to be discussed. He was ready to own that there might be situations in which the conduct of the elector of Hanover in a negociation might not be a model for England; but what was the case here? The right hon. gentleman opposite, in speaking of the state of France, said, that if a peace was concluded with her, in her then condition, he should at least have to exclaim, Potuit quæ plurima virtus Esse, fuit; toto certatum est corpore regni. Her situation had not changed when the Hanoverian minister thought it his duty to negociate with them for peace. Would the right hon. gentleman say on the occasion, Potuit quæ plurima virtus Esse, fuit; toto certatum est corpore regni? He did not believe that he would venture to make any such assertion. They had heard that night much panegyric on the new constitution of France. They might almost have supposed themselves sitting in the convention, and to have heard Louvet, or some other author of the new constitution, delivering a panegyric on it. All our hopes were now to be fixed upon this new constitution. He confessed, for one, he was not willing to place much dependance upon a constitution of which he knew nothing, and which had not been tried; but this was the new theory of the day; this constitution was to be capable of maintaining the accustomed relations of peace and amity. Mark the conclusion of this argument, that the proper time for treating together for peace, was to be put off until we had experience of this new constitution. What was to be the term of probation he knew not; one thing only was certain, that on this new pretext, the war was to be continued. What if this constitution, like all their former constitutions, should fail? Why, then our hopes of peace must fail too, and we must begin again. What a miserable series of subterfuge and expedient was all this! But, say they, would you make peace with a country that changes its constitution so often? To which, said Mr. Fox, I answer yes, I would; if they changed their constitution every week, nay, every day, if they had seven constitutions a week, I would treat with them. What have I to do with their changes of constitution? Experience has shown that neither the changes of men, nor, the changes of constitution, have had any effect on the engagements which they have formed with foreign countries. I will not speak of the recent treaties they have entered into; but let us look how all the successive parties have acted towards Sweden in the neutrality which she established. The party of Brissot, the party of the Mountain which succeeded the party of the Girondists, the individual tyranny of Robespierre, into which the Mountain subsided, the party which overthrew Robespierre, and all the shades and changes of government which have happened since, have with uniform fidelity observed the treaty with Sweden, and maintained the rela tions of peace and amity which subsisted between them. In like manner, some changes have happened since the treaty with Prussia, and it has nevertheless been regularly maintained. It is idle to talk of the theory of a constitution being a ground of dependence for the observance of a treaty. If a rational treaty is made, and it is the interest of the parties to keep it, that is the only true and wise dependence which you can have for the continuance of peace. It had been said, continued Mr. Fox, that much had been done to meliorate and soften down the opinions of France. He asked, whether a recognition of their independence and an offer to treat, would not do more to bring the people of that country to an amicable disposition to treat than all our failures had hitherto done? But it was urged, that the offer to treat ought first to come from France. He said that the offer ought to come from us, because we had made resolutions, and had been guilty of the indiscretion of coming to declarations that stood in the way of negociation. These must be done away in order to bring us to an even footing. It was said, would you leave them the Low Countries and Holland? That House was not the place, nor was the present the time, to talk of terms. There was no doubt of one important fact, and ministers might go to a negociation with a confidence of that fact, namely, that if France, on account of her successes, exacted high terms, such as were inconsistent with the honour and interests of this country, they would be supported in the dire, but then necessary, alternative of continuing the war. The terms at the same time in every negocia tion must depend on the relative situation of the parties. But he would not admit of that eternal evasion that the time was improper. One year we were too high quantity of grain in the kingdom, and the subject was recommended to their most serious consideration. Whenever it came before them, he should give it certainly the most careful and the most impartial examination. It was not his opinion that it was greatly within the province of human legislation to do much on such a topic : but what could be done in the way of re voice steadily and expeditiously pursue. Nothing, he believed, would do so much towards preventing the evil of a scarcity, as to give to the people the restoration of peace, which would be likely to bring with it its usual companion, plenty. It was an insult on common sense to say that war and military expeditions did not, in their very nature, aggravate scarcity by increasing consumption. Putting the whole country into the military state which England was at this time at home, necessarily increased the consumption of grain, and if this was the case, how much more did the argument hold good with respect to expeditions to distant parts? The quantity of increased consumption, without taking into the account the quantities damaged and lost, was immense, and he would be bold to say, that if government, instead