A Reply to the Counter - Address; Being a Vindication of a Pamphlet Entitled, An Address to the Public on the Late Dismission of a General Officer /r UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES f% m 'mmm? $$###$ A R E P L Y T T O T H E COUNTER-ADDRESS, Sea $@@Hg PiK>S>}K*jy [Price One Shilling.] REPLY T O T H E COUNTER-ADDRESS; BEING A Vindication of a Pamphlet ENTITLED, AN ADDRESS to the PUBLIC, on the late Difmiffion of a GENERAL OFFICER. Uliri vents indicant ie amare et ferre nan pojfe. Terence L O N D O N: :J for \V. Nicoll, at the Paper Mil!, in St, pad's CruvchTard. M DCC LXIV. ^ \ A REPLY T O T H E COUNTER-ADDRESS, &c. fTp\HOUGH in times like thefe, wherein objects of political difquifition are fo eagerly JL entertained, and fo univerfally decided on, it fhonld feem almoft fuperfluous to attempt an apo- logy for addrefling the public upon an open meafure of government, a repetition of this trouble may however (land in need of fome excufe. It may not be improper then to urge, in vindication of this re- ply, that I am averfe to babling difputaiion, nor do , I enter the lifts through a fond denre of playing a j prize before the people. The caufe of government, be the minifters who they will, and their champions better armed than even my own vanity will allow me to think I am, is ever ungracious and unpopu- lar i be the meafurcr. ever fo juft or fo neceffary, the mod able defence meets but a lorry welcome, whilft the flighteft infinuations of its adverfaries are con- f dered as authentick proofs, and every infidious a:- enfation receives a double weight from the malice -. of the profecutor, and the dii'pofuion oi the judges : Yet under thefe difadvantages, not indeed peculiar - to the prefect queftion, or to the adminidranon now fulfilling, the Author of thefe (heets chearfully B re as [ 6 ] refls his caufe with every impartial mind: To afl fuch as fcan the tra nfacti on s of government, with a view folely to afperfe them ; to all whofe interested views will not fuffer their tongues to applaud what their hearts, however, are unwilling to condemn ; to all whofe paffions and affetlions cloud the nfe of their fober judgment j to all thefe, I fay, and many more falling within defcriptions collaterally taken from thefe general heads, this Addrefs is not writ- ten : It is not written even to the Author of the Counter- Addrefs 5 his reafonings, alas! have leaft of ail been the occafion of this fecond printed letter; the arguments contained in what he is pleafed to think an anfwer, I was well able to withftand, and upon which, if I had been filent, it would not have been furely from refpect : But his perverfions and mifreprefentations of a very plain and obvious mean- ing ought not to go without fome notice ; and it is with this view, and this folely, that I am now troubling the public. The abufe too, fo plentifully fcattered through thefeveral pages of his work, would in fome minds have itirred emotions to which I con- fc-fs myfelf a ftranger. Detraction of tins fort, the ufu.d fibflicute of lolid argument, 1 have ever con- sidered as the fure fymptom or an indefenfible pro- pofition, the noticing of which, is the likelieft way of bringing the aflertion into repute. But this abufe it would be more unpardonable to reply to, or retort, fince there is a weaknefs and an effeminacy in it, which feems to burlefqne even calumny itfelf. The complexion of the malice, the feeble tone of the cx- preffjon, and the pafiionate tondnefs with which the per [oval qualities of the officer in quefiion are con- tinually dwelt on, would almoft tempt one to ima- gine, that this arrow came forth from a female qui- ver ; but as it wants both the true deli racy and lively imagination which characre! i"/.c a lady's pen, the at- tack muft probably have been i ice from a neufal quarter, t 7 ] quarter, from a being between both, neither totally male or female, whom, if naturalifts were to deiide on, they would molt likely clais him by himfelf; by nature maleifh, by difpofition female, fo halting between the two, that it would very much puzzle a common obferver to affign to him his true lex. The defcription of the hermaphrodite horfe which is juft brought to town, may, perhaps, not unaptly reprefent him; " he pofTefTcth all the characters of both fexes, but the odd fituarion and tranfpofition of the parts, appear as it were the fport of nature, and render him the greatefi: curiofity ever Teen/ 5 But be the author who he will, to his railing 1 fay no- thing j to his reafoning, what follows. ^ As to the apolozy he is pleafed to m. ke fur un- dertaking the defence of his friend, viz. The clum- finefs of his antagonist, I own fairly and freely, I have no iuch excule in my behalf. My antagonift, the Author or the Counter- Addrefs, if the conjec- ture above hinted at mould in any degree be found- ed, is not liable to that objection. Whoever has fcen the delicate ftructure of his frame, will never chufe out the epithet, clttmfy^ to apply to ir. Leav- ing therefore to himfelf the reafons for thus taking up the cudgels, among which, perhaps, his fertile brain might fugged to him lome voice fpeaking with Marcellus in Hamlet, Thou art a fcholar, fpeak to it, Horatio ; i {hall not fo much as (top to return him my thanks for fingling me cut, or clafiing me with writers in the Da !y Gazetteer ; but as he is pleafed to be me- taphorical (I cannot lay flowery) and to fay, that i have amafled a whole nofegay of nettles, I will give him ore puce of advice, whether he will take it or r.o, next time that he encounters fo flinging an ad- versary to put on his gloves ; or in a more fimple *13 2 phraie. r s ] phrafe, to make ufe of ftronger and more fubftan- tiril arguments in the next pamphlet he publifhes, leil the works of his antagonift, whilft they fmell fweeily to thofe who have any tafte for flowers, fhould prove thorns and nettles to him, and affect his mind as real nettles (I beg pardon for fo tre- mendous a threatning to him) would his delicate body, frratch and tear it mod miferably. 1 mould hardly have thought it worth detaining the attention of my readers to a defence of my motto, if it had not been cired by my adverfary as a compendium of gall and bittern-rfs. ' Equidem ego fie exiftumo * omnes cruciatus miners quam facinora iilorum 4 cfk, fed plerique morales poll rem meminere et in 6 hominibus imp'ns fcehris eorum obliti de poena dif- ' ferunr.' Though very applicable to the fubject on which I was writing, it was by no means intended to run parallel in every point with the cafe of the officer in queftion , it was defigned only to give force idea of the foolifh lenity, with which even the jufteft and moil neceffary acts of feverity are re- ceived: Be the crimes what they will, be the aggra- vations of offences ever fo notorious, the punifh- ment of them ever fo defer ved, yet the infliction of that punifhment raifes in fome men through com- panion, in others through obftinacy and perverfe- nefs, fentiment; of commiferation. The idea of harfhnefs and cruelty, from the fufferings appointed for the crime, remains long after the remembrance of the degree of guilt which was the occafion of thofe fufferings is totally obliterated : This is the fenfe of the paffage alluded to in Sallufc ; this it was in- tended to lay down as an axiom ; and therefore in- tended, becaufe fo extraordinary an inflance of its truth had juil been given in the cafe now under debate,. Upon the report of the difrriffion of a general of- ficer, nothing but lamentation and woe, but com- plaints [ 9 1 plaints and upbraidings, but inflammatory accu- fations and afperfions againft the hand impofing the difgrace, as if it was not fuppofed pofTible that the general could have merited fuch a difmiffion. The rigour was loudly inveighed againft, no room left for the lead infinuation that there might be a juf- tifiable caufe for fuch a removal. In this fituation of things, what more natural for a difeaffionate man, endeavouring to fpeak reafon to his countrymen, than to recal their minds from what unhappily is but too cuftomary , to fuggeft to them, that though practice is on their fide by for- getting the crime, and remembring only the dif- grace, yet there may poffibly be fufficient grounds for what has thus been done. It is but a juft confi- dence in government, to fuppofe that there are fuch grounds ; and therefore, though I pretend not to affign, nor ever did affign, the reafons of the gene- ral's difmiffion, yet defiring as I do to think well of the