240 ENGLAND. 



Italy ; in which case England engaged to restore all the conquests 

 xnaae on that power in the East and West Indies. The French direc- 

 tory replied, that they could not consent to proposals contrary to the 

 constitution, to the laws, and to the treaties which bind the republic. 

 Tnus ended this negotiation. 



The beginning of the year 1797, was distinguished by as extraor- 

 dinary an event as perhaps ever occurred in this or any other war ; 

 the invasion of Great Britain by a force of 1200 men, without artillery, 

 and almost without accoutrements. The alarm at first was general,, 

 and great, throughout the whole of Pembrokeshire, on the coast of 

 which the landing was made : but- the men surrendered on the ap- 

 proach of a very inadequate force, and almost without resistance. 

 On inquiry, it appeared that they consisted entirely of galley-slaves, 

 and other criminals, from Brest ; and the object was supposed to be 

 at once to create an alarm on the British coast, and to rid the French 

 republic of a number of desperate persons : but whatever the inten- 

 tions of the enemy might be, they met, on the whole, with a complete 

 disappointment ; for not only the expedition proved entirely fruitless, 

 but, as two of the ships which disembarked the men were returning 

 into Brest harbour, they were captured by the St. Fiorenzo and 

 Nymph frigates. 



On the third of March, government received intelligence of an 

 important advantage obtained by the British fleet, under the com- 

 mand of sir John Jervis, over a Spanish fleet of much superior force, 

 )n the 14th of February, off Cape St. Vincent. The English admiral, 

 by a successful manoeuvre, separated the rear of the enemy's fleet 

 from the main body, and captured two ships of 112 guns, one of 84, 

 ani one of 74. 



i.bout this time a serious mutiny took place in the British navy, 

 the .ailors demanding an increase of pay and redress of other griev- 

 ance-.. The government thought proper to comply with their de- 

 mand-., and the wages were accordingly advanced ; upon which the 

 principal part of the mutineers declared themselves satisfied and 

 submitted. Some however raised new and extravagant complaints, 

 and go v ernment was obliged to resort to measures of severity before 

 the spirt of insurrection could be quelled. 



As if o erase this stain from the annals of the British navy, the 

 fleet of admiral Duncan, consisting principally of the ships which 

 had been engaged in this unhappy and disgraceful mutiny, sailed soon 

 after to wtfch the motions of the Dutch fleet in the Texel, where it 

 remained or some time blockaded, till, on its venturing out, an en- 

 gagement ensued, in which the English fleet obtained a complete 

 victory, taking the Dutch admiral De Winter, the vice-admiral, and 

 nine ships. 



In the coirse of this year, another attempt was made by the British 

 cabinet to negotiate a treaty of peace with France. The preliminaries 

 of a peace be.ween the French republic and the emperor of Germany 

 having been tigned at Leoben, in the. month of April, by which the 

 Netherlands were given up to France, the difficulty which had broken 

 off the last negotiation appeared to be in some measure removed, 

 and applications were again made to the French government for pass- 

 ports for a person who might enter into discussions relative to the ■ 

 basis of a future treaty. Lord Malmesbury was again appointed to 

 this mission ; but the French directory objected to his coming to 

 Paris, and appointed Lisle for the place of the conference with com- 



