The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-01-28 00:00:00

TIN el 4 I ern' late)? -. ...alifet•.!ei: In the tn . ' ss r ,- ittcm;:!ary mx.tier, iu rite c.i.e of the vin...y of Trafal gar. ••n there l'as never been haled a different epeiion, or the breathing of a single 4 0 . 5 0 t "1 present .'.lotion went. huwever, •to a diTieoet print. It was the case of great abili ties, le' e, devoted to srvice of t. se .public, either in or out of office. It applied. in his opinion. bete ; and, if there were any difference. is afsptied, he thought, rather inure in f a v our of th4ve who had served their country nu: of office, than r f those who hai Served it in office. And yet. where do we find the of any man it: this si. tuation having been weed honotirs and rewards by that- House ? What man has there ev-r b??n, whusr splendid abilities placed hunt higher io the public opinion, than air. Beak.. ? and wince rice talents were exetted in the pit:slit sr. vice A much Niger period than these of the Right: ant HL be. heyed. however, no such honours had ever been asked for him. and nn niau had been m re par.imo ninmdy rewarded for lnnz and zealot; exertions. Did the supporters of th...preient motion me .r, then. to say, there is m o te mere in being in nffice, and their serving your country, than in those ;who do the same thing our of it? timely they, would not Yen are to maintain sects a doehine. He should opense. i.e said, the prevent motion also no the gra ts ea th at there would be no unanimity in the Aft, and where. Ise asked, "Was the value of such an al?, without unanimity ! 'Phis was the reason why Mr. Durkts friends did not bring forward a m niun of a similer tendency to the present. There had been coesider able changes in the pnliiics of this country, during his long stwurg!e on the scene, and at the awful pe riod of the French Revelation, which had unsoiled. -unhieged, and borne down systems that had stand the test, and outlived the attacks of ages, that great man differed in Opinion (torn, and ceased toad with' these with whom he had been in ueison during the whc.le of his former political life. When he died. therefore, those friends could not unite in a motion elf this nature, for fear of being implicated in the inconsieency of' rewarding him for those very ac")s, sseich, in the latter p..rt of his hie partLu ' Lady. they had uniformly opposed and disapproved. Those who bringlorward this motion, l e %Aid, call the light Honourable Gentleman ah " excellent statesman." He had himself aeted with Minister from that awful and perilous period, to which he dual before alluded, of the Ft eneh Revolution ; he . ds:n sided differently from what he had ever done • before. He saw good reason for changing his po litical condnel ; hut, flu ugh the measures then ad-pied, received, at the time, his acquiescence, as cal:ea for by the necessity of the rim :s. and of the then existing circumstances, yet he could not but deprecate the question which obliged him us speak his opinion of the application of the great talents of the Right Hen. Gent. in an open &dere:ion to the ceuntry. If he were asked, whether those great taunts have been generally exerted for the benefit a:..: advantage of the co wy ? hr must, in truth and justice say, No. Though the vessel, alter brie.; lute . , tossed in a most tumultuous and stormy sea, heti, at length. weathered the storm, he did not think the pilot had stetted her well, or that he could say with the poet— . Never was losing game with better model pleyel." lie begged leave to state, broadly and generally. , true: if the house debarred themselves from entering the inquiry of the c-ndua of \tinkle s If the list twenty years. they w-uhl, in his opinion, do what was wrong : they would dryer themselves from pronouncing, whether the ieng ministerial reign of the Right Honourable Gentleman has been adven tageous and beneficial to the country. Thinleng as he did —no. be should certainly say mo— lt behoved them to leek attentively at, and to con 'e'er deliberately and maturely, the present awful and alarming sate of the country, and to say, whether they deemed it a prosperous one. If they measured our prosperity by our experts and imports. God have mercy on as ! And the first question that would follow is—it it he prosperous now, how long is it likely to hold? If they envired into the situation if the country at different periods, even of modern date, they would find that no honours had ever been Yeted or awarded, but in case. of great success. No honours had been voted to the now immortal