Star. — London, England, 1803-06-03 00:00:00

ITN Ir3P, he dreaded tc fee a people fo near him who o • • 1 I w t!) fuch vaivattie c.olitotion i vile t • .it's Nation ivt:oges, .libel ntal e- i ...ce his traany in an (1,11.1,1, view. lIC h. 13 lo extravagant efforts were to be c ' ; : 1 , 1‘7:1 eff,tts he by no me ins .tppr Ned, b ot:c. when they lad hen reforted to by bean proved to be rinfehievons in their t ffeds. • •d, h••,‘ - ever, that every pt taper and vigor nut ex •: tit n wondl h • made to rescue Europe from the thttahicro sshielt the is placed in to doing, this Canntry would not tail to promo e her own intereas, and to r l ice her fectirity on the &melt balls. E its Gems:. E HOS faid, he lhould not take up much of th.ir Lordships' time ; he thought they would do,, well to negative fume of the refs lotions ; and tin the Li • c !houll move the previous gitellion. He beg ged -Lett Lordships not to confine thernfelves to .t Harrow view I , t' the lubjeti. They mutt know, that if th• rpteflion be carried, an impeachment will, of course, follow. He defiled their Lordfhips to keep in mind the time When Miniffers were called to their prefent Rations was a critic of great danger; to re• coiled the Not.hern Confederacy, which they, by their prompt and vigorous meafures, had broken ; and alto, that they have, more than once, given their approbation of the condo& of Minifters on the adital Date of affairs. He agreed with the Noble Earl, that Minillers ought not to continue in office, if they had 101 l the confidence of the People ; but this was a point which the Noble Earl had by no means made apparent. He aim agreed with him, that Miniders might have found a jultification for going to war, in the annexation of Rama and Placentia, of Piedmont, and all the other separate aggrelfions, but he could nor fay they would have been right in doing fo.— The second Resolution dated the chief mifcondud of Ivltmaers to be, in their not having made earlier com munications ; but as their Lordilips had determined that it was right to continue at peace, if poffible, he mull fay, that pofitir n of the Noble Earl was not founded. In hi: opinion, the condud of Miniaers, both for fpirit, firmnefs, and temper, formed a hap. py contrak to the mad conduet of Bonaparte. He hoped the French nation will, on the prefent occa• lion, open their eyes to the tyranny by which they are fubjngated, and throw off the yoke that galls them. In Inch an event we fhould at lean have one , , i i chance more of preferving the petce of mankind.— il., His Lordfhip contended that, during the time of our h lying been at peace, we have laved what we fhould I .. have (pent had we been at war. Some, indeed, might argue, that the fooner the war began, the fooner it • would be over, and fo balance the matter as nearly • equal ; but from that; he differed in opinion. His , I Lordthip concluded, by moving the previous queftion on the firft Refolution. Lord DARNLEY concurred in opinion with the Noble Lord who had juR fat down, and thought that the more the French Government were reprebenfible, fo much the more were the Minifters liable to Tome cenfure, becaufe by proving a great deal againft the one, ton much might be proved againft the other.— Some of the propufitions which had been read this night were, he laid, entirely new to him, In that he was not at all prepared entirely to agree to them.— The find appeared to him to be grounded upon the affections made by the Minifters themfelves in his Ma jelly's declaration. In the fecond his Noble Friend had Rated, that his Majefty's Minillers had, either di reedy or indireAly,„oiven Parliament realm to believe that we were in Inch a Rate in regard to France, as to be enabled to Secure the continuance of Peace, and that filch a conduit in them was a pofitive at of de ceiving Parliament. There were, no doubt, a va riety of occalions in which they might come to Par -1 ment and give it and the country tome idea of the reel foliation in which they Rood. They mutt cer Lindy have felt their Situation at the time of his Ma je ty's Mefrage, but they knew the country had a ili nog defile for peace, and they therefore chafe the lead of two evils, and he had no diffi.ulty in thinking t`tey did right, though perhaps they did not hold lac ,{cage firing enough with the Court of France, when the Firlt Cooled firft took poST ffii in of the lea. Lao Repuhfic, at the time of the ceffion of Lortifia na, between the Signing of the Preliminaries anti the Defiiiitive Treaty. No man could doubt of the pro. pricty of bringing the matter to a decifion at that time, ere we had diminiffied our refources. On there g unds he could not help following the example of the Noble Lord, in imagining . himfelf called on to carers, without any hefitation in his opinion of the condo& of Minifters. As to the behaviour of France, h e Rootlet confine himfelf to the confifeation of ref tels, which had been Rated as no ground for war.