government under which I live, I conclude that they were right in what they did, though my own little experience in bufinefs may not furnifh me with the caufes of it. After having faid this, and being taxed with recurring to a foreign language for a motto, I muff, own, I mould not have expected to have found my antagenift citing fix lines from the Henriade of Voltaire, the fenfc of which would have been more applicable to the adminift ration of a late reign, than it can be to the prefent. It would not be a very pleafing queftion ro the Author, or his friend?, to enquire in what period of time the honours and offices of this kingdom were fcandaloufly fet to faie. It is fufficient for my purpofe to aiTert, that no fuch venal tranfaclions have difgraced the re'gn of George the Third. With what pro- priety then can tiielc lints be introduced as appli- 4 cable L 10 ] cable to a fet cf minifters, fo remarkably chatte as the prefent, in the difpofal of their employments? Qui des Mceurs et des Loix avares corrupteurs, De Themis et de Mars ont vendu les honneurs. I have already animadverted on the imbecility even of the rage of my antagonift. The 8th page of his performance affords one inftance, among many ethers, of a moft lady-like form of fpeaking, where, in mentioning the difmiffion of a general officer, he is plcafed to call it his ruin. Who would not con- clude, at the firft biufh, that attempts had been made on the general's virtue, and that thofe in power had afiaulted him in a moft unnatural manner, or ef- fected his ruin by a debauch ? It is neceilary here, however, to take notice of an imputation on the Author of the Addrefs, which will not be found war- ranted by any expreiTions in the pamphlet; ' That c the general's total ruin was neceffary, in order to ' give an idea of firmnels and decifion. 5 I would afk my Honourable Anfwercr, where it is that he finds fo extraordinary an aifertion ? Speaking indeed of the objection which might be plaufibly ftarted, to the depriving the general of his military command, and combating the opinion, that the oiimhTion ought to have been retrained to hi.-; civil employment; it was contended for, that the totality of it was necef- fary in order to its being a punifhment, and a fup- pofition was iiv.rocuced, in which the taking away been irtci prett d a; a i e- ;o !up] eie it, a, - ! evident e : Si mew ha: too was t mer t, of the iv. ccf- ih: ii i. ; ds and ; . e foes it '; lure ' y net d not be V. t a ] ro; cfition, and the :\ : eal to dai' , ai cl the civil otice nv; ' lit nave iii f, muead of wh a ". c a e mark oi the re vai difj k; lUi jaid in ar.< tl t ot the Iky of a d :.: alio; oi govern ii * <':, : between Much pa fpent to , i :r :.':: ha :, h -. \'i [ II ] hourly experience, I would fain call on thofe who are practiced in the great line of political manage- ment, I fpeak not now to the Author of the Coun- ter- Addrefs, I would afk men who are verfed in political bufinefs, of whit continuance would that adminiftration be, which fuffered its adherents and its adverfaries to meet with the fame encouragement ? Ubi malos prdmia fequun'ur hand qutfqiiam fere gra- iuito bonm eft. This axiom carries no reflection on the flavifhnefs or venality of mens minds, but afferts what no one, who is converfant with human nature, will be abfurd enough to deny, th it hopes and fears are the great incitements to action ; take away thefe from the political as well as the moral life of man, the confequence is inevitable, you reduce him to a irate of inaction, and or indifference ; the fatal effects of ibch an indifference to the came of any go- vernment, are too obvious to need infilling on, and can only be remedied by drawing a line between thofe who lend th.ir cordial fupport, and fuch as continue obftinate and irreccncileable enemies. Shall I add too, (what fome readers perhaps may term, argu- mentum ad homineirO that the doctrine 1 iiave been maintaining was fully countenanced \'j his prac- tice, who is now univerfally acl Iged one of the ableft minifters this country ever had, I mean Sir Robert Walpole, who, when vilified by the counter addreffers of his days, for the difmiffion of two general officers, anfwered; 4 I fhoulcl be a piti- ' ful minider, if I fuffered thole who are in oppo- 1 fiiion to continue in employment;' And yet thofe difmiffions, and forne others which took pia : in the courf: of his adminiftration, were attended with cir- cumftances of rigour, which eve- the invention of my antagon'rfr. hes noc ye: brought within the cale now under c>nf deration. But more of this in i'S proper place. Fortified then by th^' general conduct of mankind, who, eager for eueour '.gement, na- turally [ U ) turally lean to the mod promifing fide of the qucf- tion, and jealous of their competitors, would fcorn to endure a preference which could not be juftified by its being deferved; ftrengthened too, as the aflertion is, by fo illuftrious, and I truft fo convincing an example, it will not now be controverted, mould I repeat, and even dwell on the neceflity of a difrinc- tion to be made between the fupporters of govern- ment, and thofe who make it their bufinefs to op- pofe it ; and the diftincYion once allowed, the idea of giving to a man the choice of his difgrace, and of leaving to him that employment which is the moft lucrative and the moft acceptable, thus re- warding him in the mid ft of punifhment, is too lu- dicrous to be maintained. I will not foliow the Author of the Counter-Ad- chefs through that detail of perfonality, pleafing as the theme may be to him, into which his zealous affection for the gentleman in queftion has betrayed him. One of the beaux efprits of the prefent times, has chrif- tened this regard, calling it, with a feigned concern, e anunfuccefsful pailion, during the courfe of twenty 'years.' I hope, however, I fnall ftand exculed, if not feeing through the medium of fo high wrought a partiality, I forbear entering upon thofe traits of the gentleman's character, which well enough be- come the notice of the lover. I mall not, I truft, be expected to expatiate on the refpectful filence he has obferved, on thecalmnefs and decency of his resig- nation, the fubmiflion with which he received the notice of his removal, on the fharp campaign he has gone through, the many pitched battles he has been concerned in, the manner or his walking up to the mouth of a cannon, as pourtrayed by George Stan- hope. Thcfe and many other fuch interefting particulars, though well enough Anted to the diary or his very loving defender, will not, I'm afraid, be con- [ >3 ] confidered as important objects of the public at- tention : To thefe my prefect view is directed.' Everv perfonal confideration apart, I a ?piy myleif to this rranfa Lion, as to a meaiure of go vcr anient ; an ' i jet ; -.; my antagonist's regard for the object or the ai. ( .;.dio;i on the one hand, and every piojne and prepoheJio , again I him on the other-, it re- mans now to iee v hether the ground on which mis matt.-r was ;>rgued in the Addreis, is d< fenfib : c or no; that is bw fole lflue to be trie J, and let the im- pa tial jjifhiic oe my jury U t >on the plan juff. pro- po.'eb, u would be f reign to our purpofe to enter on an examination ~f his military conduct; inch an enquiry cot, Id onlv be uie-ul, it the profeffed defign of thefe (h \ .to point out the rca'ons a..d caufei of this d: .i T ion : No fee enquiry has yet been in- ftitut'.d, ;,o f ch dt dum let on foot, much left has it beea ever avowtd, (notwithstanding the pretended quotations from the Addreis) that the general's con- duct in parliament was the caufe of his difgrace. i The author of thefe ElTays has too much confidence in the government, whefe common protection he enjoys, and too moderate an op': ' n of his own G~ gacity and penetration, to take imon burden' to af- fip-n the foundations cf meafurcs which - : beiievfs are right, though he is uuaele to account lor them ; he thinks too refpeclfully of the co ftitution of his country, and too honourably ot the i eopies reprefen- tativ '-. ever to infmuate, that they are to be t Tighten- ed inro a fubmifiton by the hand of p -wer. Such fhvifh tenets as ihtk he utterly difclaims, and defies even the irdidi' us Author of the Counter-Adurei>, to ouote a fincle hne from his firii pamphlet that can countenance iu h a heavy charre : -But thouohre- id i i ed by many reafons, fomeoi them too of thr mi (t CG;^ X loud, from enteiinw into a detail of what th ; [ 4 ] general has done, ^one may