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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio chackad balow/ Ca document est filmii au taux de rMuction inr^ % ' TQ T]«S '1^ Late Minister Vindlic^tecf. VirV' %^i I Price One ShUling. ] / -^ 11 *^" \fe v;*;*' U,^^ ,■/. THE ' T: OP p o s I r I o N 4' To the Late MINISTER V IN DI GATED From the Afperfions ofaPAMPHLET, intitled, CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PRESENT Dangerous Crisis. . LONDON: i^ ' Printed for W. B a t h o e near Exeter-Change n S^ in the Strand. ■^^ ""p^ MDCCLXIII. % » y THE OPPOSITION T O T H E Late Minister Vindicated. WHY the prefeht Miniftry, who have not yet been oppofed, fhould de- clare War againft the Oppofition to the late Minifter, is a Queftion not eafily anfwered, without fuppofing the prefent to be a Continuation of the late Miniftry. Some Endeavours are ufed, in the Pamphlet be- fore us, to difguife fo invidious an Ap- pearance. There is an AfFedlation of Can- A 3 dour [ 6 ] - dour and Impartiallity, in alfowing all the material Things that have ever been objedled to the noble Lord. One would imagine the Writer had his Lordfhip's Confent to do it; for he makes him ample Reparation, by afcribing them to great and amiable Caufes. His very Oratory, which, of all Parts of his Charadler, a prudent Apologift fhould have left untouched, is called fpeaking fortiter in re. The Pride and Arrogance imputed to him, are faid to flow from the Delicacy of a feeling Mind; and a long Lift of good Qualities, of which a Writer on the other Side would deny his Lordfliip the Property, is balanced againft the confejjed Want of good Humour, Patienccy Moderation, Affability, Complacency, and Forbearance, But with all this Affedation of Candour, this ingenious Writer flips into Partiality, in the Character he gives of Mr. Pitt. As he endeavours to make Lord Bute\ Charadter amiable, notwithftanding the Vices and Fol- lies he admits in it, fo he labours to make Mr. h 4 [7] Mr. Pitt's odious, notwithftanding the Vir- tues he allows him, and the immenfe Ser- vices which the State has received from hi9 Adminiftration, r It is in vain to enter into a Controverfy about Charadters, with which the Public is perfedly well acquainted. The Author of the Confiderations cannot give the People a better Opinion of Lord Bute, than has been formed from his Adminiflration j and no Advocate of Mr. Pitt\ can eftablifh a better Opinion of him, than he himfelf has long lince eftablifhed throughout the Kingdom. If this were the whole of the Pamphlet, fo illiberal a way of recommending and accuf^ ing Men to the People would hardly merit Attention. But the Writer having ventured to defend the Meafures of the late Minifter, with a View to difcredit the Oppofition to him, the Diligence' with which this Piece has been circulated, extorts an Anfwer. A 4 The [8] The oppofing Party are called malicious ind unjufif for impeaching the Treaty of iPcace, and the new Excife upon Cyder. They are faid to have condemned the Peace, before they were acquainted with a finglc Article of the Treaty. If the Writer means, before a (ingle Article was delivered out by Authority, it may be true j but if the Articles, which they condemned, proved afterwards to be the genuine ones, the Mz- Jice and Injujiice of their Cenfure {liould be proved, not from the Date of it, but from the Wifdom and Redlitude of thofe Ar- ticles. The Treaty is concluded, and the Nation, it is to be hoped, will acquiefce in it, with all due Refpe(fl to Government. Why then IS the Subject revived by Men, who would better confult their Intereft and their Peace of Mind, in having it forgot ? Is there not room to fufpedl, that they themfelves difcern the Force of the Objedions made to the Peace 5 [9] Peace 5 and from thence very rightly con- clude, that the Oppofition to it was merito- rious; and has left an ImpreiHon upon the People ? Ar- The firft Rumours of a Negotiation, it is confefTed, were received with fome Preju- dice, from an Opinion, not ill founded, that the Minifter had an Intereft in bringing about a Peace. His Friends were too happy in the Profpecl of it, to keep the Secret even with political Decency ; for every material Article, and many Circumftances of the Negotiation were publickly known, fome Time before they were authenticated. This being unu- fual, they muft have tranfpired inadvertently; and it is not unfair to fuppofe, that fuch In- advertency W5S the Refult of an overflowing Joy. The Situation of the late Minifter was evidently hazarded by the uncertain Events of War; and, if it had been poffible to eftablifh him, a Peace would have done it. There [ '° ] There was likewife abundant Joy in France, The BrifiJJ: Minifter and the French Nation appeared on this Occafion to be fo united in Heart and Mind, that it was difficult to de- termine, from which Side of the Water the Offer of Peace was firft made. ii The EngUJh Nation was, of Courfe, in- flamed at this Appearance of Things. They could not but apprehend, that the French Miniftry would difcern the Motives which muft neceffarily in fome degree influence the Condudl of the Britijh Minifl:er. Was there any Reafon to think Lord B, more honed than other Men, circumfl:anced in all Re- fpeds like him, would have been ? Had he not the difficult Task upon his Hands, of fnpporting himfelf againfl: a Free People, by the mere Favour of the King ? And being fo' circumfl:anced, what could he do better for himfelf y than make a Peace upon any Terms. It is granted, that the Terms were as good as could be expeded from him^ and the early ti t early Prejudice againft the Peace was founded in a juft Opinion, that he could not obtain fo good Terms as the Nation was intitled to, nor fuch, as might at that Time have been obtained' by the Minifter who con- ducted