At no period was the steady sagacity of the American general displayed in more striking similitude to the great Roman- commander, whose name has been proverbially as sociated with the praise of his tactics. Like Fabius he beheld his native country laid waste, and like him waited immoveable, as the mountains on which he stood, till the strength of his antagonist should expire by its own efforts, and the day of convenient retribution arrive. But, though too wise to hazard a general engagement, the Ameri cans were not entirely unactive. Stoney point, in the vicinity of Washington's lines, had fallen into- our hands. One of their best American com manders, Wayne,, with a chosen body, retook this' fortress^ with- circumstances of memorable gallant ry, making prisoners of the garrison to the number of 500 men. The place was, indeed, speedily re taken, for Washington would not risk a battle by disputing it ; and the Americans were driven back in a similar attempt which they made on Paulus- hook, opposite to the city of New- York. But GEORGE HI. 5 :lheir victory of Stoney point remained a memorable .encouragement to the psrovincials, how much their determined efforts could achieve, since the storm- ~ I779. ing of thjjt place had been accomplished by the bayonet, a weapon which had been usually regard ed as chiefly fatal to themselves. Once morej, General Collier was called from New-Ycyrk to relieve the small garrison of Penob scot, on the eastern confines of New-England, which was at this period besieged. The batteries had been opened by the Americans on this fortress, and a general assault was hourly expected. After a calm night, however, the enemy were found to have embarked;, and their ships were making off with all speed. It was the sight of Collier's flight which hurried their departure. But their flight was unavailing. Df a numerous fleet which had come to the siege of an insignificant garrison, 24 transports were taken by the British, and several frigates were either captured, or destroyed by themselves, to prevent their capture. Our fleet hj the West Indies was commanded by Admiral Byron, after ,SC. Lucia had surrendered to Admiral Barrington. The new commander left no means untried, to bring D'Estaing to a general engagement, but nothing could induce the French man to hazard the conflict, fie sometimes ventured out of Port-Royal, but constantly returned, on the appearance of our flag, and subsequent circum stances evinced the propriety of his conduct. When the season arrived for the West-India merchant men to sail for England, it became no longer possible for Byron to keep his fleet entire in the West-India seas ; a convoy for the trade was in dispensable, and thus, in a manner more effec tive than a victory could have accomplished, were the whole of our defenceless islands laid open to D'-Estaing's invasion, S\ Vincents was instantly A 3 1779- 6 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, attacked; and, though the captors were but a xv^ handful, yet the dread of the Caribbs, whom the " cruelties of our planters had made enemies more formidable than the French, and who joined the French on their landing, obliged the governor to surrender without any resistance. Reinforced by another squadron from France, to the formidable strength of 26 ships of the line, and 10,000 land troops, D'Estaing next proceeded to attack Grana da and the Grenades 5 and after some resistance in the former island, reduced it to an unconditional surrender. Admiral Byron, however weakened he found his fleet after the detachment which had gone as convoy to Europe, no sooner heard, on arriving off Sc. Lucia, of the capture of S*. Vin cents, than he sailed to meet D'Estaing, and, if possible, recover the lost island. During his voy age from S\ Lucia, he heard of Grenada being at tacked, and changed his plan of saving S\ Vin cents, for the sake of preserving Grenada. The two hostile fleets at last met ; but, as the purpose on one side only, was to come to a pitched battle, nothing essential was effected. In the engagement, . desultory as it was, some ships were disabled on both sides 5 the loss on our side amounted to more than 500 killed and wounded. Although the French fought in such a manner as to shun a deci sive action, and though they retired first from the scene of battle, yet they claimed a victory for hav ing baffled our attempts to save Grenada. The British commander having necessarily changed his views, on learning the fate of thisjsiand, and know ing that his own land forces bore no proportion to the troops of Count Dillon, who had taken it, gave up all idea of its recovery, and sailed after his own transports and disabled ships to S*. Christophers. The French returned to Grenada at night, having lost in the late action, even by their own estima-? GEORGE in. 7 tion, an immense number of sailors. D'Estaing chap. then directing his operations to the northward, xv- proposed two important objects ; the first was the "~ reduction of Georgia, the second an attack upon New- York along with Washington. Arriving on the coast of Carolina, he cast anchor at the mouth sept. j. of the river Savannah, where he was joined by the army under General Lincoln, accompanied by the light-horse of Count Polaski.* As soon as the de barkation of the French troops was completed, the Count D'Estaing marched toward the city of Sa vannah, and summoned General Prevost, who had hurried from the upper country of Georgia to its re lief, to surrender. General Prevost opportunely ob tained twenty-four hours to consider of his answer ; during which interval, he was joined by Colonel Mait- land, whose troops pushed on through incredible fatigues across a most difficult country to relieve him. The safe arrival of such a succour, enabled him to decline the summons. The French and Americans amounting, as was well known, to 10,000 men, appeared to anticipate a certain tri umph over a force not above one fourth of their number ; but their attack on the British lines on the 9^ of October, convinced them how much dis parity of strength could be counterbalanced by skill and intrepidity. The allies were repulsed in this action, with the loss of 687 French troops, and 264 Americans. The issue of one battle deter mined that of the siege. The French and Ameri cans kept possession of their lines only until, the artillery and heavy baggage were withdrawn ; and, as soon as this was accomplished, they reTembark- ed on board the fleet. The Americans retreated to South Carolina, and the Count D'Estaing's fleet divided. Part of them, under the admiral, return- 1 Polaski, or Pulaski, a Polish one of the expatriotcd conspirators «3>cer in the American service, was who attempted the life of Stanislaus, ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. ing to France, and the rest proceeding to the West _xv,_, Indies. During this memorable siege, the Ameri- 1779. cans lost one of their bravest associates, Count Po- laski, who died by a mortal wound on the day of the assault ; and the British lost Colonel Maitland, an officer no less regretted, who fell a martyr to a disorder contracted by the climate, France had begun the hostilities of the present year by a successful expedition to the coast of Africa. As the Brjtisli garrisons in that quarter. were incapable of offering any serious resistance, the forts, settlements, factories, and property at' Senegal, in the river Gambia, and other parts of that coast, fell without trouble into the hands of the enemy in the month of February 1779. The, French, on hearing of that success, abandoned the fort Goree, which they had gained by the peace, and transported their artillery for the security of their acquisitions in Senegal. Sir Edward Hughes, on his passage to the East Indies, seized and garrir soned the above island. But, as the summer ad- vanced^ it seemed necessary to the French to at tempt an impression on Britain, nearer home. The, first attempt was on the island of Jersey, against which they appeared, in the month of May, with a force of 5 or 6000 men, conveyed in flat-bottomed boats, and attended by a considerable force of frigates. From such an armament, something im portant was expected ; but the whole affair proved only an ineffective diversion, as the few militia of the island, along with the 78th regiment, obliged the invaders, after one encounter, to relinquish the island. It was fortunate, indeed, that the French had not more serious intentions of following this attempt by a greater and nearer invasion ; for, al though a plan had been concerted in t;he cabinet to prevent the union of the French and Spanish fleets, yet as it was impracticable to block up Brest, owing GEORGE III. to the lateness of our naval preparations, the sea chap. was left open, and the French fleet was allowed to xy. combine with the Spaniards at Cadiz. Sailing from ' — vT~i thence, they numbered nearly 70 line of battle ships, with a cloud of attendant frigates and fire- ships, and presenting a terrible appearance as they entered the British channel, proceeded to the very harbour of Plymouth. It was a singular, and cer- Aug. 15. tainly also a fortunate event, that our channel" fleet under Sir Charles Hardy, which was cruising at that very period near the chops of the Channel, did not encounter an enemy, at least by 22 ships of the line their superiors in number. A disorder which broke out on board of the united fleets, and the approach of the equinox, obliged them to abandon the British coasts, on which, it is wonderful to re late, that they never attempted a descent. It may be well conceived, that the public mind, at the sight of a hostile flag flying triumphant around our shores, was agitated to no common de gree. The executive power appeared, although late, to participate in the common apprehension of invasion, and took measures during the summer to put the country in some state of preparation An June 16. answer was also issued to the hostile manifesto of Spain, refuting her allegations, and acquitting our selves of her numerous charges. The one hundred complaints of his catholic majesty were not, indeed, easy to answer in detail ; but, in reply to many wrongs that were alleged, such explanations of the cases were given, as retorted the blame on our ac cusers. There was little probability, indeed, that our minority should have been disposed to seek causes of quarrel with a power whose accession to the side of France was so much to be dreaded, and the alleged unwillingness of the court of London to abide by the arbitration of Spain, had a very *77°- 10 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ample excuse in the open partiality of that power XV- to the interests of our enemies. External appearances of danger were not the only alarming circumstances of this period. In Ireland, the contest of Britain with her colonies had not been hitherto beheld with indifference. The emancipation of their commerce, a right which the Irish had of late demanded with impatience, appeared to depend for its fulfilment on the overthrow of those very principles in politics for which the ministers of the mother country had gone to war with America ; and hence, associating in their minds the cause of America with their own, no time seemed more auspicious to insist upon their liberties, than while other parts of the empire had risen in a similar opposition. The late grants of the house of commons had not appeared satis factory. Associations against the purchase and use of British manufactures, already prevailed in some parts of the country, as a just retaliation upon the British merchants and manufacturers, for so illi berally entreating parliament to reject the Irish ap plications. But meetings of another and more im portant nature were embodied at the call of dan ger. Military operations were renewed over the whole Irish kingdom. Their numbers, ultimately, amounted, by the least computation, to 40,000 or 50,000. They declared themselves embodied for the double purpose, of defending their country against foreign enemies, and their rights against domestic usurpation. The chance of immediate invasion would have made it dangerous to have checked a spirit which had the defence of Ireland for its object in the first instance. Whatever was their secret sentiments, ministers thought proper to acquiesce in what could not be prevented, and supplied the greater part of the volunteers with arms. 1779- GEORGE IU. 11 In the train of the domestic occurrences, the dis- chap contents of the lower orders in Scotland, which xv- prevailed during the summer of this year, deserve *" our notice, as connected with subsequent events of more serious importance. In such a quarter, where submissive principles were alike upheld by the in fluence of a strong aristocracy, and by the sober morals of the people, it was little expected that the fire of sedition should be kindled with fury. When a late law in favour of the English Roman catho lics had passed, some Scottish representatives, with becoming wishes for toleration, proposed, and were framing a bill for extending the same advan tages to the catholics of Scotland. The general assembly of the clergy in Scotland favoured this intention, though a small dissenting minority pro tested against this measure, as fraught with danger to the interests of protestantism. At the head of the tolerant party stood the venerable clergymen, Robertson, Blair, and some other names of the highest celebrity in literature and the Christian church. Their antagonists, who formed, as may be well imagined from their principles, the far in ferior party of so enlightened a body as the Scot tish clergy, were at the same time masters of much influence over the passions and prejudices of the lower orders. The speeches and pamphlets of these orators, on the proposed bill respecting the catholics, and of laymen who felt inspired with similar hatred to popery, soon spread abroad such a ferment among the minds of the mob, that the capital, and some other towns of Scotland, exhibited dangerous dis turbances. The persons of the catholics were in sulted, and scarcely protected from destruction, and their houses and chapels were in several places burnt and demolished. The same popular fury affected the safety of those who were supporters of J779- 12 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. -chap, toleration, or by insinuation, catholics at heart, ^v* Among the list of suspected papists, Dr. Robert. "' son was proscribed by the insurgents ; and the person and house of the historian of the reforma tion were only secured from destruction by the drawn swords of the military. Such were the first symptoms of that insane spirit, which at no great distance of time threatened convulsion over the whole island. The speech from the throne, which opened the next session of parliament, on the 25'.* of October, still breathed the spirit of war, and called on the loyalty of the nation to assist his majesty in pursu ing hostilities with America. The state of Ireland was recommended to the attention of the Iegisht- ture ; but on the subject of the last American and West-Indian campaign there was a total and strange silence. The attacks of the opposition, which at tended the debate on the address, were commenced with the liveliest confidence, and seemed to de nounce, rather than to investigate, the conduct of ministers. All the misfortunes of the past year were heaped up as matter of accusation. Our losses in the West-Indies, our fruitless contest with America, the junction of our enemies fleets, and the invasion of Jersey, which the laxity of our navaLpreparations had permitted, were all imputed to the errors of the ruling and responsible powers. If Plymouth had not been razed to the ground, and our coasts made the scene of desolation, it was not because we were armed to oppose the enemy, but because the enemy had not availed themselves of their advantages; for the boasted empire of Britain over the ocean was so strangely altered, that our very hereditary dominion, the Channel, and the mouths of our very harbours had been in possession of France and Spain. All the expen.ce, and all the mighty resources of a na-; s GEORGE III. 1;3 fion possessing armaments, which, under a proper chap". administration, would have carried terror to the ends of the earth, came but to this, that our fleets 1779s, could neither secure our own coasts from insult, nor ensure our trading ships from delays in har bour, and capture when they put to1 sea, nor transport our troops in sufficient time to give effec tive aid, and to feed our wars in the colonies. The perturbed state of Ireland was ascribed, by the same speakers, to the system of measures hitherto pursued in that kingdom, to the influence of a corrupt majority, maintained in their houses of parliament, and to the long delay of concessions ; which, if they ever came, would appear to eome with the bad grace of a most illiberal reluctance. The house of lords was the first scene of parti- Dec i. eular discussions on the subject of Irish affairs. A motion of censure being moved by the earl of Shelburne, on the proceedings of his majesty's ministers, with respect to that country, a series of direct and specific charges were alleged against tnern. They were charged with having broken the royal faith and compact, by robbing the Irish of that immense military force, which the country supported at an expence exceeding her ability J of having resisted a claim for a free trade, coming from every quarter and every party, and every de scription of men, in that kingdom ; and of having allowed, by the naked state in which it was left at a period of expected invasion, the whole country to rise in a^ms, and now demand, at the point of the sword, what ought to have been willingly and peaceably granted. As the affairs of Ireland carried such threats in their aspect, it was at length declared in the house of commons, that the period of her relief was at hand. Three propositions were laid down by the 14 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CHAP, minister, and the house agreed to them without , xv' hesitation. — 1, To repeal those laws which prohi- 1779. bited the exportation of Irish manufactures, made of or mixed with wool' from Ireland, to any part of Europe. 2, To allow the exportation and im portation of foreign glass from and into Ireland. And, 3, that Ireland should be suffered to carry on a trade to and from the British colonies in Ame rica and the West Indies. Two bills were accord ingly founded on the two first propositions, which were immediately passed, and received the royal assent. The third, being more complex in its na ture, was suffered to lie over during the holidays, in its present state of an open proposition. The unaccounted expenditure of public money, during this war, had been a subject of frequent animadversion. While new expences were rising in endless prospect, and the costs, without the pro- E«. 7- fits of the contests, were becoming every day more apparent, the duke of Richmond moved to address the throne for a reduction of the civil list, as some alleviation of the national burdens. Lord Shel- burne, displaying the enormous increase of the army extraordinaries, resumed the same subject in the lords, and concluded his strictures by declar ing his belief that enormous sums, for which mi nisters were unable to account, went to the sup port of iniquitous influence and corruption. The lords of administration made but short replies to these motions, trusting to the numbers of their mute supporters, whose victory lay in their votes. For attempting this inquiry, however, the duke of Richmond and Lord Shelburrie received the thanks of the city of London. The subject of economical reform was renewed with advantage in the house of commons, by the eloquent powers of Burke. To prepare the way GEORGE III. 15 for his intended bill3 on that subject, he drew the chap1. outline, and explained the objects, of his general xv- plan. Those objects went to a removal of all pub- %~~^7C£~ lie offices that could be fairly pronounced useless, but of which the removal Would not disturb even the present arrangements of ministers, still less embarrass any future administration. Nothing, he promised, should be invaded, which was held by a private individual, under legal tenure. No sub stantial office should be stripped of its accustomed functions. An ample fund should be left for re warding solid services, and perhaps more than was strictly requisite for the dignity of government should still remain invested in the crown. Mr. Fox, in this debate, took a leading share in sup port of the motion. He declared, however, in co incidence with the opinion of a member who had lately spoken, that he believed there was not vir tue enough within those walls to accomplish so much wholesome reformation ; but the virtue of necessity, he said, would at last animate the people, and, through them, it would likewise animate and correct that house. The virtue of necessity, sure 3 The heads of these bills were, ter; and for the commodious ad- t, A hill for the better regulation ministration of justice within the of his majesty's civil establishment, same ; as also for abolishing cer- and of certain public offices ; for tain offices now appertaining there- the limitation of pensions, and the to, and for quieting dormant claims, suppression of useless and expensive ascertaining and securing tenant places; and for applying the money rights ; and for the sale of forest saved from thence to the public and other crown lands in the said service : — 2, A bill for the sale of principality, and for applying the the forest, and other crown lands, produce to public service : — 4, A rents, and hereditaments, with cer- bill for uniting to the crown the tain exceptions, and for applying duchy and county palatine of Lan- the proceeds to public service ; and caster, and for the suppression of for securiiig, ascertaining, and satis- unnecessary offices, and the sale of fying tenant rights and common, as crown lands, in the said principali- well as other rights: — 3, A bill ty : — 5, A bill for uniting the duchy for the more perfectly uniting to of Cornwall to the crown, with. the crown the principality of Wales the same clauses. and the county palatine of Ches- 16 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, in its principle, and irresistible in its progress, was i__XJ' ,_, an effectual reformer. 1780. Of the public opinion that attended those de bates in parliament, a strong testimony was given by the county meetings; petitions, and associations; in favour of reform. The great and populous County of York led the way in addressing parlia ment, and drew up a representation which served; in some measure, as the ground-work of other pe titions from a number of counties and towns. It stated, as public grievances which demanded re dress, the growth of our public debt; the enormous, amount of existing debts, as well as the fear of more ; the melancholy prospect of our declining resources ; and the prodigal distribution of public money in pensions and sinecures* which gave un constitutional influence to the crown. January. The county of Middlesex next Stood forth, and other county petitions followed in pretty close suc cession.5 Feb. 8. The petition of the county of York was intro duced into the house of commons by Sir George Saville, who called upon the minister to declare; with the open dignity of a man, whether he meant to countenance or discourage the petition. His lordship had hitherto observed a timid and sullen taciturnity on subjects of economical reform. The minister, apparently hurt at Sir George Saville's question, said that the petition should have his con sent to lie on the table ; but, in leaving it to the attention of members, he must beg leave to be understood as offering no disrespect to the paper before the house, if he should enter on a subject more immediately urgent, viz. the question of ways and means. * Viz. Chester, Herts, Sussex, cester, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Nor- Huntingdon, Surrey, Cumberland, folk, Berks, Bucks, Nottingham, Bedford, Essex, Somerset, Glom. &c. GEORGE III. 17 . The day at length arrived, on which the mover chap. was to introduce his promised plan of reformation. , XVj The principles of his intended change Mr. Burke I7"8o. affirmed to be .safe', wholesome, and such as could Feb- «• not be affected by interest or caprice. He first proposed the abolition of such expensive jurisdic tions as tended rather to corrupt than to adminis ter justice. Commencing his reform with some of those unnecessary jurisdictions which are attached to the sovereignty itself; he observed Of the Eng~ lish monarch, that he was not; as was commonly supposed, the head of a single and solid monarchy, not the chief actor on the theatre of public affairs* whose office was one and distinct ; but like the king among strolling players* \vho had frequently subordinate parts to perform. He was king of England, prince of Wales, earl of Lancaster, and count palatine of Lancaster, as well as duke of Lancaster and duke of Cornwall. In all those petty principalities the useless forms' of monarchy were to be supported at a high charge to the na tion ; and nothing but the dependence of nominees to those useless offices was reaped in return. Those five principalities he proposed to be swallowed up in the ordinary jurisdiction of the crown. His next object of reform was the( disposal of all pub lic estates, selling all forest lands, and thereby im proving, agriculture and increasing population. His proposal respecting the civil list was to pull down the enormous charges and establishments, the off spring of Gothic manners, which" had been pre served to later ages by the inveteracy of habit. Of this nature were the offices of treasurer, Cofferer of the household; the master of the household; and the whole board of green cloth; Without abolishing the number or emolument of officers at- tendent on the person of the king, he wished to see the.4 keepers of the buck-hounds, stag-hounds* FbL II B 18 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. fox-hounds, or harriers, abolished,' since it was un seemly in noblemen to be keepers of dogs, even ~^8CT~' though they were the king's dogs. After enumerat ing a few other offices, which appeared to him useless appendages and expences, Mr. Burke proposed the establishment of an order in payments; which should prevent unjust precedence or unequal receipts. He proposed farther the certainty of establishment, and the dissolution of all subordinate treasuries. These proposals, couched in five bills, were pre sented to the bouse, and took up a large portion of this tedious session. While the great plan of economy was yet depending, several auxiliary pro positions were made in both houses. Early in the < same month, a very full meeting of the lords as sembled, on the day appointed for the earl of Shel- burne's motion for examining the expenditure of public money, especially in pensions and contracts, and to propose a method of economy, by means of a commission of accounts, founded upon succes sive precedents in English history since the revolui- tion. The lords in administration opposed this motion, chiefly on two grounds, — First, The in formality, and even the incompetency, of one house of parliament to come to any resolution which went eventually to bind and conclude the proceedings of the other ; and, secondly, because the institution of such a commission of accounts, though it had ex isted in the days of William and Anne, was yet unprecedented since the accession of the house of Hanover, as it had been found a nugatory, and even vexatious, institution. The debate ended in a rejection of the motion, but exhibited a strength of numbers in the opposition which announced a visible decline in the powers and influence of mi nistry. February. In a few days after the disclosure of Mr. Burke's scheme of reform, Colonel Barre gave notice of GEORGE III. 19 his intentidn to move for a committee of accounts, chap. as a supplement to that larger plan. Such a com- , xv' _„ mittee, he said, would most easily correct the evils 1780. arising from the present mode of voting great sums of the public money without estimate, and be at tended with other advantages; An unexpected as sent was immediately given by the minister to this proposal. Mr. Burke's establishment bill having been read March 8. a first and a second time without opposition, the order of the day for the house going into a com mittee upon it was called for on the 8th of March. At this period one of the minister's associates, who, far outstripped any of his party in resistance to the scheme of reform, boldly denied the compe tency of the house to discuss any measures of change upon the civil list 5 a revenue which he af firmed to be as much the private property of the king as the estate of any landholder in England was the property of that owner. Opposition seem ed glad to avail themselves of this hint of Mr. Rig- by, and insisted that the question of right should precede the order of the day. The friends of ad ministration endeavoured to soften and explain away the apparent sense of the declaration, but evinced no inclination to bring the question of right to a parliamentary issue. On the question being put, the order of the day was voted by a majority, among whom was' the ministerial and loyal Mr. Rigby. The establishment bill being thus brought before the committee, a debate took place on its first clause, for abolishing the office of third se cretary of state. That clause was rejected by a majority still far from considerable, on the mini sterial side. On a subsequent day, the next clause under- March 13- went discussion, viz. the proposal for the abolition of the board of trade, when the framers of the B 2 20 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. bill actually carried their point, by a majority of ^ eight. This was not all their triumph ; they had ^gcT""' the felicity of witnessing a dispute between the mi nister and the speaker, during the debate, in which the former was taxed with the exertion of influence in his ministerial capacity, which gave occasion to the severest invective. The next clause of Mr. Burke's bill that was submitted to the committee, was that for abolishing the offices of treasurer of the cham ber, and others. At this point the fortune of op position again ebbed, the first clause of the bill be ing lost on a division, and the succeeding questions rejected. The last debate of the house before the spring recess, was introduced by the report of the com mittee of ways and means, of which the opposition attempted to defer the eonsideration till the peti tions of the people on subjects of financial reforma tion should be heard and considered, but without success. April 6. On the resumption of business, after the recess, the subject of the county and city petitions was again vigorously pressed. The 6th of April was signalized by a motion of Mr. Dunning, on which the decision of the commons forms a memorable epoch in the history of parties. On that day Mr. Dunning, after reviewing the great reforming scheme, which had been hitherto discussed only in parts ; after recounting the efforts of so great a portion of the nation in behalf of that cause, and the fruitless delivery of petitions from more thari 100,000 electors, attributed its failure to the un due influence of the crown. He then ' moved for a resolution of the house, That the influence .of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. The lord advocate of Scotland (Mr. Dundas), either from a wish to strengthen the proposition into such harshness as should occa- 5 GEORGE III. 21 sion its rejection, or from some other unaccountable chap. motive, proposed prefixing, as an amendtnent to the xv- motion, the words ' it is now necessary to declare.' In I7g0 this amended state it passed by a majority of. 1 8 j and the minister, for the second time in this ses sion; found himself in a minority. Pursuing his success still farther, Mr. Dunning advanced, as his second proposition, ' that the house should re solve to examine and correct abuses in the expen diture of the civil list, as well as in every other branch of the public revenue.. This was also tri umphantly carried. A third resolution was car ried in the same spirit, which originated with Mr, Thomas Pitt, a front rank opponent of the minis try, ' that the house should attend the petitions, and redress the grievances, laid before them.' Mr. ,Fox pushed the victory home, by moving, that the resolutions should be immediately, reported. This was done; and the dismay of the ministers was only equalled by the emulation of their op ponents. •But the moment after victory is sometimes as important for ultimate success as that before it. The ministry, though stunned, were not irretriev ably fallen. An unusual recess was occasioned at this time by the speaker's illness ; and, during that period, it may be guessed what efforts had been used by minister^ to rally their broken ranks, and bring back deserters to their standard, when the career of opposition was stopped at the next debate, by a majority on their side of 51 votes. This debate had arisen from a motion of Mr. Dun ning, that the house should address his majesty, requesting that neither dissolution nor prorogation of parliament should take place until the objects of the petitions should be answered. On the deci sion of this motion', by a majority of the very mem bers who had voted the ever-memorable resolution B3 22 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. of the 6th, Mr. Fox rose, with indignation, to ex- pose the outrage on consistency, and the breach 1780. of solemn engagement, they had committed. On the 6th it had been voted, that the influence of the crown was increasing ; and now, by a vote scarce two weeks after, the influence of the crown, in repelling the wishes of the nation, is aided and confirmed by those who had pledged themselves to the cause of refprmation by a sacred and deliberate declaration. It was base, it was unmanly, it was treacherous. Lord North, as if to insult with ironical comfort the broken hopes of the petition ers, replied to the invective of opposition, that the petitions, and resolutions founded on them, were still open to consideration ; but this defeat did in fact terminate the discussion. A motion by Ser- May 19. jeapt Adair, for withholding farther supplies till the grievances of the people should be redressed, was negatived without dividing; and, when Dunning moved to receive the report of the committee, on the 10th of April, the question for the chairman's quitting the chair was carried by a majority of 43. While those extraordinary turns of fortune at tended the contest of parties in parliament, and agitated, in proportion to their consequence, the ge neral mind of the nation, an affair to which too little notice was paid in its origin, overwhelmed for a mo ment even party-spirit itself in the general danger of the country. The repeal of an act of King Wil liam, for preventing the growth of popery, had operated upon the lower and fanatical cjass of so ciety in a manner suitable to the grossness of their religious and political prejudices. The alarm at the supposed growth of popery, which at first shewed itself in riots and insolent manifestoes among socie ties of low fanatics, and a few of the least respectr able of the Scottish clergy, overspread, in a short time, the whole rabble of the two kingdoms. GEORGE III. 23 EJghty-five corresponding societies, instituted on °5vP' the plan of the Edinburgh protestant association, ._ v ¦' had a leader and representative in the house of 17,89. commons itself, in the person of a wild insane branch of a noble Scottish family, the well-known Lord George Gordon. His speeches in parliament had attracted an audience from, their extreme sin gularity, and their intemperance was pardoned, from the supposed good intentions of the speaker, although the sanity of his judgment was always suspected. Having presided for some time over the whole anticatholic associations formed through out both kingdoms, this eccentric noblemaa was in the habit of introducing bis favourite scheme of resisting the growth of popery in a manner which sometimes amused the house of commons, but more frequently teamed and interrupted them in the midst of serious business. With all the promp? titude, the assurance, and the temerity, of a franr, tic head, he had more than once concluded his harangues on the protestant associations, by declarr ing that he could bring at any time from Scot land 120,000 men to support his petitions by force, if a peaceable assent should be. denied. The object of the associations was to obtain the repeal of an act lately passed, relieving his majes ty's subjects of the catholic persuasion from cer tain penalties and disabilities imposed on them in the 11th and. 12th years of William III. To give the petition on this subject better effect, the asso- ciators resolved to attend, with all their numbers, on the day of presenting it. Their president gave notice, by the public prints, that, on the day ap^- pointed for his moving the repeal, the whole body should assemble in S(. Georges fields, to accom pany their petitions to parliament. To prevent mistake, all supporters of the cause were to mount 24 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. a blue cockade on their hats, as the insignia of the protestant association.' On the day appointed, this band of fanatics, af* ter dividing their vast concourse at the place of ¦ rendezvous, proceeded towards Westminster hall by different routes, in four separate bodies, Having blocked up all the avenues to both houses of par liament, they began the exercise of their new au thority by compelling all the members whom they met on their way to parliament to assume the blue ribbon, or compelled them to promise an abroga tion of the act in favour of papkts. Many mem bers with difficulty escaped Out of their hands ; all whom they met were insulted, and Several were severely hurt.*" Surrounded, or rather besieged, jn this disgraceful manner (for the mob twice at tempted to break into both houses, and were twice repulsed by the spirit of the door-keepers6 and other officers), the houses of lords and commons assembled. Lord George Gordon, who, after ac companying the rabble, proceeded to take his seat in the house, went several times to the top of the gallery stairs, where he harangued the people on the sub ject of their petition, and recounted the names of those members who were most averse to his mo tion of repeal. Among these he particularly dis- , 5 Among the members most characteristic spirit, finding his pas- grossly abused or insulted were, sage beset, made his way with „ the archffishop of York, ,-the lord- drawn sword. The rabble, over- president of the council, Lord awed by his resolute appearance, Mansfield, Lord.Stormont, the duke made an avenue, and let him pass. of Northumberland, Lord Boston, « On this occasion the courage fhe bishop of Litchfield, the Lords of a young clergyman, who acted Hillsborough, Townsend, Wil- as assistant chaplain of the house loughby de Broke, Ashburnham, of commons, was particularly me- S". John, and Dudley, the bishop morable. He rebuked the rioters of Lincoln. Of the members of with great energy, and told their the house of commons, Mr. Stra- president ,Lord George Gordon to han and Welbore Ellis, Lord North, his face, that he was answerable Lord Germaine, Lord Trentham, for all the bloodshed that would and some others. Mr. Burke, with ensue. GEORGE III. tinguished Mr. Burke, the member for Bristol, chap. He added, that his majesty would certainly, on per- xv- ceivirtg, such numbers assembled for redress, send \^$Z" private orders to his ministers to grant it. The spirit of the house, though perhaps too tardy in passing resolutions for using the military force to the preservation of their own dignity, or in voting the commitment of their incendiary member, Lord George, to the. Tower, was sufficiently displayed in rejecting the anticatholic motion, which had only for its supporters Alderman Bull, Sir James Ldw- ther, and four other men of insignificant reputa tion. General Conway, and several other mem bers, expostulated with the mischievous mover on the probable consequences of his conduct ; and Colonel Gordon, a near relation of his lordship's, accosted him in these words. — * Lord George, if you intend to bring any of your rascally adherents into this house, when the first man enters, I will plunge my sword, not into his body, but into yours/ Lord George, like other insane persons when bold ly rebuked, had not courage to resist the threat. Soon after this, a party of horse and foot arrived for the protection of the houses. Luckily for the prevention of bloodshed on that day, the entreaties of Justice Addington, who headed the detachment, prevailed on the mob to disperse, and clear the avenues ; and the house having risen, the guards were ordered home. But, though order was restored in this quarter of the town, the riot did not generally subside. The mob paraded in different directions from Pa- Jace-yard, and demolished some Roman catholic chapels before the military had time to arrive. The tumult nearly subsided on the day follow ing ; but, on Sunday the 3d of June, in the after noon, the rioters assembled in large bodies, and attacked the chapels and dwelling-houses of the ca- 26 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, tholics, in and about Moorfields. On Monday, XV- they collected again. Some of them paraded, with ""7^g0. the relics of the havock which had been made in Moorfields, as far as Lord George Gordon's house. Others went in different directions, to burn and plunder the houses of obnoxious individuals; among others, the house of the excellent Sir George Sa- ville, who had framed the bill of catholic tolera tion, was attacked and destroyed. At an early pe riod of tfiese outrages, the protestant association disclaimed, in a solemn manner, any knowledge or approbation of the rioters, and advised all faith ful followers of their cause to support it by .peace able measures. Such an apology might undoubt-. edly be admissable from many harmless individuals in the association ; but the name of this associa tion cannot be mentioned without disgrace to its promoters, which had bigotry for its principle, persecution for its object, and Lord George Gor don for its patron. The commons adjourned froni the 2d to the 6th of June; but the lords met, on the 3d, and passed a motion for addressing his ma jesty, requesting the crown to give immediate! or ders for prosecuting the authors and abettors of yesterday's disturbances. On the 6th instant, above 200 members of the commons had the courage to make their way through , immense and alarming crowds, whose excesses were already to be seen in the conflagration of houses in every quarter of the town. They found Westminster hajl, and the ave nues to the houses, lined with soldiers. Their re solutions were to be passed with a furious mob waiting for them in the streets, and soldiers, with fixed bayonets, at the door, to preserve the free dom of debate. They passed, however, some very proper resolutions for asserting their own privi leges, — for a committee to inquire into the late and present disturbances, and to discover their au? GEORGE in. ay tjhors and promoters ; for prosecuting such authors chap. and abettors ; for reimbursing the sufferers by XV-< these riots ; and, lastly, for hearing the petitions 1780. of the protestant association, but not until peace and order should be reinstated. On the intelli gence of fresh tumults and disturbances, a hasty adjournment took place. Some of the lords assembled on the 5th of the month ; but the arrival of several noblemen se verely maltreated, by the mob, and the account of, Lord Sandwich having been assaulted and wound ed, to the danger of his life, determined their lord ships to resolve, that no deliberations of their as sembly could, with propriety, be held till the arm of executive authority should rescue them from insult and danger. They adjourned accordingly to tbe 19th. This day and the following one were indeed the most dreadful that London had witnessed for cen turies past,. After various depredations, the mob proceeded to Newgate, and demanded the release of all the prisoners. The keeper was sufficiently resolute to refuse, but went to consult the sheriffs. While the magistrates were deliberating what mea sures to take, the gaol was set on fire, and speedi ly taken by storm. Three hundred prisoners were enlarged, of whom the greater part immediately joined the insurgents, The work of devastation now became general, and in some quarters of the town contributions were levied. The prisons of Newgate and Clerkenwell, the Compters, the Fleet, the King's bench, and the gaols of Southwark, were emptied of their felons and debtors. The dwell ings of Sir John Fielding, and the venerable Lord Mansfield, were plundered and burnt. His lord ship with difficulty escaped to a friend's house, from whence he was taken to the protection of the queen's house, from the pursuit and fury of the 28 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, mob. All the catholic innkeepers and distillers ¦ xv' _, were, by their principles and the nature of their 1780. property, more peculiarly exposed to depredation. After destroying the houses of the two Langdales, distillers in Holborn, the mob regaled themselves with the raw spirits which they found on their pre mises, and drank such quantities, that many died on the spot, or lay till they were suffocated among the ruins. During these alarming transactions, the military had acted but partially. The civil power had de layed to interfere with sufficient firmness at the first appearance of danger ; and it was now impossible to act with effect, without appealing to the last re source for subduing disturbances. A privy coun-. cil was convened, at which the king was present. At this meeting the attorney- general recommended that the executive power should, for the present, supersede the civil ; that the riots should be de clared rebellious, and the military be ordered to act, when necessity should require, without orders from the magistrates. An order to this effect, was made out, and the beneficial effects were speedily experienced. By this time the spirit of insurrec tion, far from being glutted, seemed to grow with the progress of destruction. All business was at a stand. The shut-up shops ; the numeroys confla grations (for London was seen blazing in thirty places from one spot) ; the flight of affrighted and houseless inhabitants, wandering with what pieces of their furniture they could convey from the flames ; the shouts of the infuriated destroyers ; and, at in tervals, the heavy discharges of the soldiers firing in platoons ; these sights and sounds converted a scene which, a few days before, had reposed in peace and security, to the image of a city taken by sack and storm. June 17. But the attempts which were this day made on the bank, and the threats which were understood GEORGE III. 29 to be thrown out hy the rioters of Cutting the wa- CHAp> ter pipes which supplied the city from the Thames, xv. ' roused the activity of the government, and drew u out loyal associations of the people, to avert trie 1778' last extremities. A great many regiments' had, besides, been rapidly marched from the country ; so that the exertions of the military, on the even ing of the 7th, became more serious, in proportion . to the danger. In several places a regular firing of the military commenced ; and such was the ef fect, that the general estimate of the killed and Wounded on the side of the insurgents has amount ed to 450. Exclusive of this number, there must have been many who were removed while their blood was yet flowing. Before the dawn of the 8th, there was a total cessation of the riots, though the sensation of alarm still strongly prevailed, and strong detachments of troops were stationed at every important quarter of the capital. The house of commons met ; but, as Westminster was under martial law, they ad journed to the 1 9th. On the afternoon of the 8th day, Lord George Gordon was arrested on a charge of high treason, at his house in Welbeck street, and escorted, under the strongest guard that ever accompanied a prisoner, to the Tower. Many of his meaner associates of the protestant association were sent to humbler places of confinement, and atoned on the gallows for those crimes which the conduct of their noble, president certainly equalled in atrocity, though it escaped justice under the plea of insanity. To complete the satisfaction of pub lic justice, the lord .mayor, whose neglect of sear sonable interference was justly held as one of the passive causes of the late , dreadful excesses, was prosecuted by the attorney-general, and convicted of neglect; The gross criminality of .this magis trate, and the odious behaviour of the two alder- 50 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. men Sawbridge and Bull, who offered countenance to the rioters, by every demonstration of favour jjgo. that did not hazard their own safety, gave disgust to all parties, except the rabble, whom they pa tronized. Among the first who had courage to pronounce a public execration on those criminals! of the opulent class, was the once distinguished John Wilkes. He upbraided them in every public meeting with their offensive conduct. He was emi nently active in assisting as a magistrate where the military were called in ; and He checked, at its first birth, an audacious production of the press, which threatened to inflanie and jdstify the spirit of re bellion. June 19. On the adjourned meeting of the house of com mons, ah undeserved compliment Was paid to the petition of the city respecting the repeal of the ca tholic toleration. It appears that, even among some of the friends of toleration, different ideas were en tertained how far toleration should extend. In com pliance with the fears of the less liberal tolerants, Sir George Saville brought in a bill for disqualify ing catholics from the privilege of instructing youth as scholars or boarders. This invidious restriction^ so unlike the manly mind of its proposer, was op posed by all the eloquence of Fox and Burke, but passed in the commons. It was rejected, however, in the lords. ^ On the 8"i ?. the bar of that harbour under a heavy fire, but with little bloodshed. Both Americans and Freneh retired from their station ; and many of their ves sels were sunk by the enemy, to serve as obstacles to the besiegers, instead of being actively used in their defence. The slow advances of the British army had given time to the provincials to enlarge and strengthen the defences of Charlestown. These now consisted of redoubts, lines, and batteries, extending from Ashley to Cooper river, mounted with eighty cannons and mortar fronted by a deep canal of water, at each extremity of which an im passable swamp oozed to the neighbouring river, and extended the defence* 'Between the canal and the batteries were rows of abbatis and a double pickets ted ditch. The works at the right and left enfi laded the canal ; whilst, in the centre, a horn-work of masonry being filled up, served as a sort of ci tadel. When the British summons- to surrender had been firmly refused j and the first parallel of the besiegers formed, their batteries were opened^ and soon made a visible impression on the town j . but still the communication of the country and the Vol .11. c 34 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, garrison being kept open across Cooper river, ft '_. reinforcement of 700 men opportunely arrived, to 1780. strengthen the besieged ; and the cavalry of Lin coln still traversed the country to the eastward, to keep the passage open for reinforcements, or event ually for retreat. To cut oft" those advantages, our fleet had orders to pass Fort-Moultrie, and gain the command of the water between the fort and Charlestown. The strength of Fort-Moultrie was formidable. As the British advanced, it opened a heavy cannonade ; but in the face of this resistance Arbuthnot pressed forward with his little squadron, and effected that important service. From this time Sir Henry Clinton felt no fear of the hostile communications. He detached Colonel Webster, with 1400 men, to attack the American covering * army. Colonel Tarleton led the van-guard of this division, and performed the service with such sig nal success, that the provincial cavalry and militia were routed and dispersed at Biggin's bridge, 32 miles from Charlestown, with the loss of all their stores and baggage. The head branches of Cooper's river were thus passed, and possessed by our army, and the country to the eastward was still farther cleared of the enemy's detachments. It was the division of Colonel Webster who effected these advantages. The marquis of Cornwallis ar riving at this period, with a detachment of the army from New- York, joined his troops with those of Webster, and superseded that active officer in the command. Charlestown was now nearly inclosed by the besiegers. The second parallel of the British Was finished on the 20th of April, and the third parallel on the Mar6- 6th of May. Fort-Moultrie surrendered on that day to Captain Hudson of the navy, who landed on Sullivan island, and attacked it by land, while the ships prepared to batter it from the water. T« GEORGE III. 35 coinplefe the misfortune of the enemy, the remnant chap. bf their routed cavalry, which had been collected XVI# frOnl the recent defeat at Biggin's bridge, fell again I?30> J victims to the valour of Tarleton, in a second en gagement, on the banks of the Jantete. For two days after the third parallel Opened upon Charles town, an incessant firing was kept up, and the be siegers had advanced to the very verge Of the ditch. Dreading the horrors of an assault, the Americans now offered to capitulate on terms which had been before offered them, but rejected ; the British general humanely acceded. The gar rison were allowed to march out with some of the honours of war. The continental troops and sea men were detained as prisoners ; the citizens and militia Were dismissed as prisoners on parole. No plunder was permitted ; a circumstance honourable "to the -British name-, which, it is much to be re gretted, had been partially Sullied by some acts of inhumanity during the late successes of Tairleton's legion.1 The loss of the British during the siege amounted to 76 killed, and 1 89 wounded. The number of slain in the garrison was greater than ours, that of the wounded somewhat less. The prisoners included many general officers of distinc tion, arid private men to the number of 6000, with 400 pieces of ordnance^ and large stores* In the list of the British officers who signalized their abi lities in this siege, the most conspicuously useful, if we omit the name of Tarleton^ was the chief Of the engineers, Major Moncrieff. On a former oc casion, the siege of Savannah had afforded this offi cer a favourable field for his genius in defensive operations ; the siege of Charlestown now conferred on him the highest celebrity for knowledge in the science of attack. 1 Vide Stedman/s American War, clous instances of rape and cruelty vol. ii, p, 183, in which some atro- are recorded. C 2 36 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. Chap. While our arms were thus employed in South ' Carolina, the earlier anticipation of" war on the side t;8o. of Spain, and the quick announce of it to her co lonies, had enabled that enemy to attack our settlements on the Mississippi, with unexpected success. In the month of January, one of their commanders, Don Bernardo de Galoes, sailed from New-Orleans with 2000 men, and a number of vessels, and landed at Dog river, about four miles from Fort-Mobille* on the 25 th of February. From thence he proceeded against the fort, which had not 200 hands of every description and colour to defend it. With a battery of 1 1 pieces of cannon, the enemy were soon enabled to bring so weak a fortification to capitulate. Very honourable terms were granted. The surrender was, however, re gretted, as General Campbell was on his march from Pensacola with 700 men ; a force which, it was supposed, from the superior valour of our countrymen, would have been adequate to relieve it. By the fall of Charlestown, the whole province of South Carolina seemed to be effectually secured to the victors ; and every measure was pursued that could encourage the hopes of the loyalists, or intimidate the disaffected. A general submission tb the royal cause, and oaths of allegiance, prevail ed in the southern parts of the province. The fugi tive force of the Americans, who had fled across the Jantee, after having in vain attempted to act as the covering army of Charlestown, during its siege, were at the same time successfully pursued by Colonel Tarleton's detachment of Cornwalfis's army. By a march, almost unexampled for rapidity in the an nals of war,* this active officer overtook the pro vincials at Waxhaws, on the borders of North- Carolina, and routed them once more, with the * Golond Tarleton's troop marched 105 miles in 54 hours. GEORGE III. 37 Joss of all their baggage and ammunition. The chap. British, troops, says a recorder of these events, who xvh has detailed them with the assurance of an eye* ' £ — "* witness, were entitled to great praise for their ar dour and activity ; but the virtue of humanity was totally forgot. In plainer terms, the successes of Tarleton were perpetually tarnishe4 by wanton bloodshed, plunder, and destruction. After these successes, and a variety of regulations for the future management of the recovered pro vince, General Clinton reembarked for New- Junej. York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command of the army that remained, amounting to 6000 men. The first object of the British commander, which was an expedition into North-Carolina, was neces sarily delayed by the extreme heat of the season, and the difficulty of finding provisions, before the gathering of the harvest. The troops were in the meantime so disposed in cantonments, as to cover the frontiers both of South-Carolina and Georgia, and to secure their internal quiet, The principal force on the frontiers was at Camden,under command of Lord Rawdon, Two battalions, which covered the country between Camden and Georgetown, being advanced to Cherawrhill, on the river Piacce, Georgetown was garrisoned by a detachment. Camden, which was to form the principal maga zine for the intended expedition, was connected with the district of Ninety-six, by a strong garrison, at a post called Rocky-mount ; and to other im portant stations, proportionate detachments of this small army were allotted. But, impatient of the expected succours from Cornwallis, the loyalists of North-Carolina were unable to wait for his co operation. His lordship had everywhere sent emissaries and agents among them, beseeching them to keep quiet, and only look to the collections of stores, till the season should be farther advanced, 38 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CHAr. while he himself was occupied in securing the con- * _, quered south, by internal organization. But when 1780. men's minds are on the eve of insurrection, when they are waiting for their signal to rise, under the suspicious vigilance of enemies on every side, it is not easy to preserve that patience which their safer coadjutors may find it prudent to inculcate. The June, northern loyalists assembled prematurely, and by their abortive attempts furnished a pretext to the American government to exercise such harshness over those suspected of the same disaffection, as either deprived them of the power of exertion, or drove them into voluntary exile. Eight hundred of these unfortunate men escaped to the British posts on the southern frontiers ; many of them men of property and respectability, though now driven from their families under every species of hardship and privation. They arrived safe at Major Macar-?. thur's detachment, on Cheraw-hill. The misfortunes of the loyalists were not con-, fined to the northern province. In South-Carolina they had soon reason to perceive that the arms of the British would, by their splendid victory, afford but a temporary protection, and that the seeds of their future calamities were already sown. By the arbitrary order of General Clinton, the real and faithful loyalists beheld arms put into the hands of all the provincials indiscriminately, who chose to. submit, either from motives of fear or of treachery. No medium was observed in the regulation re-. specting prisoners ; they were declared rebels, and bound to abide by the consequence of rebellion, if they did not swear allegiance, and convert their passport into a certificate of loyalty. .It was not wonderful that submission, thus compelled, should have clothed innumerable enemies in the uniform of loyal militia, and placed arms in the hands of those who could not be trusted. The sincere loy. GEORGE III. 39 alists saw, and complained with justice, that the chai1. oath of allegiance had not been left as a matter of XVI- freer choice ; and that they were unworthily mingled ^Ig^~" in the ranks with spies and secret enemies. Amidst these discontents, intelligence came, that detachments from General Washington's army were arriving, under different leaders, to protect the northern frontiers, and raise again the republican standard in the south. Besides baron de Kalbe, who had advanced as far as Hillsborough, the other American generals, Porterfield, Caswell, Ruther ford, and Sumpter, were hastening with different divisions, and more were expected, to reinforce them. General Gates, with the laurels of Saratoga on his head, was to conduct the expedition, while Colonel Sumpter, a very active provincial officer, led their advanced posts as far as the Catawba settlement. Alarmed by these movements, Lord Rawdon ordered Macarthur's division at Cheraw- hill to fall back from their advanced situation. In the meantime, two instances of treachery evinced the prevailing spirit of the South-Carolinians. An officer, of the name of Lisle, led off a whole batta lion of their militia to the American quarters at Ca tawba ; and in the north-east of the province, another battalion rose on their commanding-officer, and deserted to North-Carolina. By these deser tions, the enemy were enabled to act on the of fensive. Colonel Sumpter proceeded boldly to attack the British outposts at Rocky-mount, with 900 men, a post defended by far inferior numbers. Of these a considerable portion were American refugees, men indifferently armed and disciplined, and easily liable to fall by a bold surprize. They fled accordingly, with precipitation, and victory would have declared for Sumpter's corps, had not the charges of Tarleton's infantry legion, which were made with fixed bayonets, and the timely aid 40 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN, chap, of a small reinforcement, recovered the day, and XVI- repulsed the Americans with considerable loss. ^^7"* By this time the different corps of the enemy, July jo. under the. leaders already mentioned, had joined, and crossed the frontiers. General Gates having taken the chief command on the 27th of July, Lord Rawdon moving forward to Camden, came -in sight of their main army on the opposite shore of Lynche's creek ; but fearing, from^ the move ments of Gates, that his advanced position might expose him to the danger of being surrounded, his lordship retreated to Camden, determining to await the arrival of Cornwallis with the main army. The commander in chief setting out from Charlestown on the. 10^, arrived at Camden after three days march. The following day was spent by both ar mies in reconnoitering each other's position, and preparing for a pitched battle, to which the ad vance of Gates announced his disposition. The numbers of Cornwallis being diminished by the number of his sick, he could not muster much more than 2000 effective men, of which a fourth were provincials. The numbers of Gates' army have been differently represented, from 5000 to 7000. But, confiding in the valour and discipline of his men, and justly regarding a retreat in these circumstances to be scarcely less pernicious than defeat, Cornwallis decided on giving battle. Gates had no advantage but that of numbers ; his situa tion was unfavourably chosen, and his dispositions for the action unaccompanied with the usual symp toms of his vigour and sagacity. On the other side, every preparation announced that Cornwallis was to engage with all the force and fortitude which prudent men are found to display when they quit their usual track of caution, to hazard a bold mea sure. A swamp on each side secured the flanks of a scheme of the deepest im portance was formed by one of his own officers, for striking a blow at the American cause, which he had for some time resolved to abandon, by de livering the strong post of West point, on the -North river, to Sir Henry Clinton, and thus enabling the British, almost without an effort, to cut off the army of Washington from connection with the up land and middle colonies. This apostate was the once famous Arnold, who, after performing many brilliant services to the coldnists, had commanded in Philadelphia after it was evacuated by the Bri tish forces. In this latter command, the conduct of Arnold became displeasing to his countrymen j 1780. 48 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, he affected a splendour of life little suited to th£ xvi. severity of his sober countrymen," and which, with ~J republican jealousy, they suspected to be incon sistent with the fortune he possessed. They scrup led not to tax him with peculation of the public funds. While the popular clamour ran strong against him, he appealed for redress of character to congress, as well as for an investigation into his accounts, in terms which were deemed disrespect ful. The examination of his conduct and accounts produced no good to his reputation ; and, though the charge of peculation was not publicly confirm ed, he was reprimanded for general misconduct. Arnold, unable to forget the real or supposed in justice of his countrymen, secretly determined on deserting them. In this state of irritation, he could easily persuade himself that his political creed respecting the quarrel with the mother country had been changed by recent events ; and he only delayed returning to the British cause till he could effect some important service. Having for some time corresponded with Sir Henry Clinton respect ing the delivery of West point, Major Andre, the aide-de-camp to our commander, undertook to con fer with him, and was conducted from the Vulture sloop of war to a place which, without the know ledge or consent of Andre', was within the Ame rican lines. After he had landed, the Vulture was unfortunately obliged to shift her station, from a gun being brought to bear upon her from the shore. Andre, unable to procure a boat to reach her, was obliged, after his conference with Arnold^ to attempt returning by land to New- York. Bear ing a pass from the American general, under the assumed name of John Anderson, and having changed his dress, he had already passed the Ame rican out-posts, when he was stopped by three straggling patroles, who sprung from the woods GEORGE III, 49 liear the road, and, receiving no satisfactory an- chap* swers, which were made still more suspicious by XVI- the unfortunate prisoner offering a bribe if they g0- would suffer him to pass, conducted him to their commanding officer. In his second examination, ' Andre" still assumed the name described in his pass port, and desired it might be sent to the American commander, with an account of his detention. It may be easily supposed that Arnold speedily pro vided for his own safety, when he heard that the supposed John Anderson had been arrested. On the news of Arnold's escape, Andre avowed his name,, and the whole circumstances of the trans action, claiming the fair treatment of a prisoner, who had not come within the American lines by his own knowledge or consent. But the board of American officers, who sat as a court-martial on this occasion, adhering to the naked fact, that he fiad been in disguise within their lines, by a rigid interpretation of the laws of war, condemned this accomplished and amiable officer to a death un worthy of his life. He was doomed to suffer as a spy. The earnest interference of the British com. mander was applied in vain to save him. Even his own supplication, conveyed to Washington in the most affecting terms, that he might be shot, in- jstead of dying as a rnalefactor, was coldly reject ed. The irritation of the American army at the treachery which they had so narrowly escaped, was naturally great, and the point of right seems, by strict interpretation, to be decided against the life of Andre1 ; but a nobler boast than mere legal justification would have accrued to Washington, had he extended mercy on this occasion. The exe cution of Andre drew forth sensations of sympathy from the American spectators of his fate, which did them more honour than the harsh justice of those who condemned him. Vol, II. * D .50 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CfTAP An adjustment was about this time attempted xiv." between the hostile powers in America, for the — — ' mutual release of prisoners ; a measure which the r78°' policy of congress, knowing the difficulty of our recruiting from Europe, had anxiously endeavour ed to avoid. But the clamours of their own sub jects, who saw their friends so long detained in captivity, brought them at last to partial accom modation, from necessity more than choice. In this, however, the privates of Burgoyne's army were unfortunately not included, and the troops who had surrendered on convention were disgrace fully kept prisoners during the war. Such were ¦ the chief transactions of the summer months. When the winter began to set in, the British troops con fined themselves to New- York and its dependencies. The French troops remained at Rhode island, and General Washington, still distressed by the want of bread, and many other privations, which obliged him to discharge a part of his new levies, conti nued to hold the mountainous grounds adjacent to North river. Our affairs in Europe and the West Indies wore at this period a more favourable aspect. The ap pointment of Admiral Rodney to the command of a part of the Channel fleet was soon followed by the relief of Gibraltar, which had continued in a state of blockade since the commencement of hos tilities with Spain. It seemed reserved for this com mander to revive the dormant glory of our maritime achievements. He had been but a few days at sea, when he captured a rich fleet of twenty-three sail of Spanish ships, laden with stores, from Sc. Sebastian to Cadiz. A week after, he came in sight of eleven ships of the line, of the same nation, off CapeS'. Vincent, Becember. commanded by Don Juan Langara, which, in spite of a lee shore and tempestuous winter weather, he pursued by day and night, till he succeeded in cufi- GEORGE III. 51 *ing them off from the land, and the Monarca, their chap. headmost ship, struck to the flag ship of the Bri-, XVI'_ tish fleet, after an obstinate engagement. Another 1780. of the largest Spanish ships blew up early in the action ; four of their fleet were taken, and carried into Gibraltar ; two others had struck, but were driven on shore, and could not be got off. The enemy, though inferior in number, had kept up a running fight with considerable bravery. The vic tory" cost our fleet 134 men killed and wounded. After proceeding from thence to the relief of Gib raltar, Admiral Rodney returned again to Eng land, and then set sail for his station in the West Indies. In the meantime, the differences which had been accommodated between Britain and Holland in 1776, broke out, and were fast verging to hos tility. The clandestine supply of warlike stores to America by the Dutch merchants might be imput ed as no inconsiderable cause of the success of the revolted provinces during their unequal contest. When France became an accessory to the war, the Dutch became the carriers of naval stores for the French also ; and our repeated remonstrances re ceived only evasive returns, till the spirit of the British government, in asserting the right of search, and detaining several vessels, which were found in the act of serving our enemies with warlike stores, produced a partial suspension of the illicit trade. When the right of search came to be more rigor ously enforced on our side, the Dutch, in their turn, became complainants, and seemed prepar ed to maintain by violence the hostility which they had hitherto practised under the cloak of neu trality. Their traders put themselves nnder pro tection of an armed squadron in the Mediterra nean, commanded by Count By land. A British fleet, under Commodore Fielding, having sailed D2 52 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, from the Channel, for the pursuit of these traders, X ' , the boats of the English commander, which at- 1780. tempted a search, were fired on by the Dutch. On this Commodore Fielding fired a shot across the way of the Dutch admiral, which was answer ed by a broadside from Byland's flag-ship. The Jan. 3 British commander did not fail to return the salute, but Byland struck his colours. In the meantime,, the greater part of his convoy fled for the coast of Francei The remainder, along with Count Byland's ship, were brought home to Spithead. After an affair so nearly tending to open war, the British court were determined to bring the states of Holland to a decisive test of their inten tions with regard to their future conduct. By a treaty of the last century, which had never been formally disavowed, the two countries were re spectively bound to succour each other, in the event of either being involved in war. After Spain had joined the confederacy against us, the states had been reminded of this engagement, but no satis factory answer was received. The British resident at the Hague, after Byland's affair, presented an other memorial, declaring, that the refusal or eva sion of a proper answer would be regarded as an nulling the long acknowledged alliance. Satisfac tion being still withheld, the Dutch were, by an . edict of the British government, declared uncon nected with us by treaty, and entitled to no privi leges beyond those of other nations in a state ~o£ neutrality. The rupture of this nominal alliance with Hol land was contemporary with another important event, which forms an era in the history of European Confederacies, and strongly marks the state of so litary embarrassment through which the country was struggling during the last years of this calami tous war. Throughout Europe there was not, at GEORGE III. 53 the present period, a single power of the first or chap. second rank, in which the influence of the cabinet, , xVl' of the tide of popular opinion, or the interests of 1780. national aggrandizement, were connected with par tiality to Britain. The writings and the personal exertions of Frederick II displayed all the hatred of an enemy, though couched under the pretence of impartial philosophy and philanthropy. His in fluence at the northern courts was directed to rouse the jealousy of the maritime powers against our alleged tyranny over the seas. By flattering the ambition of Catherine II, with the merit of being protectress of the invaded rights of neutral nations, and with the vanity of giving the world a new code of maritime legislation, his advice had no small influence in maturing the important plan of the armed neutrality of the north. The basis of this northern treaty was, that neutral powers, un concerned in the war, should be permitted to carry on their commerce in the same unlimited manner as in time of peace, contraband goods alone ex cepted ; but of what should constitute contraband goods, these the armed neutral powers them selves were to be judges : and this principle was to be maintained by force, if any forcible resistance should be offered to it. The plan of the armed neutrality, so warm ly patronized by Prussia, was said to have ori ginated with the king of Sweden. Russia was the leading power, who announced it to Europe. The northern powers found their pride and ad vantage thus promoted, by being enabled to pre serve their commerce unrestrained, of which no inconsiderable share arose from the very existence of the war, and. the demand that arose for naval and military stores to the enemies of Britain. By absolving neutral vessels from search, the freedom of trade was indeed maintained j but if this was neta- P 3 54 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. " chap. trality, it brings the term to express a meaning: ^_X -'l different from all former interpretations. To an ir8o. insular power', such as England, whose sole abi lity to contend with two mighty kingdoms, such as France and Spam, consists in the power of her navy, the cutting off the resources of those unequal enemies by sea is the sole or chief spring of her advantage ; and, if an armament of other nations cut asunder this main sinew of her strength, the act, whether justice to themselves or injustice to us, cannot be called neutrality. Even when exer cised to its utmost extent, the right of search^ it k well known, does but partially prevent the infusion of strength and nourishment, for the purposes of war, into hostile countries, through the medium of neutral trade ; but if free ships are to consti tute free trade, there is an end of the naval ad vantages of our maritime empire. Divested, there fore, of metaphysical disquisition, the effect comes practically to Great Britain as an act of hostile in terference. If her power be insufficient to main* tain the right of search, she must resign it ; but, as long as her strength remains- unbroken, the in vincible arms of her brave seamen, it is to be hoped, will cut the question short by the decisive argument of force. The declaration of Russia, announcing this hos tile treaty, was received with becoming dignity on the part of Britain ; but it was impossible, under such circumstances as the present, to resent the insult as it merited. From Russia the avowal came peculiarly invidious ; a power which owed its naval eminence so much and so recently to the generous aid and encouragement of this country. The hostile pow ers extolled it as an eminent era in the assertion of hu man rights. Among its panegyrists on the sublime principles of justice, was the philosophical monarch cf Prussia, who had so lately satiated his own im- GEORGE III. 55 matuiate ambition by the plunder of an unoffensive chap. neighbour, and by driving off the peasantry of xvl- Poland,' chained hy thousands, in waggon loads, """TtsT" to live, by compulsion j under the blessings of his government. The intentions of Holland, though long suspect ed, had neither been avowed nor fully discoveredj till an accidental circumstance put an end to their in sidious neutrality. A congress packet being captur ed off Newfoundland, was found to contain some papers, which, at first, were thrown overboard, but were rescued from the waves by the intrepidity of an English seaman. By these papers it was prov ed, that a paSsenger in the captured vessel was the bearer of a treaty of amity, drawn up between the states of Holland and independent America. The passenger was Henry Laurens, late president of the congress, who was brought to London, and committed to the Tower. The stadtholder, along with that small declining party, who were the sole, but secret, friends of the English interests in the Dutch government, had tried their faint efforts, but in vain, at this period, to resist the tide of popular predeliction for the American cause. The greater part of the mercantile interest, as well as the aris tocracy, and their leader, the pensionary Van Ber- kel, were attached by their intrigues to the court of France,, and, by their hatred of Britain, to the cause of her colonies. The disclosure of Mr. Lau rens's papers occasioned a memorial of the British ambassador at the Hague to the states, requiring them to disavow the practices of Van Berkel, and bring them to punishment ; with a threat that war should be declared, if this satisfaction were denied. On the refusal of our demand, letters of reprisal were issued against Holland on the 20th of Decem ber 1780. ¦ During the present year, by the death of Sir ANNALS OF GREAT BRJTAlN. CHAP. XVI. Charles Hardy, the command of the Channel fleet had devolved, in the month of May, to Admiral 1780. Geary, who sailed in quest of the enemy with SO ships of the line. During his cruize, in the month of July, he gave chace to a conVoy of about thirty French merchantmen from the West Indies, and captured twelve. The rest escaped by favour of a fog, with the two armed ships which were their Convoy. The French and Spanish fleets, under Don Lewis Cordova, renewed their junction this year, which had spread Such consternation during the last* They did not, however, attempt to enter the Chan.* nel ; but cruized in that track throagh which the outward bound trade to the East and West Indies usually passes, and* from their numbers, covered Angnst. an immense extent of sea. A most valuable con voy from the East and West Indies, under the con duct of Captain Moutray of the Ramillies, fell unfortunately into their hands. It included, be^ sides the merchantmen, eighteen transports for the West-Indian service. Five East Indiamen, loaded with arms, ammunition, and stores, with fifty West Indiamen, fell, a prey to the captors. The Ramil lies herself, with a few frigates, had the fortune to escape. The prizes were conveyed to Cadiz, where a sight of triumph, unusual to the Spanish nation, was exhibited. Sixty English ships were brought captive by the squadron, whilst a groupe of pri soners, nearly 3000 in number, of all ages and denominations, soldiers, marines, seamen* and pas sengers, were led ashore in sight of the inhabitants. Among the female passengers were some beautiful women of rank. The multitude and the mixture of the prisoners, andi the sight of such immense spoil, resembled rather the gathering of a sacked city, than of the capture of an ordinary fleet. About the same time, accounts were received of GEORGE III. £7 the loss of a great part of the valuable outward chap. bound Quebec fleet, which was intercepted off the . XVK banks of Newfoundland by American privateers. t7\& Some of these Vessels were retaken, but fourteen rich ships were irretrievably carried off. The grand fleets of the hostile nations did not this year come in sight of each other ; but several desperate actions of single ships evinced the accus tomed superiority of our seamen. The siege and blockade of Gibraltar was continued, though the dlanger of famine by blockade had been averted by the arrival of Rodney ; and all the other efforts of the Spaniards to reduce the place were effectually encountered by the vigilance of Elliot and the bravery of his garrison. After the relief of Gibraltar, we have seen that Rodney proceeded, first to the coasts of Britain, and finally to his destination in the west. He arrived at S'. Lucia on the 27 th of March. His arrival brought the contending fleets nearer to an equality* but still the advantage of numbers lay On the side of the enemy. Two days before the arrival of Rodneyj a very brilliant action was fought by the honour able Captain Cornwallis, with three British ships, one of 64, another of 50, and the third of only 44 guns. With this scanty force our countrymen drew up to receive the attack of four 74 gun ships and two frigates of the French, under Monsieur de la Motte Picquet. The battle raged from five in the evening till the succeeding morning, when both fleets drew off, by mutual consent, to repair. On the third day a British 64 came in sight ; and with this force, though still inferior, Cornwallis bore down to renew the action : but the French squad ron had been sufficiently satisfied with the past en gagement, and* drawing off with the advantage of the wind, soon got out of sight. j 55 ANNALS OP GRfiAT BRITAIN. chap. Shortly previous to Rodney's arrival, the French Xvt# admiral. Count de Guichen, with 25 ships of the j 780. line and a cfoud of transports, appeared before Sc. Lucia, with . an evident design of attempting the capture of that island ; but the defence which ap peared ready to meet him by land, and the ju dicious dispositions of Sir Hyde Parker, induced him to leave it, and proceed to Martinique. Sir George Rodney, after touching at Sc. Lucia, went in pursuit of him. The French admiral took shelter before Fort Royal, and could not be pro voked to risk an engagement. In this station he remained till the 15th of April, when, after the departure of Rodney, he ventured to put to sea. Immediate intelligence being communicated to the British admiral, he sailed in pursuit of the enemy, with twenty ships of the line. On the 16tk he came in sight of him ; and, on the 17th, a par tial action took place. The flag ship of Rodney, after beating- three , of the enemy's in succession out of the line, encountered the Count de Gui- chen's ship, supported by two others of the hostile neet, and, in spite of this great disparity, forced them to flight. In this partial action, the loss of the French amounted to 1000 men. The British, in killed and wounded, counted only 470. The enemy bore away, completely repulsed ; but no decisive advantage was gained by the engagement. From the 20th to the 24th of the same month, they were again closely pursued ; their retreat to Mar tinique was also cut off, and they were forced, for disgraceful shelter, under the fortifications of Gua- daloupe. On the 15th and 19th of the following month, the eagerness of Rodney brought him again in sight of the enemy. On both of these days, two short, but still indecisive, skirmishes between the GEORGE in. 59 vail of his fleet and the rear of the flying enemy, chap. once more disappointed the ardour of the British XVI- admiral by the flight of 'their antagonists, and fa- t1'ia~ Voured the resolution of De Guichen to avoid a ge neral meeting. As the summer advanced^ the power of the Spaniards, increased by reinforcements from home, grew formidable On the Transatlantic coast. The destination of a powerful body of land forces On board their fleet on this quarter was to invade our West-India possessions, in concert with M. de Guichen, the French admiral ;• and the junction of the fleets, in spite of all the efforts of Rodney, all the hard blows which he had given to the fleet of Guichen, was at last unfortunately effected. Our islands, hoWever, were saved by the same cause which had enervated the power of the com bined fleets in Europe on a late tremendous occa sion, and disabled them from striking an effective blow. Contagious and deadly sickness broke out on board the L Spanish ships and transports, from the cooped-up situation of the land forces in a long voyage, and the deadly heat of the climate, unre- freshed by care or cleanliness. Without effecting any thing correspondent to their strength or ex pectations', the allied fleets separated. The Spa niards proceeded to the Havannah, and De Guichen, after touching at S'. Domingo, returned to Europe with a convoy. Nothing could be more galling to the Americans than to hear of the departure of this Commander, 6n whose assistance they had so sanguinely relied. Washington's army had been increased, in the hopes of his co-operation, to 20,000 men; the attack of New- York had been projected, and pre paratory proclamations issued out by the Marquis of La Fayette. 60 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. sir George Rodney, apprehensive of the ene- . xv" , my's designs upon the northern capital, heard of. 1780. the separation of the fleets as an event of unexpect ed good fortune. Learning De Guichen's departure from Cape Franijois, he immediately sailed, with^ Sept. 14. eleven capital ships and four frigates, for the relief of New- York. Although he found, soon after, his arrival, that his presence had not been indis pensably required, yet he was saved, by this move ment, from suffering in that dreadful hurricanei which, in the autumn of the present year, over whelmed almost all the works of man and the pro ductions, of nature, in those unfortunate regions where it raged. This long-remembered hurricane began, to blow on the island of Barbadoes on the, morning of the 10th of October. It destroyedthe capital of that island} and buried thousands of the inhabitants under the ruins of its track, or swept them into the sea. The islands of S'. Lucia, Grenada, and Sc. Vincent, were likewise nearly laid waste. At S'; Vincent, it was said that not a house was left standing. The ships in those seas were either driven on shore, or swal lowed iip in the waves. One ship of the British line went down in a single moment, and left not October, even a wreck behind. In Jamaica, the course of the hurricane came across part of the island, and produced a dreadful scene of destruction. While the unhappy inhabitants of Savannah-la-Mar, in Westmorland parish of that island, were gazing with astonishment at such a swell of the sea as ne ver had been seen before, a sudden sweep of its waters overwhelmed the town, and left no trace of living being or habitation behind it. In consequence of the heavy calamities arising to individuals from these convulsions of nature, more particularly in Jamaica and Barbadoes, seve- QE0RGE III. 61 ral petitions were presented by the sufferers to par- chap. liament, which were humanely considered by the , house ; and, at the opening of the next year, a 1780, frant of #£80,000 was made, on the motion of ,ord North, for their relief, and passed without Rebate or opposition. 