The Sun.
London, England, 1801-10-30 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

THURSDAY, OCT. 29.
THE Usher of the Black Rcd haviv signified
Ills Majesty's command, the Sy E;11( F It, accompanied
by most of the Members present, rrocseeded to. the
House of Peers.

The SPEAKER h‘aving returned, and after satlO.
time had elapsed, the Bill for tlie,ii4ore effe,:qu'allf
preventing accordi4
!he usual form, read a first time.

His MAIESTY'S Speech being then read from 6'3
Chair,
Lord LOUT' AINE rose—He• was fully. impreSse.' !
he said, and.he trusted in common
with the importance of. the CominuaicatiOn
had just received from the Throne,7considered...-
reaped ,to. the Interests of the Country, and the grge
Of its Arms. He did not doubt, he should be- joi:1
by every one in heartfelt cone-reitulation upon the
happy events which had beenPforinally announce-Pe'
events which consummated the Glory of the British
Arms, secured the Interests, „maintained inviolalCi
the lionour, and bid fair to increase and cOniolv;
date the Prosperity of the Briti...ll Empire. In Coy'
tenth-tin- the happy conclusion of 'Peace, -he -Of;
every 'reason' to hope for a still fUrther increase °`
those blessings, which had hitherto peculiarly distft
guished- this Kingdoni, calculated to meet' cvefle
wish- and desire of the People. In looking baei!;
upon those Successes which had ultimately led, aft°,
a severe struggle, to the happy event we were no's
called upon to cele'brate, there was every real
for ':the most unbounded' exultation. Success 11
crowned His Majesty's Arms, both by Sea and Lan:
lOng train of Victories and Triumphs ; -eimoe't;
which he could not 'sufficieritly-dwell .iipon (11
late glorious success of our errns in Egypt, WhiCh
peared to have immediately led to aPacification wilt
the French Republic. It wouldbe of course irregul3e
'fcichirn to enter into any detail .relative to tit
Terrns of the Peace'with the French Republic ;
he did not doubt, when the Preliminary Treaty 01'4
laid before the House, it would be found' that
material , interest of, the Country , had been 11.6'
gleeted ; but 'that on the other hand,: every Pl°'
vision had' been- made Which could- he conblder'
ed as necessary to the we)fare of the Kingal
or expedient for-its security.' ,He trusted it wool
:be found 'to be. a glorious termination of a W.1,?"1,
„undertaken for the sake of preserving .the
interests of the -Country, carried- on :With
gout Wand judgment, -and supported by brad',`
and courageous exertion. The Convention 'w !i
Russia, Sweden and Denmark, was, he s 310;
equally a subject .• of praise and Aongratulati°,
:An Expedition, justly 'conceived 'and 'promPrfp6
executed, , had forced them. to consent to
evt.
limitation of the '...exercise- of, 'nights, the extsion 'of which -was unjustly -claimed, and ove
claim attempted to.beenforted by. Arms ; of Righto
the abuse of the exercise of which, could -not tbri,
moment be endured, injurious :its it necessarily 0-0 j
be to the Commerce and Prosperity, the Rights o'
Interests of Britain. This ovent also formed ac
A -
ber and a striking proof of the superioritykif 04,
Arms, and the 'bravery kicl:gallantry of th.ol
employed to fight. the Battles of .the Country-
He was- too *well aware that a large sum w°`leil
be wanted for. the- service of the year ; -bac' tv-c,'
Circumstance lie-considered .of little it-liper,°'
at the' present moment. 'The Countr-y 19°04
ing forward with, hope and exultation toe"' c,7 1
benefiCial 'efFeets, which:there was. every reasol3'ce, I
suppose would result from the happy event of Pe3co,
and which. a large- rnajority• of the Country sVre,
eagerly anticipating and expeding. Any sum,
fore, that might be called for at the present el
Merit, must be little felt, and the pressure:-ar(vot
from it 'lightly estimated. The general-joy 01. teti
'Country would absorb all regret at any additi°o4
burden, when that buiden was considered %'s
joy
last arising from the War, and when it was c At
pared with the.benefits -arising- from the Peace.
the same time, there. was no doubt that the 513 V
whatever might be their amount, placed at tilc,LKl
.
posal of His MajestY'S MinisterN, would be 11
61a,
with the utmost economy, and the most Pr"!
frugality, applied only. to the necessities or
country, and the. maintenance of its intereitse tv.
taking:a retrosped of the recent 'situation 01 •or
Country, .he was, struck with admiration 'at
,ti:: lt forbearance and faithful loyalty of the greatcJ
of the People- Thoughleavily pressed and we-i:;
Get
down by •an extreme scarcity of the oecess) Get
of life, they had yet borne the evil with al.' fee,
exemplary-patience and fortitude, and the tn°slyese
shaken loyalty and attachment to. His- Ni.ilor.„o•
Goveinment. No murmtirs- of. diicontept, !). , 6'0;1
ebullitions of violence had escaped-thern-, b4', I"'t 10
ainid-st distress, and firm under niisfortone,,t_e)ietese
, exhibited .a rare example to surroundiri,e'r

