Chapter XX: {george III. 1793–1794} (1)

Hostile Message of the King to Parliament..... Declaration
of War by the French, &c. Pitt’s Financial
Statement..... The Traitorous Correspondence Bill.....
Preparations for War..... Relief granted to Mercantile
Men..... Renewal of the East India Company’s Charier.....
Relief of the Roman Catholics of Scotland, &c. Trial
of Warren Hastings..... Discussion on a Memorial
presented to the States-General..... Fox’s Motion for Peace
..... Mr. Grey’s Measure of Parliamentary Reform.....
Prorogation of Parliament..... Affairs of Ireland.....
Prospects of the French Republic, &c.

{A.D. 1793}

HOSTILE MESSAGE OF THE KING TO PARLIAMENT.

The news of the death of the King of France incited our government to active measures. On the 27th of December a memorial had been presented by the French ambassador, M. Chauvelin, to Lord Grenville, demanding to know whether France ought to consider England as a neutral or hostile power. In reply Lord Grenville acquainted M. Chauvelin that, as all official communication had been suspended since the unhappy events of the 10th of August, he could only be treated with under a form neither regular nor official. On the 4th of January a letter was received by his lordship from M. le Brun, minister of foreign affairs, together with a memorial in the name of the executive council, stating that they desired peace and harmony, and that they had sent credential letters to M. Chauvelin, to enable him to treat in the usual diplomatic forms. But peace and harmony were now out of the question. Three days after the death of the French monarch M. Chauvelin was ordered to quit the kingdom, and a war with the republic became no longer a matter of choice. On the 30th of January, Dundas presented a royal message to the commons, alluding to the execution of Louis XVI.; importing that his majesty had given directions for copies of a correspondence, &c., between the late minister of his most Christian majesty and our foreign secretary, to be laid before them; and stating the necessity that existed of a further augmentation of forces by sea and land. The house took this message into consideration on the 2nd of February, on which occasion there was an animated debate. Pitt commenced it by describing the execution of the King of France as an event which outraged every sentiment of religion, justice, and humanity; and as the effect of principles which started by dissolving all the bonds of society, and which, relying on fanciful theories, rejected not only the experience of past ages, but likewise the sacred instructions of revelation. Pitt stated that the British government had from the commencement adopted a system of neutrality; that they had declined taking any part in the internal affairs of France; and that in return for a declaration made to that effect the French had entered into a positive contract to abstain from those very deeds by which they had since provoked the indignation of the country. In a paper, he said, which was then on the table, they had disclaimed all views of conquest; had given assurances of friendship to all neutral nations, and had protested that they entertained no idea of interfering with the government of other countries. But what, he asked, had been the conduct of the French? They had annexed Savoy to their dominions, had rendered the Netherlands a province; and had exhibited a resolution to pursue the same course wherever they could carry their arms. As an illustration of the sentiments and designs of the French rulers, he read a letter from one of them, which was addressed to the friends of liberty in the different sea-ports of France, and which was written only four days after M. Chauvelin had complained to Lord Grenville that a harsh construction had been put by the British ministry on the conduct of France, and professed the warmest friendship for Great Britain. In this letter there was the following passage;—“The king and his parliament mean to make war against us. Will the English republicans suffer it? Already these free men show their discontent and the repugnance they have to bear arms against their brothers, the French. Well! we will fly to their succour—we will make a descent on the island—we will lodge there fifty thousand caps of liberty—we will plant there the sacred tree—we will stretch our arms to our republican brethren, and the tyranny of their government shall soon be destroyed.” Under all these circumstances Pitt declared that war was preferable to a peace which could not be consistent either with the internal tranquillity or external safety of England, and he moved an address to his majesty to that effect. The motion was seconded by Lord Beauchamp and supported by Windham, the latter of whom said that we must go to war for the security of the country, and that it would truly be a war _pro aris et focis_. Fox, and some of his friends deprecated such a measure, and endeavoured to show that war was not necessary, and might be avoided; but Pitt’s motion was carried without a division, An address to the same effect was also voted by the lords.

DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE FRENCH, ETC.

