ABSTRACT
The execution of Louis XVI on January 21st deeply shocked the great mass of the British nation, and it was followed on February 1st by the short-sighted declaration of war on Britain and Holland. James Fox, meanwhile, had, ever since Parliament met on December 13th, been urging the reality of the French Republic’s grievances against the British Foreign Office. At the cost of great abuse and more than half his Parliamentary following, he had probably made it impossible for the British Government to undertake even precautionary anti-French action on the European continent until after the French declaration of war. Peace cries were ultimately destined to cause Government grave disquiet, but for the time being, the Radical manifestations that were causing the greatest uneasiness turned on Parliamentary Reform. It can hardly be said that the French National Convention helped its British (or Irish) admirers by the nature of its policy during the winter of 1792–1793.