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It was, ,therefore, with; the most heartfelt satisfaetion
that he rejoiced at the plenteous Harvest with which
the benignity of Providence had blessed the Land,
and conferred upon a grateful People. He contem-
plated? with exultation, their patient forbearance
and unshaken loyalty thus
.rewarded. Eyery praise
was hoWever due to Chose who, amidst the pressure
of Scarcity, .had used .every exertion to alleviate
that pressure and lighten the burden. Much had
been then done, and successfully, as far as imperi.:
ous circumstances would
.allow or permit. -It was
with the utmost pleasure and satisfaction he paid
the tribute of applaUse to His Majesty's Ministers,
who hod at length terminated -a War of nine years,
with honour and advantage to the. Country,, and
who had placed the EMpire in a situation of indis-
t- .
puted pre-eminence, by Treaties which suffici-
ently secured its interests, without compromising
its
..honour, and .maintained its honour without
:its., interests. But whilst the .me.ed of
just 'franc was awarded to the present Ministers,
let not that be forgotten which was due to His Ma-
jesty's late Ministers, to those who, during a
period of-unexampled .danger; unparalleled in the
history of mankind, when the Empire was threatened,
not only by the open hostility of a numerous host
of foreign enemies, but still more, by the secret
tnachinations of domestic foes, -by their judgment
1-Icl ability, and,by the vigour and energy of „their
itteasures, preserved inviolate our Honour and our
Territories, our Religion and -.our Constitution.
lie trusted the Address he should have the honour to
move would meet with the unanimous concurrence
of the House. He concluded with moving -the
following. Address.

That an Humble 'Address be presented to His,Majcsty, to
return His Majesty the Thanks of this House for His Most
Gracious Speech froM the Throne ; to assure His Majesty;
that we learn with great satisfaelion, that the differences
'with the Northern Powers have been adjusted by a Con-
eution with the Emperor of Russia, to which the Kings of
beninark and Sweden have expressed their readiness.toac-
cede ; 'and that Prelimina►ies of Peace have been ratified be-
lween Ills Majesty and the French Republic.

That wa acknowledge His Majesty's goodness, in having
been pleased to direct Copies of theso, Treaties to be laid
before us and to assure His Majesty that we'shall not fait
to apply our. immediate attention to the important transac-
tions to which they relate.

That we are fly sensible of the paternal solicitude which
leads His 'Majesty to regret .the necessity of large additional
hpplies ; but that, while we sincerely participate in that
kutirnent, we feel the indispensible duty of prOiding for

. .
tilt, expellees ,which•. must fora time be unavoidable in diiferont
Parts of the world, and of maintainingap adequate establish-
trlent on the final adjustmeOt of Peace.
Thar we shall be anxious'for the adoption of all such eco-
arrangements as may not. be inconsistent with the
great obje& which His Majesty has so justly at heart, of
etreEinally providing for the Security of all His Majesty's
130minio •
That we truly participate in the-gratification which His
`alajesty has been so graciously pleased-to express, at the re-
lief which the bounty of Divine Providence has afforded to

