ANTICIPATION, &c.Dom. Comm. Jovis. 26 Nov. die.Anno 19ᵒ Georgii III Regis, 1778.
Dom. Comm. Jovis. 26 Nov. die.
Anno 19ᵒ Georgii III Regis, 1778.
Sir Francis M[olyneu]x, gentleman-usher of the black rod, having, with the usual solemnity, at half past two o’clock, given three admonitory raps at the door of the H[ous]e of C[ommo]ns, and being thereupon admitted, and having proceeded towards the table, with three progressive bows, acquainted the S[peake]r,[1]that his M[ajest]y commanded their immediate attendance in the H[ous]e of L[or]ds, where soon after his M[ajest]y delivered his most gracious speech to both Houses; which we should give at length, having an accurate copy now before us, but that many reasons concur to induce us rather to give a general sketch of it. It is scarcely necessary to say, that respect to that great personage is the principal of those motives: It is also universally felt, that the merit of those speeches consists much less in the composition than in the delivery. Besides, as an authenticblack lettercopy ofthisspeech will infallibly appear, we have too high a respect for our good friends Messrs. the Hawkers and Criers of this great metropolis, to rob them of any part of the fruits of their annual eloquence on this occasion⸺The speech began by saying,
That the situation of public affairs induced him to call them thus early together, that they might more fully enter into the various and important concerns which would naturally engage their attention.
That he had reason to hope that the schemes which the natural enemies of this country, in conjunction with their unnatural allies, had meditated against us in the West-Indies, notwithstanding someappearance of success, might, under Divine Providence, fail in the object of distressing the commercial interest of his people, which, it gave him satisfaction to observe, had hitherto continued to flourish amidst the calamities of war, while that of the enemy had received the most material injuries.
That he could not but behold with particular pleasure the zeal and ardour shewn by all his subjects on this emergency, which had fully secured the safety of this country, and convinced our enemies that every attempt against the internal prosperity of Great Britain must prove ineffectual.
That he continued to receive the most friendly assurances of the pacific dispositions of the other powers of Europe.
That his desire of re-establishing the general tranquility could not be doubted; and as he had not been the first to disturb the peace, so he should embrace the earliest opportunity of putting an end to the horrors of war, whenever that desirable end could be effected, consistently with the honour of his crown, and the interest of his subjects, which he should ever be careful to preserve.
That his faithful C[o]mm[o]ns might depend on the proper officers immediately laying before them the estimate for the expences of the ensuing year.
That he lamented that the present situation of affairs should oblige him to call upon his faithful subjects for any additional supplies, but
That his faithful C[o]mm[o]ns might depend on the strictest œconomy on his part, in the application of such sums as they should judge necessary for the public service, and he doubted not they would see the expediency of providing for such contingencies as might arise from the continuance of war, and the measures necessary to be taken for the re-establishment of peace upon an honourable and permanent foundation.
It concluded with relying on the wisdom and unanimity of Parliament; on the good conduct of his Generals and Admirals; on the valor of his Fleets and Armies; and on the zeal and spirit of all his faithful subjects.
Upon the return of the C[ommo]ns to their House, the speech having been read as usual from the chair, a motion for an Address, conformable to the several sentences in the speech, and expressive of the firmness and unanimity of the House at this important crisis, was made and seconded by two young Members; the particular phraseology of which leading speeches we shall not retail, it being universally admitted that the rhetoric applied to these occasions, is not very replete with originality. Our readers will easily imagine the proper quantity of tropes and metaphors, apologies for inexperience, elegant timidities, graceful blushes, studied hesitations, army safe at New-York, fleets likewise safe, individuals enriched, perfect content at home, nothing wanting but unanimity in council, &c. &c. &c. which ornamented and enriched these anniversary panegyrics. We shall hasten therefore to the more material part of the debate, which commenced by the following speech from Lord G[ranb]y[2], proposing the amendment.
Lord G[ran]by.
Lord G[ran]by.Conscious of my own inability, and sinking under the sense of my little knowledge or experience, totally unprovided with any ideas for the present occasion, and absolutely ignorant not only of the forms but even the modes of proceeding in this house, may I, Sir, in this state of imbecility, be permitted to take the lead on this first and most important day of the session? May I, Sir, all unequal to so arduous a task, be allowed to dictate, if not to the whole house, at least to this side of it, the proper and only constitutional method of compelling ministers to furnish us with the means of discovering some errors in their conduct; and to enable us to demonstrate to the nation at large their total incapacity for filling the places which they now hold?—There was a time, Sir, when this side of the house would not tamely acquiesce in so dangerous a precedent as any minister’s retaining his office for the unconstitutional duration of seven years. Have we forgot, Sir, the great name of Pulteny? Pulteny, Sir! the virtuous Pulteny! Pulteny, the wonder of the age! Pulteny, that steadyPatriot, whose Herculean eloquence overcame the Hydra of corruption! or have we forgot, Sir, that inestimable character of our own times, whose virtues compelled the admiration of this profligate age; whose memory excites the veneration of every patriot mind? Let it not be objected that these illustrious characters were dazzled by the splendour of a coronet: I will not answer such frivolous remarks:—Sir, I wander from the question: Yet let me remind this House, that those great patriots were ever foremost in taking that part which now falls to my lot. They, Sir, were ever ready to awaken the fears, and rouze the apprehensions, of the Country Gentlemen; and that, Sir, is my object:—They, Sir, compelled Adm[i]n[i]str[a]t[io]n to disclose the inmost recess of official iniquity; and that, Sir, that is also my intention. Sir, with this view, I shall humbly move you, that in place of the present Address, which I cannot but consider as the selfish panegyric of Adm[i]n[i]str[a]t[io]n, immediately after the general expressions of respect for his M[ajest]y, the following words may be substituted, in order to our acquiring that full and comprehensive knowledge of public affairs, which is so indispensably necessary at the opening of this interesting and important session of P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt.
