UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES T/TO HISTORIC DISSERTATIONS. I. ON THE CAUSES OF THE MINISTERIAL SECESSION, A.D. 1717. II. ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER, Concluded A.D. 1725. WITH SOME PREFATORY REMARKS, IN REPLY TO THE ANIMADVERSIONS OF THE REV. WILLIAM COXE, IN HIS MEMOIRS OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. BY WILLIAM BELSHAM. TELUMQUE IMBELLE, SINE ICTU CONJECIT. VIRGIL. LONDON: PRINTED FOR G. G. AND J. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1 *DCC I XCV1II. REMARKS. TT ~"> Al A VING formed a determination to avoid, if poflible, any controverfial difcuffions, it was t; a matter of real concern to find myfelf at- ^ tacked in fuch a mode by the Rev. W. Coxe, Jin his late Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, ""' as to render fome animadverfions on my part, and in my own defence, abfolutely neceiFary. The only inftance of this kind which has oo before occurred was in the cafe of Major ' Scott, who took up the pen in vindication <** of his friend, Mr. Haftings, with a warmth =j and zeal not only to be excufed but applauded, notwithstanding the occafional afperity of his obfervations. The remarks of that gentle- man were, however, blended and foftened with conceffions and compliments, which --. mowed that he did not wifh to hold me up jto the world as a writer devoid of merit, or c as a man devoid of principle. And in a a 2 private 301264 iv PREFATORY REMARKS. private letter with which I was favored from him, he fays, " I am much obliged and flat- " tered by the attention which you have " paid to the documents which I fent to " you ; and I have fo high an opinion of " your candor and fairnefs as to be convinced, " that, after having perufed all the materials " relating to India, you will, in the next " edition of your hiftory, or in a continua- " tion of it, do Mr. Haftings the juftice to " which you may think him fairly entitled, " and I have not a wifh beyond that point.'* On the other hand, I truft, that my reply to him is expreilive of deference and reipecl, though it was not in my power to change my fetttiments relative to the main points or difference between us. But in regard to Mr. Coxe the cafe is far otherwife. 'In his fre- quent references to the hiftory of the Houfe of Brunfwick, he has not once deviated into civility ; but, on the contrary, he has taken infinite pains to reprefent the writer as uni- formlv actuated by a factious and malignant r ' fr 1 i 11 ipint, in unqualified terms deer) ing the work as calculated only to miilead and to deceive ; i and PREFATORY REMARKS. v and his objections, with a very few excep- tions, are dictated by that perverfenefs which fhows a predetermination not to be fatisficd. But what right or pretence has Mr. Coxe to call in queftion the motives of any perfon whofe general character {tangs unimpeached, and who may happen to view pair or preient events in a lis;ht different from himfelf ? I O fhould indeed be lorry that the greateft pro- vocation could draw from my pen reflections fo illiberal and infolent as thole which abound in Mr. Coxe's Memoirs, with no provocation at all. Had I employed my talents, luch as they are, in vindication of thofc who difpcnfe at their will public honors and rewards, my time would have been perhaps more profitably {pent, and I had probably efcaped the calum- nies of Mr. Coxe ; but the pen would have dropped from my hand had I attempted the talk of defending the meafures of the laft ten years. If ever it mall fall to my lot to treat of the unhappy times in which we live, and of the caufes in which our prefent misfor- tunes have originated, regardlels of unme- rited reproach, I (hall, as I have hitherto a 3 done, vi PREFATORY REMARKS. done, with frricl: hiftoric impartiality, exte- nuate nothing, nor fet down aught in malice. The general obfervations prefixed to the laft edition of the Brunfwick hiftory, it may be hoped, have fufficiently refcued the author from the imputation with fuch unaccountable effrontery brought againft him, of reprefent- ing the adminiftration of Sir Robert Walpole " as an uniform mafs of corruption and de- " pravity." The dhTertations now offered to the world are intended to confirm and cor- roborate the general tenor of the narrative which Mr. Coxe has attempted to invalidate, in relation to the fyftem of foreign politics, which that great minifter was compelled in a certain degree to adopt and to defend. The prefent prefatory remarks are defigned curforily to notice the fpecific objections urged againft particular pafTages of the work. The few corrections which appear to be neceflary would have been filently made, had not the patronage which Mr. Coxe has obtained, the