They maintained that the privi-, leges of that house, though ap. plied to themselves individually or collectively in a more confined fenfe, were the indubitable right of all the Commons of England, who had one general intereft in them. That though each of these was an object of confideration, they all funk to a very inferior degree of importance, when at all placed in oppofition to, or compared with, that ineftimable privilege, the power of granting money, of hold ing the purfe of their conftituents, and of guarding it from the hands of violence, art, or fraud. This was a truft of the firft magnitude, which, in fact, included every other; for while that was preferved inviolate, the crown would remain under the conftitutional controul of parliament; but whenever that was wrefted by open force, defeated by indirect means, or done away by fraud, the liberties and privileges of the people would be for ever annihilated. They fhewed the wife, commend. able, and well-founded jealoufy fhewn by the Commons, when at any time even the other house had interfered in the smallest degree with that great privilege; but that when any attempts of the fort were made by the crown, or by its minifterial agents, they immediately caught the alarm; and how ever they were before divided, had, at all times, uniformly united, as if actuated by one foul, in refifting the smallest encroachment upon their power of granting or refufing their own money, and that of their conftituents. They faid, that the meffage in queftion prefented feveral faces, and contained matters of the most fufpicious and alarming nature. That if the conditions it held out had been accepted, the parliament of England would have been pledged to that of Ireland for the payment of 8000 men, only to have the ufe of 4000; fo that Ireland was to be bribed into an acceptance of this infidious bargain, by retaining her ufual establishment as to number, while she was to be eafed of one third of the burthen. That fuch a propofition could only have originated from the worst de figns, as the abfurdity, they faid, was too glaring to be charged to any degree of folly. But that the nature of the bargain was a matter of little confequence, when put in competition with that double vialation of the conftitution, that daring temerity, of engaging for the payment of great fums of money, and venturing to propofe the introduction of foreign forces, without the confent of parliament. Some gentlemen went fo far as to fay, that no doubt could be entertained of the defigns from whence thefe propofitions originated. One was an experiment on the Irish parliament, to try if it could be induced to confent to the reception of foreign troops, thereby to eftablish a precedent which might be afterwards applied to other purposes. The other alfo had its fixed object. It was a fcheme, they faid, however deep, formed on very fimple principles, and went directly to veft in the crown the virtual power of taxing, as opportunity might ferve, both Great Britain and Ireland. In Ireland, the minister was to be taught to afk fome favour; then England was to be pledged. In England again, when fuch cir cum ances cumftances occurred, as rendered the attempts impracticable, Ireland was to be taxed, to maintain the fupremacy of the British legiflature. In the mean time, it prepared the minds of the people, and habituated them to fuch notions, as would by degrees be the means of reducing the parliament of each to be the mere inftrumental agents of the crown, without the leaft degree of will or independence what ever. Administration feemed in an odd fituation upon this attack. The matter was ferious; the of fer of introducing foreign troops without the previous confent of parliament, indeed to introduce them at all as a permanent part of our military establishment, could not be a matter of indifference to the conftitution and safety of these kingdoms. On this occafion, no fmall marks of want of concert and fyftem appeared, in the grounds upon which this meafure was explained or defended in the debate. The minifter difavowed thofe fpecific inftructions, upon which it was fuppofed the meffage must have been founded; but acknowledged his general co-operation, in matters relative to the government of Ireland. Both he, and another Lord, lately come into adminiftration, difclaimed all refponfibility whatever, for the conduct of his Majefty's fervants in that kingdom. They faid in general, or feparately, that the Viceroy might have miflaken, or exceeded his inftructions; that he might not have conveyed his meaning in the cleareft terms; but that there was no rela. tion between the British miniftry and the King's fervants in that country, which rendered the former in any degree accountable for thefe matters, and confequently they could not be affected by any cenfure grounded upon them. They, however, juftified the first propofition in the meffage, as referring to the promife which the King had made to the parliament of Ireland, that 12000 of the forces on that establishment fhould always be left for the defence of the kingdom. In that fenfe, they faid, the propofal was frictly defenfible, and came clearly and legally within the conftitutional exercife of the regal power. As to the fecond