who had formed the treaty of Amiens, | and given peace to the country. He did not vote that force for the purpose of recommencing war; for he was sure it was neither their wish nor intention, but for the purpose of maintaining peace, and with it the security and the honour of the country. Mr. Calcraft said, that upon the fullest conviction of the wisdom and good conduct of his majesty's ministers, as well as that the force voted the preceding night, was necessary to the maintenance of peace, national honour, and national security, he gave that vote his most hearty approbation. He believed the ministers had the universal confidence of the people. tinent. He touched slightly on the conduct of the French government towards Switzerland, and the total subjugation of Italy to its will. On the subject of Holland, he descanted with great energy, and pointed out the alarming consequences which French influence in that country presented in the event of a renewal of war. On the importance of our connexion with Holland, he believed there was no difference of opinion. He described with great force the claims which the House of Orange had to our protection, from ancient connexion cemented by common friendship; and the more he considered the fate of this illustrious family, the more was he convinced of the inefficacy of the article in the definitive treaty, which professed to guarantee them a full and complete indemnity. He called the attention of the House to the treatment which captain D'Auvergne had experienced in Paris, in consequence of What he meant to state he did not pretend to state on authority. That respectable officer, even under the protection of a British commission and a regular passport, had been arrested, thrown into a dungeon, and subjected to interrogatories of the most insulting kind. Could any thing be reckoned an attack on our national honour, if such an outrage did not come under that description? He took occasion to allude to a prosecution instituted against M. Peltier, for a supposed libel on the French government. He did not mean to give any opinion against the propriety of such a prosecution, but was pointed on articles which had appeared in the French official journal, containing unbecoming allusions, and indecent reflexions, on the character of our own sovereign. Dr. Laurence condemned the system upon which ministers acted; particularly in reducing the navy so much since the peace, and proposing to keep up a large standing army, though the former force was our natural defence, and the latter was ever an object of constitutional jea-orders issued by the French government. lousy. He animadverted on the observations of the noble secretary of state, on the subject of continental alliances, and the balance of power, and compared them with his assertion on a former occasion, that the capture of Oczakow, a fortress on the Black Sea, by the Russians, would endanger the safety of Europe. He reprobated the idea of abandoning that policy, with respect to the continent, upon which this country had acted for the last century and a half. He also reproved the practice of perpetually referring to the conduct of ministers during the last war. The House should not be so goaded. If gentlemen wished to investigate that conduct fully, let it be brought forward in a proper form, and solemnly discussed. He was anxious to know what ideas were meant to be attached to national insults and hostile aggression. Ministers did. not explain in what sense these terms were to be understood, and it therefore became necessary to attend a little to facts, so far as they might be useful in determining whether, on the part of France, there had been since the conclusion of the treaty of peace, any acts, with regard to foreign powers, which this country would be entitled to make a ground of remonstrance. On this part of his argument he accordingly examined in detail the system of German indemnities, which he reprobated as subversive of the constitution of the Germanic empire, and destructive of our influence on the con Mr. Chancellor Addington said, it seemed to be urged constantly, as the systematic opinion of the learned member and his friends, that ministers, by the measures they adopted, had compromised the dignity, and tarnished the honour of the empire; without, however, substantiating their accusations by any specific charge. But if they really conceived themselves founded in their assertion, the manly way would be, to bring it forward, and give those whom they accused an opportunity of vindication. The charge of abandoning the indemnity to the prince of Orange was wholly unfounded. Before the approaching recess, he hoped to make ment had refused to give satisfaction to such a communication to the House as would manifest that his majesty's feelings were by no means dormant to the situation of the illustrious personage alluded to. The next point he thought necessary to notice was, the prosecution commenced against the publisher of a libel upon the chief consul of France. But though the British government certainly were not responsible for the publication which contained that libel, he conceived the first consul was entitled, by the justice of the country, to reparation, as well as every other person in such a case. The next point was the affair of captain D'Auvergne. The moment his situation was made known to his majesty's minister at Paris, a demand was made to the French government for his release, which was instantly obtained; so that the apprehensions of the learned member for the honour and dignity of this country, on this as well as the other occasions, were utterly unfounded. Another topic with the learned member was, the aggrandizing power of France. No man lamented it more than he did; but he could not allow that it was a matter that would warrant the revival of hostilities. The next objection of the learned member was, that ministers called for a large force, without stating any specific necessity; at the same time that his own speech and those of his friends, were fraught with alarm for our situation, and the avowal of that necessity. If the learned member was not disposed to confide in the assurances which ministers were warranted to give, the right way of proceeding would be, to move an address to his majesty, for the documents to show that necessity. The hon. member might do so now; and when produced, they would furnish a justification of the measures adopted by ministers. Mr. Fox alluded to the representation given by Dr. Laurence, of the treatment which had been experienced by a British officer from the French