The Sun.
London, England, 1804-01-27 00:00:00

A VIEW

OF TIIE RELATIVE SITUATIONS OF MR. PITT AND

MR. 'ADDINGTON. PREVIOUS TO AND ON THE

NIGHT OP Ma. PATUN'S MOTION.

BY A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT•

A Pamphlet under the -Above' title. has just been
published by Mr. Stockdale, which we have read
' with the Most unmixed satisfaion. It does honour
-both to the head and heait of the writer, whom we
L'Vo"tint profess to know. As from its recent
this Pamphlet may not be- in the bands of the
gener4iity of our Readers, we shall lay before them
a feW .Extraas from it, assuring them at' the same
dine tha-t they w,ll derive high gratification from a
perr,sal'of the work itself.
. . lje.Writer thus,forcibly opens his subje6l—
When Brertn.us,.the Gaul, marched into Rome,
which he resolv:ed to destroy, for a flagrant breach
-in the Law of-Nations,. the only man in whom they
had any confidence, he who afterwards saved the
City;
.ind restated •the tottering State, was in ba-
nishment at Ardea. ~ The Military Tribunes, who
mien governed, had:lnc:l -told by: Marcits Czedicius.
(warned by a :voice from heaven), .to. prepare for..
the Corni!,g.of the Gauls. But the Triburies laughed
ar the,w?rning;:.and theiigh they afterwards 'made
preparation,`they.were forced to meet-veteran troops
with new-levies. They were routed with disgrace,
• zriri the (..-;ty vvas sacked. .
•
l'here are
.113e.r. in this Country, .by no means
of unreeFetirig habits, or discontented dispositions;
on the, contrarY, who upon deliberation; and
.1 conscientions wish to 261 upon principle;
who thinic!they See a degree of similitude between
this. famous. period of .the days of Cziilius, and the
present Crisis cif atittirs in Britain. 'They say that,,
howev.er good-the-Cause of the Country must of ne-
.'ecSsity 'be, against the infamous injustice of the
••
Councils; they _are dissatis,fied with the
groan:la •upnu,Which it has been suffered to rest;
,cdurs.e..cif the many complicated .causes
(if discusion . whiCh leis. to 'the war, "Britain herself
• !.-Nt•:1-perhaps
.bioken the peace ; and though a voice
• kid- as thit from heaven-had warned the Ministers
of the intentions of the Gaul, yet that we were long
t,; ‘iiliout preparation; -that .we even now trust to
new levies, when we might be in possession of vete-
ran troops ; and that, .tunttist so much difficulty, the
abiities7and best spirits-.of the Country are in banisk-

stmt.
" I certainly am not one of those who think the
Ceuntry will be ruined.. I .think it too vigorously
composed, throughciut. all its ranks, to die of neg-
lea. There are ten thousand minds, ,every one of
them equal to the government of an Empire, who,
were all cur present parties -extin4l, would be able
to suppoTt and extend its fame.. But how such a
Country comes to be negleEied at all.; how it comes
to be negleCted at the most critical moment it ever
saw ; how, when Brennus is at its gates, it,s wisest
heads and most commanding talents, the abilities
most fruitful and most practised in resources, the
genius and 'the virtues most .capable of kindling
enthusiasm, and -pointing the national spirit, are all
of them, or almost all of them, excluded from the
Councils of the. King ; this is a question which
m ,ves our wonder !
" That this is pretty nearly our'situation in the
present moment, seems to be as clear as that the
moment itself requires a Government of the,most
Opposite c.tsr. It is admitted by all but the Mini_
stars themselves, the herd of common personages
who depend upon them for bread, (a) and by a very
few individuals of great private worth, who are per-
sonally attached to them."
After taking a short but comprehensive review
of the conduEt of Ministers, and the charaCters of
',.Vlinisters"theinselves, to the commencement of the
war, he thus pursues his subjeCt.—
" With a Ministry thus constituted, and in times
confessedly the most arduous; with a greater stake
to defend, and fewer means to -defend it, than ever
was knoWn since Euglant was England, I again ask,
was the Nation satisfied. with their Governors ?
They refer you to the votes for the answer; and I
aity„ from experience of myself,. that the votes deter_
tine nothing. For the first months of the Session
there was no division : had there been one, attach-
ed as I was by•personal aff.:Clion to some of the Op-
position, and by admiration to almost all, I should
nevertheless have given my vote to men against
whom I. thought no case had been made, however
little was to be stated in their favour. They were
honoured by • their Sovereign's confidence, and
pledged themselves to the preservation of Peace, a
consummation which I ardently desired. Little
aware of the hollowness of that ground, I passed.
over what, to ignor'ance like mine, seemed trifling
errors, and gave them credit for wisdom in their great
general system; a system which, unhappily, such
men were not, it seems, born to accomplish. Above
all—yes, above all, I trustel to their assertions, re-
peated early and latein the Session ;
,repeated_up, to
the very brink of War, when, according to their
altered story, the provocations and the preparations.
of the Enemy ought of themselves to have destroyed
all power of belief in such assertions_; I trusted, I
aav, to their positive assurances of tranquillity. .
Had a vote, therefore, been necessary upon any
Of the opposition topics of that time, in all proba-
bility my Note had been theirs. My voice, such as
-it was, and the little power I possessed, were aEtu-
ally exerted in their service on particular questions;
and while great • public measures were kept out of
si ht, and the touchstone of foreign intercourse was
a,;roitly evaded, I beheld undazzled the bold flights
of ability which coursed adversely aroirid them, and.
,;tempted in vain to rouse them into aEtion. •
To meet that ability in the fair field of argu-
ment ; to joust in the tournament with equal chival-
ry on. their-side; to oppose intelieCt to intellect,
and genius to genius ; to present that feast of the
mind, occasioned by the encountering forces of equal
eloquence; all this was confessedly beyond them,
and to this, .therefore, they did not even pretend.
But ;bey relied upon their fidelity, their judgment,
their wisdom, their foresight ; they demanded cre-
dit for firmness and vigour in secret council, con-
eeived in other places, and executed in other spheres
.of anion ; their assertions were equal to the stispi-

T.e ?rai Aniphytrion est ceini ou ron dine.