come, it certainly has not been from ourselves; but if I had been called upon before the death of that illustrious statesman, Mr. Fox, to say what I thought of the administration, I would affirm that, after the death of Mr. Pitt, there was, in Mr. Fox and lord Grenville, such an union of extensive and correct views, such an union of talents and abilities for business, such genius and greatness of mind, as could not be found any where else. Some of the gentlemen on the other side, would undoubtedly be an acquisition to any administration. But Mr. Fox and lord Grenville when united, were not to be equalled. Much of that praise is now, however, in the grave, where Mr. Fox lies by the side of his illustrious rival, to whom he was a political opponent, not a personal enemy; and, I trust, after all their differences are at an end, that they are now happy together. But even now, with the exception of such an humble individual as myself, I do not, on looking around me, see how an administration could be formed, more entitled to confidence than the present. We have been asked what we have done: we were told that we were on a bed of roses after the battle of Austerlitz! But it was impossible that we could have repaired those terrible misfortunes which for fif teen years had been desolating the continent. If we failed from want of exertion, or even from corrupt mismanagement, for that too seems to be imputed, then we deserve to suffer for it. But if the seeds of these disasters were sown through no fault of ours, then we are not responsible for what no exertion on our part could prevent. The right honourable gentleman has begun

with Prussia, and stated the calamities which she has endured. With all his tendency to exaggera. tion, here he has not exaggerated, for he could not. We had before seen empires and armies overturned, but this destruction has been so rapid, as to be almost unparalleled. When empires fell before, it was not till after a long struggle, and repeated misfortunes. But now we see a power high in resources and in military renown, overturned in a single battle, and its monarch forced to seek for safety in flight, with only a few followers, In his address too he has alluded to the fate of the duke of Bruns. wick. He too was forced to fly; and at a distance from his capital, with a few melancholy attendants, affected more by the fate of his country and of Europe than his own, his great heart burst. Vengeance even pursued him to the grave. Cæsar and Alexander, after the battle was over, and the victory attained, were not inaccessible to pity. But here, when the request. was made that the remains of this hero should be allowed to be interred in his capital, the request was refused with sarcastic malice, such as could only come from the lips of a savage, destitute of every noble and generous feeling. Though we have not adverted to this, let him not think that we do not feel it. He should not have said that such an omission was unprecedented, The reason for omitting it was simply this, that no precedent for it could be found. With regard to the right honourable gentleman's allusions to Hanover as the sole cause of the declaration of war by this country against Prussia, I am astonished that the honourable gentleman could hazard such an un

founded

founded statement. Indeed if the honourable gentleman had taken the trouble of looking at the terms of the declaration itself, he would have there seen, that, so far from Hanover being the only cause, the shutting of the rivers in the north of Germany against our commerce was the principal alleged ground of hostility, and upon that ground the house woted the address to his majesty, which approved the Course pursued by government upon that occasion. But 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? Was it not such a claim, indeed, as our government could not allow any power to insist upon in a negotiation, or to maintain without interruption? Would the honourable gentleman say that it was? But, combining the detention of Hanover with the shutting up the ports I have already stated, would the honourable gentleman, as member of a cabinet, hesitate to advise his majesty to declare war against the power which should be guilty of such aggressions; or would he advise his majesty to conclude peace with a power which, under such circumstances, should insist upon withholding Hanover? In the address which the right honourable gentleman has read to the house, I perceive that there are very many professions of personal attachment to our sovereign, and of anxious wishes for his interests. I would wish 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 possession, wrested from him originally on account merely of a war between this country and a foreign enemy, and in which war that hereditary posses sion had no concern. Of the sepa rate interests of this country and Hanover, I have read and heard much. Into the discussion, however, I do not now mean to enter: but, thinking as I do, that honour is the most valuable possession of any state, I have no hesitation in stating, that it would be highly injurious to the interes's of Eng land, because inconsistent with its honour, to leave Hanover to France or her allies, under such circumstances as I have already described. When Hanover was taken possession of by Prussia, it will be recol lected that 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, I would appeal to this house, and to the world, whether it could be reconciled with any sentiment of magnanimity, honour, or justice, to allow its lawful sovereign to be deprived of Hanover in consequence of a war between Great Britain and France (A cry of Hear! hear!) I think, resumed the noble lord, that I have fully answered the honourable gentleman's observations upon this head. But there is another charge of the honourable gentleman's, which he has dwelt upon as the most serious, and to which I shall take leave to apply a few remarks. The honour able gentleman makes this heavy accusarion, that we did not send timely assistance to Prussia. But how soon had we reason to suppose that Prussia was at all disposed to enter into hostilities with France?

