ing baffled in all our efforts by the pride and obftinacy of the French government, our propofitions flight ed, and our ambailador infulted, were we now to confent to facrifice our engagements, and to violate our treaties, becaufe forfooth, it would be fome inconvenience to call their affemblies, in order to cancel a law incompatible with the principle of fair negotiation? Shall we (faid Mr. Pitt) fo far forget our honour, our dignity, and our duty, as to acquiefce in fuch conditions? But this is not all the degradation to which they would have us fubmit: we muft engage, and as a preliminary too, to make no propofitions contrary to their conftitution, and the treaties which bind the republic. This reftriction is more unreafonable than the other: the republic may have made fecret treaties, which we know nothing about; and yet that government expects that we are not to permit our propofitions to interfere with thefe treaties. How can we know what the Dutch may have ceded to France, or whether France may not have an oath never to give up the territories ceded to her by Holland; what fecret article may be contained in her treaty with Spain, guaranteeing the reftitution of Gibraltar, or fome important poffeffion belonging to his Majefty? And after accepting terms of which we are entirely ignorant, in what fituation do we ftand? We at laft arrive at a difcuffion of the government which France may chufe to give to Italy, and of the fate which the may be pleased to aflign to Germany; in fact, the point is not how much you will give for peace, but how much you will fuffer of difgrace? In thefe circumftances, then, are we to perfevere in the war with an energy worthy of the British name, or, by fending couriers to Paris, to proftrate ourfelves at the feet of a ftubborn and fupercilious government, to do what they require, and to fubmit to what they impofe? He hoped "there was not a band in his majefty's councils who would fign the propofals, a beart in that houfe which would fanction the meafure, or an individual in the British dominions who would act as the courier." Mr. Pitt concluded with moving an addrefs to his majefty, which was, as ufual, an echo of the meflage. It The Hon. Thomas Erfkine said, that when the right. honourable gentleman rofe to move the address, he had hoped it would have been very different from what he found it was; and inftead of binding the houfe to profecute the war, it would have borne a refemblance to the righthonourable gentleman's fpeech, in an early ftage of it, wherein he affirmed," that he did not wish to pledge the house to any period to which the war ought to be protracted, or to any terms which ought to be infifted on by the allies." now appeared, by this address, that he would precifely draw the house into that very fituation, to which he had faid he would not wish to pledge them. There were two propofitions in the fpeech which he particularly wifhed to controvert: the firft was, that " France was the aggrelor in this bloody and expenfive war." The right honourable gentleman had gone farther, and declared alfo, that the obftacles which had been thrown in the way of the late negotiations were entirely to be attributed to the arrogant demands of the prefent government of France. How did the matter ftand at the commencement of the war? Minifters then advised his majefty, that it was incompatible with the interefts of this country, that Belgium should be permitted to be united with France. This was immediately communicated to the French, and they unequivocally difarowed every thing which minifters pretended to fix upon them. In all difputes between individuals, between neighbours, (faid Mr. Frikine) it has always been found neceffary by thofe who were to adjuft their differences, to enquire into the particular circumftances which were the original caufes of thofe differences. Where negotiations were to be entered into between two contending powers, it must be more neceffary to look back to afcertain precifely what had been the fituation of the parties at the commencement of their quarrel, what was the aggredion, what was the extent of it, and by whom made? Let us then (he continued) look back; let us refer to the period alluded to, and fee how matters actually were circumstanced. On the 21ft of December, 1792, his majefty met the parliament: at that time, M. Chauvelin, the ambaffador of the French government, was in England: his majefty, in his fpeech to both houtes of parliament, complained of three things: firft, that the French had fent feditious miffionaries into this country; fecondly, that they meditated an invafion of Holland; and thirdly, that they had. opened the Scheldt. Mr. Erikine begged the hole to recollect, that Belgium was then in the poffeflion of the French; though not as now; it was not, at that time, ingrafted by the constitution into the territory of France, as an integral part of it. All the correspondence between lord Grenville and the French ambaffador was concealed from the house, though M. Chauvelin had given feparate and fatisfactory anfwers to all the complaints of our court. He entreated that the king would bring to condign punishment those who diffeminated fedition in his dominions; announced the determination of France to keep within her own limits, and to refpect the rights of other nations. Notwithftanding this plain and fpecific avowal of all the grounds of hoftility, war was declared upon France. He asked, therefore, if France could be confidered as the aggreffor, who offered peace to this country on terms which the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Pitt) would