spiracy had been carried on against the constitution. but his amendment was rejected, and the house concurred in the address as sent down by the lords.

powers of the coalition, who were too poor to maintain | the address which expressed the conviction that a conthe expenses of the war without English money. But every motion on these subjects was carried by a large majority. On the other hand, every motion tending to put an end to the war was negatived by overwhelming numbers. Thus, when, on the 30th of May, the Duke of Bedford moved a series of resolutions to this end, in AGITATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. the lords, and Fox in the commons, the former was defeated by one hundred and thirteen against twelve, and the latter, by two hundred and eight against fifty-five. By this time opposition had still further reverses on the theatre of war to urge against its continuance, but these arguments were rendered futile by the intelligence which came, at the same time, of the augmented and still augmenting atrocities in France, which encouraged members of parliament to believe that such a system could not sustain itself for any length of time. And this feeling was prevalent among the people. On hearing of the reverses, opposition, and men of the same principles in private life, made great efforts to get up popular petitions for a peace; but the majority of the people had conceived a horror of the French republicans, and, except among some political clubs, no progress was made in this business; and the petitions got up among such clubs were, of course, unheeded. SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. On the 12th of May a royal message was delivered, referring to the seditious practices of democratic societies, and intimating the necessity of taking measures for baffling their dangerous designs. The message stated that seditious practices had been carried on by societies in London in correspondence with other societies, for the purpose of assembling a convention to represent the people, in defiance of and in opposition to parliament, and on principles subversive of our constitution, and calculated to introduce anarchy similar to that in France; that the papers of these societies had been seized, and would be laid before parliament; and that his majesty recommended them carefully to examine these papers, and to adopt such measures as might appear necessary. These papers were produced on the next day, and Pitt moved an address of thanks to the king, and proposed that the papers should be referred to a committee of secrecy, consisting of twenty-one persons, who should be chosen by ballot. agreed to, and on the 16th of May Pitt produced the report of this committee of secrecy. This report did not reveal anything very mysterious, for it merely contained the report of the two London societies from the year 1791, most of which had been already published, by the societies themselves, in the public papers. Yet Pitt, on the strength of this report, demanded the immediate suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, as necessary to the salvation of the country. In this demand he was supported by Burke, who said that it was the best means of preventing the vast and imminent dangers with which we were menaced; and by Windham, who observed that if these evils could not be averted by the laws in being, other laws, more stringent, must be framed. The bill was carried, through all its stages, by overwhelming majorities, aud it also passed the lords, though not without a strong protest from the Duke of Bedford, and the Earls Stanhope, Lauderdale, and Albemarle. An address was moved in the upper house, on the 13th of June, by Lord Grenville, to assure the king of their lordships' loyalty and determination to punish the participators in the conspiracy which had been laid before them, and to invest his majesty, if needful, with additional power for the suppression of attempts against government. This was warmly opposed by Lord Lauderdale; but the address was carried, and sent to the commons for their approval. Fox-after endeavouring to show that there was no ground for apprehension; that though seditious language might have been uttered, it would be imprudent to notice it ;-moved to omit that part of

This was

Although government had scarcely so much cause of alarm at the movements of political bodies as it exhibited, yet that there was some cause for fear there can be no reasonable doubt. This is manifest from the state trials which occurred at this period. One of the first of these trials took place at the Lancaster spring assizes. Mr. Thomas Walker, of Manchester, a strenuous advocate for parliamentary reform, at whose house meetings for political purposes were occasionally held, was indicted, with nine other persons, for conspiracy to overturn the constitution by arms, and to assist the French in case of an invasion. The principal evidence adduced was a person of the name of Dunn ; but his testimony was so contradictory that the prosecution was abandoned, and Dunn was committed to prison to take his trial for perjury. Soon after this a rumour was raised of a design to assassinate the king, and some persons were arrested and committed for trial; but they were soon after liberated, and the story fell into contempt under the popular designation of the "Pop-gun Plot;" it being averred that the king's death was to be encompassed by shooting him with an instrument resembling a walking-stick. More important proceedings subsequently took place in the SessionsHouse at Clerkenwell. At this time the London Corresponding Society counted more than 30,000 members in its association, and it fully justified its title by entering into correspondence with every seditious club in the kingdom. According to a Jacobinical expression, it soon affiliated itself with the Constitutional Society; their respective secretaries -Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker, and Daniel Adams, an under-clerk— making known to the world the results of their delibe. rations, signed and sanctioned by their names and authorities. Hardy's club, that of the London Corresponding Society, however, exercised a species of metroplitan jurisdiction over all By means of the handbills and pamphlets which this club circulated, and by means of its lecturers and the meetings it concocted, a union of all the clubs was formed; and this union finally arrived at a complete organization, with a central board in London, a division into provinces and districts, and a list of members, approaching to half a million, in correspondence or direct connexion. Government thought it high time now to interfere; and, suspecting the machinations of the ring-leaders, they adopted the usual policy under such circumstances, of employing spies to become members, in order to betray the secrets with which they may be entrusted. The morality of such a practice may be questioned; but policy, and not morality, is too frequently the doctrine of even the best-regulated states. The scheme, however, succeeded. In consequence of the discoveries of these spies, Hardy, Adams, Martin, an attorney, Loveit, a hair-dresser, the Rev. Jeremiah Joyce, preceptor to Lord Mahon, John Thelwall, the political lecturer, John Horne Tooke, the philologist, Thomas Holcroft, the dramatist, Steward Kydd, a barrister, with several others, were all arraigned at the Old Bailey. The papers of Hardy and Adams had been seized, and an indictment was made out, which contained no less than nine overt acts of high-treason, all resolving themselves into the general charge, that the prisoners conspired to summon delegates to a national convention, with a view to subvert the govern ment, to levy war against the existing authorities of the country, and to depose the king. The evidence adduced, however, did not bear out this strong indict ment. Hardy, Horne Tooke, and Thelwall were tried and acquitted; and then the crown lawyers abandoned

