omit the whole of the address, and to introduce another. It is so long that it cannot be brought into the present narrative: but as this cu rious piece, a novelty we believe, and certainly a singularity in the proceedings of parliament, may be considered as a kind of creed, of what opposition believed, or wished to be believed by others, of both themselves and the present administration, we have given it a place in another part of this volume. Mr. Canning, however, apprehending that the tendency of pressing his amendment would be to cause a division of the votes, and being anxious that nothing should be oc casioned, on his part, that might have a tendency to throw a damp on the spirit of the country, declared that it was not his intention to press his amendment to a division. The speaker then put the question, "that the words proposed to be left out stand part of this question," upon which, lord Howick rose. The amendment proposed

said, contained matters which, if founded in fact, ought to be referred to a committee, to ground upon them articles of impeachment. The honourable gentleman, had spoken much of his own candour, and readiness to support government, except only in cases wherein an acquiescence in their measures appeared to be a dereliction of duty. How far the honourable gentleman's conduct agreed with the principles he thus professed, he left the house to judge. The present ministers were told they were on a bed of roses." They were told so by a noble lord (Castlereagh), who yet had admitted that the Continent was in a very unsatisfactory situa,

tion. They were told so after the battle of Austerlitz, and even before that of Jena, Was it possible for the present ministers to remove all the distresses that had come upon the country in fifteen years pregmant with calamaties, during the time of the late, administration, though perhaps without any blame on the part of administration. All that could be done was, to offer the best advice and aid in their power. The honourable gentleman had spoken in glowing colours of the calamities of Prussia, and of the evils extended to the world in consequence of the destruction of that power. Lord Howick had only to say, that no part of those misfortunes had been caused by his ma jesty's present ministers. The misfortunes of this case required more of those exaggerations to which, th honourable gentleman was so prone. History recorded many instances of armics destroyed, and empires ruined: but, the ruin of the Prussian. empire was sudden and complete beyond all example. A mighty monarch, possessing a vast army, of the highest military reputation, was in one day reduced to the necessity of seeking safety in a precipitate flight, accompanied only by a few followers of his broken fortunes.

With regard to the honourable gentleman's allusions to Hanover as the sole cause of the declaration of war by this country against Prussia, lord H. observed, that, so far from Hanover being the only cause, the. shutting of the rivers in the north of Germany against our commerce wasthe principal alleged ground of hostility, and upon that ground the house voted the address to his majesty, which approved the course

adopted

adopted by government on that occasion. Even supposing that the ports in the north of Germany were not closed against our shipping; was not the detention of Hanover by Prussia upon such grounds as that power alleged, of such a nature as this government could not subscribe to? But combining the detention of Hanover with the shutting up of the ports, would the honourable gentleman, as member of a cabinet, hesitate to advise his majesty to declare war against the power that should be guilty of such aggressions? or would be advise his majesty to conclude peace with a power which, under such circumstances, should insist upon withholding Hanover? Then he would ask the honoura. ble gentleman what becomes of all the empty, and tedious, and, he must say, trißing declamation which the house had heard from him?

In the address which the honour. able gentleman had read to the house, lord Howick perceived that there were very many professions of personal attachment to our sovereign, and of anxious wishes for his interests. He wished to know then from the right honourable author or advocate, of all these professions, whether he, as a minister, would conduct a negotiation, and conclude a war which should alienate from that sovereign an hereditary posses. sion, wrested from him originally, on account merely of a war between this country and a foreign enemy, and in which war that hereditary possession had no concerus? Of the separate interests of this country and Hanover, he had heard and read much. Into the discussion of this question he did not now mean to enter. But thinking, as he did, that honour is the most valuable possession of any state, he

had no hesitation in stating that it would be highly injurious to the interests of England, because incon sistent with its honour, to leave Hanover to France or her allies, under such circumstances as he had already described. When Hanover was taken possession of by Prussia, it was transferred to her by France, with whom she was in the closest alliance. And when this was connected with the original cause of the invasion of that electorate, he would appeal to that house, and to the world, whether it could be recon. ciled with any sentiment of magna. nimity, honour, or justice, to allow its lawful sovereign to be deprived, of Hanover, in consequence of a war between Great Britain and France ?

The honourable gentleman had ac cused ministers of not sending timely assistance to Prussia. But how soon had they reason to suppose, that Prussia was at all disposed to enter into hostilities with France? At the time we declared war against her, she was in close connection with the French government. But, notwithstanding our declaration, she had opportunity enough of commu. nicating to our government any intention she entertained with regard to France. For, although war against Prussia was declared in April, baron Jacobi did not leave this country until the 15th of Au. gust. The first circumstance that seemed to warrant any suspicion of hostility between Prussia and France was the recall, in the month of September, of the Prussian ambassador, at Paris, Lacchesini, in consequence of his becoming disagreeable to Buonaparte. But this suspicion quickly vanished: for his successor baron Knoblesdorff, was ap pointed on the express recomenda

tion

tion of Buonaparte himself. When that ambassador, so appointed, arrived at Paris, did his arrival serve to betray, or did he himself intimate to lord Lauderdale, who was then there, any change of disposition on the part of Prussia towards France ? No, not in the least. In fact, the first communication that ministry received, as to the intentions of Prussia, was in a letter from Mr. Thornton, our resident at Hamburgh, inclosing a letter from baron Jacobi, expressive of the baron's wish to come to this country, in any character, (sous un caractére quel conque) in order to treat with us upon the differences subsisting between the two courts, and upon other matters of importance.

