MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
The British parliament had been dissolved by proclamation soon after the close of the last session; and ministers had, in consequence, been chiefly occupied by the elections. The new parliament was opened by the king in person on the 6th of October. In his speech, his majesty repeated his anxious wish for an honourable peace; announced the intended mission of Lord Malmesbury to Paris for that purpose; and made allusion to the success of our arms in the East and West Indies, and to the brilliant campaign of Archduke Charles. Some difference of opinion existed between ministers and their supporters, on the propriety of entering upon a negociation with republican France; but, nevertheless, the usual addresses passed without a division. A clause in his majesty’s speech declared apprehension of an invasion; and therefore Pitt recommended the adoption of measures to repel the attempt. He proposed a plan for augmenting the national force by a levy of 15,000 men from the parishes, to be divided between the sea and land service; and by a supplementary levy of 60,000 men for the militia, and 20,000 men for irregular service, not to be called out immediately, but enrolled and gradually trained. This plan, after some bitter remarks made by the habitual opponents of government, and after the alteration of a clause which proposed to convert gamekeepers into soldiers, passed without a division. A bill was also brought in and carried by Mr. Dundas, to raise a militia in Scotland. The total number of land-forces voted for the year 1797 was 195,694; that of seamen, 120,000.
PITT’S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
Pitt opened the budget on the 7th of November. The money he required was £27,945,000; and among the ways and means which he proposed was a loan of £18,000,000. There seems to have been a universal spirit of loyalty in the house, for all that was said by Pitt as to the courage and resources of the nation, and our capability of withstanding the power of France and our various enemies, was loudly cheered, while Fox, who opposed him, was heard in dead silence. The propositions were agreed to, and this loan was soon followed by a second of equal amount, and including a vote of three millions for the Emperor of Austria. On opening the budget, Pitt stated that ministers had made an advance of £1,200,000 to the emperor; and on the 13th of November, Fox moved “That his Majesty’s ministers, having authorised and directed at different times, and without the consent and during the sitting of parliament, the issue of various sums for the services of his Imperial Majesty, and also for the service of the army under the Prince of Condé, have acted contrary to their duty, and to the trust reposed in them, and have thereby violated the constitutional privileges of this house.” At first Pitt admitted that it was an irregular act, but afterwards he attempted to bring what he had done within the authority of the ordinary vote of credit, and endeavoured to find a principle in other discretionary and indefinite expenditures. Pitt was manifestly in a dilemma; but he was rescued by the Hon. Charles Bathurst Bragge, who moved as an amendment to Fox’s resolution, to the effect that the advance made to the Emperor, “Though not to be drawn into precedent but upon occasions of special necessity, was, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, a justifiable and proper exercise of the discretion vested in his Majesty’s ministers by the vote of credit, and calculated to produce consequences which have proved highly advantageous to the common cause, and to the general interests of Europe.” This amendment was carried by a majority of two hundred and eighty-five to eighty-one.
MISSION OF LORD MALMESBURY TO PARIS.
As intimated by the King in his speech on opening the new parliament, during the course of the autumn. Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to treat for peace. At this time, however, peace was not easily obtained; the republicans were too much elated by their success in Italy and their hopes from Ireland to listen to any pacific overtures with complacency; and moreover an envoy, despatched about the same time to the court of Berlin, with an intent, as was supposed, of drawing Prussia again into a coalition, excited considerable jealousy in the minds of the directors. Lord Malmesbury’s mission was in fact a complete failure. On his return his Majesty sent a message to parliament, declaring that the rupture of the negociation did not proceed from the want of a sincere desire on his part for the restoration of peace, but from the excessive pretensions of the enemy—pretensions which were incompatible with the permanent interests of this country and the general security of Europe. On the next day the British ministry also published a manifesto, enlarging on their own pacific dispositions, and setting forth the malignant hostility of the French republicans. Copies of all the memorials and other papers relating to the negociation were likewise laid before parliament, and on the 30th of December the King’s massage was taken into consideration in both houses. In the commons, Pitt asserted that the rupture of the negociations was wholly due to the directory, who demanded, not as an ultimatum, but as a preliminary, to retain all territories of which the war had given them possession; and respecting which they had thought proper to pass a decree, annexing them unalienably to the republic. He continued, “And not content with thus abrogating the law of nations, as well as previous treaties, they have offered a studied insult to his majesty by ordering his ambassador to quit Paris, and proposing to carry on the negociation by reciprocal couriers. The question then is, not how much you will give for peace, but how much disgrace you will suffer at the outset; how much degradation you will submit to as a preliminary? Shall we then persevere in the war with a spirit and energy worthy of the British name and character; or shall we, by sending couriers to Paris, prostrate ourselves at the feet of a stubborn, supercilious government? I hope there is not a hand in his majesty’s council that would sign the proposal; that there is not a heart in this house which would sanction the measure; and that there is not an individual in this realm that would act as courier.” In private, Fox confessed that this would be the very worst moment for making a peace with France; but, nevertheless, he moved an amendment to the address to be returned to the king’s message, replete with inculpations of ministers for not having concluded a treaty with the French republic. His friend, Lord Guildford, moved a similar amendment in the Lords; but both were negatived by large majorities.
A.D. 1797