XXI. 1796. Overture ral peace made by Great Bri tain. CHAP. Britain who contended against the war, as both unnecessary and impolitic, Mr Pitt, in the close of this year, made overtures for a general peace to the for a gene- French government. Lord Malmesbury was despatched to Paris to open the negotiations; but it is probable that no great hopes of their success were entertained, as nearly at the same time an alliance was concluded with Russia, for the aid of 60,000 1 Jom. ix. auxiliary troops to the Austrian forces.' The British envoy arrived at Paris on the 22d October, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants, and proposals of peace were immediately made by the English governsuccessful. ment. These were, the recognition of the Republic by the British government, and the restitution of all 246. Which proves un * Ann. Reg. 1796, 147. State Papers. act would at once have justified any measures of retaliation on the part of the British government; but so earnest was their desire to maintain peace, that they repeatedly endeavoured to ascertain when the Spanish right to the ceded territory was to terminate, in order that their efforts might be directed against the French alone. Some irregularities in the course of so long and vast a contest may have been committed by the British cruisers in the exercise of the undoubted right of search enjoyed by every belligerent state; but to the readiness of the British government to grant redress in every case where an injury has been committed, even Spain herself can bear testimony. The complaint regarding the alleged decree against the Spanish ambassador, is, if possible, still more frivolous, that being nothing more than a simple citation to answer for a debt demanded, the mistaken act of an individual who was immediately. disavowed and prosecuted by the government, and made repeated but vain submissive applications to the Spanish ambassador for forgiveness, such as in all former cases had been deemed satisfactory. "It will be plain to posterity, it is now notorious to Europe, that neither to the genuine wishes, nor even the mistaken policy of Spain, is her present conduct to be attributed; that not from enmity towards Great Britain, not from any resentment of past, or apprehension of future injuries, but from a blind subservience to the views of his Majesty's enemies; from the dominion usurped over her councils and actions by her new allies, she has been compelled to act in a quarrel, and for interests, not her own; to take up arms against one of those powers in whose cause she had professed to feel the strongest interest, and to menace with hostility another, against whom no cause of complaint is pretended, but an honourable adherence to its engagements." "12 XXI. 1796. 246. 482. Ann. Reg. 1796, State Pa pers, 147, iv. 85, 86. the colonies to France and Holland which had been CHAP. conquered since the commencement of the war. In return for these concessions, they insisted that the French should restore the Low Countries to the Emperor, Holland to the Stadtholder, and evacuate all their conquests in Italy, but they were to retain Luxembourg, Namur, Nice, and Savoy.' It was hardly 'Jon. ix. to be expected that the Republican government, en- Th. viii. gaged in so dazzling a career of victory, and so entirely dependent on popular favour, would consent 190, and to these terms, or that they could have maintained their place at the head of affairs, if they had submit. 177. Hard. ted to such reasonable propositions; and, accordingly, after the negotiations had been continued for two months, they were abruptly broken off, by the Directory ordering Lord Malmesbury to quit Paris in twenty-four hours, and he immediately returned to his own country. But it must ever be a matter of 27th Dec. pride to the British historian, that the power which 2 Jom. ix. had been uniformly victorious on its own element 149. Ann. should have offered to treat on terms of equality with 191, and that from which it had so little to dread, and that England, to procure favourable terms for her allies, 177. Hard. was willing to have abandoned all her own acquisi- 110. tions. 1796. Reg. 1796, State Pa pers, 176, iv. 106, While these negotiations were yet pending, a measure was undertaken by the French government, which placed England in the utmost peril, and from which she was saved rather by the winds of heaven than any exertions of her own. It was the extravagant expectations they had formed of success from this operation, which led to the long delay and final Hard. iv. rupture of the negotiation." 107. Alarming state of Ire Ireland, long the victim of oppressive government, and now of popular passion, was at this period land. XXI. 1796. CHAP. in a state of unusual excitation. The successful issue of the French Revolution had stimulated the numerous needy and ardent characters in that distracted nation to project a similar revolt against the authority of England, and above 200,000 men, in all parts of the country, were engaged in a vast conspiracy for overturning the established government, and erecting a republic, after the model of France, in its stead. Overlooking the grinding misery which the convulsions of the Republic had occasioned to its inhabitants, without considering how an insular power, detached from the continent, was to maintain itself against the naval forces of England, the patriots of Ireland rushed blindly into the project, with that ardent but inconsiderate zeal for which the people of that generous country have always been distinguished. The malecontents were enrolled under generals, colonels, and officers, in all the counties, arms were secretly provided, and nothing was wanting but the arrival of the French troops to proclaim the insurrection in every part of the country. With such secrecy were the preparations made, that the British government had but an imperfect account of their danger, while the French Directory, accurately informed by their emissaries of what was going forward, were fully prepared to turn it to the i. 275, 300. best account.1 1 Hard. ii. 187, 189. Th. viii: 352, 486. Moore's Fitz-Gerald, 1米 * The intentions of the Irish revolutionists, and the length to which they had in secret carried their preparations for the formation of an