the War. Our Author affirms, that the Terms were better than had been offered to that Minifter. This might be doubted, for it has been denied in a great Affembly. But, admitting it, how much better was our Condition, than at the Time of thofe Offers? We had more Conquefts in Hand ; Affairs were mended in Germa?iy ; and the Enemy was nearer Ruin at home, than we. Our Debts and Difficulties are loudly talked of, in Juftification of the Peace. They have been magnified in a manner, which argues but little of that national Pride which ani- mated our Counftls and Arms during the War. But admitting what might be very true, that we were almofl exhaufted, the Enemy outdid us in nothing but this, for they were apparently quite exhaufted. '•If Ml There :i %. t n f. [ 12 ] There was hardly a Perfon in the Oppo- fition, who did not wifh for a Peace laft Year. Some of the Perfons in Oppolition knew the Condition of France as well as Lord B, could be fuppofed to know it ; and, fo far as appears from all they faid and did on the Occafion, they were of Opinion, that a Peace at that Time was deiirable j but that a bettet Peace, more honourable and more advantageous, might have been obtained. Have not the Peace-makers themfelves given fome Ground for the Opinion, by obtaining better Terms in the Definitive Treaty, than had been agreed to in the Preliminaries? They deferve no Reproach for this ; but nei- ther do they deferve any Thanks. The Oppolition to the Peace neceflitated them to produce to the World an Evidence, that the French Miniftry were more tradable than we had Reafon to be, and that fo material a Truth was difcovered too late. The Arguments againft the Terms of Peace lie in a very fliort Compafs. The primary, ['3 3 primary Objedt of the War had been in our Hands three Years before the Peace was con- cluded. The Enemy had obftinately pro- traded an unfuccefsful War, at an amazing Expence to us. Might we not equitably hope to avail ourfelves of fome of the Sue- cefles we have had (ince the Acquifition of Canada, and to reimburfe ourfelves in part, by retaining one of the valuable lilands, in- ftead of rcimburfing the Enemy, by furren- dering both, better conditioned than we found them, and after the Subjedts of France had enriched themlelves, by fharing in the Benefits and Privileges belonging to the BrU iijh Planters ? Was it the Objedl of our Coun- fels, and an Employment fit for our Arms, to conquer thofe Iflands, in order to take the Subjedls of France into our Protedion, and fecure their Trade againft the Britijh Men of War and Privateers ? It was a Queftion two or three Years be- [fore, whether Canada or Guadalupe fhould [be retained by us, and the Queftion was thought [ H ] thought an embarraffing one. Was not that Queftion changed by the State of the War, as it ftood laft Summer ? Were all the fub- fcquent Conquefts nothing ? and was it ma- Ucious and unjuji in the wifeft Men of this Nation, towards their Sovereign or their Country, to expert, that fomething like an Indemnity fhould arife from the Conquefts made with fo much Blood and Treafure ? if The Account between us and our Enemies was very {hort and intelligible. France took Minorca ; Spain took nothing. I am not difpofed to inflame my Countrymen, by re- citing all that we have taken. Our national Glory begins to be an obnoxious Subjedl at home. The Friends of the Miniftry forbear calling the laft A glorious War, which is its true Defcription ; they chufe rather, in Juftification of the Peace, to call it a bloody and expenjive War, which is no more defcrip- tive of this^ than of any the moft ignomini- ous War. The ' ['5] The Treaty of Utrecht has been com- plained of for many Years, and very juftly. But what was the State of the Account be- tween us and the French at the Time of that Treaty, if compared with our late Supe- riority over that broken, difgraced, difpirited nation ? They could not have carried on the War longer without extreme Difficulty 5 and if they ftiould renew it fooner than their Friend our late Minifter may exped, will it not be with the Ammunition which they have had the Dexterity to draw from this Treaty of Peace ? It is a poor Defence of the Meafure, to charge the Oppofition to it with undue and indiredl Motives, amidft fo many dire3i and honourable Motives to influence the Oppofers. Before the Matter was confidered in Parlia- ment, the general Diflikc of it was imputed to the private perfonal Intereft which fome commercial Men had in the War, and which would induce them to exclaim againft any Peace. There might be fuch Men and fuch Motives M ,': U ■ !^y . ,^. M t V '.'■,f f I 11 i ii 'I r Vivfl I I ; •Ti. « J' »»* *MKI^:?!;«^.*5«i i^.'^A-*l^f^^l^^?'Pf* Motives. B|it were there not manj^js who had a priyate perfonal Intereft ter^n Support of the Minifter, and conJ(eq«e!ft$Iy-Ji| ^fijr Peace? And, after deducting the Met^ under each of thefe Defcriptiong, wa« there Ijot a large* Numiber of difjnterefted Men tCt roaining, who judged upon the plain. Stat^ of the Cafe between us and the SQemjl'> lh9t the national Honour and Intercft iwerc not iufficiently confulted in the Terms of Peace f t»«* ^i-^ i^»*' .♦«'«*■ -H**' ■-■ y^ -f •■ .-Tf'x - f * /'^» i?!'j^ -^rf m -^^^^ L, When the Oppofition wajsmad^fciPwUai- ftient, there being no Pretence ftr imputing it to Motives of immediate Interefty other Motives equally diflionourable were;affigiied» ^eft the Nation fliould form the obvious Jirf^ nient, that Men of the firft Rank, c^f th^B greateft Underftanding, of independent Weakh, and of known Attachtneftt ^t^ the Family on thti Throne, as weH astotjieln- •tereft of thdr Country, oppofed :tl}€t Pe^ ilipon right Motives.:;: h :i r- M libiof^;,..,,. ,*-^ t -^•- 1\'. iii I ' /v- >-r^».'' .f. J-. i»iiBinw iiyiji ii^ifii^wi^ipi WWW" i M" JJU'I","""!.^ 1 .^^11