pletely successful, they would not accuse ministers of having sent an insufficient force, when it was undeniable that the force sent had achieved its object. With respect to the other charge, of not having taken any measures to send out succours to those islands here again, he contended, ministers were not entitled to blame; every possible exertion had been made to send out supplies to the West Indies; they had in some instances been retarded, but from causes which could not be prevented.

The right honourable gentleman then adverted to the campaign in Flanders, and endeavoured, with much ingenuity, to place administration in a dilemma; but there was more ingenuity than justice in the argument, there not having been any mismanagement in the administration, nor in the officers or troops. The losses which we had met with arose from a chain of concurring causes and unavoidable accidents, each depending upon its own nice and particular nature, but which were neither to be avoided nor foreseen, many of them such as could not reasonably be conjectured before they happened, the highest degree of probability being, that the events would have happened the other way; and to impute them to administration was just as wise as to impute to them the present severe frost. The honourable gentleman first of all supposes that all our allies have, in every instance, acted up to their engagements and to our expectations: he supposes that in every one of the operations upon the continent there was the most perfect unanimity; that every one of the generals conducted themselves in a way to set military criticism at defiance. Then, says the right honourable gentleman, triumphantly, if with such exertions as these you have failed, how can you hope to be more successful in future? The right honourable gentleman immediately turns short round, and describes the picture in the other extreme. He supposes a total want of co-operation among the allies-he supposes that all the plans on the continent have been undertaken without judgment, and conducted without energy; and then he asks what reason we have to expect that our exertions will be

more ably or more effectually conducted in future? If either of the positions of the honourable gentleman was justified by the fact, there might be some difficulty in denying his inferences-But it seemed never to occur to him that there was a medium between the two extremes, which came to the real truth of the case. There certainly was much to lament, something to censure, but nothing to deprive us of hope. That some of our allies had not in every particular answered our expectations, he was ready to admit now-he had never denied it :—perhaps some of our allies, the most nearly connected with us in point of interest, were the most liable to this observation. But the hour when that unhappy people were exposed to every calamity to which the success of a furious enemy could make them liable, was not the proper time for complaint. His object was not to accuse the fallen, but to shew that the charges advanced against the government were without foundation.

It was not sufficient, in order to attach guilt upon ministers, to shew that the allies were unfortunate in Flanders, or that Holland had fallen a sacrifice to the enemy; it must be proved that it was owing to the want of attention, to the breach of faith, or to the supineness of the English government. In what one of these particulars could any charge be made? Did not England adhere scrupulously to her treaties? Did she not act vigourously in the common cause? Did she not encourage the allies by her example, as well as by exhortation? Throughout the whole war, the faith and honour of England had been kept inviolate.

He had been accused of speaking with levity upon the subject of the war. He felt for the misfortunes of his country, as a man and as an Englishman, but he could take no shame to himself, for misfortunes which he had done every thing in his power to prevent, nor pretend to feel contrition where there was no real cause for repentance.

The next ground of charge chosen by the right honourable gentleman, was rather of a singular nature, he stated it as a matter of accusation against his Majesty's ministers, that the

English army had not been withdrawn from the continent sooner. But surely the right honourable gentleman could not be serious in this part of his charge; or, did he mean that as a specimen of the manner in which he would treat an ally? Would it have been consistent with that good faith, which it is the boast of England always to have kept, to have abandoned our allies on the approach of danger? Would the right honourable gentleman have advised us to have withdrawn our forces, while the frontier was defensible?"But (says the right honourable gentleman), when you found the Dutch were negociating for a peace, you might have secured the retreat of your army.” Sir, said Mr. Pitt, if we wished them to obtain an honourable peace, should we have taken the proper steps to obtain it for them by withdrawing our army, and leaving them to the tender mercies of the French? It was to her ill-judged confidence in the faith of France, that Holland might in some degree attri bute her destruction: On that faith it was that the people of England were recommended by the honourable gentleman and his friends to place implicit reliance. Were these the principles upon which the honourable gentleman would come into administration would he lay it down that we should withdraw our support from our allies the moment our assistance became critically necessary? Would he negociate a peace with France for this country, as he seems to think it to have been negociated for Holland, by throwing ourselves entirely on the mercy of the enemy, and commencing the negociation, by depriving our selves of the means of resistance? Was there any alternative as to the conduct this country was to have adopted, with regard to Holland, provided it was understood as a fixed principle, that the faith of England ought never to be violated? Or would the honourable gentleman undertake to point out the precise moment at which the danger of our ally became so imminent that we should be justified in considering our contracts as dissolved? It could not be supposed that he was indifferent as to the fate of the gallant army on the continent; their conduct was above all the feeble praise he could give it; their exertions in

the defence of Holland had exceeded even the most illustrious examples; and he felt infinite satisfaction in the hope they were now in a place of safety and of comparative rest. In the gene. ral anxiety of the honourable gentleman to censure ministers, every public calamity is attributed to them; even the severity of the season is brought forward as a crime against them. But he would venture to assert, without the fear of being contradicted by any military man, that, had not the hand of God rendered the season so uncommonly severe, the force employed by England to defend Holland would have been found adequate to the purpose.

Mr. Pitt concluded with saying, he had avoided entering at large into any of the various topics upon which he had touched in the course of his reply, because the time would come when they might be more properly investigated; he had been led to take this general view of the question, to shew the total want of foundation in the charge brought against administration.

The amendment was negatived, and the original resolution passed without a division.

January 26, 1795.

ON a motion by Mr. Grey, "That it is the opinion of this House, that the existence of the present government of France ought not to be considered as precluding, at this time, a negociation for peace,"

MR. PITT expressed himself extremely desirous of taking the earliest opportunity to deliver his sentiments on the present important question. Before, however, he stated the grounds of his objection to the resolution moved by the honourable gentleman, and before he proposed the amendment, which he meant to submit to the house, he was anxious that they might be fully in possession, both of the repeated declarations of his Majesty, and the sentiments that had been expressed by parliament on former occasions. For this purpose, he desired the clerk to read a

passage from his Majesty's speech on the 21st of January 1794, and the answer of the house; and likewise part of the declaration of the 29th of October 1793, and the declaration of the 20th of November 1793, at Toulon. [They were accordingly read.]

He would take the liberty, in the course of what he had to offer to the house, to contend, that there was nothing at present in the situation of the country, or of Europe, which ought to induce the house to depart from the sentiments recorded in those declarations; from the sentiments expressed from the throne, and from those sentiments which had received the approbation of parliament. He would contend that the motion that had been made was directly inconsistent with those principles, and he would farther contend, that, whatever there was in the present situation of the country, it called on the house, instead of acceding to the honourable gentleman's motion, to shew to our enemies and to the world, that we did not shrink from those sober and rational principles which we had uniformly maintained. With that view, he thought it right in the outset to mention the precise nature and terms of the amendment he meant to propose, which was as follows:

"That under the present circumstances, this house feels itself called upon to declare its determination firmly and steadily to support his Majesty in the vigourous prosecution of the present just and necessary war, as affording, at this time, the only reasonable expectation of permanent security and peace to this country: And that, for the attainment of these objects, this house relies with equal confidence on his Majesty's intention to employ vigourously the force and resources of the country, in support of its essential interests; and on the desire uniformly manifested by his Majesty, to effect a pacification on just and honourable grounds with any government in France, under whatever form, which shall appear capable of maintaining the accustomed relations of peace and amity with other countries."

He begged to refer the house to the authentic declarations of parliament and of the crown on this subject, from which it clearly