“Your faithful C[o]mm[o]ns, deeply impressed with a sense of your M[ajest]y’s unwearied anxiety to promote the dignity and glory of Great Britain, cannot but lament the many unhappy circumstances which have conspired to disturb your M[ajest]y’s happiness, and to prejudice the interests and honour of this country. When we find that the most liberal supplies for our naval equipments have as yet produced none of those happy effects which might reasonably have been expected to be derived from so powerful an armament, particularly under the direction of an officer of experienced conduct and courage, we cannot but express our serious apprehensions of some fatal misconduct, either on the part of Administration, by forming indecisive and contradictory instructions for the direction of the Navy, or, in the particular department for naval affairs, of some misapplication of those liberal supplies, which, if wisely and faithfully applied, could not have failed, under divineprovidence, and your M[ajest]y’s wisdom, of obtaining the most salutary effects.
For these reasons, we, your M[ajest]y’s most faithful C[o]mm[o]ns, most humbly intreat your M[ajest]y to order the proper Officers to lay before the House, copies of the secret instructions for the conduct of the Fleet commanded by Admiral K[e]pp[e]l—estimates of the quantity of ballast used in the several ships of the division of the fleet commanded by Admiral K[e]pp[e]l—bills of parcel of the number of square yards of sail-cloth, together with samples of ditto, intended to be used in the division of the Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sir H[u]gh P[a]ll[i]s[e]r—succinct accounts of the quota of biscuits, and ratio of salt-beef distributed in the Fleet—faithful transcripts of the several Log-Books of each vessel—abstracts of all letters, notes, and messages that passed and repassed, off Ushant, between the Admirals and Ph[i]l[i]p St[e]v[e]ns, Esq. during the course of last summer—and, finally, minute copies of all accounts unsettled or passed, open or closed, paid or unpaid, between the Commissioners of the Navy, and all sorts of Manufacturers, Sailors, Contractors, &c. &c. &c. employed by them for these twenty years last past⸺It is from a minute investigation of these important papers, that your M[ajest]y’s most faithful C[o]mm[o]ns can alone derive just grounds for censure or exculpation. And, however laborious this investigation may prove, we, your M[ajest]y’s most faithful C[o]mm[o]ns, beg leave to assure your M[ajest]y, we shall most readily devote our utmost attention to so salutary a study, in order to promote a quick dispatch of public business at this momentous and aweful crisis, and to give vigour and effect to those measures which your M[ajest]y, in your great wisdom, may think necessary to secure the safety, interest, and honour of Great Britain.”
Such, Sir, is the amendment which I have the honour to offer to the consideration of this house. It will immediately strike you, Sir, that in the accounts which I propose to have submitted to the investigation of P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt, I have avoided asking for one scrap of paper that is not absolutely necessary to be seen and thoroughly studied by the House. Should it, however, appear necessaryto Gentlemen toaddto the list of these official documents, I am sure I shall not oppose such an improvement to the motion, to whatever quantity it may extend.
Mr. G[eor]g[e] S[u]tt[o]n.
Mr.G[eo]rg[e] S[u]tt[o]nseconded the motion for the amendment, beginning with a similar acknowledgement of his incapacity, his inexperience and ignorance of P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt[a]ry affairs; declining therefore to enter into any further argument, the subject having been discussed in so full and able a manner by his most noble cousin.
Mr. W[e]lb[o]re Ell[i]s.
Mr.W[e]lb[o]re Ell[i]s, in reply, threw out many sagacious and novel observations. He said that he highly commended the caution and circumspection of the noble Lord, but, that in his opinion, a more proper time would arrive, about six months after Christmas, for entering into the details proposed by the Amendment; as, at that period, Administration would certainly have more leisure for furnishing the papers now called for.
