experience, the only unerring guide, read | but whether the proposed measure is the history of this country, and then show more or less than we ought to agree to, me out of what page it is that you have dis-or one that we ought to try, are questions covered when it was, that the maxims of a of detail, and therefore to that detail I free government have been united with shall defer them. That part of the plan the principles of despotism. I know it which refers to the game-keepers appears cannot be done. I know also, that if you to me to be a measure of violent injustice attend to history, and take it as a lesson, to a class of persons who already contriyou will return to your ancient distrust bute pretty handsomely to the support of and jealousy of ministers, whoever they the state. There is another part of the may be, and that you will examine mi- plan which I cannot pass by in silence. nutely into their conduct. Reflect on The navy of this country is so much and the consequences of the contrary practice. so justly, the favourite service of it, that You see now before you the effect of it. no man is willing to find fault with it. I Confidence in the first instance, renders feel, in common with all my countrymen, confidence necessary in the second. gratitude to the navy; but the circumConfidence in ministers induces them to stance of impressing men, even into that take measures which they cannot continue service, great and valuable as it is, without farther confidence; they are would not be a part which a judicious obliged to call for it in their own defence; friend to it would select for the subject and in that career you may proceed until of his panegyric. I am not now arguing you have confided away the whole the policy of the practice; for great as spirit of our constitution, I am afraid the grievance may be to the individuals you have advanced in that career much who are the objects of it, the discussion too far already. In my opinion, the spirit will be unseasonable until we shall find a of the constitution has been almost en better mode for providing for that service. tirely set at rest for a time, by the mea. But upon the subject of forcing men into sures of the last parliament. Let it be the land service the case is widely differthe practice, for it is the duty, of the pre- ent; so much so, that I have never yet sent to revive it.-There was an expres- heard it defended in this country; and sion in the speech of the right hon. gen- yet this measure seems to me to have tleman to which I cannot help alluding. that tendency, for out of the force which He said, "if the present negotiation is proposed to be raised, there is to be a should be unsuccessful, then the present certain proportion for the navy, and a cermeasure will be advantageous to this tain proportion for the land service. I country." No man wishes more heartily cannot, for one, conceive any danger to than I do that it may be successful; but which this country can be exposed, that I am not sure that the same feelings are would make me assent to a measure that entertained by ministers. I hope they had for its object the impressing the subare. I say this by way of caution, lest jects of this country into the land service. the world should suppose I am such a I cannot assent to any measure that has devotee to the present administration as for its object the increase of the milito suppose that any negotiation in which tary force of the kingdom in that manner. they may fail, may render peace to this This is entering into the very spirit of the country totally unattainable. Although French requisitions, which we decry there are many new members in this so much. The chancellor of the exHouse, they know, I believe, enough of chequer says, that only one-sixth part my opinion of this war to be well satisfied of them shall be exercised at a time, that I abhorred its commencement. That that is, only 10,000, and they will not feeling remains completely unchanged; be called to the service but in case of and whatever opinion the people may actual exigency. Now, are not these the have upon the propriety of the measure very words of the act of parliament with which is now proposed for the defence of regard to the militia, which says, "unless this island from an invasion, I trust this in case of invasion or imminent danger country will never relinquish the opinion, thereof?" The consequence will be that that the war was in its principle and com- the military force thus raised will be submencement unjust, unnecessary, and ject to military law. We are told, that diabolical. If it shall unhappily become the military force which is now proposed our lot to defend ourselves against an to be raised, is only to act in case of invasion, ourselves we must defend; emergency. What is that to be? When oppose. Sir W. Pulteney did not expect that any difference of opinion would have arisen on the present question; a question, in his mind, that embraced so many salutary objects. He had only one objection to it, and that was, its being a half measure; it ought to be extended to the full point; and on that ground he should meet the wishes of the minister with double pleasure. It was evident the French had an invasion of this country in view, and it therefore became the execucutive government to make every necessary preparation. As this force was to be commanded by country gentlemen, it could not be called an increase of the power of the crown, on the contrary, he considered it to be an increase of the power of the country against the crown.