— lie begged leave to differ from that opinion ; and =tuft traintain, that if there was any one particular snearov• of hoilility on the part of France, worthy of caiiing forth the vigorous interpofition of this country, it was that point of procedure ; one in which the national honour was materially involved. Would any man tell him that they were entitled to confiscate Phis and cargoes, a meafure fo completely Abaci five of the laws of I:ofpitality ? Could it be i laid. that if we ourfelves had afted in fuel' a man ner, we would not be acing holliley ? He contended, , that. Gni:oat/tent would have been entitled to exalt jolt reparation. As to Switzerland, it would have been mild, more laudable in Miniflers to have left it ' or its fate, than to aft as they have dome in that par- Ocular ; but alter all, the grand point in difpute fcerned to be Malta. This was a point which the French Government firlt took up with great eager refs :titer the Negotiation had ladled not lels than three m.inths. It was a place which he thought Manlius Should either have confidered of lets conic venee to this country, or it was 'one upon which, without !milt 'don, they ought firlt to have gone to war. lie did not like the principles of French Negro tiatrons. With ref; ato the va: iety of infults which Lave been (laced in /as Majelly's Dee 'ration, filch as England not 1•.:u,1 able to maintain a war with Flatlet ; a proporal to irif: huge on the liberty of the pick; and due givisig lip of the tintiuttinate Princes who were exiled into shit Coontry, he dinualo that all there had been treatod by Mitiiiiers a ith jolt con tempt. and thettfore he would rrt lay much birth upon them. l'p n the oh. le. [lyre .ere, uith refpeA t t the propofitior.. t cliffs i:1:. g hi, 7 , (. , j elly's Minister*, he could not Itch , it al i. A . th.t• ii:: Lid brar e l no weighty Cii , :i3i.0..11'..i!l them to . ; oloy li4r.h a soca- Int t. ; lAA %Veil lie I 4'e, tip( 11 lii hie • t tic 11,111eTS Filiels were :relate the 11.•tife, that I. •t condun in tc ate particulars has nor been sib it :t ( .?: , Ilt to have It .r., he thought he ••vould not be 4.1ii0, 'tit candour, ..,) ..-- ~'i~ r~ ~; t or conft fieht With his ditty, if hetlid not now venture t giv. fuch advice, as is lei' judgment migh• conduce nio , i to the public intcrcd. He faw no poffible likely to arife from any chat,ge at prefent. but if :he did, he thould have nrl helitation in concurring in any (*itch He l l which might conduce to the prosperity of, the country. As to the two parties which have been alledged to exiit in this country, he knew of none, and confequently belonged to none. He had no ob. je6t in view, but to afford to his Majetly's Govern• molt any advice which last in his power ; and what. ever might be the mink of the prefent yueUtnn, whe [her Minillers were to be difmiffcd or not? it mattered not much in his opinion, pro.ided the affairs of the country were properly conduaed. We were no doubt now completely engaged in a war, which ought by no means to be mifmanaged by thole who were at the helm of affairs, and now was the time to lay afide all Party di flinEtions. This he was difpnfed to think, WAS more than ever the cafe, and that it would - be greatly the means of our proving fuccelsfulagainft an ambitious and turbulent foe. . _ ...... Lord BORRINODON laid, that he was quite of a dif ' ferent opinion from the Noble Lord who fpoke laft, in regard to perleft indifference whether there was a change or not. He could not agree to the truth of I the fecond propofitinn which had this day been moved. He was not In fatisfied as the Noble Lord preferred ro be, of any impropriety in the criodua of his MA jelly's Minifters; though he too 'tmid be very happy to cooperate in any meafure for the public good, •in [enquiring into and retlifying their condat. He, how , ever, certainly did not think that they had, in any refpaft, compromifed the honour of the Country by any improper delay. Every thing tended to convince them, how deferable it WAS to the whole Country, that they fhould maintain, as long as pollible, the Wangs of Peace. In the year 1795, Parlianint carried to the throne fentiments of regret, upon the failure of the negotiation which had taken place in order to procure that objea ; and the fame condua was