1794
PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR – INACTIVITY OF THE AUSTRIANS – LORD SPENCER AND MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE SENT ON A MISSION TO VIENNA – HOSTILE RESOLUTIONS OF THE OPPOSITION – SEVERAL OF THE LEADING WHIGS JOIN THE ADMINISTRATION – LORD CORNWALLIS APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND ON THE CONTINENT – PROGRESS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS – LORD FITZWILLIAM NOMINATED TO THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY OF IRELAND – HIS CONDUCT ON THAT OCCASION.
Parliament was convened on the 21st of January, 1794; and the Speech from the Throne expressed a sanguine hope on the part of His Majesty that the resources of France would be speedily exhausted. There was certainly little in the operations of the last year upon which the country could be congratulated; and the only remaining encouragement that could be held out was in reference to the future. The prodigious exertions of the Republic undoubtedly justified the expectation, that she could not long continue to meet the increasing demands which the extension of the war was making upon her means and energies; but it was difficult, in the heat and excitement of the conflict, to form an adequate estimate of the devotion with which the French were prepared to follow up their successes. A series of fortunate incidents and some brilliant achievements had inflamed the national vanity to such a height of exultation as to produce a perfect military mania in all parts of the country; and when Mr. Pitt, in the course of the opening debate, declared that "France had been converted into an armed nation," – an expression that elicited much criticism at the time – he described accurately the exact state of the people, and the lengths they were prepared to go in the assertion of the principles they had baptized in the blood of the Sovereign.
There were not wanting persons in England who sympathized with the republicans of France, and regarded their martial spirit with something of the admiration which the impassioned and the thoughtless bestow upon gallantry and heroism. But the bulk of the nation entertained a different opinion, and viewed with alarm and detestation the sanguinary excesses by which the war was initiated and sustained. While the former class, few in number, and confined chiefly to the lowest dregs of the population, continued to give occupation to the Government at home, the latter were ready to make any sacrifices the exigency of circumstances required to support the policy of the Government abroad.
Parliament unanimously voted an augmentation of eighty-five thousand men to the navy, and sixty thousand to the army. Ample preparations in other respects were made for the approaching operations; and, amongst the extraordinary measures resorted to, arrangements were made for augmenting the Militia, and raising voluntary subscriptions for the maintenance of the war. The spirit of the country was awakened to the defence of those constitutional principles which presented the surest safeguard for the public liberties; and the delusions which at first had seized upon the factious and discontented rapidly vanished as the war advanced. Success alone was wanted to confirm the confidence of the people; but as yet the genius and headlong valour of France was in the ascendant, and the solid endurance of England was doomed to a long and harassing term of fluctuating fortunes.
The Correspondence traces some of the principal events of the year; and maps out in advance the plans and difficulties of Ministers, by which we are admitted, so to speak, to the deliberations of the Cabinet upon nearly every fresh exigency that arose in the course of the campaigns.
MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Charles Street, Jan. 1st, 1794.
My dear Brother,
I had no sooner received your letter, than I communicated it to Lord Grenville; and desired him to write to you as soon as he could. It gives me great pain to see, by the language of it, how very much your mind is oppressed and disturbed in the impression under which you write. Of the proposition which you suggest, it certainly does not in any shape become me to offer any opinion; I am precluded from doing so, both by the magnitude of the question, and by its being of a nature upon which I cannot have either the pretence or the means of exercising any judgment; and I so expressed myself to Lord Grenville, when I read your letter to him; all that, on my part, can be for me to do is, what I am sure you will believe is the honest feeling of my mind, to express to you the anxious and earnest wish of my heart, that all disquietude and uneasiness may vanish from your mind; and that you may heartily and happily continue to co-operate with Lord Grenville and Pitt, at a time when the greatest interests which this country ever knew seem to me to be at stake. For myself, you know that I am but a private man, and have no other concern in these great public questions, than that sense of common danger and common interest, which ought, I think, to produce but one common voice in the country. Mr. Wilberforce, you see, thinks otherwise, but does not change my opinion by having changed his.