} The Resolution was agreed to, and bills for augmenting the Militia and for raising Provisional Cavalry were ordered. Debate in the Commons on the Army Estimates.] Oct. 21. The House having resolved itself into a Committee of Supply to which the Army Estimates were re the French shall land upon our coast? | in the detail I shall think it my duty to No such thing; I know that such a restriction cannot, and ought not to be imposed upon executive government; because you should repel the danger when you are threatened by it. Why then it will amount to this, that whenever ministers shall think fit to allege there is danger, the whole of this military power to be entrusted to them for the internal defence of this country in case of invasion, will be entirely at their disposal. What security have we, that no abuse will take place as to the application of this enormous force? What security have we, that we are not now voting a force, said to be intended for one purpose, but which is really to be applied for a different object? I do not know what information ministers may have respecting the intention of the French to attempt an invasion of this country. I believe the French have no such intention, for they have a government which is likely to be much better informed of the disposition of the people, and the situation of this country, than to be led to any hopes of success in such an attempt, therefore I believe they will not be guilty of the folly to attempt it. But supposing they had such desperate inten-ferred, tions, I have no doubt of the issue. My hopes upon that subject are as sanguine as those of any man in the country. But what ought we to do in the mean time? what is the duty of this House at this moment? To cherish the spirit of freedom in the people; to restore to them that for which their ancestors have bled; to make the ministers really responsible. Let their parliament not be confiding in the servants of the crown, but watchful and jealous of the exercise of their power. Restore to them the right of popular discussion. Allow them to state freely the grievances they feel. Repeal those laws which have forbidden the exercise of their most invaluable rights. In one word, instead of amusing them with panegyricks upon the form, allow them to possess the spirit of the old constitution of England: then will you indeed see the energy of the people of England, and then will you have no occasion for adding to your internal military force; for then even an invasion would never be formidable. These are your real resources: the rest are imaginary. I shall give no opposition to the plan before the committee in its present stage; but I think it fair to say, that some of the parts of it are such as, Mr. Windham (secretary at war), said, that the estimates on the table contained details of the most material arrangements of the current year. As it would be recollected that a diminution in the number of troops on the establishment had taken place last year, from which a saving of 800,000l. arose, it would not be expected that any considerable diminution would take place in the amount of the present estimates. The whole force of this country, consisting of the common distribution of guards and garrisons, colonies, and plantations, amounted to 195,674 men, the expense of which would amount to 5,190,000l. The army at home amounted to 60,765 men, from which arose an excess above last year of 11,546 men. The army abroad, comprehending the troops in the West Indies, in Corsica, Gibraltar, Canada, Nova Scotia, and every foreign service, except those in the East Indies, amounted to 64,276 men. The militia was nearly the same as last year, with the difference of the city regiments. He then moved, "That a number of Land Forces amounting to 60,765 effective men, commissioned and noncommissioned officers included, be employed for the year 1797." General Tarleton complained, that the right hon. gentleman, in stating the amount of the army establishment, had not given any particulars of its application His majesty's speech, however, had directed their attention to the achievements which had been performed by our troops in different parts of the world. Where, then, were the instances in which the courage and conduct of our troops had been displayed? His majesty's speech formerly had held out great promises of exertions in the West Indies, and the exploits which had been achieved in that quarter had been considerably extolled. He did not think, however, that there was much subject of boast.-Whether we looked at the general state of the West Indies, or at particular islands, there was not much room for satisfaction or exultation. The Caribs in St. Vincent's were still in a state of insurrection. The troubles in Guadaloupe, and various other islands, still interrupted the industry of the inhabitants. Victor Hughes had not been dislodged, nor his operations disconcerted. In St. Domingo, the melancholy ravage which had been made by disease afforded no satisfaction in the review. Mr. Fox said, he had heard that the engagement made on the part of this country with the Maroons had not been faithfully adhered to. He understood this to be the opinion of an officer, with whom he had not the honour of being personally acquainted, but of whose military talents and private worth he had a high opinion. He alluded to colonel Walpole. This was, however, nothing but a report, and his chief object in alluding to it was to learn what credit it deserved. Mr. Bryan Edwards said:-Not having had the honour of a seat in this House until the present parliament, it may appear presumptuous in me to call the attention of the committee to any observations of mine; but being perfectly well acquainted with the subject to which the right hon. gentleman alludes, I beg the indulgence of the committee while I state a short history of the Maroon negroes; the cause of the late war between those people and the inhabitants of Jamaica; and the conduct of the colonial assembly in the termination of the business. The Maroon negroes, are the descendants of the Spanish negroes, who, when the Island surrendered to the English in 1655 