comfort! He would not quarrel about words; but he muft notice the ftrange logic, "that the people of this country were to be told that this unparalleled diftrefs of the French was owing to the war, whereas the diftreffes in England had nothing to do with it." The depreciation of paper currency in France had been, he faid, the inceffant ftory with which the parliament and the people had been deluded from the beginning of the war. Two years ago, the affignats were faid to be at a difcount of 80 per cent. and this appeared to be tantamount to extinction; but when experience and practice were regarded, when the example of America was referred to, an enlightened statesman would hesitate before he prefumed to delude his country by building upon fuch an hypothefis. Accordingly, France had added another leflon to that of America. France, which was reduced to fuch a state of weakness as to be an easy prey, France, who in June laft, was faid to be gafping in her laft agonies, France, fince the date of this expiring agony, had made the moft brilliant campaign that the hiftory of mankind exhibited. Such agonies excited his fears: and furely no man of common sense, after fuch an iffue to this kind of reafoning, would again calculate upon fuccefs from the depreciation of their paper. Another argument ufed was, that the French were fo deftitute of provifions, as to be obliged to unload the ships at Breft to fupply Paris with bread. But what must be their feelings of a caufe in which they had engaged, that could, under fuch a preffure of fcarcity, roufe them to fuch exertions? From a minute inveftigation of the fpeech, Mr. Fox obferved that if held out to the coun

try even lefs hopes of peace than his majefty's fpeech the preceding year. At no period of the revolution might it not have been equally faid, "that it would produce confequences highly important to the interefts of Europe." Mr. Fox noticed the annual attempts he had made to induce a negotiation, and defired to know whether our perverfe continuance in the proud denial that it was a proper time to negotiate, had bettered our fituation? On the contrary, he faid, the practicability of peace upon fafe and honourable terms had become more hopeless. He hoped the gentleman who admitted the restoration of the emigrants and of the house of Bourbon to be hopeless, and that minifters were convinced that it was prudent to calculate the value of an object, and not to purfue it, however defirable, beyond the rational hope of obtainment, fpoke from authority. If the difatters of the war had produed this conviction in minifters, however he lamented the calamity which produced this restoration to reason, he fhould think our fituation improv. ed. The expedition to Quiberon was, he fuppofed, one caufe of this conviction. Mr. Fox, with an uncommon glow of expreffion and energy of manner, reprobated this ill-fated expedition, and the favage barbarity of denying to the gallant and dying Sombreuil the confolation of publifhing his letter. Yet, in defiance of this leffon, he observed, another expedition was framed to l'Ile Dieu, which, if carried into effect in the fame manner as the firft, would have been equally dif aftrous. He pointedly noticed the inconfiftency of minifters in fummoning Belleifle to furrender in the name of Louis XVIII. Had Belleifle or Noirmontier yielded to this fummons,

fummons, we must have landed and taken poffeffion of them in the name of Louis XVIII. and pledged ourfeives to restore him to his rights, which would have reduced us to the alternative of abandoning the prince and his followers with infamy, or of profecuting his caufe with defpair, as this was a hopeless cause. lle ridiculed with much force the arzun ents fupported by the different fpeakers in the debate in favour of the war. They were, he faid, theories which might fuit well for a literary or political difputant, and be amufing in a club-room or a pamphlet: but for a nan to undertake the office of a statesman, and to bring fuch the ories into practice, was an outra e, not only upon common lenfe, but upon moral duty. Mr. Fox commented upon the extreme folly of entering into a war against opinions fe contended, that, at every moment from the commencement of the war to the prefent time, ministers might have i gotiated upon better terms with the French than they now could, and that our relative fituation had been gradually growing worse. He pointed out feveral periods when, according to the language held out by minifters, it might have been prudent and confiftent to treat. Yet, when a motion was made for this purpofe on the 26th of January Lift, which it was not convenient directly to oppofe, an amendment was moved, that they were ready to enter into a negotiation whenever a government was eftablished capable of maintaining the accetomed relations of amity and peace. Was negotiation offered when fuch a government appeared? It was proved that France did maintain fach relations, fince Profia, Spain, many of the fates of Gern'. y, and even the clector of Ha

nover, had made peace with her. Mr. Fox ridiculed the idea of waiting to treat till there was fome experience of the new constitution of France, fince experience had proved that neither the changes of men nor of conftitutions affected the engagements they had formed with foreign countries. It was, he faid, idle to talk of the theory of a conftitution being a dependance for the ob fervance of a treaty: if a rational treaty was made, and it was the intereit of the parties to keep it, that was the only true and wife dependance for the continuance of peace. The offer of negotiation, he thought, ought to come from us, as having made declarations which flood in the way of negotiation. This was neither the time nor the place to fettle the terms of peace. The terms in every negotiation must certainly depend upon the relative fituation of the parties: but he could not admit of the eternal evasion, that one year we were too high to treat, another year we were too low; and thus war was prolonged without one calculation, whether the expence of continuing it for one year was not more than the difference of terms to be expected between a good and bad relative fituation. We were now left with one ally, and that aily must be bribed to continue. Adverting to the apprehended fcarcity, Mr. Fox faid it was an infult upon common fenfe to urge that war and military expeditions did not in their nature aggravate fcarcity. The quantity of increafed confumption, without taking into account the quantities damaged and loft, was inmenfe. Had government, purfuing the example of France, unloaded the tranfports that were fent to Quiberon, they would have done more towards alleviating the fcarcity than

all

all the corn which their agents im ported. Again adverting to his majefty's fpeech, Mr. Fox obferved, that when he had first mentioned negotiating with the French, it was faid, What, would you negotiate with men about to ftain their hands with the blood of their fovereign? Yet, if the prefent fpeech meant any thing, it meant that with thefe very men minifters would have no objection to treat, and even with Tallien, who had dipped his hands in royal blood. He ended by moving an amendment, which, after enumerating the circumftances of our difaftrous campaign, and ftating, from experience, that the French were able to maintain the accustomed relations of peace and amity with other nations, prayed his majefty that fuch terms of peace fhould be offered to the French republic as fhould be confiftent with the honour of the crown, and with the fecurity and interefts of the people.

