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The addrefs to both houfes of parliament, concluded with a fhort view of the measures neceffary to be taken refpecting the deficiency of grain.

The addrefs was moved in the house of Commons by Lord Dalkeith, and feconded by the honourable Mr. Stewart. It was, as ufual, an echo of the speech from the throne. Mr Stewart obferved, that the finances and the energy of France, were nearly exhaufted; their expences fo enormous as not long to be fupported; and their means of raifing supplies to the difburtements, exactly in the ratio of 70 to 1. The fytem of terror, he confidered as no longer exifting under the prefent government of France. Our lait campaign had not indeed been attended by brilliant fuccefs; but our ex, ertions had been useful in forcing the enemy to adopt unjustifiable means for the fupport of an unjustifiable fyftem, which neceffarily tended to its own deftruction, and to weaken by the victories it enabled them to attain! Their incapacity to injure was our beft gua rantee; and to this point we were reducing them! He next defcanted in noft extraordinary terms, upon the unimpaired fituation of our refources. No where, he added, were our people deprived of the comforts of life by the effects of the war! The honourable gentleman obferved, that there were still many good objects of taxation for the prefent year; and the exifting taxes, together with the national debt, were in a state of liqui dation; with many other obfervations, equally confolatory. Mr Stewart concluded his fpeech with feconding the motion.

We will by no means take up the time of our readers with an account of the various and long debates which the contents of his Majefty's speech occafioned, at the opening of the feffion; we fhall juft glance at such obfervations then made, as had a reference to the war.

The word fatisfaction, which had occurred fo early in the speech from the throne, excited the furprise of Mr. Sheridan. To be fatisfied with every thing was esteemed a mark of piety, and of chriftian refignation:

certainly

certainly then, minifters were the most pious men in the world. He then went on in a detail of the difafters which had overwhelmed the allies during the laft campaign; and added, that the war with Holland might perhaps be confidered by minifters as an improvement of our fituation! The feceflions from the confederacy against France, and the progrefs from fcarcity, with which we were formerly threatened, to an acknowledged famine, might encrease the fatisfaction of the minitter. The declaration of Louis XVIII. was fuppofed to be penned in this country, with the concurrence, or under the direction of minifters. He thought those who advised his Majefty to fpill the blood of this country, for the refloration of defpotifm in France, were as great traitors to their country as the ministers of Charles II. who advifed him to enter into the pay of that country. Leagues with the defpotic monarchs of France, expelled the houfe of Stuart from this country and could any league be more deftructive to its interefts than one with the house of Bourbon, which had ever been the inveterate enemy of Great Britain, of its liberty, and its commerce? He disapproved of the addrefs in toto, but propofed another of a very oppofite kind.

Among other fucceeded in The fucceffes

He was answered by Mr. Jenkinson. obfervations, he remarked, that we had repelling the dangers that threatened us. of the war had excited various royalift infurrections, which bid fair to attain the wifhed-for fuccefs. Unfortunately, however, the fyftem of terror under Robefperre took place. The determination of the French to retain Holland, was, he thought, an infuperable obftacle to an immediate peace; and the remedy for her enormous acquifitions, was to endeavour in another quarter to obtain lomething to change or to compenfate. At the beginning of the war, he had equally wifhed and expected the restoration of the emigrants, and of the monarchy of France; and this he thought, if attainable,

able, a fair fubject of war; but believed now it was not attainable.

General Tarleton opposed the addrefs. Among other ftriking obfervations, he bitterly blamed the conduct of the expedition to Quiberon-the prefent fcarcity was attributed by the General in a great degree, to the lofs which agricultural employments fuftained from the millions of men who were now engaged in war, particu larly in Brabant, on the borders of the Rhine, and in the fertile fields of Poland.-Our late allies, the King of Spain, and the Prince of Heffe Caffel, had left us to overthrow France by ourselves. To effect this, we ourfelves must first be ruined! "Away then," faid the General, "with sophistry! Away with delufion! Away with all the agents of a corrupt and profligate adminiftration!"-He concluded by faying "that a juttly incensed enemy, would not probably give terms when we chose to demand them; perhaps might not even confent to the measures we propofe. We must adopt a new fyftem, appoint new minifters, and adopt an energy fuitable to our embarraffments."-We have lived to fee the predictions of General Tarleton realized.

