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(Price One Shilling.) ♦ . nil mm A LETTER T Q His Grace the Duke of Grafton, O N The prefent Situation of Public Affairs. Errant, ut vent is difcordibus aEia phafelus. — LONDON: Printed for J. Almom, oppofite Burlington-houfe, Piccadilly, .w JL > -f -f O vt '^ *i ro I Mv.>-.>^ iL ';-.-i. y'l-ry: - L E T T E R, c. ■j'Mft f..,; -.■■;.1.U V !i1nfi:/, :■, My Lord, IT is pofTible for a nation, under a li- mited monarchy, to be fo circumftanc- ed, that even a good man may reconcile it to his patriotifm to ad uniformly with his party, and, by adhering to it with firmnefs, deferve a certain degree of ap- plaufc. The fidelity of party is not in- deed to be compared to that perfed love of country, which has no other objedl but the public good, and of which your Grace may perhaps have feen fome inftances in hiftory. Yet it is a merit of a fubcrdinate kind, and, confidering that the other is r^ow abfolutely out of date, fhould not B Us (2) I be difrcgarded. It is alfo true, my Lord, that a nation nay be (o circumftanced, that even a bad man, who never had an idea of any interefls but his own, muft be obliged, if he would adt confidently with thofe interefts, to affiime the appearance • of a more enlarged virtue. He muft break through the dcpendance of party, and exert himfelf, upon more extenfive prin- ciples, to preferve the public fortune from a ruin, in which his own would be in- volved. Your Grace's fituation gives you the bed opportunity of knowing whether this country may yet be preferved by vir- tues of a fecond rate*i or whether we have no refource left, but in one general united effort of pure difinterefted patriotifm, to fave the ftate. Our condition, I hope, is as to want fuch a yet ifperat proof of public virtue. But it is time, we fhould know what we have to my Lord, truft ( 3 ) tmft to, Yoii may conceal the coli(!Ition of the kingdom from your fovcrcign ; but you will find it difficult to conceal it from his people, and impofliblc from yourfelf. There are many things, indeed, which men know, but which they will not fuf- fer their minds to dwell on with atten- tion. It is the fault of humanity, and, particularly of youth, that we turn away our eyes from the neceflary confideration of painful objedts, and defer the labour ' of reformation to the dreadful moment, when it is become ufelefs or impra(5li- cable. If this be your cafe, my Lord, a ' ferious reprefentation of the prefent flate of the kingdom, diredcd immediately to your Grace, may perhaps rouze you from your lethargy, and make you afliam^ ed of it. I (hall confine myfelf to a plain reprefentation of fadts, without prefum- ing to offer advice, which certainly would ^ 3 2 nevcf / I g \ ( 4 ) never be taken, or venturing to form hopes, which probably would be difap- pointcd. In this [-aper you will find nq refledtions upon perfons, but what arc unavoidably cunnedtcd with things. If your Grace's private advantages can be reconciled to thufe of the nation, may you enjoy them long. If not, the facri- fice of the public to one man's intereft or ambition would, in language at Icaft, be too bad even for modern depravity. It may feem a paradox to afllrt, yet; I believe it will be found true upon re- flexion, that the dillin(^li^^n between the parties of Whig and Tory, while it was a real, or at leaft a profefl dilHndion in principles as well as name, was of fer- vice to the kingdom. An able united oppofiticn in parliament, though it may fometimes embarrafs a good minifter, will h Q c 'I k ( 5 ) will always have ^he cffcfl of rouzing tho adlivity, and fixing the attention of go- vernment J of perplexing bad nieafurcs, and purifyii^g good ones. Oppofition is the weight, which keeps the machine to- gether, and makes it go. !f it be ftcady and uniform, government will either be maintained in the fame proportion of ftea- dinefs, uniformity and ftrength, or there will be a change of hands. If it be light, weak, and defuitory ; if there be no fixed general principles of oppofition, experi- ence (hews us that governmeiu will foon fink down to the fame level of weaknefs, uncertainty and difunion. The genera- lity of men are but ill qualified to judge