Lord CHOLMONDELEY spoke to this effect:—My lords, notwithstanding the atrocious charges which have been urged with so much vehemence against the ministry; notwithstanding the folly and absurdity which some lords have imagined themselves to have discovered in the present measures, I cannot yet prevail upon myself, whatever may be my veneration for their integrity, or my confidence in their abilities, to approve the motion for which they so earnestly contend.
To comply with this motion, my lords, would be, in my opinion, to betray the general cause of mankind, to interrupt the success of the assertors of liberty, to give up all the continent, at once, to the house of Bourbon, to defeat all the measures of our ancestors and ourselves, and to invite the oppressors of mankind to extend their claims of universal dominion to the island of Britain.
Of the measures which we are now to consider, I think the defence at once obvious and unanswerable; and should advise, that instead of exerting an useless sagacity in uncertain conjectures on future events, or displaying unseasonable knowledge by the citation of authorities, or the recollection of ancient facts, every lord should attentively compare the state into which Europe was reduced soon after the death of the late emperour, with that in which it now appears; and inquire to what causes such sudden and important changes are to be ascribed. He will then easily discover the efficacy of the British measures; and be convinced, that nothing has been omitted which the interest of this nation required.
When I hear it asked by the noble lords, what effects have been produced by our armaments and expenses? For what end auxiliaries are hired, and why our armies are transported into Flanders? I cannot but suspect, my lords, that this affectation of ignorance is only intended to irritate their opponents; that they suppress facts with which they are well acquainted, only that they may have an opportunity of giving vent to their passions, of displaying their imagination in artful reproaches, and exercising their eloquence in splendid declamations. I believe they hide what they know where to find, only to oblige others to the labour of producing it; and ask questions, not because they want or desire information, but because they hope to weary those whose stations condemn them to the task of answering them.
The effects, my lords, which the assistance given by us to the queen of Hungary have already produced, are the recovery of one kingdom, and the safety of the rest; the exclusion of the Spaniards from Italy on the one part, and on the other the confinement of them in it, without either the supplies for war, or the necessaries of life.
These, my lords, are surely great advantages; but these are not the greatest which we have reason to hope. Our vigour and resolution have at last animated the Dutch to suspend for a time their attention to trade and money, and to consider what they seldom much regard, the state of other nations; the most rich and powerful of their provinces have already determined to concur in the reestablishment of the house of Austria; and if the approbation of the rest be necessary, it is likely to be obtained by the same method of proceeding.
Thus, my lords, we have a prospect of doing that which the ministers of queen Anne, whose fidelity, wisdom, and address, have been so often and so invidiously commended, thought their greatest honour, and the strongest proof of their abilities. We may soon form another confederacy against the house of Bourbon, at a time when Louis the fourteenth is not at its head, at a time when it is exhausted by expensive projects; and when, therefore, it cannot make the same resistance as when it was before attacked.
By pursuing the scheme which is now formed, with steadiness and ardour, we may, perhaps, reinstate all those nations in their liberties, whom cowardice, or negligence, or credulity have, during the last century, delivered up to the ambition of France; we may confine that swelling monarchy, which has from year to year torn down the boundaries of its neighbours, within its ancient limits, and disable it for ages from giving any new alarms to mankind, and from making any other efforts for the acquisition of universal dominion; we may reestablish the house of Austria as the great barrier of the world, by which it is preserved on one part from being laid waste by the barbarity of the Turks, and on the other from being enslaved by politer tyrants, and overrun by the ambition of France.
Elevated with such success, and encouraged by such prospects, we ought surely, my lords, to press forward in a path, where we have hitherto found no difficulties, and which leads directly to solid peace and happiness, which no dangers or terrours can hereafter interrupt: we ought, instead of relaxing, to redouble our efforts; and to remember, that by exerting all our strength and all our influence for a short time, we shall not only secure ourselves and our posterity from insolence and oppression, but shall establish the tranquillity of the world, and promote the general felicity of the human species.
For these great purposes, my lords, are those auxiliaries retained, of which some lords now require the dismission; and those armies transported, which part of the nation is by false reports inclined to recall; but I hope that such unreasonable demands will not be gratified, and that the faith of treaties, the ties of friendship, the call of justice, and the expectations of our allies, will easily prevail upon your lordships to despise the murmurs of prejudice, and the outcries of faction.