was promoted and confirmed by the conduct of the king of Prussia, to which I have already alluded, and by the dissatisfaction expressed at the court of Vienna with the conduct of the Austrian generals. The prince of Cobourg was dismissed from his command under the pretext of treachery, a measure by which Europe was astonished, and the emperor disgraced. The disasters of the army under his command, arose from the superior ability of the French generals, directing a much more numerous force, and inspired with the most ardent enthusiasm. So disastrous was the aspect of the allied cause at this period, that a general conviction prevailed of the hopelessness of the contest. After evacuating the Netherlands, general Clairfait, leaving general Latour to cover Maestricht, posted himself at Juliers. Jourdan, in the beginning of September, proceeded to march against Latour, but it was the middle of the month before he was ready for the assault. On the 18th, the French, in four columns, attacked the whole line, from the Aywaille to Emeux. All the passages were carried at the point of the bayonet, and the camps taken at full charge. The Austrians left 2000 men on the field of battle, and several of their battalions were reduced to one hundred and fifty men. Seven hundred prisoners, twenty-six pieces of large cannon, three pair of colours, one hundred horses, and forty ammunition waggons, were taken, as well as the general's carriage, secretary, and papers. The remnant of Latour's army was completely routed and dispersed. General Clairfait, having in vain endeavoured to resist Latour, fortified himself with great skill and ability at Juliers. Against that place the allies directed their efforts. On the 29th the On the 29th the French advanced from Aix-la-Chapelle, crossed the Roer, and attacked all the Austrian general's extensive posts from Ruremonde to Juliers and Dureu. The conflict lasted during the whole of the 29th and 30th of September, and was renewed on the 1st and 2nd of October.

The battle was severely contested, but Clairfait, having lost 10,000 men, found it necessary to retreat with as much rapidity as possible. He retired across the Rhine, and Juliers was left to the French, who reduced Cologne, Worms, Bonn, and all the fortresses on the left bank of the river. Pichegru, in the mean time, was advancing towards Holland. He informed the national convention, that with 200,000 men, he would subjugate the United Provinces; and, though the whole force which he required was not immediately sent, yet so numerous an addition was dispatched to his army, that he deemed himself able to proceed with his operations. In the beginning of October he invested Bois-le-duc, which in a few days surrendered. On the 20th of October a conflict occurred between the republicans and the English, in which, though the event was not decisive, the loss was considerable. The duke of York, now crossing the Waal, fell back to Nimeguen, and was pursued by the innumerable forces of the enemy, who, after forcing the British outposts in front of the place, immediately attacked Fort St. André. Lieutenant-general Abercrombie, and lieutenant-colonel Clarke, were slightly wounded in the skirmish that ensued, and captain Picton, in a sally from the place, sustained the same misfortune. The troops employed in the sally were 3000 British, Hanoverians, and Dutch, and their object was to destroy the batteries which had been constructed to annoy the city. The French were informed of this design, and were prepared to obstruct its execution. The confliet was extremely obstinate, but our troops were victorious without considerable loss. It now appeared evident that the place could not be taken until all intercourse with the English army was cut off: two strong batteries were immediately erected on the right and left of the line of defence, and these were so effectually served, that they at length destroyed one of the boats which supported the bridge of communication. The damage sustained was im

mediately repaired by the exertions of lieutenant, now sir Home Popham, but the duke of York being aware of the superiority of the enemy's fire, abandoned the town to the protection of 2500 men. Dispirited by this desertion, the Dutch garrison determined also to evacuate the place, but an unfortunate shot having carried away the top of the mast of the flying bridge, it swung round, and about 400 of the garrison were immediately taken prisoners, a circumstance which induced those who remained to open the gates to the besiegers.

