1734-35. Powers who were under the fame Engagements with this Anno 8. Geo. II. Nation, and not then involved in the War; And whatever fhall be the Succefs of his Majefty's gracious Endeavours to procure the Beffings of Peace and general Tranquility, will enable his Majefty to act that Part, which Honour and Juftice, and the true Intereft of his People fhall call upon him to undertake.' In Answer to thefe Objections, and in Support of the Motion, Mr Winnington, Mr Henry Pelham, Sir William Yonge, Mr Danvers and Mr Oglethorpe urged the following Arguments. Mr Speaker, As Gentlemen, who have fpoke in this Debate, seem to want a much more thorough Reformation in the Motion now before us, than that propofed by the Amendment, I muft beg Leave to take Notice of what they have faid in general, before I come to fpeak to the Amendment proposed. We have been told a great deal, Sir, of the ancient Usage and Custom of Parliament, with respect to their Manner of addreffing the King, by way of Return to his Speech from the Throne: What the Gentlemen may mean by this ancient Ufage, or at what Time they have a Mind to fix it, I do not know; but I am very fure, that ever fince I had the Honour to fit in Parliament, I never knew an Addrefs proposed in more general Terms than that now before us; and therefore I am apt to conclude, that no Addrefs can be propofed in this House, but what fome Gentlemen will find Fault with. I fhall agree with the honourable Gentlemen, that one of the chief Ends of our Meeting here, is to inquire diligently, and represent faithfully to the King, the Crimes and Mifmanagements of his Servants, as well as the Grievances of his People; but when his Majefty has given us an Account of his Conduct, furely that does not hinder us from making him fuch general Compliments, for the Accounts he has been pleased to give us, as will not obstruct our future Inquiries, or prevent our Cenfures, in case we fhould afterwards find, that any of his Servants had acted unfaithfully or imprudently, even with refpect to those very Affairs he had been pleased to give us an Account of in his Speech. It has been acknowledged, that the Motion before us is more general than what is usual upon fuch Occafions; but it is to be feared, it seems, that this extraordinary Modefty proceeds from a Consciousness of Misconduct. At this Rate, Sir, the Gentlemen who have the Honour to ferve the Crown must have a very hard Tafk: If they or their Friends propofe a long and particular Addrefs, they are then accused of endeavouring to impofe upon the Honour and VOL. IV. Dignity Mr Winnington. Mr H. Pe ham. Mr Danvers. 1734-35. Anno 8. Geo. II. Dignity of this Houfe; and if they propose a short Address, and expreffed in the most general Terms, Infinuations are then made, that their Modefty proceeds from a Conscioufnefs of Guilt; fo that let them chufe which way they will, it is impoffible for them to avoid Cenfure: Yet, even this Addrefs, general as it is, is, it seems, to be looked on as an Encomium upon the Minifters, and as an Approbation of what we know nothing about; but, in my Opinion, if we examine the feveral Paragraphs, it will appear to be neither the one nor the other. By the firft Paragraph found Fault with, it is propofed to acknowledge his Majesty's Wisdom and Goodness, in purfuing fuch Measures as tend towards procuring Peace and Accommodation: By this, Sir, we do not declare, that his Majefty has purfued fuch Measures, nor do we approve of the Measures he has pursued; but when those Measures are made publick, if it fhould appear that they were fuch as tended to procure Peace and Accommodation, furely this Houfe, nay the whole World, ought to acknowledge his Majefty's Goodness and Wisdom in that Refpect; and all that can be fuppofed to be meant by this Paragraph is, to acknowledge that there is more Wisdom and Goodness in purfuing fuch Measures towards procuring Peace, than in purfuing fuch Measures, as might tend to involve the Nation and all Europe too precipitately in War: This then cannot, I think, be fuppofed to be an Encomium upon any Minifter, nor an Approbation of any of the Measures that have been purfued. By the other Paragraph it is propofed, to exprefs the just Senfe we have of his Majefty's Regard for the publick Tranquility, and of his Endeavour to form, in Concert with the States General, fuch a Plan of Pacification, as his Majefty conceives is confiftent with the Honour and Intereft of all Parties, as far as the Circumstances