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Meffage was brought down from his majesty to the houfe of peers, on the thirteenth of February, ftating, that his majefty was, at prefent, employed in concerting fuch engagements with the emperor of Germany, the elector of Bavaria, and other powers of the empire, as might ftrengthen the efforts of his imperial majefty, and materially conduce to the advantage of the common caufe, in the course of the enfuing campaign. His majefly promifed to give directions that thefe engagements, as foon as they fhould have been completed and ratified, fhould be laid before the house. But, in order to infure the benefit of this co-operation at an early period, his majefty was defirous of authorizing his minifter to make provifionally fuch advances as might be neceflary, in the first inftance, for that purpofe; and he recommended it to the houfe make fuch provifion accordingly.-A fimilar mef fage was delivered to the houfe of commons. The fecretary of fiate for foreign affairs, lord Grenville, in the houfe of peers, moved an addrefs to his majefty, thanking his majefty for his gracious communication, and affuring him that the house, confcious of the necellity of profecuting the war with

vigour, would readily concur in the withes of his majefty, and give their fupport to fuch measures as fhould be deemed moft likely to make good his engagements with his allies.

Lord Holland faid, that, if the purport of the prefent measure were merely to exchange Ruffian for German mercenaries, to that he not only fhould have no objection, but even fhould think we had gained by the exchange. We fhould. have the fatisfaction of knowing that thofe we employed, rendered the horrors of war lefs heart-breaking, lefs difgufting, than thofe we expected to employ. We fhould allo gain in point of foldiers; for he was happy to find that the troops of the more enlightened and civilized nations of Aufiria, Prufia, France, and England, were greatly fuperior to the Ruffians in difcipline, in courage, in military fkill, and all the qualifications neceflary to form a powerful army. It was a matter of fincere fatisfaction to find, that skill and civilization had fo decided a fuperiority over ignorance and barbarity; that the enlightened nations of the South had not fo much to fear, as had often been thought, from the inroads of those savage and ignorant barbarians of the North. But it was not a mere exchange of

troops

troops. We were indeed to fubfidize and employ German troops inftead of Ruffians; but were German troops ready to contend for the fame objects? Did the cabinet of Vienna cordially approve of all the principles laid down by the noble fecretary of ftate in his answers to Buonaparte? Did the emperor of Germany really think, and, if he did fo, where had he declared it, that the fpeedieft and fureft means of reftoring peace would be the reftoration of the Bourbons? Lord Holland did not know but that monarch might rather imagine that the facrifice of the territories of his fellowhireling, the elector of Bavaria, to his ambitious projects, would be the fpeedieft and fureft means of reftoring tranquillity. His lordship proceeded to fpeak at great length of the different views entertained, or that might be entertained in the progrefs of events, by Auftria and England, the power and the advantages enjoyed by the French government, among which he enumerated the haughty and irritating anfwer of lord Grenville to Buona parte, the improbability of fuccefs on the part of the allies, and the improbability alfo, that even victory and fuccefs in arms would lead to peace. In a word, he expatiated over all the wide and beaten field of the policy or impolicy of the war, and of our mode of treating, and treating with the French. He allo reverted to the debate on the anfwers that had been given to the French overtures, and to certain maxims and confiderations which he had endeavoured to imprefs on their lordships minds, and he had reafon to think, he faid, not without fuccefs. He conjured the houfe, fince they had that night

learnt, that one of their chief hopes was to be a reliance on the cabinet of Vienna, to reflect again, and not to engage in an undertaking fo delperate in its appearance, in which fuccefs itself feemed only to lead to new wars, new expenfes, and new embarrallments, and in which failure, (which feemed but too probable,) was difgrace and ruin.

