XXXVIII. 1796. cessary result of unsuccessful counsels; but George CHAP. III. had, on the maturest reflection, given his confidence to Mr. Pitt, and he saw no reason to revoke it. Though many allies had failed us, yet the heart of Britain was still sound; and Austria was now making such immense exertions, that success once more appeared within our grasp. Mr. Pitt, like his illustrious father, entertained the notion, that a political interference in the concerns of the European commonwealth was the duty of Great Britain; that 'this nation being,' to use his own expression, 'chained to the continent by the bonds of a liberal and enlightened policy,' would thus be more easily trained to that largeness of view, which constitutes national greatness. Entertaining such sentiments, he was prepared to act up to them, as far as he felt himself encouraged by the nation; and its sentiments were fairly put to the trial at the general election General which took place in the summer of this year. With election. very few exceptions, where the influence of private character or family connexions weighed against political considerations, the tide of success ran strongly in favor of the minister; though it must be acknowleged, that he was not indebted solely to the approval of his political plans, for that stanch support which rendered his power so firm: ministerial arts began now to be extensively applied; and selfinterest, the strongest principle in our nature, was successfully enlisted in the service of administration : the number of creations and promotions in the peerage every year1 were alluring baits on the ministerial hook; while fortunes made by loans and contracts attached innumerable monied men to a system which promised them such immense advantages. As the war advanced, patronage gradually expanded itself to such a degree, that a horror of jacobinism was no longer requisite to support the minister that feeling became merged in a still In this year they were unusually large. 1796. CHAP. Stronger principle. On such a state of things the XXXVIII. boroughmongering system being engrafted, and acting both as cause and effect, carried influence to so high a pitch, that disapprobation of a minister began to be represented as opposition to all good government; and a system of terrorism started up in England, which suspended, as it were, a moral guillotine over the character of those who doubted his infallibility. This system florished while the war lasted, and as long as danger from foreign foes hung over the country but when peace came, and the same plan was carried on, though its pressure became more severe, and increasing intelligence opened the eyes of all classes to its abuses, the people demanded redress; and that very funding system, which had been the principal cause of their grievances, enabled them to obtain the remedy which they sought; for a government, which has to support a debt like ours, is obliged to buy tranquillity at any price the nation then threw off the oligarchical yoke; and being desirous of rendering the popular branch of the legislature less dependent on ministerial influence, instituted that plan of reform, the efficacy of which is still under trial. Vigor of policy. Supported, however, by the old machinery, and encouraged by royal favor, Mr. Pitt prepared for a vigorous prosecution of the war: he felt confident in the resources of England, and he relied on the efforts which self-interest would produce in the continental powers: at the same time, he expected that the struggle would be brief, and that a national bankruptcy would soon extinguish the very embers of revolution in France. To confirm the cabinet in this warlike disposition, to rouse the national spirit for renewed exertions, to point out the dishonor and danger of forming treaties with men who exhibited a notorious contempt for good faith, and were stained with blood shed in violation of all honorable principle, Mr. Burke published his celebrated Letters on a Regicide Peace.' His conceptions, however, re XXXVIII. 1796. garding the war differed materially from those of the CHAP. minister: he thought that it would not only be violent, but protracted; that it was essential to success to disclaim all partition of the soil of France, to distinguish between the government and the nation, and to declare against the jacobin faction, as distinct from the people; that France ought to be attacked on her own territory, and in the first instance by a British army sent to La Vendée; that it was impolitic to employ troops and fleets in reducing West Indian islands, while the French armies were suffered to overrun the continent; and that England, possessing an actual force of near 300,000 men, with an invincible navy of 500 ships of war, might make an irresistible impression on any part of the French territory. This was the last scintillation of that genius, which Death of shed so great a splendor on its own times, and is Mr. Burke. destined to send down to posterity the clearest views of political philosophy that ever flowed from a human pen. A severe calamity had lately overtaken Mr. Burke in the death of his only son, of whose talents and virtues he had formed the highest expectations, and for whose advancement he had vacated his own seat in parliament: nor is it unreasonable to suppose that the troubles which he saw imminent over his country contributed to that prostration of frame which soon followed, and in the next year brought him to the grave. It is evident, that this great man looked into the future with a very discerning eye, and with that capacity to point out consequences, which was one of the greatest of his many high qualities in fact, almost all the errors of the war proceeded from a neglect of his views; as all its successful operations, toward the close of it, arose from their adoption. It was only when England directed her efforts against the French territory; threw a powerful body of troops on the continent; made her militia the nursery of her army; and, instead of employing her fleets on expeditions against XXXVIII. 1796. CHAP. sugar islands, sent them to sustain powerful invasions;—that she rose triumphant over her enemy: it was only when the allies followed this example, determining to engage with France on her own soil, disclaiming all partition, and announcing that the war was not against the nation, but against the tyranny, perfidy, ambition of its government;-that they discovered the right road which conducted them to its capital. CHAP. XXXIX. 1796. CHAPTER XXXIX. GEORGE III. (CONTINUED.)-1796. 1 State of military affairs-Reduction of La Vendée-Campaign under Moreau and Jourdan in Germany against the archduke Charles-Italian campaign of Napoleon, including the surrender of Corsica, and isle of Elba-War with Spain, &c.Dutch attempt to retake the Cape of Good Hope frustrated -French expedition to the coast of Ireland-Capture of Sir Sidney Smith and captain Wright-Action of captain Trollope in the Glatton-Success of the French in Newfoundland-Quarrel between the French and American governments-Financial state of France, and distress consequent on it-Reduction of the national debt-Vain attempts of the French government against British commerce-Death of the empress of Russia and the king of Sardinia-Meeting of parliament, &c.-Discussion respecting peace-Mr. Pitt's plans for increasing the military power of the country-Land and sea forces-Supplies and loans, &c.-Vote of censure against the minister on account of German subsidy, rejected -Mission of lord Malmesbury to Paris-Negotiation for peace fails-British manifesto-Discussion of it in parliament. affairs THE campaign of this year, when compared with Military those that preceded it, appears like a war of giants; on the conso vast were its plans, so numerous the forces en- tinent. gaged, and so tremendous the issue of its conflicts. France had three objects in contemplation: an invasion of Germany; another of Italy; and the subjugation of La Vendée, which, by its connexion with ENG. IV. S |