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pily and aptly applied to the state of France; | penditure of its government. Suppose, then, the and the low and let us see what inference it fur- heir of the house of Bourbon reinstated on the state of the nishes with respect to the probable at- throne, he will have sufficient occupation in entachment of moneyed men to the contin- deavoring, if possible, to heal the wounds, and uance of the revolutionary system, as well as gradually to repair the losses of ten years of with respect to the general state of public credit civil convulsion; to reanimate the drooping comin that country. I do not, indeed, know that merce, to rekindle the industry, to replace the there exists precisely any fund of three per cents capital, and to revive the manufactures of the in France, to furnish a test for the patriotism country. Under such circumstances, there must and public spirit of the lovers of French liberty. probably be a considerable interval before such But there is another fund which may equally a monarch, whatever may be his views, can posanswer our purpose. The capital of three per sess the power which can make him formidable cent. stock which formerly existed in France to Europe; but while the system of the Revoluhas undergone a whimsical operation, similar to tion continues, the case is quite different. It is many other expedients of finance which we have true, indeed, that even the gigantic and unnatu seen in the course of the Revolution. This was ral means by which that Revolution has been performed by a decree which, as they termed it, supported are so far impaired; the influence of republicanized their debt; that is, in other words, its principles and the terror of its arms so far struck off at once two thirds of the capital, and weakened; and its power of action so much conleft the proprietors to take their chance for the tracted and circumscribed, that against the empayment of interest on the remainder. This bodied force of Europe, prosecuting a vigorous remnant was afterward converted into the pres- war, we may justly hope that the remnant and ent five per cent. stock. I had the curiosity very wreck of this system can not long oppose an eslately to inquire what price it bore in the mark- fectual resistance. et, and I was told that the price had somewhat But, supposing the confederacy of Europe prerisen from confidence in the new government, maturely dissolved; supposing our ar- But the power and was actually as high as seventeen. I really mies disbanded, our fleets laid up in of Bonaparte, at first supposed that my informer meant seven- our harbors, our exertions relaxed, teen years purchase for every pound of inter- and our means of precaution and deest, and I began to be almost jealous of revolu-fense relinquished; do we believe ployed. tionary credit; but I soon found that he literally meant seventeen pounds for every hundred pounds capital stock of five per cent., that is a little more than three and a half years' purchase. So much for the value of revolutionary property, and for the attachment with which it must inspire its possessors toward the system of gov-military despotism; do we believe that this revernment to which that value is to be ascribed!

ness of the

Bourbons.

in the event of

a premature Perribly embe

that the revolutionary power, with this rest and breathing time given it to recover from the pressure under which it is now sinking, possessing still the means of calling suddenly and violently into action whatever is the remaining physical force of France, under the guidance of

olutionary power, the terror of which is now beginning to vanish, will not again prove formidable to Europe? Can we forget that in the ten years in which that power has subsisted, it has brought more misery on surrounding nations, and produced more acts of aggression, cruelty, perfidy, and enormous ambition than can be traced in the history of France for the centuries which have elapsed since the foundation of its monarchy, including all the wars which, in the course of that period, have been waged by any of those sovereigns, whose projects of aggrand

On the question, sir, how far the restoration Desirable- of the French monarchy, if practicable, return of the is desirable, I shall not think it necessary to say much. Can it be supposed to be indifferent to us or to the world, whether the throne of France is to be filled by a Prince of the house of Bourbon, or by him whose principles and conduct I have endeavored to develop? Is it nothing, with a view to influence and example, whether the fortune of this last adventurer in the lottery of revolutions shall appear to be permanent? Is it nothing whether a sys-izement and violations of treaty afford a constant tem shall be sanctioned which confirms, by one theme of general reproach against the ancient of its fundamental articles, that general transfer government of France? And if not, can we of property from its ancient and lawful possess- hesitate whether we have the best prospect of ors, which holds out one of the most terrible ex-permanent peace, the best security for the indeamples of national injustice, and which has fur-pendence and safety of Europe from the restoranished the great source of revolutionary finance tion of the lawful government, or from the conand revolutionary strength against all the pow- tinuance of revolutionary power in the hands of ers of Europe? Bonaparte?