62 .CHAP. XVII. Meeting, and proceedings of the new parliament .... Debates on the choice of a speaker . . ..on the address .... on thi war with Holland . ...on the conduct of Lord Sandwich . . . on the proposed plans of reform .... on Indian affairs .... on the terms of the loan .... ore the neglected state of the police, and military interference in the late riots . ... on Mr. Fox's motion for peace with America .... Outline of fhe war in India .... Attempt of the French on the island of 'Jersey .... Blockade and sally of the garrison at Gibraltar . .. . Junction of the grand fleets of France and Spain in the British Channel, . . . Expedition of Kempenfeldt .... Action off the Dogger-bank .... Naval expedition of Commodore Johnson .... Capture of St. Eustatia, and other Dutch settlements .... Indecisive hostilities of the French and Eng lish fleets in the West Indies .... Attempt of the French on St. Lucia .... Tobago captured by the marquis de Bouille .... State of affairs in America .... Mutiny in the Ameri can army .... Ravages of Arnold in Virginia .... War in Carolina .... Battle of Guildford • , . . Retreat of Cornwal lis to Wilmington, and afterwards into Virginia .... Action of Lord Rawdon with the provincials at Hobkirk's-hill .... Progress of General Greene , . ,. Retreat of Lord Rawdon to Charlestown .... Battle of Eutaw Springs .... Views of Washington and the count de Rochambeau on New-York .... Stratagem of the allies to delude Clinton .... Washington's march into Virginia .... Junction with La Fayette . . . Re treat of Cornwallis within the works of Yorktown .... Siege ofYorklown, and surrender of the British army .... Capture of St. Christophers, and other settlements, by the French. chap. (T\is the meeting of the new parliament, the first XVI1, , ^-P % trial of party strength was called out by the election of a speaker. Sir Fletcher Norton had, by GEORGE III. 63 mot e than one display of his independent principles chap. during the late political struggles j forfeited the fa- XV11, vour of administration, and even for some time I7g0. their common civility ; but so respectable was the character of the speaker, that, with all their earnest wishes to depose him, the attempt could not be made without the feigned ceremonies of regard. In consideration of Sir Fletcher's delicate health, the court members proposed that he should be ex onerated from the heavy duties of his station, and a new speaker, Mr. Cornwall, was proposed. Sir Fletcher Norton declared that his health was per fectly adequate to the discharge of his duty, and treated their hypocritical concern for it with ridi cule. He declined, however, standing a candidate for the chair, and requested his friends not to urge his election. Mr. Cornwall was chosen ; and mi nisters, to crown their inconsistency, in the very moment of deposing the late speaker, recommend ed to his successor to copy his example. His majesty, in the opening speech, deplored the continuance of rebellion in America, and the hos tile interference of the ambitious houses of Bour bon. The successes of our arms in Georgia and Carolina were, however, exhibited as encourage ments to keep alive the exertions of the country. On the loyal sentiments of the people, and on the zeal of his faithful legislature, his majesty expressed his trust, that the supplies would be sufficient for every call. . The address in the commons was mov ed by Mr. de Grey, and. seconded by Mr. R. Sut-- ton. After a due compliment to the sovereign,.~on the accession of another prince to his illustribus family, the addressers seconded the views of his majesty, and1 promised an ampje support to the war. An amendment, for expunging those con gratulatory passages (except what regarded the birth of the royal infant), and omitting those pas- 64 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN, pHAP. sages which pledged the house to the support of XVIL the present measures respecting the war, was pro* \|78o.~' posed by Mr. Grenville, and seconded by Colonel Fitzpatrick » but the strength of parties had been already brought to an issue, and the rejection of this amendment was naturally expected. Though the strength of administration in the new parlia- ment was thus evinced, the spirit of resistance to the war ^as not abated on the side of opposition. The occasion, however, though it evinced the strength of ministers in the new parliament, gave room for a copious renewal of all the reasoning that had been ever urged in defence or accusation of the war. It was asked, if his majesty's speech had exhibited a single hope to the country, of this dreadful contest being brought to a speedy issue, or the principles being abandoned which had led to its protraction ? It was alleged indeed, that our af fairs had brightened in America ; but was not this. the language of ministers at the opening of every session ; and what had been gained by victories much more splendid than that of the last cam paign ? only the addition of heavier burthens to the country, and the prospect of interminable hos tilities. Mr. Fox, in the course of his animadver sions on the address, observed, that it recognized the blessings of his majesty's reign, With those blessings he declared he was unacquainted. The present reign had been a continued tissue of dis grace, mismanagement, and calamity. The defence of administration rested chiefly on two points, the necessity of holding such language to the crown as should impress on the minds of Europe a convic tion, that our strength and spirit were still capable of coping with our enemies — that our weakness, even if we were conscious of it, ought to be con cealed, since the union of hostile nations, allied by no permanent community of interests, would thus. GEORGE III. 65 be likely to yield to the single unbroken spirit of CHAP oUr country. The war in America, it was declar- xvii.' ed by the same speakers, was now conducted, not ' — ^-— ' so much from the certainty as from the hope of I78<°* subduing America ; but that hope they described as neither distant nor likely to be delusive. It was not doubted that one half of the colonists were our friends, and needed only to be freed from their oppressors to devote themselves again to our stand ard, and annihilate the government of usurpation. To such language the few successes of the late campaign led the abettors of the war. It seems a modest calculation, considering the usual estimates of that administration, to count on no more than one half of the colonial population to have been our friends — -though it is no less strange that men could yet gravely announce the probability of sub duing a wide continent, of three millions of people, at the distance of half the globe, on the granted supposition that every second man in America was our foe. But with such views, and with such facts before them, the new parliament pledged them selves to support ministers in the contest. Their first majority was 212, against 130. Little busi- * ness of importance was brought on before the Christmas recess. -On the meeting after adjournment, his majesty's 1781. speech, announcing the declaration of hostilities with Holland, occasioned a severe examination of the progress of our quarrel with that ancient ally. The intercepted treaty of the city of Amsterdam with the American states, was laid before the house. It had been declared in the British mani festo to be a treaty concluded. It was asserted by the antagonists of ministers to be-only the plan of a treaty, depending for its completion on the eman cipation of America, an event which might never be fulfilled. It was urged also by the same spsak- VoU II. E 66 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAINV CHAP. ers, that in asking the Dutch to fulfil the ancient XVl1' , treaty of mutual defence and protection, we had - 1781. made a demand, which even to ourselves would have proved ruinous in the fulfilment. We should have dragged that republic into a war with France, and exposed her to invasion. Our stipulated aid from the states would have been 20 ships of war, and 6000 men. Oh our side, we were bound, however, to protect her from invasion, and a con tinental war would have thus ensued, to which the aid of Holland would have furnished but a scanty supply. It was therefore the interest of Great Britain, they contended, to leave Holland in a state of neutrality, instead of wantonly adding her either to the number of our enemies,, or of allies whom we could not protect. It was proved, in addition to these charges against the conduct of ministers to wards Holland, that the states had offered to disa vow the treaty of Amsterdam, with America, al though the proof only established their willingness- to make that concession in ' general terms.'' In this debate, the preponderance of votes went, as usual, with ministers. If we consider the main fact, that Holland had, during six years of the war, continued to supply the revolted colonists with all the implements and resources of wary that the ruling faction in their divided commonwealth open ly espoused the cause of America, and that no power or party existed in the state, who could sup press the illicit trade which the laws of war pro nounced to be absolute hostility, we shall consider the true interests of Britain to have been war with Holland, a war sanctioned by justice and policy. If a trade so fatal to Britain had not been stopped,, by many years of negociation, there was little hope that it should be now discontinued by the protrac tion of remonstrance and reply. Mr. Fox, with unremitted ardour* renewed his ceorge irr. 67 attacks on the most corrupt and obnoxious part of chap. administration, the head of the admiralty. On the l_x7"' 1" of February, in consequence of a previous no- ,7gK tice, he moved for a vote of censure on the con duct of Lord Sandwich, for appointing Sir Hugh Palliser to be governor of Greenwich hospital, after he had been declared by a court-martial to have been guilty of an ill-founded and malicious accusa? tion against his superior officer. This appointment Mr. Fox declared to be, subversive of all discipline in the navy, and derogatory to its honour, since it marked out the promoters of calumny and disturb ance, not as objects of punishment, but of trust, distinction, and reward. Ministers declared, in defence of Lord Sandwich, that Palliser's promo- don to the government of Greenwich hospital was not his lordship's act individually, but the joint ap pointment of his majesty's cabinet. By the just merits of that appointment they said they were wil ling to abide. The judgment of the court-martial who had condemned the motives of Palliser on his commander's trial, they asserted to have been in jurious, without the support of proof, and exceed ing the bounds of their jurisdiction. An amend ment, destructive of Mr. Fox's motion, was then proposed, and carried by a large majority. Mr. Burke's financial plan of reform, soon after engrossed the attention of the house of commons. As the bill was unchanged since the preceding year, it necessarily occasioned the same train of dis cussion, as in the preceding session. The principal debate took place on the day appointed for the se cond reading of the bill, and on the particular sub ject of regulating his majesty's civil establishment, of limiting pensions, and suppressing unnecessary places. If the subject of this debate wanted the interest of novelty, that circumstance was at least compensated by the addition of a new champion to E2 * I78t. 68 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. tne cause of reform, whose appearance in parlia- xvii. . ment excited no common sensation. This was the son of Chatham, William Pitt, already known by the academical fame of his younger years, to»in- herit the distinguished talents of his father, but yet untried on the great theatre of public debate, where he was doomed so long after to be conspicuous. He had been returned member for Poole, and made his first appearance on the side of opposition. Whert he rose to speak, the remembrance of Chatham, and the general anticipation of his celebrity, occa sioned an extraordinary silence in the house, con- ticuere omnes intentiqile ora teriebant. His maiden Feb. s6. speech was such as, in matter and manner, to justi fy the highest hopes of his father's admirers. His genius came forward at one display, in confirmed and majestic maturity. The greatest statesman of the house, whose praise might be called fame, * pro nounced his eulogium on that day, and predicted that his future fame and influence would for ever be of the first magnitude. Earl Nugent, and Mr. Henry Dundas, were the chief speakers who op posed the proposal of reform. They succeeded in rejecting Mr. Burke's bill, or what was adequate to that effect, in postponing the consideration of it for six months. The numbers of opposition continued to increase ; they produced on this occasion ] 90 votes against 233. Two bills of reform, under different titles, but similar to Mr. Burke's in their object, of diminishing the court influence, and ano ther by Sir Philip Jennings Clarke, for excluding contractors with government from a seat' in the house ; and a fourth, for restraining revenue offi cers from voting at elections, experienced a similar rejection. The discussion of Indian affairs became a promi nent proceeding in this session, from the imperious 1 Fon > GEORGE III. 69 necessity of relieving the many hardships, and re- chap. dressing the loud complaints which the distracted x^ ¦' ( state of those territories had occasioned. As early 1781. as the year 1772, the known misconduct of the company's servants had called for the interference of government ; and restraints were laid on the monopoly of the company, which have been since followed by successive encroachments on their power. In 1 773, an act was passed for establish ing certain rules and orders for the future manage ment of the Eastrlndia company, as well in India as in Europe. By these regulations, Bengal was made the seat of the British government in the east ; and two supreme authorities, the one possess ing all political power, under the governor-general and -council, the other composed of judges sent from England, to exercise an independent right of judicature, were established. Two powers so ab solute and independent, however distinct their funcp tions might be, on an early trial were found to combine all the evils of anarchy, as well as of desr- potism. The sudden influence of the judicial court was to introduce among a people, the least fitted in the world for such a change of jurisprudence, the sub stitution of British for a Gentoo code of laws in India. To the natives of that empire, whose laws and habits have existed in their present shape, for ages before the name of Britain was heard of in the world, such a revolution in jurisprudence was re volting in the highest degree. They could bear conquest, but not change. The application of our sanguinary penal code to those pacific subjects, was not merely offensive, it was outrageous and inhu man. In Hindostan, for instance, forgery was re garded as a venal crime, and commutable by an .easy fine ; yet Nundcomar, a native nobleman, of high cast and elevated rank, was tried, convicted, E3 70 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ' s, Sf. Eustatia had served as a depository for warlike stores, from which the Americans derived their principal supplies. In compliance with the orders, of administration, to obtain possession of this va luable place, Admiral Rodney, returning from a fruitless attempt on S'. Vincents, surrounded the island with his fleet, and found it wholly unprepar ed for resistance, from the ignorance of the go vernor that war had broken out between the states and England. S£. Eustatia, therefore, surrendered at discretion, the governor only soliciting clemency for the inhabitants from the British commander. As the island was a free port, and had become the resort 6f mercantile adventure ' from all nations, the property which it contained was prodigious, and was estimated at three millions sterling. This feooty, with 256 ships of all descriptions, and the 88 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN, chap, neighbouring islands of S\ Martin and Saba, fell L into the hands of the British. The admiral also 1781. intercepted a fleet of twenty sugar ships, which had sailed for Holland about the same period. A general confiscation of the captured property took place ; a measure which excited no small degree of censure, as large quantities of that property belonged to British merchants, and to the unfortu nate, but loyal, refugees from America. The re monstrances of the British merchants of S'. Kitts, who conveyed their complaint to Rodney through the medium of Mr. Glanville, the solicitor-general of that island, were rejected with disdain. The efforts of Mr. Burke in parliament, on the same subject, were more successful in exposing the law less violence of the confiscation, than in procur ing its redress : the British sufferers, instead of finding redress in parliament, were left at liberty to travel for restitution through the endless laby rinths of the law. The issue, however, of this acquisition was scarce ly more fortunate than it deserved. Of thirty ves sels, laden with treasure, which were convoyed home • by Commodore Hotham, twenty-five fell into the power of a French squadron, under M. de la Motte Piquet ; and S'. Eustatia itself surrendered, about the end of the year, by the dishonourable capitu lation of its governor, Captain Cockburn. The Dutch settlements of Demerara, Issequibo, and the Berbices, on the coast of Surinam, no sooner heard of the rupture between the states-ge neral and Britain, than, finding that their own de fenceless situation would only expose their trade to the ravages of privateers, they made a tender of submission to the British government, and were granted favourable conditions. The return of Count de Grasse to the West In dies, with twenty sail of the line and a ship of 54f GEORGE III. 89 guns, attending a large convoy, and carrying 6000 chap. land-troops on board, rendered the latter part of xvii,' our. naval campaign in the West Indies less success- '"" v„ - ful than affairs had been when Rodney, even by indecisive engagements, could claim the honour of pursuing our enemies whenever they could be seen. Already the French force at Martinique and S\ Domingo amounted, before De Grasse's arrival, to eight sail of the line. By his arrival, and by the circumstances already noticed, of Hotham's de parture with the treasures of Sc. Eustatia, our marked inferiority made the prospect of a general action more to be dreaded than desired. To pre vent, however, the junction of the French fleets, Rodney dispatched the Admirals Hood and Drake, with seventeen of the largest ships, to intercept De Grasse, remaining himself with a few ships be side Sc. Eustatia. Sir Samuel Hood stood directly off Fort-royal, at Martinique ; but was unable to prevent four of the enemy's line from escaping to meet De Grasse. Still, with such unequal num bers, the French admiral declined, while the Bri tish courted, an engagement. The fleets, it is true, came once more to action, but it was distant and desultory. The British, though full of ardour to come to close quarters, could not carry the wind. Even the effect of their shot, it is said, was un equal to their efforts, from the dampness of the powder, which had been unfortunately exposed to moisture. ' Never,' says Sir Samuel Hood, in his account of the engagement, ' was so much powder and shot spent in vain.' Both fleets at last, as if .by mutual consent, gave over firing, and both laid claims to victory. The loss of the British was not considerable' (amounting to only 297 killed and hurt) ; yet the effects were scarcely short of a de feat, five of Sir Samuel Hood's ships being dis- 90 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. |,(xv1f aD^ed> and their whole fleet being thus obliged, oh i the following day, when De Grasse sought to re new the action, to bear away for Antigua, while the enemy kept in vigorous pursuit. After this event, the obvious superiority of the May 10. French induced the marquis de Bouille to attempt the reduction of S\ Lucia. The attempt was un successful, though the French, as an apology for their failure, pretended it was only a feint, to cover their more important designs on Tobago. To that island they unfortunately came on the 23d of May. The governor, Colonel Ferguson, dispatched im mediate intelligence to Sir George Rodney, who was, by this time, cruizing off (Barbadoes, but who, certainly under-rating the invading force and co vering fleet of the enemy at Tobago, sent only six ships of the line, under Drake, to its relief. The militia of the island, meanwhile, retreating to the interior, supported a brave defence, till they were compelled to surrender by the devastations of De Bouille, and by his threats, that he would burn every plantation on the plains, if they persisted in defence ; and Rodney arrived off the island on the 4th of June, but too late for its preservation. The French fleet was so much more than a match for Drake's detachment, that, with his whole fleet, the British admiral thought it prudent not to risk an engagement. The season was far advanced before these events had taken place, and the French West-India fleets were ready to sail for Europe. De Grasse, though greatly superior in numbers, did not seem deter mined to force the British to engage during the re-. mainder of the summer months, but escorted a vast convoy of his country's merchantmen on theii* way to Europe, and, returning westward again, proceeded with his fleet to the Chesapeak. Sir GEORGE III. 91 George Rodney returned to England ; but left a chap. powerful proportion of his force to watch the count XXL de Grasse on his Chesapeak expedition. j£ The campaign of 1781 opened with favourable prospects to the British arms in America. Though the spirit of loyalty, which the victory of Camden revived in the Carolinas, was again rudely checked by the death and defeat of Major Ferguson, Corn wallis was, nevertheless, so considerably reinforced by the accession of 2,600 men from home, under General Leslie, that he still cherished the hopes and prospects of penetrating from the south into North- Carolina. From the northern army also, very sanguine expectations of succours were en tertained. Sir Henry Clinton, judiciously availing himself of the eagerness expressed by General Arnold to distinguish himself in the cause of the loyalists, dispatched him with a bo*dy of British and Ameri can soldiers, to make a diversion in the state of Virginia, supported by a naval armament which arrived in the Chesapeak. The violent discontents that were known to exist in the American camp at the opening of the year 1781, encouraged hopes of our being able to derive assistance from such as might join the British, like Arnold, in disgust at the conduct of congress. The fall of the conti nental currency, the remissness of those whose duty it was in America to provide and secure for the comforts of their countrymen in the field of battle, and the general inaptitude of the American inhabitants for supporting long marches and cam paigns, under hardships to which a regular army is compelled by discipline to submit, occasioned those murmurs and remonstrances which at length ended in open mutiny. Thirteen hundred men of January.. the Pennsylvania line, which lay hutted at Morris- ton, marched out in a body from the head-quar^ 92 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ters, and encamped in the vicinity of Princetown, xv '', with a general of their own creation, formerly a 1781. serjeant-major, who had deserted from the British lines. For sometime the mutineers declined all connection with their former associates, and return ed their flags of truce without a satisfactory an swer. Measures were used by Sir Henry Clinton to profit by this circumstance ; but proposals for accommodation from their own countrymen hav ing been previously offered and received, the in surgents returned from Princetown to Trenton, on the Delaware, and delivered up the agents of Clin ton, who had stopped in their camp. Their griev ances were redressed, and matters finally settled by a committee of the congress. Meanwhile, to arrest the destructive career of Arnold in Virginia, General Washington determin ed to detach the marquis de la Fayette, with 1,200 infantry. The French Admiral D'Estouches, who had succeeded De Ternay in commanding the French squadron off that station, consented to co operate in the attempt to capture Arnold. Their joint forces sailed for Virginia, from Rhode island, in the month of March. Admiral Arbuthnot, however, gaining intelligence of their destination, immediately sailed in pursuit of them, and engaging them off the capes of Virginia, succeeded in saving Arnold, by preventing the enemy from gaining the March. Chesapeak, though the action was, like too many of the naval engagements of that period, distant and indecisive. On the 25th of the same month, Arnold was reinforced by 2000 men, under the brave and experienced General Phillips. By this junction the British were enabled to mark their far ther progress through Virginia with almost unre sisted ravage. For several weeks, the business of devastation was continued, when our Virginian army was recalled to Petersburgh, and soon after? GEORGE III* 93 .Wards retreated to New- York, but not without the chap. loss of their valuable commander, Phillips, who XVH» fell a victim to disease, aggravated by the hard- tyiu~ ships and fatigue of his campaign. The activity of Arnold had full scope during this predatory di version ; but his questionable reputation was little improved by the nature of the service which he performed, as his chief object was plunder and conflagration. At the last scene of his exploits, Fort-Griswold, near New-London, his troops were charged with the atrocity even of massacre. The commander of the fort, Colonel Ledyard, is said to have been butchered in the act of surrendering his sword, and the whole garrison to have suffer ed, without distinction. On the whole, it appeared that the operations designed to favour Lord Cornwallis did not justify expectation. In the midst of danger and distress, to which the southern states were exposed by the arms of that commander, the congress (says an historian of the American war), unable to forward men or money, sent, however, a general, whose military talents were equal to a reinforcement. On the 2d of December, General Green had arrived at Charlotte-town, in North-Carolina, to command the southern army, who speedily detached 540 men, under General Morgan, to gain the western frontiers of South-Carolina, and threaten the Bri tish posts at Ninety-six ; while the remaining force alarmed the country in front of Camden. The British commander in chief, conceiving this to be a favourable opportunity to assault the divided ene my, detached Tarleton, in the beginning of Ja nuary, against Morgan, with orders ' to push him to the utmost/ After a pursuit of some days, our troops overtook the enemy at Cowpens, near the Pacolet river, where both sides halted for battle. The judicious arrangement of Morgan decided the 94 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, victory in his favour, his untrained militia being , XVIL so instructed, as to retire with safety when broken ^ I7g0. and his second line and reserve disposed to renew the action, by covering the raw recruits. On the Battle of first impetuous charge of Tarleton, the militia, as Cowpens. ka(j keen expect^ were, for a time, thrown into confusion, and victory seemed more than half de^ clared for the assailants. The second line also broke and retired, but the reserve cavalry, under Colonel Washington, charging the British when their line was spread and weakened by pursuit, immediately turned the fortune of the day ; the Americans rallying with fixed bayonets, rushed on Tarleton's forces, whose route soon became irre trievable. The British infantry, though worn with fatigue, had begun the action with considerable spirit ; but their strength was now unequal either for contest or flight, and the carnage was dread ful. The legion cavalry of Tarleton, a corps long distinguished for cruelty, but never before for cowardice, fled disgracefully, instead of saving the broken infantry. Three hundred of our country men fell, and 400 were taken prisoners. Tarle ton, with a handful of his men and officers, cut his way. through the enemy, and joined his head quarters. To repair the disaster as soon as pos sible, the commander in chief pressed upon Mor gan with all his forces. Greeh, hastening with in ferior numbers to cover the retreat of his lieuten ant, attempted to check the progress of the British at the passes of the Catawba ; but here Colonel Tarleton, as far as he had an opportunity of com ing to action, retrieved the tarnish upon his fame so lately sustained at Cowpens, and attacking the American militia at Tarrant's tavern, routed a body of them, and hastened the retreat of Green's forces. Green, who was utterly unable to cope in fair battle with the British, to the great disap- bEORGE lit. 95 pointtnent of the British commander, effected a chap' quick and judicious retreat into Virginia. No measure could be more necessary or expe- 17ti. dient, than General Green's retreat. He recruit- February ed his forces in Virginia ; while Cornwallis's troops, overwhelmed with fatigue, and lessened even by their victories, had but the slight advantage of gaining ground on an exhausted country, where their enemies were numerous and insidious, and their friends, in spite of royal proclamations, few and timid. But it was not intended by the Ame ricans to make Virginia any more than a temporary retreat. They made their appearance again in North-Carolina, and gradually advanced, as Corn wallis, for want of provisions, was obliged to retire to a new but unpromising position, between the Haw and Deep rivers. Green now increased his forces very rapidly, by desertions from the royal ists of North-Carolina. But, though superior in numbers, he still cautiously avoided an action, till the arrival of expected reinforcements. For seven days he lay within ten miles of Cornwallis's camp, taking a new position every night, and concealing, with great address, the spot of each intended en campment. By these manoeuvres he parried off an engagement for three weeks, at the expiration of which time he was reinforced by three brigades of militia and 400 regulars. With a force now amounting to 6000 men, he no longer shunned an engagement, and on the 15th of March gave battle to Cornwallis, on a position chosen by himself, at Guildford Court-house. His lordship, with 2000 men, eagerly advanced to the conflict. The North- Carolina militia, which formed the first American line, gave way at the first onset ; the Virginia mi litia, who composed the second and third, stood their ground more firmly ; but at last they also were driven before the British, and compelled to 96 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, retreat ten miles from the scene of action. A dear- xvtL , bought victory was won by the British, whose loss 1781. came nearly to a third of their whole strength ; but the fruits of the victory were insignificant, al though the price was high, as the victorious ge neral, instead of advancing, found himself obliged to leave a number of his wounded to the care of the enemy, and to proceed for shelter, and the bare necessaries of life, on a dreadful march, through woods, creeks, and morasses, for the space of 600 miles, to the sea-port town of Wil mington. While the main armies were thus engaged, the hopes of the republicans in South-Carolina were ably supported by the exertions of the generals Sumpter and Marion, and other active partizans. The influence of their success kept alive the Ame rican cause, till General Green, returning from the pursuit of Cornwallis (who, though victor at Guildford, was pursued by his antagonist for some days after the battle) to the south, enabled the re publicans to commence, in their turn, a plan of offensive hostilities. Thev reduced Fort Watson, situated between Camden and Charlestown^ a forti fication erected on an Indian mount, more than thirty feet high, by laboriously raising works, which overlooked and commanded the garrison. In this manner, which revived the ancient system of sieges the Americans were successful on more than one occasion. By the retreat of Cornwallis into Virginia, Lord Rawdon was left alone in Carolina, to combat the forces of Green. But being apprized of the ene my's approach, when Green^ with 2000 men, took his station at Hobkirk's hill, though his lordship's own forces at Camden did not amount to 1000 men, he determined, with becoming spirit, not to wait his approach, but sallied from his entrenchments v ' i78i. GEORGE III. 97 before the enemy's numbers could receive a farther chap accession, and killed or destroyed 500 of Green's xvn. army. By the battle of Hobkirk's hill, which was k fought on the 25th of April, Lord Rawdon escap ed being besieged with superior numbers in Cam den ; but his own troops, after his victory, being diminished by 250 men, he was still unable to keep a position in the presence of Green. In hopes, however, of receiving some important reinforce ments at Charlestown, and to avoid being surround ed in Camden, he was obliged to evacuate that sta tion, and retire to Monk's corner, for the protection of Charlestown, the defences of which were in a feeble state, as Lord Cornwallis had demolished the most of the works before his departure. About the same time, the American generals Lee and Marion captured Fort Motte on the Congaree. Orangeburgh yielded to Sumpter, and Lee reduced Fort Granby. The British posts now surrendered in quick succession, and, by the 15th of June, the fort of Ninety-six was the only one which resist ed. The siege of this place was raised on the 1 8th by Lord Rawdon, who, by a timely reinforcement of his forces, was enabled to march to its relief with 2000 men ; and the American army was once more obliged to retreat. By the dexterous evasion of a general engagement, Green was, however, enabled to prevent Lord Rawdon from establishing garrisons in several places which he endeavoured to fortify. The British were thus compelled to concentrate their whole force, and, by this neces sity, which precluded the certain supply of provi sions, it became at last necessary for Lord Raw don to abandon Ninety-six, after which the British lines were contracted within forty miles of Charles town. Lord Rawdon's views seemed at last, by mo tives of .humanity, as well as of necessity, to be con- eentrated in the sole object of protecting from the FoU II G 98 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. (r^p- vengeance of the republicans those unfortunate Ca- __V_L_, rolinian loyalists who still adhered to the British 1 781. , standard. He therefore recreated before the forces of Green, till the heat of summer compelled both parties to a temporary suspension of hostilities. The state of his lordship's health shortly after wards obliging him to return to his native climate, the command of his forces devolved on Colonel Stuart. Green having at once reinforced his army in numbers, and improved them in discipline, re solved to attack the British forces. On the 8th of September he fought a severe action with Colonel Stuart, at the Eutaw springs, in which the victory, though doubtful, is generally claimed by the Ame ricans, and the effects of which were certainly adequate to a defeat, as it affected the affairs of the British. Their operations were from this time confined to the immediate vicinity of Charles town. After the battle of Guildford, Lord Cornwallis had ; marched to Wilmington, in North- Carolina, frorrt whence he proceeded in his intended expedi tion into Virginia. His progress was for some time unresisted, and marked by the destruction of all the stores and resources of war, by which the ene my had organized their resistance in that province. At Hallifax he defeated some parties of the enemy; and, in less than a month, his march from Wil mington to Petersburgh was effected. On the 20th of May he joined the army which Phillips had commanded, and had the farther gratification of finding it reinforced by 1 ,800 men from the head quarters of Clinton. The only force to oppose his lordship in Virginia was that commanded by La Fayette ; a force so indifferently appointed, that in writing his military dispatches, his lordship express ed the most unqualified assurance of being able to overtake and subdue him. The marquis, however, GEORGE III. 99 not only eluded pursuit, but continued to harass CHA*P' XVII. the outposts of the British, till the thickening mis fortunes of the British cause enabled him to change 1781 his desultory warfare for a more effective plan of hostilities. But the genius of Washington was destined, by one important blow, to finish this harassing and tedious campaign. After the first junction of the American commander with the count de Rocham beau, the immediate vicinity of Clinton's army naturally attracted the attention of the allies to New- York ; and a plan for attacking it had been for sometime concerted, when the progress of Cornwallis in Virginia, and the final destination of the French fleet under De Grasse for the Chesa peak, induced them to lay aside their intentions on New- York, and co-operate against Cornwallis. From that period the thoughts of Washington were employed in the necessary measure of quieting Ge neral Clinton's fears of any southern march being attempted by the allied armies, and keeping him in constant alarm for the fate of his own head-quar ters. Affecting, therefore, to be still determined on the siege of New- York, the French and Ameri can commanders frequently reconnoitred the island on both sides from the opposite shore ; and, to make appearances more serious, sent their engineers to take plans of the works, under the very fire of the batteries. Washington made even the intei> cepting of his correspondence subservient to his plan of delusion. He wrote to his officers, by let ters which designedly reached our commander, that now, or never, the quarters of Clinton must be forced ; and that he despaired of success in the war, if that officer, so formidable to the American cause, by his courage, his invention, and his pru dence, were allowed to protract his stay in New- York. The credulity of Clinton swallowed a stra- G2 100 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, tagem so well baited with his own praises ; and the "__, allies were suffered to depart for the south, while 1 781. the British general gaVe credit to his own sagacity for discovering that this fatal march was only a feint to decoy him from his quarters. On the 30th of August, the count de Grasse, with twenty-eight sail of the line, entered the Che sapeak ; and Cornwallis, who was posted near York-town, on the peninsula between York and James river, received, at the same time, the alarm ing intelligence, that the French and American army were rapidly advancing towards Virginia. Three thousand two hundred French, under the marquis de Sf. Simon, speedily disembarked from De Grasse's fleet ; and joining their active coun tryman La Fayette, at Williamsburgh, from which place all the efforts of Cornwallis had not been able to drive him, they effectually inclosed the Bri tish by land. Cornwallis, it has been said, at this crisis, might have saved himself, by sallying forth, as Rawdon did from Camden, and forcing a re treat before the united armies had begun their pa rallels round his works ; but that desperate mea sure either the orders of his lordship from home, or the hopes of relief from Clinton, forbade him to embrace. The grand fleet of De Grasse was also, fatally for this army, reinforced by eight ships of the line, under Admiral de Barras. On the first intelligence of the Chesapeak expedition, our admiral, Graves, set sail to prevent the junc tion of the enemy's main fleet and their reinforce ment. De Grasse, however, came out from the Chesapeak ; and, though an indecisive engagement took place, yet an opportunity was given to De Barras, during the manceuvering of De Grasse and Graves, to avoid them both, by a circuit, and get within the Chesapeak. Our fleet therefore return-- «d, after effecting nothing. GEORGE HI. 101 At last, but too late, the eyes of Clinton were chap. opened, as from a dream, to the true meaning of xvu- Washington's departure, and the dangers of our ~™^T army in Virginia. On the 14th of September, Ge neral Washington and the count de Rochambeau arrived at Williamsburgh, and, on the 25th of the same month, the whole of the allied forces, amount ing to 1 2,000, rendezvoused there, and in five days moved down to the investiture of York-town and Gloucester, the only points which it was now pos sible for the British troops to defend. Relying on succours from Sir Harry Clinton, Cornwallis un expectedly withdrew his army within the works of the town, which were immediately besieged by the enemy, while the pc«t at Gloucester was firmly blockaded. But, on the 9th of October, no suc cours had arrived, and a few days after two chief redoubts in front of the works were taken by storm, by large bodies of the French and Ameri cans. The vigorous fire from the fortifications, and successive sorties by the troops, under his best officers, could retard, but not prevent, the ap proach of the enemy. His lordship attempted a retreat across the river ; but a storm arising just as some of his. boats had crossed, the rest were de tained, and the few troops who had ferried over with difficulty regained the garrison. Thus pressed and surrounded, Cornwallis had no resource, but to surrender his whole army pri soners of war to Washington, and the vessels in the harbour to count de Grasse. The posts of York and Gloucester were given up on the 1 9tft of October. The troops amounted to between 5,000 and 6,000 men ; but such was the num ber of sick and wounded, that there were only 3,800, of all descriptions, capable of bearing arms. In the meantime, Sir Henry Clinton had draught ed from the garrison at New- York a corps of 7000 G3 102 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, of his best troops, with which he proposed to em- XVI1' bark on board the king's ships, and impatiently -^gI> waited for the moment when the fleet would be ready to sail. He had already informed Lord Cornwallis, that it was hoped the fleet would start from New- York about the 5* of October ; and af terwards, from the assurances given him by the admiral, that it might pass the bar by the 12th in stant, if the winds permitted, and no unforeseen accident occurred. But the fleet did not finally leave Sandy-hook till the. 19th, the day on which Lord Cornwallis surrendered. The troops were embarked, and the fleet put to sea ; but it was with extreme mortification, on arriving off the capes of Virginia on the 24*, that they received such accounts as led them to believe that the fate of the unfortunate army was already decided. They remained, however, off the mouth of the Chesa peak till, from the information that reached them, no doubt of the event could remain ; and, as the relief of Cornwallis had been the sole object of the, expedition, the admiral determined to return to New- York. The British fleet, at this time, con sisted of twenty-five ships of the line, two 50 gun ships, and eight frigates. That of the French amounted to thirty-six sail of the line, and a mul titude of frigates. The last letter written by Lord Cornwallis to the commander in chief, acquainting him with the surrender of the posts of York and Gloucester, and relating the cause that led to that event, with the motives which had influenced his own conduct, produced a difference between them, that terminated in an appeal to the public. Such was the issue of the Virginian campaign. The surrender at York-town was the concluding scene of offensive war with America. Towards the end of the year, the Dutch settle ments of Demerara and Issequibo were recovered GEORGE III. 103 by the French, and early in 1782 the marquis de chap. Bouille, with 8000 men, and assisted by the pow- XVIL erful fleet of De Grasse, invaded the island of S'. I7gIt Christophers. The governor, General Fraser, retiring, with 600 men, to the fortified heights of the island, held out for some time ; while Admi ral Sir Samuel Hood, having drawn out the ene my by a dexterous manoeuvre, and then seized the anchorage ground in Bassaterre harbour, endea voured to save the island ; but, though they re pulsed the enemy's navy, no effort could protect the land troops on the station of Brimstone hill, now become untenable from the superior fire of the enemy. General Fraser having capitulated on Feb. 8. sufficiently honourable terms, the English squad ron returned to Barbadoes. The small islands of Nevis and Montserrat soon shared the fate of S'. Kitts ; and Jamaica itself was seriously threatened with a French and Spanish invasion. 104 CHAP. XVIII. Meeting of parliament in November 1781 .... Debates on the address, and on the subject of the war .... Division of opi nion among the whigs, on the subject of American inde pendence . . . . Impeachment of Lord Sandwich .... Resig nation of the secretary of state for America, Lord George Germaine .... Rising numbers of the opposition .... Mini sters outvoted on the 27th . of February .... Subsequent mo tions carried by the opposition .... Recovery of a ministerial majority on two occasions .... Lord North at last announces the termination of his own administration .... New admi nistration formed . • . . Discussion of Irish affairs .... Mr. 1 Burke's economical bill is carried .... Mr. Pitt's motion for reform .... Rodney's naval campaign in the West Indies Capture of Dutch forts on the coast of Africa .... Capture of Minorca by tbe duke de Crillon .... Hostilities by sea and land in the East Indies .... Siege of Gibraltar. chap. "Jp\URiNG these distresses of Britain, the neutral xvnr. f\jf continental powers made no efforts of me- I7gI# diation, that could be considered as either fair or friendly to our cause. An offer was indeed sug gested by the court of Vienna, to arrange disputes by a congress of English, French, Spanish, and American ministers ; but, independent of the pre liminary terms being unfavourable to Britain, as they required an immediate suspension of arms, the idea of admitting American agents to the con gress, to have their claims enforced by French and Spanish ministers, was regarded by our court as inadmissable, and derogatory to the national ho- GEORGE III. 105 nour. The Austrian minister, Kaunitz, after com- ^ha?. paring the proposals of Britain with those of the other '__ belligerents, at length declared his hopes of negodia- 1781. tion to be at an end. He admitted the dignity of that resolution by which the cabinet of this country re jected an arbitration of her quarrel with America "by hostile interference ; but, with many commen taries on the Weakness of our power to support that dignity, he advised us to make concessions for the sake of peace. From this language of insult ing condolence there was little hope of farther me diation. Indeed the partiality of the emperor Jo seph II for France soon became as decided as that of his minister ; and one of the first acts of his reign was acceding to the armed neutrality. From hostile confederacies, and disasters abroad, the ministry could not turn, without alarm, to the growing dissatisfaction of the nations The bad prin ciples of the war, which might have passed with impunity among a large class of politicians at home, had they been crowned with success, began to be more generally questioned, as the project of co ercing America appeared more palpably impracti cable. The authority of the mother country had been so often explained and qualified, and by mi nisters themselves partially renounced, that it was now regarded as less sacredly necessary to be main tained, and less essentially decisive of the ruin of the nation, if it should be renounced. The pride of the country, habituated to anticipate the event of American independence, grew at last fa miliar with degradation ; the pressure of more sub stantial evils was immediate, and almost intolerable. All that had been predicted by the wisdom of Chat ham, and of Fox, respecting the issue of the con test, was now fatally fulfilled, by the surrender of the southern army. The public could no longer 106 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, remain blind to the future effects of the war, or XVUI- < sleep in their former torpid security. " I?gl- It excited, however, considerable surprise, when parliament met, that no prospect of peace was held Nqv. vi. out in the language of the throne, to which the answering address was to be regarded as the pledge of the legislature for the support or dere liction of the present measures. The continuance of the war was, in the royal speech, ascribed to the restless ambition of our enemies ; and the high est congratulations were offered to the public on the arrival of our commercial fleets, and the pros perous aspect of our East-Indian affairs. In the house of commons, the motion for an address pro duced a debate of length and importance suited to the magnitude of the question at issue, and the high hopes of opposition to avail themselves of the changing sentiments of the nation. The declara tion in the proposed address to pledge the house to unqualified support of the war, after seven years of disaster, and the boldness of holding such lan guage, at the very moment when the calamities brought on by ministers called for penitence and humiliation, were topics urged by Mr. Fox, with his accustomed fervour and ability. He entered, with severe reprehension, into the principles of the war, the delusions by which parliament had been led on, year after year, to support it, and the gross and criminal mismanagement which appeared in every branch of administration. To the negligence and incapacity of Lord Sandwich, Mr. Fox ascribed the loss of the army under Cornwallis. That mi- > nister, he said, had declared in another assembly, that a first lord of the admiralty, who should fail in having a fleet equal to the combined naval force of the whole house of Bourbon, would deserve to be dragged from his situation to condign pu» GEORGE III, 107 nishment. The case, he contended, was now be- chap. fore them. The inferiority of the British fleet, in , XV111' every quarter of the globe, might be proved from xj$i. the events of the campaign ; and he conjured the house to bring their marine minister to the reward which his own confession had pronounced that he had merited. It had been confessed by one of the highest members of administration, Mr Fox ob served, that if the capture of Charlestown pro duced no decisive consequences', he should grow weary of the war. That event had come, and brought disasters in its train ; and yet ministers were not weary of the war : on the contrary, they seemed to love it, as it grew more calamitous. He concluded by moving an amendment to the ad* dress, which should leave the expediency of con tinuing the war open to future debate, instead of binding the house to any specific course of mea sures. The impression which this speech seemed to make on the house, and the silence of those who had been accustomed, on all occasions, to justify the principles and the policy of the Ameri can war, called up the minister very early in this debate. He defended the ground of the colonial contest. He asserted that the war was not main tained for the prerogative of the king, but of par liament, against which the revolted Americans had unjustly taken arms. The king's speech, and the proposed address of parliament, he said, did not necessarily imply that the house would be pledged to the continuance of the war. This plea the mi nister and his associates were the better enabled to maintain, as both the speech and address, though substantially, did not literally, describe the object of intended measures to be offensive hostilities with America. A melancholy disaster, said his lord ship, has occurred in Virginia ; but are we, there- Jpre, to lie down and die ? No ; by dejection and 108 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, despair, every thing must be lost ; by bold exer= xvm. tions, every thing may be saved. The war has J7g; been unfortunate, but not unjust ; and, should the share I have had in supporting a war, defensive of parliamentary rights and the British constitu tion, lead me to the scaffold, my opinion should remain unaltered. This language looked like the boldness of a man convinced1 of his own rectitude; but it was ill suited to the times ; and, when mini sters denied that their proposed address implied an intention to prosecute war, such a speech from Lord North needed no commentary to form a refutation of their own interpretation of that mo tion. The lord-advocate for Scotland (Mr. Dun* das) spoke at great length in support of the ad dress. If by an American war, he said, was meant a continental war in America, conducted on the same military principles as heretofore, the house might have reason to be cautious in pledging themselves to its support. But, if the retention and defence of such places as were still left in our possession in America were to be called an American war, and, under that denomination, to be reprobated, he did not think the house yet ripe for such a de cision. Burke rose indignantly at the pertinacity of ministers. The war, he said, had teemed with calamities ; but this speech of the king's was the greatest calamity of all. Most excellent rights ! he exclaimed (in allusion to North's defence of the war as a vindication of parliamentary rights), which have cost Britain thirteen provinces, four islands, 1 00,000 men, and seventy millions of money, her empire over the ocean, her rank among nations, her dignity and her commerce abroad, her happi ness at home ; which have taken all this, and yet threaten to spoil us of what remains. Mr. Fox's amendment was negatived. GEORGE III. 109 In the upper house, a similar amendment to the chap. address, supported by the duke of Richmond, the xviil earl of Shelburne, the marquis of Rockingham, j^ ~ Lord Camden, and other noblemen of the minori ty, experienced the same rejection. On bringing up the report of the address, the debate was renewed, and principally distinguished by the eloquence of Pitt,, who described the dis union already prevalent among ministers, with con vincing vigour and effect, and insisted, that, after a comparison of the sentiments individually deliver ed in public by these ministers, no confidence, no union subsisted among them, and that all con fidence of the nation ought necessarily to be with drawn from them. Such reasoning, from this distinguished speaker, was calculated to strike more directly at the power of administration than the most forcible reasoning on the abstract prin ciples of the war, or its practical mismanagement; to shew that the fabric of the cabinet was verging to its decline, was the surest mode of accelerating the event. Of the majority that ministers yet pos sessed, numbers were only attached by the vulgar fidelity, which chooses the stronger side. Every alarm of approaching fall annihilated the aid of those supporters, and this alarm Mr. Pitt's speeeh in no common degree contributed to produce. During the debates that prevailed before the re cess, some subordinate subjects of censure were introduced by the opponents of ministry, of which the principal was Mr. Burke's motion respecting the confiscation of property at S'. Eustatia ; an action which, he said, disgraced us in the eyes of civilized Europe. With no less severe reproach he inveighed against the terms of Cornwallis's sur^ render, by which, to the disgrace of British hu manity, no article had been obtained for the pre servation of the American loyalists in Cornwallis's 110 ANNALS OF GREAT* BRITAIN. chap. army. The motions on these subjects were sepa- xviiij rately negatived. j,gr In debating the army estimates the grand prin ciple of the war became again a subject of contro versy ; when, encouraged by their increasing in- " fluence, and by the daily desertion of ministerial members to their standard, the opposition assumed a bolder tone, and even the motion of a committee of supply was strenuously refused. In answer to the assertion of ministers, that this revival of an obsolete measure, to cramp the executive govern ment, was unprecedented since the reyolution, and replete with danger to the nation, it was proved by Mr. Fox, Mr. Montague, Mr. Thomas Pitt, and others of their antagonists, that this was the chief and the true constitutional power which was lodg ed in the hands of parliament, to exercise restraint over the conduct of ministers ; and that to forego it would be to resign the very bulwark of parlia mentary power. They maintained, that if no pre-* cedent to that effect had occurred since the revo lution, it was only because no administration had been ever so persevering in their system of perni cious measures. The minister was weakened, but not overpowered by these repeated motions. He continued, on this occasion, to exercise a majority* which, by an extraordinary muster, amounted to 95. Not discouraged by these defeats, while they beheld the views of the nation growing every day more favourable to their cause, and even in par liament the adherents of ministry gradually melt ing away, the minority, on the 12th of December* renewed their opposition to the war, under the form of a specific motion. The terms, which were cautiously worded, went to declare, that all far ther efforts for the coercion of America would be injurious to the interests of the country. No de bate could be productive of deeper interest, or 1781. GEORGE III. Ill evoked a more copious display of the strength, the chap. wisdom, and the eloquence of the numerous body xvm.' of opposition, than this question. It was less memor- <~~~ "~ able for the talents displayed by ministers, than for the contradiction of sentiment which ft drew forth, if we compare those sentiments either among them selves, or contrast them with the proud boasts of the cabinet at the opening of American hostilities. Lord North avowed his opinion, ' that it would neither be wise nor right to prosecute the war in America any longer on a continental plan, that is* by sending fresh armies to march through the colo nies, in order by those marches to subdue America to obedience ; but as posts could not be abandoned, nor commerce be supported against American cruizers, he resisted the motion for a total suspen sion of war. He was supported in his objections by Welbore Ellis and Lord George Germaine ; the latter of whom declared, with more manliness than North, that he would retire from his official station whenever the American war was to be abandoned. It was remarkable also in this debate, that a certain portion of the opposition, who, though attached to the great body of the whigs, were yet more immediately connected with the Earl of Shelburne, spoke on the subject of the continuance of the war with great caution and re serve. The question of independence having un avoidably arisen in the course of the day, Mr. Dunning declared it to be his opinion, that the guilt of declaring America independent would be little short of high treason. The motion for the order of the day at last setting aside the original question, was carried by a majority of 40 ; only 20 of the usual supporters of administration having sided with the minority. The debate was renewed on the 14th of Decem ber, when the powers of Pitt were again strenu- ttfl. 112 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ously employed in describing the total contradic- xvm. tjon 0f principles which prevailed in the present ' cabinet ; that they were at war with each other's opinion, distrustful of mutual support, yet that they meanly continued in power for the enjoyment of office, and stood responsible for measures of which they could not approve. Their only prin ciple of coherence, their only common object, seem ed to be the ruin of the empire ; and that, he fear ed, they would acdomplish, ere the vengeance of the people could overtake them. ' And, God grant,' added Mr. Pitt, ' that that punishment be not so long delayed as to involve a great and inno cent family, who, though they share not the guilt, most likely will participate in the atonement.' From the period of this debate to the winter recess* the attention of parliament was chiefly called to busi ness of inferior interest.1 The adjournment was not carried in either house without severe opposi tion. The crimination of ministers, as usual, ming led with the debate respecting adjournment ; but, 1 The supplies granted by par- continoed, with little change, on liament for the year 1781 amount- its old establishment. edto =£33,261,477 : it : of, which, The enormous amount of theord- withavoteof credit of =61,000,000, nance estimates occasioned a strict amounted to =£24,261,477 : 11 : of. examination. They were stated at The ways and means, including a the fum of =£1,644,242. It was not loan of =£13,500,000, and exchequer without just cause that opposition bills to the amount of =£1,500,000, inveighed against the practice of with the lottery, taxes, surplus and affording government contracts to sinking funds, and the vote of ere- the minions of ministerial favour. dit, composed =£24,244,373, and It was proved, during the course some fractions, leaving a deficiency of this inquiry, that, in procuring of =£17,000. the article of saltpetre, a contract Additional taxes were imposed had been made with an individual, on malt, beer, salt, tobacco, bran- at =£37 per ton (ready money) dies, and 5 per cent, additional on dearer than the East-India com- all customs and excise. pany were willing to have given The new taxes were imposed on it on credit. Mr. Burke and Co- stamps, inland water-carriage; and Ionel Barre made each an unsuc- all coasting carriage, coals except- cessful motion, tending to censure ed. the board of ordnance, upon the The number of men voted for grounds afforded by the above in* the navy was 100,000. The army vestigation. ¦GEORGE III. US of the charges brought against them, a wider view chap. was reserved for the contests of party which sue- xvni. ceeded the present recess. The house adjourned ' 37™"* till the 21st of January; and, two days after, the grand business of inquiry into the causes of the want of success of his majesty's naval force, more particularly during the year 1781. The leading measure of this attack on' ministers, was the long meditated inquiry into the conduct of the first lord of the admiralty. Mr. Fox opened the motion for January a committee of inquiry, to consist of the whole I78** house, in a very long and able speech. On that day an animated debate took place on the merits and demerits of the admiralty ; but the decisive in quiry of the committee was, for various reasons, delayed till the 7th of the following month, when Feh-7. the same illustrious mover came forward as the ac cuser, and Lord Mulgrave as the principal de fender, of Lord Sandwich. Mr. Fox founded his motion of censure on* facts contained in the papers which "were laid as evidence before the house. In the course of the inquiry it appeared, that in 1777, when the hostilities of France were evidently im pending, the admiralty had been wholly negligent of preparing means of defence ; so that, when Ad miral Keppel arrived at Portsmouth, in the follow ing spring, to command a nominal fleet of twenty- six ships of the line, he found only six fit and ready for service. It farther appeared, that the admiralty were apprized of D'Estaing's equipment at Toulon, in sufficient time to have disputed his passage out of the Mediterranean ; that neither advantage' was taken of that knowledge, nor in formation communicated to our admiral, to apprize him of the danger to which he might be exposed ; that in 1779 the formidable junction of the allied fleets might havefeeen prevented; that Rodney ought to have been dispatched, but had not been dispatched, Vol II. H 114 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, towards the close of the same year, to intercept XVI"-_f Admiral de Guichen from Brest ; that in 1780 ' 178a. the hostile fleets had again combined, through the tardiness of instructions sent to Admiral Geary, to prevent their junction ; that the chevalier de Ter- nay had been permitted to sail, unmolested, to Ame rica, with those troops who afterwards captur ed Cornwallis; and, at the same disgraceful pe riod, Captain Moutray, with the valuable East and West India convoys, was ' betrayed' into the hands of the enemy ; so that, had the noble earl at the head of the admiralty been hired in the pay pf the house of Bourbon, he could not have act ed in their service with better zeal or fideli ty. Such was the picture of mismanagement dur ing a succession of past years. In the transac tions of the present year, Mr. Fox confined his censure to five capital charges. The first was, hav ing suffered De Grasse to sail for the West Indies, ' without a single effort to intercept him. The equip ment, the strength, the time of sailing, and desti nation, of this enemy, it appeared, were all known to our government. Admiral Darby, with supe rior force, had been destined for the relief of Gib raltar ; a service for which he was not ordered to sail till some days after De Grasse's departure, al though he was ready for sea many days before De Grasse left Brest ; and if that interval of time had been employed by the admiral, our superior fleet must have met that of France, and averted all our losses in the West Indies. The second accusation was founded on the loss of the S\ Eustatia con voy. From the papers on the table, it was esta blished, that Rodney had acquainted ministers with the sailing and the value of the convoy ; but that the tardiness of their measures had not allowed them to apprize Admiral Darby (who was cruizing off Ireland during the capture) till ten days after GEORGE III. 115" the capture was effected. The third charge was chap. their public declaration of a falsehood, contained X'IH* in a letter written to the mayor of Bristol by the 178a.- board of naval administration. The merchants of Bristol, anxious for the safety of their ships, had : written to government an account of the rumour (and it was a true rumour), that the combined fleets of the enemy were cruizing off the Channel. A letter, however, was written to the admiralty, acquainting them that the whole was withoutfounda- tion. Thus the merchants of Bristol were deceiv ed by the very words of their own government, and the commercial wealth of the country exposed a prey to the enemy. The last charge of neglect, re spected the fleet of Admiral Parker, who had been. sent to the northern seas with an insufficient force, at a period when there were ships enough unem-; ployed to have captured Zoutman with his whole convoy. Lord Sandwich was but feebly defended by his friend Lord Mulgrave against those heavy accusa tions; but, by an unusual muster of ministerial strength, his acquittal was obtained by a majority" of twenty-two votes.* During these debates, the protracted support of administration in parliament, though fast diminish ing, was not a fair testimony of the public feeling, which already was wound up to the highest impa* tience, at the burdens and continuance of the war. This general dissatisfaction appeared in petitions and remonstrances to the throne. On the 1 8th of December, the livery of London addressed the king, to deprecate the continuance of those men 1 The arguments of Lord Mul- It is ne great unfairness to antici- grave, in repelling thpse five pate, that the reader's judgment, charges, are satisfactorily abridged", should he consult them, will not from the parliamentary debates, in be in favour of the firtt lord of the Dodsley's Annual register for 1782. admiralty. H2 116 ANNALS OE GREAT BRITAIN. chap, and measures, of which they lamented that the xvm. rovai speech, at the opening of the session, had ,78a, augured no change or melioration. ' Your majes ty's ministers,' said the remonstrants, * have, by false assertions and fallacious suggestions, deluded your majesty and this,, nation into the present dis astrous war. Your fleets have lost their wonted superiority ; your dominions have been captured ; and your majesty's subjects have been loaded with taxes, which would have been calamitous, even if our victories had acquired dominions, instead of losses having dismembered the empire. We hum bly exhort your majesty not to continue longer in a delusion from which the nation has awakened, and to dismiss from your councils and . confidence all public, as well as secret, advisers of these de structive measures. The division in the cabinet respecting American affairs, so loudly declared by Mr. Pitt, appeared to be now authenticated, by the secession of the secretary of state for the American department, Lord George Germaine, who, after his retirement from office, was dignified with the peerage, and title of Viscount Sackville. This nobleman was not, however, suffered to take his seat in the upper house, without a violent impeachment of the right of the crown to confer so distinguished a mark of royal favour on an officer who had un dergone, during the late reign, the express con demnation of a court-martial, and had been pro nounced guilty of misdemeanour in the field of battle. Lord Caermarthen made a motion, in the Sieers, for his rejection, and was supported by other ords of opposition. The secretary stood this se verely personal attack with little*emotion, and con tended that a sentence which was so remote in date, which he alleged to have been unfair, and which, at all events, had been but a military sen- GEORGE III. 117 tence^ could have no influence on his civil pro- chap. motion, nor debar him from the free grant of his xvn1, majesty's favour and distinction. The motion of x7ga) his antagonist Was set aside by a majority of the house of peers; From whatever causes the secre tary resigned, the appointment of Mr. Welbore Ellis to be his successor, and of Sir Guy Carle- ton to be commander in chief in North America, disappointed, for a moment, those hopes which the resignation had inspired, and, from the prin ciples of the new nominees, created a new alarm, that the desperate coercion of America was still in contemplation; Another attempt was therefore made in the commons, to bind up the hands of the executive by a strong and explicit declaration of parliament. With this View, General Conway moved, on the 22d of February, that his majesty should be im plored by the house to forego the impracticable purpose of reducing the colonies by force. The new secretary, Mr. Ellis, evinced by his opposi tion to the motion, that his sentiments on the war were not different from those of his predecessor. He concluded a speech, which, though fraught with some expressions of a wish for peace, was yet decidedly of a hostile tone, by asserting that the loyalists were still the most numerous party in America. The other secretary, Mr. JenkinsOn, was less ceremonious in his treatment of the paci fic motion. It had been declared, at a former pe riod, by ministers, that the war was now to be re duced to a war of posts. By a war of posts, how ever, Mr. Jenkinson said, he understood not mere ly a defensive plan of operations, but occasional ly sallying from those posts to occupy new posi tions. This explanation, added to the vehement phi lippics of the former speaker against the tyranny H 3 "118 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. -chap, of congress over the loyalty of our American XVUI- friends, exhibited the views of the cabinet in the 178a. clearest light. But the decision of the house was, in reality, a triumph to opposition ; for the motion was lost but by a single vote, and the majority of the absent members were known to be adverse to ministers. In full confidence of still farther success, Ge neral Conway proposed the same motion on the 27th of February, under a different form. The debate, although upon grounds long ago and re peatedly trodden, was rendered copious and ear- „ nest by the hopes and fears of the contending parties. Lord North, after an able defence, in which the attorney-general, Mr. Wallace, was his chief supporter, at last proposed an adjournment, as the best means of evading an approaching de feat. He was baffled in this resource by a superiori ty of nineteen votes, when, at a late hour, and in a full house of 250 members, the original ques tion, and an address to the king, formed upon the resolution, were carried without a division, and ordered to be presented by the whole house. This was the decisive vote which announced Lord North's administration to be irrecoverably fallen. On Mon day the royal answer to the resolution was report ed to the commons ; and the thanks of the house being unanimously voted to his majesty for his gra cious answer, General Conway rose and moved, that the house should consider as enemies to his majesty and the country all those who should ad vise, or by any means attempt, the farther prose cution of offensive war, for the purpose of re ducing the revolted colonies of America. The mo* lion, after a feeble opposition from the government members, was at length suffered to pass. These resolutions were received by the public with general demonstrations of joy. GEORGE III. 119 . To follow up the successes of the ascending chap. party, and bring matters at once to an issue, the xvin- following resolutions were moved by Lord John j.gj. Cavendish, and seconded by Mr, Powys, — ' That March 8. it appears to' this house, that, since the year 1775, upwards of an hundred millions of money have been expended on the army and navy, on a fruit less war. That, during the above period, we have lost the thirteen colonies of America, which an ciently belonged to the crown of Great Britain (except the posts of New-York, Charlestown, and the Savannah), the newly-acquired colony of Flo rida, many of our valuable West-India and other islands, and those that remain are in the most im minent danger. That Great Britain is at pre sent engaged in an expensive war with America, France, Spain, and Holland, without a single ally. And that the chief cause of all these misfortunes has been the want of foresight and ability in his majesty's ministers.' The debate lasted till two in the morning, when the house divided on the order of the day, which had been moved by the secre tary at war, and which, in spite of the expecta tions of the opposition, was carried by a majority of ten. On the 15th, Sir John Rous, seconded by Lord Marci.j John Cavendish, after reciting the facts contained in the motion of the 8th of the month, proposed to resolve, that the house could have no farther con fidence in the present directors of public affairs. In the new debate it was admitted by ministers, for the first time, that some new arrangements would be necessary in public affairs. A coalition. was loudly called for by many members, who wish ed for a change, but still more for a consolidation of strength. Lord North himself was observed to speak with considerable emotion and embarrass ment, which the peculiarity of his situation, and 120 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, the violent personal attacks to which he was ex- , Xvm' posed, excited, in spite of his wonted good hu- I7g2> mour and equanimity. He concluded a long de fence of his conduct by declaring, that he neither was, nor would be, an obstacle to a coalition of parties, or to a formation of any new administra tion, from which he might be totally excluded. Nearly 480 members voted on this question ; the yet-existing ministry gained it by a majority of nine. The 20th of the same month was the day ex pected to produce a great and decisive debate, on the motion which was promised by Lord Surrey, who announced his intended motion for voting to address the throne for a removal of ministers. On March ao. that day, before his lordship could open the ques tion, Lord North presented himself to the house, but was not heard without some difficulty, as the independent members, distrustful of his motives, insisted on Lord Surrey being heard in preference. By the interposition of Mr. Fox, however, Lord North having obtained audience, he declared that he had authority to assure the house, that his ma jesty's ministry was at an end. His lordship then took leave of the house in the character of mini ster, in a speech which had at least the usual me rit of his other speeches, that of being perfectly unblemished by the asperity of personal reproach. During the adjournment of parliament, a new administration was formed, on as broad a basis as the nature of things would admit, and included the most distinguished personages among the two great parties who divided the whig interest : the Rockingham party, which borrowed its name from the auspices of that amiable nobleman, and its vi gour and popularity from the talents of Fox ; and that other party, which, since the death of Chatham, had been accustomed to regard Lord Shelburne as GEORGE III. 121 their political leader. The marquis of Rocking- chap. ham was appointed first lord of the treasury, the xvnL . earl of Shelburne and Mr. Fox secretaries of state, I78ae Lord Camden president of the council, the duke of Grafton privy seal, Lord John Cavendish chan cellor of the exchequer, Admiral (now created . lord) Keppel first commissioner of the admiralty, General Conway commander in chief of the forces. The duke of Richmond was made master-general of the ordnance, Lord Thurlow was continued lord high chancellor, Mr. Dunning was created Baron Ashburton, and appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The public measures for which the whig administration stipulated were said to be, peace with America ; a reform in expendi ture, on Mr. Burke's plan ; the diminution of the influence of the crown, by the exclusion of con tractors from the legislature, and of revenue offi* cers from the power of voting at elections. The house did not meet, on any business of actual importance, until the 8th of April, when the affairs of Ireland were abruptly introduced by Mr. Eden, the late secretary of Lord Carlisle, when that nobleman was viceroy of Ireland. It was thought singular that the secretary of a minister so averse to the wishes of the Irish should now act, as if to embarrass the new cabinet, on prin ciples so opposite to those he had lately avowed. He had in fact travelled with the speed of a cou rier, on the first notice of a change of ministry, to anticipate the popularity of a measure which his former patrons had for ever violently opposed, the repeal of that act of George I, which asserted the right of the king and parliament of Britain to en act laws for the kingdom of Ireland. Respecting the independence of the Irish legislature, Mr. Fox assured the house that the most serious discussions had already taken place in the cabinet council, and 122 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, that, within twenty-four hours, the measures in XVIIL contemplation would be submitted to the house. 178a. By threatening Mr. Eden with a vote of censure for forcing a measure of such importance on their no^ tice in so precipitate a manner, the house prevailed on that gentleman to withdraw his motion ; and on the following day, the royal message to both houses announced, as Mr. Fox had promised, the intend ed project of redressing the grievances of the Irish nation. Mr. Eden, disappointed in his mock pre tensions to popularity, after so lately and so dili gently serving the cause of those who had discou raged the emancipation of Ireland, set off for that kingdom, with the probable view of misrepresent ing the affair, and gaining credit for his own dis-i appointment. Mr. Fox, however, aware of his intention, dispatched Colonel Fitzpatrick, so as to anticipate his arrival, who waited on the new lord- lieutenant on the 14th ; and on the 15th a royal message, similar to that which was delivered in England, reached the Irish legislature. On this occasion the Irish house of commons, at the in- stance of the celebrated Grattan, passed an address to the throne, which included a full and express declaration of the rights of Ireland. It asserted the entire independence of their own legislature, and insisted on a mutiny bill more consistent with their national liberty. Justice and policy equally seconded the views of the Irish on this occasion. The obnoxious acts of parliament were immediate ly repealed ; the whole powers of the Irish govern ment, executive and legislative, were vested solely in the king, lords, and commons, of Ireland ; the controuling powers of the English parliament, and the practice of altering bills in the privy council, were renounced for ever ; a mutiny bill was enact ed, limited in its duration to two years. While measures were thus happily pursuing for GEORGE III. 123 restoring order and satisfaction in the sister king- chap. dom, administration were also occupied in recur- xvm- ring to those plans of economy and reformation at ^^ home, which their efforts to obtain, at a former period, had so deservedly gained them celebrity. The bills for disqualifying revenue officers from voting at elections, and contractors from sitting in parliament, passed the lower house, after a feeble opposition. In the house of lords they were more strenuously combated by the lords Thurlow and Mansfield ; but at length were carried by large majorities, and gained the royal assent. Mr. Burke's economical bill was introduced to the notice of the house, by a message from the throne. It came with all the splendour of royal May. encouragement, and was moved by Mr. Burke with all the symptoms of patriotic exultation. It reached but a small part of the retrenchments which the nation had been taught to expect that it would embrace. It served, however, even in its altered state, to abolish a number of useless offices, formerly held by members of parliament, and to prevent an arrear of debt accruing on the civil list, by an annual saving of ^72,368. The bill was followed by another, to prevent the accumulation of balances in the hands of the paymaster-general. On the 23d of May, Mr. Wilkes made his annual motion for the repeal of the famous resolution of 1769, respecting the Middlesex election, and at last succeeded in obtaining a vote, that it should be ex punged from the records of the house. The two committees on Indian affairs, the secret and the select, continued to sit during this session. Their reports were voluminous, comprehensive, and universally allowed to be drawn up with great ability. On the ground of the reports brought up from the secret committee, the lord advocate of Scotland, Mr. Dundas, who was the chairman of 124 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap- that body, moved One hundred and eleven resolu- ' '_j tions. These Were divided into classes, each of which 178a. consisted of three distinct heads ; the two first of a public and general nature, the third of personal culpability; The first class regarded the general system of our government in the east ; it contained a prohibitory condemnation of offensive war, and all schemes of conquest in India ; and concluded with a censure on the conduct of Warren Hastings, esquire, the governor-general in Bengal, and W. Hornsby, esquire, president of the council in Bom bay, declaring the necessity for their immediate re- cal. The second and third classes related to the affairs of the Carnatic ; and on these a bill of pains and penalties was passed on Sir Thomas Rumboldj for crimes of mal-administration committed in that province ; and Peter Perring, esquire, for similar offences. The reports of the select committee had not advanced to the same state of forwardness* The resolutions moved by their chairman, General Smith, were only ten in number; of these, the three first were to censure the conduct of Mr; Sullivan, the ghairman of the court of directors, for his neglect of duty, in delaying to transmit the act for the regulation of the company, to their ser vants in India, by which the regulation of the ju dicature, and the relief of the native judges, who had been harshly imprisoned, were unhappily frustrated. A censure was also passed on Mr; 1 Sullivan, for administering an oath of secrecy to one of the secretaries of the company, restraining him from giving information to the committee* The next three related to the appointment of Sir Elijah Impey, by Mr. Hastings, to an office held at the will of the governor-general, contrary to an act of his present majesty's reign ; and a resolution was agreed to by the house, for requesting his majesty to recal the obnoxious nominee* The two last GEORGE III. 125 resolutions were to ascertain the power of the go- chap. vernor-general and council of Bengal, by a special xvm act, and to reduce into one act the various regula- 17$t. tions of the company, amended and explained. The public mind had been long agitated by the important question of parliamentary reform ; and the societies for that object had become general and numerous. The subject was again introduced into May ?. parliament by MrT Pitt ; but the insuperable diffi culties which had occurred in bringing the friends of reformation to any specific proposition, induced him to vary the application in the present instance, and to move that a committee should be appointed to report their sentiments on the subject of parlia mentary representation. The eloquence of this distinguished statesman was for many days of this inquiry employed in displaying the enormity of those abuses which it was his object to reform in the representative branch of the constitution. Among innumerable cases of corruption, he stated one instance of corrupt influence, which of itself might form a motto for the cause of reformation ; it was the influence of the Nabob of Arcot, who was notoriously known to possess no less than eight votes in the house of commons. The motion for inquiry was ably supported by Sir George Saville, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Sheridan ; but the whigs were in this instance divided in opi nion. Mr. Burke, Mr. Thomas Pitt, Mr. Powys, and others, contended, that the ends of legislature were as sufficiently answered at present, as they could be by any new modification of electoral franchises ; and that experience had ever shewn the impolicy of innovation, where the evil was not enormous, and where the fruits of change were not certain. The motion was rejected by a majority of 40 votes. The commission for examining public accounts soon after laid before the house a statement of the 126 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, late public expenditure. It ' exhibited in detail in- xvm. numerabie abuses in that department, which had I78a crept into custom, and were yet to be pruned from the list of national grievances. The lateness of the season, however, necessarily prevented the comple tion of many reformations which the existing mi nistry had in view, and certainly would have effect ed, had the nation been fated to the continuance of a whig predominance. To prevent, however, these plans being neglected or forgotten, should any change of circumstances occur, and to mark at least their good intentions, if they should not be able to realize them, one of the leaders of the pa triotic cabinet moved, in a committee of the whole house, a series of resolutions, importing the deter mined views of ministry to proceed with their plan of financial economy very early in the ensuing ses sion. These resolutions related to the collection and consolidation of taxes, the abolition of useless offices, and the prevention of suspicious influence in official appointments. In turning from the view of those patriotic efforts at home, to the exertion of our national energies abroad, we are led, after a few adverse events, to the brightest period of the war. Sir Harry Clinton, who resigned, the command of the American army before the end of the year* was succeeded by Sir Guy Carleton. The fate of Cornwallis, and the news of the state of parties at home, kept the hostile armies in America without a motive to attack each other, from the obvious expectation that peace was not distant. The Spa niards, embarking from Cuba, invaded and took from us the Bahama islands, which had been left in no posture of security, and contained only about 200 defenders. Nevis and Montserrat, as we have already seen, had followed the fate of Sl. Christo phers j so that of all our West-India possessions. GEORGE III. 12? only Jamaica, Barbadoes, and Antigua remained, at chap. the close of Lord North's administration. XVI11' Jamaica, the great object of Spanish ambition, X1\lr was now to be attempted by the count de Grasse, who was to be joined by a Spanish fleet and army for that purpose. At Cuba and Hispaniola, the Spaniards had already 26 ships of the line, and a strong military force. The fleets, by combining, would have amounted to 60 ships of the line; and 20,000 land troops, independent of De Guichen's expected reinforcement of ships and soldiers. The British force in Jamaica, consisting of a faithful mili tia', and six British battalions of the line, amounted in all to 6000 or 7000 men. From a fleet, so far out numbered, they had little defence to expect. Their chief confidence was in the strength of many posts in the islands, and the zeal of the inhabitants, who, believing the current rumour, that a change of proprietors was to follow the conquest of the island, were resolved on a desperate defence. In this anxious state of suspense, the happy intelligence arrived, that De Guichen's fleet and convoy, after their encounter with Admiral Kempenfeldt, had been obliged to return to France, and that only two of their whole number could join De Grasse. By the arrival of Sir George Rodney, with 12 February. ships of the line, and his junction with Admiral Hood, the number of 6ur grand fleet, under the former commander, now amounted to 33 ; and by the coming in of another squadron soon after, to March. 