friend of the administration, the Treasury-Board could not have acted otherwise than they did, without a flagrant violation of justice. With respect to the debt upon the civil list, he neither had, nor could have, any personal motives for wishing to conceal from Parliament the particulars of the extraordinary expenses by which that debt had been incurred. The persons to whose offices it belonged, had been constantly employed in drawing up a state of that account, and they had received every possible light and information from the officers of the Crown, in order to shorten and facilitate the business; but it was a work of infinite labour and extent; and, notwithstanding the utmost diligence in the several public offices, could not yet be completed. In regard to foreign affairs, he believed the conduct of the King's Ministers would bear the strictest examination, and would be found irreproachable. For his own part, he had never thought, nor had he ever affirmed, that the conditions of the late peace were such as the people had a right to expect. He had maintained that opinion in former times, and no change of situation should ever induce him to relinquish it. But the peace being once made, and those advantages which we might have expected from a continuance of the war, being now irrecoverable, he would never advise the King to engage in another war, as long as the dignity of the Crown, and the real interests of the nation, could be preserved without it. What we had suffered already by foreign connexions, ought to warn us against engaging lightly in quarrels, in which we had no immediate concern, and to which we might probably sacrifice our own most essential interests.

The Earl of Chatham." My Lords, I meant to have risen immediately, to second the motion made by the noble Lord. The charge which the noble Duke seemed to think affected himself particularly did undoubtedly demand an early answer; it was proper he should speak before me, and I am as ready as any man to applaud the decency and propriety with which he has expressed himself.

"I entirely agree with the noble Lord, both in the necessity of your Lordships concurring with the motion, and in the principles and arguments by which he has very judiciously supported it. I see clearly that the complexion of our Government has been materially altered; and I can trace the origin of the alteration up to a period which ought to have been an era of happiness and prosperity to this country.

"My Lords, I shall give you my reasons for concurring with the motion, not methodically, but as they occur to my mind. I may wander, perhaps, from the exact Parliamentary debate; but I hope I shall say nothing but what may deserve your attention, and what, if not strictly proper at present, would be fit to be said, when the state of the nation shall come to be considered. My uncertain state of health must plead my excuse. I am now in some pain, and very probably shall not be able to attend my duty, when I desire it most, in this House. I thank God, my Lords, for having thus long preserved me, inconsiderable as I am, to take a part upon this great occasion,

VOL. I.

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and to contribute my endeavours, such as they are, to restore, to save, to confirm the constitution.

"My Lords, I need not look abroad for grievances. The grand capital mischief is fixed at home. It corrupts the very foundation of our political existence, and preys upon the vitals of the state. The constitution at this moment stands violated. Until that wound be healed, until the grievance be redressed, it is in vain to recommend union to Parliament, in vain to promote concord among the people. If we mean seriously to unite the nation within itself, we must convince the people that their complaints are regarded, that their injuries shall be redressed. On that foundation, I would take the lead in recommending peace and harmony to them. On any other, I would never wish to see them united again. If the breach in the constitution be effectually repaired, the people will of themselves return to a state of tranquillity. If not-MAY DISCORD PREVAIL FOR EVER. I know to what point this doctrine and this language will appear directed. But I have the principles of an Englishman, and I utter them without apprehension or reserve. The crisis is indeed alarming ;—so much the more does it require a prudent relaxation on the part of Government. If the King's servants will not permit a constitutional question to be decided on according to the forms and on the principles of the constitution, it then must be decided in some other manner; and rather than it should be tamely given up, rather than the nation should surrender their birth-right to a despotic Minister, I hope, my Lords, old as I am, that I shall see the question brought to an issue, and fairly tried between the people and the Government. My Lords, this is not the language of faction; let it be tried by that criterion, by which alone we can distinguish what is factious, from what is not-by the principles of the English constitution. I have been bred up in these principles, and I know that when the liberty of the subject is invaded, and all redress denied him, resistance is justifiable. If I had a doubt upon the matter, I should follow the example set us by the most reverend bench, with whom I believe it is a maxim when any doubt in point of faith arises, or any question of controversy is started, to appeal at once to the greatest source and evidence of our religion -I mean the Holy Bible; the constitution has its political Bible, by which if it be fairly consulted, every political question may, and ought to be determined. Magna Charta, the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights, form that code which I call the Bible of the English constitution. Had some of his Majesty's unhappy predecessors trusted less to the commentary of their Ministers, and been better read in the text itself, the glorious Revolution might have remained only possible in theory, and their fate would not now have stood upon record, a formidable example to all their successors.

