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Minorca, are taken care of, consider, my Lords, | what part of this army will remain to defend Ireland and Great Britain? This subject, my Lords, leads me to considerations of foreign policy and foreign alliance. It is more connected with them than your Lordships may at first imagine. When I compare the numbers of our people, estimated highly at seven millions, with the population of France and Spain, usually computed at twenty-five millions, I see a clear, selfevident impossibility for this country to contend | with the united power of the house of Bourbon merely upon the strength of its own resources. They who talk of confining a great war to naval operations only, speak without knowledge or experience. We can no more command the disposition than the events of a war. Wherever we are attacked, there we must defend.

ment, we have an internal strength sufficient to repel any foreign invasion. With respect to Ireland, my Lords, I am not of the same opinion. If a powerful foreign army were landed in that kingdom, with arms ready to be put into the hands of the Roman Catholics, I declare freely to your Lordships that I should heartily wish it were possible to collect twenty thousand German Protestants, whether from Hesse, or Brunswick, or Wolfenbuttle, or even the unpopular Hanoverians, and land them in Ireland. I wish it, my Lords, because I am convinced that, whenever the case happens, we shall have no English army to spare.

I have taken a wide circuit, my Lords, and trespassed, I fear, too long upon your Lordships' patience. Yet I can not conclude without endeavoring to bring home your thoughts to an object more immediately interesting to us than any I have yet considered; I mean the internal condition of this country. We may look abroad for wealth, or triumphs, or luxury; but England, my Lords, is the main stay, the last resort of the whole empire To this point every scheme of policy, whether foreign or domestic, should ultimately refer. Have any measures been taken to satisfy or to unite the people? Are the grievances they have so long complained of removed? or do they stand not only unredressed, but aggravated? Is the right of free election restored to the elective body? My Lords, I myself am one of the people. I esteem that security and

I have been much abused, my Lords, for supporting a war which it has been the fashion to call my German war. But I can affirm with a clear conscience, that that abuse has been thrown on me by men who were either unacquainted with facts, or had an interest in misrepresenting them. I shall speak plainly and frankly to your Lordships upon this, as I do upon every occasion. That I did in Parliament oppose, to the utmost of my power, our engaging in a German war, is most true; and if the same circumstance were to recur, I would act the same part, and oppose it again. But when I was called upon to take a share in the administration, that measure was already decided. Before I was appointed Sec-independence, which is the original birthright of retary of State, the first treaty with the King of Prussia was signed, and not only ratified by the Crown, but approved of and confirmed by a resolution of both houses of Parliament. It was a weight fastened upon my neck. By that treaty the honor of the Crown and the honor of the nation were equally engaged. How I could recede from such an engagement-how I could advise the Crown to desert a great prince in the midst of those difficulties in which a reliance upon the good faith of this country had contrib-ed? uted to involve him, are questions I willingly submit to your Lordships' candor. That wonderful man might, perhaps, have extricated himself from his difficulties without our assistance.discontented people. That insipid annual opiate He has talents which, in every thing that touches the human capacity, do honor to the human mind. But how would England have supported that reputation of credit and good faith by which we have The public credit of the nation stands next in been distinguished in Europe? What other for-degree to the rights of the Constitution; it calls eign power would have sought our friendship? What other foreign power would have accepted of an alliance with us?

But, my Lords, though I wholly condemn our entering into any engagements which tend to involve us in a continental war, I do not admit that alliances with some of the German princes are either detrimental or useless. They may be, my Lords, not only useful, but necessary. I hope, indeed, I never shall see an army of foreign auxiliaries in Great Britain; we do not want it. If our people are united-if they are attached to the King, and place confidence in his govern

an Englishman, far beyond the privileges, however splendid, which are annexed to the peerage. I myself am by birth an English elector, and join with the freeholders of England as in a common cause. Believe me, my Lords, we mistake our real interest as much as our duty when we separate ourselves from the mass of the people. Can it be expected that Englishmen will unite heartily in the defense of a government by which they feel themselves insulted and oppress

Restore them to their rights; that is the true way to make them unanimous. It is not a ceremonious recommendation from the Throne that can bring back peace and harmony to a

has been administered so long that it has lost its effect. Something substantial, something effectual must be done.

