ing; and it was a matter of the highest importance, that its safety and protection should no longer be left in the hands of a man who had shown himself so totally incapable in every respect, except in the arts of deception. His lordship, after adverting to the neglect and ill treatment given by ministers to wards brave veterans who had distinguished themselves by valour and patriotism, as the late lord Rodney, lord Howe, and sir Charles Grey, spoke of the recal of earl Fitzwilliam, which he said could only be mentioned in the strongest terms of disapprobation. A language had frequently been used, he remarked, tending to throw an odium on all who spoke freely on the state of af fairs, insinuating that they were friends to commotion and to French principles his lordship reprobated such insinuations with severity; asked how it was possible any one could suppose he could be so lost to all sense of honour, to the reverence and respect he owed to a long line of ancestry, to the paternal affection he had for his present children, and the regard due to posterity, as to countenance principles which might be subversive of those honours and, that rank which he had received, and was bound to transmit? Such an argument was absurd-but it also deserved public refutation; it was unfair, uncandid, and untrue. After more observations of this nature, his lordship declared he considered it as duty to himself, his family, his king, and his country, to move," that an address might be presented to his majesty, humbly requesting him to dismiss from his councils his minister, the first lord of the treasury, whose pernicious measures had deprived him of the confidence of the country."

his

Lord Grenville opposed the mo tion, because he thought the noble earl had not founded his objections upon facts. He warmly vindicated his friend, the first lord of the treasury, respecting the measures of which he stood accused; he was confident the neglect and failure of any of them was attributable only to those errors to which kuman nature was at all times liable; to those accidents which no human prudence could prevent; or to those dispensations of Providence which no human wisdom could controul. The public cause was said to be injured by removing some officers from the public service to make room for others more serviceable to private views. Gallant officers it was affirmed had been neglected; but, without entering into the invidious task of scanning deserts, his lordship begged to remark, that admiral Rodney had received the peerage he so well deserved, besides certain pecuniary grants, sufficient, with economy and management, not only to have secured the 'possessor from inconvenience, but to have supported his title with becoming splendour. If occasions occurred when his majesty found it difficult to employ all the talents, ardour, and activity of individuals, according to their zeal and merit, it was imputable to the vast fund of abilities and energy in the nation, which rendered it perplexing where to make a prefer

ence.

He then came to the consideration of the conduct of the war. That the allies had not been as successful as they expected, he was ready to admit, and also that such accidents had happened as were incidental to all wars; but he hoped all parties would acknowledge that the exertions of this country had.

been

been unparalleled in the page of history, and had been attended with unparalleled success; our naval victories had been more brilliant than ever before distinguished any age,and it appeared peculiarly hard that all the honour, all the praise, and all the glory should be reaped by individuals, whilst all the censure and all the responsibility were thrown on ministers.

Lord Hay (earl of Kinnoul) said that he never was more surprised than to hear a motion of this important nature-no less than for removing the prime-minister of the country from his high station, without one single proof of misconduct whatever brought against him. He praised the conduct of the war, and gloried in the successes. He therefore gave the motion his decided negative, and only observed further, that lord Rodney's family were perfectly satisfied with his re

muneration.

Lord Suffolk desired to retract part of what he had said relative to admiral Rodney; he believed the pension had been rightly stated by the noble lord; still, however, it was certain that this brave officer was afterwards, from a variety of. law-suits, reduced to a state of great poverty, and his body for a considerable time seized upon, and denied the rites of burial.

The duke of Norfolk scrupled not to condemn the measures of administration, which, he contended, only required to be fairly and critically examined to be universally reprobated. The noble lord (Grenville) had insinuated that the charges were not substantiated upon facts; and demanded proofs: the proofs were every where: they presented themselves to every eye; they made impressions upon every heart; they composed a living epi

1797.

taph upon the infatuation of ministers, and, in the language applied to the memory of sir Christopher Wren, by pointing out his sublime production, that astonishing piece of architecture, the cathedral of St. Paul, he might exclaim

"Si monumentum quæris, circumspice." The marquis of Townshend and the earl of Warwick opposed the motion. The latter said he was convinced there was a considerable faction deeply infected with French principles in this country, and it was not impossible that a part were to be found within the walls of the two houses of parliament. He would advise noble lords not to indulge themselves in those irritating and intemperate expressions which too frequently were uttered. He was sorry to read such language had passed in another house for granting the people all they asked. He was for granting all such rights as were demanded in a constitutional manner, but not to those who demanded them with arms in their hands.