all the other prosecutions, and those who had been indicted were liberated.

liament would be satisfactory; but opposition contended that Pitt ought to have moved for a bill of indemnity; and he was charged with having violated the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement. Mr. Grey moved, as a resolution of the house, that to employ foreigners in any situation of military trust, or to bring foreig troops into the kingdom, without the consent of parliament first had and obtained, is contrary to law. This motion, however, was negatived; and propositions made in both houses, at a subsequent date, for a bill of indemnity, met with no better success, ministers contending that it would be absurd to indemnify measures which were in themselves both justifiable and constitutional.

THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.

In the course of this session, a bill, brought forward by Wilberforce and supported by Pitt, for the abolition of that branch of the slave-trade by which we had supplied the islands, was passed by the commons, de spite the strenuous opposition of the West Indian interest. It was, however, thrown out in the house of lords, and a motion for referring to a committee the further hearing of evidence concerning the slave-trade was likewise negatived.

MOTION ON BEHALF OF LA FAYETTE.

In the mean time some trials had taken place in Scotland which resulted in a different manner to those which had occurred in the Old Bailey. Thomas Muir, a Scotch barrister, and the Rev. Fysche Palmer, a Unitarian preacher at Dundee, had been tried for sedition, convicted, and sentenced to transportation. This excited considerable alarm among their friends and associates in England, and attracted the attention of some members of parliament. Early in the session Mr. Adams moved, in the house of commons, for leave to bring in a bill for making some important alterations in the criminal law of Scotland; and this being refused, he gave notice that he would bring forward a motion for the relief of Muir and Palmer, in another form. In the meantime Sheridan presented a petition from Palmer, representing that he conceived the sentence passed upon him by the high-court of justiciary, from which there was no appeal, to be unjust. Dundas startled those who were about to plead for the prisoners, by intimating that the sentence was already executed, and that the warrant for the transportation of Palmer was both signed and issued. Nevertheless Pitt found himself compelled to allow the reception of the petition. But petitions on the table of the house of commons are not always successful in their prayer. On the 10th of March Mr. Adams moved for a copy of the record to be laid before the house, upon the ground of which he meant to question the legality of the sentence. He undertook to prove that, by the law of Scotland, the crime imputed to them, of "lease-making," was only subject to fine, imprisonment, or banishment, and not to transportation; and that the acts at-situation of La Fayette and his companions excited the tributed to Muir and Palmer did not even amount to that crime. Adams supported his legal positions with extensive knowledge, both judicial and historical; endeavouring to establish them by statute, analogy, and precedent, as well as by civil and political reasons. He showed that the acts, cases, and decisions which he brought forward were not detached and isolated, but all resulting from the same spirit and principles, established in the best times and by the highest authorities. He also contended that transportation was not a part of the Scottish law before the union, and that since the union no act had been passed allowing Scotch courts to transport in cases of sedition. Finally, he forcibly stated the evils, moral and political, which must result from a perversion of the law. The Scottish court and its sentence were defended by the lord-advocate, who had officially acted against Muir and Palmer, and by Pitt and Windham, while Fox supported Mr. Adams. The lord-advocate contended that the Scotch laws were better than the English for the punishment of libels and the suppression of seditious practices; and the majority of the house seemed to agree with him, for the motion was negatived by one hundred and seventyone against thirty-two. Motions made in favour of the two convicts in the upper house, by Earls Lauderdale 2nd Stanhope, were not more successful; and the lordchancellor afterwards carried a resolution that "there were no grounds for interfering with any of the criminal courts as administered under the constitution, and by which the rights, liberties, and properties of all ranks of subjects were protected."

INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN TROOPS.

On the 27th of March a message from his majesty informed the house of commons that a body of Hessians was placed in temporary winter-quarters at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, with a view to co-ope rate with the royalists in Brittany and the neighbouring districts. As similar cases had occurred at different periods, and as the cause and necessity of such a measure were obvious, it was concluded by government that the usual communication of the fact to par

On the 17th of March General Fitzpatrick moved for an addresss to his majesty, beseeching him to intercede with the King of Prussia for the release of La Fayette, who was confined in one of his prisons. The sympathy of many persons; but there were others who had no fellow-feeling for them. Burke said, that La Fayette, instead of being termed an “illustrious exile," was then, and ought always to be, an outcast of the world; who, having no talents to guide or influence the storm which he had laboured to raise, fled like a coward from the bloodshed and massacre in which he had involved so many thousands of unoffending persons and families. Pitt denied that La Fayette's conduct had ever been friendly to the genuine cause of liberty; and affirmed that the interference required would be setting up ourselves as guardians of the consciences of foreign potentates. The motion was negatived by a large majority.

MOTION FOR INQUIRY INTO THE RECENT
FAILURES OF OUR ARMIES.

cess.

As all the efforts of opposition to procure a termination of the war, or a dissolution of alliances with foreign potentates, had failed, they now proceeded to inquire how far the objects proposed had been obtained, and what was the probability of ultimate sucAfter reviewing the measures and events of the last campaign, in a speech of considerable ability, Major Maitlaud moved for a committee to inquire into the causes which led to the failure of the army under the Duke of York, and to the evacuation of Toulon. In reply it was urged, that though the possession of Dunkirk would have been a valuable acquisition, its conquest was impracticable, from the enormous efforts of the French; and that the same cause occasioned the evacuation of Toulon. On a general view of the campaign it was stated that the British arms had acquired great glory; and the house seemed to be of this opinion, for the motion was negatived by a great majority.

THE TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS, On the 5th of March, Burke moved for a committee to inspect the journals of the lords relative to the proceedings of the trial of Warren Hastings; and to report the facts and observations on them to the house. Leave being given, he diligently set to work, and the

| pictures on it appearing in great abundance. very reverse of all this was the fact. Instead of chal lenging certain death and glorying in their fate, the crew of the ship in question, the "Vengeur," who had fought bravely, substituted the British union-jack for the republican ensign, and spread themselves over the sides and rigging of the ship, stretching out their hands to their enemies, and imploring assistance. Some of them were saved; but the crowds which attempted to spring into each boat threatening those who came to their assistance, as well as themselves. with destruction, checked the compassionate zeal of their conquerors, and compelled them to leave the poor wretches to their fate. Yet there were two exceptions: two French officers betrayed no anxiety to avail themselves of any means of safety, but continued walking up and down the stern-gallery, apparently engaged in conversation, until the ship, having admitted the water into her ports, was engulfed.

five months Added to these causes of complaint there were others given to the United States by the occupation of some ceded forts on the frontiers of Canada, and by a conference which the governor, Lord Dorchester, held with some Indian tribes. By way of retaliation, the American government laid an embargo of thirty days on the British shipping in their ports, and appointed Mr. Jay, its minister, to compose the difference between the two countries. Mr. Jay delivered a memorial on the subject, and Pitt having tendered a conciliatory answer, and both parties being inclined to peace, the dispute was, for the time being, compromised. But on a future day it was productive of serious effects.

MILITARY OPERATIONS ON THE

CONTINENT.

ror of Austria was equally slow in providing contingencies: he recommended the Germanic confederation to oppose the republic by a levy en masse; but he neglected to set them an example.

The campaign did not open under better auspices in the Netherlands. Austrians, English, Dutch, and Hanoverians were to fight together there; but a great number of the Dutch were inclined to democracy, and the Duke of York quarrelled with the Austrian com. manders, and refused to serve under General Clairfait. At a general council of war held at Ath, it was pro posed that the Prince of Saxe Cobourg should continue at the head of the grand imperial army, and that General Clairfait should command the auxiliary forces, the Duke of York acting under his orders. This his royal highness refused with disdain; and the dispute was only settled by the determination that the emperor should take the field in person, and that the supreme command should be vested in him. This ill-timed quarrel has been generally attributed to the pride, petulance, and jealousy of rank of the Duke of York. It would appear, however, that the young prince had nobler reasons for objecting to the supreme command of General Clairfait; he having evinced, on several occasions, his indifference to the common interests of the coalition, and even a readiness to sacrifice that interest to the views of his own government. the quarrel was settled it was agreed that the campaign should be opened with vigour on the French frontier; that the heads of the columns should be again turned towards Paris; that the army of the King of Prussia should move from the Rhine by the valley of the Moselle, traverse Luxembourg, and join the allies on the Sambre, or co-operate with them on their advance; and that England should send 10,000 men, under Lord Moira, to the coast of Brittany, in order to assist the Vendeans, and to advance with them from the west towards Paris. It was hoped also that the Spaniards might advance from the Pyrenees, and that the King of Sardinia might repossess himself of Savoy, and once more open the road to Lyons.