Hibernian Republic, will be best understood from the following passages, in a memorial presented by Wolfe Tone, one of their principal leaders, to the French Directory. "The Catholics of Ireland are 3,150,000, all trained from their infancy in an hereditary hatred and abhorrence of the English name. For these five years they have fixed their eyes most earnestly on France, whom they look upon, with great justice, as fighting their battles, as well XXI. Hoche, at the head of 100,000 men, on the shores CHAP. of the ocean, in La Vendée and Britanny, burned as those of all mankind who are oppressed. Of this class, I will stake my head, there are 500,000 men who would fly to the standard of the Republic, if they saw it once displayed in the cause of liberty and their country. "The Republic may also rely with confidence on the support of the Dissenters, actuated by reason and reflection, as well as the Catholics, impelled by misery, and inflamed by detestation of the English name. In the year 1791, the Dissenters of Belfast first formed the club of United Irishmen, so called, because in that club, for the first time, Dissenters and Catholics were seen together in harmony and union. Corresponding clubs were rapidly formed, the object of which was to subvert the tyranny of England, establish the independence of Ireland, and frame a free republic on the broad basis of liberty and equality. These clubs were rapidly filled and extended in June last over two-thirds of that province. Their members are all bound by an oath of secrecy, and could, I have not the smallest doubt, on a proper occasion, raise the entire force of the province of Ulster, the most populous, warlike, and best informed in the nation. "The Catholics also have an organization commencing about the same time with the clubs last mentioned, but composed of Catholics only. Until within these few months this organization baffled the utmost vigilance of the Irish government; unsuccessfully applied to discover its principles, and to this hour they are, I believe, unapprized of its extent. The fact is, that in June last, it embraced the whole peasantry of the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, and Connaught, three-fourths of the nation, and I have little doubt that it has since extended into Munster, the remaining province. These men, who are called defenders, are completely organized on a military plan, divided according to their respective districts, and officered by men chosen by themselves; the principle of their union is implicit obedience to the orders of those whom they have elected as their generals, and whose object is the emancipation of their country, the subversion of English usurpation, and the bettering the condition of the wretched peasantry of Ireland. The eyes of this whole body, which may be said almost without a figure to be the people of Ireland, are turned with the most anxious expectation to France for assistance and support. The oath of their union recites, that they will be faithful to the united nations of France and Ireland,' and several of them have already sealed it with their blood. I suppose there is no conspiracy, if a whole people can be said to conspire, which has continued for so many years as this has done, where the secret has been so religiously kept, and where in so vast a number so few traitors are to be found. "There is also a farther organization of the Catholics, which is called 1796. CHAP. XXI. 1796. with the desire to eclipse the great exploits of Napoleon and Moreau against the Imperial forces. Ireland offered a theatre worthy of his army and his reputation, and by striking a decisive blow against the English power in that quarter, he had an opportunity of crippling the ancient rival of France, and the General Committee, a representative body chosen by the Catholics at large, which decides the movements of the City of Dublin, and possesses a very great influence on the minds of the Catholics throughout the nation. I can add, from my personal knowledge, that a great majo. rity of the able and honest men who compose it are sincere Republicans, warmly attached to the cause of France, and as Irishmen, and as Catholics, doubly bound to detest the tyranny and domination of England, which has often deluged the country with their best blood. "The militia are about 18,000 strong, as fine men as any in Europe. Of these 16,000 are Catholics, and of those a very great proportion are sworn defenders. I have not a shadow of doubt that the militia would, in cases of emergency, to a man, join their countrymen in throwing off the yoke of England.”—First Memorial delivered to the French Directory, Feb. 1796, by Wolfe Tone.—Wolfe Tone, ii. 187–188–191. "It would be just as easy, in a month's time, to have an army in Ireland of 200,000 men as 10,000. The peasantry would flock to the Republican standard in such numbers as to embarrass the general-in-chief. A proclamation should instantly be issued, containing an invitation to the people to join the Republican standard, organize themselves, and form a National Convention for the purpose of framing a Government, and administering the affairs of Ireland till it was put in activity." "The first act of the Convention thus constituted should be to declare themselves the Representatives of the Irish people, free and independent, and in that capacity to form an alliance, offensive and defensive, with the French Republic, stipulating that neither party should make peace with England till the two republics were acknowledged. "The Convention should next publish a proclamation, notifying their independence and their alliance with the French Republic, forbidding all adherence to the British government, under the penalty of high treason, ordering all taxes and contributions to be paid only to such persons as should be appointed by the provisional government. Another to the militia, recalling them to the standard of their country; and another to the Irishmen in the navy, recalling them directly from that service, and this should be followed by another, confiscating every shilling of English property in Ireland of every species, movable or fixed, and appropriating it to the national service."-WOLFE TONE, Second Memorial addressed to the French Directory, ii. 197–201. |