HISTORY OF EUROPE, 
hon. relative (Mr. Pitt) has justly 
observed, you would have been 
bound to have hanged as spies in 
time of war ; you must stand aloof 
whilstI seize,with agiant’s grasp, the 
whole of Europe; you must give 
up all connexion with the conti- 
nent ; the treaty of Amiens provides 
for every thing, and settles every 
thing. On the 23d Feb. we had 
been told all this ; on the 23d Feb. 
the minister comes here and tells us 
that we are in profound peace, and 
that there are no adyerse dis- 
cussions existing between the two 
countries; and on the 8th of 
March, the same minister comes 
and tells us to prepare for war !— 
We are prepared for war. I trust 
there is not a man in this country, 
whose breast does not glow with 
indignation, at the insults we have 
suffered, and with a determination 
to support the honor, and avenge 
_ the injured cause, of his country. 
- Ministers lulled the country into 
an unreal, belief of security; they 
cherished her by false hopes; they 
asked unlimited confidence, and 
have reposed none in return ; they 
deluded the people with glittering 
visions of peace, knowing that 
when they awoke, they would 
awake to the reality of a war. The 
next point is, have ministers done 
all that it became them to do, to 
avert the calamity which has come 
_ upon us? Now, whether they have 
submitted enough, God knows the 
country has seen enough of sub- 
mission! It is not therefore whether 
they have sufficiently given way to 
_ the views of France. The question 
is, whether they remonstrated in 
_ suchamanner as became the minis- 
ters of a great and powerful nation ; 
whether they jpterfered in such 
manier as to make their interference 
167 
effective; whether they mediated in 
such a mannerasto aid those in whose 
favor they mediated ; whether they 
repelled aggressions with firmness, 
and opposed dignified moderation to 
violent and presuming demands? I 
do not hesitate to say,that in all these 
points they have completely failed : 
when they have conceded nyast, they 
have conceded with least dignity ; 
when they resisted most, they re- 
sisted with least effect. They have 
urged in their declaration, as one 
of these causes, which in the ag- 
gregate, made the great cause of the 
war, that France has enforced 
ever since the peace, with inex- 
cusable strictness and severity, the 
prohibitions which had been placed 
upon the subjects of his majesty ; 
that violence has been offered to 
their vessels and their property. 
Let us look to the papers before us, 
and how stands the fact? Sir, in the 
first collection of papers presented 
to us, not one word is mentioned 
of what constitutes this part of their 
declaration; in onesolitary instance 
only, is the subject alluded to.» 
In the 2d collection of papers, we 
see notification after notification 
from Mr. Merry, of insult upon 
insult offered to our flags and 
commerce, but in no one instance 
does any remonstrance appear from 
his majesty’s government; no in- 
struction to Mr. Merry to remon- 
strate ; and in the case of the ship 
George, to which I before alluded, 
no answer of any kind appears ta 
have been given to Mr. Merry. The 
second cause of war is, the intro- 
duction by France, into this coun- 
try, of her privileged spies, the 
commercial agents, To this in- 
sulting act of aggression, no re- 
monstrance is made by spinisters, 
and, except in the one case, ng steps 
M 4 appear 