literary reputation which he has acquired, and the value of the original papers PREFATORY REMARKS. vii papers annexed, given his publication an adventitious importance, which feems to demand a degree of attention otherwife en- tirely fuperfluous. THE firft, and indeed one of the moft important charges brought againft the hif- torian of the Houfe of Brunfwick, is " that, " in common with other party writers, he has " faid fo much of the feverity fhewn by " Government to the people who took up " arms in favor of the Pretender, that it " might be fuppofed thoufands and tens of " thoufands had fallen a facrifice to their ff miftaken principles ; that no clemency was " fhewn to any of the rebels, no diftinclion " made between the leaders and their de- " luded followers." Memoirs of Walpole, vol. I. p. 73. For the reprefentations, or mifreprefentations, of others, the writer of the hiftory is not reiponfible. All that he has faid on the fubjecl: is as follows : " Al- ^ though the rebellion in both kingdoms a 4 " was viii PREFATORY REMARKS. " was thus happily and fpeedily fuppreffed, " the clemency of the Kino- did not appear J O i L " fo confpicuous as might have been wilhed " and reafonably expeded." After men- tioning the affecting circumftances attend- ing the condemnation of the rebel Lords, it is added, " Many of the lower clafies of the " people alfo fell a facrifke to the fatal " delufion of thofe mifiaken principles which " led them to engage in this revolt, which " might, in all human probability, have been " eafily prevented by the adoption of a more 16 equitable and generous policy," at the fame time exculpating the King from the imputation of intentional harfhnefs and cruel- ty. The writer, it feems, was mifled by the " peevim queftion" of Lord Somers, " Whe- " ther the Mini/try meant to revive the " profcriptions of Marius and Sylla ?" (which by the way referred merely to the impeachments previous to the rebellion), to take in its full latitude the malignant afler- tion of Bolingbroke, '* that the violence of " the V/higs dyed the roval ermines in " bluud." Mr. Coxe tells us that the exe- cutions PREFATORY REMARKS. ix cutions at Maijchefler and Prefton amount- ed only to twenty-two. But we nruft be certified of the number in all other places, Scotland as well as England, before we can pronounce upon the lenity of the Govern- ment, even in this point. That the royal clemency " did not appear ib confpicuous " on this occafion as might have been vvilhed " and reafonably expecled" was the fenti- ment of divers of the beil friends of Govern^ ment, then living, with the beft oppor- tunities of judging. In oppofition to the opinion of fome, who, like Mr. Coxe, faw no errors in the conduct of the Minifters for the time being, Mr. Smith, late Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, in the reign of King William and Queen Anne, a man highly and univerfally efteemed, thus ex- preifed himfelf in a fpeech delivered in the Houfe of Commons April 1717: "Was " it not a miftake not to preferve the peace " at home, after the King was come to " the throne with the univerfal applaufe 44 and joyful acclamations of all his fubjecls ? " Was it not a miftake upon the break- " ing x PREFATORY REMARKS. " ing out of the rebellion not to iflue a " proclamation to offer pardon to fuch as " mould return home peaceable, as had " ever been praclifed before upon fuch oc- " cafions ? Was it not a miftake after the " fuppreffion of the rebellion, and the trial " and execution of the principal authors " of it, to keep up animolities and drive " people to defpair, by not paffing an Act " of Indemnity and Grace, by keeping fo " many perfons under hard and tedious " confinement, and by granting pardons to " fome without leaving them any means " to fubfift r" But Mr. Coxe is apparently of opinion that no punimment mort of the lofs of life deferves the name of feverity 5 and he is yet to learn that there are pu- nifhments far worfe than death. Nay, he thinks that thefe punifhrnents may proper- ly pafs under the denomination of mercy ! How different are the ideas affixed to the fame word ! and how romantic to a mind unfeafoned with humanity muft appear the definition of the Poet : The PREFATORY REMARKS. xi The quality of mercy is not ftrained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice bleft : It blefleth him who gives, and him who takes : *Tis mightieft in the mighty it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown ; It is an attribute of GOD himfelf And earthly power doth then fhew likeft GOD'S When Mercy feafons Juftice. SHAKSPEARE. P. 291. On the motion of Mr. Shippen, that . 