Chapter 20

It must be left to military decision what is precisely the best point of attack, combined or separate, which now remains; but the loss of Menin as a post of communication does not tend to lessen the difficulties of any plan, and I am decidedly averse to anything that shall hazard the delaying the West India expedition, for which, when you consider how much is to be done there, you will not think a whole season too much.

After all, a few towns more or less in Flanders are certainly not unimportant; but I am much mistaken in my speculation, if the business at Toulon is not decisive of the war. Only let your own mind follow up all the consequences of that event, and you will, I believe, agree with me that the expression I have used is not too sanguine. We have news that the people of Lyons have defeated Dubois Cranee, with a loss to the latter, as it is said, of four thousand men. Allow this to be exaggerated, as I suppose it is, but take the fact to be true that he has been defeated, and it is everything to us. The next month or six weeks will be an anxious period, and big with events.

You asked me some time ago about Parliament, and that with a view to your own motions. Nothing can, of course, be absolutely fixed on that subject; but I think it highly improbable that Parliament should meet before January. I heartily wish that we may arrange it so as to meet, though in the present moment I should be afraid even of such a distance as Stowe. At all events, when your camp breaks up, I trust you will take Dropmore in your way, as indeed I believe it will lay directly in your road, if you come by town, and not far out of it, if you go straight to Stowe.

My dear wife desires best love to you and Lady B. Lady Camelford is, I think, better than we could have hoped.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

16th.

This ought to have gone to-day, and I am sorry to find it this evening in one of my boxes here. We have nothing new to-day, except the account of the murder of the King of Poland, which is believed.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Walmer Castle, Oct. 1st, 1793. MY DEAR BROTHER,

Your letter of the 27th followed me here yesterday, and I have just received that of the 29th. With respect to the first, I can only say that I have by this post sent your letters to Pitt, and am very sure that if it depends on him, what you wish will be done.

Lord Amherst's answer of the reduced state of the regiments at home is, however, surely not quite so much out of the way as you state it. It is a great pity that your _protege_ is in Canada, where no promotion can be going forward, and from whence, I conclude, he cannot be brought into regiments upon actual service. Sir C. Grey conveyed to me the other day a wish to know whether there was any officer in his army that I felt interested about; but I know of none that I should think it worth laying myself under an obligation for. If Talbot had happened to be in one of the regiments in Nova Scotia, he would probably have been in this predicament; but I suppose the force in Canada is little likely to be weakened, in the present state of America.

I am delighted to find that you are so well pleased with the manifesto. I have hardly had time yet to consider your observations on the particular passages you have marked, but I will do so, and am much obliged to you for the trouble.

The Duke of Richmond will, I am persuaded, not resign in the present moment, though he has been talking and doing foolishly. As far as I can learn, there is no sort of ground for the accusation of delay on his part relative to Dunkirk. When I see you, I can _say_ on that subject what for many reasons I do not choose to write. _Au reste_, the Duke of Richmond's campaign seems completely to have annihilated the little popularity he ever had; and though I am satisfied he will not resign till after the meeting of Parliament, and perhaps till after the session is over, I am equally persuaded he will not continue another year in the Cabinet.

We are sending Hessians to Toulon, and shall soon have there a really respectable force; the interval is the only thing to be feared; but Mulgrave's being there is a great comfort to me; as great, indeed, _entre nous_, as if I knew the new Governor was actually arrived there. We have nothing like force enough for all the objects that present themselves, and you know my settled aversion to undertaking little points of detail; some of which might succeed, but the result of the whole must be to cut to pieces the small force we have, without adequate success. Besides this, the reliance on the dispositions of the country, with the single exception of Toulon, pressed as it was by famine at one door, and the guillotine at the other, has always failed us.

I believe it is true, that almost in every part of France they detest the Convention, but that they are quite incapable of giving any solid footing in the country.