I am much obliged to you for the naval letter, which the post of to-day brings me from Stowe; I will make the use of it which you allow me to do, and will then return it to you. I hope Dr. Pegge will find Lady B. better. I take for granted we shall soon meet here.
I hear no news.
God bless you, my dear brother.
P.S. – As soon as I heard from you to-day (which was very late, as I had gone out before the post came in), I sent to Lord G., to tell him that if he wrote to-day, he must direct to Stowe.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
St. James's Square, Jan. 30th, 1794.
My dearest Brother,
I believe Pitt's budget is finished, as it is to be opened on Wednesday. I have, however, sent him your project; though I do not conceive favourably of it, as the object appears so small, and such a nest of hornets to be brought upon one by it.
The French seem certainly disposed to try their scheme of invasion. This leads to the necessity of some augmentation of interior force, and possibly some of our last year's plans will be resorted to. Our best defence is unquestionably our water-guard, which is very strong, and will, I trust, every day get stronger. In the meantime, Lord Moira's force stationed at Cowes, and with its transports ready to put to sea at the shortest notice, is no inconsiderable check upon them.
I have no faith in their attacking Flanders; but rather believe they will wait our attack. But two Dutch, and as many Flanders mails are due.
Mack returns to the army to the great joy of every one. We expect him over here every day.
Ever my dear brother's
Most affectionately,
G.
The Budget was brought forward by Mr. Pitt on the 2nd of February. It estimated the total supply for the year at twenty millions; and proposed for the ways and means a loan of eleven millions, and the imposition of some new taxes.
Here was the first great pressure of the war on the industry of the people. It was a trying moment with Government; but the demands of the Minister were, nevertheless, heartily responded to. The interior force of the kingdom at this time amounted to one hundred and forty thousand men; and the foreign troops in British pay to forty thousand more. The augmentation of the Militia, which was not carried into effect till the following month, was now occupying the consideration of Government.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
St. James's Square, Feb. 1st, 1794.
My dearest Brother,
The idea of augmentation which I think most practicable, is that of militia cavalry, to be raised by volunteers, in the same manner as the additional companies in the last war, but to a much larger extent than you mention in your letter. Dundas told me two days since that he had been looking for your plan of last year, but had mislaid it. Have you a copy? It does not seem advisable to broach this idea much in conversation or discussion with Lord-Lieutenants and Colonels till it is to a degree matured; for the St. Albans' meeting, though very good for supporting a measure resolved upon, or even for arranging particular details of a plan, of which the outlines are already fixed, is but a bad place to prepare the plan itself. As far as I am capable of judging, I think that the natural defence of this country against an enemy once landed, is by the immense irregular cavalry that might be collected, and formed round small bodies of disciplined horse. This, of course, does not exclude the necessity of some infantry to oppose the enemy in front, while the cavalry harass his flanks and rear, and while your naval force, even supposing it unable to have prevented the landing, cuts off all possibility of supplies from France. We are preparing, partly with the latter view, and partly as a means of defence where frigates cannot act, a formidable force of gun-boats.
You say that all this is superfluous, and that the attempt will not be made. I think its being made or not depends wholly on the other employment which we can find for their force, and this depends on points which we cannot command; viz.: internal commotion, and the exertions of the German Powers on the side of the Rhine.
That they are making preparations with a view to having the thing in their power is unquestionable, and we should be very deficient in our duty if we did not put the country in a state to be prepared for all events.
The employment of Lord Moira's force, and its future destination, depend on plans of continental operations, but in the meantime its effect is almost beyond calculation in its present position, menacing everything from Dunkirk to Brest, and defending everything from Yarmouth to the Land's End. You will see this in a minute, if you compare the facility of moving that force, either by land or sea, with the efforts of the same sort that the enemy can make, either offensively or defensively.
We cannot have too much force anywhere, but if I am not very sanguine, Sir C. Grey has already a force beyond what the service requires; and it is likely that he will still be reinforced without breaking up Lord Moira's army, which I consider as the most usefully employed, and telling the most effectually against the enemy of any troops now in our service.
I will send your artillery plan to Dundas.
Ever most affectionately yours,
G.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
St. James's Square, July 9th, 1794.