He very properly observed, that selecting these few curious articles of political intelligence from a variety of miscellaneous papers, would require some short time, together with no small degree of discernment, not to mention several thousands of extra clerks. He said, he had taken the trouble to make a most serious investigation into the Journals, the Votes, the Debates, and all the P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt[a]ry Records of this country; and he was free to say, that notwithstanding it might at first appear rather a novel idea, yet it was his opinion, thatThe Addresson the first day was a matter of compliment. Nay, touching the matter before him, (and weighty and powerful indeed it was) after the most mature and serious deliberation, daily and nightly, he would for once venture to hazard a rhetorical, a figurative expression, to wit, that the Address was an eccho, as it were, a complimentary eccho, of his M[ajest]y’s most gracious speech.—He hinted, that, if any Gentleman wished for particular enquiries, he would, as an old Member, long conversant with the forms of the House, tell him, that certainly a Committee might be appointed to carry on any public enquiry; and he believed such Committees were not unfrequent.—And here he remarked, that, from all his researches, it appeared to him, that the constitution of this country was of a triple nature—K[i]ng—L[o]rds—andC[o]mm[o]ns—that, these three opposite and repelling powers, reciprocally ballanced and counteracted each other; at the same time that they contributed to the proportion and harmony of the whole.—He took occasion to observe, that freedom of Debate was clearly a P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt[a]ry privilege, and he would pledge himself to prove that every Member in that House was a representative of his constituents.
For these reasons, he concluded with dissenting from the Amendment as trite, abstruse, dangerous, and frivolous.
D[a]v[i]d H[a]rtly, Esq.
D[a]v[i]d H[a]rtly, Esq.[3]observed, that these were no times for flattery and empty adulation.—For his part, he should enter at large into the rise and origin of all Colonies, ancient and modern, into the history of Taxation, and its effects on every state that had exercised it over its colonies; and then review the cause, commencement, and conduct of the whole American war. He felt how arduous, how complicated a task this must prove to himself, and how difficult for the House to understand. That, to lessen that difficulty, both to the House and to himself, he would adopt the most logical method to give clearness and perspicuity to such a multitude and diversity of ideas; and for that purpose, he begged Gentlemen to take notice, that he should divide his speech into four and twenty grand divisions, each of which should contain as many subdivisions, which subdivisions should also be separately discussed in equal number of sections, each section to be split also into the same number of heads; so that with grand divisions, subdivisions, sections, and heads, the number of distinct propositions would amount to several thousands; but that Gentlemen, by attending closely, and correctly taking down the number of any particular argument, should have an immediate explicit answer to any query touching that individual number: and he flattered himself this numerical logic and arithmetic of eloquence would greatly tend to clarify their understandings.
To follow this gentleman thro’ even one of his grand divisions, was a task much beyond the utmost rapidity of a short-hand writer. Indeed the noise from all parts of the house was so excessive, during the several hours which he engrossed in this laborious harangue, that it was totally impossible to catch up any thing beyond the mutilated fragments, and ruins of his oratory. At length however the house sunk into a sudden calm, upon the disclosure of a fact, which seemed to startle even the wildest zealots of faction.—For, after every other argument was exhausted to so little purpose, inflamed by disappointment, and hurried, as we are willing to suppose, by the violence of patriotism, the Honourable Gentleman avowed to the House, that one of his grounds for denouncing ruin to his country washis private knowledge ofDr. Franklyn’ssentiments on that head.[4]“Dr. Franklyn (he exclaimed) the Cromwell of his age, Dr. Franklyn, Ambassador Plenipotentiary from America to France, is my most intimate and most cordial friend!”⸺He went on by declaring, he had passed great part of the summer at Paris, with Dr. Franklyn, in the most unreserved communication of sentiments and facts; and he concluded with repeating, as the joint result of his own and Dr. Franklin’s deliberation, that the glory of England was destroyed for ever!⸺This extraordinary confession produced however no violent effect. Ministers seemed to receive it with a contemptuous pity, not unmingled with ridicule,[5]whenMr. W[ilke]s, finding the little success of serious treason, rose, and indulged himself in the more ludicrous stile of it.
Mr. W[ilke]s.
Mr. W[ilke]s[6]adverted with some degree of humour to the inference of victory and triumph which might be deduced from the return of our Generals and our Admirals, and one of our commissioners too. They found (he said) that being on the spot interrupted their manœuvres, and he supposed they were come three thousand miles off to actcooly. That, the object they were sent to accomplish was confessedly a great one; and it is well known, that objects of a certain magnitude are best contemplated at a distance. Probably, their optics were too tender to distinguish with accuracy amidst the smoak and confusion incident to actual engagements; or perhaps, they reflected on the more imminent dangers of domestic invasion, and hastened home from pure patriotism to guard their native country.—At any rate, he must compliment their discernment in pursuing a line of conduct, which could not fail of conciliating the good opinion and sympathetic regard of the Noble Lord, who presided in the American department. If therefore, Mr. Speaker, by any miraculous change, I were, this day, to become the Advocate of Administration, I should mark the inutility of recurring to the written evidence, which the Amendment calls for, at a moment when we are so copiously provided withvivâ vocetestimony. Yet, Sir, I do not think, upon reflexion, that Ministers will adopt this ground for rejecting the noble Lord’s Amendment. They, Sir, will more boldly tell you—you shall have neither,—for, in these times, it is the fashion for all modern Statesmen, first to tell their own story, and then protest solemnly against being cross-examined—or directly, or indirectly, answering question, query, or otherwise. I believe I am accurate in my quotation.—I am not indeed surprized at these declarations of obstinate silence—this is Scottish policy—the example was set by my good old friend, the E[a]rl of B[u]te—for therein I am orthodox in my faith, that the Son is equal to the Father; and I am sure I may add with Athanasian zeal, the father is incomprehensible, and the Son is incomprehensible, yet there are not two incomprehensibles, but one incomprehensible.
