spected neutrality by taking possession of Leghorn, and seizing all the goods belonging to the English, Portuguese, and others, in the warehouses of that great free port. Subsequently he plundered the states and possessions of the pope; and when Pius VI. dispatched envoys to sue for terms, he granted an armistice only at the following price:-15,000,000 francs in cash, and 6,000,000 in provisions, horses, &c.; a number of paintings, ancient statues and vases, and five hundred manuscripts from the Vatican; the cession of the provinces of Bologna and Ferrara; the cession of the port and citadel of Ancona; and the closing of all the papal ports to the English and their allies. The spoiler was recalled from this work by intelligence that old Wurmser was marching against him from the Valley of Trento, with an army consisting of nearly 60,000 men. Napoleon was besieging Mantua when he heard of the approach of the German veteran; and drawing his army from thence, he hastened to meet his enemy. Unhappily for Wurmser's success, he had divided his forces; while he himself moved with the larger portion along the eastern shore of the lake of Guarda, he sent Quosnadowich with the other division along the western bank. This was a fatal error. Buonaparte instantly threw the entire weight of his concentrated forces upon Quosnadowich and crushed him at Lonato; and then sought Wurmser with a force nearly double to that of the Austrians; and in two battles, fought on the 3rd and 5th of August, near Castiglione, defeated him, and drove him back into the Tyrol, with the loss of his artillery and several thousand men. But though defeated, the Austrian general was not subdued. Striking across the mountains to the east of Trento, and descending the valley of the Brente, the old general again entered Italy, and advanced to Bassano. Here he was joined by some reinforcements from Carinthia; but Napoleon followed hard after him, and he was compelled to throw himself into the fortress of Mantua. It was on the 14th of September that Wurmser shut himself up in Mantua; and shortly after two fresh Austrian armies, raised chiefly through another subsidy from England, descended into Italy; one of which, under Marshal Alvinzi, descended from Carinthia upon Belluno, and the other, under Davidowich, moved down from the Tyrol. Had these forces been united they would scarcely have been a match for Buonaparte, whence there cannot be any wonder that the result was disastrous to the Austrian arms. Taking advantage of this error, Napoleon, with the mass of his forces, rushed to meet Alvinzi; and after a series of battles, in which the French suffered great loss, he finally succeeded in defeating the Austrian general at Arcola. Alvinzi made his retreat upon Vicenza and Bassano; and on the same day that he commenced this retreat on the left side of the Adige, Davidowich came down on the right side of that river, and entered the plains between Pescheira and Verona. His defeat was inevitable: Napoleon turned against him with forces flushed with victory; and he was driven back to Ala, Reverodo, and the steep hills that hang over the pass of the Tyrol. This action concluded what has been aptly called "the third Italian campaign of the year 1796.”

SURRENDER OF CORSICA AND THE ISLE OF ELBA.

At this time Napoleon felt that the conquest of all Italy was within his reach. Treaties and the rights of foreign powers, whether neutral or friendly, were little regarded by him. Thus, in open contempt of both, he had invaded Tuscany, and had taken possession of Leghorn, his excuse being the dislodgement of the English. In consequence of this movement Nelson blockaded that port, and landed a force in the isle of Elba, in order to secure Porto Ferrajo. Moreover, as Genoa, taking the part of France, had excluded the English from its ports, Nelson seized on the island of

The Dutch government having determined not to suffer the loss of the Cape of Good Hope without a struggle to regain it, fitted out an expedition for that purpose. This expedition anchored on the 2nd of August in the bay of Saldanha; and at the moment when General Craig was marching down the coast to meet the invaders, a British fleet was seen advancing, with a fair wind, to the mouth of the harbour. The English admiral, Elphinstone, anchored within gunshot of the enemy, and sent a summons to the Dutch admiral; and seeing that resistance was useless, he delivered up his squadron without having fired a gun. The prizes were two sail of the line, three smaller ships of war, and three armed vessels.

FRENCH EXPEDITION TO IRELAND.

In Ireland the Papists had long sought to overthrow the Frotestant supremacy, while the liberals were anxiously seeking the triumph of their principles. The disposition which prevailed among these two powerful parties was known to the French directory; and they were encouraged thereby to attempt the striking of a blow of no common magnitude in that quarter. On the 20th of December General Hoche embarked at Brest with 15,000 troops, to co-operate with the Irish insurgents; but the fleet, which was under the command of Vice-admiral Morard de Galles, had scarcely left the harbour when it was dispersed by a storm. Only eight sail out of eighteen ships of the line reached the Irish coast, and the weather was so stormy that the French could not land; and the whole expedition, after having suffered great loss, was obliged to return to France. One of the line-of-battle ships was attacked, before she could reach a port, by two English frigates, and was finally driven on shore, where she went to pieces, and many of the crew perished in the sea. In the whole, the French lost three ships of the line and three frigates from the adverse elements; and they narrowly escaped the attack of a British fleet, under Lord Bridport, who arrived off the Irish coast immediately after their departure During the whole of this year, indeed, the maritime power of France suffered greatly; and her remaining commerce was much diminished by the exertions of the British cruisers. Upwards of seventy sail of armed vessels belonging to the enemy were captured; among which were five ships of the line and twelve frigates. On the other hand, the French made a successful expedition to Newfoundland, where shipping and merchandise to a large amount were captured or destroyed.

