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 L E T T E R 
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 
 The EARL of B * * * , 
 
 O N 
 
 A late important RESIGNATION, and 
 its probable Confequences. 
 
 The THIRD EDITION. 
 
 Such Flames as high in Patriots burn^ 
 ret Jioop to blefs a Child or Wife, 
 
 Pope. 
 
 \ 
 
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 A 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. COOTE, at the King's Arms, in 
 Pater-Nofter-Row. Mdccixi. 
 
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i»«Mli« <M*^M— iJM 
 
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LETTER, &c. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I AM perfuaded that neither your lord- 
 {hip nor the public will imagine that 
 the enfuing pages are meant to revive any 
 of our political controverfies, which, ever 
 fince his prefent majefty's happy accefHon, 
 have been confined to the cabinet, but have 
 not divided the people. The latter, when 
 fatisfied either through opinion or experi- 
 ence of the honefty and fufficiency of the 
 miniflers, are more tracftable to govern- 
 ment, and more unanimous in fentiment, 
 than perhaps any jieople in Europe. 
 
 But, my Lord, though the people of 
 England, with a plealing kind of reiigna- 
 
 B 
 
 tion 
 
A. 
 
 [ 2 ] 
 
 tion to the will of their fupcriors, be- 
 held a French fninifter, the moft ob- 
 noxious to them, perhaps, of any that 
 could have been fent from the continent, 
 negotiating at this court upon tlie moft im- 
 portant concerns ; yet an event has hap- 
 pened, that, if not explained, bids fair to 
 unhinge that unanimity ,which has fo late- 
 ly become the glory and happinefs of 
 this iiland. It is my zeal for its continu- 
 ance, that draws upon your lordfhip this 
 addrcfs } in which, under the fandtion of 
 your lord(hip's name, a name fo agree- 
 able and refpedtable to the public, I (hall 
 endeavour to prove, 
 
 Firft, Tbat a /olid, honourable, and advan- 
 tageous peace, in theprefent circumjiances 
 of Great-Britain, exhaufied as ber people, 
 and multiplying as ber debts are, is prefer^ 
 able to the moft fplendid fuccejfes of war. 
 
 Secondly, 1'hat fuch a peace would give 
 
 Great- Britain an opportunity, with honour 
 
 and credit for the future to decline all con^ 
 
 , tineutal connexions, attended wi 
 
 h fucb 
 
 projufu 
 
 f 
 
 'ton 
 
t. 
 
 p- 
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 ^^ 
 
 u- 
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 se- 
 
 I 
 
 4 ■, 
 
 [3] 
 
 profufion tif blood and treafure, as thojefie 
 ' is now engaged in. 
 
 Thirdly, ^bat tbisfyftem can receive no 
 manner of Jhock by the reftgnation of tbe 
 right honourable gentleman who a few days 
 ago gave up tbejeals of his office. 
 
 Fourthly, ^at the fame right honourable 
 gentleman and his friends^ whofe patriotifm 
 and diJinSerefted attachment to their coun- 
 try cannot be quefiioned, will and muft^ in 
 conjifience with that charaBer, co-operate in 
 the fame good worky whether he or they are 
 in placcy or out of place ^ as they cannot be 
 fufpeSied of diftr effing his majeflfs meafures, 
 even fuppojing thofe meafures not to be 
 their own, % 
 
 My Lord, I cannot enter on a difcuf- 
 lion of the firft of thofe propofitions, 
 without obferving that, notwithftanding 
 the greatnefs of our fuccefles, neither his 
 majefty, nor his royal grand-father*, have 
 faid they would prefcribe, and not nego- 
 ciate a peace. The appointment of the 
 congrefs at Augfbourg, the naming pleni- 
 
 B 2 potentiaries, 
 
^ 
 
 [4] 
 potentiaries, the. intercourfe of mini(lers» 
 are all of them fo many (leps that indicate 
 a negociation ; and where there is a nego- 
 ciation previous to a treaty, it has, in all 
 the courfe of hiftory antient and modern, 
 been fuppofed that fomewhat is to be 
 given up on both fides ; on that of the 
 prevailing, as well as on that of the de~ 
 dining, or even proflrate, party. Edward 
 the Third, my Lord, though at the gates 
 of Paris with a victorious army, gave up 
 a great deal by the treaty of Bretigny ; 
 nor did Henry the Fifth difdain to con- 
 clude that of Troycs, while in fad he was 
 poffcffed of three-fourths of all France. 
 
 This being premifed, it is neceffary, in 
 order to fix the terms of a jufl and ho- 
 nourable peace, that we examine what is 
 to be given up by Great-Britain, fliould 
 the congrefs of Augfbourgtake place \ for 
 I (hall not affront our fanguine patriots fo 
 much, as to prcfume that France has any 
 thing to give us, but her a(:quiefcence in 
 what (hall be agreed upon at the congrefs, 
 
 and 
 
 4 
 
:e 
 11 
 
 
 is] 
 
 and her good faith in performing it. But 
 even this acquicfcence, I muft humbly 
 fuppofc, muft be purchafed by feme con- 
 ceffions on the part of Great-Britain. 
 What thofe conceffions ought to be, is 
 the prefent queftion. ^ 
 
 I am not, my Lord, afraid to fay, that 
 according to the fituation, the intereft, 
 and even the genius of the Bricifh nation, 
 they ought to afpire to no acquilitions but 
 tliofe of commerce. The prefent war was 
 begun not with a view of enlarging, but 
 of protecting, our trade. But the expence 
 of blood and treafure with which it has 
 been attended, renders it far from being 
 unreafonable that we (hould be indemni- 
 fied by the enlargement, as well as the 
 fecurity and protection, of that trade. 
 The French encroached upon our back 
 fettlements ; they eredted a chain of forts 
 that bade fair -, and that too in a few years, 
 either to thruft us from all our poffeffions 
 upon the continent of America, or to ren- 
 der them infignificant to their mother- 
 country. 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 country. The queflion is, while matters 
 were in that fitULition, what terms would 
 the Englifli crown and miniftry have in- 
 lifted upon ? 
 
 As I believe there is not a man of fenfe 
 in Europe, who does not believe that at 
 the beginning of the war, fecurity for 
 our American fettlements was all we ex- 
 pected, and all we required, I muft be 
 of opinion that had the French then of- 
 fered us that, they might have had that 
 peace which I believe they would be glad 
 of now. Their obftinacy was equally in- 
 folent as unfurriiountable ; nor can we 
 wonder at it in a people that meafures 
 right by power. They had a flourifhing 
 marine on the feas of Europe, and on 
 the continent of America a great empire, 
 which they thought nature and art equally 
 contributed to render inacceilible to our 
 arms. Some events at the beginning of 
 the war, difadvantageous to us more in 
 imagination than reality, confirmed them 
 in their obftinacy, and threw us into a 
 
 defpondency, 
 
 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 dcfpondency, or rather fever, that gave 
 the feals to the right honourable gentle- 
 man who lately refigned theih. 
 
 No minifter, perhaps, ever entered into 
 power with greater advantages on his (ide. 
 His perfonal and family connections, the 
 good opinion his fovereign had of him, 
 with the homage the people paid to his 
 integrity and abilities, left him nothing to 
 wi(h for. All the departments in govern- 
 ment were filled up by his nomination, 
 and every fcheme he laid down was adopt- 
 ed, even before it was examined. 
 
 As I here intend to flick clofe to the 
 fkd head I propofed, I fhall not deviate 
 from it (tho' perhaps it would be no de- 
 viation) by any obfervations on the vafl 
 acceflions his popularity acquired by the 
 mifcarriage of our fleet in the Mediterra- 
 nean, and that unaccountable ridiculous 
 meafure of fending for Heffians and Ha- 
 noverians to protect Great Britain, with 
 many other favourable accidents of the 
 fame kind. It is unqueflionable, that his 
 
 firfl 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 firft meafures were more vigorous, and 
 therefore more to the tafte of his mailer, 
 than any that had ever been propofed be- 
 fon^: Icannot, however, beof opinion, that 
 all of them were of equal utility. The firft 
 expedition which was fchemed, I mean 
 the conqueft of Rochfort, had it been fuc- 
 cefsful, would have been of vaft and du- 
 rable advantage to this nation. But tho' 
 it mifcarried, the honourable gentleman's 
 enemies, if he had any, were much more 
 candid to him than his friends were to the 
 former miniftry in the cafe of Byng's mif- 
 carriage, and the lofs of Minorca. No 
 tongue or pen was employed in imputing 
 to him the failure of that expedition, tho* 
 it was effedted perhaps through as (hock- 
 ing mifmanagement as any Lo be met 
 with in the Britifh hiftory. As to the 
 two defcents on the continent of France, 
 faid by the gentleman's friends to have 
 been proje(fted by him, to make the French 
 fenfible that they were vulnerable in their 
 own territories, I can by no means fee the 
 
 good 
 
 I 
 
 "-'- 
 
:|;. 
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
 good efFeds they were attended with to 
 this nation. I think they have proved the 
 French to be invulnerable 5 becaufe I 
 muft be of opinion that there is a diffe- 
 rence between a fcratcb and a wound. 
 Perhaps, when we confider that both thofe 
 expeditions coft us an immenfe expence, 
 and fome blood, if not difgrace, it will 
 puzzle the warmeft friend the right ho- 
 nourable gendeman has, to point out one 
 national purpofe they anfvvered, if we ex- 
 cept the fplendid parade of carrying the 
 cannon of Cherbourg to the Tower of 
 London, and the proof that France was 
 acceffible upon her own coafts. Were I 
 to hazard conjedlure, I might perhaps fay 
 they have been fo far detrimental to us, as 
 they have taught France the manner of 
 our defcents, and the means of guarding 
 againft them for the future. 
 
 The conqueft of Canada, it may be faid, 
 was a plan laid down by the fame right 
 honourable gentleman. I (hall admit that 
 it was, arid that it has redounded greatly 
 
 C to 
 
r 
 
 [ »o ] 
 
 to his honour. But will the moft idolatrous 
 admirer of that gentleman deny, that had 
 not Providence, for I (hall not call it 
 Chance, co-operated with the incredible 
 refolution of the Britifh troops, and the 
 Britifh general, it mull have been felt as 
 the moft Jhfiil) and conjidered as the moft 
 extravagant fcheme that ever was attempt- 
 ed to be put into execution by this coun- 
 try. Whoever throws his eyes upon the 
 lafl letter on that fubjedt, written by the 
 brave general Wolfe, compared with the 
 fubfcquent operations, which almoft, by 
 miracle, proved to be fuccefsful, muft be 
 of that opinion. Notwithftanding this, I 
 mail admit, that the conqueft of Ca- 
 nada v/as a great, a fjlid, and a glorious 
 acquifition to Great Britain. 
 
