1795 PITT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. under close blockade; the important fortress of Mannheim was cap- The Treaty of Basle. Accordingly, after some indirect overtures, conferences were opened at Basle, in January, 1795, which terminated in a treaty in the succeeding April, by which Prussia not only withdrew from the Coalition, but conceded to France the undisturbed enjoyment of the provinces on the left bank of the Rhine, on the secret understanding that an equivalent for them was to be provided elsewhere, out of conquests to be made by the Republic. The latter engaged to withdraw its troops from beyond the Rhine, and to treat as friends those states of the Empire in which Prussia took an interest. The more important secret articles besides that already mentioned, were, that Prussia should engage in no hostile enterprise against Holland, or any other country occupied by French troops; while the French undertook to confine their conquests in Germany within a certain limit.* By signing this treaty, the King of Prussia abandoned the interests of his brother-in-law, the Prince of Orange, sacrificed Holland, laid open the Empire to French invasion, and thus contributed to the overthrow of the ancient German constitution. 55. The Second and Third Partitions of Poland.-While Austria was bargaining for loans and subsidies with England, and leaving the Duke of York to bear the brunt of the French attacks in the Netherlands, she marched an army into Poland, where Prussia was already employing the troops for whose assistance in the French war she was also receiving pay from England. In 1791 a great change had been effected in the government of Poland. A new Constitution had been established which provided for an hereditary Crown, a legislature consisting of two Houses, equality of civil rights, and a complete toleration of all religions. The partisans of the old anarchy instantly took arms, and invoked the aid of the despotic Empress of Russia, who sent an army into Poland to destroy the new liberties of the country. On this, the King of Poland appealed to his ally, the King of Prussia, to send him that aid which Prussia had agreed by treaty to render. But the Court of Berlin, on the plea that the change in the Government had cancelled the obligation, not only refused that aid, but joined Russia in making a second partition of the country in 1793. The national spirit of independence, roused by Prince Poniatowski and Kosciusko, was fiercely excited by this outrageous pro * Alison's History of Europe, Chapter 18, par. 1. CHAP. VII. ceeding; the national standard was raised at Cracow (March, 1794) and the populace of Warsaw succeeded in defeating and expelling the Russian garrison of the capital. For two months, Kosciusko effectually covered Warsaw from the combined forces of the Russians and Prussians; but the Russians under Suwarroff poured into the country in such numbers, while the Austrians also interfered, that the native valour of the patriots was altogether overcome, and the insurrection received its death blow at the fatal battle of Maczieiowicz (10th Oct. 1794),where Kosciusko was wounded and taken prisoner. Warsaw was stormed by Suwarroff on the 4th of November, and 20,000 of the inhabitants put to the sword; the King was sent prisoner to Russia, and the final partition of the monarchy followed. The remains of the patriot bands found an asylum in the French armies, and contributed by their bravery to many a defeat of the enemies of their unhappy country. Capture and loss of Corsica. 56. Howe's Naval Victory of the First of June, 1794.-The other military operations of the year in which England was engaged require only a brief notice. In the summer Corsica was taken by Admiral Lord Hood and annexed to the British Crown; but in the following year the inhabitants revolted and the island was restored to France. An expedition was sent to the West Indies, where Martinique, St. Lucie, and Guadaloupe were easily taken; but an attempt against the large island of St. Domingo failed. At sea, England maintained her ancient reputation. By great exertions, the French had fitted out 26 ships of the line at Brest, and being extremely anxious to secure the arrival of a large fleet laden with provisions from America, they ordered Admiral Villaret Joyeuse to put to sea. On the 20th of May, the Republicans set sail; and on the 28th, Lord Howe, who had kept a sharp look out, hove in sight with the Channel Fleet, consisting of an equal number of ships, but carrying less metal than the enemy. Next day a partial engagement took place; but the fleets separated without any decisive results. A fog prevented them coming again in contact, for two days, but on the 1st of June, the French fleet was discovered a few miles from the British, drawn up in order of battle. Lord Howe, finding himself to windward of the enemy, instantly bore down in an oblique direction upon the enemy's line, with the intention of breaking it. This famous manoeuvre, which Rodney had first successfully carried into execution, was accomplished, after an hour's hard fighting, when the French admiral, who had been engaged 1793-94 with Hood's own ship, the Queen Charlotte, drew off, leaving half his dismasted fleet behind him. Eighteen sail of the line, much crippled, made their escape to the French coast; six prizes were taken into English ports; a seventh sunk on her passage; and one French ship went down during the engagement, with The victory nearly all her crew. This victory, although it was greatly was fruitless. extolled as one of the most glorious achievements of the British arms, was entirely fruitless, and the American convoy valued at five millions sterling, which it was of so much importance to intercept, arrived safely in Brest, twelve days afterwards.* Causes of the 57. The Commercial Distress of 1793.