700,000 only, inftead of the entire revenue of the Civil Lift, as propofed by Sir Robert Walpole, mould be fettled on the new King, Geo. II. it is faid, Hiftory of the Houfe of Brunfwick, vol. I. p. 172, " that " the amendment was rejected by a great " majority," but Mr. Coxe enjoys a minute triumph, by announcing, in important lan- guage, that it was rejected without a divifion. Mr. Coxe (p. 302), ftruck with admira- tion where other writers, and the Hiftorian of the Houfe of Brunfwick in particular, have expreffed indignant contempt, fliles the Treaty concluded with the Duke of Wol- fenbuttle, xii PREFATORY REMARKS. fenbuttle, Nov. 1727, "a maftcr-piece of policy." To this Treaty the Lord Chan- cellor King refuted to affix the Great Seal, previous to its ratification by Parliament ; and certainly, fo far as the interefts of Great Britain alone are concerned, it muft be regarded as the moil prepofterous of all diplomatic tranfa&ions. The Duke of Wol- fenbuttle engages to guarantee to his Bri- tannic Majeity the pofTeffion of his three kingdoms for the douceur of . 100,000, to be paid in four years, and to keep in rea- dinefs for his fervice a body of 5ooo troops during that term. But in the political tragi- comedy acling at this time there are two plots, and the under-plot is, by far, the molt important and intereftirig. Though the Preliminaries of a General Pacification were at this time figned they were not rati- fied. A final arrangement had not taken place ; the affairs of Germany were ilill in a critical fituation, and Hanover might be eventually expofed to the formidable at- tacks of Auftria and Rurlia. In this ftatc of things the alliance of the Duke of Wol- fenbuttle PREFATORY REMARKS. xiii fcnbuttle was, unqueftionably, of no incon- fiderable moment. An agreement had been concluded between him and the Emperor, by which his Serene Highnefs, without pre- tending to guarantee to his Imperial Ma- jefty the pofleflion of his kingdoms, in con- fideration of an annual fubfidy of 200,000 florins, confented to admit an Auftrian gar- rifon into the City of Brunfwick. This was, probably, only meant to excite the alarm of the Court of tjerenhaufen ; for it is to the laft degree improbable that the Duke of Brunfwick mould really intend to facilitate the entrance of an army of Auftrians, and much lefs of Ruffians, into the Circle of Lower Saxony. In thefe cir- cumftances the Treaty with Great Britain was concluded ; and had the troops which his Serene Highnefs. engaged to hold in readi- nefs been actually brought into the field, the fubfidy muft, no doubt, have been in- creafed to an unknown and enormous amount. The Treaty of Wolfenbuttle was evidently one of the innumerable, fry of Treaties xiv PREFATORY REMARKS. Treaties fpawned by that great Leviathan the TREATY of HANOVER. P. 409. Mr. Coxe has, with peculiar in- genuity, contrived to reproach the hiftorian of the Houfe of Brunfwick for " invariably " decrying the Walpole adminiftration," at the very moment that he is compelled to ad- mit his decided reprobation of the motion of Lord Morpeth (vol. I. p. 340), " though " fupported with all the ftrength of his fa- " vorite party," as tending to eftablifh a fyftem of military independence. P. 412. The writer of the Erunfwick Hif- tory is ftigmatifed as a " partial reporter," and charged with a " wilful fuppreflion of " argument," becaufe, on the debate which arofe on Sir John St. Aubyn's motion for the repeal of the Septennial A6t, he has quoted a famous pafTage in Sir William Wyndham's Speech, without noticing Sir Robert Wai- pole's reply. But it furely does not belong to the province of general hiftory to detail the arguments PREFATORY REMARKS. xv arguments on both fides in every parlia-r mentary debate. This would be a tedious and endlefs tafk indeed ! It is fufficient if, on all queftions of importance, the grounds and reafons on which our judgments are to be formed, prefent themfelves to view in the re- gular courfe of the narration. On the prefent occafion, the arguments are given on neither fide; having previoufly occurred at the intro- duction of the Septennial Bill. The quo- tation from Sir William Wyndham was tranf- cribed as an hiftorical curiofity, which it is abundantly obvious from the general tenor of the work that the hiftorian could never mean to fanction with his approbation. P- 55"9- Mr. Coxe difcufTes the fubjedl of Sir John Barnard's celebrated motion for reducing the rate of intereft on the Public debts, and eventually abolifhing thofe taxes which mo ft heavily oppreffed the poor and the manufacturer. In the fpeech which that diftinguifhed Citizen and Patriot made in de- fence of this motion, Mr. Coxe is pleafed to affirm, " that he betrayed fuch a conruuon of " projects xvi PREFATORY REMARKS. " projects and indiftinctnefs