A few days after the above proceedings of parliament, intelligence was received that France had declared war against Great Britain and Ireland. On the 11th of February, indeed, his majesty sent a royal message to the two houses, announcing that the national convention, had, without previous notice, directed acts of hostility to be committed against the persons and property of his majesty’s subjects, in breach of the law of nations, and of the positive stipulations of treaty; and that since they had given these directions, they had actually declared war against his majesty and the United Provinces. The message continued—“Under the circumstances of this wanton and unprovoked aggression, his majesty has taken the necessary steps to maintain the honour of his crown, and to vindicate the rights of his people; and his majesty relies with confidence on the firm and effectual support of the house of commons, and on the zealous exertions of a brave and loyal people, in prosecuting a just and necessary war; and in endeavouring, under the blessing of Providence, to oppose an effectual barrier to the progress of a system which strikes at the security and peace of all independent nations, and is pursued in open defiance of every principle of moderation, good faith, humanity, and justice. In a cause of such general concern, his majesty has every reason to hope for the cordial co-operation of those powers who are united with his majesty by the ties of alliance, or who feel an interest in preventing the extension of anarchy and confusion, and in contributing to the security and tranquillity of Europe.” This message was taken into consideration on the next day, when Pitt gave a detailed statement of our transactions with France, and of our endeavours to preserve a strict neutrality as long as it was possible. In adverting to those insults which the French supposed they had received from England, and which they stated as grounds for their declaration of war, he said that he found in them nothing but pretexts and allegations too weak to require refutation. These insults were, that the King of England had not ceased, especially since the revolution of the 10th of August, to give proofs of his dislike to the French nation, and of his attachment to the coalition of crowned heads; that the English government had ceased since that period to correspond with the French ambassador at London, on pretext of the suspension of the heretofore King of France: that since the opening of the national convention, the said government had refused to resume the usual correspondence between the two states, and to acknowledge the power of the convention; that it had refused to acknowledge the ambassador of the French republic, although provided with letters of credit in its name, and that the said court had caused to be stopped several boats and ships laden with grain for France, contrary to the treaty of 1786, while exportations to other countries were free. Pitt concluded by moving an address in answer to his majesty’s message, which was seconded by Mr. Powys, who said that under present circumstances war was preferable to peace with France. On the contrary Fox still contended that war with France was both impolitic and unnecessary. If any necessity existed, he said, that necessity arose from the unwise, arrogant, and provoking conduct of ministers. He moved an amendment, promising effectual support to his majesty in repelling every hostile attempt upon this country, and in such other exertions as might be necessary to induce France to consent to such terms of peace as should be consistent with the honour of his majesty’s crown, the security of his allies, and the interests of his people. The conduct of government was defended by Dundas, while Burke, also, showed to demonstration that ministers had not precipitated the nation into this war, but were brought into it by overruling necessity. The amendment was negatived, and the address, as moved by Pitt, carried without a division; as was also an address moved by Lord Grenville in the house of lords.

In all these proceedings ministers were encouraged by the voice of the people, for the prevailing opinion was for war. Yet, on the 18th of February, Fox moved a string of resolutions the effect of which was that the two houses should load themselves with reproaches for having voted the addresses which they had just carried up to the throne. These resolutions were, that war with France on the grounds alleged, was neither for the honour nor the interests of this country; that ministers in their late negociations with the French government had not taken the means for procuring an amicable redress of the grievances complained of; and that it was their duty to advise his majesty against entering into engagements which might prevent a separate peace. Fox alleged that his object in making these motions was to pronounce a declaration of the precise grounds upon which gentlemen had voted for the war, for from many circumstances, he was persuaded that the object of ministers in going to war were those which they disclaimed, and that those they avowed were only pretexts. Fox pressed these resolutions to a division, and they were rejected by two hundred and seventy against forty-four: a majority which sensibly marked the feeling of the house. Yet, notwithstanding this decided victory of ministers, Mr. Grey, encouraged by Fox, produced the same string of resolutions three days after in a new form, which, however, were negatived without a division. A motion moved by Mr. M. A. Taylor, on the 22nd of February, against the erection of barracks or inland fortresses in our free country, shared the same fate; as did likewise another, moved by Sheridan, on the 4th of March, to the effect that the house should resolve itself into a committee to consider of the seditious practices, &c., referred to in his majesty’s speech. All the efforts of the opposition to thwart the measures of government were, indeed, futile: the propriety and necessity of war were acknowledged by the great majority of the nation, as well as of the members of parliament. All the old Whigs ranged themselves on the side of government, by which Fox and his party lost much both of moral and numerical strength.

PITT’S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

On the 11th of March Pitt brought forward his budget for the current year: estimating the expenses at £11,182,213, and that of the ways and means at £8,299,696. He proposed to raise the deficiency by loan, and to defray the interest by rendering permanent some of the temporary taxes imposed on account of the Spanish armament. In his speech Pitt made some remarks which show that he had then no idea of the subsequent enormous increase of the national debt and national taxation. He observed:—“I do not think it useless to suggest some observations with respect to this war in which we are engaged. The excess of the permanent revenue, if kept up, is not less than £900,000 above the peace establishment; which, even if destroyed by war, will leave the country in possession of all its ordinary revenue. This £900,000 I am desirous to leave as a security against those contingencies to which war is liable.” The sum borrowed was £4,500,000, and the terms were that for every seventy-two pounds advanced, the lender should be entitled to one hundred pound stock, bearing interest at three per cent. Pitt said that he expected to have made better terms for the loan, but he had not received two offers for it. Among other resources, the sum of £675,000 was to be raised by lottery, which was warmly opposed, but which, after a debate wherein several regulations were laid down to diminish the practice of insurance, received the consent of the house.

THE TRAITOROUS CORRESPONDENCE BILL.

As it was expedient, after a declaration of war, to prevent all correspondence between British subjects and the French, Sir John Scott, the attorney-general, brought in a bill called the “Traitorous Correspondence Bill,” by which it was declared high-treason to supply the existing government of France with, military stores; to purchase lands of inheritance in France; to invest money in the French funds; to underwrite insurances upon ships and goods bound from France to any part of the world; and to go from this country to France without a license under the privy-seal; it likewise prohibited the return of British subjects from that country to England without giving security. This bill was opposed as inconsistent with the treason laws of Edward III., and several of its obnoxious clauses were modified in the course of its progress. It received several alterations, also, in the lords, which were finally agreed to by the commons, and the bill passed into a law.