for themfelves, or to diredl their own con- dud in matter of politics. Their under- ftandings, like the navigation of the an- cients, are only fit for coafting voyages, where they *_:!ay have certain land-marks f > i ' ' and (6) ■ and beacons conflantly to guide their coune. Such in politics I conceive were thole iftablifhed principles of party, which formerly diflinguifhed Whig and Tory from each other. When they were loft, what confequence could follow, but Ship- wreck to private faith and public confif- tency. The faith of party, to which all publ'c virtue had been reduced, when it was no longer directed by principles open- ly profeft and maintained, foon funk into mere private contract and friendfhip; a bond too weak for modern morals. Se- cret ftipulations are eafily difavowed, and thofe men will defert their friends with* out a blufli, who would be alhamed to defert both their friends and their prin^ ciples at once. So much are we governed by words and forms, that when we for^ get our creed, religion and morals will not be very long remembered. To this con- ■■ -^ . fufion ( 7 ) fufion of parties we owe the unfleadlnefs and diftradtion, with which public coun- cils have, for fome years paft, been con- duced. Under the Utopian idea of a general coalition, men of all parties, fen- timents, opinions, and connedions were fo mixed and confounded, as to form a ftrange heterogeneous mafs, which it was impoffible fhould hold long together. , Mr. Pitt made it his boaft, though very falfely, that, under his adminiftra- tion, all diftindtion of parties was, for the firft time, abolirhed. I am far from thinking that he would have done a fer- vice to his country, if it had been true. But in reality, it was the circumftance of the times produced that general acqui- efcence with which his meafures were received. Public danger and Mftrefs will always have the effea: of uniting parties, or ■•'••'■■ . • .' . . '^ or at leaft of ftifling their animofitieSi Any great national crifis, whether of fo- reign invafion or of interior cojivulfionj will foon oblige all parties to recede from the extremity of their principles, and meet in one point, to provide for their common fafety; but in thofe cafes it were to be wifhed that the union of par- ties were formed by the cohefion of en- tire bodies, rather than a confufion of parts. The condudt of the two parties, in bringing about the revolution, is a ftrik- ing proof that party-fpirit is not likely to be carried fo far, as to endanger the great general interefts of the country. They united in altering the fucceffion to the crown, and in eftablifliing the publid fecurity. When that great bufinefs was accomplifhcd, each party returned to its colours, and revived that fpirit of aing the quelVion between this coun- try and the colonies, to an equitable and ccitain decifion,^ ferves only to. make the b' ;." r D ; evil Wr I! I ; II . i' N ( ,8 ) cvi! worfc, and the final rc-mcdymorc il'.fli- cult to Great Britain. I will not ohjcift fuch delay to the prcfent miniftry, becaufc I know th^rir wcakncfs ; and I net d hardly a/l-L your Giacc, whether you can fcrloudy think that, without Tome extraordinary ta- lents as well as refolution at the head of affairs, without unanimity in the council, without a dvterniincd fupport from the le-, giflature, and a general concurrence of the whole people (which none but a firm mi- niftry can exped) this great queftion Is likely to be fairly dircuiltd, or decided with honour and fecurity to this country. You will not iljlter us with the hopes even of an -attempt of this kind from the prefent a^lminiftration. We know that your council i$ made up of views and in- terefts too different to agree upon a point of this importance J and, if they were u agree4 . ( 19 ) agreed, where are the abilities, where is the rcfolution equal to tlic taflc ? If It were pofTible for us to be infcnfiblQ of a ruinous debt, or of the alarming ftate and temper of the colonies, there are other evils, which we caritiot lluit our eyes to, becaufe they cotne iromediate- ly home to our doors. A fclfiHi or an indolent man may flatter himfelf that public credit will, at all events, laft his time, and that the contcft vs'lth