government. Al-newal of any alliance with that power, lowing that a remonstrance had been made on the subject by ministers without obtain ing satisfaction, he had no hesitation in saying, agreeably to the ideas of national honour which he had often had occasion to express, that he should reckon this an insult of such magnitude as to form a legitimate ground of renewing hostilities. If captain D'Auvergne had been arrested without the smallest pretext, thrown into a dungeon, and subjected to insulting interrogatories; or if the French govern when such an alliance might only have the effect of exposing her to attacks from France, which she was unable to resist. No man was more anxious than himself to keep up a high spirit in the country; but the time for exerting that spirit was to be regulated by circumstances. What might be very wise and political under certain circumstances, might under circumstances of a different nature, be ruinous to our best interests, and he thought that to embark in foreign connexions at this time, would be to expose ourselves to such | consequences. If the House and the country had acquiesced in the peace, and the unsatisfactory state of the continent on which the peace was concluded, the same acquiescence was demanded on every principle of policy and common sense. The learned gentleman had been offended at charges produced against the late administration, and had called on an hon. baronet to come forward and produce the proof on a regular inquiry. He was really astonished to hear gentlemen making use of such language. Had he and those with whom he had the honour of acting been slack in demanding inquiry into the conduct of the late ministers? Had they not from year to year proposed inquiry, and had not the friends of ministers as generally resisted all investigation? With much more justice might this charge be retorted on the learned gentleman and his friends of the new opposition. They were indeed liable to a charge of inconsistency, which they would not find it so easy to repel. Supporting every public measure, they still were dissatisfied with ministers. They were perpetually accusing them of imbecility, and yet never had they the manliness to prefer against them a specific charge. He was very pointed on the subject of the German indemnities, which he condemned as a system of the most gross violation of all honesty and justice, and adduced this as an additional reason why, for the present at least, German alliances should be avoided. He should rejoice in any plan to reduce French influence on the continent, but of this there was at present no rational prospect. With regard to Holland, there was nothing he so much lamented as the acquisition of influence which France had gained in that country, connected as it was with Belgium; but he saw no use in constantly complaining on this subject, unless some means could be pointed out of redressing the grievance. Mr. Windham said, that the speech of his learned friend had been complained of as long. Long it might be by the clock; but certainly not by the matter it contained. With regard to the affair of the prince of Orange, his learned friend had been called to that subject by what an hon. gentleman had stated respecting foreign powers. That was a very erroneous opinion; and it was proper that his learned friend should refute the charge against Austria and other states. By our honesty, " of which the hon. gentleman had said so much, was, perhaps, meant this, that foreign powers should be bound to us, but not we to them. If this country had been in such danger as Austria was previous to the treaty of Luneville, he believed those who held this language would have been the first to cry out that we ought to take care of ourselves, and think no more of our allies. The business with regard to the prince of Orange was a gross fraud upon this country. It might be guessed, from what the right hon. gentleman had stated, that this indemnity was to be made up by hard English guineas. What, then, became of our point of honour? Capt. D'Auvergne's case was another point which he thought might convince the hon. gentleman (Mr. Fox), that the honour of the country was not perfectly safe. It was said, that ministers practised at once conciliation and firmness. This brought to his recollection the story of a man, reputed religious, who having committed a dishonourable transaction, excused himself by saying to a bishop, "my lord, it was only a pious fraud." The bishop, however, answered, that he could distinguish the fraud, but not the piety; so he, with respect to ministers, could easily see the conciliation, but could not discover an atom of the firmness. He agreed perfectly that there was no retreat for this country in meanness. It was with us, aut Cæsar, aut nullus. We must be a great nation or nothing? He wished to know where the point of honour so much talked of was to be found. It it did not exist in the case of the prince of Orange, or of captain D'Auvergne, where did it exist? This shifting of the point of honour reminded him of what was said to happen to travellers in a part of Essex, who, when they asked for a district remarkable for being visited by fevers and agues, were always told by the inhabitants, that the place was not just where they were, but a little farther on. He had often been accused of entertaining high chivalresque notions with respect to the relations of this country and France. He, however, disclaimed all such ideas. He grounded the whole of his arguments upon the plain vulgar prosaic ground of safety. His opinion was, that the places to be given by the treaty ought to be retained; but certainly not, unless there were just pretexts for doing so. Lord Castlereagh thought that Mr. Fox under-rated the danger in which this country was placed and that Mr. Windham over-rated it. The powers of the present French government being greater than any former, to call forth the resources and population of the country, was one reason for an increased establishment in this country. It ought not at the same time to be forgotten that there were too many appearances of a disposition in the French government to interfere with other nations. One hon. gentleman thought that our military establishment might be lower, since our navy was so much superior to that of the rest of Europe. Much as he rejoiced in the superiority of our navy, he did not think that was a mode of defence on which the country ought entirely to rely. To show that an invasion might take place notwithstanding the superiority of our navy, he instanced the arrival of the French expedition