of ideas, afTumed " fo many principles which were untrue, " and fo violently tranfgreffed the bounds of " parliamentary engagement that the motion " was negatived by 200 againft 14.2!" as if a mere majority againft the motion were proof incontrovertible of the truth of his bold and flanderous aflertions. The charge againft the hiftorian of the Houfe of Brunfwick relative to this bufmefs is, that in fpeaking of the Bill ordered on the bafis of Winnington's propo- fition (vol. I. p. 380), which was a mere ex- tenfion of Sir John Barnard's original motion, he declares " that being in the fequel warmly " attacked and faintly defended, it was finally " poftponed to a diftant day, by a motion of the " Minifter." In which fhort account Mr. Coxe pretends to the merit of difcovering three errors. Firft, it was not faintly de- fended. The fa6t is, that Winnington's re- folutions on the Report were carried by a majority of 220 to 157 voices ; but, on the J queftion of commitment, fo much had the zeal of the Partizans of the Bill declined, and that of its opponents increafed, that it was PREFATORY REMARKS, xvii was negatived by 249 to 1 34 voices ; fo that it is plain the Bill was not only faintly defend- ed, but abfolutely abandoned by great num- bers of its pretended friends ; though, in point of argument, no doubt ftrongly fup- ported by its real ones. Secondly, it was not finally poftponed to a diftant day, but the fecond reading was only put off for feven days. Thirdly, it was then negatived, but not on the motion of the Minifter. So cap- tious a Critic as Mr. Coxe mould at leaft be careful to quote accurately. The expreffion in the original is neither a motion, or the mo- tion ; but fimply, by motion of the Minifter, which, in hiftoric though not parliamentary phrafeology, might., by a very candid re- marker, be conftrued as equivalent to fug- gejlion. But in fuch a cafe as this it is much eafier and better to correct than to defend, and the general ftaterhent may, without he- iitation, be thus amended " which being " in the fequel warmly attacked, and faintly " defended, was finally loft on the motion of " commitment." b Not xviii PREFATORY REMARKS. Not fatisfied with the reafons afligned, in the able and eloquent fpeech of Sir Robert Walpolc, for the diffent of the Minifter, Mr. Coxe has been kind enough to fuggeft two others, the refult of his own happy faga- city. i ft. " He forefaw, from the difputes " with Spain, which then began to arife, that " the nation might be involved in a war, " and that Government could borrow with " greater facility at four per cent than three." From this it appears, that the profound knowledge of Mr. Coxe, in matters of re- venue, has led him to conceive, in cafe the public funds were reduced to three per cent intereft, that the Government would be neceffarily limited to the fame rate of in- tereft in the negotiating of a new loan. 2dly. " Sir Robert Walpole entertaining," as Mr. Coxe tells us, "a defign of alienating the ." whole furplus of the linking fund, feared " this intention would be fruftrated by a plan " which would have rendered it neceflary to " impofe new taxes, for the purpofe of fup- * c plying the incidental expences." But with the PREFATORY REMARKS, xix the permiffion of this great financier, fup- pofing the taxes eventually abolifhed equal in amount to the faving propofed to be made by the redu&ion of intereft, the furplus of the finking fund would remain precifely the fame; and in cafe of a war, the Minifter would poflefs the advantage of being enabled to de- fray the increafed expence, by merely re- viving old taxes inftead of adding new ones. Mr. Coxe is difpleafed that Mr. Pelhain's plan of reduction, A.D. 1749-50, is defcribed as " fimilar to the original fcheme propofed " by Sir John Barnard." He declares it to be " effentially different ;" and knowledge of finance being his forte, he expects us doubtlefs to acquiefce in his ipfe dixit, in lieu and in abfence of all argument. Sir John Barnard himfelf probably thought otherwife, as according to Mr. Coxe's own acknow- ledgment, the plan of Mr. Pelham was car- ried into effect againft much oppofition, by the united efforts of Sir John Barnard and the Minifter. In the concife account given of the debate b 2 (vol. xx PREFATORY REMARKS. (vol. I. p. 372) A.D. 1737, on a motion made by the Oppofition for a reduction of the ftanding military force, a charge is brought, of having " fhamefully mifreprefented the " fpeech of Sir Robert Walpole ;" and a tranfcript is given from Smollet, to fhow " how " carelefsly the hiftorian of the Houfe of *' Brunfwick has copied his narrative, and ' added his own errors." Undoubtedly in this, and in feveral other paflages, free ufe