DISPUTES BETWEEN FRANCE AND
AMERICA.

The new government of France had scarcely commenced operations when it became involved in a quarrel with America. This dispute arose from the treaty recently executed between America and Great Britain; which treaty the directory supposed was inimicial to France, and incompatible with the idea of neutrality. By the treaty of 1778, which was still in force, the Americans had guaranteed to France their West Indian colonies; but by the treaty of 1795 they consented that even, supplies of provisions sent to those islands should be treated as illegal commerce. In consequence of this, the directory affected to regard

the Americans as enemies, and made such depredations | on their commerce as amounted to almost open war. An arrêt also was issued, on the third of July, ordering French ships of war to observe such conduct towards the vessels of neutral nations as they had hitherto suffered from the English. Thus began that oppressive system by which neutral powers were doomed to be persecuted in the future progress of the war. Towards the close of this summer, Mr Monroe, the American ambassador at Paris, was recalled; and the directory not only refused to receive a successor, but suspended M. Adet, French resident at Philadelphia, from his functions. Such was the situation of the foreign relations of the United States in the year when Washington finally retired from the cares of government, to enjoy repose in the shades of Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potowmac.

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 seamen, 120,000.

1797 was 195,694; that of

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

Pitt

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. 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 eightyfive 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 our. selves 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

STOPPAGE OF CASH PAYMENTS AT THE BANK.

A. D. 1797.

At the commencement of this year the aspect of public affairs wore a gloomy appearance. The directors of the Bank of England had recently, on several occasions, represented to the chancellor of the exchequer their inability of supplying his increasing demands; and the dread of an invasion had produced a run upon the bank for specie; so that when Pitt requested a further advance, early in this year, of £1,500,000 as a loan to Ireland, he was in formed that a compliance with this request would most likely cause the directors to shut their doors. In this state of affairs the privy council, on the 26th* of February, sent an order, prohibiting the directors of the Bank from issuing any cash or specie in payment till the sense of parliament could be taken, and measures be adopted for supporting public credit. This decisive step was announced by a royal message to parliament on the next day; and the subject was immediately taken into consideration. It was thought by the opposition that this would crush Pitt; and Fox exultingly gave notice that he would move for an inquiry into all the past transactions between the Bank and the minister; and Sheridan, Whitbread, and others made motions all having one end in view-Pitt's overthrow. But Pitt was too firmly seated to be overthrown by his opponents, however ardently they might seek his downfall. The first step taken was to appoint two secret committees for ascertaining the assets of the Bank beyond its debts; and their reports stated that these amounted to the sum of £3,826,890, exclusive of a permanent debt of £11,666,800 in the three per cent. stock, due from government; and also that the demands which occasioned this drain of cash had of late increased, and that they were likely to go on increasing until the Bank would be deprived of its means of supplying that cash to government which it might require. The committees added, that it was proper to continue the measures already taken for such time and under such limitations as should seem expedient to parliament. This report was taken into consideration by a committee of the whole house; and Pitt moved for leave to bring in a bill to continue and confirm for a limited time the restriction of the issue of specie by the Bank of England; and after various clauses, added by the ministers themselves, this bill passed. The Bank was authorized to issue specie to the amount of £100,000, for the accommodation of private bankers and traders; and bank-notes were to be a legal tender to all, except to the army and navy, who we.e to be paid in cash. From this time till 1819 the circulation of gold coin in a great measure ceased, and notes of one pound and upwards became the general medium of commercial intercourse. Pitt's bill was, indeed, limited in its operation to the 24th of June; but the restriction was afterwards continued from time to time by a succession of new acts, so that the return to cash payments did not take place till the above date, when Sir Robert Peel carried his wellknown bill on that subject.

MUTINY IN THE FLEETS.

