whether it was not more confiftent, both with honour and with policy, to act with prudent forefight, and avert an impending evil by precaution, than to delay the remedy till the mifchief was actually felt. In conclufion, Mr. Chancellor Pitt moved,

"That an humble addrefs be prefented to His Majefty, "to return His Majefty the thanks of this House, for his "moft gracious meffage.

"To exprefs our regret that the endeavours which His "Majefty has used, in conjunction with his allies, to effect "a pacification between Ruffia and the Porte, have hitherto "been unsuccessful.

"That nothing can more evince His Majefty's conftant "attention to the welfare of his fubjects, and his concern "for the general tranquillity, than his anxiety to contribute "to the speedy termination of a war, from the farther pro# grefs of which His Majefty apprehends that confequences may arife highly important to the interests of His Majefty "and his allies, and to thofe of Europe in general.

"That as, under thefe circumftances, His Majefty judges "it requifite, in order to add weight to his reprefentations, "to make some farther additions to his naval force, his faith"ful Commons think it their duty to affure His Majesty, "that they fhall be ready to make good the expences which may be incurred by thefe preparations, for the purpose of: "fupporting the interefts of thefe kingdoms, and of contributing to the great and important object of restoring the tranquillity of Europe on a fecure and lafting foun"dation."

66

Mr. Dundas feconded the motion.

Lord Wycombe obferved, that on the first hearing of this Lord, report, he had met it with a pofitive difbelief. He could Wycombe not think that Minifters would rafhly adopt a measure which came recommended neither in a commercial nor a political point of view. As a commercial meafure, he would afk of any mercantile man in that Houfe, whether benefits could be hoped for in any degree equivalent to the mifchief attending on hoftilities. In a political point of view, he could not think that a difpute concerning the frontiers of Turkey, was a fufficient motive to engage this country in a war. At all events, he should refift the measure, until the House was poffeffed of a more adequate fhare of information on a fubject of fo much importance.

Mr. Coke (Member for Norfolk) expreffed himself not Mr. Coke difpofed to enter into the views of the Minifter in this infance, as he by no means entertained that confidence in his abilities or his integrity which feemed to actuate other gentlemen. The great and loyal county which he reprefented,

were

were alfo, as far as he could collect, decidedly averse to the meafure. He therefore arofe for the purpose of moving an amendment to the Address.

The amendment propofed that, leaving out the pledges and affurances contained in the original motion, "the House "fhould affure His Majefty of their concern for the hostili"ties which ftill prevail in the remote parts of Europe; that "they did not understand that the poffeffions of this king"dom, or its allies, were in any wife threatened; and that "they fhould not do their duty to their constituents, if "they were to load them with additional burdens, for the "maintenance of interefts which were neither explained nor "understood by that House."

Mr. Mr. Lambton, rifing for the purpose of feconding the Lambton. amendment, remarked, that when the Houfe was called upon

to vote an armament, in the courfe of the preceding year, they voted it unanimoufly, because they were told that the honour of the nation had been infulted. The honour of a nation was the ftrongeft poffible ground for demanding fatisfaction by force of arms. It was that without which no nation could exift in fafety, nor long in independence. It was the vital principle, on the true tone of which, like the heart, the health of all the other parts of the body politic depended, and with the fufpenfion of which, all their functions were fufpended. Whenever it received an injury, a ftrong and efficacious remedy must be applied; but if this remedy was applied to trivial occafions, if the whole frame was be thaken on every trifling complaint, the remedy must become converted into the difeafe. Upon the present occafion, he might fairly atk, in what refpect was the national honour infulted now? Where was our commerce attacked? Where had the protection of our flag been violated? Why then were we to be exposed to the hazard of a war, with all its concomitants of interrupted trade, and aggravated taxes? It was impoffible to deny that the armament which the House was called on to fupport, and the purposes for which it was undertaken, did not look like war, and might probably lead to it. Were he to give his opinion of the real caufe of this meafure, he fhould fay it was undertaken to fecond the views of Pruffia. What friends had we in the Baltic to protect? what advantages had we to gain? and where were our fhips to look for fhelter, in cafe of a difafter from the force of the enemy, or, what was more to be dreaded, the violence of the elements? He might be told we fhould poffefs ourselves of Dantzick; but that was an advantage as yet only in profpect. There was nothing in the war in which we were going to engage to benefit the country, or to animate the feaman. There was no recompenfe held out for his teils, no prize to reward his

hard

hard hips. The Calmucs and Coffacs were not enemies. worth his conqueft. We had little to expect but bearskins, and as we had expended four millions to obtain catskins from the north-west of America, we might now add blood to treafure to gain bearskins in the north-east of Europe. How would the hufbandman and the manufacturer fubmit to the unavoidable increafe of taxes for fuch objects? When the latter, working out a hard-earned living by the lgh of his farthing candle, was called upon for his increase of taxes, what answer would the collector be able to give him, were he to afk for what advantage to trade he was thus additionally burdened? Of this all was kept in the dark, when nothing but a clear statement could justify what they were called upon to support.

Mr.

Mr. Martin declared, that fince the information, which alone could enable the Houfe to judge of its propriety, was Martin. refused, he did not think it becoming to vote for the addrefs. He had often heard that Minifters were entitled to confidence, because they were refponfible for their conduct; but during fourteen years that he had fat in that Houfe, he had never known that refponfibility produce any good. Could it be proved that the fupplies for which they were called on to pledge the Houfe, were for the purpofe of reftoring peace o Europe, and that the end was likely to be effected, he fhould chearfully vote for the Addrefs, but not otherwife.