(Here a confused cry of order, and the Chaplain reprimanded for laughing.)
There is indeed one North Briton of whom I entertain a better hope.—He seems to have caught that itch for liberty, which, to our great wonder, broke out in the Highlands last summer. He, Sir, even in the character of his M[ajest]y’s Commissi[o]ner, solicited the intimacy ofGeneral Washington. But indeed, Sir, if ever a Scotchman can be suspected of loving liberty, it is not when he has recently become a convert to Administration:Washingtontherefore sent his Excellency, the worthy Commissioner, a flat refusal.—Mr.Laurenstoo refused his Excellency the hearing he so generously solicited by imploring Congress, “not to follow the example of Br[i]t[ai]n in the hour of her insolence;” thehearingwas however refused, nay even the “sight of the country,” and “the sight of its worthy patriots” was peremptorily refused. The Americans, Sir, think that a Scotchman has neither eyes nor ears for liberty, or, at least, they distrusted the capacity of his Excellency’s organs for such an object.—I have a letter, Sir, in my pocket from my honest friend Ethan Allen; I would read it, but I am sure you won’t let me: He knows I am fond of scripture quotations, and tells me Congress would have given your Scotch commissioner thishearing, but they knew “he was like unto the deaf adder, who regardeth not the voice of the charmer.”
Let me then trouble his Excellency with one question; who was it suggested this secret correspondence with the enemy? was it not the Scottish secretary of this wise commission, Dr. Adam Ferguson? It must have been one of Sir John Dalrymple’s associates in literature. The Scotch, if they can get no Englishman to act, as they pretend to say the great Sidney did, will make even their own countrymen treacherous in one age, to furnish some literary assassin of the next with the foul vouchers of treachery and baseness. At all events, Sir, I shall heartily give my vote for the amendment, as the only means to convict the M[i]n[i]stry of what I know they are guilty, weakness, incapacity, ignorance, obstinacy, baseness, and treachery.
Governor J[o]hns[o]n.
Governor J[o]hns[o]n[7]now rose, and said every thing that a Gentleman in his melancholly situation could be supposed to urge.Spoke much of the want of candour in putting a false construction on his actions, which he could assure the House, upon his honour, were all dictated by the best intentions; that he should not undertake to enter into a full defence of his conduct at present, as it was a very delicate business, and turned upon a very nice chain of circumstances. One part of the charges against him he would slightly touch upon, his letters, and what he supposed was meant to be hinted at, his attempts of bribery. That the artful policy of France had made it necessary for him to parry her attacks by similar weapons; that he believed it was felt and would be admitted by all parts of that House, that there is no greater spring of public actions, in all political assemblies, thanself-interest. That he felt himself justified in his own mind for every step he had taken, for he would venture to affirm, that in every negociation true wisdom and sound policy justified the moral fitness of secret articles, and the honourable expediency of powerful temptations. As to the failure of success, on the part of the commissioners, various causes had concurred to occasion it. They were sent to treat of peace with a retreating army. Philadelphia, the chief residence of the moderate men, and most friendly to their negociation, was evacuated by the army, on the Commissioners arrival. A little after they had got to New-York, Mons. D’Estaign was upon the coast. These circumstances gave spirits to a declining cause; and America,in this hour of her insolence, refused to treat, unless her independence was specifically acknowledged.
What followed afterwards is a very serious business, indeed; but I trust I shall be pardoned by a noble Lord opposite to me, high in character, and in the esteem of his country, if I freely say, as my opinion, that Monsieur D’Estaign’s fleet ought to have been attacked by the Br[i]t[i]sh at Rhode-Island, as soon as the French came out of the harbour to fight them. And I will further say, considering the spirit, the gallantry, and the heroism of the British Seamen, the inequality of the force of the fleets was not sufficient to justify the not attacking the French fleet, without waiting a length of time to gain the weather guage, and trusting so long as the Engl[i]sh fleet did there to an unruly element. Sir, in the actions in the West-Indies, between the English and French fleets, last war, where the former were greatly inferior both in number andweight of metal, the French were beat off and obliged to fly for it. So, in the case of the Monmouth, the Dorsetshire, and several other instances, inferiority in the outset of the contest proved victorious in the end. I will not, however, dwell upon matters which merely depend upon opinion, and upon which the best officer in the world may be mistaken. But, Sir, after the tempest at Rhode-Island, when the Noble Lord returned to New-York to refit, was not time lost? the very time that might have been employed in separating D’Estaign from Boston harbour? I might say, Sir, in the defeat of D’Estaign; for, after the arrival of some of B[y]r[o]n’s squadron, the Noble Lord was superior to him.⸺It is a very unpleasant task to speak out, but I cannot avoid giving my opinion as a seaman, and as one upon the spot, acquainted with the delays in this business.