The earl of Derby expressed his astonishment that any advice should be thought necessary for their lordships respecting the language they ought to use in that house; for himself, he always endeavoured to use parliamentary language, and was not conscious of any failure in this point. He was apt indeed to speak warmly, and it was his duty to do so, when he described the misconduct or incapacity of ministers, and the pernicious effects of bad measures. Allusions were made to what passed in another house, and disapprobation manifested on granting rights to men with arms in their hands. He hoped they had not yet procured those arms, and that they never would; but if it ever should

be

be the case, he was convinced the impolitic and oppressive measures adopted by the present ministers would be the occasion of those dis

astrous consequences.

Lord Romney said he was concerned to hear persons on all sides, both within and without the walls of that house, talk of the situation of the country in the most desponding manner; for his own part, he thought very differently of it, and that nothing was wanting to restore it to its former strength but active energy. He was clear that a plan might be adopted which would raise an immense sum, and would serve to convince the enemy of the British spirit: this was, to set on foot a subscription for a voluntary gift, as far as the generosity and circumstances of individuals would allow. He would subscribe five thousand pounds, and thought there would easily be found a hundred thousand who would subscribe their one hundred each. He proposed that this should be paid by instalments, for instance he would commence on the 1st of January 1798, and pay five hundred pounas a month, so that in ten months he should have paid the whole. Each subscriber to do the same, according to the sums subscribed, even so low as fifty: the whole of the money to be subject to the control of parliament.-Such a measure, if carried into execution, would counteract any impression which might be made on the French government to our disadvantage, by the desponding ideas of some as to our state, or by the language of others as to the mismanagement of our ministers.

The earl of Moira thought the present motion highly necessary the mismanagement of ministers had brought us to this present de

plorable condition, and they could not too soon be deprived of the power of continuing to do so: the war had been conducted, he said, in a shameful manner; the wealth and resources of the country expended in making conquests of distant settlements, when the French should have been attacked nearer home. His lordship applauded the plan of lord Romney, and did not doubt but it might produce a considerable sum of money; but it was a question how far the house of commons might approve of money being raised to carry on the war through any channel but their own. He concluded with giving his hearty assent to the motion.

The earl of Carlisle lamented, that the finest opportunity of forcing the enemy to make peace had been lost by the conduct of the admiralty, which had given such absurd orders to admiral Colpoys. Had we destroyed the Brest fleet, we should have ended the war.

The marquis of Lansdowne blamed the admiralty on this occa sion also. He said he would sooner see one minister justly punished than see twenty changes. It was not a change of men but measures which he wished, consequently did not approve the motion: changes of ministers had sometimes done mischief to the country. Sir Robert Walpole was removed by popular clamour at the time he was carry. ing the sinking fund into execution, and the nation suffered very considerably by his removal. The alteration he proposed would be in the system of government, which ought to be conducted on the old constitutional principles of the country. Any one who wished to know the present system, might peruse the army extraordinaries, and he would find millions squandered

dent manner.

squandered in the most improviWhat would the intended subscription of 5007. do to stop such flood-gates? He wished to ask what we now were fighting for? Was it Belgium? If so, let the country be asked if they would persevere in the war for such an object. Was it for any territorial possession? Had the French insulted us? If they had, he would be one, and he was assured the nation unanimously would unite in obtaining reparation.

Lord Grenville again arose. He observed that of late ministers had declined sending troops to the continent: they had turned all their attention to the navy and colonies; and though they had been so successful, still they were blamed. The noble marquis had affirmed, that it was not a change of men but of measures, which was desirable: to which he replied, that any change in our government would throw the country into immediate confusion. Had not ministers preserved it from French principles; and was this a small advantage? But why Was the war carried on? It was not for this or that province; it was, whether the French should possess the whole of the maritime coast of the continent: another reason was, the haughty manner in which they had rejected our overtures for peace. No minister had ever been more ignominiously treated than ours. Professions of unanimity had often been heard in that house, if the country were to be insulted; but they never were made good, when the occasion occurred. His lordship ended with condemning the language of despondence, and raunting the abundance of our re

sources.

