[350] "F. O.," Prussia, 33. Grenville to Malmesbury, 21st April.
[353] "W. O.," I, 169. See an admirable article in the "United Service Mag." (Aug. 1897), by Colonel E. M. Lloyd, founded on the papers of General Sir James Craig, Adjutant-General of the Duke of York.
[356] "F. O.," Austria, 38. Despatch of 19th July.
[357] Pitt MSS., 180. See, too, "Dropmore P.," ii, 617-20, 626.
[358] See "Pitt and Napoleon Miscellanies" for Grenville's letters. Pitt was the guest of Grenville at Dropmore at the end of November 1794 ("Buckingham P.," ii, 319).
[359] "F. O.," Prussia, 35. Malmesbury to Grenville, 25th November 1794.
[360] See "Pitt and Napoleon Miscellanies" for this letter.
[362] Ranke, "Hardenberg," i, 258; "Paget P.," i, 95, _et seq._
Unfortunately, the war was carried on on the old principle of almost undivided attention to what was termed British interests--that is, looking to and preferring the protection of trade and the capture of the enemy's colonial establishments rather than to the objects which had involved Great Britain in the contest with France.--COLONEL THOMAS GRAHAM'S _Diary_.
If we try to picture the course of the war as mapped out by Pitt, it would probably have appeared somewhat as follows. Great Britain, after lending to the Dutch a few regiments as a protection against the threatened raid of Dumouriez, withdraws them, leaving the Dutch and the subsidized German corps to guard the rear of the legions of Prussia and Austria during their conquering march to Paris. England, in the meantime, harasses the coasts of France, thereby compelling her to detain considerable forces at the important points, and further cripples her by sweeping her fleets and merchantmen from the sea and seizing her colonies.
In short, Pitt's conception of the true function of Great Britain in a continental war was based on that of his father, who accorded comparatively little military aid to Frederick the Great even in his direst need, but helped him indirectly by subsidies and by naval expeditions that stalemated no small portion of the French army. If Chatham's tactics succeeded when Prussia was striving against France, Austria, and Russia, how much more might Pitt hope to win a speedy triumph over anarchic France during her struggle with Austria, Prussia, Spain, Naples, Sardinia, and Holland? He expected, and he had a right to expect, that these States would need British money, not British troops, while the Sea Power restricted its operations to a "minor offensive" along the seaboards of France and her colonies. Pitt's efforts in this direction were constantly thwarted by the drain of men to Flanders; but his letters to Murray, Chief of Staff to the Duke of York, evince his anxiety to strike at Toulon and the West Indies, and not merely to lighten the military duties of Austria and Prussia on the French borders.[363] It would be tedious to recount his various attempts to prepare an expedition for the West Indies.[364] Of more interest are the requests for protection which he received from the French colonists of Hayti, the western part of the great island of San Domingo.