his -People by the abundance of the late Harvest ; and we
acknowledge wi th the utmost Gratitude, His Majesty's gra-
ctous acceptance and approbation of proofs of that lerriper
and fortitude which have been manifestedby all descriptions
of bisSubjedts, under the various and 'complicated difftcul-
tie; with which they have had. to contend.
We r..efie& with sentiments of just exultation on the dis-,
forces
valour and Frninent Services of His Majesty's
.")rces by Sca and Land, which at no period have been sur-
11a3sed and that we..have contemplated with the utmost sa-
k6faElion, the unprecedented exertions of the Militia and
/'encibles and the zeal and perseverance of the Yeomanry
*".4ll4olunteer Corps of Cavalry and Infantry. •
That we most heartily -congratulate His Majesty on the
'Naval and Military Operations of the last Campaign, and on
the glorious and successful Issue of the Expedition to Egypt,
tbarked as it has been throughout by atchievernents which, in
their consequences; and by theirexarriple; cannot fail to con_
dace to the lasting Advantage and llonour of this Country.
chat we cordially share in His Majesty's earnest wiShes that
his Subjefts may enjoy, in their full extent; the returning
Blessings of Peace in the progressive increase of the National
•e9mtnerce, Credit, and Revenues ; and, aboVe all, in the
disturbed possession of their Religion, Laws, and Liberties,
'4rter the safeguard and protedion.irf that Constitution,
Ivhich it has been the great ohjedt of all our efforts to preserve,
tt which, it is' our fixed determination, as it IS our most
duty, •to-tranmit unimpaired to our Descendants.
WODEHOUSE said, he felt confident
lie approbation which; he doubled not, would' be
,4liwartied to the Add‘ress by the Vote of the House.
fle joined with sincere congratulation in the,gener:zl
}(i expressed upon die subje4 of a Treaty of Peace
v
sth France, in .which the security. of the Country
1'
vas amply provided, fur, and its interest firmly
11'',tintained. He rejoiced at the Convention‘With,
11'%, Nlrtlierit Powers, in which the Rights of Bri-,
tarn wire 'maintained with undeviating • firmness,
and the abuse of 'the exercise of those Rights
l'ere conceded to the Enemy, -guarded against with'
tvery stri#ness. Every one must, he
11/4-id,- feel a considerable degree:of legation at the
:PPY and glorious, tc:mination of a War which:
tO. as not begun for the purpose :of gratifying
ambition, or extending the Territories of Rd-
-441, but which she was compelled to commence'and
trY on'during -the long period in.- which we had,
.seenfated- to continue it, for the purpose of pre-:
ving her honour and her interest, and the dearest
littt4,!3 of Religionand Independence and which had
loo" thus terminated by a Treaty of Peace, -which,
tvo A it could 'not now be discussed in detail,
eyeti, he was convinced, he found adequate to
vtlyrY purpose of honour, of injerest, and of se-
kiltY ; and be doubted not-, that His"-Majesty's
c4tellisters, in concluding the Treaty,. would take
wh. that every farther provision should' be made
e,‘lc_li Might be considered necessary for the final
t,lflty of the British Empire. He was perfeCtly
pkvi'Ked of the• necessity of a considerable Sup_
voit • which he had no doubt would • be cheerfully
1!a in that 1-souse, and as cheerfully concurred
oCY" the People, when they looked to the great
;151q1 attaine4 by the Peace. Gentlemen roust,
• the
P„: same titre, be aware; that a much larger
IliiiiceertEsttablishm_.ent,nould he necessary than had
uh
been' rev
,in this Country, from 'the-
r<tuon_which had taken pace in 'the face of Eu-