Upon the whole, Sir, my opinion, in a very few words is this: The violent and impolitic measures of the M[i]n[i]stry of this country first lost America⸺the Br[i]t[i]sh army might have regained it⸺and our fleet has lost more than one opportunity of crushing that of France, upon which American resistance chiefly depended for protection and support.
Lord H[o]we.
Lord H[o]weandMr. R[i]gbynow rose; but the house appearing inclined to give the former an immediate opportunity to reply, Mr. R[i]gby sat down, and Lord H[o]we, in very modest yet pointed terms, remarked on the unfairness which, he must say, the Honourable Gentleman who spoke last, had discovered both in the design and manner of his speech. That, first, to avoid entering into the motives and principles of his own conduct, as being more proper objects for a particular committee of enquiry, and then to launch out into vague and desultory accusations of any other person, was inconsistent, and, he was sorry to add, illiberal. That whatever prejudices those reflections were intended to create against his conduct, he would not then interrupt the business of the day, and the more general subjects of the present debate, but trust to the candour of the house for suspending their opinion, until the whole of his conduct might be minutely investigated by a committee appointed for that purpose; which committee, he himself should be the first man in that house to solicit, nay demand.
Mr. R[i]gby.
Mr. R[i]gby.⸺I should not, Sir, have troubled the house on this first day, but that I felt it the indispensable duty of private friendship, to express my feelings on the happy return of our worthy Commissioner, who has given you, Sir, so full and satisfactory an account both of his principles and conduct.⸺I shall not trouble you long, Sir; I rise only for that purpose.⸺I am sure there is no Gentleman in this house, who more heartily congratulates the worthy Commissioner on his unembarrassed countenance and his good looks. He certainly has passed the summer very profitably—the voyage seems to have improved his stock of spirits—I think, I never saw him appear to more advantage—I own, however, I sincerely regret the unpoliteness of his American friends. After such condescending invitations of himself, it was not very civil of those Gentlemen to send excuses—If he had been admitted to their society, I have no manner of doubt of the wonderful effects his eloquence would have wrought. Even if they had allowed him a sight of the country, a man of his taste would have brought us home some curious American memoirs: but, alas! he was not only disappointed in that wish, but in one of a still gentler kind. I mean, Sir, aFlirtation Treaty, which heattempted, to negotiate with a celebrated female politician, theMessalina of Congress. I say attempted, Sir; for unfortunately even there too his Excellency met with as cold a reception. Unfortunately! for, had the Lady indulged him with ahearing, or even asight, what surer line to lay the foundation of a more lasting connection? But, in short, Sir, whether from fate or insufficiency, the affair dropt, and theFlirtation Treatyfell to the ground⸺ ⸺Sir, I trouble the house very seldom, and with as few words as possible⸺my opinion continues to be what it invariably has been, with respect to America—this country may be deprived of its interests, its dignity, and its honour; but, as I never can give my assent to a voluntary surrender of them, I most heartily agree in the support which the address proposes to afford to his M[ajest]y.
Mr. T. T[o]wns[e]nd.
Mr.T. T[o]wns[e]ndrose, and with great vehemence arraigned the levity of the Right Honourable Gentleman who spoke before him; he thought it highly indecent, at this important crisis, when the very existence of this country is at stake, that any Gentlemanshould endeavour to raise a laugh, and turn the momentous deliberations of that day into ridicule. Under such circumstances, in his opinion, jocularity was flagitious, and wit became blasphemy. He had, himself, sat in three P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nts, and he appealed to the candour of that house, whether in that length of time he had once raised a laugh, or on any occasion intentionally distorted the muscles of any Honourable Member? “No Sir, the true design of our meeting here, is for far other purposes than those of calling forth the risibility of Honourable Gentlemen: a risibility at any time highly improper for this house, but particularly so at this tremendous, this disgraceful moment.—It is with the highest astonishment that I now see Gentlemen shifting their places, as if already tired of public business, or afraid to look into the deplorable and calamitous situation of this country: nay, so great is their inattention to their duty in P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt, that, upon my rising, I find the house almost cleared—where are the Members?—I am afraid—at dinner! Is this a time for revelling in taverns, when the dignity of the Imperial Crown of this country is violated, and much harm done to our merchants?—Is this a time for revelling, when the glory of Britannia, Sir, I say, is sullied, and when, Sir, the French are riding on your narrow seas.”⸺He then entered into a copious detail of the blunders of Administration, with respect to Falkland’s Islands, the Middlesex Election, Corsica, and the massacre in St. George’s Fields, Gibraltar, and Mr. Horne’s imprisonment; together with cursory observations on the illegality of impressing, the bad policy of Lotteries, the fatal example of the Justitia, and the tremendous perils to this devoted country from the frequent exhibition of the Beggar’s Opera.⸺At length, returning a little closer to the question, he again animadverted on the surprising inattention of the House: “Yet Sir, (he exclaimed) before I sit down let me ask Ministers a few questions—I do not expect any answer from them, yet I will ask them⸺Is Dominica the only one of our West India Islands now in the possession of France? Are we to go on for ever with the American war?—Who are our allies?—Is Omiah to pay us another visit?—Where is Sir Harry Cl[i]nt[o]n?⸺How is the Czarina affected?—What will D’Estaign do after Christmas?⸺Where will the Brest fleet benext summer?⸺If Ministers will not, and I know they dare not, answer these questions, then Sir, how, in God’s name, can they refuse the papers called for by the noble Lord’s Amendment? From those papers, I pledge myself to the house, the whole of these nefarious proceedings will be brought to light—discouraged, as I well might be, from again pledging my person, (having been the constant and unredeemed pledge of this House, for one thing or another, for these one and twenty years last past,) I repeat it, Sir, I will pledge the reversion of myself, that these papers will furnish us with all necessary and constitutional information.—And, for these reasons, Sir, the Amendment meets with my most hearty concurrence.”