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

A royal message was presented to parliament on the 6th of March, stating that his majesty had engaged a body of his electoral troops in the service of Great Britain to assist his allies, the States-general; and that he had directed an estimate of the charge to be laid before the house of commons. A few days after M. le Brun, minister of foreign affairs in France, addressed a letter to Lord Grenville, stating that the French republic was desirous to terminate all differences with Great Britain, and requesting a passport for a person vested with full powers for that purpose. He named M. Maret as the proposed plenipotentiary of France; but the present state of affairs did not permit the British government to accede to such an overture, and no notice was taken of the application. On the contrary, a treaty, about this time, was concluded with the King of Sardinia, by which England bound herself to furnish a subsidy of £200,000 annually, to be paid three months in advance; and not to conclude peace with France without comprehending in it the restitution of all territories belonging to that monarch when he engaged in war.

RELIEF GRANTED TO MERCANTILE MEN.

At this period, through the spirit of commercial speculation, there occurred an unusual number of bankruptcies. A select committee was appointed by the commons to investigate this subject, and it was discovered that large issues of paper money and a scarcity of coin had induced bankers to suspend their usual discounts, in expectation of which merchants had formed engagements they could not meet. As a remedy for this evil an issue of exchequer-bills to the amount of £5,000,000 was recommended, under commissioners to be nominated for the purpose of lending portions to those merchants in distress who could give security. This bill was objected to as ineffectual against failures, and as opening a way to the exercise of improper patronage by government, but it was carried, and the relief proved beneficial.

RENEWAL OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S CHARTER.

It was generally supposed at this time that the charter of the East India Company, which was on the eve of expiration, would be abolished, and that the whole Indian trade would be thereby thrown open to British enterprise. The public expectation however, was doomed to be disappointed. On the 23rd of April Mr. Dundas brought the question before the house, in consequence of a petition from the company, and after taking a view of the prosperous state of India under the present system, he brought in a bill for the renewal of the charter for twenty years, which passed without a division. At the same time Dundas proposed certain regulations, tending to promote a free trade, but not interfering with the company’s charter.

RELIEF OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF SCOTLAND, ETC.

In the course of this session a bill was passed for the relief of the Roman Catholics of Scotland from certain penalties and disabilities imposed upon them by acts which incapacitated them from holding or transmitting landed property. Towards the close of the session, at the suggestion of Sir John Sinclair, a board of agriculture was established, and £3000 per annum were voted for the encouragement of that science.

TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS.

The trial of Warren Hastings was resumed on the 15th of February, and during the session the court sat twenty-two days, in which time the counsel for the prisoner completed the defence set up by them on the last three articles; namely, those relating to the Begums, to presents, and to contracts. After this Hastings addressed the court, praying that their lordships would order the trial to continue to its final conclusion, but all further proceedings were adjourned till the next session.

DISCUSSION ON A MEMORIAL PRESENTED TO THE STATES-GENERAL.

During this session some violent debates took place on a memorial presented to the States-general, by the British and imperial ministers at the Hague, on the 5th of April. In this memorial their high mightinesses were called upon to prevent any of the French regicides from finding an asylum in their states in Europe, or in any of their colonies. The language which was used was very strong; and Earl Stanhope moved that the British envoy, Lord Auckland, should not only be recalled, but impeached for putting his signature to such a paper. In the commons, also, Sheridan moved an address to his majesty, expressive of the displeasure of the house at the said memorial; and stating that the minister who presented it had departed from the principles on which the house had concurred in the measures for the support of the war. In the course of his speech, Sheridan held up to detestation the conduct of the Empress of Russia, the Emperor of Germany, and the King of Prussia, in the new partition of Poland, which they had just completed. Sheridan said, that no robbery committed by the most desperate of the French, and no crimes that had been perpetrated in France, exceeded in infamy the injustice and tyranny of those sovereigns. Sheridan’s motion was negatived by two hundred and eleven, against thirty-six. In the upper house Lord Grenville made a motion for approving the conduct of Lord Auckland, which was carried without a division.

FOX’S MOTION FOR PEACE.

