to excite despair; and whence could it arife? from the empty threats held out against us by the French? We had tried their ftrength in many conflicts, and the trials were crowned with complete fuccefs. France had afpired to univerfal dominion, but their attempts had always been repreffed by the valour of this country. One circumftance, it was true, feemed to justify our alarms for the continuance of the war-it was an unproductive conteft: we had much to lofe, and nothing to gain; nor could we expect to make any fuccefsful impreflion on the enemy's territories; but we had already conquered all their foreign poffeffions, though any attempt on France herself was not likely to fucceed and any on their part refpecting an invafion of England would prove equally impotent and ineffectual. He was forry to fee that Ireland was in a different fituation; but notwithstanding its prefent difturbances, and the attacks of the French, he was fatis. fied they would meet with the fame reception as on a former occafion, if they endeavoured to land there. He expreffed his wishes that the houfe would carry to the throne fuli and forcible affurances of their united determination to exert the vigour, and call forth the refources of a country, not to be equalled by any other nation in Europe.

Dr. Lawrence, in a long and elaborate fpeech, blamed the minifter for having offered fo much to the French as the price of peace. If the directory had accepted the terms which were offered, in what a fituation (he faid) fhould we now have been! Had our project of a definitive treaty been then figned, how fhould we now have ftood? Did they not still profefs the fame principles which wefo often pronounced

fatal to all regular establishments? did they not uniformly act upon them? were they not as ready as ever to pour forth their hordes, to propagate them with the bayonet through every other nation? Had the negotiation fucceeded fhould we not now have been left upon the good faith of a power which never had regarded any compact, any obligation, any public law of Europe?

No peace with men of fuch opinions could be fecure till they knew that we had the ability to refift and avenge every infringement of it; nor was that ability to be difplayed by a paffive fyftem of defence, but by purfuing the war with fpirit and refolution.

It had been faid that we had better give up for ever the right of fearching neutral veffels, and make that conceffion the ground of a new defenfive league, than wait to have it extracted from us. But the day in which any fuch treaty fhould be figned would be fatal to England. It was to our naval power that we owed the rank which we held as a nation our maritime fuperiority which had hitherto enabled us to maintain the balance of European power, not to alarm and fubjugate other kingdoms, but for the prefervation and general benefit of all. If once we gave up the clear undoubted right, which even America in her prefent difpute with France had recognifed, of ftopping and fearching the veffels of countries in peace with us, our naval force would have little against which it could operate in any future war. An enemy unable to meet us in arms on the ocean, by furrendering his navigation, might fecure his whole commerce in neutral ships from our victorious force; and it was chiefly by diftreffing his commerce that a naval power could fo

act

act as to compel a peace. It was thus by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, Louis the XV. was contented to reftore all his conquefts that he might be releafed from the preffure of our maritime power on the trade of his kingdom. Dr. Lawrence faid, he thought it his duty to call the attention of the house and the nation to the danger which lurked under the fpecious language of "the freedom of the feas," which we had been recommended to acknowledge, as if the right which we had invariably exercifed was an act of ufurpation and injuftice. There was one point more which he thought it proper to notice; the chancellor of the exchequer had called his majefty's title of king of France a harmlefs feather. In his own opinion, no ancient dignity, which for fo many centuries had fhed luftre on the English crown, ought to be confidered as a mere light unfubftantial ornament. If we fuffered that feather to be plucked, he feared that three other feathers, which were nearly connected with the crown, would foon follow. A great nation could never fafely fubmit to be difgraced. He wifhed the houfe to recolect the time when that title was firft ufed; in the reign of Edward III. then it was that we had the first full regular record of the proceedings in parliament. Whether it was from the peculiar favour of Providence that we might have always before us an example to fix our wavering courage in noments of terror; but fo the fact was, that the first conferences of the two houfes, which appear upon the rolls, are of that epoch, and exhibit a fituation of the country far leis favourable than the prefent in every thing but the tpirit of Englishmen. Allowing for the relative value of money, much larger fums had then