jufl: curforily obfervs what it is he has not done. He has not (and I can now give the public the highefl authority for this af- fertion-, the Counter- Addrefs, page 6 ) atchieved any affion of remarkable eclat, or performed alone any ac- tion of fignal utility to his country : He did not diffent from the council of war on the expedition to Roche- fort : He did not, t'red of the routine of picket duty, and the parade of lucrative German campaigns, leave his friends and family and fly to a new fcene of action, where the rules and poftures of Bland's discipline were unheard of and unexperienced, where the fervice was fharp and painful, dangers frequent and unavoidable, and the very climate an alarming enemy. What this officer did not do, recalls to my mind the gallant feats of our American Scipio, whole hand laid on the table a law providing molt effec- tually for the internal defence of his country at home, and abroad figned the capitulation of the great cita- del of North America, a conqueft big with the moft folid advantages to Great Britain. He is now, thanks to the royal difcernment! not pining in difgrace, not complaining of hardships, but fharing liberally the rewards of his figna! fervices. I fpeak not now the language of adulation, this is no hired hack- neyed praife-, it is the genuine offspring of a heart warmed with the fen r e of his deferts, and rejoicing in the teftimony which is fo univerlaliy given of them. But to return : After what has been al- ready faid, it may be needlefs to go into a formal refutation of every affertion which is made, that the Author of the Addrefs has imputed the general's difrniffion to his conduct in parliament, and yet the palling them over without notice, might be inter- prete J by fome zealots, as a confeffion of the charge : Thus page 8. We have feen it avozved in print, (fays lie; that total ruin was to be the portion of members of par- f '5 ] parliament who oppofe adm'miftrallon and p. 9. For what is the context a general officer is difmijjed fir, his behaviour in parliament, in a free parliament ? (So this daring author declares.) Daring as I may be, in the opinion of the Author of the Counter- Addrefs, I am not yet arrived to that pitch of confidence, as to palm declarations and affertions on printed books, which are fo eafily had recourfe to: I can eafily conceive, why my adverfary is fodefirous of repre- fenting to the public, that 1 have affigncd the reafon of the general's difmiffion ; his very parenthefis be- trays it, (wejhall perhaps hear what the parliament , next winter, thinks of his afjertion :) But in what page of the Addrefs, can he find the declaration he con- tends for ; fo far from avowing the caufe to have been the general's conduct in parliament, that I have exprefsly entered my caveat, in the 29th page of that pamphlet, againft affigning any reafon at a. 1. Thefe are my very words. I fh all not take upon my f If, to ajfign any reafon at all for the difmiffion now in qiiejiion. The enemies of government, from their ignorance or their malice, or, perhaps, from a compound of both, did not fail upon the firft intimation of the difmiffion, to pronounce every where dogmatically, that the meafure was owing to his behaviour in par- liament j and then, as mad-men are. faid to reafon plaufibly upon very wrong principles, affuming the foundation which they themfelves had laid, they paffionately exclaim againft the tyranny of the pro- ceeding, chaming their adverfaries with the tenets they had juft put into their mouths, and drawing concluiions from premifes which had no where their exitfence, but in the wild rage and difappointment of the embittered opponents of adminiftration. This being the cafe, though the Author of the Addrefs every where difclaimed his knowledge of C 2 the [ i6 3 the caufes of the general's difm'ffion, and would have thought it both ufelefs and impertinent to have troubled the public with his conjectures, efpecially where he had fo little to direct his opinion, yet in the difcuftion of fuch a queftion, it came naturally in his way to animadvert on a report which had been fo induftrioufly propagated, and which, unhappily coinciding with the acrimony of many tempers, was the more likely to gain credit. It was unavoidable for him, in his argument, not to obferve upon thefe insinuations, and which, the more effectually to de- ftrcy it, was not the iefs necefiary to combat. Who- ever thinks it worth their while to peril fe the Ad- drefs, will there find, indeed, the fuppofition made, (exprcfly in compliance with the daily rumours thrown out by Oppofition of its truth) trust the: con- dud in parliament was the caufe of the inflicted dif- grace; he will find the matter argued upon that fup- pcfiticn, anu the examples of preceding times cited ; bur. he will no where trace the lead marks of any de- claration, that tins really was the caufe, much lefs will he be able to point out any aflertions concerning the methods to be ufed for rendering parliaments lublcr- vicnt. Let fuch proftirutc doctrines as thefe, r. main ro be avowed and defended by thole minifters, whofe long continuance in power might well enough be accounted for, from the corrr.pt fy Items they had eftabli fiied, and the total extinction of which is the moil ferious, though fecret, quarrel they have with the government at prefent. The Author of the Addrefs, vainly or weakly enough, perhaps, was willing to meet the enemy upon the ground which they had chofen ; and f v ar- gument's lake, fuppofing, what in fact he is far from admitting, that the general was deprived of bis em- ployments, civil and military, upon account of his behaviour in parliament, he undertook to (hew* upon [ '7 1 upon their own (late of his conduct compared with that which can be authentically vouched, that much might be laid upon this queftion in defence of ad- min iftra* ion. Before I difmifs this head, I would juft hint, in an- fwer to the threat of bringing this trani'action under the cognizance of parliament, that mould that ever be the cafe, I doubt not but that auguff. aifembly, ready as they are to vindicate the rights of thole whom they represent, will like wife ra;;z^r, to render untoCie \ removal of nfceen c::i ..rs, with page 34, where t-j fays; As for that ':: of its beviri gi-v ,. r u.i, that [he general had u- d r taken to lead the otpo ., : ~,,- 5 / .-,. eft ion ivhe- t'.er eve. 1 the gazetteers of Jss wincrf ustnt fo fa>\ as io make fuch an affertion io any co.ipcjr in the ma- jority. 1 he intent of the invidious infmuat'on, with re- n-' to the rtmovai of [he fi:teen ofTictr , is too obvious to need iniifting on. Y\ hat, is this the luft chari- [ >8 ] charitable effort of a dying party, to endeavour to infufe into the minds of tnofe officers who are in parliament, and have hitherto appeared on the fide of governmer.t, a jealoufy of the terms on which they ftand with the miniftry. Are they beating up for volunteers in the cauie of the difmiffed ge- nera!, and having no prefent pay to give, but only good quarters to promife, would they alarm their fears, fince they cannot cherifh their hopes. I would afk any unprejudiced man, what fort of lan- guage this is ? Is not this intimidating men to tell them that they too are in the black lift, and to lay before them round afiertions, that their difmiffion was intended, though it did not take place : If the advocates in the cauie of government allowed them- ftlves fuch liberties, they would long ago have been overwhelmed with remonftrances againO def- potii'm. But in oppofition, as in jefuitifm, the end fanctifks the means-, the doctrine, it feems, of future rewards and punifhments may be ea- gerly embraced by our free-thinkers in politicks, whilft every allurement that is prefent ftands explod- ed from their creed. In the eleventh page of the elaborate perform- ance I am confidering, among other facetious rea- fons which he condefcends to give, why there can- not be any defign of new- modeling the army; The nation (lays he) is united to a man, jacobi- tifm is extinguished, Jacobites pardoned and received into favour. Why, i'ureiy my antagonift mud be fome old Walpolian, who has revived the conftant court cant during Sir Robert's adminiftration : Eve- ry man in oppofition was then fee down a jacobite: An old lady of my acquaintance, who juft remem- bers fome of the names of thole who wire at the tail of the adverfe party to Lord Oi ford's miniftry, and many of whom are now in the greateil employ- ments [ '9 ] merits of the Government, can