loudly for the interposition of Parliament. There
is a set of men, my Lords, in the city of London,
who are known to live in riot and luxury upon
the plunder of the ignorant, the innocent, the
helpless-upon that part of the community which
stands most in need of, and best deserves the care
and protection of the Legislature. To me, my
Lords, whether they be miserable jobbers of
'Change Alley, or the lofty Asiatic plunderers of
Leadenhall Street, they are all equally detesta-
ble. I care but little whether a man walks on
foot, or is drawn by eight horses or six horses;
if his luxury is supported by the plunder of his

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while I had the honor of serving his Majesty, I never ventured to look at the treasury but at a distance; it is a business I am unfit for, and to which I never could have submitted. The little I know of it has not served to raise my opinion of what is vulgarly called the moneyed interest; I mean that blood-sucker, that muck-worm, which calls itself the friend of government-that pretends to serve this or that administration, and may be purchased, on the same terms, by any administration that advances money to government, and takes special care of its own emoluments. Under this description I include the whole race of commissaries, jobbers, contractors, clothiers, and remitters. Yet I do not deny that, even with these creatures, some management may be necessary. I hope, my Lords, that nothing that I have said will be understood to extend to the honest and industrious tradesman, who holds the middle rank, and has given repeated proofs that he prefers law and liberty to gold. I love that class of men. Much less would I be thought to reflect upon the fair merchant, whose liberal commerce is the prime source of national wealth. I esteem his occupation and respect his character.

My Lords, if the general representation, which I have had the honor to lay before you, of the situation of public affairs, has in any measure engaged your attention, your Lordships, I am sure, will agree with me, that the season calls for more than common prudence and vigor in the direction of our councils. The difficulty of the crisis demands a wise, a firm, and a popular administration. The dishonorable traffic of places has engaged us too long. Upon this subject, my Lords, I speak without interest or enmity. I have no personal objection to any of the King's servants. I shall never be minister; certainly not without full power to cut away all the rotten branches of government. Yet, unconcerned as I truly am for myself, I can not avoid seeing some capital errors in the distribution of the royal favor. There are men, my Lords, who, if their own services were forgotten, ought to have an hereditary merit with the house of Hanover; whose ancestors stood forth in the day of trouble, opposed their persons and fortunes to treachery and rebellion, and secured to his Majesty's family this splendid power of rewarding. There are other men, my Lords [looking sternly at Lord Mansfield], who, to speak tenderly of them, were not quite so forward in the demonstrations of their zeal to the reigning family. There was another cause, my Lords, and a partiality to it, which some persons had not at all times discretion enough to conceal. I know I shall be accused of attempting to revive distinctions. My Lords, if it were possible, I would abolish all distinctions. I would not wish the favors of the Crown to flow invariably in one channel. But there are some distinctions which are inherent in the nature of things. There is a distinction | between right and wrong-between WHIG and TORY.

|

When I speak of an administration, such as the necessity of the season calls for, my views are large and comprehensive. It must be popular, that it may begin with reputation. It must be strong within itself, that it may proceed with vigor and decision. An administration, formed upon an exclusive system of family connections or private friendships, can not, I am convinced, be long supported in this country. Yet, my Lords, no man respects or values more than I do that honorable connection, which arises from a disinterested concurrence in opinion upon public measures, or from the sacred bond of private friendship and esteem. What I mean is, that no single man's private friendships or connections, however extensive, are sufficient of themselves either to form or overturn an administration. With respect to the ministry, I believe they have fewer rivals than they imagine. No prudent man will covet a situation so beset with diffi culty and danger.

I shall trouble your Lordships with but a few words more. His Majesty tells us in his speech that he will call upon us for our advice, if it should be necessary in the farther progress of this affair. It is not easy to say whether or no the ministry are serious in this declaration, nor what is meant by the progress of an affair which rests upon one fixed point. Hitherto we have not been called upon. But, though we are not consulted, it is our right and duty, as the King's great hereditary council, to offer him our advice. The papers mentioned in the noble Duke's motion will enable us to form a just and accurate opinion of the conduct of his Majesty's servants, though not of the actual state of their honorable negotiations. The ministry, too, seem to want advice upon some points in which their own safety is immediately concerned. They are now balancing between a war which they ought to have foreseen, but for which they have made no provision, and an ignominious compromise. Let me warn them of their danger. If they are forced into a war, they stand it at the hazard of their heads. If by an ignominious compromise they should stain the honor of the Crown, or sacrifice the rights of the people, let them look to the consequences, and consider whether they will be able to walk the streets in safety.

