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blished during the difcuffions, that from the month of April, 1802, until February, 1803, no communications thould be made with respect to Switzerland. In May, 1802, deputies were fent from that country to England, and his Majesty's fervants were in poffeffion of all the facts relative to thofe people, yet no reprefentation took place; they were acquainted with the affairs of Holland, and feveral months previous to his Majesty's Meffage, all the information which has fince been laid before the Parliament was known. With regard to Malta, it had been foreseen by Minifters that that Ifland could not be under the keeping of either power without becoming a fubject of the most animated inquiries; and, in the difcuffions to that end, Minifters had been trifling. New propofitions were continually made, and inftructions tranfmitted to Lord Whitworth to require fatisfaction. The French Minifter would demand, what fatisfaction do you want? but Lord Whitworth was unable to tell. It was then stated, that to take poffeffion of Lampedofa, and to fuffer the Republic to occupy Malta for any time, would be to give it to them for ever. As to the guarantee appointed for that island, the noble lord did not conceive Ruffia to be a fit power; and he had to ftate, that the paper which had been laid before the Houfe to that purpofe, was unaccompanied by a note, which the Republic of France had published; it had been fuppreffed by Minifters, and related to a declaration made by the Ruffian Ambassador, that many measures, which had been taken refpecting the island of Malta, were in oppofition to his inftructions.

The noble Lord called the confideration of the Houfe to the object for which the war was undertaken. Was this great and illuftrious nation, he obferved, to involve ittelf in

war on the difpute refpe&ting the paltry ifland of Lampedofa. If war had been undertaken to vindicate the honour and dignity of our gracious and efteemed Sovereign, that would have been a cause of fufficient magnitude; if war bad taken place to efpoufe the part of Holland, or the people of Switzerland, we thould then have been juftified; but their Lordships would fee that fomething more than Malta, Lampedofa, and the different caufes at prefent urged by Minifters, was neceffary to prove the grounds of the conteit which was likely to enfue. If the Cape was fpoken of, it would be obvious that Minifters had violated the Treaty of Amiens by not having given it up at the appointed time. On the 17th of Augutt the troops were to have left that

place,

place. On the 16th of November we find the Dutch troops there, and the English in poffeffion, and if a battle had taken place in confequence, many lives would have been loft, and Minifters would have added one more charge to the many brought against them. The noble Lord could not avoid conceiving that Minifters were in full poffeffion of moft of the documents which had been advanced, before Colonel Sebaftiani's report was made, and that their conduct was highly reprehenfible in having failed to make communication at an earlier period than they had done. He concluded with remarking, that the importance of the contest we were now engaged in, had been kept back from public obfervation by Minifters, whofe measures fince the Treaty of Amiens, had led to hoftilities in confequence of making an infecure peace.

The Lord Chancellor claimed the attention of the House, while he expreffed his aftonishment at the expreffions made ufe of by a noble Lord, who had advanced opinions refpe&ting the conduct of Minifters, which he certainly could not with to fee realized. The Treaty of Amiens and the peace made by Minifters had fallen under his cenfure. It was, however, well known, that at the end of the laft war, a war which the noble Lord confidered as a juft and neceffary war, the people in general were averfe to it, from not knowing the principles upon which it was maintained, and the neceffity there was for fupporting it. When fuch was the with for peace among all ranks of society, his Majefty's Minifters made peace, and during the difficulties they had to ftruggle with, they afforded fatisfaction to the people and relief to the country. The object at fuch a time as the prefent was not to investigate the conduct of Ministers, or to fay they did right or wrong upon former occafions, but to unanimoufly join in defence of the common good. The noble Lord difclaimed the principle of impeaching Minifters upon charges that had no foundation, and obferved that the British Legislature would not fuffer the rod conftantly to be hanging over the heads of perfons whofe actions appeared to be produced by the pureft

motives.

After going through the three propofitions, or counts of the impeachment, (as his Lordship termed them), and answering the charges imputed to his Majesty's Ministers very greatly at length, especially the various allegations ftated in the first count, his Lordthip went into a courfe of general reafoning on the whole view of the conduct of his Majefty's Ministers, VOL. IV. 1802-3.

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in first making the peace, and in fince using their most anxious endeavours to preferve the continuance of it to their country; and he contended, that the verdict of their Lordfhips of guilty, or not guilty, must be pronounced upon the whole of it, and not upon parts picked out, as are subject, perhaps, to the charge of being erroneous, or not the very best mode of proceeding that might have been adopted under lefs difficult or lefs arduous circumftances. He faid he perfectly agreed with the noble Lord who had lately spoken, as to the latter part of his fpeech, that this was not a war for Malta or a war for the island of Elba, but a war for the peace of Europe, a war to check and refrain the ambitious fpirit of aggrandizement, aggreffion, infult, and violence of the French Government, which had by a system of offensive and injurious conduct showed that no country could repofe in fafety till that fyftem was put an end to. It was a war at once juft and neceffary, a war for the prefervation of our dearelt rights and interefts, to fecure to us our glorious conftitution, and all the bleflings which it held out to us, which rendered the British people the envy and the admiration of all Europe. His Lordship, in a most animated and emphatic ftrain, worked up a warm and glowing eulogy on British law, British freedom, and British happiness, to a perfect climax; and concluded with faying, for the reafons he had stated, he would oppofe every one of the refolutions.

