HISTORY OF EUROPE. [77 



majesty's European dominions, du- 

 ring the winter, in the islands of 

 Guernsey and Jersey. And he 

 moved, " that this message be 

 taken into consideration on the 

 same day with the first:" which 

 was also agreed to. 



These two messages were brought 

 down to the house of commons by 

 Mr. Pitt, and a day fixed of course 

 for their consideration. On Tues- 

 day, January 28th, 1800, the order 

 of the day, for taking into considera- 

 tion his majesty's message, relative 

 to the overtures from France, being 

 read, lord Grenville made a variety 

 of observations on the importance of 

 the question under their lordships' 

 consideration. " It was not possi- 

 ble," he observed, " to have made 

 the study of the present condition of 

 the world, as he had done, a prin- 

 cipal object of care, without per- 

 ceiving that a hostile mind still per- 

 vaded the whole conduct of the 

 enemy. It was obvious that the 

 same proneness to aggression, the 

 same disregard to justice, still actu- 

 ated the conduct of the men who 

 rule in France. Under such cir- 

 cumstances there could be no secu- 

 rity to Europe in peace. Peace, 

 with a nation whose war was made 

 against all order and religion, all 

 morality, would be rather a cessation 

 of resistance to wrong, than a sus- 

 pension of arms in the nature of or- 

 dinary warfare. It was in war that 

 oursel ves.and the great civilcommu- 

 nityof E urope, were to find security. 

 To negociate with established go- 

 vernments was formerly not merely 

 easy, but, under most circumstances, 

 safe : but, to negociate with the go- 

 vernment of France now would be 

 to incur all the risks of an uncertain 

 truce, without attaining one of the 

 benefits of even a temporary peace. 



The motion he was about to sub- 

 mit," he said, " would give to his 

 majesty a pledge of the unchanged 

 and unalterable afiection of that 

 house, while the continued support 

 of parliament would give energy 

 and efi'ect tosuch measuresas might 

 be adopted to conduct the great 

 contest, in which his majesty was 

 engaged, to a safe and honourable 

 conclusion. The motion would be 

 founded on two principles : The 

 first was, that France still retained 

 those sentiments and views which 

 characterized the dawn, and conti- 

 nued to march with the progress, of 

 her revolution : the second, that no 

 safe, honourable, and permanent 

 peace could be made with France 

 in her presentsltuation. The French 

 minister, Talleyrand, had assertedin 

 hisnote, 'That,fromthecommence- 

 men of the revolution, the republic 

 solemnly proclaimed her love of 

 peace, her disinclination to con- 

 quests, and her respect for the inde- 

 pendence of all governments.' Yet 

 she had been at war with all the 

 nations of Europe, except two, 

 (Sweden and Denmark,) and next 

 to being at war with America. 

 And if war had not been formally 

 declared by France against those 

 two northern powers, their subjects, 

 and the commerce that had been 

 carried on by them, had suffered, 

 in aggravated instances, from the 

 cruizers of the republic, whose de- 

 predations found sanction from her 

 laws, a series of injuries, of insults, 

 and injustice : tolerable in war, be- 

 cause common to it ; but most in- 

 tolerable in peace, because directly 

 repugnant to the principles of any 

 just peace, or recognized equality. 

 With regard to the second principle, 

 that no safe, permanent, and ho- 

 nourable peace could be made with 