The duke of Montrofe faid, that it was not his intention to go through the variety of topics touched on by the noble lord who had spoken laft, but to advert merely to the fingle queftion, which appeared to him to arife out of the proper confideration of his majefty's meffage and the addrefs now moved; namely, whether, during a war with France, under fingular and unprecedented circumftances, it was wife in this country to fubfidize the princes of the continent, and purchase the aid of auxiliary troops, in order to harafs the enemy near their native country; or let them have an opportunity, for want of a politic diverfion, to bring the war into the British channel, and on the coafts of this kingdom? The Hiftory of England proved, by a variety of precedents, that it had always been the policy of Great Britain, when engaged in a foreign war, to avail itfelf of the affiftance of auxiliary troops.-On a divifion of the house, the address was carried by 28 against 3.-The order of the day, for taking his majefty's meffage into confideration, being, at the fame time, read, in the houfe of commons,

Mr. Pitt rofe, and faid, that he had ftated yesterday the general ground on which he flattered himfelf that this meffage was likely to be received without oppofition. The ground was this, that the ob[H3] ject

ject now was, to maintain fuch a force on the continent, as fhould enable the allies to make greater efforts than they had done in any other campaign, even fhould the Ruffians not co-operate to the fame extent as laft year He stated alfo, that five hundred thousand pounds was proposed to be voted on Monday, in a committee of fupply, to which it was proposed that his majefty's meffage fhould be referred. This fum was for the purpose of enabling his majefty to make fuch advances as might be neceflary in the first inftance, and until the whole fubject to which the meflage referred fhould come regularly before the houfe; for the purpofe of enfuring the benefit and advantage of the co-operation of the powers there mentioned, in the common caufe, in the courfe of the campaign. On Monday, accordingly, the feventeenth of February, the house having refolved itself into a committee of fupply, and that part of the king's fpeech which refers to a provifional fupply, being read, Mr. Pitt faid, that the motion which he fhould fubmit to the committee that day, proceeded on a principle which had been often, and had recently been recognited in that houfe, that we were to proceed in a vigorous profecution of the war, which they all felt to be neceffary, for the fafety, honour, and happiness of this country. The majority of that houfe, and the great majority of the people of this country, he was confident, would agree, that, if the war was to be carried on at all, it fhould be carried on on that fcale which was moft likely to bring it to an honourable, a fpeedy, but, at all events, a fecure conclufion. There was no reason to believe that his imperial

majefty, the emperor of Ruffia, would withdraw from the most cordial co-operation with this country, or ceafe to fhew his refolution, not to acquiefce with France, whilft it purfued a fyftem dangerous to the tranquillity of Europe, and all its eftablifhments. But, if there were any grounds for apprehenfion that his imperial majefty would withdraw all co-operation, he would ftate that circumftance as an additional reafon for the meafure which his majefty had taken. The committee would learn with fatisfaction, that the force from the power of Germany would be greater in the enfuing campaign than it was in the laft, great and brilliant as its victories were. From the circumflances of the continent, the negociations between us and our allies were not fully concluded. It was, therefore impoffible for him to state the whole of the force to be employed, or the total amount of the pecuniary afliftance which this country was to afford to his imperial majefty. It was propofed, in the mean time, as he had already faid, that five hundred thousand pounds fhould be advanced, by way of commencement. The object of it was, to fecure the co-operation of fuch a force as his majefty's minifters had reafon to believe was likely to be fuperior to any force the French could bring to the frontier. The total amount of the advance, upon that fubject, would probably be about two millions and a half, the fum now propofed to be voted was only five hundred thousand pounds. He therefore moved, "that it was the opinion of that committee, that a fum, not exceeding five hundred thoufand pounds, be granted to his majefty, to enable his majefty to make

fuch

fuch advances as might be neceffary, for the purpose of infuring, at an early period, a vigorous co-operation of the emperor of Germany, the elector of Bavaria, and others, in the enfuing campaign, against the common enemy."-This motion was oppofed by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Tierney, the honourable Mr. William Bouverie, Mr. Sheridan, fir William Pultney, and Mr. William Smith; and defended by Mr. Joliff, Mr. Pitt, (in a warm and long reply to Mr. Tierney,) Mr. Wilberforce, and Mr. Windham.

Mr. Nichols hoped that the committee would paufe before they confented at once to adopt a measure, which might prevent the relief of the poor of this country, and, at the fame time, affect its commercial credit. He hoped they would inquire whether we were able to pay away two millions and a half in fubfidics to foreign powers, and, at the fame time, pay twelve millions for the fupply of the neceffaries of life, without endangering our profperity

and trade.