purfued in the fummer of t 800, on the renewal of thefe negotiations. Thefe circumilances were Ilifficient, and alma more than fufficien ju lifications of their condua on the prefent occafion, in relpea to delay in a declaration of hollihties, on account of the numerous infults which had been offered to this country. In a war like the prefent, therefore he con tended, that it was particularly the duty of his Ma jelly's Minillers not to prefs matters too hailily, and that they were deferving of the praise and thank, or* their country, for having afted with every proper degree of moderation. It had been contended Is; fomc, that the delay occafioned by the late illfounded peace, and tire tedious negotiation, that we have weakened 0111* means of defence ; but that he coold prove was not the cafe. We have gain.:J, he laid, by the delay and intermifrion of }vanities, more than what moll people were aware of; for we had now procured the hearts and fords of the inhabitants of this Country. That acquifition, he observed, WAS a matter of greater importance. and more real worth to the nation, than the poll- (inn or fifty foreign iflands, fcattered about in various parts of the glohe. Nothing could with any degree of propriety be com pared to the vaitie of fuch an acquifition. The fylfem adpted by France was one of aggreffion, not only again(} th.is Country, but againit every power in Europe. Even previous to the great question con cerning Malta, he was convinced there was no point on which the country . (when properly acquainted with the eircumflances), would not have gone heart and hand into war for the honour and (mirky of the Britifh nation and he hoped that the fame fentiments fill reigned in every breati. As to the occupation of Egypt by the French, it was a plan which had been long in exhtence, and agitated. It was r ne founded at first by the Bourbon family, at the Cabinet of Verfailles, during the whole of the ' fall century, and therefore it might have been furs- poled, that the Fira Conful, amine all his other' projeas, would fill entertain hopes of accomplith. ing a fcheme, which had been fo long laid, and viewed as'being fo advantageous to the French nation.— Previous, however, to the publication of the Report of Colonel Seballiani, there WAS no defign apparent, on the part of France, to take porreflion of the ifland of Malta. He concluded by obferving that it was, no doubt, his with to cooperate in every meafure tending to the public advantage, and concurred with the Noble Lord in being of opinion, that great and leading talents ought, no doubt, to he called forth, in order to enable his Majelly to carry on the prefent war with the utmoft energy and vigour, which was the only mode of bringing the contef to a fpeealy conclufion. Lord Firs rote and (poke to the lllowing effee— He raid, he was defirous to have delivered his fnd ments when the correfpondence was under confidera. lion, and when thanks were returned to his Majefly for his gracious Meffage, on which he was confident there could be but one opinion. He (aid he had pc ruled the whole correfpondence with all the attention he could pnftbly bellow on it. He hardly knew any one of his Majetly's Mininers, or had any communi cation with them, but he would do them the juniee to fay ' that in his opinion they had condo ied the ne gociation with honour, candour, and ability, while thofe they had to deal with were the moll trifling and abfurd he ever heard of. He was fo far from blarns ing his Majefly's Minifters for not declaring war fooner, that if they had ated otherwife, they would not have got the country, heart in hand, to go along with them. When he gave his voice for an alive and fpirited war, he flattered himfelf when any door was open .or conciliation it fhould not be (hut, and that Miniffers would do their endeavours to bring back the bleffings of peace, for that this country could gain nothing by war but additional burthens ; and yet. if he might be permitted to give an opinion, if they wifhed for peace they asked too much. In a review of the correlpondance, li Grit mentioned the complaint concerning libel; in newfpapers ' • there, at the time, he thought very illiberal, but Ilia be thought it beneath the notice of a great empire, and that the French nation ought to have confider. 