any Prime Minister to move onward. A meeting of the Bishops was held at the Bounty Office, on a summons from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and at the request, as the Bishops were informed, of Mr. Pitt. The question laid before their Lordships was as follows:"Ought the Test and Corporation Acts to be maintained ?" Of fourteen Prelates present, only twoWatson of Llandaff, and Shipley of St. Asaph-voted in the negative; and the decision of the meeting was at once transmitted to the Minister.2 When, on the 28th of March, Mr. Beaufoy did bring on his motion, Lord North spoke in opposition to it, and Fox in its favour. Pitt rose and said that he did not think he could with propriety give a silent vote. He observed that some classes of the Nonconformists had injured themselves in the public opinion greatly, and not unreasonably, by the violence and the prejudices which they had shown. "Were we," he said, "to yield on this occasion, the fears of the members of the Church of England would be roused, and their apprehensions are not to be treated lightly. It must, as I contend, be conceded to me that an Established Church is necessary. Now there are some Dissenters who declare that the Church of England is a relic of Popery; others that all Church Establishments are improper. This may not be the opinion of the present body of Dissenters, but no means can be devised of admitting the moderate part of the Dissenters and excluding the violent; the bulwark must be kept up against all." 2 Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop Watson, written by himself, vol. i. p. 261, ed. 1818.; VOL. I. Q The division which ensued gave no great hopes to the claimants. Only 98 members went with Mr. Beaufoy, while 176 declared against him. In this Session of 1787 was passed the measure which laid the foundation of new Colonies, scarcely less important than those which we had recently lost. The want of some fixed place for penal exile had been severely felt ever since the American War, and the accumulation of prisoners at home was counteracting the benevolent efforts of Howard for the improvement of the British gaols. The discoveries of Captain Cook were now remembered and turned to practical account. An Act of Parliament empowered His Majesty, by Commission under the Great Seal, to establish a Government for the reception of convict prisoners in New South Wales. An Order in Council completed the necessary forms. Captain Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy was appointed Governor, commanding a body of marines, and conveying six hundred male and two hundred and fifty female convicts. The expedition set sail in May, 1787; and early in the following year laid the foundation of the new settlement at Port Jackson in Botany Bay. Notwithstanding the many important measures or debates of this Session, the business was conducted with so much despatch that Parliament could be prorogued on the 30th of May. CHAPTER X. 17871788. State of parties in Holland - Differences respecting the French trade in India - Prussian troops enter Holland - Death of the Duke of Rutland France and England disarm - Trial of Hastings - India Declaratory Bill - Budget - Claims of American Loyalists - First Steps in Parliament for the Abolition of the Slave TradeExertions of Wilberforce and Clarkson - Pitt's Resolution- Sir W. Dolben's Bill-Horrors of the Middle Passage - Controversies on Slavery. FOR Some months past the conflict of parties in the Dutch Republic had been the subject of much uneasiness and much deliberation to the Ministers in England. The Prince of Orange found his authority as Stadtholder not merely eluded, but struck at and defied. He had retired to Nimeguen, leaving Van Berkel and the other chiefs of the Democratic party in full possession of power at the Hague; and they on their part continued, as during the late war, closely connected with France, and obedient to every dictate that came from the Court of Versailles. Such was the general picture of Holland at this time, but scarce any month elapsed without some fresh aggression or contumely on the Prince of Orange. In his own character there was nothing of spirit or energy; but both these qualities were possessed in a high degree by the Princess. She addressed in private earnest entreaties for aid to her brother, who had recently succeeded as King of Prussia, and also to the King of Eng land. Sir James Harris, our Minister at the Hague, espoused her cause with zeal. We find him in his despatches constantly urge that if the Democratic party were allowed full play, Holland would sink ere long into a mere dependency and almost a province of France. These representations prevailed at once with Lord Carmarthen, the Secretary of State, who became not less eager in the cause than Sir James himself; but by Pitt they were more doubtfully received. Pitt indeed on this occasion, as on several others previous to the great crisis of 1793, proved himself to be in truth and emphatically a Peace Minister. At the beginning of May, 1787, Sir James Harris wrote again to Lord Carmarthen, pressing with more than common urgency "a plan of vigorous measures.” But since objections would of course arise, and explanations be required, he further suggested that he might himself go over for a few days to England. He received the desired permission, and was invited to attend two Cabinets that were held upon the subject. Of the first of these Cabinets his notes are still preserved. The Chancellor, he says, took the lead, and "in the most forcible terms that could be employed, declared against all halfmeasures." So did also, besides Lord Carmarthen, the Duke of Richmond and Lord Stafford. "I own," said Mr. Pitt, "the immense importance of Holland being preserved as an independent State. It is certainly an object of the greatest magnitude. I have no hesitation as to what ought to be done, if we do anything at all; but if we do anything, we must make up our minds in the first instance to go to war as a possible, though not a probable, event. Now the mere possibility is enough to make it necessary for England to reflect before she stirs. It is to be maturely weighed whether anything could repay the disturbing that state of growing affluence and prosperity in which she now is, and whether this is not increasing so fast as to make her equal to meet any force France could collect some years hence." 1 At the last Cabinet, however, it was determined that a sum of 20,0007., as derived from the Secret Service Fund, should be entrusted to Harris, and applied to assist our friends in Holland. Thus was Sir James enabled to return to his post armed with the same weapon as Jove (it is his own comparison) when invading the tower of Danae. In pursuit of the like policy, the Court of Versailles had sent to its Minister at the Hague a lavish letter of credit. "And I can assure your Lordship"-thus had Sir James written on the 1st of May— "I keep greatly within the mark when I declare that in this period of time (a fortnight) France has expended at least a million of livres." Holland was not the only field on which the Courts of London and Versailles seemed at this time likely to contend. A serious difference had arisen between them as to the extent and meaning of the thirteenth article of the Treaty of Peace, stipulating for the French trade in India; and the French on this occasion received the full support of the ruling party at the Hague. Both 1 Malmesbury Papers, vol. ii. p. | de Frédéric Guillaume II. Roi de 303, &c. For the French view of Dutch affairs see among others De Ségur's 'Histoire du Règne Prusse,' vol. i. p. 100-136, with the |