My dearest Brother,
I am sincerely sorry to see that you do not entertain the same hopes as I do of good from the new arrangements. I confess I think it so great an object to have annihilated all distinction of parties in this country among those who are attached to the present order of things; and I feel that the late events abroad have given so much more importance to this point, with a view to the internal situation of this country, than it had before, that I cannot help feeling very sanguine as to the consequences of the steps now taken with that view. God only knows which of us is right, and time only can show. In the meantime, jacta est alea, and we must abide by it.
On the subject of war and peace, you state very truly, that nothing is less probable than that peace should now be in our option. The retreat to Antwerp has been decided, not by opinions here, nor even by those of the Duke of York and Lord Cornwallis, but by the necessity consequent upon the Austrian movements. Whether those movements were right, I am not enough of a soldier, nor enough informed as a statesman, to pretend to form an opinion. The immediate effect of them is not necessarily the abandoning the towns taken last year, which are in a state to maintain themselves long, and to impede many of the operations of the enemy. Nor, as long as the Austrians maintain their line from Louvain to Namur, is the possibility of succouring them considered as desperate. What I most fear in the present moment is the effect of despondency here and abroad, without which I should see no reason why we should not, as you suggest, fight the country over and over again, inch by inch, with means and resources for carrying on the war, such as are out of all comparison superior to those of the enemy. It would have been a flattering and glorious thing, and a brilliant success, to have terminated the war by the favourable result of a plan of offensive operation in Flanders. If that has failed, I am very far from thinking this a reason for abandoning a cause in the issue of which I consider our existence as implicated. If we listen to the ideas of peace in the present moment (even supposing it were offered), it can be only because we confess ourselves unable to carry on the war. Such a confession affords but a bad security against the events which must follow, in Flanders, in Holland, and (by a very rapid succession) in this island.
I do not know from whence the papers have got the idea of Lord Camelford's return. He is not come, nor any officer or despatch, from Vancouver, but I understand the ship has been heard of in October last, all well. Many thanks for the offer of Paddington, which we may probably be glad to avail ourselves of.
Ever, my dear brother,
Most affectionately yours,
G.
We have nothing new from Lord Hood; and I am told that officers who know the coast do not speak favourably of the chance of doing anything against the French fleet in their present situation.
The failure of the Imperialists had thrown a serious damp on the spirits of the allies. It appears to have been thought the Austrians had not shown sufficient energy and determination; and it was resolved to send over Lord Spencer and Mr. Thomas Grenville to Vienna, in the hope of inducing them to make more vigorous exertions. A subsequent letter from Mr. Thomas Grenville to the Duke of Portland contains an admirable report of the progress of the mission.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
St. James's Square, July 19th, 1794.
My dearest Brother,
Tom has, I know, mentioned to you the Commission which he has undertaken – jointly with Lord Spencer – to endeavour to encourage our Austrian allies to a little more exertion and energy, which, after all the late events, I continue persuaded is the only thing wanting to ensure success, instead of such a series of retreats as the last month has shown. God knows whether they will succeed; but it is an infinite satisfaction to me to see his talents employed in the public service, and to be corresponding with him on subjects of this nature. The rest of our public events are just such as you see them in the papers.
Lord Cornwallis is returned, speaking highly of the Duke of York, and far otherwise of the Austrian Generals, to whom he, and all mankind in Flanders, impute all that has happened. It is a whimsical circumstance, and hardly to have been foreseen, that in a war which we carry on conjointly with Austria, the great want which we experience should be that of Austrian Generals, of capacity sufficient to command the excellent troops which are acting in the Netherlands.
My American negotiation is, I think, going on promisingly. I have nothing else to tell you; and am, indeed, so completely knocked up by this last week's fagging, as hardly to be able to write at all. This evening I am going to Dropmore, for a little respite.
Ever most affectionately yours,
G.
MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.
(Private.) Vienna, August 24th, 1794.