36 line-of-battle ships. De Grasse, with 34 sail of the line, was solely anxious to join the Spaniards, while Rodney's success, and the salvation of our West-Indies, depended on preventing that junction. On the 8th of April, De Grasse weighed from Fort April. Royal in Martinique, for Hispaniola. By noon of the same day (so quick was the intelligence of the British), Rodney pursued him from Grosislet, in 128 ANNALS 6P GREAT BRITAIN. chap. S\ Lucia ; and by the dawn of next day, both xvin. fleets were ready for action off Dominique. It was l782. nine, however, before the breeze could bear the van of our fleet into action, while the centre and rear lay becalmed. This circumstance tempted De Grasse to engage immediately. The van of the English, commanded by Sir S. Hood, was assailed, for more than an hour, by the superior force of the enemy ; but the centre and rear, under Rod ney and Sir Francis Drake, at last coming up, and the French admiral perceiving the line fairly closed, lost all hopes of advantage ; and having the command of the wind, easily withdrew from ac tion, though severely disabled in many of his ships. Some days after the engagement were spent by both sides in refitting. On the 1 1 th, the French had got so far to the windward,, as to weather Gua- daloupe, and were scarcely seen from the topmasts of the English centre. About noon, however, the falling to leeward of two of- their disabled vessels, occasioned so vigorous a pursuit by the British, that to save them, De Grasse was reluctantly brought to action. The night, which prevented an immediate en gagement, was passed in anxious preparation on both sides ; and at half past seven in the morning, April i». the action was begun. The scene of action is de scribed as a moderately large bason of water, lying between the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominique, the Saints, and Marigalante, The fleets met on opposite tacks ; but the wind was but faint. Our ships, as they came up, ranged slowly along the line, exchanging a close and terrible fire, which was chiefly formidable to the French, from the un erring precision of the British guns, and the num ber of men crowded in their vessels. About noon* Sir George Rodney, on board the Formidable, with his seconds, the Duke and the Namur, broke GEORGE III. 129 through the enemy's line ; and throwing out sig- chap. nals for the van to tack, wore round, so that the , ' British gained the wind, and stood on the same 178*. tack with the enemy. This bold manoeuvre threw the French into confusion, and decided the day. The French van bore away to leeward, wishing to re-form their broken line ; but this they were never able to accomplish. Sir Samuel Hood's di- vision, which had been long becalmed, now com ing up with their leading ships, completed the preponderance of our advantage. Still, however, the contest continued with violence during a long day. The French, though broken in their line, resisted in single encounters, and some of their ships fought for a while, even against double an tagonists. The captain of the Caesar, a French 74, nailed his colours to the mast. His death, and the total wreck of his vessel, finished the contest of this ship with Captain Inglefield, of the Centaur. The Diadem, another French 74, went down by a single broadside of a British vessel. Towards even ing, Captain Cornwallis, of the Canada, having compelled the Hector, an enemy's ship of equal force, to surrender, assailed the admiral's ship, the Ville-de-Paris, which in two hours he reduced to a wreck. Still De Grasse disdained to surrender, till Sir Samuel Hood arriving in the Barfleur, the fire of the French admiral ceased ; only three men, it is said, being left on the upper deck, of whom the admiral was one. When the firing of the Ville-de-Paris had ceased, the English called out to her, demanding why she did not strike ? One of the survivors answered from the French ship — The' admiral of France does not strike to any ene my ; but you may come on board. This ship, the largest in the French, or perhaps in any service, bearing 120 guns, and built at the expence of ^176,000 sterling, was then entered and taken. Vol II I i30 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN; chap. Thirty-six chests of treasure were found on board; x In'_. Night concluded the engagement. As it grew 178*, dark, the British admiral thought it necessary to collect the fleet, and secure the prizes. The ene my made off to leeward, in the greatest confusion, and were totally out of sight in the morning. The superiority of English ships and seamen in close fighting, was never more happily exemplified than on this day." The loss of the enemy in men was prodigious. Upwards of 3000 were wound ed, drowned, or slain. The loss of the British amounted to 1050, including two distinguished officers, Captain Blair of the Anson, and Lord Robert Manners, the amiable and gallant son of the late marquis of Granby. When dark ness prevented all farther pursuit, some of De Grasse's fleet escaped to the Dutch island of Curagoa ; but the greatest number, under the vice-admirals De Bougainville and De Vaudrevil^ keeping in a body, made their way to Cape Fran cois. Within a few days, Sir Samuel Hood, pro ceeding in pursuit of the fugitives, came up with five sail of French vessels in the Mono passage, between Porto Rico and Sf; Domingo ; and after several hours chace, the Valiant and Magnificent, of 74 guns each, took the Jason and Caton, two Frenchmen, of 65 guns, with two attendant fr'u gates. The third frigate effected its escape. Thus, by one decisive blow, eight ships of the line were taken from the navy of France, along with all the stores, money, and artillery, "which had been trea sured up for the intended assault of the Combined fleets on Jamaica. To that island Rodney now re paired, displaying to the rejoicing inhabitants, the trophies of his victory and of their deliverance.7 6 The scene of Rodney'* arrival Was a perfect triumph. It was not on the shore of Jamaica, amidst the a little heightened by the sight of festive gratulatione of the people) the tall admiral de Grasse, walking at GEORGE III. 131 Indeed, the fortune of this commander was as high- ^vru' ly singular as his conduct, was glorious, during . the present war. Within little more than two years, 1782. he had given a severe blow to the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch navy, and taken an admi ral of each nation. He had in that time added twelve line-of-battle ships, all taken from the ene my, to the British navy, and destroyed five more. Of these the Ville-de-Paris is said to be the only first-rate-man that had ever been taken and carried into port, by any commander of any nation. On his return to England, he was honoured with an English, and Sir Samuel Hood with an Irish peer- ase- This period of success was also signalized by the reduction of some Dutch forts on the coast of Afri ca, by Captain Stirling, in the Leander of 50 guns. The artillery in the captured forts amounted in all to 124 pieces. The same nation sustained a loss in the, east," of still greater importance, at the open ing of the present year. On the 5th of January, the town of Trincomale, in the valuable island of Ceylon, was reduced, by the spirited exertions of Sir Edward Hughes. Ihe defence of Minorca, during the present year, though the siege of that island terminated by its capture, may be still regarded as a defensive achievement worthy of the British arms. While the Spaniards were unprofitably engaged in their attempts on Gibraltar, they also undertook, in con junction with the French, the conquest of this island. On the 20th of August, 16,000 of these allies, under the duke de Crillon, commenced the at the side of his conqueror, who in the crowd of spectators express- was a little shrivelled old man. The ed their wonder with less ceremo- plaBters gazed in silence on the ny, crying out to De Grasse as he humbled plight of that commander, passed, in their broken English, whose name had so lately struck ' Shame you tall man, to let de little terror to their hearts. The negroes old man beat you so.' 1 2 132 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, siege of S'. Phillips, its principal fortress, which XVIIL l they soon cut off from all external supplies. The 178?. fortress was well supplied with provisions ; but the single want of vegetables produced the scurvy, with its usual concomitants, the putrid fever and dy sentery, to such a degree, that the garrison was speedily reduced from 2600 to a few hundred hands. Even with these diminished numbers, the brave defenders of the place made a successful sortie, and destroyed some magazines of the ene my ; but the fatal malady still increasing, their numbers became at last insufficient even for a change of guard. The numerous sick, who were laid in vaults, their only defence from the shot and shells of the besiegers, could only be saved by fresh air ; and the remaining group, who had still strength to do duty, could only be kept from dis ease and death by a speedy supply of wholesome provisions. Fortitude itself could do no more. The emaciated garrison, many of whom had actually dropt, from sickness, at their posts, rather than re pair to the hospital, surrendered in such a plight as drew tears of pity and admiration from their conquerors, at the spectacle of piling their arms. The terms granted by Crillon were sufficiently ho nourable : indeed, the whole conduct of that noble man, in his hour of success, was marked by ex treme generosity. For two years past, the Carnatic had been a scene of severe warfare between the company's forces and the armies of Hyder Ally and the Mahrattas. , To defray the expences of those extraordinary ef forts, which it was now necessary for the_ British presidencies to make' in their own defence, the governor-general adopted a financial scheme, which, had at least the merit of being immediately produc tive. The great zemindars of India, or native land holders, were, by the constitution of the Mogul GEORGE III. 133 empire, tenants or tributaries to the great prince ; c™?>' for, in a government so despotic as that of the g Mogul, it is evident that tenant and tributary must 178s- be the same ; and the inferior zemindar stood in the same relation to the great zemindar, or rajah. By the treaty, of 1764, our East-India company be came possessed of the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and enjoyed, of consequence, the power over those places, of collecting revenues, and exer cising authority, to the same amount as the zemin dars of the Mogul had been accustomed to hold. The laws and usages of India were, however, to be the standard of our authority, and not those of England. The country of Benares, lying up the country nearly 600 miles, to the north-west of Calcutta, a country where the Ganges, before it becomes too vast for health or satisfaction, beautifies and en riches with its waters, a country under the happiest influence of the heavens, and accounted, for its climate and soil, the Paradise of India, was a part of those extensive possessions which the misfor tunes of the court of Delhi enabled Sujah Dowlah, the grand vizier of the empire, and the nabob of Oude, to secure to himself and his family. The rajah Balwart Sing, was tributary to Sujah Dow lah, for the country of Benares and its dependen cies, at a certain stated tribute or rent. On the death of Bulwart Sing, his son, Cheyt Sing, suc ceeded the father in holding the zemindary, as the inferior of Sujah Dowlah. The new zemindar, in- *77°- deed, owed his succession to the interference of the English, and paid a fine to the nabob of Oude on his inheritance. The nabob attempted afterwards to screw up his rent to a higher pitch, and to extort ^125,000 more from him ; but the English go vernor, Mr. Hastings, again interposed, and saved . him from the payment, as from an act of injustice. 13 134 ANNALS Ot GREAT BRITAIN. chap. In 1775, the sovereignty of Benares was trans- xv|"- ferred to the company, by the successor of Sujah J78a. Dowlah in the nabobship of Oude. When Cheyt Sing had been the vassal of Sujah Dowlah, it ap peared injustice in the eyes of Mr. Hastings to in crease his tribute ; but as soon as the sovereignty became our own, the principle which seemed to be the basis of our conduct was, that the rajah was only our tenant at will, and that it was his duty to submit, if we had demanded nine tenths of his re venue. In the July of 1778, Rajah Cheyt Sing was re quired to pay, and reluctantly paid, five lacks of rupees, as an extraordinary subsidy for the main tenance of the war, during the current year. He was so slow in making good the next year's pay ment, that the governor found it necessary to send two battalions of sepoys to enforce it. The third year's subsidy was still drawn from him with dif ficulty, and not till after many delays and apolo gies, and affected protestations of extreme poverty. It was not to be expected, after such reluctant con tributions, that he should accede with great dis patch to the next demand, which was to raise 2000 norse in defence of the British territories. These delays of the rajah, and the increasing confederacies of the native powers against us (in which governor Hastings suspected the prince of Benares to be se cretly connected), induced the governor to enforce his demands by a personal interview. The prince met him on his frontiers with protestations of fi delity ; but so little was the governor inclined to believe them, that he put him under arrest, and charged him openly with infidelity. The natives of Benares, seeing their sovereign degraded to cap tivity, rose upon his guards, and rescued him from their possession. The rajah fled an exile from his own dominions. Benares was treated like a conn* 178*. GEORGE III. 135 try in rebellion ; it was speedily subdued, and the chap. immense riches of the rajah confiscated to the vic tors. Mr. Hastings had also the strongest suspicions, that Rajah Sing's more immediate connections of conspiracy against the British, was with the dowa ger princesses of Oude, the mother and grand mother of the reigning prince, Upon the faith of those suspicions, and fortified by the advice of Sir Elijah Impey, Mr. Hastings confiscated the pro perty of these women. A vast addition was thus made to the pecuniary resources of the country ; and hy the early strength which it afforded to the company, it seemed to check conspiracy in the bud, By the same means he was also enabled to secure the friendship of a most important ally, the warlike prince of the Mahrattas. Madagee Scindia, with whom a treaty was concluded in October 1781. After the reduction of Trincomale, Sir Edward Hughes, returning to Madras with only six ships of the line, in an indifferent state of repair, receiv ed intelligence of Admiral Suffrein having appear ed on the coast, with a superior force, and having made some considerable captures. In this critical state, the British commander was luckily reinforced by two hne-of-battle ships, and a fifty ; so that Suffrein, when he appeared, even with his formid able armament of 10 sail of the line, and a host of frigates, finding his antagonist stronger than ex pectation, after dropping anchor in sight of Sir Edward, suddenly stood out to sea, and avoided engaging. The British, however, gave chace, and succeeded in recapturing several prizes. An inde cisive engagement ensued ; after which, the British fleet stood for Trincomale. Before the middle of March, Sir Edward Hughes was enabled to revisit Madras, and to bring from 136 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, thence a supply of stores, and a reinforcement of -vlu- troops to Trincomale, as well as to augment his 178** own fleet by two additional ships of the line. On the 12r" of April, a day so" memorable in the west, Suffrein and Sir Edward Hughes again encounter ed, the former having 12, the latter 1 1 ships of the line. A most bloody battle was fought ; but it was fairly drawn, as no ship was taken on either side, and the loss of both sides was nearly equal. The British had 574 men killed and wounded, the French 501. On the 5th of July, Suffrein again appeared before Negapatam, where Sir Edward Hughes then was. The British embraced the offer of battle, and both fleets came to close quarters next morning. Once more the event of a hard fought day failed to produce a victory to our flag ; but the- action might be regarded as somewhat more creditable than the former ; for our loss was small, and a French 64 had actually struck to the Sultan, one of Hughes's fleet, when the vanquished, taking advantage of a gale that sprung up, trea cherously fired into the British vessel, arid made her escape. The French admiral suffered severely, and stood for Trincomale, where he was unfortu nately soon after reinforced, and enabled to capture the place, in spite of all the exertions of Hughes. It was not till the 20th of September that the latter commander was reinforced by the squadron of Sir Richard Bickerton, consisting of 5 ships of the line and 5000 land forces. He fought, however, on the 3d of September, another engagement with Suffrein, against superior force, and obliged him, as on the last occasion, to save himself from cap ture, by taking to flight. No other naval transac ts tion of importance occurred in the east, till the campaign of the ensuing summer of 1783, which was principally employed in the siege of Cuddalore. The English fleet in those quarters was at this pe- GEORGE III. 137 riod reduced • to a miserable state by the Scurvy ; chap. but Sir Edward Hughes did not decline a fifth and , xVn-' last contest with his old antagonist. The action, I78». like those preceding it, was still indecisive, and pro duced no -capture on either side. But indecisive as those engagements were, they had no inconsiderable effect in foiling the efforts of the French towards co-operating with our native enemies of India by land. In the beginning of the year, the celebrated Hyder Ally was checked on the Malabar, for want of the expected exertions of the French. Tillichery, which his forces had invested almost from the commencement of the war, was effectually relieved by Major Abingdon ; and Sad- dos, a distinguished general of his forces, was com- < pletely defeated. Hyder revenged this repulse, by cutting off a se lect detachment of our army under Colonel Brath- waite, on the banks of the Coleroon, in the Carna tic. The assailants, on this occasion, were headed by Tippoo Saib, the son and heir of the Indian po tentate, accompanied by a band of Frenchmen under M. Lally. Their numbers amounted to 20,000. The English forces were miserably slaugh tered ; a very few escaped death, only to exchange it for the more wretched fate of captivity. By this disaster, the southern parts of the Carnatic were exposed ; and the arrival of a considerable body of French troops from the Mauritius, made the state of the English still, more critical. These forces, joined by a numerous body from the Mysore country, besieged Cuddalore, and soon compelled it to capitulate. Hyder Ally, during this time, with the grand Indian army, watched the motions of Sir Eyre Coote. After the capture of Cuddalore, the native prince made an attempt upon Vandiwash ; but Hyder, avoiding an engagement, relinquished the siege, and retired to a strong position called 138 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, Redhill. Here he was attacked, on the 2* of June, , XVI1I: _, by Sir Eyre Coote and defeated ; but from want 178?. of cavalry, his fugitive army could not be pursued, By/ the battle of the 2d of June, the discomfiture of Hyder's designs was in fact completed, though the victory was not locally decisive. This enterprizing chief of Mysore, who, after rising to that dignity from a private station in life, had projected no less a scheme of ambition than to mount the throne of the Mogul empire, was forced to retire into the interior, and died some months afterwards at his own capital. Nearly about the same time, the constitution of Sir Eyre Coote, broken by the fa tigues of warfare, obliged him to retire to Madras, and resign the command of the Indian army to Major-general Stuart. In the close of 1782, Colonel Humberstone was dispatched with a body of troops to the Malabar coast, where he pursued for some time a successful career, till he arrived at Palacatcherry, where he was repulsed, and reduced to extreme danger. Tippoo Saib, pursuing him to Paniary, was only prevented from cutting off the British, by the vi gorous defence of that place under Colonel Macleod. General Mathews, in the meantime, being dis? patched from Bombay for Humberstone's relief, attacked and stormed the city of Onore, the capital of Bednore ; and penetrating still farther into the enemy's country, pursued an unresisted career ; but, from authentic documents, it appears that his progress was marked by cruelties in the conquered country, which tarnished the British name. From Bednore, General Mathews proceeded to besiege Mangalore, which surrendered on the 9th of March 1783. The rapid successes of the Bri tish obliging Tippoo Saib to resume his natural ac tivity, he marched with 100,000 men from the Carnatic, to recover Bednore, General Mathews, GEORGE III. 139 with unjustifiable boldness, marched to meet this chap. immense host, with a handful of men, when, as xvul might have been foreseen, he was completely de- xJg3~ feated. Flying to the fort of Bednore, he was soon after forced to capitulate, and committed, with his principal officers, on a charge of evading, the ar ticles of capitulation, to a prison of Tippoo's, from which they never came out alive. Mangalore, however, and several other strong holds of the British, resisted the mighty forces of Tippoo dur ing the continuance of the war. After the death of Sir Eyre, which succeeded in the midst of these events, the new commander, General Stuart, in vested the important fortress of Cuddalore, the siege and blockade of which continued till infor mation of peace in Europe put a stop to hostilities in India. During the short-lived administration of the year, a new impulse was given to our naval prepar ations, which had languished under the neglect of Lord Sandwich ; and by the valour and vigilance of our naval officers, the combination of the allied fleets was prevented from producing its usually dreaded effects. Admiral Barrington, with ] 2 ships of the line, chased the French fleet off Ushant, and captured several transports and a number of troops. Captain Jarvis was knighted, for capturing, with a 74, a Frenchman of equal force ; and his ship, bearing her prize homeward, made another valu able prize of a 64, laden with stores and treasure. Lord Howe, with 12 sail of the line, confined the Dutch in their own ports, and terrified them from the designs they had formed on our Baltic and northern trade. Returning from this station, his May aq lordship had the arduous task of protecting our homeward-bound Jamaica trade, with this inferior force, opposed to the French fleet of De Guichen, and the Spanish fleet, amounting to one more than Aug. JSQ 140 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. double his number. This formidable force again _ occupied the chops of the Channel, and captured 1 8 ZjZz~ of °ur Quebec and Newfoundland traders ; but the able tactics of Howe kept them at bay from any farther depredations on our coast. The events of the year exhibited no farther disasters, except what the unsparing visitation of the elements produced. On the 20th of June, some of the finest prizes of the glorious 12th of April, foundered on their homeward passage. To aggravate this misfortune, when Howe, after his meritorious cruize, had re turned home, and was preparing a new equipment for the relief of Gibraltar, the Royal George, of 108 guns, which was destined for this service, and undergoing repairs, was unfortunately overset in harbour, by the rising of a sudden squall, and was instantly buried in the waves. In this ship, which had successively borne the flags of Hawke, of Kem penfeldt, and of Rodney, the second of these com manders went .to the bottom, with all on board. A victualler, which lay alongside, was swallowed up in the vortex occasioned by the submersion of so large a body. Nearly 1000 individuals, consisting of sailors, women, and children, perished by this, memorable and melancholy accident. On the 1 1th of September, Lord Howe sailed for the relief of Gibraltar ; but he did not arrive till the repulse of the enemy had been completed, and one of the most glorious sieges had been conclud ed, of which the history of modern Europe has to boast. The spirited sortie in 1781, by which Elliot had destroyed the chief advanced works of the as sailants, did not discourage them from renewing their efforts. On the contrary, the siege seemed to commence from a new sera, and with redoubled zeal, when the duke de Crillon, with 20,000 French and Spanish troops, arriving from the con quest of Minorca, was appointed to the command GEORGE III, 141 of the allied besiegers. Don Juan Moreno com- 'chap. manded the fleet, while M. de Arcon, one of the . XVIir' ablest engineers of France, was entrusted with the l7%ll, ordnance, and from his inventive genius, promised to organize new and irresistible means of destruc tion. The battering ships, constructed by this war like inventor, were fortified on the side that was to face the garrison, with timbers, iron, cork, junk, and wetted hides, so many feet in thickness, as to be bomb-proof, and impenetrable even to cannon- shot. They were roofed also with bomb-proof netting and wet hides. The sides were interspers ed with'pipes of water, to extinguish the red-hot shot, as they might enter them. While ten of these batteries were to moor within half gun-shot from the walls of the garrison, other vessels, with screening for the troops, were to wait till the op portunity of landing should occur. Forty thousand troops, animated by the presence of the French no bility, and princes of the blood, who had come to share in the expected victory, filled the camp by land, while 47 ships of the allied line, with innu merable zebeques and gun-boats, covered the whole entry of the Mediterranean on the other element. The land batteries mounted 200 heavy ordnance, the battering ships a still greater number. A gar rison of 7000 men, with 96 pieces of artillery of every kind, was opposed to these mighty prepara tions ; but the spirit of the troops, and the known effects of the red-hot balls (a mode of defence sug gested by Sir Robert Boyd, of which the efficacy had already been partially proved), afforded an au spicious hope that the garrison would make a glo rious resistance. The preparations of the allies continued from June to September, accompanied with successive €annonadings, which the garrison answered with 142 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, less frequent, but more effective fire. On the xvm. gt» 0f Septembers some of the fof emost works of ~7XP"i the enemy were Consumed, by the heated balls of the besieged. This precipitated the efforts of Cril- lon ; he made a land assault, from the 9tb to the 12th, with l7o of his largest guns ; but to many thousand of his discharges, our troops returned only a few rounds, directed against the repairing parties. On the 12th, the combined fleets anchored between Orange grove and Algeziras bay, and next morn ing the grand attack was begun. Elliot suffered the enemy to choose their own distance, and to moof before the walls, before h£ opened his fire. At three-quaf ters after nine, the battering ships moored in order of battle, the nearest 900, the most remote 1100 or 1200 yards from the garrison. Their arrangement was ac complished in ten minutes. Four hundred of the heaviest artillery Opened at one moment their dis charges on the garrison. The British, directing their fire chiefly on the battering ships, beheld with uneasiness, for some time; that their heaviest shells rebounded from the roofs of those bulwarks, while 32-pound shot made no visible impression on their hulls. They redoubled their efforts;, however, with Such furious discharges of heated shot and carcases, that symptoms of confusion and combustion were at last exhibited on board of the Spanish admiral's chief battering ship, which continued every hour to increase. A general disorder was seen in their line towards evening, and their fire slackened, and al most ceased before night. The garrison also re posed for a while from the fatigues of a laborious day. During the night, the rockets thrown by the enemy's ships, as signals of distress, the distant cries of lamentation, and the arrival of a floating wreck, with only 1 2 survivors, gave sufficient to- GEORGE ill. 143 kens of our success. An hour after midnight, the chap. Spanish admiral's ship was in one blaze. Other xVltl- conflagrations successively rising, enabled the gar- 17g4t rison to renew their fire, and point with unerring precision. The approach of day, the calmness of the sea, and the abating fire of the garrison, at last gave an opportunity to Captain Curtis, with the marine brigade^ to approach with his gun-boats, and flank the enemy. He succeeded in completing the destruction of the battering ships, and in the still more glorious object of saving great numbers of the hostile crews from a miserable deaths The destruction of eight battering ships removed every alarm from the garrison, and hopes were enter tained of saving two that remained, as trophies of victory ; but of these one blew up, and the other Could not be saved. The loss of the enemy was Calculated at 2000 ; that of the garrison amounted, by the return, to 16 killed, and 68 wounded. The sole hopes of the enemy, after such a scene of humiliating defeat and destruction,, now rested on their naval exertions ; and their fleet remained in the bay till the beginning of October, though it was known that Howe had been for some time at sea. On the night of the 10th of October, a storm arose* which dispersed the combined fleets, while the Bri tish remained entire and uninjured. The S*. Mi chael, a fine new ship of the Spanish line, carrying 74 guns, with the Spanish admiral Don Juan Mo reno on board, ran ashore at Gibraltar, and was captured, with all her crew. Next morning after the storm, Howe approached the garrison, and landed his stores. His fleet, consisting of 34 sail of the line, was for some days in sight of the ene- s Three hundred and forty-five of these men were saved by the exertions of the marine brigade. CHAP. XVIII, 144 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. my, whose number yet mustered 42 ; but though a partial action took place, they avoided coming to 178*. close quarters, and in the evening of the day of battle, retired. The British admiral returned home, after detaching a part of his fleet to the West-Indies. 145 CHAP. XIX. Death of the marquis of Rockingham .... Division among the surviving ministers of the cabinet .... Resignation of the ' duke of Portland and Mr. Fox, and appointment of Lord Shelburne to the head of the ministry .... Every idea of a separate peace rejected by the Americans .... Ostensible me- ' diation of Russia and the emperor of Germany .... Negoci- - ationsfor peace .... Meeting of parliament on the 5th of December 1782 .... Debates on the terms of peace. This prosperous aspect of affairs, combining vie- chap. tory abroad, with a skilful and united admi nistration at home, was unhappily of short dura- 178*. tion. The event which produced this change was the death of the marquis of Rockingham, a nobleman whose character for every public and private virtue, though drawn by his ardent friend, has never been questioned by his enemies. ' He possessed,' (says Burke), ' sound principles, enlargement of mind, clear and sagacious sense, and unshaken fortitude.' His rank, his services, and conciliatory influence, had long rendered him the centre of union among the whigs. His decease occasioned a struggle for power, of which the evil consequences continued to be felt during the rest of the last century. -The Ju!y I_ unrivajled talents of Fox pointed him out, to a great proportion of the nation, as the natural successor. His claims were unfortunately at va riance with those of Lord Shelburne, founded on long experience, and on personal and poli tical influence, to head that division of the whigs, who were most peculiarly attached to the views and the memory of the late Lord Chatham, and Vol. IL K 146 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. the more important alliance of Chatham's son. Ori what grounds the intentions of the court were so ~^Xtt early suspected of partiality to the latter party, is not entirely known ; but not many days after the late minister's death, Mr. Fox convened the Rock ingham party, for the avowed purpose of opposing Lord Shelburne'-s appointment to the first official situation ; and it was agreed at the meeting to so licit his majesty for the nomination of the duke of Portland. Mr. Fox, on his first arrival at the royal closet, heard of a different appointment. It is said too, that his recommendation of the new secretary of state was also refused. Mr. Fox, Lord John Cavendish, the duke of Portland, Mr. Burke^ Mr. Sheridan, and the other leaders of the late Rock ingham party, immediately resigned. Lord Gran tham succeeded Mr. Fox ; Mr. T. Townshend fill ed the office left vacant by Lord Shelburne ; Mr. William Pitt was made chancellor of the exche quer ; and Earl Temple succeeded the duke of Portland as viceroy of Ireland. The new admini stration had many amiable and some able support ers ; but it wanted public confidence, and, saving the rising genius of Pitt, it was defective in parlia« mentary talents. Mr. Fox and his adherents at tributed their resignation to a difference of opinion on the subject of an immediate declaration of Ame rican independence, Lord Shelburne having re peatedly declared, that the sun of England's glory would be set whenever parliament should declare America free. The whigs who still kept in power, General Conway, the duke of Richmond, and others, denied that any room had been given for secession by any intention on the part of Lord Shelburne's friends to depart from the principles which had brought the late ministry into power. It is not impossible that many members of the ca binet might have uttered this assertion, in the full Consciousness of truth, without divining the real 1782- GEORGE III. 147 Views of Lord Shelburne. But, though this noble- chap. man had uniformly declared himself averse to the XIX- independence of America, he took at last occasion, ' during a debate in the house of lords, to observe, that he now considered it as a necessary evil, to which the country must submit, for the sake of avoiding a greater. During the Rockingham ad ministration, negociations for peace had been con tinued, but proceeded slowly ; nor was it till the subsequent change that- definitive measures could be arranged. It may easily be imagined how much the two recent and dreadful blows which the enemy had sustained in the West Indies and Gibraltar contributed to shorten the duration of the war, and to dispose both of the Bourbon allies to ad- missable terms. The financial embarrassments of those powers, the commercial distresses of the Dutch, the protracted miseries of America, the discontents of the British nation, and the change of the British cabinet, left no doubt of sincerity in the' mutual proposals for peace. Every idea, however, of concluding a separate peace had been rejected by the Americans, as de rogatory to the faith and gratitude which they owed to France. Resolutions from the general assem blies of Maryland, New- Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, were speedily issued, in which they de clared, that a proposition from the enemy to all or any of the United states, for peace or truce, se parate from their allies, was insidious and inad- missable. While the Americans were thus anxious to dis play their public fidelity, two of the first powers in Europe, the empress of Russia and the emperor of Germany, were the ostensible mediators in this great business, although their influence in deciding the peace was more nominal than real. Under the general circumstances of the contend- K2 148 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ing powers, the independence of America being xix. granted on the side of England, there seemed to "7^a> "' be no material impediment remaining to the restora tion of tranquillity. The Shelburne administration at last brought negociations to a close. Mr. Grenville had been for sometime in Paris, to settle preliminaries. On his re- cal, which followed the dissolution of the Rocking ham cabinet, Mr. Fitzherbert, the minister at Brus sels, proceeded to Paris, being appointed, on' the part of England, plenipotentiary to conclude a treaty of peace with the ministers of France, Spain, and Holland. Mr. Oswald, a British merchant, was likewise dispatched to the French metropolis, as commissioner from his Britannic majesty for treat ing of peace with John Adams, Benjamin Frank lin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, four of the commissioners appointed for the same purpose on the part of America. The differences with the American states were much sooner settled than those with the European powers. On the 30th of November 1782, provi sional articles between Britain and America were signed, which were to be inserted in, and to consti tute a part of, a future treaty of peace, to be final ly concluded between the parties when that be tween Great Britain and her European enemies should take place. The summer parliamentary session terminated peaceably for the Shelburne ministry, and left them in full possession of their power, till at least the succeeding meeting of parliament. The king's speech at prorogation, on the 11th of July, touch ed only on the usual topics ; and every allusion to the interior politics of the country was cautiously -avoided. Parliament met again on the 5th of December. His majesty's speech announced, that an end had GEORGE III. 149 been put to the prosecution of offensive war in chap. America. ' In thus,' said his majesty, ' admitting X1X- the separation of the colonies, by agreeing to pro- g^~ visional articles for declaring their independence, I have sacrificed every consideration of my own to the wishes and opinion of my people.' The recogr nition of Arrierican independence was not received in either house without severe animadversion. Mr. Fox censured ministers for having made the inde pendence of America conditionally to depend on the conclusion of peace with France, instead of being absolute. A dispute on this subject, he jnformed the house, was the cause of his late resignation. Some time before his resignation, he said, that he had written, by the king's orders, to Mr. Grenville, then at Paris, to authorize him to offer to the American agents to" recognize the in dependence of the United states in the first instance, and not to reserve it as a condition of peace. At the same time, an official letter, for the same pur pose, was sent by the earl of Shelburne to Sir Guy Carleton in America. Mr. Fox, suspecting that this measure, though consented to in the cabinet, had not the entire approbation of some of his col leagues, had, in order to prevent any misconcep tions purposely chosen the most forcible express sions that the English language could supply, in writing to Mr. Grenville ; and he confessed that ' his joy was so great, on finding that the earl of Shelburne, in the letter to Sir Guy Carleton, had repeated his very words, that he carried it imme diately to the marquis of Rockingham, and told him, that their distrust and suspicions of that noble lord's intentions had been groundless, and were now done away. — ' Judge then of my grief and astonishment,' said Mr. Fox, ' when, during the illness of my noble friend, another language wa heard in the cabinet, and the noble earl and his • , K3 150 annals of great Britain. friends began to consider the above letters as con taining offers only of a conditional nature, to be ,^2, recalled, if not accepted as the price of peace. Finding myself thus ensnared and betrayed, and all confidence destroyed, I quitted a situation, in which I found I could not remain either with ho nour or with safety.' On the 1 8th of December, . Mr. Fox moved, in the commons, that an humble address be present ed to his majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions for laying before the house copies of such parts of the provisional ar ticles as related to the independence of America. On the part of the mover and supporters of the motion, it was not denied that the design of it was to induce parliament to come -to an explicit ac knowledgment of the independence of America ; and this, it was argued, was the best policy we could adopt. To grant it, he said, as the price of peace, at the requisition of France, would be base and degrading. Should the French minister insult us with an offer of compensation, he should be told, — ' We will not sell the independence'of Ame rica to you, at any price ; we will freely present her with that which you shall not procure her, of fer wfiat bargain you please.' The motion was at length rejected by a majority of unusual size, and both houses adjourned to. the 21st of the following month. Jan. ii. On the day of meeting, after the recess, a mo- I783- tion was made in the house of commons for leave to bring in a bill for removing and preventing all doubts which had arisen, or might arise, concern ing the exclusive rights of the parliament and courts of Ireland in matters of legislation and ju dicature ; ' and for preventing any writ of error or appeal from any of his majesty's courts in that kingdom from being received and adjudged in any GEORGE III. 151 of his majesty's courts in the kingdom of Great chap. Britain. The bill passed into a law, without any . X1X" f formal opposition, but not without some pointed l7%h animadversions. The parliament of Ireland,, it was objected, was, by the repeal of the law of George I, which had once bound her to dependence, virtual ly invested with full powers to regulate every do mestic inconvenience, by acts of their own autho rity ; and a bill of this nature, which they had passed, had received the royal assent. The offi cious interference of Britain, it was said, was si milar to a profusion of expressions in private friend ship, which never cemented friendship, but, by its nature, excited suspicion ; so that, instead of in creasing the confidence of Ireland by the present bill, we were much more likely to disturb it. The preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and France, and between Great Britain and Spain, were signed at Versailles on the 20th of Ja nuary ; an^? &n tne 27 *, copies of the same, and of the provisional treaty with the states of Ameri ca, were laid before both houses of parliament, and, after a short debate, were ordered to be printed. The preliminaries of the peace of Versailles re cognized the free and sovereign independence of the Thirteen United states, and the boundaries of the new republic were accurately defined.2 The liberty of fishing on the coast of Newfoundland, and in the gulf of S*. Laurence, was granted to them; but no privilege of drying their fish in any of his majesty's American dominions was allowed : and the navigation of the Mississippi was left entirely 1 By the' line of boundaries, all the lakes ; and, by that means, a the back settlements, and the whole participation of the fur trade was country between the Allegany given to both countries, with a mountains and the Mississippi, small advantage in favour of Great were ceded to the Americans. To Britain, as it was well known thatj the northward, the line of division the best resources of the trade lay >. causes were assigned for the delay of ministerial appointments. They who wished to shift all the blame from the court, ascribed, it to the jealousies still subsisting between the newly-allied parties, and the difficulty of adjusting their several pretensions. Others have supposed that the interval was employ ed in private intrigues with the individuals of dif ferent parties, and in an attempt to form an admi nistration independent of the great leading con nections. It was asserted by many, that, on the failure of this attempt, the influence possessed by the lord-high-chancellor Thurlow, whose dismis sion was a point insisted on by the coalition, was the principal cause that retarded the new arrange ment. But this delay did not well accord with the impatient wishes either of the coalition or of the nation. On the 19th of March, Mr. Coke, member for Norfolk, gave notice, in the commons, that, if an administration should not be formed within a few days, he intended to make a motion in the house for addressing his majesty to adopt that measure. The king (it was supposed, in consequence of Mr. Coke's intimation) commanded the duke of Port- 160 - ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, land and Lord North to lay before him a new plan XIX- of ministerial arrangements. On the day fixed, I7ga>. Mr. Coke declined introducing his motion ; but, March 24. on the 24th of the month, he brought the same subject before the house, and it was received with a general approbation sufficiently shewing the dis like that was entertained to suffer any longer the suspence and danger of such delays. Although the subject of the coalition had been ' before started in debate, yet the attacks of the Shel burne party were, on this occasion, so severe, and the motives ascribed to the leaders of that union were so selfish and odious, as to draw from Mr. Fox and Lord North a renewed vindication of their conduct. Mr. Fox declared, that although, on the subject of the American war, he had differed from Lord North, yet, when that question was at rest, and when it was necessary for men of talents to unite in forming a solid administration, he had thought it his duty to heal up the feud which a difference of political opinions had created between them. He knew Lord North, in spite of all the dis approbation he had declared, as well as felt, for his • conduct with respect to America, to be an honour able and sincere statesman ; he wished his enmities to be perishable, but his friendships to be immor tal ; he saw nothing inconsistent with the highest maxims of public duty in leaguing with him heart and hand ; and the force of their united friends, he trusted, might ensure a great and popular administra tion. Lord John Cavendish, in support of his ho nourable friend, avowed, with pride, that he had been one of those who had tried to snatch thsir country from the danger of fluctuating counsels, and compared the present coalition of parties to that of 1757, which had formed so peculiar an era in the strength and glory of Great Britain. The motion of address 'for a new administration GEORGE III. 161 sCHAP. XIX. being almost unanimously carried, his majesty re turned a gracious and promising answer. A new ¦ "^ f administration was announced to the house on the 1783. 2d of April, of which the following persons form ed the cabinet council.- — The duke of Portland first commissioner of the treasury, Lord North se cretary of state for the home department, Mr. Fox secretary for the foreign department, Lord John Cavendish chancellor of the exchequer: Lord Kep- pel assumed the head of the admiralty, Lord Stor- mont was made president of the council, the earl of Carlisle privy seal. The great seal was put in to commission. Lord Townsend was appointed master of the ordnance, Mr. Burke paymaster-ge neral, and Mr. Charles Townsend treasurer of the navy ; Mr. Fitzpatrick was made secretary at war, Mr. Wallace attorney-general, and Mr. Lee solici tor-general. The earl of Northington succeeded as lord-lieutenant of Ireland. The first object of parliamentary attention, after the accession of the new ministry, was to open a commercial intercourse with the states of America. The prohibitory acts, which had restrained that commerce, were therefore repealed, and a new act passed to remove the necessity of requiring mani festoes, or other documents, for the commercial purpose in view, as well as to lodge, for a limited time, in the king and council the power of making such other regulations as might be thought expe-? dient. On the l6m of April, the new chancellor of the exchequer brought forward the loan for the ser vices of the current year. The sum borrowed amounted to ^12,000,000, The loan was invest ed in three per cents, and the chancellor had taken the current price of stocks as the basis of the conT tract, which was then at sixty-seven ; but he could obtain from the monied men no more than sixty- Vol. II. h 162 ANNALS QF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. six and a half. The stocks, however, in a few '_. days rose, and the premium to the lenders became ^783. exceedingly high. In the passage of the loan bill through the house, this circumstance was attribute ed to the chancellor as a matter of criminal charge; The lowness of the stocks at the time of their con-. tract, was attributed to the machinations of the minister himself, who, it was said, had created it, that a subsequent rise might enrich his dependents- The chancellor of the exchequer repelled those unproved insinuations against his character with protestations of public fidelity, for which there is every reason to suppose that the house and the na tion gave him credit. In defence of the loan, he shewed that only ten days had been given to ar-. range it, and to meet the pecuniary exigencies of the country. As neither proof nor probability of his being able to foresee the rise of stocks was sub stantiated, his character could be little affected by so vague an allegation. May 7. On the 7th of May, Mr. Pitt made his promised motion for parliamentary reform, under three pro positions, — 1st, for the prevention of bribery and expence at elections; 2d, for the punishing of bribery ; and, 3*?, for additional representation. His project was somewhat contracted, upon mature reflection, from what he intended to have brought before parliament the preceding year. It was his intention, he said, only partially to repair, and by no means rebuild, the sacred pile of our consti tution. This religious respect for the constitution, he said, had led him to abstain, in his plan of re formation, from the slightest violation of its pri mitive principles. The changes he proposed did not invade, he said, but recognized, the original spirit of our laws. The debate that ensued was less important than diffuse, and contained little matter that had not been adduced during the former i-83. GEORGE III. 163 session. The reforming resolutions were rejected chap. by a large majority. xix. The independence of judges, an object of at ' least as much practical importance as parliamentary reform, was urged in the house of lords by the duke of Richmond, on the 3d of June, when he introduced a motion respecting the danger of the great seal being put into commission. The object of the noble mover was to place the situation of a judge above all influence of hope or fear that might interfere with his professional decisions ; that their salaries should be all equal, and their seats perma nent ; and that government should have nothing to bestow on them when they had attained that dignity. He censured, with great severity, the po litical solecism of men acting both as judges and legislators; but his /motion was strongly opposed, and finally negatived. On the 23d of June, a message from his majesty recommended to parliament the institution of a se parate establishment for the prince of Wales, who this year became of age. Fifty thousand pounds per annum were accordingly settled on his royal highness, and ^60,000 voted as a temporary aid. About the same time, a bill was introduced by Lord John Cavendish, for abolishing certain of fices in the exchequer, and relieving the nation partially from the expence of others which remain ed. The profits of the auditor were reduced from a£7,000 to .§£4,000 per annum, and the salaries of subordinate officers diminished in proportion. The industry of the commissioners of public accounts had^ previous to this time, discovered, in the midst of numerous abuses, a most fraudulent conceal ment of .§§48,000 by two subordinate officers in public trust, a Mr. Powel and a Mr. Bembridge, Their delinquency appeared so great, that Colonel Barre had dismissed them from employment. Mr. L2 164 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. Burke, on succeeding to the paymaster's office, XIX" to the general astonishment of the public, restored 1783. them, and strongly defended them in parliament, alleging the purity of their former reputations to be a sufficient refutation of what he called unfounded accusations. It appears, however, that the good sense of Burke had either been grossly deluded, or, which is less easy to suppose, that he , felt fa vour for known delinquents. The vote of parlia ment, which committed those culprits to their trial, and the decision of a court of law, which fined and imprisoned Bembridge, after Powel had fallen by his own hand, under the ignominy of conscious disgrace, stand as serious objections to the justice of Mr. Burke's vindication. June a. Mr. Pitt, still assiduous in reform,, brought in a bill, before the close of the session, for the regula tion of public offices, and laid open a scene of waste and corruption which had pervaded those offices during many years. He mentioned those sales of offices, which had grown of late so shameless and notorious, and those illegal fees of office, ex torted under the name of gifts, which he aptly de nominated the wages of corruption. In the navy- office, the chief clerk had a salary of £250 per annum ; but he received in gifts exactly ten times that amount. The secretaryship of the post-office was legally worth 3E6OO a-year ; its profits were s€5,000. As instances of prodigal expenditure, and depredation on the public, he exhibited the annual expence of stationary-wares to the differ ent offices, which amounted to £\ 8,000 per an num. In the account of one year there was found the curious article of a£340 for whip-cord. Mr. Pitt's bill, though severely opposed in the com mons, effected its way to the lords, but was there rejected. On the 16th of July, the session was closed with the usual formalities, GEORGE III. 165 Holland having acceded, under the influence of chap. France, to agree to preliminaries with Great Bri- , X1X- tain, on the basis of mutual restitution, every dif- 17%s% ficulty in the road to peace was cleared away. The definitive treaties with France, Spain, and Ame rica, were executed on the 3 d of September. The definitive treaty with Holland was not signed till the year 1784. Its most important articles were, the surrender of Negapatam and its dependencies to Britain, and the restoration of Trincomale to the Dutch. The imperial courts of Russia and Germany acceded to the peace, but hadno actual share in deciding its terms. Soon after the signa ture of the definitive treaty, the British troops eva cuated Charlestown, New- York, and the few other remaining posts. Sir Guy Carleton was rewarded for his services with the peerage and title of Lord Dorchester. As the cold recommendation of the unfortunate American loyalists from congress to the states was no better attended to than had been predicted in parliament, their claims came to be considered by government, under the act passed last session, to the number of 2,000 or 3,000 heads of families, Two thirds of those claims were determined in England, the rest in Nova Scotia or Canada. The claims of such loyalists as had been deprived of their landed or personal estates amounted to the sum of ^10,000,000 sterling, which, (with certain deduc tions, sufficiently moderate, considering the size of the demand), were paid by instalments, interest being always allowed on the '/capital. To those claimants, whose lost incomes had arisen from of fices, professions, and trade, £ 120,000 were al lowed, vested in life annuities, front £'2,0 to £500 each. Thus terminated the most inauspicious war in which- Great Britain was ever, engaged ; and the L3 166 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, country was now restored to the blessings of tran- , quillity, at a time when other quarters of the world 1783. were visited by danger or calamities.* Parliament again assembled on the 1 1 th of No vember. The consideration of East-India affairs was particularly recommended, in the royal ad dress, to their attention. The addresses in both houses were voted without opposition. The hosti lities of party weije, however, commenced imme diately after these had passed. Mr. Pitt arraigned the inconsistency of ministers for having thanked his majesty for the ratification of preliminaries cen sured in the very last session. Opposition also called upon .the ministers to bring forward, with out delay, some effective plan for the improvement of our possessions in the east. Mr. Fox ?cquaint- ed the house, that he meant, on the 18th of the month, to bring forward an important motion on that subject. On that day accordingly, Mr. Fox moved the house for leave to introduce two bills ; the first for vesting the management of the East- India company in the hands of certain commis sioners ; the second, for the better improvement of our territorial possessions and dependencies of India. To the latter of these bills there appeared Out little objection, as its object was chiefly ad- . dressed to the relief of the native princes, and to their future protection against the encroachments of the company. The former, which has been distinguished by the name of Mr. Fox's East-India bill, excited, through the nation, the most violent ferment of opposition. The prevailing objects of this bill were, to annihilate the power of the court of directors, and to vest the government of the company, for the space of four years, in the hands 1 This year was memorable for the renewed preparations for war Qk. earthquakes of Calabria, and between Russia and the Porte. GEORGE III. 167 of seven commissioners, with the assistance of nine chap. directors, who were to h£ subordinate to the com- , XIX^ missioners. These directors were also made sub- 1783. ject to removal by the vote of five commissioners, or by the king, on application from either house of parliament. The commissioners were, in the first instance, to be named by parliament, and future vacancies were to be filled up by his majesty. The directors were to be chosen by the court of proprie tors. The whole patronage of India appears, by this bill, to have been intended to be vested in the hands of the commissioners. When introduced into the commons, it excited a vehement discussion. The dbjections Which were urged against it might be generally reduced to two' leading points. It was censutfed, in the first place, as a wanton- violation of chartered rights. Mr. Pitt, who stood forth on this occasion as the most formidable opponent of ministers-,- drew a strong distinction, on comment ing on the first of these objections, between those charters- of incorporate bodies which had originat ed in the caprice, the prodigality, or preposses sions, of a particular monarch, and those which were sanctioned by a deliberate act: of a solemn le gislature, ort which the faith of a free parliament was irrevocably pledged. The charter of the India company, he maintained, was a fair purchase made from the public ; an equal compact, for reciprocal advantages, between the proprietors and the na tion at large. The second objection appeared to- be still more serious. The bill, he maintained, was an infraction of the very principles of the con stitution. By throwing the whole patronage of India into the hands of the commissioners, it would create a fourth estate in the realm ; a new power in the nation, inconsistent with the nature of the go vernment, independent of the power of the crown, 168 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN; chap, which might 'carry a most destructive influence lrt- ' . to the other branches of the legislature. The bill^ 1783. it was urged, was as unnecessary as it was per nicious. Allowing that abuses and imperfections existed in the management of Indian affairs, still there was a check upon the company's power, lodged by act of parliament in the hands of his majesty's ministers. "By the wholesome exercise of that power, by amending a few errors, and sup plying a few defects, which were still acknowledg ed to remain, a better remedy might be found than demolishing the rights of a chartered incorpora tion. This bill, it was asserted, would create a new and unconstitutional power, a kind of fourth estate in the realm, which, by lodging, even for a few years, such enormous influence in the hands of a faction, might ultimately annihilate the best rights both of crown and constitution. To the objection of abolishing charter^, the framers of the bill replied, that of all charters there was only one inviolable, and that was the charter of natural rights and humanity. If mil lions of the inhabitants of India were oppressed (as could be clearly shewn from the reports, of the committee) by an incorporated body of" merchants pretending to manage an empire, to the manage ment of which it was not even alleged that they were adequate, what comparison was to be drawn between the sacredness of that charter which the eternal laws of justice prescribed, and the charter of a few men, who, under the name of fair com merce, exercise the trade of blood and pecula tion. In answer to the charge of raising up a new power, hostile and dangerous to the constitution,- it was contended, that, if the Indian government was a fourth estate, that fourth estate had existed -v— GEORGE III. 169 since its first formation. It was not denied that chap. the new commissioners would derive a certain de- XIX* gree of influence from the power vested in their hands. The only question was, since the power must be vested somewhere, whether it was not safest entrusted to those who were at present pro posed ? On the 8th of December, the bill passed the house of commons, on a close divison of 208 to 202, and was next day carried to the lords. On the first reading of the bill in the upper house, the lords Temple and Thurlow, and the duke of Richmond, expressed, not disapprobation, but abhorrence of it. Lord Thurlow pronounced a profuse panegyric on Mr. Hastings, and the flourishing state of our possessions in India. The second reading was fixed for Monday the 15th of December. In the meantime, rumours were circulated, with the greatest confidence, that his majesty had sig nified to earl Temple his most decided disap probation of the India bills, and that a written note was put into his lordship's hands, signifying that those who should vote for them his majesty should account his enemies ; c and if lord Temple could put this communication in stronger words, he was empowered to do so.' The vote of the house of peers, on the 15th of December, gave an appearance of confirmation to these reports. Se veral lords* who had entrusted their proxies to the minister and his friends, withdrew them, only a few hours before the bouse met ; and others, whose support was expected, voted with opposition. The question, on the second reading of the bill, was carried against ministers by a majority of 87 to 79. Two proposals were immediately made, on the first meeting of the other house after this decision, to pass a censure on the conduct of those who 170" ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, should influence the decision of any bill, while it is XIX' , pending in parliament, by a rumour of the king's ,783. dislike to it ; and another to prevent a dissolution of parliament. They were both carried by the ministerial party, in spite of the manifold symp toms and rumours of their approaching dismis sion. On the 17th of December, the India bill was re jected, on the 3d reading, by the lords, on a divi sion of 95 to 76. At twelve o'clock on the fol lowing night, a messenger delivered to the two se cretaries of state his majesty's orders, * that they should deliver up the seals of their offices, and send them by the under secretaries, as a personal interview on the occasion would be disagreeable to his majesty.' The seals were immediately given by the king to Lord Temple, as secretary of state. His lordship, however, almost immediately resign ed, on the plea that he was considered by the late ministry as peculiarly obnoxious, on account of the part he had taken. He wished, in his private ca pacity, and unprotected by the influence of office,, to answer any charges that might be preferred against him. Notwithstanding this- apparent deser tion of the noble earl, the new administration was completed in the course of a few days. Mr. Wil liam Pitt was appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, and earl Gower president of the council. The seals were deliver ed to Lord Sydney, as secretary of state for the home department, and to the marquis of Caer- marthen for the foreign* Lord Thurlow was ap pointed lord high chancellor, the duke of Portland lord privy seal, lord-viscount Flowe first lord of the admiralty, the duke of Richmond master-ge neral of the ordnance. Mr. William Grenville and Lord Mulgrave svicceeded Mr. Burke in the GEORGE III. 171 pay-office, and Mr. Henry Dundas was created chap. treasurer of the navy. XIX* The situation of the new ministry was singular, I?g^ and indeed unprecedented since the revolution, be ing formed by the crown, in immediate opposition to the majority of the house of commons. From the strength of the dismissed party, it was there fore to be expected that the executive government would speedily resort to the only measure which could promise to diminish that strength, viz. the dissolution of the present parliament. In the com mittee, therefore, which was formed of the whole house, to examine the state of the nation, Mr. Fox's adherents carried the proposal to address his Dec 44. majesty on the subject of the rumoured dissolution. In answer to this address of the committee, his majesty was pleased to promise, that parliament should neither be prorogued nor dissolved. Pre vious to this address and answer, the passing of the land-tax bill had been deferred by the influence of the anti-ministerial majority, as a security against dissolution. When the house assembled, after the Christmas recess, the indefinite nature of the royal promise appeared still to leave a jealousy in the house that their dissolution was destined to take place as soon as the minister should receive a few neces sary financial supplies. They resolved accordingly to protract that event as long as possible, and, by a vote on the 12th of January, prevented payments from being issued from the bank or the exchequer for the public service. As a farther tie on the hands of the executive, they also adjourned the mutiny bill till the 23d of the following month. By these successive exhibitions of their superior strength, the opposition were in hopes of'terrifying the minister to a surrender. Every former mini sterial minority having been regarded as. the im mediate forerunner of a change, it seemed to be 172 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, an energy almost audacious in the young and inex-* XIX- perienced Premier, unaided by any elder heads of g either great genius or celebrity, to stand in defiance of parliamentary votes, and the whole weight and eminence of parliamentary talents. But the cour age of Mr. Pitt was less extraordinary than it at first sight appears, if we consider the two props on which it certainly rested, the support of the crown, and the popularity which he inherited, along with his talents, from his illustrious father. From the former influence much was to be ex pected. If the first fear and novelty of parliament ary defeats could be overcome, there was little danger of not finding, in a subsequent parliament, (since the power of dissolution was still left as a re source), an abundant supply of those political ad herents, whose principles or interest naturally lean to the support of a court. But, if the royal par tiality did not raise this inferior cabinet to an equali ty with the great party which -had been deposed, the evident bias of popular opinion did more ; it gave it a decided superiority. Whatever defence may be made of the late measures of the coalition, however great and pure its object and motives, they were not judged to be so by a numerous party in the nation. The reconcilement of Fox and North did not reconcile their opposite adherents out of parliament, by any other community of prin ciple than that of disapproving what they thought so incongruous an union. The principals in this political partnership could not transfer to each other, or bring together for their common support, that portion of public favour which had supported each of them singly. The coalition was loudly de cried. It cannot be denied, that the greatest con fidence which a nation ever reposed in the greatest statesman she ever possessed,3 was, for a while, 3 Mr. Fox GEORGE III. 173 most fatally diminished. The clamours of an in- chap. terested monopoly were added to those of the spe- Xlx culative politician. The India company, averse to ""T^- that party who meant to have transferred the ma nagement of their affairs to the legislative council of the nation, needed but a rival to Mr. Fox to give that rival preference. To the hands of Mr. Pitt they afterwards tamely resigned all that power which Mr. Fox had ever thought of transferring, with the same inconsistency that men in a panic rush into equal dangers with those which they are seeking to avoid. Against the diminished popu larity of the coalition party, Mr. Pitt had to op pose his magnificent plans of reform, his rising reputation for financial knowledge, his own ge-1 nius, and his father's memory. A minister thus popular, was singularly fortunate, in spite even of those formidable adversaries whom he had to en counter in the senate. Though his minorities in parliament still continued for a while, the general opinion of the country was soon displayed in ad dresses, expressive of confidence in the new cabi net ; and the court, thus enjoying the triumph of holding the prerogative of nominating a minister in spite of parliamentary majorities, probably fore saw, through all the reforming principles of their new choice, a minister disposed to coalesce with their most important views. This supposition will appear the more probable, when we consider what was the very first important effort of Mr. Pitt, in the first session of his ministry. The coalition faction were charged with ambitious views, in wish ing to invest a committee of their own parliament ary nomination with the chief sway and influence over our Indian affairs. This power, it was said, would have made the parliament which possessed it omnipotent. That power Mr. Pitt, by the first exertion of his ministerial strength, added to the 174 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, influence of the crown, and by it he added more , strength to the royal prerogative than all the mini- 1783. sters put together since our revolution. On the 14thj Mr. Pitt moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better government and manage ment of the East-India company. His scheme pro posed the appointment of commissioners by his majesty for the entire management of India, of which board two members were to be the chancel lor of the exchequer and the secretary of state for the home department. The East-India company directors were to be obedient to their controul ; there was to be no appeal from them but to his majesty's council. The king was to have the power of nominating the chief officers of the com pany, or, in all instances, of disapproving of the nominees. No order of the proprietors was to controul the directors, after his majesty's appro bation of any measure should be received. Mr. Fox contended, that the bill was inadequate to era- * dicate any mischief, and that it would only throw a mass of dangerous patronage into the crown. The bill provided no remedy but recal ; and what remedy was recal, while the governor-general was to enjoy the same arbitrary power which had been proved to produce such enormous abuses ! The ex-ministry were once more victorious on this question ; and Mr. Pitt's India-bill was rejected by a majority of eight,4 Mr. Fox then announced his intention of introducing another bill, on the same principles with his late one, but accommo dated to the particular prejudices which had occa sioned its rejection. The house seemed to receive the announce with great satisfaction ; but some fol lowing events prevented the execution of his de sign. In the committee on the state of the nation, * Viz. 414 to ll%. GEORGE III. 175 Lord Charles Spencer moved the house to de- chap. clare, in decisive terms, that the continuance of XIX- the present ministry would be injurious to the in- I?g ~ tefests of his majesty and his people. During the violence of the debate occasioned by a motion so peremptory, a respectable and moderate member, Mr. Powis, started the proposal of a new admini stration, on the broad basis of an union of parties. Mr. Pitt took no notice of the overture ; but Mr. Fox declared, that until the present minister had made the amende honorable for retaining his situa tion in open defiance of the avowed sense of the commons and the principles of the constitution, he would never condescend to act with him. The resolution proposed by Mr. Powis was carried, by 205 against 184. In a subsequent debate on the state of the nation, a few days after, the call for coalition was renewed by a strong body of the land ed representation. Mr. Pitt still declined an ex planation, and the leaders of the coalition held the same language as before. On the day of receiving his majesty's answer to jan. z6. the late address of parliament respecting their dis solution, the minister was interrogated, both on that subject, and on the extraordinary circumstance of his continuing in office after the late resolution of the commons against him. As to the promise of his majesty, he said, the royal word had indeed been pledged not to interrupt their meeting after their adjournment ; but he saw not how it could be inferred that it was pledged farther. His ma jesty's promise was indefinite ; and he saw no evil that could attend a speedy dissolution. With regard to his own continuance in office, he boldly avowed his opinion, that the immediate appointment or re moval of a ministry did not rest with the house of commons ; and it was his duty, he conceived, to remain in office till he saw some prospect of his 170 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, place being filled up by a person more acceptable xix. to all parties. —~^ — ' In the meantime, the measure recommended 3" by Mr^ Powis was laudably pursued by a large and independent body of parliament. On the 26th of January, a meeting of nearly seventy members of the house of commons was held at the Sr. Albans tavern,5 where addresses were drawn up, and for warded to the duke of Portland and Mr. Pitt, re commending an union of all the whigs, for the establishment of a solid and strong administration. But the refusal of the minister to resign, and of the duke of Portland to hold any interview with him until he should resign, thwarted the object of the society in its outset. A motion was made, in F«b. 4. consequence of the disappointment, on the 2d of February, declaring that the continuance of the present ministers in office was an obstacle to the forming a firm, efficient, extended, and united ad* ministration. This resolution was voted ; but, by exhibiting a majority of only twenty-four on the side of opposition, it announced that their strength in parliament was already begun to decline. Feb. n. On the ll"' of the same month, Mr. Fox once more delivered his opinions in the house, on the subject of the much-wished-for reconcilement of parties, but protested against its taking place till due satisfaction had been offered to the house by the gentleman whose resignation had been so re peatedly and ineffectually demanded by the voice of the commons, lest a stain should remain on the honour of the house, and a precedent be esta blished of holding their voice in contempt, which would reduce them to be worse than useless. The premier proudly adhered to his former declaration, With regard to the union, he confessed there might , s Vide Annual Register, year 1784, page 87. GEORGE III. 177 be persons with whom he never could coalesce, c}*f£- without abandoning consistency as far as he had , ^ ' hitherto held it sacred. 1784. This allusion called up Lord North, who, with the true spirit of noble concession, declared that his own pretensions to office should never be an obstacle to the great and useful object of an union. The house felt and applauded his lordship's ge nerosity. A message soon afterwards came from the minister to the duke of Portland,, desiring his grace, by the command of his majesty, to confer with him (Mr. Pitt) for the purpose of forming a new administration, on a wide basis, and on fair and equal terms. The duke required that he might be permitted to construe- this message as a virtual resignation on the part of Mr. Pitt, and that he might receive the command to meet Mr. Pitt from the king himself. Both of his requisitions were refused. On the 1 8th, Mr. Pitt informed the house, that his majesty had not thought proper to dismiss his ministers, and that they had not resigned. On the same day, the question respecting the postpon ing the supplies, after a vehement debate,, left the chancellor of the exchequer once more in a mino- rity ; and two days after, another address for re moval of ministers was voted by a majority of twenty-one. The continuance of this resistance to ministers in the house of commons seemed to rouse all the opposite principle of the upper house ; and they passed, at the instance of the earl of Effingham, two resolutions, expressing, at once, their decided disapprobation of the conduct of the commons, and their own determination to support the new mini ster, whose dignity they considered as identified with that of the crown. The commons, afraid of giving a pretext for an immediate dissolution, by Vol. II. M 178 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, coming to a quarrel with the peers, behaved with Xlx great forbearance under this attack, contenting I?ga> themselves with appointing a committee to consi der their late resolutions ; a committee who justi fied the house, by declaring, on the strictest in vestigation of principles and precedents, that the house had only discharged its duty to the nation and posterity. His majesty's final answer to the address for a removal of his ministers was return ed on the 4th of March. After acknowledging the right of his faithful commons to offer their ad vice, on every proper occasion, respecting the exer cise of any branch of his prerogative, his majesty repeated the reason already given for retaining his present ministers, viz. that no charge or complaint, or specific objection, had been urged against them; and farther added, that if there were any such ground for their removal at present, it ought to be equally a reason for not admitting them to a share in any new administration. Within a few days, a remonstrance was voted by the commons, in reply to his majesty's speech, nearly similar to the former resolutions of the house on the same sub ject. The language of the remonstrance was strong ly, but respectfully, couched ; it avowed the deep est veneration for the constitutional prerogative of the throne, but denied that the right of continuing a minister, in direct opposition to the will of the house of commons, belonged to that prerogative. This remonstrance, however, was voted by the majority of one solitary vote. During the progress of this important contest, the rising influence of the minister in parliament is to be traced in the decreasing majorities of his opponents, whilst his popularity in the nation at large is recorded in the numerous addresses in his favour from every quarter of the country. As the ranks of the coalition were speedily thinned by de- GEORGE III. 179 sertion, though the consistency of their conduct chap. was not changed, yet their measures became less x,x' daring, as their fortune seemed to subside. Though i7?4. at first they had threatened the minister with the decisive measure of withholding the supplies, yet, before the 10th of March, all the supplies were re gularly voted, to the amount of nearly ten mil lions ; and on that day the mutiny bill passed with out a division. No money, it is true, had been raised or appropriated to any specific services, with the exception of the land and malt tax bills ; but it was believed that the voting of the supplies would be a sufficient justification to the ministry for issuing money for the necessary expenditure of government. On the 24th of March, the parlia ment was prorogued, and the day following it was dissolved by proclamation. M 2 180 CHAP. XX. Event of the elections .... Ascendancy of the new ministry. . . . First session of the new parliament .... Commutation act .... East-India .bills .... Second session .... Debates on the Westminster election . ... on the nabob of Arcot' s debts .... Rejqffion of Mr. Pitt's bill of reform .... Budget of the year .... Commercial treaty with Ireland. The event of the elections proved as fatal to the cause of the late ministry, as might TjS4. have been anticipated from the support which the present cabinet enjoyed, from the coinciding wishes of the king and a great proportion of his people. So complete was the route of the coali tion party, that nearly the whole number of mem bers who lost their seats, amounting to 160, were the friends of either Mr. Fox or Lord North. Among the interests which, on this occasion, join ed the court, that of the dissenters, and of the East- India company and their servants, were regarded as the most considerable. On the 1 8th of May, when both houses were as sembled with the usual forms, Mr. Cornwall was again elected to the chair of the house of com mons. The royal address, after recommending to the notice of the house, as the chief objects of le gislative care during the blessed era of peace, the maintenance of puMic credit and the support of es tablished revenues, called their particular attention to the East-India company, withian earnest warning to regulate the concerns of that momentous body with due regard to the rights of every branch of the GEORGE III. 181 constitution. The address of the commons con- chap. veyed a pointed panegyric on the late measure of xx: his majesty in dissolving his parliament, and was jj fraught with unbounded panegyric on the worth and popularity of the new administration. These expressions were vainly combated by the opposing party. The influence of the minister in his new house was evinced by a majority of 168. Mr. Burke, not discouraged by this display of superior numbers, proposed still to remonstrate with the throne on the gross duplicity and arbitrary dismis sion of the late parliament. He supported the re monstrance with a speech of great length and en ergy. No reply was made to his speech ; but the question being put by the speaker, the motion was declared to be negatived. On the 21st of June, the chancellor of the ex chequer moved several resolutions, as the founda tion of the act since known by the name of the commutation act. He stated to the house, that the illicit trade of the country had of late increased so rapidly, as to endanger almost the existence of every branch of the revenue, and more particular ly that of tea. It had appeared before the com mittee on smuggling, that though the annual con sumption of that article within the kingdom ex ceeded 12,000,000 of lbs., yet that the quantity which was legally sold, and productive of duty, did not exceed 5,500,000. The only remedy which Mr. Pitt could devise was to lower the duties on tea to so small an amount, as to make the profit on the illicit trade inadequate to the risk. It was well known, that in this trade the freight of weight, and insurance to the shore, was about twenty-five per cent, and the insurance on the inland carriage about ten per cent, more, in all thirty-five per cent. The duty on tea, as it then stood, was about fifty M-3 182 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, per cent. ; so that the smuggler had an advantage xx^_, over the fair dealer of fifteen per cent., as the 1784. voyage from England to the continent might be easily repeated four or five times in the year. He therefore proposed to reduce the duty on tea to £12: 10 per cent. As this regulation would cause" a deficiency in the revenue of ^600,000 per annum, he proposed to supply it by the sub stitution of a tax on windows. This tax, he said, would not be felt as an additional burden, but pught to be considered as a welcome substitution, and would, in fact, prove favourable to the sub ject. A house, for instance, of nine wind ,ws, which would be rated at JO*. 6d. might be well supposed to consume in a year seven lbs. of tea, for which, by the established tax on tea, the house keeper paid to government £l : 5 : 10 as a duty. By the commutation he would therefore save 15*. 