The Duke of Richmond's motion was negatived by a vote of 65 to 21. The ministry, however, took from this time more decided ground, and demanded a restoration of the islands, and a disavowal of their seizure, as the only course on the part of Spain which could prevent immediate war.

It is now known that the Spanish court, in adopting these measures, had acted in concert with the court of France, and had reason to expect her support, whatever might be the consequences. Had this support been afforded, the war predicted by Lord Chatham would inevitably have taken place. But the King of France found himself involved in great pecuniary diffi culties, and could not be induced to enter into the war. The Spaniards were therefore com

pelled to yield. They disavowed the seizure and restored the islands, on condition that this restoration should not affect any claim of right ɔn the part of Spain. Three years after, they

were abandoned by the English; and it is now understood that Lord North secretly agreed to do this, when the arrangement was made for the restoration of the islands by the Spanish.

SPEECH

OF LORD CHATHAM ON THE BILL AUTHORIZING THE QUARTERING OF BRITISH SOLDIERS ON THE INHABITANTS OF BOSTON, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 27, 1774.

INTRODUCTION.

THE health of Lord Chatham had for some time prevented him from taking any active part in public affairs. During two years he had rarely made his appearance in the House of Lords, and nothing but the rash and headlong measures of Lord North in regard to America, could have drawn him again from his retirement.

In speaking of those measures, it may be proper briefly to remind the reader of some of the preceding events. When Charles Townsend was left at the head of affairs, by Lord Chatham's unfortunate illness during the winter of 1766–7, he was continually goaded by Mr. Grenville on the subject of American taxation.1 "You are cowards! You are afraid of the Americans. You dare not tax America!" The rash spirit of Townsend was roused by these attacks. "Fear?" said he. "Cowards? Dare not tax America? I dare tax America!" Grenville stood silent for a moment, and then said, "Dare you tax America? I wish to God you would do it." Townsend replied, "I will, I will." This hasty declaration could not be evaded or withdrawn, and in June, 1767, Townsend brought in a bill imposing duties on glass, paper, pasteboard, white and red lead, painters' colors, and tea, imported into the colonies. The preamble declared that it was "expedient to raise a revenue in America." A spirit of decided resistance to these taxes was at once manifested throughout all the colonies, and Lord North, on coming into power about two years after, introduced a bill repealing all the duties imposed by the act of 1767, except that on tea. But this was unsatisfactory, for it put the repeal on "commercial grounds" alone, and expressly reserved the right of taxation. At the close of 1773, the East India Company, encouraged by the ministry, sent large quantities of tea to Boston and some other American ports. The people resolved that the tea should not be landed, but should be sent back to England in the ships that brought it. As this was forbidden by the Custom-house, all the tea on board the ships lying in Boston harbor was thrown into the water by men disguised as Indians. on the evening of December 18th, 1773. This daring act awakened the keenest resentment of the British ministry. In March, 1774, laws were passed depriving Massachusetts of her charter, closing the port of Boston, and allowing persons charged with capital offenses to be carried to England for trial. As a means of farther enforcement, a bill was introduced in the month of May, 1774, for quartering troops on the inhabitants of the town of Boston, and other parts of the American colonies. This state of things gave rise to a number of Lord Chatham's most celebrated speeches, of which the following was the first in order.

SPEECH, &c.

MY LORDS, The unfavorable state of health, my Lords, if the descendants of such illustrious under which I have long labored, could not pre-characters spurn with contempt the hand of unvent me from laying before your Lordships my thoughts on the bill now upon the table, and on the American affairs in general.

If we take a transient view of those motives which induced the ancestors of our fellow-subjects in America to leave their native country, to encounter the innumerable difficulties of the unexplored regions of the Western World, our astonishment at the present conduct of their descendants will naturally subside. There was no corner of the world into which men of their free and enterprising spirit would not fly with alacrity, rather than submit to the slavish and tyrannical principles which prevailed at that period in their native country. And shall we wonder,

1 See Burke's admirable sketches of Grenville, Townsend, and Lord Chatham's third ministry, in uis Speech on American Taxation.

