CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.
At this time the attention of government was particularly called to the troubled state of Holland. The dissensions which had long subsisted between the stadtholder and the states had arisen to an alarming height, and demanded the interposition of foreign powers. The French were favourable to the States of Holland; but, on the other hand, the cause of the stadtholder was warmly espoused by the King of Prussia in conjunction with Great Britain. Frequent skirmishes took place between the Orangists and the democrats ef Utrecht; and in the midst of these contests, the Princess of Orange, who had more courage than her husband, the stadtholder, set eff from Nimeguen for the Hague, accompanied by only a few domestics, with a view of negociating with the States-general. It is thought that the King of Prussia recommended this journey, with a view of drawing from it some plausible ground of interfering in behalf of the House of Orange, and if he did, it fully answered his purpose. The princess, who was of the royal house of Prussia, advanced as far as Schoonhoven where she was surrounded by a party of armed burghers, who conducted her to a small town, there to await the further will of those who governed the democrats. Commissioners soon arrived from head-quarters; and they not only refused her permission to proceed to the Hague, but conducted her back to Schoonhoven as a prisoner. She remained there two nights and a day, when, after experiencing insolent treatment from the soldiers who had her in custody, she was directed to return to Nimeguen. While a prisoner the princess had written letters to her brother, the King of Prussia; and on hearing of the insult offered to her, his rage knew no bounds. He insisted that immediate satisfaction should be made, and exemplary punishment inflicted on those who had committed the outrage; declaring at the same time, in some public manifestoes, that this cause was in itself sufficient to justify an armed intervention. The States of Holland, however, cherishing a hope that the French, who had led them on, would not abandon their cause, passed a resolution, justifying and approving the conduct of their commissioners in the arrest of the Princess of Orange; and plainly told Frederic William, in their reply to his demand, that the object of the princess in going to the Hague was to create a civil war, and that there had not been any real insult or injury. At the same time the States-general acknowledged the justice of the King of Prussia’s complaint, and stated that they had made repeated applications to the States of Holland upon the subject, but which had been disregarded. Still determined upon obtaining satisfaction, Fredric William, by his ambassador at the Hague, now demanded that the States of Holland should write a letter of apology to the princess; should punish, at her requisition, those who had been guilty of the offences offered to her august person; should declare that their suspicions about her object in going to the Hague were unfounded; should revoke the resolutions which they had voted; and should accompany this revocation of the resolutions with an invitation of her royal highness to come to the Hague, for the purpose of entering into negociations in the name of the stadtholder, her husband, for the adjustment of all differences. The States of Holland were not in a condition to withstand a Prussian army, but still hoping for aid from the court of Versailles, they refused to accede to these humiliating terms, and issued their orders for laying the country under water, so soon as any Prussian troops should make their appearance on the frontiers. Thus braved, the king of Prussia issued his mandate for war with the refractory states. And in this he was countenanced by the English government. Although nothing at this time could have been less agreeable to Pitt than the prospect of a war, his heart being set on economical reforms and financial arrangements, yet the reduction of the United Provinces to a state of dependence on France, as was menaced by the French court, was not to be endured, and he therefore entered cordially into the policy of the Prussian monarch. As the friends of the house of Orange were in want of money, Pitt supplied them with a loan, without the authority of parliament; and he offered to the States-general, through our ambassador at the Hague, the mediation of the British government, for the restoration of their legitimate government under the authority of the stadtholder. But Pitt’s offers of mediation were rejected, and the oligarchical party applied for assistance to France. The court of Versailles made a regular notification to that of St. James’s of its intention to aid the States-general, and the British minister replied that in such a case England would take an active part in favour of the stadtholder. Pitt, indeed, engaged the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel to furnish 12,000 troops, if they should be required, and at the same time sent dispatches, both by sea and land, to Bengal and Madras, directing the governors of those provinces, in case of war, to attack the French possessions in India and to seize the Dutch settlements in the name of the stadtholder. His prompt measures had the effect of overawing the court of Versailles, and being likewise distracted by its own financial embarrassments, it was under the mortifying necessity of abandoning those designs on the United Provinces, which had long been among its most cherished projects. In the meantime, on the 13th of September, the Duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian forces in the contiguous duchy of Cleves, entered Holland