562 
he had feen no fymptoms of it. On the 
contrary, he could with truth affirm, that 
never was a period in which the loyalty 
of the people fhone more confpicuoufly 
tinder a load of fevere fufferings. 
Mr.- Wilberforce ftrongly deprecated 
all attempts to interfere with the lorg ac- 
cuftomed principles of commerce. The 
ruinous effects of the law cf the maximum 
kad been feverely felt by the people of a 
neighbouring country.— Mr. Sheridan, 
Sir Francis Burdett, and Mr. Tierney, 
were among the other fpeakers on this oc= 
cafion. ‘The motion for the addrefs was 
“then put and carried. 
Onthe 27thor November, Mr. Tierney, 
according to notice, moved, ‘That the 

Houfe do refolve itfelf into a committee 
en the State of the Nation.’ 
{he miniters could not fay they had 
been haraffed with motions like the pre- 
fent, as nothing of the kind had been 
brought forward fince the year 1796. 
‘They had now had a fair trial ef eight 
years with refpect to their ability for con- 
du@ting the war. The prefent miniftry, 
whom he fhould deferibe in terms which 
had been recently employed, as “ aflrange, 
uncouth, and unnatural union,” were join- 
ed indeed “ in one common purpofe.” 
The objeé&t for which they were united 
was to overthrow the French Republic. 
He was now to inquire what had been 
their conduct in ftriving towards the at- 
tainment of their object, and particularly 
with refpect to the military operations 
which they had planned and arranged. 
The conduct of the war had chiefly de- 
volved on a Right Hon. Gentleman (Mir. 
Dundas), who had lately made the expe- 
dition to Holland a matter of triumph in 
that Houfe. ‘That. gentleman had lately 
pledged himfelf to prove that the prefent 
was a mo? fuccefsful war! and he pledged 
himfelf to prove this, not generally, but 
day by day, and year by year. ‘The beft 
way, in his opinion, to admeafure failure 
or fuccefs, was to compare our prefent fi- 
tuation internally and externally with that 
in which weftood at the commencement of 
the war. But we mutt diitinguith, in this 
cafe, what we had taken from cur foes, 
and from our former friends. The fur- 
render of the Dutch colonies could net 
furnith any ground for military triumph, 
or, if it did, the argument would come to 
this, that the French had taken more from 
them in Europe, than we had taken eife- 
where. From Spain we had taken the iflands 
of Minorca and Trinidad. He mutt alfo 
diftinguifh between our navy and our ar- 
mies. ‘Che former had difplayed a degree 
of valour, ikill and enterprife, fuch as mutt 
be grateful to the heart of every Englith- 
man. It was not, however, of the army, 
but of the mifdireGion which marred all 
their efforts, that he {tood forward to com- 
State of Public Affairs in December i800. 
[ Jan. f, 
plain.. The expence of the Seven Years’ 
War was 111 millions, that of the prefent 
was 200 inillions. We then employed but 
76,coo men; at prefent we had 1 39,000, 
exclufive of thofe tn Ireland, India, and the 
black corps in the Weft Indies. Mr. 'Tier- 
ney then proceeded to notice our fituation 
with refpeé to the Northern Powers, fome 
of whom the war-minifter had attempted 
to bully, but with whom we were new 
reduced to a ftate of abfolute humiliation. 
He remarked on our late negeciation with 
the court of Copenhagen, from which our 
ambailador, though ‘backed by a fleet, 
could only cbtein 2 pofponement of the 
queftion at iffue. With refped to Ruffia, 
he had purpofed on coming down to the 
houfe to argue as if it was a neutral power; 
but he now learnt that it was in a fate of 
actual hoftility! It appeared by the Ham- 
burgh mail 70 of our fhips had been feized 
in the pert of Riga, and that accounts of 
fimilar feizures were to be expected. Such - 
was the refult of the condud& of men, who, 
in trying to curb France, had extended her 
territory; who had infuited the Northern 
powers, and had now borne a moft fagrant 
infult from one of them for upwards of 9 
months; who, in the commencement of 
this very year, had peremptorily refufed _ 
to negociate, and who were now paying 
Auftria to be admitted into a joint nego- 
ciation with “a Corfican Ufurper, the 
child and champion of Jacobinifm!” Such 
was their vigour, and fuch was the effect 
of their councils. He then proceeded to 
a view of our internal fituation, in which 
he dwelt atfome length, not only on the 
{ufferings of the poor, but on the abridge- 
ment of cot.torts experienced by the mud- 
dling claffes. He moved, therefore, “ that 
the houfe do refolve itfelf into a committee 
sot the whole houfe, td confider of the ftate 
of the nation.” Mr. Pitt combated the 
arguments of Mr.'Vierneyf As far as 
the motion involved the queftion of peace 
and. war, he could fee no reafen for enter- 
taining the difcuffien, as no new grounds 
had been ftated, nor any new circumftances 
occurred, toafie& the former difcuffions of 
the houfe on this point. Mr. Pitt then 
went through the whole of Mr. Tierney’s 
financial ftatements, which heendeavoured 
to prove fallacious; and concluded by 
giving his decided negative to the motion, 
as a meafure folely calenlated to encourage 
the hopes ef the enemy, to diffeminate 
groundlefs alarms, and to excite aipirit of 
ear and defpondency, which could only 
tend to paralize the energies of the coun-— 
try.—The reft of the fpeakers were Mr. 
Thornton, Mr. Grey, Mr. Canning, Mr. 
W. Smith, Mr. Dundas, and Sir Francis 
Burdett. When the houfe divided on the 
queftion, there appeared for the motion 
37, againft it 157. 
On the 4th of December Mr. Jones, in 
con- 