Burke remarks:—“After it had been generally supposed that all public business was over for the session, and that Mr. Fox had exhausted all the modes of pressing his French scheme, he thought proper to take a step beyond every expectation, and which demonstrated his wonderful eagerness and perseverance in his cause, as well as the nature and true character of the cause itself.” This step was taken by Mr. Fox immediately after giving his assent to the grant of supply, voted to him by Mr. Sergeant Adair and a committee of gentlemen, who assumed to themselves to act in the name of the public. In the instrument of his acceptance of this grant, Mr. Fox took occasion to assure them that he would always persevere in the same conduct which had procured to him so honourable a mark of the public approbation. He was as good as his word. On Monday, the 17th of June, Fox, in accordance with his resolution, moved an address to the throne, importing that, having obtained the only avowed object of the war—the evacuation of Holland by the French—peace ought to be concluded. In support of his motion Fox declaimed, in an impassioned manner, against the partitioners of Poland, and against all the powers in alliance with England. In the debate on this motion, Windham observed, that it was an avowed purpose of the war to endeavour to bring about the establishment of a government in France with which we could safely treat; and that, therefore, the war must be prosecuted till we could make peace with safety. Burke said that the motion involved this serious question—whether we should make war with all Europe in order to make peace with France. He continued:—“And with whom can we now treat in France? M. Lebrun, with whom we were so lately called on to treat, is in gaol. Clavière, another minister, is nowhere to be found. Or shall we treat with M. Egalité, who is now in the dungeons of Marseilles? And what are the principles upon which this negociation is to be carried on? Brissot himself has told us what the French think on this subject. In the report of a committee, upon the subject of a treaty with Geneva, he has affirmed that treaties are useless and cannot bind the people, who are to be united by principles alone, and that, therefore, to make treaties with any other sovereign power, is disgraceful to a free people.” Pitt added to the string of questions which Burke had put, by asking Fox, whether he would enter into negociations with Marat; that monster and his party being now lords of the ascendant, and the arbiters and rulers of France. He added,—“But it is not merely to the character of Marat, with whom we would now have to treat, that I object; it is not to the horror of those crimes which have stained their legislators—crimes in every stage rising above another in enormity—but I object to the consequences of that character, and to the effect of those crimes. They are such as to render a negociation useless, and must entirely deprive of stability any peace which could be concluded in such circumstances. Where is our security for the performance of a treaty, where we have neither the good faith of a nation, nor the responsibility of a monarch? The moment that the mob of Parrs comes under the influence of a new leader, mature deliberations are reversed, the most solemn engagements are retracted, or free will is altogether controlled by force. In every one of their stages of repeated revolutions, we have said, ‘Now we have seen the worst, the measure of iniquity is complete, we shall no longer be shocked by added crimes and increasing enormities.’ The next mail gave us reason to reproach ourselves with our credulity, and by presenting us with fresh crimes, and enormities still more dreadful, excited impressions of new astonishment and accumulated horror. All the crimes which disgrace history have occured in one country, in a space so short, and with circumstances so aggravated, as to outrun thought and exceed imagination.” Fox replied; but his motion was lost by one hundred and eighty-seven against forty-seven.

MR. GREY’S MEASURE OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

During this session Mr. Grey brought forward a motion for parliamentary reform. He observed, in reply to the objection, that this was not the proper time for reform, that it would be equally rational in times of prosperity and adversity, in times of peace and war. He remarked:—“Whatever evils did, or might threaten the nation, there was no preventive so certain, no safeguard so powerful, as an uninterrupted house of commons, emanating fairly and freely from the people. To the want of this we owed the American war, and the vast accumulation of national debt; and if this had been done last year, it would probably have saved us from our present distresses. No set of Britons, unless bereft of their senses, could, after recent events, propose the French revolution as a model for our imitation. But were such principles even likely to threaten danger, the surest way of preventing it was to promote the happiness and comfort of the people, to gratify their reasonable wishes, and to grant that reform which was so earnestly desired.” Grey’s arguments were enforced by Fox, Whitbread, and others; and opposed by Pitt, Jenkinson, and Powys. Pitt explained his former motives for being friendly to a parliamentary reform, and his objections against it at the present moment. Many petitions had been presented in favour of reform; and Pitt said, that if the principle of individual suffrage, pointed at in some of these petitions, was to be carried out, the peerage would be extinguished, the king deposed, every hereditary distinction and every privileged order swept away, and there would be established that system of equalizing anarchy announced in the code of French legislation, and attested in the blood of the massacres at Paris. Fox attacked Pitt on the score of inconsistency. He observed, that as Lord Foppington said in the play, “I begin to think that when I was a commoner, I was a very nauseous fellow; so Pitt began to think, that when he was a reformer, he must have been a very foolish fellow.” Fox called the objection to the time for reform a fallacy; a mere pretext for putting off what the house knew was necessary, but felt unwilling to grant. The debate lasted two days; when the motion for referring the petitions to a committee were negatived by two hundred and eighty two, against forty-one.

{GEORGE III. 1793–1794}

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

The king prorogued parliament on the 21st of June. In his speech his majesty noticed the rapid and signal successes which, in an early period of the campaign, had attended the operations of the combined armies; the respectable force which he had been enabled to employ by sea and land, and the measures which he had concerted with the other powers for the effectual prosecution of the war. From all this his majesty augured a happy issue to the important contest in which we were engaged.

AFFAIRS OF IRELAND.

