William Pitt and the Great War by John Holland Rose (book club reads txt) 📕

Cottin, "Toulon

et les Anglais," ch. xi.

 

[247] "F. O.," Spain, 28.

 

[248] "H. O." (Adm. Medit., 1793). Nevertheless Hood sent off a small

squadron to offer help to Paoli in Corsica, but with very disappointing

results. On 7th October he writes: "Paoli is a composition of art and

deceipt [_sic_]." He also dwells on the hostile conduct of Genoa and

Tuscany.

 

[249] Martens, v, 473-83. In "H. O.," Secrs. of State, 4, is a despatch

of General Acton of 30th October 1793 to Sir W. Hamilton, stating that

when transports reach Naples, they will take off 1,200 more troops for

Toulon, making a total of 6,300. But ships and supplies of food were

wanting. The troops must be commanded by a Neapolitan, Marshal

Fortiquerri, whom Hood had censured for incompetence!

 

[250] On 15th September Pitt wrote to the Earl of Westmorland, Viceroy

of Ireland, asking him to send the flank companies (the best men) of the

regiments then in Ireland. Westmorland agreed on 18th September, but

said they could not sail in less than three weeks. As the crisis at

Toulon deepened, Pitt, about the middle of November, begged the Lord

Lieutenant to send the 35th, 41st, and 42nd regiments from Ireland to

Toulon. On 20th November Westmorland agreed (though pointing out the

danger of an Irish rising). On the 30th he said the two latter regiments

were ready to sail from Cork whenever the transports should arrive; but

the delays in the arrival and sailing of transports had always been

serious--a prophetic remark (Pitt MSS., 331).

 

[251] "Dropmore P.," ii, 471. Thugut took no interest whatever in Toulon

(see Vivenot, iii, 324, 327, 362, 363). Other proofs follow (pp. 381,

384) of the pressing demands which Grenville, also Mr. Trevor at Turin,

made for the fulfilment of the Emperor's promise. Some difficulties

supervened as to the provisioning of the 5,000 Austrian troops on the

march and the place of embarkation; but these were far from insuperable.

Clearly the operating cause was Thugut's conviction that there was at

Toulon a number of troops "excédant ce que toute place quelconque peut

exiger pour sa défense" (_ibid._, 385).

 

[252] "H. O." (Adm. Medit, 1793), Hood to Dundas, 24th November.

 

[253] _Ibid._ O'Hara to Hood. This reached London on 8th December; but,

as we have seen, Ministers up to 22nd December continued to rely on the

arrival of the Austrians as providing a sufficient reinforcement.

 

[254] "Dropmore P.," ii, 447; "Mems. of Sir G. Elliot," ii, 190, _et

seq._

 

[255] "F. O.," Spain, 28.

 

[256] Even by M. Cottin in his works, "Toulon et les Anglais,"

"L'Angleterre et les Princes."

 

[257] "F. O.," Austria, 34. Grenville to Eden, 7th September. So in his

letter of 4th October to Pitt he refers to "such other towns or

districts [in S. France] as may become objects of indemnity." See, too,

"Dropmore P.," ii, 412, 438; Vivenot, iii, 326.

 

[258] "Dropmore P.," iii, 487.

 

[259] "H. O.," 455, _ad fin._

 

[260] "Malmesbury Diaries," iii, 33.

 

[261] "F. O.," Spain, 28. Grenville to St. Helens, 22nd October 1793.

Cottin omits this despatch, which is essential to the understanding of

British policy. See for further details C. J. Fox, "Bonaparte at the

Siege of Toulon," bk. ii, ch. ii.

 

[262] "F. O.," Spain, 28. On 30th November Grenville instructed St.

Helens to express regret that Spain seemed to retract her wish,

previously expressed, that Corsica should go to England; and also to

advise that Spain should take her indemnity from France on the Pyrenean

frontier.

 

[263] Fortescue, iv, 172.

 

[264] "H. O.," Adm. Medit., 1793.