1 ed it as dogs basking aerofs a water, while we our. felves are (offering greatly from the fame channel, and hardly a Learned Lord or Gentleman could dire& a prudent pl in to punifh the delinquents, without infringing the facred liberties of the prefs. Another complaint, if poffible, more abfurd, was a requeff so remove firm this country the tit:ha-innate emigrants who had taken filcher under our hofpita lity and protation. He laid he scifhed at the time the crowd of emigrants full let foot in Britain, the &tett law had met them on its hank . ts, roe they eft-I , tainlv protitoted French principles and fedition, as I much as the min fanguine willies of the Firtt Conful could &lire. The paffionate, impolitic conduit of the Tilt Conful to our Ambaffador, was jolt to be treated with the contempt it deferved. Sebaftiani's reisort, be thought, a companion of vanity to flat• ter the Firlt Conful, and very probably the greater p a rt of it falfe. He oppofed no Government, but the infamous Government of Stock jobbers, which was by far too powerful in this country, and he did I implole Noble Lords to take it under their molt fe lions confederation; for, if Learned Lords did not bring forward Tome law that could reltrain that infa mous gambling, it would bring down ruin on this country ; he thought it more dangerous than all the national debt, and that we ought to look with a jea lous eye to the mercantile empire in Leadenhall- Itreet. Much wealth certainly came from the Eall In- dies ; but they brought along with it bad principles from peculation and extravagance. The Duke of CUMBERLAND obferved, that in his opinion there never was an occalion in which the Country was more indebted to his Majefly's Minifters than the prefent one ; for their conduit during the whole courfe of the late Negotiation, and the Lauda- hle moderation in delaying the commencement of Lord BOIMINGDOW explained, that in making nfe of the expreffion quoted by the Royal Duke, he had not been aftuated by any motive of dilrefpea towards his Majesty's Minifters. Lord SUFFOLK lupported the motion for the pre vious queflion, and cenfured the condo& of the late Minillry in their anfwer to the firs overtures of Bo naparte—the violation of the Treaty of El-Arifch— 1 1 the orders fent out for the recal of General Aber- cromby, immediately before his landing in Egypt, and the general haughtinefs of their conduft and lan guage, which he particularly controlled with the ci vility which marked the deportment of the prefent Minillry, and laid, that thole perfons who fpread abroad evil reports to their prejudice, were guilty of the greatest injury to their country. Lord WtSTMOR ELAND faid, that he rote for the purpofe of anfwering the accufations which had this day been unjonly made by a Noble Lord againn his Nlajell)'s Minitters, whole condo& in his opinion, wa. Inch as was highly praife worthy, and mull be II ntering to the Houle and the country at large to dinover, on the prefent occafion. He faid, it was entirely a war of ambition and aggreffion, on the part of France, and in no refpea was it occalioned by the condua of this Government. ft demand on the it part. for our evacuating a place of fuch impor tance as Malta, while it was not continent with the Treaty of Amiens, was finely to be looked on as a declaration of war, for fuch •was the conftruaion he moll put on the words of the Fitt! Conful and Talleyrand. The party who had thus collie of complaint, had a right to commence hoftilities, with out waiting till the other was prepared, feeing that they were thus called on to do what they were not bound to do by the treaty. Was it the duty of his Majefty, or thofe to whom he had entrulled his confi dence, to wait till the (tortes was colleaed, and pre parations made by the Chief Conful, and till he had withdrawn his forces from dangers ? Were they thus to facrifice the interefts of thofe committed to their Charge ? No : their moderation, was no doubt com mendable, but a further delay would have been im prudent. They were bound by the treaty to attend to the integrity of the Torkith Empire, and the Inde pendence of the lonian Hands. As to Malta, the Ili pulations in regard to it foasewhat refembled a private contrail, one of the parties ao which had died, and confequently an alteration mutt neceffarily take place in regard to the deliveiy. of the property. concerning which the agreement bad lama made. When called on to evacuate Malta, it was. no doubt, their duty to confider the importance , of the place; for fence they were not bound by any provilion in the treaty, it was by that importance they were alone to be direaed.