 I iliall not here difpute, tho* perhaps I 
 might be fupported in difputing it, whe- 
 ther the redu(5lion of Louisbourg was 
 planned by him or net. Be that as it will, 
 \z is certain the conqueft of Louisbourg 
 was biji a negative advantage, and no ac- 
 
 quifi:ion 
 
 m 
 
 # 
 
m 
 
 :'1 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 [ " ] 
 
 quiiition to Great-Britain -, and that the 
 fame was not only planned but executed 
 under a miniftry, in which I believe nei- , 
 ther the right honourable gentleman, nor 
 his friends, will pretend that they had the 
 fmalled intcref}. Your lorddiip may per- 
 ceive that I do not here attempt to raife 
 any' argument from the very difputable 
 meafure of demolifhing the fortilications 
 of that place, which, by the privateering 
 turn, to our difadvantage, the war has 
 taken in thofe place, muH:, if {landing, 
 have been of infinite fsrvice to the Britiih 
 fhipping. 
 
 I fliall readily admit, that the conqueft 
 of Gorce and Senegal was entirely owing 
 to him ; and that he Hiewed great fagacity 
 in falling in with the plans laid ber^re him 
 for reducing thofe places, by perfons who 
 were acquainted with their ftrength and 
 fituation. But, my Lord, the queftion 
 with me is, whether Great-Britain hitherto 
 has found thofe acquiiitions to be of fo 
 
 great advantage as they were given out to 
 
 C2 *be 
 
 #iWUi^ti 
 
[ J2 ] 
 
 be to our intereft and commerce ; whe- 
 ther they are not, in fadt, the grave of 
 Englifli fubjcfts, or whether they ever can 
 compenfate for that immenfe mortality 
 that is entitled upon our poflcffing them. 
 
 The conqueft of Belleifle, my Lord, is 
 another flower I (hall readily admit to 
 have been added to the Britifh garland by 
 the fame right honourable gentleman. I 
 call that conqueft, my Lord, a flower, 
 becaufe I think no reafonable man, either 
 at home or abroad, can imagine that it will 
 be permanent j or if permanent, that it 
 will not coft us fifty times more than 
 it is worth. I (hall, however, admit, that 
 it was right to reduce that ifland, be- 
 caufe, whatever it may be worth to us it is 
 of vaft confequence to France, and may 
 claim a proper equivalent in a fubfequent 
 negotiation ; not to mention the great 
 figure we have acquired by the conqueft of 
 it in the eyes of all the reft of Europe. 
 
 Our conquefts in the Eaft-Indies, my" 
 Lord, I can by no means admit to have 
 
 been 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
■,ff 
 '% 
 
 t 13 ] 
 
 been in any degree owing to the councils 
 of the right honourable gentleman in 
 queftion ; for tho' both the royal troops 
 and (hipping were employed in them, yet 
 the plan was laid and attempted long be* 
 fore the right honourable gentleman came 
 into the adminiflration $ and confidering 
 the prefent conftitution of that company, 
 it may be difputed whether the advan- 
 tages refulting from thofe conqueAs are 
 national or partial. 
 
 I have flated thofe coniiderations, my 
 Lord, not from any malignity towards the 
 honourable gentleman, but becaufe Ami^ 
 cm Plato fed magis arnica Veritas, I love 
 him much, but my country more ; and I 
 am forry to fee too many of my fellow- 
 fubje^ts fo far deluded, as to think that 
 ! the refignatidn of Mr. P— is but another 
 term for the deftrudtion of Great-Britain. 
 Their zeal, by the bye, pays but a very 
 forry compliment to his prefent majefty 
 and his royal grandfather, and the confli- 
 tution of this country ; for they cannot 
 
 attri- 
 
■ [ H ] 
 
 attribute all our fuccefTes and glory to him 
 without fuppofing him to be what is incon- 
 fiftcnt with the Britifli government, a^^y?, 
 nfo/e, nay an independent minifter. Your 
 lordfhip, I am fure, knows far better than 
 I do, that no man can dictate at a Britifh 
 council-board ; and that ery public 
 fcbeme that is to be executed, mufl have 
 the approbation of the fovercign, or a ma- 
 jority at his council-board, or both. 
 
 Having faid this much, my Lord, give 
 me leave to add, it has been too frequent 
 in this country, in the heat of conqueft, 
 and while the acclamations of triumph are 
 tingling in our ears, for both minifters and 
 people to llrike into fplendid deviations 
 from the national intered ; and I think 
 every conqued is fuch when it cods more 
 than it is worth ; and when its impor- 
 tance does not anfwer its maintenance. I 
 {hall not here pofltively aver this to be 
 the cafe with regard to the conquefts of 
 Great- Britain during the prefent warj but 
 if it is afafe, and an honourable peace, (that 
 
 I may 
 
 
[IS] 
 I may keep to my firft propofition,) may 
 certainly be made tho* we give fuch con- 
 quefts up. I have hitherto defigncdiy 
 avoided the mention of our acquifition of 
 Guadaloupe, becaufe the public voice, or 
 rather one part of the public, feems to put 
 it in competition with that of Canada. 
 That it was conquered during the admi- 
 niflration of the right honourable gentle- 
 man here pointed at, is certain ; but that 
 it was conquered in confequence of his 
 plan, is more than qucftion able. If the 
 plan was originally his, he intruded the 
 execution of it to perhaps the mod im- 
 proper officer, with regard to enterprize, 
 in his majefty's fervice. The confequence 
 was fuitable to the charader of the per- 
 fon employed, for it mifcarried, and mif- 
 carried in fuch a manner, that the public 
 is ftill at a lofs to account how it pofllbly 
 could mifcarry. That it was refumed 
 will not, I believe, be pretended by the 
 gentleman's friends, to have been owing to 
 his advice or dircclion j and all the world 
 
 knows. 
 
I 16] 
 
 knows, that we owe thepone/Tion of the 
 ifland to that temerity, which, whe'n un- 
 fuccefsful in war, is termed madnefs^ and 
 when fuccefsful, heroifm, I am far from 
 faying this to derogate from the merit of 
 the genera], the officers, and the troops 
 who made the conqueft. The greateft 
 names in hiftory owe their luflre to a 
 happy temerity ; and had not the attempt 
 been refumed, the enemies of Great-Bri- 
 tain might have laughed her to fcorn at 
 feeing her arms baffled. 
 
 This review, my Lord, of our viftorics 
 and. conqueds during the right honour- 
 able gentleman's adminiflration, can by 
 no means be thought impertinent, becaufe 
 however important or unimportant they 
 were, it is extremely plain, that the pub« 
 lic voice did him injuftice in attributing 
 them folely to him. But let us fall in 
 with the madnefs of his admirers fo far, 
 as even to admit he was the fole diredlor, 
 ihall we fwell his other praifes with that 
 of having been frugal of the public mo- 
 ney ? 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
A 
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
 ncy. M}' Lord, I do not fay that he 
 fquandered it, but I mud be of opinion, 
 that his was the mod expendve admini- 
 ftration that Great- Britain ever did fee, 
 and, I hope, ever will fee again : and 
 that all the emoluments that pofTibly 
 can accrue to us from our conquers, are 
 infufficient to indemnify us for the iixth 
 part of the annual intered of the money 
 they coft. 
 
 I know, my Lord, the common cant 
 of (hallow politicians, that the money is 
 all fpent among ourfelves. Admitting it 
 is, and that no kind of confideration is to 
 be had to the principal, but flill the year- 
 ly interefl mud be paid, and it cannot be 
 paid without a yearly multiplication of 
 taxes ; what the confequence of this muil 
 be in the end, is worthy of ferious atten- 
 tion. 
 
 When the right honourable gentlemaa 
 firft came into the direction of afiairs, we 
 were t6ld from the throne* that the more 
 vigorous our preparations for war were; 
 and the more briikly it was pufhed, we 
 
 D mud 
 
I) 
 
 (■ 
 
 [ i8 1 
 mud the fooner come to an end of it ; 
 or, in other words, the more money you 
 lay out this year, you will be obliged to 
 lay out the lefs next year. The public 
 chearfuUy adopted this dodlrine : the 
 money was raifed without murmuring, 
 and the war went on with vigour ; but, 
 however, it was far from being ended. 
 Next year, double the money was wanted, 
 the fame language was made ufe of, and 
 the public were taught, in terms of the 
 homely proverb. Not to lofe a hog for a 
 halfpennyworth of tar. The money ac- 
 cordingly was again raifed without mur- 
 muring. Now, to be fure, this immenfe 
 fum mufl do the bufinefs ; France, be- 
 fore the campaign is over, mufl be 
 brought to her marrow- bones, and then 
 thereisanendof thofe immenfe demands. 
 No ; the next, and another feflion is ufli- 
 ered in with the fame ailurances, and the 
 fame demands ; and (hould the War con- 
 tinue, I fhall not at all be furprized to fee 
 the enfuing feflion opened in the fame 
 
 drain. 
 
 Taxes, 
 

 f '9 J 
 Taxes, my Lord, as well as all other 
 matters of policy, have their bounds, and 
 thefe are fixed in a juft proportion be- 
 tween the exigencies of the (late, and the 
 abilities of the people. Exigencies fo- 
 reign to the interefls of a people ; exigen - 
 cies contrived to replenidi the rattle of 
 popularity, or to gratify an ufelefs, favourite, 
 perhaps a baleful, paflion in the people, 
 mud in the end create demands that fur- 
 pafs their ability to fatisfy. This, my 
 Lord, ever has been, and ever will he, 
 attended with one of two cenfequences ; 
 either the crown muft become abfolute, or 
 contemptible. In this country, where 
 public faith is the faith of parliament, 
 the lail confequence is moft to be feared. 
 The manufacturer, the labourer, and 
 the mariner, muft work for the credit of 
 the public ; and a fufiiciency will not re- 
 main to fupport either the proper dignity 
 or power of government, or to anfwer 
 the future neceflary exigencies of ftate. 
 Suppofing, for inftance, the prefent war 
 D 2 was 
 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 was to laft, at its prefent expence, for 
 two years longer, that is, fuppofing the 
 public debt to be increafed about 8oo,oooL 
 a year ^ add this to the immenfe annual 
 intereft we already pay, and let me afk 
 any reafbnable man, whether Great-Bri- 
 i.un, extended as her commerce, and 
 powerful as her armaments are both by 
 fea and land, will be able to anfwer the 
 demand, and at the fame time raife the 
 money for the necelfary purpofes of go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Your lordfhip may perceive that I make 
 no quedion about raiding the principal 
 fum, for I make no doubt that in two 
 years time it might be raifed. But, my 
 Lord, I am iingular enough to think that 
 to be one of the worfl fymptoms attend- 
 ing the civil ftate of Great-Britain, be- 
 caufe it plainly evinces the immenfe pro* 
 iit arifing to the public creditors, and 
 which mufl abfolutely accrue from the 
 labour of the hufbandman, the merchant, 
 the mariner, and the manufadturer. Here 
 
 I know 
 
 
 r$ 
 

 .1 
 
 [ 21 ] 
 
 I know It may be faid, and it has been 
 faid, why not tax the funds ? The ah- 
 fwer is, fuch a taxation would be unjufl: 
 in itfclf, and deftruftive of public credit. 
 They who have money in the funds, 
 pay, in common with thofe who have not, 
 their proportion in the taxes upon the or- 
 dinary neceffaries, conveniences, or luxu- 
 ries of life ; and fhould the parliament 
 break in to the bargain they made with 
 the public creditors, it muft depart from 
 its good faith, the only coniideration 
 which hitherto has fupported public 
 credit. 
 
