fecuring the balance of power in Europe, and the independence of all ftates, will continue, to give his majefty a vigorous fupport, in afferting the general caule of his majefty, and his allies, and for preferving the good faith, dignity, and honour, of the crown; in full affurance, that no steps will be taken inconfiftent with thefe principles, or with the future fafety and profperity of thefe kingdoms: and fhould the apparently hoftile difpofitions of the court of Madrid, inftigated by the intrigues and menaces of the common enemy, put his majefty under the neceffity of repeiling force by force, his majefty may rely on the determination of this houfe to give his majefty the most ample fupport in defending, against every aggreffion, the dignity, rights, and interefts, of the British empire."

The earl of Guildford, though he did not oppofe the addrefs, but, on the contrary, felt great pleafure in being able most cordially to agree with what had been foably moved by his noble friend, nevertheless found it necessary for him to make a few obfervations on the fubject. The leading feature of the address, as had been juftly obferved, was to "return thanks to his majefty for his moft gracious information, that he would immediately fend a perfon to Paris, with full powers to treat, and that it was his majefty's moft anxious with, that the meafure might lead to a general refloration of peace." If a fate, honourable, and permanent, peace could now be obtained, he would fit down contented with all the obloquy and abufe which had been fo plentifully heaped upon himfelf, and thofe with whom he had the honour to act for the last three years. The atchieve

ments of the archduke Charles, be faid, were noble and fplendid in the extreme, and, he firmly believed, they had been the means of faving the houfe of Auftria, and the whole of the Germanic body, from a state of the greateft humiliation. If these fortunate atchievements fhould operate, as he hoped they would, to ferve as an advantageous means of cool, temperate, and rational, negociation, they ought to be contidered as omens of great happiness to us and our ally; if, on the contrary, they fhould have the fatal tendency of reviving the inaufpicious Lopes formerly entertained, and caufe the parties to rife in their demands. fo as to be the means of prolonging this miferable and unavailing conteft, then they would, and ought to, be looked upon, as evils and misfortunes of the deepest dye; and he was afraid they would be felt as fuch, not only by people of the prefent day, but by their pofterity, for a length of time to come. His lordfhip then said, there was one part of what was contained in the addrefs, as well as in the fpeech of the noble mover, which he could not fuffer to pals without making a comment; it was this: "That the internal tranquillity of the kingdom had remained undisturbed, and the endeavours of perions to introduce anarchy had been repreffed, by the wildom and energy of the laws." It was very true, his lordship faid, that the tranquillity of the kingdom had remained undisturbed; and it was with the greatest pleasure he could give his tettimony to this truth. He be lieved alfo, that this had been owing to the love and reverence the peo ple entertained for the laws of their country; but if, by "the wisdom

and

and energy of the laws," an allufion was intended to be made to two extraordinary bills which had been red in the last feffion of the last parliament, he believed the illufion would be, indeed, unfounded; it was tranquillity, in his opinion, not at all to be attributed to fach a cafe; he was convinced it was quite the contrary: thofe bills were held in abhorrence by the people, but who, at the fanie time, held in the highest respect the wildom and energy of the known conftitutional common law of the land. The noble earl then faid, that, conceiving a peace to be the greatest belling this country could at preent with, he had readily and cordally come forward in fupport of the prefent addrefs; but he begged their lordships would understand, that by fo doing, he did not mean to preclude himfelf from the right he had to inquire, at any future period, into the canfes which had been the original occafion of the prefent calamitous contest, and the nduct of those who had been the means of plunging us into it. Thefe were the fubjects of the firft magnitude, and would hereafter demand the ftricteft and moft minute ir reftigation; and, having thus made thefe obfervations and refervations, he would no longer trefpafs on the time of the house, but immediately conclade, by giving his hearty concurrence to the motion for the adtees.

Lord Grenville forbore to enter at large into any argument on all the points on which the earl of Guildford had expreffed a difference of Gpinion; on two only he would make a very few obfervations. Alluding to what had fallen from his lordship stemning that part of the fpeech

from the throne, which afcribed the internal tranquillity of the kingdom to "the wifdom and energy of the laws," he faid, that, partial or conditional agreement was a tribute which he was as little accustomed as defirous to receive from any man; yet certainly every perfon was at liberty to indulge and exprefs his own opinion. For his own part, he was clearly of opinion, that the bills, palled laft feffion, had contributed very greatly to reprefs the fpirit of anarchy, and had, therefore, tended highly towards the prefervation of the public and internal tranquillity. He retained all the opinions he had formerly entertained on the fubject, and experience had only ferved to confirm their propriety and juftice. As for the threatened inquiry into the caufes of the war, and the conduct of thofe who had the management of it, he, for one, was ready to meet the trial, and to take his full thare of refponfibility for all its confequences.

That the

A noble earl had flated it as inconfiftent with the principles on which the war was undertaken, to treat with any other government in France than a monarchy. exilience of a republic in France was an infufferable bar to negociation, and that monarchy was indilpenfible, was a calumny which his majefty's minifters had every leafon found it necellary to contradict. They had expreffed, what they fil believed, that the bett itle to the conteft would be, the re-eltablishment of monarchy in France, yet they had never pledged themicives, much lefs the parliament, to an opinion to wild and extravagant, as, that, without the attainment of this object, there was no hope of poflibility of peace. It was fome

what

what ftrange, in the noble earl, to inter, from the opening of a negoci ation, that the worft terms would be concluded. He faw nothing in the ftate of this country that should lead us to embrace any other than juft, honourable, and fafe, conditions of peace.