During this year an important concession was made to the Roman Catholics of Ireland. Many events led to this measure. On the failure of Pitt’s attempt, in 1785, to reconcile the commercial interests of the two countries, resolutions were made in Ireland to abstain from the importation of English manufactures, and efforts were made by the populace to enforce these resolutions on all who disapproved of them. The tumults and alarms which followed these proceedings, gave rise, in the session of 1786, for an act, establishing a police in the city of Dublin, which, as the inhabitants were taxed for the support of the officers appointed by the crown, gave great offence. In the south, also, there existed serious disturbances. Men, called “Right Boys” banded together in order to defraud the Protestant clergy of their incomes. For this purpose the farmers entered into a combination, under the sanction of an oath, neither to compound for tithes, nor to assist any clergyman drawing them. This insurrection commenced in Kerry and the combination soon extended to Cork and other neighbouring counties, where the insurgents marched in large bodies, administering their oath in the name of Captain Right, giving out their laws, and punishing those who broke their faith. In these proceedings they were secretly encouraged by many gentlemen of landed property, who hoped from their violence that their estates might be exonerated from tithes; but when the insurgents proceeded to limit the rents of land, to increase the price of labour, and to oppose the collection of hearth-money, then an outcry was raised by these landlords against their designs, and an act was passed in 1787 for preventing tumultuous and illegal assemblies. Upon inquiry it was discovered that the clergy instead of receiving one-tenth scarcely received one-twentieth of the produce, and that the insurrection was owing to the avarice of the landlords, who charged the peasantry six pounds an acre for their land, and yet made them work for fivepence per day. It was also found that some landlords had excited their tenants to rob the clergy, for the purpose of adding the value of the tithes to their rack-rents, and that the magistrates had in several instances connived at the outrages. These troubles passed over, but the same spirit of disaffection towards the government still existed in Ireland. And this, perhaps, was increased by the contests which took place in the Irish parliament between the patriotic band, headed by Mr. Grattan, and those who adhered to government. It has been seen that at the time the regency bill was discussed in the British parliament, the Irish were in favour of the Prince of Wales. An address to him was carried by a large majority in the Irish parliament, and when the lord-lieutenant refused to forward it, commissioners were deputed to present it, as before narrated. Encouraged by his success in the matter of the address Mr. Grattan proposed several bills of a popular description, which were carried. But this patriotic bias did not long continue. When his majesty recovered, then many who had voted against government changed their sentiments, and again supported it. The very men who had voted for the introduction of the popular bills proposed by Grattan, on the committal of them gave their votes against them, and they were rejected. Hitherto the professed principles of the Marquess of Buckingham’s government had been strict economy, but when this struggle terminated every source of influence was thrown open in order to prevent future opposition to its measures. This system of corrupt influence was continued after the Earl of Westmoreland was appointed lord-lieutenant, in 1730, notwithstanding strenuous opposition had been made to it by the patriotic party. In order to render their opposition more systematic and strong, this party formed themselves into a Whig club, similar to that in London, and at their meeting arranged plans of parliamentary tactics, assigning to each member his particular post. The declared objects for which this association was pledged were bills for the limitations of places and pensions; for excluding certain descriptions of placemen, &c., from parliament; to disqualify revenue-officers from voting; to repeal the Dublin Police Bill; and to secure the responsibility of public officers in regard to payments from the treasury. But the efforts of the patriotic party were vain. When they banded together for these purposes they were unable to oppose government effectually, and when a new election took place in 1791, they rather lost strength than otherwise. Such was the state of affairs in Ireland when the French revolution took place. This event was looked upon by the mass of the Irish with strong sensations of joy. Ever disposed to revolt, they looked upon it as the harbinger of their own liberty. Meetings were held to celebrate its anniversary in different places, and also for the discussion of politics. The chief topics at these meetings were parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation, in favour of which strong resolutions were entered into with a view of intimidating government to concede them. In Dublin a society was formed, under the title of “United Irishmen,” and which declared itself to be “a union of Irishmen of every religious persuasion, in order to obtain a complete reform of the legislature, founded on the principles of civil, political, and religious liberty.” Against this and similar associations government issued a proclamation, interdicting all seditious assemblies, and commanding the magistrates, if necessary, to disperse them by military force. Still the society of United Irishmen resolved to persevere. It issued a counter proclamation, exhorting the volunteer companies which had been formed in Dublin to take up arms for the maintenance of public tranquillity against domestic and foreign foes, and recommending the Protestants to unite cordially with the Papists for the purpose of obtaining universal emancipation and a representative legislature. This agitation led government, in the session of 1792, to grant some new indulgences to the Papists, but these by no means satisfied them. They still persevered in seeking a redress of grievances, and in order to lay before government the sentiments of the collective body of Catholics, a secret committee for managing the political concerns of the Irish Catholics, which had long subsisted in Dublin, fixed on the plan of a convention of delegates from the several towns and counties, to be elected by persons deputed, two from each parish. At the same time this committee thought proper to disavow all dangerous tenets respecting the excommunication of princes, the persecution of heretics, the violation of oaths, the infallibility of the pope, &c., and to renounce all claims to forfeited estates, and all designs of subverting the present establishment. The convention met in December, 1792, and after various displays of eloquence, voted a petition to the king, stating the grievances, patience, and long-tried loyalty of his Catholic subjects, and dwelling particularly on the deprivation of the elective franchise. This petition was presented by deputation, and received graciously by his majesty, who, when the Irish parliament met on the 10th of January, 1793, pressed on its attention such measures as might be most likely to strengthen and cement a general union of sentiment among all classes and descriptions of his Catholic subjects, in support of the established constitution. In consequence of this recommendation Mr. Secretary Hobart brought the bill of relief into the house of commons; the chief enacting clause of which enabled the Catholics to exercise and enjoy all civil and military offices, and places of trust or profit under the crown, under certain restrictions. This privilege was not to extend so far as to enable any Roman Catholic to sit or vote in either house of parliament, or to fill the office of lord-lieutenant or lord chancellor, or judge in either of the three courts of record or admiralty, or keeper of the privy-seal, secretary of state, lieutenant or _custos rotulorum_ of counties, or privy-counsellor, or master in chancery, or a general on the staff, or sheriff of any county, &c. This bill passed with few dissentient voices, and though it fell short of complete emancipation, it was supposed to contain all that the executive government, could, at this time, without too violent an exertion, effect; upon which account it was received with gratitude. As a further concession to Ireland, a libel bill, similar to that of England, was passed; the power of the crown to grant pensions on the Irish establishment was limited to the sum of £80,000; and certain descriptions of placemen and pensioners were excluded from the privilege of sitting in the house of commons. His majesty also declared his acceptance of a limited sum, fixed at £225,000 for the expenses of his civil list, in lieu of the hereditary revenues of the crown. Having thus conciliated opposition, government carried several bills for the safety of the country. Among these were the alien and traitorous correspondence bills, analogous to those of England; a bill to prevent arms and ammunition from being imported, or kept without license; and another “to prevent the election or appointment of assemblies,” purporting to represent the people or any number of the people, under pretence of preparing or presenting petitions, &c., to the king or either house of parliament, for alteration of matters established by law, or redress of alleged grievances in church or state. As a further measure for securing the safety of the country, a bill was passed for raising a body of militia by ballot, to serve the period of four years. This measure, how-over, gave rise to discontent and outrage. As each person, on whom the lot fell, was obliged to serve unless he could procure a substitute or pay a large fine, it was considered a heavy grievance. To alleviate the burden, subscriptions for raising recruits were adopted, and insurance offices established to indemnify individuals on the payment of a stated sum. It was not, however, without great difficulty that recruits could be raised; the peasantry imagining, that, as was the case in the American war, if they joined the militia, they should be sent out of the kingdom. This caused discontents and riots, which cost the lives of many persons. But apart from this, there were other causes which produced disturbances in this unhappy country. About the year 1784, a set of insurgents, called “Defenders,” succeeded the White Boys. These arose from a quarrel between some Catholics and Protestants, in the county of Armagh, the former of whom, being possessed of arms, overcame their opponents. Enraged at this defeat the Protestants began to take arms from the Catholics; styling themselves “Peep-of-day Boys,” from their breaking into the houses of their opponents at break of day. On the contrary, those who strove to prevent them called themselves “Defenders;” but these, in 1789, seem to have been regularly organised, prepared for assault as well as defence, and, becoming private aggressors, committed some atrocious murders. Their outrages attracted the notice of parliament, and a secret committee of the lords in this session was appointed to make a report of their proceedings and also of the “United Irishmen.” At the time when this committee made their report, they had extended their associations through several counties, which associations assembled by night to learn the use of arms, and also for the purpose of plundering houses and murdering the protestants, and especially the established clergy. In many parts of the country, indeed, gentlemen were obliged to quit their houses, or to place soldiers therein for defence. It was hoped that the Catholic Relief Bill would have the effect of conciliating the marauders, but it failed to produce this effect. The principle of contention, in fact, still remained in full force. By this bill the Catholics were vested with the elective franchise; and now the question between them and the Protestants was, whether they should form a part of the government. They had gained much, but they wanted more, and so the system of agitation and outrage was still continued.

