made up the deficiency in the estimates by borrowing four and a half millions. He tried to obtain this loan at 4 or 5 per cent., but was forced to issue it at 3 per cent, at a price of 72l. In 1794, while imposing some new taxes, he announced a loan of eleven millions. He declared that commercial prosperity and the growth of the revenue would continue, since in all wars, while we had the superiority at sea, our trade had increased (Parl. Hist. u.s, 1022). In 1793 a serious monetary crisis took place, arising from causes unconnected with the war. To restore credit, Pitt issued exchequer bills for five millions, to be advanced on good security. Only four millions were borrowed, confidence was restored, and the money was repaid.
At the same time the declaration of war made it, in Pitt's opinion, absolutely necessary that all domestic dissension should be suppressed. He shared the general fear of revolutionary doctrines, and believed it essential to check their dissemination. With this object he supported, on 15 May 1793, the 'traitorous correspondence' bill, which was followed by prosecutions and judicial sentences that cannot be wholly justified. In May he brought in a Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, which, though vehemently opposed by Fox and his party (Parl. Hist. xxx. 617), passed through all its stages in twenty-four hours. Such repressive measures were demanded and approved by popular sentiment. From the beginning of the war, too, Pitt, in his anxiety to avoid domestic disputes, opposed parliamentary reform. It was not, he said, speaking against a motion for it on the 17th, 'a time to embark on a constitutional change' (ib. pp. 890-902) ; he considered that the demand was urged by dangerous means, and that the bill itself went too far.
At the outset of the war Pitt resolved to meet the aggressions of France by forming a great European coalition against her. Between March and October 1793 he concluded alliances with Russia, Sardinia, Spain, Naples, Prussia, Austria, Portugal, and some German princes, and granted subsidies of 832,000l. for the hire of foreign troops. The Austrian and Prussian armies were at first successful ; at sea Hood in 1793 destroyed the French fleet in Toulon, although he was compelled to evacuate the town, which had been handed over to the English by the anti-Jacobins ; gains were secured in the West Indies, and on 1 June 1794 Howe won his famous victory off Brest. But in Europe the tide turned, and in 1794 the Austrians and Prussians retreated into Germany. The Duke of York, in command of the British and subsidiary forces, was routed near Dunkirk, and the Belgic provinces and subsequently Holland were conquered. In spite of the resistance of the king, Pitt insisted on York's dismissal. The keeping the allies together taxed all Pitt's energies. In April he was forced to grant a subsidy of 1,226,000l. to Frederick William II of Prussia, who gave no return for it, and in 1795 signed a peace which neutralised North Germany.
In a short time Austria and Sardinia were the only active allies left to England. 'We must,' Pitt said, 'anew commence the salvation of Europe' (Alison, History, iii. 157). He formed a triple alliance with Russia and Austria, the Austrian emperor receiving a loan of four millions and a half. Russia, however, remained inactive, and the action of Austria was barren of results. From these disappointing results he turned hopefully to an ill-judged scheme for conveying French royalist troops to Brittany in English ships. Money and stores were liberally supplied for the expedition. The emigrant troops were landed on the peninsula of Quiberon, and in July 1795 were destroyed by Hoche. The disaster was attributed by the French refugees to Pitt's duplicity, and Fox declared that he had lowered the character of Britain by sending a gallant army to be massacred. While Pitt, no doubt, thought more of the possible advantage to England by the destruction of the enemy's munitions of war than of the success of the royalist cause in France, he fully performed his share in the expedition, and the accusations of disloyalty brought against him seem unfounded (Parl. Hist. xxxii. 170 ; cf. Forneron, Histoire des Emigrés, ii. 99-116, 150).
The budget of February 1795 marks the beginning of a long period of financial difficulty. Pitt was compelled both to increase taxation and to raise a loan of eighteen millions on terms equal to interest at 4l. 16s. 2d. per cent. At the same time he observed that the foreign trade of the country 'surpassed even the most flourishing years of peace' (Parl. Hist. xxxi. 1315). Scarcity, however, prevailed owing to bad harvests, and in August wheat was at 108s. a quarter. On going to open parliament in October, the king was greeted with cries of 'Bread,' 'Peace,' and 'No Pitt,' and a missile was aimed at him. The law of treason was at once extended, and Pitt carried a 'sedition bill.' The distress of the poor led Pitt to adopt a temporary measure of relief, which contravened his economic principles. He defended his action on the ground of emergency. In December he urged the necessity for a reform in the poor laws. He embodied his plans in a bill containing provisions strongly savouring of state