fcarcely forbear, a" the mention of their names, though known to be zealous wl.igs, to brand them with the name of Jaco- bites. " I am fure," fhe will now and then very paf- fionately exclaim, " they were always reckonedfoin Sir Robert's time." The cafe is juit the fame with thzyoungmen now in oppofition, notwithstanding the notoriety of the whig principles of many who now form the adminiftration, of as whigg'fh names and hearts as N e or D e can pretend to be ; yet the word is given Ic is a Tory ministry , and thofe who fpeak lefs favourable, are not fcrupulous to declare that they are moft of them converted, our Author adds pardoned Jacobites. The moft wonderful converfion I ever heard or read of, is that of the London Lvening-Poft, whofe papers are egularly Huffed, three times eve- ry week, with elogiums on the whigs and declama- tions again ft iacobitifm ; in this, unfortunately in- deed, giving the lye to our Author's afiertion, that jacobitiim >s extinguished-, as it can never be ima- gined that io doughty a champion would wage mortal battle with an enemy already annihilated. But I forbear preffing my opponent on a prejudice which may poilibl, run in his blood ; and the ra- ther, as hereditary evils are of all others the moft obftinate in their nature, and the leaft eafy to bj removed; I pais on, therefore, to that paffage in which he i, fo good as to explain what it is probable I alluded to, when I afferted that the difmillion was not unprecedented. Whenever I want an interpre- ter, I mail nor think of applying to the penman of the Counter- Addreis j he has fallen fo very fhort, whether wilfully or not I cannot determine, of whit I meant to infmuate: It is true, indeed, that i did allude to the cafes of Lord Cobham, the Duke of Boko: 1 ., and Lord VVeitmorkmd, in the late reign, not t 20 ] not forgetting (which our Author has omitted) the additional instances of the two Jifmifiions of the Dukes of Argyle and of Marlborough : Nor would I willingly forget who was prime minifter at the time when the three fir ft difmiffions were advifed ; and though I will even allow that there is a wide and material difference between the examples juft mentioned, and the cafe of the officer now in que- ftion, the argumenr, I am convinced, will conclude upon the comparifon very forcibly in iV.vour of the prefent adminiftration. There was a tenor of con- duct in the perfons difmiifed, a ftrain of rigour in the circumftancesof the dilmiflion, which cannot be applicable to what we are now confidering : But it did not fait my opponent's purpofe to ftate things as they were j he recurs therefore to the common artifice, of reprefenting them as he would have them: It was his bufmefs, perhaps too it might concern his perfonal honour and credit, to folten down and alleviate the difmiffion oi a former reign, and to blazon forth in all its terrors the dis- grace lately inflicted. With what other view could he affert, (peaking of Lord Cobham, &c. that they were engaged in the moil offenfive and declared oppofition againft the court, when the very reverfe of all this is generally allowed to have been the fact. Lord Cobham had never diffented from the court but in one fingle inftance; the queftion was, I think, the motion for an inquiry into the conduct of the South-Sea fcheme ; and in this, he was join- ed byfome of the moil zealous and determined ad- vocates of government, particularly, as I remem- ber, the Lords Scarborough and Scarfdale : Lord Weftmorland had actually voted for the general excife, not a very popular, or at that time thought a very prudent meafure. It is true, indeed, that he once divi.ied againft the court (the particular in- ftance is not now prefent to my recollection) and 4 for [ 21 ] for that (Ingle vote he was a'duajily difmifkd, not* withltanding he had given, but nine months before, a very confiderable fum of money for the com- mand of which he was deprived, and had never received a fingle (hilling, nor could ever get it af- terwards, of pay, during the time he was really in pofieilion. Whoever recollects the times I am now fpeaking or, will readily agree with me in the account I have been giving. In whofe favor [hen is the parallel ? n r e they molt, to blame who difmiifed general offi- cers for their votes in parliament (a reafon exprefly avewed and declared by the premier himfelf) who, fo far from being in oppofition, had concurred with the court much ofcener than they had diffented from it ; fo fir from allowing clvemlelves an intempe- rance of language and behaviour in oppofition to government, that they had contributed to its fup- poit, upon a meafure execrated by three fourths of the common people of this kingdom , and one of whom had, befides the title to ler/ice and bra- very, the additional claim of having purchafed the c mroand of which he was afterwards deprived? Or can it be thought a more rigorous proceeding, to tern out (for what reafon has never been declared) a general officer who was openly in oppofition? I fay, openly, notwuhftanding the proofs which his puny champion has promifed to produce, that he was not ; and from a command too, which, I will venture to fay, he never purchaied ? .And with what Cundntis of concjufion is t! e piehnt cafe de- clared, as it i^, with much perempt"o"-ine!s, unpre- cedented with regard to [he oi: v in P/;Ough, 1 trull, has been fe.id, to point outrhf o'iunv . nor the fverai i;:ths e- m-rilo: ed, and D to [ 22 } to afcertain very clearly which administration is the mod exempt from any merited imputations, with- out having recourfe to the two difmiffions of the Duke of Argyle, and the removal of the Duke of Marlborough , each of whom have a feature in them, by my antagonist's own confeffion, not to be paralleled in the cafe which he has undertaken to lupport : I mean trie plea of uncommon fervice, attended with afuccefs fcarcely t ) be equalled in the annals cf this or any other country. I have b; fore mentioned a circumftance attend- ing the difmiffions of the late reign, which will not, I am fure they ought not to be laid to the charge of this in queffion, the reafons given for fuch difmiflion : And yer the confident writer I am sw'wering ailerts, without hefitation, that the mi- reiter never prelum. cl, never dared to acknow- ledge that they were removed for parliamentary conduct. Mud I j'gain found in his ears the words once already quoted ; " I mould be a pitiful mi- nifter, if I fuffercd thofe who are in oppolition to continue in employment?" or will he (till contend that this is not a formal acknowledgment, for a gentleman who picques himfelf upon truth and fair reprefentation ? A detection in the following falfdioods may, perhaps, fe.-m fully fufHcient. I. That the difmifiions in the late reign, are by no means applicable to the cafe now under confedera- tion. IT. Thnt the general officers who were difmiffed h the late reign, were violent and intemperate in op- pofition. III. Thac [ ?3 1 III. That the miniiter, by vvhofe advice thev were difmiffed, never owned that they were difmif- fed for their conduct in parliament. And to cro v rj the whole, as a corollary to thefc extraordinary problems : IV. That the general, who is the occafion of this difpute, never was in oppofition. I am well aware, as to this I a ft, that mv quib- bling opponent may plaufbly put a cjucllior., and afk, with feme fhew of feeming triumph, Pray how and when was ih n general detected in oppofi- tion ? To which I anfver, The detection iies in the mind and confeience of every man who will re- call to hi. : ; memory the late tr.m'acii; ns - Suppole. a man, upon a q ; icu:ion o! mete prec. en , , ba- tween the receiving a meif-ge irom the crown, and a pretended trim ; ' ''. comn'air,! oi violated privilege, to give his voice and fpeak in favor o; the latter, and wouiei iuc h a man be called an ad- vocate for that government, whole uuilape he ha^: thus poilponed ? Suppole a man, on the f": n day of a leffion of parliament, in a cpudlien, where n even the fnrdovv of liberty could not be urged in defence of the vote given, placed him fell under -tue banner of time who openly avowed an oppo- fition to the miniilry, would he be excepted fiom the gcn.ral clafs, and be ili! d a friend to that mi- niilry, which he had repeatedly voted againO: en a variety of fubjedts, armigmd them oi ignorance cud inability, and bennc an! a petulance in his Ian- :, which forne of the iv< [1 determined ene- mies of government would not have allowed u fives in the ufe of? 1 / ivir.r: then the recon. hing fuch paradoxes to my fanciful m goi.ihv, I would onlyjuft remnnl him, an, id due complaint he has V .ted of the abufe flattered .. a;.'ad;nu r r / nun - D 2 '.'