CHAP. XIII. In France, a General wish for Peace. But the Popularity of the War with England ftill continued. Overture of Peace from England to the French Republic. Negociation for Peace at Paris. Abruptly broken off.Affairs, Maritime and Colonial, French and British. Infidelity of the French Government to their Engagements to the Dutch-French Preparations and Expedition for an Invasion of Ireland. - Defeated. The Death of Catharine 11.-And of the Refignation of General Washington. THE HE directory were very sensible that, after the pacification which they had in so great a meafure effected in the affairs of religion, the nation would expect that they should proceed with equal folicitude to restore peace between the state and its numerous enemies: victories enough had been obtained to teach these the inefficacy of their endeavours to fubvert the system now fettled in France; the adherence to which, by the mass of the people, was fufficiently proved, by the zeal with which they supported it, and the fufferings to which they had chearfully fubmitted, during the ftruggle against its many and potent adverfaries. It was time to come to a conclufion of so destructive a war, and to conclude a peace upon reafonable conditions. This was a language that began to diffuse itself every where. The popularity of the war against England, which was looked upon as the power under the auspices of which it had been chiefly promoted, not diminished: but as the ruinous expences of this terrible conteft, was had proved fo fruitless, for the purpose proposed by this ancient rival, it was now hoped, that he would defift from attempts that had already coft him so much blood and treasure. To perfist in them, must finally plunge him into far more ferious difficulties than he had yet encountered. His refources, however great, were not fufficient to fubfidize the immenfe combination of powers that he muft bring into action. He might keep them together some time longer; but the greatness of his efforts must necessarily exhauft him, and he would then be compelled to agree to a much more disadvantageous peace, than if he were willing, while yet on a refpectable footing, to enter into pacific negociations. no Such were the sentiments of the moderate party in France, but there were others who entertained other ideas, than of an entire fubjugation of England. To humble it would not fatisfy them. The French, in their opinion, were entitled to wreak the most signal vengeance on a people that had excited all Europe against them, that had loaded loaded them with the most opprobrious afperfions, that had fought their utter ruin, and not only to deprive them of their hard earned liberty, but to parcel them out among the European despots. Fortune having declared for the republicans, it was equally their duty and their interest to inflict the severest punishment on those who had formed so iniquitous a design. While England fubfifted, it would prove an everlafting and irreconcileable enemy. It would unite with every power that harboured malevolent intentions to France. It would foment and fupport that rebellious and fanatic party among the French, which thought itself bound, in conIcience, to oppose the present government, and to restore the house of Bourbon. No medium remained between a precarious existence of the republic, and the total reduction of England. Having forced all their other enemies to tubmit, it were shameful to fuffer this, their most deadly one, to retain the power of compelling them to undergo another trial for their independence. With arguments of this kind did the violent among the republicans plead for the propriety of making an attempt upon England itself; alleging, at the same time, the number of partisans and well-withers the republic might rely upon, among the English malcontents; whose numbers were immenfe, and daily augmenting, through the preffures which the war incessantly accumulated upon the nation. But that circumstance which most irritated all parties in France at this juncture, and destroyed the confidence of their government in the good faith of that of England, was the miffion of Mr. Hammond, to Berlin, in order to procure, as they firmly afferted, the re-union of Pruffia to the coalition. His failure, they said, was the real cause of the English ministry's determination to make overtures for a treaty. Influenced by this fufpicion, though the Directory permitted the French minifter for foreign affairs to grant a pafsport for an agent from England, at the request of the Englith ministry, yet this was done much more to obviate the complaints that would have arifen upon their refusal, than from any expectation of a profperous illue to the negociation. Lord Malmsbury, the perfon commiffioned on the part of Great Britain, to negociate a peace with France, arrived at Paris, on the twenty-fecond of October, and was, on his arrival, received by the people of that city with every demonstration of joy: but the government, far from treating him with cordiality, indirectly countenanced a variety of furmises, so prejudicial to his errand and official character, that he was neceffitated formally to complain of them, before it thought proper