RESIGNATION OF MR. PITT, ETC. In bringing about the union of England and Ireland, Pitt had given assurances to the Irish Catholics of a complete participation in political privileges, as soon as that union should take place. This proposition was submitted to the cabinet-council, some of the members of which expressed their dissent to the mea sure. On tion was the real cause of his resignation. How far he was implicated in the question, and to what extent he stood pledged, is not fully known; but that was the rock on which Pitt's ministry foundered their bark. THE NEW MINISTRY. The new ministry when formed consisted of Mr. Addington, first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, the Duke of Portland, president of the council; Lord Eldon, chancellor; Earl St. Vincent, first lord of the admiralty; the Earl of Chatham, master general of the ordnance; Lord Pelham, secretary for the home department; Lord Hawkesbury, secretary for foreign affairs; Lord Hobart, secretary for the colonies; Viscount Lewisham, president of the board of control for the affairs of India; Mr. Yorke, secretary of war, &c. In this general change, indeed, the Duke of Portland and Lord Westmoreland alone retained their seats in the cabinet, the former as president of the council, the latter as lord privy seal. The sentiments which the new ministry maintained were made known by Lord Grenville in his explanation before mentioned. After commenting on the effect of past exertions, his lordship remarked:-"It is our consolation to reflect, that the same vigorous line of conduct will be still pursued; no change of measure will take place; but the system which has already proved so salutary will be maintained by our successors." This proved true; although some supposed that they would seek peace, it was soon discovered that war was to be continued. Addington professed anti-warlike senticontinue the contest. MOTION FOR AN INQUIRY INTO THE But its chief opposer was the king, who alleged that the coronation oath precluded his compliance with a scheme which might endanger the ecclesiastical establishment. Under these circumstances Pitt felt bound to retire from the administration; for although his majesty promised not to use his influence in obstructing the progress of the measure through parliament, it was manifest, that as he was known to be adverse to it, there would be no chance of success. the resignation of Mr. Pitt, his majesty entrusted the formation of a new cabinet to Mr. Addington, who resigned his post for that purpose. On account of financial arrangements, however, and the difficulty of settling the new appointments, Mr. Pitt consented to remain at his post a little longer. His majesty a few days after was taken ill; and it appears that his indisposition was a return of his former malady, brought on by the Catholic question and the resignation of the premier. This caused him to remain at his post still longer, and then further delay was occasioned. On the 18th of February the house resolved itself into a committee of supply. The sum required was £42,197,000 of which Ireland was to pay £4,324,000, and England the remainder. To raise this, recourse was had to the old system: £25,000,000 was borrowed, and the rest was raised by taxes, some of which were newly imposed.ments, but he found there was no alternative but to Besides the money borrowed for England, it was found necessary to borrow about £2,500,000 for Ireland. These resolutions being agreed to, with some slight alterations, Pitt, on the 14th of March, resigned office; and he was accompanied in his resignation by Dundas, Earl Spencer, Lord Grenville, and Windham; and other changes took place shortly after. In the lords, the reasons of their resignation were thus given by Lord Grenville:-"We wished that the benefits of the anion should be rendered as great and extensive as possible, by the removal of certain disabilities under which a great portion of the inhabitants of Ireland 'aboured. Imagining that this measure could only be effectual by coming from the executive government, we felt it our duty to propose it to those who direct his majesty's councils: it was not deemed eligible, and we were unable to prevail. As our opinion of its policy remained unaltered, and we still think this measure alone capable of establishing the tranquillity and prosperity of the empire on a permanent basis, we consider ourselves bound to retire. Accordingly we have tendered to his majesty the resignation of our several employments, and he has been graciously pleased to dispense with our services." By Pitt's enemies it was said, that his delicacy about his pledged faith to the Irish, and his sense of the justice and expediency of During the sitting of this new parliament acts were granting Catholic emancipation were but pretexts; and passed for the suppression of rebellion, and for the that the real cause of his resignation was the tardy suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland, that conviction that he had involved the country in a laby-country still remaining in a turbulent state. The susrinth from which he had not the power to extricate it -being too weak to carry on the war, and too proud to make peace with the French. These imaginings were not founded in justice. Pitt, up to the period of the union, had uniformly opposed Catholic emancipation; but he now thought