XXIII. ~ 1790. One of the primary measures, both in con- BOOK templation and importance, of the new governorgeneral was, to lease the lands in perpetuity at an equitable valuation to the actual occupants; in allusion to which momentous transaction, his lordship thus forcibly expresses himself to the Directors: "The security of property, and the certainty which each individual will Now feel of being allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labors, must operate uniformly as incitements to labor and industry." This could not but be construed as a bitter satire on the conduct of his predecessor; and as amounting to a very explicit acknowledgment of the misery and oppression which the inhabitants had long suffered under his capricious, haughty, and tyrannical domination. BOOK XXIV. Dispute with Spain relative to the Settlement at Nootka Sound. Reluctance of France to support the Claims of Spain. Convention between Great Britain and Spain signed at the Escurial. Anniversary of the French Revolution celebrated. Mr. Burke publishes calumnious Reflections on the French Revolution. The pernicious and fatal Consequences of the Reflections. Reflections answered by Thomas Paine. Wonderful Effects of Paine's Pamphlet. New Parliament-Attempt of Mr. Pitt to seize the unclaimed Dividends at the Bank. Debate on the Pendency of Mr. Hastings's Impeachment. Catholic Toleration Act passed. Mr. Fox's Motion for a Bill to ascertain the Rights of Juries. Mr. Wilberforce's Motion for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade. Bill for establishing a Constitution in Canada. Alarming Dispute with Russia. Formidable Opposition in Parliament. Mr. Pitt compelled to disgraceful Retractations. State of Affairs in France. Church and King-Riots at Birmingham. Session of Parliament-Flourishing State of the Nation. Mr. Whitbread's Motion of Censure respecting Russia. Mr. Wilberforce's second Motion of Abolition. Insidious Conduct of the House of Lords. Mr. Fox's Motion for a Repeal of the Penal Laws, Mr. Whitbread's Motion of Enquiry into the Birmingham Riots. Mr. Fox's Libel Bill passed into a Law. Act for the Relief of the Scottish Episcopalians. Society of the Friends of the People instituted. Royal Proclamation for the Suppression of Sedition. State of Affairs in India. State of Affairs in France. Amicable Overtures of the French Court rejected. Deposition of the King - of France. Injurious Decree of the Convention. Infamous In BOOK XXIV. 1790. vaison of Poland by the Russians. Detestable Perfidy of the King of Prussia. King of Sweden assassinated. English Ambassador recalled from France. Unsolicited Offer of Assistance to the States General. Terrors of Innovation—Associations formed. Royal Proclamation-Militia embodied. Parliament convened-A Plot in Disguise, Defection of the Alarmists. Mr. Fox's Motion for a Negotiation with France negatived. Mr. Dundas's rash and confident Prediction. Ineffectual Efforts of the Executive Council of France to avert the War. French Ambassador ordered to depart the Kingdom. Insults and Injuries offered to France. English Government at length proposes to negotiate. War declared ly France against England and Holland. IN the month of April Mr. Pitt presented, as usual, his statement of the national revenue and expenditure; and it was very consolatory to the with Spain public to be informed that the receipt of the Ex Dispute relative to ment at Sound. the settle- chequer had surpassed that of the year preceding Nootka in the sum of half a million; and more so to be told that still greater accessions might reasonably be hoped from the uninterrupted enjoyment of the inestimable blessings of peace. It therefore excited peculiar astonishment, when, in about a fortnight from this period, viz. May 5th, 1790, a royal message was delivered by the minister, announcing a state of things which bore the undisguised and menacing aspect of war. To elucidate this matter, it is necessary to mention that the celebrated circumnavigator Cook,* * It is impossible, on the incidental mention of a name so famous, not to pause for a moment, in order to pay to his me XXIV. 1790. in his last voyage of discovery, touching at divers BOOK ports on the western coast of North America, purchased from the natives a number of valuable furs bearing a high price in the Chinese market. This branch of commerce proving very lucrative, a spot of ground was, in the year 1788, procured from the Indians, and a regular establishment, defended by a slight fortification, formed at a place called mory the passing tribute of applause. What the combined efforts of former ages had left doubtful was at length ascertained by the skill, courage, and perseverance, of Cook. Those grand geographical problems, the existence of a southern continent, and the practicability of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, are now become geographical chimeras. The unfortunate event by which this great navigator, like his renowned predecessor Magellan, lost his life in an encounter with the savages of an island in the Indian ocean, has been celebrated in a most beautiful elegy, by one of the first poetical geniuses of the age-Miss Seward. The lines expressive of the anxious impatience of his widowed consort, as yet unconscious of the loss she had sustained, for the return of him for whose safety she had preferred her daily and nightly vows, are peculiarly striking and emphatic : • But ah! aloft on Albion's rocky steep, That frowns incumbent o'er the boiling deep, Eyes the lone flood, and deprecates the storm. |