at the head of 20,000 troops. The Dutch had boldly defied the King of Prussia, but their consternation at this event was extreme, and the country seemed everywhere unprepared for resistance. Utrecht surrendered to the Duke almost as soon as summoned; Gorcum, Dordt, Schoonhoven, and other towns in his route, tamely submitted to him; and Amsterdam, which alone made any show of resistance, after a fortnight’s siege, was captured. So rapid were his successes, that the proud republic of Holland, which had maintained a contest of eighty years against the power of Spain, and which repulsed the attacks of Louis XIV., when in the zenith of his glory, was in the course of one month overrun by the troops of the conqueror. The result was, that the stadtholder was not only reinstated in his former privileges, but gratified with new, and that the ancient forms of government were re-established. Tranquillity being restored, the Duke of Brunswick withdrew the main body of his forces from Holland, leaving 4,000 only for the security of peace, and the protection of the stadtholder. About the same time an amicable arrangement was effected between the courts of England and France, by which it was agreed to discontinue warlike preparations on both sides, and to place the navy of each kingdom on the peace establishment. War, therefore, was averted; Pitt was left to pursue his measures of reform undisturbed, and the court of Versailles to consider its financial embarrassments. But in Holland this triumph of the Orangists did not put an end to the disaffection that prevailed throughout the country; on the contrary, it facilitated the conquest of the United Provinces by the revolutionary army of France.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Notwithstanding the affairs on the continent were brought to a happy termination, it was deemed expedient to re-assemble parliament much earlier than had been usual for some months past. It met on the 27th of November, and the speech from the throne expressed great satisfaction that the disputes in the United Provinces, which not only threatened their constitution but affected the security and interests of the British dominions, had been so happily arranged. His majesty entered into a detail of the negociations which had taken place; after which he made some remarks on the flourishing state of the revenue, and the advantages that might be expected from the continuance of peace. The addresses were agreed to nem. con., in both houses. Fox acknowledged that if it were possible for him on the present occasion to refuse his concurrence with the sentiments conveyed by his majesty’s speech, or to oppose the motion, he should commit an outrage against all those principles and opinions by which his political career had been uniformly marked. Fox also expressed his warmest approbation of the energetic conduct of ministers in preventing France from interfering in the affairs of Holland, and said, that it was his unalterable opinion, that this country ought, whenever occasion required, to take a vigorous part in preserving the balance of power in Europe. Yet, though Fox might be sincere when he uttered these sentiments, he soon showed that he was still as hostile as ever to ministers. Two nights after he moved for an address to his majesty, that he would direct copies, or extracts from any notification made by the court of France of the intention of the most Christian king to interfere in the affairs of Holland, to be laid before the house; and he now contended that ministers had incurred unnecessary expenses, as the King of France never had any intention of an armed interference. This motion was negatived without a division, but on the 5th of December, when Pitt moved that a sum not exceeding £36,093 should be granted to the Prince of Hesse Cassel for the year 1788, Fox again cavilled, by insisting that further information was necessary, and that it was essential to show how these Hessian troops were to be employed. Burke showed himself more noble than his friend Fox on this occasion, for though he expressed a hope that no notion was entertained of introducing foreign troops into this island, he made no strong objection to the subsidy proposed, and he warmly commended the measures which had been pursued with respect to Holland, and congratulated ministers on their having renewed our connexions with that country. Pitt’s motion was agreed to unanimously. On the 10th of December a long debate took place on the subject of an augmentation of forces, which was proposed by the secretary-at-war, but the views of ministers were adopted by a large majority, and 3064 additional land-troops were voted. Money was also voted for erecting fortifications in some of the West Indian islands, which had seriously felt the want of them during the late war. These measures were followed by a debate on the numerous promotions which had recently been made in the navy. Sixteen captains had been created admirals during the summer, while a much greater number had been passed over in silence and neglect. This excited great discontent, and opposition endeavoured to show that great partiality had been displayed, and a motion was made in the house of commons, “That the house should resolve itself into a committee to inquire into the conduct of the admiralty in the business of the promotion.” This motion was negatived; but subsequently, after the Christmas recess, the subject was renewed in both houses, in the course of the debates on which the conduct of Lord Howe, the first lord of the admiralty, became the subject of severe censure, and he resigned in disgust both with ministers and parliament. He was succeeded by Pitt’s elder brother, the Earl of Chatham.