conscientiously that it ought to be carried into effect, in order to make the union complete. As for being dismayed at the hostile array in the north or in any part of Europe, it does not appear at all probable. Almost the last words of Pitt before he resigned office were full of hope and confidence: "he was convinced," he said, "that the British flect would, with one blow, shatter the coalition of the north." There is no reason, in truth, for doubting the word of Pitt that the question of Catholic emancipa A motion was made both in the lords and the commons, soon after the re-assembling of parliament, for instituting an inquiry into the state of the nation. In the upper house it was moved by Lord Darnley, who proposed such an inquiry as might point out remedies for the disorders of the state. He was supported by the Earl of Carlisle, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and Earl Fitzwilliam; but his motion was lost by a considerable majority. In the commons the necessity of inquiry was strongly urged by Mr. Grey, and ably supported by Sir William Young and Lord Temple, but is motion shared the fate of its counterpart in the upper house. The debate was chiefly remarkable in the commous for calling up Pitt to defend himself and the system which he had pursued, which he did with unanswerable argument. It was on this occasion that he made explicit declaration of the motives which induced him to resign. PARLIAMENTARY MEASURES. pension of the Habeas Corpus Act was continued also for England and Scotland, and an act for preventing seditious meetings was revived. Acts of indemnity were likewise passed in favour of all persons concerned in the securing, imprisoning, and detaining individuals under the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, both in Great Britain and Ireland, from the period when that suspension took place in the respective countries. Various motions to the miscarriage of expeditions— to the conduct of Admiral Lord Keith in breaking the convention of El Arish, &c.-were made during the session, but were all negatived. Additional supplies were demanded by Mr. Addington, and sanctioned by the house. The session was prorogued by commission on the d of July WAR WITH THE NORTHERN POWERS. The late ministry had issued an order in council, dated the 14th of January, imposing an embargo on all Russian, Swedish, and Danish vessels in the ports of Great Britain; and preparations were also made to send a fleet into the Sound, and to hazard all the evils likely to result from a war, which threatened to exclude the British flag from the navigation of the Baltic, and her commerce from the shores of the Elbe, the Embs, the Vistula, and the Weser. On the other hand, preparations were also made by the governments of Russia, Denmark, and Sweden for the coming strife. In the course of the spring the Danes took possession of Hamburgh, for the alleged purpose of stopping the British trade to that port. The King of Denmark was now likewise joined by the King of Prussia, who seized this occasion to invade Hanover, and to reduce it to his own dominion. As no hopes, therefore, could be entertained of the pacification of Europe on terms honourable to Great Britain, a British fleet, consisting of eighteen ships of the line, and four frigates, with a number of gun-boats and bomb-vessels, were dispatched against her enemies. This fleet proceeded from Yarmouth Roads for the Baltic, under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, assisted by Viceadmiral Lord Nelson and Rear-admiral Tolly. It sailed on the 12th of March, and as it was supposed that Denmark, whose prosperity had increased considerably during the war, might be prevailed upon to sue for forbearance; the first efforts of the armament were directed against her capital. On board was Mr. Vansittart, who, as minister plenipotentiary, was to seek to detach the court of Copenhagen from the northern alliance before proceeding to extremities. His mission, however, failed; he returned with a report that he had left the Danish government hostile in the highest degree to the court of Great Britain, and in a state of preparation far exceeding what our cabinet had considered possible. Nelson advised that no time should be lost in attacking the enemy; and Sir Hyde Parker, who was "nervous about dark nights and fields of ice," having yielded to his persuasions, it was determined to force the passage of the Sound. This was done without great loss: on the 31st of March the fleet anchored between the isle of Huen and Copenhagen. Sir Hyde Parker, Lord Nelson, and other officers proceeded in a lugger to reconnoitre the enemy's preparations, which they found to be of a very formidable nature. Undaunted, however, by any fear of danger, Nelson offered to lead the attack, requiring for the service ten ships of the line, with all the smaller craft. Sir Hyde acceeded to his proposal, adding two other ships of the line to the number demanded, and leaving the whole business to his management. It was on the 2nd of April that Nelson made the signal to weigh and engage the Danish line of defence. The difficulty of the navigation and the ignorance of the pilots were so great, that three of the ships grounded, and others were unable to take their proper station in the line. With those, however, that could approach the enemy, Nelson ventured an action. It