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Article PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. ← Page 6 of 10 →
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Parliamentary Proceedings.
rying on the Avar . The equipment of the Military and Naval expeditions had , he said , exceeded every thing that could be paralleled in history . The number of seamen * which was at first only 18 , 000 had been rapidly increased to 50 , 000 ; the ships put into commission had been also increased , and Ministers had been so provident as to protect our commerce , and at the same time to send our fleet to the West Indies and Toulon . He should have no objection , when the House chose to investigate tlie conduct of Ministers , to come forward . with arguments to prove that their exertions in
the Military and Naval Departments had been superior to any thing that before had been known . Mr . Fox complained of the ' complicated shape in which the question now appeared , and wished thatit had been before fairly stated , that the present was a war to exterminate the Jacobin party in France . It was a melancholy thing noAv to hear that we could not treat till the Jacobins were destroyed . This was a speculation in which \ vc risked every thing that was
dear- He reprobated the principles of the war , and the mode of conducting it . He thought , on . the first appearance of the Duke of Brunswick ' s Manifesto , that it would be a signal of devestation throughout Europe ; that those who were parties at the first signing , of the treaty of Pilnitz , were guilty of the origin of the war , and that no power which entered into it without aggression , could be entirely free from the criminality of any of its consequences . It had been said , that France was always the aggressor ; and to prove it , M . Roberspierre was referred to , as having said that Brissot was wrong in declaring the Avar ; which , early in the commencement of last Session ,
had appeared to be approaching , in contradiction to the sense of the House , and to the prevailing opinion of the public at that period , he had proposed to treat with France . It was his satisfaction at that moment;—it would be the satisfaction of his ' whole life , that he had made that proposition . Had it been received and become effectual , a million of lives would probably have been saved by it . We were now , however , engaged in the war , and the only profitable enquiry must be , how we could get out of it . His opinion was , that Ave should try to treat with the Jacobin government , or with any other government that exists in France . There would He as good security from it , that treaties Avould . be kept as we could have from any crowned head whatever ; nay , as we could have if Louis the Sixteenth had been actually restored to tiie crown .
Ministers had declared , that the restoration of . Monarchy in France would be the signal of peace ; yet , if all the difficulties about limiting the Monarchy , concerning which , General Wurmser in Alsace had held different ideas from the Allies at Toulon , were settled exactly to our wish , and that Louis XVli . was grateful ; a Monarch will attend to the wishes of his people , and , if any part of the French empire , was . withheld , as an indemnity for our expences , might they not urge him to take some opportunity of recovering it—an opportunity , perhaps , when . 'S < ustria or Prusij . a , instead of being our ally , might be that of France ?
There Avas something very peculiar in our hatred to- France , which-, indeed * had been raised by the greatest crimes ; yet it was remarkable , that there should be so much difference between ouropinion of crimes on different sides , in France , a . delusion ,, or pretence of liberty , had been successful , and that crime bad-involved us in a war;—in Poland , Liberty herself had been destroyed by despotism , and that- crime was noticed only by occasional , well-turned phrases of dis-approbation . Mr . Fox pressed very strongly the opinion , that the continuance of the war has strengthened the Jacobin party in Fiance , which was the minority at the
commencement of hostilities , but now bears sway over every part of France . He asked , if there was any probability of overthrowing the Jacobins ?¦ He thought , there was scarcely a possibility of that event . He was not much comforted by the statements of th » ir finances , or the depreciation of their assignats . The Americans were vilified ii ) the same manner ; the very same arguments had been applied to thc-m , as had been recently applied respecting France : We had abused tlie Americans as we were now abusing the French ; but , said lie , " if 1 live , I shall live to see you treat ' with thosewith whom you will not now ; and God send that that period may be as favourable for making peace as the present . " He then cqtsidered the consequences which might
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Parliamentary Proceedings.
rying on the Avar . The equipment of the Military and Naval expeditions had , he said , exceeded every thing that could be paralleled in history . The number of seamen * which was at first only 18 , 000 had been rapidly increased to 50 , 000 ; the ships put into commission had been also increased , and Ministers had been so provident as to protect our commerce , and at the same time to send our fleet to the West Indies and Toulon . He should have no objection , when the House chose to investigate tlie conduct of Ministers , to come forward . with arguments to prove that their exertions in
the Military and Naval Departments had been superior to any thing that before had been known . Mr . Fox complained of the ' complicated shape in which the question now appeared , and wished thatit had been before fairly stated , that the present was a war to exterminate the Jacobin party in France . It was a melancholy thing noAv to hear that we could not treat till the Jacobins were destroyed . This was a speculation in which \ vc risked every thing that was
dear- He reprobated the principles of the war , and the mode of conducting it . He thought , on . the first appearance of the Duke of Brunswick ' s Manifesto , that it would be a signal of devestation throughout Europe ; that those who were parties at the first signing , of the treaty of Pilnitz , were guilty of the origin of the war , and that no power which entered into it without aggression , could be entirely free from the criminality of any of its consequences . It had been said , that France was always the aggressor ; and to prove it , M . Roberspierre was referred to , as having said that Brissot was wrong in declaring the Avar ; which , early in the commencement of last Session ,
had appeared to be approaching , in contradiction to the sense of the House , and to the prevailing opinion of the public at that period , he had proposed to treat with France . It was his satisfaction at that moment;—it would be the satisfaction of his ' whole life , that he had made that proposition . Had it been received and become effectual , a million of lives would probably have been saved by it . We were now , however , engaged in the war , and the only profitable enquiry must be , how we could get out of it . His opinion was , that Ave should try to treat with the Jacobin government , or with any other government that exists in France . There would He as good security from it , that treaties Avould . be kept as we could have from any crowned head whatever ; nay , as we could have if Louis the Sixteenth had been actually restored to tiie crown .
Ministers had declared , that the restoration of . Monarchy in France would be the signal of peace ; yet , if all the difficulties about limiting the Monarchy , concerning which , General Wurmser in Alsace had held different ideas from the Allies at Toulon , were settled exactly to our wish , and that Louis XVli . was grateful ; a Monarch will attend to the wishes of his people , and , if any part of the French empire , was . withheld , as an indemnity for our expences , might they not urge him to take some opportunity of recovering it—an opportunity , perhaps , when . 'S < ustria or Prusij . a , instead of being our ally , might be that of France ?
There Avas something very peculiar in our hatred to- France , which-, indeed * had been raised by the greatest crimes ; yet it was remarkable , that there should be so much difference between ouropinion of crimes on different sides , in France , a . delusion ,, or pretence of liberty , had been successful , and that crime bad-involved us in a war;—in Poland , Liberty herself had been destroyed by despotism , and that- crime was noticed only by occasional , well-turned phrases of dis-approbation . Mr . Fox pressed very strongly the opinion , that the continuance of the war has strengthened the Jacobin party in Fiance , which was the minority at the
commencement of hostilities , but now bears sway over every part of France . He asked , if there was any probability of overthrowing the Jacobins ?¦ He thought , there was scarcely a possibility of that event . He was not much comforted by the statements of th » ir finances , or the depreciation of their assignats . The Americans were vilified ii ) the same manner ; the very same arguments had been applied to thc-m , as had been recently applied respecting France : We had abused tlie Americans as we were now abusing the French ; but , said lie , " if 1 live , I shall live to see you treat ' with thosewith whom you will not now ; and God send that that period may be as favourable for making peace as the present . " He then cqtsidered the consequences which might