 From what has been faid, I apprehend it 
 to be extremely clear that the credit of the 
 public mufl be overtrained, the moment 
 our debts become fuch that the govern- 
 ment cannot, within the year, raife the 
 annual intereft of them j and I fhould be 
 glad to know how we can more efFcd:u- 
 ally come to that melancholy pafs, than 
 by continuing the galloping manner we 
 have been in for fome years paft. There 
 
 IS 
 
r « ] 
 
 IS not want of money, fays a fanguine citi- 
 zen, for carrying on the war. I fay, fo 
 much the worfe. The difficulty does not 
 lie in the fubjeds fupplying the govern- 
 ment, but in the government repaying the 
 fubjcdt. In fhort, can this nation, with 
 all its riches and grandeur, in time of 
 peace, every year raife eight millions of 
 money ? Frugality and oeconomy 1 know, 
 can do great things; yet give me leave, 
 my. Lord, to fay they cannnot work im- 
 pofTibilities. I call it an impoffibility to 
 reduce the intcreft owing to the creditocs 
 of the public. 
 
 I admit that that intered has been re- 
 duced. Buthov/? not by making the 
 parliamentary hith Jelo de fe, in fa)ring to 
 its creditors you (hall accept of fo much 
 intereft, whet! "ir it pleafes you or not j: 
 but by giving the creditor a fair and honcft 
 option, which is frequent in common life, 
 <• Either accept of the intereft I am willing 
 to pay, or take back your principal." A 
 government, my Lord, may talk that lan- 
 guage 
 
 . ;r 
 
 
■ft 
 
 [ n ] 
 
 guage when it owes but fixty millions, 
 without much danger of being taken at its 
 word } or if it is, without much difficuhy 
 of fulfilling it ; but where is the minifter 
 who will venture to fpeak in that ftile 
 when the public debt is more than dou- 
 ble that fum, and when the alternative 
 lies between the creditor's receiving h s 
 principal, or his accepting an annual fum 
 that falls fliort of the natural intereft of 
 money in this country ? But this point is 
 of itfelf fo extremely clear that I (hall in- 
 fift upon it no longer. 
 
 I am, however, fomewha't concerned to 
 reflect, it is poflible fome well-meaning 
 people may think I ought not to tell 
 thofe matters in Gatb, or to publifli them 
 in Aikalon, Alas 1 my Lvord, they are 
 truths that are already but too well known 
 to the Philiflines, and even to the daugh- 
 ters of the Philiftines ; they are the truths 
 that make them rejoice. They are truths 
 that feem to be hid only from ourfelves ; 
 aiid for that reafoh they the more require 
 to be publifhed. The whole preient de- 
 pendence 
 
 \ 
 
i: 
 
 5 i' 
 
 [Hi 
 
 pendence of France is upon our continue 
 ing the war till our public credit fhali be 
 overflrained ; and then we muft do with- 
 out an equivalent, and with (hame, that 
 which we may do now to our advantage 
 and with honour. 
 
 I hope I (hall not be underflood as 
 fuggefting, that we arc to forego all we 
 ' have gained by this war, rather than con- 
 tinue it. No ; nothing can be farther 
 from my thoughts ; nothing ought to be 
 farther from the thoughts of any man who 
 values the intered and reputation of this 
 country. But, my Lord, I am free enough 
 to fay, I think we have done enough for 
 the purpofes of advantage, and perhaps too 
 much for thofe of glory. His majefly 
 muft have thought, in the terms of my firfl 
 propofttion, that a folid, honourable, and 
 advantageous peace, is preferable to the 
 moft fplendid fuccefles of war ; when in 
 the middle of thofe fucceffes he named his 
 plenipotentiaries for the congrefs of Augs- 
 bourg. Were that congrefs now holding 
 (and I mufl acknowledge I am forry it is 
 
 not) 
 
V 
 
 .4 
 
 IS 
 
 %i 
 
 i ^s ] 
 
 not) we (hould not be obliged to comply 
 with unreafonable demands. Should the 
 French fay to us, *• You (hall give us back 
 Quebec, Guadaloupe, or Senegal," we fay, 
 no. What is the confequence ? the war 
 continues, but not a war of enterprize and 
 offence, but of felf-defence and juftice. 
 We are in pofTeffion ; let us throw the la- 
 bouring oar upon France ; let her fpend 
 thofe fums upon enterprize and offence 
 that we have expended, and then let us fee 
 how long (he will continue in her impe- 
 rious mode. But as I cannot help looking 
 upon the French to be a fenfible people, 
 fo I can by no means imagine that they 
 will talk in that ftrain, or that they are not 
 willing to make proper allowances for 
 thofe fucceffes that have been attended 
 with fuch a profuiion of our blood and 
 treafure. 
 
 The queftion however ftill recurs j 
 what is a folid, honourable, and advan- 
 tageous peace ? To folve this queflion, 
 my Lord, I muft have a retrofped: to the 
 principle upon^which the war was under- 
 
 £ taken 
 
1^ 1 
 
 
 \\i 
 
 V ' 
 
 [ «6 ] 
 
 taken and conducted, which was that of 
 fecurity to our American pofTeflions. The 
 conqueil of Q^bec and Canada, tho' ra- 
 ther an accidental, than a primary, objedk, 
 is faid to be conducive to that fecurity i 
 and if it really is, let us retain both. Your 
 lordQiip bed knows, whether M. Buily, 
 before he departed from London, did 
 not publicly declare that his mailer 
 never would renounce his right to Qiie- 
 bee, were he befieged in his palace of 
 Verfailies by a hundred thoufand men. 
 But, my Lord, I am far from thinking 
 that this declaration was either iincere oc 
 unreafonable. It is well known that ttit- 
 nifters, efpecially French minifters, em- 
 ploy the loudeft language when they arc 
 inftrufted to make the ampleftconceflions. 
 Had fuch a minifter as Sir William Tem- 
 ple heard M. BufTy make fuch a declara- 
 tion, he would immediately have whif- 
 pered into his mailer's ear, that he was 
 fure he had fomething very like a Carie 
 Blanche in his pocket. I muil therefore 
 think the declaration was made to enhance 
 
 the 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ;t N 
 
vas that of 
 Sions. The 
 ia, tho* ra- 
 iry, objc<a, 
 t fccurity | 
 oih. Your 
 M. Buffy, 
 ndon, did 
 lis maflcr 
 it to Qae^ 
 palace of 
 fand mcu. 
 
 thinking 
 iincere or 
 1 that mi- 
 ners, em- 
 1 they are 
 nccAions. 
 am Tem- 
 
 i declara* 
 ive whif- 
 it he was 
 i a Car/e 
 therefore 
 
 enhance 
 the 
 
 : ■Til 
 
 '■4'^ 
 
 '^'V 
 
 I 27 ] 
 
 the value of his conceflions, and from 
 fome fym-»tcms, he imagined he difco- 
 vered in his majefly*s council, of fondnefs 
 for peace on a'^.y terms. 
 
 But, my Lord, as I have already hinted, 
 fuppofing the declaration to be (incere, 1 
 cannot think, that even if his Mod Chrif- 
 tian Majefty flicks by it, it can be of the 
 lead obftrudtion to our concluding a folid, 
 honourable, and advantageous peace. Our 
 pofTefiion of Jamaica is of, at leaft, as 
 much confequence to us as our pofTedion 
 of Quebec ; and yet the Spaniards, not- 
 withilanding the many treaties we have 
 had with, them, and the friendfnip that 
 has for thefe twelve years fubiided be- 
 tween us and them, heve never renounced 
 their right to Jamaica. We keep it not-^ 
 withftanding, and I hope we always (hall 
 keep it. In (hort, my Lord, were a peace 
 made to-morrow under the ampleft re- 
 nunciation on the part of France, of all we 
 have conquered, I (hould think pofleiiion 
 our beft, if not our only, fecurity. He 
 mud be a novice in hiAory, indeed, who 
 
 E 2 is 
 
;vs 
 
 m- 
 
 [28 ] 
 
 is ignorant that the capital maxim of tho 
 French monarchy is, that all rcnuncia- 
 lions are, of themfclvcs, void and of no 
 elTedt, if they tend to the prejudice of tho 
 crown; and, my Lord, on the principles 
 of monarchy linked with thofeof heredi- 
 tary fiicceflion, I am not fure but they 
 are in the right. At leaft, were I a Bri- 
 tifli minifter or counfcllor, I {hould be ex- 
 tremely tender of advifing his majefty to 
 renounce, even for himfelf, the moft diff 
 putable right he has. 
 
 " But the French will not make peace, 
 unlefs we give back Quebec." Then let 
 them make war, and try to recover it. As 
 they can have no hopes of that, it is ab- 
 furd to imagine, that, with the viper, they 
 will lick the file, and imagine their blood 
 to be ours. Upon the whole, therefore, if 
 it is in our bread to keep poiTcrflion of Ca- 
 nada, againft all the power of France, as it 
 undoubtedly is ; and if that pofle/Iion is 
 neceflary for the fecurity of our Ame- 
 rican colonies, we never can imagine, 
 that the negocUtlons for peace will be obr 
 
 ftruifted 
 
 t 
 
 
 1 
 

 [Z9] 
 
 firu£led on that account. I (hoiild not 
 even be either furprifcd or forty to fte the 
 treaty between us and France published 
 by authority, without either Canada or 
 Quebec being once mentioned in it. No 
 man of the leaft knowledge, or experi- 
 ence in life can doubt, that the mofl ex* 
 prefs ftipulations on the part of France on 
 that head, will laft no longer than her 
 inability to break them. 
 