commenced soon after ten o'clock; and at one, few, if any, of the enemy's ships had ceased to fire, while some of the English ships had sustained much injury. Under these circumstances, therefore, Sir Hyde Parker made a signal for retreat. But Nelson had no idea of retreating. All the notice he took of the signal was to give strict orders that his own signal for close action should be kept flying, and, if necessary, nailed to the mast; and turning to Captain Foley, he jocosely remarked: "You know I have only one eye; I have a right sometimes to be blind:" and putting his glass to the blind eye, he added, "Really, I don't see the signal for recall." The action continued unabated for another hour; but at that time the greater part of the enemy's ships ceased to fire; some of the lighter vessels were adrift, and the carage on board their ships was dreadful, the crews having been continually re-enforced. Soon after this, the Danish commodore's ship took fire, and drifting in flames before the wind, spread terror and dismay throughout their line. The ships a-head, however, with the crown-batteries, as well as the prizes made by the British, still continued to fire, and Nelson, humane as he was brave, being shocked at the slaughter which their bold resistance caused him to make in their ranks, retired into the stern gallery to write a letter to the crown prince. This letter stated, "that he had been commanded to spare Denmark when she no longer resisted; that her line of defence had struck to the British flag; and that, if the fire were continued, he should be obliged to destroy all the floating batteries which he had taken, without having the power of saving their brave defenders, who were the brothers, and ought not to be the enemies, of Englishmen." This letter, with a flag of truce, was sent by Captain Sir Frederic Thesiger; and in about half-an-hour he brought an inquiry from the prince: What was the object of Nelson's note? Nelson's reply was, that he sent the flag of truce out of humanity; and that he consented that hostilities should cease, and that the wounded Danes might be taken on shore. He added: "Lord Nelson, with humble duty to his royal highness the prince, will consider this the greatest victory he has ever gained, if it may be the cause of a happy reconciliation and union between his own most gracious sovereign and his majesty the King of Denmark." Sir F. Thesiger was dispatched a second time with the reply, and the Danish adjutant-general was referred to the commander-in-chief for a conference upon this overture. Nelson availed himself of this critical moment to get his crippled ships under weigh, and the imminent danger from which he had extricated them soon became apparent. His own ship, the Elephant, and three others remained fixed upon the shoal for many hours. Nelson left the Elephant soon after she took the ground, observing as he left her: "I have fought contrary to my orders, and I shall perhaps be hanged. Never mind, let them." It was soon agreed that there should be a suspension of hostilities for twenty-four hours; that all the prizes should be surrendered; and that the wounded Danes should be car ried on shore. Nelson landed on the day after the battle, and had an interview with the crown prince for the purpose of arranging preliminaries. The negociation lasted some time, and on one occasion was on the point of breaking off; but Nelson's firm conduct overawed the Danish negociators, and it was agreed that there should be an armistice of fourteen weeks. Nelson's own account of the battle of Copenhagen was, that it was the most dreadful he had ever witnessed. Several British officers fell in the action, and among the rest "the gallant-good Rion." For this victory Nelson was raised to the rank of Viscount; a reward which, his biographer, Southey, justly observes, was inadequate for services of such paramount importance to the interests of England. DISSOLUTION OF THE NORTHERN After the battle of Copenhagen it was intended to act against the Russians before the breaking up of the frost should enable them to leave Revel. Sir Hyde Parker, however, having heard that the Swedes had put to sea to effect a junction with their allies, altered his course, hoping to intercept that part of the force of the confederacy. The Swedish fleet was discovered on the 19th of April; but on perceiving the English, it took shelter behind the batteries of Carlscrona. Sir Hyde Parker lost no time in acquainting the governor with the armistice that had been concluded between Great Britain and Denmark; and he called on the Swedish government to renounce the northern confe deracy. At this critical juncture news was received of the assassination of the Czar Paul, and the accession of 304 AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT. his son, Alexander, who commenced his reign by the abolition of the innovations of his predecessor, and by ordering all British sailors in confinement to be conveyed to the ports where their ships were stationed. Hostilities now ceased; Lord St. Helens was sent to Petersburgh, as minister plenipotentiary, and a convention was concluded between Russia and Great Britain, which subsequently comprehended Sweden and Denmark, recognising the principle contended for by England, and imposing such restrictions on the right of search as might prevent any unwarrantable