The Sun. — London, England, 1804-01-28 00:00:00

A V 1 I,:W OF THE Rt LATIVE SITUATIONS or MR. PITT AND Mk. ADDIAGTON, PREVIOUS TO AND OM Tillll NIGHT OF MR. fATTEN'S MOTION. BY A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT U?ox the subjeft of the tonitant, ae7;ve, and zealGusMrt, which the Near Obserzter attempted to establish as a bounden duty of Mr. Pitt and his Friends, the Writer of this excellent Pamphlet which we cannot: too strongly recommend to general pera. sal, thus ably descants " If really he promised support, either unquaii_ ied and blind, or the effed of a free approbatim of their measures, from the time they had chosen to ran algae, so the time that he disclaimed all connection with them in the House, the charge of insidiousness would indeed be made out. But the least know ledge of his charade( must acquit him for ever of having promised the surrender of his faculties into the hands of any one : and as to an approving sup. port, he could not be supposed to approve of mea. sures with which he was either wholly unacquainted, or which he knew only by halves. I repeat it, and it cannot be too often impressed upon the world, that front the rwimding up of the Peace of Amiens, no full or fair communication concernin Foreign Aifairs was made to him, so as to draw from him the full benefit of his advice, an advice which was ever ready when frankly desired. Partial commu nications may indeed sometimes have been made ; and opinivas hastily obtained may have been ball acted upon, and then thrown aside. The warmth that he may once or twice have kindled, may have been even l:ept glowing, until it reached the Con— tinent : but there it was sure to be marred, dissi pated, frozen, and lost. It becomes me not to men tion particulars which I have no authority to de tail ; but if this be true, it accounts for the strange vicissitudes of-hot and cold; the orders and counter_ haters ; the rashness and submission, ' like the poor cat i' she adage, letting I dare not, wait upon I I would,' that mark the memorable summer of 1 Boz. However this may he, I trver, that after the Treaty of Amiens, Mr. Pitt's last care of those who were paw -ro shew that they could 'taw/ alone, was con ' fined almost exclusively to plans of Einaxce. Fur this he laboured by night and by day ; for this lie sacrificed his le.asure and his health ; and for this lie tllet with the same return that attended most of his other labours, lithe grathude, an attempt to change them, their uaskillul execution, and, their consequent .loss.. ' The mention of - gratitude leads to important cs.nsiderations. No one, who has the power of viewing an extended political subject, can suppose, that by that word, in Public Affairs is meant, that the Public Interest is not to he paramount to all Private' Feeling. No mind, in the poorest degree above the rank of vulgar, can imagine, that because Mr. Pitt, Profesie.Xy from public motives, was in. strutitental in the de vation of the present Ministry; that they were to look upon it as they would upon h private benefit, and not consider it as they ought in the light of a public trust. The moment of their Administration, was, •anti ought to have been, the mutaent of independence. It would have been inocker; in IVIr. Pitt, and abjea slavery in them, bad the one expeded, or the other consented, to a surrender of what then belonged to the Nation it_ selt,, the honourable exercise of their own faculties. They had accepted their stations, indeed, upon a condition of support, which might imply concert, comm uaication, advice, and deference. But these must all have depended upon, their own sense of con. enience ; and if they chose to withhold communi. cation, or withdraw their deference, it would be injo,tice, only equalled by the folly of such a sen. titnent, to suppose them ungrateful in ading for themselves. This sort of gratitude, however, Mr. Pitt had a right to expett from them ; that after supporting every measure and every principle that lie had adopted, during many a tumultuous year of difficulty a►:d,danger ; after professing to tread in his steps in all points but one ; to conform to his policy, and pursue his plans of improvement ; they should have been watchful on their posts in the de fence of those measures; they should have been tremblingly alive to every attempt at a diminution of his fame; still more at every attempt to found their own eulogy uporvihat diminution. " Whether all of them have been anxious to ful. fil this duty ; whether they have themselves all felt with that singleness of heart, which the great cha radee that is accused had a right to exped of them, is unfortunately not so clear in the minds of many, who yet come forward with good Ministerial Votes. Mt. Addington, however, who I believe has a most anxious respell for Public opinion, must have been aware, that on one occasion, in particular, his love of thJt opinion subjeded him to a suspicion, that could not nave been welcome to a generous mind.