At the time we declared against her, she was in close connection with the French government. But notwithstanding our declaration, she had opportunities enough of communicating to our government any intention she entertained with egard to France. For, although war against Prussia was declared in April, baron Jacobi did not leave this country until the 15th of August. Of course ample means of communication with our government were open to Prussia. But still nothing transpired to indicate to us the disposition of that power to break her connections with France, and to commence actual war. No sign of the separation appeared: but as soon as it became evident to us that Prussia determined on war, I venture to say, that not a moment was lost to afford that power every aid the nature of the case admitted. That no intimation of the views of Prussia had been sooner received by our ambassador at Paris, was not at all attributable to any want of diligence, ability, and action, displayed on the part of the noble ford who had conducted that mission in a manner so eminently worthy of his character, and so well calculated (had an appropriate disposition existed on the part of the enemy) to bring it to an amicable conclusion. But no opportunity offered to that noble lord to ascertain the altered views of Prussia. When, however, the intelligence of the alteration reached this country, ministers were not slow to act upon it. Jacobi, whose proposals to this country turned out, after all, to be quite unsatisfactory, did not reach Hamburgh until the 1st of October, nor arrive in London until the 10th, nor communicate his propositions to his majesty's

ministers until the 11th, and the battle of Aucrstadt, it would be recollected, was fought on the 14th of that month. From this statement, the house and the country will be enabled to appreciate the right honourable gentleman's censure upon the conduct of his majesty's ministers in this transaction. That the conduct of Prussia towards the British government was not such as afforded the latter the least opportunity of affording her any timely or effectual assistance, must be obvious; but still more unaccountable was the course pursued by that court with regard to Russia, her ally, who was pledged by treaty to assist her. The resolution of Prussia actually to commence hostilities was first communicated to the Russian government by count Krusemark, who was dispatched with that intelligence to St. Petersburgh, which he did not reach until the 30th of September. The moment the tidings were conveyed to the magnanimous sovereign of Russia, orders were issued to set the troops in motion, and an army was immediately marched off under general Beningsen. Such was the procrastination of Prussia, even towards a court with whom

she had no differences to adjust, from whom she had a right to call for immediate aid-and such was the course that rendered not only this country, but Russia, unable to afford her any effectual assistance: upon all the points referred to relative to Prussia, I believe I have satisfactorily replied to the honourable gentleman. Now, as to the right honourable gentleman's remarks upon the negotiation, the right honourable gentleman has declined to enter fully into the subject, but yet in stating, professedly with a view to inform niinisters

of

antidote to the unbecoming sarcasms which the honourable gentleman has thought proper to deal out, particularly against the conduct of my illustrious predecessor, who is most unaccountably censured for a want of that simplicity and manliness of character which are most strikingly obvious in his letters. That my honourable friend made no concealment of a negotiation with France at the time he brought down the message relative to Prussia, because, in fact, no negotiation was then on the tapisand that his conduct was in this, (as in every instance of his life) plain, open, and manly, a simple statement of the fact may fully demonstrate. The right honourable gentleman's attack, therefore, is powerless with regard to my deceased friend. But the attacks of the right honourable gentleman are general. Among the rest he has thought proper to level his shafts at me, not, however, in his speech. He reserved me for his address-where he complains of predatory squadrons being allowed to maraude without interruption among our West India colonies. He has not, however, stated the amount of these squadrons, the amount of the mischief they have done, nay, more, the means by which they were able to get out of port. Now, the fact is, that the squadrons alluded to by the honourable gentleman, were at sea before I was appointed to the admiralty: one squadron sailed in October, 1805, and the other, of eleven sail of the line, in December following: and when I came to the admiralty there was not a scrap of paper to be found that could inform us as to the destination of those squadrons; we had nothing whatever to guide our judgment,