 

[265] "H. O.," Mil., 455. Fortescue (iv, 175) vehemently censures Henry

Dundas, but I think without sufficient ground. The letters of David

Dundas called for reproof. See Mr. Oscar Browning's "Youth of Napoleon"

(App. iv).

 

[266] Pitt MSS., 331; "H. O.," Mil., 455.

 

[267] "Dropmore P.," ii, 476, 477; "Mems. of Sir G. Elliot," ii, 198.

 

[268] Admiralty. Out Letters, xiii.

 

[269] "H. O.," Mil., 455.

 

[270] "H. O.," Adm. Medit., 1794.

 

[271] "F. O.," Austria, 36. Grenville to Eden, 3rd January 1794.

 

[272] Pellew, "Sidmouth," i, 112.

 

[273] "Dropmore P.," ii, 438.

 

CHAPTER VII (THE BRITISH JACOBINS)

 

    The much better way doubtless will be, in this wavering

    condition of our affairs, to defer the changing or

    circumscribing of our Senate more than may be done with ease

    till the Commonwealth be thoroughly settled in peace and

    safety.--MILTON, _A Free Commonwealth_.

 

    But cease, ye fleecing Senators

      Your country to undo,

    Or know, we British _sans-culottes_

      Hereafter may fleece you.

                           THELWALL, _A Shearing Song_.

 

The outbreak of hostilities often tends to embitter the strife of

parties. Those who oppose war find abundant cause for criticism in the

conduct of Ministers, who in their turn perforce adopt measures alien to

the traditions of Westminster. A system founded on compromise cannot

suddenly take on the ways of a military State; and efforts in this

direction generally produce more friction than activity. At such times

John Bull, flurried and angry, short-sighted but opinionated, bewildered

but dogged as ever, is a sight to move the gods to laughter and his

counsellors to despair.

 

The events of the session of 1793 illustrate my meaning. In view of the

notorious sympathy of the Radical Clubs with France, Pitt proposed a

Bill against Traitorous Correspondence with the enemy. Both he and Burke

proved that the measure, far from being an insidious attack on the

liberties of the subject, merely aimed at enforcing "the police of war."

Nevertheless, it passed only by a majority of one--a warning to the

Ministry not to proceed further in that doubtful course (9th April

1793). Pitt had the full support of the House in opposing Grey's motion

for Parliamentary Reform, which was thrown out by 282 votes to 41. The

war spirit also appeared in a sharp rebuff given to Wilberforce and the

Abolitionists on 14th May. The institution of a Board of Agriculture

(which Hussey, Sheridan, and Fox opposed as a piece of jobbery) and the

renewal of the Charter of the East India Company were the chief

practical results of that session. But the barrenness of the session,

the passing of the Traitorous Correspondence Bill, and the hardships

connected with the balloting for the militia stirred the Radical Clubs

to redoubled energy; so that home affairs for two or three years centred

in their propaganda and in Pitt's repressive efforts. The development of

a keen political consciousness in the masses is a subject of so much

interest that I may be pardoned for dwelling on it somewhat fully, with

the aid of new materials drawn from the Home Office Archives.

 

    [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN 1793. (From a painting in

    the National Gallery by K. A. Hickel)]

 

There we see the causes of unrest. Hunger, hatred of the militia laws,

chafing against restraints entailed by the war, all conduce to

discontent. The newly awakened Caliban is also a prey to suspicion. He

hates foreigners. Yet, either as refugees or prisoners, they swarm along

the south coast (there were for a time 5,000 prisoners in Winchester).

Fishermen are tempted to help in their escape, and a mariner of Emsworth

is arraigned for treason on this count. Even so far west as Bodmin the

prisoners are numerous and threatening. They convince many of the

townsfolk that England would be better off as a Republic; and two

patriotic ladies in fear and horror inform Lord Mount Edgcumbe

anonymously that Frenchmen cut a mark round the neck of King George on

all coins. The vicar of Ringmer, near Lewes, reports that the smugglers

of the Sussex coast carry on a regular intercourse with France. In the

Isle of Wight even the French royalists, who are there awaiting the

despatch of Lord Moira's long-deferred expedition to Brittany, figure as

murderous Jacobins. In Bath, too, the mayor, Mr. Harington, is troubled

by the influx of Gallic artists and dancing-masters, especially as they

mix in all the "routs," and dare even there to whisper treason against

King George. Another report comes that a French usher in a large school

near London--was it Harrow?--has converted several of the boys to

republicanism. Clearly, these are cases for the Aliens Act.

