HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



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inigfit make it necessary to renew 

 the Avar, that they had kept up so 

 lar^e a peace cstablishilient. He 

 then entered at considerable length 

 into the defence of ministers, from 

 the general charge of incapacity or 

 neglect. They had raised, for the 

 defence of the country, the most 

 considerable force that ever was 

 collected in so short a term : and 

 he felt confident, that in opposing 

 the motion, he should be supported 

 by a large majority of the house. 



Mr. Pitt, by no means conceived 

 the motion as calculated to unite all 

 those, who differed in minute points 

 from the government, in its general 

 defence : but, on the contrary as 

 one, that would completely unite 

 those, who thought the defence 

 which ministers had prepared, as 

 inadequate : and who thought it 

 necessary to take a serious and ra- 

 dical review of the situation of the 

 country; and who supposed, that af- 

 ter twelve months had been allowed 

 to ministers to prepare every thing 

 which occurred to them, and to 

 profit by the suggestions of others ; 

 that they had still brought forward 

 nothing, that could induce any 

 reasonable man to believe, that by 

 their measures, or under their admi- 

 nistration, the country would even 

 have a fair chance of, obtaining 

 that weight in the scale of nations, 

 which it was entitled to hold. lie 

 thought, that, if ministers were 

 permitted to go on longer in their 

 ov,n course, there v.as no hope of 

 safety remaining for the country. 

 It appeared to him, that ministers 

 had fairly confest, that they had 

 no hope left of being able to sug- 

 gest any measure for the increase of 

 the regular army, and yet it was 

 allowed, on all hands, that this was 

 the measure, which of all otUeri 



would be of the most importance. 

 The honourable mover, had not 

 proposed au armed peasantry, as a 

 thing to be substituted for the vo- 

 lunteer force ; but, as a force to 

 be added to them : and where it 

 was considered that ministers had, 

 for six months past, spoke of an 

 invasion, as a thing that might hap- 

 pen, within the next twenty-four 

 hours, and when it was also consi- 

 dered, that the enemy had already 

 overcome, that preliminary difficul- 

 ty, Avhich wc had supposed insur- 

 mountable, by collecting in one 

 port a sufficient number of vessels, 

 to carry over their army, it was 

 certainly time to consider, most se- 

 riously, what preparation this coun- 

 try had made for its defence. He 

 thought the right honourable gen- 

 tleman (Mr. Addington) had even 

 forgotten the usages of the house, 

 when he represented it as an extra- 

 ordinary motion, that it should, be 

 referred to a committee of the whole 

 house, to consider a subject in 

 which the religion, the laAvs, the fi- 

 nances, the commerce, and every 

 question, that was dear and valuabltj 

 to the country, was so much con- 

 cerned. Ministers could hardly 

 claim the merit of originating any 

 one of the measures which had hi- 

 therto been taken for the defence of 

 the country. They had rather re- 

 tarded and enfeebled the volunteer 

 system, than contributed any thing 

 to its force and etTiciency. When 

 ministers gave such a pompons de. 

 tail of the force of the country, they 

 should have recollected that it pro- 

 ceeded fronj the resources and 

 spirit of the nation, and not fron> 

 their energy or wisdom : and he, 

 and other members of the house, 

 who had done as much as they 

 could to rgise that energy and 



spirit. 