constitutional power, that would snatch from them such dear-bought privileges as they now contend for? Had the British colonies been planted by any other kingdom than our own, the inhabitants would have carried with them the chains of slavery and spirit of despotism; but as they are, they ought to be remembered as great instances to instruct the world what great exertions mankind will naturally make, when they are left to the free exercise of their own powers. And, my Lords, notwithstanding my intention to give my hearty negative to the question now before you, I can not help condemning in the severest manner the late turbulent and unwarrantable conduct of the Americans in some instances, particularly in the late riots of Boston. But, my Lords, the mode which has been pursued to bring them back to a sense of their duty to their parent state, has been so diametrically

opposite to the fundamental principles of sound policy, that individuals possessed of common understanding must be astonished at such proceedings. By blocking up the harbor of Boston, you have involved the innocent trader in the same punishment with the guilty profligates who destroyed your merchandise; and instead of making a well-concerted effort to secure the real offenders, you clap a naval and military extinguisher over their harbor, and visit the crime of a few lawless depredators and their abettors upon the whole body of the inhabitants.

My Lords, this country is little obliged to the framers and promoters of this tea tax. The Americans had almost forgot, in their excess of gratitude for the repeal of the Stamp Act, any interest but that of the mother country; there seemed an emulation among the different provinces who should be most dutiful and forward in their expressions of loyalty to their real benefactor, as you will readily perceive by the following letter from Governor Bernard to a noble Lord then in office.

"The House of Representatives," says he, "from the time of opening the session to this day, has shown a disposition to avoid all dispute with me, every thing having passed with as much good humor as I could desire. They have acted in all things with temper and moderation; they have avoided some subjects of dispute, and have laid a foundation for removing some causes of former altercation."

This, my Lords, was the temper of the Americans, and would have continued so, had it not been interrupted by your fruitless endeavors to tax them without their consent. But the moment they perceived your intention was renewed to tax them, under a pretense of serving the East India Company, their resentment got the ascendant of their moderation, and hurried them into actions contrary to law, which, in their cooler hours, they would have thought on with horror; for I sincerely believe the destroying of the tea was the effect of despair.

But, my Lords, from the complexion of the whole of the proceedings, I think that administration has purposely irritated them into those late violent acts, for which they now so severely smart, purposely to be revenged on them for the victory they gained by the repeal of the Stamp Act; a measure in which they seemingly acquiesced, but at the bottom they were its real enemies. For what other motive could induce them to dress taxation, that father of American sedition, in the robes of an East India director, but to break in upon that mutual peace and harmony which then so happily subsisted between them and the mother country?

My Lords, I am an old man, and would advise the noble Lords in office to adopt a more gentle mode of governing America; for the day is not far distant when America may vie with these kingdoms, not only in arms, but in arts also. It is an established fact that the principal towns in America are learned and polite, and understand the Constitution of the empire as well as the no

ble Lords who are now in office; and, consequently, they will have a watchful eye over their liberties, to prevent the least encroachment on their hereditary rights.

This observation is so recently exemplified in an excellent pamphlet, which comes from the pen of an American gentleman, that I shall take the liberty of reading to your Lordships his thoughts on the competency of the British Parliament to tax America, which, in my opinion, puts this interesting matter in the clearest view.

"The high court of Parliament," says he, "is the supreme legislative power over the whole empire; in all free states the Constitution is fixed; and as the supreme Legislature derives its power and authority from the Constitution, it can not overleap the bounds of it without destroying its own foundation. The Constitution ascertains and limits both sovereignty and allegiance; and therefore his Majesty's American subjects, who acknowledged themselves bound by the ties of allegiance, have an equitable claim to the full enjoyment of the fundamental rules of the English Constitution; and that it is an essential, unalterable right in nature, ingrafted into the British Constitution as a fundamental law, and ever held sacred and irrevocable by the subjects within this realm, that what a man has honestly acquired is absolutely his own; which he may freely give, but which can not be taken from him without his consent."

This, my Lords, though no new doctrine, has always been my received and unalterable opinion, and I will carry it to my grave, that this country had no right under heaven to tax America. It is contrary to all the principles of justice and civil polity, which neither the exigencies of the state, nor even an acquiescence in the taxes, could justify upon any occasion whatever. Such proceedings will never meet their wishedfor success. Instead of adding to their miseries, as the bill now before you most undoubtedly does, adopt some lenient measures, which may lure them to their duty. Proceed like a kind and affectionate parent over a child whom he tenderly loves, and, instead of those harsh and severe proceedings, pass an amnesty on all their youthful errors, clasp them once more in your fond and affectionate arms, and I will venture to affirm you will find them children worthy of their sire. But, should their turbulence exist after your proffered terms of forgiveness, which I hope and expect this House will immediately adopt, I will be among the foremost of your Lordships to move for such measures as will effectually prevent a future relapse, and make them feel what it is to provoke a fond and forgiving parent! a parent, my Lords, whose welfare has ever been my greatest and most pleasing consolation. This declaration may seem unnecessary; but I will venture to declare, the period is not far distant when she will want the assistance of her most distant friends; but should the all-disposing hand of Providence prevent me from affording her my poor assistance, my prayers shall be ever for her welfare-Length of

days be in her right hand, and in her left riches and honor; may her ways be the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths be peace!