DISPUTES BETWEEN GOVERNMENT, AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
A.D. 1788
During the late disputes, when a rupture with. France was anticipated, government had dispatched four regiments of soldiers for the protection of our East India territories; and when the disputes were settled, it was determined to render this addition to the military establishment a permanent measure. The court of directors had acceded to the proposal when originally made by the board of control, and had consented that the troops should be conveyed in their ships and maintained at their expense. When, however, an amicable arrangement had taken place with France, and all danger was over, the directors changed their sentiments, and contended that unless they themselves made the requisition, they were by Lord North’s bill of 1781, relieved from the obligation-of maintaining any troops that might be sent to India. In this opinion several eminent lawyers, whom they had consulted, appeared to coincide. On the other hand, Pitt, supported by the crown lawyers, asserted that the act of 1784 transferred to the board of control all powers formerly vested in the court of directors, relative to military and political concerns, as well as the collection and application of the revenues. It was contended on the part of government, indeed, that those parts of the act of 1781 which were inconsistent with those of the act of 1784, were, by the latter, virtually, if not actually repealed. Inconsequence of these disputes, on the 25th of February Pitt moved for leave to bring in a bill for removing the doubts in question, and for declaring that the intention of the legislature, in the act of 1784, was agreeable to the construction put upon it by the board of control. In support of his motion Pitt said, that “in his mind nothing could be more clear than that there was no one step that could have been taken previous to passing the act of 1784, by the court of directors, touching the military and political concerns of India, and also the collection, management, and application of thes revenues of the territorial possessions, that the commissioners of the board of control had not now a right to take, by virtue of the powers and authority vested in them by the act of 1784.” Dundas went even further than Pitt in support of the motion, for he declared, that the board of control might, if it chose, devote the whole revenue of India to the purpose of its defence, without leaving the company a single rupee. Leave was given to bring in the bill, without a division, but in all its stages, when introduced, it met with a formidable opposition. Among the objections raised against it, it was stated, that if passed, an army might be established in India without the knowledge or consent of parliament. In order to obviate this, Pitt proposed to add a clause, limiting the number of troops for the payment of which the board of control were empowered to issue orders. It was further urged as an objection, that the board might apply the revenues of India for the creation of undue influence, to the prejudice of the company’s interests, by the increase of salaries or perquisites, to prevent which Pitt proposed two other clauses, prohibiting gratuities, unless recommended by the directors; and stopping all increase of salary, unless proposed by the directors, and submitted to parliament. Pitt added a fourth clause, directing that the directors should lay annually before Parliament an account of the produce of all their revenues, and of all their disbursements. By these clauses every real objection to the bill was obviated; but resistance was still made to it, and the third reading was only carried by a majority of fifty-four, which, at this period, was considered a very small majority. The bill encountered a violent opposition in the house of lords, also; but it was finally carried by a majority of seventy-one against twenty-eight. Sixteen peers signed a long and powerfully-expressed protest, representing the bill as friendly to corrupt intrigue and cabal, hostile to all good government, and abhorrent to the principles of our constitution.