The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-05 00:00:00

the country was to be protected against such a force—
if the arguments used were just and true, the Com-
mittee must see that it was a question not for
a department to decide—not even for Government to de-
cide—it was for the country—it was the question whether
we should have peace or war. He should recommend the
Hon. Gentleman, before be proceeded to recommend such
a course as that, to calculate the cost.—( Hear, hear.) It
would not be a question of a few sail of the line—it would
not be a question of a few thousand men, or a few hundred
thousand pounds, but it would be a question of millions.
It would require at least fifteen sail of the line to put the
country in that state of defence which the Hon. Gentle-
man bad recommended. Every statesman in that a; well as
foreign countries might be wrong, and a war establishment
in time of peace might be right, but it was incumbent upon
the advocates of that system to show that all these states..
men were wrong in the course they had pursued. A curious
document had been put into his hand a few days ago,
from which he would read an extract to the House.
It was a private memorandum presented to Louis the
XVth by the Duke de Choiseul.—( Hear, Lear.) The
object was to point out the best mode of putting down
the maritime superiority of England. The secret scheme
of the Duke, which was to destroy not only the navy but
the resources of this country, was to keep her in a state
of feverish excitement and apprehension—to compel her
to exhaust her strength in war establishments.-s-( Hear,
hear)—and never to afford her by actual war an opportu-
nity of dispelling the bug-bear.—( Hear, aid laughter.)
o and
The Duke de Choiseul, no insignificant minister
f a
foreign power, might have been wrong—Lord Grenville
might have been wrong, and after all it mightboeverringmhtertiot
keep up in time of peace a war establishment. When the
establishedwHhoeunsethhaedcoreucnotgryniwseedntanwdiththemint, t
thath principle,
Government
would do its best to go with them, but until t'aat time came
they were of opinion that it was best to remain as they
were.—(Hear, hear.) Now, if they were not to have a
war establishment, then the amount of force to be kept up
must depend upon the further or nearer prospect of
war, and the state of their relations with foreign
powers, of which the Ministry must be tb e judges. So
strongly did he feel that, that he thought the Hon. Gen_
tlemen opposite were entitled to some creitit for the reduc-
tions they had made. Believing, however, that it was not
for the honour of the country that the Navy should be left
in the state the Right Honourable Gentleman had ,
left it, the present Administration proposed an in.
crease of the Navy, which they th,mght adequate to
the exigency of the time. Circumstances had not
changed since then, and that was file ground on which
they proposed for the present year the same vote as for
the last two years.—( Hear.) It might be some consola-
tion even to his Hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham
to know that there had been no serious increase in the
Russian fleet since times long gone by—at least 40 years
ago. In 1787 Russia had 45 sail of the line ; in 1801, 61
sail of the line; in 1807, 43 sail of the line, which was the
precise number at the present moment. It was perfectly
true that they had 43 afloat and building, hut the esta-
blishment they professed to :keep up was 45 sail of the
line.—( Hear, bear, hear.) Now they had been for
many years in a position equally dangerous with
that in which they stood at the present moment. In
1817 they had 15 sail of the line in commission, and Russia
had 30 ; in 1823 they had 12 sail of the line. and Russia
had 37, being only one-ibbd. In 1832 they had 11
soil of the line aid Rusin hal 36 b only