CHAPTER XII
THE NEW WHIG OPPOSITION
1793-1805
By the end of February of 1793, England had joined the continental Powers in their crusade against the Revolution. Technically, France declared war against England, not England against France, but in order to decide on the respective merits of the parties to the great contest that ensued, it is necessary to look further. If France had not declared war against England, England would have declared war against France, for the popular feeling had become ungovernable.
The French conquests in Belgium, the opening of the Scheldt in violation of existing treaties, the danger in which Holland stood from the further spread of French aggressions, the decree of the Convention of the 19th November 1792, to the effect that France would grant assistance to all people wishing to recover their liberty and charging their generals to carry out this order, were the main pleas on the side of England. But although the disturbance of the balance of power was put in the foreground of the English case, reasons far stronger than any fear of French aggrandisement drove England into arms in 1793. These were the horror and dread of French principles. "The war," as Lord Lansdowne said, "was a metaphysical war; it was declared against France on account of her internal circumstances; for the particular complaints made against the French Government might have been settled by negotiation, and did not in any case afford a ground for hostilities.[1]
- ↑ Parliamentary History, xxx. 329, 422.
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