been spent in gaining the princes and states of the Netherland to our fide than in the prefent war; yet no reliance could be placed on the allies whom we had fo gained. No effectual aid was derived from their co-operation, and, in fact, they foon after deferted us. Commerce we had none; our revenue was not to be mentioned; then, as now, we were obliged to refort to an iffue of foreign coin, to fupply our circulation. We had fcarcely any specie of our own. We had acquired nothing from the enemy; we had loft our natural dominion of the fea, our coafts were infulted and plundered. Harwich had been fet on fire, the Ifle of Thanet, Folkftone, and Dover, had suffered more lightly, Haftings more feverely. Southampton had been burnt to the ground: a great part of Plymouth, with all the great fhips in that harbour, fhared the fame fate; and the Ifle of Jerfey had been conquered (as the records of the houfe confelled) to the great flander of the land. Within our own island, the Scots, not as now united to us, but the faft allies of our enemies, were threatening our borders, whilft in many of our counties and cities exifted a defperate knot of confpirators, bound together by oath, upon the first intelligence of thofe difafters which they wished to their country, to rife in a general infurrection to rob and maffacre their peaceable neighboms. What then was the conduct of parliament? the commons refolved that the government had fufficient power to protect the internal peace of the land; they propofed methods of external defence; they agreed in the neceflity of a large fupply, and they declared their own good will to grant what the exigencies of the ftate demanded. But to give greater

effect

effect to the measure, they advised that another parliament fhould be fummoned, and promised on their loyalty to retire each into his own country, and there ufe all their influence to bring up the public mind to the exigences of the prefent fituation. And what was the refult? what was the conclufion of a war

of twenty years? a peace dictated by Edward as he was marching back from the fiege of Paris. Upon that glorious example Englishmen fhould fix their eyes, gaze, till they kindled into the zeal and intrepidity which glowed in the hearts, and diftinguished the conduct, of our anceftors. What would be the event of our prefent conteft was only known to that Being who fees every thing in their firft caufes and ultimate confequences. It was our part to discharge our duty with fortitude in obedience to his moral law; and what that duty was no man could befitate to pronounce-danger with glory, or ruin with difgrace. He concluded by pointing out to the honourable baronet, who moved the amendment, his total want of fupport, and joined in the requests which had already been made to him, to withdraw the motion.

Mr. Wilberforce faid, that he coincided in regretting an amendment had been propofed, and wified that nothing had been faid expreffive of a want of unanimity. It appeared, however, that with this exception all affented to the addrefs, though with different views. For bimfelf, he muft fay, that he could not lament that the negotiation had been commenced, nor rejoice that it was broken off; on the contrary, he fincerely regretted with the king's minifter, and the people at large, that it had fuch an unprofperous iffue. So far from rejoicing

8798.

at the obftinate temper of the enemy, he thought it matter of serious concern; and he looked out with anxiety to the time, when, under the influence of returning reafon, the French nation would negotiate with an earnest defire of that peace which was ftill more necellary to them than to ourselves. In the meantime he would tell the people that they must content themselves to bear confiderable burdens, becaufe all they poffeffed, and all that was valuable to them in life, was at ftake; that as the conduct of the enemy proclaimed that the failure of the negotiation proceeded not from the king's minifters, but their own ambition, Englishmen fhould feel the neceffity of coming forward to preferve their conftitation, fhould reflect on what their happiness depended; and to fecure thofe objects, fhould join hand and heart together, proclaiming to the world, that however divided before, they would unite for general fafety. Of this univerfal harmony of fentiment he thought the unanimity of that night a happy omen, and he hoped the honourable baronet would withdraw his amendment, in order to give that beginning its full force,

Sir John Sinclair faid, that he had not propofed it without due confideration, but he candidly confeffed he was not infenfible to the weight of the arguments he had just heard. He fincerely wifhed for unanimity, and affured the houfe that he was willing to facrifice not only his opi nion, but any thing elfe which he poffeffed, to the welfare of the country; and would therefore cheerfully withdraw his motion.