4of. The measure did not pass without warm op position in both houses of parliament. It was de nied to have any title to the name or principle of commutation, since tea, though an article of ge neral use, was still a luxury ;- but the admission of light into houses was indispensably necessary. The chief benefit of the measure, it was said, would accrue to the Chinese, or the India Company ; but the ultimate effect of a wider consumption of tea would be, to drain the country of its wealth for an article which was bought with our money, and not our manufactures. The next public measure of the minister demand ed all the address and management he possessed. — Of two bills relating to the same subject, which he moved on this occasion, the first was to enable the East-India company to divide eight per cent, interest on their capital. By the sudden dissolution of the late parliament, the committee for inspecting their 3 GEORGE HI. 183 affairs were prevented from making any progress in chap. the business ; and though the inquiry was resumed p 1,^ as early as possible in the present session, yet, be- 1785. fore any report could be made, the house was re duced to the necessity of either authorizing the company to make a dividend, without being assured of their ability to do so, or endangering the com pany's credit by refusing their consent. All the disgraceful and dangerous circumstances of this dilemma, were urged by the late ministers against their successors, and as the best and safest extrica tion, they proposed to make the dividend six instead of eight per cent. It was admitted on all sides, that the affairs of the company were not in the most flourishing condition : it was stated, therefore, as an act of injustice to the public, that the company, whilst applying to parliament for pecuniary relief, should divide among themselves as much as in their most prosperous state, and that they should lay their distresses not on their own, but on the public shoulders. On the other side, it was urged in fa vour of the company, that there were grounds to suppose this dividend would not exceed their abilities, and that, their distresses had not arisen from their own faults, but from the general cala mity in which the late war had involved the country. The bill, as originally proposed, passed the commons without a division, and in the lords by a large majority. The second bill was to allow the company a farther respite of duties due to the exchequer, to enable them to accept of bills beyond the amount prescribed by former acts of parlia ment, and to establish their future dividend. These propositions gave rise to vigorous debates. With respect to authorizing the acceptance of bills, an objection was forcibly urged by Mr. Fox, which, if' allowed any weight, could not fail in reason to over turn the proposal : parliament, he observed, having 184 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. C^P- a superintendant power over the company, and its v ' . consent being necessary to the acceptance of the 1785. bills in question, the public might well conclude, that the company were equal Jo the payment of those bills, if parliament should authorize their ac ceptance, and might thereby be induced to take them as good security ; but, as parliament was re sponsible for the public interests, it would be bound, in case of the company's insolvency, to see that no one suffered from the effects of its partiali ty, negligence, or incapacity. This doctrine was treated by the movers of the bill as totally inad missible, — by the act of 1773, (they said) the pub lic became entitled to a certain share in the com pany's profits, after a dividend of eight per cent ; and, as a security for their share, the company were bound not to accept of bills beyond a certain amount, until that share was paid, without the con sent of the commissioners of the treasury. When parliament, therefore, gives such consent, their consent amounts only to this, that the public, for the present, gives up the security it possessed for the payment of its share in the company's profits. But the extreme inconsistency between the first and the third object of the bill was still held out by its antagonists, as obnoxious to censure. To sup port the first object, it would be necessary to shew, that the affairs of the'company were in so deplor able a state, as to stand in need of every possible assistance. To justify the last object, it was require ed to prove that they were in so flourishing a con- ¦ dition as to afford an enormous dividend. The pre ference given by the minister to the company's in terests over those of the public, under all the bur dens of its taxes, was held out as an act of public injustice ; and the house was warned to resist the rapid strides with which the factions of Indian mo nopoly were advancing from their dominions in the GEORGE III, 185 east, plundered from slaves, to purchase slaves at chap. home, to over-rule the government-councils of the , xx" kingdom. After several divisions, the bill passed i78j, in both houses. Another and more important act, to which the preceding was only subservient and preparatory, was also passed in this session. This was the reno vated Indian bill, which was again, and successful ly introduced, although its objects were still more extensive than when it last met with rejection. By the new bill, Mr. Pitt proposed to extend Very con siderably the powers of the board of controul, and even to allow them, in certain circumstances to transmit orders to India, without responsibility to the court of directors. The governor-general and council were also invested with larger discretionary powers, and many restrictions were laid on the pa tronage of the directors and company. Several clauses of the bill had for their object the pre vention of iniquitous gains by the company's ser vants, who, under the name of presents, were in the habit of exacting contributions, or receiving bribes. The regulations respecting these, as well as' for preventing offensive wars, and disobedience of orders, were copied from Mr. Fox's bill ; but their effects were, in a great degree, made nuga tory by concomitant limitations and exceptions. One severe regulation was, however, left unre stricted, which was to examine the servants of the company, on oath, respecting the amount of their property on returning from India, and to punish them by confiscation, if they were found to conceal it. But the most important feature of the bill was the institution of a new court of justice for the trial of East-Indian delinquents : this court was to con sist of three judges, nominated by the chancery, court of king's bench, and common pleas, besides four peers and six members of the house of com? 186 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, mons ; the four peers were to be taken by lot from a XX- list of twenty-six, which were to be chosen by ballot '~^7%^~' at the commencement of every session of parliament, and the six commoners out of a list of forty members chosen in the same manner. Liberty was to be given both to the party accused, and to the prose cutor to challenge a certain number of these arbi trators. The judgment of the court was made final, and to extend to fine, imprisonment, and in capacitating the convicted party from ever serving the company again. Mr. Fox pronounced at once the bill insufficient, insidious, and unconstitutional. It pre tended (said he) to take a controul over the com- . pany without invading their charters ; but it did in vade their charters by the enlarged power of the board of controul ; it attacked the prerogative of the company by stealth and by sap, not by open measures ; yet it did not transfer that power to the proper channel, where all power that is taken away,ought to return, to the parliament of England, but drew the richest servants of the company into a dangerous dependence upon the crown. The new court of judicature was objected to as a devia tion from the sacred right of the country, the trial by jury ; and the investigation of private property, on oath, was declared to be grossly inquisitorial. The bill past both houses after frequent divisions, in which a large majority always attended the mi nister. On the 30th of June, Mr. Pitt opened the yearly budget : he stated that the ways and means fell just ^6,000,000 short of the sum voted for the supplies, and this last sum he proposed to raise by loan. Instead of granting enormous profits on this loan to political favourites, he boasted of setting it up to the highest bidder. The terms were, that £99 : 1 9 : 2-f- per cent, should be given to the tender of every ^£100; the rest was to be made up by a douceur of lottery tickets, which would GEORGE III. 187 cost nothing to the public ; six lottery tickets were chap. to be the reward of every .§£100, and so on in that xx. proportion. Of -the unfunded debt, amounting to x v„ J 1 2 millions, he proposed only to fund seven millions thii year ; so that for paying the interest of the loan, reducing the unfunded debt, and the four per cent, interest on that part of the unfunded debt which he still left, he would require little more than .§€900,000, which he expected the new taxes would produce, and leave a surplus of 30,000 in our favour. The new taxes were voted with slight opposition. * After a humane and popular bill, introduced by Mr. Dundas, for restoring the estates forfeited in Scotland by the rebellion of 1745, the g. session closed on the 20th of August. The second session of the new parliament was opened on the 25th of January 1785 : their first at tention was drawn to the controverted election of Westminster, of which the peculiar circumstances had,duringthelastsession,occasionedaparliamentary remonstrance on the part of the rejected candidate, Mr. Fox. When the Westminster election was closed on ihe 17th of May 1784, the votes were in favour of Mr. Fox by a majority of 235. At the instance of Sir Cecil Wray, who imputed to his rival a num ber of false votes, the high bailiff had granted a scrutiny ; but as that scrutiny did not take place till the following day, which was the day for the meeting of parliament, no return for Westminster took place. Mr. Fox protested on the spot against the proceedings of the high bailiff, 2 and being chosen the representative of a Scottish borough, brought the case before parliament. The house % 1 The new taxes of the year were coaches, silver-plate, exported lead, imposed on candles, bricks, hats, postages, and silk. pleasure horses, British linnens and 2 He afterwards obtained con. cottons, ribands, licences for sell- siderable damages from the high ing beer and spirits, qualifications bailiff in a court of law. for shooting game, paper, hackney 188 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ordained that the scrutiny should proceed. It was xx- found, however, in the course of the scrutiny, that I7g there were many objectionable votes on the side of Sir Cecil Wray, as well as of Mr. Fox, so that near ly the same majority as at the close of the poll still remained in favour of the latter ; they judged it, therefore, expedient to direct the high bailiff to make a return ; and, on the following day, Mr. Fox was returned along with the' other representa tive Lord Hood. Among the numerous objects embraced by Mr. Pitt's Indian bill, was the consideration of an enor mous debt owing to the company by their tributary 9 prince in the Carnatic, the nabob of Arcot. These debts had been referred by Mr. Pitt's bill to the court of East-India directors : the directors pre pared orders conformable to their authority ; but their decision was over-ruled by the board of con troul, who assigned a fund for the discharge of the nabob's debts from the revenues of the Carnatic. Mr. Fox protested, in parliament, against this in terference, which he considered as an act of usurp ation ; and described the mischievous consequences which the present act must produce to the interests of the Carnatic and of the India company. Mr. Dundas argued, on the other hand, that the power exercised was not usurpation, since the board of controul was empowered by parliament to originate and forward their orders to India. In the present case, he said, the board were only anxious to bring to an amicable adjustment a debt which it was but fair to settle, a debt, of which the specified claims were agreed on, between the debtor and creditor. Mr. Burke, in a copious and strong speech upon this question, ascribed the alleged debts of the na bob to a corrupt collusion with the servants of the Company, and drew a dreadful picture of the frauds and oppressions exercised in British India ; GEORGE III. 189 but the motion of opposition was left in a mi nority. 3 ' Mr. Burke, in his speech on the present occasion, which was one of the most brilliant he ever uttered, called the atten tion of the house to the nature and circumstances of the alleged, debt, as well as to the persons by whom it was claimed. He began by stating, that since the establish ment of the British power in India, Madras and its dependencies, which, before that time, were among the most flourishing territories of Asia, had wasted away under a gradual decline, in so much, that in the year 1779, not one merchant of emi nence was to be found in the whole country. During this period of decay, near a million of money had been drawn from it annually by English gentlemen on their own private accounts. Besides this an nual accumulation of wealth trans mitted to Europe, it appeared that the nabob had contracted a debt with the company's servants to the amount of ^888,000 sterling, which, in the year 1767, was settled at an interest of 10 per cent. About the-same time, the court of directors were further informed, that one million sterling had been lent by British subjects to the merchants of Canton in China. In the year 1777, a second debt from the nabob of Arcot, amounting to =£4,400,000 was settled at 14 per cent, inte-' rest; to this was added another, called the cavalry debt, of £ t6o,ooo at the same interest. The whole of these four capitals, amounting to =£4,440,000 produced at their seve ral rates, annuities amounting to =£643,000 a-year, more than half of which stood chargeable to the pub lic revenues of the Carnatic. As one proof among many, that these sums, if lent at all (and if not lent, the transaction was not a contract, but a fraud) was not pro perty legally acquired, but spoil. Mr. Burke quoted the following passage from a letter written by the nabob himself to the court of directors : ' Your servants have no trade in this country, neither do you pay them high wages ; yet, in a few years, they return to England with many lacks of pagodas. How can you or I account for such im. mense fortunes acquired in so short a time, without any visible means of getting them V Either way.there- fore, Mr. Burke contended, if light enough could not be furnished to authorize a full condemnation of those demands, they ought to be left to the parties who best under stood each others proceedings j and that it was not necessary the au thority of government should in terfere in favour of claims of which the very foundation was a defiance of that authority, and whose ob ject was its entire subversion. But, said Mr. Burke, the gentlemen on the other side of the house, know as well as 1 do, and they dare not contradict me, that the nabob and his creditors are not adversaries, but collusive parties, and that the whole transaction is under false colours and false names. The litigation is not, nor ever has been, between their rapacity and his hoarded riches : no, it is between him and them combining, and confederating, on the one side, and the miserable inhabitants of a ruined country on the other. These are the real plaintiffs, and the real defendants, in this suit. Refusing a shilling from his hoards for the satisfaction of any lawful demand, the nabob of Arcot is always ready, nay, he eagerly and passionately contends for delivering up to these pretend- od creditors, his territories and his subjects. It is, therefore, not from treasuries and mines; but from the food of your unpaid armies, from the blood withheld from the vein*, CHAP. XX. 1785. 190 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. The annual motion for parliamentary reform xx" was early mentioned in the present session, and 1785. brought to a decision which silenced it for some and whipt out of the backs of the most miserable of men, that we are to pamper extortion, usury, and peculation, under the false names of debtor and ci editor. After these general observations on the debt, Mr. Burke proceeded to examine the grounds on which Mr. Dundas had endeavoured to justify them separately. The loan of 1767 he allowed to stand the fairesc of the whole, and that whoever his sus picions might be concerning a part of if, he would convict it of no worse than the most enormous usury ; but that the loans had been made with the knowledge of the company, or had their approbation, he positively denied, and proved from their own records, that the very reverse was the fact. With respect to the moderate interest which it was said to bear, he stated,, from the nabob's own letter, the fact to be as follows : that the sum originally advanced bore an inte rest of 36 per cent. ; that it was af terwards brought down to 25 per cent, and at length to 10 ; that there it remained, the interest being all •long added to the principal, till by a regulation of the company, the sum consolidated was fixed at the rate of 10 per cent. On the whole, Mr. Burke expressed his doubts, whether for this debt of =£888,000 the nabob of Arcot ever received =£100,000 in real money. After some intermediate remarks on that part of the nabob's debt, which was called the cavalry debt, being raised for the payment of his troops, Mr. Burke proceeded to investigate the consolidated debt of 1777, and asserted, that though it had found a protector, it had not plausibility enough to find an advocate If ever transaction required investi gation, said the speaker, it is this ; the amount of the demand in differ ent accounts ran from .£1,300.000 to =£4,400,000 principal money. The proprietors had never appear ed the same in any two lists handed about for their ow n particular pur poses. In the year 1781, the agents of the crcdirors in the arrange ments they proposed to make at Calcutta, were satisfied, to have 25 per cent, at once struck off from the capital of a great part of this deb:, and prayed to have a provi sion made for this reduce1, princi pal without any iotrrcst at all. They knew the nature of their claims too well to hive h.pcs of being authorized by the vo.ee of a British government to insist ou them; but, said Mr. Burke, what corrupt men had not confidence to advance, the chancellor of the ex chequer is hardy enough to pro pose for them, as he hr.a told them they were too modest : he has re placed the 25 per cent, which they~ had abandoned in the terror of their conscience : he has added the whole growth of four years usury of ji per cent, to the first overgrown capita], and has again grafted on this meliorated stock, a perpetual annuity of six per cent, to take place from the year 178 1. Let no man talk of the decayed energies of nature ; the acts and monu ments of the records of peculation, the consolidated corruption of ages, the patterns. of exemplary plunder in the heroic times of Roman ini quity, never equalled the gigantic corruption of this fipgleact. Never did Nero, in all the insolent prodi gality of despotism, deal out to his pretorian bands a donation fit to be named with the largess of the chancellor of the exchequer to his Indian sepoys. This enormous debt was to be raised from the country GEORGE III. 1Q1 years. On the motion for addressing his majesty, chap. at the opening of the session, Lord Surrey press- , XX- ed the minister to declare his intentions with re- I785. of the Carnatic. The state of that country, Mr. Burke described as one dreadful scene, which still wore the fresh and unhealed scars of war fare ; all the accompanying vestiges of poverty, famine, and desolation. Such had been its devastated condi tion, that for tracts of hundreds of miles, the British armies on their inarches, had not seen man, woman, child, or four-footed animal : to restore the country, it would re quire many years of rest. What would a virtuous ministry do to fill up' this chasm of desolation ? they would have set aside the justest payments, they would have drawn nothing from the vitals of such a country, till they had allowed all its producing parts to reanimate those which had been made unpro ductive : they would have proclaim ed that on every country the first creditor is the plough ; that this original claim supersedes., every other. But, no, our ministry felt nothing for a land desolated by fire, sword, and famine, their sympathies took another direction : they were touched with pity for bribery, so long tormented with a fruitless itching of its palms. Their bowels yearned for usury, that had long missed the harvest of its returning months : they felt for peculation which had been for so many years raking in the dust of an empty treasury; they weie melted into compassion for rapine arid oppres sion, licking their dry parched un bloody jaws. These were the ob jects of their care, the necessities for which they were studious to provide. This country of the Carnatic, which was to yield the payment of those usuries, what were its re sources? The whole net revenue, said Mr. Burke, amounted in 1782, to no more than =£48o,ooo,nearly the precise sum which ministers had allotted for the emolument of their creatures, the private traitors. With regard to the public debt due to the company, no provision is made but an eventual surplus when the private creditors were appeased. Never, said he, was a public de mand so shamefully postponed, or a private one made to supersede it, contrary to the practice of all laws and nations. He described the game which was played between the public and private creditors to the misery and oppression of the native Indians. The nabob falls into arrear to the company ; the presidency presses for payment; the nabob's answer is, ' I have no moiiey'— good ; but there are foucars (money lenders) who will supply you on the mortgage of' your territories. Then steps forward some Paul Ben- field, and from his grateful compas sion to the nabob, and regard to the company, unlocks the treasures of his virtuous industry, and for a con sideration of 24 or 36 per cent, on a mortgage of the territorial reve nue, becomes security to the com pany for the naDob's arrear. In con sequence of this double game, the whole Carnatic has at one time or other, been covered by those locusts, the English soucars, During these operations, what a scene has that country produced! The usuiious European assignee supersedes the nabob's native farmer of the reve nue ; the farmer flies to the nabob to claim his bargain, whilst his servants murmur for wages, and his soldiers mutiny for pay. The mort gage to the European assignee is then resumed, and the native farm er replaced. Replaced again to be removed on the new clamour of the European assignee. Every man of 192 ANNALS OP GltEAT BRITAIN. ' Chap, spect to that plan of reformation, of which he had xx been the avowed patron, and objected to the king's 1785. speech for being obscure on that important sub ject. The chancellor of the exchequer gave for answer, that he had not been of opinion that the king's speech was a proper place for the introduc tory mention of any scheme of reformation. Great and wise men, he said, had entertained various conceptions of that important matter. It was the subject, of all others, nearest his heart; but, at this very early period of the session, to have stated it specifically was impossible. Much was still to do ; his ideas were not matured. His plan com prehended a great variety of considerations ; it re lated to the essentials and vitals of the constitution ; it therefore required the most delicate attention. It was a path which he was determined to tread ; but he knew with what tenderness and circumspec tion it became him to proceed. Lord North de clared himself a determined enemy to any altera tion of the constitution in so material a point as representation. In the COUrse of his Speech he ad- rank and landed fortune being long trading private debts in future. since extinguished, the remaining They begin by rewarding the vio- miserable last cultivator who grows lation of the ancient law ; they then to the soil after having his back gravelyre-enactprovisionsofwhich scoted by the farmer, has it again they had given bounties for the flayed by the assignee ; and is thus breach, and they conclude with po- lashed from oppressor to oppressor, sitive directions for again contract- while a drop of blood remains, as ing the debts which they have the means of extorting a single grain gravely forbid. They order the of corn. Far from painting, he nabob to allot =£480,000 a-year, as added, he did not reach the fact, or a fund for the debts before us. For approach it. Their tyrannous ex- the actual payment of this annuity, action brought on servile conceal- they order him to give soucars ment, and that again called forth (bankers) security. These soucars tyrannous coercion, till at length are no other than the creditors nothing of humanity was left in themselves, who thus become credi- the government, nor trace of inte- tors again on a new account, and grity, fpirit, or manliness in the receive an additional 24 pet cent. people. The ministers, he observ- for condescending to take the coun- cd, had thought fit to renew the try in mortgage, and being security company's old order against con- to themselves for themselves. GEORGE III. 193 verted to a circular letter sent by Mr. Wyvil on chap. that subject, which contained a statement, that Mr. xx> Pitt had promised to exert his whole power, as a 'T785. man and as a minister, honestly and boldly to car ry a proposition of parliamentary reform. He ask ed the meaning of this antithesis of man and mi nister ? "Was it that the minister could do some thing more than the man could do ; while, at the same time, the promise of acting boldly and ho nestly seemed to imply a suspicion that the mini ster would not accomplish so much as the man ? He then reminded those gentlemen who had for merly voted against reform, of the disgrace they would incur by the inconsistency of now giving to the minister that support which they had denied to the man. The chancellor of the exchequer rose again, to notice the quotation from Mr. Wyvil's letter. The letter, he said, was not his, and therefore he was not responsible for any phrases it might contain ; but it was, to his mind, very clear, from the words as a minister and a man, what the gentleman meant to convey ; namely, that in any situation, public or private, in office or out of office, he would give the proposition his full support. With respect to the words boldly and honestly, on which the noble lord had thrown so much sarcasm, he supposed that Lord North, from his own experience in of fice, was disposed to think it impossible for a mini ster to act boldly and honestly. On the 1 8th of April, Mr. Pitt brought forward his long-purposed bill for reform of the representation, under a new shape and plan. He proposed to trans fer the right of choosing representatives from thirty- six boroughs, which had already fallen, or were falling, into decay, to the counties and chief towns, which were at present unrepresented ; that a fund Vol II. N 194 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, should be provided, for1 the purpose of giving to xx> the owners and holders of the disfranchised bo lt ^ roughs an appreciated compensation for their pro perty ; that the taking this compensation should be a voluntary act of the proprietor, and, if not ac cepted at present, should be placed at compound interest until it became an irresistible temptation to such proprietors. He also meant to extend the right of voting for knights of the shire to copy holders, as well as freeholders. Such was the out line of his system, which was not entirely approved of by those who heartily supported the general cause of reform. Mr. Fox particularly objected to the plan of purchasing boroughs, though he willingly acceded to the transference of their rights of suffrage to places better entitled to possess them. The long and desultory debate which ensued on this motion introduced little more than the usual statement of argument on a subject familiar to the public mind. The bill of reform was lost by a ma jority of 248 against 174. Previous to the opening of the budget for this year, Mr. Pitt called the attention of the house to a general review of the national finances. The whole of the public expenditure, including the in terest of the public debt, with the probable ex- pences of the peace establishment, he estimated at ^14,600,000 per annum. To compare this year ly expenditure with the yearly income of the state, he proposed to examine the net produce of the taxes for the quarters ending on the 5th of January and the 5th of April 1784, and the produce of those ending the 5th of January and the 5tk of April 1785/ According to the increased produce of the taxes in these quarters, he made a variety of calculations on their probable amount for the whole year, which, by the lowest estimation, he GEORGE III. 19.5 fixed at ^12,000,000, and, by the highest, at chap. e€l 2,600,000. The land and malt tax, he expect- 'XX- ed, would add to this computed produce of the ^5. other taxes .=£2,450,000 ; so that, upwards of .ge? 14,500,000 being raised within the year, might enable us to lay aside nearly £ 1,000 ,000 for the purpose of a sinking fund, to defray the national debt ; a project which he promised, on the follow ing year, to lay before the house. The aggregate amount of the supplies voted this year was stated by Mr. Pitt at .=£9,737,868. The ways and means, which had already been voted to provide for those supplies, including the computed growing produce of the sinking fund up to 10th of October next, the money still remaining in the ex chequer, and what had been given in by the paymas ters, left a deficiency of £\ ,000,000. This sum he proposed to borrow from the bank for ^£50,000 in terest. A debt on the navy bills and ordnance de bentures, amounting to £ 10,000,000, which had been left unfunded, and lay over from the last ses sion, to be provided for in the present. The fund ing of this remainder would call for an income of .§£320,000. A tax on calicoes, yielding to the value of .=£40,000, was now to be repeal ed, and must be replaced ; so that these three sums of ^£50,000, a£40,000, and ^320,000, in all .=£410,000, which was to fund the above debts in the five per cent, stocks, would require several new taxes. These taxes were passed with little opposition, except to two, which were extremely unpopular, one on servant maids,, the other on retail shops.4 * The new objects of taxation ages, and four-wheeled and two- were, annual licences to coachmak- wheeled cairiages already kept ; fe- ers, certificates for killing game, male servants;' servants kept by retail shops, one shilling in the bachelors; licences to attorneys; pound, house rents in different pro- post-horses, gloves, and warrants portions ; new four-wheeled carri- of attorney. N2 196 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. C^P- A bill was introduced by Mr. Pitt, during this __^_, session, for the regulation and inspection of public 1785- offices throughout the kingdom. Commissioners were appointed to inquire into the fees, gratuities, perquisites, of such offices, which were at the time, or had lately been, received. By one of the amendments which this bill received before it pass ed the lords, the commissioners were subjected to the controul of the board of treasury. If, at this favourable period of British peace and prosperity, we turn our attention from the more immediate interests of England to those of the sister island, we find, that although some years had now elapsed since the emancipation of her commerce, and the independence of her par liament, the commercial distresses of Ireland were still considerable. In 1780, the commerce of Ire land had been freed from many ruinous restric tions. In 1782, the declaratory act of George II was repealed ; and, by another statute, which pass ed in the following year, the authority of the Bri tish parliament, in legislation and jurisdiction for Ireland, were formally renounced. The spirit of re forming the constitution by shorter parliaments, which became peculiarly strong in England during the year 177Q, was speedily communicated to Ire land. In England, the partiality for schemes of reformation was never, at any period, so warm or sanguine as it prevailed in the minds of the Irish for many years after this era. In 1779, the ad dresses of the Irish parliament to the throne de manded, with a firm voice, the restoration of com mercial freedom. The trading towns, at that pe riod, adopted resolutions for preventing the im portation of British manufactures, which they real ized with a fury not to be restrained by the civil authority. The spirit of the parliament and people became identified in their objects ; all new supplies GEORGE III. 197 for the current service of the year were denied to chap. the executive government, and the trust of the old xx- revenue restricted. The right of passing the mu- ' Ig tiny bill, formerly claimed by the British, was re-assumed by the Irish legislature. The first re sistance, on the part of government, to these ra pid strides of the Irish towards independence, was shewn when the popular party attempted to abo lish the perpetuity of the mutiny bill, and to obr tain a modification of Poyning's law. Both these motions were foiled by the votes of a majori ty of the Irish parliament, who were brought, by the influence of government, to favour the autho rity of England. The failure of these efforts drew together the celebrated convention of delegates from the Irish volunteers. On the J 5th of Febru ary 1781, the representatives of 143 corps of vo lunteer troops assembled at Dungannon. Their resolutions, which were principally confined to the assertion of the political independence of the king dom, were adopted, in substance, by the volun teers of the south. Sometime after these trans actions, an attempt was made by government to supersede the necessity of the volunteer system, and to substitute in their 6tead the defence of fen- cible regiments. The design of government in this change of the national defence, though obvious to the Irish patriots, and universally unpopular, might have, in a short time, effected the object of its institution, if a new subject of political discus sion had not been presented as a rallying point for the patriots, and a pretext for again assembling. This subject was the reform of parliamentary re presentation. On the 8th of September 1783, a general meeting of delegates from the province of Ulster was held at Dungannon ; and, with the ge neral consent of the volunteers of the other three provinces of Ireland, was appointed to be held ori N 3 198 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. the 10th of November following. This Irish con- _ vention, which was fully and respectably attended, ~ri%s~ resolved on addressing parliament for the purpose of reform, including, 1st, the farther extension of the right of voting among protestants, leaseholders, as well as freeholders, possessing property above forty shillings ; 2dl>', the admission of those parishes to a right of voting which were adjacent to decayed5' boroughs ; and, 3diy, the limitation of parliaments to three years. But the voice of the Irish parliament displayed a decided hostility to these popular sentiments, when they were brought before the house of com mons by the popular orator Mr. Flood, in the shape of a bill for parliamentary reform. They would receive no propositions, they said, which were tendered at the point of the bayonet, and drawn up by an armed assembly. On_ the report of the fate of Mr. Flood's motion, the Irish dele gates drew up a counter-address, in which they so lemnly denied that their objects were connected with innovation, or at variance with the most sa- , cred maintenance of the constitution. The change which afterwards took place in the administration of both kingdoms gave fresh spirits to the peti tioners. Under the auspices of two ministers, Mr. Pitt in England, and the duke of Rutland in Ire land, who had been so loud in the cause of reform, it seemed little to be dreaded that the cause would now misgive ; but their hopes were not realized. On the 1 3th of March 1 784, Mr. Flood intro duced his motion for reform, which was- again re jected. These repeated defeats did not yet dis courage the Irish reformers. On the 7th of June, in the same year, a very spirited address to their fellow-subjects;,1 on the subjects of national griev ances, was issued by the assembled citizens of Dub lin, and the strongest exhortations held Out to the 1735- GEORGE III. 199 people of Ireland to persevere in constitutional chap. measures for the acquisition of iheir common ad- XIX- vantages. It was remarkable that, in this address, ' a proposition was made to admit the Roman ca tholic subjects to participate in the rights of suffrage at elections for parliament. A petition to the throne, on the same subject, was framed by the citizens of Dublin, and an ap plication was made to the lord-lieutenant to convey it to the foot of the throne. The lord-lieutenant returned for answer, that although it was his duty to convey the papers they presented, yet he found himself obliged to accompany them with his en tire disapprobation, as they contained unjust re flections on the parliament of Ireland, intended to foment public dissensions. But the credulity of the Irish reformers was proof against all disapproba tion. They could not be persuaded that the Eng lish minister would refuse his support to measures which he had once so ostentatiously patronized. On the 8 th of July, the inhabitants of Belfast pre sented, through the medium of Mr. Pitt, their pe tition to the king, in substance nearly the same with that of their brethren in Dublin. Mr. Pitt informed them, in his answer, that he had un doubtedly been, and still continued to be, a zealous friend to parliamentary reform ; but, he must beg leave to say, he had been so on grounds very dif ferent from those adopted in their petition ; and that what was there proposed he considered as tending to produce still greater evils than any of those which the friends of reform were desirous to remedy. After this period two national con gresses met in Dublin, consisting of delegates from all the Irish friends of reform ; but they could ef fect no change on the sentiments of the Irish parlia ment : and the promoters of the reforming con ventions were exposed to prosecution by the exe* "200 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, cutive government, although the instances of pu- |^__ nishment that were exhibited3 were more calculat- 1785. ed to shew the pow'er of punishing, than the de termination to exercise it. By degrees, the. cause of parliamentary reform in Ireland dwindled into neglect and insignificance. But grievances of a less speculative nature were, in the meantime, bearing hard on the people. The restitution of commercial freedom had been expected to operate in Ireland like a charm of instantaneous prosperi ty ; but experience now shewed that something more was required, than the mere emancipation of trade, to remove the distresses of the lower orders. What those causes may be, which then were, and have long continued to be, productive of poverty and wretchedness among so large a class of a people distinguished for the physical, as well as moral, energies of their national character, it is not neces sary here to inquire. The period we now mention was, however, unfortunately memorable for the distresses of their most populous and industrious towns. Towards the end of the year 1783, the . distresses of the manufacturers of Dublin had arisen to such a height, as to reduce the capital, for a while, to a state of anarchy and confusion. The temporary remedy of a subscription for the unem ployed poor was set on foot ; and the legislature appointed a committee to examine into the possible means of promoting the better fortune of the ma nufacturers. On the 31" of March 1804, Mr. Gardiner, a distinguished Irish patriot, who took the lead in this business, proposed, in compliance with the wishes of the people, to impose what was called a protecting duty on certain imported ma nufactures of England ; a duty which, by taxing English importations, might enable the Irish ma- * The sheriffs, who called the were fined in a few pounds, and tounty meeting for this purpose, imprisoned a week. GEORGE III. 201 ) nufacturerto undersell the English deiler. The- ch<\p. . duties which he proposed to impose were, on Eng- xx< fish drapery, manufactured iron, paper, and other T^TT articles. The Irish house of commons, however, negatived Mr. Gardiner's proposal, and the popu lar ferment still continued, During the summer of 1785, Dublin and other parts of the kingdom exhibited incessant scenes of disorder. The ex pedient of non-importation agreements was adopt? ed, with a zeal equal to what America had shewn on the very eve of its rebellion. These engage-, ments spread over all Ireland ; they received the sanction of several grand juries, and the merchants of the trading ports found themselves compelled to subscribe to them. The enforcing of the prohi bitory compacts naturally devolved on the lov/er orders of the people, who proceeded in the exe cution -of their trust according to the most ap proved modes of popular discipline. To appease this formidable spirit, the British ministry now found it necessary to interfere, with conciliatory proposals for a treaty of commerce between the two kingdoms, by which it was hoped that a reci procity of advantage, and a peaceable accommoda tion of interests, might be established As soon as the propositions of Mr. Pitt, to settle the trade of the two countries on principles, of mutual ad vantage, had been favourably received by the Irish, parliament, commissioners were appointed to ad just with the British ministry the terms of the pro posed treaty. The business was opened, before the committee of the house of commons, by r. Pitt, who concluded his speech by moving, that concessions should be granted to Ireland, reducible to the following heads. — 1st, the importation of the produce of our colonies in the West Indies and America, through Ireland into Great Britain ; — 2d, a mutual exchange between the two countries, of 202 ANNALS 6T3 GREAT BRITAIN. chap, their respective productions and manufactures, oil xx' equal terms. In return for these concessions, he "It^T" proposed that Ireland should agree to pay a certain stipulated yearly sum, out of her hereditary reve nue, towards defraying the general expences of the empire. These primary propositions were intro duced in March 1785 ; and, for three months after^ the house continued to hear the petitions, or exa mine the evidence, of such merchants and manu facturers as were either 'called to give their evk dence, or disposed to influence the opinions of the legislature by their voluntary representations. On the 1 2th of May. Mr. Pitt brought forward the plan of his commercial treaty, enlarged and consider ably varied. Of twenty resolutions, which he mov ed that the house should pass on this subject, the chief objects of the additional propositions were to provide, 1st, that whatever navigation laws the Jjritish parliament should hereafter find it necessary to enact for the preservation of her marine, the same should be passed by the legislature of Ire-* land ; 2d, that Ireland should be prevented from importing any other West- India merchandizes than those of our own colonies ; and, 3dly, that she should be debarred from trading to any of the countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, or the straits of Magellan, while the British East-India company should remain. The whole system of Mr. Pitt's plan was, by many of his political anta gonists in the house of commons, decried as im politic and irrational ; and the most vigorous op position was maintained to some of its specific propositions. In objecting to the first clause, Mr. Fox challenged the minister to produce, in the whole history of mankind, an instance of such an agreement as was proposed, that an independent state should bind itself to do any thing unspecific and uncertain, at the arbitrary will of another. V*S- GEORGE III. 203 This assumption, Mr. Fox contended, was a direct chap. violation of the independence of the Irish legisla- xx- ture ; it was purchasing Irish slavery, at the ex- ' pence of English commerce. With respect to the last proposition, which was to allot the surplus that should remain over #£656,000 of Irish revenue to the support of the British navy, it was sufficient to notice, that, without the infallible certainty of pre dicting, what no human being could pretend to predict, that the revenue of Ireland was to increase beyond- all example, this provision for repaying Britain for her compensation was entirely nuga tory, since the net revenue of Ireland was at present only .§£33,000, and its rise was a matter of con jecture at best, by no means of assurance. In spite of these objections, and the clamours of many mercantile bodies, who opposed the measure, for reasons of mere personal and selfish consideration, the' partiality, of the British parliament for the mi nister's commercial scheme induced them to sanc tion the bill ; and it waited only for the decision of the Irish parliament to assume the shape of a law. The Irish had, with great anxiety, awaited the decision of the British parliament respec ting the terms of the treaty. On their arrival, the pro positions were received in such a manner, as to shew the deepest disapprobation of those alterations which the original system had undergone.. In the house of commons, when the bill of the English minister was introduced, the numbers of the Irish opposition grew to an unwonted height, in spite of all the influence of administration. The appear ance of infringing on their legislative independ ence, the prospect of a perpetual disposition of the hereditary revenue, the surrender of commercial legislation, and the restraint of foreign trade, were considerations of so serious a nature, as to draw l~ 4 204 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CxxP' back to the standard of independence many of the —^L^ usual adherents of the government. On this ques- y8,j. tion the talents of Grattan and Flood were drawn out in splendid rivalship, but in common hostility to the enslaving principles of the bill. After com paring the advantages which Ireland had already demanded and obtained from Britain, with the mighty sacrifices now required as compensations for insignificant grants, c see,' said Mr. Flood, ' what you obtained without compensation ; a colony trade, a free trade, the independency of your judges, the government of your army, the extension of the constitutional powers of your council, the restoration of the judicature of your lords, and the independency of your legislature. See now what you obtain by compensation ; a covenant not to trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan ; a covenant not to take foreign plantation produce, but as Great Britain shall per mit ; a covenant not to take certain produce of the United states of America, but as Great Britain shall permit ; .a covenant to make such acts of na vigation as Great Britain shall prescribe ; a cove nant never to protect your own manufactures, never to guard the premium of those manufac tures.' In answer to these attacks, the chief speakers in defence of the bill6 insisted on the security and ample extent of trade granted by these propositions, the opening of the British markets to their manu factures, the drawback of duties, and the influx of British capital. The agreement of Ireland to bind herself to future and undefined enactments of the British legislature, it was argued, was no infringement of her independence, since it would be still in the power of the Irish parliament to re- s These were, Mr. Foster, the the provost of Trinity College, and Irish chancellor of the exchequer, Messrs. Hutchinson and Fitzgibbon. GEORGE III. 205 nounce those laws, nay even to renounce the whole chap. agreement, whenever she found it to be her wish , XX- , or her interest. On dividing the house, there ap- 17z5i peared for the bill 127, against it 108. A majo rity so small in favour of so important a measure was regarded by ministers as an actual defeat ; and so many clamours, and petitions against the bill overspread the Irish nation, that the British legi slature thought it would be imprudent to push the business any farther. Thus terminated the intend ed commercial arrangement between Great Britain and Ireland, after having exercised the attention of both kingdoms upwards of seven months. 206 CHAP. XXI. Third session of parliament .... duke of Richmond's fortifi cation bill rejected .... Alteration of the mutiny bill .... Mr. Pitt's bill for the institution of the sinking fund .... Amendment by Mr. Fox .... Impeachment of Warren Hast ings .... Mr. Dundas' s bill for enlarging the powers of the governor- general of India .... Supplies of the year .... Prorogation of Parliament .... Attempt of Margaret Ni cholson on the king's life. chap. rir^HE third session of this parliament was opened XXL , JL on the 24th of January 1786. The first im- 1786. portant object that engaged their attention was a plan submitted by the duke of Richmond, master- general of the ordnance, for fortifying the dock yards of Portsmouth and Plymouth. A board of military and naval officers, and afterwards a coun cil of engineers, had been appointed to give in their opinion, and estimate of this plan, during the preceding year. This estimate, amounting to no less than .§£760,097, was presented to the house on the 10th of February ; arid the subject was brought before the house in the form of a resolu tion, moved by the minister, to pass their appro bation. Mr. Sheridan was the distinguished op ponent of the scheme. He objected to it as un constitutional, as dangerous to the liberties of the people, since, under the pretence of fortifying the country, it would place in the hands of the crown, not that limited and controulable force which the wisdom of our ancestors had ordained, in the bill of rights, to be entrusted, by short periods, to the i;86- GEORGE III. 207 executive magistrate, but strong holds and fort- chap. resses for the perpetual maintenance of a standing XXI army, independent of the will, and perhaps direct- ' ly in opposition to the interests of the people. If ever the period should arrive (said Mr. Sheridan), and in the view of possibilities it is not to be ne glected, that a monarch of England, misled by ar bitrary principles and evil counselkrs, should try to strengthen his hands by unconstitutional means, what engine could he find so easily subservient to despotism as a standing army, thus divided from . the people by the walls of their garrisons, and disentangled from all those habits and circumstances which create a participation of liberal sentiments between the citizen and the soldier. He contra dicted the assertion of the minister, that the pre sent system of fortification would stop when Ply mouth and Portsmouth should become secure. "The shortest method of refuting this idea was simply to suppose the same board of officers act ing under the same instructions, and deliberating under the same data, going a circuit round the coast of the kingdom, and reporting on the various places in their progress ; would any one in that case deny that they must necessarily recommend a similar plan of defence, in proportion to the im portance of every place which they visited ? But the report of the board itself, Mr. Sheridan assert ed, did not warrant the system. The board had decided hypothetically on certain data, which the master-general had proposed to them, but for the truth or probability of those data, the board had refused to be responsible. The noble mover of the bill' (said Mr. Sheridan) ' deserved the warmest pa- - negyrics for the proofs of his genius as an. engi neer, which appeared in the planning and con structing of the report in question. The profes sional ability of the master-general shone conspi- '208 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN". chap, cuously there, as it would upon our coasts ; he xxi. had made an argument of posts, and constructed "T^ ' his reasoning on principles of trigonometry as well as logic. There were certain detached data, like advanced works, to keep the enemy at a dis tance from the main object in debate ; strong pro visions covered the flanks of his assertions, his very queries were in casemates ; no impression was, therefore, to be made on this fortress of sophistry, by desultory observations, and it was necessary to sit down before it, and assail it by regular approaches. It was fortunate, he said, however, to observe, that, notwithstanding all the skill employed by the noble and literary engineer, his mode of defence, on paper, was open to the same objection which had been urged against his other fortifications ; that if his adversary got pos session of one of his posts, it became strength against him, and the means of subduing the whole line of his argument.' Lastly, he argued that the data themselves were founded upon a supposition of events so desperate, as would not only produce danger to Portsmouth and Plymouth, but the conquest of the whole island. Under the circumstances of the data, it was necessary to suppose the following circum stances : the absence of the British fleet from our coasts, for the space of three months, while an army of 30;000 or 40,000 men was ready on the enemy's coast to invade this island ; that enemy to choose their point of landing, to land and encamp with heavy artillery, and every necessary for a siege, while no force could be collected, in less than two months, to oppose them.' The victory of Mr. Sheridan on the fate of the duke of Richmond's bill, is an event, as honour able to the talents of that speaker, as to the im partiality of parliament on a subject of great con- GEORGE III. 209 stitutional importance. On the house dividingj chap. the members appeared exactly equal ; the casting u voice of the speaker decided against Mr. Pitt's re- l7u, solution. To the mutiny bill this year, a clause was add ed, subjecting officers by brevet, though not in service, to its authority. This intention of the act, though not unprecedented, had been omitted for many years, from respect to the public jealousy of military -law. The plea held up at present for alteration was, * that officers, though receiving no pay from the crown, might eventually be entrusted with command ; and being capable of holding mili tary authority, it was just that they should be also amenable to the laws of the service. Instances were even adduced, in which commanders, under the above description, had been called into actual service, and who were yet, by the defeat of later mutiny bills, incapable of being tried by court- martials. It was urged in objection to this con tending clause, that as martial law, in any shape, was defensible only on the ground of necessity, it ought, in times of peace, rather to be narrowed than enlarged : the injustice of trying men by the laws of the army, who were but nominally attached to it, was also strongly urged ; and the grievance of subjecting individuals in civil life, to be punish ed for offences unknown and undescribed by the military act as it stood at present, but which his majesty had the power hereafter to create. Against all these objections, the framers of the clause per sisted in carrying the bill through both houses. In the business of this session, the minister's plan for reducing the national debt, holds a distinguished place, and indeed forms a designat ing era in the financial history of the country. The plan was founded on a report framed by a select committee, appointed early in the session, Vol II. O 210 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, for examining the annual income and expenditure XXI- of the state. ""^Igo""" By the report of the committee it appeared, that the annual income for the year 1785, had been £ 15,379,000 ; and the annual expenditure £\ 4,478,000, leaving a surplus of e£901,000| and that in the year 1786, the income had been s£l5,3()7,000 ; and the expenditure the same as in the preceding year, leaving a surplus of ^£901, 000. This surplus the minister pro posed to increase to one million, by mearts which he shewed the resourc.es of the country to be perfectly capable of bearing ; -and to appropriate this yearly million most sacredly to the exclusive purpose of extinguishing the national debt. This sinking fund he proposed to be kept unalien able in any circumstances of the Country. Com missioners of the highest respectability were to be chosen1 for the important service of purchas ing in the funds, for the redemption of public debt : several savings of expence and increase of revenue, especially through the customs from the suppression of smuggling, and the reversion of many annuities, would fall into the same fund, which, in the course of twenty-eight years, might produce an annual revenue of four millions to the state. From this sketch of the sinking fund, ac companied by a copious exposition of the finances of the kingdom, the minister reduced his plan to the following summary heads : — First, that the yearly income of the state exceeded the permanent level of its expences by a sum of e£900,000 ; next, that this sum could be increased to a million, by means nowise burdensome to the people ; thirdly* 1 Tht commissioners were to be the governor and deputy governor the fpeaker of the house of com- of the bank of England, and the tnons, fhe chancellor of the ex- accountant-general of the high dbequer, the master of the rolls, court ef chancery. GEORGE III. 211 that although the present establishment exceeded, chap.\ in certain instances, the same establishment as xxl- stated in the report of the select committee ; yet XX^ there were ample resources, sufficient to over balance such excesses, without having recourse to fresh taxes ; and lastly, that the ways and means of the present year would be sufficient to furnish the supplies, together with the sum of j£250,000, to be applied quarterly towards the establishment of the new fund, and after all, would leave a con siderable balance to be carried to the next yean Mr. Pitt concluded by moving, that the sum of one million be annually granted to certain commission ers, to be applied by them to the purchase of stocks, towards discharging the public debt of this Country ; which money shall arise out of the sur- plusses, excesses,, and overplus monies^ composing the fund, commonly called the sinking fund. The policy of the principle of liquidating the national debt being acknowledged on all sides, the motion was carried in the affirmative without a division. The accuracy of the minister's calculations did not, however, pass undisputed, and the strongest objections were urged against the application of the fund being unalienable, so as to fetter the hands of future financiers, who might have occasion, from superior judgment, or a change of circumstances^ to have recourse to the sinking fund instead of a loan. At oncetoobviateandsupport the last objection, Mr. Fox moved, that a clause should be inserted to empower the commissioners named in the bill, to accept so much of any future loan as they should have cash belonging to the public in their hands to pay for* Mr. Pitt received the clause with th£ strongest marks of approbation. Another clause, enabling the commissioners to continue purchasing stock for the public, when at or above par, unless 0 2 ml 212 ANNALS. OF GREAT BRITAIN. Chap, otherwise directed by parliament, was moved by ' ' . Mr. Pulteney, and carried. 1786. Of the many frauds that' were committed on the revenue, Mr. Pitt, upon inquiry, found the illicit trade in wine was one of the most flagrant. A bill was therefore introduced, and passed into a law, subjecting foreign wines to the excise. Al though it did not pass without objections, the measure was described, by the friends of admini stration, as advantageous both to the people and the treasury. By subjecting all foreign wines to the excise, the temptation to smuggling was di minished, and the practice of making fictitious wine, a practice still more pernicious than smuggling, was by the same means discouraged. A bill, proposed by Mr. Crewe, and commonly known by his name, had been enacted under the last administration, by which the electing votes of custom, excise, post and stamp officers, had been set aside. Mr. Marsham proposed, this session, that a similar bill should extend to persons holding situations in the navy and ordnance offices. Mr. Pitt, who, in the true spirit of reformation, had sup ported Mr. Crewe's bill, resisted the present. If it should pass (said the minister) the whole corps of our naval artificers, deprived of their rights as Englishmen, might carry their skill and industry to a foreign market, and there is no maritime country that would not grant them their own terms. Mr. Fox successfully ridiculed the fear of disfranchised electors leaving our dock-yards for others that would allow them electioneering. They were to go abroad, he supposed, to have voices in the appointment of members of parliament in Trance, or were to influence the elections of Spain, or to take a share in the aristocracy of Holland. Mr. Marsham's motion was negatived by a majori ty of 1 1 7 to .76. A discussion was next intro- 3 GEORGE III. 213 duced, which occupied the attention of parliament chap, during the remaining part of the session, and while XX1- it engaged the curiosity of the public for several ' I7vg6- subsequent years, equally divided their opinions and their wishes respecting its issue. This was the trial of Warren Hastings, for alleged crimes and misdemeanours in his government of India. We have seen in the transactions of a former year, that the committee on Indian affairs found suffi cient grounds, in the course of their inquiry, for recalling that gentleman from his high station, along with others who were implicated in his measures, and responsible for being his coadjutors. Mr. Hastings arrived in England in 'June 1785. To weigh with exactness the great mass of histori cal facts and events, on which the just decision of Hastings' character must be founded, is a task which not even the triteness of the subject has simplified or made easy. After his acquittal by the highest tribunal of his country, the admirers of Hastings are well warranted in a general vindi cation of his character ; but that all his conduct was unsullied, that all the philippics of Burke were founded on falsehood and extravagance, is not to be presumed, when we consider that Mr. Dundas (though he reconciled the inconsistency of his conduct in defending him, by substituting an unintelligible distinction between' the minor guilt that deserves suspension from office, and the great er guilt which merits prosecution), had been him self instrumental in procuring the governor-gene ral's recal, and that Mr. Pitt, who is more to be re garded as his friend than his enemy, confessed his conduct to be impeachable on the grounds of one serious charge. To resist this momentous im peachment, animated by the tajents of opposition, Mr. Hastings brought with him from India, a character, supported by the suffrages of almost all 214 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, who had lived under his government* and the un- XXI- disputed merit of having achieved (by whatever ~"7?gk means he did achieve it) the salvation of our em pire in the east from impending destruction, while the possessions of England, in every other quarter of the globe, had been torn from us, or left de bilitated. As the threats of impeachment had been held Out by Mr. Burke during several past ses= sions, they were expected to be realized in the present. On the first day of the session, the se cretary of Hastings, Major Scott, challenged his accuser to come forward and produce his charges, Mr. Burke answered by quoting the words of the duke of Parma on being challenged by Henry the IV of France, to come out openly and fight him, ' that he knew very well what he had to do, and had not come sq far to be directed by an enemy.' In opening the business, on tiie 17 th of Febru ary, Mr. Burke gave his reasons for undertaking the invidious office of an accuser ; but he remindT ed the house of their former resolutions, and ask ed with what consistency they could see recorded pn their own journals, reports of corruption, abuses, and peculation, without tracing the crime to its perpetrator, and the evil to its guilty source ? He then stated the ancient and constitutional mode of impeachment, on which he wished to proceed, in preference to two other forms of prosecution, of Which he mentioned the inefficiency for the pre sent case. These were, prosecution by the courts below, and by a bill of pains and penalties. Pre paratory to the mode of trial which he proposed^ it behoved the house first to vote whether or not there was to be an impeachment, and next to ap point a committee for inspecting the evidence. Hav ing stated these proposals with great precision, he urged the unavoidable necessity of making this in? GEORGE III. 215 quiry into the known delinquency committed in In- chap. dia, personal and particular. What would be the ' ^ sentiments of the miserable natives of India (he 178$. asked) if the result of proceedings in that house should be, to find that enormous peculation had existed, and that there was no peculator ; that there was gross corruption, but yet no person corrupt ed ; that a torrent of violence, oppression, and cruelty, had deluged that country, but that every soul in it was just, moderate, and humane ? To trace peculation to the peculator, corruption to its Source, and oppression to the oppressor, had been the object of several searching committees institut ed by the house ; and the result was, that govern? ment could not be foul, and the governor pure. He concluded with moving for the production of certain papers necessary for the establishment of his charges, which were, in general, granted. Mr. Dundas, who, during the course of a long and able speech, had smarted under Mr. Burke's censure, for having shrunk from the accusation of the man whose guilt he had himself so largely contributed to report, endeavoured to defend his conduct, by distinguishing between that degree of criminality which appeared to him in Hastings's government worthy of his recal, and that greater enormity which deserves persecution at home. Mr. Pitt, rising in his defence, directed all the bitterness of his in vective against the mover, and his friend Mr. Fox. They need not, he said, complain that the business is not in other hands; for, if the prosecution was to be the work of violence and resentment, it is best fitted for their own. He warded the charge of inconsistency from his friend, by re minding the present opposition of their union with the greatest enemies they had ever encountered, in $he memorable event of the coalition. Qn the 4th of April, Mr. Burke came forward's 216 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, completely equipped for impeachment ; and having XXI' solemnly risen to charge Warren Hastings, late go- 1786. vernor- general of Bengal, with sundry high crimes and misdemeanours, exhibited the first nine articles of impeachment ; the remainder, which completed the number of twenty-two, were given in the suc ceeding week/ On the 26th of the same month, Mr. Hastings petitioned the house, that he might be heard in his defence to the several articles, and that he might be allowed a copy of the accusa tion, which, after some fruitless opposition from his accuser, was allowed. On the 1st of May, Mr. Hastings being called to the bar, after a grate ful acknowledgment to the house for being allow ed to be heard in person, proceeded to read his defence", in which he was assisted by Mr. Mark- ham, son to the archbishop of York, and the clerks of the house. Three days were spent in the hearing the defence, after which it was print ed, for the use of the members. The effect of the defence, which, it had been confidently hoped, would Wave quashed all future inquiry, did not seem to correspond with the sanguine expectation of Mr. Hastings' friends. The remainder of the month of May was chief- * These charges were under the bob of Arcot and the subah of the following heads. — Ist, The Rohilla Decan. . The 14th related to the war. 2d, With respect to the pro- desertion of the rana' of Gohud in vinces of Cova and Allahabad. 3d, the conclusion of the Mahratta On the treatment of the rajah of peace. The Ij'h, Improper ma- Benares. 4th, The maltreatment nagement of revenues. loth, The of the princesses of Oude. jth and ruin of the province of Oude. The 6t', The treatment of the rajahs 17'h regarded the ill-treatment of of Faruckabad and Sahlone. The a native chief, Mahomed Bezah 7th, the 10th, the nth, and ia'h, Khan. The i8'l>, The ill-usage regarded extravagant contracts and of the Mogul. The 19th charge enormous salaries bestowed on of- was for libelling the directors. 30th, ficers of the governor's own crea- The Mahratta war. ¦ 21st, The tion. The 8'h regarded illegal suppression of correspondence. And presents. The 9fh, disregard of the 21A related to tjie treatment of the orders of the company. The Fizulla Khah. 13th, Ambassadors sent to the na- GEORGE III. 217 ly spent in examining witnesses ; and on the 1 st of chap. June, Mr. Burke brought forward the first charge, ¦_ _ _' relating to the Rohilla war, and concluded a speech 17S6. of great length and energy, by moving that there were grounds for impeaching Warren Hastings on this article for high crimes and misdemeanours. By the voice of a large majority, who voted after this debate, it was at last decided, that on the ar- ' tide of the Rohilla war there were not grounds for impeaching the late governor. On the 1 3 th of June, Mr. Fox brought forward a motion similar to Mr. Burke's on the Rohilla war ; but a more important charge was soon to be produced, relating to the expulsion of Cheyt Sing from the zemindary of Benares, and the go vernor's severe and arbitrary conduct in that pro vince. By the supreme council of Benares it had been solemnly decreed, that the native prince, Cheyt Sing, and his heirs for ever, should enjoy the zemindary of Benares, on condition of giv ing only the usual payment of revenue hither to paid to the late vizier. The refusal of Cheyt Sing to pay beyond this stipulated sum drew down the vengeance of the British governor, and termi nated in the expulsion of the native prince, after considerable bloodshed of his people. In defence of Hastings' conduct, it was now, as formerly, urged as a plea, that in cases of extraordinary dan ger to the empire, the superior had a right to de mand extraordinary aids of his vassal. In the pre sent debate, the friends of Hastings saw, with dis may and apprehension, that the chancellor of the exchequer, whom they could so little suspect of partiality to their enemies, sided with the accuser, declaring his persuasion, that, admitting the right of Mr. Hastings to have taxed the zemindar, his general conduct in the business had been unneces sarily severe. The resolution of Mr. Fox, that 318 ANNALS. OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, there were grounds of impeachment on the Be* XX1, nares charge, was carried triumphantly by the ac- "7t8j. cusers of Hastings, with a majority of forty votes. Beyond this decision nothing of importance was brought before parliament during the present sest sion in the case of Hastings, Mr. Dundas' s bill for improving the government of India was introduced during these transactions. It gave the governor-general the nomination to va cant seats in the council ; it limited his officers, and authorized him to decide upon every measure, whether agreeable or not to the council. Mr. Burke opposed the proposition, as enlarging the powers of the governor to an arbitrary extent ; but Mr, Dundas, with considerable force, demonstrated that many recent mischiefs in India had arisen from the limitation of the governor's powers, which it was now meant to extend ; and that a salvo was at hand to the abuse of such power, in his responsi bility to a British tribunal. The supplies of the year heing voted for 1 8,OOQ seamen and 30,000 land-troops, and the loan be ing .fixed at *£2,500,000, a speech from his ma jesty closed the session on the 1 1 th of June. A loan of j£2,©00,000 was raised this year by exchequer bills ; #£200,000 was to be raised by a lottery, The new taxes were few and slight, being only intended to fill up the deficiency requir ed for the sinking fund.3 It was during this year that the hand of a wretch ed and obscure lunatic, Margaret Nicholson, had nearly deprived our illustrious sovereign of life. On Aug. .a. ^e 2d of August, as the king was alighting from his, carriage at S%. James's, a woman, who stood in the court-yard, struck at his majesty with a knife, but J They consisted of a new duty matum, and another on deals ar.d oh spirits of one penny per gallon, battens. another on hair-powder and pa. GEORGE III. 219 without effect, as the instrument was blunt and chap. slender. She was immediately arrested, and exa- , XXL mined by medical consultation, in presence of the t7%q. privy council, who, on a full proof of her insani ty, committed her to Bethlem hospital. The loyal addresses of the people, on this occasion, displayed the strength and sensibility of their personal at= £aj:hment to the sovereign. 220 CHAP. XXII. Meeting of the fourth session of parliament .... Measures re commended to the attention of parliament .... Consideration of the commercial treaty with France .... Question concern ing the Scotch peerages .... Consolidation of the taxes .... Farming of the revenue on licences for post-horses .... Mo tion for repealing the test and corporation acts .... Prince of Wales's debts laid before parliament .... Petition of the debtors in Newgate .... Impeachment of Hastings-, . . . Ses sion concluded. . . . Interference of Britain in the disturb ances of Holland .... Parliamentary proceedings from the opening of the year 1^88 .... Declaratory act respecting the transporting of troops to India .... Discussion of the slave trade .... Resumption of -Hastings's trial .... Budget for the year 1788 .... Wars in the east of Europe .... ///- ness of his majesty .... Debates on the regency bill. chap. A s the country still continued to enjoy the bless- xxii. jt\_ ings of peace, the views of her public coun- cils, and the wishes of her inhabitants, were left at liberty to cultivate their resources of commerce and revenue. It is a grateful task to fill up the chasm which occurs in her history, from the ab sence of battles and sieges, with the records of her peaceable arrangements and treaties abroad, or of those financial measures at home, which bore but slightly on the people, from the prosperous nature of the times. The state of political parties also continued without any important alteration. The right honourable Charles Jenkinson was ad vanced to the dignity of a peer of Great Britain, and made chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster 17S6. GEORGE III. 221 and president of the board of trade ; and, though chap. not admitted in form to a seat in his majesty's ca- xxn- binet councils, was supposed to be confidentially v consulted on all affairs of importance. Other pro motions in the peerage took place at the same time, which were of less political importance. On the 23d of January, his majesty opened the 1787. fourth session of the present parliament. After congratulating the country on the friendly disposi tion of foreign powers, his majesty informed the two houses, that he had concluded a treaty of com merce with the French king, and had ordered a copy of the treaty to be submitted to parliament. He recommended to the house of commons to make the revenue an object of early attention, and to endeavour, by some wise regulations, to sim plify the state of public accounts. His majesty gave likewise information of a convention which had been formed with Spain, respecting the cut ting of logwood in the bay of Honduras. The attention of the legislature was invited to co-ope rate in a measure of public utility highly import ant to the feelings and interests of humanity. This was a plan for conveying to the settlement of Bo tany Bay a number of those unhappy beings, who must have otherwise crowded the jails of the king dom, or, if discharged after corporal punishment or confinement, might be still expected to infest society with their crimes, and at last increase the too numerous list of public executions. At the period we now mention, and for some time after, the state of this infant colony of Botany Bay was so excessively wretched, as might almost lead us to compassionate the victims who escaped from death, to suffer every species of hardship on its forlorn shores. But the progressive amelioration of this place is an object of consolatory reflection to those who consider the utilities which it may 222 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. yet serve, in converting punishment itself to the XXIL purposes of humane reformation. The miseries of 1786. the settlement are now so fairly removed, that it will not, itt any moral probability, be ever threat ened again with famine and distress. Its climate is healthy, and its soil prolific. While it offers to the voluntary settler the possession of every ne cessary of life, it puts it in the power of humane governors, who superintend the convicts, to pro portion their comforts to the exact state of their moral deserts. If any thing under heaven can stimulate the guilty to reformation, it is a scene such as this, where a new world is opened to them, where habits of industry are imposed, not in the gloom and solitude of a dungeon, but, to those who can approve themselves worthy of con fidence, on a soil where they are to reap and sovt for their own advantage.1 On the 4th of February, the treaty of commerce with France came to be more particularly con sidered.* As the opposition which Mr. Fox offer ed to this measure* is extremely singular* and, to all appearance, at variance with the pacific and philanthropic principles which that great statesman has uniformly upheld, it is not easy to pass over this period of parliamentary debate, without insert ing very fully the reasons which he gave for his Conduct. In the debate upon the address, it is , The number of convicts whfc siery, miltinary, porcelain rhanu- have obtained grants of land is a factures of Britain were admitted proof of this, 'which may be found at twelve per cent, ad valorem, iu the accounts of Collins, Hunter, Saddlery at fifteen per cent, and and others. linens and cambrics were recipro- 2 By the articles of this treaty, tally received at equal duties. On the hardware, cutlery, cabinet, and our part We agreed to lower the turnery manufactures of England duties! on French wines, to the same gained free admittance into France as on Portuguese wines ; the duties' on paying the > confined their prospects to the abolition of that ..y ' . former evil, which, in the sight of God and man, 1788. is most atrocious. It is known, that seventy thou sand human creatures are annually torn, by force or fraud, from Africa, to be. sold in the western world ; of these an immense proportion are brought to the English plantations. It is well known, that of these there are many who have been prisoners of war ; many who have been condemned to slavery for crimes ; and some who have lived all their lives in a state of slavery, and in changing their soil only change their masters. But it is also known, that there are thousands and tens of thou sands, who are not taken in war, but stolen by the slave merchants; that one of the objects and causes of war, is to get slaves for sale, and that of those who are sold for crimes, it is to be supposed that no small quantity are not legal objects of punishment, since the barbarous jurisprudence of the Africans is such, that magic and sorcery are the chief crimes of their penal code. Of those who are sold by their princes, it can only be said, that their sellers are their oppressors, and that we are the acces sories. But even when all deductions have been made, the evidence* of the traders themselves will establish, that innumerable wretches are consigned to our ships without a crime, or the pretence of an accusation. Even should honour, humanity, justice, and every pure principle, appear to have dictated the purchase of the slaves, still, by the evidence which was brought before parliament on this occasion, it remained a dreadful difficulty to reconcile with hu manity the passage of these unfortunate beings from their native shores to the place of destination. Such a series of facts, disgraceful to mankind, ne ver was substantiated, as when the London and Liverpool merchants, in combating the bill, occa- GEORGE III. 257 sioned the naked nature of the trade to be brought char into public view in all its deformity. xxn- Mr. Wilberforce, who had early in the session ^8s7 announced his intention of bringing forward a bill for restraining this nefarious trade, being indispos ed on the day appointed for his motion, Mr. Pitt rose on the 9th of May, and moved that the house should next session take into consideration the va rious petitions which had been received upon the subject of the slave trade ; he added, that an in quiry had been already instituted by the privy council on the merits of the trade, which required time to be matured, but would ultimately aid the deliberative proceedings of the legislature. Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke lamented that, on a subject so full of interest to humanity, so much delay had already been allowed ; and insisted that an inquiry was much more becoming in that assembly, whose table was loaded with petitions on the subject, than in the privy council, to whom the people never had thought of sending petitions. In the course of the discussion, Sir William Dolben judiciously pro posed to limit the present attention of the house to that most flagrant part of the sufferings of the blacks, their passage between Africa and the West Indies ; and he entreated the house to pass regula tions on this head, without affording any delay to the traders, who, in their terror for the trade be ing speedily abolished, might overload their ves sels with human cargoes, and make a waste of hu man lives, through avarice stimulated by fear. He accordingly moved the house, on the 21st of May, for leave to bring in a bill to limit the num ber of the captive Africans in proportion to the tonnage of the vessel, and to secure to them good and sufficient provisions, and other accommoda tions for health. This bill was humanely passed, and several regulations were enforced respecting Vol II. R 158 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap the medical attendance of the slaves, and the ven» XXII'__, tilation of their ships, of which the salutary ef- 1.788, fects were soon sensibly experienced in alleviating misery and preventing death. The impeachment of Warren Hastings, in the course of this year, formed by far the most dis tinguishing part of the proceedings of parliament. In compliance with the order of the lords at the end of last session, Mr. Hastings's answer to the charges brought against him was delivered at the bar of the upper house, and from thence a copy was sent to the commons. A committee was then appointed, at the head of which was Mr. Burke, who presented a reply to the answer of Mr. Hastings, in which he offered to substantiate the charges al* leged, if the lords would condescend to fix upon time and place for a trial. On the reply being carried up to the lords, they appointed Wednesday the 1 3th of February for proceeding upon the trial in Westminster-hall. On the 13th of February, this momentous trial commenced with the legal , formalities. The counsel for the defendant were Messrs. Law, Plumer, and Dallas. The assistant counsel for the commons, Dr. Scott and Dr. Law rence, Messrs. Mansfield, Pigot, Burke, and Dou glas. The two first days were consumed in read ing the articles of impeachment. On the third, the anxiety of the public to hear Mr. Burke was so great, that the galleries of the hall were full before nine o'clock. About twelve the peers were seated to the number of 1 64 ; and the managers being called upon by the chancellor to proceed, Mr. Burke rose and said, that he stood forth, by order of the commons of Great Britain, to sup port the charge of high crimes and misdemean ours which had been exhibited against Warren Hastings, and that he had a body of evidence to' produce which would substantiate the whole of the GEORGE III. 159 charges. After a preliminary peroration upon the chap. object and high importance of the trial, the mag- , XXIL_ nitude of the crimes, and the nature of the evi- 1788. dence, Mr. Burke proceeded to the direct matter of the charge. He stated the power delegated to Governor Hastings by the India company, which he had so grossly abused ; the charter g; aited Dy the crown of Britain, under the authority of par liament to that company ; and the consequent re? sponsibiUty of their servants to the government of Britain. Tracing the history of the East-India company from its first establishment in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, through its progressive arrange ments and constitution, he affirmed that Mr. Hast ings had availed himself of every abuse that could arise out of the defective nature of the corporation. That Mr. Hastings, upon the plan chalked out by Sir Elijah Impey, had contributed to build up a system of abuse, connivance, and corruption, by distributing places of trust, of dignity, and of emolument, in forms of seduction which human nature could hardly in such circumstances be ex pected to resist. He charged Mr. Hastings with having destroyed, or deprived of its use, the only institution of the company which stood in his way, being a wisely-contrived check upon improper pro ceedings. This was an express obligation upon the company's servants to keep a journal of all their transactions, public and private ; a letter- book, in which all their letters were to be entered ; and, lastly, to keep a written record, not only of all the proceedings, resolutions, and orders made in their councils, but also of the arguments used, and the opinions delivered by each individual mem ber. To throw off the controul of this check, Mr. Hastings, he said, had instituted a distinction between public and private correspondence, by dispensing with the orders of the company in R2 160 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. boards, appointed by his own authority ; and last ly, by the actual spoliation and destitution of the company records. Mr. Burke's next charge was, that besides abusing the powers of Indian govern- ment, conferred by the British charters, he had abused also those powers with which he had been invested by the charter of the great Mogul. On this head, he endeavoured to prove, (in opposition to the chief point of Mr. Hastings' defence, that the native princes held their dominions as mere vassals under their conquerors) ; that neither under the government of the Arabian nor Tar tar invaders, nor of the usurping subahs and na» bobs, were the native princes and zemindars dis possessed of their estates, and the jurisdictions an-f nexed to them-; but that up to the last unfortu nate epoch in their history, viz. their English con quest, they had preserved their in dependant rank and dignity, their seignories, and always the right, sometimes even the means, of protecting the peo ple under them. February. The second day's speech of Mr. Burke lasted upwards of four hours. It contained a long and dreadful narration of the transactions of the East- India company, in their connection with the sur rounding potentates, of which the particulars con tain nearly the whole history of British India, since the time of Lord Clive, and are by far too nume rous and complicated to enter into any compressed narration. Resuming the history of Bengal from the usurpation of Verdi Ali Khan, he gave an ac count of the dethronement of Serajah Dowlah, of the devotion of his treacherous servant Meer Jak fier, by the bribe of £l ,000,000 to the company, and j£ 1,000,000 to individuals in their employ T ment ; of the underplot on the same stage, by which Shaw Zaddah, the Mogul's eldest son, was put to death ; and of the infamous collusion of the GEORGE ill. 261 directing court at Calcutta with the performers of chap. the catastrophe. He next drew a strong and af- XXIL fecting picture of the miseries which were entailed I788< upon the subjects of Cossim Ali, when that guilty potentate, to pay the English the price of his ele vation, was obliged to harass and oppress the na tives; and the acts of whose infamous tyranny were among the precedents which Mr. Hastings had pleaded in his justification. From the sale of kingdoms (the accuser continued), they proceeded to the sale of prime ministries and official digni ties ; the prime ministry of the restored Subah Meer Jaffier, was .set up to auction, and sold for ,g£220,000. Nundcomar, a Gentoo, the unsuc cessful bidder, shortly after threatening to inform against Mr. Hastings, was hanged on the charge of a crime, which, by the laws of his country, was not punished with death. By these and by other abuses, especially by his illegal suppression of all the courts which had been humanely insti tuted for the protection of the people, the native government had almost totally vanished from Ben gal, or was only fit to be a private perquisite for peculators. On the third day, he opened his speech with r.n explanation of the company's affairs, and • Mr. Hastings' situation, sufficient and distinct to shew, that the latter was bound by every tie, legal and honourable, not to take presents either for himself or the company's servants. But, far from acting in this manner, Mr. Hastings, after obliging the zemindars, or ancient nobility of India, to bid for their own confiscated estates, at a sale pretended to be public, but in reality private, had exposed to sale the offices of justice, the successions of families, guardianships, and other sacred trusts in Bengal. In this desultory, but severe accusation, the principal proof rested upon the evidence of Mr. R 3 262 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. Paterson, who was sent by the company to re- kXI1' port the state of the country of Dinagepore, a i788. country which was given over by Mr. Hastings to the barbarity and avarice of Gunga Govad- sing, who, though of infamous character, was described as the colleague in oppression, and the bosom friend of the governor. * From the whole view of those transactions,' (said the ac cuser), ' I charge Mr. Hastings with having de* stroyed the whole system of government in the six provincial councils, for private and bad ends, and with illegal exertion of authority. I charge him with having delegated to others, that power which the act of parliament had directed him to preserve in himself. I Charge him with having appointed a dewan (secretary) to whom English men were to be subservient, whose name, by his own knowledge, by the general voice of India, by recorded official transactions, by every thing that can make a man known, abhorred and detest ed, was stamped with infamy ; with giving him his whole power, which he had thus separated from the council general, and from the provincial coun cils. I charge him with taking bribes of Gunga Govad-sing ; with having alienated the fortunes of widows ; with having taken the lands of or phans unjustly, and given them to his wicked de- ' pendants ; with having committed to Debi Sing, another associate, similar in infamy to Gunga Go- vad, whose, wickedness was known to himself and all the world, besides three great provinces ; and thereby with having wasted the country, destroyed the landed interest, cruelly harassed the peasants, burnt their houses, ravaged their crops, tortured their persons, and sullied the honour of the whole female sex of that country.' Such were some of the outlines (for it is impos sible, without expanded limits,to give the substance)-' GEORGE 111* 263 of Mr. Burke's celebrated charges against this cul- chap, prit,, the highest in power and importance that was , xxli" brought to a court of justice during the present I7884 age. A proposal being made by the managers of the impeachment, that each article of the charges should be answered singly* and then replied to by the accusers* the defendant's counsel protested- against such a mode of trial, and the lords decided, that it should not be adopted. On the 7th day, Mr. Fox opened the Benares charge ; and next day, Mr. Grey stated and applied the evidence. On the 13th day, Mr* Anstruther summed up the evi dence on the Benaresi charge. On the 14th day* Mr. Adam opened the second charge relative to the princesses of Oude» On the 15 th day, Mn Pelham stated the evidence* For sixteen days fol lowing, evidence was heard and examined. Mr. Sheridan then summed up the charge. The trial was then adjourned to the next session of parlia ment. Nearly Co-eval, and intimately connected with the case of Hastings, was the impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey, by Sir Gilbert Elliot, (now Lord Degc- ri* Minto), which was brought before the house very early in the present session. Sir Gilbert Elliot impeached the defendant in six different articles of accusation. Of these, the first, and most interest ing, was the trial and Condemnation of Nundco- mar, an Indian bramin, whose name has been al ready mentioned in the trial of Hastings. On this occasion* Sir Gilbert Elliot addressed the house at great length, and with distinguished ability. It had been embraced, he said, as a common and corrupt maxim, in palliating the delinquencies of oppressors in India, that the country was made for slavery, that it must be oppressed or abandon ed. The reverse was, however, the truth ; India must be redressed or abandoned. He stated the 264 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, nature, the occasion, and the purposes of the com^ XIL mission under which Sir Elijah Impey had been 1788. sent out to India; and that in the two grand objects which were committed to his charge, the protection of the company from the frauds of its servants, and of the natives from the oppression of Europeans, he had, by corruptly changing sides, added his new powers to the very force they were intended to controul, and taken an active part in the oppres sions which it was his duty to have resisted. Sir Elijah Impey, in defending himself against the first Charge, viz. the condemnation of Nundcomar, con tended, that although the authority of the supreme court did not extend over all the inhabitants of the' English provinces in India, it included the inhabit ants of Calcutta, and that Nundcomar had not been tried as an inhabitant of Bengal, but of Cal cutta. On a motion being made by the promoters of the impeachment, that the first charge exhibited in this accusation, contained matter of impeach-i ment, it was negatived by a majority of seventy- three to fifty-five, and it was afterwards voted, that the other charges should not be taken into consi deration. On opening the budget for the year, the minis ter stated the permanent peace establishment at £l 5,624,000, but the amount had been recently increased by the Hessian subsidy, by the payment of the prince's debts, the charges on the West- Indian establishments, and other inevitable expences. The permanent revenue he stated at ,§£15,792,000. In the course of five years, k appeared that the re venue had increased to the extent of e£5 ,000,000, of which only ^£l ,000,000 had been raised by new taxes ; the rest arose from the progressive prospe rity of the country. The supplies granted for the year, were 18,000 seamen, and about 20,000 landsmen, besides those who were upon foreign GEORGE 111. 