•
rope, and various other .titeunistances: lie ttra§
convinced, however, that nothing would be asked
for by His Majesty's .Ministers which was not ab.,
solutely necessary to the security or the welfare of
the Kingdom.. To our brilliant successes by sea
and land, he must pay his tribute of admiration ;
they had been most glorious and unexampled. To
one man, however, he more, particularly yielded
the palm of admiration, he alluded to the: gallant
ABER.CKOMBY ; 'to whose bra,Very and gallantry,
to whose- judgment and skill, must peculiarly be
ascribed those successes which immediately led to
that happy termination of the War, we were now
called upon to celebrate, and without which, that
much to be desired event would, it-was more than
probable, have. been retarded and delayed.
The ,atchievements of the British arms had, inune-
diatelyJee. to the happy.event of Pe;:e, and they
ought to be .regarded with. every testimony of ap_
. plause, and every mark of approbation. Peculiar
praise was 'also due to those who had seized the
happy Moment for Negotiation, and who, without
being elated by success, had founded upon it claims
which at once united a proper dignity and a happy
moderation, .and insured a fortunate completion to
-what was' so auspiciously begun. He could not
sufficiently applaud, the moderation which marked
the condu& of the Negotiation on our part, and
proved the attention- direCted by His Majesty's
Ministers towards the real and solid interests. cif
the Country. The mass of the People were en-
titled, he said, to die highest praise, for the peace-
able and orderly Condua which they had displayed
under the pressure of unexampled difficulties, ter
the loyalty they 'had shewo, and the fortitude they ,
had evinced. He contemplated with exultation the
'bounteous harvest which the Country now enjoyed,
which wouldmake a great part of those difficulties
under which the People had laboured disappear, and
which would be some recompense for their excellent
condtki. The advantages which would accrue to
the People of England from the measures which had
been pursued, were,
.he thought, too obvious to he
denied. Their Commerce and Resources would be ,
enlarged, their interests benefited, and their pro..
sperity and, happiness, individually, and as a na-
tton, materially' increased. He wished they might
long continue to enjoy those benefits and those ad-
vantages, that prosperity and that happiness.
Mr. FOX said, he wished it distiotaly to be un-
derstood upon what groundhe should that night give
his vote. Whatever difference of opinion might take
place relative to the terms of the' Peace, or its
general tenor; or the manner of-concluding it, he
most_cordially and unequivocally joined in the gc-
neral joy and exultation to which the conclusion
of Peace :had given rise, congratulated that
House, anchhe Country, on the happy event which`
had taken.plae, and which-had called forth a ge.
neral sentiment of applause. He only wished to
add, that he should give his decided approbation
of the Address:by his vote.

Mr. PITT said, he rose to deliver, in a few
words, his opinion in concurrence with what, had,
already been 'delivered on ,the iintortant. Subjea
now before the _House, and upon which he. was glad
to have the prospea of unanimity, a thilig which.
was tot common; even
.01). the first day of a Session.
He said he would not enter at large into the trans
anions now hefore :the House, and which His MA-
JEiTY had atmounced from the Throne, either as to
the Pacification which had been concluded with the
Northern Powers, or the signature to the Preli-
minsiries with France ; when either of these topics,
and, particularly the latter, should be brought for-
ward for discussion, he hoped he should be found to:
agree with the Hon. Gentleman who had just
,pre_
ceded him on tiis occasion, and that they should both
express their 'approbation of that measure, although
_it was an approbation which wonid proceed perhaps •
from different reasons.; this was not the season for the
regular discussion of either, and yet he was anxious'
to declare the outline of his sentiments on both
these Measures,. the which he saw, upon the whole,
with great satisfaaion ; and he would -add; that
whatever criticism might be applied to inferior
parts of these great transactions, or to whatever
criticisms they might be 'liable, they were on the
Whole, such as afforded matter of great joy to- this
Country, and they entitled the Government which
concluded' them to esteem and thanks. There was
anothen topic on :which he would slightly touch—
the termination of the War had been accompanied
with honotir to us, for it 'had given proofs. Of vigour
and energy beyond any former War, and of atehieve-,
ments more splendid, if :possible, rham any "which.
adorned our 'history .before this period.' This con_j
test had exhibited, on our part; a continued series'
. of an undaunted courage, of an invincible spirit, of
glorious viaories by our Fleets and Armies ;, of,
patience, calmness, fortitude, and _perseverance in:
the People of England, in-their struggle through the'
War, and of a dignity of temper at ,the'return rst
Peace, . which elevated. even them in the opinion of
the .world ;. and whichsqualities procured to them
an honourable issue to difficulties which they did'
not seek, but which were forced upon them, and
which nothing hut their being true. to themselves,
as Well as their Representatives having been true to'
them throughout, eouid ,have enabled them to ac.,
complish.
Mr. WINDHAM said, that .he should have fol-
lowed the course of proceeding held out by his
Hon: Friends on the Treasury Bench, as the proper
rhode on this occasion, had, it nor .beeo for' some-
thing that was thrown out by 'his Hon. Friend he
should have contented-himself with giving
,A silent
vote of approbation of the Address, had it nor, hap-
penedikthlt some things'were dropped, which seemed
to imply an approbation of the 'Preliminaries of
Peace. His Friend did not intend it- so, but from
what! he said, he seemed to convey an idea thae.all
the Members of the House approVed of that measure;
he was desirous to give no countenance-to opinions
to which he did not assent. • This matter 'being
.clearly understood, he should have no disposition
to say more this night 'upon the subjca, reserving
the opinion he had formed, and the reasons he had
to support it with; to the occasion that might regu-
larly call for it, which -would, he p'restimed, be a
day appointed for that purpose ; but as his Hon.
Friend had gone a little farther, and had givp his
opinion upon the outline of the subjca, Mr. WIND.
HAM said, he must likewise state hiS, which was,