exercise of it on neutral vessels. Thus the northern confederacynaced, when the court of Lisbon consented to a treaty, was dissolved. EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. The fate of the French army in Egypt was sealed about a fortnight before the battle of Copenhagen. The British troops destined against Egypt in the preceding year were sent to Marmorica, on the coast of Caramania, under an expectation of receiving assistance from the Turks. This expectation was not realized; but Sir Ralph Abercrombie resolved at all hazards to attempt the dislodgement of the French from Egypt. He landed in Aboukir Bay on the 8th of March, in the very face of the French, and under a heavy fire of grape-shot from artillery, as well as from the carnor of Aboukir castle. The French, however, were dispersed at the point of the bayonet ; and on the 12th the British army moved forward, and came within sight of the enemy, advantageously posted on a ridge between In point of the canal of Alexandria and the sea. numbers the British were far inferior to the French, but Sir Ralph Abercrombie proceeded to the attack next day. This failed; but on the 21st of March a general battle took place, which resulted in the comThe triumph of plete success of the British arms. our troops was dearly purchased by the death of Abercrombie, who received his mortal wound by a musketball in the thigh during the heat of the battle, but who sustained himself till the victory was gained, when he died, universally lamented for his great and good qualities, both of head and heart. The loss of the English in killed, wounded, and missing was computed at two thousand, and that of the French at double that number. The command of the British army devolved on General Hutchinson, who perfected the work which his predecessor had commenced; for although the French were defeated, they were still powerful both at Alexandria and Cairo. Menou, the French commander, had retired into Alexandria; and this was almost insulated by General Hutchinson, by cutting through the embankments which served to retain the waters of the Aboukir lake, and by inundating a dry bed of the ancient lake Mareotis. Leaving General Coote with 6500 men to maintain the lines before Alexandria, General Hutchinson proceeded to Ramani Eh, and having driven the French from this post, he advanced still further up the Nile, towards Cairo. He was joined near Cairo by some Mamelukes, Turks, Arabs, Syrians, and Copts, who now all offered their aid to expel the French from Egypt. Cairo was invested, and on the 27th of June, the French General, Belliarde, capitulated, on condition that his troops should be embarked and conveyed to the French ports of the Mediterranean at the expense of the allied powers. Major General Baird was ascending the Red Sea with an army of British and Sepoys, and some of the East India Company's artillery. But before he could unite his forces at Cairo, Menou capitulated on the same conditions as Belliarde, and Egypt was now cleared of the French. The expedition which had been commenced with a series of victories, ended in defeat and disgrace. With an inferior force, the British army wrested an important country from the enemy, and restored it to their allies. At this moment In the month of March, the court of Madrid, hoping to stop a French invasion of Spain by submission to the will of the first consul, declared war against Portugal. A Spanish army invaded the Portuguese provinces in April; and in the month of June Lisbon purchased peace by yielding some territory to Spain, and by engaging to shut their ports against the English. In this treaty, however, Napoleon refused to concur; and he sent a French army through Spain to attack Portugal. Almeida was invested, and Lisbon and Oporto me by which Buonaparte agreed to withdraw his troops, and respect the integrity and independence of Portugal, on condition that they, on their part, should confirm to Spain all the territory which had recently been ceded; should make one-half of Portuguese Guiana over to the French; should shut all the ports and roads of Portugal in Europe against all English vessels, until peace was concluded with England; should nullify all preceding treaties and conventions with England; should treat France in all matters of commerce as the most favoured nation; and should admit all French commodities and merchandise whatsoever. The Portuguese court likewise paid twenty millions of francs to the French republic. In their distress, the Portuguese court had solicited the aid of England; but our government could do nothing more than to send an expedition to take possession of the island of Madeira, in order to secure it for Portugal. NAVAL OPERATIONS. The naval war this year was very languid. The French and Spanish fleets did not venture out of port, and their detached squadrons put to sea only in the absence of the English. On the 6th of July a French squadron was attacked by Sir James Saumerez in the road of Algeiras; but after a hard struggle he was induced to retire. This disappointment, however, only served to stimulate the British to another action. The ships which had been damaged in the late contest were repaired with all possible expedition, and when the French, joined by a Spanish squadron, were sailing towards Cadiz, he attacked them, and one line-of-battle ship, of seventy-four