HISTORY OF EUROPE. 227 



^he nature of their present go- 

 vernment, and of what excesses 

 they woulii be guilty, if not in 

 'due time prevented- by the alliance 

 that now happily oppose-.l tlieii. 

 The attempts that ha i beert made 

 ti) introduce their principles into 

 this coiintrv, would have 6uc- 

 c<;eded, but for the v!<riiancc of 

 government. It ■ would not be 

 denitd that they V;erc the aggres- 

 sors in this quarrel. They had. 

 immediately after the battle of 

 Jemappe, when they imagined 

 tiieinselves above their enemies, 

 proclaimed to al! the vorld their 

 determination to encourage the 

 revolt of subjects aj^ainst theii- 

 ■ awful sovereigns. They had at- 

 tacked and wrested the Duchy 

 of Savoy from its native possessor j 

 they liad seized upon the Ne- 

 therlands, invaded Holland with- 

 out provocation, and opened tke 

 navigation of the Scheldt in defi- 

 ance of the faith of treaties. 

 I'heir enmity to Great Britain 

 aimed at an entire overthrow of our 

 constitution : they insisted on its 

 abolition as the price of peace. 

 Could we therefore safely re- 

 nounce our alliances, and remain 

 inactive at such a critical juncture, 

 without delivering ourselves into 

 their iiands ? The more we be- 

 come submissive, the greater would 

 be their arr gance. Peace there- 

 fore must be attained and secured 

 by firmness, not by condescen- 

 dence. Such was their pride, 

 that they would listen to no ac- 

 commodation, unless we previ- 

 ously withdrew from the country 

 we had taken from them, and 

 trusted to their moderation for 

 equirable terms. A British mi- 

 ninter ought in honour and duty 

 to spurn at such insolence: and to 

 advUc a compliance with so 



haughty a requisition, was rnore 

 iirthe spirit of opposition to mi- 

 nistry than of sound judgment on 

 the present circumstances of the 

 British empire; the lionour .pf 

 which would be essentially tar- 

 nished by not persisung with the 

 utmost firnines* in the confederacy, 

 of which it 1 ad been so active a 

 promoter, 'i'he interest of this 

 country demai'.dtjj a complete hu- 

 mihation ol the enemy, before any 

 idea of peace could with propriety 

 be admitted into our councils. 

 Were government to act other- 

 wise, it would cour.Lc;.ance the 

 guilt of which it accused the 

 French, and lose its credit and dig- 

 nltv In the eyes ol Europe. 



A' Peer of the first rank, wh3 

 had long absented himself from 

 Parliament, took an active part 

 on this occasion. This was the 

 Duke of Grafton, who formally 

 declared, that an intimate con- 

 viction of the propriety of the 

 motion brought before the House, 

 after the maturest consideration, 

 was the sole motive that induced 

 him to second it. He was not 

 so sanguine as to have formed a 

 hope that the party with which 

 he concurred in opinion would 

 have sufficient weight to alter 

 the resolutions taken by adminis- 

 tration ; but he flattered him- 

 self, that by undeviatingly oppo- 

 sing the present measures, and 

 perseveringlv exert'uig the.ms.lves 

 to shew their tendency to injure 

 th'S country, those who were 

 now a minoritv might, in the end, 

 succeed in tlicir endeavours to pre- 

 vail on a maj -rity to c:nbrace the 

 same opinion, and unite their ef- 

 forts to terminate a ruinous war. 

 That fatal contest which concluded 

 with the loss of America, would 

 have probably lasted longer, and 

 Q 2 produced 



