Notwithstanding these and other partial successes, however, the heavy pecuniary exactions of the war, together with its evident failure in so far as respected an advance towards the attainment of any intel ligible ultimate object, and the steady progress of the French arms in tho subjugation of the continent, had now wearied and worn out the enthusiasm even of the greater number of those who had been originally ita most ardent supporters. By a considerable part of the nation the contest had come to be regarded with feelings of the bitterest aversion. The inflamed temper of the populace, excited in part by the notion which very generally possessed them, that the real object of the war in which the country was engaged was the repression of democracy and liberty both at home and abroad, had, among other excesses, led to an attack upon the king by the mob as he passed through the park in going to and returning from the House of Lords at the opening of the session of parliament on the 29th of October 1795. The feelings however which vented themselves in this manner were never participated in by any considerable portion of the com munity; the sentiment of the great majority of all classes of the nation was certainly, throughout the reign, one of kindness and respect towards his majesty, with which, in most cases, even strong political dissent from the general course of his government did not much inter fere. The affection that was entertained for the king personally was remarkably shown by tho numerous addresses of congratulation that were presented from all parts of the kingdom on his escape from the attempt of a maniac) named Hatfield, by whom he was fired at with a pistol from the pit of Drury-Lane Theatre, on the 15th of May1800. In the spring of 1801 his majesty had another slight attack of his mental malady.
The important measure of the union of Great Britain and Ireland was after many difficulties at last effected in 1800. This event led, in March 1801, to the resignation of Mr. Pitt, who now considered him self pledged to the removal of the Catholio disabilities, to which however the king firmly refused his assent. A new ministry was in consequence constructed, with the Right Hon. Henry Addington (afterwards Lord Sidmouth) at its head. Immediately before these events a rupture bad taken place with Russia, and that power had united with Sweden and Denmark in the establishment of a new armed neutrality. The death of the Emperor Paul however soon led to a reconciliation between England and the three northern kingdoms. Meanwhile, on the 2nd of April, Copenhagen was bombarded, and the Danish fleet partly taken, partly destroyed, by Nelson. In the East also, this year, the victory of Alexandria was gained over the French, with the loss of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, on the 21st of March ; and on the 2nd of September, Alexandria surrendered to Lord Hutchinson, and the French were compelled to evacuate Egypt. In the beginning of October it was unexpectedly announced that negocietions which had been for some time in progress had terminated in the signature of the preliminaries of a general peace. This news was received with universal satisfaction and rejoicing. The definitive
treaty of peace was signed at Amiena on the 25th of March 1802.
Within • year however hostilities were renewed. We need only notice as the most remarkable occurrences in the course of this war, in so far as this country was concerned, the occupation of Hanover by the French, in 1803 ; the declaration of war by Spain, in December 1501 ; the threatened invasion by France, and Nelson's glorious victory of Trafalgar, in 1805; the unsuccessful attempt to negociate • peace, the capture of the Cape of Good Hope by England, and Bouaparte's Berlin decree of 1806; the seizure of the Danish fleet and the capture and subsequent evacuation of Buenos Ayres, in 1800 ; the insurrection in Spain, the alliance entered into with that country, aud the expulsion of the French from Portugal, in 1808; the long contest begun in that year, which eventually achieved the liberation of the peninsula; the war with America, iu 1S12; the treaty with Russia, in that year ; the treaties with Sweden and Austria, and the expulsion of the French from Hanover, in 1813; the peace with Denmark, in January 1814; the surrender of Paris to the allies, in March ; the abdication of Bonaparte and restoration of the Bourbons ; the peace with America, signed at Ghent, in December ; the return of Bonaparte from Elba, in March 1815; and finally, the victory of Waterloo, in June following, which put an end to the war.
Of the public events which occurred within the kingdom during this period the most remarkable were i—the return of the king's illness for a few weeks iu February 1804; the restoration of Mr. Pitt to power, in May of that year; the death of Mr. Pitt the 23rd of January 1800; the accession of the ministry of Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville; the death of Mr. Fox, 13th of September; the disso lution of the Grenville administration, in March 1S07, in consequence of the king refusing his assent to their proposed measures for the relief of the Roman Catholics ; the formation of a new cabinet under the Duke of Portland and Mr. Perceval ; the resignation of the com mand of the army by the Duke of York, in March 1809, in conse quence of the result of an investigation on charges of corrupt practices (of which however it appeared that the profits were reaped, not by the duke, but by his mistress, the notorious Mrs. Clarke); the cele bration, on the 25th of October that year, of the Jubilee, on the occurreuoe of the fiftieth anniversary of his majesty's accession; the commencement. of the final insanity of the king, in the end of October 1810; the consequent appointment, by act of parliament, of the Prince of Wales as regeut, in February 1811; the assassination of Mr. Percei•al, May 11, 1812; and the appointment of the Earl of Liverpool as premier. The ministry of Lord Liverpool lasted during the remainder of the reign. The king continued in the same state of mental incapacity into which ho had fallen, till his death at Windsor Castle on the night of Saturday, the 29th of January 1620, in the eighty-second year of his age, and the sixtieth of his reign. He had been entirely blind for some years before his death.