America will be an inheritance bequeathed to pof- terity. But when domeflic government is univerfally relaxed, when the laws have loft their force, and riot little fiiort of rebellion fliall thr^^aten his houfe, his fortune, and his life, he can- not be blind to his danger, nor wilt he think that government entitled to his 1^ D 2 fub- 1. ' J ( 20 ) rubmiflion, which leaves him without protedlon. This too, mv Lord, is the effcd: of confufcd diftradcd councils. Had his Majcfty's fervants been originally agreed among themfelves, in what man- ner to adt towards Mr. Wilkes on his arrival from France, thofe odious fcenes of violence and outrage on one fide, and of military execution on the other, to which we have all been witnefTes, would probably have never cxifled. I will nc*" aflert, tho* tii'^.re is ftrong reafon to fuf- pedl, that many of thefe diforders have been fecretij' fomented by one part of the adminiflration, merely with a view of perplexing the other. IM The mention of military execution na- turally leads me to take notice of the pre- r',i ( 2^ ) ' prefent condition of our {landing ar- my. The public provides annually, in time of peace, for the eftablifhment of near thirty four thoufand efFedive men for the fervice of Great Britain, and of the garrlfoofi and plantations abroad. The expence of this eftabliftiment, when ad- ded to that of half pay to officers reduced, and to all the neceffjry and unneceffary contingencies of fuch an army, will ap- pear enormous. I will not attempt to revive thofe general arguments againfl {landing armies, which our anceftors made ufe of in vain. Like old proverbs, they contain truths, which it is un- faftiionable to believe, until they are con- firmed by one experiment, which will decide the queftion in a fummary way for ever. But I may be permitted to alk r h :\ hi ;l! i II I: . ij HI V ( 22 ) afk your Grace whether this great ex- pence is (b managed and applied, as even to anfvvcr the purpofes intended by parliament ; or, in other words, whe- ther your army, either in numbers or dif- cipline, is fuch as it ought to be, and fuch as the public has a right to expc(3: it fhould be. Except a few rcg'ments in this ifland, whofe colonels, military thro' whim, are perhaps zealous for the honour of their particular corps, is your army on the whole either compleat in numbers or in fuch a ftate of difcipline, as to be fit to take the field. If any unforefeen emergency fhould require it. Your Grace might know, if you thought proper to enquire, that the army here, in Ireland, and in the plantations, not only wants fome thoufands to compleat, but is, for Hi T ( 23 ) for the moft part, totally unfit for fervicc. If I were to give way to all the reflec- tions, which naturally arife at fight of fuch a grofs negled and fcandalous abufe, they would perhaps ' ^ad me too far iiito the confideration of perfonal and parti- cular circumftances. I fhall content rny- felf therefore with obferving in general, that whoever formed a late plan of aug- mentation ought to have compleated the old eftablifhment before he endeavoured to augment it 5 — that every purpofe of regimental uniformity might have been anfwered without an augmentation of three thoufand men ^--that to encreafe rce of this coun- military ling try, in time of peace, under any pre- tence, mufl always be a fufpicious, and fome time or other a fatal meafure, and that ,ujim.j li I ':f m ill ( 24 ) that it matters not whether the military power of the crown be increafed in Ire- land or in Great Britain j— -in conclufion, that we ai'e highly indebted to the Irifli houfe of commons, which had fpirit enorgh to make a ftand, in the tirft in- ftance, againft a meafurc, which pro- bably would have received but little op- pofition here. '" The liigh price at which provlfions have been held, and are too rikt^ly to con- tinue, is a grievance which affedls not only the poorer part, but in its confcquences the whoU body of the nation, and go- vernment immediat'.ly. But lince I de- termined to flatc' nothing in this paper but abufes or diflieires, which minift^rial negligence or w^eaknefs has created, and which u ( 25 ) which a different fyftetn of meafures might corred, I (hall