to filence and disavow them. The negociation was opened, on the twenty-fourth of October, by lord Malmsbury's propofing to De la Croix, the French minifter of the foreign department, to fix upon fome principles whercon to found the conditions of the treaty, and re commending that of reciprocal restoration of what had been loft and taken by each of the Belligerent parties, as the most usually adopted on fuch occafions. He observed, that Great Britain having, in the course of this war, made conquests upon, France of the highest value and 1 and confequence, was not in the cafe of requiring restitutions for itfelf; but France having made large acquifitions on the allies of Great Britain, the objects of the negociation feemed, of course, to be the compenfations that France might expect, for the restitutions it would make. The directory rejoined, by taking notice, that the respective fituation of France, and of its remaining enemies, ought to be duly confidered in the demands of the latter for restitutions. The strength of these had been diminished by their loffes, and the defertion of their afsociates, who had not only abandoned the coalition, but were now become the allies of France, or observed a strict neutrality. These, it was infinuated, were circumstances very unfavourable to the restitutions hinted at by the British negociator. To this proposal of the English ambaflador, it was replied by the directory, that the acceffion of other powers to a business, which he was authorised to transact separately between Great Britain and France, would effentially retard the progrefs After a variety of farther afferof the negociation, as he had notions and replications on both fides, commiffion from those allies to act in their behalf. But that to prove their readiness to embrace every means of reconciliation, they would confent, on his procuring credentials to that purpose, from those allies, to take into confideration any fpecific proposals he should lay before them. This answer was accompanied with explicit infinuations, that the intention of the British ministry was, by the semblance of a general negociation, to prevent other powers from making their particular propofals, and, at the fame time, to induce the English nation to fupply the government with the means of continuing the war, from a perfuafion that the French had refused to make a peace. The British minister's reply was, that he had not been commiffioned to enter upon a separate treaty; that Great Britain proposed to make a common caufe in this tranfaction with its allies, and that to wait for powers from these, before any difcuffions on the subjects to be proposed should take place, was perfectly unneceflary. 10 the directory at length agreed to the principle laid down by lord Malmsbury, and required a specific mention of the compenfations he had alluded to. He replied, by propofing the reftitution of what had been taken from the emperor, and peace to be negociated with him for the empire, as its conftitutional head: the acceffion of Ruffia to the prefent treaty; and Portugal to be included in it, without any demands of indemnity by France. In return for the conceffions, Great Britain consented to restore its conquests in both the Indies; provided however it received an equivalent for that portion of the island of Hifpaniola, ceded by Spain to France. The restoration of the prince of Orange, to the Stadtholdership of the Seven United Provinces, was also required, in confideration of which Great Britain would restore most of its acquifitions from them. To these outlines of the pacification proposed, the directory anfwered, by requiring the whole of his demands to be stated to them intwenty-four hours. To this peremptory tory requifition he replied, that it precluded at once all farther negociation: that, if they disapproved of his propofitions, or refused to take them into confideration, they ought to bring forward their own, that he might lay them before his constituents. But he received no other anfwer, than that they could listen to no terms inconfiftent with the constitution, and the engagements formed by the republic. It was fignified to him, at the fame time, that being obliged to confult the British ministry, previously to all replies and communications, it evidently appeared that his powers were inadequate to the conducting of a treaty, which might, if the British ministry were inclined to pacific measures, and determined to treat on their present plan, be as well forwarded by an epistolary correfpondence. Lord Malmsbury's, they farcaftically observed, was a negociation of couriers and messages. This republican rudeness strongly marked the fubverfion of the French monarchy. His refidence therefore in Paris being totally unneceffary, they ordered him to depart in forty-eight hours. Thisinjunction was notified to him on the twentieth of December. Thus ended a negociation, of which no hopes had been entertained, from the manner in which it, commenced, and was carried on. Politicians thought that too much was demanded of the French, and that they were disposed to grant too little. The truth was, that neither the British, nor the French, government, were fincerely