guns, was captured, and two others blew up with the loss of about two thousand men. On the 1st of August Admiral Lord Nelson, with a flotilla of gun-boats and other vessels, stood over to the coast of France to reconnoitre the preparations said to be making for the invasion of England. On the 4th of the same month he sunk two floating batteries and destroyed some gun-boats; but a subsequent attack on the flotilla in the harbour failed. During this year the islands of St. Martin and St. Eustatius were reduced; while in the east, the Batavian settlement of Ternate, the principal of the Molucca islands, surrendered to the British, under Captain Haynes. TREATY OF AMIENS. Many circumstances rendered the first consul at this time really desirous for some short suspension of hostilities with England. Preliminaries were agreed to on the 1st of October, and in the month of November the Marquis Cornwallis went over to France as ambassador plenipotentiary. He was received with great joy by many of the Parisians, who were equally desirous of peace, as were many of the English nation. From Paris, his lordship repaired to Amiens, the place appointed for holding the conferences; and, after much angry discussion, on the 2nd of March, 1802, a definitive treaty of peace was signed. By this treaty, England agreed to restore all the acquisitions made during the war, except the island of Trinidad, and the Dutch possessions in Ceylon: the Cape of Good Hope was to be given back to the Dutch as a free port: the Porte was to be preserved in its integrity; France was to A. D. 1802. MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. Parliament met in the autumn of 1801; but the chief business done before the Christmas re and, above all, those continued and systematic projects of aggrandizement of which, in the very moment of peace, we have seen such undeniable and convincing evidence." Mr. Windham was supported by Lord Folkstone, Sheridan, Grey, and Whitbread; but a counter address, moved by Lord Hawkesbury, similar to that which had been moved in the upper house by Lord Pelham, was carried by a majority of two hundred and seventy-six against twenty. But these long discussions forbade the hope that peace would be durable. PARLIAMENTARY MEASURES. Early in this session Mr. Canning moved the house motions: the first being a preliminary relating to the on the subject of the slave-trade. He made two cultivation of the land in the island of Trinidad, lately be performed by negro slaves; and the second a ceded to England, which, some contended, should distinct motion on this subject. In his second speech he remarked, "In considering the acquisition of Trinidad, it seems as if Providence had determined nevolence and intended humanity, by placing in our to submit to the trial our boast of speculative becess was to debate on the preliminaries of power a colony where, if we pursue our old course, the peace of Amiens; some defending-and among ducements or the usual apologies. This is a day of it must be purely for its own sake, without the old inthem Pitt himself-what the Addington administration were doing, and others condemning their line of tests; I trust we shall abide the trial." During this session an important act was passed for consolidating policy. Conspicuous among those who condemned their measures was Windham, who said that the pre-force: it was agreed that the militia should remain the existing militia laws, and for augmenting that liminaries were disgraceful, and that war was to be permanently 60,000 strong, and that 40,000 should be preferred to a peace bought on such conditions. This called out in the first instance, and the remainder when debate continued after the Christmas recess, up to the the king deemed necessary. In announcing his 13th of May, when the last struggle took place on the subject. In the upper house the opponents of the budget, on the 5th of April, Mr. Addington stated the treaty were headed by Lord Grenville, who made the fund the £56,000,000 with the payments of which it intention of government to abolish the income-tax, and cession of Malta the principal point of his attack. It was absurd, he said, to place that island under the tion, and the resolutions upon the budget were agreed was charged, This announcement gave great satisfacguarantee of six powers, who could not be expected to to without a division. Provision was made during agree on any one point relating to it; and it was still more absurd to restore it to the Knights of St. John, whose this session for their royal highnesses the Dukes of funds had been confiscated, and whose existence there-barrassments were taken into consideration; the magSussex and Cambridge, and the Prince of Wales's emby might be said to be ended. In adverting to other nificent sum of £60,000 annually was granted him for parts of the treaty he observed, that our rights in India three years and a half, commencing from the 5th of had not been recognised, and that the Cape of Good Hope, a most important station to the maintenance of January, 1803, and ending the 5th of July, 1806. Sums British sovereignty, was given up. of money were voted to Dr. Jenner for the promulgation concluded his strictures with proposing an address to Greathead for his invention of the life-boat; and to Dr. of his valuable discovery of vaccine inoculation; to Mr. the throne, recommending every