Select Works - 1892 Author:Edmund Burke Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: TWO LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A MEMBER OF THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT, PROPOSALS FOR PEACE WITH THE REGICIDE DIRECTORY OF FRANCE. BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE... more » EDMUND BURKE. [second Edition. Rivinotons, 1796.] LETTER I. On the Overtures of Peace. [ARGUMENT. Introduction, pp. 3-21. Difficulties of the 'philosophy of history,' p. 3. Rise and successes of the Regicide Republic, p. 6. England often at her strongest when she believes herself to be weakest, as in 1757, p. 9. The nation to be awakened, p. 10. Double aspect of the Wealth of England, p. 12. England cannot act apart B from Europe, p. 13. Discreditable issue of the war hitherto, p. 14. Disaster abroad reflected in distemper at home, p. 16, which is explained by the want of high-principled leaders, p. 18. The peculiar character of a war with a Regicide State, p. 19. This leads the author (Part I) to review the history of the Overtures for Peace already made by the English Government, and to show from them that no Peace is seriously contemplated by France. Thence (Part II) to show that these Overtures cannot accord with the sentiments of the English nation, and lastly (Part III) to show that the nature of the Regicide Republic is such that no Peace could be made with it. PART I, pp. 21-46. History Of The Overtures For Peace. Indications of French temper. Bird's mission, p. 22 ; Hamburg declaration, p. 24. 1st Overtures. Speech from the Throne, Oct. 29, 1795, and reply of 5th Pluviose (Jan. 25, 1796), p. 25. 2nd Overtures. Note of March 8, 1796, from Mr. Wickham to M. Barthelemy, and answer of the latter, March 26, p. 30. Downing Street Note of April 10, p. 35. Disasters of the Summer, and failure of rumoured Prussian mediation, p. 36. Present Overtures. Lord Grenville's request, through th...« less