he had adapted his measures laft feffion to the then state of affairs, not imagining that all America would have armed in the cause. Adminiftration, he faid, proceeded upon the information they had received; if other gentlemen were in poffeffion of better, why did they not communicate it? Observed, that if we fuffered by the war, America would fuffer much more. A great force, fhould be fent out, accompanied with offers of mercy, upon a proper fubmiffion. It could not be fuppofed, that America, without money, without trade, without resources, would continue to prefer a ruinous war with Great Britain, to the bleffings of peace, and a happy dependence upon her. He profelled, that there were no intentions to opprefs America; but on the contrary, to establish the most mild, juft, and equitable government there.

The queftion upon the addrefs, was fcarcely lefs warmly agitated in the houfe of lords than in that of the commons. As foon as it had been moved for and feconded, the Marquis of Rockingham, after taking a retrospective view of the conduct of different adminiftrations for fome years with refpect to America, and tracing a long feries of what he confidered as weak, contradictory, and oppreffive meafures, through the various ftages of their unhappy confequences, unto their final termination in the prefent upfhot of calamity, then proceeded to examine different parts of the fpeech, which he condemned in the most pointed terms, contending that the measures which

were recommended from the throne, and which it was proposed they fhould now give a fanction to by an addrefs, bore the moft portentous afpect to the British empire, and were big with the most ruinous and fatal confequences. His lordfhip concluded his fpeech by moving for an amendment to the addrefs, fimilar to that which we have reprefented in the other house.

The present debate was rendered particularly remarkable, by the fudden and unexpected defection of* a noble duke, who had been for fome years at the head of adminiftration, had refigned of his own accord, at a critical period; but who had gone with government ever fince. and was at this time in high office. The line which he immediately took, was ftill more alarming to adminiftration than the act of defection. Befides a decifive condemnation of all their acts for fome time past with respect to America, as well as of the meafures now held out by the fpeech, he declared that he had been deceived and mifled upon that fubject; that by the withholding of information, and the mifreprefentation of facts, he had been induced to lend his countenance to meafures which he never approved; among thofe, was that in particular of coercing America by force of arms; an idea the most diftant from his mind and opinion; but which he was blindly led to give fupport to from his total ignorance of the true ftate and difpofition of the colonies, and the firm perfua-. fion held out that matters would never come to an extremity of that

nature, that an appearance of coercion was all that was requifite to establish a reconciliation, and that the ftronger government appeared, and the better it was fupported, the fooner all difputes would be adjufted.

He declared, that nothing less than a total repeal of all the American laws which had been paffed fince the year 1763, could now reftore peace and happiness, or prevent the most deftructive and fatal confequences; confequences which could not even be thought of, with out feeling the utmost degree of grief and horror; that nothing could have brought him out in the prefent ill ftate of his health, but the fulleft conviction of his being right, a knowledge of the critical fituation of his country, and a fenfe of what he owed to his duty and to his confcience; that thefe operated fo ftrongly upon him, that no ftate of indifpofition, if he were even obliged to come in a litter, fhould prevent his attending to exprefs his utmoft difapprobation of the measures which were now purfuing, as well as of thofe which he understood from the lords in office, it was intended ftill to purfue. He concluded by a declaration, that if his nearest relations, or dearest friends, were to be affected by this question, or that the lofs of fortune, and of every other thing which he most esteemed, was to be the certain confequence of his prefent conduct, yet the ftrong conviction and compulfion, operat ing at once upon his mind and confcience, would not permit him to hefitate upon the part which he fhould take.

Such an explicit condemnation of their paft conduct and prefent

views, and coming from fuch an authority, feemed at first view as alarming to adminiftration as it was to the houfe. Nobody could yet tell, nor even guess, where the defection might end. It was, however, productive of less effect than could have been expected, and confequently attended with none of the danger that was probably apprehended. A right reverend Prelate of great eloquence and ability, who in the preceding feffion, had both fpoken and voted for coercive meafures, took the fame part, and accounted for the change in his fentiments and conduct, upon the fame principles that the noble duke had done-mifinformation, deception, a total failure of all the promises, and difappointment in all the hopes, held out by adminiftration; but above all, the ruinous confequences of the conteft, and the now evident impracticability of coercion.