 

Even Britons, untainted by Gallic connections, are suspect. At

Billingsgate a soldier swears that he was set upon at night because he

wore the uniform of "a d----d tyrant"; and other evidence proves that

the service was unpopular for political reasons as well as the poor pay.

Farmers are plied by emissaries of the clubs as they come in to market.

Complaints come to Dundas that farmers and shippers on the coasts of

Lancashire and Cumberland sell corn to "the natural enemy."

 

The discontent takes colour from its surroundings. At Pocklington in

Yorkshire the villagers threaten to burn the magistrates in their houses

in revenge for the conviction of poachers. The rowdies of Olney in

Bucks. (formerly a sore trial to Cowper and John Newton) terrorize the

neighbourhood. Everywhere the high price of corn produces irritation.

The tinworkers of North Cornwall march in force to Padstow to prevent

the exportation of corn from that little harbour; otherwise they are

law-abiding, though a magistrate warns Dundas that local malcontents are

setting them against the Government. Multiply these typical cases a

thousand fold, and it will be seen that the old rural system is strained

to breaking point. The amenities of the rule of the squires are now paid

back, and that, too, at a time when England needs one mind, one heart,

one soul. At and near Sheffield serious riots break out owing to the

enclosures of common-fields and wastes, the houses of the agricultural

"reformers" being burnt or wrecked. On the whole, however, I have found

fewer references to enclosures than might be expected.[274]

 

As generally happens in times of excitement, the towns are the first to

voice the dumb or muttering hatreds of the villages. Parisians led the

Revolution in France, though its causes lay thickest and deepest in the

rural districts. Not until Paris "stormed" its castle did the villagers

attack theirs. So, too, in the muffled repetition of the revolutionary

music which England sounds forth, the towns buzz, while the country

supplies but a dull ground-tone. Dearness of food and scarcity of work

were the chief causes of discontent. The spokesmen for the Spitalfields

weavers, who number 14,000, sent up a temperate petition setting forth

their distress; but, as is often the case in London, their thoughts

turned not to politics, but to practical means of cure. They stated that

the trade in velvets, brocades, and rich silks would be absolutely

ruined unless steps were taken to revive the fashion in these fabrics.

In Liverpool there were far other grievances. There, as in all seaports,

the tyranny of the press-gang was sharply resented; and, early in

November 1793, the populace clamoured for the election of a

"liberty-loving mayor," Mr. Tarleton, who promised to keep the

press-gang out of the town.[275]

 

In general the malcontents urged their case most pointedly in towns and

villages, where branches of the Radical Societies had taken root. These

Societies or clubs continued to grow in number and influence through the

year 1793, the typical club being now concerned, not with faro, but with

the "Rights of Man." Some of the Reform Clubs sought to moderate the

Gallicizing zeal of the extreme wing. Thus, the "Friends of the People,"

whose subscription of two and a half guineas was some guarantee for

moderation, formally expressed their disapproval of Paine's works and

all Republican agencies--a futile declaration; for his "Rights of Man"

was the very life-blood of the new clubs. Working men had shown little

or no interest in the earlier motions for Reform. The Associations of

the years 1780-5 had lapsed; and it was clearly the joint influence of

the French Revolution and Paine's productions which led to the

remarkable awakening of the year 1792.

 

Besides the London Corresponding Society, started (as we saw in

Chapter III) by Thomas Hardy early in that year, there was another

formidable organization, the Society for Constitutional Information,

founded in London at the close of 1791. It, too, was concerned with much

more than the Reform of Parliament; for on 18th May 1792 it recommended

the publication in a cheap form of Paine's "Rights of