MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament met on the 25th of November. In his speech the king called upon the two houses to exert their efforts along with him in defence of their country against the unprovoked attacks of their enemies; congratulated his hearers that the designs and attempts of France and Spain to invade this kingdom had been frustrated; exalted the exemplary conduct of the national militia; returned his cordial thanks to all loyal subjects who had stood forward in the present momentous trial; and recommended the state of Ireland to consideration. Nothing was said by his majesty concerning America or the Americans, but the commons were told that it was with extreme concern that his majesty saw the great and inevitable expenses which his naval and military forces would require. His majesty concluded by saying, that, trusting in Divine Providence, and in the justice of his cause, he was firmly resolved to prosecute the war with vigour.
The address was opposed in the house of lords by the Marquess of Rockingham, who moved an amendment, omitting every word which it contained except the title, and inserting a prayer instead, beseeching his majesty to reflect on the extent of territory, the power, the opulence, the reputation abroad, and the concord at home which distinguished the commencement of his reign; and now on the endangered, impoverished, enfeebled, distracted, and even dismembered state of his kingdom, after all the enormous grants of successive parliaments. The amendment concluded by requesting his majesty to resort to new counsels and new counsellors, without further loss of time, as the only remedy for the existing evils. In his speech, the Marquess of Rockingham censured the facility with which the two ambassadors, Lords Grantham and Stormont, had suffered themselves to be deceived by the craft of France and Spain; asserted that the clause in the speech which spoke of the blessings of living under his majesty’s happy government, was insulting to the common sense of the house, as all those blessings were turned into curses; attacked the first lord of the admiralty on various points connected with his administration; attributed all the discontents in Ireland to the folly and bad faith of ministers, who had made promises which they had not performed; and, finally, denounced the war in America as bloody, malignant, and diabolical. In reply, Lord Stormont imputed a great part of the misfortunes which surrounded us to the incautious and violent language used in parliament. Lord Mansfield expressed his conviction that nothing but a comprehensive union of all parties could effect the salvation of the country. How far the temper of the nation and the state of parties might admit of such a coalition he could not decide; but the event, he said, was devoutly to be wished. The amendment was negatived by eighty-two against forty-one.
A similar amendment to that of the Marquess of Rockingham, was moved in the commons by Lord John Cavendish. In both houses, also, the arguments and invectives employed were allied in character. The ministers were accused of ruining both army and navy by their compliances with court predilections; by their fear and jealousy of every officer of merit; by their criminal tardiness; and by their want of a consistent plan of military operations. Charles Fox went a step further than most of the speakers in opposition. He declared that treachery and not ignorance must have prevailed in the national councils, to reduce the nation to so miserable a condition; and he warned ministers that when the nation was reduced to such a state of wretchedness and distraction that the laws of the land could afford no relief, the law of nature would put arms into the hands of the people, and then they, who had caused the evil, would suffer for their mal-administration. In reply, Lord North indignantly denied that any treachery was resorted to by ministers, and called upon the opposition to stand forth like men, and make good such vague accusations. Laws, he said, existed for the protection of the innocent; and if his accusers adhered to the laws, he had nothing to fear. Lord North, also, defended with considerable ingenuity the management of the war; asserting that, from its extensive nature, it was impossible to keep a force superior to the enemy at every point; and affirming that the fleets of France and Spain, which had been raised to the ruin of their finances, had gained neither honour nor advantage, and were already falling into weakness and decrepitude. The amendment was negatived by two hundred and thirty-three against one hundred and thirty-four.
LORD SHELBURNE ATTACKS MINISTERS IN THE CASE OF IRELAND.
Although Ireland had been misgoverned for centuries, yet opposition, in the course of these debates attributed every mischief in that country to the present ministers. In both houses assurances were given that satisfactory plans of relief were in contemplation, but even then opposition were not disarmed. Having procured a summons of the house, on the 1st of December the Earl of Shelburne moved a resolution, declaring ministers highly censurable for having neglected to take measures for the relief of Ireland, in conformity with the address of the lords to his majesty during the last session. In introducing this motion, the Earl of Shelburne declared that the government of Ireland had been abdicated, and that the people would be justified, by the principles of the constitution and the laws of self-preservation, in taking back its power into their own hands. In the course of his speech he read the address of both houses of the Irish parliament, which declared that nothing less than free trade would rescue that country from ruin; and he asserted that all classes of society concurred in this opinion. Ministers were defended by Lord Hillsborough, who maintained that no delay could be fairly imputed to them; that measures for the relief of Ireland must emanate from parliament, and were not to be entered upon without due information and consideration; and that ministers had been active in collecting such information and making arrangements, the result of which would shortly be laid before the house. The debate was chiefly rendered remarkable by some words uttered by Earl Gower, who had lately retired from the administration. After stating that he must, in fairness, oppose the motion, as ministers required a few days for their exculpation, he remarked:—“I have presided for some years at the council-table, but have seen such things pass of late that no man of honour or conscience could any longer sit there.” The motion was rejected by eighty-two against thirty-seven.