of Time and the prefent Pofture of Affairs will permit: Here again we approve of nothing: We do not approve of the Plan that is to be offered; we do not fo much as approve of any one Step that has been taken in the forming of that Plan; we only acknowledge his Majefty's tender Regard for the publick Tranquility, in endeavouring to form fuch a Plan as may reftore it: This furely is what no Man can deny, nor hefitate one Moment in acknowledging; and I believe that it will be as readily granted, that it was better to form this Plan in Concert with the States General, than to form it without any fuch Concert. So that I cannot really comprehend how this Paragraph can be interpreted to be an Encomium upon any Minifter, or an Approbation of any Meafure: And therefore, tho' we knew nothing of the Mea fares 1734-35. fures that have been pursued, nay, tho' we even had a vio- Anno 8. Geo. II. lent Sufpicion that wrong Measures have been pursued, neither our Ignorance nor our Sufpicions can be any Objec tion to either of those Paragraphs. As to our Ignorance of the Measures that have been lately pursued, it is certain we are ignorant of a great many of them, and it is neceffary it fhould be fo; for with refpect to publick Tranfactions, efpecially thofe with foreign Courts, it is abfolutely neceffary that many of them should remain fecret for feveral Years after they are paffed; nay, there are fome that ought for ever to remain a Secret: And that any Tranfaction can remain a Secret long after it has been communicated to this House, I believe no Gentleman will pretend to affirm; for tho' the Members of this Houfe might perhaps depend upon the Fidelity and the Secrecy of one another, yet we cannot answer for the Strangers that may be amongst us. This, Sir, was the only Reason, why this Houfe was pleased to put a Negative upon the Motions pointed at by the honourable Gentlemen; and as I had likewife the Honour to be then a Member of this Houfe, I heard fuch Reasons given for not complying with thofe Motions, as convinced me, that a Compliance with any one of them would have been one of the greatest Injuries we could have done our Country: It was not that the Authors of thofe Tranfactions were afraid, on their own Accounts, that the Tranfactions they had been concerned in fhould be expofed to publick View; it was impoffible it could be fo; for if they had been poffeffed with any fuch Fears, if they had given the leaft Ground to fufpect they were fo, it would have been a good, and I am perfuaded a prevailing Reason for this House to have complied with those Motions. But, Sir, as to the Sufpicions that fome Gentlemen may entertain, with regard to all or any of our past Meafures, it is impoffible to fay any Thing of them, unless the Gentlemen will be pleased to acquaint us with the Grounds of their Sufpicion: When they do that, it may perhaps be in Gentlemen's Power to fhew, that thofe Grounds are very far from being folid. They talk of our having been for a long Time amufed with Hopes, and of our having been defired to have Patience: 'Tis true, Sir, there are fome amongst us, not in the House I hope, but in the Nation, I will fay, there are a great many who have been long amufed with Hopes, who have had a great deal of Patience; They have, indeed, been under a continual Course of Pa tience ever fince the Beginning of the late Reign: They have not yet seen, and I wish they may never fee that Event happen, which they have been fo long hoping for, which B 2 they 1734-35. Anno 8. Geo. II. they have waited for with fo much Patience: And, in my Opinion, the many Difappointments they have met with, is one of the best Reasons that can be affigned for our having no Cause to suspect any Misconduct in our late Measures. I do not think it the Interest of this Nation to be fond of adding much to our Poffeffions; and confidering the Ambition of foreign Courts, and the Disturbances given to our Government by a difaffected Party at Home, our having preferved entire our foreign Poffeffions, and prevented all Invafions upon our People at Home, is an Argument, that all our late Measures have been concerted and pursued with the utmoft Forefight and Prudence. To this we may add, that tho' our Trade has been fometimes a little interrupted by the ambitious Views of foreign Courts, yet it is certain, it has greatly improved in every Branch within these laft twenty Years, and is now, I believe, in as flourishing a State as ever the Trade of Great Britain was