In the courfe of his Lordship's Speech, he adverted to the cafe of Capt. D'Auvergne, who, he said, was not a subject of this kingdom, and that confequently his cafe ftood on very different grounds from that on which the cafe of a fubject of this country would do. He alfo denied that his Majesty's Minifters had any information of Colonel Sebaftiani's conduct in Egypt, till his report was published, and they received a dispatch from General Stuart, informing them of Sebaftiani's conduct in Egypt, with respect to his application to him (General Stuart) as to the non-evacuation of Egypt.

Earl Spencer faid, he had no intention to have spoken that night, but having liftened with the greatest attention to the arguments of the noble and learned Lord on the woolfack, and being perfectly conscious, that no man was more capable of defending the conduct of his Majefty's Minifters, if it could be defended, yet he muft ftill find himself under the neceffity of voting for the refolutions moved by his noble Friend. The arguments of the noble and learned Lord appeared to him to be very poor ones, where arguments fo

much

much stronger were neceffary to be urged. At that late hour of the night, the Earl faid, he would not go into detail, or attempt to follow the noble and learned Lord in his. extenfive course of reafoning upon the refolutions, which he had gone through in a retrograde way; he would content himfelf with making two or three obfervations on points which had fallen from the noble and learned Lord. In the firft place the noble and Jearned Lord had faid, that the cafe of Captain D'Auvergne was not before Parliament. He would afk, whofe fault was it that it was not before Parliament? He had himself asked for papers refpecting it, and a noble Secretary of State had promifed to lay information refpecting it before the House, but he never had made good his promife. With regard to there having been a difference as to the ground of complaint between the treatment of a perfon who was a fubject of two countries, he could not fpeak to fuch diftinctions, because he did not understand them. But to admit that the diftinction was a folid one, as applied to Capt. D'Auvergne, what could be faid as to the cafe of Captain Dumarefque, who was not a fubject of France, but a native of Jersey or Guernsey? With regard. to Minifters not knowing of Colonel Sebaftiani's miffion, till his report was published, he begged leave to refer them to one of Lord Hawkefbury's letters, written antecedent to the publication of that report, in which letter they would find Colonel Sebaftiani and his miffion mentioned. His Lordship added one obfervation or two relative to the conduct of Minifters, refpecting the ceffion of the Cape of Good Hope, and concluded with repeating, that he should vote for the refolutions.

Lord Pelham rofe to reply to the obfervations of the noble Earl, and first as to Captain D'Auvergne. He admitted that he was mistaken, when on a former day he had faid that Captain D'Auvergne was liberated immediately on the application of the British Minister, as he had fince found, that he had been confined three or four days afterwards, His filence on that fubje&t had been in confequence of an application from the friends of Captain d'Auvergne, who feared that the agitation of that matter in the British Parliament might injure his interefts at Paris. His Lordship explained Lord Hawkesbury's mention of Colonel Sebaftiani, as Mi.. nifters knew by the dispatch of General Stuart, that Colonel Sebaftiani was in Egypt, but did not know how offenfively he had acted there and in Syria, till they faw his report,

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Lord

Lord Grenville and Lord Clifton feverally but shortly explained.

The Houfe divided on the first propofition

Contents 17-Non-contents 86.
The second and third propofitions were negatived.
Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

MONDAY, JUNE 6.

Mr. Alderman Coombe prefented a petition against the London coal market regulation bill, which was referred to the committee on the faid bill, and counfel ordered to be heard pursuant to the prayer of the faid petition.

Mr. Williams presented at the bar the second report of the Commiffioners appointed to inquire into the abuses in the naval department. It purported to refer to the diftribution of the funds of the Cheft of Chatham.--Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed.

Colonel Stanley prefented a petition from the cottonweavers, filk-weavers and dyers of Manchester, against certain provifions in the customs confolidation bill.-Referred to the committee on the faid bill, as were petitions prefented by Sir W. M. Ridley and Mr. Egerton, from certain persons concerned in the manufacture of filk handkerchiefs.

It was ordered, that the committee appointed to confider the petitions of the mafters and workmen engaged in the cotton manufacture should forthwith make their report.

The Eaft India dock bill was read a fecond time and referred to a private committee.

Mr. Broderick reported from the committee appointed to try the merits of the contefted election for the county of Radnor, that Walter Wilkins was duly elected, and that the petition of J. M'Namara, Efq. was not frivolous or vexatious.

The bill to prevent the deftruction of fhipping, &c. was read a third time and paffed.

Ordered, on the motion of Mr. Vanfittart, that the House fhould next day, refolve into a committee to take into farther confideration that part of his Majesty's fpeech of the 23d of November laft, which related to the giving additional facilities to mercantile tranfactions.

Mr. Vanfittart waved for the prefent, the notice he had given on Friday, of his intention to bring forward to-day, two motions, the one relative to Exchequer bills, and the other es to the means of encouraging foreign feamen to engage in our fervice.

The

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