.,hu ; [ H 1 phlet, that even admitting the fact as he has dated it, it would have become him to have let me a bet- ter example in his own productions. Fool and ly- ar are ibme of the fofteft appellations he has ho- noured me with ; and by way of addition, in the j 5th page, What does falfehoods cod a man who writes for pay? I would picque my Author's va- nity a htile, by obferving to him that this is no new calumny. Every writer who has appeared on the fide of government, from thofe who were paid and penfioned by Sir Robert JValpole, down to the cdnclufion nf the laft r< ;g , Jjas been conftantly charged with the tr.cft abject degree of venality and proftitution, Fcr my own part, confelous as I am of its futi- lity, I am ple-ifed with the cccufat:on in one fen fe, as an indubitable fymptorn, that whatever I may be as a man, as a writer however I have got the victory ever my opponent, "i he argument nmft fure'v fail him, when he quits the caufe cf bin 1 - loved friend, and fdes to perienahty as 2 iefue. But to fay fomewhat in his own way, Ts it the government ci:h th.-t can psy authors, or muft eve- rv writer, like every voter in oppofnion, be a pa- tiioc, t-nd plea 1 the caufe of his country without any mercenary views? But perhaps, through defi- ciency cf real cam, premiss are the current coin, which is p'e tifully lavished as an encouragement to beipato r thole in power ; to the men at eah in their to* tunes, who, as they write not from necef- fity, might well enough be fuppoi/d to turn fcrib- blers frou dm ; yet even to tru fe, I o dd tain afk, whether there may not be a fetrled price ? That every men has his price, was 3 mindlerial maxim, upon which a very lone continuance in 'OWtr ieems principally 10 have le.n founded. CO [ 5 ] do not pretend to any extraordinary degree of ac- curacy in my diftinclions, but I own freely, I can- not difcern any material difference between the man (if any one To corrupted there be) who takes fo many pieces of lawful money of Great Britain for publishing a pamphlet, and him who, though he writes with a filver ftandifh before him, is to have fuch a great office himfelf, fuch a reverfion for his nephew, fuch a lieutenancy for his coufin, upon the fuccefs of thofe whole caufe he means to de- fend. In inert, the diftance rf the reward abates nothing from the venality of the principle. Thofe imputations then may be well emitted, which are equally capable of being retorted. I mould go on to take notice how err. emel pcr- fonal he grows in the profecution of his fubjeet, how puthet'caiiy he dwells on the ingenuous mode- it y of the general, on his extiaordinary humility, on the twtnty-leven years that he ferved, the fix regular battles h: v as engaged in, befides many bye bittles or (mailer ac~' ions, the heroes under whom he wi: timed, and the decorum which has g-aced .very period of his fo: tune, if 1 did not recollect the u: hap v fituation ; f my Author, C*ci.r. une ahaire du coeur: 'Ti- hi c rft love who has fo t ir r.roufly ufeO, and all too, for -z'olvig on a nnjtilui'rinil print againji aJm rriji ration. Was it a conftitution?.! point to vore tint Mr. Wilkes's cempium:, of what he ca !~d :i b,-.-a-a[i of privi- lege (ti ugh it is plain, i ; the ..! dar.-.tio : of both hou!e.-, thi.t he was roc iutiruk i to privilege i;i thr.t cafe'. Hi >uld be reee ; v .: a; i attended to, be- a fo learn ma hai ^e Iro n the crown ? \\ T s it a .rational point to vot j that an add. els fnoo'd ef nted for a copy r' : the w r; mt, w . n the aufed were r.acca. ' o i - ! to produ' e r:a.;/;i in their defeuc. a t:r.* r. 'hority on which [ ^ ] which they acted ? Was it a conflhutional point to vote- that the warrants were illegal, and then, verv confidently, when a cure was offered for the evil which had been painted in fuch terrible colours, to neglect the application of the remedy? In anfwer to the Author only, If general warrants are, in- deed, fo radically and alarmingly dangerous to li- berty, why not thankfully lay hold on a bill which was framed to fupprefs them. Are the liberties of this country fo interwoven with the cenfure and condemnation of particular men, that they are to be left -open and unguarded, unlefs thefe can be liigrnatized and branded ? Is that man to be con- fid, red as a martyr to freedom and to conference, who is content to leave his countrymen expofed, unlefs his revenge be fir ft fatisfied ; who refufes to concur with any provifions for their relief, unlefs two victims are offered up to appeafe the manes of his indignation ? Words finely will ceafe toitand as masks and ilgns of things, if, to a conduct like this, patriotiim and liberty be applied. But to proceed ; the 1 6th page of the Counter- Addirfs fets out with half a quotation from the pamphlet: he is anfwering, an application of it, to whet he ir: fifes upo; it I ought to mean, ard an infe- rence drawn from the interpretation, which he him- fe'f has inverted. ~Di\vvjj ,-as in general are fanbii- fied ly cujlom, though jla!e phyfeians have cohfidercd them as a kind of extraordinary remedy &c. Thus the quotation which he afie:^, I muft mean to ap- ply fo the cafe of the gen,;-!. If he would have had the Lime's and ingenuity to have conficiered my words as they really flood, he would have found the pafTage as follows : With relp; ft to dif- rniffions in general, they are fo fanctified by : from, even by the conftan: cufcom of ihefb who, while in power, pructiicd them without remerfe, 2 though [ 27 3 though they are new condemning them without meafure, that I could fcarce hope for the publick attention were 1 to enlarge on them in the light of hardships, but the nafon of the omiiTion is very obvious : The imputing difmidions to former ad- minifl rations, could not io cleverly luit the purpoie of a patriot who was fo bitterly exclaiming againffc them at prePent. Behdes that, had he furfered himfelf to tranferibe my words as they (land print- ed, there would have been an end of ail that cwift- ing and turning, by which he very ingeniously makes believe that I was fpeaking of the general's difmiflion in the medical allufion there made ufe of. But let any man of common PenPe and can- dour perufe the paflage, and he will foon detect the artifice : Who are the flare phyficians there Ppoken of? Can they be any ether than thole by vvhofe cuftom difmifiions are fanflified, who, while in power, practifed them without remorfe, though tlicy now condemn them without meafure? ThePs are the ftate quacks, the High German Doners, who bid you beware of the poifons of others only in order to be paid for inftilling into you their own, Thcfe are they, who, unfkilfui in the regular treat- ment of patients, and fecrning to proceed in the method prefcrib.d by the Diipenfary, are ever hav- ing recourfe to pills and noitrums ; thofe violent remedies which patch up the constitution, whilft they deftroy the (lamina of the diPeafed : My ad- verfary will Purely think that I mull have had abet- ter attention to my [cy than to thin!: of libelling my patrons. The dePcription I was m'vmo: can never be appli- cable to [hoPe who adhere to aa 1 -addr method of practice, and who, if ever th y cut or;' an umounrf limb, 'tis only iv. pars Pine ra tiahcetur. k mull sind does relate to tiioUi who, in the late reazn, io [ 28 ] fcFten advifed what they are now fo loud in con- demning i and if the effects of this violence were metaphorically marked out, the defign of it is a plain one, to fet in a glaring point of view the confequences of the conduct : Their intention in proceeding to l'uch extremities, not an approbation of it, is fet before the public. The Author of thefe fheets utterly difclaims the iJea that members are to be intimidated. What he afferts, and what is juftified by fad: is, that in former reigns, and in former parliaments, mem- bers have teen intimidated by difmifiions; and that they were defigned fo to be, will not feem too bold an afTertion, when it is recollected, that the mini- ilers who advifed their di grace, did not fcruple to avow, that the caufe of fuch removal was the con- duct in parliament. But how is that in the leaft ap- plicable to the prefentadminiftration ? Have they affigned the reafon lor the difmiffion now in que- fticn ? Have they profefifed a defign to frighten members into fubmifiion ? With what conclufion of found