so lately involved in overwhelming confusion. To whom, under God, were they indebted for this? To the man to whom they were this day voting their thanks. As the noble lord had justly said, it would be presumptuous to anticipate the result of this heroic achievement. But they knew that it must be good. If war continued, in war it would furnish means and heart for the maintenance of the struggle; for peace, it would furnish the best of means, the association of peace and victory, without which, he would not say that peace ought never to be attempted, but without which, he would say, it could never be secure with the enemy against whom they had to contend. It was the illustrious Wellington who furnished them with these means so to be applied. His admirable conception of what ought to be done; his rapidity in executing the designs he formed; his wonderful comprehension of measures directed to one end; the completeness of his plans, and the thunderbolt of war which he launched at last upon the foe, enabled this country to furnish the most ample data ever given as the basis of a secure and lasting peace. One topic more, and he would intrude upon the House no longer. The honourable seconder, from the warmth of his feelings, had intimated a wish, that a

simile as Mr. Canning uses here, and introduces it in illustration of the same sentiment. It is not however so beautiful as Mr. Canning's, and, besides, it has not the merit of originality.-EDITOR.

"The retreat of the French armies, or their relics, across the land which they had so long overrun, and where they had levelled and confounded all national distinctions, might be compared to the abatement of the great deluge, when land marks, which had been long hid from the eye, began to be once more visible and distinguished. The reconstruction of the ancient sovereignties was the instant occupation of the allies."-Scott's Napoleon, Vol. VII. page 606.

special mode of transmitting their thanks should be adopted, in order to mark their high sense of this glorious victory: greatly as he felt the transcendent merits of Lord Wellington, he also felt for the dignity of that House; and he considered that there was nothing within the power of a subject to execute which would not be adequately rewarded by their thanks, conveyed in the ordinary forms. He trusted therefore that the honourable gentleman would not press any proposition which might cause a difference of opinion, while on the main question there could be but one unanimous and cordial feeling. He apologised to the House for having occupied so much of their time, and sat down amid loud cheering.

The Resolution was put, and carried, nem. con.

FOREIGN TREATIES.

NOVEMBER 17th, 1813.

LORD CASTLEREAGH moved, "That the sum of three millions be granted to enable His Majesty to carry into effect certain engagements with foreign powers."

The motion being put

MR. CANNING rose, and spoke nearly in the following terms:--Having been unfortunately ab

sent when the general assurances of support on the part of the House were given in answer to the speech from the throne, of which the vote of this day is a partial performance, I am anxious to take this opportunity of expressing, as strongly and as warmly as I am able, both my concurrence in those assurances, and my disposition to make them good, by the way and in the proportion recommended by the noble lord. If in the present state of this country, and of the world, those who, during the course of the tremendous and protracted struggle, on various occasions called upon Parliament to pause, to retard its too rapid and too rash advance, and to draw back from the task it had unwisely undertaken to perform, have manfully and honourably stepped forward to join their congratulations to the joyful acclamations of the nation, and to admit the present to be the period favourable to a mighty and decided effort; how much more grateful must it be to those, who at no time during the struggle have lifted up their voices in this place, excepting to recommend and to urge new exertions; to those who, when the prospects were most dreary and melancholy, insisted that there was but one course becoming the character and honour of Great Britain; a persevering, an undaunted resistance to the overwhelming power of France. To an individual who, under the most discouraging circumstances,

still maintained that the deliverance of Europe (often a derided term) was an object not only worthy of our arms, but possible to be achieved, it must be doubly welcome to come forward to acknowledge his transports, and to vindicate his share in the national exultation. If too, on the other hand, there have been those who, having recommended pacification when the opportunity was less favourable, are now warranted, as undoubtedly they are, in uttering the same sentiments, in the confidence that the country will sympathize with them; it is natural for those who, under other circumstances, have discouraged the expectation of peace, and have warned the nation against precipitate overtures, now to he anxious to embrace this occasion of stating their sincere conviction and their joy, as strongly felt by them as by others, that by the happy course of events during the last year, and by the wise policy we shall now pursue, peace may not, perhaps, be within our grasp, but is at least within our view.

The vote we are this night called upon to make is in part prospective, and in part retrospective for services actually performed. Of that portion which is prospective, the lord noble has properly deferred the discussion; but of that portion which is retrospective, we are enabled to judge; and, large as the expenditure now proposed may seem, I think no man, who compares the station we

now hold with that which we occupied at any former period of the contest, can doubt that the expenditure has been wisely incurred, and that the services actually performed have fully merited the disbursement. I agree with those who are of opinion, that the time is now arrived when we may look forward to the attainment of peace; but I am far from disguising from myself, and I deem it of infinite importance that the country should not disguise from itself, the difficulties with which we may have still to struggle. We must not deceive ourselves by supposing that the game is actually won; that the problem is mathematically solved; that we have done all that is necessary to insure a lasting tranquillity. What we have accomplished is, establishing the foundation upon which the temple of peace may be erected; and imagination may now picture the completion of that structure, which, with hopes less sanguine, and hearts less high, it would have been folly to have attempted to raise. We may now confidently hope to arrive at the termination of labour, and the attainment of repose. It is impossible to look back to those periods when the enemy vaunted, and we, perhaps, feared that we should have been compelled to sue for peace, amid all the ebullitions of joy, without returning thanks to that Providence, which gave us courage and heart still to bear up against accumulating calamity. Peace is safe now, because it is not dictated; peace is