192] 
manner, above all inquiry, they 
were in Jfactiabove responsibility ; 
andthoser who complained that the 
constitution was on the decline, and 
that a system of despotism had taken 
place in this country, could not be 
refuted. . Men» that dreaded in- 
guiries into their conduct, afforded 
the clearest presumption that it 
would not’ bear examination: and 
the high hand. with which they kept 
it at a distance shewed, at the same 
time, that the spirit of that consti- 
tution was departed from those whose 
duty it was tocall ministers to ac. 
eount for the misfortunes that befel - 
the’state, in order to ascertain whe- 
ther they were owing to irresistible 
causes,..or to the perversity of mi: 
nisters themselves. The most evi- 
dent necessity now diétated such an 
inquiry: the war had lasted only 
two years, and, in that short period, 
the enemy had» made a progress un- 
known. to, former zras; they had 
evercome all-resistance, and. ac- 
quired: such-an extent of territory, 
as. placed them in the ;most alarm- 
ing state of superiority to the con- 
federation “formed against them, 
Could we with safety and prudence 
proceed in this war? Did our re. 
sources Warrant its prosecution, 
even allowing it to be just and ne-= 
cessary ? but was it in truth either 
of these? Had ministers acted an 
upright and spirited part in uader- 
taking and. condu¢ting it? these 
were questions to be resolved pre- 
viously toengaging more deeply in 
so serious a business. Our losses had 
been immense ; but the utmost in- 
dustry was used to conceal or di- 
minish them. Mr. Fox then en- 
tered into anelaboraie investigation 
ef the numbers that had perished 
by the sword, or been taken by 
the enemy. He adyerted to the 
ANNUAL REGISTER, *1795. 
State of population throughout the 
kingdom, which he theught on the 
decrease. He calculated the ex- 
pences of the war at seventy mil- . 
lions, and the permanent taxes it 
had occasioned at three millions. 
He asserted the trade of the country 
to be diminished, the exports being 
much less than in the year before 
the war, and insurance as high as 
in the American, war, while cons 
tending. with our colonies, Spain, 
France, and Holland, united. We 
had allies, he said, but could we 
trust them? one of. them, Prussia, 
by the treaty of 1788, was bound 
to furnish thirteen thousand men, 
and had received twelve hundred 
thousand pounds to double that 
number: had he-effeCtually done 
it? Had we the least reason to-pre+ 
sume that Austria would treat us 
more honourably, after: receiving 
the four or the six millions it had 
demanded ? the like demands would 
ensue, year after year, until we 
were entirely exhausted; The Sar. 
dinian subsidy was perfectly useless 5, 
that power had done nothing, and 
Spain was already so reduced, that 
it must also be subsidised, or have 
recourse to an immediate peace for 
its preservation. Our conduct to 
neutral nations had been highly dis- 
graceful. .We had first provoked 
them by the tyrannical haughtiness 
of our behaviour, and, after injuring 
their commerce, had found it neo 
cessary to indemnify them. Our 
councils had been so equivocal, that 
neither friends nor foes could form 
a precise idea of our real intentions =. 
the very emigrants and royalists 
mistrusted us, and looked upon the 
coalition as a scheme for dismem- 
bering France much more than for 
restoring it to the Bourbon family. 
The naval part of the war, consider- 
iog 
