Foreign Affairs: the Revolution in France

Though Pitt was essentially a peace minister, a student of financial and social problems, and a promoter of reforms, he was, after four years of service, confronted with foreign difficulties that compelled him to drop permanently his reform schemes. At first he resolutely refused to be entangled in foreign affairs. In 1787 he joined with Prussia to compel the Dutch republicans to take back their stadtholder, whom. they had driven from the country; and in 1790 he arranged peacefully with Spain a controversy over settlements at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island.

WILLIAM PITT, THE YOUNGER.

From the portrait by Hoppner.

But greater issues were already becoming prominent. In 1789 the estates-general of France had met for the first time since 1614, and at once that great revolution began which was to overthrow the power of the French nobility, to bring about the death of King Louis XVI, and to establish the first republic in France.

At first many persons in England greeted the movement with satisfaction, believing that it would result in the overthrow of tyranny and the establishment of liberty. A Revolution Society was formed' in England and Fox, overwrought with a love of liberalism, applauded the actors in the great tragedy. But Burke saw with alarm the overthrow of the old institutions, and in his Reflections on the French Revolution viewed the future with grave apprehension. Pitt, agreeing with Burke rather than with Fox, continued his efforts to avoid war, and until 1792 was successful. But the policy of the French revolutionists rendered his efforts of no avail. In 1792 the Girondists, leaders of the French Legislative Assembly, declared war on Europe. The events of the war that followed led to an increase of revolutionary fever in Paris, which ended in massacres in the city (September, 1792), the proclamation of the republic (October, 1792), and the execution of the king (January, 1793) . These events made it impossible for Pitt to maintain a peace policy any longer. The excitement in England, due to the attack on monarchy by the French republicans, was increased by the decrees passed in November, 1792, by the National Convention; that body which succeeded the Legislative Assembly in France, fiercely attacking the institutions of all monarchical countries and threatening war for the overthrow of kingdoms and the establishment of republics wherever possible. The execution of Louis XVI sent a thrill of Horror throughout England. Whigs were silenced, and even Fox considered it a revolting act of cruelty and injustice. But before the Pitt ministry could take any step, the Convention itself had declared war against England (February 1, 1793).

The First Coalition consisted at first of Austria and Prussia. War began in 1792, and in 1793 Great Britain and Holland entered the alliance. Holland was conquered by the French and transformed into the Batavian Republic in 1795 ; in the same year Prussia signed the treaty of Basel and withdrew from the coalition. Austria fought on till 1797, when the treaty of Campo-Formio was agreed upon. Great Britain alone remained. Her share in the war consisted in sending money and troops to the Continent, and in employing her navy to blockade French harbors and to seize the vessels and the colonies of France and her allies, Spain and the Batavian Republic. Her efforts on land were largely unsuccessful. The siege of Toulon (1793), a port in the Mediterranean that Great Britain desired to make the base of further operations for the restoration of the French monarchy, was defeated by the skill of Lieutenant Napoleon Bonaparte and the courage of the French soldiers. Great Britain was also unsuccessful in her attempts to help the royalists by an expedition to Quiberon Bay (1795), and to support the Corsican patriots by despatching troops to Corsica. At sea she made a better record. Howe defeated the French fleet off Brest in 1794; Jervis crippled the Spanish fleet by a victory off Cape St. Vincent in 1796; and Duncan restored the prestige of the navy and checked a projected invasion of Ireland by the defeat of the Dutch at Camperdown, October 11, 1797. In the world beyond the seas, Great Britain captured the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon from the Batavian Republic in 1795 and 1796, and Trinidad from Spain in 1797.

Effect of the Revolution on England

The revolution and the war checked England's progress and brought to an end Pitt's efforts at reform. The nobility and the aristocratic families, fearing that republican ideas would take root in England, sternly repressed every proposal to extend the franchise or to increase in any way the power of the people. Even Pitt himself, in 1792, refused to consider further measures for reforming parliament. Anticipating a revolution in England, parliament twice suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, passed laws against foreigners, checked the freedom of public discussion, and punished severely all who protested against the laws. An attempt to kill George III (1795) was followed by restrictive measures forbidding all speech against the king, and controlling public meetings and the right of discussion. The period from 1792 to 1815 in England was one of reaction and repression.

Union with Ireland

Next to the war with France, no question at this time was of greater moment than that of England's relations with Ireland. The conditions that followed the peace of Limerick had become intolerable to the natives of Ireland, and they had come to hate the ruling classes. Only a fourth of the Irish possessed political privileges, and the parliament that governed them was representative not even of that fourth.

Before the American Revolution the Irish had been sullen, but after that event they became openly rebellious. The Protestants, who desired an increase of parliamentary independence and a measure of commercial privilege, had organized in 1778 the Patriotic party, under the leadership of Flood and Grattan, and had sought to conciliate the Roman Catholics by repealing some of the worst of the penal laws. They had demanded of England free trade and a free parliament. Lord North, involved in the American war, had made a few commercial concessions in 1779; and in 1782 Rockingham had freed the Irish parliament from the control of the English government. In 1785 Pitt had come forward with a new plan, whereby he hoped "to unite the two countries on some sure basis of commercial intercourse and common interest." But the English parliament had rejected his proposals.

The Irish were, therefore, in a condition of mind to be deeply affected by the French Revolution. Some desired an alliance with France, others the entire overthrow of British control and the establishment of an Irish republic, while nearly all demanded the reform of the Irish parliament. Pitt wished to give the Roman Catholics representation in the Irish parliament, and sent over Lord Fitzwilliam to check rebellion and to strengthen the Irish government by granting Roman Catholics political privileges. But Fitzwilliam failed in his mission, largely because George III refused to sanction any measure which would give political power into the hands of the Roman Catholics. In consequence of this failure the Irish determined to obtain independence by revolution. In 1796, and again in 1797, the French endeavored to help them by sending troops to their aid. In 1798 the revolution had attained such proportions that a veritable reign of terror ensued in the island, and it became evident to all that the British government must take definite action.

Pitt came to the conclusion that the only remedy for Irish discontent was the parliamentary union of Ireland with Great Britain. Therefore, he deliberately bought the votes of a majority in the Irish parliament, and obtained in that body a vote favorable to his scheme. On July 21, 1800, the Act of Union was passed' and Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. The Irish cross was added to the Union Jack; and after January, 1801, four bishops, twenty peers, and one hundred Irish members sat in the House of Commons at Westminster.