265 duty. No new taxes were imposed, but a sum chap. was raised by lottery. The session continued till , XXI'l the 11th of July. I788. In the royal speech which concluded the session, the intelligence of a treaty concluded with Hol land, was the most impdrtant communication. By this treaty, the full rights of the stadtholder, as might have been expected, were guaranteed by our government. Contingent assistances were mutual- . ly stipulated in case of war. These were limited on the side of .the states-general* to 12,000 land forces, twelve ships of the line, and sixteen frigates, on the utmost emergency ; the British contingent was to be proportioned to the necessities of the case ; but on no summons to fall below 1 0,000 soldiers, and twelve ships of the line. By a treaty With Prussia, which was concluded nearly at the same time, the stadtholdership was guaranteed in the family of the king of Prussia's relations, and a defensive alliance was contracted, by which, in case of either kingdom being attacked, the allies were reciprocally bound, to furnish a force of 10,000 troops for that country which should be invaded. By these treaties, an aspect of entire security seemed to be given to western Europe, as far as alliances could maintain the balance of power. From the internal agitations of the French king dom, which even at this period predicted a long continuance, no source of alarm to the surround ing nations could be yet anticipated, or rather the energies of that nation turning inwardly to her own disadvantage* appeared to deliver Europe from the terrors of her once formidable ambition. Uncon nected with the great eastern empires of Europe, the country therefore heard of war having broke out between the imperial sovereigns and Turkey, as a topic of curiosity rather than interest, and it 260 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, was mentioned in the king's speech,, as if only to xXH' furnish a contrast to the picture of our own pacific 1788, prosperity. Of these imperial allies, Russia had for some time been engaged in active hostilities with the Tartars, and by her victories in this un equal contest, was led to cherish no undisguised designs of uniting to he*1 conquest of those bar barous territories, the richer provinces of the Porte, to which they adjoined. Perfidious as well as inso lent, she had her emissaries through the whole em pire of the sultan to seduce his Georgian, Egyp tian, Moldavian, and Wallachian subjects from allegiance* while she demanded of the Turks, to oblige the Leogis Tartars, a people over whom the Porte had no authority, to submit to her arms. To this demand she added the cession of whole territories, without any equivalent. In the midst of these claims and intrigues, the empress made a journey to her Tartar conquests, and at Cherson, celebrating her triumphal entry, inscribed over one of the gates, as if to proclaim her intentions, ' Through this gate lies the way to Byzantium.' To these demands the divan objected the last and solemn treaty of peace which they had made with Russia ; but foreseeing that arguments were not to quiet the pretensions of Catharine, prepared for war, and declared it in the latter end of 1787. They made some inroads on the Russian frontiers, which proved unsuccessful*- The Russians in their turn attempted the siege of Oczakow with no better fortune; their greatest efforts were, however, de layed till their levies should be complete, and their expected ally, the emperor Joseph, should bring an Austrian army into the field. Joseph, as restlessly ambitious as his Russian ally, had hitherto confined his plans of depreda tion to the liberties of his own subjects, or to en croachments on the Dutch and Germans, which GEORGE III. 267 the interference of abler politicians had prevented, chab. In the year 1784, when his reign of innovation xx"- was but newly begun, he attempted, by threats' — £7" and denunciation, to wrest from the Dutch, their *7 ' dominion of the Scheldt, in o^en violation of that treaty which had secured his ancestor on his im perial throne, and guaranteed to the Dutch the navigation of that river. From realizing this in tended encroachment, he was prevented by the firmness of Holland* by the marked aversion of France to his pretensions, by the probability of other kingdoms interfering, and by the troubles in his Hungarian and Dacian dominions.5 His next pretension to the sovereignty of Bavaria was coun teracted by the power of the Great Frederic, and from that he was forced unequivocally to desist. The only warfare where Joseph's ambition was destined to triumph, was against the prerogative of his Belgian subjects. On the first of January 1 787, two imperial edicts were issued, by which the established constitution of the Netherlands was abolished, and among other relics of their ancient liberty, the institution of the joyous entry, which Constitutes the magna charta of the Brabanters, was done away. The states of Brabant* seconded by those of Flanders and Hainault, the men of rank, the clergy, and the people, rose in one fer ment of resistance, at these wanton and impolitic innovations. Had the emperor been less engaged by plans of foreign conquest, it may be seen, from the sequel, that resistance in the present instance would have probably been unavailing to the Flem4 ings ; but the court of Vienna temporized, the en gagements of the emperor with Russia arrested for a while the scene of Belgian oppression ; the s The dispute concerning the the navigation of that river front Scheldt concluded by a treaty sign- Septingen to the sea was guarar:- ed at Munster 1785, by which all teed to the states. 268 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, sovereign in person visited and appeased his per1- xxln. Curbed subjects ; the joyous entry was restored. " "&s ""' 'It was previous to these last events, that ,the em press Catharine had made her journey to Cherson i she had there held an audience with Joseph and the king of Poland ; with the former every ar rangement was concerted for invading, and proba bly dismembering the Ottoman dominions. The emperor, when solicited by the Turks to explain his intentions respecting the war with Russia, re plied, that being the ally of the latter power, he was bound to furnish them an army of 80,000 men ; he, however, offered his mediation, which, on explanation, proved to be little better than a transcript of ' Catherine's last haughty proposals. The rejection of these ,was held by Joseph a suffi cient apology for drawing ' the sword, while the Turks, with better reason, reproached him fof wantonly breaking a peace of fifty years continu ance, without being able to allege one injury or pretext. On the 10th of February of the pre sent year, the emperor Joseph proclaimed war with the Turks, and prepared to invade their do minions with four considerable armies. His cam paign, however, gained him as little glory in the execution as in the motives. His forces, un der Prince Lichenstein, advancing presumptuously against theTurkish fortress of Dubicza, were about to assault it by storm, when their antagonists, in spired with an indignation which pervaded all de grees of the Ottoman army, threw open their gates, and rushing into the very entrenchments of the besiegers, drove them before them with the slaughter of 2000 men. The grand vizier, who led the Turkish arms in this campaign, was a per son of extraordinary genius. , Knowing the nature of his troops, he made the best use of that impe tuous but unsteady valour which has ever dis- GEORGE III. 269 tinguished the Turks since the days when their chap, discipline equalled their intrepidity. Assembling , XXI1, his troops for the sake of penetrating into Hunga- 1788. ry, he marched towards the Bannat of Temiswar, which is divided by the Danube from the Turkish Servia, and the fortress of Belgrade, invaded the Bannat,and spread desolation wherever he approach ed. All the terrors of invasion were immediately transferred to the Austriahs, and Vienna itself trembled at the approach of the Turks. From these fears she was delivered by a temporary truce, which Joseph found it necessary to conclude with the vizier. On the side of Russia, military operations were much more successful than with the armies of Joseph. The first object of Catha rine was completely obtained, which was to en large and secure her possessions on the Black. sea, and her victories enabled her even to extend her prospects to an ascendancy in the Mediterra nean. From the wars of remote barbarians, the at tention of Englishmen was recalled, at this period, to an event of more immediate and domestic im portance. Since the rising of parliament, the de clining health of his majesty had continued to dis quiet the public mind. ' His disorder increasing, from debility to fever, was at last confirmed, be fore the first week of November, into settled de lirium. It may be easily supposed with what sen sations a loyal people received the tidings of this event, which suspended the functions of royalty, whilst the constitution itself, in all its providence for contingent evils, seemed either silent or doubt ful on the means by which the executive was, in such a case, to be supplied. The heir-apparent, the queen, and the lord-chancellor, made early ar rangements respecting the domestic affairs of the 270 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN, chap, sovereign. For public arrangements the meeting , xx L of parliament was anxiously expected. In the 1788. meantime, all those to whom their public influence gave an interest in the crisis, assembled in the ca pital. An express was dispatched to Mr. Fox, who was at that time pursuing a tour on the Con tinent, to hasten his return. On the 20tb of November, the state of his ma jesty's disorder was announced to the peers and commons, in their respective chambers ; to the former by the lord-chancellor, and to the latter by Mr. Pitt.8 No important debate was yet brought on. The houses adjourned till the 4th of Decem ber ; and an edict was at the same time issued to both houses for the strict attendance of their mem bers. On that important day, Mr. Pitt opened the momentous business by proposing that the re port of the privy-council on his majesty's health should be considered. An opposition mem ber, Mr. Viner, more judiciously proposed, to examine his majesty's physicians; and Mr. Pitt, Dec. 8. after some hesitation, agreed. Mr. Viner's sug gestion being followed, a committee was appointed in both houses ; and their report, upon examin ing the king's phycisians, was brought up on the 10th of December. Mr. Pitt then moved for a committee to examine the journals of the house for precedents of similar situations, which might be a guide in their present deliberations. Mr. Fox rose in objection to this proposal, asserting that right honourable mover well knew that no prece dent could be found of the suspension of the exe cutive government, in which, at the same time, 8 The announce of his majesty's probability of his majesty recovery, unfortunate situation was accom- but that it was impossible to pre panied by a report of his majesty's diet the probable time.' physicians, « that there was a great ij>88. GEORGE III. 271 there existed an heir-apparent to the crown, of full chap. age and capacity. For his own part, he was con- xxii. vinced, from the analogy of the common law, ' that whenever the sovereign was unable, from sick ness, infirmity, or any other cause, to exercise his high functions, the heir-apparent, if come to full age and capacity, had a claim to the exercise of the executive government during the continuance of such incapacity, in the name and on behalf of the sovereign, as much as on his demise. He ac knowledged, at the same time, that the two houses of parliament were alone competent to pronounce when the prince ought to take possession of his right. The chancellor of the exchequer contro verted Mr. Fox's opinion with great heat, and proi- nounced the declaration of it to be little short of treason ; he maintained the necessity of immediate ly settling the question at issue, whether the prince had any right to supply the vacant functions of royalty, but such as parliament should inde pendently grant ? Mr. Burke sarcastically remark ed, that the position of the chancellor of the ex chequer went to set up himself as a candidate against the prince for the regency : in such an election, he said, he must be excused if he should vote for an amiable prince, rather than a haughty minister, who denounced the pains of constructive treason on all who abetted the prince's right. The same subject was earnestly debated in the peers. Mr, Fox's assertion of the prince's right was decried by his antagonists, as a dereliction of his whig principles, while their own vindication of the elective right of parliament was proudly attributed by ministers to their warm regard for the demo. cratical principles of the constitutiori ; but the opinion of Mr. Fox had not been formed on slight grounds. The sacredness of hereditary royalty is in reality as necessary for the freedom of our con- 272 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ©hap. stitution, as the right of parliament to watch xxn' over the encroachments of royal power. A par* ,788. liament faithfully guarding and guiding this suc cession, is the bulwark of popular freedom. A parliament which presumes to elect the executive, ? converts the constitution to elective from heredi tary monarchy. By a few exertions of this elec tive right, it is easy to foresee what a parliament might soon become : a complete and formidable aristocracy. Whether the power, exerted by par liament at the revolution, was elective or adjudi catory, does not much affect the question. A re volution is a case not to be taken as the standard of precedents, any more than the physic admini stered in- disease is to be called the salutary or ad visable diet of the human body. The revolution was a case of desperate necessity. In the present instance no necessity called for altering the line of succession. The royal functions were suspended, the heir apparent was of full age. For parlia ment to take the absolute election of the executive into their own hands, was in fact creating a revo lution. To proclaim that the throne was vacant, and that they would place on it whomsoever they pleased, was contemptuously over-ruling the here* ditary right of the prince. But the vacancy of the throne, it may be said, was but temporary ; it was not similar to the absolute demise of the royal per sonage. True, but as it was in providing that the princess power should be temporary also, that the sole privilege of parliament, constitutionally con sisted, it was for them to declare the period for his assuming and renouncing his power. The ana logy of common law is not demonstrative proof in favour of any doctrine. But who shall deny that it is venerable authority ? When the possessor of an estate is unable to administer to his own affairs, while an heir apparent is entirely capable of sue? GEORGE III. 273 Cession, is there any doubt of his right to assume chap. tne relinquished management ? xx"- Mr. Pitt, however, carried, by his accustomed *~ majorities, a series of resolutions preparatory to his own system of a regency, among which reso- lutions the most memorable was, a declaration of the fiouse of their full right to elect a regent. His arguments were deduced from precedents, and from the nature and spirit of the constitution. His precedents, he candidly confessed, were but ana logies. If an heir apparent had a right of succes sion, an heir presumptive, he contended, had the same. But in Edward III.'s time, no heir presumptive claimed the exercise of sovereignty ; parliament provided a council. In the infancy of Henry VI, parliament was convoked by the king's uncle. In the reign "of Richard II, counsellors were appointed to administer .the exe cutive power.9 Mr. Fox was strongly seconded by Lord North, in resisting the assumption of the legi slative to elect a regent. " The monarchy," said Mr. 9 During the debates on the re- ercise of the prerogative, the limit- gency, very distinct answers were ations were made in full parlia- given to the premier's doctrines on ment, when the duke constituted the subject of precedents. Sir Grey the third estate, and when from Cooper remarked, that respecting each of the bills that restrained his the one drawn from the reign of authority, he might have with- Henry the sixth, he would under- held his assent. With respect take to prove, that at the time re- to the revolution, the election of ferred to, both houses of parlia- William was an act to which the ment were in a state of abject sub- parliament was driven by actual mission to the power of Richard necessity, and did not at all apply duke of York and the potent fami- to ihe present case. But knowing lies connected with him. Mr. Fox, and feeling the distinct powers pos- in a subsequent debate, replied to sessed by the two houses, and pos- Mr. Pitt on the precedents of the sessed by the legislature, knowing first of Henry the sixth and the re- that the two houses could act only volution. From the first precedent by resolutions and addresses, and he deduced two important facts, that the legislature could atrain ace - 1st, That the power was given to only by bill and statute, the con- the duke of Gloucester, the next in vention proceeded by that course succession to the crown, and in this which was consistent with their nominationthe full authority of the functions, by address ; here was a sovereign was entrusted to him ; precedent in the revolution appli- 2d,That though, afterwards, limit- cable to the present case. ations were put to the duke's ex- Vol II S 274 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. Fox, is hereditary ; but if the motion of this night xxu' should pass, what form of government should we i788. then possess ? Let a stranger ask of an English man, is the crown of Britain hereditary or not ? The Englishman must surely say, I cannot tell pre cisely, but consult the king's physicians ; when his majesty is well, we have an hereditary, when he is unwell, we have an elective monarchy. ' Let the parliament,' said Mr. Fox, ' consider the danger of making any other person than the prince of Wales regent. They may choose a catholic, they may choose any one they please, for the law defines not a regent ; but let them remember, for a case of precedent, that it was a regent, a protector, Rich ard duke of York, who set aside the prince of Wales, and the whole line of Lancaster, though much more nearly allied to the crown.' Mr. Pitt's resolution was carried. To sanction and legalize this vote of parliament, it was, however, necessary to have the royal assent fictitiously attached to it. Mr. Pitt proposed that the lord chancellor should be empowered by com-"" mission, to give authority in the royal name. The D ec.az. 0pp0Sers 0f the former motion objected with equal vehemence to this measure, as a violation of the constitution, as an absolute assumption, by the le gislative body, of the rights of royalty. By whose authority, they demanded, was the lord chancellor to act? Was it in the king's name, at a time when his majesty, by the visitation of God, was disabled from giving or refusing assent ? Was it in the name of parliament, then, that the chancellor was to act ? that was illegal, for by a law of Charles II it was pronounced, that no law could be valid without the royal assent. The two houses, said Mr. Fox, have been pleased to declare (in contradiction to that opinion which the abettors of his royal highness's right had supported) that they GEORGE HI. 275 alone possessed the right of nominating to the re- c^lj' gency ; but at the same time declaring that they , thought the prince the most proper person to be 1788. appointed. Bowing to their decision, he now wished them to go on and to appoint the prince regent. Instead of doing so, what was the spirit of the next resolution? They cannot appoint a regent till they had raised up a third estate in the mock royalty of the chancellor, a royalty conferred by themselves, in violation of law. Thus they first declare their right of conferring the regency, and then, by seeking refuge under the fictitious sanc tion of royalty, shew that they shrink from exercis ing it. Mr. Pitt, in reply, interpreted the statute of Charles II, which declares the royal assent necessary for the act of legislating, to be applicable only when the king remained ; when that ceased to be the case, the lords and commons must of necessity legislate by themselves. To obtain, how ever, the form of royal assent, was at all times con stitutional, and for that reason, he wished the chancellor to be empowered to bestow it. How ever coarse the fiction might seem which gave the title of royalty to a lord chancellor, still, in some- shape or other, fiction was unavoidable. Let the regent be appointed, and let it be shewn how fic titious form could be evaded. The regent could not act in his own name without dethroning the king, and in the king's, he could, no more than the chancellor, act without a fiction. The debate concluded with three resolutions of the house, of which the substance was a declaration of the right, and of the will of parliament to provide for the temporary means of giving effect to such bills as they should pass respecting the regency. During these debates, the avowed restrictions that were destined for the power of the regent, by those who dreaded the change of subsisting arrangements, S 2 276 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, were severely arraigned by the prince's friends. xxii. jn tne peers a protest was entered against the re- """"g^ ' solutions by forty-eight names, among whom were the elder princes of the blood. The pro ceedings of parliament were not beheld by the people at large with indifference ; party-spirit was excited by the fearful change of so momentous an occasion. Should the power of the regent be per mitted in any shape that could be' called a repre sentation of sovereignty,, the ascendancy of the Portland party, and of Mr. Fox's friends, was ine vitable, and must have endured with the regency, or survived it in the event of a new succession. Arrangements it was understood had been already made for the disposal of the highest dignities : the duke of Portland was to have been first lord of the treasury, Mr. Fox and Lord Stormont, secre taries of state, and Lord John Cavendish, chancel lor of the exchequer. Before the plan of , the regency was finally dis cussed in parliament, or offered, by the sanction of the legislature, for the prince's acceptance, its principal outlines were submitted by the minister to his royal highness. The terms were, that he should exercise the regency during his majesty's illness, without being admitted to any share in the ' eare of the royal person, or interference with the king's household and private affairs : that he should be empowered to grant no pension, reversion, or office, (except where the law indispensably re quired), for any other term than during the king's pleasure, nor any peerage, except on the royal issue. The answer of the prince of Wales was tempe- Jan. %. rate, but decided. Of the steps already taken by parliament, the prince remarked, that he could say nothing, as no decision of either house could be a proper subject for his animadversion : he declared, GEORGE III. 277 however, that it was with the deepest regret that chap. he perceived in that paper a project for producing XXI!o weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch TTs^- of the administration ; a project for dividing the royal family from each other ; for separating the court from the state, and thereby disjoining go vernment from its natural and accustomed support; a scheme for disconnecting the authority to com mand service ; from the power of animating it by reward, and for allotting to the prince all the in vidious duties of government, without the means of softening them to the public by one act of grace, favo ur, or benignity. The plea of public utility (continued the prince) ought to be strong, manifest, and urgent, which calls for the extinc tion or suppression of any one of those essential rights of the supreme power or its representative ; or which can justify the prince, in consenting that, in his person, an experiment should be made, to ascertain with how small a portion of power the executive government of this country may be car ried on. A conviction', however, of the evils that may arise to the king's interest, to the peace and happiness of the royal family, and to the safety and welfare of the nation, from the government of the country remaining longer in its present maimed and debilitated state, outweighs, in the prince's mind, every other consideration, and will deter mine him to undertake the painful trust imposed on him by the present melancholy necessity, (which of all the king's subjects he deplores tha- most) in full confidence that the affection and loyalty to the king, the experienced attachment to the house of Brunswick, and the generosity which has always distinguished this nation, will carry him through the many difficulties inseparable from this most critical situation, with comfort to him- S 3 278 Annals of great Britain. chap, self, with honour to the king, and with advantage x*'I-_, to the public. i788. On the 16th of January, the whole plan of the regency, of which the principal features had been delineated in Mr. Pitt's letter to the prince, were laid before the house of commons by the minister, and four resolutions were passed expressive of those restrictions to be imposed on the regent's power respecting trusts, pensions, and honours which have been detailed. By the fourth reso lution it was enacted, that the persons attend ant on his majesty, and the officers of the house hold in general, should be under the exclusive controul of the queen, and that a council should be named to assist the queen with their advice, whenever it should be required. By this decisive ordinance, the disposal of honours and emoluments, to the amount of one-fourth of the civil list, was put into the hands of her majesty, and indirectly retained for the strength of a party, whom her majesty was known to favour. The objections urged against these resolutions were neither few nor unimportant. Lord North, Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, Colonel Fullarton, and Mr. Powys, distinguished themselves in this oppo sition. It is a maxim in our constitution, said Lord North, that the king never dies, or in other words, that the sovereign power is not to be sus pended for a moment ; but here it is in fact sus pended for an unlimited period. A regency, which from its ' nature is weaker than the real sovereignty, is reduced to nothing by cutting off those privileges which are the very sinews of exe cutive power ; it is stript of every disposing power by which royalty, or the image of royalty, is up held. To choose his pages and grooms of the household might fairly remain in other hands than the regent's ; but of the offices nominally attach- GEORGE III. 2?9 ed to the household, numbers are political and strictly /connected with the executive. To de- ^_ prive the executive of the power of nominating to ^^ssT those situations, was therefore an outrage on the first estate of the constitution.' ' It has been pro mised' (continued his lordship), ' by the minister himself, that this mass of patronage shall not be used for the purpose of factious opposition to the regency ; but a council is to surround her ma jesty, and with all purity of intentions, that august personage may be misadvised, at least it is not par liamentary to take the minister's word as security for the contrary.' Mr. Pitt, in defending his own scheme of the regency, quoted the precedents in our history, and enlarged on the danger of en trusting to a temporary executive, those powers which might be safely committed to a permanent sovereign. Two committees from the two houses of parlia ment, presented to the queen and his royal high ness, the plan of the regency. The answer of the prince imported, that his zeal for the interest of these kingdoms, and his respect for the decision of parliament, outweighing every other consideration, would induce him to undertake the momentous charge that was proposed to him. The queen simply expressed her great obligations to the country, and her anxiety to perform her duty, with the happiness of having a council assigned for her assistance. During these events, his majesty continued chiefly under the medical care of Dr. Willis, a clergyman who had kept a lunatic hos pital at Northampton, and so much reputed for the cures he had performed, as to be summoned to the capital on the first appearance of the royal malady. Of all the physicians that had attended his majesty ,-Dr. Willis was known to be the most sanguine in expressing his hopes of the king's 280 annals op great Britain. ^^f" recovery ; but hitherto those hopes had been in- ' _j definite as to time, and consequently received with J788. less assurance than they were delivered. During the progress of the month of February, they ber came more and more sanguine. Amid circumstances so important to the common interests of the empire, the Irish parliament,' as serting their legislative independancy (so lately ac quired), voted in the peers and commons, an ad dress to the prince of Wales, beseeching him to take on himself the government of that kingdom, as regent, during his majesty's incapacity. Both houses waited on the, lord-lieutenant with the address, requesting him to transmit it. His ex cellency answered, that under the impressions he felt of his oath, and his official duty, he was not warranted to lay before the prince an address, of which the purport was to invest his royal highness with powers to take upon him the government of that realm, before he should be enabled by law to assume it. The peers and commons of Ireland passed, after some debate, a vote of unqualified censure on those who had advised his excellency to make this refusal. Feb. u & Qn tne 05 th 0f February, commissioners from the Irish parliament arrived in London, for the purpose of waiting on the prince himself, to communicate the address of which the lord-lieu- . tenant had refused to be the bearer. But their friendly intentions were rendered nugatory by the recovery of his majesty. While the regency bill was warmly contested in both houses of the British parliament, its progress was arrested on the 10th of March, by the lord-chancellor informing both houses, (the commons with their speaker being at the bar of the house of lords) that the king had caused a commission to be issued, authorizing the commissioners who had been appointed by former GEORGE III. 281 ?letters patent to hold that parliament. The com- chap. mission being read, the chancellor proceeded to XX,I> acquaint them that his majesty being recovered ' g8_ from his late severe indisposition, had command ed him to return his warmest acknowledgments for their affectionate attachment to his person, and their care for the public good during the late momentous crisis. Addresses of congra tulation were immediately and unanimously vot ed by both houses to his majesty. The gene ral happiness of the people was testified at these tidings by the innumerable congratulations which reached the throne, and by the solemn and reli gious manner in which the public, thanksgiving was celebrated throughout the kingdom. In Lon don the day of celebration was distinguished by the public procession of his majesty to Sl. Paul's, attended by the members of both houses of parlia ment. During the late interregnum, the death of Mr. Cornwall occasioned the new election of a speaker of the house of commons, and the right honourable William Windham Grenville was preferred to the chair. The promotion of Mr. Grenville to a peerage and secretaryship of state soon after, occasioned another vacancy, and the unsuccessful candidate,Sir Gilbert Elliot, was again proposed by the oppo^ sition side of the house ; but yielding to the mini sterial influence of another candidate, Mr. Henry Addington was called to the chair by a great ma? jority of votes. The business of parliament now returning to its usual channel, the first subject of imr portance that came before the commons, was a supply of ££218,000, solicited for the board of ordnance department, for the purpose of more completely fortifying our West-India possessions. In support of the proposal, the minister of the 4 1788. 282 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, war department alleged that the islands, in their" xxu. present state, were exposed defenceless to the sud- ' den attack of an enemy, and that the capture of many of them, during former wars, might have been prevented, had the aid of fortification been superadded to the defence of a fleet. It was urged in objection to this plan, that fortifications might defend our tenure of the islands, but could not secure them from desolation, in case of their being invaded. That the expence of having and sup porting garrisons, with the usual prodigality and waste ©f human lives, which attends West-Indian service, would far exceed the value of their pos session. The vote of supply was, however, passed without a division. Mr. Fox persevering in his efforts for there- peal of the shop-tax, was at last successful. After learning, from the contents of Mr. Fox's motion, that the oppressiveness of the tax was not a par tial, but universal subject of discontent through out the metropolis, the minister declared that he would not longer resist the repeal ; and the ob noxious impost, the tax on pedlars, to the great satisfaction of all the industrious traders in Lon don, Westminster, and Southwark, was done away. Mr. Beaufoy's renewed motion for the repeal of the corporation and test acts was debated in a very thinly-attended house, and, through the zealous resistance of Mr. Pitt and Lord North, again experienced rejection. The subject of the slave-trade was also resumed, and many facts, which deeply interested humanity, were brought before the house. By the concession of the friends of abolition, the question was at last suf fered to lie over till the succeeding session ; but the bill, which owed its introduction to Sir Wil liam Dolben, for regulating the transportation of GEORGE III. 283 slaves from Africa, was by another vote continued chap. and amended. xx"- In opening the budget of the year, Mr. Pitt V-"^" drew a flattering picture of the national finances. He stated the annual income of the country to have amounted, on an average of two years, to ^15,778,000. He stated the total of the supplies, voted for the current year, at *£5,730,000, ex clusive of renewed exchequer bills. As ways and means, he computed the land and malt tax at et?2,750,000 ; a loan of .=£1,000,000; the pro fits on a lottery, £21 1,000; by short annui ties, £ 19 1,000 ; from the consolidated fund, £l, 530,000, making in all, £5,14>2,000. Besides the loan for a million, it appeared, that there would be a necessity for new taxes, to the amount of £ 100,000 ; which the minister pro posed to levy on newspapers, on cards and dice, on probates of will, and upon post-horses. This was to pay the interest of the borrowed million, and to make up the deficiency of the shop- tax which had been repealed. The prosperous description of the finances which had been held forth by the chancellor of the exchequer, was violently disput ed by Mr. Sheridan. It was moved by that gentleman, that a new committee of finance should be formed, and pledged himself to substantiate, before an impartial audience, four important as sertions,^ in direct contradiction to those of the minister ; that the report of the committee in 1786 was neither founded in fact, nor verified by experiment: that for the three last years, the expenditure had exceeded the income two , millions, and might be expected to do so for three years to come : that no progress had hitherto been made in the reduction of the national debt : and, that there was no ground for that expecta tion, without a considerable increase in the annual 284 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, income, or reduction of the expences. On each xxii. 0f these allegations, Mr. Sheridan dwelt with ex- "7^8„ "' tensive and minute illustration. The report of the committee of 1786 was defended by Mr. Secre tary Grenville. The answer of ministers, when stript of its financial calculations, amounted to this; that greater expences had been incurred than could have been expected ; but that future years would undoubtedly prove less abundant in extra ordinary demands,8 and by that approaching test they desired to be tried ; that the income of the country was, in the meantime, increasing much beyond their calculations, and would soon over top the expences. Mr. Sheridan's motion for a new committee was rejected. The view of Indian finances was drawn in no less pleasing colours by the minister of that de partment. The excess of the revenue of the com pany, above the interest of their debt, was given at i£l, 367,000. A bill was, therefore, passed, with slight opposition, to enable the company to add one million to their capital. A bill, which passed before the conclusion of the session, for subjecting tobacco to the duties of excise, instead of the customs, occasioned the most earnest petitions against the measure, from the manufacturers of that article. The remonstrances Were heard for several days, by council, at the bar of the house. Besides the general hardships of extending the visitations of the excise, they endea voured to establish the peculiar injury of submit ting a manufactory, containing, in many processes, secrets highly valuable to the possessors, to the inspection of excise officers. The great variations in the weight of tobacco, it was also urged, made 8 The extraordinary expences by the expences of the late arma- were occasioned by the continued ment, and several other circum- grants to the American loyalists, stances. GEORGE III. 285 it wholly unfit for being the subject of excise, since chap. every variation of weather was known to affect it xxu- in a manner, which the owner could neither re- >~^X~" medy nor prevent. The bill, in its passage, was so altered and modified, as partially to remove the chief objections of the manufacturers. The trial of Mr. Hastings proceeded during this session, but with no circumstance of memorable im portance. An intemperate expression which escaped Mr. Burke, when in speaking (during oneof his warm est philippics) of the execution of Nundcomar, he said, that Hastings had murdered that man through the hands of Sir Elijah Impey, was voted worthy of censure, by a great majority of the house. On the 1 ltb of August, the chancellor, by his majesty's command, prorogued the parliament, after a ses sion of -almost nine months with little interrup tion. The single successful campaign which Turkey had maintained against the emperor, was sadly compensated in the present year, by the return of good fortune to the Austrian standard. The death of Sultan Achmet the IV, a prince, who, though educated in the darkness of the seraglio, yet promised, by his superior abilities, to uphold, if- not to renovate, that falling empire, placed a successor on the Ottoman throne, little fitted to prop its decline. One of the first acts of Sultan Selim, was to depose and murder the vizier Dus- suff Pacha, who had lately triumphed over the Austrian arms, and to appoint a new vizier, whose army was, in one day, put to total ruin, by the su perior tactics of Cobourg and Suarrow. So de cisive was this battle, which was fought on the plains of Martinesti, that the Turks lost 7,000 men, and with these seemed to lose, irrecoverably, their confidence and concert. ..The return of Mar shal Laudon to the head of the Austrian armies,, . 286 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ghap. on the Hungarian and Croatian frontiers, was XXI1, equally auspicious to the imperial cause. Bel- 1789. grade, the key of the Turkish frontiers, was taken with its numerous garrisons, and, in general, eyery place of importance in the same quarter, yielded to the Austrians, except Orsova, of which the gar rison displayed so much ' gallantry, as to compel the veteran Laudon himself to raise the siege. In the eastern scene of the contest, the Russians were no less successful. The celebrated Hassan Bey, long distinguished as an admiral in the Ottoman wars, was imprudently transferred by the sultan to his land-service; and commanded the army of Bes sarabia. After a hard fought battle, he was driven before the army of Prince Potemkin, out of that province, and the fate of Bender, its capital, was decided by the same engagement. Nothing but the approach of winter, seemed to protect Con stantinople from the assault of the conquering enemies. But, before the emperor Joseph had time to complete his triumphs over these barbarians, he was engaged in new difficulties with his own subjects, by that unhappy policy which inspired the first and last moments of his reign. The calm of accommodation in Flanders and Brabant was fallacious; for the pro mises which had quieted the people of those coun tries were, on the part of the sovereign, insincere. The people were suspicious ; the emperor was in dignant, that he had been obliged to accommodate and dissemble. The mask was therefore thrown off; conciliating governors were withdrawn, as a prelude to the change of conciliatory measures. Innovations on the freedom of the Belgians, and in violation of the joyous entry, were proclaimed to be the will of the emperor, which the council of Brabant were ordered to register as law, and the people, under penalty of death, to obey. The GEORGE III. 287 council refused obedience, as well as subsidies, CHAPl while the charter of their constitution should be xxn. outraged ; the people shewed universal discontent. ' — £""" In these disgraceful scenes of innovation, where the emperor insulted the liberties of the Belgians, the first breach of his late accommodation took place at Louvainj where the institution of the uni versity was changed for a capricious scheme of the reforming sovereign ; and a defenceless crowd, who had assembled from curiosity more than sedi tion, were murdered in cold blood by the soldiers. From these and similar aggressions arose that sud den combination of the Belgians, by which, as if by magical incantation, an army of 40,000 men sprang up in an instant, and, with a career of suc cess as rapid as it was short, overran the whole of Austrian Flanders. On the 22d of December 1789, the states of Brabant, after solemnly re nouncing allegiance to the emperor, appointed the leaders, who were to form the administration of the new republic. Of those leaders the most dis tinguished were, M. Vandernoot, a popular ad vocate of Antwerp, M. Van Euren, the baron D'HoJ-e, and General Vandersmerch, of whom the last was made commander of the army. A regu lar government was established, and diplomatic agents dispatched to treat with the powers of Eu rope, as from an independent state. The rise, the progress, and the fall, of this revo lution, form an interesting epoch in theater events of Europe ; but, as it occasioned no armed inter ference on the part of England, it is but a second ary consideration in viewing the history of our own affairs. It is sufficient to say, that the popu lar government of Belgium, strong as it seemed to rise, endured for little more than a year. It fell by internal treachery, by dissension, by the 288 annals of great Britain. chap, bigotry of its church and people, and by the jea'-> * lousy of its nobles ; but the mortal circumstance 1789. of its fate was the return of those armies from the Turkish wars, which enabled Joseph to overwhelm the insurgents by numbers, as well as discipline. The succession of Leopold, however, to the im perial throne, was, from the mild and moderate character of that sovereign, as favourable to the humiliated circumstances of the Belgian patriots, as it was to the repose of Europe in a different quarter. In the contest which had for some time agitata ed the eastern frontiers of Europe, the northern neighbours of the belligerent powers found them selves at last involved either as principals or arbi trators. While Denmark was induced, by threats or promises, to become the strict ally of Russia, Gustavus, king of Sweden, was ambitious of act ing a more distinguished part, by checking the vast designs of Catharine, and restoring the once- powerful influence of his native country over the af fairs of Europe. To this bold measure he was believ ed to be secretly stimulated by those cabinets who did not think it yet prudent to avow their senti ments openly, as well as by the state of his fi-* nances, and of his own dominions, and the criti- *?87. cal relation in which he stood to Russia. The al liance of the Porte offered him a subsidy, which he was known to require ; the mutinous state of his own people made a standing army indis pensable for the support of his usurped authority ; and, since it seemed possible, by the new alliance, to maintain the expences of a war, it was natural for the warlike and high-spirited activity of Gusta vus to turn against that enemy of his person and kingdom, the empress of Russia, who at once threatened the independent existence of Sweden, and excited the factious spirit of its nobles against GEORGE III. 289 Ae sovereigrvby the most dangerous cabals. Gus- chap, tavus, seeking, when it was too late, to cement XX11^ every ancient difference with Denmark, and de- 178a. tach her from her ancient alliance, went in person to the court of Copenhagen, in 1787, and aided his negociations with all the powers of his elo quence ; but he in vain attempted to change the tardy, though determined, resolution of the Danes. The defection of his army, and the resisting mea sures of the Swedish senate, who negociated, dur ing his absence from Stockholm, for a peace with Russia, seemed to crown his misfortunes ; but the address of this able monarch, and his popularity among the lower classes of his subjects, protect ed him, for the present, from the hatred of his aristocracy. In the following year, Prince Charles of Hesse, 1788. along with his nephew, the prince of Denmark, "invaded Sweden on the side of Norway, and,, ad vancing at the head of 12,000 auxiliaries, took Stromstadt, Udevella, and several other places. His campaign was distinguished by no important engagement ; but whatever loss was sustained chief ly fell upon the Swedes, The invading army pro ceeded to Gottenburg, a very wealthy town, but by no means fortified in proportion to its conse quence. The governor of the place, and the in* habitants, -seeing, on the one hand, all the horrors of siege and bombardment, carnage and confla gration, which, even in the event of victory, would leave them but the ashes of their property, and, on the other, a safe, surrender, had determin ed to capitulate ; but the sudden presence of Gustavus, who rode night and day on horse back .alone, and with more than the speed of 3 courier, to . Qottenburg, when he heard of ks danger* changed the aspect of affairs, and raised She sentiments of the Swedes to something higher 4ral II ¦ X 290 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. than selfish calculation. The governor was ifv v '_, stantly displaced. The townsmen assembled, Gus- 1786. tavus reminded them of the ancient glory of the Swedish arms, and declared his own resolution of resisting the enemy to the last. He was determin ed never to fall alive into their hands, and de manded of his people to stand by him. The vo luntary self-devotion of a sovereign was too strong an appeal to the Swedes to be resisted ; they par ticipated his heroism, and promised never to capi tulate. From this dreadful trial of their fidelity, and from the seemingly inevitable fate of being buried under the ruins of their town, the Swedes and their king were relieved by the intervention of the three ¦ mediating powers, to whom Sweden might certainly be said to owe the continuance of its political exist ence. England, Prussia, and Holland, united by a treaty of alliance, as already related, interfered to procure, first an armistice, and finally a peace, be tween the courts of Copenhagen and Stockholm. Mr. Elliot, the British minister, passed over from Copenhagen to Sweden, and acquainted the prinpe of Hesse and the Danish prince royal, of the firm determination of Prussia and Britain to invade Denmark, if hostilities were farther pursued. His zeal and abilities well suited to the necessary promptness of the occasion, and, seconded by the remonstrances of Baron Borche, the Prussian mi nister, procured an armistice, first for one month, and afterwards for half a year. The Danish army then withdrew into Norway, and peace with Den mark was restored. Such was the situation of Sweden at the close of the year 1788. Gustavus being now at liberty to combat Russia alone, opened the campaign in Finland, in the summer of the following year, and on the 28tb of June distinguished the Swedish GEORGE III. 291 arms by a brilliant victory, against superior num- chap. bers. He penetrated into Russian Finland with xXn- great spirit, and for some time with every ap- 17gT"' pearance of success, till the increasing forces of the Russians, and the destruction of a fleet, which co-operated with his army by its movements along the coast, compelled him, at the approach of win ter, to retire with considerable disadvantage ; and the projects of conquest, too vast for the limited power of his small kingdom, vanished. T2 292 CHAP. XXIII. Rise of the French revolution. . . . Assembly of the notables. . . . Disputes between 'the king and the .parliament of Paris. . . . Assembly of the states-general. . . . Assumption of power by the tiers-etat. . . . The king compelled to advise the union of orders. . . . New jealousies between the court and the popu lar party. . . . Assembling of troops . near the capital. . . , Insurrection of the Parisians. . . . Capture of the Bastile. . . , Proceedings of the English parliament. . . . Dispute with Spain respecting the settlement of Nootka sound. . . . Arma ment for war. . . . Adjustment of the dispute. . . . View of affairs in France after the capture of the Bastile. .'. . State of the rest of Europe in 1790. chap. npHE view of coeval circumstances, forces at xxm' , Ji- this period upon our notice an event, which has J786. since too fatally involved the fate of Europe in the vortex of its effects. We have deferred advert ing to that event, till the period when its his tory becomes more nearly connected with our own. To trace the causes of the great revolu tion now begun and proceeding in France, would involve the task of reviewing many preceding reigns, during which the royal power had accu mulated a mass of political grievances by its usurpations, and a burden of public debt by its ex travagant expenditure, which became at last too great to be endured. It was in vain, that on the accession of Louis XVI to the throne, the good intentions of the prince, seconded by consum mate abilities in his first cabinet, had endeavoured to avert the revolution by relaxing the oppres sions of the lower orders, and restoring economy to the management of the finances. The. reform- 1786. GEORGE III. 293 * ations of the great and good Turgot, were arrest- chap, ed by his dismission from the cabinet, at the in- xxm- stance of Maria Antoinette, when that unfortu- nate woman first assumed an influence in the cabi net, so fatal to France and to herself. After the war in behalf of America, the celebrity of Neckar for financial ability, his integrity as a man, and his attachment to philanthropic principles, promised a renovation of the hopes that had been eherished under the influence of Turgot. But Neckar was dismissed and disgraced by the same agency which had displaced Turgot. He was succeeded, after a few changes, by Calonne, a politician who, in his financial character, was accused of empiricism, and in his personal character, of dishonest com plaisance to the most corrupt profligacies of the court. The loans and the taxes of Calonne proving ineffectual to ward off the prospect of national in solvency, the king and his minister were driven to attempt the only expedient that remained for proping the ruinous fabric of public credit. It was to induce the privileged orders, the nobility, and clergy, to surrender their usurpation, and contribute, with the rest of the people, to the pay ment of public burdens. This consent, however, could only be obtained by the convocation of the notables, an assembly so called from the dignity of its members, and who were nominated by the so vereign, but in their meeting, bore a certain re semblance to the ancient states-general, the memo ry of which was still dear to France. The pro clamation for assembling the notables, was issued in December 1786, and the writs were directed to seven princes of the blood, nine dukes and peers of France, eight fiefd-marshals, twenty-two nobles, eight counsellors of state, four masters of requests, eleven archbishops and bishops, thirty-seven judges T3 294 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, of parliament, twelve deputies of the pays d'etat, xxm. tne lieutenants civil, and twenty-five magistrates of different towns; in all 144. 1787. On the 22d of February 1787, the assembly of the notables was opened, with great pomp, in pre sence of the king, and all the princes of the blood. The deficiencies of the revenue were laid before them, it was recommended to the clergy and no bility, to make a voluntary resignation of their im munity from the national land-tax ; and ministers declared the intention of his majesty to mortgage the domains of the crown, and to subject the land ed property of the church to certain regulations, which should make them productive of aids to the public income. But with all the pains that had been taken to procure a majority in the assembly of the notables to second the king's intentions, \m- expected opposition sprung up. On one side Ca^ lonne was beset by the popular leader Count Mi-. rabeau, and on the other, by the baron de Breteuil, who was the favourite of the queen. The latter party prevailed in placing the archbishop of Tou louse, in the high office of Calonne, as controuler- general of the finances. The notables were dis^ solved without producing any other decisive ef-. feet, than accomplishing the ruin of the minister who had convened them, by drawing out an ex posure of the dreadful deficiencies in the finances ; and without being able to reconcile the privileged or ders to that equalization of taxes which had been proposed, Calonne fled in disgrace, and took re fuge in England from a storm of popular odium, which was gathering over his head. The new minister, less adventurous than Ca lonne, was, however, obliged by the pressure of circumstances, to apply himself to the raising of money for the immediate exigencies of the govern-. ment. The taxes were to be, a double poll-tax^ GEORGE III. 295 a thirdTtwentieth on property, and a stamp-duty; chap. and these he attempted to levy in the ancient man- xxm- ner of raising supplies by royal edict. Here, how- I7\Jt ever, the most formidable obstacles arose. The Public Opinion, now deeply imbued with specula tive sentiments of liberty,-— sentiments long inculcat ed and cherished during the latter part of the cen tury, by writers of the highest reputation, — senti ments in no small degree strengthened by the liv ing example of the British constitution, and kept in exercise by occasional disputes, which subsist ed between the parliaments and the sovereign of France, had loudly called for an assem blage _ of the states-general of the kingdom, as the only lawful mode of imposing taxes on the people. In favour of this convocation, the patriots of France quoted their own ancient constitution, which had once been endowed with representative freedom like our own, till the disuse of the states-general had confirmed the despotism of the , crown. In the parliament of Paris, after successive agi tations of the question, a patriotic majority was at last formed, in favour of calling the states-general, and a most obstinate resistance was offered to the taxes proposed for them to register. The same august body also demanded, that a true state of the finances should be laid before them, and an explanation of the purposes to which the sums in question were to be applied. To compel his parliament to register the taxes, Louis was advised to adopt the unpopular measure of holding a bed of justice, or solemn meeting of the whole parliament, It was on this occasion, while he compelled the refractory assembly to re gister the edict, that one of the princes of the blood forfeited the popularity he had hitherto main* tamed, and which he never recovered, After the 2Q6 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, president of the parliament had summed up, in a XxI11, spirited speech, the reasons on which the assembly "~^8™ had grounded its refusal to register the stamp-tax,. the count d'Artois passionately exclaimed, — * If I were king, they should comply.' The president, making a low bow, replied, — ' If you were king, sir, I should say what I now say ; my heart is the people's, my understanding is my own, and my head is the king's. The parliament entered a Spirited protest against this violation of their records. They were banish ed, in consequence, to Troyes ; but purchased their recal, by consenting to register the act for the third twentieth. The urgent necessities of the state* however, required greater supplies than could be obtained by this insincere reconcilement. On the iyth of November, the king repaired once more to the parliament, and ordered an edict to be registered for a loan of 450 millions of livres. Permission being given, however, for the members to deliver their sentiments on the loan, a very warm debate ensued, and was maintained, between the supporters of the royal and those of the pa triotic party, for nine hours ; when the king, who had tasted no refreshment from the tim% of his entrance, overcome with hunger, and chagrin ed at the liberties which had been used in de bate, rose and commanded the edict to be register ed without farther delay, and without putting the question to the vote. The haughty order of the sovereign produced silence for a short time, till the duke of Orleans, who had openly declared him-^ self on the popular side, rose and protested against such an infringement on the rights of the assembly. The parliament unanimously seconded his protest, and declared the proceedings of the day to be thereby rendered null and void. The duke of Orleans, next day, received an. GEORGE HI. 297 ord«r from the king to confine himself to one of chap. his seats, about fifteen leagues from Paris, and was , XX"L prohibited intercourse with any person but his ^fsiT" own family. Two members of" parliament, who had distinguished themselves in opposing the edict, M. Freteau, and the Abbe Sabattiere, were, the same day, committed, by lettres de cachet to sepa rate state prisons. Far from being overawed by these acts of se verity, the parliament again protested with great er boldness than before, and instead of appealing to the king's mercy for the release oftheir arrest ed members, demanded it in the name of the people of France. Recurring* on the subject of the taxes, to the ancient principles of the constitution, they declared that it was neither in their power* nor in the power of the crown, nor in both united, but in the power of the states-general alone, to grant or levy any new taxes on the people ; a declaration which raised the parliament to the highest emi nence in the popular estimation. After much dispute, the crown seemed at last disposed to yield to the boldness of their antago nists, and the exiled members were set at liberty. A deep plan was, however, in secret agitation by the ministry, for diminishing the jurisdiction, the revenues, and the influence of the parliaments, by instituting a number' of inferior courts of justice throughout the kingdom, under the denomination of grand bailywicks. Another part of the secret plan' was to establish an assembly, which should supersede at once the necessity both of parliaments and of a convocation of the states-general, by ap pointing a cour pleniere for registering the royal edicts.1 • Thfe ccur fleniire was to have of France, knights, members of consisted of princes of the blood, councils, deputations from parlia.- peers, great officers, and marshals Went, and chambers of finance. 298 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. The project was devised with such secrecy, xxm- that the royal edicts for assembling the cour pie. 1788. n^re were printed, and on the eve of being issued, when it was discovered by a young member of the parliament of Paris, M. d'Espremenil. An extra ordinary session of that assembly was immediately convoked on the 2d of May, and several spirited resolutions were passed to oppose the unlawful measures of the court. Two days after, the mem ber D'Espremenil, and another, M. Monsambert, * who had made themselves peculiarly obnoxious to the court, were ordered to be arrested. They fled, M»7 S- for a sanctuary, to parliament ; but that assembly was instantly surrounded by the king's troops. The commanding officer entered and demanded them, on which the president cried out, * we are all D'Espremenils and Monsamberts !' At their own request, however, the two members were surren dered. The king soon after held a bed of justice, and ordered the edict for the eour pleniere to be registered, and as the parliament still continued re-, fractory, he suspended the meetings of such as semblies all over the kingdom. But it was now too late to quiet the public mind by means of terror. The parliaments were too popular, and too powerful, to be set at defiance. Many of the patriotic noblemen, who were called upon to sit in the eour pleniere, declined to be the instruments of an arbitrary proceeding. The pro* vincial parliaments espoused the quarrel. The parliament of Paris, and the voice of the people was loudly on their side. Frequent riots and blood-shed, seemed to fore-bode a general convuU sion over the kingdom, and the military shewed a disposition to side with the citizens, rather than The nomination was to be left to body might have been as popular the king, but, perhaps, in different as the states-general, and answered circumstances of the kingdom, this more salutary purposes, GEORGE III. 299 the court. In this alarming crisis, a change of mi- chap, nisters became a necessary sacrifice on the part of XX1IL the court. Neckar was recalled, and it appeared ,7gs, that the summoning of the states, according to the advice of the parliaments, would be the only expe dient left for averting bankruptcy from the funds. The idea of the eour pleniere was, therefore, dropt for ever. In the midst of his high hopes and popularity, Mr. Neckar was, however, aware of the embar rassments attending even this popular measure of convoking the states. If the privileged orders should retain a majority, the states would be little more than a convocation of notables, and the as sembling of the notables for public relief was a measure which experience had shewn to be inade quate ; if, on the other hand, the popular interests should prevail, innovation and unknown evils were to be dreaded. Previous to the meeting of the states-general, it was thought prudent to convoke another assembly of the notables, hot to adjust the finances, but to deliberate on the grand representa tive plan, which was to be realized in the states- general. The subjects laid before them for con sideration were, the composition of the states-ge neral, including the important question of the number of the deputies, and the proportion of ea ch order ; the forms of convoking and elect ing them, and whether the tiers- etat or commons, shQ uld be allowed to choose representatives from eL her of the superior orders ? The decision of the notables on the number of the deputies of the commons, was, that they should not exceed the number of either of the other two bodies. This decision might have possibly influenced Neckar to Coincide with it, had not the voice of the nation been manifestly hostile to the preponderance of the privileged ranks. The opinion of the public* SOO ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, so strongly expressed in writings and in conversa- XXIU- tion, finally prevailed ; and Neckar, embracing the 1780. popular side, procured an order of council, con trary to the resolution of the late assembly of notables, declaring that the deputies to the states- general should, at least, amount to 1000 ; that the number sent by each bailywick, should be in a ratio compounded of its population and taxes, and that the members of the tiers-etat should be equal to the joint amount of the other two orders. The meeting of this assembly, on which the eyes of all Europe were to be fixed, was appointed for the 1st of May 1780. The sublime spectacle of the assembling this re presentative body, took place on the day appointed, at Versailles. The nobility, equipt in the gor geous habits gf the days of chivalry, the dignified clergy, in all the highest pomp of ecclesiastical ap parel, led the procession towards their hall. The third estate, affecting simplicity of habit, and dressed in the black woollen mantles worn in the days of Philip le Bel, followed, amidst the acclamations of the people. The grand question, respecting the voting by order or by poll, was the first which agitated the assembly, the deputies of the privileged orders in sisting, that the verification of their powers* should take place in their separate chambers, whilst the third estate contended for the ceremony taking place in the common hall of their meeting. The nobility continued as obstinate in resisting this pro posal, as the commons in demanding it, while the clergy seemed more moderate, and desired the re conciliation of the orders. At last the commons, in pursuance of a resolution dictated by the advice of Sieyes, proceeded to make a general call of all 1 Which corresponds to the ceremony of our members taking their seats. GEORGE III. 301 the deputies from the whole baily wicks of France, chaj». including those of the privileged orders, and by J^™^ a decisive step, assumed the legislative autho- - 1789. fity, under the name of the National Assembly. Mr. Bailly was appointed their first and temporary president. The first resolution of the assembly pronounced all taxes, which were not sanctioned by the representatives of the people, illegal ; but gave a temporary sanction to the existing taxes, and declared the public creditors to be under the protection of the honour and faith of the nation. The deputies of the other orders were dismayed, irritated, and divided, by these proceed ings. In the nobles, a democratical minority, headed by the duke of Orleans, contended for yielding to the tiers-etat ; but the majority persist ed against him. In the ecclesiastical, as well as in the noble chamber, there was a strong aristocratical party ; but in the former, the number of the cure's and smaller clergy, who attached themselves to the po pular cause, more immediately prevailed. On the 20th of June, when the clergy were to form an union with the commons, the king, who had been induced, during the accidental absence of Neckar,3 to proclaim a royal session, gave orders to surround the hall of the states-general, with a detachment of guards. The president, and members of the tiers-etat, who came to take their seats, were not permitted to enter. On this they adjourned to a tennis-court in the neighbourhood, where they bound themselves, by a solemn oath, never to-separate, till they should give to France a free constitution. On the 22", the same patriotic body again met, but could find no place for deliberation, till they 5. Mr. Neckar was called away from court to pay his last visit t» St dying sister. 802 Annals of great briTain. chap, took shelter in the church of S£. Louis, where they xxm. were joined by a majority of the clergy, and two ~~7-faT' nobles of Dauphiny. On the succeeding day, the royal session, which had been prorogued, took place, and the tiers-etat took their seats as at the first meeting of the states. Neckar was still ab sent, and the speech of the king betrayed the un popular influence which had been employed in the interval. The resolution of the 17th, by which the commons had assumed the right of constitut ing a legislature, was declared null and void by the king ; the deputies were ordered to separate, and appear before him next day. His majesty retired, and was followed by the nobles, and the minority of the clergy, but the commons remained motion- less ; while the workmen, who had received or ders to take down the throne and other decorations, were so overawed by their presence, that they could not execute the task. The grand master of the ceremonies returned to the hall, and demanded of the assembly, if they had not heard the king's or ders ? but he soon retired in confusion, on receiv ing the authoritative reprimand of Mirabeau. On the following day, the minority of the nobles, with several of the superior clergy, joined the national assembly ; and on the 27th, the king sent a press ing letter to the nobility and the minority of the clergy, intimating the necessity of an union of or ders, and entreating them to agree to it. The re commendation was obeyed, and occasioned so uni versal a joy, that Paris and Versailles were illumi nated. The triumph of the popular party now appear ed to be complete, and the sacrifices of the court seemed to be dictated by the most complete con- ' viction of their inability to maintain the struggle any longer with so decided a majority of the na tion ; yet the seeds of jealousy were not eradicat- GEORGE III. 303 ed* Paris continued to exhibit scertes of tumultu- chap. ous excess, and the soldiery, seduced by the con- xxiii. tagion of popular feelings, or debauched by the vg ~ secret bribes of Orleans, threw off subordination and discipline. The disorderly state of Paris seem ed, in the eyes of the court, to justify the collec tion of regular troops to its neighbourhood, among whom, the people and the assembly remarked, with jealousyj that the majority of the regiments were composed of, and commanded by, foreigners. The circumstance of Neckar's dismission, and a new administration being formed under De Breteuil, Foulon, La Calesiere, La Porte, and the marshal Broglio, men avowedly of aristocratical principles, completed the belief of the Parisians, that deep de signs were in agitation, for overwhelming their li berty, and dismissing their representatives. On Sunday the 12th of July, the news of the ministerial change, and rumours of hostile designs being in agitation by the court, were reported, and occasioned an outcry of despair and fury. Insur rection prevailed in every quarter ;4 the multitude, unprovided with any regular supply of arms, rush ed into the armourers' shops, and seized all the fire-arms and swords that could be found. In the skirmishes that took place, the citizens were vic torious1, being joined by the French guards, who repaired to them in a body. An accidental circumstance accelerated the fate of the revolution. A scarcity, approaching to fa mine, had menaced the capital ; and a band of insur gents availing themselves of that pretext, had com menced pillage, and even murder, on the unof- 4. While the multitude, on their according to report, bf the prince first rising, - were attacked by a de Lambes ; a slight circumstance, patrole of the royal allemande, but which was said to have roused an old man, who was said to be the rage of the Parisiam ta the an innocent spectator, was cut down highest pitch, in the garden of the Ttwiileries, 304 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, fending inhabitants. Mirabeau seized this oppor- rxxm. ;tunjty to make the Parisians form themselves into '"' I7gT~' a militia, for maintaining order. His suggestion was followed, and 60,000 citizens were immedi ately embodied. The national volunteers, directed by popular leaders, in a few hours, assumed some appearance of order and discipline ; they threw up entrenchments, and formed barricadoes, in differ ent parts of the suburbs. A permanent council sat night and day at the hotel de ville, and a com munication was established between this army and the national assembly. This momentous change took place on the 12th and 13th of July. On the following ever-memorable day, the in surgent citizens, aided by numerous companies of the guard's, attacked and carried the hotel des in valids, and the guard -meuble, or ancient armoury, from whence they distributed abundance of arms and ammunition to their numerous adherents. An unknown voice was heard to call out, * Let us march against the Bastile.' The name of that ab horred receptacle of the victims of tyranny, ope rated like a spell on the inflamed spirits of the multitude ; and the bastile, which had resisted the great Conde during a siege of twenty-three days, was stormed by undisciplined insurgents in a few hours. The capture of the bastile has been called the birth-day of the revolution ; it was the signal for all the partizans of the ancient aristocracy, who were not devoted, either to fall with the king, or to submit to the new order of things, to abandon the kingdom. The count d'Artois, presumptive heir to the crown, escaped with his two sons ; the princes of Conti and Conde, and, many of the .first nQbility, quickly followed. The day after this event, the king repaired, with out his guards, to the assembly. His appearance was XXIII. -v— J 1789. GEORGE III. 305 not now that of the haughty ^monarch, who had chap. lately dictated to the states-general ; it was all prostration and concession. He intimated that the foreign troops were to be withdrawn. Neckar was also recalled, in compliance with the wishes of the assembly. That minister, who had retired to Swit zerland, returned amidst the acclamations of the country ; but he had occasion to witness,, even on his triumphant re-entry, traits of that sanguinary spirit among the people, which had already begun, and too long continued, to mark the progress of the revolution. The first solemn act of the as sembly, after the return of their popular minister, , was to frame the declaration of the rights of man, which was meant to contain the leading principles of the new constitution. The British parliament met on the 21st of Ja- 1790 nuary 1790. The speech from the throne, from the want of important matter, was answered with out any division upon the address ; and the esti mates for the military establishments , were voted, after a short debate. Sir Grey Cooper, Mr. Mars- ham, and Mr. Fox, expressed their astonishment, that after eight years of peace had elapsed, the mi litary estimates were not yet reduced even to the peace establishment of 1775, though the commit tee of finance, which sat in the year 1786, had presumed upon a still greater reduction. Mr. Pitt declared, that it would be found, upon examina tion in detail of our military establishments, that they could not, with common prudence, be reduced to a narrower scale ; that at present, though there was neither prospect nor apprehension of imme diate war, yet the unsettled state of Europe re quired us to beware of parsimony, in case of sud den surprise ; and, lastly, that our foreign alliances made it incumbent upon us to support them, in case of need, with effectual assistance. Vol II V i7jo. 306 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. On the 9th of February, when the military est*- XXI!I- mates were brought from the committee, the obser vations that fell from the chief speakers in the com mons, formed rather a conversation on the French revolution, than a debate on British politics. The dispute arose from some expressions that fell from Mr. Fox, declaring his admiration of that event. Mr. Burke, with many eloquent compliments to the ta lents of his friend, spoke of the revolution as a de plorable event, which he wished no Englishman, and, least of all, so great a leader of the minds of Englishmen, to view without abhorrence. In what consisted this boasted revolution ? France was in possession of a good constitution the day that the states-general met in separate orders. The business of Frenchmen, had they been good and wise, was to have secured the independence of those states, . according to those orders, under the monarch on the throne. It was then their duty to redress grievances ; but, instead of redressing grievances, they increased them ; they destroyed all the ba lances and counterpoises that could keep a consti tution in steadiness ; they laid the axe to the root of all property and prosperity, by the principles which they had established, and by confiscating the possessions of the church. By that institute of anarchy, the declaration of the rights of man, they had destroyed every hold, or authority by opi nion, on the minds of the people ; and, if they succeeded, they would establish a democracy, or a mob of democracies, the very basest species of tyranny. He was sorry that this thing, called a revolution, should have been compared with the event called the revolution of England. What we did, was in fact a revolution, not made but pre vented. In the stable fundamental parts of our constitution we made no alteration. We did not weaken the monarchy ; perhaps we strengthened 1790. GEORGE III. 307 it. An era of more improved domestic prosperity chap. then commenced, and still continues not only un- XXI"- impaired, but growing, under the wasting hand of time. The speech of Mr. Burke was received with much applause. Mr. Fox, with no less ample acknowledgments of the high veneration in which he held the character of the last speaker, declared, that he could not retract the words of approba tion which he uttered on the French revolution. Though he never should lend himself to support any cabal for introducing dangerous innovations in Qur own constitution, he could not go the length of declaring himself an enemy to every species of innovation. He considered the revolution of 1688 a case much more parallel to the French revolu tion than his right honourable friend had been will- . ing to allow. The scenes of bloodshed and cruelty which had been acted in France, he deplored, with every friend to humanity ; but was it to be won dered at (he asked) that a people broken loose from the yoke of despotism should not enjoy their emancipation with perfect moderation ? Unsettled as their present situation was, still their present was preferable to their former condition, and the change would ultimately be for the advantage of the country. Encouraged by the small majority which had rejected their petition last year, the English pro testant dissenters thought of renewing their appli cation for the revision of the test and corporation acts. On Tuesday the 2d of March, Mr. Fox brought the subject before the house. He dwelt on the intolerant principles of the act, in a long and argumentative speech. Speculative opinions, he contended, were, in no instance, the fair stand ard by which the character or conduct of men U 2 308 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, was to be judged. It had been the declared opi- xxu\ nion of Mr. Pitt and the duke of Richmond, that 1790. the present parliament was an inadequate repre sentation of the country ; but it did not follow, from such an opinioh, that Mr. Pitt or the duke of Richmond should be prevented from holding civil employments under government. If poli tical opinions ought not to be disqualifications even in politics, how much more unjust must it be held to make religious doctrines disqualifications, not merely in religious, but in political, promotion. This was the very essence and practice of intoler ance. Instead of being warned by the fate of a neighbouring kingdom (said Mr. Fox), we run headlong into the example. The Gallican church established disqualifications, and it fell by the very enemies which its own intolerance had created. It was our duty to beware of such a fate ; but symp toms of the same spirit, he was sorry to observe, be gan already to be displayed by our own ecclesiastics. As an instance of this, he mentioned a proceeding of the bishop of Sc. David's, who had lately sent a circular letter to the clergy of his diocese, dis suading them, in the strongest manner, from vot ing for a certain member of the house, because he had supported the petition of the dissenters. The acts of which the dissenters complained (he said) had been framed on pretence of defending the church and the state ; but the loyalty of the dis senters was proved by the history of those very events which secured the present family their seat on the British throne ; and every argument against the revision of the acts, founded on the supposed disaffection of the present generation of that creed, was a false induction from the imprudent language of a few misguided individuals, not a fair infer ence from the conduct of the whole. GEORGE III. 309 Mr. Pitt opposed the motion. In answer to Mr. chap. Fox's avowed doctrine, that actions were the sole , Xxm'_ test by which the loyalty of subjects was to be 1790. tried, Mr. Pitt contended, that political preven tion was one. of the chief securities of the con stitution, since it guarded the existence of the church, in the safety of which even our constitu tion was involved. The church was a part of the constitution, and that part could not be endanger ed, without the danger of the whole. He remind ed the house, that it was to the same caution of po litical prevention that we owed our deliverance from the tyranny of the Stuarts, which, if it had not existed, might have left us, at this day', with out a parliament to decide upon the question. The executive power (he continued,), was entrusted by the -constitution with the sole power of appointing to offices : it followed, by a natural inference, that they were also empowered to judge of the fitness or unfitness of individuals to occupy those stations. Hence, in a constitutional view, it could be deem ed no hardship that certain disqualifications should be attached to opinions, which the discretionary power of the executive government considered it politic to impose. But the strongest argument of Mr. Pitt was founded on the very circumstance which the dissenters had held out as the main objec tion to the acts in question. It was said by the op- posers of the test laws, that they were inefficacious and nugatory, as the house had been obliged to pass, every session, an act of indemnity. This certainly displayed, that if the test and corporation acts were remedies in the hands of the government for politic purposes, they had not been used with impolitic severity, but* tempered with every pos sible degree of moderation. Were such a degree of moderation : were such a remedy, however, removed from their hands, where should a security U3 310 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, be found, if the church were ever in danger ? And lX1h' of the danger to be apprehended from men of the I790. avowed principles of the dissenters enjoying power in the state, there could be no question ; for power- always confers the desire of increasing it : and, if we suppose them honest, and true to their prin ciples, it necessarily follows, that they must wish' to overthrow an heirarchy obnoxious to their most sacred tenets. Mr. Burke said, he opposed the revision of the test laws, from a firm conviction that the dissent ers were in general men of dangerous principles, actuated by no motives to which toleration could be at all applied. He produced several authentic documents to substantiate these allegations.5 He concluded his speech by declaring, that on account of the many alarming and suspicious circumstances with which the present application came presented to parliament, if the test and corporation acts were abolished, some other test ought to be sub stituted. Mr. Fox's motion was rejected. On the 4th of March, Mr. Flood moved for leave to bring in a bills for amending the represent- s Amongst these was a cate- things, which ye are not yet able chism circulated among the dis- to bear.'