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His lordship said, the present enquiry formed but a small part of what he deemed necessary, namely, an inspection and examination of the public accounts in general. By what had appeared, there was good ground for suspicion, if not proof of actual corruption. At all events, there was sufficient evidence to support, in the fullest manner, the Resolutions which he proposed to submit to their lordships' consideration; and of course to rouze their lordships' attention to an enquiry into the expenditure of the public money, particularly at the eve of a war with France, when public frugality was become so peculiarly an act of sound policy, nay of the utmost necessity, when we considered the powerful foes we were about to contend with. His lordship concluded with informing the House, that he had several Resolutions grounded on the information on the table to propose. The first Resolution, and that on which the question was put, was "That there was taken up by the Navy board, from September 1775 to September 1777, 435 vessels, carrying 131,120 tons."

The Earl of Sandwich opposed the Resolution. He did not doubt its veracity, but he was very sure, from the nature of the service, every possible economy was adopted by the Treasury; and one proof of that was, the Treasury lately knocking off the odd sixpence, because the Navy gave no more than 12s. per ton. The price of freight was raised; the service was pressing and could not be trifled with; the troops must be fed; for who would have Englishmen and friendly foreigners to starve in a hostile land? That the necessity of sending them provisions at any rate was such, that if the freight had been double it must have been paid; that he had seen several letters from gen. Howe, praying, that a supply of provisions should be expedited; that so far from censuring the Treasury, they deserved the thanks of the country, for the zeal and alacrity they had shewn in this very business. His lord. ship concluded with moving that the chairman, do leave the chair.

The Earl of Suffolk said he must now, as he had done before, declare his objection to any resolutions upon matters of fact. The evidence had proved that transports could not be procured cheaper. The necessity of the service called for dispatch. Sir W. Howe had frequently pressed administration on that head.

The Earl of Shelburne said that sir R.

Temple answered reluctantly, and that Mr. Atkinson had, with great plausibility, assigned every reason for the contract being entered into but the true one; and had taken great credit to himself and his employers, for his abating one per cent. of his commission; but when did that happen? at the time that a very critical scrutiny was making into the scandalous rum contract, which had been condemned as a job, by the very able and respectable merchants to whom this shameful transaction was referred.

The question was put for the chairman to leave the chair: Contents 39, Noncontents 18. The House being resumed,

The Earl of Effingham then moved a string of Resolutions which he intended for the establishment of his facts; which being all set aside by the previous question, he next moved, "That the employing private persons in the hiring and equipping of these vessels, instead of their being taken up as those by the Navy board, hath been a loss to the public to a very great amount."

The House divided, Contents 17; Noncontents 35.

Mr. Grenville's Motion for all Communications touching a Treaty between France and America.] March 16.

Lord North gave notice that he should to-morrow present a Message from the King.

Mr. Grenville said, he believed the subject of the message was already anticipated by the House. But in order that gentlemen might be truly, as well as fully, informed, before they determined what Answer to give, he begged leave to move, "That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, to desire that he will be graciously pleased to order that there be laid before this House, copies of all Communications from his Majesty's ambassador at the court of France, or the French ambassador at this court, touching any treaty of Alliance, Confederacy, or Commerce, entered into between the court of France, and the revolted colonies in North Ame rica."

Mr. Burke warmly seconded the motion. The present situation of our affairs, he declared to be to the last degree desperate. The stocks, the political pulse of the nation, were so low, that they plainly demonstrated the weakness of the state; they were already sunk as much as in times of foreign war; and afforded the most gloomy pros