PROSPECTS OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, &c.

At the commencement of this campaign, France had to combat 55,000 Austro-Sardinians from the Alps; 50,000 Spaniards from the Pyrenees; 66,000 Austrians, reinforced by 38,000 Anglo-Batavians, on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; 33,000 Austrians, between the Meuse and the Moselle; and 112,000 Russians, Austrians, Prussians, and Imperialists, of the Middle and Upper Rhine. Against these formidable enemies the convention ordered a levy of 300,000 troops, and at the same time established a committee of public safety, with dictatorial power over persons and property. Meanwhile Dumouriez was occupied with an ambitious plan of reaction. Instead of remaining neutral between the contending factions composing the national convention, as was the duty of a general, he proposed to establish the constitutional monarchy of 1791. But first he intended to deliver Belgium from the rule of the Jacobins, to secure Holland by aid of the Batavian republicans, and to unite those two countries into a single state. With this end in view, Durnouriez moved from Antwerp and attacked the Dutch towns of Breda, Kiundert, and Gerbruydenberg, all which capitulated, after little more than a show of resistance from the garrisons. His plan was to penetrate into the heart of the United Provinces; but he was brought to a pause at the fortress of Williamstadt, That fort was occupied by the Dutch general Botzlarr, with some Dutch troops, who held no Jacobin principles, and by a strong detachment of English guards, who made an obstinate resistance; and while the French troops were still engaged in the siege of this fortress, intelligence arrived from the eastern frontier of the Netherlands, which materially changed the aspect of the war. Durnouriez had sent General Miranda, his second in command, to reduce the important town of Maestrecht, on the Maes or Meuse. On the 1st of March General Clairfait having suddenly passed the Roer in the night, attacked the French posts on that side, and compelled them to retreat, with the loss of 2,000 men; and this was followed by two successive victories over the French, on the 2nd and 8th of March; the one gained by the Archduke Albert, brother to the Emperor of Germany, and the other by the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg, who obtained a singular advantage over the main body of the French, in front of Aix-la-Chapelle, driving them from thence with the loss of 5,000 men, and twenty pieces of cannon. On hearing of these events, General Miranda gave orders for retreating to Tongres, whence the French armies were again compelled to fall back to Saint Tron. At Saint Tron Miranda was joined by General Valence, who had evacuated Liege and its territory, and they then moved towards Tirlemont, where Durnouriez soon after arrived to take the command in person, leaving the conduct of affairs on the northern frontier to General de Fluers. Dumouriez was attacked by the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg, at Tirlemont, with great spirit; but he kept his ground, and obliged the Austrians to fall back upon Neerwinden. This was on the 16th of March, and two days after Durnouriez moved to attack the Prince, but received a signal defeat; 4,000 killed and wounded remained on the field of battle, and ten thousand deserted, and scarcely paused in their flight until they reached the other side of the French frontier. Durnouriez attributed the origin of all his misfortunes to the Jacobin Club of Paris, and to the Mountain, which at this time was preparing to crush the Gironde. Half-crazed, he retreated towards Louvaine and Brussels, and in his route he was met by Danton and Lacroix, who came as commissioners from the convention to draw up a report on his conduct, both civil and military. He was devoted to destruction by the Jacobins, if they could get hold of him, for he had long ago offended Marat and Camus, two of the prime leaders of that fraternity. Dumouriez knew this, and the commissioners had scarcely left him, when he sent an officer of his staff to the head-quarters of the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg, to make some arrangements relative to the wounded and prisoners. This officer was referred to General Mack, who was considered to be a consummate politician, and it was agreed that Mack and Durnouriez should meet and confer together. When they met it was agreed that the Imperialists should not again attack the French army in force; that Durnouriez should be allowed to retire to Brussels; and that after the French should have evacuated Brussels the two generals should have another interview. All this was done, and at the future meeting, which took place at Ath, Durnouriez, knowing that there was nothing for him but a counter-revolution, or death, or flight, agreed with Mack to co-operate with the Imperialists against the Republicans; to give up to them the whole of Belgium; to march with his own army to Paris; and to call in the aid of the Austrians, if he should not prove strong enough to disperse the Jacobin rulers of France, and dictate the law at Paris. It is supposed that Dumouriez intended setting the Duke of Chartres on the throne of France, and that the Duke of Saxe-Cobourg assented to his project, hoping that if a counter-revolution could be effected, the young dauphin might be liberated from the Temple, and the regular line of the monarchy restored in him. The project seemed the more practicable, because the Prussians were preparing to invade France from the Moselle; the Spaniards, against whom the convention had declared war, were descending through the passes of the Pyrenees; an English army was collected in Holland to co-operate with the Duke of Saxe-Cobourg; and the royalists in the Vendee had gained several victories over the troops of the republican government. Dumouriez evacuated all the places he held in the Netherlands, and slowly retired towards the French frontier. In his route he met a great number of persons who were flying from Paris to escape the guillotine, many of whom encouraged him to persevere in the enterprise. The designs of Dumouriez, however, did not pass unsuspected at Paris, and three commissioners, friends of his mortal foe, Marat, were dispatched to watch his movements, under the pretence of conferring with him concerning the affairs of Belgium. In an interview with these