_ And, on another member senters, full of invectives upon na- saying, ' Give them a little light tional establishments, upon kings into what ye intend,' they inform- and bishops. Another was a letter ed -him,- that they did not care the written by Mr. Fletcher, a dissent- nip of a straw for' the repeal of er, from a meeting of dissenting the test and corporation acts ; but ministers, held at Bolton in Lan- that they designed to' try for the cashire. Mr. Fletcher stated, in abolition of the tithes and liturgy; his letter, that the meeting avow- In addition to these documents, he ed such violent principles, that he' read several well'known extracts could not stay, but came away, from the writings of Doctors Priest- with some other moderate men ley and Price, expressive of. their It asserted, that one member, on hostility to all establishments; their being asked what was their ob- persuasion, that those of religion ject, and whether they meant to were sinlul and idolatrous; and seek for any thing more than the their determination to proceed, step repeal of the test and corporation by step, till they demolished th«m, acts ? answered in the language of Dedsley's Aim. Jieg. chap, iv, 1 79c-', »ur Saviour, — ' We know those 1790. GEORGE III. 311 ation of the people in parliament. The principle chap'. of a free and representative government, M Flod xxni- affirmed, was, that the majority should decide for the whole ; that nothing less than a consv'ruent body, formed on a principle that extends to the majority, can be constitutionally adequate to repre sent the people in parliament. Instead of answer ing this principle of the constitution, the consti tuent body was wholly defective in point of num ber, since the majority of the representatives, who decide for the whole, are chosen by a number of electors not exceeding six or eight thousand, though these representatives are to act for eight or ten millions of people. Mr. Flood therefore propos-, ed, as a reform in the constitution, that a new body of electors should be added to the present number, sufficient to accord with the spirit and purposes of liberty, and sufficient in property to be conducive to the cause of order; that 100 members should be added to parliament ; and that they should be elected by. the resident household ers in every county. Mr. Windham combated the motion, because, instead of pointing out or applying to any specific grievance, it merely at tacked the present mode of representation, with out cause or apology. The representation had been called inadequate ; but, instead of proving its inadequacy, the mover had only proved its be ing unequal ; a fact which required no evidence, but by no means implied or included the previous assertion. It was confounding the end with the means, to propose an amendment of the repre sentation, because the house, as at present consti tuted, had been sufficient for all the beneficial pur poses of government. ' But, if ever I were to ap prove' (said Mr. Windham) ' of parliamentary re form, it should not be now. I would never advise. We repairing of a house in the hurricane season. 312 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. While speculatists and visionaries are at work in a xxin. neighbouring kingdom, instead of catching the "7t^o7~ contagion of change, I would avoid every tendency to a subversion of established order, and calmly wait the event of what is passing, before we hazard all the fabric of the constitution by endeavouring to mend any part of it.' Mr. Pitt coincided with Mr. Windham on the necessity of delaying inno vation till another period. Even as a friend to re form, he should not wish to see the cause suffer from being unseasonably advanced. Mr. Fox, al though he candidly allowed that he believed this project of reform neither supported by the public opinion within nor without, yet thought that the plan proposed by Mr. Flood was the best he had heard suggested. Fie begged leave to differ en tirely from the sentiments of Mr. Windham re specting France ; and, following out his illustra tion of the hurricane season, contended that no season for the repair of a house could be more fit for amendment, than that in which the storm was ready to burst. Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Grenville, and several other members, spoke on the motion. At length Mr. Flood consented that it should be withdrawn. On the 10th of March, a motion was made by Mr. Montague, for increasing the salary of the speaker of the house of commons. He stated his present emoluments, not exceeding sc?3000 a-year, to be inadequate to the dignity of his station, and proposed that they should be advanced to £5000. The motion was opposed by Mr. Hussey, as tend ing to increase the influence of the crown; but being supported by a large and1 respectable majori ty of the house, the original motion was not only carried, but an additional .§£1000 added as an amendment. Subjects of finance and revenue now claimed XXIII. — v • 1790. GEORGE HI. 313 the attention of the house. On the 31st of March, chap, Mr. Dundas opened the Indian budget : he dwelt upon the increasing prosperity of our possessions in the east, which he said would soon exceed every other part of Hindostan in trade and cultivation. In a few years the company would be enabled to pay off their arrears for the present year, the re* venue considerably exceeded the product of the former ; and by the system of justice, liberality, and clemency, now exerted by the British govern ment over the natives, the increase of that revenue was likely to be permanent. In displaying the state of finances for the year, the chancellor of the exchequer congratulated the house on being able to announce the increased prosperity of the nation. The exports of the preceding year, amounted to £ 18,500,000, of which, nearly e£ 13,500,000 were British ma nufactures. The imports to s£l7, 800,000 ; and the number of our seamen was increased to. one third more than in 1783. The supplies were calculated at £l 1,931,000 ; the ways and means at £ 12,4g6,000, of this sum it?6,50O,000 being rais ed by exchequer bills, the amount of the revenue, for three years past,, had been £l 5,723,000; but the actual produce of last year had exceeded this sum by half a million. The growing surplus of the consolidated fund might be, therefore, called ac?3,3OO,O0O, whilst #£5,184,000, had been taken in the three per cents, from the national debt. Mr. Sheridan disputed the truth of this flatter ing description of our finances exhibited by the minister. He challenged the minister to deny that the excess of three years expenditure, 1786-7-8, above our receipts, had been .§£6,000,000 in all. He concluded by declaring, that nothing would put the finances into a proper state, but either raising the income to the expenditure, or lowering the. 314 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, expenditure to the income. The chancellor of the xxm- , exchequer objected to the year 1786 being taken ~7j9o. in» as one of the three years of average in this question. The fair period to.be taken, was to end with the year 1 790 ; before the conclusion of the year, it was unjust to anticipate what the balance would be. From the happy prospects of. peace and prospe rity, the attention of the nation was suddenly called to the' rumours and preparations of war with an ancient enemy. On the 5th of July, Mr. Pitt de livered a message to the house from his majesty, informing them of an aggression committed by the Spaniards on British subjects ; of satisfaction hav ing been refused by the court of Spain ; of claims having been set up by that nation to the exclusive navigation of the south-western coasts of America, and of his majesty's decided resolution to maintain the honour of his crown, and the rights of his people. The hostility of Spain arose out of the following circumstances. For about three years, a commerce had subsisted between some private adventurers in India and those parts of the West ern coast of North America, which Captain Cook and other British navigators had first discovered. A settlement had been formed at Nootka sound, (after a regular, purchase of the land from the na tive Indians) the neighbourhood of which afforded furs, that sold for a high price in China. This lu crative trade was carried on for years without mo lestation, and without the slightest anticipation that Spain would set up a claim to countries, which hitherto never had been visited by Spaniards, In the month of May 1780, two Spanish ships of war arrived in the sound ; for some time mutual civilities passed between the British and Spanish officers ; but on the 14th of May, Captain Douglas, of the Ipbigenia, was ordered on board of the GEORGE III. 315 Spaniards, and, to his astonishment, informed by. ci^^ the commander, that he had orders from the king , of Spain to seize all ships that he might find upon 179°. that coast. The Spanish officer, Joseph Martinez, then took possession of the Iphigenia, and convey ed the officers and men oq board the Spanish ships, where they were put in irons, and treated with other circumstances of severity. After sending the prisoners to a Spanish port, he pulled down the British flag from the main building of the settlement, declaring all the , lands between Capq Horn and the 60 degree of north latitude on the western coast of America, to be the property of the Spanish king. Another British vessel was af terwards captured, the crews imprisoned, and the cargoes sold without formal condemnation. The first informations of these proceedings came to us from the Spaniards themselves. Their ambassa dor announced the seizure of the British ships, not for the purpose of excusing thejact, but to request that their countrymen, in these quarters, might not again be put to the trouble of confiscating our vessels 5 but that all British trade and fishery, on the north-west regions of America, might be stopt as infringements on the property of the Spanish crown. Mr. Pitt, in stating these facts, said he wished to abstain from every expression of aggra vation. The bare statement would induce a Bri tish house of commons to demand restitution to the individuals aggrieved, and satisfaction to the nation for an insult to its dignity. It was true that one of the vessels had been delivered up by the viceroy of Mexico ; but no satisfaction to the na tion had been given. The court of Spain had fol lowed up this injury and insult, by claims of ex clusive navigation, as unfounded as enormous, and to enforce their pretensions, were making prepara tions for war in all their ports. It would be 316 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, necessary, therefore, for the house to declare, xxm- , in coincidence with his majesty's wishes, that, 1790. in case pacific attempts were unsuccessful, we should prepare for measures of force to obtain redress. Mr. Fox was the first to rise, after this interest ing communication of the minister, to express his hopes that the house would be unanimous in send ing that address of promise to support his majesty in the present dispute, which, at the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Pitt had moved. He wished, how ever, to be informed how it had happened, that the minister, scarce a fortnight ago, should have given the house such a flattering account of the affairs of the country, and so many assurances of permanent peace, when he knew at that very mo ment of what had been done by the Spaniards, when he had already received the remonstrances of their minister, and was informed of their arming for war ? Mr. Pitt replied, that when the budget was opened, ministers knew nothing of the facts, except what had been communicated in a vague uncertain manner, by the Spanish ambassador, and of their preparations, no alarming intelligence had been then divulged. Several motions for papers relative to the dispute with Spain, were made in both houses, but rejected on divisions. On the 18th of May, a vote of credit for £l, 000,000, passed the house of commons without opposition. The British government now exhibited at once the firmness of its character in foreign negociation, and the vastness of its resources in immediate prepara tions for war. Upon the question of the Spanish rights to un limited dominion on the western coast of America, which included Nootka sound, the British con tended, that Spain having established her claim, neither by occupancy nor Jabour, had no right to GEORGE III. 317 an immense territory which lay, by justice, open chap. to the first industrious occupant. The resistance xxm* tothis truth, which at first the Spaniards were in- ~7j^T clined to make, was probably stimulated by the hopes of effectual aid from their ancient allies of the Bourbon house. But although the family compact was still maintained by France, and a vote, in compliance with necessity, passed by the national assembly for arming fourteen ships of the line, to co-operate, in case of a war, with the fleet of Spain, yet this measure on the side of the French, seemed rather to arise from a respect to the family treaty, than any wish to participate in the quarrel. The decree of the assembly expressed, that this arma ment was to be equipped solely on defensive prin ciples. Indeed the views of the French legislators were turned to very different objects at this crisis of the revolution, than befriending the house of Spain, or humbling the power of the English, whose name was exceedingly popular among the leaders of the revolution, and the French people in general, at the commencement of their changes. Notwithstanding this promise of support, his Spanish majesty continued to negociate with the British government about the point which was in dispute between the two nations. At length, after a considerable time spent in discussions, both parties agreed to wave the question of right, for the present, and his catholic majesty consented, in satisfaction for the injury complained of, to order the restitution of the ships and settlements which had been taken possession of, and engaged to pay an indemnity to the owners, for the actual loss sustained. The subjects of both nations were to have free access to the coasts, lying to the north of the Spanish settlements, on the west of Ame rica. The subject of the slave-trade was again moved 179°. 318 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, by Mr. Wilberforce, very early this session. The f xxin- evidence on the side of the planters was not heard to an end, till near the close, and the remaining time was employed in examining some additional witnesses, in favour of the abolition. The further consideration of the subjest was then adjourned. Upon the 16th of February, the trial of Mr. Hast ings was renewed in Westminster-hall, being the fifty-fifth day of the sitting of the court. The court, sat in this-session, but thirteen days, in which the managers went through the charge relative to the receiving of presents. It was opened by Mr. Anstruther, and the evidence summed up in a speech, which occupied two days sittings, by Mr. Fox; The court adjourned on the 9th of June, af ter its sixty-eighth day. On the 14th of May, a vote was passed for giv ing to the illustrious family of the Penns of Penn sylvania, a compensation for the losses which their loyalty had incurred in America, amounting, as the chancellor of the exchequer stated, to half a million of money. s£4,000 a-year was settled upon them and their heirs, to be paid out of the consolidated fund. On the 17th, another bill was carried without division, for assisting his majesty to grant, for twenty-one years, to Dr. Willis, a pension of ^£1000 a-year. On the 10th of June, before the dispute with Spain had been yet decided, his majesty put an end to the session, and the next day this parliament, the 16th parliament of Great Britain, was dissolv ed by proclamation, after it had sat for seven ses sions. During the peace and prosperity of England, the progress of the French revolution continued to excite the interest,to inflame the curiosity,and divide the sentiments of politicians. The first solemn pro ceeding of the assembly, was to frame the declara- 1790. GEORGE III. 319 tion cf the rights, which was meant to contain the chap. leading principles of the new constitution that was XXIlf- to be given to France. After publishing this compend of their politics, the attention7 of the assembly was directed to the formation of a constitutional code ; but from this task they were called off for a while, by the more immediate evils by which the country was afflicted. A peasantry, degraded by ages of oppression, en joyed their first liberty, as might be expected, in too many instances, only to abuse it ; and the ex ercise of their vindictive retaliations on the aristo cracy, were numerous and dreadful. It is true, however, that those excesses were by no means in discriminate. The era was not yet come, when patriotic and humane noblemen could not find an asylum on their own estates ; nor even of those who had deserved or acquired a contrary charac ter was the proscription universal. While the assembly was occupied in decrees for the restoration of order, a most generous zeal , for restoring the rights of the people, distinguished the patriotic nobles ; and, by the enthusiasm which the example of the great excited, produced a voluntary surrender of privileges on the part of the whole aristocratic representatives, which deserved a better reward, than it received, from their country. The equalization of taxes, and the abolition of feudal usurpations, being proposed 'by the Viscount Noailles, and seconded by the duke d'Aiguillon, the privileged orders appeared to contend, who should make the most essential concessions. The whole of the feudal oppressions were abolished, and it was decreed, that all public burdens should be imposed on subjects in proportion to their property. In a subsequent debate, it was suggested, that as tithes operated in the manner of a premium I79". 320 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, against agriculture, and a tax upon industry, they xxm. should be instantly suppressed. This was opposed 'by the clergy, and by many of the more enlight ened of the laity. The Abbe Sieyes, in particular, evinced with much legal knowledge, and logical precision, that tithes were not a tax imposed agreeably to the feudal system, but a single rent charge, laid upon their estates, by the original proprietors, for the maintenance of religion among their tenants and vassals ; that the actual pro prietors had purchased their estates subject to this rent charge ; and that by transferring it from the hands of the clergy, to those of the landed pro prietors only, the aristocratic interest alone would derive any benefit. The abbe concluded a most forcible speech, by this memorable sentence, ' If you wish to be free, begin by being just.' During the remainder of the summer, the formation of the new constitution, already issued by the assembly, occupied the attention of the le gislature. The limits of the monarchy were pre scribed by a suspensive veto, which invested the king with the right of opposing any act of the as sembly, during two legislatures. If a, third legis lature should persist in recommending a decree, the royal assent was to be conceded. In these de bates, the more violent spirits of the assembly, supported by the popular love of innovation, pre vailed over an opposite party, whose wisdom fore saw the dangers of unlimited change, and wished to approximate the constitution, as nearly as pos sible, to that which had given happiness to Eng land, during so many years. Of the moderates, the most distinguished were Mounier, the duke de Liancourt, and Lally Tolendal. Mirabeau, during the progress of these innovations, became their convert ; but it was the fate of the moderate party in France, for ever to acquire converts in the mo- GEORGE III.' 321 tnent of their decline, when the weight of new par- chap. tizans seemed rather to accelerate, than to prevent XXI"- their downfal. L~"„7~ Political arrangements could neither remedy the deplorable state of the revenue, nor supply the ca pital with bread, which still continued under all the apprehensions, and some of the privations, of a fa mine. Such was the scarcity of money, in spite of ostentatious contributions and loans, which were offered at a fair interest, that the minister was obliged to resort to a procedure, from which his predecessors would have shrunk with timidity, in all the plenitude of power enjoyed by Colbert or Sully. It was to raise a tax of one fourth on the net income of every citizen in the kingdom. The proposition was passed into a decree, by a great majority of the assembly. While Paris was afflicted with the real evils of scarcity, the discontent of the public mind, was ag gravated by jealousies and alarms. The hesitation of the king to assent to the decrees of the 4th of August, and the abolition of tithes, the report of his intended escape to Metz, and the project ascrib ed to the court, of again investing the capital with an armed force, excited a dreadful ferment in Paris. This temper was roused from jealousy to rage, on the report of a transaction within the walls of the palace, which, though unpremeditated, and only the ebullition of a moment, forms an important date in the progressive misfortunes of that devoted royal family. The regiment of Flanders dragoons, having arrived at Versailles, their officers were en tertained, according to the custom of military hos pitality, by those of the life-guards, and the royal saloon was the scene of entertainment. When the guests were heated with wine, aristocratical toasts were given, and the popular toast of — the nation, was refused. At the close of the entertainment, Vol' II. X 322 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, the grenadiers of the regiment of Flanders, and the xxm. gwjss chasseurs, were introduced. Soon after, the i79o. king and the queen, with the infant dauphin in her arms, entered the hall. The bands of music struck up the' pathetic air of ' Richard, oh, my king!' in allusion to the fallen fortunes of the monarch. The presence of a conciliating king, and of a queen in all the charms of beauty and ma ternal tenderness, the influence of music and wine, raised an unbounded enthusiasm. The ladies of the court distributed white ribbons, to be worn as the badge of royalty, and the national cockades were trodden under foot by the inebriated guests. It is not certain that the royal personages were conscious of this ill-timed indignity to the popular cause ; but there is little room to suppose, that they were ignorant of it ; or that their tacit per mission did not merit in some degree the censure which it occasioned. The' report of this event raised a dreadful com motion in Paris. It began on the morning of the 5th of October, with the cry of — ' bread.' In a short time, an armed multitude proceeded to Ver sailles, accompanied by the national guards, among whom their commander, La Fayette, thought proper to mingle, for the sake of moderating their fury by his influence. The presence of the general, it is probable, prevented many excesses, that might otherwise have ensued ; but it was found impossible, entirely to restrain the brutality of the insurgents. The mob, chiefly the women, called out for vengeance on the queen, and part of them burst into the castle. Two of the body-guards fell a sacrifice to their fury at the entrance ; an intre pid individual, of the same corps, saved the life of her majesty, by giving a timely alarm, till she escaped, and again made her appearance in the company of her consort and children, to whom GEORGE III. 323 some tokens of respect were yet shewn. When chap. their majesties shewed themselves at a balcony, a w xxnL cry was raised among the multitude, ' to Paris, to T^oT Paris.' The king complied, and, accompanied by his family, was brought, in humiliating triumph, to his capital. An executioner attended on each side by the standard-bearers of the mob, who car ried the heads of the murdered guardsmen, still streaming with blood, upon their pikes. This burst of popular rage, while it humbled the monarch, shewed also, unequivocally, the ascend ancy of that licentiousness, which would soon de fy the legislature itself. Mounier, Lally Tolendal, and the most distinguished of the moderate party, retired in disgust from the assembly. The assembly, however, proceeded with a shew of zeal and vigour to model the new constitution ; and to suppress the rising spirit of sedition, made some examples of severity towards the mob. Of these exertions in behalf of order, the most me morable was exhibited on the scene of the Champ de Mars, an event which unfortunately led to the disgrace of La Fayette, and the death of Bailly. By the new constitution, the old Gothic divi sions of France were laid aside, and the names of eighty-three departments substituted in their stead. The lettres de cachet, the sale of offices, the gabelle, and other obnoxious taxes, were done away. Mo nasteries and convents were suppressed. The ter ritorial possessions of the church were assigned to the disposal of the nation, subjecting, however, the new possessors to the responsibility of main taining the ministers of religion, as established by the constitution, and the monks, nuns, and pau pers, whose support had depended on the church revenues. But the great and decisive feature of the new constitution, was the suppression of eve- X2 324 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ry order of nobility in their titles, privileges, and Xxm- insignia. The decree which thus annihilated all i7oo, distinction of rank, was welcomed by the French with enthusiasm ; they did not foresee, that, from the ruins of nobility, which had ceased to be for midable, even before its last humiliation was de creed, a new aristocracy was to rise in the privileged orders of anarchy, ten thousand times more dread-* ful than that of their ancient oppressors. Louis made no shew of resistance in accepting the new government ; and on the anniversary of the capture of the Bastile, the king, the national assembly, and the armed citizens, took a solemn oath to maintain the constitution. The enthusiasm of the people, the splendid pomp, the magnitude of the occasion, gave a memorable solemnity to this fete in the Champ de Mars. But a retrospect of what has occurred since that day in France, will lead us to no favourable commentary on the per manence of national fidelity to the cause of free dom, however pompously announced, or religious ly sworn. The appearance of unanimity, which the festive day of the confederation exhibited, was but a de lusive symptom of the divided and phrenzied mind of the people. Scarce had the solemnity been announced, when insurrection and massacre broke put in many parts of the kingdom. The nobility, discontented at the abolition of privileges, which they contended that their representatives in the assembly had no right to surrender, either stimu lated their dependents to defy the new government, or fell victims themselves to the unbridled licen tiousness of the peasantry. A strong body of the clergy refused to take the civic oath ; and, by join-> ing their influence with the noblesse, particularly in Britanny and Poitou, laid the seeds of that civil. GEORGE III. 325 war which, at no distant period, was destined to chap. shake the foundation of the revolution. , _XX1U' In the increasing distraction of parties, the once* 1790. abundant popularity of Neckar, was no longer suf ficient to support that minister in guiding the helm of affairs. By hlj> retreat, and by the death of Mi rabeau, whose support, like all those of the royal family, were destined to arrive too late, Louis was left without a counsellor, or rather abandoned to those advisers, whose unpopularity aggravated his own. Under these circumstances, the fatal flight to Varennes was undertaken, and its un happy issue conducted Louis once again, a degrad ed captive, to his own capital. The war between Russia and the Porte was still continued through the year 1790. The succes sion of a new vizier, also contributed, in no small degree, to counterbalance the successes of a late campaign in the Bannat of Transylvannia, the only fortunate era in the history of that war, which Turkey alone maintained against the two most formidable of her neighbours. Hassan Ali Bey, a most distinguished officer in the Turkish service, being appointed vizier, the whole plan of the war, on the side of the Turks, was altered It had been formerly determined to invade Austria, and to maintain only defensive hostilities against the Rus sians ; by the new disposition of the Ottoman forces, the Russians were attacked, and only de? fensive operations were attempted against the em* peror. The consequence was, that time and op portunity were given to the Austrians to rally, and invade with success ; while the assaulting of the Russians on their own ground, was attended with defeat. To make up as far as possible, by alliance, for the losses of this campaign, the Porte concluded a treaty with the king of Prussia, by which hisPrussian majesty engaged to co-operate with them for the X3 1790. 326 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, recovery of the Crimea, and for other territorial xxm. restitutions. The contracting parties agreed to make no peace, but under the mediation of Eng land and Holland. The king of Prussia bound himself to guaranty, after the conclusion of the peace, all the possessions that should remain to the Porte, and to obtain the joint guarantee of England, Sweden, and Poland, to the same effect. Joseph, the emperor of Germany, died in the midst of his preparations for renewing the war. His brother and successor, Leopold, more temperate in ambition, more enlightened in his views, and with a pacific disposition, which will ever do honour to his memory, announced his sincere desire of com ing to speedy accommodation. As neither Turkey, nor Prussia, nor both unit ed, seemed equal to resist so vast a disparity of their opponents, the intention of Austria to recede from this alliance, could not fail to be an import- ant security against the danger of a total eversion. The Prussian minister, the celebrated Count Hartz- berg, had secured the essential friendship and co operation of England, with his own cabinet, at the same time, that the English minister, Mr. Ewart, acquired by his extraordinary exertions, an equal ascendancy for the interests of England in Prussia. Thus was formed the sextuple alliance between England, Holland, Prussia, Poland, the Porte, and Sweden ; by which it was attempted to draw a chain of political protection, from the extremity of Great Britain, across Holland, the Prussian states, and others of inferior note in alliance with the Prussian interest, even to the shores of the Helles pont. Preparations for war were still continued ; but amidst those preparations, a disposition for peace was visibly influencing the councils, both of Vienna and Berlin. Conferences were opened, on the 4th of June 1790, at Reichenbach, in Silesia, GEORGE III. 327 for adjusting, under the auspices of Prussia, a peace C^J{ between Austria and Turkey, and for settling, at . the same time, the differences between Leopold 179°- and his subjects in the Netherlands, An armistice was accordingly concluded, and finally, in spite of every obstacle that was thrown in the way by the artifices of the court of Petersburgh, a peace and convention were concluded between Austria and the Porte, on the ground, as it is styled in diplo matic language, of the ' status quo ante bellum.' Through the exertions of the allied powers, the limits of these extensive empires were definitely arranged. The authority of Leopold over his predecessor's revolted territories of the Netherlands, being re cognized to him by the treaty of Reichenbach, the affairs of the confederated Belgian states, now seemed to be irretrievable. The march of 30,000 of the emperor's chosen troops into the Low coun tries, and the inability of the leading confederates to raise the necessary supplies, reduced them to con sult their own safety in time, by accepting the of fers which had been guarantied by the three elect ing powers. Through the good interposition of England and her allies, and the moderate disposi tion of Leopold, the Belgians obtained, at the very moment of their submission to the Austrian arms, a new charter, of no inconsiderable consequence. Among many articles for securing the liberties of the people, there was one prohibiting, in a special manner, the levying of armies or taxes, or the establishment of Jaws without the consent of the states ; as also the employment of the soldiery against the civil subject, unless in support of the laws, and at the formal requisition of the magis trate. The only object that now remained for the to tal pacification of Europe was to reconcile the 1790. 328 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ambitious Catharine with the Porte, and to curb the designs which she was said to entertain, for the total subversion of that empire. For this purpose, the cabinets of England and Prussia, early and earnestly interfered. 329 CHAP. XXIV. Russian armamenU . . . Debates on the bill for the constitution of Canada. . . . Incidental mention of the French revolution. ... Bill for the relief of the protesting catholic dissenters, . ... Application of the Scottish church for the abolition of the test act, as it regarded Scotland. . . . Discussion of the Slave trade. . . . Finances o/ 1^91. . . . Ferment in the public opi nion during this year. . . . Riots at Birmingham. . . . Meet ing of parliament in January 1792. . . .Bill past respecting libels. . . . Reforming societies. . . . Police bill for the metro polis. . . . Finances for 1792. . . . Embassy to China. . ..East- Indian war. ^he British parliament met in November 1790, chap. but it was not till the subsequent spring, that , xxn- the issue of our proffered mediation with Russia, was formally announced. In a message to both houses, on the 29th of March, his majesty informed them of his efforts, in concert with his allies, to produce a peace between Russia and the Porte, having been unsuccessful. In fact, the peace which Catharine had lately con cluded with Sweden, left her at liberty to direct her whole strength against the Turks, who, though no longer exposed on the side of Austria, were still too weak to resist her. In 1790, Prince Po- temkin had overpowered the strongest army of the Ottomans in Wallachia, and carried, by an ever-memorable assault, the key of the lower Da nube, Ismael. The siege of that insular fortifica tion was entrusted, by Potemkin, to the celebrated SuwarroW. Jt took place early in December 1 790, 1791. 30 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, and was signalized by a massacre of the garrison, KXIV- which too far exceeded the horrors of an ordinary 1791. siege. By the conquest of Isniael, a way was opened to the Russian arms, to the very gates of Constantinople, and their advanced posts had, in fact, arrived within a few days march of the Turk ish capital, when the interference of foreign na tions, although they could not humble the language of -the czarina, yet, in fact, interrupted her career. At the conclusion of the convention of Reichen- bach, the mediating powers had, in vain, endea voured to bring the empress to peace with the Porte, on the same terms which Austria had ad mitted, viz. the status ante bellum. The Empress, said that haughty Autocratrix, makes peace and war by her own will, and will admit of no foreign interference between herself and her enemies. Alarmed, however, at the strength of the allied powers, and, above all, at the external relations, as well as the internal state of Poland, she announced her intention of demanding no farther cession from the Turks, but the town and dependency of Oe- zakow, and the country of the Oczakow Tartars, situated between the Bog and the Dnieper. We have seen by the events which led to the convention of Reichenbach, that the successor of Frederick had drawn a close alliance with Poland, and that Prussia, Holland, and Britain, had offered to mediate a peace in the east of Europe, soon after the fall of Oczakow in 1788. In the following summer, a new treaty with Prussia had secured to us an additional interest in the business of media tion, and our mediation was again renewed, though ineffectually offered, to the empress. Catharine not only rejected our interference, but seemed to have denounced a new war against another of our allies, Poland ; having declared that the new ar rangements in that republic were a violation of — v— i79«. GEORGE III. 331 the treaty by which she had guarantied its former chap. government. The seeds of jealousy between Eng- XXIV- land and Russia, had been abundantly sownrby the armed neutrality of the north ; and by every new event in the politics of Europe, they were fast rising to maturity. At the expiration of her com mercial treaty with this country, Catharine re fused to renew it, and while she loaded our mer chants with additional duties, treated the French commerce with every indulgence. The quadruple alliance which she formed with France, Spain, and Denmark, gave boldness, as well as strength to her decisions, while the counter sextuple alliance, in which England must have borne the chief ex pences of a war, seemed but a doubtful balance to her power. Such was .the state of Europe, when the royal speech anticipated hostilities with Russia, and the minister proposed an address from parliament, to declare their intention of supporting our mediation by force. The necessity of supporting our ally, the king of Prussia, and of preserving the balance of Europe from being shaken to its foundation by the farther progress of the Russian armies, were supported by Mr. Pitt, with all the accustomed strength of his eloquence. Mr. Fox encountered the' motion for address. He maintained that Prus sia could not'be endangered by the victories of the Prussians over the Turks, and that whatever pride the empress might have shewn in declining a peace which we should dictate, yet that her offer to cede all her conquests between the Neister and the Da nube, reserving only what she had gained between the Bog and the Dneiper, was a reasonable offer, considering the vast ascendancy of her arms. Mr. Burke, though he had sided with ministers on an other important occasion, was in this question' in unison with the opponents of the war, and it may 332 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, be said, with the majority of the nation. ' Are we XX[V' to plunge ourselves,' said Mr. Burke, ' into war, T79i~ into bloodshed, debt and calamity, for the disputed possession of a distant territory, which is either a desert, or the haunt of people oppressed by the yoke of savages ? Are we to lavish the lives of Englishmen, that christian nations should r be brought back to the dominion of infidels, whose ex pulsion from Europe would be a blessing, as their empire is now a scourge to those quarters ?' The majority of the minister's votes was still retained ; but it fell, in this question, much below its accus tomed number. Encouraged by the voice of pub lic opinion on this subject, both within and without parliament, Mr. Grey proposed a vote of censure on ministers, for their precipitate projects respect ing Russia ; his motion was negatived by a majo rity of only 80. Whatever judgment may be passed on the consistency of the minister, in giv ing way to popular opinion, and receding from this armed mediation, after a fleet had been equip ped, and the expence of large preparations incur red, it is certain, that our interference was with drawn, as precipitately as it had been offered. Prussia and Turkey were advised to conclude a peace with the empress, on terms which she had proposed. By a peace suddenly concluded at Ga- lata, on the 11th of August 1791, Russia retained Oczakow, and the country between the Bog and the Dnieper, which had belonged to Turkey be fore the war. The latter of these rivers was to be the boundary of both powers, each of whom were to be equally entitled to the free navigation of the river, and each to erect fortifications on their re spective shores. The subject of the Russian armament was dropt , for the present session, but was resumed during the next, in both houses, as a matter of serious 1791. GEORGE III. 333 crimination against the minister. Before our arma- chap. ment had commenced, said the accusers of mini- XXIV- stry, her imperial majesty had declared the terms upon which alone she would consent to make peace with the Turks. After a campaign of asto nishing success, and a peace concluded with Swe den, she Still adhered to the same terms, and ne ver offered to rise beyond them ; an armament was thereafter equipped, a ten months negociation took place. What did both of them produce? The negociation, ended by accepting those very terms which the empress had all along proffered. The British ministry declared, after all their threats, that if the Turks did not accept these terms, the belligerent parties should be left to decide the quarrel by themselves; a procedure which had sunk us in the estimation of all Europe. Ministers could only answer to these weighty asseverations, that the empress, whatever her professions were, had held the overthrow of the Turkish empire in serious contemplation ; that her armies were suffi cient to have accomplished her desire, had not Bri tain and Prussia set bounds to her ambition ; that although the terms of peace which she offered sub sequently to her later successes were more mode rate than could have been expected, yet, that fo reign interference, and not her own disposition, had taught her moderation. So much at least had been accomplished by our late armament, that be yond those acquisitions between the Bog and Dnieper, Russia had acquired nothing. If the entire humi liation of her ambition had not been accomplished by a stricter abridgement of her conquests, it was to the clamours of opposition, and the clamours of the country, that Britain owed the want of ab solute efficiency to her mediatory projects. One of the principal objects which had been re- 334 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, commended to the attention of parliament, in the XXIV- opening speech of the session, was the formation j;9I. of a new constitution for the province of Canada. Since the acquisition of that territory by Britain, in 1763, frequent promises had been made to the British Canadians of extending to them the bless ings of the British constitution. The French Ca nadians, on the other hand, either because they were universally attached ,to their old establish ments, or that the voice of their aristocracy, who possessed feudal privileges at variance with the free spirit of our government, had been alone attended to, appeared averse to any change of their consti tution. In framing the bill for the new Canadian constitution, attention was therefore paid to the different interests and prejudices of the two classes of inhabitants, and one of its principal features was the separation of Canada into its French and Eng lish divisions, or Upper and Lower Canada, to each of which a separate legislature was assigned. The provincial assemblies were to be septennial, and elected by possessors of freeholds in the coun try, or of tenants of houses in the towns, whose rents amounted to a certain sum. The powers of the governor, as in other provincial governments, were similar to those of a viceroy ; but the forma tion of a legislative council, who were to be here ditary, or for life, at the option of the king, came nearer in approach to the form of the British go vernment than any colonial government at present exhibited. The clergy were allowed one seventh of the land, in lieu of tithes, and a bishop of the English church was to be nominated by the crown. Internal taxation was completely renounced by our government. The external regulation of trade and commerce was alone reserved ; and even against the abuse of this power a remedy was provided, GEORGE III. 335 by assigning to the legislatures of the two pro- chap. vinces the right of levying and imposing public , XXIV> burdens of every description. I79i, The bill passed through both houses without material alterations ; but the debate was memorable for the extraneous topics which it introduced, and for the final separation which it occasioned be tween the two distinguished orators, who had hi therto been the joint leaders of opposition. Mr. Fox, in proposing amendments to the bill, ex pressed his hopes, that the house, in promulgating a new constitution, would keep in view those en lightened principles of freedom, which had already . made a rapid progress, and were hastening to be come universal. He objected to the proposed re presentation, as being too scanty ; to the division of the country into provinces, which would retard the coalition of the French and English ; to the establishment of the clergy, which was enormous ; and to the mode of electing the council, which, he thought, should be elected by the assembly. He meant not, he said, to discuss the general uti lity of hereditary powers, and titles attending he reditary possessions ; but, though he did not think it prudent that they should be destroyed, in king doms where they had already formed a part of the constitution, he conceived it unwise to give them birth in countries where they had not previously existed. He could not account for the creation of a new estate in the Canadian constitution, unless by supposing that an opportunity was sought of reviving those French titles and honours, and awak ening in the west that spirit of chivalry, of which the extinction in a neighbouring kingdom had been so much lamented by a class of politicians in Britain, Mr. Fox"s allusions to the changes in France were not forgot by Mr. Burke, whose book on the 336 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN* chap, revolution had already appeared. The eulogies of x* '_. his former friend on a system which he had so 1791. warmly combated, appeared to wound him as a personal insult, and the adoption of those prin ciples, on which the changes in France had been adopted, seemed so baneful to the peace of society, that he inveighed against the revolution with all the ardour peculiar to his eloquence. He had been falsely accused, he said, of abusing republics, for the purpose of recommending monarchy ; but he affirmed, that he never had abused a republic, an cient or modern. France deserved not to be called a republic, any more than a monarchy. He knew not by what name to describe it. Its shape— (If shape it could be called), which shape had none, Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, The likeness of a kingly crown had on. But it was the spectre of monarchy, and not the substance ; it was fierce as ten furies, horrible as hell, and had the hell-hounds of sin for ever bark ing around its presence. The evil of its principles, he affirmed, were not confined to France ; they had infected the loyalty of Englishmen, and nour ished a desperate faction, whose determination was to undermine and overthrow the constitution. Of the existence of this faction, Mr. Burke solemnly warned the house, although, when called upon to bring forward proofs, of such a conspiracy, he had only general and vague allegations to repeat. Mr. Fox, conceiving the charge of faction to be level ed, by this undefined application, against all who had wished well to the revolution, rose to vindi cate his principles from the charge of disaffection to the British constitution. He had rejoiced, he said, as a friend to the human species, in the downfal of a tyranny among 25,000,000 of hu man beings ; but he praised the French revolution GEORGE III. 337 for abolishing the ancient system, not for that chap. which they had put in its place. Much must ne- xxl ' , cessarily remain to be done, for bringing to peace 1791. and utility, the elements of a government so little confirmed by experience. Yet, if it was a crime to rejoice in the prospect, of liberty to so many millions, he must plead the principles of the Eng lish constitution as his excuse ; those very prin ciples which he had imbibed, with reverence, froni the speeches, from the writings, and from the inesti mable conversation, of the great statesman to whom he now replied. To hear those principles now abandoned by his illustrious friend, he confessed, had no less grieved than astonished him. During the American war, they had felt and owned a com-: mon. sympathy upon subjects of politics analogous to the present. They had rejoiced at the successes of Washington, and wept over the fate of Mont gomery. In the opinion of that house, in 1780,; the influence of the crown had increased, was in creasing, and ought to be diminished. To this opinion his right honourable friend had subscribed. If the influence of the British crown was thought dangerous, what, in the eyes of reflecting French men, must the influence of the crown of France. have appeared ? Mr. Burke, in reply, complain ed heavily of the charge of inconsistency and the abandonment of former principles, aggravated, as it was, by the circumstance of its being brought forward by one with whom he had lived in friend ship and intimacy for two-and-twenty years. He vindicated his opinion of the French revolution, by distinguishing its whole nature and scope from that of America. But, in this attempt, he did not defend his consistency with his usual felicity of style or thought ; the reproach seemed to have pierced deep, and he gave way to plaintive expres sions of pain. He mentioned his age, his services^ Vol II. Y 338 ANNALS OE GREAT BRITAIN. chap, the hardship of being libelled before the public by xxiy. kjg friend, the self-devotion of his conduct, in sa- *79*. crificing both private friendship and party support to the safety of his country, and resisting revolu tionary opinions ; but he concluded by declaring, that in what he had said oh the subject of French principles, he made no allusion whatever to the Speeches of Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox rose in great agitation : his utterance Was for sometime impeded by tears. He warmly expressed his hopes, that whatever he had said in the intemperance of debate would be forgot by his friend, whom, he found, that in spite of all his harshness, he must still love. But he could not help perceiving, that his right honourable friend now displayed something more than mere differ ence of opinion ; he .seemed to discover a secret wish and disposition essentially to injure him. Grant ing that he had been indiscreet and warm in the terms of his opinion of the French revolution, Surely this did not deserve the severe and pointed epithets which had been applied. Mr. Burke said, loud enough to be heard, that he did not recollect having used any such epithets. If, said Mr. Fox, (with great presence of mind, and an happy ap plication of this circumstance) my right honour able friend does not recollect the epithets, then neither do I. If they are out of his mind, they are out of mine also. This rejoinder of Mr. Fox, though begun with great respect and affection, led him once more into the subject of dispute, and in taking a comprehensive view of the inconsistencies which he could not but remark in the conduct of his political preceptor, his speech assumed, in its progress, an air of deep and sarcastic severity. The substance of this speech, though tempered with a concluding declaration, that this difference in their politics should only be a temporary bar ta GEORGE Iiti 339 their meeting, but not to their friendship, drew OHAF. from M*"- Burke such an answer as necessari- . x ' ly dissolved both their friendship and acquaint- 1791. ance. The Canadian bill, after undergoing several al terations, passed the house of commons on the 18^ of May. The principal of these alterations were, the increase of the number of the assembly in Lower Canada to fifty, instead of thirty, and the limitation of the assembly to four years, instead of seven. Some sajutary reformations in the practical laws of the country engaged the attention of parliament, after these unprofitable speculations on foreign af fairs. Of the most important of these, viz. the bill on the law of libels, we shall have soon an oc casion to detail the particulars, under the events of the following year. Another bill was passed, which, originating with the minority, and support ed, wkh honourable liberality, by the minister and many of his friends, had for its object to secure. ^ the rights of elections, and to prevent vexations, prosecutions for political purposes. A law was en acted, prohibiting the attorney-general, in the right of the crown, or any individual in his own rightj from disturbing the possessor of any franchise. A bill was also passed for the conditional relief of those catholic dissenters, who, although adhering tp the Romish faith, protested against the more odi? qus and dangerous opinions imputed to papists,. The bill was introduced by the solicitor-general, Feb. 16. Mr* Mitford, and -was seconded by Mr. Windham. The intention qf the bill was not to repeal all the penal statutes against catholics, but to produce such an exemption as should admit men of honour and loyalty tp the fair protection of the laws. To that description of the Romish Church, who entitled themselves the protesting catholic dissenters, and Y2 340 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. E^v' W^° aL1jured, the benefits of the present act were '_j exclusively applied.1 The oath to be administer- 1791. ed for the new test was nearly the same as that which was ordained for the Irish catholics in 1776. From the tolerating spirit which displayed, itself on this occasion, the members of the Scottish church conceived it a favourable occasion to apply for a repeal of the test act, as far as it regarded Scotland ; and a petition to the house to this ef fect, from the general assembly of Scotland, was eloquently supported by Sir Gilbert Elliot. In support of the motion, it was urged, that Scot land, by its constitution, and the treaty of union, had a separate form of religion, an independent church, and a free communication of civil rights. But a test, which is a condition for attaining those civil rights, imposed on Scotchmen the necessity of departing from the form of their religion, and either abridged their religious liberty for the sake of civil attainments, or their civil attainments for . the sake of conscience. Mr. Pitt insisted, that the test must have been understood as a stipulation at the time of the union, since Scotland had acquies ced in it from that period to the present, without complaint. The hardship of the test (he said) was but imaginary. It was not a dereliction of the principles of the church of Scotland, but merely a pledge of amity with the church of Eng land. This willingness to communicate with a sis ter church, he understood to be the general senti ment of the members of the church of Scotland. But in Scotland there were, as in England, secta ries of various denominations, whose sentiments were less liberal. Against such sectaries, it was 1 Viz. Those catholics who de- subjects ; that no faith was to be nied the doctrine, that princes ex- kept with heretics; and that the communicated by the pope might power of ecclesiastical absolution be deposed and murdered by their dissolved moral obligations. GEORGE III. 341 just, as well as expedient, that the test should ope- chap. rate ; otherwise the church of England would suf- , ' fer an encroachment from them, to which, from 1791.- sectaries of England, she was not exposed, as the legislature had repeatedly declared its intention to guard her. For, as there was no test in Scotland, an exemption in favour of that country would let in upon the church of England dissenters and sectaries of everv denomination, and thus break down the fence which the wisdom and justice of parliament had so often and so lately confirmed. Sir Gilbert Elliot's motion was negatived. For three years past, we have seen the friends of human nature appealing in vain for the aboli tion of its foulest disgrace to a British legislature, or obtaining only partial modifications of an enor mous evil. The subject of the slave-trade was resumed during this session, and a body of evi dence laid before parliament, which had been care fully and deeply scrutinized by a select committee of the house of commons. On the faith of these documents, respecting the guilty and bloody bar barity of the trade, Mr. Wilberforce moved for leave to bring in a bill to prevent the farther im portation of slaves into our West-India colonies. To arrest the supply of the islands by this inhuman: traffic, Mr. Wilberforce considered as the surest means of meliorating the condition of those who were already in a state of slavery in the colonies. ; since their owners, when debarred from a market, would be obliged, for their own interests, to keep up their stock by milder usage. The pleas of jiistice, of mercy, and of policy, which have been Urged on this subject by the abolitionists, although numerous in detail, and indisputable in proof, have been so frequently repeated, from the popular in terest of the question, that, without weakening their force, they may be briefly stated. The means Y3 342 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, by which slaves are obtained on the coast of Africa xx'^ are, by force or fraud ; by the purchase of those ""1791. which are born slaves, from their . African possess ors ; by the Sale of criminals or prisoners- of war ; or by violent captures, which have none of these pretences. That the last and most nefarious of those methods is very generally used in obtaining these human cargoes, is substantiated beyond all contradiction. "That the other methods of procur ing them, which the traders pretend to be founded in justice, are in reality atrbcious ; is not merely to be suspected, but notorious. We purchase slaves in war, and war is made to supply the purchasers. We purchase criminals, it is said ; and men con victed of witchcraft and Sorcery are sent from those African tribunals to propitiate their crimes under the lash of the West Indies. Our security, too, that only fair and honourable means are used in filling up those cargoes of our fellow-creature's, whence does it arise, and to whom is it intrusted ? Who is it that presides over the African tribunal, to assure us that the wretched culprit is condemn ed for a crime before he is devoted to the last ex tremities of a punishment ? Who is it that becomes security for the Guinea captain and his black agent, that all the victims thrust into his hold are either taken in war, or taken by means that will shew the shadow of defence ? All is entrusted to the high jus tice and tender mercy of men who deal professionally in human blood ; to the black trader, who" is degrad ed beneath the barbarism of Africa by his connec tion with the commerce of Europe ,; to the Guinea captains, who have been known to torture infants in boilihg water, and apply burning coals to their/ prisoners when they refused to eat. All that can be said in palliation of the sin is, that some of their cargoes are obtained by what they denominate fair purchase. But . of the rest GEORGE III. 343 that remain .what shall be said ? And what of chap. those, who fall avowedly into our hands, by ra- u " pine, as wide as it is atrocious ? ' The slave- t79t trade' (says Archdeacon Paley) ' destroys more in one year than the inquisition did in an hundred, ot perhaps even since its foundation.' ' But the traf fic' (says its defenders) ' employs a capital, which cannot be instantly withdrawn.' Then let it be gradually withdrawn ; and if a compromise must be made between gain and iniquity, let the pro tracted existence of the trade be ho longer than is necessary to remove that capital. ' But it is a nursery' (say they) ' for our seamen !' It is known* (the abolitionists reply) * to be the grave of our- seamen.' ' Other nations (they tell us) would take it up.' Then the crime would not be ours. In fine, there is no apology offered for the slave-trade, which, if admitted, would not triumphantly excul pate every criminal that ever pleaded for his life at the Old Bailey. The bill was thrown out, though the minister gave it his strenuous support. A bill was, however, passed during the session, from which (though a slight atonement to the cause of humanity for the rejection of Mr. Wilberforce's bill), yet hopes were formed that, by its ultimate ef« feet, jt might extirpate the practice, along with the necessity of importing slaves from Africa, for sup plying the plarkets of Europe with the produce of the west. This was to establish a colony at Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa, in the eighth degree of north latitude, where the soil was described, by those who best knew it, to be capable of produce ifig, in excellence and almost spontaneously, the Various articles of cotton, coffee, sugar, &c. A tract of land was allotted, to be cultivated by free men, and an honourable experiment was to be made, whether Africa might not be rendered, by 344 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, civilization, a market for our manufactures, in- '_, stead of a nursery of slaves. 1791. Previous to the production of his financial plan, Mr. Pitt proposed to appoint a committee to con sider and report the amoiant of the public income and expenditure for the last five years, and that the same committee should be directed to inquire what the public expenditure might be expected to be in future, and what alteration had taken place in the amount of the national debt since the 5th of January ] 786. The result of this comparison of income and expenditure was as follows.— - Annual income .€16,030,285 Expenditure, including a million for liqui dating the national debt . . . ,. 15,969,178 Balance in favour of the country .€61,107 Mr. Sheridan, as usual, took the lead in combat ing the financial conclusions of the minister. He remarked, that the report of the present commit tee, shewed the fallacy of the estimate of future ex- pence, which had been made by the former com mittee in 1786. That estimate amounted to the annual sum of ^14,478,18], whereas the actual amount now stated by the present committee, is ^1.5,969,178 ; which, after the deduction of the annual s£] ,000,000 for discharging the national debt, exceeded the former calculation of future ex penditure, by more than ^00,000. On the 3d of June, Mr. Sheridan again urged his objections to the minister's statement of finances, in a series of more than forty resolutions, tending to establish, in the first place, a mistake in the report of 1786 ; in the second place, to shew, from an average of the public income and expenditure for 'three years past, that, instead of being a surplus, there was a GEORGE 111. 345 deficiency in the public funds ; to exhibit, in the chap. third place, the sums voted for 1791,. and to prove XX1V- from these, that the expence of our present i7^7" establishment far exceeded the calculations stated in the report of the committee. The fourth set of his resolutions were "to establish, that, allowing the above surplus to have existed, still, from the report of the same committee, extraordinary and unforeseen expences might be expected to arise in subsequent, as had invariably been the case in past years. The majority of Mr. Sheridan's re solutions were rejected, and the few which passed, Were so modified and amended, as to change their original sense. The supplies of the year were, nearly the same as in the usual peace establishment, and no fresh taxes were imposed. Mr. Dundas produced his annual statement of Indian finance, which he said, had been in a state of prosperity, ever since Mr. Pitt's plan of territorial government, and the com mencement of his own executive direction; and that the British revenues in the east, amounted- to ,sg7 ,000,000, after defraying all the expences of government, leaving a surplus of a£l, 500,000, either for investments or contingent services. Par liament was prorogued, on the 10th of June, to the 31st of January 1792. As the years of peace are ever favourable to speculation,, the activity of the English mind ap pears, during the present period, to have been in flamed, to an uncommon degree, with the contro versy of theoretical politics. The French revolution had sprung from principles, which the English whigs recognized as those of their own constitu tion ; it had not yet reached,. though it was verging tp the climax which shewed the danger of indiscri minately applying such principles to political prac tice, The : conclusion of this eventful year, was, 346 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CHAp. indeed, the crisis between hope and fear in the xxiv. hearts of those who wished well to the liberties of 1 — /—' "* France, but who dreaded the excesses, which so mo. 1 '*' mentous a change might produce. The worst dis graces of the revolution had not arrived, and, un til their arrival, the friends of liberty were unwill ing to forebode them. To this benevolent prin ciple, the more enlightened whigs ascribe their pre dilection for' the French revolution, at a period* when its promised blessings seemed more than id counterbalance the evils it had occasioned. If their hopes have been falsified, let not the prin ciples, on Which our own revolution was founded, be insulted for the event. The name of liberty, and not her cause, has been profaned. The at tempt of a great people to emancipate themselves* has, indeed, failed, and innumerable crimes have discredited the attempt. In the awful moral of the event, we read the dangers of revolutions. Let not Englishmen, however, forget a warning which it affords, no less important; that the tyranny, which debases a people, must ultimately end iri revolution, and in proportion as the tyranny has been, so will be the horror of the change. Without refining on distinction, it may be fair to separate the class of men to whom we have now alluded, from other abettors of the French revolu tion in England, whose influence was unhappily felt in the ferment of the present times. We have seen the principles declared by Mr. Fox:, in his controversy with Mr. Burke, in parliament, when this subject was introduced : a declaration Which may defy the most rigid interpretation to set it at variance with the principles of English liberty, or the loyalty of a British subject. Such a declaration of faith upon the French revolution, might include an erroneous idea of the French constitution, but implied atither hereey nor error, with respect to i79*. GEORGE III. 347 Our own. Other answers to the writings of Mr. cha?. Burke, were dictated by the same constitutional xxtv*. grounds which Mr. Fox had assumed, among u which the work of Mackintosh will be long re membered. But the controversy was not confined to men who could have enlightened the understand ings of Englishmen, while they warmed their hearts With the love of constitutional liberty. The answer of Paine brought the question to republican principles^ inapplicable to the country and constitution; and the controversy, which philosophers should have managed, was brought before the mbbi This li terary appeal to popular passions, debased the con troversy in England, as the practical appeal to the mob degraded it in France. Along with the writ ings of Paine, it might be lawful to class many contemporary productions of thfe same incendiary jstamp ; but in speaking of contemporaries, the tehumeration of names, for the mere purpose of censure, ought to be omitted. Among the speculative friends of reform, the English dissenters were, in general, distinguished for the boldness of their sentiments in religious, 'as Well as political disputes. Exulting in their high hope, that an era of universal toleration wa& at hand, and that the death-blow, which supersti tion had received in France, would speedily level ecclesiastical monopolies over the rest of Europe; they spoke and Wrote a language of independence, bordering on temerity, and strongly disrespectful to the established chuith. All the contempt which they had received frbm the church dignitaries, was repaid with interest, in their predictions of an approach ing triumph. At the head of these dissenting po lemics, stood the celebrated Priestley.7 An event, 7 In speaking of distinguished rate his respectability as an useful (dissenters, it is no irreverence to friend to truth, very far below the memory of Dr. Priestley to other literary characters, among 348 ANNALS OR GREAT BRITAIN. chap, which occurred in the city where this gentleman Jixiv' lived, and where the followers of his principles were 1791. much distinguished in the cause of independence, contributed to make them still more important in the public view, by a consequence which displayed them in the light of persecuted men. A society of gentlemen in Birmingham, having met to cele brate the anniversary of the French revolution, an inflammatory hand-bill was circulated by an unknown enemy to the meeting, and purporting to be written by an incendiary agent of the society, called on the people to insurrection, The society disavowed the atrocious paper, but it had the effect of rousing the people, though for a different purpose, than the hand-bill had described. An immense mob as sembled on the day of the meeting, and spreading the watch-word of church and state, carried de vastation among the houses of the dissenters. For two days, Birmingham was a scene of pillage and terror. The military at last quelled the insurgents, but not until they had consumed the house and li brary of Dr. Priestley, along with his inestimable apparatus of natural philosophy. Dr. Priestley fled to London, from whence he wrote a letter to, his brethren of the dissenting faith, most uncharitably ascribing the disturbance to a conspiracy of the English clergy against him. However unjust this allegation was, the event may be recorded as one of those unfortunate circumstances which aggravated, for the present, the feelings of public discord, and contributed to future exasperation. Parliament assembled again on the 31st of Ja,-, nuary 1792, and the king's speech contained little more than what related to foreign transactions. the dissenting body. While the conciliated the respect of even the polemical rage of Priestley has writer's opponents in religious and provoked intolerance, the mild wis- political speculation.' dom of such men as Dr. Aiken, has > GEORGE III. 349 The marriage of his rcfyal highness the duke of CHAp. York, with the' daughter of the king of Prussia; xxiV. the treaty of peace, concluded through the me- ' — u — ' dium of Great Britain and its allies, between the emperor and the Turks ; and the preliminaries settled between the latter and the empress of Rus sia ; the continuation of the war which had lately broken out in India ; the assurances of friendship and good-will on the part of the European powers, and the prospect thence arising of a stability of do mestic prospects, and of a diminution of the public expence (particularly a reduction in the army and navy), were the principal subjects of notice or con gratulation. The animadversions of opposition fell most se verely on the Russian armament, and Mr. Fox congratulated the minority on the success of their opposition to a war, against which the interests and voice of the nation had so decidedly spoken. If the temper of the present times favoured ex treme latitude of opinion, there was, however, an opposite re-action to be dreaded from the prosecu tions which that licentiousness drew upon the li terary speculations of the country. The crown lawyers becoming jealous of that powerful engine of good and evil, were disposed to subject the press to every possible controul. A maxim laid down by Lord Mansfield, that ' the greater the truth, the greater was the. libel,' was universally established in courts of justice; and juries were not allowed to decide in cases of libels on the whole question at issue, but confined to the single point of certain words being spoken, printed, or publish ed, by the accused. From a doctrine so indefinite, a great latitude of interpretation was left to the judges, who, from their views and situations, most naturally lean to the side of prerogative. The re sult of prosecutions thus depended more upon the 350 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, judge than the jury, and the doctrine of libels he* x?clv came an engine of terror in the hands of govern*- 1791. ment. Mr- Fox had introduced, during the las* session, a bill upon this subject, which the- lords had rejected ; but which triumphed during the present session, to the general satisfaction of the nation. The decision of the question, turned not a JJttJe on Mr. Fox's critical observation on the Word meanings which is used in all indictments for libejs, The term to mean, he observed, has two distinct significations ; one in which it may imply a proposition, according to strict gram matical and logical construction ; another, in which it may be taken to express the intention of the writer and speaker. In the former sense, k had been extensively taken by judges for many years past, but in the latter, it ought to be ta ken by a candid and impartial English jury, who were not to determine the logical construction, but the intention of the words expressed in the indictment. When the question came before the peers, Lord Camden strenuously supported the right of juries alone to decide on questions of libels. He recapitulated a series of cases from the time of the celebrated Bracton, who lived 50Q years ago, to prove, that in all the charges of juries, they were to judge of the intention and tendency of the alleged libel. Judge Jeffreys himself, in all his devotion to an arbitrary court, had been of this opinion; to whom/ said Lord Camden, ' should the judging of libels be confided, or to speak more properly, who were to guard the liberty of the press, the judges, or the people of England ? the juries were evidently the people of England.' Lord Lansdowne seconded these opinions, in an able speech, which he concluded, by declaring, ' that twelve reasonable and conscientious men were, in his Qpinios, as competent to pronounce judgment* GEORGE III. 351 on a matter of law and fact, as the judges them- °hap. selves. But the profession of the law,' he observ- U^?CIV* ed, * filled men with presumption and arrogance, i^T and it was the tendency of their profession, to wish for oracular dominion. Could that enno bled member,' he added, « who reigned over the King's Bench, overthrow the bill in question, fee would become lord paramount of England.' The bill passed through both houses, by a considerable majority. A society had been for some time instituted, for the object of parliamentary reform, and securing the freedom and greater frequency of elections. It comprehended, like other popular institutions, men of various degrees of respectability, and in- - spired by different motives in the cause of innova tion ; but many of its members were distinguished for their literary and professional talents, and for their station and circumstances in society. They denominated themselves, the Friends of the People, Their avowed objects were strictly constitutional, and their society included the greater number of the opposition in the lower house. Mr. Fox, how ever, did not so far approve of their objects, as to attach himself to their number. To sound the disposition of parliament, Mr. Grey declared his intention qf conveying the petition of the reform ing society to parliament, and introducing a mo tion for reform, early in the next session. Mr, Pitt expressed himself a friend to the cause of re form, but declared his conviction, that the cir cumstances of the times rendered innovation, of every description, unseasonable and dangerous. The spirit of reform was not, however, check ed by parliamentary discouragements, but diffused itself, in new channels, through a multitude of affi liated associations, which were called the Corre sponding societies. 352 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. As the events,' however, in a neighbouring xxiv. kingdom, grew darker, the cause of British reform 17ai> was abandoned by its more respectable patrons, and fell into the lowest hands. With the excep tion of Home Tooke, the London Corresponding society had not one member, whose talents or in fluence could reflect importance on any meeting. But before the cause had fallen thus low, a society of creditable individuals in Scotland, had united their efforts for a more defined, as well as reason-. able purpose. Their object was to ameliorate the decayed representation of the burghs of Scotland. The subject was brought before parliament by Mr. Sheridan. The number of those burghs was sixty- six, and fifty of them had petitioned parliament for redress. They complained of infringements on their rights, and their property, through the unlawful authority of magistrates, who were self- elected ; and against whose usurpation of power no law had provided a remedy. The main griev ance was the self-election of the magistrates, of which Mr. Sheridan moved for the abolition. It: had been objected, he observed, ' that abuses of the same sort existed in England ; but to this he an swered, that the existence of one abuse, could not justify another. It had been also stated, that there were courts in Scotland to whom an appeal could be made against the hardships of the case. On this subject he had consulted those who were mas ters of the subject, and found that there were none.' The lord advocate of Scotland denied, the charges of injustice and dilapidation, of which the self-elected magistrates were accused ; he allowed the deficiency of a tribuhal to judge of their ac counts, and offered to join with Mr. Sheridan, in proposing the establishment of such a tribunal, provided the system of the Scottish burghs should be allowed to remain untouched j but protested GEORGE III. 353 against the abolition of self-election in the magis- chap. tracy, because their taxes and exactions were fairly xxl.y- amenable to the high court of justice in Scotland. I7^T~ On dividing, for referring the petitions to a com mittee, the question was negatived. The other proceedings of the session, were nei ther numerous, nor, in general, important. The subject of the slave-trade was again agitated, and, by a decision of the commons, it was ordained, that it should cease from the commencement of the year 1 796 ; but, on reference to the peers, the consideration even of its gradual abolition, did not pass, and the question was postponed to the suc ceeding year. The Scottish episcopalians petitioned parliament, during this session, for exemption from certain pe nal restraints, to which'the suspicion of their at tachment to the house of Stewart had, in former periods, subjected them ; and a bill of indulgence was passed in their favour. The unitarians, plead ing for similar toleration', were less successful ; and a motion, introduced in their favour by Mr. Fox, met the usual fate of minority proposals. An interference in the police of the metropolis, deserves to be noticed; as one of the' prominent acts of the session. The evils attending excessive and condensed population, in a state of society where the extremes of want and luxury grow up together, had rendered the vices of London un able to be controuled by 'the institutions which were adopted in simpler times. The ancient, and once venerable, office of justice of the peace,. was sufficient in those days, to keep in check the Ordinary routine of transgressions, But the increase of crimes made that office at last so extremely burdensome, that no person would un dertake it, unless with a view to 'emoluments ; Vol. U. Z 354 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 1. in 1786, found the settlements and affairs of the company flourishing in all the apparent security of peace, trade, and extensive alliance. Such was the state of India, when Tippoo, in the summer of 1788, marched his army down the Ghauts, to wards the Malabar coast, evidently with hostile de signs against the rajah of Travancore. He first endeavoured to detach him from the alliance of the English ; but finding this effort fruitless, he encouraged the rajah of Cochin, one of his tri-. butaries, to lay claim, upon some antiquated pre tence, to part of the ground on which the lines are built to defend Travancore on the north, the only quarter on which it is accessable to an invad ing army. The interposition of the government of Bengal overawed the sujtan for a while. He withdrew his troops, and returned to Seringapa- tam, The following summer, however, afforded stronger temptation to begin hostilities, The rajah of Travancore had bought from the Dutch two forts, Cranganore and Jacottab,, which lay between Cochin and Mysore. Tippoo was, or affected to be, highly enraged at the bargain, asserting that, as feudal sovereign of that part of the Malabar coast, no transfer of the property could be made without his permission. In the spring of 1789, his attack upon the lines of Travancore necessarily involved the British government in the defence of their ally. During the first of our campaigns, I79e. which took place in the following year, Tippoo, with great address, avoided coming to a general engagement, although General Meadows, with 15,000 men, pressed him hard from the side of the Carnatic, and Major-general Abercromby, pro ceeding from the Bombay side, took several places 3G0 • ANNALS OF GREAT ElilTAIJf. chap, of strength, and defeated several bodies of the XX1V' enemy. Our allies, the Mahrat'tas, and the niznm i79-0. of the Decan, performed no essential services dur ing the same campaign. The next campaign com menced with the memorable siege and capture of 1751. Bangalore. Cornwallis, at the head of the main army, aimed at a plan of hostilities worthy of Bri tish energy and his own reputation ; it was to strike at the sultan's capital, and bring him either to peace or destruction. This, however, he did not accomplish so soon as he at first had reason to ex pect. It was not till the month of May that he reached the capital of the Mysore dominions, after defeating Tippoo in a pitched and decisive battle ; the flood's of the Cavery prevented him from investing the city ; and the siege of Seringa- patam was deferred till another campaign. On the 179s. 7th of February i792, the British army again ar rived before it, after a great many sieges and mili tary movements, of the different bodies of troops, native and European, of which it was composed. After the junction of Abercromby's forces, the trenches were opened, and batteries opened with in 800 yards of the fort. Seringapatam is of a triangular form, and is invested on two sides bv the Cavery. It was on the north of that fort, across the river, that Cornwallis determined to make the attack. Abercromby falling on the op posite, which was the weakest side, drove in the troops of the city, and pushed on the siege with unremitting vigour. On the 24th, the sultan's af fairs appearing desperate, fearing sedition within the fort, and farther opposition from without, he con sented to the terms of peace which were dictated. by his besiegers. These were, that he should cede one half of his dominions to the allied pow ers ; 2d, that he should pay three.crores and thirty lacks of rupees (about ^4,125,000 sterling) ; 3d, GEORGE III. 361 that he should unequivocally restore all the pri- chaP. soners which had been taken by the Mysoreans, , ' from the time of Hyder Ally ; and, 4th, that two IJ9I. of his three eldest sons should be delivered up as hostages for the due' performance of the treaty. Some difficulties arising, before these terms al though . generally agreed to by the sultan, could be exactly defined and ascertained, it was observed that Tippoo availed himself of the delay, and had begun to repair the breaches in his fortifications. Lord Cornwallis immediately issued orders for the recommencement of the siege, and for the two princes, who had already come in as hostages, to be sent off to the Carnatic. Tippoo was daunted, by the consciousness, that if hostilities should again commence, they would probably terminate in his utter destruction. He submitted to every demand of the conquerors ; and on the 19th of March the definitive treatv, as dictated by Lord Cornwallis, was delivered to the ambassadors ef the three al lied powers, with the greatest solemnity. 