— ' have no motive to say that he' is Ungenerous, or to wish to find him wanting in gratitude, in the sense which I have put tipoa the word. It would, however, have been better for his reputation, and, above all, would have given him a better right to, have complained of insidiousness, if he had appeared differently from what he did in the Committee of Supply, on the night of the sth of February, iSoz. It was a night which he possibly may forget, but which Mr. Tierney, at least, will always recoiled; since to the extreme untowardness of that aukward Debate, was owing, according to report, the retar dation of that Gentleman's advancement. " The bitterness of the attack of the present Treasurer of the Na r vy upon the old objet of his opposition, then absent, cannot hut be remembered 1.1: ! .t the friends of the latter. They remember the very form and body of the accusation; they remem _ ber that he charged him with shuffling off responsi . bility, with keeping back accounts when in offce, .-while his successor was to be saddled with an odium ..which be had net deserved. That successor, he asserted, cons cruelly and hardly dealt with by the late Chancellor of the Exchequer. " But the friends of Mr. Pitt remember more.— They were struck with . the attempt to raise a new edifice of fame and charader, not merely built of new materials, but founded on the very ruins and fragFnents of the old. The new Chancellor of the Exchequer was not merely a Plicenix, but a Phconiit rising from the ashes of (cis vredecessor, It cannot but be fresh in the memory or the,: touching upon the West India CI counts, Mr. Addington said " hi with horror, anxiety, and alarm,' the islands, and that therefore issued a Commission for their measure was bailed by Mr, Tier exultation, as a new epoch in the the Finances; as a reform brough , tegrity of Mr. Addington alone ; would never have been interposed " Upon an attack so pointed, tically comparative, the friends sal naturally looked to the new for fad was eminently otherwise, Atte fly with all the eagerness of attar to vindicate his absent friend ; claim a praise which did not .beloi ther this was done ; whether he d ble with a cold and awkward gai' filment of that just call, I will attempt to assert; but certain it was, that the ab sent Mr. Pitt was defended by other friends in the presence of Mr. Addington, who disclaimed indeed the eulogy offered at his expence, but not till he had witnessed the. indignation of persons ostensibly less interested ; not till after he himself had spoken again to the subject; not till Mr. Sturges had pointed out that the ad for that very Commission, and with the very views for which exclusive praise was taken, had been the offspring of the vigilance of Mr. Pitt's own measures. It was then,_ and not till then, that .the acknowledgment was made." After a most candid, temperate, and able review of some of the leading features of Mr. Addington's Administration, he says— " It is far from my intention, and I am sure from my inclination, to enumerate at any length, those fads which with silent, but uniform impres. sion, have made many think that his situation in the Ministry is by no means appropriate. I wish not to remember the dilemmas with which he in. volved the Establishment of the Prince of Wales ; his strange want of concert with his Colleagues on the Naval Abuse Bill ; his ungracious yielding to Mr. Pitt on the Stockholders Exemptions ; or the blunders and vicissitudes that have marked every attempt towards the National Defence. I would forget, if I could, the low state of the Army, com pared even with its Peace Establishment, not only when war was likely, but when it absolutely was inevitable. I would forget that universal cry for arms, which, during the whole summer, resounded through the kingdu,t, and resounded in vain. I do not wish to dwell upon the obscurities with which the whole subjea of Ireland has been uniformly covered; obscurities which, though we may be un willing to push the charge of positive disingenuous. ness, leave him at least entangled in. inextricable difficulty. I would also forget the sad vacillations respeding Hanover, and a gallant army, from whose disgraces the high sense of honour of one of its Commanders could only find refuge in a Roman death. " These, however, are topics of most serious consideration to those who support him, under an impression that the Councils of His Majesty are guided with vigour and wisdom, equal to the calls Of our dreadful predicament. That Mr. Addington is a man, faithful to his trust, loyal and true to his King, no one will doubt : that