 I fliall now turn my view to the other 
 important conqueft we have made upon 
 the French in America ; I mean that of 
 Guadaloupe. This, jho' a fortunate ac- 
 quifition, muft be acknowledged to be 
 extraneous to the original neceffary prin- 
 ciple upon which the war began ; and 
 therefore I mu(t be of opinion, that our 
 returning it cannot affedl that f(?curity for 
 which we fought at firft. But are we to 
 return it after the expence we have been 
 at in conquering it ? 1 fliould be as loth, 
 my Lord, as any man in England, to agree 
 to our giving back the fmalleft portion of 
 what we have acquired from France, did 
 
 I not 
 
 
i '' ' 
 
 t 30 ] 
 
 I not think fuch a ceHSon infinitely pre- 
 ferable to the continuance of this devour- 
 ing expenfive war. But, in fadt, is our 
 retaining Guadaloupe of that vafl confe- 
 quence to this nation as has been repre- 
 fented ? Have not thofe reprefentations 
 been exaggerated beyond the bounds of 
 truth, probability, and give me leave to 
 fay, of poiHbihty, by a fet of men in this 
 ifland, who find their intereft in difcou" 
 raging the planters of our own iflanJs, 
 and. in endeavouring to reader their com- 
 modity a drug ? I (hall readily admit, that 
 the greater the quantity of fugar is that 
 comes to Great Britain, it is fo much the bet- 
 ter for us. But can that fugar be raifed no 
 where but in Guadaloupe ? If the public 
 is not grofly mifinformed by thofe who 
 have the beft opportunities of knowing, 
 the neutral iflands, which France is willing 
 to relinquiih to us, and which, at a very 
 little expence, we can render tenable againft 
 all her power may with proper cultiva- 
 tion be made capable of producing more 
 fugar than either Guadaloupe or Martini- 
 
 co. 
 
 M; 
 
[ 3' ] 
 
 CO, or indeed both together. When I 
 
 mention this, I am far from undervaluing 
 the acqulfition of Guadaloupc. I know 
 it to be of great importance, but impor- 
 tant as it is, 1 think the rcdoration of 
 peace to this country is more fo } efpeci- 
 ally if our refigning Guadaloupe can be 
 compenfated, as it certainly may be, by 
 our peaceable poiTeflion of the neutral 
 illands. Add to this, that Guadaloupe is 
 by no means neceflary, as Quebec is, to the 
 preservation of our American poiTeflions. 
 R,ationaIly fpeaking, therefore, upon the 
 whole, that peace mud be folid, honour- 
 able, and advantageous, that not only an- 
 fwers the end for which we took up arms, 
 but gives us fuc)i an additional fecurity, as 
 renders it almoft morally impoflible for the 
 French ever to become again either our 
 rivals or our enemies in North-America. 
 Thus far I have confined myfelf to what 
 was properly the primary object of the 
 war. I now proceed to a few confidera- 
 tions co.xerning the confequenccs, or the 
 fecondary objeifts ; and fuch I take our 
 
 . concern 
 
 ?^ 
 
m 
 
 h' 
 
 !■ 
 
 f 32 ] 
 
 concern in Germany to be. Our cort* 
 neftions w"*h the king of Pruffia were 
 tormcd by the injuftice of France, who, in 
 confequence of a quarrel in America, at- 
 tacked his majedy's electoral dominions in 
 Germany. The right honourable gentle- 
 man who has lately refigned, is the bed 
 judge in what terms he and his friends 
 ufed to talk of continental connections. 
 They too can beft account why, in the pro- 
 grefs of the war, thofc connections grew 
 more extenfive, and more important, than 
 they had ever been fince the accefllon of 
 the prefent family to the crown of Great 
 Britain, even under adminiftrations that 
 were the moft odious and unpopular on that 
 account. But, my Lord, I am not difpofed 
 to find fault, and fcarcely animadvert upon 
 inconddencies. I think Great Britain has 
 adted not only generoully, but wifely, in 
 the aflidance (he has given to his Pruflian 
 majefty, and the protedtion fhe has afford- 
 ed to the electorate of Hanover -, but I 
 muft at the fame time be of opinion, that 
 a Britifh minilter might, with a very good 
 
 grace 
 
 1 
 
'^•t,^ 
 
 ce 
 
 [33] 
 grace towar^is his country and all Europe, 
 admit of a negotiation for peace, without 
 infixing upon full and ample amends 
 for all that the king of Pruflla, and the 
 elcdor of Hanover, have fuffcredfince the 
 commencement of this war. Were fuch 
 indemnifications to be always inliiled on, 
 no peace could be made. The French, 
 as well as their enemies, have had their 
 lofTcs. 
 
 The right honourable gentleman's 
 friends, I know, have faid that a fcparate 
 peace between Great- Britain and France 
 would be of very little fervice to his 
 Pruflian majefty, as the two emprcfles 
 appear determined not to lay down their 
 arms but with his ruin. In anfwer to 
 this, we are to obferve, that his Prudian 
 majefly himfelf, who underflands his own 
 iituation and interefl, at lead as well as 
 we do, is of a difierent opinion, and 
 thinks, that if he was eafed of the French, 
 he could give a very good account of his 
 other enemies, numerous as they are -, 
 but, even granting that not to be the cafe, 
 
 F « 
 
 '1 
 
 Ml 
 
 / 
 
r 
 
 u 
 
 fr 
 
 t - 
 1 1 
 
 [34 J 
 is Great-Britain lo fufFcr becaufe two 
 women are obftinate and vindiiflive ? We 
 have done for his Pruffian majcfty all 
 that we could do, and more perhaps than 
 any ally ever did for another. Should 
 the malice of his enemies continue, wc 
 fhall be enabled to do more, if we are 
 at peace with France j and a very little 
 will turn the ^'^ale in his favour, as the 
 balance even at prefent is very little more 
 than doubtfal. The Britifh miniftry, 
 therefore, my Lord, may very honeftly, 
 and very conliftently with the character of 
 true patriotifm, enter upon a negotiation, 
 of which the neutrality of France with 
 regard to Pruffia and Hanover is a preli- 
 minary ftipulation. Were fuch a preli- 
 minary eflabli(hed. it would then be in 
 the power of Great-Britain to give the 
 king of Prufila more effedtual affiftancc 
 than ever, and with far lefs detriment to 
 herfelf : nor can I look upon any mi- 
 nifler, who fhould oppofe a negotiation 
 on fuch a bails, in any other light, than 
 ihat of being an enemy, not only to peace 
 « but 
 
 v"i 
 
[ 35 1 
 but to his country. All Europe would 
 applaud fuch a negociation \ and what- 
 foever the event of the war might be 
 between his Pruffian majefty and his othei" 
 enemies, the conftitution of the Germa- 
 nic body muft revert to its natural fyftem. 
 France, as guarantee of the treaty of 
 Weftphalia, never, iii her cooler hours^ 
 can approve of thofe connecl^ions which 
 rage and refentment againfc Great-Britain 
 hurried her into with the houfe of 
 Auftria : it never can be her intereft to 
 fee the proteftant caufe ruined in Germa- 
 ny, where a balance of power againft the 
 court of Vienna is neccflary fcr her fafety. 
 In fhort, my Lord, I can conflder the pre- 
 f nt and late condudl both of France and 
 Auftria, only as that of two perfons in at 
 delirium, or a fever. France has given 
 fome indication that the criiis of her dif^ 
 temper is approaching, and it was the 
 bufinefs of a Briti(h miniiler to have en- 
 couraged and promoted her cure. The 
 ruin of the ele(5torate of Hanover and 
 Brandenbourg could ferve only to ag* 
 
 F 2 grandizs 
 
 '^' 
 
 K 
 

 .i f 
 
 f> 
 
 ft I 
 
 h«i 
 
 !!/■ 
 
 W 
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 grandize the houfe of Audria to the pre- 
 judice, and in the end perhaps to the 
 ruin, of that of J3ourbon. 
 
 Can we imagint that there is a think- 
 ing man in the French king's dominions, 
 who is infenHble of this truth, and who 
 will not lend his hand towards diflblving 
 the prefent unnatural connections be- 
 tween the two houfes. In what I fay, I 
 am far from pleading the caufe of France. 
 Her dangerous views, her perjuries, and 
 perfidy, with her perpetual enmity to the 
 peace of Europe and the intereft: of Great- 
 Britain, are but too well known ? bur, 
 in this cafe it happens for once, that her 
 intereft, and that of Great-Britain, when 
 rightly under/lood, are the fame ; a con- 
 fideration of which a BritiQi minifter 
 ought to avail himfelf, and if, properly 
 attended to, may not only clofe up the 
 wounds of war, but raife 'i« to a pitch 
 of fecure greatnefs, that this nation never 
 experienced before. France is now fen-* 
 fible of her error in attempting to extend 
 her commerce, which (he could not pro- 
 tect. 
 
 ■n 
 
 ..^ 
 
■;S^Sv' 
 
 t 37 1 
 tcdt. The experiment of her rivalling 
 the marine of Great-Britain has failed 
 her ; the purpofes for which her abfurd 
 connexions with the houfe of Auftria 
 were formed have not anfwered their 
 ends ; her fleets are irretrievably ruined 3 
 fhe is fighting in Germany againft the 
 only natural allies fhe has there, the 
 proteflants; and fhould (he even carry 
 her point againft the eleAorate of Hano- 
 ver \i will neither be worth her while, 
 1 oi in her power, to maintain her acqui- 
 fition } and every intelligent reader may 
 fee that (he is fenfible of this truth by the 
 motions of her armies on the frontiers of 
 that ele(5torate. Could fhe have prevailed 
 againft Great-Britain, ftie would have 
 indemnified herfelf for her expences in 
 the war, not in Germany, but in Ame- 
 rica. >)s He has not prevailed, and at 
 fhe has n r r jw the fmalleft probability 
 of prevailing, what is fhe to do, but to 
 relinquifh to us the primary objects for 
 which both nations went to war, and let 
 
 each 
 
II 
 
 ■ '■>, 
 
 ill 
 
 mi 
 
 
 I, 
 
 m 
 
 [ 38 ] 
 
 each of us make the befl we can 6f the 
 lecondary. ones. 
 
 .This, my Lord, brings me to the fecond 
 propoOtion I have laid down, which is, 
 that a folid, honourable, and advantageous 
 peace, would give Great-Britain an op- 
 portunity, with honour and credit for the 
 future, to decline all continental con nee- 
 tlons, attended with fuch a profudon of 
 blood and trea^'re as thofe (lie is now 
 engaged in. 
 