propofition, it was allowed, that the paying for 8000 men, when 4000 only were obtained, appeared to be extremely unceconomical; that however, if the men could not be obtained upon better terms, the measure was defenfible on the ground of neceffity; and if there were alfo fufficient reafons for thinking it better to employ natives than foreigners in North America, they would be a juftification of the latter part of the fame propofition. Whilft the official minifters stood on this ground, a totally different mode of defence was adopted by feveral of thofe who are vulgarly known under the denomination of King's friends. Some of thefe maintained the high prerogative right of introducing foreign forces into any part of the dominions, whenever the exigencies of ftate rendered it expedient or neceffary. They alfo infifted, that the melage was worded in a manner perfectly agreeable to official ufage; that the King had a right to bind himfelf by promife to his Irish parliament, and to make the prefent application for a release from that promife. That the measure was in exact conformity with, or more properly properly a part of, thofe undoubt ed branches of the prerogative, by which the crown raifed troops of its own will, and then applied, to parliament for their payment, or entered into treaties, for the fame purpose, with foreign princes, and pledged it for a due performance of the articles. Some others on the fame fide, not fatisfied with endeavouring by explanation to weaken what was faid by the mover to be the obvi ous fenfe of the words, attempted boldly to prove, that the meffage meant the direct reverse. Thefe contended, rather ludicrously enough, that the whole parliament of Ireland had not only totally mifunderflood the meaning of the meffage, and mifconceived the Lord Lieutenant's intentions, but that they had gone through a feries of public bufinefs founded upon that deception and error, without the fmalleft light being offered by the nobleman in question, though the Speaker had, at the head of the Houfe of Commons, made a public declaration of his and their blindness in his prefence. It is very difficult to reconcile the grounds of these several arguments; and this laft, of fuppofing that the Lord Lieutenant and the whole Irish legislature were mistaken in the fubject of a meffage fent by the one, and received and answered by the other, was scarcely fuitable to fo important a matter. Some of the gentlemen in oppofition confidered the bufinefs of fomewhat a lefs dangerous nature, from the fcheme's not being carried into execution. They held, that the fpirit and magnanimity of Ireland, in rejecting the foreign troops, and in refusing to accept the offer for leffening her own burthen by throwing a part of it. upon Great Britain, had already obviated the mifchievous tendency of that meafure; fo that the only object of cenfure now remaining, was the evil intention from which it origmated. They also held, that the whole weight of the cenfure would fall upon the Lord Lieutenant, who was merely minifterial in the bufinefs, while those who were really culpable, would not only pafs untouched, but very peffibly, from fome crooked motive of policy, might rejoice in the ill placed effect. After very confiderable debates, the question being put near twelve at night, the motion for a committee was rejected upon a divifion, by a majority of 224 to 105. A motion was then made for laying the votes of the Irith Commons, of fome specific dates, and relative to this bufinefs, before the houfe, which paffed in the negative without a divifion. This was fucceeded by the following motion: "That it is highly derogatory to the honour, and a violent breach of the privileges of this houfe, and a dangerous infringement of the conftitution, for any perfon whatever to prefume to pledge his Majelty's royal word to the House of Commons of the parliament of Ireland," that any part of the troops upon the establishment of that kingdom fhall, upon being fent out of that kingdom, become a charge upon Great Britain," without the confent of this house; or for any perfon to prefume to offer to the Houfe of Commons of the parliament of Ireland, without the confent of this houfe," that fuch national troops fo fent out of Ireland, Ireland, fhall be replaced by foreign troops, at the expence of Great Britain." The motion for this refolution was loft, by putting the previous queftion, without, a divifion. 20th. In a few days after Mr. Fox made a motion, That. it be referred to a committee to enquire into the caufes of the ill fuccefs, of his Majefty's arms in North America, as alfo into the caufes of the defection of the people of the province of Quebec. This gentleman introduced and fupported his motion with his ufual great ability. He declined, he faid, for the prefent, to enter into any recapitulation of the caufes of the unhappy dispute with America. He fhould develope that fyftem, from whence the measures now carrying on were fuppofed to originate. He fhould forbear to animadvert upon a fyftem, that in its principles, complexion, and every conftituent part, gave the fullest and moft unequivocal proofs, that its ultimate defign was the total deftruction of the conftitution of this free form of government. Thefe were