allegiance, to repress the republican spirit, and to adhere closely to the old constitutions. Mr. Burke said, that the moment of our ruin in America was the season of the noble lord's hope. He had indulged expectations of success so ill-founded and fallacious, that in the very instant when he formed and retailed them, the serious plan for our destruction was formed, and beginning to be put in execution. To shew this singular fact, he read several extracts of letters from the late American secretary to Sir Henry Clinton and others of his confidential correspondents, dated in the months of January, February, and March, last year, in which he informed them, that all was perfectly safe in France, there was nothing to be expected from that quarter, and therefore he planned and suggested another expedition like that of General Burgoyne, to be performed by General Haldiman from Canada, just at the time when De Grasse sailed from Brest with the armament which captured the army of Earl Cornwallis at York-town. In the month of February 1781, he knew nothing of the armament which sailed on the 7th of March 1780. In the month of February he ordered a new expedition, that another army might suffer the disgrace of a surrender. He received all his American intelligence from France, and his French intelligence from America. He recommended to Sir Henry Clinton, at a time when the exchange of prisoners was stopt, to send the American prisoners to the West Indies, to recruit our regiments there," because there was a great mortality reigning among them in that intemperate climate." This was the way in which he laboured to regain the scattered affections of America! This was the way in which he strove to conciliate their warring dispositions, and bring them to loyalty and peace! This was the plan and conduct of the war, from which he had retired with the distinguishing reward of a peerage! After a debate which lasted till two in the morning, the House divided: Yeas 193: Noes.194. Majority against General Conway's motion one. LORD JOHN CAVENDISH'S MOTION OF CENSURE ON MINISTERS. March 8. THIS "HIS day the following resolutions were moved by Lord John Cavendish: 1. "That it appears to this House, that since the year 1775, upwards of an hundred of millions of money have been expended on the army and navy in a fruitless war:- 2. That during the above period, we have lost the thirteen colonies of America, which anciently belonged to the crown of Great Britain, (except the posts of New York, Charles-town, and Savannah,) the newly acquired colony of Florida, many of our valuable West India and other islands, and those that remain are in the most imminent danger :3. That Great Britain is at present engaged in an expensive war with America, France, Spain, and Holland, without a single ally-4. That the chief cause of all these misfortunes has been the want of foresight and ability in his majesty's ministers." The resolutions were seconded by Mr. Powys, and supported by Mr. Martin, Mr. Thomas Townshend, Mr. Burke, Sir Horace Mann, Lord Maitland, Mr. Fox, Sir Fletcher Norton, Mr. Thomas Pitt, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Byng, and Mr. William Pitt. The order of the day was moved by the secretary at war, and supported by Mr. Secretary Ellis, Earl Nugent, Mr. William Adam, Mr. Dundas, Mr. Rigby, and Lord North. In reply principally to what fell from Mr. Secretary Ellis, MR. BURKE rose, and in one of the best adapted pieces of satire he was ever remembered to have made, observed, that the present ruinous system of affairs was not defended by any one man of real independent property. There was no man in that House, unless he had a place, a contract, or some such motive to speak, that attempted to defend them therefore it was highly indecent for men to echo their own praise, and to be the only persons that could justify their conduct; they were all exactly in the same tone, and played into each other's hands with extreme dexterity if a motion censured the American secretary, he was defended by the secretary at war; if the secretary at war was censured, the American secretary thought it his duty to defend him; and if the noble lord in the blue ribbon was accused, then both the others cried out, "Would you remove a man who is at the head of your affairs at this critical period?" He would answer, Yes; now was the time, for the voice of the people was against him, and without their having faith in him, all his ends must be frustrated. Ministers, he said, always made use of the excuse, "You blame our measures after the event has happened, because they miscarried." If ministers meant to exculpate themselves, let them come forth, — let them shew the House what their plans were, how they had formed them, and what they intended; then it would be in the power of the House to judge whether they deserved blame or not; but certainly it was very natural to censure men from the event of their actions, for