Mr. V[y]n[e]r.
Mr.V[y]n[e]rprofessed himself to be one of the independant Country Gentlemen, and took occasion to inform the house, that five Indiamen arrived in the River Thames about six weeks ago.—He said he embraced this earliest opportunity to repeat his offer of fifteen shillings in the pound, if Ministers would but seriously go on with the war, which, for his part, he now considered in a new point of view—for, as a great statesman had once boasted to have conquered, in his time, America in Germany, so he would hope and believe, that we, in our days, might conquer France in America.—And here, from regretting the loss of that great statesman, he fell into a train of melancholy thoughts, which led him insensibly to a pathetic eulogy on the memory of his dear departed friend, the well-known Mr.Van.—“A long course of congenial studies (he exclaimed, with torrents of tears and frequent sobs) had entwined our hearts in political sympathy—we had but one idea between us!—Yes, Sir, I repeat it, but one—Well therefore may I say with the Poet,
In infancy our hopes and fearsWere to each other known,And friendship in our riper years,Had twined our hearts in one.”
In infancy our hopes and fearsWere to each other known,And friendship in our riper years,Had twined our hearts in one.”
In infancy our hopes and fearsWere to each other known,And friendship in our riper years,Had twined our hearts in one.”
In infancy our hopes and fears
Were to each other known,
And friendship in our riper years,
Had twined our hearts in one.”
Here he broke off, oppressed with a flood of tears, while a confused noise ofencoreandorderresounded from several parts of thehouse. At length, when the uproar began to subside, and Gentlemen became collected enough to proceed on business,
Hon. T. L[u]ttr[e]l.
Hon. T. L[uttre]lrose, and with great solemnity, addressed himself to the chair in the following words:⸺Notwithstanding the general silence, which, I find, it is the fashion for Ministers of this day not only to hold themselves, but likewise to encourage in others, on the important subject of maritime affairs, I cannot, Sir, acquiesce in so culpable a silence, nor content myself with sitting still, until the close of the debate, to be numbered with the tacit votes in its disfavour. Sir, the Navy, I have ever considered not only as the true and constitutional safe-guard of this insular territory, but as the very spirit and soul of all traffic, the quintessence of merchandize, and indeed, I may say, the palladium of commerce. With this view, Sir, my studies have ever tended to the investigation of the origin of that stupendous piece of mechanism, a ship.⸺Noah, Sir, was, in my opinion, the first circumnavigator—(I beg to be understood, I mean no reflection on the memory of Sir Francis Drake)—he was therefore, Sir, justly entitled to the highest situation in the naval department of that early period—take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again—though, in truth, there are traits in his character not totally dissimilar to some leading features of the noble Earl who is now at the head of that department—But it is not for me to draw the parallel.
Sir, The Phœnicians
It was a custom also among the Chaldeans and the Nazareens
Recollect, Sir, when news was brought to the Persians
So the Macedonians
In like manner the Lacedemonians, and the Athenians
Thus too the Carthagenians
Here let me call your attention to the Romans and Syracusians
Need I remind you of the northern hive, or trouble you with the Goths and Vandals?
So too, Sir, the Chinese
At length, Mr. Sp[ea]k[e]r, the Danes, Dutch, Swedes, Venetians, Neapolitans, Spaniards, French, Portuguese, Muscovites, Turks, Saracens, and others, that I skip over to avoid tediousness
And to bring it home to our feelings, the ancient Britons, hardy Welch, Milesians, wild Irish, Saxons, Picts, Normans, English, andRegattaitesrush upon our mind, and
From this historical deduction, I cannot but think, Sir, navigation highly necessary, highly favourable to liberty.