pect. Sunk as the nation was, robbed of her treasures, injured in her honour, she had a right to take every step that could lead her to a discovery of the counsels, and of the persons who gave them, by which she had been reduced from the pinnacle of honour and power, to the lowest ebb of wretchedness and disgrace." Mr. Fox took a retrospect of the various measures adopted by the present administration: he pointed out the causes to which their failures ought to be attributed: he insisted that the ignorance of the ministry was the source of our misfortunes; and from their incapacity to conduct a war with the poor pitiful, provinces of America, as he affected to call them, he inferred that the complicated business of a foreign war with the most powerful princes in Christendom must of course so far transcend their abilities, that the nation must absolutely be undone if the administration of our affairs was to continue in their hands. Melancholy as was the prospect that a war afforded us, it would have this good effect; that it would rouse the nation to a sense of the wrongs they had been made to suffer, by being made to feel at once all those calamities, for which the ministry had prepared them by degrees, by their slow but destructive measures, which, though they did not precipitate the nation into a foreign war, had, by a slow process, inevitably brought it on. The House had been made to act a fool's part. Conciliatory Bills had been passed, and commissioners appointed to treat with the Americans, even after they had been acknowledged an independent state by France. Ignorance of such a circumstance was unpardonable; and the contempt which it served to bring on the House called aloud for resentment. Ministers, he said, could never execute their duty to their country, nor counteract the schemes of her enemies, if they did not procure intelligence of the measures adopted for our annoyance. He asked the House if a set of men ought to be any longer trusted with the reins of government, who received the first positive assurance of a Treaty concluded by France and America, from the French ambassador? Their supineness, folly, and ignorance, in that one instance, sufficiently proved them to be unworthy of their employments. But to declare them only unworthy would not be doing sufficient justice to the people: the violators of whose rights, and the spoilers of whose property the parliament was bound to

punish: they should likewise be made to account for the injuries done their country: the only means of determining the quantum of guilt, and where it particularly lay, could not be well ascertained without the papers in question: he therefore wished strongly to support the motion.

The Attorney General was astonished that such a motion should be seconded; it was of such a nature that it would be the most crying injustice to agree to it: it was unprecedented: a similar one never had passed that House; never ought to pass any House, who looked upon a breach of faith to be a crime; the letters contained perhaps information received from persons whose lives might be affected by a discovery. Therefore, as he could not reconcile such treacherous behaviour to his principles, he would oppose the motion.

The Solicitor General spoke on the same side. General Conway, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Hartley spoke in favour of the motion.

Governor Johnstone said, though he heartily concurred with those who were of opinion that the present ministry were unequal to the discharge of the duties their office imposed on them; yet he would not allow that our affairs were in a desperate situation: the navy, indeed, was not in the condition that we might wish it to be in; but he still trusted that the spirit of the nation, and our known superiority in experience in naval affairs, would extricate us from the difficulties under which we now laboured.

Mr. Rigby delivered his sentiments in a style calculated to remove ill-humour and excite mirth; he hoped that the common danger would tend to conciliate all parties, and create that unanimity which was necessary at present, and which would ever render us formidable to our enemies.

Lord North requested that he might be indulged with the attention of the House for a few minutes, while he should make a reply to the many severe reflections that had been passed on the ministry, part which was, no doubt, intended for him. If a resignation of his place could in anywise tend to extricate the nation from its present difficulties, he had often declared, and then repeated the declaration, that he would most willingly resign; but as it would be cowardly to give up in the hour of danger, and, as resignation at that crisis would create confusion in the ministry, his honour, his pride, his duty to his coun

try, convinced him that he ought not to go out of office. As to his abilities to conduct a war, and direct the helm of the state, he confessed they were such as could be very easily matched. He did not doubt but that there were many gentlemen in that House who were possessed of abilities far superior to any he could boast: his integrity was all he could plume himself upon; and in that he would be bold to say he was inferior to no man in the nation. The Conciliatory Bills he had yet reason to hope would be productive of happy effects; and though a treaty had really been concluded between the colonies and France, yet it was natural to expect that it must be ratified by the Congress. He did not, therefore, despair that the terms offered, and ensured by the Conciliatory Acts, would so pacify the minds of the people of America, as to prevent a ratification of the treaty. He was led still the more to expect these effects by the very circumstance of the time, which the French ambassador chose to make the declaration, namely, when the commissioners were on the point of setting out. He, therefore, thought that our present difficulties might perhaps be still removed without a war. Our situation was not yet so alarming as gentlemen might think: our fleets for home defence were in a condition to do all the service that we could expect, and to answer all the purposes of securing us from an invasion, and repelling the enemy. The present motion was so contradictory to every idea of justice, public faith, and sound policy, that he certainly would oppose it; and as he never would consent that those persons, who, under the confidence of the faith of nations, might have given our ambassador information, should be given up to the resentment of those who might punish them, he would therefore endeavour to get rid of the motion by the previous question.