During the sitting of parliament mutinies broke out in the fleet, which gave far greater alarm than the suspension of cash payments by the Bank. For some time great dissatisfaction had prevailed among the seamen respecting their pay and provisions; and in the month of February Lord Howe received several anonymous letters, praying for his lordship's influence towards obtaining an increase of pay, and an improvement in the quality and quantity of food. At the same time a correspondence was established between the

This was on a Sunday; and it was the first time, during the reign of the pincut monarch that business had been transacted on that day.

crews of the different ships, and a committee of dele. gates was appointed to obtain a redress of grievances. These proceedings were conducted with great secrecy; and it was not till Lord Bridport made a signal to prepare for sea, in April, that they became known. Then, instead of weighing anchor as the signal imported, the seamen of the admiral's ship ran up the shrouds, and saluted the surrounding ships' crews with three cheers, to which a long and loud response was given. It became manifest that the spirit of disobedience was general; and this was soon shown by action as well as by the voice. The next step of the delegates was to assemble in the cabin of the admiral's ship, and to place the officers in custody, in order to prevent them from going on shore. A petition to the admiral was drawn up, and presented on the spot; accompanied with a declaration that, till the prayer of the petition was granted, till their pay was increased and their provisions altered, they should not quit their present station, "unless the enemy was known to be at sea." On discovering this mutinous spirit, a committee of the admiralty, with Earl Spencer at their head, repaired to Portsmouth, with a view of inducing the seamen to return to their duty. This was on the 18th of April; and five days later the admiral returned to his ship, when, after hoisting his flag, he informed the crew that he had brought with him a redress of all their grievances, accompanied by his majesty's pardon for their offence. These offers were cheerfully accepted, and every man returned to his duty. There was reason for believing that all cause of dissatisfaction was removed; but there was still mischief lurking behind. On the 7th of May, when Lord Bridport again made the signal to put to sea, every ship at St. Helen's refused to obey, the seamen being under the impression that government would not fulfil its promises. A meeting of delegates was convened to be be held on board the "London; " but Vice-admiral Colpoys, having determined to prevent the illegal assembly from being held on board his ship, ordered the marines to fire upon the boats as they approached; and five seamen were killed. Irritated by this resistance on the part of the admiral, the crew of the "London" now turned their guns towards the stern, and threatened to blow all aft into the water, unless the commander submitted; and Admiral Colpoys and Captain Griffiths were both taken into custody by their crew, and confined for several hours in separate cabins. Such was the state of affairs on the 14th of May, when Lord Howe arrived from the admiralty with plenary powers to settle all differences; and as his lordship was the bearer of an act of parliament, which had passed on the 9th, granting an additional allowance of pay to the seamen, and also of his majesty's proclamation of pardon, the flag of insurrection was struck, and the fleet prepared to put out to sca. The dangerous spirit of disaffection, however, was not yet subdued. While these things were transacting at Portsmouth, a fresh mutiny broke out at Sheerness. This gave little alarm at first, it being supposed that the terms which had been offered Lord Brioport's ships, and which were to be extended to all ships and fleets whatsoever, would satisfy those fresh mutineers. It was not so. On the 20th of May, many of the ships lying at the Nore, and soon afterwards nearly all those belonging to the North Sea fleet, hoisted the red flag, chose two delegates from every ship, and elected a president, who styled himself "President of the floating republic." The demands made by these mutineers were a greater freedom of absence from ships in harbour; a more punctual discharge of arrears of pay; a more equal distribution of prize-money; and a general abate ment of the rigours of discipline. Compliance to these concessions was demanded as the only condition upon which they would return to their duty. The admiralty, however, gave a decided negative to their demands; and, with a promise of pardon, insisted that they should return to their duty and proceed to sea in

THE BLOCKADE OF CADIZ, ETC.

After the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Nelson was employed in the blockade of Cadiz, which he bombarded on the 23rd of June and 3rd of July. This bombardment, however, produced but little effect; and soon afterward, owing to an unfounded report that the viceroy of Mexico had arrived at Teneriffe with treasure ships, Nelson proceeded thither in search of them. He made an unfortunate attack on Santa Cruz in that island, which ended in the loss of his own right arm, and also of about two hundred men. Previous to this, the Spanish island of Trinidad capitulated to an expedition of six sail of the line, with troops on board, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral Harvey; but the same commanders were subsequently defeated in an attempt to take Porto Rico.

WAR ON THE CONTINENT.

