In no part does Pitt's war policy appear to more disadvantage than in the West Indies. He entered into those expeditions when the army at home was unable to meet the demands of the service in Flanders, and on the coasts of Brittany and Provence, not to speak of the needs of Ireland and the East Indies. He allowed Dundas to send out levies which were far too raw to withstand the strain of the tropics. This fact, together with the stupidity of the regulations and the inexperience, or worse, of the medical staff, accounts for the waste of life and the barrenness of these tedious campaigns. At no time had England in the West Indies a force sufficient to withstand the ravages of disease and to overcome the Republicans and their black allies. Nevertheless, while the conduct of the West Indian campaigns is open to censure, it is difficult to see what other course could have been adopted towards those important colonies, in view of the resolve of the French Jacobins to revolutionize them. The attempt was made and partly succeeded. Could Pitt and his colleagues stand merely on the defensive, while incendiaries sought to stir up a war of colour? Was it not the natural and inevitable step to endeavour to extirpate those fire-brands? And when so attractive an offer as that of Hayti was made by the royalist settlers, could the British Government hold timidly aloof and allow that rich land to breed revolt? Surely a servile war could be averted only by intervention at the natural centre of influence. If from Guadeloupe, after its recapture by the French, the seeds of rebellion were sown broadcast, would not Hayti have become a volcano of insurrection? Finally, it is unquestionable that the change of front of the Court of Madrid in the years 1795-6 blighted the whole enterprise at the very time when success seemed attainable. On Godoy, then, not on Pitt, must rest the responsibility for the lamentable waste of life in the West Indies and the ultimate lapse into barbarism of their most fertile island. FOOTNOTES: [384] "F. O.," Spain, 36. Bute to Grenville, 26th June 1795. [385] "F. O.," Spain, 36. Jackson to Grenville, 2nd January and 11th February 1795. [386] "F. O.," Spain, 37. Grenville to Bute, 5th, 12th, and 19th June. [387] Del Cantillo, "Tratados," 660. [388] "Papiers de Barthelemy," vi, Introd., xv, 71, 77-85. [389] "W. O.," vi, 6, which contains other despatches of Dundas cited later. [390] "Diary of Sir John Moore," i, 208, 221, 233, 243; ii, 18, 19. [391] "Diary of Sir John Moore," 2 vols. Edited by General Maurice. [392] "F. O.," Spain, 39, 40. Merry to Grenville, 20th and 25th December and 19th January, 10th February, 6th and 29th March. [393] "Dropmore P.," iii, 214. [394] "F. O.," Spain, 44. Bute to Grenville, 10th September and 21st October. [395] For the disgust of Pitt and Dundas, see "Dropmore P.," iii, 390.