 I cannot properly handle this propoli- 
 tion, without fome flight review of the 
 right honourable gentleman's condud: 
 while he was in the adminidration, with 
 regard to the affairs of Germany. When 
 he entered upon the high poll he has 
 lately refigned, he profefTed himfelf to be 
 an anti>continentali(l, to a degree that I 
 think (and I believe fo did every well- 
 wi(her to the houfe of Hanover, and the 
 balance of power on the continent) was 
 inconfiflent with the honour and interefl 
 of Great- Britain. He was fcarcely, how- 
 ever, warm in his poft, when fome very 
 
 ufe- 
 
 'I 
 
 '.«f 
 
 f 
 
 
t39l 
 
 ufcful diftindions were made between oc- 
 cafional and fyftematical afliftances, be- 
 tween temporary and permanent mca- 
 fures, and the like ; all which went fo 
 well down with the public, that on the 
 J 8th of January 1758, nobody was fur- 
 prized when, as f ' y of ft — e, he pre- 
 fented a meffage from his late majefty for 
 a fupply to the Hanoverian army, until 
 the further neceffary charge thereof coM 
 be laid before the houfe. In confequence 
 of this meffage, 100,000 1, was unani- 
 moufly granted, to be taken immediately 
 out of the fupplies of laft year unapplied, 
 and to be remitted with all poffible dif- 
 patch. Soon after this, the defcent upon 
 France, under the duke of Marlborough, 
 was executed, and the French were 
 obliged to evacuate Hanover : and here 
 our minifter's anti-continental fyftem feems 
 to have been entirely at an end. A new 
 convention was entered into between his 
 Britannic majefty and the king of Pruffia, 
 and figned at London on the nth of 
 April, whereby the king of Great- Britain 
 
 engaged 
 
 
 •N/4 
 

 r 
 
 f'vl 
 
 : , c 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 P 
 
 a'» 
 
 r 40 1 
 
 engaged to pay his Pruflian majefly the 
 yearly fum of 670,000!. ftcrling, and 
 each of the contracting powers engaged 
 tr> conclude no peace without the partici- 
 pation of the other ; and the fum raifed 
 that year by parliament exceeded eleven 
 millions of money. 
 
 The public fubmitted to this expence 
 without a murmur, and the extraordinary 
 fupplies of troops which began now to 
 be fent to Germany, created rather mat- 
 ter of furprize than oppolition j while the 
 public, with the moft refpe6lful refigna- 
 tlon, waited for the event. In the mean 
 time the news of the redudion of Louis- 
 burgh, and fome other advantages gained 
 by our fleets both in Europe aisd Ame- 
 rica, gave a new turn to our politics. 
 It was then pretended, by the honourable 
 gentleman and his friends, that the anti- 
 continental fyftem never was meant to be 
 purfued longer than the naval power of 
 Great-Britain had fecured her American 
 pofTeflions from infults, and left us nothing 
 to fear, either there or in Europe, by fea. 
 
 Our 
 
ur 
 
 >i'/\\ 
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
 Our connexions with the continent now 
 muhiplied 5 our troops v^ere poured fader 
 than ever into Germany; our expences 
 were redoubled ; the convention between 
 his Britannic majefty and the king of 
 Pruffia was renrwed on the 17th of 
 January 1759 ; and at the fame time 
 a new convention was concluded between 
 his Britannic majeAy and the land- 
 grave of Hefle-Caffel, by which 19,000 
 Heflians were taken into the pay of 
 Great-Britain, inftead of 12,000 late- 
 ly employed in the Britifh fervice ; and 
 the landgrave was to receive, befides the 
 ordinary pay of thofe troops, the fum of 
 60,000 1. in coniideration of his immenfe 
 lofles in fupport of the common caufe. 
 On the 2 1 ft of May thereafter, Mr. Se- 
 cretary Pitt prefented to the houfe of 
 ^commons a very alarming meflage, fign- 
 cd by his majefty, defiring the houfe to 
 enable him to defray any extraordinary 
 expences of the war,* incurred, or to be 
 incurred, for the fervice of the year 1759 ;. 
 and to take all meafures as may be necef- 
 fary to difappoint or defeat any enterpri* 
 
 G zes 
 
 ei;.'i 
 
 -It.. tf-W 
 
If: !i' 
 
 ^: 
 
 I" 
 
 [ 4'^ ] 
 zes Of defigns of his enemies, and as the 
 ey» ^er^y of affairs may require. In con- 
 ft Mt' ?c of this mcflfage, a vote of cre- 
 dit wus granted for a million of money. 
 After this, on the 30th of the fame 
 month, followed the invation panics ; and 
 the fame right honourable gentleman had 
 again the honour to prefent to the houfe 
 of commons another meffage from his 
 majefty, informing them not that he 
 would order any part of the great army 
 we paid in Germany to Come over to our 
 
 defence, at a time when the nation was fo 
 
 • 
 
 deflitute of regular troops, that we could 
 fcarce grard our coafts from fmugglers ; 
 but that his majefly would, if he thought 
 proper, caufe the militia, or fuch part 
 thereof as (hall be neceffary, to be drawn 
 out, and embodied, and to march as oc- 
 cafion (hall require. 
 
 What followed (Incc is too recent to 
 be repeated here. Providence certainly 
 interpofed, almofl miraculoufly, in our 
 favour at the battle of Minden : but I 
 muft be free enough to own, that the 
 
 odds 
 
 M 
 
 .••^"' 
 
 ^\T ■ 
 
d as the 
 In con- 
 of cre- 
 money. 
 le fame 
 cs; and 
 lan had 
 houfe 
 om his 
 that he 
 it army 
 r to our 
 was Co 
 e could 
 igglcrs 5 
 hought 
 :h part 
 drawn 
 ; as oc- 
 
 ent to 
 rtainly 
 in our 
 
 but I 
 at the 
 
 odds 
 
 
 [ 43 ] 
 odds againft us before that engagement 
 was fifty to one 5 and nothing is more cer- 
 tain, as appears by the defence of the 
 noble lord w*ho was difgraced on that oc- 
 cafion, than that the vidlory was owing, 
 next to the courage of the Englifh troops, 
 to their happy difobcdience of the g— n- 
 r — ^l*s orders. Had matters fallen out 
 otherwife, in what a fituation here muft 
 the minifter have been, who advifed, and 
 even haftened, the fend*jg over a body of 
 troops, that, to all appearance, were too 
 few for conqueft, but too numerous for 
 butchery. Next to Providence, they had 
 only their valour and fpirit to thank for 
 their deliverance. 
 
 Notwithftanding our fuccefs at the bat- 
 tle of Minden, his late majefty, as Vvcll 
 as the king of Pruffia, were fenfible how 
 much they had been indebted to Provi- 
 dence j and they wifely refolved not to 
 prefume too much upon its care, but be- 
 gan to entertain fome ferious thoughts of 
 peace. Accordingly, on the 25th of No- 
 vember 1759, declarations from their Bri- 
 
 G 2 tannic 
 
.'^1 , 
 
 : i| 
 
 
 m 
 
 [ 44 ] 
 
 tannic and Pruflian majeftlcs were deli- 
 vered at the Hague to the mjniftcrs of 
 the belligerant powers, importing that 
 they were ready to fend plenipotentiaries 
 to the place that (hould be judged moft 
 convenient for holding a congrefs for the 
 re-eftabli{hment of the public tranquillity. 
 Why this propofal did not take place, 
 efpecially as we could have treated under 
 the powerful mediation of Spain ; and as 
 his moft chriftian majefty offered to treat 
 of a particular league with England, un- 
 der the fame mediation, is as yet a fecret 
 to the public. The refufal of the two 
 cmpreffes, and the French king, to treat 
 feparately with his Pruflian majefty, and 
 without admitting the minifters of Sweden 
 and Saxony, was (o far from being a rea- 
 fon why England {hould drop all feparate 
 negotiations with France, that it was the 
 ftrongeft reafon for their being continued. 
 Had the feparate treaty gone on, there 
 was no room to doubt that the general 
 conferences muft have had a favourable 
 JiTue, The lofles of the French were at 
 
 that 
 
 .1. 
 
 f-S' 
 
 f 
 
 m 
 
[45] 
 that time fo enormous, and they were fo 
 entirely deftitute of rcfources for the 
 me?ns to continue the war, that had wc 
 made the fmalleft advance towards a fe- 
 parate treaty, which moft certainly was 
 the intereft of Great-Britain to have done, 
 as fhe was no principal again ft any other 
 power but France, the other parlies muft 
 have agreed to fuch equitable conditions, 
 as muft have put an end to the war, and 
 h?vc faved this nation many millions, be- 
 iides the lives of men, in profecuting it 
 upon the continent, as we have fince done 
 to no manner of purpofe. 
 
 But, my Lord, though a feparate treaty 
 with France was, at that time, the natu- 
 ral, and the only probable expedient that 
 could give peace to Great-Britain, and to 
 Europe, we happened to be fo unfortu- 
 nately hampered by our engagements 
 with Pruflia, that, in fadl, we could not 
 adl as an independent power : for while 
 this very negotiation was in agitation, a 
 frefli treaty was concluded with the king 
 of Pfuflia on the 9th of November 1759, 
 
 the 
 
■■* 't'l 
 
 [ 46 ] 
 
 the fourth article of which, after renew- 
 ing our fubfidy of 670,000 1. a year, is 
 as follows : 
 
 " Theirhigh contraifling parties moreover 
 engage, viz. on the one part of his Britannic 
 majefly, both as king and as elector ; and 
 on the other part his PrufHan majefly, not 
 to conclude any treaty of peace, truce, or 
 neutrality, or any other convention whatfo- 
 ever, with the powers who have taken part 
 in the prefcnt war, b"'* in concert, and by 
 mutual confent, and exprefsly compre- 
 hending each other therein." 
 
 What purpofe could the renewal of this 
 article ferve while a negotiation for peace 
 was propofed, but to continue, if not to 
 perpetuate, the war. On the one hand, 
 we knew his PruOian majefty wrote to his 
 late Britannic majedy, in terms not very 
 refpedlful, even upon a furmife of a neu- 
 trality for Hanover. We knew that he 
 would flick clofe by the above words of 
 the fourth article of the convention, and 
 leave nothing either to chance or our ma- 
 nagement 5 fo that, in fa(fl, by this renew- 
 ed 
 
 •:4Ky 
 
 must 
 
'1 
 
 
 [47l 
 ed convention, war or peace did not de- 
 pend upon our but upon his pleafure. I 
 cannot place this fituation in a flronger 
 light, than by fuppofing that this article 
 had been omitted, as it undoubtedly ought 
 to have been, coniidering the vaft altera- 
 tion of affairs out of the renewed conven- 
 tion. What muft have been the confe- 
 quence ? None j but that Great Britain 
 would have been left at liberty to have 
 adled for her own interefl, and perhaps 
 much more for the intereft of his Pruf- 
 fian majefly than (he is enabled to do at 
 -•refent. 
 
