been made, a vigorous ftruggle for many years; a struggle which this nation would feel for many and many a day. And now, he prefumed, the voice of the nation was not for war, but for peace; peace at least with America, if we fhould have war with the whole world. He could not, for these reasons, fubfcribe to an address which re-echoed a fpeech, which profeffed an intention of profecuting the American war with vigour. But if other gentlemen should think that measure a wife one, accidents might happen in the courfe of the year, which might render its impolicy obvious to all; and why tie yourselves down by any implied promises of support, to continue the war at all adventures? Mr. Grenville, therefore, ftudious of unanimity in our prefent fituation, would propofe an amendment that would form an addrefs, which without tying them down to any fyftem of conduct, would exprefs their zeal and affection for his Majefty's perfon and government, and their refolution to ftand by the rights and interefts of their country.

The amendment he propofed was this; That all that part of the address which followed the congratulation on the delivery of the Queen and the birth of a Prince, fhould be left out; and that, inftead of the fubfequent paragraphs, the following fhould be inferted; "In this arduous conjuncture we are determined to unite our efforts for the defence of this our country; and we beg leave to affure your Majesty, that we will decline no difficulty or hazard in preferving the effential interefts of this kingdom."

Hon. Mr. Fitzpatrick rofe to fecond the amendment, and Mr. Firaafter a few introductory words, apologizing for his troubling patrick. the House, and reminding the fpeaker that he very seldom took that liberty, arraigned the public measures which had been for fome time purfued, and were now pursuing, as ruinous to the country and the conftitution, on which the deareft interefts of the country depended. Impreffed with this idea, he could not he faid, give a filent vote for the amendment just proposed by his honourable friend, but would take that opportunity of faying a few words to exprefs his fenfe of our prefent calamitous fituation, and he would do it the rather now, because he verily believed that this would be the last parliament in which fo much of the remains of liberty would appear, that he or any other members who thought as he did, that the meafures of his Majefty's minifters were injurious to the true interefts of Great Britain, would enjoy the privilege of calling those measures in queftion, and freely speaking their fentiments upon them. He

was

was fenfible at the fame time that any talents he poffeffed could not make a change in minds that had refifted the impreffions of truth, enforced with the greatest abilities that men poffeffed, and illuftrated and delivered with the greatest eloquence. The eyes of Europe, he faid, were naturally attracted to the first deliberations and refolutions of that affembly; it therefore behoved them to be extremely cautious what language they held in their addrefs to the throne. It was now as confiftent with order, as it was with truth, to say, that the laft Parliament was notoriously corrupt, and prostituted to the will of the minifter. This night would determine whether this was to proceed in the fteps of the former Parliament; which they would do if they fhould countenance the continuance of a war, flowing not from the voice or the interefts of the nation, but founded merely in the will of the miniftry. In order to confider the fubject of the address properly, it would be right, he said, and in such cases it had always been cuftomary, to turn their eyes to the speech of the minifter, though commonly called the King's speech, and examine its contents. From the beginning of that speech, it was evident that minifters had deluded and deceived his Majefty, an art which they had long practifed with fatal fuccefs, to the deftruction of the empire, and to the ruin of his Majefty's interests and those of his people. His Majefty began his fpeech with faying, that "the elections would afford him an opportunity of receiving the most certain information of the difpofition and the wishes of his people, to which he was always inclined to pay the utmost attention!" That his Majefty was at all times inclined to pay the utmost attention to the wishes of his people, he was firmly perfuaded, but did minifters really think that the late elections, confidered collectively, would afford his Majefty an opportunityof knowing what those wishes were? If thofe elections, where only there remained any thing like a free choice, were adverted to, he verily believed they would fhew his Majefty the fense of the people, because, with a very few exceptions, thofe elections had fallen upon gentlemen diftinguished for their love of liberty, and for their having uniformly opposed and reprobated those measures which the miniftry had for a series of years adopted and purfued. But poffibly the miniftry had affured his Majefty, that the prefent Houfe of Commons was a proof of their popularity. Popular indeed they were, he was forry to own, in many parts of the country, and particularly in the Weft of England, where the miniftry and their dependents were many of them chofen to represent boroughs,

which they had never before vifited, and chofen by electors who till an hour previous to the election, had never seen the faces of their representatives, nay, fo popular were they in Cornwall, that many of them were elected in three or four different boroughs, though perfect ftrangers to the people who had chofen them their representatives.

After a good deal of ftrong irony on this point, Mr. Fitzpatrick reprefented the impolicy of the prefent war with America, and recommended the withdrawing our troops from thence, and concentring our force and directing it against the House of Bourbon: he adverted to the enormous increase of the national debt, the decay of manufactures and trade, the oppreffion of the people by taxes, &c. &c. and after apologizing for having obtruded himself so long on the patience of the House, concluded with declaring that he concurred most cordially in the congratulatory part of the address, but thought the amendment juft propofed the most wise and fit termination of it, fince under the prefent circumstances the House ought not to pledge itself to any particular line of conduct during the war.

