DUTCH ATTEMPT TO RETAKE THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
The Dutch government having determined not to suffer the loss of the Cape of Good Hope without a struggle to regain it, fitted out an expedition for that purpose. This expedition anchored on the 2nd of August in the bay of Saldanha; and at the moment when General Craig was marching down the coast to meet the invaders, a British fleet was seen advancing, with a fair wind, to the mouth of the harbour. The English admiral, Elphinstone, anchored within gunshot of the enemy, and sent a summons to the Dutch admiral; and seeing that resistance was useless, he delivered up his squadron without having fired a gun. The prizes were two sail of the line, three smaller ships of war, and three armed vessels.
FRENCH EXPEDITION TO IRELAND.
In Ireland the Papists had long sought to overthrow the Protestant supremacy, while the liberals were anxiously seeking the triumph of their principles. The disposition which prevailed among these two powerful parties was known to the French directory; and they were encouraged thereby to attempt the striking of a blow of no common magnitude in that quarter. On the 20th of December General Hoche embarked at Brest with 15,000 troops, to co-operate with the Irish insurgents; but the fleet, which was under the command of Vice-admiral Morard de Galles, had scarcely left the harbour when it was dispersed by a storm. Only eight sail out of eighteen ships of the line reached the Irish coast, and the weather was so stormy that the French could not land; and the whole expedition, after having suffered great loss, was obliged to return to France. One of the line-of-battle ships was attacked, before she could reach a port, by two English frigates, and was finally driven on shore, where she went to pieces, and many of the crew perished in the sea. In the whole, the French lost three ships of the line and three frigates from the adverse elements; and they narrowly escaped the attack of a British fleet, under Lord Bridport, who arrived off the Irish coast immediately after their departure. During the whole of this year, indeed, the maritime power of France suffered greatly; and her remaining commerce was much diminished by the exertions of the British cruisers. Upwards of seventy sail of armed vessels belonging to the enemy were captured; among which were five ships of the line and twelve frigates. On the other hand, the French made a successful expedition to Newfoundland, where shipping and merchandise to a large amount were captured or destroyed.
DISPUTES BETWEEN FRANCE AND AMERICA.
The new government of France had scarcely commenced operations when it became involved in a quarrel with America. This dispute arose from the treaty recently executed between America and Great Britain; which treaty the directory supposed was inimical to France, and incompatible with the idea of neutrality. By the treaty of 1778, which was still in force, the Americans had guaranteed to France their West Indian colonies; but by the treaty of 1795 they consented that even supplies of provisions sent to those islands should be treated as illegal commerce. In consequence of this, the directory affected to regard the Americans as enemies, and made such depredations on their commerce as amounted to almost open war. An arrêt also was issued, on the third of July, ordering French ships of war to observe such conduct towards the vessels of neutral nations as they had hitherto suffered from the English. Thus began that oppressive system by which neutral powers were doomed to be persecuted in the future progress of the war. Towards the close of this summer, Mr. Monroe, the American ambassador at Paris, was recalled; and the directory not only refused to receive a successor, but suspended M. Adet, French resident at Philadelphia, from his functions. Such was the situation of the foreign relations of the United States in the year when Washington finally retired from the cares of government, to enjoy repose in the shades of Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potowmac.