The Government was fully alive to this great influx of Frenchmen, and the possible effect it might have on the people of England; so they introduced, and passed, the "Act for establishing Regulations respecting Aliens arriving in this kingdom, or resident therein, in certain cases," 33 Geo. III. cap. 4. After the preamble, the gist of which has been given, this Act enacts that all masters of vessels are to give to the officer of the Custom, at the port of arrival, a written declaration specifying the names, &c., of foreigners on board. All aliens arriving after 10th January 1793 were to give to the port officer of the Customs a written declaration of their names, rank, &c. If they failed in so doing, they were to depart out of the realm, or be transported for life. The officer of Customs had to furnish them with a certificate, and, if they wished to change their abode, they were to have a passport, which they were to show, or be committed for trial. They must also depart from the realm when ordered by His Majesty's proclamation, &c. &c. &c.
Edmund Burke.
This was a somewhat severe ordinance, but as far as I know, it was never acted on, for the French emigrés were a quiet, law-abiding people, thankful for the refuge they had received. It was during the debate on this Bill that Burke made his historical coup de theatre, the dagger scene in the House of Commons. I quote from the St. James's Chronicle 27-29th December 1792:—Burke loquitur. "It had been declared by a noble Lord (Granville) in another place, that there were known to be nineteen assassins in this country with daggers for the extirpation of kings—but it had been said that nineteen were of no consequence; he thought differently, for there were in that number seven more than necessary to destroy the whole Royal family; the number to him was alarming, for he knew not how many apprentices those murderers might have, nor how many encouragers in this country; the knowledge of nineteen French murderers having arrived, was a full justification of the present Bill. He thanked His Majesty's Ministers for having brought it forward; it might prevent the arrival of nineteen times nineteen of those monsters, and it might counteract the intentions of that Englishman who had ordered the manufacture of 5000 daggers at Birmingham—how many for exportation, or how many for home consumption, he knew not. He had, however, strong reasons to believe that they were intended to introduce French fraternity into the bosoms of Englishmen—to introduce murder and desolation, for 'there! there!' exclaimed Mr. Burke, throwing a dagger upon the floor of the House, 'is the fraternity of freedom; that is the fraternity they wish to plunge into the heart of our Sovereign; into the heart of every virtuous Englishman who was loyal to his King, or worshipped his God,'" &c. &c.
This rodomontade was only provocative of mirth, and it is said that Sheridan asked—"You have thrown down the knife—where is the fork?" which convulsed the House with laughter.
1793 opened gloomily with the trial, sentence, and decapitation of Louis XVI. (sentenced 17th January, beheaded 21st January); and our national sympathy towards the martyred King was shown by an order for a general mourning, which it was hoped would be universal. "As our Court has ordered an etiquette mourning for Louis XVI., there can be little doubt that the people will, as one man, clothe themselves in a garb expressive of their detestation of his murtherers."
Our relations with France had been very strained, for some time past, and war had long been expected. In December 1792 a proclamation had been issued, embodying and calling out the militia. Vessels were being hurriedly equipped, and commissioned, and nobody was surprised, when, on 1st February, Parliament received a message from the King, informing his people that M. Chauvelin had left this country, and that there was an urgent necessity for augmenting the sea and land forces. The number of French in England became a source of uneasiness, and an Order of Council was issued on 2nd February, directing all aliens, save such as were excepted by the Alien Act, to reside within fifty miles of the standard on Cornhill, and ten miles from the sea coasts, and dockyards.
The French had already begun hostilities, by laying an embargo on all British shipping in French ports, and, on 5th February, we retaliated by acting in the same manner; but the terms were not equal, for there were but six, or eight, French vessels in our ports, whilst it was reckoned that the French had got hold of over 1000 of our seamen. But sailors were forthcoming to man the fleet, for we read, under 7th February, that "Upwards of 2000 sailors entered the Royal Navy last week."
On 11th February, the King sent the following message to Parliament:—