72 BATTLE OF CAMPERDOWN. CH. XXXVII. gave it a slight superiority over that of the enemy. About the same period it was found that the fifteen thousand French troops, which had been so long waiting for transport, had nearly consumed their provisions. The season was fast approaching, when the expedition would have to encounter the periodical perils of the seas, in addition to the terrors of the British seventy-fours. In these circumstances the cautious Dutchman thought fit to inform his Irish friends, who had been eagerly watching every change of wind for the last two months, that the expedition to the Irish Channel, on the scale originally planned, must be abandoned. But the energy of Hoche was called in aid to animate the sluggish counsels of the Dutch Government; and after the termination of the conferences at Lisle, the Directory insisted on some effort being made by the fleet of their reluctant ally. At this time Duncan, having been eighteen weeks at sea, had withdrawn the greater part of his ships to Yarmouth Roads, to victual and refit. De Winter, availing himself of the opportunity, slowly moved from his anchorage, intending to sail for Brest, to effect a junction with the French fleet, and then to return to the Texel for his transports. Duncan, who had prompt information of De Winter's movements, came in sight within forty-eight hours after the Dutchman had put to sea. On the 11th of October, the English Admiral found the Dutch fleet off Camperdown, about nine miles from the land. Equality of the forces. The ships on either side were equal, being sixteen sail of the line; the English had a slight preponderance in tonnage, and were more numerously manned; but, the difference was not appreciable between two fleets well matched as they were, in seamanship, skill, and valour. The prompt decision of Duncan, and the vigorous execution of his orders by his captains, soon determined the fortune of the day. The Dutch fought with a courage 1797. RESULTS OF THE VICTORY. 73 and obstinacy which sustained their ancient reputation.* The rival flag-ships maintained a dreadful conflict for three hours, and it was not until his ship was disabled, and every officer on the quarter-deck, except himself, was either killed or wounded, that De Winter struck. His second in command, Keyntjies, in like manner, struck to Admiral Onslow, but not before he was mortally wounded. The Dutch captains, seeing their leaders vanquished, either surrendered or fled. Eight sail of the line, with three ships of inferior rate, were taken. The loss in killed and wounded on the side of the English was one thousand and forty; on that of the Dutch, one thousand one hundred and sixty. No naval action, during the war, was fought on more equal terms, or with greater obstinacy, than the battle of Camperdown. This victory, following the victory of Cape St. Vincent, put an end, for the time, to all apprehension for the safety of the British Isles. Projects of invasion were, indeed, still vaunted; a flotilla of flat-bottomed transports was to be fitted out; a new loan was proposed to be secured on the future plunder of Great Britain; a decree was passed, declaring all ships, conveying British goods, to be lawful prize. Menaces of this kind sufficiently proved that the enterprise was no longer seriously entertained. Factious con Opposition. Parliament was called together for the autumnal session a few days after the announcement of the great victory at Camperdown, and duct of the its first business was to acknowledge the achievements of that noble service, upon which the glory, the prosperity, and the safety of the nation mainly depend. On such an occasion it behoved *The appearance of the British ships at the close of the action was very unlike what it generally is when the French or Spaniards have been the opponents of the former. Not a single lower mast, not even a top-mast, was shot away. It was at the hulls that the Dutch had directed their shot.'JAMES'S Naval History, vol. ii. p. 103. 74 DISLOYAL PROCEEDINGS OF CH. XXXVII. every man of mark to be in his place; yet the leaders of the Opposition in both Houses thought this a fitting occasion formally to withdraw from attendance in Parliament. Such conduct was as unconstitutional as it was Unconstitu tional conduct of the Whigs. petulant and short-sighted. It is the duty of a member of Parliament to attend the service of the House; and in the Commons, this duty is enforced. It was pretended by the principal men in opposition, or alleged on their behalf, that their continued attendance in Parliament was useless when their resistance to the arbitrary measures of the minister was futile, and when their motives were maligned. But if these men had faith in their principles, and in the constitution, which an earlier generation of Whigs steadily maintained