of interfering with regular merchants, and putting an end to all the active competition of men, more expert in trade than themselves, had followed the example of the government of France, with respect to the ships at Brest, and had unloaded the transports that were sent to Quiberon Bay, they would have done more towards alleviating the late scarcity, than by all the corn which their agents imported. to treat, another year we were too low; and thus the continuance of the war was prolonged, without any calculation being made whether the expense of continuing it for one year, was not more than the difference of terms we might expect between a good and a bad relative situation. In his mind, every time was the proper time for treating; and it would not be denied but that we had suffered more favour-gulation, he trusted they should with one able periods to escape than we were likely again to possess. When we were masters of Valenciennes and Condé, and France was beset on every side, with insurrections raging in her bowels, that was the favourable time to treat. But no, we were then too high. What! treat when she almost lay expiring at our feet? We suffered that moment to pass. Last year, again, we had great success in the West Indies; Guadaloupe and St. Lucia were ours, in addition to Martinique, and France was obviously desirous of peace. No, then again we were too high, and we were asked in a lofty strain in the month of June last, What, shall we treat with her when she lies in her last agony? Nothing, they said, could save her, and it was our interest to withhold from her the peace of which she was desirous. The event has proved that the prediction was not well founded; and here we are, after three years war, reduced to a state in which we are said to be too low to treat, with nothing left us but the hopes that some day or another a favourable opportunity will arise for negociation. In the mean time we have only one of all our allies left to us, and that ally must, by the principle on which she has acted for the last year, be hired to continue her alliance. All our hopes were He could not leave that miserable exto be founded on our conquests in the pedition to Quiberon Bay, without again West Indies. Let us look with an impar- expressing his indignation at it. The tial eye at the state of our West Indies. House would do him the justice to recolWas there any thing very consoling in lect how much beyond his usual pertinathat quarter of the world? He dreaded city he had urged them to avoid the indisto encounter the examination. The French cretion and cruelty of employing the emicommerce, it was said, was utterly annihi- grants on any such expedition. He had lated; and the French navy, too, was re- said, that they could not be employed so duced. We had certainly had many bril- as to stand on the same terms with our liant naval achievements, which did im- own troops; that their condition would mortal honour to the British flag; but at be desperate in regard to France; that the same time, it would not be said that therefore it was neither politic with resour own trade was entirely protected. In-pect to ourselves, nor kind and considesurance to Jamaica had risen from four to eight per cent.; and he did not think that even our internal situation was improved. His majesty's speech had held out a melancholy picture with respect to the [VOL. XXXII.] rate with regard to them; that if we em- all the fascination of French principles ? Was it not likely, that under such a pressure, undisciplined minds might be led to cherish the idea, that that government could not be perfectly sound nor practically happy, which inflicted on so large a proportion of its people so much misery. It must be a matter of great consolation to hear from his majesty's speech, that instead of any such refractory sentiment, a very general spirit of order and submission to the laws had been manifested by his people; and their pleasure ought to dreadful and dark conspiracies which raged in the country a twelvemonth ago. These conspiracies had been quashed in a most extraordinary way; they had been quashed by the full, clear, and honourable acquittal of all the conspirators; and now this "order and submission to the laws" was a matter of exultation to his majesty, when the Habeas Corpus suspension act was in full force! What was the answer to this reasoning? | That, in fact, their cause and ours was the same, and that the crown of George 3d was not safe upon his head if they were not reinstated in their country. Thus the die was cast; they were thus invited to join the fatal standard; they embarked in our cause, which they were thus told was the same as their own, and they were sent on that fatal expedition which every feeling heart must deplore. Though he could not entertain the idea which some coarse and vulgar minds had taken up, that certain ministers in the cabi-be increased when they recollected the net, reflecting on the indiscretion they had committed in thus charging themselves with so many of these emigrants, had sent them on this forlorn enterprise as a happy riddance, yet he must repeat, that if the justice and indignation of the country did not fix a censure upon the authors of that expedition, the disgrace of itwould eternally rest upon the character of the nation. When he first moved for entering into a negociation with France, it was said What! would you negociate with men about to stain their hands with the blood of their sovereign? Yet now, if the present speech from the throne meant to say any thing honestly, it meant, that with these very men ministers would have no objection to negociate at a certain crisis. The nature of this murder, then, was such as to be washed away after a two or three years purification. And even with Tallien, who, among others, dipped his hands in royal blood, they