Immediate measures were taken to facilitate the journey of baron Jacobi, whose proposals to this country, after all, turned out to be quite unsatisfactory. Nor did he reach Hamburgh until the first of October, nor arrive in London until the tenth, nor communicate his propositions to his majesty's ministers until the 11th; and it would be recollected that the battle of Jena was fought on the 14th. Still more unaccountable was the course pursued by Prussia with regard to Russia, her ally, who was pledged by treaty to assist her. The resolution of the court of Berlin, actually to commence hostilities against France, was first communicated to the Russian government by count Kreusemark, who was dispatched with that intelligence to St. Petersburgh, which he did not reach until the 30th of Sep. tember. The moment the tidings were conveyed to the magnanimous sovereign of Russia, orders were is. sued to set the troops in motion, and on the 5th of October an army was

Mr. Canning had observed, "Th in the speech from the throne all ni tice of war seemed studiously have been passed over, thoug some debts of gratitude remai ed to be paid. To the recor of parliament the historian look for his materials. It was cruel i deprive the hero of the honourab reward of his military achievement and it was disgraceful that gover ment should dislike to sprinkle on the gloom of despondency with som of those achievements. It was trul they might say that those achieve ments were not of their planning. B this was a period when party feeling should not withhold a glorious incite ment to great actions," it will b seen from Mr. Canning's address proposed in the room of that mover for by Mr. Lamb, that he alluded par ticularly to the "Expedition un der sir Home Popham and genera Beresford, against the Spanish settle ment of Buenos Ayres," and "to the brilliant victory obtained on the plains of Maida, by his majesty's landforces under the gallant and able conduct of sir John Stuart over a French army, superior in numbers."

In answer to these remarks by Mr. Canning, lord Howick said, "I cannot be affirmed that we think lightly, or wish to speak lightly of the services performed by sir John Stuart. Nobody views them in a higher light than I do, nor feck more proudly as an Englishman, at

the glorious event of the battle of Maida. But, if the honourable gentleman had had but the patience to wait for a few hours longer, he would have probably heard from my right honourable friend, Mr. Windham, a notice of a motion for returning thanks to sir John Stuart, and those officers who distinguished themselves in that action. As to sir H. Popham and sir David Baird, I freely confess that I was one of those who advised their recall, and this upon the ground that they did without orders, and upon their own judgment and responsibility, undertake the expedition to South America. In prosecution of their scheme they did not even leave a single ship of the line to protect the Cape of Good. Hope. They even obliged a frigate that was sent out to India with money for the payment of the troops there, to desert the destination that it was intended for, and go upon this South-American expedition. Such conduct as this I consider to be highly reprehensible, and were it to be overlooked, there would be an end to all discipline and subordination. I do not wish to dwell upon the misconduct of men in their absence;

but there is one act of sir H. Popham's which I cannot hesitate to censure as particularly improper, and that is, his letter to the manu facturers *. What his motives were for such conduct, I cannot say. Perhaps he wanted to court some favour and protection against the censure which he must be conscious of deserving from government. Perhaps these letters, courting mer. cantile gratitude, while offending against professional duty, was one of the fatal effects to be apprehended from that mischievous sys. tem of rewards administered by the committee at Lloyd's, called the Patriotic Fund ; a committee which is held out to the navy, as giving greater rewards and encouragement than the government of the country. If such conduct as this appears to be, could not only be justified But approved of, it would then follow, that all our military governors in the West-Indies, in Gibraltar, and in every other part of the world, might totally disregard the instruc tions they should receive from government, and turn their whole forces wherever their private opinions, or their private interests might point. Lord Castlereagh complimented

lord

lord Howick, on the great cloquence and very considerable talents he had displayed in vindication of himself and the rest of his majesty's ministers. After agreeing with him that the proper time for considering the important question of negotiation with France, was, when the whole of the correspondence should be laid before the house, he proceeded to make some preliminary remarks on the noble lord's reply, and comments on his right honourable friend's amendment to the address; undertaking afterwards to to shew the fallacy of the noble lord's reasoning on many of the general points contained in his speech. The amendment, he said, was founded on facts, not on opinions or assertions. The noble lord had taken credit to himself and his friends, for having uniformly acted, when in opposition, from principle, and not from a spirit of teazing and harassing government unnecessarily. He could also assure the house, that both himself and those who had acted with him on the same side, when influenced by no motive in their op. position, but public principle.

With respect to the discharge of public duty, there was no comparison between the last and the present opposition, who felt it to be their duty to watch and revise the acts of ministers, in order to call them to an account. Whereas, the noble lord must recollect that he and his friends had turned their backs on parliament, and neglected all pub. 'fic concerns in the hour of distress and peril. They had seceded and abandoned the cause of the country, and the trust reposed in them by their constituents.

Lord Castlereagh now proceeded

to call the attention of the house to some prominent points of the negotia tion which was the main question, He felt much anxiety respecting many circumstances, connected with this and arising out of it. He trusted that ministers would be able, when the papers should be produced, to remove it. He was apprehensive, however, that, in their discussions in the protracted course of negotiation, ministers had deluded both themselves and Europe. It necessarily followed, that the powers of the continent had their attention fixed on the progress of a negotiation which lasted eight months. turally have been the result, but that their disposition to co-operate against France might have induced Russia to enter into a negotiation with the French government?_It might have even led Prussia to make a premature demonstration of hostility against France, in order to assure both England and Russia, that the cabinet of Berlin was determined to submit no longer to the humiliation and insults of the enemy. These circumstances, and many more, arising from a negotiation continued for eight months, rendered the production of all papers on the subject. highly necessary.

And what must na

From the conduct of ministers during the negotiation, it appeared as if they had considered peace as certain. If they had not supposed that they were sure of peace, was it possible that during a discussion of eight months, they should have given up all their military plans, and the whole system of internal defence and security? Upon what other ground was the General Training act in a great measure suspended? Why was the instruction for regulating the