took to the woods. You will find in Thurlow's State Papers an account of them, which was transmitted to government by general Venables. He relates that it was impossible to come to any treaty with them, that they were wild and lawless savages, who had no moral sense, and on whom neither persuasion nor gentleness could make any impression. They were therefore left in possession of the interior country, and continued masters of it for near a century; murdering without mercy all such white persons as attempted to make any settlements near them, not sparing even the women and children. In 1739 governor Trelawney, after a long and bloody war, entered into a treaty with them, granting them security and freedom on certain conditions, and compelling them to reside in towns or villages apart from the negroes in servitude. In 1760 I became acquainted with these people, and I soon observed that they were suspicious allies, and would, some time or other, become very formidable enemies. Yet it is not true, as was stated in this House, that the inhabitants of Jamaica wished to get rid of them. The inhabitants, in general, conceived the highest opinion of their utility, and treated them with the utmost kindness: they never asked a favour of government or of the assembly that was refused them. Concerning the origin of the late war, the case was this: two of the Maroons having been guilty of a felony in the town of Montego Bay, by stealing from a poor man two of his pigs, were tried according to law, and according to the very letter of their treaty, and sentenced to receive a few lashes at the cart's tail. The sentence was mild, and the punishment not severe; but the whole body of the Trelawney-town Maroons, in revenge for the indignity offered to two of their number, immediately took to arms, and soon afterwards actually proceeded to set fire to the plantations. Colonel Walpole had undoubtedly the merit, under the judicious orders of the earl of Balcarras, of putting an end to this unnatural rebellion; and if those two distinguished persons differed in opinion concerning the terms on which the Maroons surrendered, it is exceedingly to be lamented. They both deserved equally well of the community and the country at large. Such, however, I am sorry to say was the fact, and the governor therefore very properly left the whole to the determination of the assembly. The first conditions on which the nion. He feared that proper care had not been taken to improve their morals and to instruct them in the principles of the Christian religion; if they had, he had no doubt that long ere this they would have cast off that savageness which was imputed to them; for brutality was the effect of igorance. Mr. Edwards complained, that after he had answered a charge of breach of faith, another objection should be started against the conduct of the Jamaica planters of quite a different nature. Now they were accused of not instructing the maroons in religion, and initiating them in habits of civilised life. When objections were started upon speculative grounds, there was no end to them. Were he called upon to deliver his own private opinion upon the subject, he would perhaps disapprove of the mode that was adopted in the first instance of confining the Maroons to separate communities; but situated as they were in this respect, they spoke a language of their own, and of course, being in general unacquainted with the language of the island, they were not capable of benefiting from the common means of instruction. Their language was a mixture of the Spanish, and another language, which made it impossible to teach them the principles of religion. He thought whoever took it in hand would have hard work to make Christians of them. They were so addicted to polygamy, that it would require the utmost exertion of human ingenuity to confine them to one woman. He was contented with one woman, but he was sure no Maroon was. With regard to instructing them by sending clergymen among them, he believed such an attempt would be impossible. To his certain knowledge, the Maroons were cannibals. He was sure, if a clergyman was to be sent to them, instead of listening to his doctrines, they would eat him up. Maroons were to surrender, were these; 1st, That they should, on a day appointed, give up their arms, and surrender all the fugitive enslaved negroes who had joined them; 2nd, That they should ask the king's pardon on their knees. On these terms their lives were to be spared, and permission granted them to remain in the country. Now, Sir, it is a fact not to be denied that they did not surrender on the day fixed, and that they did not, then or on any day afterwards, give up the fugitive negroes. I do not believe that colonel Walpole avers that they did. The colonel, who is not less distinguished for his humanity than his bravery, thinks, I believe, that it would have been generous in the assembly to have imputed their not surrendering in time to their ignorance, rather than to any wilful delay; and politic to have let them remain in the country; but I do not conceive that he charges either the earl of Balcarras or the assembly with treachery. The assembly, however, thought that men who had violated their allegiance, and entered into a bloody and cruel war, without provocation were unfit to remain in the island; yet, in the disposal of these people, they manifested a degree of generosity and tenderness which is without example. After providing them with proper clothing for a change of climate, the assembly sent them to North America, and appointed three gentlemen to accompany them thither with a sum of 25,000l. to purchase lands for their future settlement, and for their maintenance for the first year; after which it is hoped from the example of the white people, with whom they are settled, and being removed from the former