re her means of defence so
weak. Fortunately, no blow was aimed at her until the month of October;
and then, when the Dutch fleet set out to convoy an expedition to
Ireland, it was utterly crushed by Duncan at Camperdown. There was
therefore little risk of an invasion in force after October 1797, the
very month which saw Napoleon Bonaparte set free from his lengthy
negotiations with Austria. Verily, if Fortune pressed hard on Pitt at
Toulon and in Flanders and Hayti, she more than redressed the balance by
her boons at sea in the year 1797.

Camden's letters to Pitt reveal the imminence of bankruptcy in Ireland
throughout that year; and it is noteworthy that the loan raised for the
Irish Government in January and February was the final cause of the Bank
crisis in London. Even so, the Irish Exchequer was in dire need. On 25th
April Camden informed Pitt that only L8,000 remained in the Exchequer,
and he had no means for equipping the troops if the French should land.
The sum of L200,000 must be sent at once. Such a demand at that time was
impossible; and not until the end of May could Pitt forward the half of
that sum, Camden meanwhile borrowing money in Dublin at 8 3/8 per cent.
On 1st June he wrote to Pitt a confidential letter, laying bare his real
aims. He urged him to do all in his power to procure peace from France.
He had recommended this step in April; but now his language was most
insistent. Assuming that it would be sheer madness to tempt fortune in
another campaign, he suggested that, if the French terms were too
onerous, Pitt should leave it to another Prime Minister to frame a
peace. But whatever happened, Pitt must not lower his dignity by
conceding Reform and Catholic Emancipation in Great Britain and Ireland.
If those measures were inevitable, others must carry them. The latter
would only satisfy the Irish Catholics for a time, their aim being to
rule the country. The only way of escaping these difficulties was a
Union of the Parliaments; but he (Camden) could not undertake to carry
it, still less Catholic Emancipation. Finally he declared the
Presbyterians of Ulster to be Republicans who would rise _en masse_ if
the French landed; but if Cornwallis were sent over to lead the troops,
even that crisis might be overcome.[487]

Pitt received this letter at the height of the mutiny at the Nore. He
seems to have sent no answer to it: indeed, silence is the best reply to
such an effusion. Camden's letters to Pit