he has considerable knowledge, and the habits of business, most persons allow ; that he has many private virtues, I am taught to believe ; that with all this, he might be greatly assisting in any Administration, and deserve well of his country in most honourable employments, party spirit alone will deny. But that his situation as the Leader and head of a great Country; as the DireEtor of its Councils, and the Manager of the House of Commons, is appropriate, party prejudice alone can believe. In that latter capacity, the dis position to temporize, and the vehemence to carry the immediate point in discussion, of which I have given so many examples, not only cripple him in a contest with great Leaders, but have often baffled him against unequal forces. He boasts of the state in which the country now feels so firm. In compari. son with the powers that were given him, the el fens are mean. The country has defended itself, and his failure has only _proved how much the wea. pon is beyond the hands that grasp it. The bow of Ulysses was not made 'to be bent by the suitors of Penelope ! " Into his management of Debates, and of the policy of the kingdom, he has, as is natural, intro. duced the same genius, which governed his direc. t i on o f i ts f o reign relations. If measures are Avcll conceived, they are hurt in their execution, and are sometimes stifled by a premature birth ; b ut a ll be speak a G o vernment faultering, yet obstinate ; timid, yet rash ;—warned, but not prepared. Are we too bold in saying that in after.time s Mr. Ad dington will be considered as a man, rather who claimed than obtained glory ; rather who had raised than fulfilled expectation ; dig7;ura imperio, perasset. " Here then I will close the most interesting, and most melancholy subject, that ever engaged my con templation. Where the Country suffers, it is no triumph to me to think, that the positions I have laid down are invulnerable. Justice to a man whose reputation it has been attempted to injure, and de fence of my own conduct, as well as that of others, for having withdrawn a support, which we once had given, are the sole incentives I have had to this exa mination. The blows aimed at Mr. Pitt have been aimed with the sword of Priam. Perhaps at this moment he stands higher than ever with his Coun. try ; certainly higher than a struggling and embar. rased Ministry, entangled in intricacies of their own forming ; and frotn which I sincerely hope they may be delivered. That Ministry have, on all occasions„ desired to be judged by their mea sures, provided they were judged in a spirit of can. dour ; I can safely say, that by those measures, and in that spirit, I have tried them. I have brought to the investigation no blind opinions ; no party views ; neither envy, nor hatred; nor hope, nor fear! If I thought one line of what I have written had proceeded from any personal feeling ; or was not borne out by the plainest fans ; or did not pro ceed from the most unmixed public motives ; I should feel eternal blame for giving it publication. But I can have nothing personal, nothing private, where I have either no acquaintance, or have re ed no injury. 'With those who have opposed Administration, I have by no means aced ; when these opinions were formed, they were 'med solely upon the proofs that came out of their Igerous conduit. To most of themselves, and of \r friends, I have a very sincere respea ; to many .hem regard; to some of them affdlion. As to to whose condua naturally forms the most promi_ ,t subject of the discussion, I know him only in Measures, and in his Speeches ; and if it were ierwise, it is there only that I should look for I have meiinvhim no disrespea ; if he is just, will be more anxibus to refute, than to resent ; if he can refute,. kshall have more pleasure in :nowledghi'g- -than= in defending my error. His laration firg4ftony the Grenvilles, and then from Pitt, I have ever considered as a public misfur le, as something in the nature of an unhappy civil The acrimony between the former and himself lust always lament ; and a reconciliation amongst them all, upon great and patriotic principles, must be viewed with joy. At the same time, false charges against his opponents, however ingeniously set off, or however promoted by encouragement, will neither raise his reputation, nor serve his interest. The Near Observer has at length done him more harm, than ever it did him good. All that malice and talent (for I do not deny it talent) could do, were attempted : yet such was the natural strength of the objet attacked, that Malice was forced to call in Misreffesentation to its aid; and Talent ruined itself by accumulating Inconsistencies. No wonder that the Treasury should pant for delivery from an alliance so pernicious, so baleful in its ef. fat ! " After all, these strifes of patty are ifteari, in comparison with the wounds of the Country. We are gamesters of a most dangerous, a most dreadful order : our play is for neither more nor less than the existence of Britain, and the King's Crown. Could wishes decide, there should be an end of party. All the opposing benches in the House of Commons present abilities that might yet save the Nation. Can any one r e fuse to say that Mr. Fox's mind is of the veri,:ftrst'Class ? It is dreadful to think that the whole of this ability is excluded from the Cabi. net. But men's eyes must open at last to their real situation. Let,us say with one who well loved his Country, Expergelcimini aliquando et copessite rem. publicam." use present, that in ceivi :oirmissioll of Ad- t h e he had been filled and ~" at the abuses in f ou r he had instantly dart correetion. T • thei , eney with joy a o f t i Administration .. him it about by the nent ; as a check w ; his ] I br Mr. Pitt. :-, ,-.. , nthe an d pry'. ~ , -4 ,liim, rt . the--jcji! . he si r defe - - . -•nd -, 3... :. „r• ty exp .-, - ackr achment••: - '- ' 7. ' S ,sepa )r at lease.: Il Mr. )ng to him. ', 1 tune [lid not rather ; .: war, it towards the '• 4 „gi not with accur. y Imi MAILS. DUI. ARNIM. llamburgh 3 PRICE OF STOCKS, THIS DAY AT TWELVIR O'CLOCK. Consols. - - - -56 k I Red. Ann. - - 56 THE SUN. SOLEM QUI3 DICERS. FALSUM AUDEAT LONDON, JANUARY 28, 1804. O N Wedn e sd a y a Vessel arrived at Plymouth, that had that morning spoke with Admiral Coßxwm.- L is, in the Pill( de Paris, about two leagues: from the Eddystone, steering for Torbay ; but on the ev e-ning of that day he was seen by another Vessel, s l o , , ing his course, with four Ships besides his own, f o r his station off Brest again, which, as the weather has been moderate ever since, he has no doubt re. gained. Fr seems to us extraordinary, that doubts shouhl be sugges:ed or entertained respeding the arrival of Captain SORREL with t he account of the Surren der of the French Force in St. Dom;lip. We have only to observe, that we stated the fa& upon official led to entertain the i s ? m ifi al r l m g smallest io n ,doubt, an 4 cannot be upon the subjea. ter: , ; Tittiviipic of Invasion•is renewed in some of the Papers, as likely immediately to attempted ; but we certainly see no movement on the opposite coast that looks like an attempt. so very immediate as is represented. The embarkation of so large an Army as the Chief Consul has assembled, must oc. cupy several days, and we should certainly have accounts of their being in motion, even from the observation of our own Cruizers, if through no other Channel, before they can put out from their Ports. We have no apprehension of their sitrprizittg us—Our Cruizers are vigilant, our Troops are ready—let the Enemy come when he will, lie will find us prepared to give him a warm reception. The following is given as a pretty corre& state ment of the Enemy's force : At Brest, there are now ready for sea ro Ships of the Line, 20 Frigates and large armed. Ships, 16 Sloops, 200 small Vessels of different descriptions, including a great number of Fishing Boats, and about 28,e00 coops, unsay French ; the whole of which are clearly understood to be destined for Ireland. At Havre de Grace, there were, the beginning of the present month, six stout vessels, carrying IS guns each; 3o large Boats nearly' finished ; iSo of a smaller description; a few Sloops and. armed . Brigs ; 16,G00 Troops of different nations, and several More were daily expeded to arrive. At Rouen, zjo , 'Fishing and other Boats ; and 8000 Troops, including a number of Genoese and Picdinantese. At Ghent, there were, on the 4th instant. 3 large vessels, of a flat cOnSilitdtion, each. carrying IS guns, and capable of conveying from 400 to 6no Troops each ; 6 Brigs for Cavalry, capable of holding from 20 to 4) horses each; xto Schu)ts and other small vessels ; and about 12000 Troops, ready to proceed to the Coast. At Williamstacit—t7o narrow long Vessels, and a great number of brass Cannon, destined tilt . the Expedition. At Rotterdam—two Men of War building, and about three weeks back orders were received for the building of fifty Boats. There were but few Troops in the ncighoourhood, and these were every day changing their positions. Of tne state of the Naval Preparations in the Tele), we have not yet received an accurate account; but the Military Force in North Holland is estimated at about 80,000 Troops, 20,000 of whom. are now at or near the Itriuer. In Siernoiiis Deep there :•;:;ii‘lyts, and lather small vessels. • NAVAL NEWS. PY LIM OLT TII JAR. 26.