The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1780-03-21 00:00:00, page 2

^fare, the author of its ruin I It is time that the
Ap^efentatives of the people, fenfiole of the extent of
Qir duties, with regard to their conflituents, ffiould
+pea their eyes to the public calamities ; it should
be the order of things, io the Spirit of the conflitu
tion, that at the beginning of Parliament, the people
mould teftify their fatisfiaion, in feebg that con
junaure arrived which is waited for with so much
impatience ; a time which ought to be set apart for
the redrofi of grievances; but it is r.ot so, this
very time, on the contrary is adnally among the
evils that sffi & the people. It is known that the
objea of our meeting is reduced nearly to the busi
ness of approving some new tax, which, however
ingeniously presented, is nevertheless an additional
weight so the burden under which it already finks.
Things are brought to such a pass. that perhaps thete
is more to hope for from the Ministers themselves,
than from the body formed by the constitution, for
the preservation of the rights of the people, they per
haps will choose to retire, and to leave in more able
hands the government of the state. I exhort them to
it, prudence counfelt them with me; they may
tfain, with a confirmed majority, reckon to go on
force little time with impunity ; but this time can
rß be long, theit friends cannot long delay in aban
donin' them to their fate, when that moment Shall
arrive,' I elk, is there a Member in this House, who
will prefect himfelf to Screen them from the national
vengeance ? On this challenge it were not a little
farprizing to fee a new convert rife, it was,
Mr. Adam, who having uniformly voted against
^immigration, in the beginning cf the left session,
had about the end cf it made a tear through the
counties, and had learnt, that it was not the Minis
ters that were to blame ; but thlt it was the officers
who were intruded with the different commands !
This difeovery had totally changed his manner of
thinking, cf course he did not fee why a total change
in the administration was become necessary. " I
a,ee continued he, that to give firmnefs and ener
gy to the council of the State, it is necessary to dis
charge Some Members, but to take all together, there
is more wisdom, more vigor, more popularity actu
ally in the administration than in the candidates
who canvass the places of those that compose it:
Our country is not in Safety in the hands of those
that hold the rein#; in those of the oppefite petty its
defirca on would be immediate, a fhameful peace
would be the eonfequence of such a change. What
is most certain is, that England fees wiffiin itfelf a
very flrange phenomenon, an indolent administrati
on, that faceted; in no one thing, and an opposition
without polarity I but now, if one cannot give
indifferently his approbation and his support to all
the Members of the Administration, there is some of
them whose abilities and virtues inspire more confi
dence in the people, than any of the Members of
the opposition. Name them, name them, was
>c:iM out from all parts. Mr. Adam then named the
Lord Chancellor, and Viscount Stormont, he enlar
ged particularly upon the qualities the merits; the
application and the popularity of the Viscount ; and
declared, that this new Secretary of State possessed
on one part the entire confidence of his Sovereign,
and on the other was infinitely agreeable to the peo
ple ; bit', continued he, it is not enough, to save
our country, it is necessary that all the Members of
the Administration agree equally. It is necessary
that the noble Lord, who fits on the Treasury bench
(Lord North) mould give hia affiflance, that he
ihould renounce his indolence, his tafie for inactivi
ty ; that he should at lift awake, and concern him
fclf in the welfare of the nation. We cannot dis
semble that the t<fk is difficult, that the danger is at
our gates and press us strongly, but let the Gentlemen
only recall the year 1691, and they will agree, that
at that conjuncture we were in at least as dangerous
ciicumflances : twice beaten at fee by the French,
having in the very bosom of the kingdom an enemy
risen up again* the Crown, the nation was certainly
then in a more dangerous situation than at present ;
and I doubt not, if unanimity Should second our en
deavours, we Shall be able toavert the ftorrc."
According to this Honorable Member replied Mr,
Thomas Towrdhend, the Members of the oppofiti
on are sAudly the candidates who caavafs for the
places cf the Ministers I let him perm t me to observe
at haft for myfeif, that I am not a candidate for any
place: lam ignorant upon what authority the Ho
Dor^Sk Member could found this fkangt affection ;
th, Bonou^bh Merrier in taking a turn into Scot?