Notwithstanding these warnings and remonstrances, the bill was passed by a majority of

57 to 16.

SPEECH

OF LORD CHATHAM ON A MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS TO HIS MAJESTY, TO GIVE IMMEDIATE ORDERS FOR REMOVING HIS TROOPS FROM BOSTON, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, JANUARY 20, 1775.

INTRODUCTION.

ON the 20th of January, 1775, Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State, laid before the House of Lords various papers relating to American affairs. Upon this occasion Lord Chatham moved an "address to his Majesty for the immediate removal of his troops from Boston," and supported it by the following speech. When he arose to speak, says one who witnessed the scene, "all was silence and profound attention. Animated, and almost inspired by his subject, he seemed to feel his own unrivaled superiority. His venerable figure, dignified and graceful in decay, his language, his voice, his gesture, were such as might, at this momentous crisis, big with the fate of Britain seem to characterize him as the guardian genius of his country."

SPEECH, &c.'

MY LORDS,-After more than six weeks' possession of the papers now before you, on a subject so momentous, at a time when the fate of this nation hangs on every hour, the ministry have at length condescended to submit to the consideration of this House, intelligence from America with which your Lordships and the public have been long and fully acquainted.

The measures of last year, my Lords, which have produced the present alarming state of America, were founded upon misrepresentation. They were violent, precipitate, and vindictive. The nation was told that it was only a faction in Boston which opposed all lawful government; that an unwarrantable injury had been done to private property, for which the justice of Parliament was called upon to order reparation; that the least appearance of firmness would awe the Americans into submission, and upon only passing the Rubicon we should be "sine clade victor."

112

That the people might choose their representatives under the influence of those misrepresentations, the Parliament was precipitately dissolved. Thus the nation was to be rendered instrumental in executing the vengeance of administration on that injured, unhappy, traduced people.

But now, my Lords, we find that, instead of suppressing the opposition of the faction at Boston, these measures have spread it over the whole continent. They have united that whole people by the most indissoluble of all bands-intolerable wrongs. The just retribution is an indiscriminate, unmerciful proscription of the innocent with the guilty, unheard and untried. The bloodless victory is an impotent general with his 1 This speech was reported by Mr. Hugh Boyd, a man of high literary attainments, and bears very strong marks of accuracy.

Victorious without slaughter.

dishonored army, trusting solely to the pickax and the spade for security against the just indignation of an injured and insulted people.

My Lords, I am happy that a relaxation of my infirmities permits me to seize this earliest opportunity of offering my poor advice to save this unhappy country, at this moment tottering to its ruin. But, as I have not the honor of access to his Majesty, I will endeavor to transmit to him, through the constitutional channel of this House, my ideas on American business, to rescue him from the misadvice of his present ministers. I congratulate your Lordships that the business is at last entered upon by the noble Lord's [Lord Dartmouth] laying the papers before you. As I suppose your Lordships are too well apprised of their contents, I hope I am not premature in submitting to you my present motion. [The motion was read.]

I wish, my Lords, not to lose a day in this urgent, pressing crisis. An hour now lost in allaying ferments in America may produce years of calamity. For my own part, I will not desert, for a moment, the conduct of this weighty business, from the first to the last. Unless nailed to my bed by the extremity of sickness, I will give it unremitted attention. I will knock at the door of this sleeping and confounded ministry, and will rouse them to a sense of their danger.

When I state the importance of the colonies to this country, and the magnitude of danger hanging over this country from the present plan of misadministration practiced against them, I desire not to be understood to argue for a reciprocity of indulgence between England and America. I contend not for indulgence, but justice to Amerca; and i shall ever contend that the Americans justly owe obedience to us in a limited degreethey owe obedience to our ordinances of trade and navigation; but let the line be skillfully drawn between the objects of those ordinances

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