Dear Duke of Portland,
It had been very much my intention to have written to you by our messenger of the 16th instant, because, although our despatches have been very much detailed, and have not, therefore, left much to be said in private letters, it is upon these occasions, I know, some satisfaction to hear that nothing remains behind, which is material to the subject; but having been hitherto prevented, by the very entire occupation of our time here, I take the opportunity of writing to you, a little at large, by the messenger who is going to England to-night.
You know that upon the slight view which the shortness of the time allowed me to take of the business in question here, I was persuaded that we probably might, in some degree, succeed in our expedition; because, if the course of things here could not be improved by our journey, yet I should consider the being able to ascertain what that state was, as an object very useful to pursue, and one which, if pursued with attention, we might probably succeed in possessing ourselves of. How far we have already obtained this information you will have seen by the communications which we have made; and I much fear that our journey will not produce any advantage of a more solid and substantial description. To say that it might not be possible to procure from the Government here a formal consent to such an arrangement as we have to propose, is more than I would assert: although, the condition which they positively insist upon of being paid for it by loan and subsidy, as well as all the difficulties which they throw upon the subject of the proposed barrier, and upon that of acting in the Netherlands, might well seem to justify the opinion of its being improbable that anything like the proposed arrangement would be consented to. But the misfortune is, that – in my judgment, at least – the evil lies much deeper, and is such as would leave me little hope of seeing any effectual purpose served, even by the signature of a Convention between the two Courts.
I do not know of any good ground for believing the common report of treachery, either in the civil or military government of the country; but I know, that if the principle upon which our Government act in the prosecution of the war is not cordially felt here – if the greatness of those interests, which we think now at stake, is not to the same degree here considered as being of the very essence and existence of all regulated government, a Convention will not give them a livelier perception of this common danger, or teach them to see in it a crisis such as demands greater energy and exertions, than any other state of things could call for. But this common principle is not all that is wanting in the present case: we think, in England, that the preservation of the Austrian Netherlands is an object important to us as providing a defence for Holland, and important to the Court of Vienna as forming a rich and considerable possession to the House of Austria, and, therefore, making an object of common interest, though touching Austria still more sensibly than England. If this obvious view of the interests of both countries prevailed in the Governments of both – as one might rationally expect that it would – it would naturally furnish, by common consent, a very leading and governing motive, as well to the operations of the war, as to the ultimate issue of it. This, however, is not the view which is entertained here, or which I can persuade myself is really acted upon by those whose influence is decisive here.
M. de Thugut, the efficient Minister of this Court, is personally very much disposed (and long has been so) to the old project of an exchange of the Netherlands; and though that project appears to be laid aside for the purpose of conciliating Great Britain and Holland, yet it is evident that M. de Thugut's opinions are such as lead him to set but little value upon the possession of the Netherlands, and, therefore, that every circumstance, either of expense or of military enterprise, which looks towards the acquisition and defence of those provinces, is as much discouraged by him as he can venture to do, without openly declaring the whole bias of his mind: and it is very remarkable that, much as we have made it our business to press this to him in all our conversations, we have never yet been able to draw from him even a cold assent to the idea of the Low Countries being of any real value in themselves to the Emperor; though he sometimes feebly admits that, with a considerable addition to them, they might be made so.
It may be said, that a Convention might engage them on this point, whatever their inclinations may be; but the answer is, first, that in point of fact they do object to bind themselves to the employing one hundred thousand men in the Netherlands, though they have not finally refused it; and secondly, that be there what agreement there may, the only substantial security for a hearty co-operation in fighting for that country, or for any manly system to be adopted hereafter for the preservation of it, must arise from a sense – in the owners – of the value of its possession, and not from the words employed in any treaty respecting it. I am aware that part of the indifference which I so much remark in M. de Thugut may be affected, for the purpose of throwing the whole weight of the defence of the Low Countries upon the Maritime Powers; but if that is his policy, he must mean to support it by abstaining from any vigorous exertions in behalf of it, and in the end, whether his coolness and inactivity shall have been produced by a real or disguised opinion, the result will equally have been fatal to that earnest and animated concert, which is so much to be wished for on this occasion.
