regard to form; but all endeavoured to excite the powers of the people by enthusiasm, and to direct their exertions by the mature deliberations of the congress.

Great Britain concluded subsidiary treaties with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, the duke of Brunswick, the princes of Anhalt and Waldeck and the margrave of Anspach, for a certain number of their troops. Such treaties were by no means unusual: but the present moment was remarkable from the remoteness of the theatre of war, and especially from the natural love of freedom which interested the virtuous individuals of all countries in the cause of the Americans. Many awaited the result of the contest in anxious expectation, fearful lest these regular troops should be found to possess an overwhelming superiority over a mere militia: but America fought for the Americans; and it was proved that none but the greatest commanders, full of courage, accustomed to victory and engaged in a popular war, are able to make any decisive use of the highest species of tactics. The war in America was conducted in such a manner, as to induce many to suppose that the English commanders protracted the contest from selfish motives: others, that the spirit of party rendered them incapable of vigorously prosecuting a war, which was known to be rather a ministerial than a popular quarrel : which some ascribed its protraction to the talents of Washington and to the national power of America; and adduced instances from history to prove that every great nation had acquired its freedom, as soon as it despaired of obtaining happiness by other means.

After the unfortunate expedition of the English against Carolina and the raising of the siege of Boston, all the colonies of North America united themselves in a general confederation for the preservation of their independence. On the news of this occurrence, the French court, conformably to its usual policy of supporting the weaker party in all their contests against the power of its rivals, reVOL. III.

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solved openly to adopt the cause of the Americans which it had hitherto only favoured in secret, and to deliver the navigation and commerce of the world from the preponderance, or rather from the absolute control of the British nation. But a far more wonderful spectacle was displayed by the king of Spain; who although the sovereign and oppressor of South America, joined his arms to those of France for the establishment of a free state in the northern division of that continent.

This war undermined the resources of the European courts: it doubled the already exorbitant debt of Britain; it cost the court of Versailles more than nine hundred millions of livres; while the people became accustomed to the ideas of freedom, and discovered the important secret, that unpopular government is in itself insecure.

The war was conducted for a time without any very remarkable occurrences: the house of Bourbon was satisfied with keeping the enemy of its new ally in a state of inactivity; it was apprehensive of the caprices of fortune, and could not fail to recollect the former fame of the British arms. The circumspect Washington sought only the durable reputation of attaining his object, and never suffered himself to be seduced by the hope of a splendid achievement to risk any solid advantage. At length, an army composed of English and Germans, was surrounded and made prisoners at Saratoga by the despised militia of the New World.

After this misfortune, the British parliament manifested a degree of fortitude worthy of the sublime example which the Romans displayed after the defeat at Cannæ: and if the military system of our times had not become widely different from that of antiquity, especially in this respect, that the state of the finances is now of as much importance as the talents of statesmen or the heroism of the combatants, this contest might, after all, in its result have resembled that of the Romans with Hannibal and Carthage.

But after Elliot had displayed what the spirit and talents of the Britons are capable of achieving in the art of defence; and Rodney had proved that in the day of battle this nation is still worthy of the fame of their fathers; the English acted wisely in preferring to acknowledge the independence of America, rather than entirely exhaust the resources of their state in a contest in which there was nothing to gain.

A. D. 1783.

These occurrences are yet fresh in our memory; and their consequences are already perceptible in a variety of respects. The exhaustion of the powers engaged in the American war decided the superiority of other states: the Porte, which next to Switzerland was the most ancient ally of France, could expect no effectual assistance from that power against the Russians; and Joseph now arbitrarily annihilated the barrier-compact and other stipulations of the peace of Utrecht. A blaze of freedom burst forth beyond the ocean, which produced an electrical effect on the west of Europe, and exerted an attractive influence on all those who wished to secure to their descendants the enjoyment of the rights of man and of secure prosperity. Many persons, either incommoded by the social institutions of our quarter of the globe, or persecuted by misfortune, or endowed with the spirit of enterprise and ambitious of discovering new sources of opulence, turned their longing eyes to the western hemisphere. The following short delineation of the situation of Europe will show that these views were not unreasonable.

BOOK XXIV.

SITUATION OF EUROPE IN THE YEAR 1783.

SECTION I.

INTRODUCTION.

THE maritime powers may be properly divided into two classes that of the house of Bourbon in France, Spain, and both the Sicilies; and the Protestant interest, as it is called, comprising Great Britain and Holland: the armed maritime neutrality forms an intermediate class. The principal strength of Russia, however, consists in her land forces; nor does any other monarchy, except the above mentioned, consider the ocean as the principal foundation of its power.

Among the territorial powers which are able to maintain the political system of Europe in equipoise, or to menace its security, the first place, on account of the strength and excellence of their armies, belongs to the imperial courts, to France and Prussia: nothing but transcendent personal qualities, such as those of a Gustavus Adolphus, is сараble of placing any of the inferior states, even temporarily, on a footing of equality with these potentates.

The Ottoman padisha is the most powerful monarch of the barbarians: Persia and Hindostan are in a state of anarchy; China remains as heretofore, separated from the rest of the world, and is an object of less interest to the powers of Europe than the sheriff of Morocco, and the communities on the north coast of Africa.

Among the smaller states, Sardinia and Switzerland will be most conveniently surveyed after the dominions of the

house of Bourbon: France alone can promote the designs of the court of Turin with regard to Lombardy; and Switzerland has lately renewed her connection with that monarchy, by an alliance for fifty years. Scandinavia, the empire of the Germans, Poland and the Italian states, will successively present themselves to our consideration after the preponderant land powers: their friendship and hostility, their duration and decline, are highly important with respect to the balance of power in Europe.

SECTION II.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE.

FRANCE alone, in consequence of her extent and situation, her soil, population and national character, would be able, if her immense resources were rendered available and efficient by a rational and consistent system of policy, to give laws to the other powers, and to keep the nations of Europe united among themselves.

The government of France did not acquire its despotic character, like that of Spain, by the destruction of the national spirit; but by means of a connected chain of refined maxims of state: and hence public opinion still continues to be its foundation and the rule of its policy. The government would be compelled to pay a still closer attention to the public voice, if it were not for the levity of the national character. The kings of France, in order to obtain an authority free from constitutional restraints, have been under the necessity of allowing many important privileges to the nobility, and great freedom of speech to the people. Intellectual and moral superiority produce more powerful effects in this kingdom than compulsory measures in other states; and if it were not for the lettres-de-cachet, an exercise of authority which was first permitted in the latter days of Lewis the Fourteenth; if the taxes were so distributed as to press with less inequality upon the peasants;