The Sun.
London, England, 1802-12-09 00:00:00

was it proper iangt,r. a to say, " let us fit still;
and suffer France to devour an the rest of V.tirope;
Contented at het forhearancesinernakieg u the liSt
Whom siic is likely to sna; at i"' Accordir4 ro the"
observatior6 of one Hon. 6entleman..(Mr.eFox)
we should reiciain quiet,,in hope's the FirSt Consut
would in time omit his anger against its ; and
be satisfied with the punishment the had already
suffered ; but the same Hon. Gentleman in this af..
forded us but little consolation; for; in his opinion;
deserved that punishMent, and the War aught
to have terminated, gloriously to France and
gloriously for this Country. Thos after all we
saw of this formidable rival, both befoie and since
the termination of the War, we were advised ttisit
Sin!, like patient (plodding merchants, calculatint --
how much more we could Sell, and considering
whether the ware of Stafford Might be able teoeie
in the Market with the manufactures of .-;-eve; • Fot
his part, instead of blatiiing His Majesty's Mini-
sters for not having prefaced the Motitin on the
NaVy Estimates by any speech; he should' have
thought it perhaps' better if they had not, on thhoc;
casion, stated with so much precision 'the grounda
which constituted the necettsity for an increase:.
The thing was of itself so obviously plain;-as'. tv
require neitherarguments: nor any statement of fiiißs
The plcitie sentiments of some Gentlemen seemed
to him to argue no small degree of incOniistener:
Every one present must either remember; or havo
read, that at the time when i'Cotttriereial Treaty
was negotiating between the two Cotintriet; tits
same Gentlemen opposed ir, not so much on ae.:
count of the tertas, thie the fear that the bc.,
nefit we might derive front it may-; in ntly future oc
casion, render us unwilling to go to War, evert
though we should have provocation. Yet they as:
sumed a different tone now when the question wag
'respelling a War for our own innredia te defence, and
at a.time when we were every where surrounded by
France tir its auxiliaries. The demand Was fait
Military Establishment, ready for any 'emergency
that may arise, and nor perhaps so much called foi
by any subsisting differences, but such ase`Vould
place us in a situation to assist others, and perhapfi
in some not very far distant day, opposing a b.ariOr
to the encroachments of our aspirin neighbours.
Into what situation things- may yet subside, UM*
be left to time and circumstances to develope..anci
no reliance could be placed upon pledges or pre viouri
dispositions exhibited by that House.. In theßeigti.
of Oueen ANNE, Parliament had passed a resoltitioo,
that no Peace should be made with France while it
retained an inch of the Spanish territory ; • yet that
object was wholly abandoned at the Peace =of
Utrecht. So also, in 174.1, the Parliament voted 'that
no Peace should be made till the Spaniards should
renounce the Right of Search on the Coast of Amee
rica ;, but the Treaty of Aix..la..Chapelle Was made
without ever mentioning. the subjea. It was tree;
that heretofore we had always Peace EstablishMents
comparatively small ; but at no former period were
we ever totally destituteof all COntincntal Alliances-
and connections. The House was nor; howeveri
now called upon .for a pledge of any kind ; but as
our resoutces were but little impaired, he conceived
it to he the duty of every man to bear his share in
the expenccs of an increased Establishment, ,lest
the burthen should afterwards fall with accutnutated
• weisTht upon us: He should not,- he said, trouble
the House with any farther observations ; but could
I not content himself with giving a silent votton ;Ina

occasion.
Mr. SHERIDAN next addressed the House to
the following effed—," I must; Sir, ccinfess, that I
feel myself pretty much in the situation of the
Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke last, in being
unable fully to agree with any .one who has yet ad-
dressed you, and yet reludant to content myself with
a silent vote on a stibjed of such extreme inipor.
tance. As, however, there is-one thing in which
we seem all to be agreed, namely, that we are in
a crisis of extreme peril to the Country ; the Pea»
pie- have a right to know the sentiments of those
who are in the habit of delivering their opinions
upon all questions of great national magnitudes Ire
treating this subjefi, I shall not follow, because I
do not approve, the example of those who hate
made a reference to the merits, the talents, a,htl
.-qualities of any individuals; nor advert even to -the
• man (Mr. Fox) who has, together with :another
person, been alluded to, and whom of all milers
most respel, honour, and revere; It will be more
becoming •in me now to prove to the People, that
none of us are contending or scrambling for power
or emolument, but solely intent on the best rileatis
of providing for the Public Honour and Seettrity.
I for one am not hostile to any frankness-or rough.,
ness with Which any Member niay chose to inaniteSt
a disposition to speak of the. First C'onsul Mr
Hon. Friend (Mr. Wit IT Pkit. E AD) has told. us that
though convinced of the perfidy Of that person; he
would not follow the -example of others, -but abstain
from giving his opinion. I must leaVe it to the '
House to -judge of that kind of abstinence, or
'whether he and the other lion. Mettiber (General
MAirLAWn) were of the sitake or of different opi-
nions. Some Gentlemen tell us, that we. have
nothing to do with the present state of Franee, as
there was no differenee.between it now and in the
reign of the Bourbons, except in .the extent 'of
power,---the extent of power I- as if that was to
make no-difference at. all I or at least but very little.
I will grant that,thereis no great differeneebetween
our reasons- for continuing in peace .now, and our
concluding it in June last, but I • maintain, that
Prance. has .since manifested a disposition which
ought.to put us more upon our guard, and portico.
larly, in-the conduft it.adopted towards Switzerland,
where; under -the-pretence-Of yielding \them protec.
ti0n,..,,7and.. securing them -their tranquillity, free,
independent, .and once happy men,- . were first frau.
dulently 'entrapped,. and afterwards basely crushed..
I am-willing to :speak of theFirstConsu4of France with
respcd, ill can ; but it is not ray foul t,.uor can I help
it, if his conclud is such that-a bare recital of fads
most appear to lie invedive., In the outset, I wistt
to have it observed, thatj 'am' as strongly solici-
tous for Peace as any man can hie,' because rdo not
• • conceive War to be a remedy for any of the griev.
antes we have to complain of.: Even the treatment
experienced by the unteyrtunate People ofSwitterlando
though stadent to excite honourable and-indignant
feelings in this Assembly? was nut of-such a nature as
to be necessarily ccnsitc:e4 as icaze. of IrTar,