wild and savage way of life, they may become a useful body of yeomanry. There is now a gentleman in town who conversed with the Maroons the night before they sailed, and who assures me that they expressed themselves well satisfied with the conduct of the assembly towards them, and de. Mr. Fox was extremely glad he had clared, that having conversed with some alluded to the late transactions with the American negroes concerning the country Maroons, as it had given rise to the exto which they were going, they were con-planation of the hon. gentleman, and from tent to go. I hope therefore we shall hear no more of the business. the facts which had been adduced, he would not accuse the government of Jamaica of keeping bad faith with the Maroons, any more than he would accuse Shylock of a breach of contract; it appeared that they had adhered strictly to the letter of their engagement. From what had been said, it was evident that Mr. Wilberforce said, he did not know any thing of the origin of the war with the Maroons, but he could not help observing that while the Maroons had no representatives in that House, the planters had very able ones. It was now above a century since they were under our domi-colonel Walpole thought either that the treaty was not kept, or that it was too strictly kept. He hoped therefore that they would have some farther account of the business from ministers, and that colonel Walpole's opinion would be fairly stated to the House. The Resolutions were then agreed to. Debate in the Commons on the Militia Augmentation Bill.] Oct. 31. The order of the day being read for taking into consideration the report of this bill, Mr. Pitt moved, That the said bill be recommitted. Mr. Curwen said :-Sensible of the advantage of unanimity at this momentous crisis, nothing but the strongest sense of duty should compel me to hazard a step which might intercept it. If ministers are equally sincere in their wishes to preserve the general concurrence of opinion which has hitherto prevailed, it is incumbent upon them to give such information as may justify this House, and reconcile the nation to the burthen and inconvenience which must result from the measures now under consideration. It would have been wise and politic in them to have commenced their proceedings by laying before the House the information on which his majesty's communication of the threatened invasion is founded. Every war for the last century has had its bug-bear of invasion: the present has been abundantly prolific in idle threats and gasconade, but I have yet to learn that one step towards the execution of them has ever been taken. In what does this manifestation to invade the country differ from former ones that have been announced to us? Is it in a renewal of idle threats, or in actual preparations? If the latter, they are easily explained. To estimate the danger by what is required to guard us against it, I could scarcely rate it too highly; and yet if such really be the case, is it possible that ministers would risk the safety of the nation on a cold declaration of opinion, which has raised neither alarm nor energy in the country? If the danger be real, there can be but one sentiment; to be freed from such calamity no sacrifices are too great. What so likely to rouse the people as fully to instruct them of the magnitude of the danger? Is there any thing so likely to deter our enemies from so rash an enterprise, as knowing the ardour with which the country is prepared to meet it? Enemy as I am to the sys tem of confidence, I am aware many occasions may occur to justify this House in granting it, upon the responsibility of ministers. But what is there upon the present occasion which entitles ministers to ask, or should induce this House to grant it? The providing for our internal security would be most effectually promoted by the public avowal of the grounds on which ministers act. Am I to consider the danger as so imminent that it would be hazardous to intrust the country with the full extent of it? Must we learn it by degrees, to prevent the effects of sudden panic and "despondency? Little do they know the character of Englishmen, who argue thus. Let the danger be as great as it may, the spirit and exertion of the country will rise superior to it. If this does not produce full explanation from ministers, I shall feel warranted in supposing that invasion is only a pretence to arm them with a power for purposes, the policy of which might be much questioned both in and out of this House. Sir, I hope we shall govern ourselves by good old maxims, and use that prudent caution and distrust that were the characteristics of former parliaments, and spurn that blind system of unmeasured confidence which has plunged us into our present calamitous situation. What does this moment present, a phenomenon in politics never before seen-a minister guides the helm, who has proved himself unable to direct the power of the country with vigour or effect, whose measures have heaped upon us disasters and disgrace; a minister who has imposed burthens beyond all former ministers-whose innovations upon the constitution threaten its existence-who has nailed up the mouths of a best majority of the nation, and established triumphantly the system of barracks, in every part of the kingdom, and yet, Sir, his majesty confides, the nation is passive, and those in this House who have no confidence in him, do not wish to oppose his measures. If the danger be real, I am as disposed to grant every thing that can be fairly required; but till convinced of that, I shall think myself justified in giving my opposition to the whole plan before us. Mr. Pitt said, it was far from his intention to detain the House from manifesting that disposition which they would certainly feel upon the present occasion, to act up to that solemn pledge which |