In

At the commencement of this year, Alvinzi, the Austrian general, re-enforced with 50,000 troops, made great efforts to recover the fortune of the war. this he was aided by the pope, who raised troops for his support. But again Alvinzi had the temerity to divide his forces; the principal division marching, under his own command, by the old route from the Tyrol, and the other taking a circuit down the Brenta, to relieve Mantua. In order to impede his progress Napoleon posted himself at Rivoli, on a lofty plain above the Adige, between that river and the Alpine Montebaldo. In this position he was attacked by Alvinzi; but the Austrian general was repulsed on all sides, and compelled to take refuge in flight. The other division of the Austrian army fought its way to the walls of Mantua, but Wurmser sought in vain to form a junction with it; and in February Mantua was captured by Napoleon. The conqueror's vengeance next fell upon his holiness the pope. Not tarrying even to receive the sword of Wurmser, Napoleon headed his legions and marched towards Rome. Within eight days one half of the states of the church were conquered, and the pope had no hope but in submission. The conqueror granted him political existence, on condition that he should cede to the republic Avignon, Venaissin, and the legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna: he was compelled to pay, also, a contribution of thirty millions, and to give up more works of art.

The directory saw that another victory would place Austria at its feet; and in order to ensure this consummation, Bernadotte was dispatched with 30,000 men to re-enforce Napoleon, while Hoche was sent to supersede Pichegru, on the lower Rhine. Napoleon crossed the Alps early in March; and he was opposed by the Archduke Charles. But opposition was vain; for his legions were yet incomplete, and unable to withstand his victorious enemy. The French penetrated on the one side into Tyrol, and on the other over the Paive, towards the Carinthian passes. Victory followed victory; and the conquerors entered Klagenfurt and Laubach, and stood in Tyrol, at the foot of the Brenner mountains. The main army, driving the Austrians before them, finally marched into Leoben; and the archduke retreated as far as Styria. The enemy was now only thirty-six leagues from the Austrian capital;

and the inhabitants were seized with terror and consternation. But here the victories of Napoleon were stopped for a season. Jealous of his success, or deter. red by dissensions which raged in Paris, the directory stayed the progress of the armies of the Rhine, without whose co-operation it would have been imprudent in that of Italy to advance. Under these circumstances Napoleon sent to the archduke proposals of peace; and after some delay a preliminary treaty was signed at Leoben, on the 18th of April. By this treaty Austria ceded to the republic Belgium and the countries of Italy as far as the Oglio; for which she was to receive in return the Venetian territory from the Oglio to the Po and the Adriatic Sea, Venetian Istria, and Dalmatia; and when general peace should be re-estab lished, Mantua and Peschiera. "This peace," says Rotteck, “concluded when the hour of great decision was approaching: more yet, its conditions, unexpect edly favourable to the vanquished, proved the mutual fear of those that made peace. For Austria, the fall of Vienna would have been a severe and humiliating blow. But could Buonaparte advance so far after he actually stood in danger of being surrounded, and, perhaps, annihilated by the swelling masses of the enemy? On the one side approached the Hungarian insurrection army, on the other and around, the Austrian land-storm. But in Venice a general revolt had broken out against the French, which the aristocratic government had excited out of hatred towards the democratic revolutionary system. In this situation a reverse might be ruinous to Buonaparte: he therefore concluded peace."

The insurrection in Venice had not been commenced by the aristocracy, but by the democracy It broke out in the towns of Brescia and Bergamo, and the senate, in its turn, raised the mountaineers and the anti-revolutionary peasants, who proceeded to every species of atrocity: their watchword being "Death to Frenchmen and Jacobins." On Easter Monday more than four hundred Frenchmen are said to have been massacred at Verona. But the knell of Venice itself was rung. Napoleon having made peace at Leoben, brought his cannon to the edge of the lagoons, and the panic-stricken senate and cowardly doge, passed a decree to dissolve their ancient constitution, and to establish a species of democracy. Venice fell after a political existence of more than one thousand years. The aristocracy of Genoa, also, succumbed to the same storm; but they were permitted to retain an independent government, under the name of "the Ligurian republic."

The definitive treaty between the Emperor of Austria and the French republic was signed on the 17th of October, at Campio Formio, near Udina. Its conditions were somewhat different from those of the first treaty: Austria, in recompense for the Netherlands, receiving the Venetian provinces to the Adige, and not to the Oglio; and Mantua being retained by the French. In return for these possessions, France obtained the Netherlands; the Greek islands belonging to Venice in the Adriatic; an acknowledgment of the Cisalpine republic; and an indemnification for the Duke of Modena in Brisgau. Some secret conditions were annexed to this treaty; and it was agreed that a congress should be held at Radstadt, for settling the peace of the empire.

By these victories France remained in possession of Savoy, Nice, Avignon, and Belgium. She was also mistress of Italy and Holland, and could reckon on the dependence of the German empire, owing to the cession of the left bank of the Rhine. The German empire, abandoned by Austria, likewise was at her mercy, and tremblingly expected its fate; while the government of the church and the kingdom of Naples were tottering to their very foundations. Spain, moreover, with all its resources, was wholly in the hands of the French. England now stood alone in the contest: and though she remained mistress of the ocean, it w. s