102] ANNUAL REGISTER, 179%. 
France loaded with the spoils of 
the English.” This curious address 
, concluded by assuring. them, that 
whatever they took should be their 
Own, and that government would 
require no participation in the 
punder of England. They should 
be supplied with arms and ammu- 
nition for this great undertaking, 
and with vessels to carry them over. 
Once landed, they would soon find 
the way to London, and their prow- 
e s would atchieve all the rest. 
This publication, which made 
much noise at the time. was very 
acceptable to the mass of the peo- 
ple, whose hatred to the English 
has always been notorious, and 
numbers had actually resolved to 
join an expedition of this nature ; 
but the sober-minded strongly con- 
demned a proclamation, for such it 
was in reality, calling upon men 
to enter into so frantic an under- 
taking, as that of one nation rising 
in a body to plunder another, divi- 
ded from it by the sea, guarded by 
fleets that had variquished their own, 
aud destroyed all their commerce, 
and that was, at the same ume, ful- 
Je: of resolute and disciplined men 
than they had shipping enough to 
bring over, had the project, held ont 
to them, existed in the real contem- 
plation of their rulers, 
But there was another scheme, on 
foot at this time, which, though by 
the intelligent world esteemed im- 
practicable, did not, however, carry 
the appearance of such extrava- 
gance as the former. This was to 
collect as large an army as they 
could provide ships to transport to 
this country, and to invade it at 
several places They did not seem 
to apprehend much obstruction to 
the landing of thisaimy, when dis- 
tributed into various parts, every 
one of which, being considerable, 
would require an adequate force to 
oppose it. They dwelt, also, with 
particular confidence, on the supe- 
rior experience, and soldiership of 
the men that would be employed in 
an enterprize of such importance, 
and on the ignorance in practical 
war of the English soldiery, whose 
nalive courage was not superior to 
that of the French, while their total 
unacquaintance with the reality of ~ 
those scenes, in the representation of 
which they might excel, did not en- 
tile them to a comparison with ve- 
terans. 
Such were the ideas of the many 
individualsin France, thatlooked for- 
ward toan attempt ofthisnature, with 
no small degree of confidence. The 
government itself, whether of their 
opinion, or with a view to create an 
alarm in this country, formally 
gave them countenance. Numes 
rous forces were collected, on which 
was bestowed the appellation of the 
army of England. It was put under 
the command of Paonaparte; and, 
it was not doubted, that the fame 
of this conqueror of Italy would 
strike the English with terror, as it 
had done so many others, and that 
the same success would attend him 
which he had constantly met with, 
in all his enterprizes. 
It was, therefore, a great mortifi- 
cation to the directory, to see their 
principal design rendered abortive, 
The means of executing it, were 
now taken out of their hands, as, 
without @ maritime force, it were 
vain to attempt an attack of Eng- 
land. They had certainly incurred 
h large expence in LaF yori 
The troops assembled in varieus 
parts of the republic, avowediy for — 
” this 