The earl of Abingdon fpoke against the addrefs, particularly against what referred to the two odious bills, paffed in the laft feffion of parliament. The people of England poffeffed rights which were not derived either from king, lords, or commons; and which neither king, lords, nor commons, could take away.

The earl Fitzwilliam faid, that though he never had afferted that minitters made the restoration of monarchy in France, a fine qua non towards making peace, yet he thought, that, while they encouraged and engaged thofe, from whofe efforts the reftoration of monarchy was to be expected; this was, in fact, implied, as the wifh, intention, and object, of the British councils.

Lord Grenville afferted, again, that miniftry had never faid that the formation of any government in France would preclude them from negociating for peace, when an opportunity occurred that they thought would be favourable to the interests of this country.

The motion for the addrefs then pailed in the affirmative.

A protest against this vote was entered in the journals, by the earl Fitzwilliam; to which, as it breathes the genuine fpirit first rouzed, and, perhaps, ftill actuated to a greater extent than was acknowledged by the British government, we have given a place among the State Papers in vol. xxxviij.

The addrefs to his majefty was

moved, in the house of commons, by the lord vifcount Morpeth. His lordship, after apologizing for his inexperience in public fpeaking, and expreffing his hope that he fhould experience the indulgence of the houfe on the prefent occafion, faid, that he confidered it as incumbent on thofe, who had the honour of a feat in that house, to come forward, as foon as poffible, to give their opinions on public affairs. He trufted that the fentiments avowed in his majefty's fpeech would tend to reconcile that variety and oppofition of fentiment which had hitherto fubfifted; for, whatever opinions might be entertained refpecting the origin of the war, and the manner in which it had been conducted, it must give them fatisfaction to concur in a motion that had for its object an honourable peace. Thofe who thought that this war was juft and neceffary in its commencement, and necessary in its continuance, and unavoidable in its continuance, muft rejoice that the period is arrived in which there exifted a French government of fuch ftability and permanence that might be treated with fafely. He hoped, at the fame time, that we fhould not neglect to employ our refources in fuch manner as to fhew, that, while we are defirous of peace, we are nevertheless in a condition to continue the conteft. He proceed to juftify the fpeech from the throne in all its pofitions: the flourishing state of our trade and commerce, the valour of our fleets and armies, our dominion at fea, the bravery of our Auftrian allies, the wife and heroic conduct of the archduke Charles, and our internal tranquillity. His lordship concluded his fpeech with a motion for an ad

drefs

France loaded with the fpoils of the English." This curious addrefs concluded by affuring them, that whatever they took fhould be their own, and that government would require no participation in the plunder of England. They fhould be fupplied with arms and ammunition for this great undertaking, and with veffels to carry them over. Once landed, they would foon find the way to London, and their prowess would atchieve all the rest.

This publication, which made much noife at the time, was very acceptable to the mafs of the people, whofe hatred to the English has always been notorious, and numbers had actually refolved to join an expedition of this nature; but the fober-minded ftrongly condemned a proclamation, for fuch it was in reality, calling upon men to enter upon fo frantic an undertaking, as that of one nation rifing in a body to plunder another, divided from it by the fea, guarded by fleets that had vanquished their own, and deftroyed all their commerce, and that was, at the fame time, fuller of refolute and difciplined men than they had fhipping enough to bring over, had the project, held out to them, exifted in the real contemplation of their rulers.

But there was another scheme, on foot at this time, which, though by the intelligent world esteemed impracticable, did not, however, carry the appearance of fuch extravagance as the former. This was to collect as large an army as they could provide hips to tranfport to this country, and to invade it at feveral places. They did not feem to apprehend much obftruction to

the landing of this army, when dif tributed into various parts, every one of which, being confiderable, would require an adequate force to oppofe it. They dwelt, alfo, with particular confidence, on the fuperior experience and foldiership of the men that would be employed in an enterprize of fuch importance, and on the ignorance in practical war of the English foldiery, whofe native courage was not fuperior to that of the French, while their total unacquaintance with the reality of thofe fcenes, in the representation of which they might excel, did not entitle them to a comparifon with veterans.

Such were the ideas of the many individuals in France, that looked forward to an attempt of this nature, with no fmall degree of confidence. The government itfelf, whether of their opinion, or with a view to create an alarm in this country, formally gave them countenance. Numc rous forces were collected, on which was beftowed the appellation of the army of England. It was put under the command of Buonaparte; and, it was not doubted, that the fame of this conqueror of Italy would ftrike the English with terror, as it had done fo many others, and that the fame fuccefs would attend him which he had conftantly met with, in all his enterprizes..

It was, therefore, a great mortification to the directory, to fee their principal defign rendered abortive. The means of executing it, were now taken out of their hands, as, without a maritime force, it were vain to attempt an attack of England. They had certainly incurred a large expence in preparations, The troops aflembled in various parts of the republic, avowedly for