realbning then can it be afllrted, that the defcription of the operation of difmiffions, affedts the prefent parliament. I have dwelt the longer on this fubjeel, becaufe my opponent, fenfible where the argument pinch- ed, has been induftrious to fhift ofF from the new patriots, but old minihVrs, a tenor of conduct which redounded fo iittie to their credit; and the abhorrence of which was not leficned by the rcadi- nefs with which they owned it : Away, then, with the pathetic lamentations and compl :iuts of the contemptuous uyle of iry Addrefs , wish the en- venomed appii ation to the fifteen oliicers, whom I fuppofe, bv id putting into a black hit, he vainly thinks [ 2 9 ] thinks to drive into oppohtion, by an appeal to their refentments. As a fpecimen of the accuracy of his compan- ion", and the juftnefs of his fimilitudes, hear him running a parallel between the general now in que- ftion and general Wolfe, whom he undertakes ve- ry modeftly to aflfert, that I mould have ftigma- tized had he been alive. His logic is of a cu- rious kind. Becaufe I infinuated that one general who was in parliament, might probably owe his rife, in fome meafure, to family alliance and par- liamentary connections-, and which I {till think very poflible, notwithstanding he ferved in two wars and a rebellion (for he rofe under minifters who promifed and threatned members of former parliaments) therefore had general Wolfe (who was not in parliament, and who never rofe by par* liamentary intereft) been living, I mould have given him little quarter. But this imputation, as well as that of having laid down as a pofition, that time-ferving in parliament, ought to be the great rule of judging of an officer's merit, fjfficiently an- fwer themfelves by being mentioned: Nor is he more fortunate in his references, than we have juit proved him in his quotation. Me de fires the Red Book to be examined, in order to invalidate my afiertion, that civil employments cf eminence are acquired by greater induftry, and more difficult to be, obtained than military , and that if the progred' in the former is more rapid, it is the fure mark o' uncommon genius aed proficiency, in anfwer which, I would only obferve, that in fuite of par- ticular exceptions, the general doctrine may he a true one; and if the particular initanee he has re- ferred to, derrogates from she axiom, I would axe him, v.'lio is to blame ? If th: Courr-Calendas ',:; tviderue, tiia r ureicrment is not the rev. mi < [ 3 ] common genius and proficiency in the civil and mi- litary lines, to whom is that fcandal owing, but to thofe who distributed the emoluments ? Who is it, think you, that has preferred nine tenths of thofe whofe names are now feen in the Red book ? Let him the next time he (hoots an arrow over the houfe, take care not to flay his brother. I am now got to the 1 9th page only of the Counter- Addrefs, and to about the two and fortieth mifre- prefentation. Aware, probably, that I would never ipeak the language he would have me, he goes a furer way to work, and freely puts my name t3 what it is his pleafure I fhould fay : the next objec- tion raifed, is to the aifertion, c that the army can- * not but think, that the general mould have given ' his affiftance to government, if he expected their ' fupport,' and he immediately betakes himfeif to what he all has along fappofed, (hat the general was difmiffed for the finale vote he crave relatincr to the warrants. I, on the contrary, pretend to afiigo no reafons for the difmiffion, much lei's could I think that the miniftry would reft their cau.'e on one fingle vote, when the totality of his opposition might be fo truely pleaded. Be that as it may, the aflertion remains in its full force. The doctrine is a general one, and cannot be impeached by a reference to this particular cafe \ every officer who bears the King's commiOion, ought to ailift government ; this not only the armv, but every fober citizen has a right to expect. The meafures and extent of that affif- tance may be difpenfed with, by particular inftances under the violence of defpotifm, in illegal, unconsti- tutional acts; but the pofition remains a true one, and if an application be in lifted on, I will put a quere to an ingenuous mind, which may fet this matter in its full light. Is it probable, that govern- ment Ihould be alvvavs lo adverfe to the true inte- rests [ 3' 1 reds of thofe it governs? Is it fo conftantly at war- fare with law, equity, and confcience, that an ho- ned man, who means to do his duty, mud: throw himfelf wholly into oppofition to it ? What then can the civil or military well-wifher to his country think, when he lees a gentleman very high in his profeffion, and under particular obligations to his fovereign, acting nine times in ten, in direct oppofition to the fervants of the crown? Will he not be tempted to imagine, that he fometimes acts for wrath, as well as for confcience fake ? And will he not fubfcribe to the opinion, that there mould be a reciprocity of projection and fupport between the prince and the iubject ? This is a bargain which is fo far from threatning flavcry, that it is the only way to be truly free : Take away the protection of the Prince, and we become a disorderly multitude, without confi- dence, without weight, without reftraints of any kind ; take away the fupport of the fubject, and it becomes the fable of the belly and the members. The happinefs of individuals, and the profperity of the nation, depend on the firmed union ; but my Author has fettled his hypothefis, and on he goes, without any regard either to text or context. Among the fentiments which, I thought it pro- bable the officers in the army might have on this difmiifioo, I mentioned the idea of retaliation ; they might imagine, that as the general went out of his way, and of his profeffion, to perplex and harrafs the King's, fervants, it is no wonder that retaliation might in fome fort take place ; a very natural, and a very innocent fuppofition, when underdood to be applicable to the whole conduct without door?, as well as within, of the general, and not to that par- ticular part of it which is fingled cut by my antago- nid. Indeed whoever reads his performance alone, would be tempted to conclude, that I had advanced E 2 a pro- [ 3* ] a proposition of a very dangerous nature-, it has quite loft him his temper, he falls into an extrava- gance of paffion, the effects of which, if continued in, can be little lefs than fatal to the delicate habit of his nerves : Yet fo tender are even his refent- ments, fo foft and gentle his upbraidings, that all he can work himfelf up to, is, to compare me to a fawning court chaplain. In anfwer to his queftions concerning a man's going out of his way, I will only tell him, that conftant declared enmity to admini- flration, declared by the lead equivocal of all figns, a uniform fyftem of conduct, cannot be in the way of a man, who has only confeience to plead. The fame account might, perhaps, be given of this mat- ter, which Falftaff renders, in the play, of Rebellion : Oppofition lay in his way, and he found it. Cur Author would probably wifh theprefent mi- nifters to be fo pitiful, as to reward and encourage men for letting them at defiance , to promote them for calling them ignorant and unable; to give them their favourite object, the Staff, the regiment of Blues, or of Artillery, for fiding, on the moil in- different cccafions, with their determined adverfa- rie?. This mode of conduct would, I trull, have been the only one that could have met with appro- bation, as it would have effectually fecured them the contempt of their friends, and bid fair for encreafing the number of their enemies. Page 24. I meet with the following words, * A * great miniffer would have confuted his opponent, ' with proofs of knowledge and talents :' But what confutation does a mere random charge (totally des- titute of any fiiadow of proof) of ignorance and ina- bility deferve ? What tokens of knowledge and ta- icnts could be wanting after the ninth of I a ft March, a day on which the oppofers were firuck dumb, when, [ 33 ] when, after all their boaited efforts, after all their calumniating charges, they found them felves forced to join in the unwilling commendation of talents, which their low induftry had been at work all the winter to depreciate ? Theoppofitionof thcCounter- Addrefs, like that of the general on whofe behalf it is written, is total. There is hardly a fingle pa- ragraph but what he nibbles and bites at. The conclufion