in Bantry Bay, when the landing was prevented only by a storm. He blamed the practice of running down continental alliances. He did not think that any of the acts of the French government since the treaty of Amiens formed a ground of war. He saw much in the state of France and Europe which he deeply regretted; but should we not make things worse if we interfered? He was aware of the commercial and maritime faculties of France. But we had got a start of her, which it would be impossible for her to overtake, if we were true to ourselves. The report was agreed to. Debate on the Budget.] Dec. 10. The House having resolved itself into a committee of Ways and Means, Mr. Chancellor Addington then rose, and began by observing, that before he entered upon the subjects to which his notice referred, he was desirous of submitting to the committee the grounds on which he was induced to bring them forward so early in the session. It would appear from the notice, that it was his intention to propose a vote of 4,000,000l. on the credit of the growing produce of the consolidated fund; and also to take a general view of the financial situation of the country, as far as it could be explained with any degree of accuracy at the present period of the year. The immediate occasion of the motion which he had to propose was to be found in the extraordinary produce of the re venue during the last half year. It would be recollected, that 4,500,000l. had been voted on the credit of the consolidated fund for one year, to the 5th of April 1803. Of that sum no less than 3,800,000l. had been realized on the 10th of October last; and there was little doubt that, at the end of the current quarter, viz. on the 5th of January, the surplus of the consolidated fund would exceed the 700,000l. necessary to complete the whole sum. The committee, therefore, would be aware, that, unless a power were given to his majesty to apply to the public service such further surplus as might accrue, a considerable sum might remain dead and useless in the exchequer, whilst money must be raised by other means to defray the necessary expenses. The reason for the second part of the notice was, the intimate and inseparable connexion between the state of the consolidated fund and the general financial situation of the country; and as the House had already voted a large part of the supplies for the ensuing year, it could not but be material that the public should be apprized of the means by which those | supplies were to be raised. Mr. Addington then proceeded to advert to the financial operations of the year 1802. The committee would recollect, that, in the last session of the late parliament, a capital of 97,000,000l. had been provided for; of which, 56,500,000l. was the amount of the sum, for the redemption of which the income tax had been made responsible"; about 11,000,000%. arose from the funding of exchequer bills, and the remaining 30,000,000l. from the loan of the present year. For this sum, the charge to be provided somewhat exceeded 3,100,000l. It would not be forgotten that a hope had been expressed on his part, that the produce of the taxes intended to cover the amount of this charge would prove considerably more than adequate to that object; and he had peculiar satisfaction in stating, that the hope so expressed had been realized. A complaint had, at the time, been made, of his having proposed taxes, the produce of which would greatly exceed what was requisite to defray the charge of the debt to be provided for. To this accusation he had pleaded guilty, and had admitted his expectation to be, that their produce would not fall short of 4,000,000l. How did the matter stand? In the first quarter, the taxes on malt, Mr. Addington then said, that it would be remembered he had stated on a former day, that one effect of the ample provision made in the last session had been, that it had afforded the means of accomplishing a considerable reduction of the outstanding unfunded debt, of which no less than 18,000,000l. had been taken out of the market. the House, that the outstanding exchequer bills, previous to the commen cement of the war, amounted to 9,500,000l. Every It also afforded him the greatest satisfaction to be enabled to state, that with the exception only of the army extraordinaries, the grants of the last session had been found sufficient to provide for all the services of the year. Gentlemen, he was sure, would recollect, that he had formerly expressed his apprehensions that the sum of 1,600,000l. which had been voted for army extraordinaries, would prove inadequate to the demand. one must be aware of the impossibility at all times of making a correct estimate for that branch of the public service; and in the present instance an unavoidable increase of expense had been occasioned by the detention of our troops on foreign stations longer than there had been reason to expect. He could not but feel concern in estimating the excess in that particular The unfunded debt, in exchequer bills branch of the expenditure at upwards of and navy debt, which, in November 1801, one million; but he had the consolation amounted to upwards of 37,300,000l. had of being able to state, that the total exbeen reduced to about 19,500,000l.; of penses of the extraordinaries of the army which 3,000,000l. which had been ad-in 1802 would not be found to exceed onevanced by the Bank as a consideration for half of their amount in the preceding the renewal of their charter, bore no in-year. It was also satisfactory to reflect, terest, and was not payable till the year 1806; and 900,000l. was charged on the annual taxes of the present year, the arrears of which would be sufficient for the liquidation of that sum. Deducting therefore 3,900,000l. which never came into the market, and 4,500,000l. of navy debt, the remaining exchequer bills scarcely exceeded 11,000,000l. and of these parliament, since its meeting, had provided for the discharge of 4,281,000l.; and it would appear by the accounts laid before | 4,550,000l. that the economical management of the naval service had effected a reduction of no less than 4,500,000l. of the navy debt, which had been discharged out of the votes of the year. He next proceeded to lay before the committee a statement of the supplies and Ways and Means for the ensuing year. For the navy there had been voted 50,000 seamen, at 77. per man per month, the expense of which would amount to Extraordinaries (including surplus extraordinaries issued in 1802) •• •£.4,550,000 -£.6,669,378 5,500,000 2,000,000 7,500,000 787,947 524,573 } 1,000,000 363,339 16,845,237 |