if the King of Sardinia's subsidy of £200,000 was to be withheld from him under present circumstances, that the chancellor of the exchequer could be at no loss for a remedy, and might even think himself obliged to the French for having so opportunely tossed that sum into his hands. He hoped, that at any rate the chancellor of the exchequer would attempt the repeal of it in the next session of parliament. He concluded with moving, "That leave be given to bring in a bill to authorise the commissioners of the stamp office to postpone carrying into effect the act passed this session of parliament, imposing a duty upon personal property, if ordered so to do under the hands of the lords of the treasury."

OCTOBER 18.

INVASION.-AUGMENTATION OF THE FORCES.

The order of the day being read, and the house having resolved itself into a committee to consider the clause of his Majesty's speech respecting an invasion— that paragraph of the speech was read as follows :—

"You will feel this peculiarly necessary at a moment when the enemy has openly manifested the intention of attempting a descent on these kingdoms. It cannot be doubted what would be the issue of such an enterprize; but it befits your wisdom to neglect no precautions that may either preclude the attempt, or secure the speediest means of turning it to the confusion and ruin of the enemy.”

Mr. Pitt concluded a long speech by moving, "That leave be given to bring in a bill to raise a certain number of men in the several counties of England, and from the different shires, stewarties, towns, and boroughs of Scotland, for the service of his Majesty's army and navy.”

MR. SHERIDAN said, in two points I am happy to agree with the right hon. gentleman, namely, that it will be a fitter opportunity for discussing the merits of the plan which he has suggested to the committee after the bills are introduced, and that the scheme of preparation which he has now opened, is nothing more than following up the vote of the house on the first day of the session. I must confess, however, I expected that the right hon. gentleman would have accompanied his statement of defensive operations with some explanation of the reasons why it is necessary to take any such measures at all. The plan which he has in view, if put in execution, will certainly impose additional burdens upon the people, and considerably subtract from the industry of the nation, in which its greatest riches consist. And before proposing a plan which inevitably has this tendency, it certainly is no unreasonable expectation that its necessity should

have been evinced. I am aware that it would be improper to demand much precision of explanation upon the subject, but because it would not have been consistent with his duty to give a particular disclosure of circumstances, surely that was no reason why he should have left the necessity of the formidable arrangements which he has proposed, upon the vague and indefinite basis on which they at present rest. And if this house of commons is not disposed to follow the example of the last parliament, to sacrifice the rights of the people to the regal prerogative, and to surrender with the blindness of implicit confidence the direction of public affairs to the ministers of the crown, I trust that as there are more new members in this than in any former parliament (a circumstance which of itself is certainly pleasing intelligence to the public), they at least will think it a duty they owe to their constituents to demand some further satisfaction upon the subject, before they give an unqualified assent to a project so new and unprecedented. There is something extremely peculiar in the mode of announcing the attempt in his Majesty's speech, which I certainly have a right to consider as the speech of the minister. The words, " manifested the intention," are vague and indefinite, and I could wish that, by some more express communication, they would attach to themselves a greater share of responsibility, for the measures in contemplation, than can result from the cautious terms in which his Majesty's speech is couched. I wish to be informed whether they knew anything of what is passing in France, or whether any preparations have been making for such an attempt? I am sure if they are entirely ignorant of this, the secret-service money voted by parliament must have been grossly misapplied. If they have taken the alarm merely from the blustering speeches of French generals, or some threatening rhodomontade which has passsed in their councils, it has certainly been most groundlessly conceived. Were an invasion to be attempted by the enemy, there is no man more sanguine than I am, in thinking that the issue of such an attempt would be highly honourable to the patriotism and the courage of the inhabitants of this country. Any doubt that it would have a contrary issue is, in my opinion, worthy of being treated only with contempt; and if the government of France can be at all influenced by the idea of receiving assistance from the people of England, they are unfit to conduct the affairs of a great nation. Such pitiful succour