This amendment was confidered by the chancellor of the exchequer as merely the mockery of returning to a state of fecurity and peace. He vindicated the firit propofition contained in his majefty's fpeech. The period comprited in this propofition contained, he faid, the fpace between the opening of the laft fellion of parliament and the prefent moment; and he expreffed his fatisfaction in the prefent ftate of fecurity compared to that ten months ago. His grounds of fatisfaction were, he faid, that, allowing for the victories and advantages obtained by the enemy, and for all the calamities which had befallen this country or our allies, the houfe, from looking at the prefent principles of the war, muft obferve the grounds of his fatisfaction, and the state of our improvement!! They could

not but perceive the enemy's reduced. means of profecuting the war.

They were now in a fituation to afford us fair profpects of their being foon perhaps more capable of giving reasonable fecurity of engagements of peace. They felt a greater neceflity for peace, and were more difpofed to it. Their reduced means were demonftrable: at the commencement of the last feffion the value of affignats was from 20 to 25 per cent. they were now only one and a half per cent. they were at prefent only one fixteenth of their value ten months ago. The prodigality of their fyftem forced into circulation between 6 and 7 milliards, which was equal to 280 millions fterling; this was three or four times more than the amount of all the money in France in its richeft ftate, and which its commerce wanted for its circulating medium. The French had, he faid, now affignats in circulation to the amount of 720 millions fterling, and the number was ftill increafing; they had therefore to face another campaign under thefe circumftances; and, were the other powers of Europe to put them to the hard neceflity of trying the experiment, he believed that the prodigal refources of their fyftem could not be fupported without the reftoration of the fyftem of terror. Mr. Fitt allowed the advantages derived by the enemy from the equivocal conduct of Pruffia, and the difbanding of the armies withdrawn from Spain. But it was to be obferved, that, for every pound fierling formerly paid to each man in fuch an army, fixteen pounds fterling must be given at the beginning of the prefent year. After urging a variety of arguments to prove the ruinous Situation of their refources, Mr. Pitt obferved that thefe re

fources

fources might laft a longer or a fhorter time before they produced their final effect; but they had in them the feeds of decay, and the inevitable cause of a violent diffolution. The remedies propofed in France for this evil were not lefs ruinous; and the loffes they fuftained in commerce and manufactures were enormous. He admitted the fucceffes of the French on the Rhine, the calamitous fate of the expedition to Quiberon, and that the enemy had been only kept on the defenfive on the fide of Italy; but ftill the internal fituation of France was moft wretched and deplorable. On the mifchiefs of paper currency he again expatiated if the affignats were taken out of circulation, the French could not command the labour of their own fubjects either for civil or military operations. To many perfons employed by the state, they had been obliged to allot a number of neceffary articles in kind. They had alfo been compelled to add one feventh in money to the daily pay of the foldiers, who thus received ten times the amount of their pay in affignats. When he confidered their total inability to carry on the war for another campaign, he could not doubt but the fituation of things was materially improved!!!

There were, Mr. Pitt faid, many circumftances in the prefent fituation of France favourable to a difpofition to treat for peace, though it was a queftion whether they were fufficient to make it advifable or practicable to treat. The prefent government of France was praifed very highly by him, compared with the preceding forms; but he ftill queftioned the ability of the French to carry it into execution. "That conftitution," faid Mr. Pitt, "in the form in which it has been decreed, 7

may have been examined, and may have been put in activity with fuch acquiefcence of the nation, as to enable their reprefentatives to speak on behalf of the people of France; and I have no difficulty in faying, if that event fhould have taken place, from that time all objections to the form of that government, and to the principles of that government, all objections to them, as obftacles to negotiation, will be at an end. I will alfo ftate, with the fame frankness, that, should that be the termination, whether it will then lead to the iffue of competent fecurity, and a reasonable fatisfaction to this country, muft depend on the terms. If, under those circumftances, by any precipitate and premature defire for peace, from any difpofition to under-rate our real ftrength, or any want of fortitude to bear what I admit to be real difficulties,-if we fhould overlook the ten thousand times more complicated diftrefs of the enemy, and put an end to the advantages they give us for obtaining peace on juft and fuitable terms, that would in my opinion be the most fatal event that could poffibly happen."

Mr. Pitt proceeded to mention his regret, that, in confequence of the defertion of the allies, the iffue of the conteft would be much lefs fatisfactory than it would have been. Comparing the fituation of the people of this country with that of France, he enlarged upon the variety of advantages they enjoyed. He accufed the French of having failed in maintaining their neutrality in America, where fome subjects of France had endeavoured to excite a confpiracy, and had interpofed alfo with the republic of Geneva. Did it, he afked, follow, becaufe the French did not attack the king of

Pruffia