be worfhipped, if he could now procure. Here Mr. Erikine stopped, and fat down under evident fymptoms of indifpofition.] Mr. Fox rofe, and faid he was extremely forry, on account of his learned friend, as well as for the houfe, whofe information was thus unpleafantly interrupte 1. forry for the cause of peace and of Great-Britain, which minifters, by their rafh and infatuated policy feemed determined to precipitate to the verge of ruin, that he was obliged to address the houfe on the prefent occasion. He felt it hower incumbent upon him to come forward, knowing that his opinion entirely coincided with that of his honourable friend, and lamenting, that in confequence of his indifpofition, the argument would fuffer confiderably from the want of that ability with which it would have been enforced by his fuperior powers. Mr. Fox obferved, that the fubject demanded the deepest confideration; after a war of four years, which was ftated to have been attended with many occurrences highly honorable and advantageous to the British arins, and to have been accompanied with no difgrace, after the immenfe expenditure incurred in the prosecution of hoftilities; af ter an addition of a fum of no lefs than two hundred millions to the national debt, and of nine millions to the permanent taxes of the country; after an enormous effufion of human blood, after an incalculable addition to the details of human wretchedness, fo far from having gained any object, for which we fet out in the war, fo far were we from having achieved any advantage, that the minifter had this night come forward, in an elaborate fpeech, which had lasted for a confiderable fpace of time, to endeavour to prove, that the only effect had been, that the enemy was become more unreafonable than ever in their pretenfions, and that all hopes of peace were removed to a still greater dif tance. In this fpeech the right hon. gentleman had affirmed that he formerly had given a representation of the deplorable fituation of the French hnances from uncertain documents, but now he had been enabled to confirm the fame from indubitable authority, the ftatement of the directory he, for his own part, was inclined to believe that the documents in both inftances were equally authentic. It had been found from experience, that in proportion as the finances of the French had been acknowledged, even by themselves, to be reduced to the lowest ebb, in the fame proportion had their exertions been found to be wonderful and unparalleled. The certain ruin of the French finance is confirmed by an immediate statement from the directory, we are told; Mr. Fox expreffed furprise that the right honourable gentleman did not go farther, and quote the ingenious letter of lord Malmesbury, in which he reported the conversation which took place between him and M. Delacroix. In this converfation the French minifter was represented as having paid the higheft compliments to the extenfive means poffeffed by this country, as having defcribed it, from its internal fources of wealth, and from its colonies in the Indies, to be mistress of almost boundlefs refources. Thus, whilft the directory admitted that GreatBritain was diftinguished by her wealth and her refources, they had no hesitation to acknowledge their own poverty and embarraffments: they acknowledged to all Europe, that from the want of money the army was confiderably in arrears, and every branch of the internal adminiftration under circumftances of the greatest embarrassment and diftrefs. But whilft they admitted the ruined ftate of their own finances, what a ftriking contraft did their exertions in the prefent conteft, and the fuccefs which had followed them afford, to the conduct and fate of those who had been entrusted with the management of the war on our fide! Whilft we, in every quarter which it was deemed moft important to defend, had been lofing city after city: whilft we had been actually driven from the poffeffions which we conceived to be neceffary to the fecurity of our commerce, or to the balance of power, France, refourceless and difpirited, all the while avowing its own diftreffed fituation, and fpeaking in the most respectful terms of our wealth and refources, had conftantly been adding to its acquifitions, and aggrandizing its empire. France, at the prefent moment, appeared as the conqueror of moft important and extenfive territories! Belgium was annexed to her empire! great part of Italy had yielded to the force of her arms, and Holland was was now united to the republic by ties of frictest alliance. If, indeed, thefe acquifitions were to be regained to the caufe of Great-Britain and her allies by a lofty tone of argument; if the tide of victory was to be turned by the dexterity of debate, and the efficacy of our exertions bore any proportion to the infolence of our boafting, we need not yet be afraid to claim a decided fuperiority. have achieved a fingle conqueft, and when you are juft beginning to make advances in the country of the enemy?" Such was the style of reafoning brought forward in oppofition to my repeated motions for an end of carnage. J The right hon. gentleman aid Mr. Fox), in talking tormerly of the ewteft, made ufe of a memorable expreffion; he intimated that it was fuch, that our exertions ought to know no bounds, except fo for as they were limited by our rabanes: that our moft pitch before we could hope for an honourable termination of the ftruggle, or the permanent en y◄ ment of peace; that we ought not to ceafe till we could be able to my, Potuit qur plurima virtus Mr. Fox faid, that, previous to the commencement of