tended Executive Council, who have, directly or BOOK indirectly, participated in the said crime; and,

XIX.

if they should be discovered and arrested, to de- 1793. liver them up to justice, that they may serve as a lesson and example to mankind."-To this sanguinary memorial the superior wisdom and humanity of the Dutch government declined any reply; but it remains a striking historic proof of the similar temper and disposition which frequently actuates those who appear to differ widely in their principles. The spirit of Popery is not confined to those who bear the name of Papists, nor the spirit of Jacobinism to those who are branded with the appellation of Jacobins.

passive

and non

preached

house of

peers by

sley.

The political creed of the court of London at Doctrines of this period may be clearly traced in a sermon obedience preached before the house of lords, January 30, resistance 1793, by Dr. Horsley, bishop of St. David's, before the containing sentiments for which, in the reign of William III. he would have been deprived of bishop Horhis bishopric; but for which, in that of George III. he was shortly after promoted to the superior see of Rochester." God, to his own secret purpose," says this genuine successor of Sibthorp and Manwaring, "directs the worst actions of tyrants no less than the best of godly princes: man's abuse, therefore, of his delegated authority, is to be borne by resignation,

BOOK like any other of God's judgments. The oppoXIX. sition of the individual to the sovereign power 1793. is an opposition to God's providential arrange

ments. In governments which are the worst administered, the sovereign power, for the most. part, is a terror not to good works, but to the evil; and, upon the whole, far more beneficial than detrimental to the subject. But this general good of government cannot be secured upon any other terms than the submission of the individual to what may be called its extraordinary evils. St. Paul represents the earthly sovereign as the vicegerent of God, accountable for misconduct to his heavenly master, but entitled to obedience from his subjects."

The energy of the French Convention displayed itself in a most extraordinary manner in the midst of the present circumstances of embarrassment and distress. New commissioners being nominated to succeed Camus and his colleagues, omitted no means of restoring order, and invigorating the spirit of the French army. Heroic ex- General Dampierre, an officer distinguished by death of his conduct and valour, and who had evinced Dampierre. his patriotism by his resistance to the orders of

ertions and

general

Dumouriez, was provisionally appointed to the chief command; and in a very short time was so successful in his exertions as to be enabled to lead his troops with confidence into action. From

XIX.

the middle of April to the 8th of May, a variety BOOK
of partial, though sharp and bloody, engage-
ments took place between the two armies, in 1793.
which no decisive advantage was gained. On
that day general Dampierre advanced in person
to dislodge a large body of the enemy posted
near the Wood of Vicoigne; but martial ardor
prompting him to expose his person too rashly
to the enemy's fire, his thigh was carried off by
a cannon-ball, and he died the following day,
deeply regretted by all descriptions of persons.
His military career though short, was glorious,
and the laurel entwined by the cypress adorned
his grave.
In this action the English troops Duke of
were engaged in the field for the first time in mander of
this war, and behaved with all their charac-
teristic intrepidity; but by the inexperience of ary troops
the duke of York their commander (for there is tinent.
no royal road to knowledge), being ordered to
the attack of a strong post in the wood, where
they were exposed to the fire of some masked
batteries, they suffered so much, that it was not
thought expedient to make any official return
of the killed and wounded,

"Great God!" exclaimed on this occasion one of the French generals to an English officer taken prisoner in the engagement, "why do you gallant Britons come hither to destroy us, or be yourselves destroyed? We have no quarrel

York com

the English

and auxili

on the cont

XIX.

BOOK with you; and are fighting only in defence of that liberty which was purchased for you by the 1793. best blood of your ancestors."

Military

transactions.

The siege of Valenciennes being now in contemplation of the prince of Cobourg, it was de termined by the allies to attempt an attack upon the fortified camp of Famars, which protected and covered that important fortress, Condé being already invested. At day-break, on the 23d of May, the British and Hanoverians under their royal commander, and the Austrians and German auxiliaries under the prince of Cobourg and general Clairfait, made a joint assault upon the advanced posts of the French. The contest was severe; but the French were evidently worsted, and, in the course of the night, they abandoned their camp, retreating towards Bouchain and Cambray. This success enabled capture of the allies to lay siege in form to Valenciennes. nes, Condé, On the 1st of June general Custine arrived to Mentz, and Quesnoy. take the command of the armies of the North and the Ardennes; but he deemed himself unequal to the task of rendering effectual relief to that fortress, before which the trenches were opened on the 14th of that month; and, towards the beginning of July, the besiegers were able to bring 200 pieces of heavy artillery to play upon it. Mines and counter-mines innumerable were formed also in the course of this

Siege and

Valencien

XIX.

siege, both by the assailants and the garrison; BOOK
and many fierce subterranean conflicts were
carried on with various success. But on the 1793.
night of the 25th of July those under the glacis
and horn-work of the fortress were sprung, on
the part of the besiegers, with complete success,
and the English and Austrians seized the favor-
able moment for attacking the covered-way, of
which they made themselves masters. On the
next day the place surrendered on honorable
terms of capitulation, the duke of York taking
possession of it in behalf of the emperor of Ger-
many. Nearly at the same time the garrison of
Condé yielded themselves prisoners of war, after
enduring all the rigors of famine; and Mentz
submitted, not without a long and resolute re-
sistance, to the arms of Prussia.

On the 8th of August the French were driven from the strong position they occupied behind the Scheldt, which was known by the name of Cæsar's Camp: after which a grand council of war was held, wherein it was determined that the British, Hanoverians, Dutch, and Hessians, should separate from the Austrians, and form a distinct army, not dependent upon the co-operation of the Austrians. This was strongly opposed by the prince of Cobourg, and general Clairfait, who clearly saw the fatal consequences,