If, Sir, I wanted any additional reason for opposing the address, it would best arise from the shameful neglect and inattention to those brave and humane French officers, (particularly the Captain of the Licorne,) lately on their parole at Alresford, half of whom, indeed, ministry have cruelly suffered to run away. Besides, Sir, let us advert to the wretched deficiency in our late naval equipments.⸺I have it, Sir, from undoubted authority, that the several ships crews laboured under a total deprivation of Tobacco. Tobacco! that staple commodity of our once flourishing subjects, now, alas, our avowed enemies, in Virginia, and the Southerncolonies.—Sir, not only the quota of Gin was miserably retrenched, but adultery, so congenial to theNoahof this day, pervaded every keg in the Royal Navy.—Sir, I myself know it for a fact, that the speaking trumpet of the Albion was sent out in so wretched a condition, that, in haling a fishing-boat, (I believe a cod-smack) off Scilly, the second mate cracked his pipe, and half the crew have been hoarse ever since—some of your ships, Sir, wanted their complement of Chaplains:—and in others, I will not say that I know there were not surgeons, but I will say, I donotknow that there were. Sir, more fatal consequences have arisen from a strange neglect of vegetables—Potatoes, radically rotten!—Carrots, diabolically dry!—Turnips, totally tough!—Parsnips, pitifully putrid!⸺Scurvy, Sir, Scurvy, like the angry Dæmon of Pestilence, has lighted up everlasting bon-fires in the blotched brows and cicatracious cheeks of your scarified seamen; so that every crew has flashed contagion, and reeked like a floating Pest-house, with the baneful exhalations of disease.—And now, Sir, that I’m on my legs, a word or two to trowzers—Such is the pitiful œconomy of Administration, such the paltry treachery of Contractors, that, what from an original coarseness of yarn, what, from the more pernicious and slovenly texture of the workmanship, not a trowzer but gaped with lacerations, whose expanded apertures discovered what⸺the P[a]rl[ia]m[e]nt[a]ry decorum of this house, forbids me to reveal. Spurred on by such powerful incentives, I take this earliest occasion to give notice to the house, that I shall move, on this day fortnight, for the house to resolve itself into a Committee, in order to take into consideration the several weighty grievances, the outline of which I have just now had the honour to give you a rude sketch.—When, I shall also move you, Sir, that the several Maltsters, Distillers of Gin, Venders of Tobacco, Traders in Trowzers, Retailers of Rum, Picklers of Pork, and Purveyors of Potatoes, together with their several servants, followers, apprentices and retainers, be ordered to attend this housede die in diem, to answer all such questions and matters touching the said enquiry, as shall be put to them by the Committee so to be appointed.—In the mean time, Sir, I shall give my hearty concurrence to the noble Lord’sAmendment, as promising to afford some degree of preliminary information, which may tend to illustrate the more important matter in the Enquiry which I have now proposed to set on foot.
Mr. P[e]nt[o]n.
Mr.P[e]nt[o]n, in reply, begged pardon for troubling the house, but hoped they would indulge him in a few words, as he felt himself particularly called on to answer some reflections which the Honourable Gentleman, who had spoke last, had thought proper to throw out against that board where he had the honour to sit.—He said, that, at the time of the fitting out of Mr. K[e]pp[e]l’s fleet, he had made it his business to be very much at Portsmouth, where, though it was a task exceedingly repugnant to his private feelings and taste, he had, however, considered it as an official service incumbent on one in his department, to personally experiment the several provisions and stores prepared for that equipment. That, impelled by such motives, he had, on several occasions, drank the small beer, not unfrequently tasted the gin, and sometimes smoak’d, nay chewed the tobacco; that, in his humble opinion, they were all super-excellent in their several kinds. And, as to the imputed delinquency relative to potatoes, he could assure the house, he had bought up several tuns of the same species, for the consumption of his own family—nay, he would go further, he would venture to acquaint that house, that with some of those very identical potatoes, he had lately had the happiness and honour to regale a certain Great Personage, then his guest; a personage indeed of too high a rank to have his name even alluded to, though on so weighty, and so important a business.
Mr. B[urke].