Phillippine on the Scheldt also surrendered. The French army on the right was rapidly advancing, and, after the victories over the Austrians, laid siege to Maestricht. The city was regularly invested in the month of October. The republicans repeatedly summoned the town to surrender, and, receiving no reply, they began to pour a dreadful shower of shot and shells from all their works, with which they had surrounded the place. The public buildings and private houses were demolished, and great numbers of the inhabitants were killed and wounded. During three days this destructive fire continued, and at length the governor, moved by the entreaties of the magistrates and the people, entered into a negotiation with general Kleber, and the city capitulated on the 4th of November. After the capture of Nimeguen and Maestricht, the troops on both sides were inactive during the remainder of the month. But, even when not engaged in battle, they were exposed to the severest hardships. Though the republicans did not advance with their accustomed rapidity, the combined powers found it extremely difficult to act on the defensive. The winter began with extreme severity, the soldiers were in want of clothing and other necessaries for encountering a winter campaign, and in a country so much more cold and damp than Great Britain, that season far exceeded its usual rigor, and the sickness and mortality among the soldiers were augmented by the want of medical as

VOL. I.

sistance and medicine. Like the victims of Walcheren, they were sacrificed to courtly pride and official negligence. The arrival of numerous reinforcements enabled the French, in December, to proceed in their operations. On the 7th of that month they made a fruitless attempt to cross the Waal, in four rafts from Nimeguen; two of the rafts were sunk by the English forces who were stationed on the opposite side near the village of Lant. One floated to the side occupied by the Dutch, and only one of the four regained that which was in possession of the republicans. On the 11th the attempt was renewed, and with better success: they crossed the river above Nimeguen, and near the canal, in boats, and on rafts, to the number of 5000 men. Another detachment, however, attempting the passage, was repulsed with considerable loss. About the middle of December, the frost became extremely intense, and in a few days the Maese and the Waal were frozen over. Pichegru determined to take the opportunity presented by this circumstance, to complete his projects. On the 27th of December, two brigades under generals Daendels and Osten, received orders to march across the ice to the isle of Bommel, while a detachment at the same time proceeded against Fort St. André, and the reduction of these places, which, but for the frost, would have been attended with the utmost difficulty, and with the copious effusion of human blood, was now accomplished with facility. Sixteen hundred prisoners, and an immense number of cannon rewarded the toils of the invading army, while the allies retired to the entrenchments between Gorcum and Cuylenburg. A successful attack was made at the same time on the lines of Breda, Oudebosch, and Sevenbergen, and the town of Grave, considered as a masterpiece of fortification which had already resisted a blockade of full two months, being destitute of provision and ammunition, was now forced to surrender, the garrison becoming prisoners of war. In consequence of these disasters,

the duke of York, in conjunction with the prince of Orange, endeavoured to excite the Dutch to prompt and vigorous exertion but the circumstances of the times and the dispositions of the people, were equally changed, and his royal high

ness, finding every appeal to their patriotism, their justice, and their gratitude, ineffectual, abandoned the hope, and possibly the inclination, of defending Holland, and returned to England.

TH

HE punishment of the Scotch revolutionists did not alarm the fears or retard the machinations of the English associations. Of the three societies which had congratulated the French convention on the downfall of monarchy, the revolutionary club had been dissolved, and the constitutional and corresponding societies formed the bond of connection among the friends of Jacobinism and the advocates of disaffection. The secretaries of these institutions were Daniel Adams, a clerk, and Thomas Hardy, a shoe-maker. In the course of their proceedings, the two societies had called several meetings, especially at Chalk Farm near Hampstead. At this place several intemperate speeches were delivered, and many inflammatory toasts proposed. Some of the most active members of the meeting manifested themselves inimical to the British constitution,

far as their enmity could operate; hostile to every description of kingly government, and desirous of establishing a Jacobinical democracy. One of the number, Mr. John Thelwall, an individual who has lived to atone for his early errors, by the moderation of his opinions and the utility of his pursuits, was separately and personally instrumental to the purposes of sedition, by, the delivery of periodical lectures; declamations abounding with the

