new constitution was forcibly and totally annulled at the enfuing diet of Grodno. The king of Prussia, far from interpofing in their behalf, with unexampled and unblushing perfidy embraced eagerly the opportunity of profiting by their distress, and concluded with the empress a second partition treaty, by which the provinces of Volhinia, Podolia, and the Ukraine, with the half of Lithuania which remained to Poland on the former divifion, were affigned to Ruffia, and nearly the whole of Great Poland, with the cities of Dantzick and Thorn, were allotted to the king of Prussia, from whom this new acquifition of territory received the appellation of South Pruffia. The manifefto of the court of Berlin published on this occafion, and in vindication of these proceedings, declared with effrontery unparalleled, "that the Poles, mifled by designing men, had established a government fubverfive of all order in society, and destructive of all happiness amongst individuals." All these outrages and ufurpations the diet of Grodno, reduced to the lowest state of national humiliation, was ultimately compelled to ratify. The affairs of Sweden, fince the termination of the war with Ruffia, remained in a perplexed and critical fituation. The king of Sweden summoned, in the beginning of 1792, a diet to meet at Gefle, a folitary and obfcure place on the borders of the Bothnic Gulf, 70 miles from Stockholm. During the fitting of the diet the town was filled with troops. Notwithstanding these precautions, the demands and expectations of the king were by no means answered; and the diet was finally diffolved in anger. On his return to Stockholm he was affaffinated at a masquerade by an officer of the name of Engerstrom, actuated by the enthusiasm of public and the rancor of personal revenge. He was.fucceeded by his son Gustavus IV. a youth of fourteen years of age and the regency was vested in the hands of the duke of Sundermania, brother to the late king, king, who has conducted himself in his high office with fingular prudence and propriety. It was generally understood that Gustavus III. had acceded to the CONSPIRACY of SOVEREIGNS against France, and had even proposed to take the command of the combined armies in person; but the regent maintained a strict and fcrupulous neutrality. The fame wife plan was also steadily pursued by Denmark, under the excellent and admirable administration of count Bernstorff. The Italian and Helvetic republic, adopted the same safe and falutary system. Spain alone appeared wavering and indecisive, agitated by the alterpate fluctuations of policy and paffion. In confequence of the transactions of the 10th of August, and the virtual deposition of the French monarch, lord Gower, the English ambassador at Paris, received orders from the court of London to quit the kingdom, on the flight and frivolous pretext, that, the functions of royalty being fufpended, his miffion was at an end. This recall was confidered by the leading men in France, as a certain and very ominous indication of the enmity of the British court: nevertheless, as a demonstration of their moderation, and folicitude for peace, M. Chauvelin the French ambassador still remained in London, though from this period unacknowledged in any public or authorised capacity. The recall of the English ambassador at this critical moment, on the ground stated by the English court, seemed to imply that appointments of this nature are a mere matter of form and compliment between sovereigns: but if ambaffadors are confidered in a higher and juster light, as the necessary means of intercourse between nation and nation, never could the recall of an ambaffador take place at a period when his prefence and fervices were more indispensable. On the fuccess of the French arms in Flanders, the court of London gave a still farther proof of their inimical difpofition, by making an eager, officious, and unfoli cited cited offer of assistance to the states general in case of need. But their high mightinesses declared themselves under no apprehenfion of attack. Also, in direct violation of the commercial treaty, an exclufive embargo was laid on vessels freighted with corn for France. The causes of the deposition of the French monarch, and the nature of the provocations and injuries which preceded and produced that event,, not being, fufficiently understood in England, it made an impreffion very unfavorable upon the minds of the generality of the people, already biaffed and perverted by the inflammatory declamations of Mr. Burke and his partisans. And the horrid massacres of September completely alienated their minds from the revolution, although these detestable enormities could not in any rational sense be faid to originate in the revolution, but merely and folely in the oppofition made to its establishment. The nation was on a sudden struck with terror at the idea of any political innovation of any kind; and the very name of REFORM became the subject of violent and indiscriminate reprobation. Under the impreffion of this prevailing prepoffeffion, an association openly countenanced by government was formed in London for the protection of liberty and property against republicans and levellers; and an innumerable