has been made, and Mr. Coxe has availed himfelf in the fame manner (vide p. 563-9, &c.) of the fuccincl parliamentary reports of Dr. Smol- let, which are fometimes fpirited and judi- cious. And in all inftances of this kind the copier is beyond queftion refponfible for the adopted errors of the copy, as well as for thofe more peculiarly his own. For Smollet's ex- prefiion of the " adherents of the Minifter" the copier has ufed the term Miniilry ; he has fubftituted the word predominate for pre- vail, and frequent Parliaments for triennial Parliaments, &c. Perhaps thefe trifling varia- tions, as they allow fcope for the petulance* of cavil, had been better avoided. The author followed PREFATORY REMARKS. xxi followed in this inftance is never fafely to be confided in as an authority ; and upon refer- ring to the report of the debate, as it ftands in Chandler, Mr. Coxe's remark appears to be juft, " that Smollet imputes to the adherents " of the Minifter expreffions which were only " ufed by one individual member" Colonel Mordaunt. " And,' 1 he adds, " Belmam, " omitting the words adherents 0/~and putting " only the Miniftry, leaves the reader to fup- u pofe that Walpole himfelf, or fome of the " Miniftry, had been fo abfurd as to declare " a (landing army neceffary, to fupport the '* Whig intereft." But this is mere trifling ; if the doctrine thus promulgated was heard in iilence by the Minifter. that filence muft un- avoidably be interpreted into confent. Sir Robert Walpole on this, and indeed on all occafions, affected to fpeak of the Whigs as the only perfons who were real friends to the Government, and of the Tories as concealed Jacobites ; and he concluded his fpeech with faying, " the lefs number of regular troops we " keep up the more we fhall always be ex- " pofed to this danger." And on a former and xxii PREFATORY REMARKS. and fimilar occafion, A.D. 1733, Mr/Horace Walpole had been abjurd enough to declare, " that the number of troops then propofed " was abfolutely neceffary to fupport his Ma- " jetty's Government, and would be neceffary " fo long as the nation enjoyed the happinefs " of having the prefent illuftrious family on " the throne." On which Mr. Shippen pro- nounced " the mafque to be at length thrown " off, and that the exifting military force, " hitherto continued only from year to year, " was plainly intended to be perpetual." P. 609. Mr. Coxe treats of the Danifh Subfidy Treaty, concluded A.D. 1739- " As " this Treaty," fays he, " was concluded " foon after the difpute concerning Steinhorft, " and as the caftle and lordihip were at the " fame time ceded by Denmark to Hanover, " the Oppofition naturally coupled thefe two " events together ; and when the Treaty was " announced to the Houfc of Commons, fug- " gefted that the compromife had been made 1726, that nobleman fays, " The Englifh " Miniftry cannot fupport themfelves otherwife " than by troubling and confounding' matters. " We mult wait to fee whether the nation will " fuffer )N THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 81 h fuffer themfelves to be led away blindly any " longer. Do they fay that there is a fecret " engagemeilt entered into in the offenfive alli- " ance refpefting Gibraltar ? That is the greateft " untruth, as the Treaty itfelf (hews. Do they " fay that an agreement is made concerning the " Pretender ? That is likewife the greateft un- " truth that can be imagined. Let them afk " all the Jacobites whether they have heard " one word from us or from Spain that could be " conftfued to mean fuch an enterprife, fo long " as we do not enter into a war : but then we " mall help ourfelves as well as we can. As to " the commerce of Oflend, we have already made " fuch fteps as fhew the peaceable defires of his " Imperial Majefty, and we are ready every moment " to S farther- Do they talk of a marriage be- " tween an Archdutchefs and Don Carlos ? It " is very wonderful that they would prevent by " a war now a cafe that is fo far from happen- " ing ; which would not be avoided by a war " were it intended ; which is a cafe put, but <{ not granted. What danger can Europe un- " dergo by that ? This only ; that Don Carlos *' being a Prince of the houfe of Bourbon, the " ftrict union between France and Spain and ^ this houfe will be promoted. But if France ' itfelf, as it feems, oppofes this,, and don't care Q " that 82 ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. " that a cadet of that family fliould rife fo high, " then this fixes a difunion between France and " Spain, which was attempted to be fixed by fo " long and bloody a war," alluding doubtlefs, to the war of the fucceffion. This letter refolves the famous political problem, whether the Court of Vienna