would have no objection to treat; though whatever was the conduct of that person on other occasions, the boldness with which he came forward to destroy the tyranny of Robespierre did him great honour. It had always been his opinion, that if we could not get men of pure morals, and men of personal esteem to treat with, we must take the men we could find; taking care that our treaty should be founded on such principles of moderation and justice, as should not be likely to vary with times or parties, and which it should be the interest of both countries to maintain. Instead of this, we had acted upon a set of unprincipled delicacies, by which this country had been reduced to such a state of distress, as for the last six months to make almost every common man dependent upon charity for subsistence. Was not such a state more likely to undermine the loyalty and obedience they were desirous to cherish than Another most extraordinary argument had been adduced for the war by an hon. gentleman opposite to him (Mr. Jenkinson); the war, he said, was quite necessary, in order to enable men of rank to inveigh with becoming spirit against French principles, and the diabolical doctrines of Jacobinism. He was very ready to allow, that the philippics against French principles, in which gentlemen in that House and elsewhere so liberally indulged themselves, did require some means to give them currency but that they wanted a war to give them forces that nothing less than au army of 200,000 men, and a navy of 110,000 men, could make these philippics go down, he did not know till now. He remembered it was an accusation against Roland, that in order to corrupt the public mind, by propagating his opinions, he had squandered much of the public money. Roland, in his defence, said, he had certainly not squandered much of the public money, he had only spent 30,000 livres Tournois; and that in assignats, in printing; whereas it had cost our ministers one hundred millions sterling to circulate and support their harangues against the French A more extraordinary means of publishing their invectives could not have been thought of. One would have thought, that having their civil list, their patronage, their places, their pensions, and their newspapers, by which to spread and give currency to their abuse against the French, it was strange that they should hit upon a war as the only means to recommend their invectives to the taste of the country. If he could not entirely agree with the hon. gentleman as to the war being begun only in aid of the intemperate language and violent epithets which were thrown out upon the French, yet nothing was so certain, as that the inflamed passions which gave rise to that language, gave rise also to the war; and that the good sens and manly feelings which would have avoided the one, would also have directed us to the rational course which would have prevented the other. The hon. gentleman spoke of the rights of man, among the reprobated French principles. That all men had equal rights, he would not stop to argue; it was a truth which the hon. gentleman himself must feel. It was not the fallacy of the principles that had made the French Revolution disgusting, but its atrocities; it was the misapplication and misuse that had produced so much turpitude and ruin. Of those principles he was ready to defend the greater part; the abuse of principles had, indeed, caused the mischief in France; but the principles themselves remained still pure and unalterable. Mr. Fox concluded with saying, that for these reasons he could not consent to vote for the address which had been moved; he held in his hand an Amendment, expressing in short terms the facts he had enumerated, and drawing from them the practical use that ought to be made of them. He then read the Amendment, as follows: "We beg leave humbly to intreat your majesty to review the events of the three last years, and to compare the situation and circumstances of the belligerent powers at the period when hostilities commenced, amd at the present moment; to consider that a great majority of the numerous allies, on whose co-operation your majesty chiefly relied for success, have abandoned the common cause, and sought for security in peace, while others have been unfortunately thrown into alliance with the enemy: that our foreign possessions in the West Indies have, in many instances, been over-run, pillaged, and destroyed, and the security of all of them put in imminent hazard that the expeditions to the coast of France have proved either disgraceful or abortive; tending, without any rational prospect of public benefit, to tarnish the British name, by a shameful sacrifice of those to whom your majesty's ministers had held out the hope of public protection: that amidst all these adverse and disgraceful events, there has been an expenditure of blood and treasure unparalleled in the history of former wars. Such being the result of the measures which have been pursued, we cannot honestly discharge our duty to your majesty, the country, and ourselves, without fervently imploring your majesty to reflect upon the evident impracticability of attaining, in the present contest, what have hitherto been considered as the objects of it:-We therefore humbly entreat your majesty no longer to act upon the opinion, that the governing powers of France are incapable of maintaining the accustomed relations of peace and amity. An opinion formerly proved to be unfounded by the situation of the states of America, and of those nations of Europe who have throughout maintained a safe and dignified neutrality; and recently by the conduct and present condition of Prussia and Spain, and the prices of the empire. But that your majesty will be graciously pleased to take decided and immediate measures for bringing about a peace with France, whatever