se recent
conquests. The general feeling of the nation was fitly expressed by
Sheridan in the phrase: "This is a peace which all men are glad of, but
no man can be proud of". Malmesbury, the negotiator of Lille, was absent
from the debates; but he has recorded in his diary his disapproval both
of the peace and of the violent opposition to it The king told
Malmesbury on November 26 that he considered it an experimental peace,
but unavoidable.[5]

[Pageheading: _DEBATES ON TREATY OF AMIENS._]

The debates on the definitive treaty of Amiens took place on May 13 and
14, 1802, and though vigorously sustained, were to some extent a
repetition of those on the preliminaries of peace. The opposition to it
was headed by Grenville in the lords and in the commons by Windham, who
compared it unfavourably with the preliminaries; and the stipulations
with respect to Malta were justly criticised as one of its weakest
points. Strange to say, Pitt took no effective part in the discussion,
which ended in overwhelming majorities for the government. As in the
previous session, domestic affairs, except in their bearing on foreign
policy, received comparatively little attention from parliament. The
income tax was repealed, almost in silence, as the first fruits of
peace, and Addington, as chancellor of the exchequer, delivered an
emphatic eulogy on the sinking fund by means of which he calculated that
in forty-five years the national debt, then amounting to L500,000,000,
might be entirely paid off. The house of commons showed no want of
economical zeal in scrutinising the claims of the king on the civil
list, and those of the Prince of Wales on the revenues of the duchy of
Cornwall. Nor did it neglect such abuses as the non-residence of the
parochial clergy, and the cruel practice of bull-baiting, though it
rejected a bill for the suppression of this practice, after a
characteristic apology for it from Windham, in which he dwelt upon its
superiority to horse-racing. In this session, too, a grant of L10,000
was voted to Jenner for his recent invention of vaccination. In
supporting it, Wilberforce stated that the victims of small-pox, in
London alone, numbered 4,000 annually.

The parliament, which had now lasted six years, was dissolved by the
king in person on June 28, and a general election was held during the
month of July. The new house of commons did not differ materially from
the old, and even in Ireland the recent national opposition