—Arrived the Mars Armed Ship, with some French Prisoners and a few Troops, from Jamaica : sailed thence 69 days since with the homeward.bound Fleet, under convoy of the Cumberland, of 74 guns, and parted company with the Fleet in a gale of wind on the twit instant, and there is reason to fear they are much scatter• ed, as well as many of them damaged. The Creole Frigate, which sailed with the above,'sprang a leak on the passage, and made so much water, that the Crew were obliged to be taken out, and t 4 Ship burnt. The American Ship Brutus' which arrived here yesterday, spoke on the same morning the Ville do Paris, of Ito guns, Admiral CORNWALLIS, with five others of his Fleet, about two leagues off the Eddystone, standing for Torbay and and in the even.. ing Dispatches were forwarded from hence to the Admiral by the Fox Cutter. By a Vessel since arrived here, intelligence it received that the gallant Admiral CORNWALLIS t in the Yule de Paris, of a to guns, with the Dread: nought, of 98, Mars, Minotaur, and Co/oassa, of 74 guns each, were last evening standing down Chan. nel, to resume their station off Brest, without coming into Port to repair the damages that must consequently have been sustained in abe late dreadful hurricane. From the indefatigable exec• tions and zeal manifested by the gallant Officer before mentioned, what have we to dread from the bombastic menaces of the Enemy ! PoltTSltot/ill, JAN. 27. Arrived the Cambriirg• for the East Indies ; Sham:now Gun-boat from. St, Maloes, taken by His Majesty's Ship Cerkihti. Sailed the Martha, HOLLAND, for Eliza TAPLER., and Idle, DEXTON,.feks4iefd,, rhAt, Lot. z7.---Sailed the Autumn for Dunge' ness ; the Starling Gan-brig on , a Cruize off Ostencl and Deptford Lighter for Deptford. The IValmer Castle, Wincheltea, Cirencester, and Glatton East India Ships, sailed last night for Ports. mouth. The Brilliant Frigate has made a Sign a l o f Con." voy to the Westward. In the Downs—the Monarch, Utrecht, Brilliant, chant' pion, Harpy, Perseus, Zebra, Speedwell, Jackall Gun -brig' Abundance Store.ship. SHEERNESS, JAN. 27.—Arrived and came in the Little Nore to refit, His Majesty's Ship Mai' cienne, Capt. MACKENZIE. This day His Majesty's Ship illustrious, # l4 guns, was paid the bounty and two months - 040C" after which she will immediately proceed to Pi ll Sir ROBERT CALDER'S Squadron. BRIXHAM QUAY, JAN. 2g.—Arrived, and re: mains with His Majesty's ship Jamaica ' the PlaneP e frigate. As the wind v eere d t o t h e S. S. E. S he very prudently bore up agai n f o r Torb a y, as 4 161 c could not have weathered 'Portland.—Arrived, 14 ' evening, and remains, the ship Mary. Ann, of L° P ; don, R. M l LA,trittm master, from Jamaica, boon to London. The Captain states, that she silk"; from Jamaica the Ist of December last, in compin do i with 47 sail, under convoy of His Majesty . ' ih n i r , Cumberland, of 74 guns, and Creole frigate. "'; the 29th of December they encountered a viol gale, which made almost every ship leaky. 1.1. 0 "( Creole's leaks were so serious, that .on the ad lc . January, Captain SIMILt, the Commodore, ',°° out all her hands, and ordered her to be sunk. "Ar o Afar, "Inn's leaks also increased, to that on g, s It instant she was obliged to make' Strials of 111 11: tte,s to the Commodore, who bore clown imme, ‘ "; ately, and relieved her. Captain MILAIIRIN SA every ship he saw was pumping ; he spoke the fr i p mouth, of London, one of the fleet, who made tel feet water an hour. The Mary den, and x 6 1/1 0 ' 0 kept company with the Cumberland till Sundalt.4 the westward of Scilly, when another gale of org s p separated them; she made the best of her course ' Channel. Yesterday morning His MAJESTY went in d e carriage to the Riding-house at Pimlico, a nd fa ct i .for a considerable time. His MAJESTY ape' tin - ex.:el - lint health and spirits. • HER MAJESTY and the PRINCESSES too k .* ing on the Harrow Road, attended by the COO Of AYLESBURY. PRINCESSES MARY, SOPHIA, and ANIELrm tended by Lady J. THYNNE, took an a iring Islington. of The DUKE Of YORK and PRtrwres Sorkilb GLOUCESTER, visitcd THEIR MAJESTIES. o f Yesterday the DUKES of CLARENCE and 1 01 returned from Brighton. Last night THEIR MAJESTIES had a Selta • - ca The PRINCE of WALES is to reside at Vfis GRANTLEY'S elegant seat near Guildford, du ° the stay of his Regiment at that place. tior His Royal Highness the DUKE of YORK yeSt ri e t gits C held a Military Council and Levee at the Pyre, Guards. Lord HoBART and Mr. YORKE were sent, as were many Military Officers. ~t r ot The CHANCELLOR of the ExcHRQUER Y'' „, '' -e are erl gave a grand Dinner at his house in Downing- s :4st to several of the Cabinet Ministers. WM $$ Highness the Dula of YORK was of the par s i / ), were also Colonel CLINTON (the Duke's Secre ta '' and several Military Officers. if Some Foreign Journals, French, and Geo:W .4 oo said to have reached T own yesterdays L'l4 conta in nothing worthy of notice. " r.._ ' r