The amendment was then withdrawn, and the addrefs paffed nem. con.

I

F the political business of the feffion was little interefting and little important, the magnitude of the details refpecting the national finances have amply compenfated for this deficiency. The year 1798 may be confidered as the termination of the funding fyftem in this country; a fyftem which was now found inadequate to the emergencies of the times, and could no longer fupport the enormous weight which, without a new plan of political economy, it would have been neceffary to lay upon it.

66

Nov. 15. The first financial meafure of the chancellor of the exchequer this feffion, was a motion for a committee to inquire into the expediency of continuing the reftriction upon the bank, which had been laid in the preceding feffion by an act, intituled An act for confirming and continuing, for a limited time, the restriction contained in the minute of council of the 26th of February, 1797." He pointed out many obvious circumftances which rendered the adoption of this measure neceffary. Mr. Huffey, in a fubfequent flage of the bill, contended against the neceflity of the refraint which had been laid upon the bank, with refpect to pay ments in fpecic, and urged feveral

arguments to prove the present measure to be replete with the most dangerous confequences, and could by no means reconcile to his mind the idea of continuing the reftriction to the extent of time propofed, one month after the close of the prefent war. The minifter replied,. that, though by the bill the reftriction was nominally continued dur ing the war, ftill it empowered the bank, at any intermediate period, to refume its payments in cafh, by communicating its intention to the fpeaker of the houfe of commons, and giving one month's notice. It was necefiary, he faid, to hold out to the enemy, that the country was prepared to meet all the efforts of defperation; but it did not follow that the reftriction would be continued during the whole war. The bill afterwards went through the feveral ftages in both houfes with little further oppofition, and was paffed into a law.

Previous to the accustomed detail of the fupplies, and ways and means, for 1798, the reader will probably not be difpleafed with the following statement of the total amount of cuftoms, excife, ftamps, and duties, for one year, ending the roth of October, 1797, which were laid before the houfe: Customs,

On the 20th of November, the houfe having formed itself into a committee of fupply, the fecretary at war moved the ufual refolutions on the army estimates. A charge, he faid, had taken place this year, upon feveral articles which was not proportional to the articles themfelves. This circumftance originated in the increase of pay voted to the officers and foldiers in the preceding year, which had created an obvious increafe of expenfe. Notwithstanding this increafe on the face of the estimate, he was happy to state to the houfe, that, compared with the estimate of laft year, there was in the fum total a faving of about 652,000l. But to afcertain the real difference of the expenfe of last year and the prefent, it was neceffary to take out of the eftimate that fom which was claffed last year among the army extraordinaries: this fum was 300,000l. fo that the difference of the estimate amounted to 952,000l. This was not all; another change had taken place, arifing out of the increase of pay last year. Troops on foreign ftations were furnished by government with provifions, and on this account ad per day for each man

857,101 £5,161,939

was stopped, in confequence of the new regulation of pay. This fum might be fuppofed to be 100,000l. ; making in all, with the former two articles of 652,000 and 300,000%. a faving of above one million.

The whole of the regular force, he faid, would amount to 78,627 men. Thefe confifted of guards and garrifons, that is, the regular forces in Great Britain, and the fles of Guernfey and Jerfey, which amounted to 48,659 men, and of the troops in the plantations, including all other regular force, except that in Ireland and the Eaft Indies, amounting to 30,018 men. The militia and fencibles had been a little reduced, and amounted to about 55,291 men. The fencible cavalry would bear fome reduction, as feveral of them had been sent to Ireland; thefe, however, amounted to about 6911 men, making in all, of regular and irregular force, 140,829 men.

In confequence of the fuggeftion of the committee of finance, it was proposed to change the fees which had been hitherto received into fixed falaries. For his own part, however, he doubted whether this would be a real advantage to the public.