by what other criterion could you judge them? When first he heard the new American secretary proclaim his profession of faith, he was inclined to think there was some likelihood of his salvation, but as he still persisted in his errors, all that hope of extreme unction was wiped away, and he was now as far from being saved as any of his colleagues. The new American secretary, he said, had got out of a good warm bed, and had ventured, with his eyes scarce open, into a vessel tossed in a tempest, and riding on the billows in a violent storm. He thought him exceedingly unwise in having done so; and declared it might be said to him, what Brutus said to Portia : "It is not for your health, thus to commit Upon the present occasion, the right honourable secretary had talked as a physician, a lawyer, and a divine. To answer him as a physician, he should declare, that on finding his former doctor had ruined his constitution, he would call in the advice of a more skilful man in the profession, and not trust to him who had so mistaken his disorder; he would seek out for the most able physician that could be found, for one to whom every person gave a good name, for one whom the family could trust with confidence. To answer him as a lawyer, he would plainly tell him, that after having lost him thirteen estates, he could put but very little faith in his abilities, nor could he trust him to go any farther. Oh, says the lawyer, in answer, you have lost your estates, it is true, but your title still remains good, it was that I contended for. Would not he immediately answer again, what signifies my title, are not my estates gone, can you deny that? Oh, replies the lawyer, don't complain, your title is still good, and you may by another suit recover them. Yes, answers the olient, but there is your bill yet to be considered; that, I am afraid, amounts to as much as the worth of the estates. After a conduct of that kind, could any man suppose the client would suffer the same lawyer to carry on another suit for him? Certainly not; a man of more integrity and greater abilities would be sought for. To answer him as a divine, he was sorry to say, he appeared to have but a bad opinion of the justice of Divine Majesty, to suppose that all our misfortunes could arise from Providence counteracting the designs of his majesty's ministers. He undoubtedly had heard and believed, that Divine Providence had sometimes scourged a land for its wickedness; and the scourge it had inflicted on this country, was a set of abandoned, wicked ministers, for they were the greatest curse that Providence could have inflicted. He had heard of Divine Providence striking persons stupidly blind: he was of opinion a punishment of that sort had been inflicted on the present ministry, which occasioned them to act as they did. The right honourable secretary, he said, had declared, that he quitted his flannel night-cap and his warm bed for a post of danger: in his firm belief, the bed was left merely for the purpose of introducing a Scotch warm ing pan *; he was convinced that was the chief cause of the new secretary being created. Mr. Burke then reprobated the measures of administration for a series of years, and declared, that in looking over the papers on the table, he saw that the sum of 57,000l. was set down in the year's expences for presents to Indians; and with other sums for services performed by these savages, the whole amounted to 100,000l. with which great sum he only found five-and-twenty women and children butchered. Surely, we had overpaid these good allies of ours, or had estimated the women and children very high. That sum of 100,000l. would have purchased two fifty-gun ships complete, which, in his opinion, would have been employing the money to a much better purpose. On looking into the expence incurred for furnishing the garrison of Gibraltar, it appeared that no less a sum than 569,000l. had been expended from the Ordnance Office, therefore it would be considerably under the mark to say that 600,000l. had been expended there, which would, had it been applied to the use of the navy, have built fifteen line of battle ships, of much more consequence to this country than Gibraltar for the purpose for which we keep it. At the commencement of our war, we should have sent a strong fleet to Gibraltar, to prevent a junction of the Spanish fleet with the French, and should have had another fleet to watch the harbour of Brest, and thereby have prevented them from joining the Spanish. At our breaking out with the Dutch, we should have had a fleet to command the entrance to the Baltic; instead of which we had done neither. We had suffered the fleets of France and Spain to join, and had likewise suffered the Dutch, with an inferior force, to slip past us; we had sent our fleet to Gibraltar, when it should have prevented the sailing of De Grasse, and protected our riches from * Mr. Dundas, the lord advocate of Scotland. Z 2 |