Nelson, when he failed at Teaeriffe, though that aceon was by no means destitute of merit, nor at all deficient in gallantry and merito rious ccnshoft. Had see been unsuccessful at the battle at Cape St. Vincent, we should have had no Lord St. Vincent ; had we been unsuccessful at the battle of the Nile, we should have had an Lord Nelson ; bed we lost the battle of Trafalgar, the immertal hero of the Nile, wonld have lost, with his hie, the glorous tribute which was paid to his re- Za tins, in the triumphal funeral which was decreed • Km, end which gave heart-felt joy to all his eoefitl countrymen. Even in the brightest and nen: splendid rewards decreed for naval and Military achievements, none have been facie but in cows of extreme success; there was nothing of that kind in the esercose of the great talents et the Right Noneetable Gentleman ; and whe nhe c on deted the trans:ahem of the last six months, miS re;learl on the disastrous consequences which had already taken place, and might here after result from them—transeettons into which inquiry right to be made—if he had not voted against ti', Mellor. as unwise and premature, till such inquiry hal been made, lie should never erase to reproeen hitnrelt for heweg :seted othei wise. Me, R NYS sleß said, he could not help express ing survive and wonder. at what he had now heard fell from the night Honourable Gentlemen. When he recrele&ed, teat. at the most critical period of the whole n 1 Mr. ihtt's long Ad mi nistration, that R.ght Honourable Gentleman quitted all those old cuensAions, wth whom he uniformly aged for a consols halo I mph of tent, end fought, side by side, with the' ereet Maniner, an arduous battle, the re. sale of wisurft, even in the estimation of the Right Henontenie Gentleman, himself. was the bell" - tion ~ 1 the C. un.ry and cl the Conttif"tines his as toree•rneet knew ne betmes. st heating what be Lad this night l'euld that House ever have seppro r e, tha t at each a period, and Under such tuctIMSI4:IC:%. se a.- Gentleman. olgettires all fnetner hien-i-hrp, all political conneSine, and th • eemnien heels that cemen!•l t e.n (.rube 5! ,, 011d tike the part he did it the present ! It was indeed a signal instance of Spam, limier bet weule, Ire believed, masked na.;:e tiv (bt t ed; the tit 14, ;th se ■ly OP a: r tog for ' astortislonevit thin epprobatinn. h wo,u, T i n hope t, ore ri w irning to deter, but by no means an example to he foliated From what had trans ired on a former night, so far from erpeaing to hear the 'O4Ol of the last six months of Mr. 15tt's administration adverted to on she present occasion. he thought it w a s agreed that it should remain pre cisely where it Was, and he considarel as a subjc.l for 'more an.' separate doictosion. The vote proposed this night,wou!d not, if adopted,pledge anvgentleman to an anproh.oioliof the measures purstialurino that period. Thy friends of Mr. Pitt did not ask for t!.ii vote on account of his stupendous talents : ors ace ,- sot of his virtue an! uoimpeached integrity; on accouin of the space which he occupied, not only in this country, but in Purope and in the world ; or on account of the cmifideirce which his Sovereign so loug reposed in bins ; they, on the contrary, called foiot ml account of the use I",* made of ail these ad vantages, an-1 the b-nests which his comm.) , derived from those talents, the loss of which he fea r ed it would every day have Uinta and mute reason to re:ret. Mr. G. PONSOI4IIY declared. that he very sen sihly telt the sTrcat dr.advantage of offorion any op position to feelings, which he must acknowledge to spring from the most genetous of oustives. He would readily admit, that all political animosities, supposing any to exist, ought to be buried in the grave; and were Le to speak of the merit, charac ter, and condo& of the late Prime Minister, he would not withhold his arprohation of them; but, if the intention of the motion now sohmitted was to sancoon, and, as it were, immortalize the system of that Right Honourable Gentleman, so far was he hum giving his Assent to it, that he sincerely hoped the system be so long persevered in, would be huned with him. He would not at present undertake the ungracious task of scrutinizing the condud of the cicteksel Minister through his whole administration, but, before he voted for concerting no him the highest honours which it was in the power of that House to besto.V, he must first be tidied that his system was a beneficial one. 00 the present occasion he would Est go into an inquiry into the state of the country, nor