the conteft, be hud used the utmost of his little pow-efforts maft be extended to fleeters to perfuade the government to fend an ambaffador to Paris, when undoubtedly he would not have met with the treatment which an ambafador of Great-Britain was now alleged to have experienced: but when it is afferted that this ambasfador was difimiffed in a way une ampled in the hiftory of civilized nations, they furely muft have forgotten the manner in which M. Chauvelin was fent from this country. At a fubfequent period, when the whole of Belgium was regained, when the French were not poffefed of one foot of ground in that territory, did 1 then (continued Mr. Fox) neglect my duty to this country? No. I then renewed my motion for peace: and I now aik, if an attempt had then been made to negotiate, whether we might not have expected to obtain peace on terms equally honourable and advantageous with any which we can now poffibly claim? This was at the period before the powers combined against France had gained the fortrets of Valenciennes But when it was certain that it muft fall. I contended then was the period to make peace. In order to fhow how greatly minifters mifcalculated the nature of the conteft; when I thus argued, it was faid: What! make peace before you 1797. : The difficulties attendant upon negotiation had been fated as arifing from two crcmfances: firft, the ditficulty in all cafes of propofing overtures, without being able to sfeer. tain what recept on they were likely to experience; fecondly, the parti cular cbftacles, from the relative fituation of the two countries. Mr. Fox faid, he could fate a third, more weighty then either :-In every negotiation, the difficulty of coming to any deflative arrangement nicit be infinitely increased. in proportion to the degree of dittruit entertained by the parties refpecting their mutual intentions. If we had fome reafon to fofpe&t the fincerity of the directory, had not they at leaft equal grounds to fufpect our views in negotiation? After every epithet had been exhaufted by min fters to vilify their characters, was it to be expected that they would readily liften to terms of peace dictated by thofe minifters, except they were brought F into into a state of neceffity which precluded them from any alternative, and compelled them to an unconditional compliance with any propofition that might be prefented to their acceptance? When lord Malmefbury, in addreffing the French minifter, so often brought forward his profeffion of high confideration (Mr. Fox faid), he could not but fmile, when he recollected that lord Auckland was made a peer merely becaufe he declared that the men whom he now addressed in such refpectful terms," ought to be put under the fword of the law," and because he denounced them as mifcreants and traitors to all Europe. By this declaration, brought forward in a public capacity, he fhowed, that, acting on the part of GreatBritain, he was not flow to be their executioner and their judge. There was one part of the addrefs omitted to be noticed, but to which he could by no means fubfcribe: that his majefty had neglected no proper opportunity to conclude the war. A few years ago, when he earneftly preffed the propriety of negotiation, the right honourable gentleman had contended that the French were not capable of maintaining the relations of peace and amity. In what refpect were they now become more capable? Will the minifter affirin, that then there was only a provifional government, and that there now exifts a permanent conftitution? Surely he would not venture to prefs that argument, aware of the extent to which it muft lead him; and if fuch was the cafe, Mr. Fox declared he had no hefitation to ftate, that the affertion in the addrefs was falfe, and as fuch muft meet his decided negative. The refult of the negotiation had proved to be what was not difficult to have been foreleen, both from its commencement, and the mode in which it had been conducted. If the country, indeed, confidered the adminiftration of the right honourable gentleman to be a bleffing, they muft take their choice between the continuance of that bleffing and the reftoration of peace. It was evident that thofe individuals who had conducted the war with fuch notorious incapacity, and entailed fo many mifchiefs on the country, must of all others be the most unfit to repair them, and fecure the enjoyment of permanent peace. But in order to afcertain the fincerity of minifters on this point, and the fairness of the means employed towards the attainment of this object, it was neceffary to enter a little more minutely into the history of the negotiation. The firft ftep which was taken was, the communication at Bale, in which Mr. Wickham had been engaged as the agent for the British government. As he was not authorized to take any definitive measure, or to make any declaration binding on the government, but little ftreis could be laid on the circumstance. Thofe who attended to the details of that tranfaction, would not be difpofed to draw any inference very favorable to the fincerity of minifters. The miflion of lord Malmefbury was unquestionably what they wished to be confidered as the grand effort for peace, and as affording an unequivocal proof of their fincere withes for its attainment. Of the details of that negotiation we were able to judge, from the papers which had been laid before the houfe. Till the publication of his majefty's manifefto, he said he was only acquainted with the circumftances of that tranfaction from the statement of the public prints: nor was he a little furprized when the mani Lefto |