commissioners, Dumouriez expressed himself with great violence against the Jacobins, and denounced the republican constitution as too silly a thing to last. “Ever since the battle of Jemappe,” he observed “I have regretted every advantage I have gained in the field for so bad a cause.” Growing warm in conversation, he likewise remarked:—“The convention is composed of two hundred brigands and five hundred fools. As long as I have three inches of steel at my side, I will never suffer it to reign or to shed blood by means of the revolutionary tribunals they have just established.” All Dumouriez said was carefully treasured up in the minds of these commissioners, and, on their return, reported to the Jacobins. In the mean time, Dumouriez attempted to gain possession of the three important frontier fortresses of Lille, Condé, and Valenciennes. Some secret communication with friends was opened by him in these fortresses, but the convention had sent commissioners to each of them, and both the populace and the troops were declared republicans, so that his designs were frustrated. Thus unsuccessful, Dumouriez removed his head-quarters to the baths of Saint Arnaud. Meanwhile the convention had summoned him to their bar, and imagining that he would not come without compulsion, had despatched four of their members to bring him and win over his army. The commissioners transmitted their orders to Dumouriez, while they remained at Lille; and finding that he did not obey them, they resolved to proceed to the camp. Dumouriez received the commissioners at the head of his staff, but refused to quit his troops; at the same time he promised, at a calmer time, he would demand an investigation of his conduct, and give an explanation both of his actions and designs. In order to gain their point, the commissioners replied that no harm was meant to his person, and alleging the example of the ancient Roman generals, they contended that it was his duty to submit to the republic. To this Dumouriez rejoined, “Gentlemen, we are constantly committing mistakes in our quotations from the classics; we parody and disfigure Roman history in citing their virtues to excuse our crimes. The Romans did not kill Tarquin: the Romans had a well-regulated republic and good laws; and they had neither a Jacobin Club nor a revolutionary tribunal. We are plunged in anarchy; we are wading in blood.” “Citizen general,” said Camus, one of the commissioners, “will you obey the decree of the National Convention or not?” “Not exactly at this moment,” replied Dumouriez. “Well then,” continued Camus, “I declare, in the name of the convention, that you are no longer general of this army, and I order that your papers be seized, and that you be arrested,” “This is very strong,” replied Dumouriez, and calling for his German hussars, he ordered them to seize the commissioners, and to convey them to General Clairfait’s head-quarters at Tournay, as hostages for the safety of the royal family of France. During that night Dumouriez drew up a proclamation to his army and to all France, in which he called upon all true Frenchmen to rise and rally round him and the monarchical constitution of 1791. His troops were informed of all that had happened on the following morning, and the measure was enthusiastically approved by those of the line and the artillery. Dumouriez, however, had enemies in his camp. He had an appointment with Colonel Mack, the Archduke Charles, and the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg on the 4th of April, in order to regulate future operations; and at an early hour on the morning of that day he set off with his staff; but he and his party had scarcely got upon the road which led to Condé, when they met two battalions of volunteers who were marching without order, and apparently without instructions. The design of these volunteers was to arrest Dumouriez and his party; and on discovering this they quitted the high-road and struck across the country, towards the Austrian lines, for protection. They reached Rury in the evening, where they were soon after joined by Saxe-Cobourg and Mack, who, with Dumouriez, passed the night in preparing a proclamation to be issued in the name of the Austrians, and in further explaining and settling the treaty between the French army and that of the emperor. But Dumourez was doomed to be disappointed. He still imagined that his regular troops were faithful to his person, and on the morrow he resolved to throw himself among them. His army, however, was now no more. Instigated by some emissaries from Valenciennes, who told them that Dumouriez was either killed or drowned, the artillery had risen upon their officers in the night, and had marched, with all their guns, baggage, and ammunition, for Valenciennes, whither they were soon followed by the troops of the line. When, therefore, Dumouriez returned in the morning to Saint Arnaud, his army was no more; and he with the Duke of Chartres, the Duke of Montpensier, Colonel Thouvenot, and the rest of his numerous staff’, joined the Austrians. They were followed by the entire regiment of Berchingy, 1,500 strong, and some fragments of some French regiments, and the sons of Orleans. The rest of his army joined the camp at Famars, under Dampierre, who was now invested with the chief command. On the following day, Dumouriez issued a proclamation, which contained a recapitulation of his services to the French republic, and an animated picture of the outrages of the Jacobins and of the mischiefs to be apprehended from a continuation of anarchy in France; concluding with an exhortation to the French to restore the constitution of 1791, and a declaration on oath that he bore arms only for that purpose. This proclamation was accompanied by a manifesto on the part of Saxe Cobourg, now commander-in-chief of the armies of Austria, announcing that the allied powers were no longer to be considered as principals, but merely as auxiliaries of France; that they had no other object than to co-operate with the general in giving to France her constitutional king, and the constitution she formed for herself. These proceedings were no sooner known at Paris than the convention declared its sittings permanent, denounced Dumouriez as a traitor, and fixed a price on his head; banished all the Bourbons, and established that “committee of public safety,” which was destined to complete the crimes and destroy the chief authors of the revolution.

