86 | 
Great Britain, in his speech to par- 
liament, opened the history of the 
last, and the prospects of the year 
begun; which prospects were wholly 
pacific. France, in whose interior 
the storm had been for some time 
fermenting, which burst forth io 
the explosions aiready described. 
had suffered a temporary eclipse. 
A celebrated orator in the English 
House of Commons. said, ‘* That 
he looked in vain for that once pow- 
erful country, on the map of En- 
rope, and found only a blank. The 
monarchy was fallen, the sovereign 
was powerless, the cabinet distract- 
ed, and the finances without any or- 
der or solid support.” Projects had 
been formed for restoring the old 
government by foreign force; and 
the French territories were to pay 
the expences of the restoration. 
These plans were supposed to have 
originated at the memorable inter- 
view at Pilnitz; and the court of 
London, as well as the great pow- 
ers on the continent, has been pub- 
licly charged with a knowledge of 
them, if not a participation. On 
this subject the public have been 
hitherto misinformed. It was the 
interest of all parties that the truth 
should remain under a veil, but of 
none that itshouldbe published. Eu- 
rope has been led to believe, thatthe 
project of Leopold, which has been 
misrepresented under the designa- 
tions of the Coalition, and the Con- 
Spiracy of Pilnitz, was hostile to the 
interests of national liberty, and 
aimed at nothing short of the esta- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1792. 
blishment of despotism in France, 
after dismembering it of its ancient 
acquisitions. This opinion was con- 
firmed by the invasion of the Duke 
of Brunswick, at the head of the 
armies of Austria and Prussia, and 
accompanied by the emigrated 
princes and nobles of France. The 
interview at Pilnitz was indeed at- 
tended by the Comte D’Artois, 
M. de Calonne, and the Marquis 
de Bouillé: and a species of engage- 
ment was entered into, and after- 
wards published, by which the Em- 
peror and the King of Prussia en- 
gaged, in certain eventual cases *, 
to support the re-establishment of 
order in France. This engagement, 
which, after its publication, was 
formally disavowed by the Emperor, 
as an act implying any hostility to 
France, gave full scope to the pub- 
lic opinion. The rulers of the 
French revolution anticipated and 
confirmed the belief, thatareal con- 
spiracy had been formed against 
them at Pilnitz. The death of the 
Emperor, which took place a few 
months afterwards, and which 
many connected with his love of 
peace +, left the imposition to 
its course, Time has discovered 
the truth on this important subject. 
The memoirs of the Marquis of 
Bouillé have, to a certain extent, 
done justice to the memory of Leo- 
pold, in rescuing it from imputati- 
ons with which it has been loaded ; 
and the ministers of Great Britain | 
have formally disavowed in parlia- 
ment any knowledge or participa- 
* For a particular account of the views of the Emperor Leopold, at this juncture, 
and also those of the other great courts of Europe, we must refer our readers to our 
volume for 1791 ; in which will be found the substance of the circular letter, writ- 
ten by Leopold to all the states of Europe, with a view of rousing their attention” 
to their general interest. 
+ There is little doubt but that he died by poison. 
tion 