-Notwithstanding the public joy at the glorious day of June, an impatience for peace became manifest throughout every class of society. Early in the preceding year, there had appeared many symptoms of commercial distress, which had been hastily ascribed to the war, but which were more justly due to the rapid development of sources of prosperity hitherto imperfectly worked, or altogether unknown. Since the American war, agriculture, commerce and trade had made great progress; and the new processes, invented by the ingenuity of the Lancashire mechanics had given a sudden and prodigious impulse to domestic manufactures. distress. The demand for capital thus became urgent, and the system of paper credit, which had lately been developed, afforded new and dangerous facilities of accommodation. Banks sprang up in every part of the country, and these establishments freely issued their paper, mostly without adequate capital, and often without any capital whatever. The first check in his rash career produced a convulsion. Bullion had become scarce; exchanges had shown an unfavourable balance against this country; the Bank of England contracted its issues; some of the great houses failed, and a hundred banks stopped payment. A general panic then ensued, and the stability of trade and credit was in imminent danger. In this emergency, Pitt promptly acceded to the demands of the merchants for Pitt issues help, by issuing Exchequer Bills, to the extent of five Bills and millions, upon the deposit of mercantile securities. The revives House of Commons sanctioned this arrangement (June, credit. 1793), and commercial credit revived. Less than four millions of the bills were taken up; the greater part of this was Alison's Europe, Chap. XVI., par. 17-24; Massey, III., 405-407. Exchequer commercial CHAP. VII, repaid within the time allowed, and no loss whatever was sustained by the public.* 58. Heavy Taxation induces a Desire for Peace. - The pressure of taxation now inspired the desire for peace, the war having already added more than twenty millions to the permanent debt. The conduct of the European Powers, moreover, disgusted the nation, while the hopelessness of the crusade against French democracy, had at length entered the minds of the country gentlemen. The Ministers resolve to continue the war. Nevertheless, when Parliament opened on the 30th of December, 1794, the Royal Speech insisted upon the necessity of a vigorous prosecution of the war, as the resources of the enemy were nearly exhausted. Wilberforce, guided by his religious fervour, moved an amendment to the Address recommending peace; he was opposed by Windham in a violent and warlike speech; many of the Tory gentlemen spoke against the Government; and Pitt, thus finding his policy assailed by those upon whom he depended for support, replied in an imperious tone which reminded the older members of the style and manner of Chatham, when he used to stand up and defy opposition. A spirited speech from Fox followed, and in the end, the Address was carried by a majority of three to one; but the minority was far larger than on any division since the commencement of the war, and included some of the sturdiest supporters of the Ministry. of the Oppo This resistance did not end here. The question as to the particular form of Government which the Ministry would Proceedings recognise and negotiate peace with, had often been sition. debated. Grey now moved that the form of Government should constitute no precedent condition of peace, and though this motion was lost, the minority increased, and when the question was again brought up by Wilberforce, Pitt moved the order of the day, and thus prevented the House expressing any opinion. A loan of eighteen millions was then authorised, and in addition to this, the Parliament guaranteed the interest on an Austrian loan of four millions, which was then being negotiated in the Marriage of English market. English market. Among the remaining proceedings of this session were, an act for continuing the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; the acquittal of Warren Hastings, and a new settlement of the affairs of the Prince of Wales, on his marriage with the Princess Caroline of Brunswick (8 April, 1795)† 59. Operations during the Year 1795.-The campaigns of 1794-5 + Massey, III., 407-429. the Prince of Wales with the Princess Caroline. * Massey, III., 357-358. 1795 PITT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. to the French. The conquest frontiers ex and the Alps. were altogether favourable of Holland was, as we have seen, completed, and the country, to all intents and purposes, incorporated with the French French Republic. The boundaries of the latter had been tended to extended to the Rhine, from Basle to the sea; Prussia the Rhine made peace early in the year, and Spain followed soon after, while the Sardinians were driven across the Alps, which now became the boundary of the victorious Republic on the south-east. The only allies, therefore, who promised to be of any assistance to England, were the Emperor, who was already being subsidised, and the Czarina, who undertook to furnish 12,000 troops in exchange for the service of 12 ships of the line. But this alliance was of little value, since Catherine was fully occupied in providing for the military occupation of the vast territory, which, in conjunction with Frederick of Prussia, she had recently taken from the Poles. the Quiberon Under these circumstances, England was not in a condition to engage in any extensive military enterprise, and the only expedition which she did send out, terminated in disaster and confusion. This was the landing of a considerable body of Defeat of French emigrants, accompanied by a few English troops, Expedition. at Quiberon (27th June, 1795), for the purpose of assisting a projected insurrection of the Chouan Royalists in Brittany. But the whole affair was so wretchedly planned, and there was much discord among the emigrants themselves, that they were easily overcome by General Hoche, one of the bravest and most Another expedition sent out to skilful of the Republican Generals. assist Charette, who had revived the insurrection in La Vendée, failed to render any service whatever to the Royalists. SO con and West The successes of the British navy did not compensate for these disasters, so far as their effect on the fortunes of the war was cerned. The Dutch having allied themselves with the enemy, hostilities were consequently carried on against them; their colonics of Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo in the Dutch losses West Indies were captured; and in the East they also lost in the East the greater part of the island of Ceylon, with the Malaccas, Indies. and all their settlements on the southern continent of India. Their valuable settlement of the Cape of Good Hope also surrendered; and the whole of the squadron sent out by them in the following year, for its recapture, fell into the The only losses to set off hands of Admiral Elphinstone. against these achievements were the captures of St. Lucie The Cape of and St. Vincent by the French.* * Massey, IV., 1-14; Alison's Europe, chapter XVIII. Good Hope taken. |