view of the public, under the sanction of the noble earl's name, had, speaking of the people of this country, made use of the expression, that they ought to be fairly represented in that which is, by its very name, their house of parliament. He conceived it to be the KING's parliament, and not the parliament of the people; and was surprised that the noble earl had, in the course of the second session he had ever sat in parliament, brought forward such a motion. The marquis of Townsend coincided with the reverend prelate as to the sketches which were daily made in the news-papers, and which he allowed, were remarkable for conveying the most bare faced falsehoods. He professed himself to be a friend to the liberty of the press; but these abuses ought to be, if possible, prevented. At the same time he could not agree, "that the parliament was the KING's parliament, and not the parliament of the people." He had derived his seat from a long line of ancestors, and had always been taught to believe that it was the parliament of the nation, of which the king formed only a component, though certainly the highest, part. His lordship said a few words of a conciliatory nature respecting the motion. 66 was con The bishop of Rochester said it was not his wish to argue the point with the marquis upon the nature and constitution of the parliament, but he could not recede from his opinion: the parliament vened at the will and pleasure of the king; it was prorogued at his will; and it was dissolved when, and so often, as he thought proper." Could any thing be more convincing that it was the King's parliament? As to the motion now before the house, the only reason that he did not move their lordships against the printer of this infamous libel was, because he had reason to think that persons of much higher rank and consequence (looking at lord Oxford) would be found to be implicated in the charge. The house was cleared, but no division took place; the earl of Oxford standing alone.* A further attempt was made on the 10th of April by Mr. Pollen in the house of commons. After re gretting ADDRESS TO THE NATION. Portman-square, March 27, 1797. IT was my intention to have entered my protest on the journals of the house of lords the day after I moved my address to his majesty for peace, and for that purpose I weut to the clerk's office, and to my utter surprize I found that my address had never been entered upon the journals. Upon inquiry I was formed that lord Kenyon had taken it home with him. I wish at all events that the public should be in possession of my protest, and I hereby pledge myself to my country and to the house of lords, that I will this day, in my place, in that house, demand the fullest reparation for this insult offered through one, to the whole house, in this illegal and unprecedented manner. PROTEST. Dissentient, first, Because seeing no means of salvation for this country, but by an immediate, sincere, and lasting peace, I think the address which I moved, March 23, 1797, calculated to produce that happy event, and that a refusal to carry that address to the throne, tends to a continuation of this cruel war, which I hold to be certain and inevitable ruin. Secondly, Because a secretary of state's moving, that an address to his majesty on the 30th of December, 1796, should be read, is a poor, weak, and rude manner (to say no worse of it) of answering the arguments advanced in my address. Thirdly, Because I believe that the arguments advanced by me have never before been touched upon, even in debates, and no attempts having been made to answer those arguments, the conclusion which the public must draw from it is, that they are perfectly unanswerable. Fourthly, gretting that the good of the public was so frequently sacrificed to the illiberality of party-spirit, by the purposes of self-interest, by those whose abilities were splendid; he proceeded to state the situation of the country and thought, that, at the present crisis, every hand ought to be active in its service, and every heart anxious for its welfare. Having commenced the war in concert with several of the most powerful nations in Europe, we were deserted almost by all our former friends, and had to contend against some who had been our allies; instead of carrying our arms to the enemy's door, we were in daily terror of an hostile invasion: instead of calculating upon the ruin of our adversaries' finances, we were to attend to the restoration of our own credit, and the preservation of our own independence. He was convinced that the people of France were as earnest in their wishes for peace as those of Great Britain. It might be asked, if they were so desirous of it, why they did not carry their complaints to the bar of the directory, and demands redress? To this he would reply, that they were taught to consider the ambition of England as the sole cause of the war; and that to her thirst of aggrandisement the happiness of Eu rope was sacrificed: and would a British house of commons permit that England should be branded as the interested author of all the calamities abroad in the world? England! the bright example of regular government, and salutary regulations! But not only her charácter, but her interests were at stake. Public credit was shaken to its very centre, and only peace could restore it. It had been said, that the French nation was not sufficiently tranquillized, nor their government possessed of stability enough to ensure a permanent Fourthly, Because it was my sincere wish that the eyes of his majesty should be opened to the dangers with which he is surrounded, and that giving peace to his exhausted subjects, and restoring to them their rights, should be his own gracious act. Fifthly, Because I have the highest authority for every sentiment respecting the "economy and reform of abuses" which I recommended, namely, his majesty's own words, in that most excellent and patriotic speech made at the close