multitude of pamphlets, in the popular form of letters, dialogues and narratives, were circulated by this means throughout the kingdom, inculcating an unreferved fubmiffion to government, on the old exploded principles of toryism and high churchism. In one of the most notorious of these tracts it was urged in favor of monarchy, "that the king is in fcripture called the LORD'S ANOINTED; but who, say these profound politicians, ever heard of an ANOINTED REPUBLIC?" The rage of affociating spread rapidly through the kingdom; and in every county, and almost every town, refolutions were subscribed strongly expreffive of loyalty and attachment attachment to the king and conftitution, and abhorrence of all levelling and republican doctrines. The populace entering with violence into these sentiments, and their paffions being by the methods now put in practice dangerously excited, the cry of CHURCH and KING was vociferated with tremendous clamors from the Tamar to the Tweed; from the Cliffs of Dover to the hills of Cheviot. Previous to this extraordinary difplay of loyalty, it had been not unusual for the violent zealots of republicanism in England to tranfinit addreffes to the convention, declaratory in high-flown terms of their applaufe and admiration. The most remarkable of these, entitled " an addrefs from several patriotic societies in England", was presented November 7, at the bar of the convention, containing, in addition to the accustomed complimentary expreffions, the most indecent and indefenfible reflections upon the government and constitution of their own country. "Whilft foreign plunderers ravage your territories (fay thefe addressers), an oppreffed part of mankind, forgetting their own evils, are sensible only of yours, and address their fervent prayers to the God of the universe that he may be favorable to your cause, with which theirs is fo intimately connected.-Degraded by an oppreffive system of inquifition, the infenfible but continual encroachments of which quickly deprived this nation of its boafted liberty, and reduced it almost to that abject state of flavery from which you have so gloriously emancipated yourselves -FIVE THOUSAND English citizens, fired with indignation, have the courage to step forward to rescue their country from that opprobrium which has been thrown on it by the base conduct of those who are invested with power. We fee with concern that the elector of Hanover unites his troops to those of traitors and robbers: but the king of England will do well to remember that England is not Hanover. Should HE forget this, we will not forget it." The prefident of the convention, in his anfwer : fwer to this daring and infolent address, had the extreme indifcretion to use expressions full of refpect and complacency. "The fentiments of five thousand Britons", faid he "devoted openly to the cause of mankind, exist without doubt in the hearts of all the freemen in England." And what is still more surprising, copies of the address were ordered to be sent to all the armies and departments of the republic. The true key to this most impolitic, rash, and insulting conduct of the convention, fo far as the acts of a democratic assembly, too oft proceeding from the impulse of the moment, can be traced to fystem, is, that in confequence of the number of oftentatious, but really infignificant addresses presented at their bar, they were most egregioufly deceived with refpect to the sentiments of the people of England at this period; and they fancied that, by gratifying their resentment against the court, they fhould at the same time recommend themselves to the nation at large, with whom it is certain that they ardently wished to cultivate a good understanding*. The * During the whole of our journey, fays an intelligent traveller (December 1792), we remarked that the apprehenfion of a war with England was peculiarly painful to the French. Though flushed with their late fuccefles, and confident against a world in arms, it was evident there was nothing they dreaded more than fuch an event; not merely on account of the mischief that might ensue, but because it would force them to regard as enemies the only nation in Europe they confidered as their friends. All along the road they anxiously asked us what we thought would be the confequence of the armament in England? We frankly told them we prefumed it would be war; and generally observed a moment of filence and dejection follow the delivery of our opinion. The imminence of hoftilities, however, in no degree diminished the respect they shewed us as Englishmen: and not only we did not meet with any thing like an infult in the whole of our tour, but, on the contrary, we experienced every where particular kindness and attention. They seemed eager to court our opinion; and frequently begged us not to afcribe to a whole nation the faults of individuals, and not to charge their government with diforders its prefent state of vacillation rendered it incompetent to reprefs -I confefs I should never have fufpected that I was travelling among a nation of favages, madmen, and aflaffins-I should rather have wished with SHAKESPEARE, That thefe contending kingdoms, Vide "Tour through the Theatre of War 1792." |