"My Lords, I cannot agree with the noble Duke, that nothing less than an immediate attack upon the honour or interest of this nation can authorize us to interpose in defence of weaker states, and in stopping the enterprises of an ambitious neighbour. Whenever that narrow, selfish policy has prevailed in our councils, we have constantly experienced the fatal effects of it.

By suffering our natural enemies to oppress the powers less able than we are to make a resistance, we have permitted them to increase their strength; we have lost the most favourable opportunities of opposing them with success; and found ourselves at last obliged to run every hazard, in making that cause our own, in which we were not wise enough to take part, while the expense and danger might have been supported by others. With respect to Corsica, I shall only say, that France has obtained a more useful and important acquisition in one pacific campaign, than in any of her belligerent campaigns; at least whilst I had the honour of administering the war against her.* The word may perhaps be thought singular; I mean only whilst I was the Minister, chiefly entrusted with the conduct of the war. I remember, my Lords, the time when Lorraine was united to the Crown of France :† that too was, in some measure, a pacific conquest; and there were people who talked of it, as the noble Duke now speaks of Corsica. France was permitted to take and keep possession of a noble province, and according to his Grace's ideas, we did right in not opposing it. The effect of these acquisitions is, I confess, not immediate; but they unite with the main body by degrees, and in time make a part of the national strength. I fear, my Lords, it is too much the temper of this country to be insensible of the approach of danger, until it comes with accumulated terror

upon us.

"My Lords, the condition of his Majesty's affairs in Ireland, and the state of that kingdom within itself, will undoubtedly make a very material part of your Lordships' inquiry. I am not sufficiently informed to enter into the subject so fully as I could wish; but by what appears to the public, and from my own observation, I confess I cannot give the Ministry much credit for the spirit or prudence of their conduct. I see that even where their measures are well chosen, they are incapable of carrying them through without some unhappy mixture of weakness or imprudence. They are incapable of doing entirely right. My Lords, I do from my conscience, and from the best

In the year 1768, Corsica was added to the French dominions. For a long series of years past the Corsicans had resisted the oppressions of the Genoese, who, at last, became convinced of the impossibility of subduing the island, and took the resolution of surrendering it to the Crown of France by a treaty which was concluded at Versailles on the 15th of May, 1768. The Corsicans, under the command of their General, the heroic Pascal Paoli, offered a brave resistance to this transfer of their territory; but they were at length overpowered, and the French obtained full possession of the island. Through the masterly policy of Choiseul, this measure, which was expected to have produced much opposition, was carried out without interrupting the general peace of Europe.

+ By a treaty concluded between France and the Austrian Empire in the year 1735, the duchies of Lorraine and Bar were ceded to Stanislaus, ex-King of Poland, and fatherin-law of Louis XV. of France, and it was agreed that upon the death of Stanislaus they should be united to France. Stanislaus died on the 28th of February, 1766, when Lorraine and Bar were incorporated with France, to which they have ever since remained attached.

weighed principles of my understanding, applaud the augmentation of the army. As a military plan, I believe it has been judiciously arranged. In a political view, I am convinced it was for the welfare, for the safety of the whole empire. But, my Lords, with all these advantages, with all these recommendations, if I had had the honour of advising his Majesty, I would never have consented to his accepting the augmentation with that absurd, dishonourable condition, which the Ministry have submitted to annex to it. My Lords, I revere the just prerogative of the Crown, and would contend for it as warmly as for the rights of the people. They are linked together, and naturally support each other. I would not touch a feather of the prerogative. The expression, perhaps, is too light; but, since I have made use of it, let me add, that the entire command and power of directing the local disposition of the army is the royal prerogative, is the master-feather in the eagle's wing; and, if I were permitted to carry the allusion a little farther, I would say, they have disarmed the imperial bird, the Ministrum Fulminis Alitem.' The army is the thunder of the Crown. The Ministry have tied up the hand which should direct the bolt.