— Its importance to this. Cottony could not be doubt ed, when conlidered as berms the key to the Levant, the proteftion of our Indian ponefLons, and of Egypt ; in Ihort, our only hold in the Mediterranean. —From its centrical fituation, it as convenient for our purpores, and ea fi ly faccoured from this Country. Whether this Mond be of fuch impor tance to this Country, or not, when he confider, cd the other matters in difpute, he could not help thinking that war was inevitable, even with or without Malta. War could nothave'been delayed for many weeks, although we had aaually evacaated that Inand. He nulled, that the dignity of the Crown of England was not yet reduced fo low as to be under the neceffity of purchafing tranquillity at fuch rates as the infults which had been offered to us by the French Government. We were now engaged in a war continent with true policy, and he was not afraid of any charge againft his Majefty's Minifters being fubflantiated, either from that being the cafe, or from the delay occafioned by their moderation and forbear ance. It was now, he laid, become a common-place echo, on the other fide of the Hoofs, to exprefs an apprehenhon of a degree of infufficiency of his Ma jelly's 'Milliners. Such, in particular, had been often the language of the Noble Lord oppofiteto him, who, confident of his own abilities. fancies that he difcovers improprieties in the condua of hisMajeny's fervants, and he has thus been enabled to difcover the real merits of the late Adminiftration; but let that Noble Lord, and all thofe of a like opinion, re colleft the event of Copenhagen, Gibraltar, and the La campaign. and it will be evident that the War Department was not mifmanaged. With retina to the Definitive Treaty, he would, after a few oliferva tions. leave it to be torn and mangled by thole Noble Lords as they might think proper. That Treaty re ceived the approbation of Parliament on the zd May without any improvements. He would afk what better teft there could poffibly be. than the approba tion of Parliament in regard to their condo& ? It was grange to let up the opinion of a few individuals to that of the Parliament of Great Britain. Now he would confider what were the consequences of that peace : there were, no doubt, 70,000 militia, and ' moo° regular troops difbanded, betides a great por tion of (cornett: but thefe circumnances could not be i alledged as any fault in the Adminiftration, teeing ;that the Ilion duration of that Peace could not pofii bly be imagined or torefecn. They have thus given fufficient indications of their difpnfitions for Peace, and what would have been the tefponfibility of his Majedy's fervant:, if they had again haltily involved us in a renewal of wa-, without a Parliament, Hitt:. out Militia, and without our Five( king p.arralv manned? It was evident, that we had no defile to plunder, no with but that of fecuring peke to .!:e world, which has been lb highly di:lmbed to fatisCv the ambition and vanity of out who not contented with his acquititious Oil the Continent, wales to extend them to every Tuner of the glob?. We have at preterit an army and fleet greater than ever this country was in polieftlon of at the com mencement of any former War. He concluded a ith expreiling the fatisfaaion lie now felt, that of the condua of Miniacrs had been fhewn to the public, to convince them that this prefrnt war was a war of necetlity, and that they have notating mole at heart, in the declaration of Rich a war, than the good of the nation. This, he fail, was at lead one point which we had gained by the temporary peace, and we (hall now hear none of thole murmurs concerning the calamities of war, which had on former occations been fo much talked of ; for, now that loch unani mity was produced, he entertained no doubt but that the people of this country would march with one heart and hand in the defence of their deareft tights and privileges. Lord MULGRAVE role to fupport the conduct of his Majefty's Minitlers ; but before he proceeded to that purpofe, he felt it necefrary to call to the rccil. leelion of the Route, one principle which had fallen . from the Noble Lord who fpoke fail, and to depre cate it as one, which coming from a Noble Lord in his high Ilation, and going forth to the country, would be pregnant with the moll mitchLyous and alarming confequences. The Noble Lord had de clared, that all fader: had a right to demand their difcharge whenever a peace was concluded. His Lordfhip was proceeding to reprobate a principle to dangerous to the difcipline of our Fleet, and the pub. lie fafety of the country, when , Lord WESTMOILF LAND rote to fet the Noble Lot d right as to the expretion he had ufed, and his mead ing. He would by no means be confideredas affert ing, that any branch of the public force had a right to demand their difcharge when the Government of the country did not think it expedient. He meant to fay, that tailors employed on dillant voyages and climates during a long at:d arduous war, naturally expcded their difchatge upon the conclufion of the peace, as was always cullomary. Lord Muecaava returned, and Paid he was glad that he had given his Noble Friend an opportunity of explaining away that idea, which he was lure never could have been his opinion, and which going forth unexplained, would impels the moll Thu:. chievous opinions upon thole to whom it alluded.