as they would find in this island, if there are any individuals of character so depraved, and feelings so degenerate, as to join their standard, would, I am sure, rather impede than forward their progress. I cannot boast of possessing that military ardour, that chivalry of patriotism which I have heard has been displayed at some meetings in the city, where a wish has been expressed that 300,000 or 400,000 Frenchmen might land here, merely to give them an opportunity of exercising their prowess in slaughtering them; but I have no doubt that ruin and confusion will be the fate of those who may be hardy enough to undertake such an enterprise. I agree with the right hon. gentlemen in all his statements of the necessity and propriety of adopting measures of prevention and defence, if the enemy's intention be such as to warrant them. I give this qualified assent to the measures which he proposes to adopt, because I profess to have no confidence whatever in the minister. Those who implicitly confide in his judgment and sincerity, will be disposed to give him credit for the necessity of the steps which he is about to take. Those who, with me, were witnesses of their conduct during the last parliament, have so often seen the present ministers raising alarms in the country when no danger existed, merely to enlarge their own power, and to frighten the people into a hasty concurrence with their unprincipled schemes of aggrandisement, that it cannot be surprising to them if I suspect their integrity on the present occasion. I do not ask precise information from them respecting the state of France, but I wish to know, whether they are advised that there are ships collected at the different ports of the French coast, apparently for no other purpose than that of being employed as instrumental in invading this country? If their alarm is taken up on no other foundation than the empty rhodomontade of speeches, all preparation to resist an attempt, which only exists in the distempered brain of a feverish orator, is absurd and ridiculous. The idea of invasion is by no means new. We have heard in this country of a project of invading France, and the march of our army to Paris was to consummate the triumphs of the first campaign of the war. This was not lightly talked of, it was gravely stated in the gravest of all assemblies,-a British house of commons, by no obscure person, but by a gentleman of great weight, and very nearly connected with the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Pitt), and at the time

One of the

was much applauded by a majority of the house. gentlemen who proposed this daring line of operation, in the enthusiasm of the idea, entered the army, got the commamd of a regiment, and thus manifested the sincerity of his intentions. But we never heard that the government of France had taken any steps to repel the threatened danger. I will not disguise my opinion that this note of preparation is founded for a purpose very different from that which has been this day professed. We have heard that the French armies have been completely defeated, and even annihilated in Germany; and except, like the frogs in the marsh, who were afraid of being attacked by the conquered bull, ministers suppose that the French, after being routed by the emperor, are to come over and attack us, it is difficult to reconcile their present alarm with their other representations. But supposing that the French really intend to make an invasion upon this country, what is the natural inference that they will draw from the resolutions which have been opened, and one of which has been proposed for the approbation of the committee? Do we not allow that the country is not at present prepared to repel any attack that may be made against it? In the last parliament, a right hon. gentleman (Mr. Secretary Dundas) triumphantly announced, and at the time expressed his desire that all Europe might hear it, but lest even the stentorian vigour of his lungs should not have carried the welcome intelligence to the ears of all the new members who now sit in the house, I shall re-state it,"That with the naval and military force which the nation could then command, we had nothing to dread from the united efforts of the combined powers of Europe. Such was the unexampled strength of our navy, and such the courage and loyalty of our regular troops, aided by the zeal and intrepidity of a vast establishment of fencible and volunteer corps, that there was no possible danger to which we could be exposed, whether from our foreign or domestic enemies, that we might not encounter with the most confident assurance of success." If the martial ardour then testified by volunteer associations, was not a mere spurt of loyalty, and if the persons who composed these corps had enrolled themselves not from motives of interest or from vanity, but from patriotism, or devotion to their country, why repose so little confidence in their exertions, or distrust their fidelity to a cause to which they are pledged by their honour as well as by their in

terest? I am afraid that the resolutions now proposed, are calculated rather to invite than to prevent an invasion-that they tend to frighten this country, but not to frighten France. They proclaim to the enemy that till the new force which it is proposed to collect and to train is brought into action, that we are not in a proper state of defence, and thus point out the immediate time as the proper period for making a successful attempt. But I am persuaded, as I have already said, that the plan now in agitation points to a very different object from that which is professed; that it is in the contemplation of his Majesty's ministers to prolong the shocking and inhuman species of warfare, with a view of extending our possessions in the West Indies, and that it is for this purpose that parliament are called upon to sanction those measures which it is pretended are dictated by the imperious necessity of the times, and indispensably required for the safety and security of the country. I do not find myself called upon to oppose the resolutions; on the contrary, if they are necessary, let them be adopted by all means. I wish only to have some further explanation, and to be informed whether the danger of an invasion is such as to require these measures of prevention, or whether the real object of all the preparations is not the extension of our colonial possessions in the West Indies? Some of the expedients suggested by the right hon. gentleman, it was impossible to hear without a smile. We are called upon to raise a great cavalry force for a very curious reason, because the enemy cannot easily import cavalry into the country; as well, supposing them to attack us only with cavalry, might it be said, that we ought only to have infantry to oppose them. I have no objection to club for a horse, or to exercise in Hyde Park, and I dare say the right hon. gentlemen are very well acquainted with the maxim of ride and tie. I must confess, however, I cannot easily perceive the propriety of enlisting a corps of game-keepers, as if a gamekeeper only had the heart to be a soldier. Besides, this class of men are by no means the most dexterous in the use of fire arms. The squires might with more propriety be selected. I am sure I know many gentlemen who are infinitely more expert shooters than their game-keepers. Neither am I fond of the posthumous ex post facto reflection which is thrown upon the deputy gamekeepers. But, without at all entering into the detail of the intended operations, if the right hon. gentleman is really in posses