In the exhausted and impoverished state of
France, it seems for a time impossi-

They could not, formidable to

that peace with

In compromise and treaty with such a power, placed in such hands as now exercise No security if restored, be ble that any system but that of rob-it, and retaining the same means of Lim will be per annoyance which it now possesses, I manent. see little hope of permanent security. I see no possibility at this moment of such a peace as would justify that liberal intercourse which is the essence of real amity; no chance of termin

rope.

the rest of Eu bery and confiscation, any thing but the continued torture, which can be applied only by the engines of the Revolution, can extort from its ruined inhabitants more than the means of supporting in peace the yearly ex

ating the expenses or the anxieties of war, or of restoring to us any of the advantages of established tranquillity; and, as a sincere lover of peace, I can not be content with its nominal attainment. I must be desirous of pursuing that system which promises to attain, in the end, the permanent enjoyment of its solid and substantial blessings for this country and for Europe. As a sincere lover of peace, I will not sacrifice it by grasping at the shadow when the reality is not substantially within my reach.

Cur igitur pacem nolo? Quia infida est, quia periculosa, quia esse non potest.29

Mr. Pitt's rea

If, sir, in all that I have now offered to the House, I have succeeded in establishing the proposition that the system of the French Revolution has been such as to afford to foreign powers no adequate ground for security in negotiation, and that the change which has recently taken place has not yet afforded that security; if I have laid before you a just statement of the nature and extent of the danger with which we have been threatened, it would remain only shortly to consider whether there is any thing in the circumstances of the present moment to induce us to accept a security confessedly inadequate against a danger of such a description. It will be necessary here to say a few words on the subject on which gentlemen sons for negoti have been so fond of dwelling, I ating in 1796-7. mean our former negotiations, and particularly that at Lisle, in 1797. I am desirous of stating frankly and openly the true motives which induced me to concur in then recommending negotiation; and I will leave it to the House and to the country to judge whether our conduct at that time was inconsistent with the principles by which we are guided at present. That revolutionary policy which I have endeavored to describe, that gigantic system of prodigality and bloodshed by which the efforts of France were supported, and which counts for nothing the lives and the property of a nation, had at that period driven us to exertions which had, in a great measure, exhausted the ordinary means of defraying our immense expenditure, and had led many of those who were the most convinced of the original justice and necessity of the war, and of the danger of Jacobin principles, to doubt the possibility of persisting in it, till complete and adequate security could be obtained. There seemed, too, much reason to believe that, without some new measure to check the rapid accumulation of debt, we could no longer trust to the stability of that funding system by which the nation had been enabled to support the expense of all the different wars in which we have engaged in the course of the present century. In order to continue our exertions with vigor, it became necessary that a new and solid system of finance should be established, such as could not be rendered effectual but by the general and decided concurrence of 29 Why, then, am I against peace? Because it is faithless, because it is dangerous, because it can

not be maintained.

public opinion. Such a concurrence in the strong and vigorous measures necessary for the purpose could not then be expected, but from satisfying the country, by the strongest and most decided proofs, that peace, on terms in any degree admissible, was unattainable.