contrast its situation at due time of Mr. Pitt's coming iatu office, with the condition in which he left it At the time of his death. It was sufficient for him to say, that there could he no comparison between the eel ttion of this country with respell to France at the Wrote period, and the present. It was melancholy to re fl.a, that if he were to go to the most ghat ious pe riods of the British history, he should first, that the families which were the,' the most honourably soil spicu-ms in the cause of Great Britain, were now the most depremed ; he should see, that the 11111Stri nut House of Orange, in which we owed the Teen. lution, which established our liberty, was now ri pened fr , rn Holland ; and the dignified house of Brunswick, which we called over here, for the con solidation of those liberties, Was exoelled from I la nover. If a disposition to serve the country were a sufficient foundation Cm such a vote as this, the Rt. H.O.Gent. in creation woul.l be entitled to U. There was no donut hut he meant and wished wall to the intereo• of his cua.stry ; but he erre.l most erregionaly in jitdoment. He, however, did nut see that the biieest talents, and the soundest judg ment, gave a ti:k to such honours, if tf.-y were not accompanied with success. What en in in this country ever stool higher for a sound knowledge of the law, and an inviacible attachment to the true pdaciples of liberty. than Lord Somers ? and yet no person ever proposcl to decree such honours to him. So also of Lord Go+slphin, whom he considered as one of the greatest stattsmen this country ever pro duced ; the one whase councils most tended to re duce the power of France ; and yet no such vote was ever demanded for him of the Parliement. He would also mention the great Archbishop Tillotson, so truly eminent for his wisdom, piety, and learn ;rig; a man so purely disinterested and charitable, that though, for a long aeries of years, Archbishop of Canterbury, he had not, at his death, left as much money to Ins exist:wan, as would defray the expenses of his funeral, was, notwithstanding, not buried by his country. If pecuniary services were to constitute a sufficient title, what man ever beneficed his country more, either for increas ing the credit of theisation, keeping up the stocks. and the reduaion of its debts, than Mr. Seem - t Pelham ; and yet who ever proposed-to confer such honours on hint I From these instances, there fore, be thought himself warranted to lay down, as a fair proposition, that neither private virtues. splendid talents, nor a disposition to do essential good, wit], out positive benefits derived from theta, could give any man a claim to receive these public honours from his country. The only person on whom they were bestowed, except for military services, was the late Earl of Chatham; bat, in examining his claim to them, consider the relative situation of Franc*, compared with England, after the peace of 1763 ; and after the peace of Amiens ; or of the two coun tries, even after the lass peace, and after that which we had now to loot fir? The partial successes which a Minister might obtain, did not, in his opi nion, give hint a sufficient claim ; nor indeed any success, unless it were such,•as that opinions were unanimous with regard to it. If he were right in thin assertion, t:ie present claim could have no just foundation; they all mast recoiled, that the sys tem pursued by Mr. Pitt, through the greatest part of his administration, was very strongly and vio lently opposed; and. were he to agree to the mo tion now proposed, be must contrAd.B every vote he had given through all the former part of h.s parliamentary life. Mr. ROSE expressed himself fearful of obtruding upon the attention of the Hesse ; and it he felt that fear upon all mixt occasions, he was certainly m ire strongly impres,ed with it on the present. (Tie t•smaimis tone end broke* voice is sr& 6 .4 Is sere./ tile. „„d ebasit sA e n o m: essu d issi v port ofiiis *pee* e-i kt ra yd the most issedrat 5m5..4.0.1.) It might seem like an insult to the House, were he to press upon them what were his own private feelings on this melancholy even:. He had trusted, that the present vote, so En from meeting with dilculty, could hare been carried unanimously. He lA :nented to fiiid the proceedings of some gentlemen, so different now from what had been adopted in .n to Lord Chatham. Fiv some time before -he death of tom illostriceas Nobleman, he had !seen a the constant reedier, net only rat est posing the zoveramenx of that dab hot also of reprobating them - SI. G. It. in term of peculiar asperity, toy amarit .Iloset of perfidy, mismanagem ent , and crinsinal•dpidottineks 7 and yet, at his death, that very generinellotikerfee. from attempting to oppose a mrstion single! in MC which sens now sithmtned to the Haim. As to his Inlet Flnnortrthle Friend, now unfortunately so more, he would contend, that he was a very sta-esterm, even if be had ccietmitted fault, ; er i E r l it ', however, was an admiesion he was b' nn wens it:- dined to make. He disclaimed any intention of provoking opposition, by any thief he had to say; for certainly there was nothing which he wished so mach to deprecate ; but, when a • ...3T ~ '. 