When

While the English were in general victorious on the sea during this year, on land, they, in common with their allies, were generally unsuccessful. This arose from two causes: from the division of sentiment which existed among the officers of the coalition, and from the continued extraordinary efforts of the French republicans. Resolved to extend their sway over the neighbouring countries, to enlarge their own boundaries, and to obtain by plunder the means of supporting their gigantic efforts, at the close of the year 1793 the French had nearly one million armed men in the field, three hundred thousand of whom were on the northern frontier of the republic. To oppose these masses, the allies had not more than 140,000 men. And what rendered the immense force of the French particularly formidable, was the ability, as well as the unanimity, with which it was managed, and the military talent which was rising up among its ranks. On the other hand, the allies, composed of different nations, were commanded by leaders who were jealous of each other, and were far from acting with that cordial co-operation which was necessary, not merely to ensure success, but to prevent defeat. The rivalry of Austria and Prussia, and the jealousy which each had conceived of the other, became so visible, that, early in January, the Duke of Brunswick addressed a letter to the king of Prussia, in which he announced the resignation of his command; stating, as his motive, the unhappy experience that want of connexion, distrust, and cabal had disconcerted the measures adopted during the two last campaigns. After alluding to the unanimity which existed among the French republicans, he said: "If, instead of co-operating with similar principles, each army acts separately and without concert with the others, without fixed plans and without concord, the consequences to be expected are such as have been seen at Dunkirk, at Maubeuge, at the capture of Lyons, at the destruction of Toulon, and at the siege of Landau." He added, in conclusion:-" The same causes which divided the allied powers divide them still; the movements of the armies will again suffer as they have suffered; they will experience delay and embarrassment, and these will prove the source of a train of misfortunes the consequences of which are in-verians, were stationed at Tournay; but here the recalculable." The Duke was succeeded in command of the Prussian army by Field Marshal Mollendorf; but, in the month of March, a proclamation announced that the King of Prussia had seceded from the coalition. But this was only a ruse on the part of his Prussian majesty he wanted English money, and when he had extracted the subsidy from Great Britain, he again joined his allies. Great part of this subsidy, however, was diverted from its original purpose, to forward designs on Poland, to secure the territories which had been allotted to the King of Prussia in the last partition, and to set up a pretension to more. His conduct on this occasion has been well pronounced loose and spiritless; for the troops which he furnished fell far short of the stipulated number, and yet he pocketed more than two millions of English money. The Empe

His imperial majesty arrived at Brussels early in April; and after reviewing the whole army on the heights above Cateau, it marched in eight columns to invest Landrecies. As the allies were already in possession, on the same frontier, of Valenciennes, Condé, and Quesnoy, this place was not worth the trouble and time it cost to take it. The fortress fell, after a short siege, into the hands of the Prince of Saxe Cobourg; but while the allies were engaged here, Pichegru had penetrated into West Flanders, where General Clairfait was stationed with a division of the imperial army, and had captured Courtrai and Menin. Jourdan, another republican general also, who was already stationed in the country of Luxembourg, had, in the meantime, increased his army to a prodigious extent; after which he fell upon the Austrian general Beaulieu, who attempted to check his progress, and drove him from his lines with great loss. After his conquest of Courtrai and Menin, Pichegru wheeled round upon the Duke of York, who with about 30.000 men, English and Hano

publican general was signally defeated. Yet, on the next day, Pichegru attacked Clairfait, who was advancing to retake Courtrai, and compelled him to retreat to Flanders. A few days after this Pichegru threw his right wing under Kleber and Marceau, across tho Sambre, to attack the Austrian general Kaunitz; but he was defeated with the loss of 4,000 men.

These victories revived the spirits of the allies, and, without waiting for the Prussians, who were not inclined to move, in a grand council of war, they determined to envelope the left, or chief and victorious part of the French army on the Maine, by moving upon it in five attacking columns, from the various points they occupied. The success of these movements depended upon the celerity and good understanding among the commanders; and in these requisites they were sadly