Mr. B[u]rke⸺I must confess, Sir, notwithstanding my long and melancholy experience of the present administration, I cannot hear, without astonishment, the language held forth by the speech, and echoed in this day’s debate. This session, Sir, at a period big with horror, pregnant with ruin to this country, is ushered in with the song of triumph; and parliament are bid to rejoice at a time when nothing but the language of despair is to be heard throughout the nation. Surely, Sir, the hour is at last arrived, when humility and moderation ought to take place of pride and confidence; when, instead of launching further into a sea of troubles, we might be content to try what little can be saved from thewreck of national honour and prosperity. Ministers might at length condescend to tell us, what means are left to avert the gathering ruin; how we are to tread back the mazes of error and folly, through which we have been led; and where are the resources from which one gleam of hope might dawn upon us, in the hour of danger and despair—But, deaf to the solemn call of occasion and necessity, they rejoice in the absence of thought, in the contempt of foresight. Like the wretch who seeks in stupefaction a momentary relief from sorrow, they sink from a voluntary intoxication into a torpid insensibility. The illusion, indeed, is not to be confined within the narrow limits of their own minds; its baneful influence must be circulated through every corner of the nation; and, by a shameful perversion, that anxiety for the public welfare, which, in times like these, is, in my opinion, the highest of public virtues, must be amused with the pageantry of domestic warfare, or lulled by the opiate of our American Gazettes. I own, Sir, even on principles of criticism, I cannot but consider the stile of these Ministerial annals, as no very favourable criterion of the present times. In happier days, their characteristic was plain conciseness. Victories were then too rapid, too numerous, to admit of a dilated relation.—Success is seldom tedious, but I am afraid our highest atchievements have amounted to no more than the inroads of savages, or the depredations of pyrates. Upon my word, Sir, though we may censure our Officers, our Ministers at least shew some generalship; if they cannot deceive the enemy, they are prompt enough to mislead their countrymen; though they discover but little skill in the arrangement of armies, they have an admirable talent in marshalling Gazettes. They have given celebrity to sheep-stealing, and blazoned, in all the pompous prolixity of ostentatious phraseology, the important depredations at—Martha’sIsland—Certainly, Sir, the gallant Commander of that expedition may vie in pastoral atchievements with Ajax, with Jason, or at least Don Quixote; and, if he does not obtain a triumph, he is clearly entitled to anovation. Not, Sir, that I mean to cast any reflection on those Officers and Soldiers to whose lot these ridiculous services have fallen—they, no doubt, have effected every thing that the bravery of the British troops in such a situation could accomplish; but the Hand ofNature, Sir, has thrown in their way obstacles which it was not in the most obstinate valour, in the most consummate wisdom to surmount. It is a want of confidence in the directors of this war that has chilled every vein, and slackened every sinew of military enterprize. Besides, Sir, if I may be permitted to indulge a little superstition, there is a certain fatality attending the measures of Administration: through all their bungling operations of war, through all their wretched plans of peace, the evil Genius, Sir, of this country, seems to haunt their footsteps. He it is that has suffered them to wander on, undismayed by danger, unabashed by reproaches, from one absurdity to another, ’till our blunders and our follies have at length reared that stupendous fabric of American Empire that now engrosses the attention, and claims the wonder of mankind. Allow me, Sir, to pause for a moment, while I contemplate this phœnomenon of modern ages, this new constellation in the western hemisphere; a mighty and extensive empire, not rising by slow degrees and from small beginnings, but bursting forth at once into full vigour and maturity; not cherished in the soft lap of peace and commerce, but shaking off in its outset the long established dominion of a powerful master, and thriving in the midst of carnage and desolation. “Ab ipso ducit opes animumq. bello.” If we view them in another light, as completely enthroned in sovereignty, as receiving embassies from distant potentates, as forming leagues with the princes and states of Europe, we shall find more abundant matter for self-humiliation—I could wish to shut my eyes on the scene that follows: The parent baffled and depressed, imploring pardon of her injured and alienated children, yielding to their successful resistance, what she had denied to their prayers and petitions, and offering every concession short of a total emancipation; but scorned and rejected in her turn, not (as she had rejected them) with rudeness and insolence, but with firmness and with dignity; and convinced, at length, that the day of conciliation is past, and that the groundwork of peace can only be laid on the broad basis of equality and independance.
Is this the unconditional submission the noble Lord in the American department so prodigally announced? This is indeed unconditionalsubmission, but unconditional submission from Great Britain to America.
Gentlemen may remember how often my voice has preached peace within these walls; how often it has warned administration to healing measures, while the wounds of America might yet have been closed. I will still repeat it, ’till the echo of this house shall be conscious of no other sound; Peace, Peace, Peace, is still my object.
It is now high time, Sir, that Gentlemen should awaken to a sense of our danger, that Parliament should discard those wretched schemes of short-sighted policy, which cannot, in our present situation, afford even a temporary refuge. As yet, we experience only the beginnings of our sorrows; but the storms of adversity are gathering fast around us, and the vessel is still trusted to the direction of Pilots, whose ignorance and obstinacy has been manifest to all the world.⸺What thanks, Sir, to the vigilance of our Rulers, that we are not already sunk beyond the possibility of redemption? What thanks to them, that the flower of our army and navy, and with them all the hopes of Britain had not withered before the power of a lately dejected but now triumphant enemy? Is it owing to their care that the rich produce of the Western Isles has not flowed into every harbour of France?
No, Sir, it is the hand of Providence that wards off for a while the ruin of this declining empire. It is Providence alone that has preserved our gallant Admirals in America, by an almost miraculous interposition.—It is due to Providence alone, that the heart-strings of our commerce are not cut asunder by the sword of our adversaries.
I own, Sir, I cannot join in an implicit approbation of such ministers: I must be a little better acquainted with their merits before I can place an unlimited confidence in their wisdom and discretion; that discretion which has led us into a labyrinth of difficulties; that wisdom that cannot find a clue for our deliverance.