1,. comparison was snide between the state of the country, when Mr. Pitt came hail ..dministra tion, and at present, he could not help reminding the House, that at the former, period this country haul just tonclioded the most disaitious,eapensive, and unsuccessful sear it ever was engaged in ; its finances were exhausted, its revenues tiarqual to its expenditure, its commerce ruined, and its navi gation suspended. What was the jet of the mea sures adopted by Mr. Pitt ? Ilse commerce of the cannery was very men doubled ; its shipt and sea men augmented in the same proportion ; its reve nues increased, beyond the expenation of the most saegnine ; and its funds so well sustained, that th-y were hi4her now, in the midst of a war of thir'e.n years dnratinn, than they wet e at the time when Mr. Pitt tame ion) efice. As to the failure of our allies, they were not to be attributed either to the Minister or hit measures. The Emperor of Germany list Flanders before we were engaged in the war. At the cnmmencernent of Mr Pitt's A Iministratinn, the revenues of the cnuntry were nn mote than equal to the payment of the interest of its debt. It was perfeekly true, that his annatinn, and the unparalleled circumstances in vrhich he was involved, compelled him to raise terra' km-them on the people ; lon it was also true, that his genius always enabled him to find resources capable nf meeting all these hurthens. As to the minion itself, he said, that he never heard one opened with more good sense and discretion; I and the foundation nn which the proposed Reso lution was built, was, that Mr. Pitt spent altnoetthil whole of his life i-u the service of his county a that be served it with zeal, :tad to the hest of his shining abilities; and that ties-services were raffled and continued, at the expence of even his own health. Indeed so muc'; was this the case, that he esetidered himself perfeftly justified in Livening, that it was not more true of the illustrious Lord Nelson, than it was of Mr. Putt, that he lost his life in the service of his conntry. His country and its welfare were ever uppermost, and were also the last in the mind of th it great man ; and he could appeal to all those who were in the room at the roosnent of his dis:o livion, 1. r the truth of what he now assured the Hnts-, th-it the last words uttered by the expiring Statesman, wune, Mph ! my country !" He then ennelnded, with an exhortetinn, that is deciding on this question. Gentlemen would suffer all party con. sitter idiom to be buried in oblivion. Mr. FOX—" I do not know, Sir, that 1 ever in my We rose with more pain in this Rinse, than I now do in attemtning to explain to the idolise the tea sons which limiters me to the vane which I qbeli reed myself obliged to give on the present cocasion ; and I hope I may Ise allowed in ctand 'scow!, if, before I coin. to the reasons, I take the liberty of troubling the Home with a few obseteatinns respening the motives of my conduit. The Right ii-m. Gent. who wake last, seems desirous, that in considering this question, we should lay aside all pity, con sisietatiuns. I, Sir, fir one, most sintneely swim him, that I do lay them aside; and that if I did not, or would not do sn, 1 should, most cliques t;onably, vote is c a rom- of the m..non. Nnt, how ever, that I would wish, by any means, to he con sidered as and valuing party considerations ; for, well understood, and abstratled from the odium or misrepresentation which may he cast upon them, they are a concert of persons devising the best means of rendering service to their country. lam very free to confess, that in the present moment, and for a variety of considerations, it should be my policy, as it would evidently be my interest, to conciliate all parties, and, perhaps, particularly to conciliate that Right Honourable Genrlem to him self. For many of the supporters of the present motion I have a personal