664 



BRITAIN. 



Britain. 



Tumults ia 

 London. 



Prospects 

 of a peace. 

 1796. 



Campaign 

 in Italy. 



of October 1795, a day remarkable for the disagree- 

 able events attending it. His Majesty was beset by 

 a furious multitude, in passing from St James's : a 

 stone was thrown into the state coach, and the inter- 

 position of the horse guards was necessary to pre- 

 serve his person from the insults of the mob. Ascri- 

 bing this ebullition of popular fury to the inflamma- 

 tory influence of the reforming associations, ministers 

 introduced into parliament two bills, which struck at 

 the meeting of the disaffected, and enlarged the treason 

 law, and enacted severer punishments for sedition. 

 The first of these bills, which passed the peers, at 

 the instance of Lord Grenville, the pains of death 

 were attached, not merely to the actual conspiracy 

 against the king, but to the guilt of speaking or 

 publishing what might tend to produce rebellion. 

 By the other bill, which Mr Pitt carried through the 

 Commons, a right was given to magistrates to dis- 

 perse, at their pleasure, any meeting suspected of se- 

 ditious objects. The term of three years was pre- 

 scribed to the duration of these acts. The financial 

 business of the session necessarily included the impo- 

 sition of fresh taxes: the most important of these was 

 one on legacies, and an addition of 10 per cent, to the 

 already assessed taxes. One hundred and ten thou- 

 sand seamen were voted for the year 1796, and two 

 hundred and seven thousand men for the land service. 

 A loan was negotiated for 18 millions, and afterwards 

 for seven millions and a half. 



The first declaration of a pacific disposition, was 

 now made by the British ministry, in the fourth year 

 since the commencement of the war. The destruc- 

 tion of the Jacobins, and the return of a compara- 

 tively mild and humane system in France, had, tor 

 some time, taken -away the difficulty of having no 

 government, with whom we could treat. On the 8th 

 of December 1795, a message from his majesty an- 

 nounced to parliament his willingness to meet any 

 negotiation on the part of the enemy ; and Mr Pitt, 

 in ci nsequence, obtained a vote ot the Commons, 

 that Great Britain might now safely treat with 

 France. It was objected, by his opponents, that 

 this cold and general declaration was altogether in- 

 expressive of a real determination, that ministers 

 mould open a treaty. The minister, however, could 

 pledge himself to no specific promise on the subject. 

 A commission was given to Mr Wickham, our agent 

 at Basle, to sound Mr Bartholemi, respecting the 

 willingness of the French government to come to 

 terms ; but the declaration, on the part of France, 

 that she never would concede Belgium, put an im- 

 mediate termination to the affair. 



Mr Wilbertorce's annual motion, for abolishing 

 the slave trade, was lost for want of numbers to con- 

 stitute a house. A humane attempt, by LordMoira, 

 to obtain a bill for the relief ot insolvent debtors, 

 met with no better success. The session was closed 

 on the 19th of May, and, in a few days afterwards, 

 parliament was dissolved. 



On the continent, this year was signalized by the 

 most awful and interesting fluctuation of fortunes, be- 

 tween the arms of France and our allies. On the side 

 of Italy, it is true, there was no fluctuation of suc- 

 cess. The career of the enemy was uniform. Sardi- 

 nia, Parma, Modena, and Genoa the Pope, and the 

 king of Naples, were reduced to implore and pur- 

 chase peace, by immense sacrifices, in consequence of 



the victories of the French, obtained by a commander, Britai 



(Bonaparte) young, and hitherto unknown in the /- 



world; but who has since chained the history of the t ' E " 

 age to his biography. 



In Germany, the campaign began successfully on Campa 

 the side of the French. Moreau and Jourdan, su- m Ger 

 perseding Pichegru in command, penetrated to the ' 

 very heart of the empire. Moreau, after successive 

 victories, forced the Elector of Bavaria to sue for 

 peace ; while Jourdan, taking the route of Upper 

 Suabia, had penetrated to Amberg, ar.d even stretch- 

 ed his lines to the neighbourhood of Ratisbon. At 

 this critical period, the fortunes of Austria were re- 

 stored by the gallantry of the Archduke Charles, 

 who attacked the van of Jourdan, and following up 

 the success by repeated blows, pursued the invaders 

 back to the Lower Rhine. Moreau was compelled Retrea 

 to retire by the fall of the army on his left, and pur- Mores 

 sued for 300 miles, a most skilful and memorable re- 

 treat, in the face of a superior enemy. On the 2d 

 of August, a most valuable and bloodless conquest 

 was made of nine Dutch ships, which had been sent 

 by that enemy to recover the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Their commander, Admiral Lucas, terrified by a Surren 

 mutinous spirit among his crews, yielded the fleet tlf 'he 

 (without firing a shot) to the summons of Admiral IJutc " 

 Elphinstone. The Dutch possessions in the East 

 Indies, including their settlements in the island of 

 Ceylon, fell about the same time r.n easy prey to our 

 arms, ijt Lucia was recovered by General Aber- 

 cromby, and a formidable insurrection of the ne- 

 groes was quelled in Grenada and St Vincent's. 

 Whilst the successes of Bonaparte in Italy, and his 

 fame among his countrymen in Corsica, inspired the 

 Gallic faction in that island, a body of French, 

 under General Gazette, arrived to co-operate with 

 the natives. They drove our troops from Bastia, 

 and obliged the viceroy and the fleet to take a final 

 leave of the island. 



The series of warlike events in this year, was con- i 

 eluded by the most formidable effort that was ever Ireland 

 made by France in the course of the century, to in- 

 vade these dominions. On the 2d of December, fif- 

 teen thousand chosen troops, intended to act with 

 the disaffected in Ireland, were embarked at Brest, 

 accompanied by eighteen sail of the line, and a num- 

 ber of frigate*. But of this armament, which was 

 overtaken and dispersed by a storm soon after it had 

 put to sea, only eight two deckers reached the coast 

 of Ireland. They appeared oft "Ban try Bay, but were 

 forced from that station by another tempest, nar- 

 rowly escaping two squadrons of our navy. They 

 returned to France with the loss of several ships of 

 the line. , 



As the feeble and ineffectual attempt of Mr Wick- Negoti: 

 ham to open a treaty for peace, had not gained to tlon fo | 

 ministers much credit for pacific intentions, a more s ' , 

 direct negociation was opened some months after, and .vialrrw 

 Lord Malmesbury was sent ambassador to France, bury. 

 His plan of pacification, however, made the cession 

 of Belgium to the emperor an indispensible prelimi- 

 nary; and on declaringthat he was empowered to treat 

 on no other terms, his lordship was ordered by the 

 Directory to depart within forty eight hours. His 

 stay in Paris did not exceed two months, during 

 which time the Court of Madrid issued a proclama- 

 tion of war against Britain. 



