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to be apprehended? Is any dangerous domeftic confpiracy difcovered? No: The right honorable gentleman himself says, that he believes the nation to be in fafety, but does not defire that its fafety should depend on his belief. GOD forbid that it should; and happy would it be for us that it did not depend upon his administration. But this unlimited delegation of power is, it seems, defigned to guard against new counfels, against any fudden alteration of measures. Surely, fir, this is not meant to be seriously urged: for can this plea ever be wanting? Are we not in as great danger of fudden and alarming changes in a time of profound peace, as when the powers of Europe are engaged in a bloody war, and courting with eagernefs our affistance, or at least our neutrality? If we now, therefore, agree to grant fuch powers, we may expect in future the demand regularly repeated, and never refused. Never can such requifitions on the part of the crown be made with lefs color of neceffity, never can compliance on our part be yielded more unconftitutionally. When not only an expiring feffion, but an expiring parliament, grants fuch powers, how easily may they be extended, before the next parliament is suffered to meet, beyond all poffibility of control! The precedents that have been adduced to justify the present demand are wholly inapplicable. In the year 1702 a vote of credit paffed the house in confequence of a meffage from the late queen; but this mesfage contained no fuch demand or requifition as the prefent. It fimply stated the danger to which our allies, the statesgeneral, were at that period expofed from France; and this danger was not only afferted, but proved by papers laid before the house: we were then ourselves actually engaged in a war, and it was not merely pretended that we might be eventually endangered by a change of counfels. Even in this fituation the queen was far from afking fuch powers as were now demanded. She did not in fact ask any thing, faying only in general terms, that the doubted not but the houfe would adopt fuch measures as would most conduce

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to the honor of her crown, the safety of her kingdoms, and the fupport of her allies. On the other hand, the houfe were far from granting fuch powers as are now afked. The vote was restrained to a power of increafing the forces deftined to act with thofe of the ftates-general, and limited by the condition that England should not be charged with the pay of fuch additional troops, but from the day that all commerce and correfpondence between the fubjects of the states, and those of France and Spain, fhould be totally prohibited. As to the meffage in the year 1715, it was fent to the house at a time of actual rebellion and expected invasion; and it was not granted at the termination of a feffion, and much lefs at the expiration of a parliament, The meffage in 1719 was fimilarly circumstanced: the nation was in danger of being invaded, and would have been invaded, had it not been for the difafters which the Spanish fleet met with after leaving their ports. The last precedent of the year 1725, it must be allowed, approaches nearest to the prefent cafe. We then did, as we are now defired to do grant away millions in the dark without any caufe or reafon affigned; but then this was a precedent of the right honorable gentleman's own making, which may be thought perhaps fomewhat to diminish its authority. The right honorable gentleman has, however, improved upon his own precedent; for the nation was not, at the period alluded to, in a ftate of abfolute tranquillity, nor did the meffage ask for a discretion fo unlimited as the present; but merely for an indefinite power to add to the naval force, and to negotiate treaties. But if his majesty is invested with the powers now demanded, nothing will remain for the crown to ask but a parliamentary refolve, impowering his majefty to make, repeal, fufpend, or alter, fuch laws, and in fuch manner, as he fhall judge neceffary for the public fafety. And where indeed is the difference between granting this power at once, and putting the crown in a capacity to affume it whenever it may choof fo to do? Such complaisance

complaifance as this must furely render us most despicable in his majesty's eyes: He might juftly fay of us as the Roman emperor of the Roman fenate, "O homines fervire paratos!" But we are told that an account is to be rendered to the next parliament of whatever may be done in purfuance of these powers. Sir, I have been so often deceived by ministerial promises, that I am ashamed ever to have placed any degree of faith in them. How often, when I and others have called for such accounts, have we been told that matters were not ripe for laying them before parliament, or that it would be dangerous to the ftate to reveal the fecrets of government? and the highest satisfaction we could ever obtain was to be told that the expenses incurred were neceffarily incurred for foreign and fecret services. Whence that neceffity arose was ever kept from the knowledge of parliament: we had the word of the minifter to reft our faith upon; and the fame implicit refignation will be required, doubtlefs, from every fucceeding parliament. When at the termination of the feffion we return to our feveral counties, and are requested to affign our reasons for this very extraordinary vote-a vote by which fuch vaft additional burdens may be imposed on the nation-how fatisfactory muft it be to our conftituents to be informed that, though we are at prefent in amity or actual alliance with all the powers of Europe, military preparations, by fea and land, must be made in order to guard against a variation of foreign counfels! Sir, in my opinion, the refolution now moved is neither neceffary, nor fafe, nor founded upon precedent. Precedents, indeed, there may be, which resemble it in a certain degree; but were they ever fo numerous, and in all refpects analogous, it would be no argument with me for agreeing to what is proposed. Whatever may have been the duration or extent of the practice, it is now high time to put a stop to it, and to establish a PRECEDENT of REFUSAL; otherwise parliaments will become wholly ufelefs, or ferve, by a fanction so per-. nicious,