Unfortunai6lY, as deci eAi v against the Peace that
of his friend for it. He was aware that to
;dissent from any Such general opinion as that of
his Hon. Friend; Was- at all times painftil to hirh,
it was still more SO; since that opinion Was so gene,
rally approved of and supported. He could have
11611elight in being a mourner in a scene of general
rejoicing—to wear a countenance 'of sorrow .while
other; seemed tO sparkle with joy—tO sink into de-
spair while others were lifted- up by-hope, was a Sin-
, gularity not to be envied, tier should he be longer in'
assigning his reason for it, than would be necessary
in order to be,uoderstood. He admitted that those
who had entertained opposite opinions upon the
War' might, as properly remarked by his Friend,
(Mr-PITT) yet agree in feelings as to the
_ter-
mination of it.-So it' was likely to happen that
the Hon. Gentle Man opposite, to him (Mr. Fox'),
whose opinions Were. now happily 'known to .bis
Country, might agree with his Hoe. Friend (Mr.
PITT) in the termination of this contest. Although
he agreed with the Hon. Gentleman '(Mr.' Fox) in
his view of the state Of fads, that this was a Peace
glorious to France, he..believed he differed widely
from that Gentleman as to the feelings which should
thence arise in the breastsof Englishmen. In his
view of things- (which might perhapAe a mistaken
one) there was no •cause for rejoicing at the Peace
we were about .to have ; he foresaw that this re-
joicing might be turned into bitter lamentation
this he said, because he thought that the advan-
tages, as some people called them,.which this Peace
would bring with it, would pave 'the way to- the
ruin of this Country. The general illuminations
were to him no sign of comfort, for lie saw no
reasonable cause for the People of England to re-
juice. He must, before he assented to them, ask
hiMself,." Are these the lights of the sepulchre, or
the tokens of the knell of our funeral s"'—Before
I put on. my Wedding Garment, I
_must know
whether I am invited to the feast, or the funeral ;
from the bottom of -rny heart I think this precedes
the bitterness of Sorrow and the lamentation of
Death. Considering'the situation in which we now
stand, I think that the moment my Hon. Friends
signed this Treaty, they' signed the Death-Warrant
of thOr Country; or, at least, they have given it
a blow which I think it can !lever recover from.
He said, he knew how unpleasant it was to the
House, nay, lie felt it' unpleasant to himself, to
dwell upon -observations whiCh were made againsil
his wishes, although dictated ley judgment. •He
knew the uncertainty of human affairs, and how
vain it was in man to attempt to prescribeebounds
to the •dispensations of:Providence, the ways of
which were invisible to human sight. He could
.not.tell what changes there may, be without and
within us—What temper, what .spirit iheePeople of
this and other Countries may have :—what may be
done for our political salvation. He did not say we
should not 'entertain any hope, for- he knew that
hope might exist when 'reasonable confidence was
extinguished; and he knew that exertions ought to
be continued after reasonable expectation was gone ;
. and, . therefore, he did not Wish- the People.' of 'this:
Country to despair; butalt he, would say,. was, that:
.upon no view he could' take of Public Affairs,
from no principle that .he knew;-,that induced
a reasonable man tb 'could he state to himself
the way in which tbis:Country coiilcl Coale :out of
the difficulty into which this, Peace would throw- it.
There was one thing more. which be wished to take
notice rife he had long thought there was only. one'
way by which this Country,could escape from the.
dreadful effed which we all apprehended from the'
gigantic Power of France ; _and that was,' by pre-
serving the superiority of our. Commerce. It had
appeared to. him .also, that there was but one thing
wanting for France; to enable it to. extend its Erm,
pire, and to become as much the terror of other
Nations by sea as it had by land, and. that was, to
extend its Commerce : thise in .a fatal, moment, in
his opinion, we had given- to France. . How our;
ruin Could be avoided, he did not know.—Others,
undoubtedly, entertained hopes; how .well founde&
such hopes were, time would shew.. All that he
had hitherto heard upon that subject, appeiered to!
him to be either very doubtful, or entirely defedive.;
What might be the effed of what we now saw, no
man could know ; but he apprehended' nothing to'
us but our Ruin. This was nearly all die had to say,'
and, which, he apprehended, was called. for by what
had preceded it on this occasioe ; .he should net
have added another.word, if the expression of an
" honourable Peace" had not occurred. to. him. It
need not have been introduced ;wit seemed to have
been improvidently and imppliticly mentioned ; for,
it was more than was asked. He would not ask for'
an honourable Peace; nor that - undervalued the.
Honour of a Nation; no, he thought. Honour one
,of its dearest posseisioks, .but for the sake of argu,
ment, and ,for that only, 'he would put it out of the
way, and say, in this particular case; " Shew me
it is'a safe Peace,,and I shall be contented."re-Now
after saying this, which was certainly his opinion,
on this Peace, whether that was a subjeCl, of censure
or ;applause, there was certainly no disapprobation'
of the present Address implied by what he said, al.
though he had no wish to dissemble any sentiment he
entertained; because if what hadgoneabroadwas true,
we were really driven to agree to this Peace by neces-
sity. If that,wasthe case, the Framers.of the Peace
On the part of this Country, had great merit. We
were not to condemn them for 'what they gave up,',
but to applaud them for *hat they had saved ; not
for Ceylon 'or 'Ttinidada, but for saving to us
Portsmouth or Plymouth, or preserving Ireland to
the British Empire, and for preventing greatee
humiliation. If this was really our state, and we
made Peace from hecessiti, we must applaud them
for the Peace, because theivalue of the Peace would -
then be judged of, nor from the thing itself, but
from the •pecessity which gave it! birth. That
however was a subjea which should be discussed
hereafter o and the questions would be, 'how far 'the
Peace was a Peace of Neessity ? and, what:the de-
gree of the Necessity was ? for nothing, in his ap-
prehension, could justify the "putting of the 'State
into such danger as this Puce would, but absolute
necessity. This was all be had to say at present
upon this subject, except merely to add, that as to
the Address now before the House, ..he concurred
with the two Gentlemen cyho had just preceded
him (Mr. PITT and Mr. Fox), in giving it his as-
seat.

