the return of the monarchy,* which he thought the best form of government for all the nations of Europe. The change which had taken place in France was a change not in fubftance, but merely in name. Peace, could it be attained, would not place us in a fituation of confidence. We must on the contrary increase our precautions. Hoftilities would begin again in a fhort time, and as foon as France faw our military force diminished; and we should be again oppofed to an enemy who might have found it as difficult to disband his armies as we should to obtain fresh forces. Even if difpofed to peace, their rulers would be compelled by fear to give them new employment. If we diffolved the continental confederacy, we could not again hope to fee it reftored; we fhould then be exposed alone to the fury of France. Ought we to leave the AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS in poffeffion of the French? The fafety of the Dutch depended upon our continuance of the war."

Mr. Pitt traversed once more the old road of argument, declamation, and invective, with his accustomed power of language; but fearing, no doubt, that the efficacy of this political charlatanifme might be impaired by too frequent ufe, he took at the clofe of his fpeech, in a great measure, new ground; and ventured roundly to affert, that, notwithstanding the extenfive conquefts of France, she had fuffered more in permanent value and prefent means than the loffes of all the allies united together. The resources of the French, the means of their immenfe pecuniary expenditure, were requifition and arrest of property. Such a fyftem could only be produced by defpotism, and fupported

From the æra of the Revolution of 1688, in England, to the year 1783, being a period of 95 years, the two nations of Great Britain and France had been in a state of war no less than 40 of them. What therefore, it may be permitted to afk, according to Mr. Pitt's rules of political calculation, constituted that superior security for the continuance of peace under a monarchy rather than a republic?

ported by terror. The expenditure of the French had, he faid, fince the revolution, amounted to 320 millions. Was it then likely she should fee this country first exhaufted? This expenditure they had been enabled to bear only by the creation of unlimited paper credit. But all the debates of the Convention proved that they could not increase the emiffion of this paper without ruin. Mr. Pitt recapitulated the proceedings of the French, respecting finance, to fhew that they could not maintain their affignats without contracting their expenses and diminishing their forces. To prefs them now with vigor would compel them to iffue more affignats, and thus rapidly exhauft their means and accelerate their ruin, which Mr. Pitt predicted to be imminent and inevitable ;—and, in fact, they were already, as he affirmed, not only on the verge, but in the GULF OF BANKRUPTCY. The house divided at four o'clock in the morning, for the amendment 75, against it 246.

Great as the influence of the crown may be supposed in the house of commons, it is impoffible to attribute the vast majorities of the present minister, particularly fince the commencement of the war with France, to the operation of that influence merely. Eloquence, that fatal talent when mifapplied, will of itself produce mighty effects; and it must be remarked, that the eloquence of Mr. Pitt has ever been exerted in unison with the rooted prejudices of the house and of the nation, and in no one instance has it ever been employed to counteract a popular error. Hatred to France is a political chord, which vibrates to every touch; and when that mafter-paffion is, by the force of imagination, connected with a reverence to religion, respect to morals, to focial order, to regular government, and, in a word, to all the ties which unite the different claffes of men in the bonds of civilization and humanity, it must require comparatively small skill to guide and direct the effects of it. The generous folicitude which transiently fhewed itself for the fuccefs of the French nation, in their

efforts

efforts to establish a free conftitution, was fuddenly and totally abforbed in the horror excited by their fubfequent enormities, without fufficiently confidering the provocations which gave rife to them, or, what was of still greater moment, that a whole nation ought not to be execrated for the offences of comparatively a few individuals. What are ufually ftyled the crimes of France are, in deed and in truth, for the most part, only her misfortunes and calamities; and they are no doubt as much the fubject of abhorrence and deteftation with the great mass of the people in that country as in this. Is it poffible to prefer anarchy to tranquillity, oppreffion to protection, or ma levolence to benignity? So long as the paffions of that high-spirited nation are inflamed and exafperated by op pofition, fo long will they be more or lefs chargeable with exceffes moral and political-fo long will they remain ftrangers to the countless and invaluable bleffings of liberty for genuine liberty can in no clime, age, or country, ever be feparated from the control of law,— liberty itself being the law of reafon, of justice, and of humanity. And, "Oh Law!" understood in this its best and highest fenfe, to use the fublime language of a justlyadmired writer, "no lefs can be faid than that her feat is the bofom of GOD, her voice the harmony of the world; all things in heaven and earth do her homage,-the very least as feeling her care, the greatest as not exempted from her power. Both angels and men, and creatures of what condition foever, though each in different fort and manner, yet all, with uniform confent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy."