in any Age: So that to return the Compliment to the Gentlemen of the other Side of the Queftion, if either of them will shew me where the Nation has lately fuffered, either in its Poffeffions, or in its Trade, by any Mifmanagement of thofe at the Helm of our own Affairs, I fhall agree to any Amendment they please to propose; but I cannot think it reasonable to load our own Ministers with the little Difturbances we have met with, or the fmall Loffes we may have sustained by the ambitious Projects of foreign Courts. With regard to the Impropriety of Expreffion taken Notice of, I cannot think there is any good Foundation for the Criticism; but if there were, we must fee that it proceeds entirely from the great Care the honourable Gentleman, who made the Motion, took, to avoid every Thing that might look like an Approbation of any late Meafure: For this Reafon he would not propose that we should thank his Majefty for not involving us in the War, because it might have been faid, that for what we knew it was neceffary, it was incumbent upon us, to have engaged at the very Beginning of the War; therefore, to avoid this Objection, he only propofes that we fhould make our Acknowledgements to his Majefly, for not having engaged too precipitately in the War; and as this might have been done, and would, as the honourable Gentleman fays, have been doing a very notable Injury to the Nation, I cannot find that there is any Impropriety in our making our Acknowledgements to his Majefty, for his not having done fo. I come now to that which I take to be the only Queftion now before us, I mean, Sir, the Amendment proposed, as it now ftands amended. I fhall readily grant, that all the Nations of Europe are equally concerned with us in fuppor 1734-35. ting the Balance of Power, and that therefore it is very Anno 8. Geo. 11. reasonable, that every one of them fhould bear a proportionable Share of the Expence neceffary, or that may become neceffary for that Purpose; and I am perfuaded his Majefty will ufe his utmost Endeavours to prevail with every one of them, to do what is incumbent upon them in that Refpect; but I must leave it to Gentlemen to confider, whether our putting fuch a Caution into our Address, would not fhew to the whole World a fort of Diffidence in his Majesty's Conduct. I am convinced we have no Cause, from any Part of his Majefty's past Conduct, to fhew any Diffidence in his future; and I am very certain, we never could have chosen a worse Time than the present, to begin to fhew any such Diffidence: The Nation is in great Danger of being involved in a bloody and expenfive War, unless his Majelty fucceeds in his Endeavours for reftoring the Peace and Tranquility of Europe; and it is certain, that nothing can contribute more towards rendering his Majesty's Endeavours fuccessful, than an established and general Belief, that a perfect Harmony and entire Confidence fubfifts between him and his Parliament: While they are convinced of this, every one of the Parties now engaged in War will be cautious of giving too great a Scope to their ambitious Views, or of pushing too far the Succefs they may have, for fear of drawing upon themselves the united Force of the King and Parliament of Great Britain; but if any Reason should be given for them to believe, that the Parliament puts no Confidence in his Majefty's Conduct, they may then conceive Hopes of difuniting the Power of Great Britain; and in that Cafe they will not much regard the most reasonable Terms of Peace, that can be offered to them, by means of his Majesty's Mediation: Nay, I have good Reafon to believe, that fome of the Powers engaged in the War, particularly Spain, will give no pofitive Anfwer to the Inftances lately made to them, 'till they hear of the Opening of the British Parliament, and the Addreffes made upon that Occafion; and if any Miftruft in his Majesty's Conduct fhould appear in our Addrefs, we may believe their Anfwer will not be fuch as ought to be wifhed for: Thus, by acting too cautioufly, we may not only prevent the Succefs of his Majefty's Endeavours for reftoring the publick Tranquility, but we may give fuch Encouragement to the ambitious Views of fome of the Powers of Europe, as must neceffarily at last involve this Nation in a most expensive, and even a most dangerous War. But this, Sir, is not the only Objection against the Amendment propofed; for though all the Nations of Europe are equally concerned with us in preferving the Balance of Power, |