most violent invectives against every existing establishment, and vehement exhortations to resume the rights of (nature. The administration observed the open proceedings of these societies and individuals, and suspected the secret machinations of the ring-leaders: to discover the truth, they adopted the policy of every antient and modern government, whether limited or arbitrary, and employed those despicable instruments of power, which are to be found in all great cities as spies, commissioned to attend the conventicles of sedition, and to become members of the societies in order to betray the secrets with which they might be entrusted.. In consequence of the information they received, the ministers ordered Hardy and Adams to be arrested and their papers to be seized, and, immediately after, Thel wall, Loveit, a hairdresser, Martin, an attorney, and a few others, to be apprehended. In a few days these measures were extended to men of higher rank and reputation. Mr. Joyce a respectable cler gyman, chaplain to lord Stanhope, Mr. Kydd, a barrister of talents and of rising character, and the eminent and celebrated Mr. Horne Tooke were among the numbers of the imprisoned. The papers being examined, it was found that the two societies had concerted a project for as

sembling by their joint influence, a national convention. This design, in combination with many other proceedings, was construed by ministers into a conspiracy against the constitution, and consequently a conspiracy against the king, amounting to high treason. The suspected persons were therefore committed to the Tower, there to be confined till evidence should be prepared for their trials. On the 5th of November the commission was opened, and Mr. Hardy was first tried, but, though the proceedings were continued to the 8th day, no evidence of treasonable criminality could be substantiated against him by all the efforts of the council for the king: he was therefore pronounced not guilty, after being ably defended by Messrs. Erskine and Gibbs. The next trial was that of Mr. Tooke, who endeavoured to prove that he had merely followed the example of Mr. Pitt in recommending a plan of parliamentary reform. The minister was was examined on the occasion, chiefly with regard to the proceedings of the popular party, previous to the close of the American war, for the attainment of that object, but he evaded the most important questions by alleging a want of recollection. The acquittal of Mr. Tooke being followed by that of Mr. Thelwall, a despair of convicting any one of the supposed traitors, produced the immediate termination of the proceedings. Had the prisoners been indicted for sedition, it is probable that they might have been convicted, but to condemn them as traitors, would have been a flagrant perversion of the forms and principles of justice.

The appointment of commissioners to decide with respect to disputed captures between England and America, and the equipment of the embassy to China, under lord Macartney, scarcely attracted the notice of the public amidst the turbulence of political contention. Complaints of territorial aggrandizement and illegal seizure of merchandise and shipping, had been repeatedly urged by the Americaus; and they also requested a perfect understanding of the terms on which they were

to trade with British subjects. After frequent discussions between lord Grenville and Mr. Jay, the boundaries of dominion were more precisely marked, and a general but not unrestricted trade was permitted from America to the East and West Indies.

The successes which had attended the arms of France, the defection of one of our most powerful allies, and the mutinous disposition which had been displayed by the various associations throughout the kingdom, were considered by many men of dispassionate minds, as reasons sufficient to counterbalance the various objections to a negotiation with the enemy. But the conclusions deduced from these very considerations by the administration, by a considerable majority in both houses of parliament, and by a great portion of the individuals throughout the kingdom, who entertained a zealous attachment to the existing government, were directly the reverse. The successes of France, were, in their opinion, at once the motive and the justification of determined resistence, to power so formidable and encroachments so extensive, and the turbulence and activity of the revolutionary societies the most powerful inducements to avert, by the adoption of vigorous measures, the danger to be apprehended from their designs. Actuated by these sentiments, and stimulated by the hope that the experience of democratic tyranny and the pressure of taxes in France, would favour the efforts of the royalists in accomplishing a counterrevolution, the English government persevered in warlike councils, even after the Prussian monarch, who had basely deserted his allies, was now applying the subsidies of Great Britain to the prosecution of his views on Poland; and, when it was evident that nothing but the pecuniary support of England would retain the house of Austria in its attachment to the confederacy.

At the commencement of a new parliamentary session on December 30th, the speech from the throne, after an 1794. allusion to the disappointments and reverses of the late campaign, signified his