The negotia

unsuccessful,

Under this impression, we thought it our duty to attempt negotiation, not from the sanguine hope, even at that time, that tion, though its result could afford us complete se- produced the happiest re. curity, but from the persuasion that sults in Enthe danger arising from peace, under gland. such circumstances, was less than that of continuing the war with precarious and inadequate means. The result of those negotiations proved that the enemy would be satisfied with nothing less than the sacrifice of the honor and independence of the country. From this conviction, a spirit and enthusiasm was excited in the nation which produced the efforts to which we are indebted for the subsequent change in our situation. Having witnessed that happy change, having observed the increasing prosperity and security of the country from that period, seeing how much more satisfactory our prospects now are than any which we could then have derived from the successful result of negotiation, I have not scrupled to declare that I consider the rupture of the negotiation, on the part of the enemy, as a fortunate circumstance for the country. But because these are my sentiments at this time, after reviewing what has since passed, does it follow that we were at that time insincere in endeavoring to obtain peace? The learned gentleman, indeed, assumes that we were, and he even makes a concession, of which I desire not to claim the benefit. He is willing to admit that, on our principles and our view of the subject, insincerity would have been justifiable. I know, sir, no plea that would justify those who are intrusted with the conduct of public affairs in holding out to Parliament and to the nation one object, while they were, in fact, pursuing another. I did, in fact, believe, at the moment, the conclusion of peace, if it could have been obtained, to be preferable to the continuance of the war under its increasing risks and difficulties. I therefore wished for peace; I sincerely labored for peace. Our endeavors were frustrated by the act of the enemy. If, then, the circumstances are since changed; if what passed at that period has afforded a proof that the object we aimed at was unattainable; and if all that has passed since has proved that, provided peace had been then made, it could not have been durable, are we bound to repeat the same experiment, when every reason against it is strengthened by subsequent experience, and when the inducements which led to it at that time have ceased to exist?

When we consider the resources and the spirit of the country, can any man doubt that Peroration. if adequate security is not now to be Increase of obtained by treaty, we have the means of prosecuting the contest without material difficulty or danger, and with a reasonable prospect

resources.

628

MR. PITT ON HIS REFUSAL TO NEGOTIATE WITH BONAPARTE.

of completely attaining our object?

will not dwell on the improved state of public credit, on the continually increasing amount, in spite of extraordinary temporary burdens, of our permanent revenue, on the yearly accession of wealth to an extent unprecedented even in the most flourishing times of peace, which we are deriving, in the midst of war, from our extended and flourishing commerce; on the progressive improvement and growth of our manufactures; on the proofs which we see on all sides of the uninterrupted accumulation of productive capital; and on the active exertion of every branch of national industry which can tend to support and augment the population, the riches, and the power of the country?

Recent victories.

[1800.

first occasion may call forth into a flame—if, I say, sir, this comparison be just, I feel myself authorized to conclude from it, not that we are entitled to consider ourselves certain of ultimate success, not that we are to suppose ourselves exempted from the unforeseen vicissitudes of war; but that, considering the value of the object for which we are contending, the means for supporting the contest, and the probable course of human events, we should be inexcusable, if at this moment we were to relinquish the struggle on any grounds short of entire and complete security; that from perseverance in our efforts under such circumstances, we have the fairest reason to expect the full attainment of our object; but that at all events, even if we are disappointed in our more sanguine hopes, we are more likely to gain than to lose by the continuation of the contest; that every month to which it is continued, even if it should not in its effects lead to the final destruction of the Jacobin system, must tend so far to weaken and exhaust it, as to give us at least a greater comparative security in any termination of the war; that, on all these grounds, this is not the moment at which it is consistent with our interest or our duty to listen to any proposals of negotiation with the present ruler of France; but that we are not, therefore, pledged to any unalterable determination as to our future

the course of events; and that it will be the duty of his Majesty's ministers from time to time to adapt their measures to any variation of circumstances, to consider how far the effects of the military operations of the allies or of the internal disposition of France correspond with our present expectations; and, on a view of the whole, to compare the difficulties or risks which may arise in the prosecution of the contest with the prospect of ultimate success, or of the degree of advantage to be derived from its further continuance, and to be governed by the result of all these considerations in the opinion and advice which they may offer to their sovereign.