her; h^ rhfc.vared that the Ministers whom he had
formerly so highly condemned were not to bl^m%
3id L^c. ^ he teas imagined that in one Single in
francs, th y were right, he concludes that they have
rever been ^r^e in any point whatever. As for
r^idf, v<em , 1 have been, I have seen. I have
- rd the con ray ; I have found that the Ministers
^e defpbta wd execrated every where ; and how
\0 it be r.:CTh& ! I not only join my vo:cc to
that of the public in this refpe& but I believe from
my foul, that it is not want of (talents) that it is not
inability alone that has contributed to our misfor
tunes, to our di(grace, bat that there is treason mix
cd with it, on my conscience I believe it; and it is
only by being penetrated with this idea, that I can
account for what is past. I have feea a Beet of the
House of Bourbon failing through the channel in tri
umph, threatening our coasts, having it absolutely
in its power to destroy the second port, the second
arsenal of Great Britain, a,id to have invaded any
part of the Coast wherever } had pitafed to try a
defeent : I have seen an Bnglifh fleet so difprepor
tioned in flrength, that it has only found its Safety
in flight ; I have feea i : quit the channel at the ap
proach of the enemy ; I have Cen it pursued at sea,
fl, from shore to ihorc, and at left taking advantage
of a favourable breeze te run from the enemy, and
by Shunning them, (o feel a fheker at Spithead ! The
situation of Plymouth fainifhes another proof cf
that which may be called fomenting more than ina
bility on the part of the Minifies ; without a gxrri
fon, without fapplies, this place was absolutely
without defence, and would have fallen in a few
hours into the ha&ds of the enemy had they attacked
it, iome Members that hear me (peak were at Ply
mouth when the enemy ap; eared, they are able to
give a proper detail in what state that place then was.
if we carry our attention to other objeAs relative
to the la* campaign, we shall find that th, detach
went sent to New York, under Admiral Arbuthnot,
did not arrive at its destination until the a6:h cfAu
guft ; that by means of this delay all effenfive ope
ra ions became impracticable, the campaign was li4
sniped to expeditious of horror ; they reduced villa
ges to ashes, and the English name is covered with
ignominy 1 to whom are all theft drfates to be at-
tributed, all these indignity ? it is natural to attribute
them to the Ministers; but to Ikreen themselves at
once from blame and punilhment, they have had re
course to a fttatagem as new as contrary to the spirit
of the constitution : their agents or emissaries have
published every where that the King is his own Mi
nister, after this aflertion, we have seen every de
partment answer to each accusation, The Kin% is his
own Minifler : The King is his own General, of
course no one can blame Lord Amberft: The King
is his own Admiral of courfe,&c. his own Secreta
ry of course, &c. in short, according to this conve
nient system, the King is the author of every measure ;
and the Ministers have the art to throw all the blame
that they have incurred upon a head which they
ought never to speak of but with refold, and whom
the confutation declares can never do wron,, Mr.
Mitchell confirmed what the Honorable Member
had said relative to the defencelefs date cf Plymouth
when the combined fleet appeared before that place :
adding that he was an ere-witness. and that a finale
74 gun Ship could have reduced the place to asher.
Lord George Gordea, whose letter wrote in qua
lity of president of the associated pictehants of Scot
land and England, was published in our last piper,
delivered himftlf in a manner which perhaps it
would be dangerous (for an out door person) to re
late: the pipers of the opptfiion themselves agree
that from one end to the other it breathed, High
Trgafon.
He made an analyst of the debates of the parlia
ment of Ireland, and added a degree cf warmth, of
liberty, and resentment to a discourse already faffi
ciently animated of which we Shall give extracts :
he treated Administration with infamy, he accused
them not only of having dismembered America from
the Crown, but of having alienated the afftdionsof
England, Scotland and Ireland. With refpe& to
Scotland, he said, that it had 150 thoufirad men rea
dy to execute the vengeance of the nation upon its
, Ministers : He made thereupon to these fame Minis
ters a very artful proportion, which was to fend in
to that Kingdom arms and accoutrements compleat
for ten thousand men ! Hi (poke on this occasion
very highly in praise of Paul Jones : Said that this
brave man was his countryman and praised him par
ticularly that he dJ not burn Greenock, and other
places, which he could have very easily executed :
He lamented that the Scotch petitions had been ne
gle&ed, adding that they had made force resolutions,
of which he intended to make a collection in two vo
lumes one for the King the other for the Prince of
Wales. To foften what he had said. Lord G^rge
Gordon finished, by declaring that the Scotch had
remarked, that the Government had adopted the con
duel for which the family of Stuart had been exptll
ed, and that they firmly believed the King was a
papifi !
