Mr. his people, find themselves compelled at this juncture to exprefs their anxious folicitude, that interefts of fuch important concern may not be unadvifedly committed to the chances and calamities of a burdenfome war. "To recommend to His Majefty's moft ferious attention the important advantages which the trade and manufactures of this country derive from their friendly and commercial intercourse with Ruffia, and the heavy lofs which would be fuftained by any interruption given to it. "To fubmit to His Majefty, that no arrangement refpecting Oczakow and its diftrict, does appear to this Houle to be capable of affecting the political or commercial interefts of this country, or to juftify Great Britain in any hoftile interference between Ruffia and the Porte. "To exprefs our reliance upon His Majefty's wifdom and juftice, that the peace and tranquillity which this country now enjoys, fhall not be interrupted for the purpose of adding any increase of territory to the dominion of the King of Pruffia. "Laftly, to reprefent to His Majefty, that, under the many burdens which this country has very recently voted, in addition to thofe before impofed on their conflituents, they fhould neither difcharge their duty to His Majesty nor to the public, if they did not ufe their best endeavours to affure the continuance of the bleffings of peace, by offering to His Majefty their humble and earnest advice, that His Majefty, in his wifdom and paternal affection to his people, would be graciously pleafed to decline all hoftile interference upon the fubject of the fortrefs and diftrict of Oczakow, for the purpofe of procuring any farther acquifitions to the dominion of the King of Pruflia." Mr. Pelham rofe to fecond the motion; which, he faid, Pelham. was all the eloquent fpeech, the Houfe had just heard, rendered it neceffary for him to do. He would therefore only add, that as much as he concurred with the honourable gentleman, fo much did he deprecate a war with Ruffia. Mr. M. Mr. M. Montagu declared he fhould give his decided, Montagu. negative to the question. He would not, however, he faid, follow the honourable gentleman in his detail, as he had heard no new argument, and faw no reafon, to withdraw that confidence from Minifters, which he had given to them, when he voted for the addrefs in anfwer to His Majefty's meffage. Mr. Montagu faid, he was aware how much more eafy it was for the honourable gentlemen on the other fide of the Houfe to argue for the addrefs then moved, and to find fault with Minifters, than for him, or thofe who thought with him, to defend them. It had become, he said, a practice, on the other fide of the Houfe, this feffion, to bring on, day after day, and provoke the difcuffion of queftions concerning prerogative; a practice which he thought exceedingly improper; for which reafon he always had, and always fhould oppofe them. Mr. Montagu then proceeded to argue the queftion upon the general principles of the constitution, and on the received doctrines, that the power of negociating and declaring war and peace, was a general prerogative of the Crown; next on the expediency of the meafure; and laftly, upon the confiftency of the Houfe's perfevering in that conduct which it had in the two former inftances adopted. After arguing on that point, Mr. Montagu went on to examine the expediency and confifiency of it; and among other things faid, that though he voted for the addrefs to His Majefty, in anfwer to His Majefty's meffage, yet he did not hold himfelf pledged to fupport any fubfequent meafure on the fubject, unless he approved it on its own merits. Mr. Mr. Powys faid, if the clear and fenfible fpeech that had been made by the honourable gentleman who moved the Powys addrefs, could not convince a majority of the Houfe to agree to his motion, it certainly muft convince all of them of his good understanding, abilities, and eloquence. What principally called him up, he faid, was the extraordinary speech. they had just heard from the honourable gentleman oppofite, which ftated they were bound, by fome former vote, to give a future fanction and confidence to the Minifter for all his negotiations and armaments, and all the expences incurred by them. The honourable gentleman, indeed, had ufed no arguments; his fpeech was fo general that it was impoffible to give any particular anfwer to it; but he certainly muft require from that honourable gentleman, or fome other on the fame fide of the Houfe, fome explanation of that vote by which they were fo pledged and fo bound to the Minifter, a fort of general vote of credit that he, for one, knew nothing about; he therefore wifhed to know what it was, or when it was given? The particular fituation of the negotiation they had heard nothing fatisfactory about. One armament came after another, and hoftile preparations were ftill going on; and did the honourable gentleman think that they were bound to vote away the money of their conftituerts, without knowing why? He fhould be glad to hear by what vote they were bound to do this? They were told that they could not recal their confidence already given to the Minifter; he wifhed the Minifter, or his friends, would either tell upon what particular ground they were entitled to that fanction, elfe recall the only three different grounds which they had yet ftated, and give fome new reafon for the war. The first was, that to interfere or enquire into the exercife of the or prero prerogatives vefted in the executive Government, was out of the power of the Houfe of Commons; if they could ftand to this, let them diftin&tly fay fo. The fecond was, that being already bound by fome former vote to give their confidence to the Minifter, it would be an infringement on that prerogative to withdraw it; if this was the cafe, let them avow it. The third was, that the object in view was to prevent Ruffia from deftroying the power of the Ottoman Porte; are they convinced of this, and that it is a matter of importance to this country? In fhort, let them give fome decent and plaufible reafon for their conduct, and for God's fake, let not gentlemen be fent down to the country amongst their constituents, without being able to give any informa tion refpecting what they had been doing this feffion, farther than that they had increafed their burdens, and could not tell them why, because they were pledged to repose implicit confidence in the prefent Minifter. Major Major Maitland faid he would not, at that late hour, deMaitland. tain the Houfe long, particularly after what had been fo ably flated by other gentlemen, and after the last honourable Speaker had fo properly and amply anfwered the arguments, if arguments they could be called, which were uted by the honourable gentleman who spoke immediately before him. One part of that honourable gentleman's