Mr. Vyner expreffed his furprife, that as neither our colo- Mr.Vyner nie, appeared to have been attacked, nor our cominerce to have received any detriment, the Houfe fhould be called upon to vote an armament. He would chearfully vote an addrefs of thanks to His Majefty for his gracious meffage, which, he thought, implied, that His Majefty, diftrufting the wisdom of his Minifters, had applied to the Houfe for advice, which the House was competent to give, and which they were bound in duty not to withhold.

Mr. Steele obferved, that were the Anances of the country Mr. Steele even beyond their really flourishing condition, or as low as fome perfons endeavoured to reprefent them, he should think it equally incumbent on the Houfe to avoid unneceffary expence. They were now to confider whether the expence propofed was a useless expence, and whether it was neceflary for Great Britain fo to interfere in the prefent war on the Continent, as to prevent the Emprefs of Ruffia from obtaining any confiderable augmentation of power, at the coft of the Turkish Empire. This he conceived to be a question that admitted of no doubt, from the predicament in which we ftood, with refpect to our allies, and our experience of the difpofition of the Emprefs towards us. We could not forget, that when we were engaged in an unequal conteft, fhe

had

had projected and put herself at the head of an armed neutrality peculiarly hoftile to our interefts. This he did not state vindictively, but as a circumftance to fhew what we might expect from her were her power to be increafed in proportion to her inclination to act against us. Gentlemen had no right to infinuate that the motives affigned for the additional armament, were not the real motives, till they had the means, as they had the power, of coming to proof. With regard to the meffage being an application by His Majefty to the advice of the House, in diftruft of the wifdom of his Ministers, it was rather extraordinary, that when the King's fpeech was always confidered and always debated as the fpeech of the Minifter, the King's meffage fhould not fall under the fame conftruction. That meffage had not been fent, nor the measure to which it related brought forward, till every other means of accomplishing the object, which, he contended, it was as much for the intereft as for the honour of the nation to accomplish, had been tried; but there were gentlemen whofe conftant practice it was to oppofe all the measures of Government; and it was naturally to be expected that they would oppofe the prefent.

Mr. The honourable Mr. Cocks declared, that he meant not to Cocks. oppose a rational confidence in Minifters, but that blindfold and ignorant confidence which the House was now defired to confer. He wished to judge favourably of Minifters, and he thought that they had acted well, till the prefent occafion; but he could not think that they had any claim to the extent of confidence which they at prefent demanded. After the chearful fupport which they had received in their armament against Spain, to call fo fuddenly for the fupport of the Houfe to another armament, without affigning any intelli-gible reafon for it, or giving the Houfe any information repecting the neceffity of it, was neither more nor less than to say they would call for the laft farthing of the public money, and for no other reason but because they chose it. This was not to merit confidence, but to invite indignation. They demanded money to fupport Turkey. They might as well make the Government the Government of Turkey. A procedure of this kind was not merely running beyond the bounds of juftice, but it was adding infult to injury.

Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox declared, that no perfon had perhaps ever fhewn a more complete forgetfulnefs, or difregard of facts, than the honourable gentleman who spoke laft but one, in his illiberal charge against him, and the friends with whom he had the honour to act. Had the honourable gentleman intimated merely in general terms that they oppofed all the measures. of Governinent, it would have been a grofs afperfion; but the Houfe would recollect, and the honourable gentleman 3

could

could not well have forgotten, that this was the third armament within a few years, and he could appeal to every gentleman who heard him, whether he had oppofed either of the former two, nay, whether he had not given them his cordial fupport. We had armed in 1787, to prevent Holland from falling, by means of a party, into the hands of France. The event had been decided before the Parliament met; but when Parliament did meet, had he cenfured the measure or the object of it? Had he not frequently gone rather out of his way, to express his approbation of both? We had armed again, in the courfe of the preceding year, to obtain fatisfaction for an injury done to British fubjects, and for an infult offered to the British flag. Would the honourable gentleman say, that he, or his friends, had not cordially concurred in the printiple on which that armament was undertaken, although they had defired to know whether proper fteps had been taken to prevent the neceffity of it, and expreffed their diffatisfaction with the convention to which it led? This was not all; there were other objects connected with the armament, on account of Holland; an alliance with Pruffia, and a fubfidiary. treaty with Heffe Caffel. Had they disapproved of either of these? The honourable gentleman had faid that they would oppose the prefent measure, because he knew that, after the House had been prevented from inquiring into the grounds of last year's armament, on the plea of confidence in Minifters, pending a negociation, and afterwards into the merits of the convention, on the plea of confidence after the negociation was concluded, it could only be approved by thofe who thought proper to repofe a blind confidence in Minifters, or were led to approve by the partiality of official connection. His furprise at the present measure, if poffible, exceeded his disapprobation. When he beard that things were proceeding to the extremity at which they arrived, he had lent an unbelieving ear, and contended that fuch folly, fuch madness, was impoffible. With fuch measures confidence could have nothing to do. Confidence in Minifters was, indeed, neceffary on many occafions; and for that fort of confidence, whether in office or out, he had always been an advocate; but even that neceffary confidence was only a neceffary evil, and ought, therefore, to be always the leaft that the nature of things would admit. No fuch confidence as was now folicited had been afked for in the cafe of Spain. The injury to be redreffed, and the infult to be vindicated, were fairly stated on that occafion; but, on the prefent, they had not come at all to the point. To admit fimply, that the King, by the advice of his Minifters, had ordered an armament, and that the Houfe muft pay the expence, was not in all the gradations of rational confidence; and the Houfe VOL. XXIX.

G

of