I drew from the fentiments cf the army, I find, is by no means e.ifily digefted : I ob- ferved, that, with regard to military men, whenever they incur the difpleafure of their mafter, in matters wholly foreign to the military, they will be fo far from making a caufe commune, or from applying it to themfelves as any mark of difgrace, that it v. ill rather prove a me.ins of keeping them more clofely attached to the refpective bulineiTes before them. I am well aware of the reafon which makes him fo in- veterate againft the conclufion jult mentioned , it faps the very foundation of his defence, which, amongft many other laudable motives, had certainly in its contemplation, the uniting the officers in ge- nera!, but particularly thofe in parliament, as one man, to complain and inveigh againft the late dif- mifiion ; and for fear his infinuation, of the intended removal of the fifteen, fhould not meet with all that credit which he wifhed, he forbears addreiTina: o himfelf to their pafilons, and commences logl ian. The army, fays he, do think themfelves aggrieved, becaufe the general was difmifTed for nothing relat- ing to his profeffion : Even doling with him tor the fak- of argument, though I can by no means admit the afiertion in its full force, as I neither know, nor pretend to afilgn, the reafon (or which he was dif- m iTed, and consequently, will not point out any p.rt of his conduct, either civil or military, as a [ab- ject on which I can be bold enough to fay, that he was [ 34 ] was not di (miffed ; yet, upon the footinghe (rates it, with what colour or propriety can the officers of the army refent, as a difcouragement and an injury to their profeffion, a difgrace inflicted on an individual, for a fyftem of conduct in which, upon my Opponent's own fuppofition, he did not aft, and confequently could not incur his mailer's difpleafure, as a foldier ? Thofe officers, furely, muft be very ripe for mur- muring, who can think themfelves aggrieved, be- caufe a man has fuffered in circum fiances, which it is morally impoffible they can ever be placed in. What ilandard would my Author chute for the con- tinuance of officers ? Ts mere length of fervice to fu- percede every other neceffity ? By what tenure does he think that com millions mould be held; not I hope by the pleafure, and at the will of the officers who enjoy them ? Is he really fo wedded to his mi- litary friend, as to bring himfeif to be of opinion, that councils of officers alone ought to have the power of difmiffion ? Is he fo diffatisfied with the form cf government, under which he now lives, as to wifh to take from his fovereign, the power of ap- pointing or difmiffing the officers of the army ? Or is the fervice of the crown fuch an abject flavery, that confcience and emolument are things in them- felves incompatible ? Is it only the fervice of this mailer that he objects to ? But what of thole who held the great offices cf flare in former reigns, were thefe all juft, all honourable men, though loaded with the favours and great employments of the crown? Or dies he hold inftantaneous converfion, and that a wicked blundering ftatefman becomes an uncorrupt difintercfted patriot, by bellowing a<>ainft the court? What a pretty firing of quips and quid- dities has my delicate adverfary introduced ? To ferve their King and country is net enough, they muft ferve minijiers alfo\ the only Jecurily of honours, is the forfeiture of honours. Is it, I would afk, from the depth [ 35 ] depth of his ignorance, or of his experience, thac he fpeaks thus of courts and minilters ? Is patriotifm perfect freedom ; and are heat and zeal, malice and virulence, perhdy and ingratitude, confined only to one fide of the queftion ? Whoever dips in party, cannot fay to himfelf, Hitherto will I go, and no far- ther ; fome few of the leaders, indeed, may flop at the gap, before they think of trefpaffing, but the herd jump blindly through, directed by the bell-weather It is really aftonifliing, that at a time when moderate men had flattered themfelves with the hopes of the total extinction of party, there mould (till be fuch perturbed fpirits, as to wilh to revive thofe odious diftinctions among us, which have abated io much of the outward fplendor of thefe kingdoms, as well as of their internal felicity : Not content with the Hand- ing dimes of Whig and Tory, the word Jacobite is introduced, and I have already accounted for the Author's partiality to this denomination ; the thing is exploded : Away then with the name. No man, fays he, but a Jacobite can wifh to fee an extenfion of the prerogative : But what is it I have been contending for, that the King ihould enjoy in the Mate, what every private individual pofTeiles in his own family , the right of appointing and difmiff- ing the perfons by whom he chules to be ferved. If this were a new proportion, unheard of even till to-day, is there any thing prepofterous and unrea- fonable in it? But is it an extenfion of the preroga- tive ? Have not his Maj fty's royal anceftors enjoyed this privilege for ages, in its fulleft extent, and have not fome of the moil forward patriots of this hour, been the men who both advifed and avowed the exertion of this privilege P I would remind my readers, that an extenfion of the prerogative, is not now the extreme which we have the molt re a ion to be afraid of; thole who v\ould lefTen and cramo tbs H k'iO.vn C 36 ] known legal rights of the crown, do equal differvice to their country, and are as wide from the true fpi- rit of its conftitution, as they are, who would wifli to fee the increafe of the fovereign's power: Thofe levellers who, under pretence of confuiting the ho- nour of their mailer, and of aflifting him, are tak- ing the moil effectual methods, that he mall not be able to make any refinance to their outrages. Whenever the Addrefs (peaks a language unfa- vourable to the fentiments, and, perhaps, not ea- fily to be anfwered by his antagonift, quoting the half only, of the paragraph, fuits his purpofe very well ; at other times, when there is a poffibility of diftorting the fentence to fome very {trained mean- ing, the plain and obvious fenfe is immediately foregone, and an interpretation introduced, in order to give to his argument fome colour and plaufibility : Thus p. 28, after citing from the Addrefs the fol- lowing words, " I do know that, altogether, he has received much public money, and I have no room to doubt (as the greateft part of it was given under his Grace's adminiftration) that an equal fervice wa3 performed ;" he adds, that if this paragraph has any meaning, it implies, that the Duke of N paid the general for his behaviour in parliament : but had he been pleafed to have attended to the argument, which he has thought it worth his while to mifre- preftnt, he cou!d net have allowed himfeif an affer- tion of this kind. In the confederation of that part of the fubj.cl, which enquired what injury had been done to the general as an individual, though no writ of damages has illued, it was not furely a very unnatural ques- tion to afk, What has the general done, that gives him a right to the continuance of his employments? Ha* h performed any fij;nal fervice to his coun- try ? L 37 3 try ? Have the parliament voted him their thanks for any particular exertion of his military fkill and prowefs? The refult of tlvs enquiry produced an afiertion, or rather a belief, that if the accounts, debtor and creditor, were fiirly fettled between the general and the public, the latter would not be found to be much in debt. Let the Addrefs fpeak foritfelf; the words are as follow: Bejides, what foldier ever ferved for pay, and yet even in point of for- tune, upon cajling up the bill, will the public be found in the general' s debt ? His appointments have been very con fder able for a great length of time, to which, if we add the large increafe which he derived from be- ing left Commander in chief in Germany, /hey could form a fum fuffiaent to outbalance the defer vings of many military men. The epithet of public, applied to money, plainly pointed out, (if it was not exprefftd totidem verbis) that it meant thole civil and military emoluments which he had been receiving for fome ye.ms, (par- ticularly while he was commander in chief In Ger- many) and mould at lead have fecured the para- graph from the invidious turn now given it, that it was intended to defcribe fums of money paid lor the general's behaviour in parliament. I will enter, cr.ee again, my proteft againft fuch a difiicer.ee of the integrity of any of the people's reprefentatives, whatever way or courfe the general's preferments came in, the reafoning I have juft mentioned re- mains unimpeached. Me has received much public money in the civil and military lines. What has he done for it ? 