of the points upon which he should feel it necessary to require further explanation, the right honourable gentleman has not declined to indulge in a strain of animadversion very well calculated to produce an undue opinion of the case. With out waiting for the further explanation which he professed to think necessary, he has thought proper to assert, that the statement in his majesty's declaration, relative to the first overture for a negotiation coming from the French government, appeared to be unfounded. Does the honourable gentleman mean to argue that the first letter of my late right honourable friend, which related merely to the assassin, and which did equal honour to the head and heart of that illustrious person, had any reference whatever to a negotiation for peace? No, not a word about it. But as to the circumstance of making the first overture for peace, I perfectly concur with the right honourable gentleman, that there is nothing dishonourable in the thing itself, provided circumstances call for it. So far, indeed, am I from entertaining any such opinion, that were a promising opportunity to offer and any change to appear in the pretensions of the enemy, I should not be slow to make an overture for negotiation, from any fear of the reprehension that it might incur, particularly on the score of false pride. But with respect to the late negotiation, I am warranted in asserting, that when the person at the head of the French government old one of his assemblies that the first overture was made by this country, he stated that which was untrue. But the whole history of this negotiation will form the most complete answer to the honourable gentleman's objections, and the best

we

we were left to our own inquiry, and we could only send out squadrons in pursuit of them in every direction, where they were likely to have steered, or where any mischief could be done. In consequence of these and some other arrangements made of our naval force, the noble lord had the satisfaction to state, that not one ship of the squadrons before alluded to, had yet returned to France, excepting that of Jerome Bonaparte, which was obliged to fly for safety into a port, in which a ship of the line had never ventured before, and in which there is every reason to believe that it could not long survive. Not a ship of war either had been suffered to escape from French harbours within the present year, excepting the five frigates, of which sir Samuel Hood had captured four. The noble lord contrasted the conduct of the military department, under his right honourable friend (Mr. Windham), with that cf his predecessor (lord Castlereagh), particularly upon the subject of expeditions prepared and dispatched to the continent; and dwelt upon the expedition sent off on the 21st of December last, under lord Cathcart, and recalled eleven days afterwards. He also entered into a comparison of the state of preparation in which the troops were sent out, and quoted some passages from the letters of lord Castlereagh to lord Cathcart, descriptive of the unprepared state of the troops. From this the noble lord proceeded to animadvert upon the expedition to Buenos Ayres, which, he showed, was never undertaken in consequence of any arrangement or order of the late ministers, nor, indeed, was any thing known in England of such an expedition, until dispatches were received from

sir Home Popham, dated at St. Helena, and immediately afterwards orders were issued to send out reinforcements, which were ready in a fortnight, and would have sailed if the winds permitted. But the whole delay did not exceed a month. After the noble lord had recapitulated his principal arguments, he concluded, by expres sing his readiness to meet the right honourable accuser of ministers upon the fullest discussion of each of the topics to which his speech and his address referred.

Lord Castlereagh reviewed the conduct and plans of administration, both since they had been in office, and during the long period of their opposition, declaring that the measures adopted by himself and his friends were of a very different nature from those of the opposition for the last fifteen years. The original motion on the address was then carried nem. con.

When the report of the address was made on the 20th, another spirited debate took place, in which lord Howick, Mr. Canning, Mr. Perceval, lord Henry Petty, and others, took a part, and the address was ordered to be taken up to his majesty.

On the 22d, the earl of Aylesford, in the house of lords, and lord Ossulston in the commons, reported that his majesty had been waited upon with the address, to which his majesty had returned a most gracious answer.

Lord Grenville then laid on the table of the upper house, several papers respecting the late negotiation with France, giving notice that he should on the 2d of January submit to their lordships a motion on the subject. His lordship next, after a neat and well-turned eulogium on the conduct of sir J. Stuart,