You see that I have so far considered the Convention, as taking place upon the terms proposed by us; but you will have known, long before you receive this letter, that they have persisted from the first in asking, as indispensable conditions, that their loan must be completely satisfied in England to enable them to answer the demands of this year, and that they must receive from England a considerable subsidy for next campaign, if it is expected that they should act vigorously in the prosecution of the war, which they assert themselves to be utterly unable to do without pecuniary assistance from England. We have urged them very ineffectually on this point: they declare that they have good hopes of M. de Merey's succeeding in obtaining these demands at London, and the negotiation actually hangs upon the report which they hourly expect from him on this subject; though we have repeatedly told them that their expectation was hopeless, and that, meanwhile, the delay occasioned by it might be fatal to those exertions which required immediate action and enterprise.
What decision the Cabinet will make upon this heavy demand of subsidy, is doubtless a very important question, of which they will be the fit and competent judges; but if that question simply turned upon the supposed probability of our being able to purchase, even at that dear rate, a proportionate degree of energy and activity in the war from this Government, I confess I do not hesitate to say that, from what I see here, I should not believe, if the experiment is tried, it will well answer their expectations. There is no soul in the bodies of these men – none, at least, which is alive to the magnitude of all the objects now at stake, or which leads them to share with you, as it ought the great points of common danger and common interest; and while these mainsprings are wanting, it is in vain to look for such movements and effects as cannot be produced without them. If this radical defect did not exist; if the Government here was as earnest as it ought to be in its contemplation of this war, but really was without the means of prosecuting it; if it acknowledged and took its proper interest in the possession of the Netherlands, and asked your assistance to that object, only because they had exhausted all their own resources, there might be great inducements to hope that, in furnishing to them the supply which they wish, you might on your side expect all the active effects which ought to be produced by it; but I know not how to hope that a subsidy will give vigour to their councils or enterprise to their armies; still less can I hope that a subsidy, given for the preservation of the Netherlands, will teach them to put a proper value upon those possessions on their own account, though it certainly would teach them how highly you value their retaining them on your account.
All M. de Thugut's conversation, even upon the idea of the subsidy taking place, is evidently adverse to the prosecuting of the war in the Netherlands; and even when the danger of Holland is urged as a powerful argument for this course, he very coldly answers that, supposing the French to succeed in Holland for a time, they would be glad enough to relinquish it if the arms of the allies were successful in the interior of France. How, then, can one easily hope that the payment of a subsidy will reconcile views so remote – as I apprehend these are – from the wishes of the English Cabinet, or prevent much of thwarting and contradiction in the operations of the campaign? I confess that I suspect this disinclination to the defence of the Netherlands to arise, not only from a habit of undervaluing them, but partly, too, from a persuasion that the Maritime Powers must and will, at their own expense, protect them; and partly, also, from a narrow and timid view of collecting the whole Austrian force on the German frontier, so as to be more immediately ready for the defence of the imperial dominions, as well as to have less reason to fear in their jealousy of the intentions of the King of Prussia.
Upon this latter point the difficulties are, perhaps, much more likely to be increased than to be relieved, by transferring the Prussian subsidy to the army of Austria, because the Court of Berlin will doubtless express great dissatisfaction at that measure; and everything which excites their apprehension here, will naturally more or less interfere with the energy of their operations against France. I do not mean that these arguments would be stated as reasons against their acting up to the conditions of the subsidy; but I fear they would nevertheless be found to have too much influence and effect in practice.
The objections which have seemed to me to arise against a large subsidy to Austria – from the little hope which I should have of its producing from hence that exertion of force, and that course of military operations which, with a view to Holland, we should think ourselves fully entitled to – are of course much increased by my apprehension of the bad and dangerous consequences which would affect our Government at home, from a second disappointment of so costly an experiment, which I must hope need not be considered as necessary to the prosecution of the war.
