ENGLAND. 
(of Zhi-hot, beyond five celebrated wall Which had been 
created as a barrier againfi the incurfi'oiis of flie Tartars. 
A garden belonging to this mdnfion was the fcene of for¬ 
mal prefentation. Here, in a fplendid tent, the dmbafla- 
dor delivered a letter from the Britiflt fovereign in a box 
of gold, adorned with jewels ; and he was gratified with 
a reception which the Chinefe confidered as particularly 
gracious and honourable. But his interviews with Tchien- 
Lung were not produflive of dn alliance. A fpirit of jea- 
loufy di(inclined the emperor to a treaty ; and, after the 
exchange of mutual prefents, it was hinted that the de¬ 
parture of the (Hangers would be agreeable. See the 
particulars of this celebrated embaffy under the article 
China, vol. iv. p. 468—498. 
When the parliamentary feflion commenced, Decem¬ 
ber 30, the fpeec’h from the throne, after an allufion to 
the difa, pointments and reveffes of the late campaign, 
fignified his majefly’s conviction of the decertify of per- 
fifting in the war, as perfeverance alone could produce a 
fecure peace ; repeated the remark of the violent and 
unnatural fyftem purfued by the republican leaders; and 
deprecated an imitation of the negociatory and f’ubmiflive 
example of Holland, as it Would involve the facrifice of 
our honour and fafety to an enemy Whofe chief animolity 
was avowedly directed againfi tlrefe kingdoms. 
In this memorable feflion, the very Angular loan to the 
emperor, in Aerling money, which drained England of its 
gold* and occafioned the bank to (top, was, after a long 
and acrimohious debate, voted, to enable tlie emperor to 
employ two hundred thoufand men againfi the French. 
Mr. FoX (aid, that the recent defalcation of tlie king pf 
Pruflia, immediately after pocketing the EngliHi gold, 
bught to operate as a caution againfi all advances of money 
to German princes; and he had no confidence in the effi¬ 
cacy of the propoled loan ; but fir William Pulteney en¬ 
tertained a high opinion of its probable utility. Lord 
Grenville had fo much reliance on the promifed exertions 
of his imperial majefly, that he would rather confent to 
fnake a prefent of the defired fum, than lofe the chance 
of expected benefit. (A prefent indeed it proved.) The 
marquis of Lanfdown difapproved all connections with 
German princes; but lord Hawkefbury and other peers 
Were more credulous and confident. The loan amounted 
to 4,600,0001. (hipped to the continent in llerling gold ! 
See Bank of England, vol. ii. p. 676. 
The long tried of Mr. Mailings was now brought to a 
conclufion. After the peers had inveftigated 'former 
modes of proceeding, the lord chancellor difeufled 'the 
Benares charge. He cbnfidered Mr. Haftings as having 
afted againfi Cheyt Sing udder the influence of perlonal 
refCntnrent, (fee p. 760,) and under the unwarrantable 
idea of pollefling an unlimited right of exaftion in times 
of emergency ; and therefore concluded that tlie commons 
had made good that article of accufation. Lord Thurlow 
difptited this opinion, and vindicated the governor-general 
in elaborate detail, but not always on conftitutional prin¬ 
ciples. The earl of Caernarvon ftrongly contended for 
his delinquency ; w hile the earl of Mansfield, the liraf- 
cjuis of Lanfdown, and the hi (hop of Rochefier, main¬ 
tained his innocence, and extolled his fervices. The de- 
cifion of the committee, on different parts of this charge, 
was, however, favourable to Mr. Haftings. 