This defection of Dumouriez gave great advantage to the Jacobins. They exclaimed that he was leagued with the Girondists, and that all were loyalists and traitors. Robespierre attacked many of them by name in the convention, and Marat denounced them in the popular assemblies. The committee of public safety, to which the plots of their enemies gave rise, seemed to promise advantage to the Girondists; but it served only to excite their adversaries more violently against them. The struggle between these contending parties at length approached a crisis. At this time Lyons, Orleans, Bordeaux, Marseilles, and La Vendee, indignant against the anarchists, were all declaring themselves for the party of moderation and the Girondists. These were startling events to the Jacobins, and they prepared to strike a blow which should prostrate their antagonists. A plot had been devised for their destruction, but it was discovered, and the infamous Hébert, who was at the head of it, was thrown into prison. Tumults in the assembly and commotion in the city now became the order of the day; and at length, on the 25th of May, a furious multitude assembled at the hall of the convention, and loudly demanded the suppression of the committee of public safety and the liberation of Hébert. These proposals were resisted, but the Girondists could not long sustain the conflict with the Jacobins. On the 27th, the Sans-culotte bands of the anarchists appeared in a body at the door of the convention, bearing a general petition of the sections, and despite the expostulations of the assembly, they took their seats with the members, and, under the influence of terror, the commission of twelve was broken, and Hébert set at liberty. On the morrow, however, the convention boldly reversed this compulsory vote; at the same time seeking a compromise with the populace. But it was in vain that the Girondists sought to conciliate an enraged populace. On the 2nd of June, the mob, under the command of Henriot, surrounded the hall of the convention, and thirty of the leaders of the Girondists were arrested. The political career of the Girondists, indeed, was now over: henceforth they were known only as individuals by their courage in the midst of calamity and death. Many of them saved themselves by concealment, others by flight, while many fell by their own hands, or were cut off by the axe of the executioner. Twenty-one of them languished in long imprisonment, until a decree of accusation was issued against them, and the guillotine ended their sufferings.