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My Lords, I remember that Minorca was lost for want of four battalions.* They could not be spared from hence; and there was a delicacy about taking them from Ireland. I was one of those who promoted an inquiry into that matter in the other House; and I was convinced that we had not regular troops sufficient for the necessary service of the nation. Since the moment the plan of augmentation was first talked of, I have constantly and warmly supported it among my friends: I have recommended it to several members of the Irish House of Commons, and exhorted them to support it with their utmost interest in Parliament. I did not foresee, nor could I conceive it possible, the ministry would accept of it, with a condition that makes the plan itself ineffectual, and, so far as it operates, defeats every useful purpose of maintaining a standing military force. His Majesty is now so confined by his promise, that he must leave twelve thousand men locked up in Ireland, let the situation of his affairs abroad, or the approach of danger to this country, be ever so alarming, unless there be an actual rebellion or invasion in Great Britain. Even in the two cases excepted by the King's promise, the mischief must have already begun to operate, must have already taken effect before his Majesty can be authorized to send for the assistance of his Irish army. He has not left himself the power of taking any preventive measures; let his intelligence be ever so certain, let his apprehensions of invasion or rebellion be ever so well founded, unless the traitor be actually in arms, unless the enemy be in the heart of your country, he cannot move a single man from Ireland.†

* In 1756.

+ In the year 1767, Lord Townshend, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, delivered a message from George III. to the Irish House of Commons, recommending them to concur in the augmentation of the army upon that establishment, and assuring them

"I feel myself compelled, my Lords, to return to that subject which occupies and interests me most-I mean the internal disorder of the constitution, and the remedy it demands. But first, I would observe, that there is one point upon which I think the noble Duke has not explained himself. I do not mean to catch at words, but, if possible, to possess the sense of what I hear. I would treat every man with candour, and should expect the same candour in return. For the noble Duke in particular I have every personal respect and regard, I never desire to understand him but as he wishes to be understood. His Grace, I think, has laid much stress upon the diligence of the several public offices, and the assistance given them by the administration in preparing a statement of the expense of his Majesty's civil government for the information of Parliament, and for the satisfaction of the public. He has given us a number of plausible reasons for their not having yet been able to finish the account; but, as far as I am able to recollect, he has not yet given us the smallest reason to hope that it ever will be finished, or that it ever will be laid before Parliament.

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"My Lords, I am not unpractised in business, and if, with all that apparent diligence, and all that assistance which the noble Duke speaks of, the accounts in question have not yet been made up, I am convinced there must be a defect in some of the public offices, which ought to be strictly inquired into, and severely punished. But, my Lords, the waste of the public money is not of itself so important as the pernicious purpose to which we have reason to suspect that money has been applied. For some years past there has been an influx of wealth into this country, which has been attended with many fatal consequences, because it has not been the regular natural produce of labour and industry. The riches of Asia have been poured in upon us, and have brought with them not only Asiatic luxury, but, I fear, Asiatic principles of government. Without connexions, without any natural interest in the soil, the importers of foreign gold have forced their way into Parliament by such a torrent of private corruption as no private hereditary fortune can resist. My Lords, I am but saying that which is within the knowledge of us all; the corruption of the people is the great original cause of the discontents of the people themselves, of the enterprises of the Crown, and the notorious decay of the internal vigour of the constitution. For this great evil some immediate remedy must be provided; and I confess, my Lords, I did hope that his Majesty's servants would not have suffered so many years of peace to elapse without paying some attention to an object which ought to engage and interest us all. I flattered myself I should see some barriefs thrown up in defence of the constitution, some impediment formed to stop the rapid progress of corruption. I doubt not we all agree that

that it was "his determined resolution, that upon such augmentation, a number of effective troops, not less than 12,000 men, commissioned and non-commissioned officers included, should at all times, except in cases of invasion and rebellion in Great Britain, be kept in Ireland for its better defence."