A noble lord in administration, and who continued firmly in its fupport, alfo acknowledged that he with his brethren in office had been greatly deceived, and thereby milled in their conduct, with refpe&t to American affairs; from whence it proceeded, that the meafures taken were by no means proportioned to the nature and extent of the fervices which they were expected to perform. thefe acknowledgments from fo many quarters of the want of real information, or charges of being mifled by false, afforded a ftrong ground of argument to the oppofition in fupport of the amendment to the addrefs, which was calculated to gain time for a thorough inveftigation of these matters, to prevent their being plunged blind

All

ly

ly into all the horrors of a civil war, and from pledging themfelves to fupport the fanguinary measures proposed in the fpeech, before they were capable of forming any judgment upon their neceffity or expediency. This ground they accordingly difpofed of to the beft advantage, and maintained ftrongly; and though the noble lord we have last mentioned, attributed thofe miftakes to unforeseen events, and afterwards endeavoured to explain away the entire force of what he had faid, the imprefhion it had made, eoncurring with fo many other teftimonies, was not eanly removed.

The arguments against the addrefs, and confequently in fupport of the amendment, were neceffarily upon the fame ground in general with thofe in the other houfe The great hazard of our failing in the attempt to reduce America by force, the little value it would be of if we fucceeded, when conquered, and the total inability of Great-Britain to retain, for any length of time, fuch a fpecies of dominion, together with the ruinous confequences that must attend on, what was called, fo wild and abfurd an attempt, were ftrongly urged, and placed in different points of view; whilft the innumerable advantages we muft immediately forego in fuch a conteft, were contrafted with the fubftantial benents we fhould continue to reap from a state of tranquillity, reciprocal good temper, and mutual confidence. A few who held the highest notions of the fupremacy of the legislature, yet condemned in the frongest terms, as an act of abfolute infanity, every idea of a war, or of attempting to

reduce the Americans to obedience by mere coercion. A young nobleman, who within a few days after obtained a confiderable place at court, and who had been remarkable in the preceding feffion for his violence againft the Americans, now diftinguished himself by his condemnation in the most pointed terms of the ministry, charging them with having failed in their promifes and information, of being mifled themselves, or purposely mifleading others, and therefore not to be trufted or supported with fafety; he had not, however, changed his fentiments with refpect to America, but confidered matters as totally changed there, through their want of timely vigour and the feafon for coercion being now paffed. Upon that account therefore, and a total want of dependence on the future conduct of fuch men, he was for clofing with the noble Duke's propofal, of repealing all the laws fince the year 1763, as the only means now left for reftoring the public tranquillity.

It was not eafy for the lords in adminiftration to ward off all the attacks which were made upon them from fuch different quarters. The failure and difappointment in many inftances in America, were attributed to a number of events, which no fagacity could have foreseen, nor prudence prevented. Such was the defection of New York, which had been overawed, and compelled into measures by the Connecticut infurgents, which the people there would never otherwife have adopted. Such was the general union of the colonies, particularly of the fouthern with the northern; a fact of fo extraordi[E] 4

nary

nary a nature, as muft ftagger the faith of pofterity, and which feems fubverfive of every principle founded upon reafon and experience, and of every inference derived from a knowledge of mankind. It was acknowledged, that administration had been miftaken and deceived in many particulars; but fuch muft ever be the cafe, when the fource of information lies at fo great a diftance; they communicated with men, and as fuch they were liable to, err; if they had been to regulate their conduct by mere matters of fact, mittakes would have been fcarcely excufable; but from the nature of this bufipefs, they were obliged to proceed upon a kind of information, which related more to opinion than to facts, being the temper and difpofition of the feveral colonies; all they could do in this cafe was to apply to thofe who had the beft opportunity of being thoroughly informed on the fubject; whatever fuccefs might attend this method, it was not in the power of humanity to have done

better.