difposed to peace; thoughda shew of pacific inclinations was necessary to both, in order to preferve any tolerable degree of popularity, and even to the endurance of their sway among their respective nations. Circum stances greatly favoured the French, exclusively of their fuccesses in Italy. The German princes and states, alarmed at the reassumption of its former loftiness of style by the court of Vienna, on the expulfion of the French from the empire, were confirmed in their adherence to Pruffia, as a counterbalance to the power of Austria. Both the court of Berlin and Petersburgh had united, on this occafion, in efpoufing their cause. Thus, though the emperor continued stedfaft in his engagements with England, ftill the union formed against him in the empire, diminished confiderably his importance. Spain too, at this period, was in league with France, and preparing a formidable armament against England. The councils of the Batavian republic, the new style of the Seven United Provinces, were so firmly. interwoven with those of the French republic, that a re-establiment of their former government was become inadmiffible in any treaty, Notwithstanding these manifold advantages, numbers in France did not contentedly fee the difmiflion of lord Malm/bury, thinking that poffibly a fairer opportunity of concluding a beneficial peace, would not recur. The events of war had hitherto been so much more profperous than could be expected, that they ought to have been improved, while their influence was in fall strength from their being recent, and the fortune of the state should not have been committed to the future contingencies of war, the chances of which were fo uncertain and precarious. In order to screen themselves from these strictures, which moft people deemed not ill-founded, the directory published an elaborate apology for their conduct, wherein they they endeavoured to criminate that of the British ministry in the late negociation. They enumerated the conquests and victories of the French, the glory they had obtained, the connections they had formed, and the treaties they had concluded. They represented that ministry, as infifting upon the diffolution of every honourable and beneficial tie they had contracted. Every advantage was to be given up, and the enemies of the republic replaced on the fame footing as before the war, and completely enabled to renew it with the likeliest profpect of fuccess. France, in a word, was to renounce its honour and its reputation, as well as its dearest interests, and tamely forego all those claims to which the triumphs obtained by its arms had given it so reasonable and incontestible a right. The apology concluded with menaces to England, and exhortations to the people of France, to persevere unremittingly in the profecution of the war, which could not fail to terminate gloriously for the republic, and to the merited humiliation of a foe, that prefumed to dictate conditions to a state that had imposed its own terms on every other member of the coalition. 4 This address, by the directory, so well calculated to operate on the national vanity of Frenchmen, and a vulgar passion for false glory, proved fatisfactory to the majority of people: but many remained unconvinced of the propriety of their conduct, and appealed to the multiplicity of untoward events that had befallen the arms, and the enter prizes of the republic, during the course of the present year. These had certainly met with fevere checks. Exclufively of their expulfion from Germany, the French had been very unsuccessful in the West Indies, and throughout the whole of their transmarine settlements. The colony of St. Domingo, the most valuable of any to France, and the former fource of its commercial profperity, was in a state of confufion, that baffled all the efforts continually made to restore it to any order. The blacks and the mulattoes were now become its rulers, and the ancient proprietors in most parts of it, entirely ruined. Their estates were in the hands of their former slaves, who lorded it every where with that barbarity, which is the usual concomitant of uncivilization. As they were armed, their numbers made them irrefistible. They chose their own commanders, and in a short time threw off all subjection to government, and took forcible poffeffion of a large portion of the fouthern districts, where they declared themselves a free and independent people. The French commiffioners were unable to reduce them, and with no small difficulty preserved the fovereignty of the republic in the northern parts. In addition to those disorders, feveral of the principal places in the island were in poffeffion of the English, who had been called in by the planters, to protect them from the tyranny of the French commiffioners: in confideration of which they had tranfferred their allegiance from France to Great Britain. But neither the French nor the English seemed, at this period, in a fituation long to retain the dominion of that island. The emancipation of the flaves, by the government in France, had excited a spirit of dif obedience in them, which, gradually matured into mutiny and rebellion, had produced a revolution, by which |