fpeech was fill to be answered; and that was, an infinuation, that the fide of the Houfe on which he fat were unwarrantable in bringing forward repeated queftions of the fame nature upon the fubject of the prefent war. The Major faid, he would boldly contradict any fuch affertion, and was only forry that they were not continued and repeated, whether attended with fuccefs or not: He did not believe that the motion of to night would be more fuccefsful than others nad been, but he could ask the Houfe, and afk the public at large, and appeal to the country for the truth of what he faid, whether the many motions and attempts, however unsuccessful, made by oppofition this feffion, had not been attended in fome degree with this effect: it had brought down the violence of language, and infolence of conduct, which Minifters had adopted, and would have continued. He must likewife fay, that the fituation of the Houfe was completely changed fince the last queftion of this nature was before them; and if there could be any impropriety in the conduct of oppofition, it was in not bringing forward fuch motions more frequently than they had done. What he meant by the Houfe being changed, the Major faid, was, that ever fince the difcuffions which had already taken place, courier had been fent after courier, and what the firft carried, the other was fent either to flop or to bring back; and it was noto rious, that after the decifion of the laft queftion of this fort in that Houfe, one meffenger had been fent, and abfolutely brought to London, the difpatches which had been fent off immediately; fo uncertain, fo contradictory, and so abfurd was the fyftem of negociation pursued by Minifters. As to the doctrines of confidence, Major Maitland faid, that had been fo fully and ably combated already, that he would not fay one word on it; however, he thought thofe who from their uncertainty and glaring inconfiftency had no confidence in their own conduct and actions, could expect little from any other body, and were entitled to none. His opinion on that point fhortly was, that he was the worst Minifter who demanded most confidence, and the best who demanded leaft; and, therefore, when thofe Minifters who had repeatedly called for confidence, were daily changing their measures, it was full time to withdraw it. He faid, that by their uncertainty, the trade to Ruffia was entirely ftopped; nor did the merchants know how long this embargo of uncertainty might detain them. A meffage, though it fcarce deferved the name of a Minifterial meffage, had been fent to inform them, that for a certain number of weeks they might venture to carry on their trade, but they had too much good fenfe to pay much refpect to fuch unufual and ridiculous meffages, for not one ship had ventured to fail in confequence of it. As another proof that was no ways favourable to their conduct or confiftency, the Major faid, he would take the liberty to mention a very great and refpectable nobleman, who had lately given up the feals of the foreign department, and whose public and private character was unusually and justly esteemed by all who had the honour of knowing him, and ranked very high in the minds of the country at large. This nobleman's refignation clearly evinced his opinion of their fyftem, and his honourable refolution not to pledge himself in his public character in a way that he never could do in his private, being equally determined to avoid what would have been difhonourable to himfelf, and difgraceful to his country. The Major concluded with afferting, that as to the probability of war, he knew, and all the world knew, that it was not the intention of Ministers to go to war; the people, and that House, had told them they could not go to war; and this being notoriously the fituation they were in, why did they attempt to continue practifing deceit upon the country? And when they must be fatisfied that there could be no war, why did they go on with encreafing armaments and expenfive preparations, to add new loads on the people, without one poffible good effect? Sir Edw. Sir Edward Knatchbull (poke against the motion; thought Knatch every Minifter fhould have the confidence of the Houfe, and knew no reason for withdrawing it from the prefent Miniftry. bull. Mr. Fox. 1 Sir W. Milner faid a few words in favour of the addrefs, which he approved of. Mr. Fox rofe juft as the Speaker was about to put the queftion. He faid, that as he faw it to be the determination, and as it appeared to be the defire of the greater part of the Houfe, that the motion fhould go to the question, without a fingle word of explanation from His Majesty's Minifters, he rofe to remind them, that fince it was the last time probably this feffion of their exercifing their duty as Members of Parliament on that important fubject, they ought to do their conftituents the juftice to endeavour at least to enable themfelves to give thofe from whom the money was to come, fome fatisfactory account refpecting the caufe of the expence, viz. the war with Ruffia. The Houfe could not but have obferved the ability with which his honourable friend bad opened the addrefs then moved, and the little or no argument that had been oppofed to it from the other fide of the Houfe. His honourable friend had ftated the perfect and complete theory of the conftitution, and the arguments he had declared on the fubject of confidence and the prerogatives of the Crown, were clearly founded on the best practice of that conftitution. Mr. Fox faid, it was the practice of the conftitution, that he admired, and always held up as the fit obje of admiration, and in conformity to that, he governed and guided his own practice. The doctrines his honourable friend had laid down, had been fo clearly conftitutional, that he defied any man living to controvert any one of them, or fhake the fmalleft portion of their foundation. The Houfe had voted, he faid, as his honourable friend had ilated it, an unlimited vote of confidence; but was their confidence never to have an end, or were they never to have any fatisfaction given them refpe&ting the object of the armament? Mr. Fox admitted that when the right honourable gentleman first brought down His Majefty's meffage, he had fairly fhewed them that he would not flatter them fo far as not to tell them, that by voting the addrefs in answer, they pledged themfelves to the probable rifque of a war; but did the right honourable gentleman now mean to hold the fame language? Would he do fo, contrary to the opinion of every manufacturing town in the kingdom, contrary to the voice of all defcriptions of people without doors, and against the general fenfe of the country? He was aware, Mr. Fox faid, that notwithstanding fo much had been faid for the addrefs then moved, and fo little had been advanced againft |