In the confideration of the other charges, lord Thur- 
lovv was the chief defender of the governor-general. He 
maintained that the refumption of the jaghiers, on the 
part of the nabob, was a meafure of found policy ; that 
the (leps taken by Mr. Mailings to compel that prince to 
execute a fclienle Which, though it was originally pro- 
pofed by himfeif, he was afterwards unwilling to enforce, 
were meritorious rather than criminal; and that his con¬ 
fent to the feizureof the treafures involved no criminality, 
as they were public property. L lie lord chancellor con¬ 
demned the concern of Mr. Mailings in thole meafures, 
and denied that the begums or their eunuchs had been 
guilty of rebellious a< 5 ts. Lord Thurlow entered very 
^83 
fully into the charge refpeCling prefents, controverting 
the flat'ements and conclufions of the managers. The 
chancellor alfo differed from the profecutors with regard 
to the early prefents ; but he agreed with them in the 
fubfequent part of the charge. The urchbifhop of York 
ridiculed this branch of accufation as frivolous, and la¬ 
mented the ill return made for the fplendid fervices of 
IVlr. Haftings. The article of contracts did not appear to 
lord Thurlow in that criminal light in which the mana¬ 
gers viewed it; and the bifliop of Rochefier, though he 
thought there was fomething objectionable in the opium 
contract, did not confider that point, or any other part of 
this Charge, as criminal : but the chancellor contended 
that, in moil of the contracts and agencies, Mr. Haftings 
had been profufe and improvident, and was a]fo guilty of 
dilobedience to the exprefs Orders of the directors. 
When every part of the accufation had been difallowed 
by the committee, the report was reviewed by the lioufe ; 
and, afterfeme debates on the mode of proceeding, it was 
refolved that the queflion fhould be feparutely put on fix- 
teen points. The greatefl number of peers who voted 
the defendant guilty in any one refpeCt, did not exceed 
fix : the votes of innocence, in fome of the charges, were 
tiventy-fix ; in others, twenty-three ; in one, nineteen. 
The chancellor intimated the decifion of the court to Mr. 
Haftings, on the 23d of April, 1795, who received it in 
filence, bowed, and retired from the bar. 
The propriety of this fentence was chiefly difputed by 
the advocates of flriCt juftice. The public iu general, 
entertaining lefs rigid notions, feemed to be pleafed with 
the acquittal of one who had fuffiered fo long an arraign¬ 
ments, yet had conducted the aft urs of his government 
with fpirit and fuccefs, and who, though he had on fome 
occafions difregarded the duties of morality, the dictates 
of virtuous policy, or the fentiments of humanity and 
moderation, had promoted the interefls of his employers, 
fecured their authority, and eftablifhed their dominion. 
When the requifite parliamentary bufinefs was con¬ 
cluded, his majefly, in his fpeech, June 27, 1795, ac¬ 
knowledged the zealous and uniform regard which both 
houfes had fliown to the general interefls of tlie nation, 
and the prudent, firm, and fpirited fupport, which they 
had continued to afford him in the profecution of the war. 
“ It is impoflible, (faid tlie king,) to contemplate the in¬ 
ternal iituationof the enemy with whom we are contend¬ 
ing, without indulging a hope, that the prefent circum- 
ftances of Prance may in their effects luifien the return of 
fuch a ftate of order and regular government as may be 
capable of maintaining the accuftomed relations of amity 
and peace with other powers. The iffne, however, of 
thefe extraordinary tranfaClions, is out of the reach of 
human forefight. 
The third year of the war between England and the 
French republic, commenced with the brilliant fuccefs 
which attended the exertions of a fquadron commanded 
by lord Bridport (formerly fir Alexander Hood), early iu 
1795. That officer attacked the French with an inferior 
force, and would probably have captured or deltn yed the 
greater part of their fleet, if the engagement had been 
more diftant from the land; but it occurred near Port 
l’Orient, and they were confequently favoured by the 
fortifications of file place. After an action of-a!moft four 
hours, three of their (hips (truck, and w'ere iecured in 
fpite of all the dangers of a lee-fliore. This engagement 
was foon followed by another, alike honourable to the 
Britifli navy. Vice-admiral Hotham .purfued to tlie Ge» 
noefe coaft a French fleet, which had failed from Toulon 
with troops intended for the recovery of C'orfica, and had 
captured one of his detached (hips. He, wish great diffi¬ 
culty, brought the enemy to a partial engagement, on the 
14th of March, and took tw'o fail of the line ; but lie 
loft one of the (hips of his van, in confequence of the 
great damage fire had received in the aftion. 
Vice-admiral Cornwallis wascruifing near the Penmarks 
with eight (hips, including frigates, when thirteen French 
a fail 