It did not appear that Lord North thought he
ought to answer such Grange declamations, but he
arose immediately after Lord George, no doubt ex
peAing that what he had to fay would give a more
favourable tarn to the debate, and cause it to be left
animated, I do net deny said the Minister, but what
the confe&ure w&s very alarming and &ogerouf ;
a powerful confederation was formed again* Great-
Britain, whoeven to this very moment finds herfelf
without allies : If this last circumfance is difadvan
ta^eous, is it just that you Should blame the Minis
ters ? The f&a is. that no foreign power hat judged
it proper or nece^aty to espouse the cause of Great-
Britain , how can the Miniflers help this ? at most.
although ^e have been deprived of this tcfouice, what
has happened so difyactful for us ? they havz medi
tated an iuvaftm have continued to make formida
ble armxmtnts ; but in the m drt of all these alarming
appeareaces what is in faft oar real situation ? we
are in a better state to repel any attack whatever,
than we were at the time of the declaration of Spain :
while surfaces have daily i ercif.d, what is, the
true fixation of the enemy ? what have they done
from which they could draw aiy advantage ? they
have encouraged nionttious expenses have threaten
ed us with every thing that can jollify the fears of a
nation : In what have all these threats ended ? in
nothing. They have left thefa mmer, have made a
vain parade on our ccaSs, with a fipericrity cf nura
bers so decikd that it would not have been pardon
able to have hazarded an a&icn seainft the^. How
ever, if we had been inform'd of force incentran
ces relative to their internal fination, and which we
at prefect know, I Should have been very easy. in
learning; that our fleet had attacked theirs. It must
be confeffed tim Plymouth w s not in the flat it
ought to have been, however there were two regi
raente more there than the year before, and as it was
not na.ural to foppofe the enemy would have attack-
ed it, before they had beat out B,et i& : he interval
Plymouth would have been found in a better fate
of defence ; but at present I could have wished that
the enemy had 6ffe&ed a defeept, there would have
refused great good from it to Great Britain. The
next year we (hall be able to aA with more vigor and
perhaps with more eff:A ; but if we Should confidez
that this year we have only a&ed on the defer, five,
and the enemy on the effe; five, it mufi be confeffed
that to take it altogether, we have come off very
well, with rega d to Ireland all that lean fay is that
I hope that the ooftinate prejud ces, and the violent
measures fuggefied by the fectet enemies of these
two countries will not raise a barrier between the in
tentions of England and the good cf Ireland, our de
sire is to fem an advantageous plan both for the one
and the other ; to give to Ireland all the advantages
of Commerce, in freeing them from all its disadvan
tages. would be the ruin of E gland; bat I hope
that the two kingdoms confuting their tree interest
will amicably embrace the overture; that thill be
madethem when they fee that jaftice and equality
are the balls of the system that will be proposed to
them. Lord North afterwards aufwered diftinAly
to the different imputations contained inQe fpetch
of Mr. Thomas 1 ewnfend.
Admiral Keppel spoke in his place ; condemned
highly the meafurei that the raioiflry had taken or
rather, had negleAed to take at the beginning of the
last naval campaign, why, said he, did you not fend
a fl:et to sea # n time, to hay* p evented the juncti
on of the two fleets ? Why dd not Sir Charles Har
dy open the campaign by the blockade of the har
bour of Brest ? By this negka you have left the ene
my at liberty to attack you whenever they pleaftd:
If you are quit cf an a'arm ; if Mr D'O vfliers has
not landed at Plymouth, and has not reduced that
town and its arfanals to afri, it was only the vio
lent eaß wind, which blew while he was before it,
that hindredhip from approaching near enough to
have effkaed a landing. The Ministers fay, that
next year they will s& with more vigor ! They talk
of reinforcements ; for my part, to speak freely, Icx
px& no good from all they can do, at least that with
inferior forces, they will not be able to fight the ene
my, for we are fare that he can always preserve a
superiority in number over us; and that by the month
of May next the French will fend to sea eight ships
of the line more than they had the last year; th®
Spaniards four.
Friday 26th, Lord Lewifhim having appeared
with the address which had been intruded to a Com
mittee the evening 'before, there arose many new de
bates on this fubjea.
Sir George Young, among other motives for the
opposition, he thought he ought to make to the form
of the address, alled^ed the defcncelefs fi nation of
Plymouth, when the combined fleets appeared before
it, he afarted, and offered to prove at the bar of the
House, that it was so dcfencclefi, that if the French
had thought proper to have aken it, they might ve
ry easily become matter of it.
Lord Shuldham, who commanded at Plymouth at
the very time, effaced the Haufe to the contrary,
affecting, that to his own,knowledge, there wastheti
at that very time 2000 barrel* of powder, and all 0-
ther Applies in proportion : That to fay a 74 gun
(hip could have taken the places was a grange a^-.