Mr. Fox cenfured the fpeech, and the minifters by.. whom it was written. It was not enough, he said, that they should for three years perfit in a war for miferable fpeculation, add one hundred millions of debt to the capital, load the people with four millions per annum of permanent taxes, and make them feel all the miseries of scarcity, but they must be infulted by the falfehood of being told their fituation was improved. He recapitulated the rapid and fubftantial fucceffes obtained by the arms of the French republic on the continent. The fufferings of the poor he ftated to be ex

Oh! but France was reduced to unparallelled diftrefs, and this was our 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 unequalled diftrefs of the French was owing to the

war,

war, whereas the diftreffes in England had nothing to do with it."-France, who in June laft, was faid to be gafping in her laf agonies,-France, fince the date of this expiring agony, had made the most brilliant campaign that the history of mankind exhibited-But fuch agonies excited his fears. We cannot follow the arguments of this great and enlightened statesman, who concluded his admirable speech by moving an amendment-praying 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.

Mr. Pitt confidered this amendment as merely the mockery of returning to a ftare of fecurity and peace. He stated the grounds of his fatisfaction to be, 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 house, from looking at the prefent principles of the war, muft obferve the grounds of his fatisfaction, and the ftate 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 reafonable fecurity of engagements of peace. They felt a greater neceffity for peace, and were more difpofed to it. Their paper currency would overwhelm them. From this and other disastrous circumftances, Mr. Pitt predicted their total inability to carry on the war for another campaign. After uling a variety of arguments to prove that the fituation of Britain was improved, while that of France was worse, he concluded a long fpeech with feconding the addrefs. In the divifion of the house, there appeared for the addrefs, 240, for the amendment, 59.

In the house of Lords, the addrefs was moved on the 30th by Lord Mount Edgecumbe. He too expatiated upon the improvements of our fituation, the checks fuftained by the French on the Rhine, in Italy, &c. The

addrefs

address was feconded by Lord Walfingham, who among other topics obferved, that his Majefty, inftead of availing himself of the very depreffed flate of the enemy to carry on the war upon a fpirit of national vengeance, out of mercy to the French, took the earliest opportu nity of pledging himfelf to make peace as foon as a fettled government fould afford a fair profpect of a fafe and honourable peace. His Lordship pointed out the evils attendant upon a temporary and " patched up" peace, and obferved, that the profecution of the war could not at prefent be difpenfed with: he thought that the interests of this country peculiarly required that it fhould be carried on with vigour in the Weft Indies.

Lords Grenville, Bedford, Spencer, &c, all spoke at great length on the prefent fituation of affairs, with which we will not trouble our readers.

In the course of the debate on the addrefs, in both houfes, many arguments arofe' refpecting the fcarcity of corn mentioned in the latter part of his Majesty's fpeech. Bills were, of confequence, propofed for the alleviation of this national evil.

On the 30th of October, the chancellor of the exchequer moved in the Commons for a committee for the extenfion, during another twelve months, of the bill of the last feffion, allowing the importation of corn duty free. The fame fubject, viz. the high price of corn was again brought before the houfe by the fame gentleman, November 3. In fpeaking on the bill propofed, he ftrongly recommended the ufe of feveral fubftitutes for wheaten flour. A confiderable faving of wheat might be made by the fubftitution of articles, not applicable for food in the manufacture of starch. For this purpose he propofed to bring in a bill, and also for preventing obftruction in the tranfit of grain, from one country to another.

After various and friendly obfervations between Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt on this important fubject, it was agreed to leave the trade perfectly open, and to grant a bounty upon the importation. This bounty was VOL. II.

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