It was, however, ftill to be hoped, that when' a fufficient force was fent out to emancipate the friends of government, the well difpofed, and the peaceable, and this force accompanied with terms of grace to thofe who had violated the laws, that the colonies would foon return to their duty, without waiting to experience thofe calamities, or urging the mother country to thofe measures of devaftation and ruin, which had been fo ftrongly depictured, and fo pathetically lamented, on the other fide. But however that might be, we were

now in a fituation which admitted but of one choice of measures. We muft either reduce the colonies to fubmiffion, or for ever relinquish all power and dominion over them, and all advantage from North America.

A noble lord at the head of a very great department, upon which the power and fecurity of this country principaily depend, acknowledged, that a fpecies of deception had been neceffarily practifed in the preceding feflion, particularly in refpe&t to the navy, by concealing the extent of the real force which would be neceffary for the American fervice, from an apprehenfion, that fuch a demand would have excited a great oppofition, and thereby have impeded, if not totally fruftrated, the profecution of those measures which government intended with regard to America. This fyftematic fpecies of deception, was feverely animadverted upon by the lords in oppofition, who reprefented it as a moft contemptuous treatment of that house, as misleading parliament and the nation, and trepanning them into a war; and was, they faid, an impofition of fuch a nature as nobody could have ventured upon, much lefs avowed, without the most abfolute certainty of impunity for any conduct.

In this debate a noble duke *, who has long been diftinguished by his firmnefs and perfeverance in oppofition, after fome very fevere obfervations upon the conduct of administration, as well as ftrictures upon the fpeech and the addrefs, took notice, that the public papers had held out threats against fome

of

and powerful body in that house. The gentlemen under that appellation, who had long been diftinguifhed in the late reigns for the fteadiness of their oppofition to court measures, have for feveral years paft taken the contrary fide, and been as remarkable, from an uniform fupport of adminiftration, in almost all cafes. In American affairs particularly, they have always been among the foremoft, in propofing or fupporting the most coercive measures.

It is fo well known, as fcarcely to require mention, that an averfion to continental connections, with fomething bordering upon an antipathy, to the employing of foreign troops in any cafe whatfoever, had formerly been one of the moft diftinguished tenets, in the political creed of the party which we have defcribed; and whatever revolutions other parts of their doctrine may fince have undergone, this article feems to have been preserved tolerably pure and inviolate. Upon this occafion, however, it fhewed its efficacy; for fome of these gentlemen were fo diffatisfied, that though they warmly approved of all the other parts of the addrefs, they upon that account only, went away without giving their votes. Others who continued in the houfe would not, however, give their votes, until they had received what they understood to be an affurance, that full fatisfaction would be afterwards given upon that subject. ^

In this, however, they found themselves totally disappointed, no difpofition at all of the fort appearing in the minifter. Whether they confidered themselves as deceived or not, with respect to the implied VOL. XIX,

condition on which many of them had fupported the address in the preceding debate, it is probable, that they thought themselves much flighted in not having a greater deference paid to their opinion and principles, and it is not to be doubted, that the measure itself appeared to them as exceedingly illegal and dangerous. By this means, when the report came to be received, the minifter found, to his furprise, the address unexpectedly attacked and oppofed from all quarters; those who excepted only to that particular part, being thrown into one common mafs of oppofition, with those who equally condemned it in all its principles.

It was infifted upon in the most peremptory terms, that the meafure was illegal and unconftitutional in the highest degree; that it was directly repugnant to, and fubverfive of, the principles of the bill of rights; that it would establifh a precedent of a moft alarm. ing and dangerous tendency, as it recognized a right in the crown to introduce foreigners into the British dominions, and to raise armies without the confent of parliament; that it was ftill rendered the more alarming, and required the more immediate reprobation, from its being wanton and unneceffary in point of policy, and from its being fo ftrenuously defended by the minifters, both of which afforded too much room for apprehenfion, that its oftenfible purpofes covered others of a very different nature.

On the fide of adminiftration, the exceptionable clause in the addrefs was defended, as being only a compliment; as returning thanks

[E]

only