affertions that might be difputed. He wished to draw their attention to certain wellknown, indifputable, uncontrovertible facts. Upon the fame principle he declined entering into any of the queftions of right or claims on either fide. He did not mean to controvert the expediency, practicability, nor a fingle minifterial ground, on which the prefent measures refpecting America were taken up, purfued, or defended. He would even, for argument fake, allow for the prefent, that administration had acted perfealy right. But all thefe mat ters being admitted in their favour, and the ground cleared in all other refpects, he would examine, from the time that coercive meafures had been adopted, the means that had been used for giv. ing them effect. He intended to commence his propofed enquiry at the time, when the minifter, in the month of February, 1774, propofed to the house certain refolutions, as a. ground of complaint, which he followed with the Bofton Port Bill. This he fixed as the era, when coercive measures were undeniably determined upon. He grounded his motion on the clear and pofitive affertion, and repeatedly ac knowledged fact, that there had been mifmanagement, misconduct, incapacity, or neglect, fomewhere; and fupported its propriety and neceffity, upon the fimple alternative, that thefe faults and their confequent evils, muft be imputed either to our ministers at home, or to our military commanders abroad; either the former had planned meafures which were impracticable, or, if practicable, had not afforded them the necessary support, or else the latter had failed in carrying them into execution, and were incapable of doing their duty; in either cafe, it was fit to know where the fault lay; or, if it was fhared between them, it was abfolutely neceffary, before it was too late, and the nation fell a victim to mifconduct and incapacity, that the house fould be fully informed on the fubject, and enabled to remedy the evil, by being rendered fenfibie, that the one were as unfit to deliberate and determine. as the other to perform or carry into execution. He He hoped, that as he had made fuch conceffions, in dropping all other fubjects of difpute, in order to fimplify the immediate queftion, and lay its objects nakedly, and abtracted from all other matter before them, as he had drawn a line between, and intended totally to feparate meafures from men, that no independent gentleman would refufe to concur in the enquiry. Indeed, he did not fee upon what principle, any gentleman in that character could oppofe it; and infifted, that if the minifters were not confcious of being culEpable in the highest degree, they would rejoice at fuch an opportunity of vindicating their conduct to the public, and of letting them fee, that our prefent national difgraces and misfortunes, and the mifapplication of of that fupport which they had fo liberally given, were not owing to their ignorance, incapacity, or want of integrity. Public juftice demanded fuch an enquiry. The individuals on whom the obloquy refted, were entitled to be heard in their own defence. To withhold the information neceffary to their juftification, would be an infult to the nation, as well as an act of private injuftice. None but the guilty could wish to evade it. None of our commanders by fea or land, could be fure of preferving their honour for a fingle moment, if they were to be buried under public difgrace, in order to hide, protect, or palliate, the ignorance, blunders, and incapacity of others. He entered into a fhort but comprehenfive detail of the meafures which had hitherto been purfued in fupporting the plan of coercion, in which he drew, in the most VOL. XIX. glowing colours, and placed in the ftrongeft lights, fuch reprefentations of what, he ftiled, folly in the cabinet, ignorance in office, inability in framing, and misconduct in executing, with fuch a fhameful and fervile acquiefcence in parliament, as, he faid, had never before difgraced the councils of this, or perhaps, any other country. Upon the whole, he was exceedingly pointed and fevere upon the minifters, and little lefs fo, with refpect to the body which he was addreffing. Administration feemed exceedingly embarraffed in this debate, and as little united as in the former. The weight of defence, or of evading the enquiry, fell principally upon the gentlemen in inferior and lefs refponfible office; the minifter himself not rifing until the clofe of the debate. A noble Lord, under the defcription we have mentioned, moved the previous question early in the debate, which did not, however, lessen its extent, or fhorten its duration. The topics ufed in the speech from the throne,, furnished the principal arguments against the motion. The court party admitted that little had been done, great loffes had been fuftained, and errors apparently of no fmall magnitude committed. But the fault lay, where the punishment would finally fall, not in the minifters, but in the rebels. The Americans had taken an unworthy and bafe advantage of the clemency, and defire of conciliation, by which Great Britain was actuated; whilft we, unwilling to proceed to the rigours of punishment, were propofing terms of mutual advantage, and endeavouring to establish a lafting [*] harmony, |