had really at this period entered into ferious engagements with Spain for the reftora- tion of the Pretender. It always appeared highly improbable to all reflecting and impartial perfons, that this Jhould be the fat, notwith- ftanding the pofitive aflertion of the King of England in his fpeech from the throne ; and it is now manifeft, to an hiftorical demonftration, that the intelligence upon which the Court of London relied in this inftance was wholly erro- neous, from whatever quarter, or with whatever view or intention, it might have been commu- nicated. Yet Mr. Coxe tells us (MEMOIRS of Walpole, vol. i. p. 251), with this letter of M. Zinzendorf lying open before him, " that the " papers and documents fubmitted to his infpec- " tion, fully difplay the proofs on which the " reality of the fecret articles of the Treaty of " Vienna was formed > and which produced the " public declaration of the King, that the Em- " peror and King of Spain propofed the reftora- " tion of the Pretender." If this cloudy jargon be ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 83 be intended to convey a belief of the reality of this defign, let him produce thofe papers and documents which he pretends have been fub- mitted to his infpecHon, and which (hall out- weigh and fuperfede the pofitive confidential declaration of the Imperial Prime Minifter to the Imperial Ambaflador actually refident at the Court of London. They are probably to be found in the fame repofitory with thofe " incon- fionally adopted ; and which in fome, he flat- ters himfelf not many, inftances may poffibly be thought to have exceeded the indefinite and almoft indifcernible limits of an exacl: and fcru- pulous decorum. But the author of the Hiftory in queftion has been very cautious in imputing criminal motives to any man j and more efpe- cially in charging any perfon with the far greater culpability of acling deliberately and intention- ally upon them. The probability certainly in the eftimate of candor is, that Mr. Pitt has been able to perfuade himfelf that his conduct hath, upon the whole, been wife and juft. It is at leaft impoffible to deny that he has fucceed- ed in infufmg this belief MONSTROUS as it ap- pears to others into the minds of very many perfons, both in and out of Parliament, of the higheft refpeclability and integrity : and he himfelf may, without doubt, have been, in a great degree, the dupe of his own fafcinating eloquence. " A fairer fpirit loft not heaven." But the confideration which can alone intereft the public at large, is that which relates to the confequences of the meafures a&ually adopted from 9 o ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. from whatever motives ; and thofe who regard them as in the higheft degree pernicious, and fraught with flill farther and mightier mifchiefs, muft, and ought, to fay and do all in their power to unmafk a policy fo deceitful and dangerous, and to exhibit fuch a fyftem in its proper and genuine colours. As it is morally certain, agree- ably to the fixed principles of human nature, that Mr. Pitt having long fince completely com- mitted himfelf, can no more revert to the prin- ciples with which he fet out in life, the pro- bability is, that he will be impelled, by mo- tives in his fituation irrefiftible, to deviate far- ther and farther from them, till at length he will exhibit fuch a character to the world, as at the commencement of his political career, he himfelf would have fhuddered to contemplate. NAY, this is, perhaps, ALREADY the CASE. An hundred years ago, the famous Dr. D'A- venant, in a traft ftyled, " On Private Men's Duty in the Adminiftration of Public Affairs," drew the hypothetical portrait of a Minifter and miniftry, under whofe adminiftration he fup- pofed the liberty and property of this country would be expofed to the moft imminent dan- ger. It may not be amifs, as the opportunity fairly offers itfelf, to make fome confiderable exlra&s ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 91 extracts from this now almoft forgotten but in* valuable publication ; and though it may be hoped that the political character of Mr, Pitt is as yet far from correfponding, in all points, to the picture thus delineated, it behoves him to confider well, whether there does not exifl fo ftrong and ftriking a refemblance, as may well caufe his cheeks to glow, and his ears to tingle. But be it remembered, that Dr. d'Ave- nant cannot be fufpeted, though writing with -an almoft prophetic fpirit, of aiming any per- fonal reflexions againft the Minifters of the pre- fent day, or of harboring any particular prejudice againft the names of Pitt or of Grenville. Every thing, indeed, it muft be acknowledged, concurs in making a far heavier .refponfibility to reft upon the former than the latter of thefe perfonages. Beyond comparifon fuperior in influence, in capacity, in expectation, and in promife, Mr. Pitt was, from his earlieft youth, regarded by the friends of human kind with emotions of enthufiafm, as pledged and almoft confecrated to the caufe of liberty. But time, from whofe verdict there is no appeal, has not ratified thefe lofty hopes. In the ftead of wif- dom, we fee only its wretched mimic, cunning ; jjnftead of magnanimity, pride ; inftead of pene- tration, 9 2 ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. tration, pofitivity ; in the room of fortitude, ob- ftinacy ; in the place of moderation, meannefs. For a juft and beneficial courfe of ation, is fubftituted an empty and pompous parade of language. " The nation" to adopt the expref- fion of a truly great ftatefman, the Marquis of Lanfdowne " has been ruined by fine fpeeches." But the times are cut ofjcint. That oratory only is fuccefsful which addrefles itfelf to the preju- dices and paffions of men ; and even a Fox or a Thurlow, pleading in the caufe of truth, can fcarcely hope to command attention. Elo- quence is, when mifapplied, the moft fatal of the gifts of heaven. To Mr. Pitt it has been apparently imparted by Providence in its ireful mood ; not as a bleffing, but as a curfe a curfe to himfelf and to his country. The fyftem of government adopted by this moil dangerous, be- caufe moft fpecious, of Minifters, is not only, in a political view, fundamentally and efientially erroneous'; but, entering into the inmoft recefles of private and domeftic life, it diflblves all the ties, and is calculated to extinguish all the com- forts of focial intercourfe. Piflike of this fyftem, in bis eflimate of things, is difaffe6tion to Go- vernment ; and the moft cafual indifcretions of men, highly virtuous in intention, are punifli- jed as crimes of the deepeit dye. Forefeeing nothing, ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 93 nothing, and prepared for nothing, elated or depreffed as fortune fmiles or frowns, he ex- hibits alternately the extremes of prefumption and pufillanimity. Equally ignorant how to make war or peace*, unfkilled in the fcience of human nature, difdaining to conciliate the af- fections, he knows no mode of overcoming op- pofition but by coercion and violence, and is altonimed that he cannot by force fubdue the unconquerable mind. When firft placed at the head of affairs, " the people," to borrow the ex- preffion of a great political writer," were wrought " up to a temper, which feldom happens in a " whole nation, of being capable to receive good " and honed counfel." But what good, what honelr. counfel has the nation received from him ? The fat notorioufly is, that the movements of the public mind, under his guidance, have been uniformly retrograde ; and, during his molt inaufpicious adminiftration, thofe deteftable dif- tinftions and malignant prejudices have been re- vived, which it was the glory of the philofo- phers and patriots of former times to ufe every effort to extinguifh. No Minifter ever perhaps had it in his power to effe6t fo much good, * " Neque de pace cum fide Pbillippum agere, neque bella wa c-Jirtute unquam gefltffe. In colloqitiis infidiari et captare?' LiV. lib. xxxii. 35. and 94 ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. and no one certainly has ever been the caufe of fo much evil. Still he is fuffered, through fome unaccountable infatuation or fupinenefs, to con- tinue at that helm which it is manifeft to the common fenfe of mankind, he knows not how to guide. The mind fickens at the idea that he is ftill fuffered to purfue, with head- long daggering fteps, that precipitous path which leads, with fatal certainty, to the gulph of poli- tical perdition. If Mr. Pitt has any feelings of companion for this his native country, which bleeds and agonizes at every pore for the too partial indulgence me has fhown to him, let him exhibit one folitary inltance of candor in the courfe of his public career, by an ingenuous ac- knowledgment of his utter incapacity to prefide over the affairs of a great nation, withdrawing himfelf for ever from the public gaze, content with fecuring thofe rewards which were doubt- lefs intended as the meed of more fuccefsful fervices. Could Mr. Pitt be juftly charged with difcerning and defigning all the mifchiefs which have flowed from that fountain of corrupt and bitter waters, of which he has made the nation drink fo deeply, no terms would be adequate to the juft expreffion of our abhorrence. But, upon the moil candid conftruftion of Jus con- dut, our cenfure and reproach can only be transferred ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 