The marquis of Lansdowne answered, that it was not extraordi

nary that the French should have shown some haughtiness: they could not but remember the opprobrious terms used towards them by our ministers, and it was probable they would resent it. He denied having recommended a change of government; he only desired the present should be changed into a constitutional system, and he would contend for this point, though he was well aware it had been the custom for ministers to insinuate that those who recommended it were

Jacobins. He reprobated Jacobin principles, because he was convinced they went to a community of goods, and other absurd and pernicious doctrines, even beyond the agrarian law. He did not believe there were many of such principles in England, and he knew of no such practical Jacobins as his majesty's ministers; they had banished gold and silver from London at the time they be gan to be plenty in Paris; they had taken up the paper-system at the time France had laid it down. Forced loans, military force, and every Jacobin project had been adopted here, as France had rejected them. The immortal jury of 1794 had sufficiently exposed the falshood of Jacobin pretended plots. To the noble conduct of that jury he did not know how many of their lordships were now indebted for their lives and fortunes; it was that jury which defeated the Robespierrian system, attempted to be established in this country by the ministers.

The duke of Bedford professedly wished, he said, both for a change of ministers, of the system on which government had been conducted, and, he might say, for the restoration of the constitution. His grace quoted the papers on the table to show the concealment ministers had 0 2 made

made of the public expenses to enable them to prosecute the war. He asked if the way to destroy French principles, was to ruin the country? He did not think they were so fascinating as to be dreaded. The reason peace was not restored, truly was, because it could not be made but on terms disgraceful to those ministers who had held such lofty language during the war. His grace then took a view of the enormous taxes, and strenuously supported the motion.

For it 16-Against it 86.

May 19th, alderman Combe rose to make his promised motion for the dismissal of his majesty's ministers. He prefaced his speech with great diffidence, and, with a deep consciousness of inability, under took the discussion of so important a subject.

It was, he said, the general opinion of the people of this country, as well as that of his constituents, that the calamities which pressed so hard upon the people were in a great measure, if not wholly, owing to the ministers having plunged us into the pte ent war. He would not deny that at the commencement it appeared to be popular, bat it long had ceased to be so, and nothing had so contributed to produce this effect as the incapacity of those who had carried it on. By ministers it had been declared to be both just and necessary; in both these points he had always differed from them: but, even allowing that it was so, it was reasonable to exthat the public should have been informed of the real or ostensible ground on which it had been entered into; and surely in a contest between two great nations nothing less could have been expected. In vain, however, had the people sought for some fixed and settled

pect

principle by which their governors had been guided: sometimes we were said to fight for one purpose, sometimes for another, and still we were in the dark! The cause of the wa in January 1794 was "the restoration of monarchy in France." That form of government appeared so necessary for the welfare and in, terests of this country, that it was held out as a sufficient reason for all the expenses we might incur, and the calamities likely to attend it, This cause, however, did not long remain: events of the most melancholy nature rendered such ground no longer tenable; it was found necessary to choose a new one; and the most ostensible excuse and justi fication of ministers was, "indemnity for the past, and security for the future." This in its turn was given up, and then we were bound to fight till France was settled into some stable government, capable of "maintaining the relations of pe ce and amily." Afer that event took place, we were assured ministers would seize the earliest opportunity of ne gotiating; and in December 1795, a sort of overture was made through the medium of Mr. Wickham, the success of which was too well known to render recapitulation necessary. Since that time the war had continued with every possible degree of misfortune and disaster to us and our allies. We now were left indeed alone in the contest, and the distresses of the country had arrived at such a pitch, as to render peace essential; it remained now only to be considered whether the present ministers, who had so rashly precipitated the country into the war, and had manifested such incapa city in the conduct of it, were likely to be more successful in obtaining that desirable blessing, tranquillig, He was perfectly of opinion with