As little need I recall the attention of the House to the additional means of action which we have derived from the great augmentation of our disposable military force, the continued triumphs of our powerful and victorious navy, and the events which, in the course of the last two years, have raised the military ardor and military glory of the country to a height unexampled in any period of our history. In addition to these grounds of reliance on our Skill and valor own strength and exertions, we have of our allies. seen the consummate skill and valor of the arms of our allies proved by that series of unexampled success in the course of the last campaign, and we have every reason to expect a co-conduct; that in this we must be regulated by operation on the continent, even to a greater extent, in the course of the present year. If we compare this view of our own situation with every thing we can observe of the state and condition of our enemy-if we can trace him laboring under equal difficulty in finding men to recruit his army, or money to pay it—if we know that in the course of the last year the most rigorous efforts of military Exhausted state conscription were scarcely sufficient of the French. to replace to the French armies, at the end of the campaign, the numbers which they had lost in the course of it—if we have seen that that force, then in possession of advantages which it has since lost, was unable to contend with the efforts of the combined armies-if we know that, even while supported by the plunder of all the countries which they had overrun, those armies were reduced, by the confession of their commanders, to the extremity of distress, and destitute not only of the principal articles of military supply, but almost of the necessaries of life-if we see them now driven back within their own frontiers, and confined within a country whose own resources have long since been proclaimed by their successive governments to be unequal either to paying or maintaining them -if we observe that since the last revolution no one substantial or effectual measure has been adopted to remedy the intolerable disorder of their finances, and to supply the deficiency of their credit and resources-if we see through large and populous districts of France, either open war levied against the present usurpation, or evident marks of disunion and distraction, which the

Notwithstanding the deep impression made by Mr. Fox in reply, the address was carried by a vote of 265 to 64. The result, however, painfully disappointed the expectations of Mr. Pitt. It seemed to be his fate, throughout the war, to be deceived on the two points dwelt upon in his peroration, viz., the skill and valor of his allies and the exhausted state of the French. The former were uniformly out-generaled and defeated, while the latter grew continually in spirit and resources. The reader will see at the conclusion of Mr. Fox's speech in reply to this, a slight sketch of the events which followed during the two subsequent years-the entire discomfiture of the allies, their withdrawal from the contest, the resignation of Mr. Pitt, and the conclusion of the peace of Amiens in 1802, to the great joy of the English.

LORD ERSKINE.

THOMAS ERSKINE, youngest son of the Earl of Buchan, was born at Edinburgh, on the 10th day of January, 1750. The family had once been eminent for rank and wealth; but their ample patrimony being gradually wasted, the income of their estates was at last reduced to two hundred pounds a year. To conceal their poverty,

they removed to the capital from an old castle, which was all that was left of their wide domains; and "in a small and ill-furnished room in an upper flat, or story, of a lofty house in the old town of Edinburgh, first saw the light the Honorable Thomas Erskine, the future defender of Stockdale, and Lord Chancellor of Great Britain."

of

Young Erskine displayed in very early life that quickness of intellect and joyous hilarity of spirits for which he was so remarkable throughout his professional career. He was kept for some years at the High School of Edinburgh, and then removed to the University of St. Andrew's, where he spent less than two years. His early education was, therefore, extremely limited. He had but little knowledge of Latin, and none of Greek. In the rudiments of English literature, however, he was uncommonly well instructed for one of his age. He profited greatly by conversation with his mother, who was a woman of uncommon strength of mind, and owed much of the daring energy of his character to her example and instructions. Being accustomed, notwithstanding the poverty of the family, to associate from childhood with persons high rank and breeding, he early acquired that freedom and nobleness of manner for which he was so much distinguished in after life. He was the favorite of all who knew him-of his masters, his school-mates, and the families in which he visited. Full of fun and frolic, with a lively fancy, ready wit, and unbounded self-reliance, he found his chief delight in society; and probably laid the foundation, at this early period, of those extraordinary powers of conversation to which he was greatly indebted for his subsequent success. He was one of the few who seem to have gained by being left chiefly to themselves in their early years. If he had less learning, he had more freedom and boldness; and when the time arrived for his entering into the conflicts of the bar, it is not surprising that, with high native talent, extraordinary capacity for application, and a self-confidence amounting to absolute egotism, he was able to put forth his powers, under the impulse of strong motive, with prodigious ef fect, and to make himself, without any preparatory training, one of the most ready and eloquent speakers of the age.