362 CHAP. XXV. Situation of affairs in France. . . . Parlies in the national as sembly.. . . Declaration of war with the king of Hungary and Bohemia.... Subjection of the king torepublican ministers.... Insurrection of the 20** of June. . . . Appearance of La Fa yette in Paris. . . . His vain efforts to rouse the Parisians in behalf of the king. , . . Another insurrection, prepared by the jacobins. . . . Events of the lQtl> of August. . . . March of the Prussians into France. . , . Progressive influence of the jacobins. . . . Events from the 2 but ominous sentiments prevailed in every heart. The fetes were at once sumptuous and mournful ; the people seemed sad and distrustful ; the king seemed to, interrogate their looks with an air of melancholy. When the queen appeared, it was with difficulty that the murmurs of the multitude could be stifled. The unfortunate family soon gave over shewing themselves, to the pity, rather than to the love of the Parisians ; and the court became a dark and silent asylum of suspicions, and of timid intrigues,. which were mistaken for conspiracies. After these' fetes, a revolutionary amnesty was proclaimed, and the restriction of passports abolished. To men blended by hatred of the revolution, such a fiberty; GEORGE III. S65 seemed deliverance from a prison. The brothers chap. of the king availed themselves of the decree, and xxv' drew along with them all the nobility of France, ~7^Z who were impelled either by fidelity, or false en thusiasm, or their ruined circumstances, to attach themselves to the counter-revolutionary standard. The emigres resorted to Coblentz, and were fol lowed by crowds of adventurers of every descrip tion. The designs -of these men were not in the least disguised at their departure. Their threats of invasion" were heard in every quarter ; the royalists, who remained in France, repeated and re ported ~them with too much exultation. The queen herself was observed to be imprudent in her de clarations of this nature ; while the king seemed to regard-the event with grief, but, by his natural irresolution, was prevented from taking active mea sures to counteract the savage manifestoes of his brothers.' After all this mighty emigration, there still remained in France a body of counter-revolu tionists more numerous than even in the first days of the revolution. Some of the more faithful of these remained near the king, many of them dis tinguished by their services in happier times of the monarchy. The generality preceded or followed Louis to the scaffold. Beside the aristocrats, three other distinct parties appeared in the legislative assembly. The epoch of choosing the legislative assembly was that of the unfortunate flight of the king to Varennes. This cir cumstance naturally had inflamed the public opinion, and the elections were dictated by the spirit of the ¦ times. Of the new deputies,therefore,some were as sembled to destroy,andothers to preserve, the consti- . tution. The constitutionists were described as, oivthe ' whole, the most numerous party ; but their poweir -was too often weakened by fear, by distrust, and .by -the very faults of the constitution. They de- 366 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, fended a set of ministers, who were divided among xxv" themselves ; they defended a king, who had not 179i. energy to aid them ; a court, who secretly disliked them, and often treated them with contempt ; they defended a constitution, the defects of which they daily experienced ; but still they made an honour able stand for those, parts of the declaration of rights which they could reasonably defend against those who gave them a fanatical and delirious interpre tation. Their adversaries, the republican party, whose sentiments had spread rapidly since the flight to Varennes, were headed by Condorcet and Brissot ; the former a distinguished philosopher, whose < life had been devoted to science, and distinguished by private virtues ; the latter an ambitious and volu minous writer, but scarce above mediocrity in re putation. The republican theorists were support ed by the party of the Gironde, among whom were three distinguished deputies, whose eloquence Was leagued with the writings of Condorcet and the intrigues of Brissot, to erect the baseless fab ric of democracy. Gensonne, the least illustrious of the three, possessed a talent for reflection, and a great resource for intrigue ; he had a cold, di dactic, and imposing manner, which gave an air of wisdom to his hardiest propositions. Gaudet had an eloquence. which appealed to the passions; but which was, at the same time, sarcastic and strong. Vergneaux was the pride of this party ; he had all the qualities of the orator, though none at all of the statesman; though the chief of a popular party, he did not prostitute the dignity of his mis- sioh for, the favour of that party : on the contrary, he drew along with him the minds of the vulgar, by a charm which they have seldom sensibility to feel. Under these men, the whole Girondist fac tion, almost all distinguished for ability and zeal,. GEORGE III. 367 unhappily marshalled themselves against the court, chap. in supporting changes, which, by and by, they xxV- were unable to controul. x * For a while they affected an influence in the ja cobin club, but in this they were more criminally ambitious than successful. The scene was better fit ted for Roberspierre's domination, and he obtained it. Whatever were the talents of this demagogue, hypocrisy was his first forte, and the earliest source of his influence. It was such, that his very ene mies, for a while, regarded him as a virtuous mad man. Nature seemed to have disgraced him even for the office of a tribune. Without grace or ame nity, with an uncouth figure, and a drawling de clamation, he wished to play the enthusiast, but fatigued, rather than alarmed, by his atrocious ha rangues. His talents, however, were somewhat ex panded by his power, and his mind had a force be yond nature, in its deep resources of hatred and dis simulation. While he openly attacked the perfidy of the court, he spread suspicions against the Gi rondists. This jealousy of his rival republicans re* tarded the revolution for a while, but only to make it finally more atrocious. Leagued with him was Danton, a man endow ed with every talent for the business of destruc tion. Furious, and yet artful ; he shewed himself Capable of deceiving all his enemies, except those whom he thought his devoted friends. Though not at all times insensible to. pity, his cruelty was deep-laid. He had cherished the. plan of his ca reer, even when the revolution was surrounded by the illusions of philanthropy. In the midst of the jacobins, he now headed a band of devoted fol lowers, known by the appellation of the Corde liers, where his terrible countenance, and the lion like tone of his voice, gave an effect to his savage 368 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, and gigantic eloquence, that was altogether fright- xxv" , ful ; yet this stern perturbator was thoroughly ve- i75t. nal, and in the pay' of different factions. He cheated them all, it is true, except Roberspierre, who kept him in a strange subordination. To these elements of discord the followers of Orleans have been improperly added, as a separate faction. Or leans had hitherto undoubtedly bought, by the power of money, a certain malignant influence in the revolution, beyond the scale of his talents to maintain. At the present period, it rather appears that -his cowardice and guilt had sunk to their proper level. He had joined the revolu tionists ; but his manoeuvres were obscure, and it is not known that his liberalities were considerable ; even^ in the guilty banoT he served, and was treat ed as a common soldier. Since the 14th of July, the greatest authority in the capital had rested with the mayor of Paris and the commandant of the national guard. Bailli had filled the former situation with credit to him self; but still greater had been the merit of La Fayette, who organized, for useful purposes, the dangerous mass of the national guard ; or rather had selected from its numbers, to preserve the public peace, some companies of patriots, attached to the cause of liberty by the natural passion of their age, and attached to the cause of order by their fortune or their birth. La Fayette and Bailli went out of those important functions. The national guard lost their leader, and, along with him, their zeal and their strength seemed to be lost also ; the command of them was entrusted to six chefs de battalion, who were to exercise it by rotation. The mayoralty passed to Petion, whose character has been given, by impartial historians of the revolution, as that of an honest man ; but, in times like these GEORGE III. 369 we now describe, when the value of every private chap. virtue in public character fades into insignificance, Xxv' without the great virtue of courage to prevent 1791." bloodshed, the character of Petion is not fitted to shine. He was an adversary of the throne, and attached to the Girondists. The picture of the rest of France corresponded, at this period, with that of the capital. In the south, the animosities which the revolution had kindled, assumed a dark and implacable character. Marseilles was full of enthusiasm ; but it was the frenzy of republicanism. Lyons had shewn less attachment to the revolution ; but its resistance was secret, or silent ; and, upon the whole, its indus trious inhabitants seemed willing to repose under the new constitution. Aries was a prey to the most frightful disorders ; Avignon was the scene of horrors, which are too well known. In the north and the east, the revolutionary spirit was still concentrated in the clubs, and had not receiv ed the signal for explosion ; but the great depre ciation of paper-money, and the discontents of the priests, strongly agitated the peace and com fort of the people. Brittany, which had lately witnessed such excesses of popular fury against the nobles, began to change sides, and embrace the cause of the clergy. In la Vendee, the seeds of those dreadful events were already sown, which at no distant period, sprung up to such atrocity. To complete the calamitous picture of France, the continued desertion of officers produced insubor dination and indiscipline among the troops of the line; public imposts could only be levied on rich proprietors ; the effects of the church were sold to little advantage ; the legislative assembly talked of finances, but could not repair their disorder ; through the whole interior, new commotions, at tended with murder and pillage, were daily break- Vol II A a 1791. 37Q ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, ing out, and the fear of famine universally pre* xxv. vailed. The external . prospects of the country were scarcely less portentous. Since the fatal flight to Varennes, it was conjectured that the English ca binet1 had taken a deep and active share in nego- ciatmg the continental league. Whatever was the share of England in that affair, the confederation of Austria and Prussia by the treaty of Pilnitz, was an event which France could not witness, with out an awful anticipation, that two such mighty powers had not laid aside their hereditary animo sities, for a league which should be merely de fensive. The object of the treaty of Pilnitz has been disputed ; and it may well be; for it is likely that the framers of it gave even its written articles a licence of interpretation, and looked to future cir cumstances, whether it should bind them to de fensive only, or aggressive proceedings. The cha racter of Leopold goes far in suggesting a pacific supposition with respect to Austria, or at least that his intentions did not exceed the declared object of the treaty, which was a powerful intercession in behalf of Louis. War was not the element in which Leopold was either fitted or disposed to shine ; he had, besides, a ruinous empire to repair, which the turbulent spirit of his brother had be- - queathed to him. It is certain, that the impatience of the emigrants for invading France far exceeded the zeal of the continental powers to join them. The efforts, indeed, of the three first-rate powers were for a while more lucratively employed in di viding the plunder of Poland. But, with all those alleviating circumstances, the treaty of Pilnitz was formidable to France. If Leopold wanted zeal, • I only repeat the conjectures was so early decided by her coun- of the French, without vouching cils in the league against France. for the supposition, that England GEORGE III. 371 Frederick William of Prussia was sufficiently chi- chap. valrous in wishing for the glory of conducting such , XXV* a crusade. His military genius, on the eve of en- I75I. terprize, was as romantic ; as in the moment of de feat, it was feeble and spiritless. But another mo narch, of much superior stamp, was the hope and idol of the emigrants. This was Gustavus of Sweden. His warlike reputation, his ambition, and acknowledged talents, would in all probability have placed him at the head of the combined movements ; but the hand of an assassin deprived the coalition of the only monarch who could have attached reputation to its enterprize. Catharine II had exceeded every other crowned head in protesting abhorrence at the revolution. She bestowed immense promises, and some liber alities, on the emigrants ; but she deceived them, and she deceived the whole coalition. Beside the great powers of the coalition, some petty states h,id the boldness to shew hostility to France. On her frontiers, the elector of Treves, and the bishops of Spires and Strasburgh, allow ed the emigres to assemble in arms on their terri tories. At the approach of this impending storm, France not only found herself without an ally, but beheld in every state an enemy, either secret or avowed. It was in vain that the family compact had been renewed with Spain. The humiliation of Louis could not but afflict the Bourbons ; and the recep tion given to the emigrants announced the designs of the court of Madrid. The king of Sardinia, attached by the same ties of blood, was also known to have acceded to the league. Holland had not lost the influence of Prussia and England in her councils, since the last restoration of the stadt- holder. The ancient alliance of France with the Swiss had been much cooled by the spirit of oppo- Aa 2 179*- 3*72 annals of great Britain. chap, sition which some of their aristocracies had shewn XKV to the revolution. Neutrality was all that could be expected from this quarter. The court of Naples, influenced by the high and vindictive pas sions of its queen, was no despicable enemy, when united with such powers. The court of Rome looked again for the restoration of France to that .respect for the metropolitan authority, which the iate changes had so much abated. Venice was the only Italian state which, adhering to its hereditary principles of wisdom, kept neutral. The first important acts of the legislature were directed against the emigrants, and the priests who had refused the oath to the constitution. By the former decree, the brother of the king, Stanislaus Xavier, prince of France, was warned to return within the realm, on pain of forfeiting his eventual right to the regency ; and a general denunciation of treason, and the pains of death, was pronounced on those emigres who should assemble without the kingdom. The decree against emigration, though apparently dictated by motives of self-defence on the part of the assembly, was yet so generally worded, as to be a pretext for much subsequent barbarity, and justified the reasonings of those mo derate friends of liberty, who wished to give no pre tence for sanguinary and sweeping denunciations. This decree, as well as the other against the priests, originated with the republicans. The efforts of those constitutionists, Ramond, Vaublanc, Du mas, and Le Montey, who opposed the latter de cree, as the infallible signal for persecution, wifi do eternal honour to their names. The debate re specting the priests was uncommonly- furious. It is with horror we find, in the history of that dis cussion, the eloquence of Vergniaud pleading the cause of persecution, and the philosophy of Con dorcet enlisted on the side of intolerance. ' The refusal of an oath,' said the constitutionists, ' w^ GEORGE III. 373 never held as a crime; the violation of it alone is CHAf xxv. criminal. Destroyers of inequality! beware of creating an example of proscription ; one proscrip- 1791 tion, be assured, will follow another ; let the mer cy, the dignity, and the policy of this great nation abstain from such a sacrifice ; for it will lead to a thousand immolations.' The prophetic words of the constitutionists were overwhelmed by the un worthy triumph of the Girondists, and the shouts of the execrable mob in the galleries, who already infested the assembly. These two legislative acts were submitted to the king for his sanction ; he was called to sign the proscription of his own bro ther, and of those religious men, to whom his principles and faith attached him. He turned on all sides for advice from the ministry. Delessart, Bertrand de Moleville, Narbonne, Cahier de Ger- ville, Duport-Dutertre, and TarletS, now formed his council, but a council so divided in itself, as to . render even their zeal for him ineffectual. Some of the popular party were called on by the court, in this distress, to give them their advice ; these were, Duport, Barnave, and Alexander Lameth. The new advisers were not wanting in fidelity, and proposed vigorous measures : they would have aided the king more effectually, and might have pointed out to him the means of disputing for popularity even with theassembly itself, if they had advised him to. put a veto on those decrees. Fearing theweakness of Louis, they wished him to put himself under their guidance, and advised generally that he should support his au thority by strong, but popular, plans. But Louis followed their advices with too little fidelity ; and the court imprudently shewed its hatred for men, wh'om they could not forgive for having given the ' first blow to their dignity, but who now alone could have saved them. TJie king put his veto on the decree respecting A a 3 i79i- 374 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, the emigrants, but sanctioned that part of the act xxv. which related to his own brother, hoping thus to shew his public mercy unbiassed by private affec tions. While the popular orators of the assembly received the resolution with extravagant rage, the department of Paris, which was then composed of enlightened men, encouraged him to put a se cond veto on the other decree against the clergy, which furnished new matter of invective for the republicans. The popular party had now sufficiently experi enced their power in the assembly. Their aim was the establishment of a republic ; and to this object they now proceeded with accelerated steps. As war appeared the speediest means of attaining it. they longed and clamoured for that event. Who would believe, that, at this period, a single individual for a long time defeated their projects, and that that intercessor for humanity was Roberspierre ? He too was a republican ; but he bitterly hated those rivals in his politics, whose talents eclipsed his own ; and, though the war would have promoted his party, he opposed it for the sake of its authors. It was in the jacobin club that the destiny of Europe was disputed between Roberspierre and Brissot. Roberspierre here em ployed his favourite weapons, suspicion and ca lumny. ' We are to have war,' said he ; ' and who are to conduct it ? a perfidious court, in league with our enemies ? We are to have war ; and where are our armies, or where their resources ? Our patriots will be sent out to die, that traitors may rule more securely within, these are my fears ; and what is presented as a guarantee that they are groundless ? the patriotism, forsooth, of Messrs. Brissot and Condorct-t ; those men who adored La Fayette ; who were indeed, for a mo ment, his enemies ; but were spared after his odious GEORGE III. 315 success, which, perhaps, their treachery afforded c^AP- him. Let patriots beware of their suggestions.' , Such language displayed the deadly division al- 1791- ready subsisting among the enemies of Louis. The court, instead of availing themselves of it, aban doned itself to intestine quarrels ; while the mini sters struggled with each other for ascendancy over a weak king, who had long ago ceased to think or to act for himself. Narbonne, the war miniver, a young man of activity and talents, and Cahier Gerville, a pure and rigid patriot, wished to save the king, by making some sacrifices for the sake of popularity. . Bertrand de Molleville and Deles- sart were their opponents.. Delessart, adopting the system of protracting the negociations with Leopold, heaped additional suspicions on a court already mistrusted. Narbonne, on the contrary, declared his belief, that the people needed nothing to appease them, but pledges of the sincerity of the court ; and besought the king to make a quick and peremptory negociation with Leopold, to con vince the nation that he had no sympathy with its enemies. By a still bolder policy, of which the motive was possibly very pure, he sought the con fidence of the popular leaders. He prepared for war ; he visited the places of strength, restrained the insubordination of the army, and satisfied their just complaints. His appointment of La Fayette to the command of the army shews that he wished well to his country. The popularity of Narbonne rose by those measuress : he appeared before the assembly with eclat ; and the best of the Girondists openly acknowledged his merits. It appears that he wished to serve Louis by this popularity; but Delessart and Bertrand de Molleville detached him from the king's confidence, by describing him as a presumptuous, and perhaps perfidious, young man. For this contest with Narbonne the two iygi. 376 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ct,at. ministers paid a dear forfeit. Bertrand had been XXV- long suspected of cherishing a deep dislike to the principles of the revolution ; his uncommon prompt ness and firmness in debate saved him for a long time, in the very face of those enemies in the assembly, who owed him a deadly hatred. A vote was. however, at last passed, ' that he lost the confidence of the nation.' This' was the signal for Delessart's destruction. Negociations with Leopold were still proceeding ; they were still, however, mysterious, and . the as sembly, urged by its most vehement orators, in cessantly demanded an explanation of the inten tions of the court of Vienna, and still more imperi ously the dispersion of the emigrants assembling on the imperial frontiers. Delessart promised a speedy answer, and an answer, which was supposed (it is not clear on what grounds) to have been concerted between the Austrian and the French minister, was at last delivered ; the emperor promised to dissolve the armaments of the emigrants ; but it was under this condition, that the king should be respected, and delivered -from the ascendancy of clubs. If this should be refused, war was to be denounced. The .assembly seemed to feel a sentiment of ac knowledgment for the moderation of Leopold; he spoke of the new constitution with respect ; he ab solved the people of France of the date horrors, and laid them all on the jacobins. In the gloomy hall where those demon jacobins were assembled-, a gleam of joy and pride was seen on their counte nances, when they were hailed as the masters of her revolution. Had the Girondists, by one act of that virtue, which it must be owned they displayed in some in stances amidst all the wildness of their baneful policy ; had they; at this moment, severed them selves from the bloody connection of the jacobin 179«- GEORGE III. 377 club, the history of Europe might have been au- chap. spiciously changed. But, alas! those philosophers, xxv- those men of lamentable genius, were yet grovelling for popularity in the common den of pollution. Brissot demanded of the jacobins, if they would not accept the challenge of Leopold ? the cry was for war. Roberspierre, for once, stood vanquished in his opposition ; nothing remained to Roberspierre, for the support of his popularity, but to turn his fury against the ministers and the court. Narbonne expressed, with great vehemence, the injudicious conduct of his opponents in the cabinet, who, by measures of tardy negociation, furnished such terrible arms to the factious. This minister, had, however, now lost his confidence in the court, and experienced such disgust, that he declared, in a public letter, his intention of retiring. The king read the letter ; and, at the instance of his counsel lors, dismissed him. On the day the assembly received this in- I79a, telligence, the constitutionists, who were gene rally attached to Narbonne, were transported with indignation, and proposed that the court should be addressed in the same language as on the dismission of Neckar. The Girondists seemed pleased with the proposal ; but the restoration of Narbonne, was too small an object for their ambi tion. Forgetting Narbonne. they turned all their force against Delessart. The constitutionists were disconcerted by this unlooked-for perversion of their motion, respecting Narbonne. They could not defend the conduct of the court; but in the precipitate ruin of this minister, whom the repub licans now attacked, they foresaw the dreadful ca tastrophe which threatened the throne. Dumas, Vaublanc, Jacoiirt,3 and other virtuous 3 In a statement of the events of concise, the English reader may another country, so cursory and ; feel -little- n'r;/:;; to know the 4 378 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, patriots of this party, in vain attempted to make xxv. ^g assernbly blush for their outrageous denuncia- ~^77~ t'011 °f tne accused, when they were called to the solemn function of a jury. But the constitution ists, though alarmed at the progress of indecent persecution, were weaker than usual, for the quar rel of this minister with Narbonne, their represent ative in the king's council, had alienated the regard of the party. The eloquence of Vergniaud and the Girondists, was drawn out in guilty array against the ill-fated minister. The savageness of the lower jacobins delighted to find any victim. Thus quartered by opposite factions, Delessart was denounced for confidential correspondence with Kaunitz, and the emperor, and dismissed to the high court of Orleans ; he took leave of his mo narch, under circumstances that wore a mournful similarity to the separation of Strafford from the unfortunate Charles the first. The humiliation of the couft was now so com plete, that Louis was obliged to call his new mini sters from among the accusers of Delessart. The republicans gave him Dumourier, Servan, Roland, Claviere, and Duranton, for his new cabinet. Du mourier, amidst all the selfish and intriguing levity of his character, appears to have been touched, from his earliest connection with the king, with pity for his misfortunes, and regard for his private virtues. He solicited the confidence of the court, but did not obtain it ; what was more unfortunate, they did not withhold this confidence ingenuously, but wished to make use of Dumourier, and deceive him at the same time. Duranton, another of the names of subordinate notoriety in meD, as often as they take any these troubled scenes. But in no- share in the transaction. A name ticing the opponents of the latter, on the side of virtue, ought to be and more dreadful part of the re- kept as a scarce and sacred relict vplution, I cannot but feel it due to in speaking of the French revolu- repeat the names of those virtuous tion. 3 0-E0RGE III. 379 cabinet, was also prevented, by his compassion, chap. from lending his aid to accelerate the fall of Louis. xxv- Roland, Claviere, and Servan, inspired by different ~~^T~ sentiments, seemed to regard their republican party in danger, if it should b expected rising. The court, and the principal posts of the Thu2«i GEORGE III. 391 leries, had been occupied by the Swiss guards ; chap. and even before the knell of the alarm-bell, some J_*^7''' companies of the national guards had hastened to ""179T"" the castle. The interior of the castle was filled with 700 or 800 loyal gentlemen, who had volun tarily devoted themselves to the king on this aw ful occasion. The bulk of the Parisian national guards, by degrees, assembled around the gardens. The unfortunate monarch went out to review his defenders. At the moment when his intrepidity should have risen, the sensibility, or the weakness, of his heart overcame him : he addressed his troops with no zeal that could inspire them, but appeared to be lost in mournful presentiments. As he pro ceeded through the ranks farthest from the castle, the cries of vive le roi grew fainter and fainter ; as he went on, they were changed into murmurs and imprecations ; it was at last necessary to re turn. The queen appeared with more dignity; and Madame Elizabeth, while her heart was frozen with terror, assumed so much command of her self, as to address the defenders of the castle, in a speech which was received with enthusiasm. It was resolved, for a moment, to sally out from the castle, and anticipate the attack ; but the resolu tion seemed too desperate for the king to adopt, Petion appeared at this moment ; ^ a cry of rage and of joy was raised when he was seen. He was seized for some time as an hostage ; but an order of the assembly speedily relieved him. He was not allowed to depart, however, without being forced to sign an order for the troops to resist force by force. At the sight of such alienation among the na tional guards, every hope had abandoned the heart of Louis. He threw himself, in despair, on the advice of the syndic Rhcederer, who exhorted him, as the sole means of salvation* to repair to the as* 892 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap- sembly. ' I will go then,' said Louis, * with my mm-^^ whole family ; and may they remember, that I 179*' have left no sacrifice unoffered, to save bloodshed.' The queen herself seemed willingly to embrace the proposal. Madame Elizabeth alone approached Rhcederer, and said, with a voice of inexpressible grief, — ' Be answerable, sir, for the consequences of your advice to the king ; be answerable for the life of my brother.' When the royal fugitives took leave of their guards, at the palace, a deep silence prevailed. Their devoted defenders seem ed to ask, by their melancholy looks. — ' What is to be our fate ? where is our refuge ?' The queen said to those around her, — ' We shall soon return.' A sad prediction was involuntarily answered from every heart, — ' They will never return.' They left the Thuilleries, to pass through a multitude, who pursued them with cries of ' death.' The press was for a while so great, that a deputation from the assembly was obliged to reach them, and precede them to that sad asylum. There entered the group, consisting of the king, the queen, , Madame Elizabeth, the princess royal, Madame de Tourzel and two companions of the queen, and a grenadier, who carried the dauphin in his arms. The massacres of the 10th of August are in general minutely known ; and there is nothing in their nature that invites superfluous repetition. The party of the constitutionists ceased from that day, and many of their most virtuous patriots fell by assassination ; yet this carnival of horror was seven years celebrated in Paris as a holiday. That the cause of the constitution was irretrievable, ap peared from the flight of La Fayette from the army, which immediately followed this event. His sol diers indeed knew of his intended desertion, and bore their commander too much affection to de tain him ; but their regard went no farther ; they GEORGE III. 393 could no longer be opposed as a bulwark to the chap. progress of anarchy. The grand fruit of their . bloody insurrection to the jacobins was, the nomi- i79z. nation of a new commune of Paris, chosen from their own club, at the head of which Roberspierre presided. The assembly in vain opposed his new, his malign, but irresistible, influence. The com mune commanded a force of 100,000 insurgents, perpetually equipped. Crowds of this disposable force crowded the tribunes, and overawed the de bates of the assembly. The irritation of the public mind was still ag gravated by the prospect of external invasion. On the news of the 10th of August, the king of Prus sia had redoubled his activity and his boldness. The name of the great Frederic, the remembrance of his victories, had impressed Europe with respect for the Prussian arms. The duke of Brunswick, who was named the generalissimo of this army, had been pointed out by Frederick himself, and by the opinion of Europe, as the greatest com mander of the time, and under him were several generals, who had seen much service in the seven years war. Twenty thousand emigrants, command ed by. the king's brothers, formed the advanced guard. This chivalrous troop, where almost every soldier had been a gentleman, formed, by its luxury and its presumption, a striking contrast with the discipline and the flegm of the Germans. The successes of the emigrants seemed, at first, to jus tify their hopes. Luckner, with his weak and in- disciplined army, could find no defensive position ; he was forced from his camp of Fontoi, and ob liged to fly for shelter to a fortified position.. A portion of the frontier being opened by this preci pitate retreat, Longwy was invaded. This place, if it had been well defended, and well provided, might have arrested the enemy a long time ; but 394 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, it surrendered, after two summonses and fifteen XXV' ¦ hours of bombardment. The inhabitants were ac* 1797/ cused of treason, because, when they saw their houses on fire, they had assembled, and demanded of the etat-major of the place, that their gates should be opened to the Prussians. Louis was al so accused, on his trial, of having left Longwy defenceless. Both accusations were, in all proba bility, equally unjust. By a striking contradiction, Lavergne, the commandant of Longwy, was con demned for having delivered up, without resist ance, a place well provided and fortified; and Louis for having left it defenceless. The king of Prussia took possession of it in the name of Louis XVI ; and not doubting that all the frontier cities would receive him with equal facility, he detached 15,000 men to lay siege to Thionville, and ad vanced in person, with the same rapidity, upon Verdun. The corps of CJairfait turned upon Ste- nai, and took possession of it. Thus the territories of France were invested, and yet the French armies made no movement. It was not expected that Verdun would long retard the progress of the conquerer ; its reduction was as quick as that of Longwy. On leaving the council of war, which determined on capitulation, the commandant of Verdun blew out his brains with a pistol. When these disastrous news reached Paris, the people became furious with apprehension. Rober spierre, Danton, and the commune of Paris, saw in these defeats the means of triumphing over those rivals who yet remained to be conquered ; they took delight in spreading abroad, that the Girond ists beheld with indifference the approach of the enemy to Paris ; that their project was to retire. beyond the Loire, and there to found inde pendent republics, of which each of their chiefs was to be the separate governor. This accusation, i;>». GEORGE lit. 395 which served as a pretext for so niahy crimes, and chap. which, for a long time, was developed under the absurd romance of federation, was founded on some unguarded words, which were ascribed to the chiefs of the Gironde. The last resource of re tiring behind the Loire had often been presented to their imagination ; they thought they saw more republican energy in the south than in the north ; but they were not the less determined to have maintained a defence before Paris, if the enemy had pushed their conquests so far. , The Girondists, who had so often drawn the as sembly against its own wishes, while they were at tacking the court, coula' not obtain one rigorous measure against the commune of Paris, whom it hated much, and dreaded still more. The com mune preserved Petion at its head, only to degrade and constrain him. It announced an intention of prosecuting, as traitors, Vergniaud, Gaudet, Gen- sonn6, and Brissot. It had already threatened the minister Roland with proscription. The reign of terror, and of assassination, pro scription, confiscation, and domiciliary visits, was now begun ; and along with it the too tardy re pentance of the Girondists. A series Of enormi ties, during the latter end of August, which are too shocking and frightful to detail, at last inspir ed them with stronger resolutions to press for the accusation of the bloody commune. The history of this epoch, when the cornmune appeared at the bar of the assembly, records a defence of their enormities, from the mouth of Tallien, which equals in atrocity whatever has been uttered by human depravity. ' Legislators,' said he, ' the provision- ary representatives of the commune of Paris have been calumniated. We have given no order against the liberty of good citizens ; but we take glory to ourselves for having sequestered the goods of emi- 396 annals of great Britain. chap, gres ; we have arrested conspirators, and sent them '' before tribunals, for their own safety, and that of 179*. the state ; we have dispersed monks and religious orders, to sell the houses which they occupied ; we have proscribed incendiary journals f they cor rupted the public opinion ; we have made domici liary visits, and put arms into the hands of pa triots ; we have caused the refractory priests to be arrested ; they are shut up in a particular house, and in a few days the soil of liberty shall be pur ged of their presence,' While the assembly sat pa nic-struck at these words, the galleries thundered with applauses; and a mob, who repeated their cries of vive la commune, demanded entrance, to file through the hall. The assembly broke up, without coming to a resolution, and the communes remained victorious. Another insurrection was yet required to fulfil the direful words of Tallien : new lists of proscrip tions were made out, at the hotel of that func tionary, who, in the perversion of human lan guage, was called the minister of justice. The approach of the invading armies was made the pretext ; but alas ! it was the blood of more de fenceless victims that was destined to be drawn. Danton came forth to the assembly, to announce the measures that were taken for public safety. c The cannon,' said he, * is to sound ; it is not to be the knell of alarm, but the charging-step against our enemies ; to conquer them, to trample them down. What is required of us ? Boldness ; yet boldness, and for ever boldness.' In pronouncing these words, the voice and gesture of this minister of extermination struck a terror through the as sembly, which can be better conceived than de- ' /. e. the journals which had were torn to pieces by the indivi- spoken irreverently of the jacobins, duals whom they had exposed. many of he conductors of which GEORGE III. 397 scribed. An arrete of the commune, calling the chap. citizens to arms, and to prepare for marching against , xxv' the enemy, was the prelude to this inhuman ca- 179». tastrophe. On the 2" of September, exactly at two o'clock, the generate was beat, the tocsin sounded, and the guns were discharged. The most of the inhabit ants of Paris resorted, as their safest' asylum, to the rendezvous of their different sections. The general wish, the general enthusiasm, was to march immediately against the enemy. Terrified at the prospect of dangers nearer at hand, it is probable that the Parisians rather feigned than felt this en thusiasm. Those braggarts, who had not forti tude to crush an handful of assassins, talked of rushing out against the combined armies. But no such idea was in the head of the Septembrizers. The committee of surveyance, directed by Marat, had already given his orders to his butchers, and endeavoured to drive the last remains of human feeling from their hearts., Roberspierre, Collot dTIerbois, and Billaud Varennes, harangued them in turn. ' Magnanimous people,' said the last, * you are marching to glory or to death ; unfor tunate are we who cannot follow you : but leave us not, at least, in the power of those who will murder your wives and children in your absence.' ' Death, death ! to those enemies,' was the cry in answer. Spirituous liquors were then plentifully distributed to the crowd, and. additional presents in money bestowed on those whose fanaticism seem ed to flag. The inebriated tigers were then let loose on their enemies ; on men, alas, locked up in dungeons, and bound with chains. The scenes of horrors which consummated those preparatives, are such as history can scarcely dare to look upon. All that freezes the heart in recital, all that startles us from the page, to execrate, or 179*- 398 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, to weep for, human creatures ; all that makes us xxv- cling, with terror, to the. blessed subordination of J peace, are comprehended in the picture of those few, but dreadful, days. The pen of an able his torian,® from whose, narrative I can but trace a faint epitome of these times, has recorded,' amidst those massacres, some traits of heroic suffering; some scenes of filial love interposing between the victim and the dagger ; of daughter shielding with their arms, and not in vain, the grey heads of their fa thers ; of friends delivered by friends, in the mo ment and convulsions of expected death ; which give a touching relief to. what were else an uniform horror. For four days the massacres continued, during the bloodiest of which, the assembly was employed in debating on the coinage of small money !!! Four or five thousand of the prisoners perished ; only two or three hundred were saved. On the 3d of September, the commissaries of the com mune appeared at the bar of the assembly, to give an account of their labours : they assured the as sembly, that Paris enjoyed profound repose ; but the massacres lasted till the 6,b : they extolled the virtue of the assassins, who punished, with their own hands, such of their numbers as had discre dited their enterprize with robbery : they justified their own conduct for having sent no succours to' the prisons, because the defence, of . the barriers demanded such numbers. * In fact,' added they, ' * what excited the just vengeance of the people was, that none were confined in those prisons but such as were well known to be miscreants.' The assembly heard these horrible explanations, with out daring to manifest its indignation. Roland alone had the courage to invoke the laws and hu manity against the sanguinary commune. The 8 Laeretclle, 179*- GE0RGE III. 399 same minister, who rhight now so deeply read the chap. moral of his own political errors in the fruits of xxv- its success, sought humanely, but in vain, to save ' another list of the devoted ; namely, the prisoners of the high court of Orleans, men whom that tri bunal beheld to be innocent, and would not con demn, but whom they had not courage to dismiss, through fear of the bloody commune. Those un happy men were met on their way to Paris, and of fifty-three, only three escaped the massacre. The venerable Rochefoucault, who had, in better days, presided over the department of Paris, was a few days after butchered by the same instigation, while the arms of his wife and his daughter clung round him, in vain embraces to protect him. In the midst of these horrors, the Girondists cherished, I know not with what reason, some hopes that the expected dissolution of the assembly, and the election of the , convention, would enable them to maintain the unequal combat with the ja cobins. The members of the new assembly were now electing ; and such was the reputation of the Girondists for patriotism, that the jacobins them selves, in the departments, were seen to choose them for representatives. They reckoned, there fore, on a majority, and on saving themselves and their country, if the assassins should leave them alive till the commencement of the convention, For some time it was dubious, whether their exist ence should be so far prolonged ; for the more decisive members of the commune proposed carry ing the dagger into the very bosom of the as sembly, and prostrating the constitutionists in a common execution With those republicans, who, they said, had divided their country only to ruin it. This execution was, however, arrested. The eloquence of Vergniaud inspired the assembly with a resolution to defend themselves, if an attagfe *79»- 400 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, should be made ; and the jacobins, like true ti- x ' gers, turned back from every prey which had the attitude and character of self-defence. Had' the armies of Prussia advanced nearer the capital, these massacres would have yielded but a small portion of the blood which Marat, Rober spierre, and Danton, were determined to have shed ; but these invaders had but a transient success. At the moment, when most of the military and politi cal speculators of Europe expected to see Frederic William at Paris, he was arrested in the plains of Champagne, by the rigours of an inclement season, by his own indecision, by an army devoid, it is true, of all discipline and experience, but which increased on all sides, by the address and fortune of Dumourier, and the talents of Kellerman. Dumourier, flattered by the high appointment of generalissimo, assembled the feeble remains of the French armies, which were separated at con siderable distances. La Fayette had before been anxious for this reunion, and had ordered Dumou rier, who was then under his command, to aban don the camp at Maulde, and join him under the walls of Sedan. The latter had disobeyed, with a boldness which approached to revolt. He did not, however, persist in this fault, when the ruin of his rival was certain. He abandoned French Flanders to its strong places, and repaired to the army of La Fayette, which he found in confusion and despair, by the loss of their general. This army afforded him only 17,000 men; but they were the best disciplined troops which France, at that period, possessed. At the head of these, he undertook a most daring enterprize. The king of Prussia and his army were now delayed at Verdun, celebrating the unimportant conquest of that place, by the most absurd fetes and solemnities. The defiles of Argonne qffered a formidable position ; of these GEORGE II 1. 401 the duke of Brunswick, too late, attempted to take chap. possession, when 5000 men of Dumourier's army, , under Dillon, had seized them already, while re- 1794 inforcements were daily arriving to strengthen them, and to embarrass all the movements of the enemy. The Prussians had successively to attack several defiles, from the 10th to the 15th of September, in which they shewed little of that superiority which report had attached to the German tactics. Du mourier was, however, forced from his positions, and thought himself fortunate to have maintained them until two considerable armies approached to fiis support ; the one from Flanders, under Bour- nonville ; the other from Lorraine, with Keller- man at its head* Dumourier accomplished a junc tion with them, with less difficulty than he had rea son to apprehend. _ , These retrograde movements broiight him to the city of Chalons, where he was met by a rabble of the indisciplined troops, who had been levied at Paris, under the frightful alarms of the 2d' of ^Sep tember. He saw no other use that could be made of such troops, than to impose upon the enemy by an appearance of force ; but he could not long sup port the illusion. Fifteen hundred Austrian hus sars, who discovered the September levies, encoun tered 10,000 of them, and put them to route. They fled back to Chalons, and there spread the terror, of which their cowardice had set so good an example. If Dumourier had not arrived in time to quiet this disorder, Paris would have soon seen at its walls those same troops, who had left the city for fear of a massacre, and would have returned to it for fear of a battle. But this slight success could not ensure the Prussian arms against the more fatal hostility of the season. Since the arrival of their army on the French territory, the autumn, which is usually delightful. Vol. II C c ml I79Z- 402 ANNALS OF GREAT BRlTAlW. Chap, in France, had been wet and stormy ; and the xxv- country through which they had to pass was pro- ~ verbial in France for its sterility. Anticipating art easy conquest, the duke of Brunswick had taken little precautions for provisions. His communica tions were now become excessively difficult ; he had been obliged to detach 1 5,000 men to lay siege to Thionville, or rather to make the shew of a siege ; for its reduction was expected to be like that of Longwy. But, though Thionville was ill- provided, the besiegers were still worse. General Wimpfen, an ex- deputy of the constituent assembly, and of the party of La Fayette, commanded the garrison. His courage was necessarily increased by his indignation at the treatment which had been offered, with so much barbarity and so little po licy, to his friend the unfortunate La Fayette. He disconcerted all the plans of the enemy, who at last saw, with regret, the absurdity of besieging a fort, without artillery to make a breach in the ramparts. Frederic William, like all characters which are at once haughty and weak, soon fell from the ex cess of presumption into the most melancholy dis couragement. He assembled the chiefs of the emigrants, and loaded them with reproaches. ' Be hold, gentlemen,' said he, ' the effect of the hopes and promises with which you seduced us. Where are now those columns of Frenchmen, who were to pour, by the hour, into our camp ? Where are the acclamations of welcome that were to meet us ? ' where are our succours from the country, or in what respect does our reception differ from that of invaders ? What is the good of our ad vancing, when, at every step, we leave dangers behind us greater than those which are opposed to us ?' The brothers of Louis would have an swered, if they had dared, that the emigrants were GEORGE ill. 403 m. ittitit tfie only persons who had thought so sanguinely chap. of invading France. They besought the king to _xxy' attempt a decisive blow on the revolutionary armies, I7j». that should put them at once to the rout. The duke of Brunswick saw his forces daily wasting Under the rigours of the season, and of famine ; but, though he distrusted the presumption of the emigrants; he resolved to make one other effort for opening an entrance into France. General KeUerman arrived on the 17th of Sep tember, to the left of. Dumourier, and encamped on the heights of Walmy, a position which the duke Of Brunswick was determined td force. This Was the first scene of success to the French arms. On the 20th of September, the duke tried them from seven till ten in the morning, with a brisk Cannonade upon their advanced guard. They sup ported his fire for a considerable time ; but at last were obliged to retire to the heights which they had first Occupied. At ten, the action became general. The Prussian cavalry advanced with their usual spirit ; but the nature of the ground Opposing their progress, the action became an incessant cannonade. Their artillery was warm ly; but unskilfully, served : the French saw, with satisfaction, that all their bullets flew over their heads : they made a pleasantry of the hostile fire ; and; levelling their own with much superior skill, kept unassailable in their position. The small accident of a shell falling on one of their maga zines was the only part of the action which cost them much blood. Towards night, the Prussian artillery-men sunk under the fatigues of thirteen hours firing ; and the French saw, with joy, that the duke of BrUnswick, with ail the superiority of his troops, could make no impression on their post. The next day discovered a scene of perfect de- Cc 2 404 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, solation in the Prussian camp. It was not the los"fc _^__, of 1000 men, which the action of yesterday had 179*. cost them, that excited this deep consternation : it was an army without food to eat, with no thing but infected water to drink, sinking un der disease, and exposed, without cover, to the inclemency of the skies. Thus extenuated, and dying, they vented their miseries on the emi grants, whom they cursed as the authors of all their misfortunes. A grand council of war was assembled, where the king of Prussia appeared, with dejection in every line of his countenance. The duke of Brunswick did not dissemble the dan ger of their position : a French army, under Biron and Custine, was ready to, act upon the Rhine; no preparations in the Palatinate had been made to oppose them ; the siege of Thionville was rais ed ; the corps 6f the Austrian army which me naced French Flanders, 'had not yet obtained any decisive success, and was even arrested in its pro gress before the walls of Lisle ; Dumourier was incessantly receiving new reinforcements. From these circumstances, the duke concluded, that it was necessary to treat with the French general for the security of his retreat. The king of Prussia coincided with his opinion. The mention of retreat came like a thunderbolt on the emigrants. These men, who formed a se parate army, under the two brothers of the king, and the Marshals Broglio and De Castres, had sup ported every fatigue and disgust, to which their situa tion exposed them, in hope to obtain at last a deci sive battle. They now heard the proposal of a flight without a battle ; a flight which must devote them to misery, to opprobrium, to death. The count d'Artois came to express their affliction to the king of Prussia and the duke of Brunswick, and sup plicated them to lay aside this fatal resolution j GEORGE III. 405 but their allies seemed to listen with contempt. No c££y' mention was now made of the misfortunes of the t ,. emigrants ; none but of their imprudence. As i79J a last favour, they entreated to be left to them selves, to form the new attack. ' We flatter our selves,' said the count d'Artois, ' that we shall yet open a passage to the city, where assassins are perhaps preparing, at this moment, to shed the blood of our august. brother.' Even this was re fused to them. It is said that their demand was aided by General Clairfayt, who commanded an Austrian corps of 1 5,000 men. Already the king of Prussia had sent to open negociations with Dumou rier; and General Kalkreuth and he had agreed on several points. The mysteries of this negociation have not been yet well developed, although there is reason to suppose that they are reducible to a very few articles. A most improbable sup position was for some time credited, that the re volutionists prevailed on the Prussian monarch and the duke of Brunswick, by considerable sums of money, to retreat. It is certain, that the revolu tionists had no considerable sums to offer ; and, if they had, they would have made a different use of them. The character of the king of Prussia leaves no room for such a supposition ; that of the duke of Brunswick refutes it. Another, and a less injurious, motive has been ascribed to the king of Prussia, as contributing to this retreat, viz. the solicitation of the unfortu nate Louis, who, it is pretended, wrote from his prison to inform him, that inevitable death must attend himself and the royal family, if the Prus sians should approach nearer the capital. But this circumstance has been rendered dubious by more recent testimonies. Louis invariably denied, to all who had his confidence, that he ever wrote such a letter. But even allowing that such a letter ever Cc 3 406 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, existed, which is far from being evident, it could; _xx^_ only be the pretext, and not the motive, for thi^ 1794. retreat. The convention between Frederic William and Dumourier has never been made public ; but iris without doubt, that the Frenph commander pro mised not to harass the retreat of the king ; and that the king engaged to surrender Longwy and Verdun. The Austrians were not consulted in the affair. Dumourier gave to understand, that he was to turn all his force against them, and secure the conquest of the Low countries. The king of Prussia appeared to see, without regret, the sacri fice of an ally, whom he had excited to this fatal expedition, without taking a just share either in its dangers or expences. It may.be guessed how Fre deric William would have conducted this retreat^ if he had had an obstinate general or an experi enced army to deal with. But Dumourier kept his troops at such a distance from the retiring army, that he seemed rather to convoy than to pursue them. The victors and the vanquished most cordially agreed in making their vengeance fall on the miserable emigrants. These men were constantly left at the last posts and the rear-guard, where the aged and infirm, who could not keep up with the march of the army, fell into the hands of the French, and were immediately shot. The Prus sian hussars pillaged them with impunity. These cruelties, it is said, were revolting to the humane disposition of the duke of Brunswick ; but he could not put a stop to them. The Prussians left their route covered with the dead. An expedition, which did not produce the glory of one battle, cost Frederic William the greater part of those treasures which Frederic the Great had left to his successor, for wiser and better undertakings. Thinned, at last, to nearly a half of its com- GEORGE III. 407 batants, this army escaped, with joy, out of a coun- chap. try which seemed to have struck them with its ma- , ' _, lediction ; but new combats yet awaited them. Ge- 1792. neral Custine soon after invaded the Palatinate, and possessed himself of Spires and Worms. The city of Mentz itself offered him no resistance. To arrest this career, the king of Prussia proceeded against him. 408 CHAP. XXVI: Events and dispositions in England preparatory to the war. . . . Debates of parliament. . . . Dismission of Chauvelin. . . • Opening of the national convention in France. . . . Aspect of the two parties. . . . Expedition of the French, under Mon tesquieu, into Savoy. . . . Annexation of his conquest to the departments of the republic. . . . Humane negociation of Montesquieu with Geneva. , . . Successes of Custine. . . • New and successful campaign of Dumourier. . . . Conquest of Bel gium. , . . Execution of Louis XVI. chap, -ttn consequence of the events of the 10fb of Au- j JL gust, our ambassador, Lord Gower, was reT i79z. called from Paris. Within a few weeks from that dreadful era, the decree of the convention, which promised assistance to every people who should be disposed to throw off the tyranny of their govern ment ; and the rapid advances of the republicans towards Holland, with the resolution expressed by France to' open the navigation of the Scheldt, accelerated the preparations of England for an active share in the anti-gallican coalition. Wide ly different, indeed, was now the prospect open ed to England, from that picture of affairs which Mr. Pitt had drawn at the close of the last session. The violation of neutral territory, of territory, too, belonging to an ancient ally ; the danger of Bel gium continuing in the possession of the French ; and the decree which promised assistance to the overthrow of every regular government : these were the circumstances declared by the ministerial party in England to render a war inevitably neces- *79*- GEORGE HI. 409 sary. . The public mind, upon the whole, second- chap. ed this opinion ; and, what was more powerful xxvi. than deliberate opinion, the general feelings of the ' — ""—^ country were in arms against the principles and practices of the French. A small, and but a small, portion of the people, a few societies of the lowest of men, disclosed fanatical sentiments, congenial to the principles of France. The indignation of the fervid loyalists magnified the importance of these antagonists, and made them still more impa tient to break every peaceable connection with a country, which was supposed to foster and to mul tiply such traiterous agents. Is it unfair to say, that in one class of those who were loudest in demand ing war, there were men, of principles not dissi milar to that odious spirit which dictated the cru sade of Frederic William against the infant liberties of France ; of that spirit, which turned the sword against Poland,and which rejoiced in the very crimes that now polluted the name of liberty? Butiif it were. so in a few instances, at the dreadful period we de scribe, it was not the bad, but the generous, preju dices of Englishmen, to which the advocates for war could most successfully appeal. * Your allies are at tacked ; the laws of nations are violated by French men ; the agents of discord are fraternized by those atrocious men, whose hands are yet reeking with the blood of the 10th of August and the 2* of September, and whose armies are /spread abroad, (like those of Mahomet, with the koran of sedition in one hand, and the sword in the other.' By this view of the necessity of the war, the majority of the nation was converted to the doctrine of the alarmists. There were men who viewed the necessity of the war in a different light, and who, without sympathy in the crimes of the republic, considered it safer to avert, than to provoke, a contest with its delirious 410 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. <*hap. energies. To combat a nation of enthusiasts, wh» mm-v-J^, were fighting, or believed themselves fighting, in 179*. the cause of liberty, was to rouse a spirit and a_ strength, unknown to the former existence of France ; it was to teach her war by experience, and change her mobs into disciplined armies. It was predicted, and it has been fulfilled, that France would rise more gigantic from the struggle. * Was war so slight an evil,' it was asked, * to this com mercial country, that all the blessings of peace shbuld be renounced, without an effort to prolong them ? We had no public agent, no representative of our interests in France : was renouncing . all treaty and connection with France, the way to avert a war ? and was it lawful to say, that war was in evitable, while a possible opening to peace was wil fully avoided ?' But ' the present rulers of France,' it was answered, * could not be treated with. It was not possible to treat with them ; it would have been a degradation, if it had been possible.' To this it was replied, ' that the possibility was hot fair ly tried. With respect to its degrading our dig nity, if an effort to save the miseries of war to our country was to be called a degradation, it was an abuse of human language. Denmark and Sweden treated for neutrality, and who ever heard of their degradation ? Prussia was degraded by treating with the very government of the terrorists, but the shame rose from her war, and not, her pacification. If the influx of French principles,' it was added, was so much dreaded, it were better to guard the constitution by precautionary means, (and there were many, which the remaining loyalty of the na tion could insure), than to rush wantonly into war, and oppress the people with taxes, which might exercise their patience, but never could increase their satisfaction.' Such were the views and language of parties, GEORGE III. 411 i^hen a most extraordinary speech from the throne CHAPt opened the session, at an earlier period than that xxvt to which it had been prorogued, The alarming i79j,. disaffection of the country, it was stated in the royal address, had occasioned this unusual sum., mons ; and had obliged his majesty to embody a part of the militia, for the security of the lawful powers. In the war of the continent, his majesty declared, * that he had hitherto sought to preserve neutrality, but that he saw, with uneasiness, conti nued indications on the part of France to disturb the tranquillity of other countries, and to violate, even towards the allies of Britain, the laws of na tions, as well as the positive stipulation of treaties. In these circumstances, his majesty had augmented his naval and military force, as the means best cal culated to maintain respectability abroad, and tran quillity at home.' The first debates in both houses, chiefly related to the state of the public mind, and to the questioned loyalty of the country; ministers insisting that the conspiracy against the consti tution was deep and dangerous, whilst the opposU tion asserted, that the loyalty of the nation was never, at any period, so fervid, or in greater dan ger of running from the fear of anarchy, into an opposite extreme, and devoting itself to the sup port of prerogative, till the balance of the constitu tion should be lost. Though the language of the crown had been guarded on the subject of war, yet the note of preparation was already struck, and, whether negociation was sufficient or not to avert impending hostilities, it was evident, that, without negociation, they must speedily commence. On, the 15th of December, Mr. Fox rose, according to previous notice, and moved for an address to his majesty, on the subject of the expected war. * His pbject,5 he said, ' was simply to declare and record jus opinion, that it was the true policy of every i;9*. 412 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. ghap. country, to treat with the existing government of* xxvi. every other nation with which it had relative inte- ' rests, without regarding the origin or constitution of its ruling powers. If we abhorred the crimes committed in France, we likewise abhorred those committed in Morocco ; yet to Morocco we sent a consul, without approving of its government or its crimes. From this motion, no consequence was to be implied, but the opinion he had stated. It would have been better,' he said, * that this had been done at an earlier period and there were cir cumstances that made it less proper now, than, at an earlier period. It would have been still better, if the British minister had remained at Paris, as the ministers of other powers had done ; but still the earliest effort for peace was the best that re mained in our power.* He concluded by moving, ' that his majesty should be solicited to- send a mi nister to Paris, to treat with those persons who ex ercised, provisionally, the function of the executive government in France, respecting the disputes of his majesty and his allies with the French nation.' The motion was resisted by ministers, not mere ly with warmth, but with asperity. Lord Sheffield rose in extreme agitation, and declared, ' that he was almost ashamed of his former enthusiasm for the right honourable mover.' Mr. Burke and Mr. Wind ham (for the. chancellor of the exchequer was ab sent) took the lead in this debate. In the whole tenor of their speeches, the arguments against opening negociations were reducible to three points. It was degrading to the dignity of Britain to treat with a monstrous faction who had usurped the government of France and wantonly insulted the law of nations. It was not possible to bind such a faction by treaties, for their avowed prin ciples did not recognize the authority of lawful governments. Nor would a treaty, they affirmed,, , GEORGE III. 413 fee secure with such men, for their power was as chap. Unsteady as it was lawless, and their successors , XXVI-^ might annul to-morrow the contract they had sign- I794% ed to-day. On the strength of these arguments, it remains for posterity to decide impartially J but by the event of the present war, posterity will, in all probability, learn, to avoid precipitating into war, without at least attempting negociation. ' The government of of France,' it was said, ' could not negociate ;' yet one of the leading potentates in the war negociated, while that government was yet existing. ' It would have compromised our dignity.' To this assertion the opposition in vain replied, that negociation was riot petitioning. ' It is asked,' said Mr. Grey, in seconding Mr. Fox's motion, * if Britain is to sneak and crouch to France?' ' No,'' said he, * neither sneak nor crouch, but negociate, like a high-spirit ed nation ; and, if redress be refused, then de nounce war. We are told,' continued the same speaker, ' that to treat with men stained with so many crimes would be disgraceful ; let us fight in the meantime, till the present guilty rulers shall pass away. But what disgrace,' he asked, * was to be avoided, what honour to be acquired, by fighting first, and negociating afterwards ? Nego ciation must some day come ; or war is to be eter nal. If a war, the most dangerous ever under taken, is to be avoided, we must treat now. Re member that, as war proceeds, and nations grow exasperated, the difficulties of negociation multi ply and obtain strength. If it be difficult to main tain peace with the present governors of France* how much more difficult will it be to re-obtain it when war is begun ? ' But we are to fight till France obtains a better government.' Vain and in sane object of a war ! We are to spurn every means of treating for the blessed tranquillity tff «7°»- 414 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. ¦t chap, the nation, until the government of France shall xxvi. choose to become more humane. What do we know of the destinies of France ? Can we predict her future governments? Let us maintain our national honour ; but let us act with national po licy. And where is the tarnish of acting for our own benefit, for our own peace, m treating with the French government as with other governments? The crimes are theirs, and not ours, and will not infect us by the connection of diplomatic dealing: Until we have shewn the people that negociation will not avail, do not let us pretend to tell them, that war is unavoidable.' Mr. Fox's motion was nega tived; and another for the same object, intro duced by Lord Landsdowne, in the other houses was shortly afterwards withdrawn, during the dis cussion of the" alien bill. Amid the dreadful vicissitudes of French af fairs, and even after the removal of Lord Gower from Paris, Chauvelin, the French ambassador, had been still permitted to remain in England. On the declaration of war between France and the continental powers, his Britannic majesty had proi claimed his intention to maintain inviolable neu trality. No complaint of aggression was heard on the side of France till the 24th of May of the pre* sent summer, when Chauvelin remonstrated against the proclamation of our sovereign respecting se ditious writings, as containing some expressions which might be understood to insinuate, that France was inimical to the internal prosperity of England. The answer of the British minister sufficiently sa-i tisfied Mr. Chauvelin on this subject. Within a few weeks after this correspondence, we find the French minister entreating his Britannic majesty's mediation between the belligerent powers ; but the request was formally refused. The return of Lord Gower from Paris took place in the succeeding GEORGE HI. 415 August} a measure which his Britannic majesty chap. jexplained on the grounds of his determination to LXxvl take no share in the internal politics ,,of .France ; ' 179?. but which was complained of by France as the de claration of a hostile disposition. Without decid ing on the propriety of this recal, it must be ob served, that Lord Gower's departure was accom panied with a declaration of the British govern ment respecting Louis, which had at least the hos tility of a warning threat. It was declared, ' that if any violence should be offered to the royal fa mily, it would excite the indignation of all Eu rope.' The influence of this declaration was not the best calculated to save Louis; other means might have been attempted, with better hopes of success: nor was it calculated to preserve peace, had the question of humanity to Louis been set aside. In 'the meantime, the executive council of France delegated new powers to Mr. Chauvelin ; but those powers were not acknowledged after the 10th of August ; nor were his diplomatic letters received by the British minister. The fraternizing decree of the 19th of November was an offensive measure on the side of France, which widened still farther the breach of discord ; and as it announced the regardless violence of France, seemed to decide the intentions of the British government, if not to seek, at least not to shun, hostilities. The refusal of Chauvelin's acknowledgment as a formal ambassador, though it might impair the probabilities of peace, did not totally prevent com munications between the two governments. Mr. Maret, a person enjoying the confidence of the 1 The acknowledgment of the consistent with neutrality, and the prevailing party after the io'" of -virtual acknowledgment of thsir August (it was alleged by our go- power. vernment) would have been in- j 416 ANtfALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. Chap. French minister for foreign affairs, had two inter- xxVl views with Mr. Pitt; and Chauvelin, waving the 1792. ceremony of his recognition, maintained a corres pondence with the secretary of state, Lord Gren ville, on the mutual complaints of the French and English nations. England chiefly complained of the hostile decree of November, as a proclamation of war with every regular government 5 and of the opening of the Scheldt by France, as a violation of the rights of her allies. France complained, that the ambassador of the new republic was not acknowledged ; that the solemn treaty of com merce between the two countries had been violated by England, in passing the alien bill. c The de cree of November,' said the French plenipoten tiary, * can have no hostile application to England. It is not intended to countenance the seditious of all nations ; but only when the general will of a people, clearly and unequivocally expressed, shall call in the French nation to its assistance and fra ternity.' ' Sedition,' he added, ' can never be con strued into the general will : these two ideas mu tually repel each other, since sedition is not, and cannot be, any other than the movement of a small number against the nation at large ; and this move ment would cease to be seditious, provided all the members of a society should at once rise, either to Correct their government, or to change it wholly. The Dutch were not assuredly seditious, when they formed the generous resolution of throwing off the yoke of Spain ; and when the general will of the nation called for the assistance of France, it was not reputed a crime in Henry IV, or Elizabeth of England, to have listened to them.' In respect to the free navigation of the Scheldt, he observes, ' that this question is absolutely indifferent to Eng land ; that it is of little consequence to Holland ; but extremely important to the Belgians. The1 GEORGE III* 417 emperor, to secure the possession of the Low chap. Countries,' said Chauvelin, ' sacrificed, without , xxv|'_f scruple, the most inviolable of rights. Master of i794. those fine provinces, he had ruled them, it was known, with a rod of iron ; respected only such of their privileges as it Was his interest to preserve, and either destroyed, or perpetually struggled to destroy, the rest. France enters into a war with the house of Austria, expels it from the Low coun tries, and restores the Belgians to all their rights, which Austria had taken away from them. How can those which they possessed with respect to the Scheldt be excepted, particularly when they are of importance only to those Who are deprived of them ?' After some negociation, the English cabi net at length notified, as the conditions of peace, that France should renounce her views of aggran dizement and aggression, and, relinquishing her conquests, confine herself within her oivn terri tories. Such was the state of affairs, when the cata- 1793. strophe of Louis XVI, which had been for some time anticipated, rendered all attempts at negocia tion abortive. On receiving intelligence of this event, Lord Grenville immediately notified to the French ambassador, that his public functions, which Were before suspended, having now terminated, his majesty had thought fit to command, that he should quit the kingdom within eight days. The order of council for that purpose was soon after communicated to both houses of parliament ; and it was expressly stated, that this extraordinary ex ertion of the royal prerogative had been used in consequence of the late atrocious act perpetrated at Paris.The deep sensation produced by the fate of Louis sufficiently prepared the house for the mini ster's observatibns on that event, connected as it Vol II D d 1 ' 418 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. wag? w;m the expectations of war with France. ' , The minister described the issue of the late nego- 1793. ciation, the infraction of a solemn treaty by the French, and their positive refusal to recede from their injurious aggression on our allies, the Dutch. He concluded by declaring, that, as no satisfac tion had been given, either for the opening of the Scheldt, or the fraternizing decree of November, war would .probably be unavoidable ; and that war was preferable to a peace, which could se cure neither our internal tranquillity, nor exter nal safety. He moved, therefore, for an address to his majesty, to promise parliamentary support, in the event of a war. Mr. Fox, after expressing, in the strongest terms, his abhorrence at the mur der of Louis, complai&ed, that the various topics introduced by the minister into his speech, had been purposely brought forward to blind the public judgment, and rouse the passions of the house, and were none of them the just grounds of a war. They reduced themselves, he remarked, into three points: the . danger "of Holland, the decree of the 19th of November, and the general danger of Europe, from the progress of the French arms. With respect to Holland, he said, the conduct of ministers af forded a proof of their disingenuousness. They could not state, that the Dutch had called upon us to fulfil the terms of our alliance: they were ob liged to confess, that no such requisition had been made. Whatever were the words of the treaty, we were bound in honour, by virtue of that treaty, to protect the Dutch, if they called on us to do so ; but, neither by honour nor treaty, till then. This Mr. Fox by no means construed into giving up the dominion of the Scheldt, on their part ; but it pretty clearly shewed, that they were not dis posed to make it the cause of a war, unless forced by us to do so. But France, it was said, had GEORGE III. 419 broken faith with the Dutch. Was this,' he asked, chap. e a cause for precipitately plunging into war ? How XXVI- long was it sinCe we considered a circumstance I793. tending to diminish the good understanding be tween France and Holland as a misfortune to this country. ? The plain state of the matter was, that we were bound to save Holland from war, or by War, if called upon ; and that, to force the Dutch into war, at sO much peril to them, which they saw and dreaded, was not to fulfil, but to abuse, the treaty.' The decree of the 19th of November Mr. Fox considered as an insult, and the explanation of the the executive council as no adequate satisfaction ; but the explanation shewed, that the French were not disposed to insist on that decree, and that they were inclined to peace. Our ministers, however, with unexampled haughtiness, had spoken of the insult, but refused to tell the nature of the satis faction that would be required. We had next told the French, that they must withdraw their troops from the Netherlands before we could be satisfied ? Was this the neutrality we meant to hold out to France ? — ' If you are invaded and beaten, we will be quiet spectators ; but, if you hurt your enemy, if you enter his territory, we declare against you. If the invasion of the Ne therlands appeared so alarming, as indeed it might well appear, why,' said Mr. Fox, ' was not an ef fort used to prevent that coalition against France, which, every man foresaw, would entail this dread ful evil of giving Belgium ultimately to France ? The French now said, that they would evacuate the country at the end of the war, when the li berty of the Netherlands should be established. This promise,' he acknowledged, * was insufficient ; but we ought to tell the French what would be deemed sufficient, instead of saying, as we had in- Dd 2 420 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, definitely said, this is nothing ; this is an aggrava- ^ tion ; this is insufficient. That war is unjust, .1793. which tells not an enemy the ground of provoca tion and the measure of atonement. It was also impolitic,' he observed, ' as .well as unjust, that the people, who must pay for the war, and abide by its consequences, should not be informed on what object they were to fix their hopes for its ho nourable termination. After five or six years pass ed in war, the French might agree to evacuate the Netherlands ; and was it certain that they would not do so now, if we would condescend to pro pose it in intelligible terms. The experiment ap peared, at least, to be worth a trial. With respect to the danger of French principles in the country, he deprecated that supposition, as the most untenable argument for war. Admitting, for the sake of ar gument, that the people were disposed to insurrec tion, the surest way to crush their discontents was to alleviate their burdens, and to preserve the whole force of government, if required for its se curity, to act against internal enemies ; not to waste our energies in such contests as would aggravate the burdens, and multiply the debts, of the public.' The attempt of Mr Fox to give a pacific turn to the address, was negatived by the usual majority. On the 12th of February, a message from his majesty announced the important intelligence to parliament, that France had declared war against Britain and the states of Holland. Mr. Pitt, in communicating this intelligence, entered into a copious examination of the causes which had led to it. — ' When his majesty,' he said, ' had dis missed M. Chauvelin, eight days had been allow ed before his departure ; and if, during that period, fie had sent any satisfactory explanation, it would still have been received. The next event that suc ceeded, was an embargo laid on all the vessels and 1793- GEORGE III. 421 persons of his majesty's subjects who were then in chap. France, contrary to treaty, and the law of nations. , XXVI- * Notwithstanding this outrageous act, such was our disposition to peace, that the channels of com munication, even after this period, were not shut. A most singular circumstance happened, which was the arrival of intelligence from his majesty's minister at the Hague, on the very day when the embargo was known in London, that he had re ceived an invitation from General Dumourier to hold an interview, for the purpose of opening a general pacification, instead of treating the em bargo as an act of hostility, our government au thorized their minister at the Hague to accede to the general's proposal, and no time was lost in at tempting to open the negociation ; but, before the answer of our government could reach the am bassador, or any means be obtained for carrying the desired object into execution, war was declared on the part of France against this country.' Mr. Pitt proceeded to read the declaration of' war, and to consider its articles in detail. It stat ed, that the king of England had, especially since the 10"* of August 1792, given proofs of attach ment to the coalition against France. On this subject, Mr. Pitt declared, with solemnity, that no such accession to the coalition had taken place on the part of Britain, The next charge in the declaration of war, was the recal of Lord Gower. * After the horrors of August,' he_observed ; ' af ter the suspension of the French monarch, to whom alone our ambassador had been sent, it certainly became proper to recal him. When a government has been overturned, it might be a fair question, how long an interval should intervene till the new powers should be acknowledged; but if that change was accomplished with tumult and distraction, it became a matter of extreme hardship, that a war Dd 3 I793- 422 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, should be the consequence to the nation who xxvi. should refuse to acknowledge its usurpers in the first instance.' ' Another reason,' said Mr. Pitt, ' offered by the convention for their declaration of war is, that the ambassador of the French republic has not been accredited by our government : but let it be re membered, that the letters of credence which Chauvelin preferred, were not refused till after re peated offences had been offered, for which no compensation had been made ; and that, at that moment, the French were embarked in the trial of their king, which has since terminated so atro ciously. Was it the moment to acknowledge them, when their usurpation was announced only by its enormities ? Our court is further blamed, in the same declaration, for prohibiting the purchase of corn, of arms, and of other commodities, by ci tizens or agents of the French republic ; for proi hibiting the exportation of grain to France, while it was allowed to other countries, contrary to the treaty of 1786; for prohibiting the circulation of assignats ; and for directing the severities of the alien bill against the republicans of France, while the British government cherishes and welcomes the rebels and the royalists, who have fought against France. Thus we are blamed,' said Mr. Pitt, ' for having withheld the means and sustenance of war from France, at a moment when she was meditat-. ing, and even declaring, hostilities against Hol land, for debarring the agents of treason and se dition, and giving alms and hospitality to the un fortunate ; for prohibiting the influx of assignats, and shielding ourselves from a gigantic system of swindling. ' But the armament which this country equip ped is another foundation of complaint. Under what circumstances, however, was this armament GEORGE III. 423 raised? At the period when France, by her chap conduct respecting the Scheldt, betrayed her in- , XXVI* tention to conquer, in contempt of all treaties. i793. True, we armed in self-defence, and in defence of our allies. We meant to protect Holland ; but' their accusation is false, when it farther states, that our intention in sending ships to the Scheldt, was to disturb their operations in Belgium. Another ground of resentment expressed by France, is the grief of our court at the fate of their unhappy monarch. Thus it appears, that they make war upon us, first, because we iove our constitution ; next, because we detest their proceedings ; and, lastly, because we presumed to grieve at the death of their murdered king. This is tyranny over our hearts, as well as our political proceed ings; and were their tyranny made good, we might ask them, in the words of the Roman writer, ' Quis gemitus populo Romano liber eritf Of all their apologies for declaring war, two speci fic grounds are alone mentioned, which deserve a serious refutation : the first is, his majesty's acces sion to the treaty of Pilnitz, which is a false as sertion ; the next is our armament, which was . purely in self-defence, and for the just protection of allies, whom the most solemn treaty bound us to protect.' Mr. Pitt concluded by moving an ad dress, conformable to his majesty's message. The address, in its present shape, was opposed by Mr. Fox, on the ground of pledging the house to an indefinite sanction of the past, as well as of the future, measures of the ministry. The causes of war alleged by France, Mr. Fox did not purpose indiscriminately to defend. It was the custom of France, even under her former government, to crowd into a manifesto every possible complaint, as a cause of hostility, which could be imagined. 