1 anfwer, in m\ Author's words, page 7. of the Counter- Addrefs, " he has never had the hap- pinefs of atchieving any aclion of remarkable eclat -," though I cannot help imagining, that my readies, v ho have had the patience to attend me thus far, F are [ 3S ] are fully tired by this time, and reafonably convinced of the pitiful fhifts and evafions to which my Op- ponent has been reduced, in order to render this at- tack even plaufible; and though the fubjecl in itfelf of a ferious kind, will not admit of much amufement to beguile them into a perufal of the conclufion of this difpute, yet I will flatter myfelf with their at- tention for a few pages longer. If we are to judge cf our Author's religion, by the fingular idea he gives us of his loyalty, we mall not doubt in the leaft of his being a perfect quietift ; his veneration for his Prince (perhaps too for his God) will not permit him to name him. I pafs over the trifling apology which he makes for the general's filence on Wilkes's affair -, and his ill founded arTertion, that he was often up to fpeak, but never pointed to. Such minutiae as thefe, coincide not with the great outline of any man's reafoning, and, whether true or falfe, but very trivially affect thefubject in debate: I chufe, therefore, to proceed to a more capital article, the endeavour- ing to prove that the general was not in oppofition, and in p. 33, inltead of any circumftances adduced, inftead of any particular reafons pointed out, he fatis- fieshimfelf (how far others may take up with fuch fort of fatisfa&ion I will not pretend to determine) with a dogmatical affertion, that not only from January the 16th, to February the 17th, but from Novem- ber 15, to April 19, the general was not once of a different opinion from the King's fervants, but on the Angle affair of the warrants. In anfwer to this, I will aflfert, that the general was totally in oppofi- tion : 1 appeal to the jirjl day of the feffions for the truth of it. This fingle inftance (hall he fufficient, though fome others might be mentioned, t-i ually known and convincing to invalidate his affrrti n. Leaving, therefore, my antago iittocige ? t this con- viflion as he may, on which 1 would t:euy reft 'he merits [ 39 ] merits of my caufe, the affiftance urged to have been given in the matter of Dun, is too ridiculous to be dwelt on: I haften, therefore, to the next particular, which fmells fo ftrongly of the cabinet, that I muft not pafs it unobferved. He had de- clared to a minifter before witnefs, in the moft ex- prefs terms, that he was not, nor intended to be en- gaged in oppofition. For my own part, I have fo little fkill in ftate intrigues, that I cannot readily conceive, what could have occafioaed fuch a meet- ing between a minifter and the general, much lefs what could have brought him to a formal difavowal of the oppofition and its adherents. I have no fuch enthufiaftick ideas of any man's truth as to truft to his words, when they are given the lye to by his actions , a temporizing fpirit may indeed for a while amufe an honed unfufpicious man by profefiions, but when the field is taken and the action com- menced, fads are too ftubborn things to be explained away by declarations. Thus then the matter {lands, with regard to the general's oppofition : His grofs invectives again ft the minifter (and which were not confined, as my Author would pretend, to the fubjects of the war- rants, but were very vague and unreftrained) evi- dently fhewed his heart and intention? to be as anti- minifteria!, as his frequent fidingwith the minority did, that he was per finally in oppofition. I come now (and Fatigued I am indeed, after wading through fo much fophifm) to the 37th page, where, after afierting that the plan of furprizirig Rochefort, was one of the vigorous meafures of that great miniver Mr. Fitr, he is pleated to add, 4 The patrons of our author always called that 4 fcheme one of Mr. Pitt's vniuiis.' How inf.tiabie e 2 is [ 40 ] is my opponent's appetite for abufe ! Not fatisfied with that torrent of illiberal language agamft one to whofc perfon and character he is an utter {Gran- ger, the venom of his malice extends ilfejf to the fuppofrd friends and protestors of his unknown en- tity which he has been combating. But who are my patrons ? Why are his fhafts directed againft their blamelefs bcfoms ? Does he fufpect them to be th-Te whom he his flattered, iolicited, and flnmefuSIy deferted ? Is this the righteous caufe cf fo extraordinary an indignation? And furely, undiftinguifhing muft that fury be, which facrifices men whofc names he knows not, and charges them with opinions, which owe their exigence folely to his own fancy. But who could ever call one of the nobleft attempts to lower the infolence of France a vifion ? or treat that fcheme as vifionary, which was directly levelled at the total deftruction of the marine of that haughty rival power ? The Author of thefe meets does recoilect (but not among his patron?) a noble perfonage, who conftanily hewed great averfentfs to the plan, and pronounced it from the Brft an idea! undertaking, even though an eleve of his own had a great fhare in directing the engineers on the expedition : But our favourite genera!, it feems, nuiil be brought off at all events. He did not commma at R< che- fort. True; but the fuccefs of that attempt de- pended on the fecond in command: And I am afraid our Author ha- not got a complete lift of thoh- who have ceded with them, when he talks of Sir J nM 1, ho, upon enquiry, will be found ,o have divided much oftner with the mino- rity th :\ vvich the miniflry. The next time he mentions his darling general's courage 'I do nor here fpeak for myfelf, becaufc I have explicitly de- clared [ 41 J dared my belief of it) I would have him, for fear of infidels, quote fome more refpectable authority than a jeft at the Earl of C d's Tabic. But to my Author's tender fenfations, courage may per- haps feem a foorifo, brutal virtue, which men mu(t be content to mare in common with lions and bears ; and therefore he fpoke jeftingly of it. As far as my opinion may be of weight, I mufb own that I have ever thought it a quality in which there is more of conftitution than of merit, and the want of which I would no more impute to man as a crime, than I would condemn him for the colour of his hair, or the complexion of his {kin. I will not mifpend the time of my readers in dwel- ling upon my opponent's invective againft anufe-, obferving only in the general, that gratitude furely fhould have induced him not to have fpoken ill of a weapon which he hid lb notably handled-, but railing, it feems, like fome other ufeful lervants, is immediately to be difcarded when it has once ferved the turn. The 43d page of the Counter- Addrefs, is a cu- rious fpecimen of the mode of reaioning which our Author adopts, and which may be the more proper to be infilled on, as it is prefaced with a vaunting defiance to his adverfary's argument, and a hope that, after the Anfwer which he (hall give fo it, no o c will be fo audacious as to mention it for the future, As it has been foecioufly urged, that the general i offered for maintaining the caufe of his country, in the particula: initan-e of voting the warrants to be illegal, 1 ventured to refer to the general's conduct, fubfequ nt to the traniaction of that day, as io a teil hew ai the freedom or his fellow fubjedts vvas the real motive for the vote given; [ 42 ] given; and inferred, as I (till think I am at liberty to do, that if he had really intended the fecurity of his councrymen only, and not the condemna- tion of individuals, he would have exerted all his influence in fupport of the bill propofed to regu- late the iffuing of fecretary's warrants for the fu- ture. But behold the fecret betrayed. The party finding their efforts baffled, and that they could ob- tain no refolution condemning the warrants which had beeniffucd, and which, legal or not, had been figned by slmofl: every fecretary of flate fince the Revolution, leave their countrymen, whojuftnow were not th her moriei for themfelves to de- vour. 2 F 1 N UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 67.1 07G9Zr A reply to the Counte ad "ress. 000 098 679 4 DA 67.1 C7G9Zr . !*.:> ' K K~