He showed a great desire from boyhood to be fitted for one of the learned professions, and had even then his dreams of distinction in eloquence; but the poverty of his father forbade the attempt. At the age of fourteen, he was placed as a midshipman in the navy, and was commended to the particular care of his captain by Lord Mansfield, who took a lively interest in the Buchan family. He now spent four years in visiting various parts of the globe, particularly the West Indies and the coast of North America. He was often on shore; and it was probably on one of

1 Lord Brougham speaks of him as having “hardly any access to the beauties of Attic eloquence, whether in prose or verse;" but Lord Campbell goes farther, and says, " he learned little of Greek beyond the alphabet."

these occasions that he witnessed that meeting of an Indian chief with the governor of a British colony, which he described so graphically in his defense of Stockdale, and made the starting-point of one of the noblest bursts of eloquence in our language. At the end of four years he returned to England; the ship was paid off, and he was cast without employment on the world. At this moment of deep perplexity his father died, leaving him but a scanty pittance for his support. After consulting with his friends, he saw no course but to try his fortune in the army; and accordingly he spent the whole of his little patrimony in purchasing an ensign's commission in the Royals, or First Regiment of Foot. The regiment remained for some years at home, and was quartered, from time to time, in different provincial towns. Erskine, with his habitual buoyancy of spirits, mingled in the best society of the places where he was stationed, and attracted great attention by the elegance of his manners and the brilliancy of his conversation. He at last became entangled with an affair of the heart; and was married in April, 1770, at the age of twenty, to a lady of respectable family, though without fortune-the daughter of Daniel Moore, Esq., member of Parliament for Marlow.

This rash step would to most persons have been the certain precursor of poverty and ruin; but in his case it was a fortunate one. It served to balance his mind, to check his natural volatility, to impress him with a sense of new obligations and higher duties. The regiment was ordered to Minorca, where he spent two years in almost uninterrupted leisure. In the society of his wife, he now entered on the systematic study of English literature, and probably no two years were ever better spent for the purposes of mental culture. As a preparation for his future efforts in oratory, they were invaluable. In addition to his reading in prose, he devoted himself with great ardor to the study of Milton and Shakspeare. A large part of the former he committed to memory, and became so familiar with the latter, that "he could almost, like Porson, have held conversations on all subjects for days together in the phrases of the great English dramatist." Here he acquired that fine choice of words, that rich and varied imagery, that sense of harmony in the structure of his sentences, that boldness of thought and magnificence of expression, for which he was afterward so much distinguished. It may also be remarked, that there are passages in both these writers which are the exact counterpart of the finest eloquence of the ancients. The speeches, in the second book of the Paradise Lost, have all the condensed energy and burning force of expression which belong to the great Athenian orator. The speech of Brutus, in Shakspeare's Julius Cæsar, has all the stern majesty of Roman eloquence. That of Anthony over the dead body of Cæsar is a matchless exhibition of the art and dexterity of insinuation which characterized the genius of the Greeks. It is not in regard to poetry alone that we may say of these great masters,

Hither, as to a fountain,

Other suns repair, and in their urns
Draw golden light.

In respect to eloquence, also, to use the words of Johnson, slightly varied, he who would excel in this noblest of arts must give his days and nights to the study of Milton and Shakspeare.

In the year 1772 the regiment returned to England, and the young ensign obtained a furlough of six months. Most of this time he spent in the best society of London; and Boswell speaks of Johnson and himself as dining, April 6, 1772, with " a young officer in the regimentals of the Scots Royals, who talked with a vivacity, fluency, and precision which attracted particular attention." It was Erskine, who, with his characteristic boldness, entered at once into a literary discussion with Johnson, disputing his views on the comparative merits of Fielding and Richardson in a manner which rather gained him the favor of the great English moralist.

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