 Indead of that, it appears by the anfwer 
 which the king of PrufHa fent to the 
 French king's father-in-law, king Stanif- 
 laus, when he offered his capital of Nan- 
 cy for the place of congrefs, '' that we had 
 not ventured to take a fingle flep without 
 his leave." This anfwer is dated from 
 Frcyburg, February 8, 1 760, and contains 
 in fubftance, that the courts of Vienna and 
 RufHa had refufed to come into the mea- 
 fures which the king of England and he 
 
 himfelf 
 
 
 "XT 
 
i 
 
 J; i;. 
 
 Bi; 
 
 < ' 
 
 i) 
 
 
 » - . 1 
 
 l-l 1 
 
 [48] 
 
 himfelf had propofed to them. Here is 
 not a fingle word of France having re-' 
 fufed ; *' but," continues his Pruffian ma- 
 jefty, " it is likely that they will draw the' 
 ** king of France into the continuance of 
 ** the war, the advantages of which they 
 " alone expedl to reap.** This, we may 
 reafonably prefume, France was as fcnfible 
 of as his PrufTian majefty ; and it was 
 the very ftrongeft inducement for her to 
 have agreed with us upon juft and equi- 
 table terms, which, befides the efFulion of 
 blood, would have faved us at leaft ten 
 millions of money, for I cannot eftimate 
 our ufelefs campaigns iriGermany'of feven- 
 teen hundred and fixty, and feventeen 
 hundred and fivty-orie, at lefs. 
 
 But to inake all the concefTions that the 
 rjght honourable gentleman and his friends 
 can require, let us fuppofe ihe fourth ar- 
 ticle of the renewed convention of the 
 9th of November, 1759, to have been 
 omitted ; what mufl have been the con- 
 fcquence ? We were by that time be- 
 come not only the allies, but the protec- 
 
 
m 
 
 i 
 
 
 f 49 ] 
 
 tors 6F his f ruffian majefty. Was not the 
 Britifh nation to be trufted with its own 
 interefts ? Why Ihould we te guided in 
 Pruffian trammels, or in Pruffian leading- 
 firings ? It is abiurd to think, fuppofing 
 we had made a feparafe J)eace withFrance, 
 we cither would or could have facrificed 
 the king of Pruffia. Far from that, it was 
 our intereft to prefer ve him, and in him 
 the Proteftant caufe in Germany. A 
 peace between Great Britain and France 
 muft have left us at liberty to have ferved 
 him fo efFedually, as I have alread} ob- 
 ferved, that the two cmprefTes ^ould have 
 had neither the ftomach nor the means to 
 have continued the war. 
 
 But, in fatft, the alternate flipulation I 
 have quoted is, perhaps, unprecedented in 
 hiftory. His Pruflian majefly binds Great 
 Britain,— .to do '^hat ? Not to make peace 
 with thofc fowers (he is already at peace 
 with ; for I know no war now fublifUng 
 between Great Britain and either of the 
 emprclTcs, or the crowns either of Poland 
 or Sweden. This, I fay, is an unprcce* 
 
 H dented 
 
 'to. 
 
1 1 
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 dented meafure, and perhaps irreconcile- 
 able to' common fenfe j tho* it is plain his 
 PrufTian majefty made it binding upon us. 
 But, what has been thrown into the fcalc 
 cf Great Britain, to counter-balance this 
 incredible conceffion. Why, that the king 
 of Pruflia fliall not, without our con- 
 fent, make a feparate peace with any of 
 the belligerent powers 1 Would to God, 
 ir the prefent lituation of things, that it 
 was in his power to do do it ? Happy 
 would it be for Britain. Hanover would 
 foon then be out of danger, and we might 
 avoid the evils of the moft widely dif- 
 fufed, and the moft >expen(ive war that 
 this or any other nation eve: was engaged 
 in. 
 
 Thus far, ray Lord, I think it is evi- 
 dent beyond all contradidlion, that the 
 mutuality of the fourth article in the con- 
 vention of November 9, 1759, has been 
 of terrible confequences to this country, 
 and that it is high time for Great Britain 
 to clofe the fcene of war. Perhaps fome 
 reafons of a different nature frcxi any I 
 
 have 
 
 - luTWlir II mim „.„^ 
 
[ 5' 1 
 have yet mentioned, may make a folid, 
 honourable, and an advantageous peace, 
 ftill more defirable. We have had, for 
 fome years paft, an army of the finefl 
 troops the fun ever faw, ferving under a 
 foreign prince, and in what we may call 
 a foreign quarrel. To the amazement of 
 England, and I may fay of Europe, after 
 Broglio had taken the field with one hun- 
 dred thoufand men, when the count de 
 St. Germain commanded a feparate army 
 upon the Rhine, fix regiments of Englifli 
 foot were fent to Germany, under the 
 command of major-general Griffin, and 
 were followed by Elliot's light-horfe ; fo 
 that, at the beginning of the campaign of 
 1759, we had in Germany twelve regi- 
 ments of heavy and one of light-horfe, 
 twelve regiments of foot, and two batta- 
 lions of Highlanders ; and, in the courie 
 of the campaign, we had no fewer than 
 twenty-five thoufand Britifh troops, ferv- 
 ing in the fields of Germany, while thofe 
 of England were in danger of lying wafte 
 for want of cultivation -, for in propor- 
 
 H Z tion, 
 
 I 
 
[ 52 ] 
 lion, as bands were fent abroad, the 
 ev^acuations were fupplied by militia, ^r^Q, 
 after being embodied, are to all intends 
 and purpofes, as regular troops, and under 
 as ftcivSl military dilcipline as thofe which 
 form, what we call, our ftanding army. 
 
 Since the ridiculous flaunting expedi- 
 tions two hundred years ago, under Hen- 
 ry VIII. into France, fuch a numerous 
 body of Britifli troops never has ferved 
 upon the continent. But, my Lord, how 
 have they been rewarded? By being taken 
 at their v/ordj by having the poft of honour 
 ailigned to them. But \yhy ? becaufe it 
 was the poft of danger. If a defperate 
 attack was to be made $ if an untenable 
 pafs was to be defended ; if a fatiguing march 
 was to be undertaken^ all, ajll» was to be 
 thtown upon the EngUfli. j If any re- 
 monftrances, however, dutiful were made, 
 the anfwer was ready ; ** I was unwilling 
 " to difoblige you j you defired to have 
 *' the poft of honour, and you have had 
 " it ; it is due to your valour." Thus, 
 under the colour of having the poft of ho- 
 nour. 
 
■^"■^ 
 
 w. 
 
 E 53 1 
 nour, two or three campaigns pafTed, in 
 
 ^lui8h me BritKh troops were expofed to 
 all the fury and fuperior number of the 
 enemies. Of this the battle of Feling- 
 haufen is a flagrant and a recent proof. 
 The Englifli general was to fupport him- 
 felf the bed way he could againfl three 
 times the number of thofe he command- 
 ed, for above twelve hours, until his brave 
 allies found leifure to come to his aflift- 
 ance, which, by the bye, they feem never 
 to have done. 
 
 I mention thofe things^ my Lord, not 
 becaufe I think the war is unfortunate, but 
 becaufe I think we are unfortunate in be- 
 ing at war upon the continent of Europe, 
 Our fucceiTes in all other places, joined to 
 the magnanimity of his late and prefenC 
 majefty, in expofing Hanover to all the 
 fury of its enemies^ rather than conclude 
 an inglorious peace for Great Britain, 
 have, by this time, awakened the French 
 out of their favourite dreams of obtaining 
 any thing ftotn Great Britain, if they de- 
 mand it l^y tHe Sivskj of Germany, and that 
 
 ^ 1 . too, 
 
 
 
 s \} 
 
 ^ !! 
 

 
 [ 54 .1 , . 
 too, fvvord in hand. It'thcrcforc wc can, 
 with honour, and without hurting our in- 
 tcre(V, as I apprehend we eafily can, (un- 
 lefs our notions of honour are romantic, 
 and thofe of our intereft extravagant) niake 
 a peace with France, there never can a 
 jundlure exifl hereafter, that will call up- 
 on us to engage in a continental war. I 
 do not mean by this, that Great Britain is 
 never to have any concern i- the affairs 
 of the continent. That would be as irra- 
 tional as her having too great a concern in 
 them ; but I muft be of opinion, that (lie 
 never can have a call upon her for the 
 fame ruinous connexions with it that (he 
 has at prefent. 
 
 I now, my Lord, come to the third 
 propofition I laid down, which was. That 
 a pacific fyftem can receive no manner of 
 (hock, by the refignation of the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman, who, a few days ago, 
 gave up the feais of his office. We have 
 been hurt j we are not ruined by the pre- 
 fent war 'y and if we (lop at this very 
 crifis, all may yet be recovered. Peace is 
 
 naturally . 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 naturally the favourite fyftem of a mini- 
 (ler ; though the right honourable gentle- 
 man is the fecond minifter within thefe 
 twenty years who has rifen into power 
 by war. But to ufc the words of the 
 poet : 
 
 ** 'Tis an impious grcatnefs, 
 
 ** And mixt with too much horror to be 
 envied." 
 The milder virtues of civil life are eafily 
 cultivated, and more generally under- 
 flood. The honourable gentleman and 
 his friends themfelves cannot, and will not 
 deny, that a continental war is a misfor- 
 tune to this country. The landed intercft 
 feels it feverely, and all ranks and degrees 
 amongft us endure it patiently, only be- 
 caufe as matters have been managed^ it is 
 become a ncceffary evil ; an evil that is 
 not the lefs lamented, becaufe bravely 
 fupported ; and an evil, fupported by that 
 fpirit of loyalty and patriotifm, not to be 
 paralleled in all the preceding annals of 
 Britifh hiftory. Very few arguments, 
 xny Lord, therefore will fuffice to prove 
 
 the 
 
 ) 
 
 
■ w ■■'■ 
 
 ■ <^ 
 
 [ 
 
 i6l] 
 
 the truth of my third propofHibn. 1% 
 people of England^ even at this time, a lit- 
 tle refemble the cafe of Saiicha Pa^cha, 
 and bis mailer : they think their patriot 
 minifter the beft, the wifeft, and the moft 
 upright fervant any king or nation ever had 
 yet ; yet, fometimes they know not what 
 to make of him ; and they wifh his con- 
 duct were a little more reconcileable to 
 their plain capacities. Some late inci- 
 dents have helped to encreafe their per- 
 plexities. 
 