:

That the general intentions of the British nation, or even of the British legislature, have been upon the whole otherwife than juft, is a fuppofition improbable and injurious.

But

HOOKER'S Ecclefiaftical Polity, book I. conclusion.

But when the power of eloquence, combined with the feductions of intereft and the fuggeftions of prejudice, is calmly confidered, it cannot be a fubject of wonder that few minds are found of firmnefs fufficient to withstand the force of the affociation. As to the grand confideration on which Mr. Pitt now profeffed to reft his hopes of reftoring monarchy in France, which was in this debate, for the first time, avowed to be, if not an abfolute fine-qua-non of peace, one grand object of the war, it was evident that the minifter, if fincere, had been grofsly duped and deceived by. the fallacious reasonings of certain French emigrants, ignonorant or interefted, who had publifhed various tracts upon the fubject of the French finances ;-fuch as one D'Ivernois, created Sir Francis D'Ivernios, a dealer wholefale and retail in ridiculous paradoxes; and M. Mallet du Pan, an ingenious but enthufiaftic writer;-negle&ting the falutary but unpleafant warnings and admonitions of the celebrated M. de Calonne, formerly comptroller-general of the finances in France, who, in a moft most able pamphlet, entitled The Political State of Europe, published at this time, exprefsly fays" I do repeat, and continually shall repeat, that whatever causes would reduce a regularly-governed state to the last period of its military exertions would by no means produce the fame effects on a revolutionary government, poffeffing all the exifting means and refources of the country. To reduce them to the laft extremity, there must be no land, no productions, no labourers, no foldiers; in fhort, no refources of any kind in the whole extent of the territory. To rely on the increase of the public mifery in France, and to expect general tranquillity as the refult of it, is as if nations had formerly thought themselves fecure from the devaftations of the Huns, Goths, and Vandals, because thofe hordes of barbarians had neither money nor credit, order or discipline."

On

On the 25th of January (1795) the attorney-general moved for a renewal of the fufpenfion of the HabeasCorpus Act, in direct oppofition to the recorded verdicts of three fucceffive juries that no treasonable conspiracy existed. This gave rife to a violent debate. Mr. Lambton, member for Durham, declared, that though a confiding parliament had laft feffion given credit to his affertions, and fufpended the Habeas-Corpus Act upon the ftrength of them, the perfons accufed of treafon had been acquitted, not merely upon principles of law but of common fenfe. The evidence had totally failed on the part of the crown lawyers ; and their own witneffes had difproved their cafe. He wished to know on what pretence minifters wanted a renewal of the bill, and demanded fome information refpecting these hidden confpiracies,

Quis? Quid? Ubi? Quibus auxillis? Cur? Quomodo? Quando ?"

Mr. Hardinge, a court lawyer on the other side, strongly contended for the existence of a confpiracy, though no confpirators had yet been found whom the law had been able to reach. The late verdict of the juries would of itfelf encourage those who had embarked in those wicked counfels. He affirmed that it was no common treason that lay before them-it was not English but French treason, and proved by a mafs of evidence, which, though it could not effect conviction in the courts of law, well warranted the paffing of the Sufpenfion Bill. Mr. Erfkine remarked, that it was beyond his ability to comprehend how there could exift a confpiracy without confpirators. A confpiracy in the abstract might indeed be supposed without known or detected confpirators; but the authors of this pretended plot had been known by government, and by the public at large, for two years, and been profecuted without effect-and the verdicts of three juries completely negatived the confpiracy. But king's friends, he feared, would never be quiet, till they had destroyed all kingly governments. Every loss of

power