182 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



Lord Guildford was the first who 

 spoke on the side of opposition. 

 He argued, that ministry avowedly 

 changed the object of the war. 

 The defence of Great Britain, and 

 the assistance due, by treaty, to our 

 alh'es, had been piumarily assigned 

 as the motivesofhostih'ty to France. 

 The restoration of the French mo- 

 narchy was now held up in their 

 room. But whatever might be the 

 real object, Great Britain ought 

 not to have been precipitated into 

 a war, while anywise avoidable ; 

 nor, after so fatal a step had been 

 taken, should any opportunity have 

 been omitted to put a timely stop 

 to hostilities. Such an opportu- 

 nity had offered in the course of 

 4 the preceding campaign, when the 

 French, humbled by defeats and 

 losses, would have h'stencd to any 

 reasonable terms that might have 

 been proffered to them by the al- 

 lied powers ; and it was highly im- 

 prudent in ministers to have slight- 

 ed so favourable an occasion of ter- 

 minating the war with honour and 

 advantage. The successes of the 

 British arms in the foregoing year 

 did not sufficiently compensate for 

 the loss of the men and treasure, 

 and the damage done to thecom- 

 mercialand manufactoring interests 

 of the kingdom. It was a dan- 

 gerous error to imagine that France 

 could not undergo a repetition of 

 the efforts it had made during the 

 last year. The pride of the French, 

 and their indignation at the at- 

 tempts to dictate to them in the'r 

 own country, had reused their spi- 

 rit to a much higher degree than 

 was generally known to their ene- 

 inies. There was hardly a species 

 of burden they were not willing 

 to bfar, in order to enable their go- 

 vernment to oppose the terrible 



combination assailing them from 

 every quarter. 



The favourers of ministry, it was 

 said, were loud in asserting, that, 

 to oppose the progress of French 

 principles, it was necessary to stem 

 the torrent of their success in the 

 field. But arms were not argu- 

 ments ; arid to these alone princi- 

 ples, when erroneous, would be 

 compelled to yield. Great Britain 

 ought, in the mean time, seriously 

 to calculate the measure of assist- 

 ance to be expected from her al- 

 lies. But her expence and dis- 

 bursement, in their support, were 

 the chief objects in her contempla- 

 tion. The cause for which the 

 coalition was contending, was com- 

 mon to all the powers engaged in 

 it; but, Britain excepted, they were 

 all nearly exhausted, and, but for 

 the pecuniary .'.uccours they relied 

 on from this country, would rea- 

 dily give up the contest. Thus 

 Great Britain must alone bear the 

 immense charges of this dangerous 

 quarrel ; the issue of which became 

 uncertain proportionablj to its du-1^ 

 ration. It woi;ld therefore be act-W 

 ing with no more than the com^J 

 monest prudence to shorten it ; 

 and by no means to place much 

 confidence in the readiness, or even 

 the ability of our allies to furnish 

 men, while Britain could furnish 

 money. Neither of these resources 

 were inexhaustible ; numbers of 

 the best soldiers in the combined Wl < 

 armies had already perished ; and; ^ 

 though men might not be wanting, 

 yet, without a considerabie share 

 of d!sclpli|ie and experience, they 

 could not deserve the appellation 

 of soldiers. Much stress had been 

 laid by the adherents to ministers, 

 on the impropriety of treating with 

 a government of which the con- 



. ductors 