Mr. Sheridan afked, if Germany poffeffed those wonderful forces we had heard of, before the prefent fubfidiary treaty, why were they not called into action? And, if not, why were we to fubfidize the poffe comitatus, the rabble of Germany? He alfo put the queftion, whether it was not Buonaparte's intereft to make peace with us? Whether it could be fuppofed, that, if peace were made, he had not the power to make it be observed by the people of France? and whether the people of France were not aware that an infraction of that peace would bring with it a new order of things, and a renewal of thofe ca

lamities, from which they were defirous to efcape? Mr. Sheridan was a friend to peace at this time, becaufe he thought that Buonaparte, would be as good a friend and neighbour to this country, as ever' any of the Bourbons were.

Sir William Pultney obferved,. that there was, in the overtures made to this government, on the part of France, a general, but loofe and remote allufion to a general peace. If that was too vague on the part of France, our minifters fhould have returned an answer to that effect. They fhould have endeavoured to. know what the terms were which the French were willing to accede to, inftead of rejecting all confideration of them before they knew what they were. Becaufe minifters neglected to try the effect of a negociation, he thought they were wrong; and, as the meafure now before the houfe was part of that fyftem, which, in his opinion, was founded in error, he fiould there fore vote against the prefent mo

tion.

It appeared to Mr. William Smith to be a great mifconduct in minifters to give away the money of Great Britain to other powers, who, if minifters chofe to be confiftent in their language, were bound to take care of themfelves as much we were; and the powers on the continent had proved themfelves able to maintain this conteft without our aid.

Mr. Tierney having expressed a with that Mr. Pitt would ftate, if he could, in one fentence, without his ifs and buts, and fpecial pleading ambiguity, what the object of the war was: the miniter replied, that he could tell him, in one word, [H4]

that

that it was fecurity against a danger the greatest that ever threatened the world.

Mr Windham faid, that the explanation of the grounds of the war, and its continuance, had been fo often repeated, that it was folly to dwell any longer upon them. It must be intelligible to all mankind, if we could not gain all we wifhed by the war, we must obtain all that we could.

Where the best thing was unat tainable, the fecond beft must be had; but there was one queftion that deferved a definitive anfwer, "Will you, it was faid, fight for the reftoration of that monarchy in France, which was always hoftile to this country, and the occafion of our wars and debt?" This, he faid, was a matter of calculation. The monarchy of France exifted eight hundred years; and, if we confidered the evils it had occasioned to us in that time, not by their numbers but weight, we fhould find them far inferior to thofe accumulated on us by the unprovoked aggreffions, the plots, and the arts of France, in the fhort courfe of her eight years revolution.

On a divifion of the houfe, Mr. Pitt's motion was carried by 162 against 19.

On various other fubjects, that drew the attention of parliament in the courte of this, as in fo many of the preceding feffions, the origin and the neceffity, or expediency, of continuing the war was brought incidentally on the canvafs. But the pretent feems no improper place for juft mentioning that this queftion was, at three different times, made a fubject of regular and formal motion in the houfe of

commons. On the twenty-eightf February,

Mr. Tierney moved, "That it was the opinion of that boufe, that it was both unjuft and unneceffary to carry on the war, for the purpole of reftoring monarchy in France."This motion was feconded by Mr. Johnes, and fupported allo by Mr. W. Bouverie, and Mr. William Smith. It was oppofed by Mr. Elliot, lord Hawkefpary, Mr. Yorke, fir G. P. Turner, lord Belgrave, colonel Elford, and Mr. H. Browne.

Mr. Smith argued, that though lord Hawkesbury had, in terms, denied that the restoration of monarchy in France was the object for which we now contended, he had ftated his own wishes for its accom plifhment fo ftrongly, and had la boured to much to prove thofe wishes to be juft, wife, politic, and humane, that if he were himfelf minifter, no one could doubt what his own fyftem of measures would be let then this language be com bined with that of the court, and iț would appear impoffible to doubt that this reftoration was the point now in view, the object for which the prefent campaign, at leaft, was to be perfevered in, On what ground, he faid, was this denied, but that of the qualifying clause in lord Grenville's note, which declared that "his majefty did not limit the poffibility of fecure and folid pacification to this mode only." Giving then the fulleft credit to this declaration, it allowed only a bare poflibility, that at fome future time a peace might be concluded without this reftoration, while the preceding paragraph stated in exprefs terms, that, for want of it, we could not at this time even commence a

treaty,