234' ANNUAL REGIS T E R, 1794. 



the various princes forming the 

 coalition, held out no objects suffi- 

 ciently strong to stimulate them in 

 like manner, lliis was a circnm- 

 itance, however, which they did 

 not sutliciently consider. Ibe 

 events of the latter part of the cam- 

 paign, though conspicuously influ- 

 enced bv 'lie national disposition of 

 the Frcncli, they still viewed as 

 mischances solely occasioned by the 

 ordinary causes, that decide of ill 

 fortune or of succe-is, and were not 

 willing to relinquish the hopes in 

 which they had primarily indul- 

 ged, and which had been ihe basis 

 on which the coalition was origi- 

 nally founded. 'I'hese hopes were 

 generally understood to be thesame 

 ihatactiiated the junctionof Austria 

 end Prussiaj wlien they availed 

 themselves of the distractions and 

 feuds oi an ill-governed and divi- 

 ded nation, to deprive it of inde- 

 pendence, and partition it between 

 them and o'.her powers, without 

 whose concurrence such a trans- 

 action.could not have hnppencd. 



But wiiatcver ideas the continen- 

 tal members of the coalition still 

 continued to entertain, the riding 

 powers in Great Britain began to 

 remit of the sanguine prospects 

 with which they had entered into 

 the confederacy against France.— 

 Instead of ' the triumphant career 

 .they had promised to the public, 

 they found themselves necessitated 

 to apply to it in a far different style 

 from whatthey hadhithertoadopted. 

 On the O'th of March a motion was 

 made by Mr, Pitt for an augmenta- 

 'tion of the militia, in order to pro- 

 vide for the better sccuriiy of the 

 kingdom against a menaced inva- 

 sion by the French. To this mea- 

 sure he added another, which was 

 to levy a volunteer force of horse 

 «nd foot in every county. 



The first of these motions wng 

 agr(;'ed to; but the second warmly 

 opposed by Mr. A. Taylor, as in- 

 jurious to agriculture and indus- 

 try. 



It wgs observed by Mr. Francis, 

 that alttr boastin^j of the successes 

 we had obtained over the enemy, 

 \\liose inability to res'^' had boldly 

 been asserted a twelvemonth ago, 

 we Were now called upon to make 

 the most seriouspreparalions against 

 the danger of his invading this 

 country. That such a danger die) 

 exist he was inclined lo believe, 

 from the less arrogant lau^uagenow 

 adopted by ministers; and would 

 not for that reason oppose the aug- 

 niontation proposed. 



After some members had spoken 

 in favour of the motion, Mr, Fox 

 rose, and in a speech of considerable 

 length, severely reprehended the 

 conduct of ministry. Greater exn 

 ertions were now- required, he said, 

 than when this country had not 

 ' a single ally to face the united 

 strt^ngth of America, Holland, 

 Spain, and France, and was hourly 

 threattned with an invasion : and 

 now, willi a marine decidedly supe- 

 rior to that of the enemy (without 

 consulting parliament) and almost 

 a 1 Europe to assist us, Frauce alone, 

 represented as unsuccessful, was 

 able to intimidate us. During the 

 American war our danger was real, 

 but did not appear so great as mini- 

 ster;* affected to describe it. He 

 would nevertheless assent to the 

 motion for augmenting the mili- 

 tia. 



Mr. Ryder, in reply, took notice, 

 that tli-.ugh incapable of persisting 

 nmch longer in the contest, the 

 French might, however, in some of 

 those momentary exertions that had 

 proved so successful and astonish- 

 ing, meet again with the like suc- 

 cess. 



