658 



BRITAIN. 



Convention 

 between 

 Spain and 

 Britain, 

 signed 

 Oct. 2. 



Proceed- 

 ing* in par- 

 liament. 



tfontrovcr- 

 y respect- 

 ing the 

 French re- 

 volution. 



1791. 



of latitude," belonged to Spain. When this affair 

 was submitted to parliament, addresses were present- 

 ed to his Majesty, and a vote of credit of one mil- 

 lion passed without opposition. The British govern- 

 ment now exhibited at once the firmness of its cha- 

 racter in negotiation, and the vastness of its resources 

 in immediate armaments. 



By the family convention still subsisting 1 between 

 the houses of Bourbon, France was bound to co- 

 operate with our antagonist ; and the national assem- 

 bly, though intent on other matters, voted an aid of 

 11- ships of the line. But the court of Madrid plain- 

 ly saw the reluctance of the French nation to enter 

 into a war with England, and yielded to our demands, 

 which were immediate restitution and indemnification. 

 On the 2d of October, a convention was signed at 

 the Escurial, by which every point in dispute was 

 settled. The settlement at Nootka Sound was re- 

 stored, the free navigation and right of fishery in the 

 southern pacific ocean were coniirmed to Britain, 

 and a free trade on the American coast to the north 

 of the Spanish settlements, unaccompanied, however, 

 by any formal renunciation of sovereignty on the part 

 of Spain. On the other hand, neither of the two 

 powers were to form a settlement nearer to Cape 

 Horn than the most southerly of the Spanish settle- 

 ments. 



A new parliament met on the 25th of November. 

 The first object of the minister was to provide for 

 the expense of the armament against Spain, amount- 

 ing to L. 4,000,000: he proposed to obtain a part 

 of this sum by taking half a million from the un- 

 claimed dividends in the bank of England. But this 

 measure, which would have been a direct violation of 

 the right of a chartered body, was ably and success- 

 fully opposed. The term unclaimed dividends, in re- 

 ality meant, unreccivcd dividends ; for when the cre- 

 ditors names were afterwards published, numbers of 

 claimants came forward, who had been ignorant of 

 what the bank owed them. 



The violence of political controversy on the'subject 

 of the French revolution had been kept alive by the 

 mighty events still passing in France, and still more 

 by the publications which issued from the presses of 

 both countries. Among the works inourown language, 

 which excited the strongest, though most opposite, 

 sentiments of enthusiasm, were Burke's Reflections on 

 the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the French 

 National Assembly ; and the answer to that work by 

 Thomas Paine. In this literary controversy, the most 

 romantic and chivalrous principles of loyalty, and a 

 style of eloquence dazzling, and often electrifying, 

 were opposed to the surly republicanism and blunt 

 declamation of the American school. 



Soon after the winter recess, a bill passed for the 

 relief of the English Catholics from the legal penal- 

 ties still in existence ; a h-.imane measure, but un- 

 necessarily confined to such Catholics as should pro- 

 test against the political authority of the pope. Mr 

 Wilberforce's motion for the abolition of the slave 

 trade, to the disgrace of the legislature, experienced a 

 rejection. 



Some salutary reformations in the practical laws 

 of the country, engaged the attention of parliament. 

 A bill, originating with the minority, was passed for 

 securing the freedom of elections ; and another for 

 prohibiting the attorney general in the right of the 



crown, or any individual in his own right from dis- 

 turbing a possessor in his franchise. 



The most important transaction in the internal re- 

 gulation of the empire regarded Canada. By a bill 

 which Mr Pitt introduced, the constitution of that 

 country was changed from the arbitrary form which 

 it had received from France ; the habeas corpus act 

 was introduced ; councils nominated by the sovereign, 

 and houses of assembly chosen by the people, were 

 established in the two government! of Upper and 

 Lower Canada. The British parliament reserving 

 a right of imposing only such taxes as were neces- 

 sary for the regulation of trade and commerce, left 

 the raising of other taxes, and the disposal of all taxes, 

 to the respective principal legislatures. 



War continued to rage on the eastern frontiers of 

 Europe, between the Turkish, Austrian, and Rus- 

 sian arms. By the peace of Reichenbach, which 

 was mediated (in August 1790) by the courts of 

 London and Berlin, Austria had withdrawn from 

 hostility against the Porte ; and, elated by their suc- 

 cess, the mediating courts now demanded of Russia 

 to abandon her successful career against the Turks. 

 The Empress Catharine haughtily replied, that she 

 would make peace or war with whom she pleased, 

 without the intervention of any foreign power. Not 

 choosing, however, to provoke too far those self- 

 created arbiters, she secretly intimated her willing- 

 ness to conclude a peace with Turkey, on condition 

 of retaining the country eastward of the Neister, a 

 desert tract of territory, valuable only for containing 

 the fortress of Oczacow. This offer being peremp- 

 torily refused, the empress broke off the conference, 

 and determined to prosecute the war. On the 28th 

 of March, Mr Pitt delivered a message from hia ma- 

 jesty to the House of Commons, importing, that the 

 endeavours which he had used with his "allies, not 

 hating proved successful, his majesty thought it ne- 

 cessary, in order to add weight to his representa- 

 tions, to augment his naval force. In the debate 

 which ensued upon this message, Mr Pitt enlarged 

 on the necessity of attending to the balance of Eu- 

 rope, and on the influence of the Turkish empire in 

 the general scale. Mr Fox, and the whole party of 

 opposition, strenuously contended against the pro- 

 jected war. We had no quarrel, Mr Fox observed, 

 with the Empress of Russia ; we had no alliance with 

 Turkey. It was the absurd pride of interference, 

 that prompted us to hazard a war, which could only 

 second the ambitious policy of Prussia, and never 

 could promote our own interests, or those of Eu- 

 rope at large. The Czarina had offered to cede all 

 her conquests, but a barren desert, containing one 

 valuable fortress, Oczakow ; and could it be serious- 

 ly said, that the balance of Europe depended on Oc- 

 zakow being possessed by the Russians or the Turks. 

 The policy of a war with Russia on such grounds 

 was so difficult to be perceived or defended, that 

 though the minister still retained the majority of 

 votes, they fell far below his accustomed numbers. 

 Encouraged by the voice of public opinion, botli 

 within and without parliament, Mr Grey proposed a 

 vote of censure on ministers, for their precipitate 

 conduct respecting Russia ; and the motion was ne- 

 gatived by only 80 votes. The minister was thus 

 compelled to give way to popular opinion : he rece- 

 ded from his armed mediation, after a fleet had been 

 6 



Bntaii 



GEORGE] 



Affairs I 



Canada. 



1791, 



Slate of 

 hostilitii 

 on the c 

 tineut. 



Procee 



ings iu 



liamen 



pectin] 



the arm 



medial 



betwee 



Russia 



Turkey 