— With raised to the condo& of his Majelly's Mini. tiers, he fincerely deprecated the fpccies of difeuffions which had of late obtained in this Houfe, at a ult . 's; which called more than any other in the• period of our hiflofy, for the union of all parties—for our common fecurity, againfi that infidious and defpe rate foe, who might be compared to that venomous and treacherous rattlefnake, which never gave warn ing of its approach until it was bent upon the de ftrudion of its vitim. Adverting to the whole. feries of his conduit fence the conelnion of the treaty of Amiens, wherein it was thought prudent by his Majeßy's Miniflers, in their fincerity for perma• nent peace, to facrifice to much for an °llea fo detir able to the moment when the condud oldie Fiend& Conful rendered peace no longer tenable contiftent with the honour and fecurity of this country, the whole of his progrefiva meafures formed one unin terrupted.feries of aggreflon, intuit, and inordinate aggrandizement ; nor would this country fo (non have had the advantage of knowing his intentions with regard to Egypt, had he not made inadvertent ly'his declaration to Lord Whitworth, in the confi dent fecurity of poffeiing Malta, which would have removed the chief attack to his polleffion of that country ; with refped to which his determined inten tions were afterwards unequivocally proved in the report of Seballiani. It was unneceffary, 4er dm purpofe of proving the rooted and unchanged holli lity to this country, to call to their Lordfhips' recol ledion thofe palpable aggrefLons of which he had been guilty under a foismn Treaty of Peace. Not only his exelufion of Britifit niannfalnres from a ll the ports arra/tee, and of every other country in Europe where his mandates or his influence mild operate, but the adual feizure and contifcation of Bri tills (tips, which were either forced by !frets of wea ther into French ports, or which had gone thither in !WWI to procure cargoes of French produce or ma nufaelure to trade with to other countries, under no other pretence than becaufe the Captains on board fuch veffels bad ufed at their tables, in their own ca bins' knives, forks, or fpoons of Englifir manufacture, and for fuch hoflile ads to refute all red, efs. Had he not fent military (pies into the heart of this coon try, under the guile of Commercial Agents, and, added to thele and numberiefs other nggreffions, had he not emphatically declared, in a perfonal converfa. ' tion. with the Britifh Ambaffador at Paris, that he had no fcruples to rifle his own life, in heading an army for the invalion of this country with an hundred chances to one of his going to the bottom in the at tempt t With fuck rooted and determined deigns for the defirtation of this country, his Majcay's Ali niflers had no other alternative than war, which had they fooner declared, they might not have carried with them that unanimous I:aliment of the country, which tbcir then pacific forbearance had now fecured to them. The country, therefore, had now to look Ito the war in which we are inevitably engaged, as the war of a free and independent nation, defending their country and conflitution with legit.maie reniurces, voluntarily contributed, againfl an ambitious Defpot, fupported by arbitrary couteription, forced Iran, the plunderer of his non country, and thole nations wham lie called Allies, in fuppoit of his ambition and infatieble thirft of power ; and after the. full; candid, and explicit Ratcment which his Majelly's Iviiniaers had given of the shrlc of their conduit, from the moment of their accetion to power to the prefent moment, in the papers now upon their Lord (hips' Table, he could not but deprecate every thing like an infidious enquiry with the pin pole of crimi ttting thofe Miniiters, and evincing in that Houfe a foirit of diviiion, whole dials molt be to d.imp the spirits, and dittrad the exertions of the count, y, and give new erceuragement to the enemy : he ihould not, therefore, vote in this inflance for the previous quellion, but move that the Houk do adjourn. Lot d CAR i tiez net med the motion for adjournment a Cott of Mil Pr e i Clur is favour of his Maj-lty's Mi.-