of the American war, and which I quoted in my reply. Sixthly, Because whenever a nation is in the situation we are in at present, it requires the united energy and public spirit of the whole nation to re-establish its credit, and I am persuaded that energy and public spirit are only to be obtained by the public possessing their ancient free constitution, which they so justly revere; and I maintain that according to common law, which is common sense, and according to "the trus spirit of the constitution," which is founded in wisdom, liberty, and justice, the people of Great Britain have a right, and ought, to be fairly and equally represented in that which, by its very name, is their house of parliament. Seventhly, Because I hold the Borough system, and every other system of corruption that has of late years crept into practice, to be directly contrary to the true spirit of the constitution, and big with the most alarming evils to king and people; and that to confer the honour of peerage on men who have no other merit than that of commanding boroughs, and performing ministerial jobs, degrades that high dignity, and takes away one of the greatest motives that actuate the human mind, the hope of reward, by making it unworthy the acceptance of those men for whom it was intended; men who have rendered great and distinguished services to their country by their valour, their talents, or their learning. Eighthly, Because I am desirous of making this avowal of my principles, which nothing on earth shall make me alter, and which I have learnt from the acts and writings of our ancestors, who loved liberty, and understood it. Ninthly, Because I am resolved, whenever I see danger, boldly and independently, to the full extent of my ability, to discharge my duty to my king and country. G 2 OXFORD and MORTIMER. peace; but his majesty had declared it to be capable of maintaining the relations of amity: and if any doubted it, he would ask if they wished to continue the contest till the French government was completely consolidated, or till a system was established on its overthrow? Mr. Pollen then advised gentlemen to read the debates in the council of five hundred, and to learn moderation from the speeches of Dumas and Dumolard. He referred to the message sent to the directory, demanding of that body an explanation of what they called an incendiary debarkation of prisoners upon our coasts: a measure which they reprobated as inconsistent with the laws of war. And if these were the sentiments of justice by which a French assembly was guided, would the house of commons of Great Britain be less inclined to the exercise of these dispositions? He trusted that they would not. It might (he said) be remarked, that he was one of those who voted for the address to the king, on the failure of the late negociation and that his present motion implied an inconsistency of conduct. But at that time he acknowledged that he had placed unreserved confidence in ministers, because he thought they deserved it; but the face of things was widely different now the bank of England had not then stopped payment! and in this short sentence was included a vast mass of calamity. But when the credit of the country was gone, and when he thought of his brethren, sinking in the putrid urns of Western pestilence, there was no wonder he should wish for a termination of asystem from whence these evils flowed. Mr. Pollen proceeded to read an abstract from a paper contained in the Rédacteur of the 24th of December last, which he considered as the official sentiments of the directory on the late negociation. Taken from the Rédacteur three days after Lord Malmesbury's departure from Paris. The directory positively asserts, that the war on their part has been a defensive, and not an offensive one; and that peace is the only object of their wishes. In enumerating the strong reasons they had for suspecting the sincerity of the mission, they particularly mentioned, that lord Malmesbury proposed a vague principle of compensation, without any articles of reciprocal restitution, whilst their specific demands he only answered by evasion. They referred to the delays of messengers, and a private secretary sent to London : the want of signature to two memorials sent in by his lordship; and when the ultimatum was demanded peremptorily, what did it contain? 1st. Restitution to the emperor of all his territories as before the war, consequently Belgium. 2dly. The total annihilation of every treaty made by France with the princes of the German empire, as being fundamentally inadmissible and contrary to the jus publicum imperii. 3dly. The complete evacuation of Italy, including Savoy and Nice. 4thly. A reservation in favour of Russia, by which that court may interfere, at its pleasure, as a contracting party for the peace. 5thly. The same to Portugal, by which France is to be precluded from demanding a sum of money as the price of peace from that court. 6thly. Great Britain contests the validity of the cession by Spain to the Republic of the Spanish part of Domingo, as contrary to the peace of Utrecht. 7thly. The restitution of the property of the emigrants forfeited or sold is indirectly demanded, though in terms so ambiguous, as to leave matter for endless discussion. The second memorial.