friendship, which would make me rely taut to appose them nn such an occa sion ; but, most of all would it lie my Interest, as well as my inclination, not to cross, in this in. staace, the views of the Noble Lord near me (Lord Temple), and other near relations of the deceased Minister, with whom I am now likely to be, for the remainder of my lite, insepa rably co:lnt:led ; and should therefore be extreme ly unwilling to do any thing which might have a tendency to diminish their esteem. Tam also free to confess, that towards the late Prime Minister himself, I am not divested of those person al feelings, which, from the language of the sup porters of the motiol, seem to apply much more cogently than any reasons they have given in defence of it. With respett to the Right Hon. Gent. in question, I cannot forget that I had the bonottr of being considered as his rival ; his adversary I certainly never was; and should be extremely sorry if I could be so supposed ; and 1 so lemnly declare, that in our long rivalry, and in the many contests so warmly a id ardently maintained on bith sides, I never, at any on- moment iit my life, was act-sated by any personal feeling against hires. There is no one more ready than I am, to cm.fess that Mr. Pitt was a great mail ; that h. meant well to his country ; and, for his personal chaintaer, I always entertained a eel high respect. Notwithstanding the difference of opinion which usually prevailed between nufilhe had my support in his plan fir the estattlishmnit of the sinking fond ; and I always acknowledged that, as tar as that went, his cou.stre wss under the hi,thest obligations t o hum It is now evident to the world, that no full Minister of this country was ever smiled to gre ater merit than Mr. Pitt; his condnen erinced the mot:l unsu•ed integrity. I am sorry to hear, that there i are now subsi st i ng some peculada te rr w y ideiffi:tityltyieer fru a s ; o f unnleas ant nature. When, enjoyment of the height of power, and the granter: employment it ttte state, he made n-s adeantag.• of them for the benefit of himself or his fa mily, inane can be r...i better prosf of a pure csaniSiededitsfydoiw'min%entrse:hp"ialverticacjil:4lsrent.bzulavoandg.snrscent.infbltit m it'A ..CT rh e . emb .,, rass . .7r:- _ tit - • . • an haialtnel.. eitetessee4, ' and tl-.ot earelc •arilliodile.:sieliing teem his constant sdentlosi topabilei *Weirs, whit* she justly deemed tn he of. parented:at importance. Upon the whole, it appears, that the Wardenship of the Cinqne Peril • " was his slyly reward fni a life of laborious services. i Under these impressions, I trust I m a y nOtain ere- dit for declaring; that friendship It the tieing. and private feelin i g' toi towards the deceitieci. siroulti induce ~,., me to vote rie thiti callaTion, if I ciitild. tlesidet.. if in such a vise I could be at all cdtibleof a piti. •ate ' HI vanity, I might he this instance be generose vothont ono. And glean mseelf of the beastfirs duff may Re derived frnet eibligino those whew esteem . I must wish to cultivate I and obtaining a ere.bi ' whit others; at the cheapest possible porch Ise. However that may be. I tallow, norm story fend sideratine, but lament, that env of these eoseeett- lions which were deer slid near to him. sboold be left in tire instances entuitable to their tank and vitiation ; and hid the present motion, instead of ennveying an approbaden of his pottical conduit, besin for the moons? of extricating them from thd circumstances to which I here *Rode& 'I should ~. have been amongst the foremost in giving it my .. port. But, • , Sir what is now dentended otter is. others, a thing that is not to be econplitxtenteda Ot all things, it becomes no to be rareful and messe nominal of public hortodrs, inasmuch at they always tend to ieflurtlee posterity. Whoa we ourselves called need to decree public hmoaris ' we musts in duty, look, at the same time, to pie cedents and examples. With respeß to the impr.i- • piety of voting tionours td the onfrittunate. it would be unnecessary for me to add a single word to what has been already sn ably and forcibly urged by my Right Honourable Friend (Mr. Windham) ; bat whin ire talk of systems' before we either praise or blame them, we should consider their 'mere/ion on the different states of Europe. If I am ads, greatly mistaken in my recollection. the inscrip tion on Lord Chatham's monument. mires' the merit he derived, end the great share he bad, • in the redoction cif the power of the eamiltys-i- / That he did greedy tednee the Mover oftbi Hosea • of Bourbon, w as th