The CJfANCEttOP of ti:4 F-Xt;HEQU.t
paid, lie hOped his. Right Hon. Frie'nd world pardorl'
him, if he. expitE:i`ed an opinion 'that .he had
• into ratherernore minuteness than the Question t
,before the House called for, even in his own view
of as explained by himself; and Ord's:him-1y at
the conclusion of hie Speech; by wltich it al-oeared
he Concurred in the Address. The observations of
his 'Hon: Friend. were {he would pardon him for say:
ing so) a little premature ; that- subjeft was not no*
before the Honse ; even in His Majesty's most
gracious .Specch from the Thrtine, there was ex.;
pressed no other sentiment on the Peace, bo sueli ai
was 'conveyed by these words: " That His
J ESTY trusts the Arrangements will be found con..
ducive' to the general IntereSts of this. Country
and to thellorionr of the British Empire.", In this
there was no reference whatever even to that .stritil
mint so conveyed from the Throne. Indeed it
would be irregular and indecorous to ask of the
House,an opinion upon a subject not fully before itx
HiseHon. Friend very well knew that Preliminary
Terms of Peace-had been signed on the part of Hill
'Nfajesty and the French Republic, but the terms
were not before the House. His Hin.,Friend had
entered into ther subjed. of f the Peace, ehowe,ver,
and expressed some laMentation over it. He shonld
not' folio/ him in 'answer to what he urged now;
although he might, in some measure regularly
so. Nor should he enter into any dispute now
upon the general prOposition laid down by, his -Hon:
-Friend, not because he was unprepared,- but be.-.
cause another opportuhity wouldioffee for that our-
pbse. He should then eater 'on theediscuSsiOn with
this. Hon. Friend, but he should do it under a pain.
ful feeling, for painful it was to him to differ
opinion from one who had proved himself to 'he a
'zealous advocate for, and a virtuous guardian of.the
Constitution, and to whom (whatever difference of
.opinion ,might.subsift between them) he should add,
the Country was under deep oki iga t ion' for many greht
services, particularly when he. warned the Country of
its ganger, when its safety was at stake, and for. the
efforts he made to preserve it. &Lis lion. Friend had
said that we, ought to consider the extension
of our Commerce as, the only counter-balance in
our power against the extension of :Territory of
the French Republic: He would not now refer
to the terms of the Peace, for that he could
not do with regularity, but ,he would aver, that
all that we had given up, would have -afforded to
us no •sort s4-security against the danger which
was apprehended by his Honourable Friend: lie
did not agree with his Hon. 'Friend on'the subjea
of the -extent of the ;power of France, and of our
mode of balancing that power, for he thought the
bet counterpoise of this Country, against the grow_
ing power of France, was in the preservation of our
Constitution—to our industry and skill, to Our fru-
gality' aod temperance; much ;was tb-he also con_
fided the right direCtion and preservation of
what remained of the facultiiselabilities, and re-
sources of the Country; arid happily much indeed
remained of .such resources, inuch.was to he looked
for-as a security for trs in time of Peace; for eecoo...
tinuanee of its .blessings. His Hon. Friend had
said, he should abstain -from saying many things,