nicious, to make minifters the more daring, and thể oppreffions of the people the more grievous."

In answer to this eloquent and patriotic speaker, Mr. Horace Walpole ventured to attempt a vindication of the measures thus indignantly arraigned. He faid, "that after all the pains taken to point out a diffimiliarity between the cafe now under difcuffion and the precedents adduced in fupport of it, he could difcern no material difference. It had been evidently the practice of parliament, in times of danger, to grant extraordinary powers to the crown, and ią this particular way. For his part he acknowledged he thought the precedent of 1702 a bad one; because the parliament difcovered fo much diffidence and diftruft; and the ill effects of their flow and lukewarm proceedings ought to induce us to ftrengthen the hands of his majesty at the prefent juncture. It was furprising," he said, "to him to hear it afferted by gentlemen, that nothing had been laid before the house to fhew the neceffity of granting the powers now asked for. Did not his majefty, in his speech at at the opening of the feffion, inform us of the war then begun in Europe? Does he not by the prefent message acquaint us that the war still continues? And is not every gentleman' convinced, by what he knows of the fituation of Europe, that the balance of power in Europe entirely depends on the event of that war? Suppofing either fide to prevail too far, the balance of power must be overturned; and this nation will be under an obligation to interpofe, in order to prevent fo fatal an effect. Besides, does not every gentleman know that the French have lately fitted out a very powerful naval armament, which, with more proba bility, threatens Great Britain than any other place in the world, unless we excepted the city of Dantzic? He believ ed, indeed,” he said "that it was designed against Dantzic; but if that affair should blow over, can we imagine our felves in fecurity, while fo large a fquadron lies within a few hours' fail of the English coaft? Our allies, the Dutch,"

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he said, "were in a very critical state: their barrier in Flanders was in a very weak and defencelefs condition, and if we fhould fit ftill and do nothing, they might be tempted to throw themfelves entirely into the arms of France. They had not indeed," he acknowleged, "done any thing as yet themselves by way of augmentation of their forces, but then they had postponed that reduction of 10,000 men, which, previous to the war, they had meditated; and they were now defirous to go hand in hand with us. Gentlemen," he faid, "might, if they pleased, call this a vote of credit; but his majefty having exprefsly promised an account of the expenditure, it was in his opinion only a vote of confidence, which, by fhewing the entire reliance we place on the wisdom of his majesty's measures, will give his influence with foreign powers that weight which is fo neceffary to the prefervation of the balance of power in Europe, without which this nation can never be in any safety or fecurity." The debate was unusually prolonged by a fucceffion of very able fpeeches: and fir John Barnard particularly attracted the attention of the house, by declaring "that the affertions hazarded in royal speeches or meffages were not to be implicitly depended upon; for that the crown might affert, and in fact had afferted in confequence of hafty or treacherous information, what afterwards proved not to be true. Parliament had," he said, "been affured by a folemn fpeech from the throne, that an alliance had been entered into between the emperor and Spain, in conformity to the fecret articles of which, Gibraltar was to have been wrefted from us, and the pretender placed by force on the throne of Great Britain. Confidering the fituation and circumstances of the contracting powers at that period, this intelligence appeared to many at the time romantic and incredible; and it was now known to be falfe, though it was then represented as highly disrespectful to the crown fo much as to doubt it. We were now called upon in a manner still more extraordinary, to give credit to a furmife of danger from France, which the right honorable gentleman

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