en , as wa ll as wow, toe ooto- ' Anus for any one to dray; bet so far is the power of France from having experienced ant reestlion by the war maintained eeriest it under the Oriente of the late Minister, that the ev•PaTe * ftheim to that mime, is, at this unonsest a k a sees criti cal and " dangerous situation than has ewer before occurred in the annals of its history. The Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Rose) has told us. that, at the time the Governmeet of the Moore allowed public honours to ba decreed to the Zak of Chatham. he had bern..for some due, ie vie. lent opposition to it. All that is very Met bet it must, at the same time, be remembered, dint Shies as well as at all times, were his merits, aa a atilifil• man, clearly, universally. and unenimewily ad mitted. At all periods, in all societiee, is places, and in the history of the fleet% the duff of the 'seven years war was mein' allowed to be a fair ti t l e to f ame on t h e p ert Earl of Chath a m. Rot, let me ask, i s the ~ tiii title made mu, or does the same unanimity prevail amongst the people of this, or any other country. ilI the conduO of the late and present war against France ? In opposing the motion now Wage tl e House, I do it as well in rapport of InF own consistency, as nn the grounds of justice. I !mow there may be cases in which we may distinguish he- 1 tween abilities :ind virtues. Abilities in the manage ment of public affairs nie t tlyelieneficially die and exerted by those wh'o. mad ;neve no Mesas to the other qo Airy,' hlli hi pis case I do not neccosity for dwelling on any such distinetions. deciding upon this question. 1 should be tonsil take any one or particular ad et the Adnsin - of the late Prime Minister. I always thought. 1 0 still think, that a most unfortunate system of go vernment pervaded the whole of the present reign ; and I firmly believe, that system to have been the cause of all the disasters, losses, and disa . Intents which the couotrybes experienced, el formly, throeghout the whole course of it. that systems I :bete eferibed the lours of the Awariekt. Colonies, and I cannot bet impute blame, inead at praise or honour, th all the Ministers who hate sap ported it. The Earl of Guildford who easdeebeithe .` war, in the event of which those Colonies ems lose s , was a man of very necornmen WINK Ted Of very amiable qualities. Towards the hen of his lite. I was conneeled with We, sot only in political opinions, but mho in hebite of the most intimate friendship. Rut, notwithstand ing ail that, I have no hesitation in declaim' s ; if, at the decease of that Nnblesemt. nay similar to the pretest had been made in die much as I esteemed and loved him, and still awe .0 dearly as I loved his son, the late Earl, I should have been the very foremost to oppose it. Think ing. as I do, of the diraste •us erode of chat syse-r. which I befog stated to have prevailed though the present reign, I cannot bat i accuse the late Minister o f h iv i ng, I will net ego ctim.nally, for the expression might sound, in erase ears, too harsh, but, most unfortunately, lefts Isis ? brilliant talents. and his commanding eloquence. to the support of it. In having done so, and with t h e knowledge h e mast have h ad of it, 1 esteem hies the more culpable, as without that spleedmv Of i mental en lowm ent , w h ic h enabled him to throw a veil over the hideous deformity of the system 'Heeded to ; 1 am Mlle persnailed...that it emld sot have tesiued the attacks made upon it. end etinsmisady could not have existed, and spread its baneful he fts-nee half so long. For many reasons, unneces sary now to b e a dd uce 1 , I confess, the through the last year oPthe late Prime fl sister's life, dive was no man could he more desir-ns than I was. to betty all past political animosities , n ohlivion; that °Fp rii tunny was not aff , rded ; but the present motion does not stop at oSlivior ; it gone to approbatim of the conduct of his A iministratioe, and as such I cannot vete for it. Standing as I cl-., I defy any man to say that I can possibly have any feeling. piss•on, policy, or ir.terest, which err uld not more :end tn reconcile, *sea to piece me in opposition to what is now pr 'posed. I have now t eiy to *dd. tbat I am sincerely sorry this motion was veer made ; and I can make that declaratim with the he'rer er ice, as I deprecated it at the outset. Had I been in habits of intimacy with the deceived per otiiage ;,mselt, or et, ii ill• s- oho new prep ise this' tribute t . : -. .is memory , 1 shsulo have us.d every P t'~ ? j I.''', 1 '