95 transferred from the heart to the head ; and if he is not the moft culpable of politicians, he is the moft miftaken and unfortunate of men. Sure- ly the grave of LORD CHATHAM muft be ready " to ope its ponderous and marble jaws to caft " him up again," while this heir of his name and defcendant of his blood is, by a fpecies of unheard-of endurance, permitted with the de- fpair, though without the ftrength, of the blind man, to drag into ruin the mighty fabric of the Britifh Empire. In fine, is it invidious to afk, Whether it be poffible that Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville can flatter themfelves, that fuch men as Sir Wil- liam Temple and Sir Robert Walpole if in- deed our juvenile Minifters were ever able to- find time to read and reflect on the conduct of other Statefmen, before or fince they became Minifters of State themfelves would not, in the fame circumftances, have guided the affairs of the Public, implicitly confided to their care, with fuperior difcretion or fuperior fuccefs ? Can they really think, had the pacific, generous, and conciliatory fyftem of Mr. Fox been adopted and ated upon in its full extent, that things would not, at this moment, have worn a more favorable afpeft in Great Britain, in Europe, in the 5/6 ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER, the World at large? If, as the parafitical de- fenders of the meafufes of the Court contend, the acts- of Mr. Pitt's adminiftration have been dilated by confummate wifdom, what, in the name of GOD, muft they fuppofe, in order to do juftice to their own hypothefis, would have been the refult of the moft exquifite and con- fummate folly ? But the Government of this devoted country, in the opinion of many, id chargeable, not with error merely, but with guilt guilt of the deepeft crimfon dye. Let AFRICA, let the EASTERN and WESTERN IN- DIES, let AMERICA, let IRELAND tell No, let them not tell ; let them bury^ if poffible, in eternal filence and oblivion, the litofy of their wrongs. A real and genuine repentance, bear- ing no femblance to the mock penitence of FASTS of STATE, may yet avert the impending blow. But, alas! the worft of all omens, a ge- neral torpor, a morbid infenfibility to the fitua- tion of the country, ftrangely and fatally prevails ; and, in fpite of all that can be faid or done to awaken the nation from this fleep of death, there is juft reafon to fear that we mall find the antient maxim too furely verified *>uos Deus vult perderef prius dement at. " No Commonwealth or Monarchy," fays the celebrated ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. 97 celebrated and fagacious D'AVENANT, "did ever " arrive at a very great power but by methods " to be comprehended by the underftandings of " men ; and we read of no great empire ruined, " but the feeds of its deftruclion may have been " obferved long before, in the courfe of its Hif- " torv ; there being a certain degree of wifdom, " induftry, virtue and courage requiiite to ad- " vance a ftate, and fuch a meafure of folly "and ill- conduct neceflary to pull it down, a " Statefman who would compute with any effeft, " conducive to the public good, mufl confult " variety of men and men of different talents ; " and in any fcheme he is to form, above all " things he muft avoid flatterers and admirers, " or thofe who depend upon him. flatterers " will always aflent, his admirers will be always " too much biafled by his opinions, and from " his dependents he can never have that contra- " diction by which truth muft be fifted out. " He that has fach a computing head will fel- " dom enter into ill meafures, he will not put " the wars of his prince upon a wrong foot ; "he will not engage him in weak alliances; " he will not propofe ill-digefted fchemes, and " funds for revenues that will not anfwer. In " any new counfel he will weigh the event * c beforehand, and conlider how far it may dif- H " turb 98 ON THE TREATY OF HANOVER. " turb his matter's affairs, or affeft the nation's " credit. Happy are thofe kingdoms which " abound in Statefmen fo qualified ; but mifer- " able is that country where the men of bu- " fmefs do not reckon right, and where, in mat- " ters very important, and on which the whole " welfare of a people depends, they are allow- t( ed to fay, THEY are MISTAKEN." Ufe of Political Arithmetic. " WHEN giddy young" men, without expe- " rience, are relied upon, and trufted in this *' ftation, they embroil the Prince's affairs. By " their ignorance they give his enemies ad- * c vantage, and by their infolence difoblige his " friends. A man can be no more BORN a " STATESMAN than a Phyfician or a Lawyer ; " and let the mind be never fo happily difpofed, d A NT/TPT IPO D 387.7 B41t