 His Moft Catholic Majfifty, as is natural 
 for every prince who has the means of 
 doing it, is putting his marine upon a ref^- 
 pedable footing. The iituation of his 
 affairs with thofe of his fon and brother 
 in Italy, and the formidable preparations 
 of the Turks, faid to be defigned againil 
 Malta, which is a kind of bulwark to his 
 dominions, might very well account for 
 mU the preparations he is making. Tht 
 people of England, plain andHininfbfoied 
 as they are^ had no nvianner of apprieliiin*- 
 fioA that his Catholic majefly intended, 
 
 that 
 
[57] 
 chat his naval armaments fliould take part 
 Vr'iih France againft Great Britain. (. om- 
 mon feofe told them, that the :^paniards 
 in a war with England had every thing to 
 fear, and nothing to hope for ; and that 
 England could maintain a war againft 
 both the crowns with as little ex pence as 
 (he is at with one. In ^ortj they thought 
 that 2L Spaniih war was too good news to 
 be true, provided the Spaniards themfelvea 
 fought for it. On the other hand, there 
 was not, and I believe is not, a man of 
 common fenfe in England, who thinks it 
 would be right for us to promote fuch a 
 lyar ; and that while Spain gives us no of-» 
 fence, we muft be- little better than pi- 
 rates (hould we give her any. , 
 But there was a time, viz. in the year 
 1718, ' when Great-Britain, without any 
 formal declaration of war, deftroyed the 
 whole marine of Spain j and thepefore 
 nothing is to ferve us, but to fend a young 
 nobleman of fpirit in the double charader 
 of .plenipotentiary and admiral, of com-> 
 modore, to demand from them a cate- 
 
 I , gorical 
 
 \ 
 
 t'ti 
 
IS8 ] 
 gorical anfvvcr as to the dcftination of 
 their armaments ; and upon that not 
 proving fatisfadory, to iink, burn, and 
 
 deftroy. 
 
 That Sir George Byng, in that year, 
 did as is faid above, is admitted ; but how 
 different are the jundlures ? Great-Britain 
 was then guarantee for the emperor's do- 
 minions in Italy ; and, while his impe- 
 rial majefty was engaged in a bloody war 
 againft the Turks, the Spaniards in a 
 moft ungenerous manner endeavoured to 
 deprive him of the ifland of Sardinia. 
 The Britifh court had employed all man- 
 ner of pacific means to obtain from that 
 of Madrid a fufpenfion of arms, but to 
 no purpofe ; and their admiral was in- 
 truded to fail to the Mediterranean, and, 
 if pofTible, to prevent any further breach 
 of the neutrality of Italy ; but, if poffi- 
 ble, to avoid coming to hoftilities. Every 
 one knows what followed : according to 
 our accounts, the Spaniards were not only 
 intradablf, but were the aggrefTors. The 
 
 . con- 
 

 [59] 
 confequence was, that their fleet was 
 deftroyed. 
 
 How different are the circumdances 
 of the two jundures. His catholic ma- 
 jefty has but lately mounted that throne ; 
 he is applying himfelf lo the arts of 
 peace -, he is endeavouring both to culti- 
 vate and protedl commerce ; he, as well 
 as his predecefTor, has hitherto maintain- 
 ed the moft irreproachable neutrality in 
 the prefent war between us and France j 
 (for I mind not the unauthenticated fug- 
 geflions in news-papers) and the interefts 
 of his people point out the friendfhip of 
 Great-Britain, as the fureft means of their 
 happinefs and fafety. His catholic ma- 
 jefty himfelf, fenfihle of this, and at the 
 fame time, not ignorant of the effeds of 
 popular reports in this country, (liews dif- 
 pofitions for continuing and flrengthening 
 the peace between us, and orders his nii- 
 niflers to give the ftrongeft afTurances to 
 our ambaflador for that purpofe. In what 
 a light muft we appear to a)l Europe j 
 
 in what a light, my Lord, mud we ap- 
 
 I 2 pear 
 

 ^ 
 
 [60] 
 
 pear to ourrdves, fhould we wantonly 
 provoke fuch an ally ? 
 
 This being the cafe, what has this na- 
 tion to apprehend from the honourable 
 gentleman's refignation ? Will France, 
 will the emprcfs queen, will any of the 
 other belligcrant powers, take it amifs P 
 it would be ridiculous to imagine that 
 they will. Will his Pruflian majefty ob- 
 jedl to it ? Not if he miftakes not his own 
 intercft ; and no man underftands it 
 better ; for humanly fpeaking, it is peace 
 alone that can re-inflate his affairs, fccurA 
 what he pofTefTes, and recover what he 
 has \ott. Will the people of England take 
 this refignation anlifs ? No ; not if they 
 are properly informed. It has been at- 
 tended with the highefl marks of royal 
 favour towards the reflgnee ; which have 
 been refpedfully accepted. And, I be- 
 lieve, there is fcarcely a man in England, 
 who does not think, that the right 
 honourable gentleman refigned, only be- 
 caufe a great majority at a certain board 
 difter from him as to the manner ot 
 
 making 
 
[ 6i ] 
 
 making pieace } for I mu(l be of opinion 
 that war itfelf is one manner of making 
 peace. The people of England are too 
 rational to think that any fubjedl is veded 
 with infallibility, and that his majefty 
 and his council have not a right to the 
 ufe of their own fenfes. Give me leave 
 to add, that notwithftanding all the va« 
 pouring and bluftering in our papers, 
 and other piiblications, the |^ople of 
 England in general are heartily tired of 
 the war* and will be extremely glad to 
 fit quietly down, under fuch a peace, as 
 it is, even at this time, in our power to 
 command. None clamour for the con- 
 tinuance of wci", but thofe who gain by 
 it, and who, like the coaflers in Cornwall 
 and Shetland, fubfid upon florms and 
 (hip wrecks. Honefty and induftry, that 
 is, fuch part of the fubjedbs as pay the 
 taxes, through which the war is conti- 
 nued, devoutly wifli for the return of 
 peace ; and never was the happinefs of 
 any ftate permanent when the welfare of 
 fuch was not confulted. Mean while, I 
 
 I 
 
 am 
 
I' '' 
 
 / 
 
 • [62] 
 
 am not to be undcrftood ae if the nation 
 was difpofed to accept of a dishonourable 
 peace. Heavy as the expence, and 
 cruel as the devaftatiofts of war are, I 
 never heard a Briton throw out the 
 fnialled expreflion tending that yv^ay, hut 
 was rather for continuing the war, than 
 for accepting of fuch a peace. 
 
 But, my Lord, the right honourable 
 gentleman and his friends may pofTibly 
 differ from others, about the manner of 
 continuing the war. Suppoiing France, 
 contrary to all truth and probability, 
 fhould infift on our accepting terms 
 diftionourable for us, the war muft then 
 continue ; but is there a neceffity for 
 its being an offenfive war ? Are we to 
 continue to multiply our expences, per- 
 haps to double them, under the dclufive 
 profped of future expeditions, the fuc- 
 cefs of which is precarious, and may be , 
 abortive ? Are we to keep up the com- 
 plement of our army in Germany, where 
 the fword is fcarcely wanted to haften 
 that deRniftion which famine, fatigue, 
 
 and 
 
 ^ 
 
I 
 
 ^ 
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 and wants of every kind is daily precipi- 
 tating? There is another confideration, 
 perhaps more important than all : That 
 the power of Great-Britain is at prefent 
 higher than ever was known, fhall not 
 be difputed 5 but, my Lord, the great- 
 nefs of any people never was known to 
 be permanent but through the moderate 
 ufe of power. A people, who ftiall in- 
 dulge a wanton fpirit of conqueft, ren- 
 ders all other' nations jealous of them, a 
 misfortune which a trading people, of all 
 others, ought chiefly to avoid. Com- 
 merce fubfids by intercourfe, and inter- 
 courfe by friendfhip. There is a point of 
 greatnefs, that a wife government will not 
 wifh to exceed. Hitherto our conquefts 
 have been fuch as to give no juft um- 
 brage to the other powers of Europe j 
 but who can anfwer for the confequences, 
 fhould we rejedt terms of accommodation 
 that every other power in Europe may 
 think to be jufl: and honourable. I fpeak 
 not this, as if I imagined that the ma- 
 rine of Great-Britain is not at prefent a 
 3 match 
 
m 
 
 )i 
 
 r 64 J 
 
 match for that of all Europe combintd s 
 
 I think it is, but I think at the fame time, 
 
 that by fuch a combination our'commerce 
 
 may AifFer in its moft feniible parts ,* and 
 
 will diW go farther, and fay, that the 
 
 moment we declare ourfelves the Draw-* 
 
 'canfirs of Europe, fuch a combination 
 
 will take place. Upon the whole, my 
 
 Lord, therefore, juftice and moderation 
 
 at fuch a period as this, will do more for 
 
 the honour andintereft of this kingdom, 
 
 than the moil: commanding genius, and 
 
 the mod refined abilities. If the right 
 
 honourable gentleman's refignation of tho 
 
 feals has removed from his majefty's 
 
 councils all temper and equity, we are 
 
 certainly in a dangerous way. But if 
 
 there are Aill to be found at that board, 
 
 men of candour and integrity, of pra^ 
 
 cable abilities, and upright intentions, I 
 
 muft be of opinion, in the words of my 
 
 third propofition, That a pacific fyflem 
 
 can receive no (hock either at home or 
 
 abroad by that refignation, or twenty 
 
 fuch. 
 
 My 
 
r 65 ] 
 
 My fourth propofition, my Lord, is, 
 That the fame right honourable gentle- 
 man and his friends, whofe patriotilm 
 and difinterefled attachment to their coun- 
 try cannot be queftioned, will and muft, 
 in confidence with that charader, co-ope- 
 rate in the fame good work, whether he 
 or they are in or out of place, as they 
 cannot be fufpedled of diftrefling his ma- 
 jefty's meafures, even fuppofing them not 
 to be their own. 
 