not dwell much upon a difeafc which I doubt, whether any adminiftration can cure. In the laft fcflion of parliament, Mr. Conway made an acknowledgment of this kind to the Houfe of Commons, and was dcfcrvcdly cenfured foradvifing the crown to recom- mend an objedt to the confideration of pailiament, which he himfelf confeffsd was beyond their reach. From the bound- lefs extravagance and luxury which pre • vails through every rank of people, we feepi unanimoufly agreed that the game is defperate, and that it is our intereft to en- joy life as long, and to ruin ourfclves as faft as we can, as if fome peftilence had entered the country, which no man could cfcape. This, my Lord, is an evil too in^ E veterate ,. < I r l'.i I I i; Ml ( 26 ) veteratc and unircrfal for minifterial prur .(fence to remedy, and I fear even for your Grace*s example to gorreift. The laft point, uport which I fhall ven- lure to touch but lightly, is formidable enough to alarm the dulleil and mofi thoughtlcfs mind. I mean the poffibility fc)f a war. Such an event you well khow^j rtiy Lord, would fopn fhgke your loofe disjointed adminiflr^tioti to piece&, ^n4 perhaps give us a folid united govern- ment. Whether we fhould fubmit to fee our natural enemy making an acquifitio^ more valuable than all the triumphs of s^ fuccefsful warj or whether we (hall haye peace until France h*s recovered (Irength arid fpirits enough to attack us diredly, «re queftions of ftate not tq be refolved, nor y. ,1- m It^MKN I 1(27) - ■ HOT properly to be diftuflcd but in the ca- binet. By whatever means it has happen* cd that things are reduced to a condition, wherein it is hardly poflible for you to take a right ftep, this at lead is not doubt- ful, that neither place, nor retirement; nor even his inflgnificance will protedt a minifter, under vvhofe admin iftration it fhall appear that this country could nei- ther have peace with honour, nor make war wi^h advantage, ' If thefe propofitions and fadls fhould appear to be fairly advanced and truly ftated, and if it were poflible for the whole to be thus reprefented to a great prince qualified to judge well, and anxious to do right, in wh^t n\anner may it; be ima- gined he would reafon upon them? With- . E 2 out ( 28 ) out any great breach of probability I think he would cxprefs fomething like the fol- lowing fentiments. ii ii l!! ;ii Hi . •* I fee plainly that I was miftaken in ** my firfl principle of government, and *' that by endeavouring to reconcile and " unite oppofite parties, I have done no- ** thing but introduce difcord and diflrac- " tion into my councils. This miftake ** has been the fource of all that weak- ** nefs, inconfiftency and change of mi- ** niilers, which has diihonoured my go- " vernment, and made my crown a bur- ** then to me. Experience, beyond all " fpeculation, has convinced me that it ** is impoffible to govern this country but " by a fingle party. I am determined, ** therefore, to commit my affairs for the " '^ «* future ( 29 ) •* future to that party, which, on mature .<* deliberation, (hall appear ftrongeft in •* abihties, numbers, and parliamentary ** interefts. My choice fliall be made with ** caution, but I will adhere to it firmly ; '• or, if I fliould be compelled to change ** my fervants, the change fhall be entire, *« for never more will I fubmit to patch <« an adminirtration. Which ever way I " turn my eyes, the neceflity of forming " once for all a new, a compaft, and an ** able adminiflration, appears to me in " the ftrongeft light. The ftate of the ** finances calls for a man of fuperior ta- «« talents ; — that of the colonies requires " a man of unftiaken refolution. I muft ** have union, wifdom, and firmnefs in ** my own fervants, before I can hope <' to reftore vigour to my government, " or reverence to the laws. M^ army m uft ili (30) ** mud no longer be facrificcd to the ani* " mofiti«s of a Commander in Chief, and •* of a Secretary at war, or to the negli- ** gcnce of both. " When thefe alterations are made» if " it (hould then plcafe God to make a " war unavoidable, the nation will cither *' be prepared for it, or I (hall have the " confolation of knowing that I have ** done my duty to my people." FINIS. w