may be the present or future form of her internal government, and look for indemnity where alone indemnity is to be found; in the restoration of industry, plenty, and tranquillity at home:While we thus earnestly implore your majesty to consider, in your royal wisdom, how fruitless the pursuit of the war is become, and how idle and imaginary the supposed obstacle to peace, we declare, that if the existing powers in France were to reject a pacific negociation proposed by your majesty upon suitable terins, and to persevere in hostilities for their own aggrandize. ment, or with a view to the establishment of their system of government in other countries, we would strenuously support a vigorous prosecution of the war, confident that the spirit of the nation, when roused in such a cause, will still be able to accomplish what is just and necessary, however exhausted and weakened by the ill-concerted projects of those who have directed your majesty's councils." Mr. Pitt said, that the Amendment contained a proposition so extraordinary in itself, that he could not believe the right hon. gentleman was serious in making it. It was neither more nor less than this. After observing the supposed state of universal degradation and disappointment to which we had been reduced in consequence of the war, we were advised at this moment to sue for peace, without being informed how the negociation was to be conducted, or what indemnity this country was to receive. That amendment, therefore, only held out the mockery of returning to a state of security and peace. He wished to confine his attention to the Address moved, and to contrast it with the amendment. The first proposition to be proved was, that on considering the relative state of the belligerent powers since the commencement of the present war, notwithstanding our reverses, the prospect arising out of the general situation of affairs, had been materially improved. The period comprised in this proposition included the space between the opening of the last session, and the moment at which he was then speaking. He wished to ask every candid man, with what feelings they entered that House at the commencement of the last session? He then desired them to ask themselves, what were their impressions, with regard to general security, at the present moment? He hoped, when a fair comparison was made between these two periods, no candid man would suppose that he meant to insult the people of England, when he used the word "satisfaction." He declared, that on a general review of the state of this country ten months ago, and at the moment when he was speaking he felt no small degree of satisfaction. His grounds of satisfaction were these: allowing for all the victories the enemy had gained in different quarters; allowing for every advantage they had obtained; allowing, also, for all the calamities which might have befallen this country or our allies, he begged of the House to look at the present principles of the war, to examine it in all its parts, and they would easily observe the grounds of his satisfaction. They could not fail to perceive the enemy's reduced means of prosecuting the war. The enemy was now in a situation in which they felt a greater necessity for peace, and had a much stronger disposition for it. If he was right in that proposition, was it to insult the country to express the satisfaction which he felt from these circumstances? The first question that presented itself, was, whe ther or not the means of the enemy were reduced for carrying on the war. At the commencement of the last session, the value of assignats was from 20 to 25 per cent. At the present moment for one hundred assignats of nominal value, only one and a half were received; consequently, they were now only about one-sixteenth of the value they were ten months ago. At present the French had assignats in circulation to the incredible amount of 720 millions sterling. The number of assignats was still increasing: so that the enemy had to face another campaign under these circumstances. He believed in his conscience that farther resources could not be raised unless by the restoration of the system of terror. Was he to consider all this as nothing? Most certainly not. But there were some favourable circumstances in the situation of the enemy, and he had no desire to conceal them. He had no difficulty to state the equivocal conduct of the king of Prussia. The French could also disband the two armies which they had withdrawn from Spain. On account of the peace they had concluded with Prussia, &c. they might do with a much smaller army than when they had to oppose the whole of the confederacy. Yet it must be observed that for every pound sterling that was formerly paid to each man in such an army, they must give 167. at the commencement of the ensuing year, The depreciation of assignats was constantly increasing, in a compound ratio. only question was, whether, as these assignats would very soon, in all probability be totally inefficient, there were any other means of maintaining their operations. Without pretending to give an opinion on a subject so complicated, he had no difficulty in stating, that he saw the perplexities arising from this depression of assignats pervading every individual in the state, and bringing nothing, as French themselves had said, but misery and paper into every corner of the country. To supply the place of assignats, it had been proposed to introduce metallic pieces into circulation; but it had not been explained whether these were to pass for more than their intrinsic value, which if they did they were only metallic assignats instead of assignats made of paper. If those metallic pieces were to pass at their value, no mention was made how they were to be procured. A nation destitute of gold and silver could only procure those The |