Ever yours most affectionately, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM

Walmer Castle, Oct. 11th, 1793. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I was just going to write to you when I received your letter. My present plans are to return to town about Tuesday next, and to get to Dropmore by dinner on Friday, if possible; but I would not wish you to let _your_ dinner depend on that. I conclude, from what you say of your having been reviewed, that you will be able to get away soon, and it will be a great gratification to us both to see you, especially if, as I hope, Lady Buckingham comes with you. Lady Camelford writes to Anne that she much wishes to see you, and if she knows of the time of your coming will endeavour to contrive to be with us. I return you Freemantle's letter, for fear of accidents. You have, perhaps, guessed that it anticipates part of what I had to say to you, but I hope you have also felt the singularly embarrassing situation in which the King's Ministers are placed in this respect, with the cause of Royalty to defend, and with the great obligations they owe to the extreme liberality and honour of the King's conduct towards them. They are obliged, therefore, to say nothing, and to let nothing be said: and indeed I hardly know what I should wish to be said, so great is the difficulty in all respects. I know I may reckon upon your discretion, not only in saying nothing from me, but also in saying as little as possible from yourself, which would not fail to be repeated, and to be ascribed to me. We will talk this over fully when I see you, and I really much wish to know what you think ought ultimately to be done on the subject. You will have seen that it is not the camp of Mauberge, but the advanced posts that had been unsuccessfully attacked. The attack of the camp itself was to take place somewhere about this time, and yesterday the British troops marched to Cysoing, where they thought it not improbable they might be engaged with the French, who are collecting at Bouchain and Cambray.

George Nugent had written to me twice on the subject of his proposal, and I sent him Lord Amherst's answer, which is negative, at least for the present. He seems to have an invincible aversion to new corps, I fancy, from all the badgering he got upon that subject last war. He now states only the plea of seniority, that the number intended to be raised is filled up by older Lieutenant-Colonels. I fancy Nugent had not received my letter when he wrote to you.

The language of the Convention looks as if some serious attack might be expected here; serious at least as they intend it, but ridiculous, I trust, it will prove. An attempt in force requires preparations they have not, and a superiority in naval force which they certainly have not. Buccaneering expeditions I take to be practicable, with only the certainty of much greater loss to themselves than to us. They would be unpleasant in their effect here, but what help.

I have profited of your advice about the manifesto, and now send you the English translation which I have prepared, with the transpositions you recommended. I do not think it reads as well in English as in French, which I am sorry for, as it must be read in English by John Bull, whose approbation of my writings I should like to retain. I hardly know how to ask you to correct, as it must be a translation, and a literal one. But mark what you dislike, and I will try if, retaining the translation, it can be altered. I have kept _guerre defensive_ and that _pour cause_: which indeed you may guess, when you see in the papers that His Prussian Majesty is returned to Berlin, and when I tell you that we had no previous notice of his journey.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 21st, 1793. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I had already spoken to Pitt upon the idea of G. Nugent's being appointed one of the aides-de-camp, if the promotion mentioned by him should take place. I have reason to be sure, that for the present no idea exists of that promotion. If it had, I should certainly have pressed his declining the offer of the corps; because, though that is no absolute bar according to any rule, yet it may, certainly, in the King's mind, stand in his way; and such exceptions as Lord Chenton and Lord Rawdon do not prove much. I am very confident, that, as it is, whatever can be done by Pitt will be done, if the promotion should hereafter take place; but I am sure you know that the King's Ministers do not name his aides-de-camp; and that the pressing such a request, beyond a certain point, makes difficulties in his mind, instead of removing them. Besides his wish to oblige you, Pitt is personally well-disposed towards Nugent, and I have reason to think that Lord Amherst is so too.

Sir James Murray will, I think, not continue in his present situation; and the mode of removing him, will probably be by putting him at the head of some corps; but this is not yet mentioned to him, and, therefore, I rely on your not speaking of it to any one else. I do not know whether, in that case, the King will fill up his place as aide-de-camp, or not; but one vacancy cannot be expected to make room for Nugent, who is at the end of his year; besides, the natural claim which Manners has on the King. It is, therefore, I think, better on the whole, that Nugent should go on with his corps.