If it is true – as it may, perhaps, be found – that much of the languor and apathy of this Court arises out of a confidence in the greatness of our exertions, which may allow them to be sparing of their own, if (as there is reason to believe) they have still the fair means of recruiting their armies and maintaining their present military force, is it not to be hoped that the necessity of the case will rouse them to the use of those means, when they see no other prospect of safety open to them? They sometimes talk stoutly of all that they would do by arming the empire, and other vigorous measures, in case the French succeeded in forcing their way to menace Germany. But why are these exertions to be reserved for any other situation of things? and why are we to pay them a million and a half, rather than put them to the full extent of all their own exertions and resources? Nor is it, perhaps, to be overlooked, in this view of the subject, that the crooked policy of Prussia would perhaps acquiesce in the loss of his own subsidy much more readily, if he does not see it given to Austria, but has the satisfaction of seeing Austria fight her own battles with her own men and money. They always insist here, too, that they are sure the King of Prussia, even if his bargain should not be renewed with England, will not withdraw entirely from the war, and still less will take a part hostile to the combined Powers. And whether this speculation of theirs is true or not, while they believe it, they are more at liberty to act solely against France, without fearing any attack from the quarter of Berlin.
The great danger, perhaps, of trying another campaign without subsidizing either Prussia or Austria, might first be found with respect to Holland (at least, if the Government here act as they threaten in the case of being unsubsidized), by their withdrawing of the Austrian army from the neighbourhood of Maestricht, and contracting their defence to the limits of their German frontier. But even if they did so – which may be much doubted – might not England and Holland, at a smaller expense than that paid to the King of Prussia, subsidize an army of auxiliary troops to act for the defence of Holland, and for carrying on the war in the Netherlands, and have that army really and effectually at their own disposal, and doing the service which they were paid for. How far this may be practicable, I do not pretend to judge. If it is so, nobody could doubt that it would be an expense more grateful to the public of our own country than that of paying for a force which we cannot bring as we ought into action, and which we must consider as compelled by their own interests to continue the war, whether we pay them or not for doing so. By subsidizing Austria, we acquire no greater force than that of the last campaign, and we put the justification of that enormous expense upon the unpromising chance of a vigour and energy on their part such as they appear to be altogether incapable of exerting, unless under the pressure of such a danger as would force them to act without hiring them to do so.
The length of this letter is such as I am really ashamed to add to.
Lord Spencer writes to Lord Grenville by the same opportunity. Neither he nor I see much prospect of making ourselves useful in the shape and with the views proposed, and we are therefore naturally anxious to see the ordinary course resumed in some other person, and any such arrangements taken as may admit of our return as soon as without inconvenience might be. We speak the more directly on this matter, from the entire and perfect agreement of our view of it, and our opinions concerning it; at the same time, if, in your determinations at home, it should seem to you that Lord Spencer can and ought to stay longer, with any fair prospect of such advantages to this great subject as his peculiar situation alone could promise, I do not doubt but that he would consent to protract his stay a little longer; and while he does, I certainly will not ask to desert him, bien entendu, that I cannot think of staying one hour after him.
Ever, my dear Duke,
Very truly and faithfully yours.
The session had been protracted to the beginning of July, not merely by the interest of passing occurrences, but by the efforts of the Opposition to damage the character and embarrass the action of Ministers. The most remarkable of these movements was a string of resolutions moved in the Upper House by the Duke of Bedford, and in the Lower by Mr. Fox, and urged upon the consideration of both Houses with an amount of ability that could not have failed of its object, had that object been a sound one, or sustained by the public opinion of the country. The main purpose was to obtain from Parliament a protest against the war, and to compel the Government to enter into proposals for a peace with France. After setting forth that the policy of the Administration had been that of strict neutrality before the commencement of hostilities, and that, after the declaration of war, Ministers adopted the policy of resistance to the ambition and aggrandisement of France, the resolutions went on to state, that at the beginning of the war it was considered a matter of general concern in which His Majesty was to have the cordial co-operation of the powers united with him by the ties of interest and alliance; that His Majesty had not received that co-operation; that Russia had not contributed in any shape to the common cause; that Denmark and Sweden had coalesced to defend themselves against any attempt to force them into it; that Venice and Switzerland remained neuter; that Sardinia was subsidized merely to act on the defensive; and that Great Britain was loaded with a subsidy which ought properly to be borne by Prussia; and, finally, that the time was now come when peace might be secured on a permanent basis, and that it was the duty of His Majesty's Ministers to avail themselves of the opportunity.
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