through not less evil times, they would not have taken a step which was calculated to direct the affections of the people towards another form of Government. The session was attended by a demonstration which seemed, indeed, to imply, that Fox and his friends were prepared to recommend republican institutions, instead of the Constitution of 1688. The principal members of the Opposition assembled at a public dinner to celebrate the birthday of their leader. The Duke of Norfolk took the chair, and in proposing the health of Mr. Fox, thought proper to remind the company that Washington had no greater number of followers than were assembled in that room when he undertook the liberation of his country; and he desired them to make the application. This significant hint was received with great applause; and at a later period of the evening, His Grace proposed for a toast, their Sovereign-the people,' which was drunk with acclamation. For this proceeding, the Duke of Norfolk was dismissed from the lieutenancy of the West Riding, and deprived of his regiment of militia. Mr. Tierney. The budget. 75 In the absence of Fox, the forlorn band, which still remained on the Opposition benches, was led by Mr. Tierney, a clever and accomplished barrister, who had recently entered Parliament. The first important measure of the session was a Bill to continue the restriction on cash payments by the Bank of England for the duration of the war. Tierney, having somewhat presumptuously announced, that he had a general retainer to oppose the Government, commenced by attacking the Bill; but, though his criticisms were marked by shrewdness, knowledge, and good sense, Pitt did not deign to answer him. The Bill, recommended as it was by the report of a secret committee, was agreed to. The financial plan for the year was brought forward before Christmas. It was remarkable for a bold attempt to push the principle of providing by taxation for the service of the year. Hitherto the expenses of the war had, for the most part, been defrayed by loans; and, in this manner, the permanent debt had been increased by upwards of one hundred and thirty millions within the last four years. But as the prospect of an early termination of the war had vanished, Pitt determined to try the resources and public spirit of the country, by taxation equivalent to a large proportion of the estimated extraordinary expenditure. Twenty-five millions and a half were required for the service of the year. Of this amount, nearly seven millions were met by ordinary revenue, leaving about nineteen millions to be provided for. The Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to raise twelve millions by loan, and seven millions by trebling the assessed taxes. The financial plan of the Government was recommended chiefly for the principle which it enunciated. A great and protracted war cannot be carried on without borrowing. There is a point beyond which taxation cannot be pushed without encroaching upon 76 INCREASE OF ASSESSED TAXES. CH. XXXVII. capital, and so diminishing the source from which enterprise and industry are fed. On the other hand, a nation is demoralised and discredited which shrinks from pressure, and lightly casts upon posterity burdens which the present generation should bear. A wise minister pursues the just medium between these extremes; and Pitt is entitled to the high praise which is due to such a policy. The particular measure of finance which he adopted is less to be commended. He framed a graduated scale by which the assessment was increased in proportion to the income of the person chargeable; a plan which has been often reprobated as containing the principle of confiscation. The measure, though nominally an increase of the assessed taxes, was, in fact, a disguised income tax. An assessed tax is essentially self-imposed or self-adjusted. Every man can either decline the commodity taxed, or reduce the standard of taxation. But the minister deprived the payer of this election; for he took the assessment of the preceding year as an arbitrary basis; and charged every person who had come under that assessment with an increase ascending from one-fourth to five times the amount. The sole merit of this plan was that it admitted of a tolerably accurate estimate of the sum which it would yield; and being propounded only as a temporary expedient, it was not perhaps fairly open to the criticism to which it would have been subjected had it been brought forward as part of the permanent system of finance. Nevertheless the plan was vehemently opposed. Opposition to The attempt to conciliate the favour of the budget. the multitude by heaping the burden upon the rich, was not successful. The resolutions were, however, voted in the Committee of Ways and Means by a great majority. In matters of finance this * * 214-215. |