practicable economy, Carmichael Smith for a discovery of nitrous fumigation, but such as would still leave the country in a state of for preventing the progress of infectious disorders. proper defence for the suppression of any danger; Parliament was prorogued on the 28th of June by the acknowledging that the national faith was pledged to the observance of the treaty, but pointing out the king in person, who congratulated the country on the danger to which this country was exposed on account peace and prosperity it was enjoying; and on the next of the great sacrifices she had made without any ade- day it was dissolved by proclamation. Lord Grenville PREPARATIONS FOR HOSTILITY. quate compensation on the part of France; and finally praying his majesty to endeavour to arrange speedily, by amicable adjustment, those various points which Peace had scarcely been proclaimed when the note were left unsettled by the definitive treaty of Amiens. of war was again heard in the distance; when a little His lordship was ably supported by some who enter- cloud in the horizon betokened the rising of another tained Pitt's general views and others of his own furious storm. In the month of December the French party; but a counter address, moved by Lord Pelham, government had sent a naval force, under General Le was carried without a division. A counterpart to Lord Clerc, for the purpose of recovering St. Domingo and Grenville's motion was made in the lower house on the Guadaloupe from the revolted negroes; and the Eng same day, by Windham, who, in a speech of three lish government sent Admiral Mitchell with seven sail hours, bitterly condemned the treaty. In the course of the line to watch his motions. But England had of his speech he remarked :-" It is impossible to have more cogent reasons for displeasure in the following seen, without the utmost anxiety and alarm, the unex- year. At that time the interference and intrigues of ampled circumstances that have attended the final the first consul were manifested in various parts of conclusion of the present peace; the extensive and Europe. Thus, in the month of March, he presided important sacrifices which, without any corresponding over a meeting at which a treaty was signed with the concession, this treaty had added to those already Cisalpine republic, preparatory to his assuming the made by the preliminary articles; the unlooked-for iron crown, in imitation of Charlemagne; and he not and immense accession of territory, influence, and only procured the cession of Louisiana, but the duchy of power which it has tacitly confirmed to France; the Parma, from Spain. Disputes likewise having arisen numerous subjects of clashing interests and unavoid-respecting the formation of a new constitution in able dispute which it has left entirely unadjusted; Switzerland, and the mediation of the first consul being solicited, the diet was dissolved by his troops, the Swiss patriots were arrested, and the independence of the country annihilated by the power on which it relied for protection. In the course of the year, more over, Piedmont was turned into a provincial appendage to France; and in October the Spanish king, at the suggestion of the French government, annexed all the property of the Maltese knights in his dominion to his royal domains, by which act the treaty of Amiens was to a certain degree violated. All these events were indications of a future rupture; and another grand provocative to the rupture was the fierce and systematic hostility displayed by Napoleon against the commerce of Great Britain. Instead of being allowed, through the return of peace, to flow into its old channels, it was still more impeded in France and in the countries where the French held sway than it had been during the war. Every month, or week, indeed, the first consul made some new encroachment or advanced some new claim; while on the other hand he pretended to bind England to the strict observance of every article in the treaty of Amiens which was against her, and insisted on the immediate evacuation of Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, and of every place she had agreed to restore. It was, in truth, fully manifested, before the close of the year, that the treaty of Amiens was an experiment that had signally failed, and that recourse, at no distant day, would be again had to the sword to decide the contest for superiority between the two countries of France and England. were connected with our own welfare; and by which he was obliged not to be indifferent to any material change in the relative condition and strength of the European powers. His majesty also recommended the adoption of all those means of security which were best calculated to preserve the blessings of peace. The responsive addresses, both in the lords and commons, were carried without a division; Fox at the same time expressing a hope, that ministers would not be influenced by those politicians who would rush into a war without necessity. Augmentations both of the navy and of the army were proposed by ministers a few days after the commencement of the session : 50,000 seamen were voted, and 128,000 men for the army. On this occasion, Sheridan, who was fast falling away from the Foxite party, made a notable patriotic speech, declaring that the time had arrived when it was necessary for England to adopt vigorous