With respect to your lesser army jobs, I say nothing about them, because I really do not understand them, and am unable to judge of the facility or difficulty of Lord Amherst's complying with them. It is useless for me to talk about Pitt's share in all this, though I certainly do not think it very fair that he should bear on his shoulders all the grievances of cornetcies and lieutenancies, which Lord Amherst or any other Commander-in-chief is sure to create.

I have spoken about the _precis_, and you will certainly have them whenever there is news to send. The army is safe, and I hope quiet, in its winter quarters. Lord Moira sets out to-morrow morning, and will find everything ready for him at Portsmouth. You see how right you was about the impossibility of keeping secret at Portsmouth the new destination of this force. Luckily, it is so ready, that the thing itself will take place even now as soon as the news can reach Paris.

Lord Malmesbury is going to Berlin, to bring our good ally to a point--ay or no. I think it will end in no.

I certainly will not forget my engagement; and I still hope we shall find a Saturday and Sunday for Stowe.

God bless you, my dear brother, and believe me

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Dec. 12th, 1793. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

At your request, I certainly will do a thing extremely disagreeable to myself, by putting into Mr. Pitt's hands the letter you desire me to show him. In any case where _you_ or _yours_ could have the smallest interest, I should never consider whether a compliance with your wishes is or is not pleasant to me; but I freely own, that I hardly think you would be repaid, by Mr. Pigott's getting his company, for the uneasiness I feel in being made (unprofitably, too, as I think, even to the object) the channel of such a communication between two persons whom I have so much reason to love and value.

The accounts of the Duke of Brunswick's victory, though they have not come to us from any channel that we can consider as strictly official, are such as to leave no doubt of the fact. There appears to have been different actions for three days, from the 29th of November to the 1st of December; and on the last of these days the victory was obtained, which persons, pretty well informed, seem to consider as decisive of the fate of Landan. The great object of the French was to relieve that place, and surround Wurmser; and in both they have failed, having been repulsed in a last attack they made on the latter the 1st instant. It appears likely now that little more will be done on that frontier till Landan is obliged to surrender; nor anything after that.

All our expectations are turned towards Brittany; but the news from that quarter is by no means favourable, as far as it goes. The Royalist army appears unable to make any siege, or even to continue twenty-four hours in the same place; and this for want of provisions. There is, besides, among them much disunion, and a total want of discipline; and they seemed to have formed the resolution of retiring inwards into France. Whether they will be deterred from this by the communications since made to them, and by the knowledge of our force being actually at their doors, remains to be seen.

I did not send you the account of the failure of all our hopes, from Lord Howe. I was not in town; and if I had been, I do not know whether I was not too much vexed to write. He is still off Ushant; so that the idea of sending out the second fleet is, for the moment, at least, out of the question. Some of those ships are, as you know, destined for other services; and the whole, without Lord Howe, would not be strong enough to meet the Brest fleet; and with him, would be much too strong.

The business of St. Domingo is highly important. The possession of the Mole, though not beyond what we had looked to, is much beyond my hopes. Dansey's letter to Williamson expresses much confidence of maintaining himself there, with such a force, as I trust, by this time, and long before, he actually has there.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

At the close of the year France was stronger than at the commencement. The destruction of her navy at Toulon was the principal reverse she suffered. On the other side the allies had encountered defeat at almost every point; the Prussians compelled to retreat to Mentz, the Imperialists driven beyond the Rhine, and the English forced to raise the siege of Dunkirk. The enthusiasm of the masses, sustained by these successes, and acted upon by the popular appeals of the Jacobins, placed at the disposal of the Republic an enormous physical force, which the whole winter was occupied in augmenting and organizing for the campaigns of the ensuing year.

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,