 This propofition does not require to be 
 illuftraied, for the information or con- 
 vi<5tion of the right honouiable gentle- 
 man, or any of his friends in parliament, 
 but for the fake of others without doorSj 
 who, for want of opportunity of know- 
 ing better, may think the honourable 
 gentleman hardly treated, and therefore 
 may difturb that unanimity without doors, 
 that is fo confpicuous at prefent. In the 
 days of party bondage, when the people 
 of England v/ere ground between the 
 two mill-ftones of Whiggery and Toryifm ; 
 while they were wedged in between 
 
 K noife 
 
[ 66 ] 
 
 noifc and nonfcnfe ; when all regard was 
 held to men, and none to meafures, the 
 moft uninformed fubjedl in the kingdom 
 could tell the fate of every quedion 
 brought into parliament, let him know 
 but the name of the perfon who brought 
 it in, and the number? by which it was 
 loft or carried. After thofc deftrudlive 
 founds of whig and tory began to lofe 
 their magical force, another diftindlion 
 more plaufible, but equally unmeaning, 
 took place j I mean that of court and 
 country j and the right honourable gentle- 
 man and his friends enlifted themfelves 
 under the banners of the latter, which 
 they advanced in fo many wordy com- 
 bats, that they were at laft worn to tat- 
 ters, and mofk ungratefully thrown afide ; 
 for the moment that the right honour- 
 able gentleman and his friends came into 
 pow( , I mean, diredive power, all di- 
 flindions were abolifhed, and court and 
 country became the fame. 
 
 The jundure is fo recent, and the fads 
 fo well known, that it would be fuper- 
 
 fluous 
 
[ 6; ] 
 Huous to put either your lordHiip, or 
 them, in mind of what followed -, but 
 b^caufe many without doors may either 
 have forgot, or never known them, I 
 fhall but jufl mention fome particulars, to 
 the honour of that part of the adminiQra- 
 tion, which, till that time, had generally 
 been diflingui(hed by the nam.e of the 
 court party. The right honourable gen- 
 tleman and his friends may well remem- 
 ber the clamour raifed without doors on 
 account of our difgraces in the Mediter- 
 ranean, and the infinite advantages they 
 promifed themfelves from their enquiry 
 into the caufes of the lofs of Minorca. 
 The public were taught to believe that 
 fuch fccnes of corruption, cowardice, and 
 
 mifmanagement, would be difcovered, 
 during the courfe of that enquiry, as 
 would overwhelm the miniflry, or what 
 we may call the court-party, with fhame 
 and confudon, and difable them from 
 ever again recovering the fmalleft credit, 
 either with his majefty or the people. 
 The miniftry, confcious of their in no- 
 
 
 K 2 
 
 cence, 
 
/ 
 
 v> \ 
 
 A 
 
 [ 68 ] 
 
 cence, to their credit be it fpoken, dared 
 their enemies to do their worft ; brought 
 the only culpable perfon to juftice, a- 
 gainfl all the efforts of the right honour- 
 able gentleman and his friends, to divert, 
 or, at leaft, to protradt his fate, and flood 
 the fiery trial of the enquiry, from which 
 they came out more pure than before. 
 Notwithftanding all this, irreproachable 
 as their condu(ft was found to be, fo loud 
 was the popular clamour which had been 
 artfully and wickedly raifed againft them, 
 that they did not think themfclves capable 
 of doing his majefty the fervice they 
 could wiHi to do in their feveral ftations, 
 and they were the firft who folicited his 
 majefty to fill them with perfons who 
 were, at that time, more agreeable to his 
 people. Thofe refignations took place ; 
 but I remember no penfion that was 
 entailed upcn them, though one noble 
 d^-e who then lefigned, was the oldeft 
 minifter his majefty had, and had ferved 
 him and his family in fo generous, fo dif- 
 interefted a manner, that it was reafon- 
 
 ably 
 

 ; 
 
 [ 69 ] 
 ably to be fuppofed a pcnfion could be 
 no difagreeable appenage to his retirement 
 from public bufinefs. 
 
 The merit of thofe refignations were 
 the greater, as it was well known that the 
 rciignecs, had they pleafed, might have 
 continued in power. Yet this merit, great 
 as it was, was not comparable to that of 
 never once oppofing the meafures of the 
 new miniftry, tho' they might have done 
 it with the fulled effed:. Even perfonal 
 reientments were dropt in their zeal for 
 the public fervice, and facrificed to the 
 unanimity which, in the beginning of a 
 war, they ccnlldered as the great bafis of 
 his majefty's glory, and the credit of the 
 public. Whatever difference of opinions 
 might have been in the council, or the ca- 
 binet, none appeared in parliament, or to 
 the public ; and it was hard to fay, whe- 
 ther the old or the new miniftry were the 
 mod ready in forwarding his majefty's 
 meafures. A conduft fo moderate, fo 
 felf-denied to all rcfentment, fo fiiperior 
 to all views but thofe of ferving the pub- 
 lic. 
 
 ii 
 
w 
 
 i ! 
 
 [70 1 
 
 lie, was perhaps the greatefl, if not the 
 firfl, example of true patriotifm ever exhi- 
 bited in this country. It was, in fadt, 
 that which laid the foundation of that 
 unanimity, in which his majefly fojuflly 
 gloried in the firO: fpeech he made to his 
 pailiament. 
 
 Are we then to fuppofe that a party (I 
 will avoid the hated word faSlion) raifed 
 to power upon comprchcnfivir, becaufe 
 conftitutional, principles, eftabliflied upon 
 the maxims of public unanimity, will not 
 follow the glorious precedent that was fet 
 them by thofe whom they had no reafon 
 to think were their private friends. Should 
 his majefty and his council think proper 
 to conclude a peace, which (hall appear 
 to them to be Iblid, honourable, and ad- 
 vantageous to this country, can we ima- 
 gine that fuch a fet of men would over- 
 caft the aufpicious dawn of his reign with 
 the clouds of dilTatisfadiion, difcontent, 
 and oppofition. Will they revive the na- 
 tional reproach of difcord, the extinction 
 of which his majefty has told us he looks 
 
 upon 
 
 
' 
 
 ' 
 
 [ 7' ] 
 * upon to be his greiMeft glory, by oppofing 
 in parliament what has been agreed upon 
 in cc'uncil ? This, my Lord, would be 
 
 reviving the moft peftilential qualities of 
 party-fpirit. The game of Whigs and 
 Tories, when they happened to be out of 
 power, was no other. Under the plaufi- 
 ble, but at laft, exploded pretext of pub- 
 lic welfare, they rendered the crown con- 
 temptible, by thwarting, in parliament, 
 the beft concerted meafurts of the cabi- 
 net ; and thus each party, in their turns, 
 encreafed the public difficulties or dif- 
 trcffes. 
 
 Suppofing his majefty and his admini- 
 flration fhould think proper to clofe the 
 fcene of blood, and to withdraw our 
 troops from their fliambles in Germany ; 
 can we imagine that any fet of men will 
 ftand up and fay, We muft have more 
 (laughter j Great Britain is not yet fuffi- 
 ciently exhaufted ; a more plentiful efFu- 
 flon of blood will do her fervice ? Sup- 
 pofing a defenfive war to be concluded 
 upon, and that it is refolved to turn the 
 
 tables 
 
 m 
 
 ! : 
 
 fe 
 
h 
 
 ;> 
 
 [ 7* 1 
 
 tables upon France, and oblige her either 
 to give us reafonable terms, or to a£t in 
 America the fame expenfive part that we 
 have done fince the commencement of 
 this war : Should this be the determina- 
 tion, can we imagine any fet of men to be 
 fo abandoned as to fay in parliament, You 
 are too rich j your manufadurcs are too 
 flourifliing ; have at all, or nothing j ne- 
 ver give over your ofFenfive war, while 
 France has a foot of land in America or 
 the Eaft Indies j and put all the powers 
 of Europe, friends as well as foes, to de- 
 fiance ? Should his majefty fall up*^' the 
 means of averting the impending danger 
 of Hanover, and of indemnifying his 
 Pruffian majefty, for withdrawing our 
 troops from Geonany, can any objedlion 
 be raifed to fuch meafures, but fuch as 
 muft proceed from malignant difpofitions, 
 and impotent refentment ? 
 
 We muft therefore, my Lord, if we 
 reafon confiftently with common fenfe, 
 conclude, that the right honourable gentle- 
 man and his friends never wili forfeit the 
 2 vene» 
 
t 73 J 
 
 venerable appellation of patriots, by at- 
 tempting either to renew or to continue 
 the diftreffes of their country ? If ever 
 unanimity was necefTary to a nation, it is 
 to us at this jundture i and the firfl man 
 who attempts to bre ks it in parliament 
 ought to be coniidered as a public enemy 
 to his country. Great Britain has nothing 
 to fear but from difunion ; and if we 
 keep fight of our interefls with the 
 fmalleft portion of common fcnfe, no 
 fuch difunion can now happen. The 
 right honourable gentleman having re- 
 iigned his fofi is no argument of his 
 having loft his power or influence in his 
 majcfty's councils. A minifter fo well- 
 intentioned, as all the nation pronounces 
 him to be, never will withdraw, out of 
 poft, the fame afTiftances he would have 
 given to government had he been in poft. 
 Should he ever be over-ruled at a certain 
 board, he will think that the breach of na- 
 tional unanimity is a far greater evil than 
 his fubmitting to the opinions of others 
 ever can prove ; and no private refent- 
 
 L mentj 
 
 *-r 
 
l^" 
 
 '#: 
 
 I 
 
 [ 74 ] 
 tnent, either of his own, or of his friends, 
 will ever influence his public conduct. 
 The generous mark of regard which his 
 majefly has bellowed upon him for his 
 pad condu(ft, claims his future fer- 
 vices. If his majefty had not even con- 
 ferred that recompence upon him, yet a 
 patriot will always be ready in the fcrvice 
 of his mafter and his country, whether he 
 is a minider or a private perfon. 
 
 Thus, my Lord, I have endeavoured to 
 obviate every poiUble apprehenfion that 
 can be raifed in the minds of the 
 people, either in their colledtive or rcprc- 
 fcntative ccfpacity, at this important crifis. 
 The alteration this interefting refignation 
 may produce, can, in fadb, be attended with 
 no bad confequences, but from the ferment 
 that it may occafion in the minds of thofe 
 who are well intentioned, and who may 
 be worked upon by the art and infinua- 
 tions of thofe who are enemies to this 
 country. To obviate thofe confequences 
 is the well-meaning deiign of this addrefs. 
 When the people of England recovers a 
 
 furprife. 
 
PV"^' 
 
 z'-^ r' 
 
 [ 75 ] 
 furprife, or a confternation, they are the 
 mod reafonable people on the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 I own, in the mean time, my Lord, 
 that I had another view in this addrefs, 
 which was, to fecond the wiflies of the 
 people, which undoubtedly are for peace, 
 without our infifling upon our romantic 
 inadmiffable terms ; and to let them 
 know, that the refignation of one mini- 
 fter, be his abilities, his flation, and his 
 popularity ever fo great, never can, or at 
 lead never ought, in the prefent jundure 
 of unanimity, diftrefs the meafures of a 
 prince beloved by his people, or a people 
 trufted by their prince. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your lordfhip's moft obedient 
 
 I 
 
 u 
 
 Humble fervant.