measures of defence. He concluded his speech in the following language: "I wish Buonaparte not to mistake the cause of the people's joy; he should know, that if he commits any act of aggression against them, they are ready to enter singly into the contest, rather than suffer any attack on their honour and independence. I shall proceed no further; I perfectly agree with my honourable friend, that war ought to be avoided, though he does not agree with me on the means best calculated to produce that effect. From any opinion which he may express, I never differ but with the greatest reluctance; for him my affection, Nor was the conduct of Napoleon in Paris less in- my estcem, and my attachment are unbounded; and dicative of war; ambition being conspicuous in every they will only end with death; but I think an impormovement. Some of his measures were prudent and tant lesson is to be learned from the arrogance of Buosalutary, but many of them were unprincipled, unjust, naparte. He says, he is an instrument in the hands of and even criminal. His aim was to be the despot and Providence, an envoy of God; he says, he is an instrusole ruler of France; not to be the venerated head of ment in the hands of Providence, to restore Switzera great and free people. His first act exhibited the land to happiness, and to elevate Italy to splendour despot in lively characters. This was to put the press and importance. Sir, I think he is an instrument in in chains Fouche, with an army of "Arguses and the hands of Providence to make the English love their police servants, mastered the domain of thought itself;" constitution better, to cling to it with more fondness, and when conspiracies arose from this arbitrary mea- to hang round it with truer tenderness. Every man sure, then the executioner was called in to do his fear-feels, when he returns from France, that he is coming ful work. At the same time Napoleon established from a dungeon, to enjoy the light and life of British special tribunals throughout the kingdom, composed of independence. Whatever abuses exist we shall look judges of his own appointment. His despotism ex- with pride and pleasure on the substantial blessings we tended itself to the civil code, and even to religion and still enjoy. I believe, also, that he is an instrument in the church. By his fiat, there was to be but one lit- the hands of Providence to make us more liberal in our urgy and one catechism in all France! During this political differences, and to render us determined, with year, indeed, Napoleon was approaching his object at a one hand and heart, to oppose any aggression there rapid pace. He already ventured to attack the idol of may be made on us. If that aggression be made, the revolutionary French, the fundamental principle of my honourable friend will, I am sure, agree with me, the revolution, that of equality, by proposing and carry- that we ought to meet it with a spirit worthy of these ing a law for the creation of a legion of honour-that islands; that we ought to meet it with a conviction of is, for establishing a new nobility in the place of that the truth of this assertion-that the country which which the revolutionists had destroyed, from the one has achieved such greatness, has no retreat in littleend of France to the other. Public opinion declared ness; that, if we should be content to abandon everyloudly against this institution, but Napoleon was suffi- thing, we should find no safety in poverty, no security ciently strong to defy public opinion. Nay, about the in abject submission; finally, that we ought to meet it same time, soon after the peace of Amiens, Chabot with a firm determination to perish in the same grave proposed that a signal national acknowledgment with the honour and independence of our country." should be made to him, and he was created consul for life. The throne was, therefore, visibly rising over the grave of the republic-one step more, and Napoleon would be sitting thereon in all the pride and pomp of Imperial majesty. That step, as will be hereafter seen, was taken boldly and successfully. France again submitted to the rule of one man, a man whose little finger proved to be thicker than the loins of the monarchs of the house of Bourbon. MEETING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT. The newly returned parliament met on the 16th of November. The speech from the throne seemed to intimate that the renewal of war was probable, by his majesty saying, "that notwithstanding his desire for peace, it was impossible for him to lose sight of that system of policy by which the interests of other states | On the 21st of December, a bill was passed for appointing commissioners to inquire into frauds and abuses in the several naval departments, and for the better conducting the business of those departments. No other business of importance was transacted before the Christmas recess. A. D. TRIAL OF COLONEL DESPARD. During the month of November in the preceding year, a conspiracy against the king and government was discovered. This originated with Colonel Despard, an officer of courage and ability, who, having been reduced in circumstances, on account of the abolition of an office held by him on the coast of Honduras, organized a society in London for the subversion of that tyranny which he attributed to the ministers of his sovereign. In the scheme pro |