Mr. Grenville said he did not wish to expose any man; and amended his motion with," or extracts."

Lord North said the amendment could not be received after the previous question

had been moved.

Mr. Fox got up in great warmth, and reprehended the noble lord in the severest terms, for what he called quibbling and chicane.

Lord North withdrew his motion; and the amendment was received: after which he moved the previous question again. He desired the House to take notice, that

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"His Majesty, having been informed, by order of the French king, that a Treaty of Amity and Commerce has been signed between the court of France, and certain persons employed by his Majesty's revolted subjects in North America, has judged it necessary to direct, that a copy of the Declaration, delivered by the French ambassador to lord viscount Weymouth, be laid before the House of Lords; and at the same time to acquaint them, that his Majesty has thought proper, in consequence of this offensive communication on the part of the court of France, to send orders to his ambassador to withdraw from that court.

"His Majesty is persuaded, that the justice and good faith of his conduct towards foreign powers, and the sincerity of his wishes to preserve the tranquillity of Europe, will be acknowledged by all the world; and his Majesty trusts, that he shall not stand responsible for the disturbance of that tranquillity, if he should find himself called upon to resent so unprovoked and so unjust an aggression on the honour of his crown, and the essential interests of his kingdoms, contrary to the most solemn assurances, subversive of the law of nations, and injurious to the rights of every sovereign power in Europe.

"His Majesty, relying with the firmest confidence on the zealous and affectionate support of his faithful people, is determined to be prepared to exert, if it shall

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become necessary, all the force and resources of his kingdoms; which he trusts will be found adequate to repel every insult and attack, and to maintain and uphold the power and reputation of this country."

A similar Message was sent to the Com-
At the same time was presented

mons.

"In this just confidence, the underwritten ambassador might think it superfluous to apprize the British ministry, that the king his master, being determined effectually to protect the lawful freedom of the commerce of his subjects, and to sustain the honour of his flag, his Majesty has taken, in consequence, eventual mea

COPY of a PAPER delivered to Lord Vis-sures, in concert with the United States

count Weymouth by the Marquis de Noailles, the 13th March 1778, and Translation: viz.

The underwritten Ambassador of his Most Christian Majesty has received an express Order to deliver to the Court of London the following Declaration:

"The United States of North America, which are in full possession of the Independence declared by their act of the 4th July 1776, having caused a proposal to be made to the king, to consolidate, by a formal convention, the connections that have begun to be established between the two nations, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce, intended to serve as a basis for mutual good correspondence.

"His majesty, being resolved to cultivate the good understanding subsisting between France and Great Britain, by all the means compatible with his dignity, and with the good of his subjects, thinks that he ought to impart this step to the court of London, and declare to it, at the same time, that the contracting parties have had attention not to stipulate any exclusive advantage in favour of the French nation; and that the United States have preserved the liberty of treating with all nations whatsoever, on the same foot of equality and reciprocity.

"In making this communication to the court of London, the king is firmly persuaded, that it will find in it fresh proofs of his majesty's constant and sincere dispositions for peace; and that his Britannic majesty, animated by the same sentiments, will equally avoid every thing that may interrupt their harmony; and that he will take, in particular, effectual measures to hinder the commerce of his majesty's subjects with the United States of North America from being disturbed, and to cause to be observed, in this respect, the usages received between trading nations, and the rules that may be deemed subsisting between the crowns of France and Great Britain. [VOL. XIX.]

of North America. M. DE NOAILLES." "London, 18 March, 1778."

Debate in the Lords on the King's Mes sage respecting the Treaty between France and America.] As soon as the above Message and Declaration had been read,

Viscount Weymouth rose for the pur pose of moving an Address to his Majesty. He acquainted the House, that his Majesty, in consequence of the above Declaration, had dispatched letters of instant recall to the British minister at Versailles; that he beheld with indignation this open violation of the established amity between the two courts, and though he would not be the first disturber of the tranquillity of Europe, yet it was necessary for him to take such measures as might secure the dignity of his crown, and the welfare of his people, and hoped for their lordships' concurrence and support. His lordship concluded with moving, "That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, to return his Majesty the humble thanks of this House for the communication of the Paper presented to the lord viscount Weymouth, by the order of the French king; and for acquainting this House, that in consequence of this offensive Declaration, his Majesty has thought proper to order his ambassador to withdraw from the court of France.