Mr. Pulteney began with faying, that even if that House Mr. Pulthought the American war ought not to be pursued, it would teney. neither be wife nor prudent to make a public declaration of that opinion to all the world. He complained of the custom gentlemen had adopted of calling the war unjust, and said, however the freedom of debate might warrant their giving it that epithet within thofe walls, he wished that it might not be fo termed without doors. Indeed he thought that fuch as without fcruple, in print and converfation, called the war unjuft, and thus perfumed to brand and ftigmatize a measure fanctified by the British Parliament, were guilty of an offencé which ought to be followed by punishment; and if the laws, as they now stood, were not equal to the correction of this evil, and that people had a right to indulge themselves in fuch a licentious ufe of their pens, other laws fhould be paffed and that right taken away. He had at the beginning of the war with America thought it unjust, and he had always argued in that House in that manner, but thinking, as he then did, that the war was unjuft, he had never conceived he fhould be warranted in terming it fo without doors, after Parliament had chofen to pronounce the war juft, and to pursue it under that idea. But a change of circumstances had made a change in his fentiments concerning it. We had now given up the taxation of America, which would have been injustice, as they had no reprefentatives in Parliament, and the justice

of

Sir Horace Mann.

of the American war had been recognized, and confirmed repeatedly by Parliament. Gentlemen had talked of the prefent war in language that he could not approve; they had faid the war was carried on to conquer America. He saw it in a different light. He confidered the war as a war carried on to protect our American friends from the tyranny and oppreffion of Congress, and those friends he believed were very numerous. This was a purpose which, in gratitude and humanity, this country was bound to purfue, nor did he fee any reafon for defpondency. Our affairs in America were furely in a better fituation at prefent than they had been in fince the unfortunate convention at Saratoga? The juft and liberal offers made by Great Britain to America had produced very confiderable effects on the minds of the inhabitants of that country; and he doubted not, that more than half the Americans, when the oppreffions under which they laboured should be removed, would appear to have been friends to the British go

vernment.

Mr. Pulteney concluded, with declaring he should vote for the addrefs as originally moved, because he thought it unexceptionable, and becaufe it did not appear to him to pledge the Houfe to any particular line of conduct.

Sir Horace Mann thought that declamations tending to give the world an idea that our resources were exhausted, and that we ourselves were in a state of defpondency, ill became Englifhmen at any time, but leaft of all, in a moment of real difficulty and danger, in a moment when the most powerful confederacy that ever was formed, threatened us with deftruction. It had been the character of this country to look danger in the face, to hold defpair in contempt, and in proportion to the preffure of affairs, to exert its efforts, to act with fpirit, and by the energy of its operations, to furmount all difficulty, and all refiftance. This had been the practice of our ancestors, this ought to be the practice of Great Britain under her prefent circumftances. The American war was not afcribable to administration, the feeds of it were depofited at a remoter period, but it was idle and abfurd to be now lofing time in accufation, and in fruitless attempts to charge any particular fet of men, as authors of the prefent difficulties. America had hoftilely allied herself to France, the actual foe of Great Britain, and Spain had joined the confederacy. Each of the three powers who formed the league, were to be regarded with equal jealoufy, and to be oppofed with equal exertion; America as well as France and Spain, France and Spain, as well as America. The inte

refts

refts of France and America were infeparably united, flacken your operations against the latter, and you give vigour to the operations of the former. The whole matter to be provided for was, how the operations of the war could be best carried on by us, to answer the great end of breaking the union of the three powers, and rendering their attempts, their utmost attempts to destroy our naval force, and ruin our commerce, unavailing. That however was not the confideration of this day, and therefore it was needlefs for him to go into it. Powerful as the confederacy confeffedly was, he could not think it fo tremendous and fo alarming as the honourable gentleman who moved the amendment, and his honourable friend who feconded it, had feemed to imagine. All confederacies carried in them principles of difunion. The present confederacy was formed by powers, the most unlikely to coalefce for any continuance with cordiality, that could poffibly join together. America, a proteftant people, declaring that the fought for her liberty, allied to France, a Roman Catholic power, in whofe dictionary the word liberty had no place! could any man in his senses for a moment believe that France had engaged in this expenfive war for the purpose of defending the liberties of America? The idea was too monstrous and too ridiculous to be entertained for a moment. Was it likely that Spain, however drawn into the war by the intrigues of France, could be fincere in wishing to give Ame rica independency? Was it probable that she should have fo little regard for her own intereft, as to fhew herself a suppor ter of rebellion, and thus by her own example encourage all her South-American colonists to shake off their dependance on the Spanish crown? Again, were Spain and France cordial friends? If the Spaniards in general were infpired with the fame fentiments as those of the province of Catalonia, the only province of Spain in which he had been, he would venture to say they were not. In Catalonia every man breathed the most rooted antipathy to France, to its manners, to its customs, and most of all to its people. Looking at the confederacy in its proper light, feeing it in its true colours, was there not more caufe to expect that fo motley, fo incongru ous, fo heterogeneous a mixture, so unnatural a league would not hold long together? France had already pretty plainly fhewed what were her views refpecting America. America was already jealous of her, and every day that the war continued, the would have more cause to lament that she had ever called upon France to affift her. The Spaniards, naturally as gallant a nation as any in Europe, though from that VOL. XVIII. circumstance

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