elatives; the assessed taxes were also increased by ten per cent.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

This session, in which little appears to have been done, terminated on
the 19th of May. In his speech from the throne his majesty expressed the
happy effects experienced from the provisions adopted for suppressing
sedition, and restraining the progress of principles subversive of
all established government; and the highest approbation of the uniform
wisdom, temper, and firmness which had appeared in all then-proceedings
since their first meeting. A few days afterwards parliament was
dissolved.

NEGOCIATIONS FOR PEACE.

In the course of the debate on Fox's motion, for an address to the
crown, it was stated by ministers that Mr. Wickham, our envoy to the
Swiss cantons, had already had some communication with Barthelemy, the
French negociator in chief, and they urged that these communications
were quite sufficient to induce the republic to treat, if it really had
any pacific intention. Opposition, however, urged that Mr. Wickham
had not done enough to conciliate the French; and thus urged on, Pitt
considered himself obliged to continue the overtures which had been
made. Mr. Wickham asked Barthelemy whether the directory were desirous
to negociate with Great Britain and her allies on moderate and
honourable conditions, and would agree to a meeting of a congress for
this purpose. Barthelemy replied, that the directory sincerely desired
peace, but that they would insist on keeping Belgium, or all the
Austrian dominions in the Low Countries, as they had been annexed to the
French republic by a constitutional decree that could not be revoked. It
was, however, as clear as the sun at noonday that the directory did not
desire peace at all; or that, if they did, it would be on terms that
could not be accepted. At this very time they were not only meditating a
blow at the commerce of England, by preventing the admission of English
goods into any port of France and Belgium, and into any of the French
dependencies, but they were fostering and entertaining a number of Irish
revolutionists at Paris, and were contemplating a grand expedition
to Ireland, in order to co-operate with the rebellious there, and to
convert that country, as they had done Holland, Belgium, &c, into a
French dependency. Yet, though it was manifest that the French directory
had no desire for peace, in the autumn of this year, Pitt was induced to
renew his