which would occur to him to deliver on a fUture oe-
casion. Nothing less could 'be expeeted from his
liberality, candour, or justice ; buielre. hinted at one
thing which ought pot to pass without a direCt
answer: bewould therefore say, it never was in
contemplation of those who had the honour of ad-
visiog His MA J EST,/ 10 sign the Preliminaries of
I'eate, that What they did; Was the circa of neces-
, siry. His Hon. Friend had 'stated, that some un-
known necessity might have been the, ause—" I dist
" claim that plea," said Mr.,ADD INGTON "
" will be-rto party to such a statement. I'do not
" seek my own justification, nor will my Col-
" leagues, am persuaded, seek theirs, in any
46 such way-.-that would be really undervaluing the
Resources of our Country. If instead of ac-
" ceding to the terms agreed upon, and which are .
" likely soon to:be finally settled, the Enemy had
" made it necessary for us to continue the contest,
" we should, I am confident, have continued the
" contest ; and I am confident also, that we should
" have proved to the world that we have still
cient Faculties and Resources to maintain time
'" Honour and:preserve the Security of the British
" Empire. I Could not forbear, saying this, for the
" purpose,
_chiefly, of disclaiming that species of
." justification which my Hon. 'Friend supposed to
" arise oat of Necessity. 'J hope my justifica2
" don, and that of' my, Colleagues, will-be found
" in the aelual state of things: in
.which, I
" hope, if will appear we -have • had a prudent
" regard to the true. interest of our Country ;
" and I aver. also, that if we bad not advised His'
" MAJESTY to conclude these terms, we should r*it
" only- have'been wanting in what we owed 'to our
" Constituents, but of a gross perversion, of our
" duty to HtSe.MAtEsry as the Father of his
People."—He then observed, that he should defer
the obserrations„he had to Make:on the present state
of the Continent of Europe, as well as many other
topics which would come into discussion at; a futUre
day ; and obseriied that what he had already said,
had, been called for by what had been delivered ley
his Hon. Friend who had just preceded him.
• Mr. SHE RIDAN said, he felt a wish, he be-
lieved, in common with the House, to defer a
_Debate upon the Peace until the. proper period for
that purpose.; and was therefore a, little stir.
'prized; that the Right Hon. Gentleman did go
into the discussion. He should vote for the 'Ad-
dress, because it was not an echo of the Speech,
• Hezave credit to the 'Framers of the Address folk
the moderation of it, and its good sense ; there
were some things in the SPecch, which, if- they
were in the Address, would have prevented -him
from voting for it.. He hoped the Vote to night
would •be unanimous ; at the same time, though
unanimity was likely to appear ,by the Votee•he
believed, if men were to speak fairly out,. it would
appear there never was a -subjea in the House, .pn
which' there was less unanirniw of sentiment., He
differed from those whO thought. this Peace honour_
able and glorious- .He differed still more from those
who thought that 'Peace ought not to 'be made at
all—He thought it was a Peace which every Iran
ought to be glad of, but no one could be proud Of--.
It was a Peace fit for the-War which it terininamii,
The War was the worst that es et was entered into]