"To assure his Majesty, that it is with the utmost difficulty this House can restrain the strongest expressions of the resentment and indignation which they feel for this unjust and unprovoked aggression on the honour of his Majesty's crown, and the essential interests of his kingdoms, contrary to the law of nations, and injuri ous to the rights and possessions of every sovereign power in Europe.

"That the good faith and uprightness of his Majesty's conduct towards foreign powers, and the sincerity of his intentions to preserve the general tranquillity must be acknowledged by all the world; and his Majesty cannot be considered as responsible for the disturbance of this tranquillity, if his Majesty should find himself [3 N]

called upon to resist the enterprizes of that restless and dangerous spirit of ambition and aggrandizement which has so often invaded the rights, and threatened the liberties of Europe.

"That we should be wanting in our duty to his Majesty and to ourselves, if we did not give his Majesty the strongest assurances of our most zealous assistance and support; every sentiment of loyalty to his Majesty, and of love to our country, will animate this House to stand forth in the public defence, and to promote every measure that shall be found necessary for enabling his Majesty to vindicate the honour of his crown, and to protect the just rights and essential interests of these kingdoms."

The Duke of Manchester, however great the provocation given by France might be, was totally against their lordships agreeing with the Address, if the approaching war was to be conducted by the same men who were the authors of all our present calamities: men, in whose hands nothing could succeed; and in whom it would be madness to confide. He reminded their lordships of the frequent admonitions ministers had received from that side of the House, in which almost every progressive step towards national ruin had been exactly foretold, even to the very important business of that day. They were informed of this very treaty: they declared their ignorance of it. He had himself, from time to time, as an act of duty, communicated whatever came to his knowledge respecting the disposition of the court of France. He was satisfied of the truth of the matters contained in those communications; but he had no right to expect that their lordships. would give credit to private information, in preference to the assurances of ministers whose special duty it was to be acquainted with, and make known to that House, the views, motives, and disposition of our natural enemies. Indeed, there were some leading facts which spoke strongly in favour of what he had suggested to their lordships, such as the residence of Messrs. Franklin and Deane at Paris: the open commerce carried on between France and the colonies; the protection given to their privateers and merchant-vessels; the contract between the Congress delegates, and the French farmers general, for certain quantities of tobacco, the growth of the North American colonies, to be delivered in France, at a stipulated price, &c.

These, his grace remarked, were circumstances sufficient to open the eyes of the most incredulous; but, in spite of all this, ministers got majorities to support them, against the strongest convictions of probability and common sense.—If we were to meet our enemies, the spirit of the nation must be as well directed as called forth. The situation of this country was perilous to the last degree; but, under the conduct of such an administration, ruin was inevitable. The enquiry into the state of the nation proved their total incapacity. Destitute of a military force for the home defence, or of our only true national bulwark, a respectable navy, they laid us at the mercy of our enemies; they wasted our blood and treasure to no purpose; and, what was worse, they rendered us defenceless. They brought us to the melancholy dilemma of not being in a state to make peace, or prosecute war. Were we prepared for a war? No noble lord would say we were. Could we preserve peace? He feared it was impossible. His grace then moved, that after the words,

zealous assistance and support," the following words be added: "Whenever his Majesty shall, from his regard to the honour of his crown and safety of his subjects, remove from his councils those persons under whose administration no plan civil or military has been successful, and the colonies, so valuable a part of the empire, have been lost to this nation, and driven into connexions with the court of France, and whose longer continuance in power we are bound to represent to his Majesty may highly endanger the safety of his crown, and the remaining parts of his dominions."

Viscount Weymouth said, the amendment was in the first place conditional; in the second, it contained an accusation against ministers. It was the first time he ever heard an address clogged with a condition which implied, that what was right in itself ought not to be pursued, unless something else were granted. For his part, if the address met the sentiments of the House, he thought it should receive its sanction entirely on its own intrinsic merits, and not while their lordships were acceding to an act of duty, accompany that act with certain compulsory conditions. Such a conduct had both an ungenerous and unjust appearance.

Lord Dudley said, he had voted for all the measures of ministers, relative to the affairs of America, and could justify his

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