‘HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
is irresistible. Never, therefore, it 
was said, should the powers of Eu- 
rope permit these countries to be 
annexed to France, whether it con- 
tinued a republic, or. resumed the 
form of a monarchy. Its neigh- 
boursespecially, if they valued their 
independence, should think no cost 
too excessive in reducing France to 
its former limits. Unless this were 
done, not oniy the balance of Eu- 
rope, but the national existence of 
every peop!e around, would be con- 
tinually exposed to the hostile en- 
terprises of this ambitious and rest- 
less nation. rit 
The great victory obtained by 
lord Howe, on the 1st of June, 
1794, had so completely ruined the 
marine of France, and extinguished 
all expectation of its being able, 
during a long time, to meet that of 
Great Britain in battle, that the 
French government abandoned all 
designs of this nature, and deter- 
mined henceforth to confine its na- 
val exertions to depredations on the 
British trade and navigation: a 
system to which the politics of 
France had constantly resorted, 
under the monarchy, after expe- 
tiencing such disasters at sea, as had 
disabled her marine from: encevn- 
tering that of Britain in open fight. 
In this species of maritime wartare 
they proved more successful than the 
other. ‘The list of captures, by the 
French, at the close of 1795, 
_ amounted, it has been reported, to 
more than two-thirds of their own 
losses; they had taken three thou- 
sand vessels, and had lost only eight 
hundred. How far such estimates 
may ascertain the respective da- 
ee either party, it may be 
dificult to decide, without a specific 
return of the tonnage and cargoes 
‘of the shipping thus taken. But the 
*could be 
[133 
detriment to this country must cer. 
tainly have been very considerable, 
advetting only to the number. of 
seamen that must have fallen into 
the enemy’s hands, and allowing 
the other damages to have been 
equally balanced. 
One material cause of debility, 
that befel the French marine, was 
_ the inexpertness of those multitudes 
that crowded their ships. The ne- 
cessity of supplying without delay 
their armies on the frontiers, which 
were daily losing such numbers, 
compelled government to colle¢t 
able-bcdied men as soon as they 
rocured, and wherever 
they could be found. Hence their 
shipping of -all descriptions was 
stripped of sailors, who were sent to 
fight the battles of the republic at 
land. he French administration 
was severely censured for sacrificing 
their seamen, instead of the many 
others that might have been furnish- 
ed out of those classes that had little 
or no employment in the general 
scarcity of trade and business: but 
necessity and expedition was their 
plea, and appeared unanswerable 
during the dangerous crisis to which 
the republic continued reduced, 
while pressed on the frontiers by 
the numerous armies of the coalesced 
powers. 
Great complaints were made at 
the sume time in England, that with 
a fleet superior in point of real 
strength, considering the skill of the 
officers and men, to that of all Eu- 
rope combined, still the transmarine 
possessions of France were able to 
resist the exertions of the naval 
strength of this country, and to 
maintain the contest in some of those 
parts on more than equal ground. 
‘The year 1794 had been marked by 
the successes obtained in the West 
[K3] Indies 
