HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



223 



t\r<d Denmark in the north, of 

 Florence in the soutli of Europe^ 

 withtherepublicof S ivisscrlant1,had 

 experienced British haughtiiTess, in 

 a degree hardlj' preccdented in the 

 history of the most arrogant and do- 

 mineeringpov-eiS. Thctirand Duke 

 of Tuscany, brother to the Empe- 

 ror, wliose imperial diadem he might 

 sliortly inherit, had been warned 

 by our minister at iiis court, to re- 

 nounce his neutrality, and to dis- 

 miss the French resident in twelve 

 liours; or the British fleet, in the 

 Mediterranean, would take posses- 

 sion of his port of Leghorn. Was 

 not this, besides its beingan iubult to 

 the Duke,an open infringement of a 

 regulation made so lon<j a?o as the 

 year 1712, by which I^eghorn had, 

 for tlie general convenience of all 

 the European states, been declared 

 a perpetual free port ? Sweden 

 and Denmark were not in a position 

 to be so readily terrified by our de- 

 mands, any more than Swissfriand ; 

 and thev answered in a style becom- 

 ing independent states. 



The condiKt of the British mi- 

 nisters towards America was at- 

 tended with circumstances involv- 

 ing the suspicion of the ba" .st eti- 

 mity. Happily for Britain and the 

 United States, the latter were under 

 the guidance of a man worthy of 

 1)eing proposed as an example to 

 'the rulers of all nations. Instead 

 of listejiing to the resentnient of 

 the multitude at the violent pro- 

 ceedings of Britain against the ships 

 and coiftmerce of America, lie pre- 

 vail-'d on tbe public, by his pru- 

 dcuc ;::d moderation, to wait with 

 ca'.Kin.s: for the satisfaction tiiat 

 V. -\.ld be required for those out- 

 Far roi.trary was the be- 

 h of our government. With 



aji unbecoming .-mpetucaity, an or- 



der of council was issued relating to 

 America, which it was found ne- 

 cessary to repeal in six weeks : so 

 little did the Americans trust to the 

 candour of our government, that 

 they supected it of having counte- 

 nanced the depredations of the Al- 

 gerines on the American traders, 

 andtheliostilities otlhelndians com- 

 mitted against the people of Ame- 

 rica. If we added to these difficul- 

 ties, raised by the impropriety of 

 our measures, the bad state of the 

 finances of our allies, we had a 

 complete view of the perplexed 

 situation in which w^ had involved 

 Ourselves. Spain, hardly able t» 

 giv^ currency •o the paper al- 

 ready emitted by her government, 

 bad been compelled to fabricate 

 3,500,000 more ; the result of 

 which was a fall in the value of 

 twenty per cent. Of all the con-f 

 federacy, Russia alone retained some 

 credit. Holland, once the seat of 

 public credit, could not now, upon 

 trial, raise 1,000,000 sterling at five 

 per cent, interest, though long 

 used to give only two and a half. 

 France, on the other side, con- 

 verted to the service of the state 

 whatever was seizable. Gold and 

 silver were paid for articles im- 

 ported of indispensable necessity ; 

 and paper was used for domestic 

 ti-ansactions. Having duly re- 

 flected on this state of things, whnt 

 cordd induce this country to per- 

 sist in a contest of which the ex- 

 pence fell almost entirely on itS'lf, 

 \ritiuiut any fixed of rational view 

 of indemnification v 



Peace with France, so far from 

 being insecin-e, could with more 

 s-'.fety be relied oft than with any 

 EurojH'an ministry. Pence with 

 the French was the first step to re- 

 cover from all their distresaef ; but 



courts 