424 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, good, bad, or indifferent; but the ordering Mr. XXIL_, Chauvelin to quit the kingdom, and prohibiting 1793. the exportation of corn to France, when exporta-* tion was permitted to other countries, appeared to. him to be acts of hostility on our part, which did not warrant us to say, that the war was purely aggression on the side of France. He severely censured the conduct of ministers in refusing to send an ambassador to France. Had we sent an ambassador, and had our conduct been more candid and conciliating, the issue of that fa tal trial might have been altered. ' But we nego- ciated (says the minister) unofficially.' What wise purpose this distinction between official and unoffi cial negociation could serve, Mr. Fox professed he never could perceive. ' But, granting that we had negociated unofficially, had we really and consci-. entiously negociated with a wish for peace ? No ; we remonstrated against accessions of territory, and we complained, of an attack on the rights of our ally ; but we proposed nothing that could be admitted as satisfaction for the injury complained of; we pointed out nothing that could remove the alarm. Lord Grenville said something about with drawing their troops from the Austrian Nether-. lands ; but if by that was understood a requisition to withdraw their troops unconditionally, while they were at war with the emperor, such a pro posal was an insult, and not a proffer of peace/ Mr. Fox then proposed, as an amendment to the" address, that it should conclude with a promise of supporting the throne against every hostile attempt of France, and in such other exertions as might be necessary to induce France to consent to such terms of pacification, as might be consistent with the honour of his majesty's crown, the interests of his people, and the security of his allies. The GEORGE III. 425 rejection of Mr. Fox's amendment, on this occa- chap. sfon, did not deter Mr. Grey2 from moving, soon , XXVt'J after, for a similar address, which contains the en- I793. * Words of Mr. Grey's motion long as it shall continue ; but we on the at5t of February 1793, for deem it a duty equally incumbent addressing his majesty respecting npon us to solicit his majesty's at- the war. \ ' That an humble address be presented to his riajesty, to assure his majesty, that his faithful com mons, animated hy a sincere and dutiful attachment to his person and family, and to the excellent constitution of this kingdom, as well as by an ardent zeal for the interest and honour of the nation, will at all times be ready to support his majesty in any measures which a due observance of the faith of treaties, the dignity of his crown, or the security of his domi nions, may compel him to under take : That, feeling the most ear nest solicitude to avert from our country the calamities of war, by every means consistent with ho nour and with safety, we express ed to his majesty, at the opening tention to those reasons or pretexts, by which his servants have labour ed to justify a conduct on their part, which we cannot but consider as having contributed, in a great measure, to produce the present rupture. Various grounds of hostility against France have been stated, but none that appeared to us to have constituted such an urgent and imperious case of necessity, as left no room for accommodation, and made war unavoidable. The government of France has been ac cused of having violated the law of nations, and the stipulations of existing treaties, by an attempt t« deprive the republic of the United. states of the exclusive navigation of the Scheldt. No evidence has, however, been offered, to convince of the present session, our sense of us that this exclusive navigation ' the temper and prudence which had induced his majesty to observe a strict neutrality with respect to the war on the continent, and uni formly to abstain from any inter ference in the internal affairs of France, and our hopes, that the steps which his majesty had taken was, either in itself, or in the es timation of those who were alone interested in preserving it, of such importance as to justify a determi nation in our government to break with France on that account. If, in fact, the states-general had shewn determination to defend their would have the happy tendency right by force of arms, it might to render a firm and temperate v ' "¦•-" conduct effectual for preserving the blessings of peace : That, with the deepest concern, we now find our selves obliged to relinquish that hope, without any evidence having been produced to satisfy us, that his majesty's ministers have made such efforts as it was their duty to make, and as, by his majesty's gra cious speech, we were taught to ex pect, for the preservation of peace. It is no less the resolution than the duty of his majesty's faithful com- •mons, to second his efforts in the have been an instance of the truest friendship to have suggested to them, for their serious considera tion, how far the assertion of this unprofitable claim might, in the present circumstances of Europe, tend to bring into hazard the es sential interests of the republic. But when, on the contrary, it has been acknowledged, that no requi sition on this subject was made to his majesty on the part of the states- general, we are at a loss to com prehend, on what grounds of right or propriety we take the lead in war thqs fatally commenced, so assenting a claim, in which we are not 426 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, tire political creed of his party on the subject of XXVI'_, the war, but which was rejected, without a di- 1793. vision. not principals, and in which the principal party has not, as far as we know, thought it prudent or ne cessary to call fbr our interposition; ' We must farther remark, that the point in dispute seemed to have been relieved from a considerable part of its difficulty by the declara tion of the minister of foreign af fairs, that the French nation gave lip all pretensions to determine the question of the future navigation of the Scheldt. Whether the terms of this declaration were perfectly satisfactory or not; they at least left the question open to pacific ne gociation, in which the intrinsic value of the object to any of the parties concerned in it, might have been coolly and impartially weigh ed against the cdnsequences to which all of them might be exposed, by attempting to maintain it by force of arms. * We have been called upon to resist views of conquest and ag grandizement entertained by the go vernment of France, at all times dan gerous to the general interests of Eu rope, but asserted to be more pecu liarly so now, when connected with the propagation of principles, which lead to the violation of the most sacred duties, and are utterly sub versive of the peace and order of all civilized society. We admit, that it is the interest and duty of every member of the common wealth of Europe to support the established system and distribution of power among the independent sovereignties, which actually sub sists, and to prevent the aggrand izement of any state, especially the most powerful, at the expence of any other ;• and for the honour of his majesty's crown, we do msst earnestly wish that his ministers had manifested a just sense of the im portance of the principle to which they now appeal, in the course^of late events, which seemed to threat en its entire destruction. When Poland was beginning to recover from the long calamities of anarchy, combined with oppression; after she had established an hereditary and limited monarchy, like our own ; and was peaceably employed in settling her internal government : his majesty's ministers, with appa rent indifference and unconcern, have seen her become the victim of the most unprovoked and un principled invasion, her territory overrun, her free constitution sub verted, her national independence annihilated, and the general prin ciples of the security of nations wounded through her side. With all these evils was France soon after threatened ; with the same appear ance either of supine indifference, or of secret approbation, his ma jesty's ministers beheld the armies of other powers, in evident con cert with the oppressor of Poland, advancing to the invasion and sub jugation of France; and the march of those armies distinguished from the ordinary hostilities of civilized nations, by manifestoes, which, if their principles and menaces had been carried into practice, must have inevitably produced the return of that ferocity and barbarism in war, which a beneficent religion and en lightened manners, and true mili. tary honour, have for a long time banished from the Christian world. No effort appears to have been made to check the progress of these invading armies. His majesty's ministers, under a pretended respect for the rights and independence of other sovereigns, thought fit, at that time, to refuse even the inter position of his majesty's councils and good offices to save so great and important a portion of Europe from falling under the dominion of a foreign power. But no soon er GEORGE III. 427 Such was the business which chiefly occupied chap. parliament before the commencement of war ; but er, by an ever-memorable reverse of fortune, had France repulsed her invaders, and carried her arms into their territory, than his ma. jesty's ministers, laying aside that collusive indifference which had marked their conduct during the invasion of France, began to ex press alarms for the general se curity of Europe, which, as it ap pears to us, they ought to have seriously felt, and might have ex pressed, with great justice, on the previous successes of her powerful adversaries. , , . We will not dissemble our opi nion, that the decree of the nation al convention of France of the 19th November 179a, was, in a great measure, liable to the objections urged against it ; but we cannot admit, that a war, on the single ground of such a decree, unaccom panied by any overt-acts, by which we, or our allies, might be direct ly attacked, would be justified as necessary and unavoidable : cer tainly not, unless upon a regular demand made by his majesty's mi. nisters, of explanation and security in behalf of us and our allies, the French had refused to give his majesty such explanation and secu rity. No such demand was made ; explanations, it is true, have been received a.id rejected ; but it well deserves to be remarked and re membered, that these explanations were voluntarily offered on the paTt of France, not previously de manded on ours, as they would have been, if it had suited the views of his majesty's ministers to have acted frankly and honourably to wards France, and not to have re served their complaints to a future period, when explanations, however reasonable, might come too late, and hostilities might be unavoidi. able. After a review-of all these considerations, we think it neces sary to represent to his majesty, that none of the points which were in dispute between his ministers and the government of France, ap pear to us to have been incapable of being adjusted by negociation, except that aggravation of French ambition which has been stated to arise from the political opinions of the French nation. These, in deed, we conceive, formed neither any definable object of negociation, nor any intelligible reason for hos tility. They were equally incap able of being adjusted by treaty, or being either refuted or confirmed by the events of war. We need not state to his majes ty's wisdom, that force can never cure delusion ; and we know his majesty's goodness too well, to suppose that he could ever enter tain the idea of employing force to destroy opinions, by the extirpa tion of those who held them. The grounds upon which his majesty's ministers have advised him to re fuse the renewal of some avowed public intercourse with the exist ing government of France, appear ed to us neither justified by the reason of the thing itself, nor by the usage of nations, nor by any expediency arising from the pre sent state of circumstances, in all negociations or discussions, of which peace is the real object, the appear ance of an amicable disposition, and of a readiness to offer and ac cept of pacific explanations on both sides, is as necessary and useful to insure succe'ss, as any arguments founded on strict right. Nor can it be denied, that claims or argu ments of any kind, urged in hostile and haughty language, however equitable or valid In themselves, are more likely to provoke, than to conciliate the opposite party. Deploring, as we have ever done, the melancholy event which has lately happened in France, it would yet be some consolation to us to have heard, that the powerful in terposition of the British nation, had' *79*< 428 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. of domestic proceedings it may be proper to in terrupt the direct narrative, while we view those contemporary events in France, which tended so much to accelerate the mutual hostility of the two nations. On the 21st of September 1792, the national convention was assembled, and those members of the legislative Assembly, who had not obtained the dangerous honour of being re-elected, fled from Paris, to seek an asylum from assassins. The new representatives, in contemplating their meet ing, read their mutual enmities in every opposite countenance. The proscriber was opposed to the proscribed, the jacobin to the Girondist, with hat- had at least been offered, although it should unfortunately have been rejected. But, instead of receiving such consolation from the conduct of his majesty's ministers, we have seen them, with extreme astonish ment, employing as an incentive to hostilities, an event which they had made no effort to avert by ne gociation. This inaction they could only excuse on the principle, that the internal conduct of nations, whatever may be our opinion of its morality, was no proper ground for interposition and remonstrance from foreign states ; a principle from which it must still more clearly follow, that such internal conduct could never be an admis sible, justifiable reason for war. We cannot refrain from observ ing, that such frequent allusions, as have been made to an event, con fessedly no ground of rupture, seemed to us to have arisen frtm a sinister intention, to derive, from the humanity of Englishmen, po pularity for measures, which their deliberate judgment would have reprobated, and to influence the most virtuous sensibilities of his majesty's people, into a blind and furious zeal for a war of vengeance. Jlis majesty's faithful commons, therefore, though always determin ed to support his majesty with vi gour and cordiality, in the exertions necessary for the defence of his kingdoms, yet feel that they are equally bound by their duty to his majesty, to declare, in the most so lemn manner, their disapprobation of the conduct of his majesty's mi nisters, throughout the whole of these transactions; a conduct which, in their opinion, could lead to no other termination, but that to which it seems to have been studi ously directed, of plunging the country into an unnecessary war. The calamities of such a war must be aggravated, in the estimation of every thinking mind, by reflecting on the peculiar advantages of that fortunate situation which we have so unwisely abandoned, and which not only exempted us from sharing in the distresses and afflictions of the other nations of Europe, but converted them into sources of be nefit, improvement, and prosperity, in this country. We, therefore, humbly implore his majesty's paternal goodness, to listen no longer to the councils which have forced ns into this un happy war, but to embraced the earliest occasion, which his wisdom may discern, of restoring to his people, the blessings of peace. i79** GEORGE III. 429 reds perfectly matured, that only waited the signal chap. to engage. On one side of the hall was seen the xxvl- dreadful countenance of Danton, whose looks *" seemed still to record the massacres of September; beside him was Roberspierre, his figure expressing a cruelty more profound, and more insatiable j every thing was composed and humble in his de portment ; but his smile was frightful, even when it was turned upon his friends ; yet on him the men and women of the galleries kept their eyes, as upon an idol. Near this monster was seen a being, hideous and deformed, who affected to appear the equal of Danton and Roberspierre, but was in fact only their despised tool and, accomplice — this was Ma rat. Among the many similars in atrocity, who crouded the same side, Billaud de Varennes, and Collot de Herbois, were particularly distinguished. The one seemed to have studied his crimes in the depth of the cloister, the other to have imbibed them in the orgies of the theatre. The names of all their formidable followers, were not yet known. Some of them had a look of stupid ferocity, which promised every thing to those who should employ them ; others displayed that delirium of fanaticism, which burns for employment. Gaudet, Brissot, Vergniaud, and all their friends, eager to separate from such associates, retired to those benches, which their first adversaries had lately possessed. All the favour of the convention seemed, at first, to turn towards them, and to pay respect to their superior talents; an homage which they received with all the self-complacency which was the weakness of their character ; but the era we approach becomes too dark to let us dwell even on the faults, much less the foibles,of those inefficient men. They now stood, as the adversaries of jaco binism, and, whatever they had been before, it is impossible, at this latter period, to withhold from 430 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN; Chap, them our pity and respect. Not, indeed, because xxvi. tnev fOUght for themselves against the jacobinsj t ' i# " those demons whom they had conjured up, with out the power of appeasing. But we pity them now, because their battle was in defence of, and in the 'general cause of humanity. Petion was, by their influence, appointed president of the conven tion. Humbled, indeed, was the cause of huma nity, when her most devoted champions were re presented by Petion. The establishment of their republic had been a favourite vision of the Girondists ; but what was their rage and disappointment, wfien, at the open ing of the convention, the pleasure of announcing its birth-day was snatched from them by the Sep- tembrizer Collot d'Herbois, who anticipated their design, and moved for the abolition of royalty. Mortified as they were at this circumstance, they could not now, in consistency, retract their opi nions : there was no dissenting voice ; and the hall of the assembly resounded with acclamations of ' Long live the republic !' Nothing but such a cir cumstance could have prevented the first debate of the convention from breaking out into animosity. The Girondists, hoping to confound their adver saries by the briskness of their attacks, introduced, at the very next sitting, every subject which could recal the guilt and contumely of the jacobins ; they reproached them with the dreadful agitations which, by their influence still prevailed over France. ' You have decreed a republic,' said Lasource ; but the infant cradle of your republic floats, in blood. You have destroyed thrones, and you make war for liberty ; but the axes of a dictator ship and a triumvirate are preparing to be lifted over us, which will exceed, in tyranny, all that history records.' At these words, there was a cry of * Name the dictator ; name the triumvirate.' 1794- GEORGE lit. 431 Danton, Roberspierre, and Marat, were severally chaK named. Danton rose first, and defended himself XxvL from the charge, with all the direct boldness which distinguished his speeches. Roberspierre spoke next ; but he fell, in this defence, so much be neath the accustomed dull mediocrity of his powers, that he tired the assembly, and, for once in his life, excited only their contempt. Unfortunate it was that he did so. The Girondists, contented with seeing him excite so much derision, forgot their danger, and forbore to push the victory while it was in their hands. Marat, without disavowing that he had conceived the plan of giving a dictator to the republic, uttered such wishes for bloodshed and proscription, that Vergniaud and other de puties rose at last, and pulled him by force from the tribune. Vergniaud took his place ; but, for getting Roberspierre and Danton, he only pursued Marat. He read the dreadful circulair, which had been sent on the eve of the September massacres, as a signal for all France to imitate those of Paris. He read a number from the journal of Marat, called UAmi de peuple, in which that savage had coolly calculated the number of heads which must be cut off, for establishing the republic, at 70,000. At this passage the galleries raised a horrid shout of applause, which disconcerted the Girondists. Many of them abandoned the hall, in disgust at that barbarity, which it was their duty to have re mained and punished. Some that remained, af fecting to treat the conduct of Marat more as ec centricity than sincere atrocity, proposed to leave off individual prosecution, and vote the republic one and indivisible. This single debate stamped the future character of the convention ; the Gi rondists were superior in numbers, but unequal in ferocity, and therefore in strength, to the moun tain. 432 annals of 6reat br1Ta!n» chap. in the midst of their early and inauspicious sit* '_, tings, the convention received intelligence of those 179*. first victories which attended the French arms ; of the retreat of the Prussians, of the conquest of Savoy and the county of Nice, and the rapid march of Custine into the Palatinate. The works which had been begun for the defence of Paris were laid aside. These successes increased the insolence of the jacobins ; but they laid, at the same time, some restriction on their cruelties, and forced them to be more circumspect even in their threats. The assembly possessed resources, which might have overwhelmed them. Scarce a tenth part of the members durst avow their attachment to the moun tain ; but this audacious minority expected to ope rate by terror, or by jealousy, on the whole mass, with the aid of that monstrous science, which has been called revolutionary tactics. It consisted in a profound knowledge of all the vices and extra vagancies which are incident to assemblies of men. Near the place of the convention, the rendez vous of the jacobins Was held ; an assembly which made the convention itself but a scene of secondary importance, and deliberated, or rather declaimed, by the light of a few lamps, which dimly lighted up the vaults of their monastic hall. Its attend ants were obliged to present themselves in a sordid dress ; and the meanest and most brutal, who came there, never went away without adding to the rudeness of their speech and the ferocity of their manners. The society counted, in Paris alone, above 1,500 members. A multitude of obscure accomplices filled its galleries. The sitting was opened with revolutionary songs, some of them slow and mournful, like the warnings of death 5 others in a gay strain, that were still more hideous. The correspondence of their affiliated societies, which extended over all the towns and villages of XXVI. /¦— J I79*< GEORGE III. 433 France, was then read ; some of them congratu- chap. lating the parent-society ; others reproaching its v "" weakness. In these dreadful communications was contained the list and the eloge of all the mas sacres committed in every corner of the republic. After this reading, commenced their debates, at Once burlesque and horrible. Their deputies in the convention came there to report the checks they had experienced, or the hopes they entertain ed of enjoying vengeance over their enemies. Such madness and confusion reigned in those debates, that one expected to see them concluded without any resolution. But the conception of no crime was ever lost in that scene : scarce had the atrocity been suggested, when it was applauded, and put in train. The force of the faction consisted chief ly in employing men, who, by their grossness, their stupidity,, and debasement, were the outcasts of other parties ; they had the vices of every, indivi dual in France at their controul. They had fana tics among them ; but the greater part of their chiefs were the hypocrites of fanaticism : the former were greedy of blood ; the others of gold. Both openly insulted compassion, as the meanest de basement of the heart : some of them, however, felt it in secret, and exercised it by stealth. To the Girondine party the convocation of the convention had added some new and respectable members, among whom were many who followed their fortunes in the present assembly, without ap proving of their conduct in the last. The impru dence of this party cost them the alienation of many members ; but, above all, the error of their disdaining the alliance of several new deputies, who had eagerly solicited their alliance, occasioned an irreparable loss to their strength. Barrere, ei ther because his vanity was wounded by this rejec tion, or because he was warned by his fears, esta- Vol. II. E e 1793- 434 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. CHap. blished a secession ; one of those mixed parties, xxvi. where the vulgar of all assemblies resort for safe ty at the approach of great political storms ; who bend under all menaces, while they appear to dic tate all laws ; who destroy every thing by force of modifications, and only retard the designs of guilt, to render them more mature. On the eve of this combat between the two parties, which was to decide the destiny of France, their voices were unanimous in one severe decree which respected the emigrants. The public fi nances were drained, and the estates of that de voted description of men afforded a prospect of re source, tod great to be resisted. By a . sweeping and guilty ordination, in which the emigrant was neither described nor defined, the misery of mil lions was sanctioned, every boundary between guilt and innocence, every distinction between the vo luntary enemy of his country and the unfortunate exile, whom fear or necessity had driven from his home, was left to the justice of interested tribu nals, to the clemency of the reign of terror. It is but justice to the name of Frenchmen to say, that some opposition was made to the decree,; and as if the times had been fraught with all the incoher ence, as well as all the rage, of insanity, the name of Tallien, whose defence of the September mas sacres has just been mentioned,, is attached to the most eloquent protest which was heard against this measure of barbarity. But the Girondists, if tfiey connived at tyranny, had not lost sight of that tyrant, to whom their hatred is their chief praise. Roberspierre was formally denounced in the convention. Louvet, one of their new associates, an ardent and impe tuous speaker, disclosed such a picture of the crimes of that demagogue, that every feeling of freedom and humanity seemed to rise in the hearts 179*- GEORGE III. 435 of the assembly, and call for his immediate punish- chap. ment. The very galleries were silenced, and durst x VI- not support their idol. Human nature seemed on the point of deliverance from its opprobrium : every thing was on the side of the accusers ; numbers and enthusiasm. That hour Roberspierre might have been led to the scaffold ; but the convention gave him a delay. The rights of the accused, which they had violated towards innocence, were religious ly kept towards Roberspierre ; and at the end of eight days, their culprit returned, rather to a triumph than a trial. Barrere, the abominable temporizer, concealing his fears under neutrality, besought the assembly to turn their zeal on a worthier object than Roberspierre, whose consequence he affected to despise. The zeal which Louvet had inspired was too virtuous to last long in the hearts of such an audience. The vengeance of outraged huma nity was deferred, till every crime and every grief that blackens history had been the forfeit to France of this day's acquittal. But between these two moments, what a period of blood intervenes! Could the extreme era of moral debasement be pitched upon in modern history, k would certainly be the duration of this eclipse of reason and humanity in France. In justice to the Girondists, we ought to separate their merits, as well as genius, from the common obloquy of the convention : attached in reality to their party, but too cowardly to avow it, were the contemptible majority of that assembly. The jacobins were, however, the habitual speakers of the convention ; but, in their speeches, there was as little eloquence as morality. They had a style, it is true, which aimed at extraordinary force and gigantic expressions ; but their taste was,' if possible, as horrible as their dispositions.. Frenzy and extravagance were substituted for inspiration; and, from the poverty of their conceptions, fheir ,E e 2 436 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, routine of metaphors was hacknied and unvaried. XXVI" , Should history deign -to preserve the archives of 1794. their debates, they will be found to contain every thing that can be called the bathos in bad taste, as well as in moral feeling. The king of Prussia had retreated : the king of Sardinia was, by this period, despoiled of one half of his estates. Nothing could be more rapid than the expedition directed against Savoy. It had been confided to General Montesquieu, a man of spirit and talent, formerly powerful at court, and at tached to the brother of the king ; but latterly at tached to the revolution, to which he had made abundant sacrifices. Since the 10th of August, he had interceded with the Girondists for the king, who were yet masters of his fate. Of this the ja cobins suspected him, and he had no refuge but in his military employment. The king of Sardinia, a prodigal and careless prince, had seen without alarm, or at least without precaution, the assembling of a French army round Savoy. Every thing ex posed him to the wrath of the new republic. He had not been able to refuse an asylum to7 the fugi tive princes, his own relations ; nor was it doubt ed that he had acceded to the league of kings : yet Savoy was guarded by only a handful of Pied- montese, who to the want of discipline joined the most notorious cowardice. Montesquieu, in en tering Savoy, had no difficulty but to find his ene- mies, who abandoned their forts, once memorable for their obstinate sieges, as soon as thev heard the sound of his guns. Their artillery, their ma gazines, every thing, was given up to the victor, who, in three days, arrived at Chamberry. Europe could not conceive what had become of that spirit of Piedmontese bravery, which acquired so much renown at the commencement of the present age. General Anselm entered Nice with the same faci- GEORGE III. 437 lity ; and the convention made as much dispatch chap. to take definitive possession of these provinces as , xxvr" their generals had" made to obtain them. They 1791. were united to France, under the name of the de partments of Mont Blanc and the Maritime Alps. The news of Montesquieu's victories came very opportunely, a decree of accusation having passed against him the day before, which the first move ment of their joy induced the tyrants to revoke. The occupation of Savoy seemed to guide the wishes of France towards the conquest of Italy : but at present the means of such a conquest were wholly wanting; and the executive turned upon the lesser object, of Geneva. The complaints alleged by France against this little republic were such as great states generally bring against a small and de fenceless neighbour. At the hazard, therefore, of ir ritating the warlike cantons of Switzerland, among whom the news of the 10th of August had already excited a sense of dangerous indignation, they dis patched General Montesquieu on this expedition. The general received this mandate with sincere af fliction ; and, far from abusing his power over the fate of Geneva, only made use of it to soften her hardships. He entered into negociation with the Genevese ; he made a value of their submission to the French government : he saved Geneva from many evils, and he saved his country from a bane ful war ; but drew down fresh resentments on his head. A new decree of accusation was launched at him by the convention ; and he would have pe rished on the scaffold, had not the gratitude of the republic, whom he had saved, afforded him the means of escape. But the successes of the south were inconsider able, compared to those by which Custine struck terror into Germany. From the moment that the king of Prussia made E e 3 438 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN, chap, known the point where he intended to force his - — y-J., passage into France, the generals Luckner and La 1792. Fayette had been anxious to effect a diversion by the army of the Rhine. Dumourier took a lively interest in this project. Every event had contri buted to facilitate its execution : the king of Prus sia had struck directly into the interior of France : he was therefore in no situation to watch, from the plains of S'. Menehoud, what passed uponthe Rhine ; and he had left only some regiments of Hessians to protect the Palatinate. Custine, with 15,000 men, detached from the army of the Rhine, put those troops to the rout, and entered Spires. Worms and Oppenheim opened their gates to the victor, and the Hessians .precipitately dispersed, leaving the Palati nate to his possession. Custine continued to ad vance; and, on the i9th of October, brought his army before the walls of Mentz, which surrender ed at the first summons. From this important conquest he had a point d'appui for all his excur sions ; but nothing, at present, appeared to impede his progress. The opulent city of Frankfort was before him, and without defence : he entered it ; and here terminated his brilliant career. However signal the successes of Custine, Du mourier even eclipsed them ; he shewed himself still more dexterous in appropriating the favours of fortune, and had the glory of saving France from at least external humiliation. Kellerman, it is true, had fought and conquered ; but it was Dumourier, who, with the aid of his good fortune, had reduced the king of Prussia to a desperate si tuation, by the event of one day's cannonade. His conduct, it must be owned, in respecting the retreat of Frederic, gave birth to suspicions, as well as ridicule, but such management shewed the policy of a negociator. Verdun and Longwy had surrendered, without resistance, to the French GEORGE III. 439 arms, by shameful capitulations, which formed too chap. striking a contrast with the manifesto of the duke ,_XXVI' of Brunswick. The siege of Thionville was rais- 179a. ed, after a glorious defence made by Felix Wimp- fen ; the emigrants had here sustained the heaviest loss and disgrace, chiefly because the king of Prussia had not thought artillery necessary for a siege. Lisle was attacked by the Austrians, if not with the surest means of annoyance, at least with the most barbarous. Dumourier had had the sa lutary boldness to trust those places of Flanders to their own resources, so that the labours of Vau- ban constituted their only defence. Formerly La Fayette had entertained the same idea : he had or dered Dumourier, who was then under his orders, to raise the camp at Maulde, but Dumourier, wish ing to ruin his superior, disobeyed him. When Fayette was no longer to be feared, he yielded to this necessity, and hence was his hardy and rapid march, which brought him to the passes of Arra- gonne, before the duke of Brunswick could reach them. But the few troops which Dumourier left in Flanders, could not now cope with the Austrians. The duke of Saxe Teschen penetrated through this frontier, though it was bristled with fortresses, laid waste the villages with impunity, and, at length, , learning with what success the king of Prussia had bombarded Longwy and Verdun, he hoped to produce the same effect on Lisle. Lisle was in vested by 17,000 men, the garrison refused to sur render, and the bombardment commenced. The Austrians, with a barbarous tranquillity, continued for twenty days to employ this means of destruc tion, which the military art disdains, when it does not produce at first the effect of intimidation. Had the inhabitants been disposed to favour the Aus trians, and to save their property from destruction,. there were not troops enough in the town to have 179*. 440 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, restrained their disposition ; but indignation sup- xxvi. plied them with courage : the long conflagration ' which they witnessed, could not extort a word of submission. The arch- duchess Christina, gover ness of the Low countries, was present at this siege, and, it is said, directed herself the preparations of the bombardment. The names of tigress and fury were lavished on her, by the popular hatred of the besieged, at the same moment, when they were applied to her unfortunate sister, the captive queen, by the Parisians. At length the Austrians aban doned those useless efforts ; the retreat of the king of Prussia constrained them to retire into a perilous and defensive situation. Such were the successes of a campaign which had been. opened scarcely three months, when Du mourier returned to Paris. Scarcely had he an nounced the first retrograde steps of the king of Prussia, when he declared, that, before the end of two months, he should be at Brussels. The con quest of Belgium had ever been the favourite ob ject of his ambition ; he now came to urge its pre* paratory measures. It was curious too to observe with what eye the people should regard him, at a time, when every circumstance announced him as their deliverer. But hatred and jealousy had taint-, ed all the sources of public joy. The trophies obtained over their invaders, were less in men's minds, than the horrid images of the 2* of Sep-; tember. The people shewed no eagerness to see him. At the opera alone, they seemed to imitate Some acclamations, which it had been customary to lavish on great commanders ; but the enthu siasm had a painful air, and only served to irritate the jacobins. However eager the jacobins might be to imi tate the ingratitude of ancient republicans, policy invited them to resist this propensity, and as they I7S». GEORGE III. 441 did not despair of attaching Dumourier to their chap. faction, they besought it, but with a cool and XXVI- menacing air, as if they had offered him their al- c tentative, ' the scaffold or our alliance.' Dumourier affected, as much as he could, a per fect neutrality between the two parties : he kept up a correspondence with both : he appeared at one of the fetes of the jacobin faction, where he spoke with sufficient modesty, but promised them the conquest of the Belgians. Collot D'Herbois harangued him in an address, sometimes flatter ing, and sometimes menacing, which concluded by one of those ridiculous affectations of republican simplicity, which completed the burlesque exhibi tions of the jacobin meetings. Collot JD'Herbois promised to the conqueror a kiss of his wife. Du mourier retired from this scene sufficiently humi liated ; he saw the necessity, however, of attaching some of these ferocious leaders to his interests, and judiciously plied the venal spirits of Danton and Lacroix with prospects of acquisition in Belgium, which allured their cupidity. Although he departed more impressed with the necessity, than furnished with the means, of con quest, yet the promptitude of his troops to learn the military art, and the activity of his own prepara tions, enabled him to commence the attack of Mons, before the corps of Austrians, under Clair- fait, could arrive to its succour. The duke of Saxe Teschen commanded the army destined to cover it ; he received a few reinforcements, among which were some regiments of emigrants. This prince, little fitted for great undertakings, always unde cided and embarrassed, extinguished the ardour of his troops by his incessant precautions. He con fined his efforts to the fortifying of Jemappe for the protection of the city of Mons. Dumourier, pf ?I! things, desired to attack this position, before j 442 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. Clairfait, who was hastening by forced marches, xxvi. couif| arrive to join the allies; but, before this I79t, ~ could be done, it was necessary to chase the Aus trians from those heights which they possessed in front of Jemappe, and, above all, from a wood, the borders of which extended from Sar, as far as Bossu. He had also to effect a junction with Ge neral D'Harville, who advanced to aid him with 6,000 men. To fulfil the first of these objects, he had some actions with the Austrians from the 3d to the 5th of November, in which he took 900 prisoners, and lost about 500 men. It was during these combats of lesser importance, that General Boileau, the lieutenant of Saxe Teschen, an officer infinitely more expert, more fertile in expedients, and more daring, than his commander in chief, alarmed at seeing the French thus acting on the offensive, proposed to the due de Saxe Tes chen, to attack them in the night. An action in the dark, he imagined, would take away from the French, their most formidable advantage, which was the excellence of their artillery. The Aus trians have often regretted that this advice had not ' been followed ; it is known, however, that after wards General Boileau attempted a similar sur prize in Italy, against Bonaparte, and that he had reason to repent it. ¦ Intrenched on the heights of Jemappe, in a situ ation which they believed impregnable, the Aus trians waited for the powerful reinforcement of General Clairfait. Their army was from 20 to 22,000 strong ; their right wing, supported by the village of Jemappe, formed a square ; their front and left, which were supported by Valencien nes, were placed upon a woody mountain, where three stages of redoubts rose above each other in an amphitheatre, furnished with 100 pieces of cannon. The French could oppose an equal GEORGE III. 443 fire, but in a position much more unfavourable, chap. Dumourier makes their number amount to 30,000 J^""" men. At seven in the morning, a most furious 1791. cannonade commenced, which lasted till ten. The soldiers of Dumourier, we are told by French historians of the battle, called out to be led to closer quarters with the bayonet ; according to other ac counts, they were kept to the charge by a plentiful array of cannon, which was planted behind them. Their courage, whether forced or spontaneous, be came irresistible : they first carried the village of Quareignon, which protected Jemappe on one side., At noon every thing was disposed for a general at tack; it was entrusted chiefly to Bournonville, whom Dumourier called the Ajax of Frenchmen, and tothe eldest son of the duke of Orleans. The first stage of redoubts was carried with the great est activity, but the dangers thickened as they ad vanced, particularly to the centre of the French, as the Austrian cavalry prepared to enter the plain, and charge their columns in flank. The rallying of those exposed columns was ascribed to the young Orleans, who led them on to the second stage of redoubts. His attack was favoured by a body of hussars and chasseurs, who arrived in time to charge the enemy's cavalry, and keep them in check. At that instant Dumourier presented himself on the right, where he found, after a full success on the part of Bournonville, who had turn ed and carried the redoubts, some disorder in his cavalry, which had occurred, whilst he was em ployed at the head of his infantry. Dumourier rallied, and charged the Austrian cavalry with the greatest vigour, at the moment when it threatened to gain upon his right flank. In the interval of this combat of the right, his left wing had carried Jemappe, and his centre the second tier of re doubts. Another combat was still to be maintain- 444 annals op gReat Britain. chap, ed on the heights, but this last one was neither . XXVI: fong nor obstinate ; for the Austrians retired in 1792. disorder, and crossed in hastte through the city of November. Mons. Their retreat was, nevertheless, effected with little confusion, for they lost but a few pieces of artillery. The conquest of all Belgium was the fruit of this engagement to Dumourier. It is not precisely known how much blood it cost. Dumourier, whose description of the battle has been the standard of almost every subsequent account of it, estimates- the loss of the Austrians at 4000, and his own at 900. Such a disproportion, in an action where the French were the assailants, with every disad vantage, impairs the credibility of other circum stances in the battle, which the Frenchman has re lated. That it was fatal to the Austrians, is too evident by its instantaneous effects; but if two stages of redoubts were thus carried, we cannot but be astonished to hear the French themselves acknowledge, that their enemy lost but a few pieces of artillery. The Austrian army could not recover its confi dence, even after the tardy arrival of 12 or 16,000 men, brought up by Clairfait. It was the same army which had repressed the religious sedition in Brabant. The Flemish priests, though they could have well wished for other deliverers than the French, celebrated their welcome with peals of bells, and sung te Deum for their victory. The convention received the tidings of Jemappe with an enthusiasm of joy. The grand advantage of possessing Belgium, was the fund of wealth which the possessions of the clergy afforded. On the 15th of December, was passed the famous decree, which united the Belgic provinces to the French , departments, This was a thunder-stroke to Du mourier. The views of that commander were GEORGE III. 44.5 too enlightened, and his character too averse chap. to violence, not to see the policy of protect- , xx.^ ing those conquests, and using them with modera- 1794. tion. Perhaps too, as is generally supposed, his private and personal ambition coincided with the suggestions of his wisdom. Every thing excluded him from the hopes of power in his own country ; scarce, indeed, could he flatter himself with the assurance of a safe return. It would have gratified him, therefore, to have exercised a kind of protect orship over the Belgians, could they have remained under their ancient theocratical influence. The de cree of the 15 th of December ravished from him every prospect of this power, and this retreat. His vexation broke out — he began to speak con temptuously of the Convention, and to threaten them with the vengeance of an enraged command er. On their part, they defied his menaces, and lost no time in teaching him, that neither his con quests nor his army were his own. All the harpies of avarice and depredation in Paris, seemed to be let loose at once on the miser able conquests of Belgium. Their commission was to sequestrate and revolutionize ; a mission whfch they received either from the convention, or the commune of Paris, or the minister of war, or the society of the jacobins. At their head was Danton and Lacroix, to whose power and avidity every thing gave way. One individual of integri ty was found among the whole fraternity of plun derers, and that was Camas, but he saw and con demned their excesses, without the power of re pressing them. An industrious and religious people, who, but five years ago, had taken arms to avenge the degradation of their clergy, beheld their churches despoiled of their gold and their ornaments, and such depredations committed on the substance of the country, that all the granaries 446 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, of the husbandmen were in an instant emptied, and XXVI- the victors themselves began to apprehend a fa- ~~[79zf^ mine, in the heart of a country, proverbial for its fertility. Dumourier was assailed with complaints, from every quarter, of ruin and misery, which he could not prevent. His authority was vilified — his promises of redress were but a derisory con solation. Such disorders in his army prevented him from following his military operations with the same vi gour with which they had commenced. So that, after two months from the time of their perilous retreat, the Austrians were enabled to find a rally ing point. General Clairfait had, by this time, assumed the chief command ; he had been obliged to retire behind the whole course of the Maese, but the enemy could not force him beyond the Rhine. The course of the Rhine now became a sufficient barrier to arrest the French, who were fatigued with their long career, and who had, be sides, neglected the cares of military combats, for those of revolutions. On the whole, the skilful and obstinate resistance of Clairfait, and still more the imprudent conduct of the French, shewed the Austrians, that their cause Was not yet desperate. The court of Vienna, according to custom, formed immense preparations for a second campaign, af ter having been unwisely parsimonious in the means' of the former. It was not without uneasiness, that Dumourier saw this posture of affairs, but still he felt, that his greatest dangers were not to arise from Vienna, but from Paris ; and he set out for the latter city, perhaps cherishing yet a hope, that' he might ef fect the revocation of that decree, which had blast ed all his prospects. Another alarming circum stance was a motive for his journey, the convention being now occupied in the trial of Louis, GEORGE HI. 447 The peaceful private virtues of this high suffer- CHAP- er ; the tremendous publicity of his fall ; the hor- ( ror attached to his executioners ; and the pity, i79». which no heart refuses to those images of domestic and I793' anguish, which their very exposure to pity must have made more severe ; these circumstances have occasioned the whole concluding events of Louis's life, to be so familiar to every mind, that their interest is only weakened by new recital. In the few and feeble hands which were lifted up to protest against the mockery of public justice in his condemnation ; or the still fewer devoted hearts, who had the courage to console him in, those scenes of affliction, where a wife, a sis ter, a daughter, and an infant-child, hung on the last embraces of an affectionate man, and con vulsed the ' sensibilities of his nature ; in the traits and characters of worth in the loyalty of the venerable Malsherbes, and the fidelity of Fremont and Clery, there is something that redeems the character of the times from its general charge of stupor, or ferocity. Even in the indirect efforts of the Girondists, to save the king, there is a hu manity which reconciles us to them. The praise of this humanity is not, indeed, to be claimed by the whole party. The bitter and sarcastic Gau- det traced the pretended crimes of Louis, as well as the jacobins ; and Condorcet, in a reverie of philanthropy, abjuring capital punishments, voted that the king should not be beheaded, but treated with mercy. The mercy he proposed, was to keep him in irons for life. A bolder, and better, division of the party, disdaining an equivocal re sistance to cruelty, came openly forward in vindi cation of his innocence, and delivered themselves in the most touching language of humanity. Among those honours of an unworthy assembly, were the deputies Rosee, Morisson, and Brisson. In defi- 44S ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN* Chap, ance of a banditti, who crouded the avenues and xxvi. galleries of the convention, in contempt of all the • J cannibals of the mountain, who told them, by their fierce looks, « vote for the death of Louis, or expect your own ;' these intrepid men drew a number of the undecided to their cause. When the question was put by the jacobins, ' has Louis been guilty of conspiracy ?' they boldly proposed another question, * has no body conspired against Louis ?' But on Louis's condemnation too much depended, for the jacobins not to watch it as the die that was to be cast for their victory in the game of blood. Their courage rose with the hesitation of that irre solute majority of the members, who would have Voted for Louis if they durst : it rose with the ac cession of Barrere to their opinion, who proclaim ed, ' that the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants.' His party were not yet ja cobins, but their nature tended to that metamor phosis, and what was cowardice now, might, by the tasting of blood, be nourished into cruelty. The strength of the jacobins also rose by the neu trality of half the Girondists, men who had nei ther courage to be virtuous, nor vicious in perfec tion. Among the votes of the jacobins, some were characteristically given. Legendre's was, ' that the body of Louis be torn in pieces, and distributed among the departments.' Who would conceive, that this Legendre was the man, who, by an unheard of reformation of his nature, ren dered important services to humanity, at a subse quent and memorable epoch ? On the 21st of January, the inhabitants of Paris - were assembled under arms, to be witnesses of this punishment ; they were in fact called to protect it. The commune of Paris was., not ignorant, that the great majority of the citizens beheld this sacrifice with horror ; and it armed them, that it GEORGE III. 44<) jfnight have nothing to fear, that is to say, it a»* chap. rayed them, timid and suspicious, under its lie!"' rs. XXVI- As courage is infectious in multitudes, so " I so is "7^7* fear ; and terror is never' so deep as when it is read in every surrounding eye. The people repaired in alarm to their sections ; woe to them that were absent ; their names were immediately registered. On entering their ranks, every one was astonished to find so many desirous of the blood of the king. A double line of men thus assembled, filled all the places through which Louis was to be conducted to death. When he was seen, or believed to be seen, (for he was almost concealed in the carriage by those who conducted him) the arms of the ranks seemed to tremble and fall from their hands. Cries of ferocity were but faintly heard, and no thing restrained the sighs of the spectators, but the fear of their being perceived. But when Louis had ceased to live, the public grief broke out without concealment. The people returned mourn ful, and absorbed in thought. The very rabble, either from pity, or because their curiosity had been disappointed, threw out execrations on San terre, who had suppressed the last words of Louis, by the beating of drums. During the day, Pa ris was silent, its streets deserted ) the people were, in general, shut up in their families, to weep. They were only traversed, at times, by bands of brigands, whose songs and barbarous dances ex pressed fury, and would have wished to imitate ¦ The declaration of hostilities on the side of Bri tain, was speedily followed by a severe enactment of the legislature against traitorous communication with the enemy. The bill introduced by Sir John Scott, on this, subject, was rather an explanation of the treason statute, than a new law. The chief objects of the law were to uphold the prohibitions Vol II F f 450 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, on British subjects, from sending military, naval, wilL and other stores, to the aid of the enemy ; and to f17s3. prevent the subjects of Britain from going out of the kingdom without a licence, or making pur chases of French funds, or French lands. A spi rited and humane interference of the minority, prevented the house from giving sanction to two clauses of the bill, which were shewn to be un just and impolitic. One of these was a clause, excluding British subjects who had property in France from returning home ; and the other pro hibiting them from purchasing property in France, under still severer penalties. As the term of the East-India company's charter was nearly exhausted, their petition for its renewal APril- was introduced, during the present session, by Mr. Dundas. At a period, when the theories of en lightened economists were so generally received with reputation, and incorporate monopolies so far from being popular, it was to be expected, that some resistance would be made to the continuance of the East-Indian charter. Anticipating this op- position, Mr. Dundas introduced the motion, by drawing a most flattering picture of the advant ages which had resulted from the management of India, both in trade and government, as it was exercised at present. ' Theories,' he observed, ' had been devised, and imaginary advantages had been conjured up, which, however applicable to other cases, were not so to the politics or com merce of the east. Writers on political economy had denied, that an extensive empire could be go verned by a commercial association ; the same theorists thought, that trade should, in no in stance, be shackled by exclusive privileges. In deviating from these principles, which had been admitted and admired, popular prejudices,' he said, ' were to be encountered ; but let the legislature GEORGE III. 451 fix their attention on the advantages which Britain gHap- absolutely possessed from India in its present j state, and see whether it would be politic to 179s- forego them, in search of greater advantages, Which might prove only chimerical. The wealth and revenue that is drawn from India,' (said Mr. Dundas) ' we are told by some speculators on this subject, might still paiss as plentifully to England, through private hands, as through the company. But though the open trade might become a means of realizing the revenue in Britain, there were Very fatal consequences, both to Britain and to India, which might result from the experiment. If the inhabitants of Britain were to be permitted freely to emigrate to India, colonization would na turally follow, which would very soon annihilate the respect paid to the British character in India. Besides, in acquiring settlements, the Europeans must drive the natives from the spots which have been so long enjoyed by them and their fathers ; and in pursuing occupations, the new comers Would enhance the price* of labour to a degree, that would greatly diminish the profit of Indian imports. It is also to be considered, that disap pointed adventurers would seek and find employ ment in the armies of the Mahrattas and Tippoo Saib, and furnish our rivals in India with Euro pean recruits. Nor can it be supposed, that the open trader would conscientiously hesitate to sup ply the native powers with military stores, which might enable them to set us at defiance. On the subject of monopolies,' continued Mr. Dundas, ' a distinction ought to be made between the nar row aspect of a general monopoly, and an exclu sive privilege given by the legislature to a company subject to regulation and public controul. This being admitted, will the legislature change a cur rent which is -turning the greatest wheel of British F f 2 J793- 452 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, commerce, and which is about to become inde- xxvi. pendent of its duties and customs, one of the re sources of the nation ?' The bill passed, after a resistance comparatively feeble, to what the la boured defence of this monopoly by the mover, seemed to anticipate ; and the charter was renewed for twenty years. A spirit of commercial speculation had been for some time increasing in every part of the king dom, and, by a check which it received at this period, seemed to threaten public credit with se rious danger. The circulating specie being by no means sufficient to answer the increased demands of trade, the quantity of paper currency brought into circulation, as a supplying medium, was so great, that a pecuniary scarcity was produced, which threatened stagnation to the commercial credit. By the report of the committee laid before parliament, after the best information had been collected from mercantile men, it appeared, that the general bankruptcy had arisen from a run of demands on some mercantile houses, who, with insufficient capital, had issued large quantities of paper. The failure of those had ruined others who had sufficient property, but property not im mediately convertible into gold and silver. In the alarm spread by reports of bankruptcy, the note's of bankers had come into them for change, in such numbers, that they were obliged to keep their gold and silver beside them in extraordinary quantities ; and from this circumstance, the diffi culty of procuring hard cash, had become op pressive to the substantial, as well as the upstart trader. On the statement of these circumstances to parliament, a relief of e£5 ,000,000, in the shape of exchequer bills, was immediately voted, and the bills issued, at a moderate interest, on the se curity of goods deposited by those who received GEORGE III. 453 assistance in different parts of the kingdom ; a chap. measure which rescued public credit, and restored , XXVL prosperity, _ 1793. About the period when Dumourier was engaged in corresponding with Cobourg, proposals for open ing a negociation for peace were made by the French minister Le Brun, through a very unusual chan nel. On the 26th of April, Lord Grenville re, ceived two letters from the French minister Le Brun : the purport of the first was, to announce that the French republic desired to terminate all differences with Great Britain ; the second was to claim a safe conduct for M. Maret, who was to be deputed, on the side of France, to conduct the negociation. The letters were addressed to a no-; tary-public in London, of the name of Salter, who delivered them to the British secretary of state : but no notice was taken of the overtures ; nor were they, like other overtures for negociation, submitted to parliament for discussion. ' The pro posal to commence so important a business,' say the abettors of Mr. Pitt's administration, ' through the agency of an obscure notary-public, was as ridiculous as it was unusual. It would have been disgraceful and unfortunate to have closed with Le Brun's proposal ; an individual who was known to be rash and faithless, and who had been the fore most of the convention to clamour for a war with England. Besides, within a short time after the proposal was made, Le Brun and his party pe rished, by the ascendancy of a still more odious faction.' At this moment, when we experience the full effects of the war with France, the mind will re ceive, with little approbation, thosst of these disgraceful scenes, an alarm was spread (on the 1 1th of July), that Marat had been assassinated ; and a beautiful young woman, who did not deny the deed, but gloried in having rid the world of a monster, was brought to trial and public execution. This was Charlotte Corday, Vol II. H h 482 annals of great Britain. the daughter of an ancient and honourable family in Caen, who, after the reception of the proscrib- 1793. ed deputies, in that city, and the atrocities of the jacobins, which she beheld in every quarter, had conceived the design of delivering her country from oppression, by striking at that individual, whom she believed, in the simplicity of her heart, the sole leader and life of the jacobins. In her private life, she had been distinguished by all the amiable virtues of her sex ; and, mistaken as she ^was, as to the importance of this sacrifice, yet, by delivering the world of Marat, she gave an instance of self-devotion, which well entitled her to assume the pride of a heroine in her last moments.3 The mountain was immediately busied with the apotheosis of Marat : his hideous image polluted all the public places ; and soon after, in all the cities and villages of France, mounds of earth, co vered with turf, were piled up, as hallowed em blems of the mountain. At all these practical so lemnities of the jacobins, the youth of both sexes were constrained, by the dread of vengeance sus pended over the heads of their parents, to come and throw flowers on the tomb of that monster, who had coolly preached the necessity of cutting off 200,000 heads. The death of Marat served as a pretext for arresting many of those who were on the lists of the proscribed, and pressing for the con demnation of those who had already fallen into the hands of their enemies. 3 During her trial, she struck with these words. — ' Adieu, my the spectators by the modesty and dear father: I pray you to forget simplicity of her mannars, the firm- me, or rather to rejoice at my lot ; nessofhercountenance,andthepure for the cause of it is glorious. I and prompt, but contemptuous, en- embrace my sister, whom I love ergy, of her replies to the, judges, with my whole heart, as well as Before her death, she delivered a my other kindred. Remember the letter to her father, which expressed words of Corneille — . all the filial affection of a daughter, ' 'Tis guilt that makes the shame, but breathed all the pride and mag- and not the scaffold. ' Haniniity of a martyr. It concluded *793- GEORGE III. 483 Nearly at the same time, the chiefs of the moun- chap. tain thought of supporting their popularity, by' xxvn. creating a constitution; a constitution, however, *" ' ' which they had promised, in their own hearts, ne ver to establish. They wished to give a reality to their tyranny, and a promise to democratical an archy. The Girondists, before their fall, had been, in like manner, employed in fabricating a consti tution, though with more sincerity. Condorcet, in the name of the committee, had presented the project of a constitution, such as the jacobins might have employed just as well as that which they invented. Heralt de Sechelles was employed in reducing the latter to a. form. He gave what was demanded, conceptions the most extravagant and anarchical ; and the mountain received and presented this code, as if it had been the gift of immortal wisdom. They submitted it for the ac ceptance of the people, that it might add to the list of the proscribed such as had the imprudent frankness to refuse it ; and made the French na tion swear to maintain it , while they had sworn in their hearts never to put it in execution. Several deputies, who were the known and faith ful friends of the Girondists, still continued in the convention, taking their places, with an honour able constancy, on the right side of the hall, where the late proscription had left so many empty seats ; and their presence served, even yet, to parry some times the strokes of tyranny. Their number was' seventy-three. Many of them, some days after the 2d of June, had, signed a protest against the transactions of that day. The circumstances of the times perfectly well excused their not publish ing this protest for the present ; but it remained deposited in the hands of one of their number, Duperret, who was arrested after the trial of Char lotte Corday. The protest was discovered in his II h 2 L. 484 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, possession, and the seventy-three deputies were xxvn. arrested. I703. The Girondists experienced, in the south, the same prompt and humiliating reverses. Of seventy depart ments which embraced their cause, scarce seven or eight made any active efforts in their favour. The mountain dispatched commissaries, selected from its own bosom. These agents arrived before the insurgents had time to concert their measures : they covered the land with assignats ; they stifled the will of the people ; they armed the jacobins with the -sword of extermination, peopled the pri sons, and disposed of the scaffolds. The rich eity of Marseilles declared for the Gi rondists, and levied a small army. Lyons, which was also in a state of insurrection, and was pre paring to support a siege, demanded assistance of the Marseillois. The army of the latter city ascended the banks of the Rhone, and entered Avignon. General Cartaux, however, met them, at the head of 2,000 jacobins, put them to the rout, received a great number of deserters, pur sued the vanquished, and in a short time present ed himself befoife Marseilles. It was for sometime proposed, in this place, to maintain a siege ; but a try of distress and revolt was raised among the workmen, who made themselves masters of the city, and designed themselves the army of General Cartaux. Vengeance then entered those devoted habitations : numbers fell under the implacable ad ministration of the commissary Freron ; others fled to Toulon. The jacobins had long oppressed Toulon ; and indeed, in massacres, had surpassed the Septem- brizers of Paris. , Warned by the example of Lyons, the inhabitants of Toulon united to rid themselves of this domestic tyranny ; and, succeed ing in their enterprize, declared for the Girondists ; GEORGE III. 485 but the fate of the Marseillois too soon gave them chap. a melancholy presage of their fate. The army of ]LXVl1' Cartaux was approaching : the timidity and agi- 1793. tation of the people, as well as the approach of famine, gave but indifferent hopes of defence ; and the jacobins among themselves threatened them, even in their chains. While Toulon was in these desperate circumstances, Lord Hood presented him self in their harbour. He offered them the assist ance of two powerful squadrons for their defence against the jacobins, and the guarantee of two crowns for the restoration of the city and fleet to the king of France, in the event of a general peace. Toulon submitted to the British arms on these conditions. , From the people of Bourdeaux the Girondists expected the most courageous ef forts ; but it was in vain that its governor and principal inhabitants devoted themselves to this un fortunate cause. A scarcity raged in the place ; and the jacobins, who found means to persuade the people, that they alone could prevent them from starving, obtained possession of the city. Tallien was immediately dispatched by the con vention, with the previous instructions, which the committee of public safety usually gave to the inhabitants. Thus ended the civil war of the Gi rondists. During these events, the bravery of the Ven- dean royalists had met with a different fortune : they had been victorious in all their excursions; they had drawn after them the inhabitants of the coun try, and terrified those of the cities. From Eng land they had hitherto received but small assistance; considerable reinforcements, however, had been of fered, if they could make themselves masters of any port which could favour our communications. For the attainment of this object,the royalists immediate ly made an effort upon Nantes. Every thing seemed Hh 3 486 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, to favour this attack : the city had refused to ac- xxvii. knoWledge the authority of the convention ; it had ~7t^~~ already lost the flower of its youth in civil war, and it was not fortified ; while, on the other hand, the rbyal army had never before been so numerous or so bold. But Nantes, even in these circumstances, suc cessfully opposed all the heroism and ability of the Vendeans, with the courage which despair sup plied. The Vendeans could, by no efforts, sup ply their fatal want of artillery ; and they were driven from before the place, with the loss of some thousands. Fifty thousand new troops arrived soon after from Paris, who had sworn to exterminate the re mainder of the Vendean army : they were, in ge neral, composed of those brigands, who had be sieged the convention on the 2d of June, and were commanded by men well worthy of such a ban-* ditti.4 Their chief successes were confined to conflagration and pillage. Such, indeed, was their impolitic cruelty, that they were observed to drive more partizans to the side of the royalists, than they brought combatants to oppose them. But the courage of this jacobin army was as deficient as their conduct : they brought along with them two fine parks of artillery, which the valour of the Vendeans forced out of their hands, in combats, where frequently the royalists had no weapons but sticks. It was the custom of the Vendeans, on the first appearance of the enemy's cannons, to divide into small bodies of ten or twelve, allotting to each the charge of capturing a single piece : they threw themselves on the ground when they saw the match applied to the cannon ; then, start ing up when it was discharged, they would rush * Their leaders were, Santerre, Rosignol, and Rousen. GEORGE III. 487 on with such resolution, that the republicans sel- chap. dom waited for their closer approach. On all oc- , xxv11, casions, the fanaticism of religion overcame that i79j. of liberty, because it was more sincere ; yet, after those prodigies of valour ; after beating, on the memorable field of Montaigne, 40,000 of the con ventional troops, with only 5,000 half-armed men ; after a series of victories, as great as those which have sometimes decided the fate of Europe, the chiefs of La Vendee found, that they were invin cible only on their own soil, and that victory it self could only enable them to sustain a defensive warfare. The same disgraces accompanied the republican arms at the foot of the Pyrennees. A Spanish army having penetrated, by ways that were deem ed impracticable, as far as Bellegarde, had taken that important fortress ; and, forcing their way through a great part of the department of the Eastern Pyrennees, made themselves masters of the harbour of Collioure. On the side of the Alps, similar disasters befel the republic. General Kellerman had been re called from Savoy, with a considerable portion of his army, and forced to march against the Lyon- ese. The Savoyard troops began to re-enter their native territory, although their progress was not so rapid, as their retreat had formerly been. On the northern side of France, the coalition obtained such successes, as carried terror to Paris itself; and renewed the same alarms which the first approach of the Prussians had excited. The progress of the prince of Cobourg, had been ar rested before Conde ; but a blockade of four months had exhausted the provisions of the gar rison, and they surrendered prisoners of war. Va lenciennes was the next important strong-hold which the allies wrested from France, in spite of a i7?3- 438 annals of great Britain/. chav. resolute defence, and a situation, fortified by all xxvn. the genius of Vauban. The siege of the latter place was preceded by one of the most humiliat ing defeats which the French sustained during the war. Dampierre remained on the defensive at Famars, only as long as was absolutely necesr sary to repair the discipline and strength of his army ; but knowing the genius of his countrymen to be better suited lor active than passive warfare, he proceeded to make a diversion in fayour of Conde, before it had yet surrendered ; and attack ed the alii S ar Oqiverain. The French were here repulsed with the loss of many men, and' a great portion of their artillery. ' Still, however, they were resolved to act on the offensive : their troops sallied out of Lisle ; and their main body advanced May 8. from the camp of Famars. The troops of General Clairfait, of Prince Cobourg, and of the Prussians, occupying a formidable line of posts along the, camp of S(. Amand, the village of Reisms, and the abbey of Vicogne, were assaulted with the greatest fury ; and would have probably been carried, had not the arrival of the duke of York, with the Eng lish and Hanoverians, turned" the fortune of th e day. Their share in the action reflected no small honour on the English arms. The Coldstream ar rived at a critical moment, when the French were advancing towards the great road in front of the allies, and had nearly commanded it by the fire of their' cannon. The Coldstream, with an intre pidity worthy of their country, made a charge, with fixed bayonets, which turned the foremost line of the French. The gallantry of all the British who were engaged was distinguished in a similar manner. The action cost the French 4,000 men, and the loss of their leader, Dam pierre, who died of his wounds on the following *?o* GEORGE III. 489 day, leaving the command of the army to General chap. La Marche. xxvii. The allies were now enabled to become the as- * sailants ; and preparations were made, on the 23*, to attempt the camp of Famars, as well as the whole lines of the French, from Orchies to Maubeuge. Sixteen battalions of English and Hanoverians, and a chosen body of Austrian infantry, were put in the front of this attack. The enemy retreated a-cross the Ronelle before the column of his royal highness, and afterwards behind the village of Fa, mars. Their greatest resistance was experienced at another point- of attack, which was assigned to General Clairfait, at the head of a strong column of imperialists. This was on the heights of An- zain, where the Austrians at last prevailed ; while the English and Hanoverians possessed themselves of the camp of Famars. A position was thus se cured to the allies, which over-looked Valencien nes, which was now besieged. The route of the French had been complete ; and a great part of their artillery, and magazines, fell into the hands of the victors. In this perilous state of his army, La Marche resigned ; and the convention re-called Custine from the army of the Rhine, to repair their fallen fortunes in the north. He accepted the danger ous trust ; although the disorders which he now witnessed much exceeded his expectations : he thought to struggle with his evil fortune, by study ing the resources of that military circumspection, which applies to cases nearly desperate : he took post at the camp of Caesar, at such a distance from the enemy, as betrayed all his fears. The com mittee of public safety, wrote to him in these words, ' deliver Valenciennes, or your head shall be the forfeit.' Custine replied,, that the army which had been driven from protecting Valencien- 490 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap, nes, could never be expected to raise the siege. IT', * You would save,' said he, * Valenciennes, and I 1793. would save France. Take my life, or respect my duties.' The siege of Valenciennes was continued, till a considerable part of the town was reduced to ashes. On the 26th of July, General Ferrand surrendered the city to the duke of York, who took possession of it in the name of the emperor of Germany. Soon after, the camp of Cassar was forced, after a hard engagement ; and the French were driven, from their entrenchments, behind the Scheldt. Custine was re-called to Paris, where he vainly trusted to find protection in his fidelity, and his innocence, from the bloody judgments of the revo lutionary tribunal. Meanwhile, the king of Prussia had repaired the ignominy of his last campaign. After the unex pected attack, which had put him in possession of Frankfort, he had besieged Mentz, and the fort of Cassel, of which Custine had made an able de fence. The manner in which this commander suddenly raised the siege of Mentz, one of the most important fortresses of Europe, is regarded as one of the happiest of his military achieve ments. Alexander Beauharnois, who succeeded Custine in commanding the army of the Rhine, made an effort to succour the besieged : he had already gained some signal advantages, . and was ad vancing, with the happiest prospects, when he learn ed that they had been obliged to surrender. A most formidable artillery was found in the place ; the garrison were allowed to return to France, on con dition of not serving against the allies. In his eagerness to obtain a surrender, the king of Prus sia thus permitted an army of 10,000 men to re enter France, and to carry on the war against the Vendeans, whose efforts were, in truth, more im- GEORGE III. 4Q1 portant in the cause of the coalition, than those of chap. any of the allies. xxvii. While the republic was thus a prey to internal 1793. distractions, the capture of Valenciennes, and the forced retreat of the wreck of the French army, from under the protection of Cambray, seemed to offer the fairest hopes to the allies. While so im posing a mass as their united forces kept together, nothing could withstand its efforts ; it was only by division that it could be over-come. But the allied courts entertaining separate views of aggrandize ment, agreed to separate their forces : the Austri ans undertook the siege of Qiiesnoy ; the duke of York, at the head of the English troops, and a body of Dutch and Hanoverians, advanced, and oc cupied a camp in the neighbourhood of Menin ; a most fatal era in the history of the war. No soon er were the French apprized of this intended dis persion, than they determined to resume offensive operations. Taking advantage of the inactivity of the Prussians after the conquest of Mentz, they made drafts from the army of the Rhine and Mo- , selle, while new levies were embodied and discip lined ; and a general, whose reputation was high, though his end was unfortunate,5 was placed at the head of the army of the north, with orders to leave the enemy no rest, but to wear them out with reiterated attacks. The French having attacked Lincelles, a post lately taken, and occupied, by the hereditary prince of Orange, the Dutch troops were, at first, repuls ed by their ardour and numbers ; but the British troops immediately marching to the recovery of the place, advanced under #a heavy fire from a re doubt of uncommon strength, which defended the village of Lincelles ; and, after discharging a few 3 Horn hard. 1793- 492 annals of great Britain. chap, rounds of musketry, carried the works by the bay- xxvm. onet. In this display of British soldiership, it was ascertained, by the concurring testimony of French prisoners, that the enemy's post was defended by 5,000 men, while the assailants did not amount to half of that number. On the 22d, the duke of York proceeded to at tack the camp of Ghivelde ; and brought his be- , sieging army to approach the town of Dunkirk. The enemy abandoned the camp to him ; and he was almost immediately enabled to take the ground, which it was his intention to occupy during the siege, leaving Field-marshal Freytag, with a cover ing army of 1 2,000 Hanoverians, to over-awe the garrison of Bergues and the camp of Mounr Cassel. On the 24th, his royal highness attacked the French, and drove them, with considerable slaugh ter, into the town. But the siege, which began with these prosperous symptoms, soon wore a very different appearance.' The arrival of the heavy artillery was too Jong delayed ; and the naval force, which was to have co-operated with the army, did not sail in time to perform any essential service. During these tardy-operations, in which two weeks were consumed, the French government had put in requisition every species of vehicle, and collect- pt. 6. ed from all the garrisons in the north, such an enormous mass of soldiery, that the covering army of Freytag was attacked ; and, after successive re pulses of the enemy, was at last over-powered by superior numbers. In this retreat, his royal high ness Prince Adolphus and the Field-marshal Freytag were for a short time in the possession of the enemy. From this situation they were re lieved by General Wahnoden, who immediately attacked the village of Rexpode, in which his royal highness was prisoner, and over-powered the ene my with great slaughter. The duke of York now GEORGE III. 493 found himself obliged to raise the siege. The mi- chap. litary chest was saved ; but the heavy artillery, and ^J'jj a large quantity of ammunition, were necessarily 1793. abandoned. Thus ended the fatal attempt upon Dunkirk. But though victory had deserted the British stand ard, she seemed faithful, for a time, to that of Aus tria. Quesnoy was taken by the allies, and the garrison made prisoners of war. The French were defeated at Billers-en-couchee ; and the prince de Cobourg, having passed the Sambre, drove all the detached bodies of the enemy into the intrenched camp of Maubeuge, and invested both the camp and the fortress ; while Cambray and Bouchain were successively menaced by Marshal Clairfait. The French army of the Rhine experienced a still greater disaster ; and the duke of Brunswick, by a skilful campaign, redeemed the memory of ' the former losses which had been so fatal to his reputation. An Austrian army, under General Wurmser, acted in concert with him. The French opposed to 80,000 of those warlike and fine troops of the allies, an army about the same size ; but fortified by the lines of Wissemburg and Lauter- burg, so' famous for being the scene of war in the preceding century. Landau was invested by Wurmser j and, on the 13th of October, those formidable lines were attacked by the allies, in six columns. They carried all the redoubts, in front of the French camps, by assault, and seized twenty- nine pieces of artillery ; had not a fog unfortunate ly risen, the greater part of the French must have been taken, or cut to pieces. The tide of success thus continued to ebb and flow on both sides of the belligerents. But im portant and political causes finally fixed the for tune of our enemies, and put the numbers and ef forts of their armies beyond the reach of competi- 494 ANNALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. chap. tion. Of the five tyrants, who, as masters of the , xxvn- committee of public safety, governed the conven- I793. tiort and all France, Roberspierre, Billaud Varen- nes, Collot D'Herbois, S'. Just, and Couthon, not one had military knowledge, or the genius to acquire it. Their conscious ignorance on the sub ject, however, saved them from the faults of pre sumption : they divided their power, reserving to themselves only the superintendance of massacres; and confided all the military part to Carnot, whose science in the art of war Europe has too severely felt. They appointed him their colleague, in the committee of public safety, though he was not their similar in guilt ; they respected his talents, for their own sakes, and wished to second his efforts, by all the resources which their unbounded tyran ny could so well afford to lavish at his feet. Far from being distressed, like other war-ministers, by scanty supplies, Carnot was only embarrassed by their profusion. The constituent assembly had made France a military people ; for, in the first enthusiasm of liberty, every man had declared his willingness to carry arms as a soldier. The com mittee of public safety soon taught the French, that this engagement, contracted in levity, must be fulfilled in earnest. We have seen the levy of 300,000 men announced at the declaration of the war ; that levy was, in the course of the present year, increased to 1 ,000,000 ; and the requisition was made from the flower of the French youth, from eighteen to twenty-five years of age. Incredible as it may seem, the horrible law against the suspected' facilitated the execution of this levy-in-mass. The youth of those families who were exposed to suspicion, saw no other means of saving their parents, than by repairing to the repub lican banners. While they fought and bled on the frontiers, they had, at least, the consolation to be- GEORGE III. 495 lieve, that their sufferings had saved those, who chap. were most dear to them, from destruction ; and , XXV"^ they cherished this hope, at a moment when per- 1793. haps those relations were conducted to the scaf fold. But illusions of hope, as well as of fear, become motives to submission ; they were promis ed a prompt return, and an easy victory ; and, for a while, were permitted to be commanded by offi cers of their own election ; but, on coming to the frontiers, those officers were deprived of their ranks, and their battalions indiscriminately mingled with the troops of the line. For the support of those enormous numbers, the revolutionary government sent forth their three scourges over the country ; the requisition, the law of maximum, and the guillotine. The country was laid bare by their ravages ; but it durst not complain. At this period, it was remarkable that the very terror which drove the people to conceal the remains of their wealth, became a source of credit and aggrandisement to the government. Men were afraid to circulate gold, lest it should betray their riches, every one buried his coin ; and the assignats, which were showered out in billions, were, for several months, on a par with hard money. The committee of public safety sent commis sioners of the convention along with the armies, who had the powers of life and death, of displac ing and provisionally appointing the generals, and who, in short, carried the firman of the French divan in their authority. Many of them were un profitable agents, who only devoted men of genius to the. scaffold ; while others had the merit to dis tinguish and promote those commanders who ne ver flattered them, and who even sometimes de fied them. The genius of Carnot was such, that, with all the faults of the commissaries, they seemed 1793- 496 ANNAL9 OF GREAT BRITAIN. ¦ ehap. still to be his servants ; and" did not thwart the xxyn. ^ vast pians of the campaign which he had chalked out. A revolution was accomplished in the whole art of war. The German tactics had employed men as machines ; the French tactics turned to advantage, even the temerity of undisciplined men; and rendered their infantry the most formidable in Europe. For a long time, even during the whole course of the war, the Austrian cavalry pre served its superiority ; but experience has shewn, that cavalry are, by far, the least important part of an army. The French artillery was rendered in vincible, by the genius of its engineers, that body of distinguished men, who seemed alone to be spar ed for their country in the universal proscription of merit. Such was the mighty system of war which France had now organized, by which she gained all her victories in the campaign of 1 793, and re trieved the losses which she sustained by the tri umphs of Brunswick towards the conclusion of the year. After forcing the lines of Lauterburg and Wis- senburg, the allies committed several faults, by which they forfeited the fruits of these victories. They advanced too impetuously to Strasburg, with small divisions of their army, which were succes sively beat. As the winter approached, they seem ed fatigued, and relaxed in their operations : they blockaded Landau, and made themselves masters .of fort Vauban ; after which, it was scarcely doubted that Landau, through scarcity of provisions, would be obliged to yield to the numerous forces of theking of Prussia. But theFrench armies of the Rhine and Moselle were powerfully reinforced. Two generals, lately sprung from the ranks, seemed to be given for the preservation of their country ; these were Floche and Pichegru. The promotion of both had george in. 49^7 been equally sudden. The first owed his fortune chap. jto fhat> impetuous and electric promptitude, which xxv". So well conformed to the genius of French soldiers. v^~ The other had already reduced the new system of tactics to scientific calculations, which decided the fate of the next campaign. It was in the midst of winter that the French renewed their offensive operations. The duke of Brunswick was totally defeated at Griesberg. Hoche pursued them with his usual activity, and cut them off from their in tended project of forming a^nnction with the Aus trians, who continued, under Wurmser, guarding their late conquests on the lines of Lauter and Weissim. Once more' those important posts be- t came a scene of conflict ; the French attacked them, to retrieve all the honour and advantage they had there lost. Dessaix, who Commanded the advanced guard of Pichegru, was the first who entered them. The Prussians , were then totally routed out of Alsace ; and the French triumphant ly entered the Palatinate. During these events, Jourdain, finding himself at liberty to assume offensive operations, sent de tachments into maritime Flanders, who took pos session of Werwick and Menin, advanced to Turnes and Nieuport, and even threatened Ostend. The arrival of Sir Charles Grey at this last place, with a considerable armament, which had been destined for the West Indies, for the present campaign contributed to save the Netherlands. On her own element, Britain began the war with signal success. In the West Indies, the island of Tobago was captured by a British squadron Tinder Admiral Laforey, about the beginning of April. For three years past, the French West-India islands, and particularly Sc. Domingo, had suffered all the scourge of revolutionary horrors, operating in retaliated barbarities between a race of slaves and Vol. II I i 498 ANNALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. chap, of tyrants. The .whole landholders, though dL L "XVI " , vided among themselves, were in general attached 1703. , to the cause of monarchy ; and their principal dif ference of opinion was, whether the island should be ceded to Britain or to Spain, as a refuge from the insurrections of the blacks and people of co lour. The appearance of a small British squadron. from Jamaica, with a few troops on board, occa sioned a partial determination in favour of Britain. Commodore Ford, who commanded our armament, having landed at Fort Jeremie, the inhabitants re ceived him as their deliverer, and hoisted the Eng lish colours on their fort. Sailing from thence to Cape Nicholas Mole and Grand Anse, the British were received with equal favour ; and a coast of fifty leagues in extent submitted to their protec tion, though the interior of the island still remain ed a dreadful scene of disorder and devastation. The small islands of S'. Pierre and Miquelon, ori the coast of Newfoundland, surrendered to a small invading force, under General Ogilvie An at tempt which we made on Martinique did Jiot meet with the same success, our troops being obliged to reimbark, after having landed. In the East In dies, the fortifications of Chandernagore, Carical., Yanam, and Pondicherry, surrendered to the Bri% tish arms. END OF tHE SECOND VOLUME, £dinburgb, printed by Mundell, Doig, and Ste-vimon. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 03198 9032