-For Holland, the British minister demands a restoration of its ancient form of government, the annihilation of treaties between France and the Batavian republic; and lastly, the restoration of the Stadtholder. And what did England offer as the price of these concessions? A partial restitution of the Dutch colonies, reserving to herself the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon. Finally, if France would not annul her treaties with the Batavian republic. she was to make over to the emperor all that Holland had ceded to France in the late treaty between the two countries. After reading the paper, Mr. Pollen observed, that its allegations were either founded upon fact, or they were not; if they were, the negotiation ought to be resumed on fair and candid principles; if they were not, the best mode of displaying the justice of the English government, would be to publish a counter declaration, stating the grounds on which the war was carried on. He called on one side of the house, to shew to the public that it was not opposition to the minister, but the interest of the nation, which they studied; and to the other, not to defend the minister but their country; and on both, to co operate in delivering it from its present difficulties. He concluded with moving an address to his majesty, representing that his faithful commons were of opinion, that his late benign endeavours to restore peace had failed of their effect, either from misconception of the French government, or from the terms being ill explained to them: and, therefore, they besought him to adopt such measures as might tend to vindicate the sincerity of his majesty's desire for the re-establishment of peace in the eyes of Europe. The motion was seconded by sir John Macpherson, and opposed by major Elford. Mr Chancellor Pitt said, that when he observed the terms of the motion itself, and compared them with the situation of the country at the moment when it was brought forward, it was only necessary for him to shew that no practical benefit could arise from it, or from the arguments by which it was supported. Every evil of war was, or ought to be, viewed on the comparison of alternatives, and the wisest mode of preventing an accumulation of them, would be by investigating their causes, and inquiring whether the immediate evil was preferable to the more remote, and whether the present danger would obviate a severer calamity in future. Without such comparison, fruitless lamentations over the distresses incident to such a state were enough to over-rule any exertions of any country, however justifiable and necessary its exertions might be. He begged leave to tell the honourable gentleman that a peace did not depend upon the earnestness of his desires for it, nor upon the declarations of the house, which were more likely to frustrate than accelerate this object; but it depended upon the operations of the executive government, the disposition of the enemy, and the posture of affairs. By the quotations from the Rédacteur, he had misrepresented the whole proceedings of the negociation; for by passing over some circumstances, and perverting others, he had inferred that the directory were conscious, if they published that declaration as the true true state of the case, the ministers of this country could not afterwards appeal to the judgment of their countrymen. That the directory had misrepresented the intentions and terms of this country was evident; and after treating the overtures as they did, it would surely be a singular ground for parliament to form any proceedings upon, and expose the nation to a fresh insult. But above all, to refute a declaration which had no authority to prove it official, by a manifesto, would be most absurd, and would encourage the enemy to defeat our measures for restoring tranquillity. Mr. Pitt affirmed that no opportunities had been omitted, and the best modes had been adopted, unsuccessful as they had been, for this purpose; and ended with informing the house, that in consequence of dispatches received from Vienna (which brought advice that the enemy had made overtures for a separate peace with his imperial majesty, which he had rejected, because he would not enter into any negotiation without Great Britain), his majesty would send a confidential person to Vienna, with instructions to conduct negotiations in concert with his allies. After having said so much, Mr Pitt thought the honourable gentleman should withdraw his motion, rather then persevere in a measure which would tend to defeat the end it proposed. Colonel Porter disavowed all confidence in ministers; Mr. Pitt had come down to the house describing the flourishing state of the finances, and in a few weeks we were found to be in a situation little short of bankruptcy. He distrusted their sincerity in any negotiation which they might undertake, and considered the present as a bugbear to delude the public; at all events the motion could do no harm, and should have his support. Mr. Addington had flattered himself, that after what had passed during the debate, the motion would have been withdrawn; but as that had not been the case, he should make some observations. The motion had been founded upon the statements of a French paper, whether with, or without the authority of the directory was not known: the two grounds contained in that paper, were the origin of the war which was attributed to the British ministry, and the insincerity of the British government in its overtures for peace. our In the year 1792, Mr. Addington said, this country enjoyed a state of prosperity almost unrivalled, commerce and our manufactures flourished, and there could be no doubt that no man could be more interested for the preservation of peace then the chancellor of the exchequer, because its interruption must tend to frustrate those financial arrangements in which he was so successfully employed: The unwillingness of ministers to interfere in the contest was incontrovertibly manifested in the month of May in that year, by their making a material reduction in the naval and military establishments. Some important events which then happened could not but make a strong impression upon the government; the defeat of the Prussian army, and the events of the 10th of August, were not sufficient to induce ministers to alter their system; but after the battle of Jemappe, when the empire was threatened, and after the decree relative to the Scheldt, they could no longer consider themselves as indifferent spectators, but began to prepare for what might happen. The convention, placing confidence in the |